Catherine Steel and Henriette van der Blom (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199641895
- eISBN:
- 9780191746130
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641895.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This book brings together nineteen scholars to rethink the role of public speech in the Roman Republic. Speech was an integral part of decision-making in Republican Rome, and oratory was part of the ...
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This book brings together nineteen scholars to rethink the role of public speech in the Roman Republic. Speech was an integral part of decision-making in Republican Rome, and oratory was part of the education of every member of the elite. Yet no complete speech from the period by anyone other than Cicero survives, and as a result the debate on oratory, and political practice more widely, is liable to be distorted by the distinctive features of Cicero’s oratorical practice. With careful attention to a wide range of ancient evidence, this book shines a light on orators other than Cicero, and considers the oratory of diplomatic exchanges and impromptu heckling and repartee alongside the more familiar genres of forensic and political speech. In so doing, it challenges the idea that Cicero is a normative figure, and highlights the variety of career choices and speech strategies open to Roman politicians. The chapters in the book also demonstrate how unpredictable the outcomes of oratory were: politicians could try to control events by cherry-picking their audience and using tried methods of persuasion, but incompetence, bad luck, or hostile listeners were constant threats.Less
This book brings together nineteen scholars to rethink the role of public speech in the Roman Republic. Speech was an integral part of decision-making in Republican Rome, and oratory was part of the education of every member of the elite. Yet no complete speech from the period by anyone other than Cicero survives, and as a result the debate on oratory, and political practice more widely, is liable to be distorted by the distinctive features of Cicero’s oratorical practice. With careful attention to a wide range of ancient evidence, this book shines a light on orators other than Cicero, and considers the oratory of diplomatic exchanges and impromptu heckling and repartee alongside the more familiar genres of forensic and political speech. In so doing, it challenges the idea that Cicero is a normative figure, and highlights the variety of career choices and speech strategies open to Roman politicians. The chapters in the book also demonstrate how unpredictable the outcomes of oratory were: politicians could try to control events by cherry-picking their audience and using tried methods of persuasion, but incompetence, bad luck, or hostile listeners were constant threats.
Amedeo Raschieri
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- March 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198788201
- eISBN:
- 9780191830167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198788201.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter analyses the quotations from the orators of the Republican period in Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria. The method of quotation is extremely varied and the author shows a good first-hand ...
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This chapter analyses the quotations from the orators of the Republican period in Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria. The method of quotation is extremely varied and the author shows a good first-hand knowledge of many speeches, especially those of more recent writers including Caelius Rufus, Asinius Pollio, and Messala Corvinus. Regardless of Cicero’s excellence, these orators fit well within the large educational project proposed by Quintilian. They are used as moral models, as well as lexical, rhetorical, and stylistic examples, often accepted but sometimes rejected, and always included in a more general literary, historical, and cultural framework. In addition to the most important Greek authors, Cicero, and more recent Latin authors, Roman orators of the Republican period are fundamental models both for orators in training and those already practising, in an emulative and anti-dogmatic vision, aware of the new linguistic and social needs, but eager to find solid roots in the past.Less
This chapter analyses the quotations from the orators of the Republican period in Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria. The method of quotation is extremely varied and the author shows a good first-hand knowledge of many speeches, especially those of more recent writers including Caelius Rufus, Asinius Pollio, and Messala Corvinus. Regardless of Cicero’s excellence, these orators fit well within the large educational project proposed by Quintilian. They are used as moral models, as well as lexical, rhetorical, and stylistic examples, often accepted but sometimes rejected, and always included in a more general literary, historical, and cultural framework. In addition to the most important Greek authors, Cicero, and more recent Latin authors, Roman orators of the Republican period are fundamental models both for orators in training and those already practising, in an emulative and anti-dogmatic vision, aware of the new linguistic and social needs, but eager to find solid roots in the past.
Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Cornelius Fronto
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226713007
- eISBN:
- 9780226713021
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226713021.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
In 1815 a manuscript containing one of the long-lost treasures of antiquity was discovered—the letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto, reputed to have been one of the greatest Roman orators. But this ...
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In 1815 a manuscript containing one of the long-lost treasures of antiquity was discovered—the letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto, reputed to have been one of the greatest Roman orators. But this find disappointed many nineteenth-century readers, who had hoped for the letters to convey all of the political drama of Cicero's. That the collection included passionate love letters between Fronto and the future emperor Marcus Aurelius was politely ignored—or concealed. And for almost 200 years these letters have lain hidden in plain sight. This book rescues these letters from obscurity and returns them to the public eye. The story of Marcus and Fronto began in 139 ce, when Fronto was selected to instruct Marcus in rhetoric. Marcus was eighteen then, and by all appearances the pupil and teacher fell in love. Spanning the years in which the relationship flowered and died, these are the only love letters to survive from antiquity—homoerotic or otherwise. The translation reproduces the effusive, slangy style of the young prince and the rhetorical flourishes of his master.Less
In 1815 a manuscript containing one of the long-lost treasures of antiquity was discovered—the letters of Marcus Cornelius Fronto, reputed to have been one of the greatest Roman orators. But this find disappointed many nineteenth-century readers, who had hoped for the letters to convey all of the political drama of Cicero's. That the collection included passionate love letters between Fronto and the future emperor Marcus Aurelius was politely ignored—or concealed. And for almost 200 years these letters have lain hidden in plain sight. This book rescues these letters from obscurity and returns them to the public eye. The story of Marcus and Fronto began in 139 ce, when Fronto was selected to instruct Marcus in rhetoric. Marcus was eighteen then, and by all appearances the pupil and teacher fell in love. Spanning the years in which the relationship flowered and died, these are the only love letters to survive from antiquity—homoerotic or otherwise. The translation reproduces the effusive, slangy style of the young prince and the rhetorical flourishes of his master.
