# 74 - CICERO
Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in 106 BC in a small municipality of Arpinum, 100 kilometers from Rome – He was assassinated in 43 BC, in Rome, at the age of 63. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a well-to-do member of the equestrian order, a wealthy landowner who possessed good connections in Rome.
Cicero was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, and philosopher. His extensive writings include treatises on rhetoric, philosophy, and politics. He is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
During his time in Roman history, "cultured" meant being able to speak both Latin and Greek. Cicero was therefore educated in the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers, poets, and historians, he obtained much of his understanding of the theory and practice of rhetoric from the Greek poet Licinius Archias, and from the Greek rhetorician Apollonius Molon.
Cicero used his knowledge of Greek to translate many of the theoretical concepts of Greek philosophy into Latin, thus translating Greek philosophical works for a larger audience. It was precisely his broad education that tied him to the traditional Roman elite.
Cicero introduced into Latin, the arguments of the chief schools of Hellenistic philosophy, and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary with neologisms such as: evidentia, humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia, distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher.
Cicero has been traditionally considered the master of Latin prose.
Quintilian, a well know Roman educator declared, that Cicero was "not the name of a man, but of eloquence itself. The English word Ciceronian (means "eloquent") derive from his name. He is credited with transforming Latin from a modest utilitarian language into a versatile literary medium, capable of expressing abstract and complicated thoughts with clarity.
Though, he was an accomplished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. Following Gaius Julius Caesar's death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony, who view Cicero as an enemy of the state, consequently, Cicero was executed.
Today Cicero is appreciated primarily for his humanism and philosophical and political writings. His voluminous correspondence, much of it addressed to his friend Atticus, this correspondence has been especially influential, for introducing the art of refined letter writing, to the European culture.
According to John William Mackail, the reformer of the British education system "Cicero's unique and imperishable glory is that he created the language of the civilized world and used that language to create a style, which nineteen centuries have not replaced, and in some respects have hardly altered.
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