Cicero

Praise for Cicero

“In the half-century before the assassination of Julius Caesar … Rome endured a series of crises, assassinations, factional bloodletting, civil wars and civil strife, including at one point government by gang war. This period, when republican government slid into dictatorship, is one of history’s most fascinating, and one learns a great deal about it in this excellent and very readable biography.”

—The Plain Dealer

“An excellent introduction to a critical period in the history of Rome. Cicero comes across much as he must have lived: reflective, charming and rather vain.”

—The Wall Street Journal

“Riveting … a clear-eyed biography … Cicero’s times … offer vivid lessons about the viciousness that can pervade elected government.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Lively and dramatic … By the book’s end, he’s managed to put enough flesh on Cicero’s old bones that you care when the agents of his implacable enemy, Mark Antony, kill him.”

—Los Angeles Times

“Everitt is an attentive biographer who continuously rehearses and refines his account of the motives of his subject.… His … achievement is to have replaced the austere classroom effigy with an altogether rounder, more awkward and human person.”

—Financial Times

“Wonderful … This is biography at its best—excellent research, an approachable writing style, a knack for making an ancient ancestor relevant to today’s world without overreaching.… Yes, the Roman Republic differed greatly from the United States. But political machinations then resonate today, because the way an accomplished politician wins popular support has not changed all that much.”

—Denver Post

“A highly readable examination not only of a great man’s career but also of an important chapter in the history of Western civilization. There may be lessons in the death throes of the Roman Republic for those of us who hope to protect our own freedoms in a changing and dangerous world.”

—Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

“Everitt is a skillful, deft, articulate and often humorous expositor.… Cicero is fortunate to have found in Everitt one who is at home in the ancient world and able to communicate to readers of the present time.”

—The Seattle Times/Post Intelligencer

“Brilliant … not only deeply and carefully researched but well-crafted in a style that should appeal to a wide variety of readers … Everitt has made a man of antiquity a flesh-and-blood person with recognizable flaws, as well as impressive strengths.”

—Deseret News

“Cicero mastered the essence of politics. He preached the difference between authority and power. He was an orator who wrote poetry, a politician who read history, ruthless yet able to articulate the demands of clemency, democracy and the rights of free men under law.… If good government is rooted in history and history in biography, Cicero is the man of the hour.”

—The Times (London)

“Anthony Everitt … is a brilliant guide to the intricacies of Roman politics.… [He] has written a book which is unobtrusively crammed with fascinating information about Roman life and customs, splendidly clear and coherent in its narrative and altogether convincing in its portraiture.”

—Dublin Sunday Independent

“Superb … Cicero’s political life forms the real backbone of this book.… As an explicator, [Everitt] is admirably informative and free from breathlessness. He has a sophisticated conception of character, too, including a willingness—so crucial in biographers—to embrace contradictions.”

—Independent on Sunday

“Everitt’s masterful biography draws on Cicero’s letters to his friend Atticus to give a clear picture of the famous Roman orator.… A staunch defender of the Roman Republic, Cicero spent his career battling foes such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.… Everitt does a superb job of bringing the last days of the Roman Republic to life, and he accurately portrays the tenuous political situation that marked the times. Most important, he creates a sympathetic portrait of Cicero.”

—Booklist (starred)