The Development of Roman Rhetorical Theory
I. Like the Greeks, the Romans used the rhetoric of mythology in the process of nation building.
A. While Etruscan civilization can be traced back to at least 800 B.C., the Republic emerged under Kings in about 550 B.C.
1. Virgil's story written in the Republican era: Rome was founded by Aeneas who
was travelling from the battle of Troy.
2. Earlier myth: Romulus and Remus.
B. Rome went through a long period of expansion defeating Sabine, Alba, Latinum, Rutuli, Volscia, Veii and merger with Etruria.
1. 340 B.C. Rome defeats the Latin league and expands to southern Italy. Around
560 B.C., 35 tribes are created based on geographic location.
2. 508 B.C. Senate deposes Servius and creates
Republic. Two consuls will rule jointly for one year.
C. The original Senate had 300 members drawn from the Patrician class.
Beneath them were the Equites (equals, merchants);
beneath them were the Plebes; then came the slaves.
1. In 451 B.C. a new legal code is passed by the Senate. Twelve
Tables of Appius Claudius.
2. Senators served for life unless convicted of a crime.
II. With the defeat of the illusive and
star-crossed Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, in 275 B.C.,
III. The Punic Wars. Carthage, founded by the Phoenicians around 813 B.C., evolved into a powerful city that irrigated nearby lands for food.
A. By 400 B.C. it is the richest city in Mediterranean area. 200 docks, 440 marble columns surround the harbor, 6 story buildings.
B. In 264 B.C., pirates seize Messana
in
1. Rome prepares for war behind their leader Regulus.
They building 330 quinqueremes.
(150 ft long, 300 rowers.)
2. 256 B.C. two fleets carrying 300,000 men meet at Ecnomus
off Sicily. 284 ships lost, 80,000 troops killed.
3. Romans eventually destroy Carthaginian fleet in battle of Aegean in 241 B.C.
C. The second Punic war began when Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar,
who was killed in Spain in 229 B.C., was named commander in 221 at age 28.
1. In 218 B.C. allying with Gauls, Hannibal from
Spain crossed the Alps.
2. Rome panics. But after several major victories, Hannibal settles in Capua for five years of debauchery.
3. Rome besieges Capua in 211 B.C. and it falls. By
205 B.C. Rome has recaptured Spain.
4. With a new army, Hannibal meets Scipio on the plain of Zarma and is defeated.
IV. Rome captures all of Greece and then secures the Alps by 193 B.C.
A. Cato, the Elder, emerges and new leader in Senate.
1.At Cato's suggestion, trouble making
V. The great agrarian revolt, 145-78 B.C.
A. Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Caius rouse the rabble.
1. 133 B.C. Tiberius elected Tribune of Plebs. He immediately proposes major
land reform: 20 acres each to the poor; limit of 667 acres to anyone. Excerpt
from his speech: "The beasts of the field and the birds of the air have
their holes and their hiding places; but the men who fight and die for Italy
enjoy only the light and the air. Our generals urge their soldiers to fight for
the graves and shrines of their ancestors. The appeal is idle and false. You
cannot point to a paternal altar. You have no ancestral tomb. You fight and die
to give wealth and luxury to others. You are called the masters of the world,
but there is not a foot of ground that you can call your own."
2. But when the measure was put to a vote in the Forum, Senators march in,
surround Tiberius Gracchus and beat him to death.
3. Caius Gracchus becomes
new reform leader. He is elected Tribune in 124 B.C. Slaughter of Gracchi party.
VI. A new group of speaker-orator-warriors emerges: Cicero, Pompey, Cato the Younger, Caesar.
A. The Revolt of Spartacus. Pompey becomes Consul in 70 B.C. B. Biography of
1. Elected Quaestor in 75 B.C.--
magistrate (forensic)
2. 70 B.C. becomes famous lawyer who defends Sicily against a Senator named Verres.
3. 66 B.C., elected Praetor.
4. 64 B.C. elected Consul; 63 B.C., elected Consul by acclamation.
5. The Catiline Conspiracy.
VII. Rome's history up to the Birth of Christ. Caesar secures Spain in 65 B.C. after having had secured Gaul. In 60 B.C., he, Crassus, and Pompey form the First Triumvirate, Pompey marries Caesar's daughter.
A. Caesar breaks the deal and defeats Pompey's army. Caesar is assassinated in 44 B.C. B. A second Triumvirate is formed of Octavius, Marc Antony, and Leppidus. Cicero is hunted down and killed as are the assassins of Caesar, who include Brutus and Cassius.
VIII. Roman rhetorical theory:
Be sure to learn tropes and figures in your text book. There will be lots of questions on them. If you want examples in rhetoric go to this
site: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/rhetoricaldevicesinsound.htm
A. The Rhetorica ad Herennium 90 B.C.:
Sets out five canons: inventio, dispositio
(arrangement), memoria (memory), elocutio
(style), and delivery (actio).
1. Three kinds of speeches: Demonstrative (epideictic), deliberative, judicial.
2. Imitation of models or paradigms, paradigmatic.
3. Develops arrangement into:
a. Exordium serves to make hearer attentive, receptive, well
disposed.
b. Narration is statement of case, or story.
c. Division is where orator states facts admitted by both sides, enumerates
points to be made, offers brief preview of what is to come.
d. The Confirmation established the case and is the most important and
developed part of the speech. The stasis system:
1. Conjectural issues: questions of fact
a.
probability of defendant's guilt 1) motive 2) manner of life
b. No one else could have committed the crime.
c. signs pointing to guilt 1) place 2) time 3)
occasion 4) chance of success 5) chance of escaping detection
2. Legal issues: interpretation of the law
a. letter
and spirit of law
b. conflicting statutes.
c. questions of jurisdiction, time limits, etc.
3. Juridical issues: quality of the act in question
a. law of
nature
b. self defense
c. ignorance of law
d. shift in responsibility (to society, to parent)Returning to arrangment of spech:
e. Refutation takes reverse position and points out flaws in opponents
argument.
f. Conclusion sums up, amplifies, and makes final appeal to emotions
(peroration).
4. Develops delivery into:
1) vocal quality: volume, pitch, rate
2) movement
5. Develops memory through devices.
6. Develops style into three kinds:
a. Grand (to move), sublime, copius, dignified,
ornate
b. Middle (to please), sweet, with a little vigor
c. Plain (to prove), rhythmless, free, moderate use
of oratorical furniture.
IX. Quintilian, 30 A.D. to 96 A.D., wrote the Institutes of Oratory; Cicero wrote Brutus, De Oratore, Orator and De Inventione.
A. Decorum: How one ought to be perceived in context.
1. Creating and/or meeting expectations. 2. Ornatus:
functional adornment
X. Others:
A. Hermogenes (176 A.D) further developed stasis.
B. Dionysius Cassius Longinus (213 A.D. to 273 A.D.) = On the Sublime and On Literary Composition: