QUINTUS CICERO.
Q. Tullius Cicero, the brother of the orator, was born probably B.C. 102. He was aedile in 65 (ad Att. i. 4, 1); praetor in 62, when he tried the case of Archias; propraetor of Asia 61-58 (ad Q.F. i. 1, 2). He acted as legatus of Pompey in Sardinia B.C. 56 (pro Scauro, 39); of Caesar in Gaul, taking part in the second invasion of Britain (Caes. B.G. v.); and of his brother in Cilicia (ad Fam. xv. 4, 8). At the outbreak of the civil war he was with Marcus at Formiae and Capua; but after the death of Pompey there was a breach between them. Being proscribed by the triumvirs he took flight, but was betrayed by his slaves and put to death, B.C. 43 (Plut. Cic. 47). His wife was Pomponia, the sister of Atticus.
For the benefit of M. Cicero in his candidature for the consulship, B.C. 64, Quintus wrote the Commentariolum Petitionis (the title in § 58) or De Petitione Consulatus. It is in the form of a letter, and is headed in the best MSS. ‘Q. M. Fratri S. D.’ Quintus writes with special reference to his brother’s circumstances, but most of the rules which he lays down are of general application. The authenticity of this treatise has been called in question by Eussner, who ascribes it to a clever imitator, partly on the ground of coincidences of expression with Cicero’s speech in Toga Candida; but his arguments are refuted by Prof. Tyrrell (Cicero’s Correspondence, i. pp. 110-121).
There are also extant three letters to Tiro and one to M. Cicero. Quintus’ poetry is now represented only by twenty hexameters on the signs of the zodiac; but he wrote an epic poem, Annales (ad Att. ii. 16, 4 [Quintus] ‘ita remittit ut me roget ut annales suos emendem et edam’), and composed tragedies with great rapidity (ad Q.F. iii. 6, 7, ‘quattuor tragoedias xvi. diebus absolvisse cum scribas, tu quidquam ab alio mutuaris?’). His admiration for Sophocles and Euripides appears in De Fin. v. 3; ad Fam. xvi. 8, 2.