Cicerone attraverso i secoli

Abstract

This paper deals with the different evaluations of Cicero that have been given over the centuries.

Immediately after his death, he was not much appreciated; with Quintilian he was briefly revalued, but exclusively for his literary merits. Thereafter, a new taste which favoured Latin authors predating Cicero spread, right up to the imitations that were made of him during the Middle Ages. It was only with Petrarch, however, that Cicero's prose was taken as an undisputed model, establishing an ever-increasing prestige from this point onwards. However, this was interrupted by Erasmus of Rotterdam's harsh criticism against the Ciceronians of his time. Thus began the decline of Ciceronianism, which peaked in the 18th century. The advent of Romanticism brought an anti-Latin and anti-Ciceronian revolution with it; Cicero continued to receive negative evaluations, from a moral and political point of view as well, until after the First World War. In the contemporary age, however, he is regarded as the highest representative of the concept of humanitas.

 [Sara Busceti, Stefano Pellegrin A.S.L. 2022 Liceo Cavour Torino]