Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic

Histories of the late Republic and biographies of Cicero have previously tended to treat political and cultural developments as essentially separate. In Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic, Thomas Wiedemann takes a fresh approach, looking at Cicero's literary works in the context of his public life, and of contemporary political and social issues. Wiedemann explores Cicero's role in the creation of a new and effective 'Roman' cultural identity demanded by the process of Italian unification and the consequent collapse of the old Republican party system.