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#askcicero
locutus-sum · 3 years
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Dear Cicero, I have a few questions for you. Firstly, what is your opinion on women in politics? While it was not allowed for woman your age, it is in many countries nowadays. So there are quite a lot female politicians. Secondly, what do you think about social media and would you use it? And lastly, who did you respect and love the most during your lifetime?
I hope you have a pleasant time in Elysium!
Sibyl: ✨appears in a puff of smoke✨ Hello there. I have a reply from Cicero. Unfortunately it didn't all fit onto one scroll, so here's volume one: On Women in Politics. Further installments to come, if you can bear to read that awful waffle he comes up with. Bye. ✨ disappears in a puff of smoke✨
Marcus Tullius Cicero sends his greetings to his anonymous correspondent.
Well, well! How times have changed since the Republic I knew! Women in politics! What an idea! I await with great anticipation the reaction of my respected if rather traditional contemporary Cato, for I fear his innards may fall right out again. How it is possible for women to go into politics is not clear to me - what of child rearing? I do not doubt, however, not for a moment, that with the proper education, a woman could fulfill admirably the roles of state, if this were a woman of great virtue and dignitas equal to that of a man - my own Tulliola showed such a spark of brilliance, such keenness of mind in our discussions of literature that if she were my son she would doubtless rise to the rank even of consul, and, I feel I can justifiably say, suo anno, though of course you must be aware that my pride and joy as a father would compel me to say such things even if they weren't true, which, incidentally, they are - and so if women of decent moral virtue and equal brilliance are considered able to enter into the world of politics, I give them my blessing. However, the judgements of Cato, however conservative, must not, in my view, be entirely disregarded, for, as has been proved many a time, women without these essential qualities may have a nefarious nature and seek power beyond that which they deserve: I am convinced, in fact, that a woman could make as treacherous and dangerous an enemy of the state as Catiline, that notorious scoundrel who would have brought Rome to ruin were it not for my quick action and dutiful vigilance, or Antony, who boldly dared to take the place of the hated and rightly-slain Caesar so that he might surpass even him in his unbridled audacity. I am aware, however, that you may regard such views as antiquated - though the messages I receive from the mortal world are, alas, paltry, the majority, I am deeply sad to say, are merely ungrounded invectives haranguing me for my dust ancient morality- let them criticise! I know that I myself in my time sought to act always as a paragon of virtue, and so I hope you will treat my response accordingly and trust that, were I privileged enough to have been born in your time, I would uphold what have become the new standards of morality with the same rigorousness as I did when I was alive.
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locutus-sum · 3 years
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Ask to Cicero: Salve! First of all, I'm a big fan of yours. That you don't receive that much fan mail nowadays is a shame. But many have to translate your speeches in school, so you are definitely not forgotten...oh wait, maybe the whole school-thing could be the reason you're losing fans. Anyways...my question for you: If you could live now, 2021, what would you absolutely want to do/see/...?
✨appears in a puff of smoke✨The Sibyl: Here’s that pompous buffoon’s reply. I told him that this kind of response is exactly why he doesn’t get any fan mail anymore, but then he went off on one so I took his answer and left. I eagerly await his 14 books of invectives against me when I get back to the Underworld. Anway, here’s the message. Can I go now?  ✨disappears in a puff of smoke✨
Cicero: It is indeed a great pleasure, let me say, to receive a message from the mortal world after all this time when it seems that – o woe! – the people of your age seem to no longer have any time to spare a thought for those who lived before them and to appreciate their contribution, nay, genius, which I feel I can humbly say I gifted to the world over the course of my long and, let it be said, tumultuous life. O what an age you must live in when my words, timeless records of the thoughts and deeds of so many great men, are merely a cause of boredom for the intellectually-stunted schoolchild! Did I turn my eloquence against so many a monster, against such great tyranny, so that the people of a future age should spend their time huffing and groaning over the elaborately crafted architecture of my phrasing? Let me say, however, that all does not seem to be lost. That my voice still speaks out above the clamour of all men who came after me, minds almost as great as my own yet to come into the light of the world, that my efforts are still remembered over the centuries is, needless to say, a source of great solace, dare I say joy, to me, one that oversteps the hasty wrath of ambitious men who sought to end my days because I dared to stand in the way of their kingly ambitions.
But I digress – let me now turn my eloquence to answering your question. I have no doubt that your age is one which I would find entirely unfamiliar since, even in my lifetime, I watched the Rome of old crumble before my eyes, despite my best efforts to uphold the power of the Senate like one of the noble caryatids supporting the pediment of the great Parthenon. With me died the Republic I loved. And so, dear reader, I would dearly love to see that in 2021, the pillars of reason and order have been rebuilt by those seeking to continue in the path I laid out, just as the Pompeys of my days sought to emulate the Alexanders of old. No greater boon could be granted to me in my death.
I would also be keen to try my hand at politics again, to show the world, as indeed I am certain I would, that I still have the knack of leading the hearts and minds of men and to relive in a new age my great consulship. I have no doubt that I would make a terrific President or Prime Minister.
And finally, dare I mention it, I would quite like a JSTOR subscription and some tweed suits.
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