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Cicero: Selected WorksThis book is a good start for those interested in a basic overview of Cicero's style and more famous quotes. For serious readers of Cicero and political theory chose a different book.
It would have been wonderful to hear him speak one of his orations. Cicero is one of my heroes. He was a master politician and a masterful writer. Few politicians today come within a country mile of putting thoughts into words as did Cicero. Perhaps one should say that few politicians today have thoughts as sophisticated and well organized as those of Cicero.
While another reviewer has complained about the occasional choppiness to the translation, I think that Cicero's oratory-like prose (even in his essays) comes across well in this translation. Cicero's ideas on governance are important today to help shape the political discourse and save our republic from the same fate as Rome's.
I particularly enjoyed the Second Phillipic against Antony and the correspondence. Duties III was also interesting.
First, I think the selection is quite good and sheds a lot of light on the thoughts and life of Marcus Tullius Cicero. and these threats coming from both extremes of the policial spectrum.
I found the remainder less interesting, but still quite thoughtful.Secondly, I think Cicero's ideas speak for themselves. As a US Citizen, I see our own great republic faltering, government tending towards autocracy, the rule of law undermined, etc.
His arguments on duty are as applicable today as they were in his time as well.Finally, I appreciated the Grant translation. It is tempting to remove phrases like "I must now return to my point" which make no sense in a literate medium, but this temptation leads to losing an essential aspect of Cicero's writings and I am glad that he does not do this.
As far as the book goes, it is brilliant, and the translator's skill suffices to bring the greatest orator in history to my doorstep and unworthy mind. So, potential kid readers, I beg you to pay attention to history, and give it the respect that it deserves. Tolkien. What I really wanted to share with potential customers is the enrichment that such books could bring to kids of today. What is the world without the Republic, and what is the Republic without orators like Cicero and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, whose fiery opinions had kept the flame of democracy and the flame of the Senate alive for so long.
No, indeed, I will remember the wit of Cicero, and the ambition of Herodotus, the social satires of Charles Dickens, and, of course, the poetic genius and sheer imagination that is J.R.R. "Against Verres" is my favorite Ciceronian writing, because I always shake my head when I think of these noble Romans that I revere like gods stoop to the level of tabloid-like calumny. All they are getting today is manure like Harry Potter and risque-teen dramas, when they should be reading the stuff of legends and the stuff of greatness. Though but a Tullius of poor upbringing, he is remembered by those who care to remember as one of the greatest Romans of them all, vying only with the poetic tragedy of Julius Caesar and the military genius of Scipio Africanus and Aemilius Paullus. Grant for bringing it to us.
And maybe you too, if only for a little while, will stand with him in the Forum, or sit beside him as he writes words that influenced the greatest giant of the Age. I hope someday that people will come to understand this. and I would honor it, and honor those giants who came before us and upon whose shoulders we stand. Now, I too, can be accused of reading Harry Potter, and liking it sufficiently to keep going, but I fully understand that those kind of books are NOT the kind that I will remember when I grow old.
That being said, I feel that such books (like the above) are too far undervalued in today's society because all the kids today will read is mind-corrupting filth simply becasue they wish to smother their brains. Remember Cicero, remember Rome, and you will not be disappointed. First off, yes, I AM a kid, and yes, I have fully read and understood the genius of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the genius of Mr. You do not have to like Cicero, and you might find his writings a tad antiquated and boring --- but who says that they are relevant only to a certain time period or to certain people. No, I say that there are such writings that transcend time and offer us, if nothing more, a glimpse into the life of one other fellow creature who, though so different from us, is EXACTLY the same. That giant is Rome, and that man is Marcus Tullius Cicero. And the escapist attitudes are also quite atrocious. in the mists of Time that forever encircle us, only the greatest can escape the haze and step into into the stuff of Legend.
But enough about the book. For they are remembered, and therefore, they Live. In short, they want to think as little as possible. Indeed, there is no greater world than this green earth (except for Middle Earth --- I would go there in a heartbeat). So, my rant will come to an opportune end. All I ask you is to let Cicero live.
In my opinion, D.H.Berry (who published Cicero's DEFENCE SPEECHES) is thus far the best Ciceronian translator.So why is it still worth 3 stars. I only want to talk about Michael Grant's translation.Let's admit one fact: Grant's translation is not that good. I don't want to summarize the content here. It is mainly because of the contents, such as AGAINST VERRES, THE SECOND PHILIPIC, and ON OLD AGE, which are still not translated by OXFORD. I suggest you to check out Cicero's works published by OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSCIS: P.G.Walsh and D.H.Berry are more competent than Grant, and they are fascinating indeed. Grant often unnecessarily chops up a sentence, rendering it ends up with a whole lot of commas, and this utterly destroy the fluency and lucidity of Cicero. Therefore, we have no choice but to stick with Grant's translation (unless you want to buy the expensive Loeb edition). If OXFORD will release more of Cicero's titles, I will definitely throw away Michael Grant's.
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