Born into a liberal family of the lawyer Pasquale Ciccotti, a landowner and several times mayor of Potenza, he studied in the local high school. In 1879 he enrolled at the Law Faculty of the University of Naples. He became a follower of Mazzini and adhered to Italian irredentism. He had a particular interest in both ancient history and for the social problems of Southern Italy, inspired by the example of the historian Giustino Fortunato. Ciccotti, Ettore, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 25 (1981)
