Cicero And The Res Publica
CIVIL WAR AND MARK ANTONY
The only predictable aspect of politics in Rome during this period was its instability. As he
was returning to Rome from his governorship in Cilicia in 50, Cicero received a letter
from his friend Caelius, announcing that open warfare was imminent between Caesar
and Pompey, and announcing Caelius' own allegiance to Caesar. In Cicero's absence,
Caesar's status had come under scrutiny as his governorship of Gaul (ratified as an extension
of five years at the conference of Luca in 56) was due to end on 1 March 50. Before
Cicero had reached Rome he was to receive further correspondence - from both Pompey
and Caesar each desperately encouraging him to join their own party. Cicero took advantage
of his position – while he was still responsible for his army, he was forbidden
from entering Rome. He planned to wait outside Rome, avoiding the senatorial debates
honing to work with Caesar and Pompey separately to broker some form of compromise
and avert war.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon on 10 January 49, Cicero was faced with a choice
between two sides of a civil war led by two powerful individuals. His principles led him
to favour Pompey, supporting as he did the remnants of a Roman Republic. But as we
see in his letter to Atticus in February, he was angry also with Pompey for the way he had
mismanaged his relationship with Caesar and finally run away:
‘He (Pompey] developed Caesar, then he suddenly began to fear him; he rejected all
offers of peace; he made no preparations for war; he left Rome; he was to blame for
the loss of Picenum: he confined himself in Apulia; he went to Greece; leaving us
all without a word, or letting us in on his extraordinary plan upon which so much
pended. [..] Suddenly ... (i]t seemed to me to be as though the light of honour
fashed trom Pompey's eyes [...] But Pompey bids a long goodbye to honour, and
proceeds for Brundisium [..] Oh, what a terrible business!" - Cicero, Att. 8.8
Cicero’s unenviable position he summed up in another letter to Atticus in March 49 – ‘I
Know whom to flee. but I know not whom to follow' (Att. 8.11.2).
In a personal letter to Atticus on 12 March49 (An. 9.4) from his villa at Formiae outside
Rome, Cicero explained to him the philosophical dilemmas presented to him by his political
principles. Without solutions, Cicero claimed he spent his time presenting both sides of each
argument, first in Latin, then in Greek, in the style of the exercises that Roman schoolboys
traditionally did while learning skills of argument, rhetoric and oratory.
In an attempt to help his country ‘by words', Cicero wrote to Caesar a week later on 19 March
49 trying to reconcile him with Pompey, using his skills of persuasion andappealing to
common values to try to mediate:
‘I believe, however, that your honour and the republic is also at stake as I a friend of peace
and of you both should be preserved by you as the most appropriate agent for restoring
harmony between you two and among our the citizen body.’ - Cicero, Att. 9.11a
CIVIL WAR AND MARK ANTONY
The only predictable aspect of politics in Rome during this period was its instability. As he
was returning to Rome from his governorship in Cilicia in 50, Cicero received a letter
from his friend Caelius, announcing that open warfare was imminent between Caesar
and Pompey, and announcing Caelius' own allegiance to Caesar. In Cicero's absence,
Caesar's status had come under scrutiny as his governorship of Gaul (ratified as an extension
of five years at the conference of Luca in 56) was due to end on 1 March 50. Before
Cicero had reached Rome he was to receive further correspondence - from both Pompey
and Caesar each desperately encouraging him to join their own party. Cicero took advantage
of his position – while he was still responsible for his army, he was forbidden
from entering Rome. He planned to wait outside Rome, avoiding the senatorial debates
honing to work with Caesar and Pompey separately to broker some form of compromise
and avert war.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon on 10 January 49, Cicero was faced with a choice
between two sides of a civil war led by two powerful individuals. His principles led him
to favour Pompey, supporting as he did the remnants of a Roman Republic. But as we
see in his letter to Atticus in February, he was angry also with Pompey for the way he had
mismanaged his relationship with Caesar and finally run away:
‘He (Pompey] developed Caesar, then he suddenly began to fear him; he rejected all
offers of peace; he made no preparations for war; he left Rome; he was to blame for
the loss of Picenum: he confined himself in Apulia; he went to Greece; leaving us
all without a word, or letting us in on his extraordinary plan upon which so much
pended. [..] Suddenly ... (i]t seemed to me to be as though the light of honour
fashed trom Pompey's eyes [...] But Pompey bids a long goodbye to honour, and
proceeds for Brundisium [..] Oh, what a terrible business!" - Cicero, Att. 8.8
Cicero’s unenviable position he summed up in another letter to Atticus in March 49 – ‘I
Know whom to flee. but I know not whom to follow' (Att. 8.11.2).
In a personal letter to Atticus on 12 March49 (An. 9.4) from his villa at Formiae outside
Rome, Cicero explained to him the philosophical dilemmas presented to him by his political
principles. Without solutions, Cicero claimed he spent his time presenting both sides of each
argument, first in Latin, then in Greek, in the style of the exercises that Roman schoolboys
traditionally did while learning skills of argument, rhetoric and oratory.
In an attempt to help his country ‘by words', Cicero wrote to Caesar a week later on 19 March
49 trying to reconcile him with Pompey, using his skills of persuasion andappealing to
common values to try to mediate:
‘I believe, however, that your honour and the republic is also at stake as I a friend of peace
and of you both should be preserved by you as the most appropriate agent for restoring
harmony between you two and among our the citizen body.’ - Cicero, Att. 9.11a
