106 B.C. - 43 B.C.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator and statesman, was born January 3, 106 BC into a well-off equestrian family. He distinguished himself at school and forged at this time a lifelong friendship with Atticus. His government career began with the quaestorship in 76 BC and he was elected consul for 63, an extraordinary achievement for a novus homo. He married Terentia and had a daughter, Tullia, whose death in 45 BC devastated him. He had divorced Terentia before the end of 47 BC, having become disenchanted with her over the previous 10 years as he thought her to be dishonest in money matters. In 46 he married Publilia but separated from her permanently after Tullia's death. He died on December 7, 43 BC in the proscriptions ordered by the Second Triumvirate.
Cicero regarded writing as a second-best activity, preferring to be in the thick of politics. Often he turned to writing only because he was forced to take the sidelines of government or when personal tragedy waylaid him. Nevertheless, his influence on subsequent generations of western writers and thinkers has been enormous. His many surviving writings include orations; essays and dialogues on politics, oratory, theology, and moral philosophy; fragments of poetic works; and a huge collection of letters covering 25 years and comprising 99 different recipients or correspondents.
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