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Secondary sourcePainting1801

Death of Cicero

1801

An 1801 print showing Cicero attacked in his litter and killed on the orders of the triumvirate, including Mark Antony.

Depicts the violent death of Cicero, assassinated on the orders of the triumvirate that included Mark Antony.

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Engraving in stipple style, numbered LXXII at top right. An elderly man in a toga reaches out toward a centurion in plumed helmet and armor who points at him, while soldiers and onlookers gather near a curtained litter and a doorway. A seated figure in the foreground leans forward. Signed in the lower corners.
Death of Cicero, stipple engraving, 1801. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.

About this source

What it is

This stipple engraving from 1801 shows Cicero reaching out from his litter as he is attacked by a centurion named Herennius, who was ordered by the triumvirate to kill him. Soldiers and onlookers surround the scene. It is held by the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands.

Why it matters

Cicero's death was ordered by the triumvirate that included Mark Antony, following political conflict between them. Images like this, made many centuries later, reflect how Cicero's violent end became a dramatic and memorable episode in the story of Rome's transition from republic to empire.

Look closer

  • What does Cicero's posture and gesture suggest about how the artist wanted viewers to feel about him?
  • Why might an artist in 1801 choose to depict this particular, violent moment from Roman history?
  • What does the collection record tell us that the image alone does not, such as who ordered the killing?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Cicero on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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