Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, orator, and philosopher whose writings shaped Latin prose and later Western political thought. Born at Arpinum, he rose through the cursus honorum and served as consul in 63 BCE, suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy. Cicero defended the Roman Republic against autocracy, opposing Julius Caesar’s dictatorship and later Mark Antony. His speeches, including the *Catilinarian Orations* and *Philippics*, remain models of rhetoric. In philosophy he adapted Greek ideas for Roman readers in works such as *De Officiis* and *De Re Publica*. He was executed during the proscriptions of the Second Triumvirate.