It's a shame that so few people today are familiar with the work and reputation of Cicero (106-43 B.C.), a Roman politician known for the eloquence of his speech and writing.

    He was born outside of Rome, and educated in both Latin and Greek (as was the style in those days). An excellent student, he was held up as an exemplar by the parents of other students in his area. But far from resenting him, those same students admired him and craved his friendship.

    Like many talented men of his day, he entered politics--which led to his downfall. It is for his prose style, however, that he is remembered today. The classicist Michael Grant has said, "The influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language." In fact, according to some, it was the discovery of Cicero's works by Petrarch that sparked the Renaissance. One historian wrote, "The Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity."

    As an accomplished orator, he practiced law early in his career. After some travel (perhaps to escape a powerful figure whom he had defied in court) he settled down to the study of Greek philosophy, coining new words in Latin to convey Greek philosophical concepts. Some of the words attributed to him include the roots of the modern words evidence, humanity, quality, and quantity.

    Late in life, Cicero found himself defending the Roman Republic against Julius Caesar's waxing imperial ambitions. After Caesar's assassination, Cicero's open opposition to one of Caesar's successors, Marc Antony, led to his being placed on a list of enemies of the state.

    Ultimately, he was caught and killed. His head and hands were cut off and displayed in the Roman Forum. Displaying a head was common practice; the hands were included because they had been used to write against Antony. It is even said that Antony's wife pulled Cicero's tongue out of his head and stabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin as revenge against the eloquent words he had spoken against Antony!

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. public opinion about someone or something

    2. ruin, failure, death

    3. growing larger

    4. began, caused

    5. a model to be imitated

    6. creating, inventing

    7. excellence of speech or writing

    8. excellent public speaker

    9. holding something against, feeling insulted by

    10. natural speech, as opposed to poetry

    ANSWERS: 1. reputation 2. downfall 3. waxing 4. sparked 5. exemplar 6. coining 7. eloquence 8. orator 9. resenting 10. prose