Cicero's background and education

This chapter outlines the features of Cicero's background, upbringing, education, and early career which are necessary for understanding his later references to his role models. A particular focus is the people surrounding Cicero, whom he presented as models later in life, for example L. Licinius Crassus, M. Antonius, and the Scaevolae. Attention is also given to the broad‐ranging education he received as it formed the basis for his main means to political power, his oratory, and because he was to present it as exemplary in his later treatises. This discussion will provide the basis for later chapters, which argue that Cicero's transformation of his own experience into an example for emulation formed part of his rhetoric throughout his works and career.

Cicero · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Computer Science · History