Cover detail, "Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician"
Cicero in America Story aired: Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Cicero was one of the first and most eloquent advocates of human rights and of ideas from which democracy flowered. A man revered by the founders of our own country.
Still, he had his doubts about common people and was ruthless enough to have political opponents executed. His grand ideals and personal vindictiveness inspired his legendary public oratory.
He was noble, thin-skinned, of profound philosophical depth, an admitted physical coward, and yet he died one of history's most courageous deaths.
Historian Anthony Everitt's book about Cicero and his turbulent era is called "Cicero: The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician."
