Pronounced (I think) sis-er-oh-knee, a cicerone is a guide who
gives information about antiquities and places of interest to sightseers. The word is derived from the Italian for antiquarian
scholar, guide, after Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), Roman consul, orator,
and writer, alluding to the eloquence and erudition of these guides.
(If you want to learn more about Cicero I thoroughly recommend
Robert Harris’ ‘Imperium’ (2006), a life of Cicero. The book is fiction but is brilliantly
researched and gives a real flavour of what the great man must have been like.)
Thanks, Monica, for bringing this word to mind.
