Letters

by Cicero · Epistulae

Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only

Written
68-43 BCE
Language
Latin
Length
Long · 350 pp300 to 700 pages
Difficulty
Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader

We recommendSelected Letters, translated by P. G. WalshOxford World's Classics, 2008A generous selection in chronological order with the notes a reader needs to follow the politics.

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Nearly nine hundred letters survive from Cicero's correspondence, written between 68 and 43 BCE and published after his death, in collections to his friend Atticus, to other friends and colleagues, to his brother Quintus and to Brutus. Unrevised and often hasty, they record the collapse of the Roman republic from the inside, including Cicero's exile, the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, his grief at his daughter Tullia's death, and the months after Caesar's assassination when he tried to rally the Senate against Antony.

No reading guide yet

The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Letters are verified against each program's published list.

What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.

Browse the 48 works that do have a guide →

Epistulae, Letters to Atticus, Letters to Friends, Epistulae ad Atticum, Epistulae ad Familiares, Selected Letters, Atticus, Quintus Cicero, Tullia, Caesar, Pompey, Antony, Brutus, civil war, Roman republic, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Tully