The weakness of this biography is while Everitt might be aiming at a form of mild historical rehabilitation, I'm not sure Cicero was ever really in need of rehabilitation. Everitt also blends in Cicero's weaknesses: his vanity, his missteps/vacillation in politics, his zeal in persecuting Mark Anthony, and his cowardice. His skill as an orator, his hits and misses as a politician, his defense of the Republic, his rationality all get their time and moment. Everitt does a fine job of balancing the different aspects of Cicero. He isn't challenging or overthrowing assumptions about Cicero or the other major players, but he weaves a nice story and makes Classical history approachable. His biographies are quick, easy, and summarize the subjects well. Everitt is clearly passionate and good at classical narratives. Not as good as Everitt's biography of Augustus, but better than his biography of Hadrian. Accessible to us through his legendary speeches but also through an unrivaled collection of unguarded letters to his close friend Atticus, Cicero comes to life here as a witty and cunning political operator. In this dynamic and engaging biography, Anthony Everitt plunges us into the fascinating, scandal-ridden world of ancient Rome in its most glorious heyday. No man has loomed larger in the political history of mankind. Machiavelli, Queen Elizabeth, John Adams and Winston Churchill all studied his example. Brilliant, voluble, cranky, a genius of political manipulation but also a true patriot and idealist, Cicero was Rome’s most feared politician, one of the greatest lawyers and statesmen of all times. He lambasted Mark Antony and was master of the smear campaign, as feared for his wit as he was for exposing his opponents’ sexual peccadilloes. He advised the legendary Pompey on his somewhat botched transition from military hero to politician. He squared off against Caesar and was friends with young Brutus. John Adams said of Cicero, 'All ages of the world have not produced a greater statesman and philosopher combined.' Voltaire said of Cicero, 'He taught us how to think.' And yet Anthony Everitt’s authoritative yet accessible work is the first one-volume biography of the Roman statesman in over 25 years.

Augustus by anthony everitt