Cicero - The Life and Times of Romes Greatest Politician

The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a
way of looking at things - which you had thought special and particular to you. And now, here it
is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And
it is as if a hand has come out, and taken yours - Alan Bennett. These words suddenly came to
my mind after I finished the last page of the book Cicero. The book has left deep impressions in
my heart about a man of peace and honor, pure in life and purpose, and sympathetic with the
oppressed. It would be a regret for those who have never read this book.
Anthony Everitt, the author of Cicero - The Life and Time of Greatest Politician, starts the
book by a short description about Roman life in Cicero's time, which is the tumultuous time of
the civil war outbreaks of the Roman Republic and its impending decline. The majority of the
book is given over to Ciceros lifetime. His life began in the non-statesman class of Roman equestrian
but he was truly well-educated. In his youth, Cicero spent a large amount of time to study philosophy,

law and rhetoric in Rome, Greece and Rhodes. He was successfully elected to each of the principle
Roman offices on his first try at a considerably young age. However, in 58 BC, he was exiled because he acted
illegally in executing the Catalinean conspirators without a trial, which was the right of every Roman citizen.
After approximately a year and a half of exile, Cicero was restored to Rome due to another shift in the political
landscape. He was allowed to practice law, but he was not allowed to practice politics. The assassination of
Caesar - the first Roman emperor in 44 BC gave Cicero a chance to struggle for the freedom of the Republic.
However, at the end, he was killed on December 7, 43 BC.
Under Everitts point of view, Cicero was a great statesman because while he desired power, he still

rarely wavered from his constitutionalist principles. Only towards the end of his life was Cicero willing to use
unconstitutional means to achieve his goals by trying to use Octavian to restore the republic. However,
throughout his life, Cicero did make some mistakes that prevented him from being more successful.
Thanks to this book, I gained more knowledge about Ciceros life as well as the period of the ancient
Roman civilization. By reading the book, I have a good overview about Roman society from 106 - 43 BC.
Most information in the book gives me a deep sight about Ciceros political life and his personality and
expanded my knowledge about the contemporary society in Rome and some specific information about other
characters such as Cato, Pompey or Crassus.
All in all, this book is very helpful for a general reader who knows nothing about Ciceros time or his
life. Apart from that, Ciceros masterpieces and principles also left deep impression on readers minds. They
inspire many people, give them great beliefs and different looks at life. I have learned a lot from this book. It
clears up some of my misconceptions and changes the way I am thinking about life by Ciceros meaningful
quotes. I am glad that I read it.

The Roads to Modernity: The British, French, and American Enlightenments

There is no room for doubt that The Enlightenment plays an important role in our society
as well as history, especially during the eighteenth century. It took scientific reasonings and applied

them to human nature, society and religion, which led to significant improvements in peoples thought

and life. That is why The Enlightenment is always an attractive topic to many historians,
philosophers as well as readers around the world. Gertrude Himmelfarb is not out of that
rotation. It is her passion for history and her interest in the period of Enlightenment that promote
her to successfully write the book, The Roads To Modernity: The British, French, and American
Enlightenments, which is rated to be truly concise and persuasive.
The book is a comprehensive reflection of Himmelfarbs point of views about the
Enlightenment during eighteenth century in Britain, France and America. According to
Himmelfarb, the British Enlightenment is mainly about the sociology of virtue, the French
Enlightenment relates to the ideology of reason and the American Enlightenment is all about the
politics of liberty. It is clear that Himmelfarb spends most of the book analyzing the British
Enlightenment in order to achieve her purpose which is to restore the Enlightenment to its
progenitor, the British. By discussing various aspects of the British Enlightenment such as
social affections, religious dispositions, political economy, moral sediments, Edmund Burkes
Enlightenment, radical dissenters, methodism a social religion and the age of benevolence,
Himmelfarb does succeed in lighting up her main idea. Apart from the British Enlightenment,
she also takes a glimpse at the Enlightenment in France and America, which, to her, serves as
foils for the British. However, opposite to her hostile attitude toward the French Enlightenment,
Himmelfarb actually appreciates the American Enlightenment and considers it as the British
Enlightenments spirited offspring.
This book has left deep impressions in many readers hearts by creative thinkings of the

author. Himmelfarbs standpoint is truly different from many other writers. Instead of focusing
on the French Enlightenment and referring to it as a starting point of the worlds Enlightenment,
Himmelfarb claims that the Enlightenment has been hijacked by uncritical admirers,
postmodernist deniers, and especially the unscrupulous French! and she wanted to reclaim the
Enlightenment from the neer do-wells just mentioned and restore it to the British, who helped
create it, and have yet to be appropriately recognized for this fact. This might be the reason for
the dominance of British Enlightenment in this book.
All in all, this book truly succeeds in reflecting the British, French and American Enlightenment during
the eighteenth century. It gives readers a comprehensive overview about the relationship between those
countries Enlightenment and their movements during this period. Moreover, it also shows us a different look
about the worlds Enlightenment through the authors new perspective.

How Slavery Helped Build A World Economy

( From the website:http://news.nationalgeographic.com)
In the last decade before American Civil War, slavery economy flourished as never before. Slaves,
especially African slaves, were the main labor input in the cotton, sugarcane and tobacco crops in United States

as well as many other countries like Haiti, Cuba and Brazil. No one can deny the role of slavery in building the
worlds economy during this time. Besides slavery, King Cotton also played a part in the growth of US and the
worlds economy in the pre-Civil War of United States. In 1973, after the invention of the cotton gin, cotton
became the dominant cash crop in the agricultural economy of the South America and soon comprising more
than half the total US exports. It is obvious that King Cotton and slavery helped build a world-wide economy.
In 1790s, American oldest crops, such as tobacco, were dropping in their value and depleting farmland.
During this time, the system of slavery in America was threaten to be abolished due to the rise of the Republic.
However, the appearance of cotton crops revolutionized the American economy and breathe new life into the
institution of slavery. Between 1820 to 1860, cotton promoted the entire American market economy. One
crop, slave-grown cotton provided over half of all US export earnings. By 1840, the South grew 60 percent of
the world's cotton and supplied 70 percent of the cotton for the British textile industry. Many stakeholders and
plantation owners benefited from cotton economy. Southern planters sold the cotton and used the income to
purchase supplies from the West and goods and services from the North. Northern factories made money by
turning raw cotton into cloth and northern merchants profited from shipping the cotton and reshipping the
finished textiles. America was not the only country benefited from cotton crops, in fact, cotton industry also
gave Britain and France some profits. The textile in Great Britain and France exploded in 1790s, creating
enormous international demand for cotton clothing; therefore, the expansion of cotton economy also played a
major role in supporting the need of Britain and Frances textile industry.
There is no room for doubt that slavery is the promotion of the worlds economic growth. According to
Eric Williams, the author of Capitalism and Slavery, black slavery was the engine that propelled Europe's rise
to global economic dominance. Howard Dodson, a journalists, also showed his similar standpoint on the

article How slavery helped to build the world, he wrote according to European colonial officials, the abundant
land they had "discovered" in the Americas was useless without sufficient labor to exploit it. These authors
perspectives lighted up one main idea, which is the dependence of the worlds economy on slavery from 16th
to 19th century. Under the expansion of cotton crops in America, sugar plantations in Brazil and Cuba and rice
and indigo plantations in South Carolina, slaves became the main labor force due to their high productivity and
cheap price. Even after slavery was abolished there in 1886, sugar remained the foundation of Cubas economy
and its primary export commodity throughout the 20th century
It is true that slaves and King cotton made significant contributions to the growth and development of
United States and the worlds economy. Until today, cotton industry still plays an important role in our society.
In term of slavery, although this system does not exist any more, it did leave an enormous effect in the worlds
economy.

The Boston Massacre

(From http://www.ushistory.org)
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the
shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires - Nelson Mandela. This
sentence reminded me of the American revolution. To have the freedom that Americans always dreamed about,
many people died. They chose to fight and sacrifice their lives rather than lived under the control of the British.
The British, to achieve their purpose, made every effort to prevent troubles. They killed million Americans
without any hesitation. Boston Massacre is a paradigm for this fact.

The article Boston Massacre, which was written on the website ushistory.org, successfully reflected the
background of Boston at the time the massacre happened. By the writers vivid description, a picture of this
landmark event was lively drawn. One can feel how disastrous the massacre was through the authors words
American blood was shed on American soil. It is obvious that at the beginning the Bostonians were a little
bit afraid of the British redcoats. They decided to show their restraint. However, the Crown did not show any
interest in stripping away American civil liberties. Therefore, on March 5, 1770, an inevitable event
happened that set the start for the Boston massacre. A group of 60 people threw rocks and snow balls to the
British troops. In reply, the British fought back the Bostonians without the command of their captain Thomas
Preston, killing five American civilians.
Although the Boston massacre left many losses for Americans, it led to the creation of the Committee of
Correspondence and the American Revolution.
The Road To Vietnam
( From the Book: Experience History)
As a Vietnamese, I have learned about the American and Vietnamese war so many times. Therefore, I am
so familiar with stories and details about this war. I used to cry when I heard them. However, after so many
years listening to those stories, I get used to the feeling of pity. Nevertheless, when I read this article, which
was written under an Americans perspectives, I could not help bursting into tears again. The article reminded
me about the scenes of death and the pain that Vietnamese had to face not only during the war but also many
years after the war.
According to the article, the war in Vietnam was just one of many anticommunist skirmishes that
Kennedys activist advisers wanted to fight. This sentence hurt my feeling. Obviously, when the war happened,

many Vietnamese people as well as American soldiers died uselessly. This war, in my opinion, was
meaningless and nonsensical. I do not know how bad the communism was. However, there is one thing that I
know really clear that people who lived under this regime were innocent. They did not deserve an unfortunate
life like this. My mom is the one who lived under this period. According to her, except when she slept,
everyday was like a nightmare to not only her but also her family and her neighbors. To protect their lives, they
had to build tunnels under their houses. When Americans bombarded, they would hide inside these tunnels.
Children could not go to school. All the thing they knew was to survive. Running and hiding were things that
they got used to.
Even though life was so hard for the Vietnamese people, they still tried to fight for their independence.
They believed that independence was more precious than anything else. Ho Chi Minh was right that the
Americans greatly underestimate the determination of the Vietnamese people. In the war between America
and Vietnam, although American had an enormous advantage of their supplements, weapons and troops,
Vietnamese people had strengths at their terrain and determination. That was why American continuously felt
to conquer Vietnam.
The war has been over for nearly 40 years. The painful feelings of losses have sunk in oblivion. Now
Vietnamese people are trying to develop our country to a strong and powerful nation. We always dream that
there will be no more war in the future. Hopefully, this wish will come true.

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