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Primary sourceSpeech46 BCE

Pro Marcello

Cicero · 46 BCE

Cicero's speech thanking Caesar for pardoning the exiled senator Marcellus shows senators adjusting to, and gently pressuring, the dictator.

Cicero's speech thanks Caesar for pardoning Marcellus, showing the Senate's dependence on Caesar's personal mercy.

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Manuscript page, number 43 in the top right corner, in handwritten Latin script on parchment. Decorated blue and gold initial D with red heading below a blue and gold border. The text is a copy of Cicero's speech Pro Marcello.
Cicero, Pro Marcello, 15th-century Italian codex.

About this source

What it is

A speech given by Cicero in 46 BC, thanking Caesar for pardoning Marcus Claudius Marcellus, a senator who had opposed Caesar and supported Pompey in the civil war. Cicero had intended to stay silent but feared his silence would be read as despair about the Republic. A 15th-century Italian manuscript copy survives.

Why it matters

The speech shows how the Senate, though unanimous in asking for Marcellus's pardon, still had to petition Caesar as sole decision-maker, and how Cicero praised Caesar's clemency while perhaps hoping to encourage him toward restoring republican government. It reveals both Caesar's power and the senators' careful diplomacy around it.

Look closer

  • Why might Cicero praise Caesar so lavishly here after years of political rivalry?
  • What does the Senate's need to ask Caesar for a pardon reveal about how much power he now held?
  • What might Cicero be hoping to achieve by giving this speech?

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

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