:) I really am unfair to Cicero, I know it. I have a visceral reaction to the gap between what he wrote in his philosophy, what he wrote to Atticus and others in his letters, what he actually DID in his political career, and my conviction that if a patriot and a man of such talents could have risen above his insecurities, the problems of the Republic might have been solved without recourse to Caesar's solution.

I suppose I blame him, because he was NEARLY great in a time that required someone supporting the Republic to be TRULY great, and thus in a way, I think he ended up being part of the problem and not the solution.

That said, his writings are possibly the single greatest asset that has come down to us, and the centuries and centuries when "Tully" (I was stunned to realize that, well into the 18th century, that was how European scholars referred to him) influenced men and women for the better, cannot be underestimated.

I'm particularly taken by the view of him in Robert Harris' Imperium, in which I think we'll see Cicero at his best and Cicero at his worst - which makes him, far more than Caesar, a totally recognizeable human being we can identify with today. Maybe that Titan worshipped by the Victorians can, after we reveal his feet of clay, find a more honest evaluation in history.

For Safiria - I remember the first time I read the Pro Marcello and cross-checked it with what Cicero was writing to Atticus and others at the time, and thought "You honey-tongued hypocrite!" lol