Catiline

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

after whose fall he received greater honors than had ever before been bestowed upon a Roman citizen. He was hailed as the savior of the state and the father of his country, and thanksgivings in his name were voted to the gods. But Cicero's fortune had now reached the culminating point, and soon was to decline. The Catilinarian conspirators who had been executed had not been sentenced according to law, and Cicero, as chief magistrate, was responsible for the irregularity. Publius Clodius, the tribune of the people, raised such a storm against him that he was obliged to go into exile (58 b. c.) On the fall of the Clodian faction he was recalled to Rome, but he never succeeded in regaining the influence he had once possessed. In 52 B. c. he became proconsul of Cilicia, a province which he administered with eminent success. As soon as his term of office had expired he returned to Rome (Jan., 49 b. c.), which was threatened ith serious disturbances owing to the with rupture between Cæsar and Po Pompey. He espoused the cause of Pompey, but after the battle of Pharsalia he made his peace with Cæsar, with whom he continued to all appearance friendly, and by whom he was kindly treated, until the assassination of the latter (44 b. c.). He now hoped to regain his political influence. The conspirators shared with him the honor of an enterprise in which no part had been assigned him; and the less he had contributed to it himself the more anxious was he to justify the deed and pursue the advantages which it offered. Antony having taken Cæsar's place, Cicero composed those admirable composed orations against him, delivered in 43 B. C., which are known to us by the name of Philippics (after the speeches of Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon). His implacable enmity toward Antony induced him to favor young Octavianus, who professed to entertain the most friendly feelings toward him. Octavianus, however, having possessed himself of the consulate, consulate, and formed an alliance with Antony and Lepidus, Cicero was proscribed. In endeavoring to escape from Tusculum, where he was living when the news of the proscription arrived, he was overtaken and murdered by a party of soldiers 43 B. c.; and his head and hands were publicly exhibited in the forum at Rome. Cicero's eloquence has always remained a model. After the revival of learning he was the most admired of the ancient writers; and the purity and elegance of his style will always place him in the first rank of Roman classics. His works, which are very numerous, consist of orations; philosophical, rhetorical, and moral treatises; and letters to Atticus and other friends. The life of Cicero was written by Plutarch, and there are modern lives by Middleton, Forsyth, and others.