A Ciceronian view on War
From a self-declared man of peace to one who could no longer tolerate the enemy inside the gates.
Cicero was, of all the Roman senators, in favour of peace at all costs, until he was pushed to the absolute limits by public enemy number one, Marcus Antonius.
As always, it is my aim to draw links to the past in order to enhance our understanding of the present. In this article, I felt it best to present much of it through the man’s own words. I am confident you will hear and feel the reverberations from 2000 years ago.
I am not an advocate of war. I advocate for learning the lessons of the past in the hope we don’t repeat the mistakes, instead replicate the successes. But as humans, frail a species that we are, we have trouble doing so. I doubt anyone would want to be in the shoes of the President of the United States right now as he makes the tough decisions that only tough individuals are equipped to make.
These are some words of Cicero as he argued in the Senate on 5 January, 43 BC, for a change in approach to his bitter enemy, Marcus Antonius:
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦.
𝘔𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘮, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦-𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺.
𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘭.
𝘐, 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦.
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦…𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘮, 𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘏𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘈𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘺?
𝘞𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘭𝘥.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳; 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳, 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭, 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳.”
Most of us as onlookers to what is occurring right now in our world have no idea what is truly going on. We form opinions; we put those opinions forward; we argue or agree. But we don’t feel the heat from the burning cauldron inside the decision-maker’s den. It is one not to be envied. We can only hope the outcome is the right and just one.
So, when I watch the unfolding of world events in real time, I turn to what we know of the past. There will always be a similar event from which can be drawn on. Nothing has really changed, only the clothes we wear.
Where we go from here is in the hands of History.
Sadly, for Cicero, the man he advocated for - Octavian, soon to become Augustus, first emperor of Rome - would betray him at the behest of Antonius. So insulted by Cicero’s vitriolic speeches against him, Antonius would only agree to Octavian’s demands upon formation of a new triumvirate comprised of the two and Lepidus, that he ordered Cicero’s hands and head cut off and be delivered to him to be displayed on the rostra from where he delivered his magnificent speeches.
Oh, the irony in that move!