Anthony Trollope

The Life of Cicero Anthony Trollope

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC) was an orator, statesman, and philosopher. Anthony Trollope, admired Cicero greatly and wrote The Life of Cicero in two volumes, with the intention of setting the record straight, that Cicero was a courageous and moral man. Volume I (up to the year 57BC) deals with Cicero's education, his rise through the courts and offices of state to the Consulship, and his exile. Volume II (BC 57-43) deals with the civil war between Cesar and Pompey, the death of his daughter Tullia, Cesar's dictatorship and assassination. In a panegyric voice Trollope writes: "There was a humanity in Cicero, a something almost of Christianity... To have loved his neighbor as himself before the teaching of Christ was much for a man to achieve, and that he did this is what I claim for Cicero." This edition -which includes Volume I and II- dispenses with footnotes, and bibliographical citations; having read this book several times, I can say that rarely did I consult them. This book gives great insight not only into the life of Cicero, but also into Trollope's mind and character. This biography reads like a novel.