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A philippic is a fiery, damning speech delivered to condemn a particular political actor.
The term originates with Demosthenes, who delivered an attack on Philip II of Macedon in the fourth century BC.
Cicero consciously modeled his own attacks on Mark Antony, in 44 BC and 43 BC, on Demosthenes's speeches and called them his philippics. It is ironic that they were named after a series of speeches that failed to effectively warn the Greeks of the danger of Philip of Macedon whose son, Alexander the Great, went on to be one of the greatest conquerors of all time. After the death of Caesar Cicero privately expressed regrets that the murderers of Caesar had not included Antony in their plot and became focused on discrediting Antony. Cicero even promoted illegal action, such as legitimatising Octavian's private army. In total Cicero made 14 Phillipics in less than two years - an impressively energetic feat for the over 60 ex-consul. Cicero's focus on Antony, however, would contribute to his downfall as he failed to recognise the threat of Octavian and ignored and promoted illegal actions. Cicero's attacks on Antony did not go unpunished and in 43 BC he was proscribed and killed. His head and hands were publicly displayed in the forum discouraging those who would openly oppose the new Triumvirate of Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus.
[edit] See also
- First Philippic
- Second Philippic
- Third Philippic