Cicero and the Roman Courts

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

In 64 BC Marcus Tullius Cicero was elected consul of Rome, the first man in a generation to hold the office who was not from Rome’s hereditary ruling class. Representing influential Romans in both civil and criminal cases, Cicero owed his unusual political success to his skills as a lawyer. In this seminar we study together the surviving transcripts of Cicero’s speeches to reconstruct how the courts of Rome worked. Attention will also be paid to the prominence of public speaking in the Roman Republic and the value of Cicero’s speeches and letters as a source for political history and thought. In addition to participating in weekly discussions students develop and execute an original research project that draws on Cicero’s writings.