Cicero lived, orated, and wrote, in a very tumultuous time in Roman history. Professor Katharina Volk, Department of Classics, Columbia University in the City of New York, joins the show to examine the middle and later periods of his life.
Some topics explored
- Who Marcus Tullius Cicero (Cicero) was
- When and why the First Triumvirate was formed
- What’s known about Cicero’s exile including who he may have gone into exile with
- If Cicero favoured a primary form of government that was triumvirate- or senator-based
- What was required to become a Senator in Rome and how the Senate functioned in the period
- Publius Clodius Pulcher who influenced Caesar’s exile
- The Catilinarian conspiracy and the Senate-endorsed executions that followed
- The over 900 letters that relate to Cicero that survive
- His best friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus (Atticus)
- Cicero’s publications
- Pompey being defeated
- Caesar’s policy of clemency when he gained power
- Caesar pardoning Cicero
- Cicero’s house being taken over, and Cicero’s legally
- When and why the Second Triumvirate formed
- Allegiances that Cicero may have had with figures such as Julius Caesar and Octavian Augustus
- His first wife, Terentia
- His second wife, Publilia
- The Proscription List
- His son, Marcus Cicero Tullius Minor (Cicero the Younger or Cicero Minor)
- The assassination of Cicero
- The circumstances surrounding his death
- Why so much of Cicero’s writings survive
- How history may be viewed differently if Cicero’s writings didn’t survive
Listen to the episode
The episode is available on major podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Show Notes
- Professor Volk is author of the forthcoming book The Roman Republic of Letters: Scholarship, Phiolosphy & Politics in the Age of Cicero and Caesar (Princeton University Press, October 2021)
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