ROMAN RHETORIC

A. Historical Background

Early Roman Civilization

• Social Structure
o Two highest ordines in Rome: senatorial and equestrian.
o Slaves (servi) at the bottom, freedmen (liberti) above them, and free-born
citizens (cives) at the top
o Social mobility
o Gender inequality

• Family
o Patriarchal Superiority

• Religion
o Jupiter - King of the Gods
o Juno - Queen of the Gods
o Neptune - God of the Sea
o Pluto - God of Death
o Apollo - God of the Sun
o Diana - Goddess of the Moon
o Mars - God of War
o Venus - Goddess of Love
o Cupid - God of Love
o Mercury - Messenger of the Gods
o Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom
o Ceres - The Earth Goddess
o Proserpine - Goddess of the Underworld
o Vulcan - The Smith God
o Bacchus - God of Wine
o Saturn - God of Time
o Vesta - Goddess of the Home
o Janus - God of Doors
o Uranus and Gaia - Parents of Saturn
o Maia - Goddess of Growth
o Flora - Goddess of Flowers
o Plutus - God of Wealth

• Cultural Practices/ Traditions

o People would socialize at communal toilets. Rome had over 140 public
toilets.
o Wealthy Romans would have extravagant and decadent banquets that
lasted for hours; in order to continue eating, they would induce vomiting.
o Hair dying was popular among women, with red and blonde being the
most popular colors. Dye colors were achieved through different
ingredients, like goat fat, beech wood ashes, henna, saffron, and bleach.
 o While Romans were extremely hygienic, they did not use soap. Instead,
to get clean they would apply perfumed oils to their skin and then scrape
it off with a tool known as a strigil.
o Urine (because of the ammonia it contains) was used to clean clothes.
The urine was collected by fullones (the Ancient Roman version of dry
cleaners) from around the city.

Early Roman Politics

The Senate
• Consists of male adult representatives from the 35 tribes or the 193 centuries of Rome
or the Curia
• Decides on laws, war declaration, troop assignments, campaigns, etc.
• Preceded by two magistrates

Tribes
• 31 rural tribes (men from outside the city)
• 4 urban tribes (men inside the city)

Centuries
• Groups of 100 men
• Division of citizens based on social classes

Curia
• Division of citizens based on the original Patrician or aristocratic clans

Selecting A Political Leader:

• One must have wealth
• One must have high generalship skills
• One must have high oratory skills

Early Roman Education

• Education was focused on to the preservation of the early Roman virtues which
include:
1. Loyalty to the land (Romans started their civilization as members of
peasant village)
2. Cooperation
3. Simplicity
4. Self-reliance and Discipline
5. Endurance of hard work and routine

• Parents were their children’s teachers. Romans believed that the parents were
the only ones who could achieve the 4 aims of education. Professional teachers,
who were mostly Greeks, were distrusted by Romans.

• Aims of Education:
1. Initiate children to Roman way of life
2. Pass on traditional customs and attitudes
3. Engender respect for these values
 4. Make their children model Roman citizens

• Lessons taught in Rome during the early times:

1. Roman Virtues – taught by the mothers thru historical and legendary story
telling
2. Latin and Greek Languages
3. Farming, Debating, and Religious Ceremonies – learned by males 7 years
old and above through following their fathers by example
4. Special Family Traditions – remembered through creating a family portrait
of their ancestors
5. Household Tasks – learned by females until the age of 12
6. Public Speaking & Political Apprenticeship – 1year training with an elderly
who was a family friend and was prominent in the state (emphasized
importance of kinship and politics)

Middle of the Second Century B.C.: Family-based education was no longer practiced
• Fathers were sent outside of Rome to administer conquered lands and to fight during
wars, while mothers began to pursue pleasures of life due to the influx of wealth; thus,
they became less inclined to bother with their children’s education.

New Lessons offered in Roman Education:

1. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic (for Elementary)
2. Latin and Roman languages
3. Literature – focused on grammar and syntax, not on the meaning behind the work
4. Greeks tried to offer Music, Dancing and Athletics, but Romans did not let them to

B. Cicero’s Role in Rhetoric

Cicero’s Early Life

• Born in 106 BC in Arpinum
• Belonged in the equestrian order
• Extremely talented student
• Considered one of Rome’s best orators

Cicero as a Lawyer
• Started his career around 83-80 BC
• Very courageous in taking cases
• Has an effective style or strategy in defending clients
• Defeated the considered best lawyer in Rome at the time

Cicero as a Public Servant

• Served as one of the twenty annual quaestors
• Elected consul for the year 63 BC
• Service led to his exile and death

Rhetorica ad Herenium

Three Types of Causes

§ Demonstrativum
 § Deliberativum
§ Judiciale

Six Steps of Composition

• Exordium
• Narratio
• Divisio
• Confirmatio
• Refutatio
• Conclusio

Three Styles
• Grand
• Middle
• Simple

Cicero's Books and Writings about Rhetoric:

de Oratore (On the Orator)

- Book I - addressed to Cicero's brother Quintus.

- Book II - dominated by Marcus Antonius. He shares with Lucius
Crassus, Quintus Catulus, Gaius Julius Caesar, and Sulpicius his opinion
on oratory as an art, eloquence, the orator’s subject matter, invention,
arrangement, and memory.
- Book III - describes the death of Lucius Licinius Crassus.
Orator
- last work on rhetoric, three years before his death.
- three aims of the orator, according to Cicero, are "docere, delectare, et
movere." That is: to prove your thesis to the audience, to delight the
audience, and to emotionally move the audience.

Partitiones Oratoriae (The Dvisions of Oratory)

-a brief but detailed essay on the art of oratory, designed for the
instruction of Cicero’s son, Marcus Tullius

Brutus
- (also known as De claris oratibus) is a history of Roman oratory.

de Optimo Genere Oratorum (On the Best Kind of Orators

- Cicero attempts to explain why his view of oratorical style reflects true
Atticism and is better than that of the Roman Atticists "who would confine
the orator to the simplicity and artlessness of the early Attic orators."
Topica (topics)

de Inventione (with 5 Canons of Rhetoric)

- The De Inventione is a handbook for orators that Marcus Tullius Cicero
composed when he was still a young man. Quintillian tells us that Cicero
considered the work rendered obsolete by his later writings.
5 CANONS OF RHETORIC

Invention: what do you have to consider in the invention phase?

1. Audience: One of the key factors in crafting a persuasive piece of rhetoric is
tailoring your message to your specific audience. Find out to the best of your
ability the overall demographics and cultural background of your audience. What
does your audience fear? What are their desires? What are their needs? This
information will help you decide what sorts of facts to incorporate into your
rhetoric as well as help you determine which means of persuasion would be the
most effective to employ.
2. Evidence: Some people need cold, hard facts and statistics in order to be
persuaded. Others find the testimony of peers or a reputable authority to be more
convincing. Part of getting to know your audience is figuring out what kinds of
evidence they will find most credible and compelling.
3. Mode of Persuasion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos
4. Timing
5. Format of argument

Ancient Help to Invention Phase of Rhetoric

• STASIS: Stasis is a procedure designed to help a rhetorician develop and clarify
the main points of his argument.
o Questions of Fact: What is it exactly that I’m talking about? Is it a person?
An idea? A problem? Does it really exist? What’s the source of the
problem? Are there facts to support the truth of this opinion?
o Questions of Definitions: What’s the best way to define this
idea/object/action? What are the different parts? Can it be grouped with
similar ideas/objects/actions?
o Questions of Quality: Is it good or bad? Is it right or wrong? Is it frivolous
or important?
o Questions of Procedure/Jurisdiction: Is this the right venue to discuss this
topic? What actions do I want my reader/listener to take?

Arrangement: the organization of a speech or text to ensure maximum persuasion.

1. Introduction (exordium): introducing the topic and establishing credibility
2. Statement of Facts (narratio): The statement of facts is the background
information needed to get your audience up to speed on the history of your issue.
The goal is to provide enough information for your audience to understand the
context of your argument.
3. Division (partitio): Summary of arguments that you are about to discuss
4. Proof (confirmatio): main body of speech or essay
5. Refutation (refutatio): state weaknesses and counterarguments
6. Conclusion (peroratio): reinstate arguments; according to Quintillian, greatest
time to use pathos or the appeal to emotion.

Style:
While it’s important that you have something substantive to say, it’s also important how
you present your ideas. The canon of style will help you present your ideas and
arguments so people will want to listen to you. The five virtues of style were first
developed by two pupils of Aristotle: Theophrastus and Demetrius. The ancient Roman
 rhetoricians Cicero and Quintilian taught the virtues to their students and added their
own spin.

C. Quintilian’s Role in Rhetoric

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus

• born in Northern Spain, but educated in Rome (Roman education was already
• properly structured)
• received a practical training from Domitius Afer, the leading orator during that time
became an advocate in law courts
• teach Rhetoric in Rome after coming back from Spain given the honorary title of consul
because he was entrusted with the education of the Emperor’s two heirs

Institutio oratoria (12 books needed to become a good orator)

• Book I: Stages of education before a boy enters the school of rhetoric
• Book II: Education inside the school of rhetoric
• Book III – XI: Five traditional “departments” of rhetoric
• Book X: Survey of Greek and Latin authors (criticized works of other authors:
• according to Quintilian, “theoretical knowledge alone is of little use without experience
and good judgement.”
• Book XII: Ideal orator in action

Institutio oratoria emphasized on morality, for Quintilian believed that “a good orator must be a
good citizen.” His goal was to mold the students’ character and to develop their minds to
become thoroughly professional, competent, and successful public speakers.

“Quintilian advocated a return to the more severe standards and older traditions upheld
by Cicero”

Other Written Accounts of Quintilian: Declamationes majors (long declamations) and

minors (short declamations)

“Education as an all-around character training to equip a student for life.” - Quintilian

5 Virtues:
1. Correctness. Correctness means speaking or writing in accordance with the rules and
norms of one’s language. An effective communicator uses words correctly and follows
the rules of grammar and syntax. Why? First, correct usage ensures clear and precise
communication. Second (and perhaps more importantly), correctly using language
establishes credibility.

2. Clarity. It’s hard to be persuasive when people can’t even understand what you’re
trying to say. Clear and simple writing ensures that your message never gets lost
between you and your audience. Simple writing is smart writing

3. Evidence. We’re not using “evidence” in the sense of facts you provide to prove a
logical argument. For classical rhetoricians, the quality of evidence was a way to
measure how well language reached the emotions of an audience through vivid
description.
 4. Propriety. Propriety is the quality of style concerned with selecting words that fit with
the subject matter of your speech and ensuring they’re appropriate for your audience
and for the occasion. Simply put, propriety means saying the right thing, at the right
place, at the right time.

5. Ornateness. Ornateness involves making your speech or text interesting to listen to or

read by using figures of speech and manipulating the sound and rhythm of words.

Memory
3 elements of memory
1. Memorizing one’s speech- back then people during the time of Plato don't
appreciate speech with notes.

If men learn this, [the art of writing] it will implant forgetfulness in their souls: they will
cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to
remembrance no longer from within themselves. Memorizing or familiarizing your speech
gives you more credibility because it shows how much you truly know about your
speech. (*Loci Technique)

2. Make your speech memorable.

3. Keep a treasury of rhetorical fodder- Roman rhetoricians like Cicero and Quintilian
didn’t subscribe to the Greek prejudice against note taking and encouraged their
students to carry small journals to collect quotes and ideas for future speeches.

Delivery- Like the canon of style, the canon of delivery is concerned with how something
is said
1. Master the pause.
2. Watch your body language- Posture, head tilt,
3. Vary your tone.
4. Let gestures flow naturally.
5. Master your speed with your emotion.
a. Rapid: haste, alarm, confusion, anger, vexation, fear, revenge,
and extreme terror.
b. Quick or brisk: joy, hope, playfulness, and humor.
c. Moderate: good for narration, descriptions, and teaching.
d. Slow: gloom, sorrow, melancholy, grief, pity, admiration,
reverence, dignity, authority, awe, power, and majesty.
e. Very slow: used to express the strongest and deepest emotions.
6. Vary the force of your voice
7. Enunciate: focus on enunciating your words as this will make you easier to
understand.
8. Establish an eye-to-eye contact.

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