Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) was one of the most influential figures in late republican Rome, a moment of great social, political, and cultural unrest that would lead to the transition from republic to empire. Cicero was a statesman who held the highest political office, the consulship, and then suffered politically motivated exile. His career was grounded in his continued success as an orator: his speeches were famous during his lifetime and, together with his rhetorical treatises, shaped the practice and theory of public speaking for centuries to come. His ideas influenced early church fathers, Renaissance humanists, and Enlightenment thinkers and his dramatic death captured imagination of his contemporaries, who saw it as standing for the death of the republic and eloquence.

In this Very Short Introduction, Yelena Baraz presents a concise and integrated account of Cicero's life and accomplishments, locating him within the political and intellectual contexts of his time. It shows that in all his pursuits Cicero saw himself as a mediating figure: between theory and practice, philosophy and politics, Greek and Roman, and among political interest groups. Baraz tackles each area of Cicero's activity on its own terms while showing how overarching ideas and priorities permeate the apparently separate endeavours.