Analysis: Letter from Cicero to Atticus

Date: 61 BCE

Geographic Region: Rome

Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero

Translator: Evelyn S. Shuckburgh

Summary Overview

In late 61 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero wrote to his close friend, Titus Pomponius Atticus, about two matters—one personal and one political. The personal matter was regarding a rift between Atticus and Cicero's younger brother, Quintus. The political matter, which caused Cicero immense concern and would prove to have a longer and greater significance, regarded the political instability in the Roman Republic. With an election for the powerful position of consul approaching, two men were vying for power: Gaius Julius Caesar, who was backed by Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), and Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, who was backed by conservative forces in the Roman Senate in an effort to keep Caesar in check. Cicero communicated his fear for the future of the republic amid such political tension and the danger of Caesar's increasing influence.

Defining Moment

As the power of Rome grew in the second and first centuries BCE, so did the difficulties in maintaining the republican form of government that Romans, such as Cicero, treasured. The increasing power and wealth of the military necessitated by the maintenance of an empire encompassing much of the Western world led to military leaders gaining great power and prestige at the expense of republican institutions, such as the Senate. With the influx of slaves from Rome's numerous conquests, ordinary citizens found it more difficult to find work, increasing the unrest in the capital. The large number of slaves led to a number of slave revolts during the late second century BCE, including one led by Spartacus that even threatened the Roman army.

Unrest among the common people, whose cause was championed by leaders known as populares, increased as patrician Romans, backed by conservative senators called optimates, became even wealthier when Rome acquired Asia Minor. Brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus took advantage of the situation, inflaming popular discontent with the situation by advocating equality for all Romans. Although both died in mob action and the power of the Senate was maintained, the mechanisms of the republic were inevitably weakened. The people eventually elected a plebian, Gaius Marius, as consul. Marius reformed the Roman army, allowing common Romans new opportunities and strengthening his own position at the same time. However, his popularity with the people would come to an end when he imprisoned another of the people's heroes, Saturninus, who then died under his watch.

Marius was outmaneuvered by Lucius Sulla, who marched the Roman army on Rome itself, eventually becoming dictator. However, after Sulla's death around 78 BCE, political turmoil resumed as the optimates tried to restore the Republic. The defeat of the slave revolt led by Spartacus in 71 BCE brought political rivals Pompey and Crassus to prestigious positions. Both were elected consul in 70 BCE, but Pompey left Rome to lead the army against the Mithridates in the East, while Crassus consolidated his own political power in Rome. When Pompey returned victorious in 62 BCE, many feared another military coup, though one did not take place. At the same time, Caesar had gradually risen to a position of prestige and power in the Roman government, setting the stage for what would be the final years of the republic.

Author Biography

Born in 106 BCE, Cicero was the foremost thinker in the late republic. His writings on philosophy, law, politics, and language were extremely influential. He was also active politically, serving as consul and as a member of the Senate. As a young man, Cicero studied philosophy in Rome, where he met Atticus, a fellow student who would be a lifelong friend and political ally. Deciding to pursue a political career, Cicero was elected to four increasingly influential offices—quaestor, aedile, praetor, and consul. While consul, Cicero exposed the Catiline conspiracy to overthrow the republic in 63 BCE. Surviving the transition from republic to empire under Caesar, Cicero remained influential and controversial, but eventually ran afoul of Caesar's successor Marc Antony, who had him executed in 43 BCE.

Document Analysis

Cicero's letter to his closest friend and political ally, Atticus, dated to 61 BCE, is a window into both the interpersonal relationships of Roman optimates as well as a window into the political intrigues between the optimates and the populares in the final years of the republic.

The letter opens with an appeal from Cicero to Atticus to repair the relationship with Cicero's younger brother, Quintus. Apparently a series of letters had gone back and forth between Atticus and Quintus, and Quintus had taken offense to something that Atticus had said or done. Atticus was upset with Quintus as well. Cicero then goes out of his way to flatter his friend, noting how Atticus had let business prospects go by to remain in Rome while Cicero was consul, and how Cicero held him in higher esteem and considered him to be closer to himself than anyone except for his immediate family.

Cicero then launches into the more important reasons for his letter, emphasizing that he perceives Roman politics to be in a “shaky condition.” For about seventy-five years, the status of the republic had indeed been shaky. Cicero notes that the equestrian order, a sect of which his father had been a part, had not spoken out against a bill that had passed limiting the authority of the Senate. Even more important to Cicero are the political intrigues that are accompanying the upcoming election for the powerful position of consul for the year 59 BCE. His account of the candidacy for the position, which he describes as “no laughing matter,” characterizes the power struggle that had been growing between the optimates and Caesar. He notes that Bibulus, a representative of the optimates, aims to counter Caesar's efforts toward the consulship and hopefully keep his political power in check. Meanwhile, Cicero also relates his intentions to use his connection to Pompey in his own personal attempts at “managing the Republic.” He astutely recognizes that this political turmoil and the concern over Caesar's influence would most likely have further negative effects on the state of the Republic.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

Everitt, Anthony. Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician. New York: Random, 2001. Print.

Everitt, Anthony. Cicero: A Turbulent Life. London: Murray, 2001. Print.

Shotter, David. The Fall of the Roman Republic. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2005. Print.

Stockton, David. Cicero: A Political Biography. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.