Histories of the late Republic and biographies of Cicero havepreviously tended to treat political and cultural developments asessentially separate. In Cicero and the End of the Roman Republic, Thomas Wiedemann takes a fresh approach, looking at Cicero's literaryworks in the context of his public life, and of contemporary politicaland social issues. Wiedemann explores Cicero's role in thecreation of a new and effective 'Roman' cultural identity demanded bythe process of Italian unification and the consequent collapse of theold Republican party system.