Anticipating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Cicero in the City lecture series will explore the ideals, institutions, and individuals who built Western civilization and the American republic.
Not unlike in our own day, the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) lived during a season of cultural turmoil: political extremism, paralyzing partisanship, a breakdown in law and order, and a deficit of civic virtue. Renowned for his oratory, Cicero warned that Rome was squandering its inheritance in republican government. The path to renewal, he argued, involved the recovery of Rome’s political and civic ideals, “the bond which holds together a community of citizens.”
Cicero in the City will feature authors, educators, artists, filmmakers, and other voices to engage in an honest and lively conversation about how Americans can contribute to the renewal of our civic and political life.
