“I have been amusing myself latterly with reading the voluminous letters of Cicero. They certainly breathe the present effusions of an exalted patriot, while the parricide Caesar is left in odious contrast.” Those words were written by Thomas Jefferson on Dec. 10, 1819, in a letter to John Adams, himself a great Cicero scholar. America’s second president even modeled himself on the great Roman orator and politician: “All the ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher,” Adams once wrote.
Adams and Jefferson were not alone. In the centuries that have passed since his death in 43 BC, many statesmen and many philosophers have emulated Marcus Tullius Cicero, celebrating his defense of the Roman Republic against the populism and tyranny of Caesar.