Philosophical dialogues of a sorrowful politician. Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 106–43 B.C.), a Roman lawyer, orator, politician, and philosopher, of whom we know more than any other Roman, lived during the turmoil of the era that saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a nominally democratic republic. In his political speeches, especially, as well as in his correspondence, the emotions, tensions, and intrigues of politics are revealed, along with his role in the upheavals of the time. Of approximately 106 speeches delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before judges if they were judicial, fifty-eight (some of which are incomplete) have been preserved.

In the 14th century, Petrarch and other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters, of which over 800 were written by Cicero and nearly 100 by others to him. These letters offer a revelation of the man, even more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works and one other in fragments are preserved. The philosophical works include seven preserved major works and a number of others that are lost. There is also poetry, some original and some as translations from the Greek.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes. Pages: 624, Year of Publication: 0101, Dimensions: 10.8x10.8cm.