Life of Cicero, Vol. II

This second volume chronicles the final fourteen years of Marcus Tullius Cicero's life, a period of catastrophic political upheaval that destroyed the Roman Republic he served. Beginning in 57 BC, we follow Cicero through the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, his devastating personal loss when his daughter Tullia dies, Caesar's ascension as dictator, and the assassination that opens the door to yet more chaos. Trollope, the great Victorian novelist, brings his narrative gifts to bear on Cicero's darkest hours: his scathing attacks on Mark Antony in the Philippics, his final desperate stand for republican ideals, and his brutal assassination at Antony's orders in 43 BC. This is not merely biography but a passionate defense of a man Trollope believed history had unjustly maligned, a statesman whose integrity exceeded his tactical brilliance, whose philosophical writings outlasted his political victories. Trollope uses Cicero's own letters and speeches to let the Roman speak for himself, creating a portrait of a man who valued eloquence and republican virtue in an age of military strongmen.