He himself left nothing undone to attain perfection. Not until he had
spent a long time in laborious study and preparation did he make his
_début_ as an orator; nor did he ever rest and think himself
perfect, but, always working, made the most careful preparation for
every case. Each success was to him only a step to another still
higher achievement; and by continual meditation and study he kept
himself fully equipped for his task. Hence he succeeded, as is
universally admitted, in gaining a place beside Demosthenes, or at all
events second only to him.

There are extant fifty-seven orations of Cicero, and fragments of
twenty more. His famous _Philippics_ against Antony caused his
proscription by the Second Triumvirate, and his murder near his villa
at Formiae, in December, 43.

His chief writings on rhetoric were _De Oratore; Brutus de Claris
Oratoribus;_ and _Orator ad M. Brutum_. Cicero was a lover of
philosophy, and his writings on the subject were numerous. Those most
read are _De Senectute, De Amicitia,_ and _De Officiis_.

Eight hundred and sixty-four of Cicero's letters are extant, and they
furnish an inexhaustible treasure of contemporaneous history.


CAESAR (100-44).

Of CAESAR'S literary works the most important are his
_Commentarii_, containing the history of the first seven years of
the Gallic war, and the history of the civil strife down to the
Alexandrine war. The account of his last year in Gaul was written