His father, Prospero Balbo, who belonged to a noble Piedmontese family, held a high position in the court of the Savoyard Kingdom of Sardinia, and at the time of Cesare's birth was mayor of the capital.

On the outbreak of the revolution of 1821, of which he disapproved, although he was suspected of sympathizing with it, he was forced into exile; and though not long after he was allowed to return to Piedmont, all public service was denied him.

Of true Italian unity, he had no expectation and no desire, but he was devoted to the house of Savoy, which he foresaw was destined to change the fate of Italy.

But Gioberti, in his Primato, seemed to him to neglect the first essential of independence, which he accordingly inculcated in his "Speranze or Hopes of Italy", in which he suggests that Austria should seek compensation in the Balkans for the inevitable loss of her Italian provinces.

With the ministry of d’Azeglio, which soon after came to power, he was on friendly terms, and his pen continued the active defence of his political principles till his death on 3 June 1853.