Cicero Timeline by Katie Sanchez

80 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 17:57:16 UTC

Cicero successfully defended his first criminal court. Cicero accused a freedman of the dictator Sulla, Chrysogonus, of fabricating Roscius' father's proscription to obtain Roscius' family's property. this caused some tension with members of the Sulla regime

75 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:03:13 UTC

Cicero was elected by the Roman Tribal Assembly to become a quaestor. Cicero also became a part of the Roman Senate shortly after. Cicero, now a quaestor, was assigned to Sicily where he would rediscover the lost tomb of Archimedes. With him balancing out his responsibilities well, he gained the respect and gratitude of the Sicilians.

43 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:10:09 UTC

December 7th on his way to the coast, Cicero was killed as he was trying to make his escape from the chaos going on at the time. His head, hands, and tongue put on display on the Rostrum (speakers platform). This symbolized the end of free speech in Rome.

70 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:17:13 UTC

After his quaestorship, Cicero prosecutes the corrupt governor Gaius Verres on abuse and corruption. After his victory against the respected lawyer who was defending Gaius Verres, Quintus Hortensius, Cicero was deemed one of the greatest orators in Rome. Cicero would win this case because of his impressive rhetoric skills that persuaded the audience.

63 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:17:18 UTC

As consul, he uncovers the Catiline Conspiracy (a conspiracy led by Lucius Sergius Catilina to overthrow the Roman Republic with the help of foreign armed forces) and famously gives the Catilinarian orations ( 4 speeches where Cicero's rhetoric abilities are shown off.) Cicero then was able to convict the conspirators to the death penalty and was honored with the title of "pater patriae."

58-57 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:17:28 UTC

Cicero's enemy, Clodius Pulcher, passed a law that got Cicero sent into exile for executing citizens without trial. But political conditions changed, and Cicero got recalled from exile.

44 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:17:35 UTC

After Julius Caesar is assassinated, Cicero supports the conspirators, seeking to restore the Republic. Cicero became a popular leader after the assassination because of the instability of Rome. Cicero arranged for the Senate not to declare Caesar a tyrant so they could keep his reforms and politics intact.

88-80 BCE

sanchezk25 — 2024-10-24 18:17:48 UTC

Cicero studies rhetoric in Rome under important orators like Quintus Mucius Scaevola and L. Licinius Crassus. Cicero also wrote a pamphlet titled "On Invention" relating to rhetorical argumentation and studying philosophy with Greek academics.

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sanchezk25 — 2024-10-28 05:34:09 UTC

Cicero believed that humans are fundamentally controlled by emotion. This idea was shown throughout Cicero's career in many different ways. He skillfully used language to persuade others into believing his ideas. Even if Cicero did not have proper evidence, he was able to win just using his rhetoric. Typically he would stir up a strong emotion like anger or sadness to get his point across. The way that allowed this idea to be most effective is when he used hand gestures. Romans developed an elaborate sign language to project what they are saying for larger crowds to go along with whatever emotion they want. Hand gestures were very important and added an emotion gloss (tell you how to feel about something) to the viewer.