The Roman World of Cicero's De Oratore

365 Pages·2004·1.33 MB·English

by  Elaine Fantham

THE ROMAN WORLD OF
CICERO’S DE ORATORE
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The Roman World of
Cicero’s De Oratore
ELAINE FANTHAM
1
3
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Preface
Thisbookislargelytheresultofmyyearsofofferingthestudyof
DeOratoreingraduatecoursesonCiceronianrhetoric.Ihavebeen
blessed in some extraordinarily good students, who are already
established teachers, and I could probably have learned more
from them than I actually did. But those years reinforced my
conviction than De Oratore was a brilliant and beneficial work
andamarvellouskeytoRomanlifeandvaluesinthelaterepublic.
Inrecentyearsithasbeenenrichedwiththedistinguishedmulti-
volume philological commentary of Anton Leeman and Harm
Pinkster, which most individuals and hardly any libraries can
afford.Itshouldbenotedthatthefifthvolume,nowapproaching
completion,willappearinEnglishwiththesamepublishers.Jakob
Wisse,theeditorofthisvolume,hasalreadycombinedwithJames
MaytoproduceafinenewtranslationCicero:OntheIdealOrator
(Oxford,2001)equippedwithfirst-classintroductionandannota-
tion.Butthereisawideraudienceouttherewhomaynotbeableto
benefit fully from either work: besides the graduate students in
classics who were my inspiration, there are scholars of Roman
historyor Latin literaturewithout a background in classical rhet-
oric, just as many scholars of rhetoric have areas of expertise far
from the culture of the Roman republic. I would also hope that
I can encourage students of Cicero’s work by supplementing
Cicero’s idealized picture of the older generation with an account
of his own career, techniques, and practice: in some respects his
experiences in the decade after the apogee of his consulship in 63
offer a striking, even depressing contrast with the conduct of
political life in the 1990s: I would like modern readers of this
booktocomeawaywithapictureofthatworldasclosetoCicero’s
ownaspossible.
If Cicero’s perspective was limited by his own privileged cir-
cumstances as well as his times, he is still manifestly an honest
observerwhoalsotriestomaintainsomestandardsofintegrityin
hisactions,asmuchinhismisguidedattempttoholdbackCaesar’s
land policies as in his fiscal correctness as a reluctant provincial
governor and his efforts to reconcile Caesar and Pompey as they
duelled for supreme power at Rome. There is such universal
vi Preface
disillusionment about present-day political life that any study
which exposes the constraints under which a statesman must op-
erate can only improve understanding and sympathy. Politically,
Cicero failed in a failing form of government, but through the
quality of his writings, his ideals, and hopes for educating future
leadersremainedavailabletoQuintilianandTacitus,theeducator
andhistorianatthebeginningofthe‘goldenage’oftheAntonines:
thefullformofDeOratoreseemstohavebeenallbutlostuntilthe
early fifteenth century, when its rediscovery opened up the hu-
manist values of the Renaissance and later enlightenment. In an
anti-rhetoricalage,inwhichmanyofthefinestmindsandperson-
alities pursue a very different education, I believe this work still
hasanidealtoofferthatwillenhancemuchofourreadingandour
power to communicate in whatever new medium our society de-
visesnowandinfuture.WhileIhopetoprovokeincreasedinterest
inCicero’sworkontheIdealOrator,Iamnotattemptingtomatch
thescholarshipofthegreatDutchcommentary.Itwillbereward
enough if I succeed in helping this work to be enjoyed in its
historicalandculturalcontext.
Ihavealsoaimedtoshapethismonographasacompaniontothe
work: hence the chapters single out major topics in the order in
which they are introduced by Cicero himself. As Anton Leeman
wiselyobserved(inFormundSinn:Studienzurr¨omischenLiteratur
(Frankfurt, 1985), 39–40) the sheer scale of De Oratore has de-
terredevenclassicistsfromreadingit,oratleastreadingitwiththe
careitwaswritten.Ihaveaimedtoapplyhismethodasareader:to
askwhatCicerohaswritten(itscontent),howhehaswrittenit,and
forwhatpurpose.
Like Cicero himself in this dialogue I have not focused on the
history and theories of the philosophical schools, except where
philosophers and rhetoricians are disputing the same topics as
theirterritory.Thereareanumberofexcellentrecentdiscussions
that set Cicero’s later philosophical works in their Greek context
andanalysehisoriginalityofstructureandargument:theseIhave
thankfullyconsultedandlistedinthebibliography.
Inevitably there are many debts to acknowledge: to Cambridge
University and its Faculty of Classics for the enjoyment of their
libraries,toNewnhamCollegeforitswarmwelcome,andtoClare
HallfortheFellowshipIenjoyedin2000anditscontinuedhospi-
tality;totheUniversityofTorontoforreadmittingmetoitsbosom
Preface vii
afterfifteenyearsawayfromCanada;tothewarmthandkindness
of my former colleagues at Princeton, especially to Bob Kaster
from whom I have learnt so much; and to a number of scholars
of rhetoric, especially Doreen Innes, Donald Russell, Gualtiero
Calboli,and LuciaCalboliMontefusco for preciousoffprintsand
kindly encouragement. In particular Jaap (Jakob) Wisse has pro-
vided me with vigorous challenges, and a precious copy of the
concordancewhichhecreatedtoDeOratore:Ithasbeenaconstant
aidtome.Hehasalsoreadandannotatedwiththeutmostpatience
andcaretextsofseveralchapters,atvariousstageswhenIsought
his help. But I can be obstinate, and he should be not blamed for
anyerrorsormisjudgementspersistinginthetext.
I would like to think the book will be useful to my fellow
members of the International Society for the History of Rhetoric
and to a generation of students and teachers on both sides of the
Atlantic.
Toronto2003 E.F.
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Contents
Abbreviations x
1. Ciceroat50 1
2. ThePublicCareersofL.LiciniusCrassusand
M.Antonius 26
3. ConstructingtheDialogue:TheChallengeofPlato 49
4. TheFutureOrator:Talent,Training,andthe
ChoiceofModel 78
5. TheOratorandtheLaw 102
6. OratoryandLiterature:TheSpokenandthe
WrittenWord 131
7. RediscoveringAristotelianInvention 161
8. WitandHumourastheOrator’sCombatWeapons 186
9. PoliticalPersuasion:SenateandContio 209
10. StyleandSubstance:Cicero’sRethinkingofElocutio 237
11. ResPervolgatae:WordsandtheirManipulation
inStandardRhetoricalTheory 267
12. IntoAction:TheOratorasPublicFigure 287
13. Epilogue:TheStatesmanandtheStatein
DeOratoreandAfter 305
Bibliography 329
IndexI:Authors,Works,andPassagesCited 339
IndexII:Persons 345
IndexIII:Legal,Political,andRhetoricalTerms 350