Reading Cicero’s Final Years Receptions of the Post-Caesarian Works up to the Sixteenth Century – with two Epilogues

Author: Pieper, Christoph & Velden, Bram van der
Title: Reading Cicero’s Final Years Receptions of the Post-Caesarian Works up to the Sixteenth Century – with two Epilogues
Place edition: Boston Berlin
Editor: De Gruyter
Year edition: 2020
Pages: 300
Keywords: Héritage - Fortuna - Legacy
Review:

Andrew R. Dyck, BMCR 2022.04.14, Link. Katarzyna Marciniak, Ciceroniana Online, Vol. 5 No. 2 (2021), Link. Schwameis, C. (2021), Wiener Studien: Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition, 134, 109-113.

Description: This volume contributes to the ongoing scholarly debate regarding the reception of Cicero. It focuses on one particular moment in Cicero’s life, the period from the death of Caesar up to Cicero’s own death. These final years have shaped Cicero’s reception in an special way, as they have condensed and enlarged themes that his life stands for: on the positive side his fight for freedom and the republic against mighty opponents (for which he would finally be killed); on the other hand his inconsistency in terms of political alliances and tendency to overestimate his own influence. For that reason, many later readers viewed the final months of Cicero's life as his swan song, and as representing the essence of his life as a whole. The fixed scope of this volume facilitates an analysis of the underlying debates about the historical character Cicero and his textual legacy (speeches, letters and philosophical works) through the ages, stretching from antiquity itself to the present day. Major themes negotiated in this volume are the influence of Cicero’s regular attempts to anticipate his later reception; the question of whether or not Cicero showed consistency in his behaviour; his debatable heroism with regard to republican freedom; and the interaction between philosophy, rhetoric and politics [Editor]. Funded by: Patrum Lumen Sustine-Stiftung (PLuS) Table of Contents : Introduction , Christoph Pieper and Bram van der Velden,1 Were Cicero’s Philippics the Cause of his Death? Thomas J. Keeline, 15 The Thrill of Defeat , Classicism and the Ancient Reception of Cicero’s and Demosthenes’ Philippics, Caroline Bishop,  37 Ille regit dictis animos , Virgil’s Perspective on Cicero’s Final Years, Andrew James Sillett, 57 Man of Peace? Cicero’s Last Fight for the Republic in Greek and Roman Historical ‘Fictions’, Giuseppe La Bua, 79 Libera uoluntas The Political Origins of the Free Will Argument in Cicero’s De fato and Augustine’s Confessions, Lex Paulson, 97 Ciceronian Reception in the Epistula ad Octauianum Bram van der Velden, 121 Can it Ever be Wise to Kill the Tyrant? Insights from Cicero in the Debate on Rightful Government during the Middle Ages (Especially in the 13th–14th Centuries), Carole Mabboux, 137 Bruni, Cicero, and their Manifesto for Republicanism Leanne Jansen, 155 Multilayered Appropriation(s) Josse Bade’s Edition of Cicero’s Philippicae tribus commentariis illustratae, Christoph Pieper, 175 Marc-Antoine Muret and his Lectures on Cicero’s De officiis Barbara Del Giovane, 197 First Epilogue Dramatic Representations of the Final Years of Cicero’s Life, Gesine Manuwald, 221 Second Epilogue Scholarly Appraisals of Cicero’s Final Years, Christoph Pieper and Bram van der Velden 239 Bibliography 255 Index Locorum 281 Index Nominum 295
Author initials: Pieper & Velden 2020