Editing Cicero (section)

=== Education ===
During this period in Roman history, Greek language and cultural studies were highly valued by the elite classes. Cicero was therefore educated in the teachings of the [[ancient Greek philosophers]], [[Ancient Greek literature|poets]] and [[Hellenic historiography|historians]]; as he obtained much of his understanding of the theory and practice of [[rhetoric]] from the Greek poet [[Aulus Licinius Archias|Archias]].{{sfn|Everitt|2001|p=34}} Cicero used his knowledge of Greek to translate many of the theoretical concepts of Greek philosophy into Latin, thus translating Greek philosophical works for a larger audience. It was precisely his broad education that tied him to the traditional Roman elite.{{sfn|Everitt|2001|p=35}}

Cicero's interest in philosophy figured heavily in his later career and led to him providing a comprehensive account of Greek philosophy for a Roman audience,<ref>De Officiis, book 1, n. 1</ref> including creating a philosophical vocabulary in Latin.{{sfn|Everitt|2001|pp=253–55}} In 87 BC, [[Philo of Larissa]], the head of the [[Platonic Academy]] that had been founded by [[Plato]] in Athens about 300 years earlier, arrived in Rome. Cicero, "inspired by an extraordinary zeal for philosophy",<ref>Rawson: "Cicero, a portrait" (1975) p. 18</ref> sat enthusiastically at his feet and absorbed [[Carneades]]' [[Academic skepticism|Academic Skeptic]] philosophy.<ref>J.P.F. Wynne, "Cicero's Skepticism" in ''Skepticism: From Antiquity to the Present'' Bloomsbury Academic 2018 p. 93</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Krebs |first=Christopher B |date=2009 |title=A Seemingly Artless Conversation: Cicero's ''De Legibus'' (1.1–5) |url=https://www.academia.edu/2434123 |journal=Classical Philology |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=90–106 |doi=10.1086/603575 |s2cid=163218114 |issn=0009-837X |access-date=20 October 2022 |archive-date=20 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220142217/https://www.academia.edu/2434123 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Plutarch, Cicero was an extremely talented student, whose learning attracted attention from all over Rome,{{sfn|Plut. ''Cic.''|loc=2.2}} affording him the opportunity to study Roman law under [[Quintus Mucius Scaevola Augur|Quintus Mucius Scaevola]].{{sfn|Plut. ''Cic.''|loc=3.2}} Cicero's fellow students were Gaius Marius Minor, [[Servius Sulpicius Rufus]] (who became a famous lawyer, one of the few whom Cicero considered superior to himself in legal matters), and [[Titus Pomponius Atticus|Titus Pomponius]]. The latter two became Cicero's friends for life, and Pomponius (who later received the nickname "Atticus", and whose sister married Cicero's brother) would become, in Cicero's own words, "as a second brother", with both maintaining a lifelong correspondence.{{sfn|Everitt|2001|p=35}}

In 79 BC, Cicero left for Greece, [[Asia Minor]] and [[Rhodes]]. This was perhaps to avoid the potential wrath of [[Sulla]], as Plutarch claims,<ref>Haskell, H.J.: "This was Cicero" (1940) p. 83</ref>{{sfn|Plut. ''Cic.''|loc=3.2}} though Cicero himself says it was to hone his skills and improve his physical fitness.{{sfn|Cic. ''Brut.''|loc=313–314}} In [[Athens]] he studied philosophy with [[Antiochus of Ascalon]], the 'Old Academic' and initiator of [[Middle Platonism]].{{sfn|Cic. ''Brut.''|loc=315}} In Asia Minor, he met the leading orators of the region and continued to study with them. Cicero then journeyed to Rhodes to meet his former teacher, Apollonius Molon, who had taught him in Rome. Molon helped Cicero hone the excesses in his style, as well as train his body and lungs for the demands of public speaking.{{sfn|Cic. ''Brut.''|loc=316}} Charting a middle path between the competing [[Atticism|Attic]] and [[Asiatic style]]s, Cicero would ultimately become considered second only to [[Demosthenes]] among history's orators.<ref>Gesine Manuwald, Cicero: Philippics 3–9, vol. 2, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2007, pp. 129ff</ref>