A sketch of the life and character of Marcus Tullius Cicero

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Section I

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born about one hundred and seven years before Christ, at Arpinum, now a decayed town called Arpino, in the kingdom of Naples, and as he himself informs us in the month of January, With regard to the rank of his family writers have not agreed. By some, it is said to have been greatly elevated ; deriving lustre from royalty itself: whilst others affirm that the birth of the orator was ignoble.* In this matter, however^ we are disposed to follow Cicero's own account, by which it would seem that both are wrong.

His grandfather, he tells us, was a man of note at Arpinum, and that his spirit and conduct in the management of some corporation disputes, had attracted the notice of the consul Scaurus, who expressed a wish that he would abandon so obscure a theatre and come and act at Rome.t

* Middleton. Ad. Atticum, VII. V. it XIII. 42. Plutarch, Dio. L. 46, page 295. Silius Ilalicus. There have been different reasons for the name Cicero. Pliny's is thought the best; he supposes that the person who first bore it was remarkable for the cultivation of vetches, leguminous plants resembling peas: so Fabius, Lentulus and Piso, had their names from beans, tares and peas. Cicer is the latin cf Vetch. Tullius from flowing streams or ducts of water, and probably derived as Middleton thinks from the ancient situation of the family at the confluence of two rivers. Pompeius Festus in voce Tullius. Tullus, a king of the Volsci, was the monarch from whom Cicero was said by some to have descended.

His father Marcus, from whom, being the eldest born, he took that name, was a man of wisdom and learning, but seems to have been infirm of health, and to have therefore, though not without deep reluctance, foregone all attempts to rise in the State ; passing the greater part of his life, at his seat, in the enjoyment, as far as might be, of leisure and elegant literature.*

Of his mother, Helvia, the orator no where speaks : she was however, a woman of fortune, a thrifty housewife, and of noble birth, t

The fortune of the family must have been easy, if not affluent, as on its first introduction at Rome, it took rank at once with the equestrian order in the State. That order, unlike to modern knighthood, was accessible only to men of some fortune.

Himself debarred, as we have seen, from public honors, and lamenting the long indolence of his progenitors in regard to them, Marcus was the more anxious in animating his son's ambition, and spared neither money nor pains in so instructing him, as to prepare him for the highest dignities. His paternal care was soon and well repaid ; CiGero, in the progress of his studies, disclosing brilliant talents, as well as the love of glory, which may be said to have been throughout life his master passion, and the real secret of his greatness.

Intensely diligent as a student, and believing that an accomplished orator, the character he aimed at, should be able at all times, to speak soundly and elegantly upon every subject presented to him, he applied with ardor to universal learning. Assuming the manly gown and admitted to the forum, law, politics, philosophy and poetry, were each his care. In the first, he met with friendly guides in the two Scsevolas, one conspicuous as a statesman, and both profoundly skilled in the laws ; in philosophy he had the benefit of Grecian masters of the Epicurean, Academick and Stoick sects ; whilst in poetry and polite letters, he had

long availed himself of the lessons of Archias, a distinguished Syrian, whom he much admired, and whom in after life, he defended in an oration of exquisite polish, still extant.

With the most liberal endowments of nature, and with ambition equal to his genius, the vast superiority of this eminent Roman can furnish no surprise. It was the natural result, as well as high reward of his untiring industry and rigorous discipline. We cannot too much admire his honorable toils, and his mode of training in oratory, his darling study, is worthy of particular praise, and all imitation. We gather from his life by Middleton, that "whilst he was studying the law under the Sceevolas, he spent a large share of his time in attending the pleadings at the bar, and the public speeches of the magistrates, and never passed one day without reading and writing something at home ; constantly taking notes, and making comments on what he read. He was fond when very young of an exercise, recommended by some of the greatest orators before him, of reading over a part of the verses of some esteemed poet, or a part of an oration so carefully as to retain the substance of them in memory, and then deliver the same sentiments in different words, the most elegant that occurred to him. But he soon grew weary of this, upon reflecting that his authors had already employed the best words that belonged to their subject : so that if he used the same words it would do him no good, and if different would even hurt him by a habit of using worse. He applied "t himself therefore to another task of more certain benefit, to translate into latin, the select speeches of the best Greek orators, which gave him an opportunity of observing and employing all the most elegant words of his own language, and of enriching it at the same time with new ones borrowed, or imitated from the Greek."* In addition, the

* De Orat. 1, 5, 6, 13, 16. We avail ourselves of Dr. Middleton's Synopsis, here, as we shall sometimes do heieafter. This manner of exercise was adopted by most of the great orators of antifluity. Plutarch and Cicero tell us that Demosthenes and Hortensius had both pursued it; and it is also said, that the first was much assisted in his early attempts, by the friendly admonition and instruction of the famous comedian? Satyrus, Neoptolemus and Andronicus, company of the fair was made tributary to his improvement ; selecting those whose ancestors had excelled in eloquence, or who were themselves distinguished for the refinements of language. We have often, he says in his history of famous orators, "read the letters of Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and are satisfied that her sons were not so much nurtured in their mother's lap, as in the elegance and purity of her language. I have often too enjoyed the conversation of Lselia, the daughter of Caius, and observed in her a strong tincture of her father's elegance. I have likewise conversed with her two daughters, the Mucise, and his grand-daughters, the two Licinias, with one of whom, the wife of Scipio, you my Brutus have sometimes been in company." To strengthen the effect of eloquence by grace and elegance in action, he took lessons from Roscius and iEsop, the one excellent in comedy, the other in tragedy ; and alive to the importance of health in the command of knowledge, his exercise was regular, and life most temperate.*

Such was the course marked out for himself: unremittingly pursued, he has left us in his works, an illustrious monument of its wisdom.

Ardent as was his desire of renown as an orator, and although in all his labors that was in constant view, he had also an eye to the high offices of State, and at the proper age, the consulship itself was the great object of his hopes. To war, the Roman empire owed much, if not all its splendor; there was no surer passport to popular favor, than success in arms; and military skill was in truth suited to the genius of the government itself. /The Italick war arose when Cicero was about eighteen years of age. In this w r ar he made a campaign with the consul Strabo, and served afterwards under Sylla.t With no particular aptitude for the camp, we are told of none of* his exploits as a soldier ; and it must not be dissembled that his reputation for courage was any thing but distinguished. We may presume,

*His alledged obligations to the players are denied, as in our day, is the tutortge of Talma to Napoleon. fMiddleton.

however, that he gained sufficient experience to facilitate his advancement in the State; and it is not improbable, felt the benefit of this early service, when afterwards governor of Cilicia.

During the absence of Sylla in the war against Mithridates, there was an interval of repose at Rome, in which Molo, the renowned teacher of eloquence, came thither, and our orator was then, as afterwards, his scholar. *

The great struggle between the contending factions was soon after terminated by the concentration of all power in the person of Sylla. The public quiet, and the business of the forum were restored, and Cicero in his twenty-sixth year came to the bar.ylt is perhaps fortunate that the commotions in the state had prevented his earlier admission ; as during their continuance he had an opportunity, at leisure, to accumulate great stores of learning, and to improve that ornate style, for which he was afterwards so celebrated, t

'His first efforts at the bar were met with unmeasured applause, and betokened future greatness. The Romans were not more charmed by his eloquence, than by his bold and manly defence of his clients, even when the power and policy of the dictator himself were in question: /This early independence, for which, to say the truth, he was not always remarkable, was apparent in the cause of a woman of Aretrium, which he gained in opposition to a man of the first eminence ; and in the case of Sextus Roscius.

The truly able defence of Roscius, was made in the consulship of L. Sylla, and Q. Metellus, in the year of Rome 673. Sextus Roscius, the father of the defendant, was a rich citizen of Ameria, and was murdered in Rome, as he was returning from supper. Chrysogonus, a favorite of Sylla, and two of the Roscii, who had quarrelled with their kinsman, shared his ample estate. Fearful that the deed of sale from Chrysogonus might not avail in law, the two Roscii contrived first, to have the name of the murdered mar! enrolled among the number of the proscribed, and

*DeOrat. flbid.

next, to prevent all obstruction in the enjoyment of the spoil, prevailed with Eretrius, a hackney prosecutor, as Guthrie calls him, to accuse the son of the parricide. Cicero, in speaking of this effort, tells us that it. was made in the first cause he pleaded, and that it met with such a favorable reception, he was from that moment looked upon as an advocate of the first class, and as equal to the greatest and most important causes, and adds that he shared in many others, the speeches in which were composed beforehand with all the accuracy he could give to them.*

If this speech for Roscius will not favorably compare in point of eloquence, with the great subsequent efforts of Cicero, which we do not admit, there can be no question that there was one cardinal merit here, the absence of which in after life, is not seldom to be lamented. We mean adherence to duty in spite of power. "No motive, said he, can be so powerful as to make my fears get the better of my honor." The reader will see in the course of these pages, how soon this manly determination was abandoned.

Though Cicero speaks of this cause as the first he conducted, he must be understood as referring to a public or criminal cause; as he had in the first year of his admission to the bar, delivered a speech in the case of Publius Quinctius, upon a question growing out of the devise, and partnership transactions of a brother.

In the book of offices, he reflects with pride, upon his manliness on these early occasions, and points his son to the protection of the weak when wronged by the great, as the true road to glory and authority.!

His reputation now established, he determined to travel. Different motives have been imputed to him; and some have said that fear of Sylia was thA cause.? He informs us himself, "that his health was impaired, that speaking

*Brut.

t Plutarch.

LIFE OF CICEHO. 19

without any remission or variation, with the utmost stretch of his voice, and a total agitation of his body, his lungs were endangered, and that rather than forego the hopes of glory looked for in pleading, he resolved to visit Asia, with the sole view of correcting his manner of speaking.* In this he was successful; the defect,! on his return, having almost entirely disappeared.

Some months were spent at Athens, where he applied himself to philosophy and rhetoric, and enjoyed the society of Atticus, whom his friendship has immortalized. In his application to these studies in Greece, he was the more sedulous, as Plutarch tells us that he had already taken his resolution, should he fail in his design of rising in the state, to retire from the forum and all political intrigues, to Athens, and spend his days in peace, in the bosom of philosophy.

On leaving Greece, he passed into Asia, where he was voluntarily attended by the principal orators; of the country, with whom he renewed his rhetorical exercises ; and on his return, again took lessons at .Rhodes, from Molo ; who, when Cicero declaimed, is said to have lamented the fortune of Greece, that he should transplant to Rome arts and eloquence, the only ornaments left to her.§ Molo's principal difficulty with him, as we learn from his works, was in restraining the luxuriancy of his juvenile imagination.

After an absence of two years, he returned to Rome, with augmented learning, improved style, and renovated health. In allusion to his foreign journey, a modern writer observes that he "leisurely studied Greek authors, was taught to prune off superfluities, and to purify his style, which he did to a high degree of refinement; introducing into his native tongue a sweetness, a grace, a majesty, that surprised the world, and even the Romans themselves ;"|| and the orator himself assures us that his improvement jit is known that Demosthenes had to contend with similar difficulties; and the story of his subterranean study, and shaving his head, to prevent his going abroad, is familiar.

X Brut. 437. § Plutarch. [| Karnes.

had been thorough, and that on his return he was almost a new man.

His scheme of travel has been on all hands commended; and it is certain that its advantages were much enhanced by the knowledge he had acquired of the government and laws of his own country, before he left it ; in this affording a salutary but much neglected lesson, to our modern youth, whose fortunes are equal to foreign tours.

It is said in Plutarch, that Cicero, in returning to Rome, visited Delphi, and that his ambition was rebuked by the answer of the oracle, which advised him to make nature, not the opinion of the people, the guide of his life. This, however, has been well controverted by Dr. Middleton, who thinks it improbable that he would have shewn so great homage to an oracle, which from his works, he seems, with the men of sense of his time, to have held in no estimation.* The famous imposture at Delphi, had, as is known, long exerted a powerful control in the deliberations of states, and had not seldom decided the fate of kingdoms. The presence of the god appears to have been first revealed to goats, animals by no means remarkable for sagacity: the goatherd, attracted by the antics of his flock, became a convert, and general veneration and pilgrimage ensued; yet for a long course of time, the wise and philosophical, and we doubt not. Cicero himself, would, but for political purposes, have willingly destroyed its influence, and have consigned the temple, with its wealth, to the fate which, afterwards, under Nero and Constantine befel them. At all events, we know that the admonition of the god did not prevent the return of the Roman to the bar, and that he not only sought its honors with undiminished ardor, but was soon after successful in soliciting the questorship, to which he was unanimously chosen, and which raised him to the dignity of the senate.!

Before his election, he had largely partaken of the toils of his profession ; and entered the lists with his great contemporaries Hortensius, and others ; with whom, he at once

* De Divin. 2, 56, 57. f Brut. 223. InPisol.

contended, with highest honor to himself — and whom he afterwards far excelled."* The effect of their renown upon his mind and efforts, with the glorious results to which it led, reminds us forcibly of the sorrow of the Grecian, who could not sleep for the trophies of Miltiades. With Cicero, as with the hero of Salamis, it seems to have roused all emulation, and every faculty of his soul was exerted, not so much to equal, as to lead.t

We cannot but regret the loss of the speeches of Hortensius. He was of patrician dignity, and of reputation in oratory, only inferior to that of Cicero. Of Cotta, also eminent at the bar, there are, we believe, but few remains. The task of contrasting their speeches, had they survived, with those of Tully, would have been no doubt delightful ; the verdict of posterity may have been different, or at least not so universal in Cicero's behalf; but from unquestionable contemporaneous and other testimony, the superiority of his living fame is not to be impeached. Had Julius Caesar applied to eloquence, as soberly as he did to the ruin of his country, he, it is thought, might have disputed the palm with the greatest.

The defence of the player Roscius, was made about the time of Cicero's questorship, or rather before it. The tribute of antiquity to the merit of this man, is ample; in his art he was without a rival, in private life most admirable; and if we believe his advocate, worthy of the senate for his virtues. In the speech for Archias, Cicero tells us that Roscius died indeed an old man, but that his art and elegance seemed to challenge an immortality to his person; and Catulus pronounced him more beautiful than the rising sun, though

*"Hortensius pleaded with general applause al 19 years of age, and continued in the same profession, 48 years. Eclipsed by Cicero, lie embraced a military life; be. came a military tribune, praetor, and afterwards consul, at 70 B. C. His rival speaks of him in such a manner as to-rncrease our regret at the loss of his orations; though Gluintilian mentions them as much overrated. He had a wonderful memory, and delivered his speeches in reply without taking a single note, or forgetting any thing advanced by his adversary. He died very rich, a little before the civil war, which he had endeavored by all possible means to prevent. He was remarkable for his wealth, affectation, and stock of wines."

fThe eloquence and glory of Callistratus seem to have equally, and in the same way, acted upon Demosthenes.— Plutarch in Dem.

there was about him a defect, fatal, one would suppose, to beauty : no less than squinting eyes.*

It may be well to state, before we follow Cicero into Sicily, whither the duties of his questorship called him, that he had very early tried his skill in authorship. The genius of this extraordinary man in poetry, appears to have been, at the least, active. We learn from Plutarch, that when in the vein, he could produce five hundred verses in a night. His translations in some fragments, are known to us; and an oiiginal poem in praise of Marius, was thought by Scaevola to have made him immortal. How far the judgment of Scsevola may have been influenced by his relation of director to so hopeful a pupil, we do not know; nor were the entire poem before us, would our skill in Latin verse permit us to approve or condemn his applause. The poem was, however, read and admired by Atticus; whose opinion, if not swayed by friendship, to the prejudice of truth, we might take to be conclusive : his competency as a judge, cannot be questioned. t The reader will see, nevertheless, when

* A slave jointly owned by Roscius and another, was murdered, Roscius prose, cuted for the murder, and recovered damages for his shaie in the slave. His partner, pretending to have received nothing, sued him for the half of the moiety he had recovered. There was in the last century a like instance of eminent art as a player, and integrity and dignity as a man, in the person of Betterton, who, like Roscius, was high in the esteem of an illustrious contemporary, Pope.

f "Titus Pomponius Atticus, was one of the most honorable men of ancient Rome. He understood the art of conducting himself with such address, that without leaving his state of neutrality, he preserved the esteem and affection of all parties. Hi3 6trict friendship with Cicero did not hinder him from a great intimacy with Hortensius. The contests at Rome, between Cinna's party and that of Marius, induced him to go to Athens, where he continued for a long time. [He acquired his name, Atticus, from his fondness for, and long residence in, Athens.] He was very fond of polite learning, and kept at his house several librarians and readeis. He might have obtained the most considerable posts in the government, but forebore to mingle in public affairs out of regard for his philosophy; He was a strict Epicurean, and held pleasure to be the chief good of man, and death the extinction of his being; and had, says Dr. Middleton, all the talents that could qualify a man to be useful to society, great parts, learning, judgment, candor, benevolence, generosity : the same love of his country, and the same sentiments in politics as Cicero, whom he was always advising and urging to act, and yet determined never to act himself: or at least never so far as to disturb his ease, or endanger his safety." After the second triumvirate, Atticus profited by the caution he had maintained, having carried it so far as to prevent tlie publication of a single one of his numerous epistles to Cicero. His daughter was married to Agrippa, the friend of Augustus, and he afterwards became allied to the Emperor himself, by the marriage of his grand-daughter with the monster Tiberius. He would, however, have scarcely been known, but for hia we recur, as we shall do, to this subject, that in the judgment of Juvenal, and others, Cicero was in no great favor with the muse.

He was married when about thirty years of age, to his first wife Terentia. This lady was rich, and gave him a son and daughter, but is represented as of imperious temper, and otherwise vexatious, and took, he tells us, a far larger share in his political affairs than she was willing to concede to him in domestic matters. He therefore, in after life, availed himself of the facilities the Roman law afforded, and divorced her. If we may judge, however, from his letters when in exile, she was then the object of his respectful affection. *

close relation of friendship to Cicero. "Nomen Attici perire Ciceronis epistolce non sinunt. Nihil ille profuisset gener Agrippa, et Tiberius progener, et Drusus pronepos, inter tam magna nomina taceretur, nisi Cicero illu:a applicuissit." Seneca, ep. 21st. It is impossible to approve the time-serving of this polished Roman ; but there is much to commend in his generous friendship to Cicero. At no time of need , was his ample purse withheld. Atticus wrote annals, of which Cicero observes, that though he carefully specified the time of every event, and omitted no transaction of moment, he comprised the history of seven hundred years, in a single volume. De Orat. 318 to Brut.

* "Notwithstanding the extraordinary facility in obtaining a divorce, it was at first thought disreputable, and four ages appear to have elapsed before it was resorted to. Sp. Carvilius Ruga, repudiated his wife, though deeply enamoured, because of her barrenness ; but met with the indignation of all Rome. His example, however, waa very promptly followed, and divorces soon became as frequent as they had been rare. When Paulus ^Emilius repudiated Fapiria, all were astonished — Is not your wife wise ? said they. Is she not fair? Has she not brought you children? Pointing to his shoe, Paulus replied : "This shoe, is it not fine ? is it not well made ? but none of you know where it pinches me. Caius Sulpicius Gallus put away his wife for going bare-headed in public: Sempronius Sophus his, for having whispered a freedwoman — Antistius Vetus his, for going to a public spectacle without his knowledge. Seneca says that there were some, who no longer reckoned the years by the consuls, but by the number of husbands." "Num quid jam ulla repudio erubescit, post quam illustres quaedam ac nobiles feminte non consulum numero sed maritorum annos suos computant." — De Benefic 1. 3, c. 16. This license had the sanction of the wisest. Cato surrendered his wife to Hortensius, though he had a family by her, and though she was pregnant when put away. On the death of Hortensius, leaving her the heiress of his fortune, to the prejudice of his son, the great Stoick did not hesitate to receive her baGk again. Cicero put away Terentia for her imperious temper, and for neglect of his domestic affairs. His second wife, it will be seen, met the same fate, but for another cause. Though widowhood was highly applauded, and even secured the epithet "univira," by way of honor, Terentia and the charming Tullia appear to have often shewn a disregard of the distinction Terentia, who lived to a great age, took as a second husband, Sallust, an enemy of Cicero, Messala was her third, and she is said to have had a fourth, Vibius Rufus, even so late as the reign of Tiberius ; whilst Tullia, Piso's widow, married before a year had

For his daughter Tullia, he had the tenderest regard, which appears to have been well deserved. To the charms of person, she joined a masculine intellect and noble character; and was so accomplished by his care, as greatly to heighten his enjoyments, when not engaged at the bar, or as a magistrate. Her loss at an early age, was, as we shall see, a source of overpowering grief.

On his arrival in Sicily, in execution of his trust as questor, Cicero appears to have resolved to devote himself to a clear understanding and faithful discharge of his duties, and to forego all diversion, howsoever innocent, which might in any way conflict with them. In this he was so fortunate as to gain the general love of the Sicilians, and to have inspired them with that admiration of his talents and virtues, which they at all times avowed, and which he afterwards gratefully repaid by the prosecution and ruin of their oppressor.

The fair island of Sicily was then, as now, fertile in grain; to supply the city with which, was one of his chief duties as questor, who was a general receiver and treasurer, and whose business it was to provide for the public consumption at home. The distress this year at Rome, was so urgent, and the demand upon the island so great, that there was need of the utmost address in relieving the one, without injury to the other. The necessity for the supply was the greater, as the factious and seditious at home, were availing themselves of the public wants, to exasperate the minds of the people. Great as were the difficulties, the questor subdued them, to the satisfaction of all parties; and so delighted were the Cicilians with his justice, humanity, and courtesy, at this trying crisis, that on the expiration of his office, they decreed to him honors before unheard of. # Cicero need fear no charge of modesty, in this his own

expired, Furius Crasippes. and separating from him, married Dolabella, whom she also quitted. St Jerome speaks wilh indignation of a man in his time, at Rome, who had buried 20 wives ; and of a woman who had buried 22 husbands. The ladies appear to have fought hard for equality in this important matter, and in all others of a like nature — Vid. D'Jlrnay's private life of the Romans. *Pro Plane 26. In Q. Ccecilium 1.

statement of his glories : of his vanity, however, which has been strangely denied, though Plutarch thinks that it often interrupted his best and wisest designs, we shall speak hereafter.

All his leisure whilst abroad was, as usual, devoted to improvement in his favorite art; and his own opinion was, that at the time of his return his abilities as a speaker had reached their zenith. In the succeeding year, he says, when I returned from Sicily my oratorical talents, such as they were, displayed themselves in their full perfection and maturity.* In our view, however, his powers were greatly improved as he advanced in age, and were far more dazzling in middle life than before. Indeed at that time, and afterwards, liberty and the threatened ruin of his country were his great and noble themes. We can imagine none more elevated, or more suited to elicit and perfect oratorical power.