Cicero (106-43 BCE)

• born Italy (upper middle class)
• 1st pub Of Invention 84 BCE--concentrates on uses of stasis theory to define arguments on forensic speeches and on proper formation of the parts of a forensic speech--he later discounted the work
• quickly became one of the most noted speakers in Rome--with eloquence he overcame class barriers and was elected to high office
• style characterized by amplification--naming same thing 2-3 diff ways in succession
• Cicero's work dominated rhetoric up to time of the Renaissance and was strongly influential thereafter
• his rhetorical theory collected most of what is known about Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
• known for his attacks on/speech against Marc Anthony
• lawyer: prose, uses amplification to evoke heightened emotion
• the best orator can fulfill three offices: teaching, pleasing, and moving (to right action)
• in Of Oratory he combines he most important views of Isocrates and Plato--argues that natural ability most important for success in public speaking--practice alone is not enough
• broad learning in law, hist., literature, etc is essential
• orator must bring considerable knowledge to rhetorical situation
• audience will take moral tone from orator

Of Oratory/De Oratore

• addressed to Quintelian
• generally regarded as his most complete work
• format imitates Platonic dialogue (though is longer)
• outdoor setting: explicit emulation of Phaedrus under plane tree
• the Patrician, Crassus, speaks for Cicero’s own view--oratory as uniting broad learning and the study of rhetoric and philosophy
• Antonius agrees that eloquence can profit from instruction only in more narrowly conceived and formulaic rhetoric(sounds like Socrates)
• strive to match thoughts and words--appropriate style
• On Oratory, which superseded his early writing on the subject.
• Cicero naturally considered political oratory a most important art and great service to the community.
• The emotions of the human spirit must be understood intimately and can be used to calm the feelings of the audience.
• Humor, wit, culture, and urbane charm are to be used along with a good memory of history, precedents, and the laws.
• Delivery depends upon body carriage, gestures, and changing intonations of the voice

Book I

• Cicero set his dialog in 91 BC with the orators he admired as a youth - Lucius Licinius Crassus (his teacher), Marcus Antonius (grandfather of the triumvir), and others.
• begins with address to his brother--nostalgia for their student days
• rejects strictures against rhetoric that Plato set forth in Gorgias and argues that the rhetorician must master the branch of philosophy devoted to “human life and conduct”
• oratory derives “beauty and fullness” from knowledge
• oratory is important to society and state--it makes civil order possible--ensure safety oratory and the people
• C. notes the importance and necessity of knowledge. Natural ability is impt but knowledge aids natural ability
• Antonius counters C, suggesting that oratory is no art and one need not have knowledge but if he imitates good models he can persuade
• Crassus says oratory is most excellent for winning the good will of people and directing their inclinations. In free nations that enjoy peace this art reigns supreme.
• One person's eloquence can transform the impulses of a crowd, the consciences of judges, and the austerity of the senate; it can lift those cast down, bestow security, imperil the free, and maintain human rights, defending oneself and challenging the wicked.
• The ability to communicate with words is the advantage humans have over the brutes and is what upholds individual dignity and the safety of the state.
• Scaevola points out that it also can be used to damage the state. Crassus replies that the orator can rouse human hearts to anger, hatred or indignation or recall them from those passions to mercy.
• To achieve this the speaker needs profound insight into human nature and character and what motivates souls.
• One must have broad knowledge, be aware of the relevant facts, but also be able to shape and polish one's style in fluent speech. Antonius observes that many Greeks believed only the wise can be truly eloquent and virtuous.
• Sulpicius Rufus wonders if there is an art of oratory, and Scaevola asks Crassus to respond as one whose eloquence has excelled in the seat of imperial power. Crassus begins with his belief that natural talent is the greatest contributor to oratory.
• Skill in invention, exposition, embellishment, and memory depend upon intelligence, and physical gifts are a ready tongue, ringing tones, strong lungs, vigor, and a suitable body and face.
• A good orator needs the subtlety of a logician, the thought of a philosopher, poetic diction, a lawyer's memory, and the voice and bearing of an actor.
• Training is also important though and requires enthusiasm and passionate desire.
• Diction should use correct Latin, be lucid, elegant, and fit the dignity of the topic with grace.
• Learning to control and train the voice, breathing, gestures, and the tongue depend on exertion as well as art.
• Learning pieces by heart can train the memory.
• Crassus believes the orator should know human nature, ethics, how to arouse and calm human minds, history, government, and common law.
• Common law is defined as preserving the impartiality of statutes and customs in the concerns and disputes of citizens.
• Common law can be the basis for ethical discussions, because merit is coveted when fitting exertion wins high office, rewards, and honor, while misdeeds are punished with fines, degradations, imprisonment, scourging, banishment, and death.
• People learn not by debate to control their passions and their hands from taking what is their neighbor's but by the authoritative decisions of the laws. Crassus points to the Twelve Tables of laws which teach more than anything else, and he believes that Roman laws surpass those of Lycurgus, Draco, and Solon. He also mentions the elements of oratory as invention, style, arrangement, memory, and delivery.
• Antonius agrees that the person expert in the statutes and customary law is qualified to advise others in lawsuits.
• The philosopher strives to know the significance, nature, and causes of everything human and divine in order to master a complete theory of right living.
• The orator needs this and the ability to use agreeable language with arguments that persuade in legal disputes and public debates.
• Yet Antonius warns against the orator getting into tactless philosophical discussions that are not relevant. Philosophers also sometimes disapprove of arguments that are rhetorically effective. He notes how Socrates defended himself as a teacher rather than a submissive prisoner and was condemned to death.
• For Antonius the orator does not need wide knowledge of law, but special points can be researched; one should not dissipate one's energy over too wide a field of study. He also believes that virtue can be taught by persuasion without the threat of punishment, force, and terror. Practice is important.

Book II

• Cicero wrote that excellence in oratory depends not only upon training in speaking but in
  pursuing all knowledge as well.
• Crassus points out the value of leisure, because no one is free who is not sometimes doing nothing.
• Antonius states that the orator's duty is to arouse a listless nation and to curb its impetuosity. By eloquence the deceitful are destroyed, the just delivered, the virtuous encouraged, the vicious reclaimed, the wicked censured, the worthy praised, the lawless subdued, and the grieved soothed.
• Antonius agrees with Aristotle that rhetoric includes speeches of praising as well as forensic lawsuits and political deliberations. The Romans considered history as part of rhetoric, though Antonius says that telling the truth and the whole truth without bias or malice is most important. The historian should also estimate consequences, expose causes, and reveal the particulars in the lives and characters of renowned people.
• The orator's duty is to discuss good and evil in all its ramifications including the state, sovereignty, war, political science, and the customs of people.
• Antonius considers most difficult the forensic arguments in courtrooms, where the ignorant often judge an orator's power. A good speech opens by winning the goodwill and attention of the audience, states the case plausibly, lucidly, and concisely, defines the issue, establishes points by evidence and argument, disproves opposing views, then sums up the case with a peroration.
• The art of speaking persuades in three ways:
• • winning the favor of the listeners,
  • instructing them and proving one's points, and
  • arousing people's feelings; these require a gentle style, acuteness, and energy.
• Speech reveals one's character, and thus a gentle approach usually gains favor. The speaker must feel the emotions one wishes to excite.
• The love of the audience is won by upholding their interests or by working for what is good and useful.
• The arguments of the opponents need to be disproved, and emotions can be countered by their opposites.
• Cicero has Caesar Vopiscus analyze the difficult subject of wit and humor, giving many examples. The use of these should be sparing and appropriate. Humor may derive from ambiguity, the unexpected, plays on words, quotations, taking words literally, allegory, metaphor, irony, antithetical expressions, comparison, caricature, understatement, ridicule, and personal retorts. Then Antonius resumes his discourse, emphasizing the importance of avoiding doing any damage to one's case. He suggests arranging one's strongest point first.
• Dignity is important, because everyone values moral worth as the highest goal even though expediency often wins the day. To move people from the latter to the former, an exhortation is often helpful. Praise can also be used.
• C. indicts Soc and Plato for separating philosophy and rhetoric. C admires Sophists and their application of philosophy
• outlines much of Aristotle’s system
  • duty of orator is to speak in style fitted to sub and aud
  • extol virtue of audience vi emotions
  • virtue of speaker

• rules of diction
• Practice is essential--writing is good practice
• Rules for practice and performance
• master facts of the case
• master facts of the allegations
• master its nature
• master it definition
  
• Topics
  favor of audience will need to be secured

Book III

• orator needs to know wide culture
• chides Plato and Socrates for dividing tongue and mind/thought and lang
• three offices of rhetoric: pleasing, teaching, and persuading
• conveying the plausible but not necessarily the truth.
• Crassus discusses embellishing style by making language correct, lucid, ornamental, and appropriate. One should include the fullest supply of facts. In addition to praise, censure can also be used to make points. Knowledge can be expressed through inference, definition, and deduction. Inference discovers; definition explains; and deduction investigates consequences. Conduct can be discussed in relation to duty by viewing right and wrong, virtues and vices; or emotions can be swayed using exhortation, reproach, consolation, compassion, and by exciting or allaying feelings.
• Crassus concludes by discussing the use of metaphors and rhythm.