by
Damien F. Mackey
“… I suggest that Cicero explicitly employs
unhistorical (or at least not certifiably true) exempla, with a view to the
internal consistency of the dialogues' fictional world”.
Dan
Hanchey
Some Commonalities
Some obvious similarities between the
text-book Ptolemy Soter (so-called IX) and Cicero are their supposed beginnings
before 100 BC, and their sharing of a name, or nickname, meaning “Chickpea”. In
the book, Language Typology and Historical
Contingency: In honor of Johanna Nichols (eds. B. Bickel et al.), we read as follows about this name (p. 303):
The possible prehistory of *ḱiḱer- is more interesting. The attested
forms are Latin (Glare 1996) cicer
‘chickpea’ (Cicer arietinum), cicera ‘chickling vetch’ (Lathyrus sativus), Armenian siseṙn ‘chickpea’, Macedonian
(Hesychius) kíkerroi (Lathyrus ochrus), and Serbo-Croatian sȁstrica (Lathyrus cicera or Lathyrus
sativus). …. There is also the possibility of Greek kriós, ‘chickpea’, which Pokorny (1994: 598) tentatively suggests
might be from *kikriós with
dissimilation, and Hittite kikris, a
food item used in a mash, and measured in handfuls. ….
[End of quote]
Cicero Ptolemy
IX
Likewise, Ptolemy was, Cicero was, contemporaneous with a Cleopatra, who had no great love for the “Chickpea”, or vice versa.
In the case of Ptolemy, we read (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy-IX-Soter-II): “Although [Cleopatra, so-called III] preferred his younger brother, Ptolemy
Alexander, popular sentiment forced the dowager queen to dismiss him and to associate Ptolemy Soter on
the throne with herself”.
In parallel
fashion, Cleopatra [so-called VII] ruled as co-regent with Ptolemy [so-called
XII]: “Before his death, Ptolemy XII chose his daughter Cleopatra VII as his coregent. In his will, he declared that she and her brother Ptolemy XIII should rule
the kingdom together”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_XII_Auletes). Interestingly, Cicero, according to what we read at this site, is
supposed to have commented unfavourably on this latter situation:
Throughout his long-lasting reign
the principal aim of Ptolemy [XII] was to secure his hold on the Egyptian
throne so as to eventually pass it to his heirs. To achieve this goal he was
prepared to sacrifice much: the loss of rich Ptolemaic lands, most of his
wealth and even, according to Cicero, the very dignity on which the mystique of
kingship rested when he appeared before the Roman people as a mere supplicant.
[End of quote]
As for Cicero
and Cleopatra: “Without
doubt Cicero was hoping for bad news about Cleopatra. He did not like Greeks and he did not like women, and
most of all he hated the Greek woman Cleopatra ...”.
(Michael Foss, The Search for Cleopatra, 1999).
Exiles
Ptolemy experienced three of these, according
to Encyclopædia
Britannica:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ptolemy-IX-Soter-II
…. The latent hostility between the son and his mother
finally erupted in October 110, when Cleopatra expelled him from Egypt and
recalled his brother from Cyprus. Soter II returned in early 109 but was
evicted anew by his mother in March of the following year.
After a reconciliation in May 108 he fled a third time
and established himself in Cyprus, from where in 107 he invaded northern Syria
to assist one of the claimants to the Seleucid empire, while his mother,
allying herself with the Jewish king in Palestine, actively aided another
Seleucid pretender. ….
[End of quote]
Nor was
Cicero a stranger to exile, as we learn at: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/marcus-tullius-cicero
Cicero was elected quaestor in 75, praetor in 66 and consul in
63—the youngest man ever to attain that rank without coming from a political
family. During his term as consul he thwarted the Catilinian conspiracy to
overthrow the Republic. In the aftermath, though, he approved the key
conspirators’ summary execution, a breach of Roman law that left him vulnerable
to prosecution and sent him into exile.
Cicero: Alliances, Exiles ….
During his exile, Cicero refused overtures from Caesar that
might have protected him, preferring political independence to a role in the
First Triumvirate. Cicero was away from Rome when civil war between Caesar and
Pompey broke out. He aligned himself with Pompey and then faced another exile
when Caesar won the war, cautiously returning to Rome to receive the dictator’s
pardon. ….
[End of quote]
Cyprus
Continuing
with the Encyclopædia Britannica account of Ptolemy, we read of his lengthy sojourn
in Cyprus:
After a reconciliation in May 108 [Ptolemy] fled a third
time and established himself in Cyprus, from where in 107 he invaded northern
Syria to assist one of the claimants to the Seleucid empire, while his mother,
allying herself with the Jewish king in Palestine, actively aided another
Seleucid pretender. During the protracted war his mother died (101) and Ptolemy
X Alexander became the sole ruler of Egypt, while Soter II remained entrenched
in Cyprus. ….
[End of quote]
As for
Cicero, Ismail Veli has called him “Cicero The Most Famous Governor in Cypriot
History!” (http://cyprusscene.com/2014/11/26/cicero-the-most-famous-governor-in-cypriot-history/):
If I was to choose the most
famous Governor in Cypriot history I would choose the great Marcus Tullius
Cicero ….
In 51 BC and much against his
will he was assigned to Cilicia which was associated to Cyprus. As usual
the previous Governor’s considered their post as an opportunity to enrich
themselves at the expense of the local people. Arriving in August 51 B.C he
remained until the following year until 3rd August 50 B.C. Though not pleased
on his post Cicero as usual set about his task with honesty, hard work and
aimed at making the lives of the locals much more comfortable. In addition to
the corruption, Cilicia was in an unsettled state due to the Parthian wars. His
first order was that the locals need not present him with gifts they could ill
afford. He also did away with spending on many forms of Roman entertainment. He
only accepted invitations to modest dinner parties so as not to force the
locals extra spending. He himself restrained from having extravagant
dinner parties, only well served and delicious food at the lowest cost possible
was on offer. He never ordered anyone to be beaten with rods or stripped of
their clothing. His biggest achievement was in fighting the embezzlement of
public funds which was at a chronic level. He invited the culprits to hand over
the funds on the condition that they would not be charged and allowed to
retain their citizen rights. The effect was that much money was given back to
the point that financial stability and prosperity grew. Any chiefs who refused
were met with the wrath of the Roman army at Cicero’s disposal. By the time he
left Cilicia the people honoured him with the title of ‘Imperator’.
Meanwhile in Cyprus he found
the same if not worse problems as he confronted in Cilicia.
He assigned one of his most
trusted men Q. Volusius as prefect to help with the task. The
previous Governors had exacted large sums of money from the locals in
compensation for not stationing Legionaries on the Island in winter at their
expense. Instead they blackmailed the local cities to pay a charge amounting to
over 200 Attic talents (one talent was worth 6000 Denarii. The average pay for
a citizen was about 1-2 denarii a day). In addition when the city of
Salamis needed a loan, Marcus Brutus levied a charge of 48% interest which was
crippling the local economy. Raising loans by provincials in
Rome was illegal under the Gabinian law (introduced in 67 B.C) Therefore
Brutus together with Cato raised it on their behalf. The reason for their
exorbitant interest was the excuse that times were volatile and with wars
raging in Asia Minor and the Middle East they were at great risk of losing
their money. In the end after heavy negotiation the locals were happy to settle
for 106 Talents therefore reducing their heavy burden by almost half. Cicero
made good the rest from some of the money he had won back from the embezzlers
in Cilicia. A Scaptius complained bitterly to M. Brutus that Cicero was so
unreasonable that he was not even allowed fifty troopers to have with him
in Cyprus, to which Cicero replied that ”Fifty troopers could do no little harm
among such gentle folk as the Cypriotes. Spartacus had begun his insurrection
with a smaller troop”.
After leaving Cyprus, Cicero
retained an interest in Cypriot affairs. In 47 B.C he wrote to C Sextilius 
Rufus who was quaestor for the Island in that year
warmly commending to him all the Cypriotes, especially the Paphians; and
suggesting that he would do well to set an example to his successor,
instituting reforms in accordance with the law of P.Lentulus and following
Cicero’s decisions and policies on the Island.
Rufus who was quaestor for the Island in that year
warmly commending to him all the Cypriotes, especially the Paphians; and
suggesting that he would do well to set an example to his successor,
instituting reforms in accordance with the law of P.Lentulus and following
Cicero’s decisions and policies on the Island.
So ended Cicero’s period of
short but effective Governorship of the Roman province of Cyprus. Not many
rulers treated the Cypriots with the care and concern as did Cicero. Even if
some did I don’t have any doubt that anyone more famous in history can claim to
have presided over the people of the Island. ….
[End of quote]
Sack of
Athens
An event
that occurred at the hands of the Romans in the lifetime of Ptolemy IX, of
Cicero. Thus, according to: Encyclopædia Britannica “Ptolemy Soter refused to give aid to the Romans in the
course of their war with Pontus, a Black Sea
kingdom, and after the Roman sack of Athens in 88 the Egyptian rulers helped
rebuild the city, for which commemorative statues of them were erected”.
Roman aristocrats returned to Athens soon
after Sulla’s sack, in search of education and high culture. A shipwreck, found
a century ago by sponge divers off the island of Antikythera at the southern
point of Greece, revealed a cargo of extraordinary statues and other treasure
en route for Italy. Excavations of the luxurious villas constructed in the last
century BC show the probable destinations of such cargoes. Ancestral mansions
in the city had been rebuilt on ever more lavish scales since the sixth century,
but from the later second century Roman aristocrats had begun to expand their
property portfolios. Cicero was far from the richest of senators, but even he
owned eight villas.
[End of quote]
Dan Hanchey may be closer to the truth than he realises when he writes of Cicero’s employment of “unhistorical (or at least not certifiably true) exempla” (https://cj.camws.org/abstracts110.1):
DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED: FICTION FORMING FACT IN CICERO'S DIALOGUES
….
This paper analyzes Cicero's citations of the not-always-historical past in
his theoretical corpus. Examining both the Marian oak in the prologue of De
Legibus and Cicero's overall use of historical references, I suggest that
Cicero explicitly employs unhistorical (or at least not certifiably true)
exempla, with a view to the internal consistency of the dialogues' fictional
world. By encouraging the reader's acceptance of such fictional examples,
Cicero establishes an intersubjective and empathetic relationship with his
audience. Ultimately, Cicero seeks to uphold and use others to confirm his
internal world as an alternative to the tense world of Roman politics. ….
[End of quote]
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