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The death of Cicero, as Plutarch tells it

43 BCE, Italy. Plutarch, describing him, over a century later.

Where and when

43 BCEItaly

2,068 years ago

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Cicero

, ItalyPlutarch, describing him, over a century later

In plain words, ours

Holding his chin in his left hand as he always did, worn out and unkempt, he stared at his killers. Most of those watching covered their faces.

Then he himself, clasping his chin with his left hand, as was his wont, looked steadfastly at his slayers, his head all squalid and unkempt, and his face wasted with anxiety, so that most of those that stood by covered their faces while Herennius was slaying him.

Plutarch, Life of Cicero 48.3Translated by Bernadotte Perrin (1919)Read the full passage (Plutarch, Life of Cicero 48.3, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

As Plutarch tells it, over a century later: in 43 BCE Cicero, put on the list of the proscribed by Antony, was being carried in a litter toward the sea when his killers caught up. One of them, Popillius, he had once defended in court. Cicero told his servants to set the litter down.

Checked claim by claim against: Cicero is killed on Antony's orders, the passage around the quote.

Why it matters

After the killing, Cicero's head and hands were displayed on the Rostra; he was the only victim of the proscriptions displayed that way.

Based on Wikipedia: Cicero

His severed hands and head were then displayed on the Rostra.

Cicero was the only victim of the proscriptions who was displayed in that manner.

Wikipedia, Cicero (opens en.wikipedia.org), as of 2026-10-01. Text CC BY-SA 4.0. Our line is checked against these sentences only.

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Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

So partly by entreaty, and partly by force, they took him and carried him in his litter towards the sea. But meantime his assassins came to the villa, Herennius a centurion, and Popillius a tribune, who had once been prosecuted for parricide and defended by Cicero; and they had helpers. After they had broken in the door, which they found closed, Cicero was not to be seen, and the inmates said they knew not where he was. Then, we are told, a youth who had been liberally educated by Cicero, and who was a freedman of Cicero’s brother Quintus, Philologus by name, told the tribune that the litter was being carried through the wooded and shady walks towards the sea. The tribune, accordingly, taking a few helpers with him, ran round towards the exit, but Herennius hastened on the run through the walks, and Cicero, perceiving him, ordered the servants to set the litter down where they were.

The quote: Then he himself, clasping his chin with his left hand, as was his wont, looked steadfastly at his slayers, his head all squalid and unkempt, and his face wasted with anxiety, so that most of those that stood by covered their faces while Herennius was slaying him.

For he stretched his neck forth from the litter and was slain, being then in his sixty-fourth year. Herennius cut off his head, by Antony’s command, and his hands—the hands with which he wrote the Philippics. For Cicero himself entitled his speeches against Antony Philippics, and to this day the documents are called Philippics. When Cicero’s extremities were brought to Rome, it chanced that Antony was conducting an election, but when he heard of their arrival and saw them, he cried out, Now let our proscriptions have an end.

Plutarch, Life of Cicero 47.6–49.1Translated by Bernadotte Perrin (1919)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
43 BCE. Cicero was killed in the proscriptions of 43 BCE.
Whose words
Plutarch, describing him, over a century later.
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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