Tullius Cicero - The oration of Deseze, in defence of Lewis the Sixteenth, King of France: pronounced at the bar of the National Convention, on Wednesday, the 26th of December, 1792, in the first year of the

Translated with an Introduction and Notes by

SIOBHN McELDUFF

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First published in Penguin Classics 2011

Translation and editorial material Siobhn McElduff, 2011

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ISBN: 978-0-14-197093-6

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MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO (10643 BCE ), Roman orator and statesman, was born at Arpinum of a wealthy local family. He was taken to Rome for his education with the idea of a public career and, by the year 70, he had established himself as the leading barrister in Rome. In the meantime, his political career was well under way and he was elected . As a politician he compromised for the good of the Republic; as a statesman, his ideals were more honourable and unselfish than those of his contemporaries. Cicero was the greatest of the Roman orators, possessing a wide range of technique and an exceptional command of the Latin tongue. He followed the common practice of publishing his speeches, but he also produced a large number of works on the theory and practice of rhetoric, on religion, and on moral and political philosophy. He played a leading part in the development of the Latin hexameter. Perhaps the most interesting of all his works is the collection of 900 remarkably informative letters, published posthumously. These not only contain a first-hand account of social and political life in the upper classes at Rome, but also reflect the changing personal feelings of an emotional and sensitive man.

SIOBHN McELDUFF is assistant professor of Latin Language and Literature in the Department of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia. A native of Ireland, she is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, the University of Victoria (BC) and the University of Southern California. Her research is on the history and theory of translation in Rome and, in particular, the role of Cicero in that history; she has published several articles on this topic and is currently working on a monograph on the subject. She also works on the history of classical reception among the working class in the 18th and 19th centuries, with particular reference to Ireland.

Cicero born (3 January).

9187 .

Cicero serves in the army of Pompey the Greats father.

Start of First Mithridatic War. Sullas first march on Rome. Marius flees Rome.

Death of Marius. Philosophical and Rhetorical Works: On Invention (date uncertain).

8381 Second Mithridatic War.

Sullas second march on Rome. of Marius supporters.

8179 Sullas dictatorship.

Ciceros first extant speech (In Defence of Quinctius).

Cicero delivers In Defence of Roscius of Ameria. Marries (c. 80).

7977 Cicero travels to the east and studies rhetoric in Athens and Rhodes.

Death of Sulla.

c . Cicero delivers In Defence of Roscius the Actor.

Ciceros quaestorship in Sicily.

7463 Third Mithridatic War.

7371 Verres governor of Sicily.

Delivers Against Verres. First consulship of Pompey and Crassus. Tribunes power of veto restored. loses exclusive control of juries.

Cicero . Delivers In Defence of Marcus Fonteius.

Lex Gabinia gives Pompey the command in the war against the pirates.

Ciceros praetorship. Delivers For the Manilian Law. Pompey given command in the Third Mithridatic War.

Birth of Ciceros son Marcus.

Ciceros consulship. Catilinarian conspiracy. Cicero delivers On the Agrarian Law II (January). Catilinarians delivered and Catilinarian conspirators executed (December). marries for the first time (c. 63).

Pompey returns to Italy and disbands his army. Clodius desecrates the rites of (December). Cicero delivers In Defence of Archias.

Clodius acquitted in the Bona Dea affair.

First (Caesar, Crassus and Pompey) formed.

First consulship of Caesar. Julia, Caesars daughter, marries Pompey. Clodius adopted by Fonteius and becomes a plebeian (March). Cicero unsuccessfully defends (his co-consul in 63) on an unknown charge.

Clodius . Cicero leaves Rome to go into exile (20 March). Caesar takes up his five-year command of the province of Gaul.

passes bill for Ciceros recall (4 August). Cicero returns from exile (4 September). Delivers On his house (29 September).

Cicero delivers In Defence of Sestius. Triumvirs renew their pact. Cicero successfully defends Marcus Caelius on a charge of public violence brought by Clodius.

Second consulship of Crassus and Pompey. Philosophical and rhetorical works: On the Orator.

Julia dies in childbirth.

Crassus killed by the Parthians at the battle of Carrhae. Cicero elected to the College of Augurs.

Milo kills Clodius (January). Pompey appointed sole . Cicero delivers In Defence of Milo (April).

5150 Cicero governor of Cilicia.

Philosophical and rhetorical works: On the Republic and On the Laws (date uncertain).

Caesar asks the Senate to be allowed to stand for the consulship in absentia but is refused. Cicero returns to Italy (November).

Cicero arrives in Rome (4 January). Caesar crosses the Rubicon; start of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey (10 January); Cicero joins Pompeys forces (June).

Pompey defeated at Pharsalus (August) and murdered in Egypt (September). Cicero returns to Italy and remains in Brundisium until September 47, when Caesar grants him an unconditional pardon.

Defeat of Republican forces in Africa. commits suicide (February). Cicero divorces Terentia and marries his ward, Publilia. Philosophical and rhetorical works: Brutus, Orator, Stoic Paradoxes.

Tullia dies (February). Cicero divorces Publilia. Philosophical and rhetorical works: Academica, On Ends, Tusculan Disputations, On the Nature of the Gods