History Creator / Cicero

* AmoralAttorney: Depends on your point of view, but he ''did'' defend a few people - some of them murderers - who he likely knew were guilty.

* DownerEnding: Whether you like him or not, Cicero truly believed in the Roman Republic and was assassinated for speaking out against those who were tearing it apart.

* EveryoneHasStandards: He criticized in one of his earlier letters, UsefulNotes/MarcusJuniusBrutus, for extorting a high interest rate of 48 percent, and basically hiring out goons to make poor people pay up. Cicero was no friend of the poor, but even this was a bit much for him. This of course raises questions about how seriously we can take his praise and support for Brutus after Caesar's assassination because in private, he characterized him as an asshole.

* GoodParents: he loved his daughter Tullia dearly, slipping into a lengthy HeroicBSOD when she died.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: was well known for changing sides, something he angsted about.

* InsufferableGenius: he knew perfectly well how clever he was and had no problem letting anyone and everyone know it.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Or Embarrassing ''Cognomen'' in this case: the Roman biographer Plutarch claimed that his name came from ''cicer'' or vetch, which his ancestor's nose is said to have resembled. Supposedly, his friends suggested that he change his name before he ran for office, but he decided [[AppropriatedAppellation he'd rather make the name "Cicero" honorable and glorious]] instead. [[DefiedTrope It worked.]]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes called "Tully" in later references), 106-43 BC, was a prominent statesmen and the preeminent orator of late Republican Rome, credited by some for being single-handedly responsible for the persistence of the ancient Greek intellectual tradition in Western culture. This is as much for the quality and content of his writings (which is quite good and interesting) as it is for its sheer volume. While by no means complete, a vast quantity of Cicero's writings and especially his letters have survived into the present day. The First Century BCE has always known to be an unusually rich era (before and afterwards) in terms of availability of information, but even in that light, Cicero stands out.

->''Non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat, partem amici. (We are not born for ourselves alone; our country, our friends have a share in us.)''
->-- '''Cicero''', De Officiis

* GracefulLoser: When Cicero's assassin came for him, he found him reclining on a litter reading a scroll. Cicero lowered the scroll to look at his soon-to-be-murderer and calmly said "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Ah, there you are]]." At least that's how historians would like to frame it.

* DoomedMoralVictor: against Mark Antony, at least as treated by historians who favored the Republic.

** There is evidence both Julius Caesar and his nephew Octavian - thence Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} - respected Cicero [[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cicero*.html#49.5 as a great man of Rome]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: He criticized in one of his earlier letters, Marcus Junius Brutus, for extorting a high interest rate of 48 percent, and basically hiring out goons to make poor people pay up. Cicero was no friend of the poor, but even this was a bit much for him. This of course raises questions about how seriously we can take his praise and support for Brutus after Caesar's assassination because in private, he characterized him as an asshole.

--> "Nevertheless, let us imagine that you could have killed me. That, Senators, is what a favour from gangsters amounts to. They refrain from murdering someone; [[InsaneTrollLogic then they boast that they have spared him]]! If that is a true favour, then those who killed Caesar, after he had spared them, would never have been regarded as so glorious -- and they are men whom you yourself habitually describe as noble. But the mere abstention from a dreadful crime is surely no sort of favour. In the situation in which this "favour" placed me, my dominant feelings ought not to have been pleasure because you did not kill me, but sorrow because you could have done so with impunity...Still, in what respect can you call me ungrateful? [[ArmorPiercingQuesion Were my protests against the downfall of our country wrong, because you might think they showed ingratitude?]]

* LoanShark: He criticized in one of his earlier letters, Marcus Junius Brutus, for extorting a high interest rate of 48 percent, and basically hiring out goons to make poor people pay up. Cicero was no friend of the poor, but even this was a bit much for him. This of course raises questions about how seriously we can take his praise and support for Brutus after Caesar's assassination because in private, he characterized him as an asshole.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes called "Tully" in later references), 106-43 BC, was a prominent statesmen and the preeminent orator of late Republican Rome, as well as being single-handedly responsible for the persistence of the ancient Greek intellectual tradition in Western culture. Most people don't like Cicero anymore, which is a pity, because despite having issues with political consistency, he was absolutely brilliant and fought to the last for the Republic on the debate floor. During the wars following the death of [[UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar Caesar]] he essentially gambled on his life and lost: he re-entered the political stage attempting to play [[UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} Octavian]] and Mark Antony against each other, which failed when they ended up joining forces in the Second Triumvirate, and was proscribed by Antony in 43 BC. After evading his killers for some time with help from his many sympathizers, he was eventually betrayed later that year. Unable to escape or fight, he acted as a true philosopher and calmly offered his neck to the centurion's sword.

* ArchEnemy: To Mark Antony. To a much lesser extent, Julius Caesar as well. They tended to be on different sides of a debate - especially during the civil war - but they shared a grudging respect for each other. Cicero was genuinely surprised by the assassination of Caesar, though seemed to at least somewhat approve of it, praising Brutus in some of his speeches, and even remarking in one of his letters that he wished he had been present for it.

* CategoryTraitor: Most critical views of Cicero in history take this approach, charging that despite his humble origins, he was strongly opposed to land and class reforms in favor of plebeians. He also tended to be something of a slumlord, being anal about tenants paying their (often inflated) rents while doing little to maintain his properties.

* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Or Embarrassing ''Cognomen'' in this case: the Roman biographer Plutarch claimed that his name came from ''cicer'' or vetch, which his ancestor's nose is said to have resembled. Supposedly, his friends suggested that he change his name before he ran for office, but he decided he'd rather make the name "Cicero" honorable and glorious instead. [[DefiedTrope It worked.]]

* GracefulLoser: When Cicero's assassin came for him, he found him reclining on a litter reading a scroll. Cicero lowered the scroll to look at his soon-to-be-murderer and calmly said "[[CrowningMomentOfFunny Ah, there you are]]."

* NonActionGuy: He was notable amongst his rivals and colleagues in having no military background. Even in during the civil wars, he took a mostly political role and went into exile rather than fight.

* SelfMadeMan: Famous for being a ''novus homo'', lacking the significant lineage of 99% of politicians at the time. He came up through the Roman law courts and was the first member of his family to be elected consul, solely on his talent. Ironically, he caught a lot of flak about this from the entrenched patrician class whose traditional rights he often had to defend against (faux-)populist reformers like Catilina and Caesar.

Not to confuse with [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim a certain jester assassin from Tamriel]] with the same name.

* ArchEnemy: To Mark Antony. To a much lesser extent, Julius Caesar as well. They tended to be on different sides of a debate - especially during the civil war - but they shared a grudging respect for each other. Cicero was genuinely surprised by the assassination of Caesar (but seemed to at least somewhat approve of it).

** Discussing the inconvenient placement of Public Holidays in the middle of a murder trial.
*** It is worth noting, after reading the above, that Cicero lost only one case. He lost that case because the court was filled with heavily armed, menacing looking men wanting a conviction and staring meaningfully at both him and the jury throughout proceedings.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Atticus.

Marcus Tullius Cicero (sometimes called "Tully" in later references), 106-43 BC, was a prominent statesmen and the preeminent orator of late Republican Rome, as well as being single-handedly responsible for the persistence of the ancient Greek intellectual tradition in Western culture. Most people don't like Cicero anymore, which is a pity, because despite having issues with political consistency, he was absolutely brilliant and fought to the last for the Republic on the debate floor. During the wars following the death of [[Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar Caesar]] he essentially gambled on his life and lost: he re-entered the political stage attempting to play [[UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} Octavian]] and Mark Antony against each other, which failed when they ended up joining forces in the Second Triumvirate, and was proscribed by Antony in 43 BC. After evading his killers for some time with help from his many sympathizers, he was eventually betrayed later that year. Unable to escape or fight, he acted as a true philosopher and calmly offered his neck to the centurion's sword.

* ArchEnemy: To Mark Antony.
** Not so much with Julius Caesar. They tended to be on different sides of a debate - especially during the civil war - but they shared a grudging respect for each other. Cicero was genuinely surprised by the assassination of Caesar.

* DeadpanSnarker: Notorious for being unable to keep his mouth shut. Octavian respected him, but didn't find it hard to let Mark Antony have his RoaringRampageOfRevenge upon him when Cicero joked about Octavian "We'll give him honors and decorations -- and then a kick downstairs."
** Plutarch relates a whole paragraph of his zingers:

* DoomedMoralVictor: against Mark Antony.

* RousingSpeech: gave these from time to time.
* SelfMadeMan: Famous for being a ''[[SelfMadeMan novus homo]]'', lacking the significant lineage of 99% of politicians at the time. He came up through the Roman law courts and was the first member of his family to be elected consul, solely on his talent. Ironically, he caught a lot of flak about this from the entrenched patrician class whose traditional rights he often had to defend against (faux-)populist reformers like Catilina and Caesar.

* WorthyOpponent: There is evidence both Julius Caesar and his nephew Octavian - thence Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} - respected Cicero [[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cicero*.html#49.5 as a great man of Rome]].

** Telling the judge he was going to ignore all courtroom procedure for the citizenship application he was arguing for and [[ItMakesSenseInContext spend the next hour discussing Greek literature]].

'''Marcus Tullius Cicero''' (sometimes called "Tully" in later references), 106-43 BC, was a prominent statesmen and the preeminent orator of late Republican Rome, as well as being single-handedly responsible for the persistence of the ancient Greek intellectual tradition in Western culture. Most people don't like Cicero anymore, which is a pity, because despite having issues with political consistency, he was absolutely brilliant and fought to the last for the Republic on the debate floor. During the wars following the death of [[Creator/GaiusJuliusCaesar Caesar]] he essentially gambled on his life and lost: he re-entered the political stage attempting to play [[UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}} Octavian]] and Mark Antony against each other, which failed when they ended up joining forces in the Second Triumvirate, and was proscribed by Antony in 43 BC. After evading his killers for some time with help from his many sympathizers, he was eventually betrayed later that year. Unable to escape or fight, he acted as a true philosopher and calmly offered his neck to the centurion's sword.

* TearJerker: whatever else you may think of him, though evidence suggests that he was a complete egomaniac, the man wholeheartedly believed in the Republic and tried desperately to save it, fighting its enemies by every means he had at his disposal, well into old age. He essentially gave his life for it, something which was rendered futile by the succession of Emperors that followed.

* In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', the [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beast]] of [[MonsterOfTheWeek episode 83]], Cicero N9, is named after him.

* {{Badass}}: he took on the Triumvirate, composed of Caesar, Pompey (brilliant generals and, in Caesar's case, a brilliant politician too) and Crassus (one of the richest men in history, a MagnificentBastard, DiabolicalMastermind and often the ManBehindTheMan in the Senate). While he failed and they brought him to heel, it took immense balls to do something like that.
** He also took on the various Caesarian warlords, most particularly Mark Antony, with no protection but his name, his reputation and his spectacular talents as an orator.

** Accusing opposing counsel of being gay.[[note]]In Roman times, there were no words like "gay" or "straight". There was "active" (top) and "passive" (bottom). He was calling the counsel "passive", as in, submissive, woman-like.[[/note]]

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: Traditionally, he was viewed very fondly by history (most likely because he was ultimately killed unjustly), even though, as demonstrated by the LongList of his CourtroomAntics, he practically invented the ChewbaccaDefense and was known for switching sides.

* GoodParents: he loved his daughter Tullia dearly, slipping into a lengthy HeroicBSOD.

* Cicero turns up in Steven Saylor's ''RomaSubRosa'' series, employing protagonist Gordianus for various reasons, including to dig up information to help his defense of Sextus Roscius and to keep an eye on Catilina during the consular elections.
* Colleen [=McCullough=]'s ''MastersOfRome'' series follows Cicero's career along with many other prominent players in the late Republic.

* Robert Harris' ''{{Imperium}}'' trilogy chronicles the life of Cicero from the perspective of his slave/scribe Tiro.