De Litteris Ciceronis

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Lucus Eques
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De Litteris Ciceronis

Post by Lucus Eques »

L. Amadeus salutem omnibus dicit.

I would like to begin reading Cicero's letters, but I wasn't certain where to start. Are there any suggestions from those well or moderately well read in Cicero's writings?

Gratias plurimas!
L. Amādeus Rāniērius · Λ. Θεόφιλος Ῥᾱνιήριος 🦂

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Lucus Eques
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Post by Lucus Eques »

L. Amādeus Rāniērius · Λ. Θεόφιλος Ῥᾱνιήριος 🦂

SCORPIO·MARTIANVS

philplus
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Post by philplus »

I am far from the level of "those well or moderately well read in Cicero's writings", but there are quite a lot of selected letters and orations of Cicero available(public domain books) on Google, e.g.:

Prichard & Bernard
Selected Letters of Cicero with notes for the use of schools
2nd ed. Oxford 1876

Frank Frost Abbott
Selected letters of Cicero: Edited, with Introduction and Notes
Ginn & Company, 1900

and so on. Hope you find them useful, and have a nice time with him.

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Didymus
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Post by Didymus »

D.R. Shackleton-Bailey's editions. The Select Letters in the Cambridge Green and Yellow series is a reasonable place to start; from there you can move on to his comprehensive scholarly editions (likewise Cambridge) if you are so inclined.

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Post by thesaurus »

Didymus wrote:D.R. Shackleton-Bailey's editions. The Select Letters in the Cambridge Green and Yellow series is a reasonable place to start; from there you can move on to his comprehensive scholarly editions (likewise Cambridge) if you are so inclined.
I second this recommendation, as I own it and have enjoyed reading numerous letters from it. The notes provide adequate context on references and context, as well as occasional textual questions. The introductory material provides some background regarding Cicero's life and Latin letter writing.

I think the most interesting thing about Cicero's letters is the wide variety of styles he works with. He'll switch between a loose colloquial style with his friends, and he shifts back into ornate periods when writing to various political figures.

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Post by Lucus Eques »

Thank you all for the recommendations!

Where do I find the D.R. Shackleton-Bailey editions?
L. Amādeus Rāniērius · Λ. Θεόφιλος Ῥᾱνιήριος 🦂

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