Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas developed by Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43BC) to support and reinvigorate the Roman Republic when, as it transpired, it was in its final years, threatened by civil wars, the rule of Julius Caesar and the triumvirates that followed. As Consul he had suppressed a revolt by Catiline, putting the conspirators to death summarily as he believed the Republic was in danger and that this danger trumped the right to a fair trial, a decision that rebounded on him. While in exile he began works on duty, laws, the orator and the republic. Although left out of the conspiracy to kill Caesar, he later defended that murder in the interests of the Republic, only to be murdered himself soon after.

With

Melissa LaneThe Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton Universityand 2018 Carlyle Lecturer at the University of Oxford

Catherine SteelProfessor of Classics at the University of Glasgow

And

Valentina ArenaReader in Roman History at University College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson.