A Working Encyclopedia of Philosophers: Cicero Cicero was an outsider who argued his way to the top of a republic that didn't want him there, and died for backing the wrong side of its collapse. This is the whole arc — the rise as a "new man," the consulship, the fall — written from the primary sources and illustrated by hand, built so someone meeting him for the first time can follow the entire life in one sitting. It's the first entry in a working encyclopedia of philosophers: reference meant to be read, not just consulted.