I have read the letters of Cicero several times over the last 30 years and each time I am reminded at both the high sophistication and the deadly nature of ancient Roman politics. We have scarcely changed in 2,000 years. My view on Cicero is similar to Brad’s. He dithered and worried and in the end failed miserably at what he sought. His…
I have read the letters of Cicero several times over the last 30 years and each time I am reminded at both the high sophistication and the deadly nature of ancient Roman politics. We have scarcely changed in 2,000 years. My view on Cicero is similar to Brad’s. He dithered and worried and in the end failed miserably at what he sought. His whole life seemed to be sucking up to the conservative wing, but being a ‘new man’ they never took him seriously. In the end, feeling betrayed by the party he so desperately tried to be at the center of, and never able to psychically ever align with the populares, he decided to write his own death sentence with the The Philipics, brutally taking down Marc Antony and railing against autocracy, for which, I think, he knew the outcome. I kind of feel he felt abandoned by all and could only denounce the new anti-conservative imperial regime. On the good side, his railing against tyranny found root in the founding generation here in America. I think a movie about him would be fascinating as could be. In today’s world, he is just like many old-line Rs turned rabid MAGA, saying and doing things they know they should not do. Timely piece, brad. Thanks.
I have read the letters of Cicero several times over the last 30 years and each time I am reminded at both the high sophistication and the deadly nature of ancient Roman politics. We have scarcely changed in 2,000 years. My view on Cicero is similar to Brad’s. He dithered and worried and in the end failed miserably at what he sought. His whole life seemed to be sucking up to the conservative wing, but being a ‘new man’ they never took him seriously. In the end, feeling betrayed by the party he so desperately tried to be at the center of, and never able to psychically ever align with the populares, he decided to write his own death sentence with the The Philipics, brutally taking down Marc Antony and railing against autocracy, for which, I think, he knew the outcome. I kind of feel he felt abandoned by all and could only denounce the new anti-conservative imperial regime. On the good side, his railing against tyranny found root in the founding generation here in America. I think a movie about him would be fascinating as could be. In today’s world, he is just like many old-line Rs turned rabid MAGA, saying and doing things they know they should not do. Timely piece, brad. Thanks.