10 Cicero from Enlightenment to Idealism

The chapter centres on the detailed reading of a little-known treatise on Cicero, written in Latin by the Enlightenment thinker, John Toland. His treatise, Cicero Illustratus, presents Cicero as a cornerstone of the Enlightenment. This chapter looks at Toland's approach to Cicero as representing particular views of criticism that were current at the time. Toland's ambitions for his new edition of Cicero, which was never produced, are presented in some detail. Toland's reading reveals both how far back prejudices against Cicero as an advocate lie, but also that a sensitivity towards the dialogic quality of his writing was easier for Toland than it for today's readers. The chapter reinforces the usefulness of looking at this earlier reading to reveal the difficulties of approaching Cicero caused by subsequent developments in the academic disciplines.