Cicero's De Provinciis Consularibus Oratio (American Philological Association Texts and Commentaries) (Society for Classical Studies Texts & Commentaries)

368 Pages·2015·1.644 MB·English

by  Luca Grillo

Cicero’s De Provinciis Consularibus Oratio
AMERICAN PHILOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
TEXTS AND COMMENTARIES SERIES
Series Editor
Sander M. Goldberg
Sallust’s Bellum Catilinae, Second Edition
J. T. Ramsey
A Commentary on Demosthenes’ Philippic I:
With Rhetorical Analyses of Philippics II and III
Cecil Wooten
Cicero’s Pro L. Murena Oratio
Elaine Fantham
Cicero’s De Provinciis Consularibus Oratio
Luca Grillo
Cicero’s De Provinciis
Consularibus Oratio
Introduction and Commentary by
Luca Grillo
1
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Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Timeline xiii
Maps xvii
Introduction 1
I. Historical Background: Cicero’s Life Until 56 1
The conspiracy of Catiline and the origins of Cicero’s exile 1
Clodius’ tribunate and Cicero’s exile 2
Rhetorical implications 5
The post reditum speeches 7
II. Context and Date of Delivery and Publication 9
Historical context of 56 9
The outcome of the senatorial debate 10
Date 12
Palinodia? 14
Publication 17
Rhetorical context 18
III. The Assignment of Consular Provinces 20
The lex Sempronia 20
Laws and practices: the lex Vatinia and the lex Clodia 22
IV. Dramatis Personae 23
Piso 23
Gabinius 27
Caesar 29
V. Language, Style, Strategies and Structure of the Speech 31
Inventio 32
Dispositio 35
Elocutio 36
Memoria 44
Actio 45
viii Contents
VI. Writing and Transmission of the Text 48
De Provinciis Consvlaribvs in Senatv Oratio 51
Commentary 74
Glossary of Cited Rhetorical Terms 305
Bibliography 309
Index 333
Preface
Cicero delivered his speech on the allocation of the consular prov-
inces (De Provinciis Consularibus) at the age of fifty, in the summer of
56 bce. The year is remembered as the time when the so-called first
triumvirate was renewed. In the spring, Caesar left Gaul to meet with
Pompey and Crassus, and the deal was struck: Pompey and Crassus
would support Caesar’s confirmation as proconsul in Gaul, and his
veterans would in turn support their election as the consuls for 55.
But all the ambition, money and power of the three dynasts were
not enough. To realize their plans, they needed the aid of the most
prominent orator of the time, Cicero. Between May and July, Cicero
responded to pressure from Pompey and delivered a speech to the
senate De Provinciis Consularibus (henceforth Prov.). His eloquence
persuaded the senators, with the result that Gaul was again assigned
to Caesar, a fact that dramatically changed the course of Roman and
European history. Transalpine Gaul was “pacified” (to use Cicero’s
term), and Caesar managed to realize his ambitions, thanks to the pow-
erful weapon that Cicero had put in his hands. In less than six years,
and much to Cicero’s distress, Caesar would break with the senate,
and the civil war he then fought against Pompey marked the end of
the Roman Republic and the eventual beginning of the Principate.
Aside from its historical importance, Prov. is a prime example of
Roman political oratory. Cicero used his talents to attack Piso and
Gabinius and to praise Caesar; to justify Roman imperialism and
provincial administration; to hide the intricacies of his relationship
with Caesar and the senate; and to convince his fellow senators to
take a decision that Caesar, Pompey and Crassus had in fact already
taken. Prov. thus provides a powerful window into the high politics
of the 50s, the relations between Rome and the provinces, the sen-
ators’ view on governors, publicans and foreigners, the complicated
personality of Cicero, and the role of oratory in ancient Rome.