Selected Letters

Cicero lived through some of the most turbulent years in the history of Rome, and witnessed at first-hand the overthrow of the republic and its replacement by a tyranny. His letters to friends and family are an astonishingly detailed record of daily life and politics in Rome. This selection, covering the years 68-43 B.C. not merely documents in detail Cicero's career but simultaneously provides a month-by-month record of the final collapse of the Roman senatorial government. The letters provide from the inside a vivid picture of events from the high point of Cicero's consulship of 63, through the humiliation of his exile and subsequent subjection to the dynasts, to the assassination of Caesar in 44, and Cicero's brief hour of glory in leading senatorial resistance to the tyranny of Mark Antony.In P. G. Walsh's lively new translation, Cicero's correspondence once more brings alive the excitement and danger of ancient Rome.
Cicero lived through some of the most turbulent years in the history of Rome and witnessed first-hand the overthrow of the republic and its replacement by the tyranny of Pompey, Caesar, Mark Antony, and Octavian. One of Rome's most memorable and keenly observant writers, his letters to friends and family are an astonishingly detailed record of daily life and politics in Rome. Here is the largest one-volume selection of Cicero's letters currently available, documenting Cicero's tumultuous career and providing a month-by-month record of the final collapse of the Roman senatorial government. Covering the years 68-43 BC, the letters illuminate events from the high point of Cicero's consulship of 63, through the humiliation of his exile and subsequent subjection to the dynasts, to the assassination of Caesar in 44, and Cicero's brief hour of glory in leading senatorial resistance to the tyranny of Mark Antony. In P. G. Walsh's lively new translation, Cicero's correspondence brings to life once more all the intrigue, excitement, and danger of ancient Rome.