Roman Rhetoric

Rhetoric in Roman society

• Rhetoric is a Greek invention & well received because its practical

• Romans saw it useful to speak well + convince others

What is Atticism & Asianism

2 diff public speaking styles that were not known to the Greeks

Asianism

• ornate

• used big words

• large sentences

• more flamboyant

Atticism

• pure & simple

• Demosthenes is the example for Rhetoric

• followed greek conventions

• more measured

• Cicero used both Quintilian did not care

• they are nuances in both styles

Death of political rhetoric

• after Athens were conquered, the deliberative type disappeared completely

  • speeches and rhetoric

• Same thing happens in Rome when in 31 BC the empire starts.

  • happened in Rome end of 1st century bc → Augustus becomes emperor , senate, ppl assembly : talked about stuff but a façade

  • Epideictic fell off, mostly for school teachings, with exception of praise speeches

Greek judicial system

• civil court, no state department of justice, people had to defend themselves.

• The roman build their system based on this

  • This was mostly taken over by the Romans and later on towards a certain extent

Roman judicial system

• epidetic remained important, before and after the Empire

• justice was heavily state organised

• Civil procedures: praetor

  • organiser of court and judicial procedures

  • mostly civil procedures

• Criminal cases: Centumviral Court

  • more state-organised,

  • impossible for a layman to represent himself due to the complexities of the law

  • important for a layman to be able to represent himself

  • need to be trained in it

  • People had to hire lawyers, who will represent you.

Genres

Epideictic

• judicial → jiudiciale

• deliberative → deliberativum

• demonstrative → demonstrativum

Tasks of the judicial system

• Teach → Docere

  • have to teach: in a court, need to teach the defendent/prosecutor whats going on

• Delight → Delectare

  • please the audience, speak to the jury, speak beautifully

• Please and move → Movere

  • need to move the audience, pathetic = pathos, make the jury laugh or cry

• doesn’t need to be done in order, but usually like this

Phases of the judicial system

• Discovery, disposition, elocution, memory, activity

• Find arguments and counters, organise, write the actual speech, memorise it, declaiming

  • invention

  • action: standing there and doing it

• inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, actio

Parts of the judicial system

• beginning, story, argumentation, refutation, peroration

• the proem

• introduction

• the narration: your version of the events

• the argumentation: counter arguments of opponents

• conclusion

• exordium, narratio, argumentatio, refutatio, peroratio

4 stylistic demands

• free of errors, clear, beautiful, fitting

  • what you say has to be apt: v important

  • linked to lit immediately & need to explain it clearly

• The system gets more complex can be further subdivided

What is statis?

Status

for prosecution and defence, pick a strategy for your cases

• part of the invention phase, pick a particular strategy or point your case will circle

Status coniecturalis → state of the conjecture

• did person commit the crime?

• strongest possible defence done here

Status definitionis → Status definition

• not exactly this crime, tweaking the legal definitons of the crime

Status qualitatis → quality

• less strong defence, is the crime morally justified?

Status translativus

• argues that court is not allowed to judge the case → weakest leg to stand on

• prosecutor; have to prove case on all this status

• prosecutor; have to prove case on all this status

Cicero

• the greatest rhetorician

• writing speeches & analysing → All kinds of philosophical and technical treatises

• 106BC - 43BC

• works through the cursus honorum: order of holding public offices at the minimum age

  • curse of honours, there is a certain honour of achieving in office

• his death = death of public & political rhetoric in Rome

Speeches: the greatest hits & made a lot

80: Pro Roscio Amerino

• defend the a guy of patricide, won speech at 20 yrs

70: In Verrem

• Trial started by the people of Sicily against Verres for an oppressive regime.

• Cicero was a “defender of the people”.

• Verses was already out of favour for the higher class so there weren’t any real enemies made

63: In Catilinam (4):

• attacking Catiline post-conspiracy.

• Considered to be his best work

62: Pro Archia Poeta

• In defence of the poet archias, defends his status of citizen.

• Throughout the speech transforms about the defence of poetry and literature

44: Philippicae (14

• aganist Mark Anthony

• mimic Demosthenes

De Oratore (55)

• incl the belief that the perfect orator must know all the rules about rhetoric but he must also be a morally immaculate person (philosopher as well

Law practices in ancient rome

• lawyers weren’t allowed to get paid for their services

• made the patterns of mutual dependency stronger

  • weaker party is clients, stronger one is patrons.

  • If you get accused by a stronger party: senator, the weaker party will have to find someone of equal standing to their attacker to defend them: another rich person with time and education to do so

• Gratia/political power is payment

Strengths of Cicero

Adapted to circumstances easily

• Praises the senators but backtalks them to the ppl & portrayed them as traitors

• Very good at histrionics

  • acting and altering the surroundings to support your message.

  • when defending a supporter of Catiline: place the blame on C., not on him.

• Changes the tone, defends that he had some virtue to say well he deceived him.

Belief in the people and senate

• a strong chosen elected consul + laws of the republic = can defend itself against inside and outside threats (toga as a weapon)

• Anything can be solved through senatorial deliberation.#

Addresses the deepest fears & passion of his roman audience.

• Wise speaker that could combine practical wisdom of Rome & specialist knowledge and philosophy of the Greeks.

• Appeal to the non-rational audience: needed their mobilization

  • decision was made based on fear instead of passion

  • Twists civil & political affairs into cosmic-godly affairs

  • paints himself as priest that sacrifices Catiline at the altar of roman union& stability

Character assassination (movere)

• Theatrical performance: histrionics + prosopopoiia play a role to dramatize

  • could have been perceived as overtly dramatical, humour at the expense of others

  • all happening in the courts

Quintilian

• Trained in Rome & practice law in Spain

• Published the Institutio Oratoria.

• a textbook on the theory & practice of rhetoric

• The Institutio is not exactly literary style

• followed the rhetorical training in Rome then went back to Spain to practice law

• a Textual tradition

Content Institutio

• very logical structure

• Expresses the same belief as Cicero of the rhetorician having to be knowledgeable in many areas and ethically blameless.

• Uses anecdotes and examples because it was also thought for the interested layman

Charm of the Institutio

• Composed for the interested layman

• Theory tested in practice

• Thousands of examples

Epideictic genre

• Panegyrics for the emperor

  • Pliny’s Panegyricus

  • praise poem written in verse praising a person

• Declamations (training in rhetoric): in rhetorical schools practiced this to train public speaking

  • fictitious

  • historical

  • mythological

Demonstrativum genre

• more prominent after the establishment of the empire by virtue of the others being less used.

• Used for rhetorical training in schools.

• Panegyrics for the emperor

  • Pliny’s Panegyricus

  • Declamations (training in rhetoric)

  • fictitious

  • historical

  • mythological