Speeches from the troubled years. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 BC), Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, about whom we know more than any other Roman, lived in the turbulent era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a shaky republic. Through his political speeches and correspondence, the enthusiasm, tension, and intrigues of politics are revealed, as well as the role he played in the turmoil of the time. Of the approximately 106 speeches addressed previously to the Romans or the Senate if they were political, and to jurors if they were judicial, fifty-eight survive (some partially). In the 14th century, Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts that included more than 900 letters, more than 800 of which were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These offer a revelation of the man, and indeed in a striking way, as most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive and one more in fragments. Among the philosophical works are seven major compositions and several others that have been lost. There is also poetry, some original, and some translated from Greek. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero consists of twenty-nine volumes.