Happy 2128th Birthday Cicero!

44 BCE Is Not Going To Be His Year

Salvete, patres subscripti.

Today is Cicero’s 2128th birthday!

Pater Patriae More Like Partyer Patriae Am I Right

It is also conveniently close enough to new year for a brief update about e-pistulae:

• We have reached the letters written in 44 BCE, the year in which Cicero turned 62, and Julius Caesar had a really bad time! This is also the penultimate year of Cicero’s life.

• Unfortunately, there are very few letters dating from the first two months of the year. Fortunately, the frequency of letters increases massively after A Very Special Day In March.

• New year, new translation. Shuckburgh’s translation of the letters is public domain, but is also old, and I Just Don’t Like It, so (unless something suddenly goes Very Wrong) I am now doing the translation and notes myself. I am very much not an expert on Cicero, and the notes are intended to be low-key. As always, if you know something interesting about a letter that isn’t in the notes, feel free to add it as a comment!

Thank you for reading :-)

Valete!