38 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
The second-century A.D. historian Appian
vividly recreated the moment the Roman Re-
public truly died: When the great orator Marcus
Tullius Cicero was struck down by the forces of
his ene ies Cicero’s death between Rome and
Naples, on December 7, 43 B.C.,
the era of empire.eRepublic
s born in 106 B.C. into a wealthy
ose surname originated from the
cicer, the Latin word for “chickpea.”
f Cicero about a century after his
ek historian Plutarch believed the
e from an ancestor who had a dentA
s he leaned out of the litter and of-
fered his neck unmoved, his head
was cut off. Nor did this satisfy the
senseless cruelty of the soldiers.
They cut off his hands also for
the offense of having w
Antony. Thus, the hea
and placed by his order
two hands on the rost
often as consul, often
sular, and, that very yea
Antony, he had been he
admiration of his eloqu
like of which no othe
voice ever uttered.”RETURN
TO ROME
After a brief exile,
Cicero returned
to Rome in 57 B.C.,
an event depicted
by Francesco di
Cristofano in a
vibrant painting
(above) that adorns
a Medici villa in the
town of Poggio a
Caiano, Italy.
SCALA, FLORENCE
CHAMPION
OF THE
REPUBLIC
63 b.c.
Cicero’s speeches are cr
in dismantling a conspira
led by Catiline, an aristoc
who wanted to bring dow
the republic. Catiline is la
killed, and Cicero is haile
“father of the fatherlandus Caesar crosses the Rubicon
h his army and starts the civil
r against his rival, Pompey the
at. Cicero, who regards Caesar as
enemy, flees Rome along with a
ority of senators and withdraws to
country retreat.49 b.c.
RST-CENTURY B.C. BUST, VATICAN MUSEUMShisenemies.Ci
what is today N
brought closerSon of the
Cicerowas
family who
nicknamec
Writing of
death,Gree
name camet off his hands,also,for
written somethingagainst
ad was brought to Antony
r between the
tra, where,
asacon-
ar against
eard with
ence, the
er humanrucial
acy
crat
wn
ater
das
”Ju li
with
war
Gre
an e
maj
his
JULIUS CAESAR.FIR
DEA/ALBUM