Cicero on decorum and the morality of rhetoric

European Journal of Political Theory

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 92-112

  Kapust, Daniel ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA   (United States)

Author keywords

Cicero; Judgement; Persuasion; Rhetoric; Roman political thought introduction

Indexed keywords

EID: 79251576530     PISSN: 14748851     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1474885110386007     Document Type: Article

References (139)

1. Plato (1987) Gorgias, 481d-482c, tr. Donald J. Zeyl. Indianapolis: Hackett.
2. Plato, Apology, 17a-b, in (1997) Plato: Complete Works, ed. John M. Cooper, tr. G. M. A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett.
3. Thomas Hobbes (1991) The Citizen, ed. Bernard Gert, Man and Citizen (De Homine and De Cive), pp. 230-1. Indianapolis: Hackett.
4. Ibid. p. 231.
5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1997) Discourse on the Sciences and Arts or the First Discourse, ed. Victor Gourevitch, The Discourses and Other Political Writings, pp. 13, 11. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1997a) Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality among Men or Second Discourse, ed. Victor Gourevitch, The Discourses and Other Early Political Writings, p. 173. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1997b) Of the Social Contract, ed. Victor Gourevitch, The Social Contract and Other Later Political Writings, p. 60. New York: Cambridge University Press.
8. Immanuel Kant (1952) The Critique of Judgement, tr. James Creed Meredith, p. 192. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
9. On Madison and representation, see Bryan Garsten (2006) Saving Persuasion: A Defense of Rhetoric and Judgment, pp. 200-7. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
10. Danielle Allen (2006) Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education, p. 156. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
11. Garsten (n. 7), pp. 13, 14.
12. Walter Nicgorski (1984) 'Cicero's Paradoxes and his Idea of Utility', Political Theory 12(4): 557.
13. Cicero (2001) On the Ideal Orator, 3. 64, tr. James M. May and Jakob Wisse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14. The Latin text of De Oratore consulted throughout is Cicero (1987) De Oratore, tr. E. W. Sutton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
15. Cicero (1945) Tusculan Disputations, tr. J. E. King, 1.64-5. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
16. On the tension between the active and the contemplative, and the development of Cicero's self-presentation in this regard, see Ingo Gildenhard (2007) Paideia Romana: Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, p. 62. Cambridge: Cambridge Philosophical Society.
17. On ratio and oratio, see Paul Rahe (2000) 'Situating Machiavelli', in James Hankins (ed.), Renaissance Civic Humanism: Reappraisals and Reflections. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18. M. I. Finley (1983) Politics in the Ancient World, p. 128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
19. Cary J. Nederman (2000) 'Rhetoric, Reason, and Republic: Republicanisms - Ancient, Medieval, and Modern', in James Hankins (n. 13), p. 253.
20. Ibid. pp. 253-4.
21. Nicgorski (n. 10), p. 568.
22. Garsten (n. 7), pp. 142, 143.
23. On this point (to which I will return in detail), see May and Wisse's discussion in their introduction to On the Ideal Orator. They argue that 'Cicero had no illusions that philosophical knowledge could turn bad people into good ones' (n. 11), p. 12.
24. Joy Connolly (2007) The State of Speech, p. 170. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
25. For the sake of clarity in citation, I refer to De Officiis as On Duties, as do Griffin and Atkins in their translation. However, De Officiis could also be translated as On Appropriate Actions, the title of Panaetius's work.
26. On the quarrel, see James M. May (2007) 'Cicero as Rhetorician', in William J Dominik and Jon Hall (eds.) A Companion to Roman Rhetoric. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
27. May and Wisse (n. 11), p. 23.
28. Plato (n. 1), 462c.
29. Ibid. 464d.
30. Ibid. 465a.
31. Ibid. 503a.
32. Ibid. 460c.
33. Cicero (1960) De inventione, 1. 1. 1.
34. tr. H. M. Hubbell, Cicero: De Inventione, De Optimo Genere Oratorum, Topica. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
35. Cf. Cicero, On the Ideal Orator, 1. 30-4.
36. Cicero, De inventione, 1. 1. 2.
37. Ibid. 1. 2. 3.
38. This engagement with the quarrel is evident in his discussion of Crassus and Antonius' visit to Athens in 1. 45-7 and 1. 82-93, Crassus' discussion of the split between philosophy and rhetoric in book 3, and Crassus' invocation of Socrates' activity as the final step in this split; Cicero's middle position is evident in Crassus' argument for rejoining the two.
39. Cicero (n. 11), 1. 38.
40. See May and Wisse's note (n. 11), p. 239.
41. Cicero (n. 11), 3. 55.
42. Conley, by contrast, argues that in On the Ideal Orator 'oratory, philosophy, and statesmanship are bound together as a single whole and the true dimensions of the notion of the "good man skilled in speaking" (vir bonus dicendi peritus) are, as it were, mapped and measured.'
43. Thomas M. Conley (1990) Rhetoric in the European Tradition, p. 37. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
44. Cicero (n. 11), p. 12.
45. In his commentary on De Oratore, Wisse argues that, insofar as Crassus argues that probitas and summa prudentia need to be joined with knowledge, they are independent qualities. Wisse points to 3. 139 in support, where Crassus argues of Critias and Alcibiades that 'Though they did not benefit their fellow citizens, they were certainly learned as well as eloquent': civitatibus quidem suis non boni, sed certe docti atque eloquentes.
46. Anton D. Leeman, Harm Pinkster, and Jakob Wisse (1981) M. Tullius Cicero, De Oratore Libri III: Kommentar, vol. 4, pp. 200-1. Heidelberg: Winter.
47. Wisse, in turn, is building on the discussion of C. J. Classen (1986) 'Ciceros Orator Perfectus: Ein Vir Bonus Dicendi Peritus?', in S. Prete (ed.) Commemoratio: Studia di Filologia in Ricordo di Riccardo Ribuoli. Sassoferrato.
48. Plato (1986) Phaedrus, tr. Christopher Rowe, 273b1. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
49. Cicero (n. 11), 1. 19.
50. See Plato (n. 1), 465a.
51. Connolly (n. 20), p. 127.
52. On this point, see Jakob Wisse (2002) 'De Oratore: Rhetoric, Philosophy, and the Making of the Ideal Orator', in James M. May (ed.) Brill's Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric. Leiden: Brill.
53. Cicero (n. 11), 1. 64.
54. Ibid. 1. 144.
55. On the Theophrastan influence, see Wisse (n. 41), p. 389.
56. Connolly (n. 20), p. 126.
57. Cicero (n. 11), 3. 210.
58. Ibid. 3. 212.
59. See Jakob Wisse (2002) 'The Intellectual Background of Cicero's Rhetorical Works', in May (n. 41), p. 364.
60. On Atticism, see May (n. 22), pp. 256-7.
61. Cicero (1952) Orator, tr. H. M. Hubbell, in Cicero: Brutus and Orator, 7, 8. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
62. Ibid. 69.
63. On these tasks and their relationship to logos, ethos and pathos, see Elaine Fantham (2004) The Roman World of Cicero's De Oratore, p. 385. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
64. Cf. Aristotle (1984) Rhetoric, 2.1356a1-14.
65. ed. Jonathan Barnes, tr. W. Rhys Roberts, in The Complete Works of Aristotle, vol. 2. Princeton: Princeton University.
66. See Emanuele Narducci (2002) 'Orator and the Definition of the Ideal Orator', in May (n. 41), p. 434.
67. Cicero (n. 48), 70.
68. The contio was a public meeting at which no legislation was enacted, but which featured 'public pronouncements arguments in speeches the examination of an alleged criminal or even his execution'.
69. Andrew Lintott (1999) The Constitution of the Roman Republic, p. 42. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
70. On the distinction between the oratory appropriate for public meetings as opposed to the Senate, see Gary Remer (1999) 'Political Oratory and Conversation: Cicero versus Deliberative Democracy', Political Theory 27(1).
71. Cicero (n. 48), 70. The passage is worth noting, as we see Cicero referring to activities outside the domain of oratory, and we will see Cicero use the same terminology in On Duties.
72. Ibid. 74.
73. Robert Hariman (1995) Political Style: The Artistry of Power, p. 106. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
74. Cicero (n. 48), 129.
75. On this point, see Jonathan Powell and Jeremy Paterson (2004) 'Introduction', in Jonathan Powell and Jeremy Paterson (eds.), Cicero the Advocate, p. 50. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
76. Cicero (n. 48), 99.
77. Ibid. 24.
78. Ibid. 44.
79. Cicero, De Republica, 2. 45, and De Legibus, 1. 60.
80. both tr. Clinton Walker Keyes, in (2000) Cicero: De Republica and De Legibus. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
81. This interpretation of prudentia as a kind of widespread practical knowledge in the domain of oratory is supported by evidence from Cicero's work On Friendship, where he also affirms the value of non-expert judgement in evaluating oratory. Cicero remarks that those attending a contio - 'though composed of very ignorant (imperitissimis) men' - are typically able to judge (iudicare) the difference between a demagogue (popularem) - i.e.is, a smooth-tongued, shallow citizen - and one who has stability, sincerity, and weight.
82. Cicero (1923) De Amicitia, tr. W.A. Falconer, Cicero: De Senectute, De Amicitia, De Divinatione, p. 95. London: William Heinemann.
83. Cicero (n. 48), 11.37.
84. Cicero (1952) Brutus, tr. G. L. Hendrickson, Cicero: Brutus and Orator, 184. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
85. Ibid. 185.
86. Ibid. 186.
87. Cicero (n. 11), 3. 195-7.
88. Plato (n. 1), 459b.
89. Hobbes (n. 30), p. 230.
90. Andrew R. Dyck (1996) A Commentary on Cicero, De Officiis, p. 238. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
91. Christopher Gill (1993) 'Panaetius on the Virtue of Being Yourself', in Anthony Bulloch, Erich S. Gruen, A.A. Long, and Andrew Stewart. (eds.), Images and Ideologies: Self-Definition in the Hellenistic World, pp. 335-9. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
92. J. G. F. Powell (1995) 'Cicero's Philosophical Works and their Background', in J. G. F. Powell (ed.), Cicero the Philosopher: Twelve Papers, p. 24. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
93. Christopher Gill (1988) 'Personhood and Personality: The Four-Personae Theory in Cicero, De Officiis I', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 6: 173.
94. On the complex relationship between the two works, see the introduction of Dyck (n. 68).
95. Cicero (1991) On Duties, 1. 14-15, ed. M. T. Griffin and E. M. Atkins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
96. Ibid. 1. 93.
97. Nicgorski suggests that verecundia refers to 'moral sensibility or a natural sense of right and wrong' - i.e. the shaping of our natural inclinations into 'an overall moral framework' without the aid of philosophy.
98. Nicgorski (n. 10), p. 562.
99. Robert A. Kaster (2005) Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome, p. 19. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
100. Cicero (n. 72), 1. 95.
101. Ibid. 1. 96.
102. Ibid. 1. 97.
103. Ibid. 1. 98-99.
104. See Kaster (n. 74), p. 18.
105. In this outline of the divisions of Cicero's discussion, I follow the very helpful discussion of Paul MacKendrick and Karen Lee Singh (1989) The Philosophical Books of Cicero, p. 236. London: Duckworth.
106. Cicero (n. 72), 1. 101, 107.
107. Ibid. 1. 109-11.
108. Ibid. 1. 111.
109. Ibid. 1. 112.
110. Ibid. 1. 113-14.
111. Ibid. 1. 115.
112. Gill (n. 71), p. 177.
113. Cicero (n. 72), 1. 117-19.
114. Ibid. 1. 126.
115. Ibid. 1. 128, 131.
116. Ibid. 1. 144-6.
117. Ibid. 3. 14.
118. cf. 3. 15-16.
119. Dyck (n. 68), p. 248.
120. Cicero (n. 63), 184.
121. On the prior point, see Garsten (n. 7), pp. 152-3.
122. Cicero (n. 72), 3. 14.
123. Nicgorski (n. 10), p. 565.
124. Cicero (1999) On the Commonwealth, 2. 2. ed. James E. G. Zetzel, On the Commonwealth and on the Laws. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
125. Cicero (1995) De Re Publica: Selections, ed. James E. G. Zetzel, p. 159. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
126. See Polybius (1929) The Histories, 6.10.12-14, tr. W. R. Paton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
127. Nicgorski (n. 10), p. 565.
128. As Connolly remarks, 'Without decorum the acts of rational communication necessary for the survival of the res publica cannot occur, which means that constitutions and laws cannot be invented in the first place. To reverse the point, what makes each one of us human is the possession of a rational sensorium governed by a dual law: decorum in speech and behavior, which itself is underwritten by the natural law of civil sentiment.'
129. Connolly (n. 20), pp. 170-1.
130. Cicero (n. 98), 3. 33.
131. Cicero (1999) On the Laws, 1. 18, ed. James E. G. Zetzel, On the Commonwealth and on the Laws. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
132. Ibid. 1. 21.
133. Ibid. 1. 23.
134. Ibid. 1. 27.
135. For a similar account of human rationality, cf. Cicero (n. 72), 1. 11-15.
136. Cicero (n. 103), 1. 30.
137. Ibid. 1. 30.
138. Ibid. 1. 33.
139. Cicero (n. 72), 1. 13-14.