Cicero was born on 3 January 106 BCE in Arpino. A Roman statesman, lawyer and orator, Cicero rose from a provincial family to the consulship in 63 BCE, when he exposed and suppressed the conspiracy of Catiline. He was a defender of the republic against the ambitions of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony, whom he attacked in the speeches known as the Philippics. His writings on rhetoric, politics and ethics, such as On the Republic, On Duties and On the Orator, along with a large collection of letters, shaped Latin prose and later European thought. After the formation of the Second Triumvirate he was proscribed, and in 43 BCE he was killed on Antony's orders.
Before and after
- 139 BCEZhang Qian's mission opens the Silk Road
- 134 BCETiberius Gracchus is murdered and the Republic enters its crisis
- c. 131 BCEHipparchus discovers the precession of the equinoxes
- from 111 BCE to 105 BCEJugurthine War
- 3 January 106 BCEBirth of Cicero
- 104 BCEEstablishment of Qumran
- 2nd century BCEOrigins of Vienna
- c. 100 BCEEruption of Okmok
- July 100 BCEBirth of Julius Caesar
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 3,000 BCECuneiform
- c. 1,500 BCERigveda
- c. 750s BCEThe Homeric epics are composed
- from 448 BCE to 433 BCEConstruction of the Parthenon begins
- 196 BCERosetta Stone
- 42 CEOrigins of Coptic Orthodox Church
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 2nd century BCE.