CICERO 



1377 



CID 



the declining republic, universally acknowl- 

 edged to be "the most eloquent of the sons 

 of Romulus." 

 Born at Arpinum, 

 of an ancient 

 family of the 

 order of knights, 

 he was early sent 

 to Rome to be 

 educated. He 

 completed his 

 regular schooling 

 with courses in 

 law and philos- 

 ophy, and also 

 enj oyed a thor- 

 ough training in 

 the art of ora- 

 tory. At the age 

 of twenty-six he 



began his public CICERO 



career as a 



pleader in the law courts; after a period of 

 travel, in which he visited the great centers 

 of learning in Asia Minor and Athens, he re- 

 turned to Rome and soon rose to first rank 

 among the great orators at the Roman bar. 



Cicero was elected quaestor for the year 75 

 B. c. and was assigned to Sicily, where he so 

 pleased the people by the just performance of 

 his duties that in 70 B. c. they called upon him 

 to conduct their suit against the robber-gov- 

 ernor of the island, the infamous Verres. 

 Though Verres employed the celebrated Hor- 

 tensius to plead his cause, Cicero's first speech 

 against him was such a triumph of oratory 

 that he fled into voluntary exile. Cicero then 

 rose rapidly in power and public esteem, gain- 

 ing the consulship in 63 B. c., through successive 

 steps. It was during his term as consul that 

 he exposed the wicked conspiracy of Catiline 

 (which see), and drove the traitor in shame 

 from the Senate by his masterpiece of oratory 

 known as The First Oration Against Catiline. 



Cicero, then at the height of his power, was 

 hailed as the "father of his country" and the 

 "savior of the state," but there was to be a 

 turn in the tide of his fortunes. Soon after 

 he completed his term of office his enemies 

 charged him with having executed the leaders 

 in the conspiracy of Catiline without giving 

 them a legal trial, and Publius Clodius, the 

 tribune of the people, raised such a storm of 

 popular indignation that Cicero was forced to 

 go into exile, choosing Thessalonica as his 

 place of refuge (58 B.C.). 

 87 



Sixteen months later he was recalled to 

 Rome. Events were moving rapidly forward 

 toward the great struggle for the control of 

 the Roman world, with Caesar and Pompey 

 the leading men in the state. When Cicero 

 returned from a year's administration of the 

 province of Cilicia (50 B. c.) he found Italy 

 on the verge of civil war. He gave Pompey 

 his half-hearted support, and after the latter's 

 crushing defeat at Pharsalia, fled to Brundisium 

 to await the decision of Caesar concerning 

 him. That great leader forgave him and 

 treated him with great kindness, and after 

 Caesar's assassination Cicero composed a series 

 of orations against Mark Antony. These, the 

 celebrated Philippics, were the cause of his 

 downfall. When Antony, Lepidus and Octavius 

 (later the Emperor Augustus) in 43 B.C. 

 formed the second triumvirate, Cicero's name 

 appeared on the list of those condemned to 

 death, and while attempting to escape from 

 his villa at Tusculum he was beheaded by a 

 band of Antony's soldiers. 



Cicero ranks among the greatest of the 

 ancient writers, and his orations are unsur- 

 passed in Roman literature for beauty of lan- 

 guage and grace and eloquence of style. The 

 four Orations Against Catiline are familiar to 

 the high-school student of Latin. Among 

 other writings are the fourteen Philippics 

 against Antony, the essays on Friendship and 

 Old Age and numerous charming letters that 

 give a wonderful picture of the age in which 

 he lived. W.L.W. 



Related Subjects. For further investigation 

 Into the historical setting of Cicero's life, see 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Antony, Mark Consul 



Catiline Quaestor 



Caesar, Caius Julius Triumvirate 



CID, sid, THE, the name applied in song and 

 story to the great national hero of Spain, who 

 lived in the latter part of the eleventh cen- 

 tury. His real name was RODRIGO, or RUT 

 DIAZ; "the Cid" comes from the Arabic El 

 Seid, meaning the lord. He first appears in 

 history in the reign of Ferdinand I, and under 

 the successors of that monarch he won dis- 

 tinction as a great warrior. Banished from 

 the realm by Alphonso of Castile, he began the 

 adventurous career of a soldier of fortune, and 

 for years battled for the Arabian kings of 

 Saragossa in Northeastern Spain, fighting their 

 Mohammedan and Christian enemies alike. 

 In 1094 he made himself master of the city 

 of Valencia. After five years of supremacy, 



