Pro Archia Poeta

The Numismatic Journal (1837) with an engraving of Joseph Hilarius Eckhel and quotation from Pro Archia Poeta: "these studies are the food of youth, the delight of old age; the ornament of prosperity, the refuge and comfort of adversity; a delight at home, and no hindrance abroad; they are companions by night, and in travel, and in the country."[1]

Cicero's oration Pro Archia Poeta ("On Behalf of Archias the Poet") is the published literary form of his defense of Aulus Licinius Archias, a poet accused of not being a Roman citizen. The accusation is believed to have been a political move against Lucullus through Archias. The poet was originally Greek but had been living in Rome for an extended period of time. A letter from Cicero to Titus Pomponius Atticus in the year following the trial makes mention of Archias, but there is no conclusive evidence about the outcome of the trial. The oration was rediscovered in Liège by Petrarch in 1333.[2]

  1. ^ "M. Tullius Cicero, For Archias, chapter 7". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
  2. ^ Italy and the Classical Tradition: Language, Thought and Poetry 1300-1600, A&C Black, 2013, p. 164.