{"id":75880,"date":"2026-08-02T14:40:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/?p=75880"},"modified":"2026-08-02T14:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T18:50:26","slug":"cicero-sez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/2026\/08\/cicero-sez.html","title":{"rendered":"Cicero Sez"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My two years of high school Latin got me to Julius Caesar’s account of his exploits in the Gallic war <\/b>Commentarii de Bello Gallico<\/strong><\/em><\/span>,<\/strong> written in a straightforward, rather simple style. Unfortunately, I never took third-year Latin, which would have got me to Cicero, whose style was more sophisticated, more complex, and thus more difficult. But I have read Cicero in English and his words of wisdom are eminently clear. Here are some excerpts, which I’ve versified,<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Cicero:1st century B.C.
(Musei Capitolini)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
...<\/strong> the recollection in calm
of a sorrow that is past
is pleasure of a kind.<\/strong>
Anzio, April or May, 54 B.C.<\/em>
from Letters on His Consulship and Exile
Letter Four, To Lucius Lucceius
[Ad Familiares, V, 12]<\/em><\/font>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

... the study of letters
is the food of youth,
the delight of old age,
the ornament of prosperity,
the refuge and comfort of adversity,
a delight at home and no burden abroad;
it stays with us at night,
and goes with us on our travels, 
near and far.<\/strong>                     
from In Defense of Archias [Pro Archias] (62 B.C.)<\/em><\/font>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

Wise men tell us that, <\/strong>
whereas the practice of all other arts <\/strong>
is based on systematic instruction <\/strong>
and acquired skills, <\/strong>
the true poet is a born poet, <\/strong>
supported by forces within his own soul, <\/strong>
and inspired by a vision that is divine. <\/strong>
So our own great poet Ennuis <\/strong>
says rightly that poets are holy, <\/strong>
being sent to us as a gift or reward <\/strong>
from the gods. <\/strong>
Let the name of poet be sacred to you, <\/strong>
gentlemen, civilized as you all are, <\/strong>
since not even barbarians <\/strong>
have ever desecrated it! <\/strong>
Rocks and deserts <\/strong>
echo the human voice; <\/strong>
savage beasts are often moved <\/strong>
and tamed by song. <\/strong>
Shall we, so nobly nurtured, <\/strong>
stop our ears to a poet's words?<\/strong>
from<\/font> In Defense of Archias<\/em> [Pro Archias]<\/font><\/em>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

... even the grimmest enemy <\/strong>
of the Muses will readily consent <\/strong>
to have his own deeds <\/strong>
made immortal in poetry. <\/strong>
Themistocles, the great man of Athens, <\/strong>
when asked what music <\/strong>
or whose voice <\/strong>
he liked best to hear, <\/strong>
is said to have replied: <\/strong>
\"The voice of him <\/strong>
who best celebrates my exploits.\"
<\/strong>from In Defense of Archias [Pro Archias]<\/em><\/em><\/font>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

<\/em>A mediocre poet <\/strong>
in the crowd <\/strong>
once offered Sulla <\/strong>
a flattering epigram, <\/strong>
with every other line <\/strong>
a little too long; <\/strong>
and we saw Sulla <\/strong>
instantly present him <\/strong>
with a gift out of the spoils <\/strong>
he was then selling off, <\/strong>
on condition that <\/strong>
he would write no more.<\/strong>
<\/em>from<\/font> In Defense of Archias<\/font><\/em> [Pro Archias]
<\/font><\/em>
\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

How can I move you by my speech? <\/strong>
If Caesar's fate cannot show you <\/strong>
that it is better to be loved than feared, <\/strong>
no words will have any affect on you. <\/strong>
Those who once thought Caesar happy <\/strong>
are most miserable themselves. <\/strong>
No man is happy who lives in such a way <\/strong>
that he can be killed not merely with impunity, <\/strong>
but actually to the greater glory of his slayer. <\/strong>
Hence, I entreat you, change you methods! <\/strong>
Follow the example of your ancestors, <\/strong>
and rule the state so that your fellow citizens <\/strong>
may rejoice that you were born, <\/strong>
for without their affection <\/strong>
no one can be happy or illustrious, <\/strong>
however powerful he may be.<\/strong>
from a series of speeches 
delivered between September 2, 44 and April 21, 43 B.C.
First Philippic Against Mark Antony [In Antonium, I]<\/em><\/font>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

... a man who considers pain <\/strong>
the supreme evil <\/strong>
can never be brave; <\/strong>
one who calls pleasure <\/strong>
the supreme good <\/strong>
can never be temperate. <\/strong>
The truth of this observation <\/strong>
is so patent <\/strong>
that it needs no argument ...<\/strong>
from<\/font> On Duty: Book One [De Officis 1]
<\/em><\/font><\/em>written during the last few months of 44 B.C.<\/font>

\u00b0\u00b0\u00b0

<\/em>Most men are inclined <\/strong>
to forget justice altogether, <\/strong>
when once the craving <\/strong>
for military power <\/strong>
or political honors and glory <\/strong>
has taken possession of them. <\/strong>

Remember the saying of Ennius,

   \"When crowns are at stake
    No friendship is sacred, no faith will be kept,\"

\u2014 words that have a wide application.<\/strong>

For whenever a situation is such <\/strong>
that only one man can be on top, <\/strong>
the competition is ordinarily so bitter <\/strong>
that to preserve \"sacred friendship\" <\/strong>
is very difficult. <\/strong>
An example of this behavior <\/strong>
was given just recently <\/strong>
by the unscrupulous Julius Caesar, <\/strong>
who disregarded all rights, <\/strong>
divine and human, <\/strong>
in order to attain <\/strong>
his ill-conceived and imaginary <\/strong>
supreme command. <\/strong>
<\/em>from<\/font> On Duty: Book One [De Officis 1]<\/em><\/font>
<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
All excerpts taken from Selected Works of Cicero<\/em> \u00a9 1948 by Walter J. Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My two years of high school Latin got me to Julius Caesar’s account of his exploits in the Gallic war, written in a straightforward, rather simple style. Unfortunately, I never took third-year Latin, which would have got me to Cicero, whose style was more sophisticated, more complex, and thus more difficult. But I have read Cicero in English and his words of wisdom are eminently clear.<\/strng><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":75919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26,18,4,23,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","category-literature","category-main","category-news","category-political-culture","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bust-of-cicero.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbvgEs-jJS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75880"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75953,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75880\/revisions\/75953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}