Every day brings a new story. And each day contributes to story telling -- in prose and in poetry, in art and in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books
Today is the story of January 3rd
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It is the third day of the year, leaving 362 days remaining in 2023.
He told his stories about the Roman Republic. In doing so, he helped to upgrade Latin from a brute language to one that spoke eloquently on rhetoric, history, philosophy, law, and politics.
He wrote letters, speeches, treatises and books.
He helped hold literature together. Scholars estimate that during his lifetime, Cicero was responsible for some three-quarters of the writings that emanated from that period.
His writings on philosophy are particularly impressive, with works ranging from his daughter's death, to the suspension of judgment, to one's moral obligations. Many of the works, as Cicero said himself, were merely the transmission of Greek thoughts; but in doing so, he gave Rome and the Western world its underpinnings of philosophical thought and language.
His work lives on today. Journalists use him as as easy prop to show how issues remain over time. Politicians quote him to impress themselves and others.
Cicero's lifetime coincided with the reign of Julius Caesar. He was not part of the plot to kill Caesar, although he eventually suffered because of it. In late 43 B.C.E., he was beheaded on the orders of Marc Antony, partly because of a speech Cicero gave in the Roman Senate calling Antony "an enemy of the state" for his actions in connection with Caesar's death.
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