Cicero's political personae

Author / Creator

Kenty, Joanna, author

Available as

Online

Summary

"In the first century BCE, Rome saw the rise of its greatest orator, Cicero. He was a master of the art of rhetoric, the art of persuading people, which was vital in republican political deliberati...

"In the first century BCE, Rome saw the rise of its greatest orator, Cicero. He was a master of the art of rhetoric, the art of persuading people, which was vital in republican political deliberations. His published speeches and theoretical works had massive and lasting influence on ideas about communication. At the same time, Rome also witnessed the destabilization and ultimate implosion of their political system, through decades of unrest and several civil wars. At the very moment when the art of oratory was reaching new heights in Rome, republican governance and deliberation were reaching new depths of dysfunction. What power did oratory or the orator have in this time of crisis? Cicero's eloquence was pitted against the military force wielded by generals, the machinations of conspiratorial political cabals, and mass unrest. Yet Cicero was sought out, by the "first triumvirate"1 and later by Caesar as dictator and by Mark Antony as consul, as a leader in senatorial deliberation and as an ally. How did he accomplish that?"--

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