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On Government (Penguin Classics) Paperback – March 1, 1994
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Cicero (106-43BC) was a key figure in the Roman Republic and a witness to its dramatic collapse into a dictatorship. The seven works collected here expound his passionate belief in national harmony, fully demonstrating his formidable powers as an orator and writer. Delivered after the assassination of Julius Caesar when Mark Antony looked set to take over Rome, the Philippics are a brilliant attack on one-man rule that ultimately cost cicero his life. In Against Verres, he argues for the impeachment of a corrupt provincial governor, yet Cicero's principles were tested in For Murena and Far Balbus when he was forced to defend guilty men in order to maintain political stability. On the State and On Laws are treatises on the art of government, while the Brutus is masterly survey oratory, a Roman Statesman's most important skill.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
- Print length421 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPenguin Classics
- Publication dateMarch 1, 1994
- Dimensions5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
- ISBN-100140445951
- ISBN-13978-0140445954
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- Publisher : Penguin Classics; Revised edition (March 1, 1994)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 421 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0140445951
- ISBN-13 : 978-0140445954
- Item Weight : 11.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.1 x 1 x 7.8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #311,794 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #581 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy
- #1,106 in History & Theory of Politics
- #8,595 in Classic Literature & Fiction
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About the author
Marcus Tullius Cicero (/ˈsɪsᵻroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈmaːr.kʊs ˈtʊl.li.ʊs ˈkɪ.kɛ.roː]; Greek: Κικέρων, Kikerōn; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political theorist, consul, and constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and was one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
His influence on the Latin language was so immense that the subsequent history of prose in not only Latin but European languages up to the 19th century was said to be either a reaction against or a return to his style. According to Michael Grant, "the influence of Cicero upon the history of European literature and ideas greatly exceeds that of any other prose writer in any language". Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as evidentia, humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia) distinguishing himself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited for initiating the 14th-century Renaissance in public affairs, humanism, and classical Roman culture. According to Polish historian Tadeusz Zieliński, "Renaissance was above all things a revival of Cicero, and only after him and through him of the rest of Classical antiquity." The peak of Cicero's authority and prestige came during the 18th-century Enlightenment, and his impact on leading Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, David Hume, and Montesquieu was substantial. His works rank among the most influential in European culture, and today still constitute one of the most important bodies of primary material for the writing and revision of Roman history, especially the last days of the Roman Republic.
Though he was an accomplished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. It was during his consulship that the Second Catilinarian Conspiracy attempted to overthrow the government through an attack on the city by outside forces, and Cicero suppressed the revolt by executing five conspirators without due process. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st century BC marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. Following Julius Caesar's death Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. He was proscribed as an enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and consequently executed by soldiers operating on their behalf in 43 BC after having been intercepted during attempted flight from the Italian peninsula. His severed hands and head were then, as a final revenge of Mark Antony, displayed in the Roman Forum.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Glauco92 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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This leaves somewhat less than a quarter of the book to actually discuss the principles and practices required in office rather than illustrating the methods required to get there in the first place. The relatively short "On The State" and "On Laws" seek to combine a defence of traditional practices with measures to limit the scope and power of laws and officials, while the concluding "Philippics" are powerful (and under the circumstances, courageous) public attacks on Mark Antony's attempts to succeed Julius Caesar as dictator, although even these attacks take the necessity of old republican practices as safeguards against a dictatorship as givens rather than arguing for their necessity from first principles.
As a whole, "On Government" is more effective at illustrating Cicero's efforts to reconcile his liberal principles with pragmatism and tradition than at articulating either highly developed principles of governance or discussing in detail possible systems of governance. While interesting and entertaining, "On Government" is not the best place to start if seeking an introduction to classical political thought.
First, the selection: the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are the three main reasons that why you should buy this book. "For Balbus" is only a selection (so don't be fooled!), and "For Murena" and "The Republic" and "The Laws" are available in Oxford World's Classics. (As a general rule, don't buy penguin if the same thing is also published by Oxford.)
Second, the translation: Michael Grant's translation is only of average quality. (See my comment on "Cicero: Selected Works"). If you want to read excellent translation of Cicero's works, I'd strongly recommend "Cicero: Defence Speeches" translated by D.H. Berry, which included a better translated version of "For Murena".
Finally, this book was first published in 1993, and "Cicero: Selected Works" in 1960. If you compare these two books, you can see moderate improvements in Michael Grant's translation. However, his translation in 1993 is barely OK, while his in 1960 is terrible. Unfortunately, the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are still not published by Oxford, so you are stuck with Grant's translation unless you want to buy the expensive Loeb Classic edition.