The second “Philippic” of Cicero and the image of Mark Antony in the ancient authors works

Abstract

The article examines the influence of Cicero’s second “Philippic” on the formation of the image of Mark Antony in the writings of ancient authors, primarily Plutarch. On the one hand, Cicero’s pamphlet provided rich material for the characterization of Antony’s personal qualities, which was widely used in the later sources. However, on the other hand, this material underwent significant editing, during which the politicized accusatory pathos important for Cicero was softened, and Antony’s behavior was evaluated from the point of view of generally accepted moral norms. In addition, a comparison of Cicero’s story and the tra­di­tion dependent on him about the attempt to put a diadem on Caesar’s head du­ring the Lupercalia with the story of Nicholas of Damascus shows that the editing of the material was double: not only the authors who relied on Cicero reworked his story, but Cicero himself dissected the facts, keeping silent about those details of events that were unprofitable to recall from a political point of view.

Keywords

• cicero
• “philippics”
• plutarch
• nicholas of damascus
• mark antony
• caesar
• lupercalia
• diadem