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Extensive notes on Cicero's Philippics by an Italian philologist, printed by Paulus Manutius

FERRARIUS, Hieronymus (Girolamo FERRARI).
Ad Paulum Manutium emendationes in Philippicas Ciceronis.

Woodcut printer's device on title and verso of last leaf.

Venice, Paulus Manutius, (March) 1542. 8vo. Later vellum, spine raised in compartments with title lettered in ink, pastedowns of gilt paper with blue floral decorations. Woodcut printer's device on title and verso of last leaf. [126] ll.

Rare only Aldus edition of the extensive philological notes on Cicero's Philippicae (speeches consisting of the 14 philippics, Philippica I-XIV, against Marcus Antonius), written in 44 BC by the Italian philosopher and philologist Girolamo Ferrari (1501-1542). With a prefatory letter from Ferrari to Paulus Manutius dated Rome, 5 January 1541 on ff. A2r-3r.

Cicero was taken completely by surprise when the 'Liberatores' assassinated Caesar on the ides of March, 44 BC. Cicero was not included in the conspiracy, even though the conspirators were sure of his sympathy. Marcus Junius Brutus called out Cicero's name, asking him to "restore the Republic" when he lifted the bloodstained dagger after the assassination. A letter Cicero wrote in February 43 BC to Trebonius, one of the conspirators, began, "How I could wish that you had invited me to that most glorious banquet on the Ides of March"! Cicero became a popular leader during the period of instability following the assassination. He had no respect for Mark Antony, who was scheming to take revenge upon Caesar's murderers. In fact, Cicero privately expressed his regret that the murderers of Caesar had not included Antony in their plot, and he bent his efforts to the discrediting of Antony.
The First and Second Philippics are two of the most polished orations in the Ciceronian corpus. These speeches, which were composed less than six months after the murder of Julius Caesar in March 44 BC, offer a scathing account of the early years and the rise to power of Mark Antony, Caesar's chief lieutenant. The period covered by these speeches (roughly 63-44 BC) is an important one because the Roman state was in transition from Republic to Empire. The Second Philippic not only gives us Cicero's assessment of his own political career and place in Roman history from a perspective late in life, but it also provides a vivid eyewitness account of how the dominance first of Julius Caesar and later of Mark Antony was shifting the locus of power from the Senate and Roman aristocracy to a single dynast.

Title restored; occasional wormholes in blank margins; spine slightly damaged. Good copy.

Adams F-274; Renouard p. 125, no. 5; STC Italian p. 247; UCLA 307; not in Dibdin; Machiels.

Related Subjects: 16th Century Aldus Manutius Greek & Latin Philosophy Venice

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