On Government

by Cicero, Michael Grant (Introduction)

Overview

These pioneering writings on the mechanics, tactics, and strategies of government were devised by the Roman Republic's most enlightened thinker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780141912530
Publisher:	Penguin UK
Publication date:	02/23/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

An accomplished poet, philosopher, rhetorician, and humorist, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC- 43 BC) was also the greatest forensic orator Rome ever produced. To Cicero, service to the res publica (literally, "the public affair") was a Roman citizen's highest duty. At age 26 (in 80 BC), he successfully defended a man prosecuted unjustly by a crony of the bloodthirsty dictator Sulla. In 69 BC, he brought to order the corrupt Sicilian governor Verres. As consul in 63 BC, he put down the Catilinarian conspiracy; later, he was sent into exile for refusing to join the First Triumvirate. Late in life, he led the Senate's gallant but unsuccessful battle against Antony, for which he paid with his life on 7 December 43 BC.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Against Verres (II, 5): How Not to Govern a Province
2. For Murena: When to Sacrifice a Principle
3. For Balbus: The Admission of Foreigners to Citizenship
4. On the State (III): The Ideal Form of Government (V, VI): The Good Statesman
5. On Laws (III): How to Run the Ideal Government
6. The Brutus: The Importance of Oratory
7. The Philippics (IV, V, X): Against Rule by One Man
Appendix I: Some of the Arguments used in For Balbus
Appendix II: Minor Orators Mentioned in the Brutus
Maps
The Roman Empire in 51 B.C.
Italy Sicily Eastern Europe The East Western Europe and North Africa Plan of Rome

Further Reading

Index