statesman, the noblest man of the age. His honesty
in public or private life is unquestioned. Of his intellectual greatness
Forsyth says, "The greatness of his intellect dwarfed that of every
other man alive."[24]

That he was vain of his accomplishments admits of no doubt. That he also
sometimes lacked moral courage and was vacillating seems also true. But
he was incorruptible in a corrupt age; above reproach when impure life
was the rule; and when treason was common, he remained a firm patriot.
His celebrated "Philippics" were delivered against practices which
indicated the approaching ruin of the republic. That ruin was complete
when the Second Triumvirate was formed,--an event which also sealed the
doom of Cicero. Upon learning that he was proscribed, Cicero attempted
to escape from Italy, but was overtaken and assassinated. His head and
hands were carried to Rome and presented to Antony, who gave the head
to his wife, Fulvia, whose crimes Cicero had often rebuked. Forsyth
says, "She took it, and placing it on her lap, addressed it as if it
were alive, in words of bitter insult. She dragged out the tongue, whose
sarcasms she had so often felt, and with feminine rage pierced it with
her bodkin. It was then taken and nailed to the rostra, together with
the hands, to molder there in mockery of the triumphs of his eloquence,
of which that spot had so often been the scene. A sadder sight was never
gazed upon in Rome."[25]

=Cicero's Pedagogy.=--It is not as a teacher, but as a writer, that
Cicero demands a place in educational history. His writings furnish the
finest examples of Latin style, and his orations are studied for their
classic beauty and rhetorical finish. He wrote many philosophical works,
in which are set forth advanced ideas on education. Especially was he in
advance of his age in regard to the punishment of children. He held that
corporal punishment should be resorted to only when all else has failed;
that the child should not be degraded in the mode of punishment; that
punishment should never be administered in anger, should be deferred
until ample time for reflection has been allowed to both teacher and
pupil; and that reasons for it should be given, so that, if possible,
the child may be led to see the justice of the punishment inflicted. The
teachings of Cicero on this subject are of great pedagogical importance,
and they have at last come to be recognized in the school practice of
the present day.