Marcus Tullius Cicero (pronounced /ˈsɪsɨroʊ/; Classical Latin: [ˈkikeroː]; January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) I was a Roman philosopher,statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. I came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and I am widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.
I introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as humanitas,qualitas, quantitas, and essentia) distinguishing myself as a linguist, translator, and philosopher. An impressive orator and successful lawyer, I thought that my political career was my most important achievement. Today, I am appreciated primarily for my humanism and philosophical and political writings. My voluminous correspondence, much of it addressed to my friend Atticus, has been especially influential, introducing the art of refined letter writing to European culture. Cornelius Nepos, the 1st-century BC biographer of Atticus, remarked that my letters contained such a wealth of detail "concerning the inclinations of leading men, the faults of the generals, and the revolutions in the government" that their reader had little need for a history of the period. My speeches and letters remain some of the most important primary sources that survive on the last days of the Roman Republic.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicero
