Cicero: Philippics I-II Philippics I-II

This edition is the first since J.D. Denniston's of 1926 to present the Latin text and commentary on the First and Second Philippics, two of Cicero's most polished orations, composed less than six months after the murder of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC. This period--roughly 63-44 BC--is important because the Roman state was in transition from Republic to Empire. The Second Philippic not only presents Cicero's assessment of his own political career and his place in Roman history from a perspective late in his life, but it also provides a vivid eyewitness account of how Julius Caesar, with the help of Mark Antony, made himself master of Rome.

This edition is the first since J. D. Denniston's of 1926 to present the Latin text of and a commentary on the First and Second Philippics, two of the most polished orations in the Ciceronian corpus. These speeches, which were composed less than six months after the murder of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC, offer a scathing account of the early years and the rise to power of Mark Antony, Caesar's chief lieutenant. The period covered by these speeches (roughly 63–44 BC) is an important one because the Roman state was in transition from Republic to Empire. The Second Philippic not only gives us Cicero's assessment of his own political career and place in Roman history from a perspective late in life, but it also provides a vivid eyewitness account of how the dominance first of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony was shifting the locus of power from the Senate and Roman aristocracy to a single dynast.

Preface; References and abbreviations; Map 1: the Roman world in 50 BC; Map 2: Rome in the Late Republic; Calendar of events of 44 BC; Introduction; 1. Historical background; 2. Survey of the primary sources; 3. The Philippics; 4. Prose rhythm; 5. The text; M. TVLLI CICERONIS IN M. ANTONIVM ORATIO PHILIPPICA PRIMA; M. TVILLI CICERONIS IN M. ANTONIVM ORATIO PHILIPPICA SECVNDA; Commentary; Indexes.

This edition makes these two masterpieces of Latin literature accessible to students as works of literature and as historical sources. The commentary is the most thorough ever published in English, and no speech of Cicero covers a broader range of history than the Second Philippic, roughly 63 to 44 BC.

John T. Ramsey is Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His publications include two commentaries on Sallust and Cicero and, with A. Lewis Licht, a monograph entitled The Comet of 44 BC and Caesar's Funeral Games (1997; ISBN HB 0788 502735; PB 0788 502743).