Cicero - Good or Bad?

[Angela Karanikolas]

Hi All,
My teacher has presented a question to us in class that I need some assistance with.
The question is whether Cicero is a good personality in Rome or he if was a contributor to the Fall of the Republic. This essay is not due for some time, but I just cant wrap my head around my opinion.
I have some points for Cicero being an influential person and contributing through his legal work and his oratory abilities.

Thank you all.

[sudodds]

Hi All,
My teacher has presented a question to us in class that I need some assistance with.
The question is whether Cicero is a good personality in Rome or he if was a contributor to the Fall of the Republic. This essay is not due for some time, but I just cant wrap my head around my opinion.
I have some points for Cicero being an influential person and contributing through his legal work and his oratory abilities.

Thank you all.

Hey! Unfortunately I didn't study this unit, so for content hopefully someone else will stumble over this thread and may be able to help you out! However I can give you some tips in terms of structure. With a question like was he "good" or "bad" - you should have some nuance and see both sides, but ultimately need to make a strong decision. In terms of paragraphs, I suggest looking at the essay thematically, ie a paragraph on political, social and economic issues (could also do cultural/military if they fit better) that contributed to the fall of the republic, and how Cicero directly relates/exacerbates said political, social and economic issues!

Hope this helps,

Susie

[Angela Karanikolas]

Hey! Unfortunately I didn't study this unit, so for content hopefully someone else will stumble over this thread and me able to help you out! However I can give you some tips in terms of structure. With a question like was he "good" or "bad" - you should have some nuance and see both sides, but ultimately need to make a strong decision. In terms of paragraphs, I suggest looking at the essay thematically, ie a paragraph on political, social and economic issues (could also do cultural/military if they fit better) that contributed to the fall of the republic, and how Cicero directly relates/exacerbates said political, social and economic issues!

Hope this helps,

Susie

Thank you for your response despite not studying it! It is super useful for me. The idea of covering both sides scares me but this is actually really good in making sure that I finish with a strong response indicating my stance on it.

Thank you for your help again.

[sudodds]

Thank you for your response despite not studying it! It is super useful for me. The idea of covering both sides scares me but this is actually really good in making sure that I finish with a strong response indicating my stance on it.

Thank you for your help again.

No worries! Sorry I couldn't be more useful! In terms of discussing both sides, they don't need to be balanced so to speak. Like they don't need equal discussion - it is enough to just start a sentence with (i'm going to use a Julio-Claudian example) "Though critics such as Tacitus have suggested that Claudius was too dependant upon Freedmen, such as Pallas, overall the Imperial Bureaucracy enhanced the effectiveness of the administration of Rome, thus affirming that Claudius exerted a positive influence as Princeps" - and then really just centre your discussion around the positives

[Angela Karanikolas]

No worries! Sorry I couldn't be more useful! In terms of discussing both sides, they don't need to be balanced so to speak. Like they don't need equal discussion - it is enough to just start a sentence with (i'm going to use a Julio-Claudian example) "Though critics such as Tacitus have suggested that Claudius was too dependant upon Freedmen, such as Pallas, overall the Imperial Bureaucracy enhanced the effectiveness of the administration of Rome, thus affirming that Claudius exerted a positive influence as Princeps" - and then really just centre your discussion around the positives

You were an absolute lifesaver thank you. I will definitely give that a try in the essay and see what happens. I really like the idea of covering both sides however and the idea of contrasting with the positive beginning and the negative conclusion could be a really good advancer in my essay. Thank you again.

[bearbear]

Hi All,
My teacher has presented a question to us in class that I need some assistance with.
The question is whether Cicero is a good personality in Rome or he if was a contributor to the Fall of the Republic. This essay is not due for some time, but I just cant wrap my head around my opinion.
I have some points for Cicero being an influential person and contributing through his legal work and his oratory abilities.

Thank you all.

Hi Angela,
I have studied the Fall of the Republic and while I haven't done a lot specifically on Cicero, I think you could argue both sides.
You could say with his legal work and oratory skills that he had a positive impact on Rome and also his writings. You could also mention that by refusing Caesar's offer to join the First Triumvirate he was trying not to undermine the Republic.
This site has some good discussion http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?zid=5f8cc5dc35ef36395a3da25a000441ad&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX2878000037&userGroupName=ein_remote&jsid=c02d33644f4e1beaed19877135f2bf8c
But you could also argue that he was part of the downfall as he was on the optimates side, and that the optimates forcing Caesar to return to Rome had been a cause of the Civil War, which impacted largely on the Fall of the Republic. You could mention how he favoured Pompey over Caesar.
It comes down to what your opinion is and it doesn't matter which side you fall on as long as you can back up your opinion.
Hope this helps! 

[sudodds]

Hi Angela,
I have studied the Fall of the Republic and while I haven't done a lot specifically on Cicero, I think you could argue both sides.
You could say with his legal work and oratory skills that he had a positive impact on Rome and also his writings. You could also mention that by refusing Caesar's offer to join the First Triumvirate he was trying not to undermine the Republic.
This site has some good discussion http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?zid=5f8cc5dc35ef36395a3da25a000441ad&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX2878000037&userGroupName=ein_remote&jsid=c02d33644f4e1beaed19877135f2bf8c
But you could also argue that he was part of the downfall as he was on the optimates side, and that the optimates forcing Caesar to return to Rome had been a cause of the Civil War, which impacted largely on the Fall of the Republic. You could mention how he favoured Pompey over Caesar.
It comes down to what your opinion is and it doesn't matter which side you fall on as long as you can back up your opinion.
Hope this helps! 

awesome work bearbear! Thanks for your insight Lovely to see a fellow student from the year group helping out!

[Angela Karanikolas]

Hi Angela,
I have studied the Fall of the Republic and while I haven't done a lot specifically on Cicero, I think you could argue both sides.
You could say with his legal work and oratory skills that he had a positive impact on Rome and also his writings. You could also mention that by refusing Caesar's offer to join the First Triumvirate he was trying not to undermine the Republic.
This site has some good discussion http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/whic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?zid=5f8cc5dc35ef36395a3da25a000441ad&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX2878000037&userGroupName=ein_remote&jsid=c02d33644f4e1beaed19877135f2bf8c
But you could also argue that he was part of the downfall as he was on the optimates side, and that the optimates forcing Caesar to return to Rome had been a cause of the Civil War, which impacted largely on the Fall of the Republic. You could mention how he favoured Pompey over Caesar.
It comes down to what your opinion is and it doesn't matter which side you fall on as long as you can back up your opinion.
Hope this helps! 

Hi,
Thank you so much!! This is super helpful as is the link.
Cicero is so difficult when it comes to choosing a side to discuss and this really gave me insight into answering the question more effectively.

Thank you for your help again.