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Orator: The Life of Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic
Author(s): Catharine Edwards (Author)
- Publisher: Hutchinson Heinemann
- Publication Date: 23 July 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 464 pages
- ISBN-10: 1529152259
- ISBN-13: 9781529152258
Book Description
‘A wonderful book‘ TOM HOLLAND
‘A triumph… as thrillingly entertaining as Robert Harris’s celebrated trilogy of Cicero novels’ OBSERVER
‘Marvellous… highly entertaining‘ EMMA SOUTHON
‘A good biography of Cicero… the greatest orator of the Roman world’ THE TIMES
A gripping new biography of one of the most influential and fascinating figures in classical history: Cicero
When the Roman statesman Cicero was murdered in 43 BCE, his head was cut off and his tongue pierced with pins – a final, brutal act of revenge against a man whose words had shaped a generation and made him many enemies. Rising from provincial obscurity to the highest elected office in Rome, Cicero became the greatest orator of his age, a figure who believed that speech itself could defend a republic.
Yet Cicero was far more than a master of rhetoric. His long and turbulent life unfolded alongside the collapse of the Roman Republic, and often at its very centre. He moved among Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great, crushed a conspiracy that threatened the foundations of Rome and cast himself as the republic’s last hope. His writings on politics, philosophy and society would prove enormously influential, while his uneasy response to the rise of autocratic power continues to provoke admiration and debate.
In this gripping new biography, the distinguished classicist Catharine Edwards brings Cicero vividly to life, revealing both the brilliance and the contradictions of a man caught between principle and ambition. At a moment when democratic institutions feel fragile, and the power of persuasion is once again under scrutiny, Cicero’s life speaks to us with renewed urgency.
Editorial Reviews
Review
A
triumph… as thrillingly entertaining as Robert Harris’s celebrated trilogy of Cicero novels ― Observer A pacy narrative… Edwards brilliantly presents the much neglected Cicero, Man of Action ― SpectatorA good biography of Cicero and the bloody age in which he tried to maintain the old ways… Edwards rehabilitates him as
the greatest orator of the Roman world ― Patrick Kidd, The Times Compelling… A truly informative account of Rome in crisis ― Literary Review Wonderful… Edwards has done a marvellous job of showing us Cicero the man, the scholar and the politician in highly entertaining style ― Emma Southon, author of A History of the Roman Empire in 21 WomenA man of thought in an age of thugs, a pen amongst swords:
every age needs its Cicero and Edwards has written a resonant Cicero for ours ― Peter Stothard, author of Palatine: An Alternative History of the CaesarsEdwards has crafted an
intimate and deeply informed portrait of a man struggling to make sense of his world’s slide into civil war and chaos… Compelling and beautifully written ― Eve MacDonald, author of Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire Orator brings Cicero to life as a brilliant, complicated, flawed human being; it is also an ideal introduction to the end of the Roman Republic ― Harry Sidebottom, author of A Day in the Life of a GladiatorIt is a very tall order to make readable sense both of the brutal politics of late-republican Rome and of the complex inconsistencies of Cicero’s own character – but Catharine Edwards has carried it off
superbly. Written with grace, pace and scrupulous annotation, Orator is an exemplary historical biography ― Peter Wiseman, Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of ExeterAbout the Author
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