I almost put the bogus Cicero quote on a front page of “Foreign Enemies And Traitors.” After all, you can find the quote in some internet wiki sites, so it must be valid? I dug deeper and discovered that actual Cicero scholars have been debunking it for years. Every line ever written by Cicero is catalogued and dated etc, and that quote appears nowhere before the last century.
That is astounding, considering how long I’ve been aware of the quote.
Any idea where it originated?
Cicero ping
This thread goes back a way, but here’s what I found.
Taylor Caldwell, in “A Pillar of Iron” (Doubleday 1965),
includes this “famous” speech by Cicero and sites the Roman historian Sullust as the source.
I also found this quote in a speech by Millard F. Caldwell (no relation).http://www.aapsonline.org/brochures/cicero.htm
The interesting thing is Millard Caldwell’s speech, given also in 1965, heavily plagiarizes Mrs. Caldwell’s book. I know because I just finished reading it.
Not exactly what you would expect from a former Florida Governor and Supreme Court Justice. maj/s
Anyway, thanks for sending me down that rabbit trail. I still don’t know if the quote is Cicero’s, but the book was good.