“Cicero is not the name of a man,” declared Quintilian, “but of eloquence itself.” Cicero is to Latin what Shakespeare is to English. He is almost entirely responsible for developing Latin, at the time a narrow, utilitarian tongue, into a language capable of communicating the exactness of science, the beauty of poetry, and the abstraction of philosophy. Indeed, his influence is so far-reaching that many linguists argue that all the literary movements until the nineteenth century were either a reaction against or a return to Cicero.
Born into an influential family and given a good education, he excelled at an early age. He travelled to Greece to learn from the Greek rhetoricians, adapting their style for Latin and making it a distinct part of his own delivery. He translated Greek philosophical concepts into Latin, creating neologisms that remain in use (e.g., humanitas, qualitas). His letters, when rediscovered by Petrarch in 1345, started the movement that became the Renaissance. His treatise On Duties was the second book printed on Gutenberg’s printing press. His influence carried into the Enlightenment, exercising great sway over the thought of John Locke, David Hume, and Montesquieu. His works are also cited as highly influential on the leaders of the American and French Revolutions. His collected letters remain some of the most important primary-source documents for historians of Ancient Rome.
Select Works of Cicero contains, in 36 volumes, 60 of Cicero’s works in their Loeb Classical Library editions. Each text is included in its original Latin with an English translation for side-by-side comparison. Use Logos’ language tools to go deeper into the Latin text and explore Cicero’s brilliance and elegance. You can also use the dictionary lookup tool to examine difficult English words used by the translator. If you are at all interested in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, or Latin—whether you are a classical scholar who wants the convenience of Cicero at a click or a student approaching Latin for the first time—Select Works of Cicero is a must.