746. Cicero, Classicism, and Popular Culture by Marshall Fishwick

746. Cicero, Classicism, and Popular Culture by Marshall Fishwick. This is one of the worst books I have ever read. Page after page there are historical errors. He cites one of Cicero's favorite buildings: Pantheon which he could not have seen, since it was built about 150 years after he had been murdered, he states Caesar was the commander who was sent to deal with Catiline (not true), that Cicero founded Florence (not true), the list is endless. These never end but keep coming chapter after chapter. The author wanders and meanders and never draws any meaningful conclusion nor does the author display any evidence to support his claims. This is the kind of book which makes me wonder about the value or meaning of Phd (the author has one) in modern times. He does not display any evidence that he can translate Latin. He rambles from one topic to the next. And the all of it is united by a level of ignorance of the history of the Roman Republic and Cicero I have never experienced before. He does demonstrate the utter weakness of the area I guess is called "popular culture". He and the other "scholars" quoted on the back of the book are so pathetic as to defy description. No one should read this.