Selected Works (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Marcus Tullius Cicero
Creator: Michael Grant
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 85609
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0140440992
Dewey Decimal Number: 937
EAN: 9780140440997
ASIN: 0140440992
Publication Date: September 30, 1960
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Product Description
Lawyer, philosopher, statesman and defender of Rome's Republic, Cicero was a master of eloquence, and his pure literary and oratorical style and strict sense of morality have been a powerful influence on European literature and thought for over two thousand years in matters of politics, philosophy, and faith. This selection demonstrates the diversity of his writings, and includes letters to friends and statesmen on Roman life and politics; the vitriolic Second Philippic Against Antony; and his two most famous philosophical treatises, On Duties and On Old Age. Written at a time of brutal political and social change, Cicero's writings formed the foundation of the Western liberal tradition in political and moral thought that continues to this day.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Nice selection, great ideas, good translation October 25, 2008
First, I think the selection is quite good and sheds a lot of light on the thoughts and life of Marcus Tullius Cicero. I particularly enjoyed the Second Phillipic against Antony and the correspondence. Duties III was also interesting. I found the remainder less interesting, but still quite thoughtful.
Secondly, I think Cicero's ideas speak for themselves. As a US Citizen, I see our own great republic faltering, government tending towards autocracy, the rule of law undermined, etc. and these threats coming from both extremes of the policial spectrum. Cicero's ideas on governance are important today to help shape the political discourse and save our republic from the same fate as Rome's. His arguments on duty are as applicable today as they were in his time as well.
Finally, I appreciated the Grant translation. While another reviewer has complained about the occasional choppiness to the translation, I think that Cicero's oratory-like prose (even in his essays) comes across well in this translation. It is tempting to remove phrases like "I must now return to my point" which make no sense in a literate medium, but this temptation leads to losing an essential aspect of Cicero's writings and I am glad that he does not do this.
The greatest Roman of them all... March 26, 2006
16 out of 26 found this review helpful
First off, yes, I AM a kid, and yes, I have fully read and understood the genius of Marcus Tullius Cicero and the genius of Mr. Grant for bringing it to us. As far as the book goes, it is brilliant, and the translator's skill suffices to bring the greatest orator in history to my doorstep and unworthy mind. "Against Verres" is my favorite Ciceronian writing, because I always shake my head when I think of these noble Romans that I revere like gods stoop to the level of tabloid-like calumny!
But enough about the book! What I really wanted to share with potential customers is the enrichment that such books could bring to kids of today. All they are getting today is manure like Harry Potter and risque-teen dramas, when they should be reading the stuff of legends and the stuff of greatness. Now, I too, can be accused of reading Harry Potter, and liking it sufficiently to keep going, but I fully understand that those kind of books are NOT the kind that I will remember when I grow old.
No, indeed, I will remember the wit of Cicero, and the ambition of Herodotus, the social satires of Charles Dickens, and, of course, the poetic genius and sheer imagination that is J.R.R. Tolkien. That being said, I feel that such books (like the above) are too far undervalued in today's society because all the kids today will read is mind-corrupting filth simply becasue they wish to smother their brains. In short, they want to think as little as possible. And the escapist attitudes are also quite atrocious. Indeed, there is no greater world than this green earth (except for Middle Earth --- I would go there in a heartbeat!) and I would honor it, and honor those giants who came before us and upon whose shoulders we stand.
What is the world without the Republic, and what is the Republic without orators like Cicero and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, whose fiery opinions had kept the flame of democracy and the flame of the Senate alive for so long? I hope someday that people will come to understand this. You do not have to like Cicero, and you might find his writings a tad antiquated and boring --- but who says that they are relevant only to a certain time period or to certain people? No, I say that there are such writings that transcend time and offer us, if nothing more, a glimpse into the life of one other fellow creature who, though so different from us, is EXACTLY the same.
So, potential kid readers, I beg you to pay attention to history, and give it the respect that it deserves! And maybe you too, if only for a little while, will stand with him in the Forum, or sit beside him as he writes words that influenced the greatest giant of the Age. That giant is Rome, and that man is Marcus Tullius Cicero. Though but a Tullius of poor upbringing, he is remembered by those who care to remember as one of the greatest Romans of them all, vying only with the poetic tragedy of Julius Caesar and the military genius of Scipio Africanus and Aemilius Paullus.
So, my rant will come to an opportune end. Remember Cicero, remember Rome, and you will not be disappointed... in the mists of Time that forever encircle us, only the greatest can escape the haze and step into into the stuff of Legend. For they are remembered, and therefore, they Live. All I ask you is to let Cicero live.
 A note on the translation November 21, 2004
25 out of 26 found this review helpful
I don't want to summarize the content here. I only want to talk about Michael Grant's translation.
Let's admit one fact: Grant's translation is not that good. I suggest you to check out Cicero's works published by OXFORD WORLD'S CLASSCIS: P.G.Walsh and D.H.Berry are more competent than Grant, and they are fascinating indeed. Grant often unnecessarily chops up a sentence, rendering it ends up with a whole lot of commas, and this utterly destroy the fluency and lucidity of Cicero. In my opinion, D.H.Berry (who published Cicero's DEFENCE SPEECHES) is thus far the best Ciceronian translator.
So why is it still worth 3 stars? It is mainly because of the contents, such as AGAINST VERRES, THE SECOND PHILIPIC, and ON OLD AGE, which are still not translated by OXFORD. Therefore, we have no choice but to stick with Grant's translation (unless you want to buy the expensive Loeb edition). If OXFORD will release more of Cicero's titles, I will definitely throw away Michael Grant's.
Good translation, but the material... February 21, 2002
6 out of 35 found this review helpful
First of all I foundt this translation to be clear and readable, something that I have come to expect from Michael Grant.
But the material is what baffles me. Cicero is considered the greatest Latin orator and writer, having a concise and interesting style. Personally, I find him to be very long-winded, and I realize this is due to a shortened attention span, but nonetheless, he could have made many of his points with two examples instead of ten.
I also find it ironic that Cicero paints himself to be the epitome of Republican Roman values, a man who stood completely for the decrepit and dying Roman Republic. Yet, he was a great friend of Pompey, a man who's goal it was to acquire dictatorial power, albeit within the confines of Republic. Pompey's actions over the year also consistently undermined the strength of the Republic, whereas Caesar acted legally throughout his career, until his enemies backed him into a corner and an untenable situation.
Yet Cicero sides with Pompey over Caesar, for no especially good reason. Cicero was a brilliant orator and lawyer, but as a politician, his ambitions and sense of self-importance far, far outstripped his abilities. Cicero's allies were a self-centered lot of aristocrats, who ran Rome for their personal benefit rather than for the benefit of Rome. Quite frankly, a man with as strong a sense of justice as Cicero should have supported the more inclusive Caesarian politics; that he did not, is a shame for him.
Regardless, this reading is chiefly for people interested in ancient history, and starry-eyed idealists.
Mildly reccommended.
A Pleasure January 14, 2002
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Michael Grant has done it again with this wonderful translation of some of Cicero's finest work. Designed to give the reader an overview of this great master it shows you just how diverse a writer he really was, and why he cast such a shadow over European prose for the next thousand years.
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