''Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem'' (''Letters to brother Quintus'') is a

collection of letters A letter collection or letter book consists of a publication, usually a book, containing a compilation of letters written by a real person. Unlike an epistolary novel, a letter collection belongs to non-fiction literature. As a publication, a lett ...

from

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

politician and orator

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

to his younger brother Quintus. The letters in this collection, when combined with Cicero's other letters, are considered the most reliable sources of information for the period leading up to the fall of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

. His letters to Quintus share a similar quality to those sent to his close friend

Titus Pomponius Atticus Titus Pomponius Atticus (November 110 BC – 31 March 32 BC; later named Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus) was a Roman editor, banker, and patron of letters, best known for his correspondence and close friendship with prominent Roman s ...

, written with a freedom and frankness not to be found in his correspondence with others. Traditionally spanning 3 books, and featuring letters from 60 or 59 to 54 BCE, this collection may have been first published by Cicero's freedman and personal secretary

Marcus Tullius Tiro Marcus Tullius Tiro (died 4 BC) was first a slave, then a freedman, of Cicero from whom he received his nomen and praenomen. He is frequently mentioned in Cicero's letters. After Cicero's death Tiro published his former master's collected w ...

sometime after the deaths of both brothers in 43 BCE.

References

External links

* * Cicero,
letters to his friends: volume 3. Including the letters to Quintus and to Brutus
', translated by William Glynn Williams, (1927), Loeb Classical Library, at the Internet Archive {{Authority control 1st-century BC Latin books Collections of letters Works by Cicero