He hated Cicero

The most well-known speeches in Roman literature are those by Cicero criticizing Antony. It is obvious that the great orator detested Antony, but this hatred was undoubtedly shared. After Antony's father passed away, his mother wed P.

Cornelius Lentulus, who served as a sort of parental figure, and the two got along well. For his involvement in the Cataline Affair, Lentulus was put to death by Cicero in 63 BC. Antony never forgot this, and Cicero finally paid with his life for this crime and his future opposition. Notably, Cicero claimed that Antony's father was dishonest and inept, and he also claimed that his adversary had a homosexual liaison.

After Caesar's death, there was a fight for control, and Cicero believed that Octavian had the potential to save the Republic. As the unofficial executor of his former leader's testament, Cicero charged Antony of violating Caesar's desires. Cicero condemned Antony in 14 speeches (known as the Phillippicae) delivered in 44 and 43 BC. On September 2, 44 BC, he gave the first of these remarks, criticizing the laws of Publius Cornelius Dolabella and his new foe.

Cicero and Antony were the two most important political personalities in Rome at this time, and the orator's reputation had never been better. On April 21, 43 BC, Cicero gave the 14th Philippic, in which he asked that Antony be designated as a "hostile" or adversary of the state. Unfortunately for Cicero, Antony reconciled with Octavian and established the Second Triumvirate with Lepidus and his new ally.

Cicero was one of the new Triumvirate's first targets when they began proscribing their adversaries. On December 7, 43 BC, Cicero was observed fleeing from his estate in Formiae with the intention of making his way to Macedonia. Despite the fact that he continued to enjoy popular goodwill to the point that individuals hesitated to divulge his location, Cicero's good fortune came to an end. According Roman mythology, Herennius, a soldier, murdered Cicero first, then hacked off his head later as Cicero bent over to assist the men in correctly chopping off his head. Cicero's hands were severed by Antony's troops, who then affixed them to the Rostra in the Forum Romanum alongside his head. Fulvia, Antony's wife at the time, was accused by Cassius Dio of removing Cicero's tongue and severing it with a hairpin.