cicero pro marcello notes

What kind of speech is the pro Marcello?

Epideictic- tho its title leads us to believe it is forensic.

Epideictic rhetoric is one of the three ειδη of rhetoric according to Aristotle- used to praise or blame during ceremonies.

Marcus Claudius Marcellus

Consul of 51.

Belonged to one of Rome's most aristocratic families.

Little is known of his early career.

Held the quaestorship i 64, supported Cicero during the Catilinarian conspiracy.

Involved in four court cases in the 50s, always on the same side as Cicero.

In the Brutus 248-50, Brutus is made to speak highly of Marcellus' oratory, emphasising its similarity to Cicero's.

A great compliment- the Brutus otherwise deals (except for Caesar) with dead orators.

Consulship in 51, alongside Servius Sulpicius Rufus.

M announces that he intends to raise the question of a successor to Caesar in Gaul. Sulpicius opposes.

M has a citizen of Novum Comum in Transpadane Gaul flogged (illegal!) and tells him to show his wounds to Caesar.

(Novum Comum was set up via a law passed during Caesar's consulship in 59. M flogged one of its citizens to show that he did not recognise the law, or the lex Vatinia of the same year under which Caesar had been appointed to his Gallic command.)

(Att.5.11.2- Cicero says that M acted disgracefully 'Marcellus foede in Comensi').

1 March- Caesar succession debate vetoed. Gaius Marcellus (Marcus' cousin and new consul) continues hostility towards Caesar.

Marcellus fights for Pompey in the battle of Pharsalus, then returned to Mytilene on Lesbos. Refused to return to Italy to await Caesar's pardon.

How did Caesar come to power?

After the death of Crassus, the triumvirate consisted only of Caesar and Pompey, who became estranged- Pompey increasingly (since his third consulship in 52) siding with the Senate.

Caesar vulnerable to prosecution on his return, since the laws of his consulship in 59 had been passed by violence.

Exempt from prosecution so long as he held an official command. Tried to hold on to his command in Gaul as long as possible, then step straight into a second consulship.

Caesar's enemies (often hardline republicans) wished to remove him from command ASAP and prosecute him.

Cicero by contrast, like most of the senators, was prepared to appease Caesar to prevent civil war.

1 March 50- debate proposed on the question of a successor for Caesar, but on the date the debate was vetoed.

December 50- a proposal that Caesar and Pompey should each give up their command was approved by the senate, but not acted upon.

Consul Marcellus then tried and failed to have Caesar declared a hostis.

1 January 49- Marcellus' brother Gaius becomes consul.

Pompey's father-in-law, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica, proposed that if Caesar did not lay down arms by a certain date, he should be declared a public enemy.

Proposal carried then vetoed.

7 January 49- hardline republicans pass the SCU.

10/11 Jan- Caesar crosses the frontier of his province, the Rubicon, and invaded Italy.

Ad Fam 4.4

To Servius Sulpicius Rufus, October 46

Describes the senate meeting at which Cicero gave the pro Marcello.

An entirely private letter- no reason for Cicero to lie.

-'The senate had arranged, as soon as the case of Marcellus had been mentioned by L. Piso, and Gaius Marcellus 3 had thrown himself at Caesar's feet, that it should rise en masse and approach Caesar in a suppliant attitude.'

- repente praeter spem (Caesar) dixit se senatui roganti de Marcello ne ominis quidem causa negaturum. - pardon of Marcellus off the cuff and unexpected.

- ita mihi pulcher hic dies visus est, ut speciem aliquam viderer videre quasi reviviscentis rei publicae.- Cicero's hopes for a revived Republic seen at the banding together of the senators.

- I had determined, not, by Hercules, from lack of interest, but because I missed my old position in the house, to maintain unbroken silence.

- fregit hoc meum consilium et Caesaris magnitudo animi et senatus officium- Cicero's resolve breaks having been asked to praise Caesar, and he delivers a long speech. SPUR OF THE MOMENT.

Ad Fam. 4.13

To Nigidus Figulus, perhaps September 46 (just before pro Marcello)

'obtinemus ipsius Caesaris summam erga nos humanitatem'- I retain Caesar's supreme kindness.

Proof that Cicero was grateful towards Caesar- his praise in the pro Marcello is consistent with his feelings during this year.

Fam 6.10b

To Trebianus, August 46

'cottidieque aliquid fit lenius et liberalius quam timebamus'.

Cicero had no liking for dictators (having lived through the Sullan period) but by 46 this dictatorship was proving on the whole to be benevolent and even enlightened.

While Caesar was away fighting the republicans in Africa, Cicero found himself treated with the greatest civility by Caesar's friends.

Dyer's take

1990- extreme argument that, far from being a eulogy, the pro Marcello was a figured and ironical oration that covertly criticises Caesar and even calls for his assassination.

Ad Fam 4.7, 4.8, 4.9

Cicero's three letters to Marcellus, using every argument he could to try to persuade him to return to Italy.

Ad Fam 4.11

Marcellus' letter to Cicero.

Having heard of his pardon, first from his cousin Gaius and then from Cicero, Marcellus agreed to come to Rome.

His reply to Cicero was warm and v generous.

However- M expressed no great enthusiasm for returning to Rome. Next summer Cicero received news from Sulpicius (governor of Achaea) that M had been murdered.

Ad Fam 6.6

To Caecina, September 46

'in quo admirari soleo gravitatem et iustitiam et sapientiam Caesaris'.

Does Cicero try to put pressure on Caesar to act in a specific way?

The speech does not urge him to adopt specific policies which he has not already adopted.

The proposals at 23 (courts must be established, credit restored, self-indulgence checked, the birth-rate raised, lots of stringent legislation etc) and 26 ('place the country on a sound footing, and reap its benefits in peace and tranquility') are matters which Caesar already has in hand.

However- he does urge him to promote peace and to continue pardoning enemies- ie to continue his existing policy of clementia.

Panegyric by nature always contains an element of pressure (esp if the speech is then widely circulated)- by listing his subject's virtues, the orator lays a continuing obligation on him to give evidence of those virtues.

Did Cicero see any political role for himself under the new regime?

32-3- he presents himself as the spokesman of the senate- little doubt that that is what he intended his role to be- speaking for the senate, mediating between Caesar and the former Pompeians.

(In Fam 5.7, 62 BC, Cicero recommends himself to Pompey as a friend and a political ally. Similar vibe)

Cicero would like to be admitted to the role of adviser and confidant.

The stylistic brilliance of the speech would have been intended to make it clear to Caesar- who was himself a v good orator- just how useful a supporter n advocate he could be.

pro Marcello ch1

'out of a mixture of grief and modesty/restraint'. (partim dolore, partim verecundia)

Compare to ad Farm 4.4.4- Cicero tells Sulpicius that he had made his decision to refrain from speaking bc he no longer enjoyed the standing that had formerly been his.

First sentence- complicated, and this one line may have been prepared - Cicero had rehearsed the notion of his return, if not the circumstances.

'incredibilem sapientiam ac paene divinam'

- similar tone to some of Cicero's letters: 'Caesaris summam erga nos humanitatem' (Fam 4.13), '... gravitatem et iustitiam et sapientiam Caesaris' (Fam 6.6).

- begins onrunning association of Caesar and the divine- programmatic. as seen in chapter 8.

'inusitatam inauditamque clementiam'

idea of this kindness being unusual and unparalleled- programmatic also.

pro Marcello ch2

CICERO IS ABLE TO RETURN NOW THAT MARCELLUS HAS BEEN PARDONED- THANKS CAESAR!

meam vocem et auctoritatem... restitutam puto

Refers to Cicero's consular auctoritas, which means he is asked to speak among the first in debates- will reclaim this right now he has decided to start speaking again in senate.

First hint that he is looking at his own career too.

repeats patres conscripti two more times.

the phrase is used three times before he says the name 'caesar'- suggests the importance of the senate, perhaps part of a return to the days of a free-speaking republic Cicero longs for in 4.4.

pro Marcello ch3

PRAISE OF CAESAR'S CLEMENCY IN RESTORING MARCELLUS IN SPITE OF PAST WRONG-DOING, HIS SUSPICIONS OF CONSPIRACY.

after reminding us of how M. Marcellus had wronged you, you nevertheless... (commemoratis offensionibus)

Caesar had complained of Marcellus' acerbitas towards him when Marcellus was consul (Fam 4.4.3).

vel doloribus vel suspicionibus

Cicero brings up suspicions of conspiracy...

pro Marcello ch4

PRAISE OF CAESAR- INTEGRITY, HIS GENIUS, HIS ACHIEVEMENTS

nullius tantum flumen est ingeni, nullius dicendi aut scribendi tanta vis, tanta copia, quae. non dicam exornare, sed narrare, C. Caesar, res tuas gestas possit.

'but even to record them'- refers to the de Bello Gallico and de Bello Civili.

Caesar told Cicero around this time that it was a greater achievement to have advanced the frontiers of the Roman genius than to have advanced those of the Roman empire.

pro Marcello ch5

PRAISE OF CAESAR'S UNPARALLELED MILITARY ACHIEVEMENTS

pro Marcello ch6