Rating: 
Summary: Thoughtful biography that needs a little more
Review: This biography of Cicero is both thoughtful and erudite. Most readers of ancient history are aware of Cicero the writer, but his contribution did not stop there. He was deeply involved in the deadly game of politics during the Roman civil war that spelled the end of the republic. Everitt has produced a thorough examination of the life of Cicero. I would have liked a more thorough explanation of the Roman political system. In this regard, the biography fails a little. We know what Cicero is doing but we do not understand the reasons for it and I would liked more depth in this book. Quite often, I felt the need to read other sources to understand the dynamics of Roman society and politics. Moreover, the footnoting is very scant and needs more rigour. Overall Everitt presents the life of Cicero very well, but he does not do justice to the times.
Rating: 
Summary: What Do You Already Know Of Cicero
Review: If you have never read a book devoted to Cicero, this book is a good place to start. If you are a student of the time period, or are looking for a scholarly historical book this will probably come up short. The latter comment is not meant as criticism, rather to suggest that if Cicero has been of interest to you before and you have studied the man's life, this book will seem a bit superficial and loose in its treatment of him. There are a number of very dense reference quality works available to readers, but again if this is your first time with this man's life, those tomes might make for heavier lifting than a first time reader would like. Cicero like many who lived millennia ago is difficult to document for the lack of primary source material. The task with Cicero is made a bit easier as he had a substantial and lengthy correspondence with a friend named Atticus. The correspondence is massive compared to what we know of other men and women of his time, but it too leaves large holes in Cicero's lifetime, and some of the correspondence was censored and even destroyed. The books written by Cicero were far from what we would recognize as books, and very few copies ever existed. A book then would consist of a lengthy scroll, with no differentiation in capital or lowercase letters, no paragraphs, and rarely any form of punctuation. Attempting such a read was daunting to all but the most avid of readers. Cicero is often known for his oratorical skill and vicious wit while speaking in the Roman Senate. The Cicero that Anthony Everitt portrays certainly had his moments, and they were many, although not as frequent as some would suggest. Cicero also had the advantage while speaking or conducting a legal defense or prosecution of not being restrained by anything that we would recognize as slander or libel. Today Cicero could not speak for 30 seconds in public without being shut down until he appeared in court. And if he persisted in court, much of his time would have been spent behind bars. As offensive and as sleazy as today's opportunists in government often appear, their utterances are family g rated fare when compared to the battles fought by Cicero. The rules were fairly simple, anything goes. The only caution required was that you were either on the present government's side, or had your own powerful personal contingent. Cicero lived an extended life during a remarkable period in Rome. He crossed verbal swords with Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, and one of history's most famous assassins, Brutus. Cicero was an adviser to Pompey, and he sat front and center as Caesar was repeatedly stabbed. He knew the heights of power in Rome; he knew the bitter experience of being placed in exile, and the ignominy of death while on the run. Clearly one of history's most enduring players, this book and others are worth exploring if classical history holds some interest for you.
Rating:
Summary: More for the amateur historian
Review: Cicero by Anthony Everitt is typical of the types of books I read as a junior and senior high student. It was books like this that got me interested in the ancient world and the personalities that populated it. As an adult and as someone who has studied history at least to the Master's level, I find that I prefer my history "straight up" rather than dressed in the garb of the novel, so I didn't enjoy this book as much as someone who enjoys their facts mixed with the romance and imagery of ancient times. For these readers, I would say that the book appears to be well researched; Professor Everitt read English lieterature at Cambridge and would be a competent scholar. He certainly appears to be an able writer. Although some of the envisioned scenes are "staged" for the reader, the author does provide the curious with a source for his recreation of these events in his bibliography. The bulk of the bibliography consists of translated works which suggests that the author deals with secondary rather than primary sources; these however are probably some of the better translations available and many are among the Loeb classics. While his use of translations may affect his capacity to come up with any new or startling insights as a historian might, it doesn't prevent him from writing a satisfactory biography of the statesman. It also serves the useful function that it introduces the general reader to a list of books in translation from which to gain more information on the topic of Cicero, his times, and ancient history in general. The list is a Who's Who of ancient authors: Caesar, Cicero, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Polybius, Tacitus, etc. While some of these may be a little tough going for any but the most avid reader, some of the modern authors on Roman history and on Cicero in particular might be more accessible. I have not, however, read any of those listed, so I cannot comment on their quality as sources other than to point out that some of them are a little old, one as old as 1865. That the older books are still in print, however, suggests they have withstood the test of time. How readily available they are to the younger reader is difficult to say. The more recent sources date to the 1980's and 90's. A good book for the advanced junior high and the interested senior high student, and for anyone else who enjoys history but doesn't like unembelished facts.
Rating:
Summary: NOT the most important or best biography of Cicero
Review: It is not my practise to review books for which I have little taste. There are cases where I make exceptions, particularly where I notice that there is an overwhelming tsunami of opinion that tends in the opposite direction to my views. I feel suich a situation requires some balance. Virtually every reviewer of this book has praised it to the skies as if it were the most important book to emerge on Cicero in recent memory. Let me at the outset state that the best recent biography of Cicero is NOT this one. It is Elizabeth Rawson's "Cicero: A Portrait". It is not as lavishly produced, but its pedigree and credentials are infinitely superior to Everritt's rather disappointing (though lengthy) effort. And it is every bit as readable - and in fact is more succinct and to the point. In fact this book is NOT the most important or best biography of our times. It is rather business-like and pedestrian. Serious students of the period and specialists should not reach for this book in the expectation of something ground-breaking. It is anything but that. It is a decent, well-written account (by a non-specialist) of one of the most famous and influential figures in all of history. The causal reader will enjoy it (as the other reviewers suggest) but they would profit more from an acquaintance with Rawson's book, which I have reviewed as well. Everritt's book is filled significant mistakes in the Latin . And Everritt has adopted a policy that is dangerous for the non-specialist - he ignores the modern writers and goes back to the "ancient-sources". As a result he is at their mercy. As Mary Beard has remarked, "the result, almost inevitably, is a patchwork of ancient texts, sewn together with a thread of common sense, guesswork and sheer fantasy". This book is also what Everritt terms, a "rehabilitation". Whether Cicero is or isn't due for such a thing one may debate. As I fall clearly in the "pro-Ciceronian" camp, it was heartening to read a thorough-going account rendered by a friend as opposed to a foe. But for those who know these issues and the history, we are ultimately left wishing for so much more. As Mary Beard wrote, "What we have been waiting for is not another 'straight' biography of Cicero; there are more than enough of those. Much more to the point would be a biographical account that tried to explore the way his life-story has been constructed and reconstructed over the last two thousand years; how we have learned to read Cicero through Jonson, Voltaire, Ibsen and the rest; what kind of investment we still have, and why, in a thundering conservative of the first century BC and his catchy oratorical slogans. Why, in short, is Cicero still around in the 21st century? And on whose terms? Quo usque tandem?" Marcus Junius Brutus is the subject of a thoroughly charming biography of this kind -- "The Noblest Roman", by M.L. Clarke. Out of print but readily available through the used book shops. You can read my review of it. Surprisingly such a biography of Cicero simply doesn't exist. And so we (and Cicero) wait....
Rating:
Summary: A few miscellaneous comments
Review: The funniest and most devastating summary of Roman history I ever read was in Mendelsohn's novel, Superbaby, in which the main character doesn't seem to like the Romans, and who had this to say about them. (I' ve paraphrased one line, since it's been about 25 years since I read the book, and I'm recalling the quote from memory): "The Romans were a dreary bunch of military ruffians. Most of their culture was stolen from the Greeks. Their literature--what I've read of it in translation--is graceless and boring. The Romans were the Nazi's of their day. Maybe that's why they still appeal to people." While I would not go that far perhaps, the Romans, whatever you think of them, were historically extremely important, and I did enjoy reading this book. The author has a very readable and engaging style, and the book benefits from its focus on some of the most interesting and important figures, politically and intellectually, of its day. Cicero is certainly a fascinating character around which to build an historical account, and the story of his life serves as a window on the other people and events of his day. Overall, a very readable and interesting book on this period of Roman history, and a fine biography of an important Roman whose influence has often been underestimated.
Rating:
Summary: Very readable and useful
Review: As much as anything, this book really helped me to gain a better understanding of the politics of the late Republic period. I'd recommend it on that basis alone, but it's also a very readable biography of a very interesting person. What more can you ask?
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Biography
Review: This is a nicely written and very informative biography of Cicero. Everitt does a wonderful job of putting Cicero in the context of his place and time in history, and gives excellent accounts of the personalities and politics of the times. This is one of the best biographies I have read in some time.
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Summary: The Resurrection of Marcus Tullius Cicero
Review: Everitt in his preface makes no bones about his bias: "This book is an exercise in rehabilitation. Many writers from ancient times to the present day have seriously undervalued Cicero's consistency and effectiveness as a politician." The portrait that Everitt proceeds to paint, therefore, is principally one of a political figure. To that end, he describes in great and accessible detail the turbulent politics of the deal (the death of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire). As a sort of bonus, then, this biography of Cicero discusses in some detail the political careers of such contemporaries as Cato and the First Triumvirate (Pompey, Crassus and Caesar). Everitt succeeds remarkably well at bringing to life the necessary context to make Cicero's political decisions and ideas comprehensible. We see his conservatism and his attachment to the constitution of the Republic and also the career- and life-threatening perils that induced him, from time to time, to side with the anti-Republican forces (i.e., Caesar). Cicero was no Cato, willing to die for the Republic. He had other peccadilloes, too, which Everitt also recounts: a certain vanity, a habit of writing bad poetry, a lack of affection that may have ended his first marriage. But he was an excellent writer of prose, a deep thinker on political issues, and enormously attached to his children. And he was a great orator, and, from time to time, an immensely popular leader. This well-written biography brings the interesting man to life.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been so much better
Review: This book was a huge disappointment to me. I see many very favorable reviews on this page, but I have to respectfully disagree. There are several things wrong with this book: First, it is not very well written. There is no suspense, no drama. Everitt takes a fascinating period of Roman History, tells a story ripe with murder, assasination, mob-uprisings, battles, love affairs, and political turmoil--and makes it utterly boring. His prose conveys no excitement about his subject. Second, this is not really a book about Cicero. This is a book about a period of Roman history, told vaguely through Cicero's life. There are constant tangents, where Everitt talks about politicians and issues that have nothing to do with Cicero himself. It is fine to write a broad history of the Roman Republic in this volatile period, but calling it a biography is clearly a misnomer. Third, Cicero as a human being never comes alive. He remains a marble bust--something to be admired from a distance. Everitt never delves into his subject's inner thoughts and feelings. As a reader, I felt as though I was skimming the surface of something potentially fascatinating. But Everitt never delivers. He leaves you picking at crumbs. Where he put the cake, I never found out. Avoid this book. It could have been so much better, but sadly it just failed.
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Summary: Historical biographies don't get much better!
Review: I'm into biographies of the ancients, and this has got to be one of the best biographies ever written. The story of Cicero's life is so gripping that, if it were fiction, it would be too outragious to believe. This cerebral politician and orator had first hand experiences with all of his great contemparies, including J. Caesar, Cleopatra, Pompey, Octavian (Augustus), Mark Antony (who ultimately had him assasinated), and he gives detailed commentary on all the events of the day. Everitt has written a readable and thoroughly enjoyable masterpiece. It deserves to be made into an feature movie. It would be much better than "Gladiator". (I can see Anthony Hopkins playing Cicero.) I read Everitt's book in parallel with the Penguin paperback "Cicero: Selected Works", and found it to be to be particularly entertaining. It was fun to switch back and forth between the two. First, Everitt sets the context and then you can hear what Cicero has to say, about the same events, in his own words. I can't wait until Everitt's next book (on Augustus) is published. It's sure to be a winner.
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