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Primary sourceSpeech4 April 56 BC

Pro Caelio

Cicero · 4 April 56 BC

Cicero's courtroom speech defending his former student Marcus Caelius Rufus, famous for its sharp attack on the noblewoman Clodia.

Cicero delivered this speech in person, using courtroom wit to defend his former student and attack his political rivals.

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A page of handwritten Latin manuscript in brown ink on pale vellum, with a decorated illuminated initial S in pink, blue and green and sprawling painted foliage and small flowers in the left margin. The text begins with the words 'Sivus' and continues in dense script in the lower half.
Copy of Cicero's Pro Caelio in a 15th-century Italian manuscript codex.

About this source

What it is

This is a defence speech delivered by Cicero on 4 April 56 BC in a Roman court, defending Marcus Caelius Rufus against charges of political violence. The image shows a page from a 15th-century Italian manuscript copy of the oration, made over a thousand years after Cicero spoke it.

Why it matters

The speech reveals Cicero's wit and skill as an orator, and his willingness to settle old scores, since he attacks Clodia, sister of his political enemy Publius Clodius Pulcher. It is valuable evidence of Roman courtroom tactics, gender attitudes, and the tangled personal rivalries of the late Republic. Clodia herself may be the

This speech 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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Manuscript page numbered 169 in Latin, handwritten in brown ink with a decorated illuminated initial letter in the upper left in red, green, and blue with gold accents. The text begins with the opening words of Cicero's first Catilinarian oration, 'Quo usque tandem abutere...'.Speech

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Engraved print of a bust of Marcus Tullius Cicero, shown in three-quarter view facing right. The bust has curly hair, a draped toga over the shoulder, and sits on a round stepped pedestal. Latin caption below reads M. TVLLIVS CICERO, Ex marmore antiquo, with small engraver credits in the bottom corners.Painting

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Open manuscript leaf with illuminated Latin text. A decorated initial at left contains a small painted portrait of a bearded man wearing a crown. Ornamental borders in gold, blue, pink, and green frame the page, with cherubs at the bottom. The Latin text is written in brown ink in a formal script.Book

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