Prescribed Letters of Cicero key context

Where was Pompey in 62?

Asia

Who did Pompey defeat during his Eastern campaign?

Mithridates

What was Cicero’s achievement in 63?

quashing the Catilinarian Conspiracy

Who are Pompey’s “old enemies”?

popularis politicians

Who were Scipio and Laelius?

a great general and his advisor

Who were the consuls in 59?

Caesar and Bibulus

Which festival did Clodius infiltrate in 62?

Bona Dea

Who organised Clodius’ adoption?

Caesar

Which provinces were assigned to Caesar’s proconsular command in 59?

Illyricum, Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul

Where was Quintus in 59?

Asia

Where was Curio in 53?

Asia

What was Curio doing in Asia in 53?

legate or proquaestor under Gaius Claudius Pulcher

What problems were present in Rome in 53?

street gangs, dominatio of First Triumvirate

Which aristocratic ideal was wit or banter central to?

urbanitas

Where was Cicero in 50?

Cilicia

What was Caelius in 50?

curile aedile

What charge did Cicero successfully defend Caelius against in 56?

violence

Who blocked Cicero’s triumph?

Cato

What was the Megalensia?

a festival of Cybele

Who sent Cicero to Cilicia in 52, as consul?

Pompey

Where was Cicero in February 49?

Formiae, Italy

Where was Pompey going in February 49?

Greece, via Brundisium

Who does Cicero quote in his February 49 letter to Atticus?

Euripides

What was Domitius’ role in 49?

governor of Cisalpine Gaul

What did Caesar do on 10th January 49?

cross the Rubicon

What was declamation?

an educational practice of crafting debates in Greek

What did Atticus do during the civil war?

remain neutral

What did Cicero and Atticus share?

a Greek education

Who is “the liberator” in Cicero’s March 49 letter?

Pompey

Who was Furnius?

a tribune in 50 and an ally of both Caesar and Cicero

What is the “right” of Caesar’s which was infringed in 50?

to stand for the consulship in absentia

What did Lentulus do in 57?

help recall Cicero from exile

Where was Caesar in March 49?

marching to Rome

What policy did Caesar employ during the civil war?

clementia

What did Cicero suspect would happen to his March 49 letter to Caesar?

it would not remain private

Where was Cicero in August 45?

Tusculum

Who were Marcus Brutus’ most prominent ancestors?

Brutus and Ahala

What is the “Parthenon” that Cicero references in his August 45 letter to Atticus?

one of Brutus’ villas

Who introduced the younger Quintus to Caesar?

Hirtius

Where was the younger Quintus returning from in 45?

civil war in Spain

Where was Cicero in April 44?

Lanuvium

Who was Matius?

a Caesarian moderate and old friend of Cicero

Who were the leaders of the conspiracy against Caesar?

Marcus Brutus and Cassius

What happened after Antony’s funeral oration for Caesar?

riots broke out in Rome

Which enemy of Rome was Caesar planning to campaign against at the time of his death?

Parthia

What role was Trebonius supposed to fill in 43?

governor of Asia

What speeches of Cicero restored the Senate’s “ancient and traditional valour”?

Philippics

What had Cicero arranged for Octavian in January 43?

the award of senatorial rank and propraetorian imperium

Where was Antony in early 43?

besieging Mutina, Cisalpine Gaul

Which consuls died at Mutina?

Hirtius and Pansa

What was the question put to the Senate on 20th December 43?

whether to name Antony a public enemy

Who was besieged at Mutina by Antony in early 43?

Decimus Brutus

What was Plancus in March 43?

governor of Gallia Comata

What political ideal does Cicero adopt during the Liberators’ civil war?

rhetoric of crisis, abandonment of pacifism

Who were the members of the Second Triumvirate?

Lepidus, Antony, Octavian