The Life of Cicero, Vol. I


Read by Philippa

(4.7 stars; 35 reviews)

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC) was an orator, statesman, philosopher and prolific correspondent, who rose as a ‘new man’ in Rome in the turbulent last years of its republican government. Anthony Trollope, best known as a novelist, admired Cicero greatly and wrote this biography late in life in order to argue his virtues against authors who had granted him literary greatness but questioned his strength as a politician and as a man. He takes a personal approach, affording us an insight into his own mind and times as well as those of his subject.

Volume I covers the period (up to the year 57BC) of Cicero’s education, his rise through the courts and offices of state to the Consulship, and his exile.

Please note that footnotes - predominantly bibliographical citations and Latin quotations - are omitted unless explicitly referred to in the main text; the appendices, which consist mainly of more substantial extracts from other works, are likewise omitted. (Summary by Philippa)

Volume II can be found here.

Chapters

Ch1, Introduction, pt1 37:20 Read by Philippa
Ch1, Introduction, pt2 29:39 Read by Philippa
Ch2, His Education 45:26 Read by Philippa
Ch3, The Condition of Rome 35:08 Read by Philippa
Ch4, His Early Pleadings, pt1 28:30 Read by Philippa
Ch4, His Early Pleadings, pt2 24:21 Read by Philippa
Ch5, Cicero as Quaestor 35:50 Read by Philippa
Ch6, Verres, pt1 35:19 Read by Philippa
Ch6, Verres, pt2 44:20 Read by Philippa
Ch7, Cicero as Aedile and Praetor 42:47 Read by Philippa
Ch8, Cicero as Consul 41:42 Read by Philippa
Ch9, Catiline, pt1 27:22 Read by Philippa
Ch9, Catiline, pt2 43:12 Read by Philippa
Ch10, Cicero After His Consulship 45:41 Read by Philippa
Ch11, The Triumvirate, pt1 37:30 Read by Philippa
Ch11, The Triumvirate, pt2 29:09 Read by Philippa
Ch12, His Exile, pt1 32:03 Read by Philippa
Ch12, His Exile, pt2 42:15 Read by Philippa

Reviews

Great Reader


(5 stars)

Philippa made what could have been a very long read into something that kept me interested and listening through volumes 1 and 2.

Expert Narration


(5 stars)

Thanks for the best reading possible. Please record more of these forgotten classics.


(3 stars)

Victorian apology by a novelist rather than an historian. Useful as historiography & chronology, rather than for the tedious & almost worshipful defenses of Cicero against those the author sees as Cicero’s detractors.

Great book greater reader!


(5 stars)

If you're interested in this timeline Rome . Fascinating!