The last few years have seen an increasing number of old Loeb editions replaced by new ones. This volume supersedes J.H. Freese’s edition and translation (1930) of an assortment of Cicero’s forensic and political speeches, namely Pro Quinctio, Pro Roscio Amerino, Pro Roscio Comoedo and De Lege Agraria. The first three speeches belong to Cicero’s early career as an advocate, while De Lege Agraria comprises political orations delivered at the start of Cicero’s consulship in 63 bce. To those works, D. adds Pro Tullio, another forensic speech from Cicero’s early career, which had not been included in Freese’s edition or in any Ciceronian volume of the Loeb Classical Library so far. Given the critical texts, studies and commentaries produced for these speeches, as well as D.’s expertise and extensive contribution to Ciceronian scholarship, it is easy to understand why he was a logical candidate for producing this volume.

The general bibliography at the start is rich and comprehensive. D. takes account of R. Seager (Athenaeum 95 [2007]), which was not cited in his commented edition of Pro Roscio Amerino (2010). Every speech is preceded by an accessible and informative introduction, which succinctly describes the background of the trials, Cicero’s arguments and strategy, and the outcome of each trial, when this is known. In the case of the Agrarian Speeches, the introduction provides a helpful outline of the political context and how Cicero succeeded in opposing the land redistribution proposed by P. Servilius Rullus, one of the tribunes of the plebs, and the structure of Cicero’s arguments in the three (out of four) speeches that have come down to us. These introductions do not overlap with the overview of the speeches offered in D.’s magnum opus (Cicero: The Man and his Works), which also appeared in 2025. While the latter book tends to relegate scholarly disagreement to lengthy footnotes, here D. only provides the information helpful to a broad readership and omits views he disagrees with: this can be seen in the introduction to Pro Roscio Amerino, in which D. does not cite or discuss the ideas of D.H. Berry (Mnemosyne 57 [2004]) and W.J. Tatum (Quintus Cicero: A Brief Handbook on Canvassing for Office [2018], p. 96) about the potential later addition of criticism of Sulla in the published version of the speech. Each introduction is followed by a note on the transmission of the works, a list of the main manuscripts and a list of existing editions. The facing English translation adheres to the text as established by D.: he endeavours to follow the structure of Cicero’s syntax more accurately than Freese did, while ensuring clarity and accessibility. Therefore, D. accomplishes more than a mere refurbishment of Freese’s translation, and his work should be commended. The useful notes accompanying the translation provide information about the main historical, legal and rhetorical aspects of the speeches. They also illustrate D.’s textual choices, particularly when dealing with corrupt passages.

The Latin text is accompanied by a critical apparatus, which makes the volume also appeal to specialists interested in textual matters. The overall production quality is high. However, the Latin text is marred by occasional sloppiness: Tul. 7 qudruplum for quadruplum; Tul. 12 hominbus for hominibus; Tul. 30 deieceretur for deiceretur; Tul. 31 aduvare for adiuvare; Tul. 40 consituant for constituant; Tul. 54 hominbus for hominibus; Agr. 2.96 uberrrimis for uberrimis; Agr. 3.4 quadrigesimum for quadragesimum. Furthermore, in the note on manuscripts of Pro Tullio, the surviving palimpsest that preserves this speech is inaccurately referred to as Ambrosius S. P. II.66, olim R 57 sup., but the latter shelfmark is the current one, not the other way around. This inaccuracy is also present in D.’s Cicero: The Man and his Works (2025, p. 83), and is perhaps derived from L. Reynolds ([ed.], Texts and Transmission [1983], p. 56). As in Freese’s edition, graphic inconsistencies are found in Latin compounds with prefixes. This is particularly frequent with, but not exclusive to, compounds of ad- (e.g. adfero and affero, adsequor and assequor). At times inconsistencies occur even within the same speech: so, for example, in Agr. both the forms conlega and collega are found, or in Q. Rosc. and S. Rosc. exspecto and expecto. Inconsistencies can also be noted with the spelling of nouns such as filii and fili, and verbs in -prehendo, and this has obvious repercussions for assessing prose rhythm. Spelling in manuscripts inevitably varies; but when different texts are brought together in a new edition, one would expect uniformity or at least a note in the preface explaining the rationale for the orthographic conventions adopted. Ultimately, this Loeb edition will become the reference edition for students and scholars, who will cite its Latin text accordingly; so greater care with these aspects would have improved this edition.

An index of names of the historical figures mentioned closes the volume. Unlike Freese’s edition, here the names are not arranged by work, and D. includes references to the figures not only in the speeches, but also in the introductions. Overall, this addition to the Loeb series will be of assistance to all who study these Ciceronian speeches.