Cicero: Philippic II - A Selection

This is the endorsed publication from OCR and Bloomsbury for the Latin AS and A-Level (Group 1) prescription of Cicero's Philippic II sections 44–50 (… viri tui similis esses) and 78 (C. Caesari ex Hispania redeunti…)–92, and the A-Level (Group 2) prescription of sections 100–119, giving full Latin text, commentary and vocabulary, with a detailed introduction that also covers the prescribed text to be read in English for A Level.

It is 44 BC. Following Caesar's assassination, his supporters are looking for a new leader. Caesar's deputy, Antony, and the 18-year-old Octavian, the future Augustus, are vying with each other to fill the role; each seems more concerned with personal power than the good of Rome. Cicero returns to the city to try to save it with the one weapon at his disposal: his oratory.

In this speech, the longest of the Philippics (so-called after a series of speeches made against Philip of Macedon), Cicero starts by defending his own career and then – the part we read - demolishes Antony's. A masterpiece of invective, it ensures Antony's bitter hostility and Cicero's eventual elimination.