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In: Biographies·Essays, Letters & Speeches·History - Ancient
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #51403.
This volume gathers the final three years of Cicero’s correspondence with his lifelong friend Titus Pomponius Atticus, beginning with a letter penned just after Caesar’s decisive victory at Thapsus in April 46 B.C. The opening letters reveal a Cicero who, having made a reluctant peace with Caesar, retreats into a period of literary productivity and private affairs. He speaks of successful but limited public interventions, pleading for the return of his friend Marcellus from exile and advocating for Ligarius, while confessing an underlying discomfort with Caesar’s rule. The narrative tracks his personal turmoil: the divorce from Terentia, a brief marriage to Publilia, the death of his daughter Tullia, and a flood of grief‑laden missives that illuminate Atticus’s pragmatic counsel. The letters also chronicle his prolific output of philosophical and rhetorical works, his cautious engagement with the shifting political landscape, and his eventual return to public life after Caesar’s assassination, culminating in the fraught years that lead to his own downfall.
The prose is a direct translation of Cicero’s Latin, preserving the formal yet intimate tone of a statesman writing to a trusted confidant. Its style blends the rhetorical flourish of a seasoned orator with the candid personal reflections of a man confronting loss, ambition, and the erosion of the Republic. Readers who relish ancient history, Roman politics, or the inner workings of a great thinker will find these letters rewarding. Scholars of classical literature, students of political philosophy, and anyone interested in the human side of a pivotal era will appreciate the vivid glimpse into Cicero’s mind as he navigates triumph, tragedy, and the relentless march of change.
The letters contained in this volume begin with one written just after Caesar's final victory over the remains of the Pompeian party at Thapsus in April, 46 B.C., and cover three of the last four years of Cicero's life. When they open, Cicero was enjoying a restful interval after the troublous times of the Civil War. He had made his peace with Caesar and reconciled himself to a life of retirement and literary activity. In the Senate he never spoke except to deliver a speech pleading for the return from exile of his friend Marcellus; and his only other public appearance was to advocate the cause of another friend, Ligarius. In both he was successful; and, indeed, so he seems also to have been in private appeals to Caesar on behalf of friends. …
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