The Death of Cicero

Map

Statue of Cicero, Palace of Justice

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On December 7th 43 BCE, Marcus Tullius Cicero, lawyer, statesman and orator, was beheaded on the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero's right hand was also cut off and nailed, along with his head, on the Rostra, the speakers' platform in the Forum Romanum.

According to one account, Antony's wife Fulvia took Cicero's head, pulled out his tongue, and jabbed it repeatedly with her hairpin, a final act of revenge against his famed powers of speech. 

A modern statue of Cicerone, as he is known in Italy, stands outside the Palazzo della Giustizia (Palace of Justice).  

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