On this day 2054 years ago, Marcus Tullius Cicero was executed in his own home by agents of Triumvirate Mark Antony. Cicero had spent
his career as a lawyer and statesman attacking Julius Caesar and Antony when their desires for absolute power became clear. After Caesar was assassinated, he expressed disappointment for having not been invited to participate, and further scolded Brutus and Cassius for not killing Antony as well. His hands were cut off and nailed to the doors of the Senate as a warning to other dissidents.
Shortly after his death, Antony and Octavian Caesar would fight a bloody civil war for control of Rome. Octavian was victorious, and later became Caesar Augustus. The Republic's champions were all dead, and soon, she too would pass away, unnoticed.
Cicero's writings became world famous for their conservatism and advocacy of balancing power. He insisted that a nation's written laws do not always contain justice, because written words can be manipulated in such a way as to distort their true meaning. The Founding Fathers would draw from his knowledge to help them frame the United States.
The speech that led to his death:
