Il modello ciceroniano di princeps nella pro Marcello

In the oration pronounced for the mercy to the ex-pompeian Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Pro Marcello), in september 46 a. C., Cicero praises Caesar’s extraordinary virtues: mildness (mansuetudo), indulgence (clementia), moderation (modus) and wisdom (sapientia). Through praise, transformed into political suasoria, Cicero offers Caesar a model of good governance inspired by ethical qualities: this is the only way to ensure social pacification, to consolidate power and to achieve eternal memory among posterity. Cicero hands down to posterity the behavioral habitus of the moderate and good princeps destined – starting from the principate – for a long life