Lorna Kendall, age 16, of Pittsfield, Mass., for her question:
WHO WAS CICERO?
Marcus Tullius Cicero, who lived from 106 B.C. until 43 B.C., was a distinguished Roman orator and statesman. He was a strong believer in the republican form of government and fought to save the dying Roman Republic.
Cicero studied law, oratory, Greek literature and philosophy in both Rome and Greece. He won his first fame and riches as a defense lawyer.
In one case, Cicero served as prosecutor and represented the people of Sicily against Gaius Verres, robber governor of the island. Cicero was so effective that Verres went into exile without waiting for a verdict.
Cicero gained the office of consul in 63 B.C. As consul, he crushed the conspiracy of Roman politician Catiline against the republic. His greatest speech at this time was his First Oration Against Catiline. It is famous in literature.
Cicero was not well liked by the conservative nobles, but he refused to join Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus in the First Triumvirate in 60 B.C. As a result, he was banished from Rome from 58 to 57 B.C. and turned to writing essays in philosophy, oratory, political theory and theology.
Cicero's writings had great influence on later writers. His letters, of which almost 1,000 survive, give an excellent picture of the times and reflect his feelings and cultured outlook.
Caesar and Cicero were reconciled after Pompey's defeat at Pharalus in 48 B.C. But Cicero approved of Caesar's murder and for a short time in 44 B.C. he was the real (though unofficial) leader of the Senate.
Cicero launched a great attack on Mark Anthony in a series of 14 speeches, known as the Philippics, which drove Anthony out of Rome. But Cicero's triumph was short lived and his attack caused his downfall. Octavian, later the Emperor Augustus, condemned Cicero to death and he was slain trying to escape from his home.
Cicero ranks among the greatest of ancient writers and his eloquent orations are unsurpassed in Roman literature. He was responsible for developing a style in Latin prose that has become the basis of literary expression in the languages of Europe.
Cicero definitely holds first place among the important early Roman orators.
In Rhetorica ad Herennium, written about 86 B.C., Cicero states that an orator must divide his preparation of a speech into five steps:
1. Intention: an analysis of the speech situation and audience with an investigation and study of subject matter.
2. Disposition: the arrangement of the speech material with an introduction, discussion and conclusion.
3. Style: the use and grouping of words to express ideas clearly, accurately, vividly and appropriately.
4. Memory: the method of memorizing material.
5. Delivery: the oral presentation.
Cicero felt that a great orator must be a man of great learning and that the "proper concern of an orator is language of power and elegance accommodating to the feelings and understandings of mankind."