Cicero: Oratory Master and Roman Statesman
Cicero: Oratory and Political Career
Oratory is the art of expressing oneself well and convincing one’s audience. This quality was very necessary in a theoretically democratic Rome, as a good speaker could get certain laws approved, designate one candidate or another to exercise a magistracy, etc. The art of oratory was indispensable to anyone who wanted to dedicate himself to a political career. Soon, rhetoric became one of the most important subjects in higher education. The schools were visited by those who wanted to dedicate themselves to public life. The period of the Republic corresponds to the orator Cicero par excellence.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC)
Born in Arpino, Marcus Tullius Cicero was the son of a family of knights. He completed his higher studies in Rome, where he received instruction from the best orators and jurists of the time. He visited Greece and Asia Minor to complete his humanistic education, and back in Rome, he began his political career.
He went on to occupy political posts until he was named consul (63 BC), a period marked by his action against the conspiracy of Catiline. Catiline made four unsuccessful attempts at conspiracy against the Republic, and the leading conspirators were executed. This led Cicero into exile, as he had ruled not to grant defendants the right to appeal to the people.
After Caesar’s victory over Pompey at Pharsalia (48 BC), Cicero retired from political life. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, he returned to Rome, resumed his political career, and attacked Mark Antony, one of the dictator’s successors. With the creation of the Second Triumvirate, it was believed that Cicero could become one of the main enemies, so he was assassinated (43 BC) in his villa.
Literature
Speeches
Cicero wrote many speeches. We have noted that some had a juridical content, delivered either as a defense or as a prosecution, before a tribunal.
- Defense of the Poet Archias: Archias had been deprived of the right of citizenship that had been granted previously.
- Defense of Milo: Cicero showed that Milo was not guilty of the murder of Clodius, as he acted in self-defense.
- Verrines: Cicero accuses Verres, who, as governor of Sicily, had abused his position and plundered the island.
He also made political speeches, of which we highlight two:
- Philippics: This work consists of 14 speeches in which Cicero attacked Mark Antony when he wanted to succeed Julius Caesar. They are called this way in comparison to the Philippics of the speaker Demosthenes against Philip of Macedon.
- Catilinarians: Perhaps Cicero’s most famous work. These four speeches are against Catiline, who was involved in the conjuration against the Roman Republic.
- The 1st Catilinarian was delivered before the Senate, and Catiline fled Rome.
- The 2nd was given in the forum to inform the people.
- The 3rd, also in the forum, was used to report the arrests of the conspirators who had remained in Rome.
- And the 4th, given back to the Senate, decided the death sentence of the conspirators.
All these speeches were not published as they had been spoken; Cicero rewrote them, giving them a more literary form.