The Art of Oratory. With Comments and Illustrations

Marcus Tullius Cicero - a brilliant orator and politician, a contemporary of Gaius Julius Caesar, who witnessed the collapse of the republican institutions of Rome. Philosophy and rhetoric in his understanding were inextricably linked - philosophy explained why a citizen should be virtuous, while rhetoric showed that even one citizen can be persuasive to all fellow citizens. The new book in the Popular Philosophy series includes excerpts from Cicero's rhetorical works, demonstrating the qualities that an orator should possess, as well as fragments from political writings that reveal the nature of the state and laws. The third part contains three of the five Tusculan Disputations, which reflect on the most important philosophical questions - how to remain virtuous, renowned, and happy in the face of death, thus attaining the immortality of the soul and civic immortality. All texts are accompanied by detailed comments and explanations by Professor Alexander Markov from the Russian State University for the Humanities.