Answer To: Write an essay of XXXXXXXXXXwords on three of the following topics. Be sure to answer at least one...
Asif answered on May 05 2021
Title
Table of Contents
Part I 3
1. Moral leadership and violent death 3
Part II 5
1. Narration and truth 5
2. Death: Tragedy or Farce 6
Reference list 9
Part I
1. Moral leadership and violent death
Cicero and Hypatia both were leaders of their times determined to serve the community and save the society from the opposition. Marcus Tullius Cicero was a lawyer and a scholar. In 63 BC, he served as a consul. Cicero wanted to establish the traditional republican government in ancient Rome. After the treasonous intentions of Catiline were exposed by Cicero, Catiline escaped but fice of his conspirators was caught. However, this also started the conflicting relation between Cicero and Julias Caesar. While Cicero advocated for the immediate death of the five conspirators without any trial, Julias Caesar advocated for imprisoning the men. Cicero wanted to build a republican government in Rome and he knew that the triumvirate including Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus were not stable enough to build a republican government. After the death of Crassus, hostility between Caesar and Pompey increased and led to the civil war of Rome.
Caesar was victorious in the war but the war was noted for the fall of the republican in Rome and the end of the dreams of Cicero. Cicero started to defend the republics through his writing Cicero. Although he was not involved in the killing of Ceaser, through his writings he supported the assassination. Cicero wrote in one of his writings that "Our tyrant deserved his death for having made an exception of the one thing that was the blackest crime of all" (National Geographic). Cicero was still hopeful for establishing a republican government to reduce the crimes and conflicts of Roman society. Therefore, Cicero supported Octavian, the great-nephew of Caesar against Antony that had Caesar’s legacy. Cicero gave brutal speeches in the Senate against Antony. However, Octavian betrayed the trust of Cicero and formed an alliance with Lepidus and Antony. Cicero wanted to help the state and reduce the conflict but as the Second Triumvirate came into power, Cicero was executed.
On the other hand, Hypatia was an astronomer, mathematician and Neoplatonist philosopher. She lived in Alexandria, Egypt from 370 AD to 415 AD. Hypatia was a wise counsellor and a great teacher. She had a free mind and wanted to search for the truth in superstitious religion enslaving and the material world. In Hypatia’s time, the title right of parrhesia was earned by individuals that could explain the political well-being of the state. Maleki, Nasser and Mohammad Javad Haj'jari stated that " being a pagan, besides being a woman in the Christian eye, Hypatia was under the scrutiny of Bishop Cyril of Alexandria and his followers" (Maleki, Nasser, and Mohammad Javad Haj'jari, 7). Hypatia, the last Neoplatonists, enjoyed a high status however as early Christians wanted to remove philosophers and control the rulers and the ruled, it gave rise to conflicts. Cyril, the patriarch of Alexandria of that time wanted to rule the state and achieve the position of parrhesia. The non-Christian philosophies represented by a female philosopher became a threat to Cyril’s desires. Hypatia used to give advice to Orestes regarding his policies supporting Cyril’s patriarchy. Hypatia challenged the injustice of the Catholic Church. Hypatia was accused of practising satanic magic on Orestes that stopped him from reconciling with Cyril. This accusation eventually led to the horrific murder of Hypatia.
Marcus Tullius Cicero wanted to re-establish the republican rule in Rome by defending republicans with his writing and by supporting leaders that had the ability to establish the republican rule. Cicero wanted to reduce the conflicts in the city and between Caesar and his allies through his actions which eventually led to his execution. “The length of his political career is considerable and his writing prolific, yet the distribution of his extant works across his career is far from balanced” (Stimson & Jacqueline, 11).
The moral leadership of Cicero led to his death because the actions that he took were far extreme. Cicero's death can be blamed on the betrayal of Octavian. Cicero trusted Octavian and gave him the ruling position just to throw Antony out of his...