Editing Cicero (section)

== Early career ==
{{Main|Political career of Cicero}}

===Early legal activity===

While Cicero had feared that the law courts would be closed forever, they were reopened in the aftermath of [[Sulla's civil war]] and the purging of Sulla's political opponents in the [[Sulla's proscription|proscriptions]]. Many of the orators whom Cicero had admired in his youth were now dead from age or political violence. His first major appearance in the courts was in 81&nbsp;BC at the age of 26 when he delivered ''[[Pro Quinctio]]'', a speech defending certain commercial transactions which Cicero had recorded and disseminated.<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2011|p=32}}. See also {{cite book |last=Cicero |title=Pro Quinctio |year=1930 |translator-last=Freese |translator-first=J J |url=http://attalus.org/cicero/quinctius.html |access-date=10 April 2023 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410150714/http://attalus.org/cicero/quinctius.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

His more famous speech defending [[Sextus Roscius]] of [[Amelia, Umbria|Ameria]] – {{lang|la|[[Pro Roscio Amerino]]}} – on charges of [[parricide]] in 80&nbsp;BC was his first appearance in criminal court. In this high-profile case, Cicero accused a freedman of the dictator Sulla, [[Lucius Cornelius Chrysogonus|Chrysogonus]], of fabricating Roscius' father's proscription to obtain Roscius' family's property. Successful in his defence, Cicero tactfully avoided incriminating Sulla of any wrongdoing and developed a positive oratorical reputation for himself.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|p=37}}

While Plutarch claims that Cicero left Rome shortly thereafter out of fear of Sulla's response,{{sfn|Plut. ''Cic.''|loc=3.2}} according to Kathryn Tempest, "most scholars now dismiss this suggestion" because Cicero left Rome after Sulla resigned his dictatorship.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|p=37}} Cicero, for his part, later claimed that he left Rome, headed for Asia, to develop his physique and develop his oratory.{{sfn|Cic. ''Brut.''|loc=315–316}} After marrying his wife, [[Terentia]], in 80&nbsp;BC, he eventually left for Asia Minor with his brother [[Quintus Cicero|Quintus]], his friend [[Titus Atticus]], and others on a long trip spanning most of 79 through 77&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|pp=37–38}} Returning to Rome in 77&nbsp;BC, Cicero again busied himself with legal defence.<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2011|p=39}}. {{harvnb|Plut. ''Cic.''|loc=5.1–2}} claims that Cicero was unpopular and received a warning against oratory from the oracle at Delphi; this is unlikely and contradicted by Cicero's own claims.</ref>

===Early political career===
In 76&nbsp;BC, at the quaestorian elections, Cicero was elected at the minimum age required – 30 years – in the first returns from the ''[[comitia tributa]]'', to the post of [[quaestor]]. Ex officio, he also became a member of the [[Roman Senate|Senate]]. In the quaestorian lot, he was assigned to [[Sicily]] for 75&nbsp;BC. The post, which was largely one related to financial administration in support of the state or provincial governors, proved for Cicero an important place where he could gain clients in the provinces. His time in Sicily saw him balance his duties – largely in terms of sending more grain back to Rome – with his support for the provincials, Roman businessmen in the area, and local potentates. Adeptly balancing those responsibilities, he won their gratitude.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|pp=41–42}} He was also appreciated by local Syracusans for the rediscovery of the lost tomb of [[Archimedes]], which he personally financed.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Italian Academy |url=https://www.theitalianacademy.com/portfolio-posts/curious-case-tomb-archimedes/#:~:text=Cicero%20found%20it%20and%20accused%20the%20Syracusans%20of%20negligence. |website=The Curious Case of the Tomb of Archimedes |access-date=2 February 2024 |archive-date=2 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240202084909/https://www.theitalianacademy.com/portfolio-posts/curious-case-tomb-archimedes/#:~:text=Cicero%20found%20it%20and%20accused%20the%20Syracusans%20of%20negligence. |url-status=live }}</ref>

Promising to lend the Sicilians his oratorical voice, he was called on a few years after his quaestorship to prosecute the Roman province's governor [[Gaius Verres]],<ref>Verres was governor of Sicily for three years, 73–71&nbsp;BC. 
{{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=112, 119, 124}}. Prior to Verres, Sextus Peducaeus and Gaius Licinius Sacerdos had served as Sicilian ''propraetores'' (75 and 74&nbsp;BC, respectively). {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=98, 104}}.</ref> for abuse of power and corruption.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|pp=42–45}} In 70&nbsp;BC, at the age of 36, Cicero launched his first high-profile prosecution against Verres, an emblem of the corrupt Sullan supporters who had risen in the chaos of the civil war.{{sfn|Tempest|2011|p=46}}

The prosecution of Gaius Verres was a great forensic success<ref>{{cite book
|title=The Oxford illustrated history of the Roman world
|publisher=OUP Oxford
|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordillustrate00john_1
|url-access=registration
|quote=extortionate.
|access-date=10 August 2011
|pages=84ff
|isbn=978-0-19-285436-0
|last1=Boardman
|first1=John
|year= 2001
}}</ref> for Cicero. While Verres hired the prominent lawyer, [[Quintus Hortensius]], after a lengthy period in Sicily collecting testimonials and evidence and persuading witnesses to come forward, Cicero returned to Rome and won the case in a series of dramatic court battles. His unique style of oratory set him apart from the flamboyant Hortensius. On the conclusion of this case, Cicero came to be considered the greatest orator in Rome. The view that Cicero may have taken the case for reasons of his own is viable. Hortensius was, at this point, known as the best lawyer in Rome; to beat him would guarantee much success and the prestige that Cicero needed to start his career. Cicero's oratorical ability is shown in his [[character assassination]] of Verres and various other techniques of persuasion used on the jury. One such example is found in the speech ''[[In Verrem]]'', where he states "with you on this bench, gentlemen, with [[Manius Acilius Glabrio (consul 67 BC)|Marcus Acilius Glabrio]] as your president, I do not understand what Verres can hope to achieve".<ref>Trans. Grant, Michael. Cicero: Selected Works. London: Penguin Books. 1960.</ref> Oratory was considered a great art in ancient Rome and an important tool for disseminating knowledge and promoting oneself in elections, in part because there were no regular newspapers or mass media. Cicero was neither a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] nor a plebeian [[nobiles|noble]]; his rise to political office despite his relatively humble origins has traditionally been attributed to his brilliance as an orator.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bartleby.com/268/2/11.html |title=III. The First Oration Against Catiline by Cicero. Rome (218 B.C.–84 A.D.). Vol. II. Bryan, William Jennings, ed. 1906. The World's Famous Orations |website=www.bartleby.com |date=10 October 2022 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=26 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200526230138/https://www.bartleby.com/268/2/11.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Cicero grew up in a time of civil unrest and war. Sulla's victory in the first of a series of civil wars led to a new constitutional framework that undermined {{lang|la|[[libertas]]}} (liberty), the fundamental value of the Roman Republic. Nonetheless, Sulla's reforms strengthened the position of the equestrian class, contributing to that class's growing political power. Cicero was both an Italian {{lang|la|eques}} and a {{lang|la|[[novus homo]]}}, but more importantly he was a [[Constitution of the Roman Republic|Roman constitutionalist]]. His social class and loyalty to the Republic ensured that he would "command the support and confidence of the people as well as the Italian middle classes". The [[optimates]] faction never truly accepted Cicero, and this undermined his efforts to reform the Republic while preserving the constitution. Nevertheless, he successfully ascended the cursus honorum, holding each magistracy at or near the youngest possible age: quaestor in 75 BC (age 30), [[aedile]] in 69 BC (age 36), and [[praetor]] in 66 BC (age 39), when he served as president of the extortion court. He was then elected consul at age 42.<!-- WP:CALC -->{{citation needed |reason=Roman magistrates take office at different points through the year; quaestors in December of the previous year, for example; just subtracting years is of insufficient credibility |date=December 2024 }}