Cicero

I was born in Arpinum in 106 BCE, a novus homo among equestrians. Rome taught me law and the temper of public speech; Greek teachers schooled my mind. I rose by the courts: defending the innocent, prosecuting the corrupt. When I arraigned Gaius Verres for ravaging Sicily, he fled into exile before the verdict. The people heard my voice; the Senate took its measure.

As consul in 63, I found a conspiracy at the heart of the city. Catiline plotted fire and murder; Allobroges' letters laid it bare. Armed with the senatus consultum ultimum, I ordered the execution of Lentulus and his fellows. I did not take that step lightly. I saved Rome for a night and marked myself. Publius Clodius later drove me from the city for putting citizens to death without trial; I returned when the same people and Senate called me back.

Sent to Cilicia, I kept strict accounts and forbade plunder. At Pindenissum we took a stubborn town; the Senate decreed a supplicatio. Then civil war. I favored Pompey and, after defeat, accepted Caesar's clemency. I turned to books: on speaking, on the commonwealth, on laws, on duty, on the gods, on friendship—Greek thoughts given Latin voice.

After the Ides of March, I hoped for a restored Republic. I measured Mark Antony in the Philippics and, for a time, trusted the youth Octavian. When they made their triumvirate, my name stood on a list. I was taken near Formiae; my head and hands were set upon the Rostra where I had spoken. My letters remain. If you would ask about law, courage, and the price of saving a state, I have answered them with my life.