Cicero, the Senior Statesman.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Overall very good and clean. - Insgesamt sehr gut und sauber. - One of the most distinguished statesmen of the late Roman Republic, Cicero has been the subject of numerous biographies. None, however, has provided a detailed and fully documented account of Cicero s life, his literary and philosophical works, and their political background. This biography by Thomas N. Mitchell, which brings to a conclusion his study of Cicero�s political life and thought begun in Cicero, the Ascending Years, is the first book to achieve this goal.The book spans the last twenty years of Cicero�s life, from the end of his consulship in 63 B.C. to his death in 43 B.C. Mitchell begins by discussing Cicero�s political and social ideas and the extent to which they reflect the institutions of traditional republicanism. He then traces the reversal in Cicero�s fortunes in the years after his consulship, describing his political isolation and his disillusionment with the conservative nobility. According to Mitchell, Cicero�s inability to find a place or party seriously affected his political behavior during this period. He was silent when Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus formed the First Triumvirate, defenseless when attacked and driven into exile, fearful and tentative in his political responses after his restoration, and reluctant when drawn into an alliance with the triumvirs. While Caesar and Pompey struggled for control of the Roman world, Cicero�s insecurity, divided loyalties, and abhorrence of civil war left him unable to decide on a course of action for months. Eventually, however, after Caesar�s assassination, Cicero seized a last hour of glory, assuming for a short time the role of preeminent princeps. Mitchell shows that although Cicero made no lasting impact on the course of political events in his time, he ended his life defending the ideals to which - through all his vicissitudes�he had remained steadfastly attached. ISBN 9780300047790