Pro Caelio
Pro Caelio is one of the most famous surviving speeches by the Roman orator, Cicero. It is Cicero's defence of Marcus Caelius Rufus on a number of obscure charges.
Caelius had been the lover of the notorious Clodia, sister of Publius Clodius Pulcher, Cicero's enemy, who brought the prosecution. Cicero represents the charges against Caelius as the revenge of a woman scorned, and carries out a skilful character assassination of Clodia.
A novel, Pro Caelio, by Stephen Ciraolo, is based on the background story to the original Pro Caelio.
