<p>Cicero composed his incendiary <em>Philippics </em>only a few months after Rome was rocked by the brutal assassination of Julius Caesar. In the tumultuous aftermath of Caesar&rsquo;s death, Cicero and Mark Antony found themselves on opposing sides of an increasingly bitter and dangerous battle for control. <em>Philippic </em>2 was a weapon in that war.</p><p>Conceived as Cicero&rsquo;s response to a verbal attack from Antony in the Senate, <em>Philippic </em>2 is a rhetorical firework that ranges from abusive references to Antony&rsquo;s supposedly sordid sex life to a sustained critique of what Cicero saw as Antony&rsquo;s tyrannical ambitions. Vituperatively brilliant and politically committed, it is both a carefully crafted literary artefact and an explosive example of crisis rhetoric. It ultimately led to Cicero&rsquo;s own gruesome death.</p><p>This course book offers a portion of the original Latin text, vocabulary aids, study questions, and an extensive commentary. Designed to stretch and stimulate readers, Ingo Gildenhard&rsquo;s volume will be of particular interest to students of Latin studying for A-Level or on undergraduate courses. It extends beyond detailed linguistic analysis to encourage critical engagement with Cicero, his oratory, the politics of late-republican Rome, and the transhistorical import of Cicero&rsquo;s politics of verbal (and physical) violence.</p>