The Crime

Cicero: Pro Milone

In this course, Dr Andrew Sillett (University of Oxford) explores Cicero's defence of Titus Annius Milo, the Pro Milone. We start by considering the crime itself—the death of Publius Clodius Pulcher on the Appian War on 18 January 52 BC. After that, we look at the life and political career of the victim, before turning in the third module to one of most peculiar aspects of the speech: the fact that the published text apparently bears no resemblance to what Cicero actually said on the day. In the fourth and fifth modules, we turn to the speech itself, looking in turn at the two halves of Cicero's defence—first, that Milo acted in self-defence, and second, that Milo deserved to die in any case—before thinking in the sixth module about why Cicero would publish a speech that ultimately failed in its aim.

The Crime

In this module, we introduce the crime at the centre of the case in question: the death of Publius Clodius Pulcher at the hands of Titus Annius Milo on 18 January 52 BC.