On Government

By Marcus Tullius Cicero

Book Overview

"The creature you have to deal with, Romans, is not just a villainous crook"

Cicero (106-43BC) was a key figure in the Roman Republic and a witness to its dramatic collapse into a dictatorship. The seven works collected here expound his passionate belief in national harmony, fully demonstrating his formidable powers as an orator and writer. Delivered after the assassination of Julius Caesar when Mark Antony looked set to take over Rome, the Philippics are a brilliant attack on one-man rule that ultimately cost cicero his life. In Against Verres, he argues for the impeachment of a corrupt provincial governor, yet Cicero's principles were tested in For Murena and Far Balbus when he was forced to defend guilty men in order to maintain political stability. On the State and On Laws are treatises on the art of government, while the Brutus is masterly survey oratory, a Roman Statesman's most important skill.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140445951
• ISBN13: 9780140445954
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Rewarding Reading, Average Translation

I want to talk about the selection first and then the translation of this book, Cicero: On Government. First, the selection: the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are the three main reasons that why you should buy this book. "For Balbus" is only a selection (so don't be fooled!), and "For Murena" and "The Republic" and "The Laws" are available in Oxford World's Classics. (As a general rule, don't buy penguin if the same thing is also published by Oxford.) Second, the translation: Michael Grant's translation is only of average quality. (See my comment on "Cicero: Selected Works"). If you want to read excellent translation of Cicero's works, I'd strongly recommend "Cicero: Defence Speeches" translated by D.H. Berry, which included a better translated version of "For Murena". Finally, this book was first published in 1993, and "Cicero: Selected Works" in 1960. If you compare these two books, you can see moderate improvements in Michael Grant's translation. However, his translation in 1993 is barely OK, while his in 1960 is terrible. Unfortunately, the Verres oration, Brutus, and the Philippics are still not published by Oxford, so you are stuck with Grant's translation unless you want to buy the expensive Loeb Classic edition.

Superb, superb, superb!!!

This book truly shows the art of a great speaker and orator. Cicero is the best!. "On government" truly develops the mind. (The book is also handy if you want to expand your vocabulary.)

LOVER OF THE CLASSICS

Cicero is the greatest of latin writers. His knowledge is so wide. This book brings together many of his thoughts on government.This book makes it obvious how much he loved the republican form of government. Our founding fathers were widely read on Cicero's treatise's and rightly so. Excellent reading.