Anthony Trollope presents Cicero not merely as a great orator and writer but as a statesman committed to law and the Roman Republic, while reconsidering the familiar charges of political weakness and indecision made against him. He follows Cicero from his education and early legal career through his rise as quaestor, aedile, praetor, and eventually consul, highlighting episodes such as the prosecution of Verres that established his reputation as an advocate and public figure. Trollope then examines Cicero’s struggle against the Catiline conspiracy, the fame and controversy that followed his actions as consul, and the weakening of his position with the rise of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in the First Triumvirate. Volume One therefore combines political history with a sympathetic study of Cicero’s character, tracing his difficult choices between principle and power until political hostility finally forces him into exile.
