The rise and eventual breakdown of the Roman Republic is deemed to be one of the most important events in Roman history. Marcus Tullius Cicero had a lasting impact on the downfall of the Roman Republic, however this impact, once explored more, can be seen to be a less obvious and underlying cause. Due to Cicero’s politically-charged writings, mislead beliefs and power-hungry associates, cracks began to form to become what is now known as the downfall of the Roman Republic. The question that will be explored in this historical essay is, ‘How significant was Marcus Tullius cicero in regards to the downfall of the roman republic?’. This will be investigated through the exploration of his relationships with fellow political associates, Julius Caesar and his heir, Octavian and his political and impactful writings.
Cicero lived in a time of internal discordance and by his time, a number of fatal weaknesses had undermined the ‘ideal’ Roman Republic system. Despite this, his writings are still considered to be one of the best recorded bodies of correspondence, its influence barely waning over the centuries. It is believed that through him and his writings, the creatives of the renaissance and enlightenment eras were able to discover the riches of classical rhetoric and philosophy. The “highly important almost 900 surviving letters by Cicero” recorded the events of the day and historically solidified his opinions and thoughts on the events of that era. Despite this, historians argue that his works should be “taken with a grain of salt because Cicero was writing and delivering them in order to achieve some legal outcome and/or political goal and by his own admission, not above saying misleading or inaccurate things if he thought they would be effective” (Clayton, N/A). Becoming worthy of preservation by the “early Catholic church declaring him a ‘Righteous Pagan’” and “Saint Augustine and others quoting liberally from his works The Republic and The Laws” (New World Encyclopedia, 2017), Cicero’s memory was able to live on long after his pen touched paper. Cicero “subordinated philosophy to politics” (Clayton, N/A), and through his writings and speeches, explored the “defence, and if possible the improvement, of the Roman Republic” and “the politicians he believed were corrupt”. Two people that revolved around Cicero’s life that he especially discussed were Julius Caesar and his son, Octavian.
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When the Roman political and legal system underwent the change to become a republic, it meant that a senate governed Rome. Two consuls held the power to appoint members, their strict incumbency restrictive to avoid a dictatorial emergence. Despite their restrictive ways, discontent within the senate resulted in civil wars and further, the culmination of the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. In the minds of the various, Julius Caesar was a tyrannical dictator who had usurped the Roman constitution. Marcus Tullius Cicero, however, was a strong advocate for the restoration of the Roman Republic and very against Caesar’s ways, with most ancient authors who wrote about him noting that he was disinclined to engage in military service and hated violence. Despite this, he did not participate in the conspiracy to assassinate Caesar, allegedly congratulating the assassins ‘well done’ instead. Furthermore, authors John P.V Dacre Balsdon and John Ferguson of the reliable secondary source, Encyclopaedia Britannica state “in the months following Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero delivered several speeches that urged the Senate to support Octavian in his struggle against Mark Antony. When Octavian and Antony reconciled, a centurion murdered Cicero on Antony’s order. Cicero’s head and hands were nailed to the rostra in the Roman Forum” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). This information on his death is corroborated in Appian’s primary recount, when it is stated that “As he leaned out of the litter and offered his neck unmoved, his head was cut off. Nor did this satisfy the senseless cruelty of the soldiers. They cut off his hands, also, for the offense of having written something against Antony. Thus, the head was brought to Antony and placed by his order between the two hands on the rostra, where, often as consul, often as a consular, and, that very year against Antony, he had been heard with admiration of his eloquence, the like of which no other human voice ever uttered” (Appian, N/A) and the articulately written source by National Geographic stating “Antony ordered that the severed head and right hand be displayed as trophies on the rostrum in the Forum so that all Rome could contemplate them. The rostrum was the very platform from which Cicero had been acclaimed by the crowds for his oratory” (Banos, 2019). Each of these sources provide a fluent, emphatic recount of Cicero’s assassination and despite the fact that there could be some bias, it can be believed that these sources and their information are reliable. Cicero’s indignation towards Caesar when both of them were alive was clear. This can especially be seen when Cicero discusses Caesar ‘on duties 3.83’ stating, “Behold the man who conceived a great desire to be king of the Romans and master of the entire world, and accomplished this. Whoever says that this desire was honourable is a madman, since he approves of the death of the laws and liberty, and considers their hideous and repulsive suppression glorious” (Cicero, N/A). This source could obviously contain bias as it is coming from Cicero’s point of view, as some of his sources are known to be “self-serving” however, this is an authentic and reliable source. One would think once Caesar was assassinated, Cicero’s issues with him would cease. However, Caesar known as his son, Octavian caused even more issues for Cicero.
Towards the end of the Roman Republic, Cicero attempted to defend the Republican government that Rome had maintained for almost 500 years. He put too much misguided trust into the heir and follower of Caesar, Octavian, to help him preserve the Republic. The result of this trust was that Octavian overthrew the republic, exiled many of his enemies and left “Cicero’s head and hands were nailed to the rostra in the Roman Forum” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). Cicero’s biggest mistake can be found in him asking the senate to make Octavian proprietor and give him military command. After Caesar was assassinated, in the months succeeding, “Cicero delivered several speeches that urged the Senate to support Octavian in his struggle against Mark Antony” (Dacre Balsdon & Ferguson, 2019). Cicero was “elected Praetor…at the earliest age permitted by law” (Simkin, 1997) allowing him to have power in his society. Through this power he was able to not only urge to senate to support Octavian, but also “uncovered and suppressed an attempted coup led by Catiline”, later “executing five of the conspirators without trial” (Steel, 2009). This is corroborated by ‘philosophers.co.uk’ source stating that “He exposed the Catilina conspiracy which foresaw his assassination and overthrow of the Roman Republic” (philosophers.co.uk, 2012). So, it can be seen that, despite the fact that lead to negative consequences, Cicero maintained a great influence in his society and therefore, the senate, when listening to his ideas of allowing Octavian to gain political power, would have, at the least, listened, and at the most, followed his words. Cicero nurtured Octavian, basically raising him, and through this created an ambitious and political man. However, once Octavian reached the position of Consul, he figuratively stabbed Cicero in the back and wouldn’t pay any ounce of attention towards him. To push the figurative knife in just that little bit deeper, Octavius became politically friendly, and eventually joined forces with Cicero’s political opponent, Mark Antony. National Geographic Society’s reliable source states that “Cicero remained loyal to the Roman Republic during his career. He viewed the informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate to be in direct opposition to the principles of the republic and authority of the Senate. By refusing to join this alliance, Cicero left himself vulnerable to attacks from his political enemies. This became an issue for Cicero when he came under fire for speaking out against the political figure and tribune Publius Clodius”.
Although, Cicero did not have as much of a massive impact on the breakdown of the Roman Republic as someone like Julius Caesar or Pompey, Cicero made actions that caused butterfly effects. These butterfly effects, such as his involvements against Caesar and with Octavian, enabled cracks to form and breakdown the Roman Republic. As said in the words of Brundisium on the 29th of April, 58 B.C, in a letter to young Cicero, “Goodbye!”.
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