omg i can't believe i did the exact same thing with the Cicero trilogy. like, read it immediately twice in a row. that's what that ending does to you
RIGHT?! right. It's the "Oh no, this can't be it, this can't be it, you were so close ... there is so much more to do, there's something to brave still, like you braved everything else. This can't be it."
God, what also really gets me when they try to get away is how they want to go to Sicily, but I think one of Cicero's (political) friends or at least acquaintances tells them they can't set foot there. And Cicero bears it all with dignity, but already, in a way, dead inside.
Harris is just really good at humanizing Cicero, for better or for worse. Like, whenever we get to the part in Titan/Lustrum where Cicero does nothing but blow his ego up after the Catiline conspiracy ... I gotta put the book down, because that secondhand embarassment is killing me. Like no Marcus, don't send Pompeius fifty meters of scroll on how YOU are the hero of the republic despite not being a military man. FOR FUCK'S SAKE, DON'T TAKE CRASSUS' BAIT AND DO IT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE!!!!!!
The other part that's hard to read is of course when Quintus rightfully chews him out. It hurts so much, mostly because I am on Quintus' side. He's probably the biggest part in humanizing Cicero via his flaws.
Uh. Yeah. Anyways. Cicero Trilogy good.
Also, maybe I like the Verres trial so much because it is about helping Sicilians - I mean, it ain't, it's about taking Verres'/Hortensius' political status for oneself. But there's Sicilians and they're being defended and yay, trip to Siracusa!
