Cicero is one of my favourite people from history. And I love him like a brother. He isn't Alexander, he isn't Rameses II or even a Caesar his contemporary.
He had been first consul of Rome, he was a career lawyer and politician. He was an excellent speaker. He had ideals and he absolutely LOVED the Republic. He was there during the troubles of the First Triumverate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. And had even been invited to join it. But he couldn't. Because he loved the Republic and he suspected the invitation to the group would undermine it. As in fact it did. He'd already put down a conspiracy to the Republic a few years earlier and had been named Father of His Country.
But that isn't why I love him. Of all the people in that period. To me he's the most human. He had a tendency to shift his position with the political wind, contradicting himself on more than one occasion. He mourned the death of his daughter in beautiful letters sent to his friend. He was arrogant at times and exaggerated his accomplishments. He even thought people loved him more than they actually did. And he was scared a lot of the time, after his execution of Romans without trial following the Cataline Uprising.
It's his failures and failings that bring him alive to me. And to me I can identify with that. His failures aren't the failures to lose a battle or make the wrong strategic decision in a war. They're human failings. And for that, I love him.
He had been first consul of Rome, he was a career lawyer and politician. He was an excellent speaker. He had ideals and he absolutely LOVED the Republic. He was there during the troubles of the First Triumverate of Caesar, Pompey and Crassus. And had even been invited to join it. But he couldn't. Because he loved the Republic and he suspected the invitation to the group would undermine it. As in fact it did. He'd already put down a conspiracy to the Republic a few years earlier and had been named Father of His Country.
But that isn't why I love him. Of all the people in that period. To me he's the most human. He had a tendency to shift his position with the political wind, contradicting himself on more than one occasion. He mourned the death of his daughter in beautiful letters sent to his friend. He was arrogant at times and exaggerated his accomplishments. He even thought people loved him more than they actually did. And he was scared a lot of the time, after his execution of Romans without trial following the Cataline Uprising.
It's his failures and failings that bring him alive to me. And to me I can identify with that. His failures aren't the failures to lose a battle or make the wrong strategic decision in a war. They're human failings. And for that, I love him.
