Here are some more extracts from Rhetoric at Rome, from Chapter V; Cicero’s Rhetorical Theory.
[In De Inventione] Cicero makes one of his characters, the lawyer Scaevola, dispute the claim of oratory to have civilised mankind. Was it not rather men of practical good sense, without any special gifts for oratory, who performed this function? Eloquence had in fact been actually harmful at times, as in the case of the Gracchi.[1] Moreover it might be said that oratory was merely an instrument to serve certain purposes, ‘to make the case you are pleading in the law courts appear to be the better and more plausible, and to make your speeches to the people and the senate as effective as possible, in fact to make the wise think your speech eloquent and fools even think it true.’[2]… In his practice he might use the arts and crafts of rhetoric to make the worse cause appear the better, and might boast of having thrown dust in the eyes of the jury,[3] but in his theory oratory was purely a power for good. (p. 54)
Cicero is indeed less interested in the appeal to the head than that to the heart. ‘Men’s judgements’, he tell us, ‘are more often formed under the influence of hatred, love, desire, anger, grief, joy, hope, fear, misconception or some other emotion, than by truth or ordinance, the principles of justice, the procedure of the courts or the laws.’[4] (p. 58)
His main emphasis now is on the necessity for the orator to feel the emotions he tries to arouse. ‘It is impossible’, he says, for the hearer to feel grief, hatred, prejudice, apprehension, to be reduced to tears and pity, unless all the emotions which the orator wishes to arouse in the juror are seen to be deeply impressed on the orator himself.’[5] If anyone wondered how the orator could be constantly moved to anger, grief, or other emotions in matters which did not concern him personally, the answer was that the sentiments and topics he made use of had such power to move that there was no need for simulation. The very nature of the speech whose object was to move the audience would be such as to move the speaker more than anyone else. Like the actor, the orator would live his part.[6] Antonius, who in this part of De Oratore serves as Cicero’s mouthpiece, records his defence of M’. Aquilius, and claims that his pathetic peroration came from the heart, and that when he displayed his client’s wounds the action was not premeditated, but inspired by violent grief.[7] Speaking in his own person in the Orator, Cicero says much the same; in all his pathetic passages it was not so much his talent as his capacity for experiencing the feelings he expressed that accounted for his success.[8] (p. 59)
From the appeal to the heart we turn to the appeal to the ear. The consideration of style occupies most of the third book of De Oratore, and though in the main the matter is traditional, it is worth noting where Cicero lays the emphasis. Of the four virtutes dicendi, the first two, ornate and apte congruenterque, are the important qualities. It is these that make men thrill with terror, gaze open-mouthed at the speaker, cry aloud and think him a god among men.[9] Above all it is the ability to use ornatus that constitutes the crowing glory of eloquence.[10] How is this adornment to be come by? The answer is that it will come of its own accord to the learned orator.[11] ‘Rerum enim copia verborum copiam gignit’, says Cicero, giving a new turn to the old maxim of Cato, rem tene, verba sequentur. If the matter is honourable, the words in which it is expressed will have a natural splendour. (p. 60)
[1] De Oratore I. 35f.
[2] De Oratore I. 44
[3] Quintilian II. xvii. 21
[4] De Oratore II. 178
[5] De Oratore II. 189
[6] De Oratore II. 191, 193. But writing as a moralist in the Tusculans he says oratorem vero irasci minime decet, simulare non dedecet.
[7] De Oratore II. 195
[8] Orator 130, 132
[9] De Oratore III. 52-3
[10] De Oratore III. 104
[11] De Oratore III. 124f.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
cena Romana MMIX
I had a very enjoyable time with my year 11 students at the annual Senior Classics Dinner last night. The highlight was of course the trivia quiz, fiendishly difficult as always. Here are a few sample questions; I'll put the answers in the comments sometime next week.
The following goddesses all had something to do with pregnancy, childbirth or child-rearing. Match the goddess to her correct function.
Goddesses
The Greco-Roman god of the wind was Aeolus, who had six sons, each controlling the wind from a particular direction. Match the son with the particular direction of his wind.
Sons
Directions
Many parts of the human skeleton have Latin names. Where would you find the following bones?
Which NSW places are referred to by the following Latin phrases?
The following goddesses all had something to do with pregnancy, childbirth or child-rearing. Match the goddess to her correct function.
Goddesses
- Aboena; Alemona; Lucina; Cunina; Decima
Functions
- To guard the cradle; To watch over pregnancy; To ensure the safe going out and coming in of children; To keep unborn children safe; To look after women in childbirth
The Greco-Roman god of the wind was Aeolus, who had six sons, each controlling the wind from a particular direction. Match the son with the particular direction of his wind.
Sons
- Aquilo; Boreus; Corus; Eurus; Notus; Zephyrus
Directions
- North; East; South; South-West; West; North-West
Many parts of the human skeleton have Latin names. Where would you find the following bones?
- flute; small dish; brooch; basin; cuckoo; ray; hammer, anvil and stirrup
Which NSW places are referred to by the following Latin phrases?
- collis aestivus; mons monens; tumulosus infractus; montes caeruli; silicis phoci; geminus sinus
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Alexander the Great's Tomb
Here's a trick question for you: where is Alexander the Great buried?
- (a) Macedonia
- (b) Babylon
- (c) Alexandria
- (d) Western Australia
If you answered (a) you probably remembered that Alexander was Macedonian, not Greek as many people think, but sadly that's not the right answer.
If you answered (b) you might know a bit of history, and that Alexander basically drunk himself to death in Babylon after returning from India, but that's not the right answer either.
If you answered (c) congratulations! This is where, according to ancient sources, Alexander's body was taken after he died, but his tomb was later looted by both the Pharoahs and the Romans, and no one is quite sure what happened to his body after that.
If you answered (d)... well I'm not sure what would possess anyone to answer (d), unless of course you read this article recently which suggests just this very thing- that Alexander the Great's final resting place is in a cave near Broome, Western Australia.
Plutarch (writing some 400 years after the event) describes the death of Alexander in Babylon, though he neglects to tell us what happened to the body afterwards.
On the eighteenth of the month, he slept in the bathing-room on account of his fever. The next day he bathed and removed into his chamber, and spent his time in playing dice with Medius. In the evening he bathed and sacrificed, and ate freely, and had the fever on him through the night. On the twentieth, after the usual sacrifices and bathing, he lay in the bathing-room and heard Nearchus’s narrative of his voyage, and the observations he had made in the great sea. The twenty-first he passed in the same manner, his fever still increasing, and suffered much during the night. The next day the fever was very violent, and he had himself removed and his bed set by the great bath, and discoursed with his principal officers about finding fit men to fill up the vacant places in the army. On the twenty-fourth he was much worse, and was carried out of his bed to assist at the sacrifices, and gave order that the general officers should wait within the court, whilst the inferior officers kept watch without doors. On the twenty-fifth he was removed to his palace on the other side the river, where he slept a little, but his fever did not abate, and when the generals came into his chamber, he was speechless, and continued so the following day. The Macedonians, therefore, supposing he was dead, came with great clamors to the gates, and menaced his friends so that they were forced to admit them, and let them all pass through unarmed along by his bedside. The same day Python and Seleucus were dispatched to the temple of Serapis to inquire if they should bring Alexander thither, and were answered by the god, that they should not remove him. On the twenty-eighth, in the evening, he died. This account is most of it word for word as it is written in the diary.
At the time, nobody had any suspicion of his being poisoned, but [some say he was poisoned with] water, deadly cold as ice, distilling from a rock in the district of Nonacris, which they gathered like a thin dew, and kept in an ass’s hoof; for it was so very cold and penetrating that no other vessel would hold it. However, most are of the opinion that all this is a mere made-up story, no slight evidence of which is, that during the dissensions among the commanders, which lasted several days, the body continued clear and fresh, without any sign of such taint or corruption, though it lay neglected in a close, sultry place.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Roman Oratory Before Cicero
I've been reading an interesting book lately, Rhetoric at Rome; A Historical Survey by M.L. Clarke. Here are some highlights from chapter IV- Roman Oratory Before Cicero:
The age of the Gracchi, with its clash of ideals and personalities, was conducive to high and excited political oratory. The two brothers were famous for their eloquence; Cicero, in spite of his disapproval of the uses to which it was put, cannot forbear to praise[1]…
Cicero recalls a passage of one of Gaius’s speeches: ‘Quo me miser conferam? quo vertam? in Capitoliumne? at fratris sanguine madet. an domum? matremne ut miseram lamentantem videam et abiectam?’ [2] Cicero’s theme is the importance of actio, and he tells us that Gaius’s eyes, voice and gestures when uttering these words were such that even his enemies could not refrain from tears…
On the other hand Cicero could give Gaius lessons in rhythm. Take that sentence, he says, From Gracchus: ‘Abesse non potest quin eiusdem hominis sit probos improbare qui improbos probet.’ How much better if he had written ‘qui improbos probet probos improbare.’[3] (pp 43-44)
The stoics believed in speaking the truth in plain words; they eschewed ornament and emotional appeal. Their style, says Cicero, was a meagre one, hardly calculated to win popular applause.[4] How true this was shown by the experience of Rutilius Rufus. As a good Stoic he expressed the strongest condemnation of such theatrical tricks as had won Galba acquittal,[5] and when he was himself accused, quite unjustly, of maladministration, he disdained to use such arts. He made no appeals to the mercy of the jury and would not allow more than the simple truth to be said in his defence.[6] ‘There were no groans or exclamations on the part of his advocates’ says Cicero, ‘no expression of grief or indignation, no appeals to the commonwealth, no supplication; why no one stamped his foot, for fear, I suppose, that the Stoics might hear of it.’[7] (p 45)
Wit as a weapon of oratory belongs to the Roman tradition. So no doubt does pathos. ‘Demosthenes’, wrote Swift, ‘who had to deal with a people of much more Politeness, Learning and Wit, laid the greater weight of his oratory upon the Strength of his Arguments offered to their Understanding and Reason. Whereas Tully [i.e. Cicero] considered the Disposition of a sincere more ignorant and less mercurial Nation by dwelling almost entirely on the Pathetick Part.’[8] Whether this analysis of national character is correct or not, the pathetic is a note which sounds stronger in Roman than in Greek oratory. It sounded at full blast in Antonius’ defence of Aquilius, when he contrasted the former glories of the consul and triumphant commander with his present piteous and precarious condition, displayed his client in person, sorrowing and dressed in mourning, tore open his shirt and showed his wounds.[9] (pp 47-48)
[1] De Oratore I. 38, Brutus 103, De Hauspicum Responsis 41. In early life Cicero was more favourably disposed to the politics of the Gracchi. In De Inventione (I.5) they are bracketed with Cato, Laelius and Africanus as men in whom was ‘summa virtus et summa virtute amplificata auctoritas et quae et his rebus ornamento et rei publicae praesidio esset eloquentia.’
[2] De Oratore III .214, fragment 58 Malcovati, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta Liberae Rei Publicae. Cf. Quintilian XI. iii. 115
[3] Cicero, Orator 233
[4] Cicero Brutus (id) 114
[5] Cicero De Oratore I. 228
[6] De Oratore 237-230 Brutus 115. One of his advocates was Q. Mucius Scaevola, also a Stoic, whose sober legal judgements proved ineffective against Crassus’s mockery in the causa Curiana. See p. 47.
[7] De Oratore I 230. Other Stoic orators were Q. Aelius Tubero, whose mode of speaking, according to Cicero, matched the harshness and uncouthness of his life (Brutus 117, De Officiis III. 63), Mummius (Brutus 94, cf De Republica V. 11) and Fannius (Brutus 101).
[8] A letter to a Young Gentleman lately enter’d into Holy Orders.
[9] Cicero De Oratore II. 195.
The age of the Gracchi, with its clash of ideals and personalities, was conducive to high and excited political oratory. The two brothers were famous for their eloquence; Cicero, in spite of his disapproval of the uses to which it was put, cannot forbear to praise[1]…
Cicero recalls a passage of one of Gaius’s speeches: ‘Quo me miser conferam? quo vertam? in Capitoliumne? at fratris sanguine madet. an domum? matremne ut miseram lamentantem videam et abiectam?’ [2] Cicero’s theme is the importance of actio, and he tells us that Gaius’s eyes, voice and gestures when uttering these words were such that even his enemies could not refrain from tears…
On the other hand Cicero could give Gaius lessons in rhythm. Take that sentence, he says, From Gracchus: ‘Abesse non potest quin eiusdem hominis sit probos improbare qui improbos probet.’ How much better if he had written ‘qui improbos probet probos improbare.’[3] (pp 43-44)
The stoics believed in speaking the truth in plain words; they eschewed ornament and emotional appeal. Their style, says Cicero, was a meagre one, hardly calculated to win popular applause.[4] How true this was shown by the experience of Rutilius Rufus. As a good Stoic he expressed the strongest condemnation of such theatrical tricks as had won Galba acquittal,[5] and when he was himself accused, quite unjustly, of maladministration, he disdained to use such arts. He made no appeals to the mercy of the jury and would not allow more than the simple truth to be said in his defence.[6] ‘There were no groans or exclamations on the part of his advocates’ says Cicero, ‘no expression of grief or indignation, no appeals to the commonwealth, no supplication; why no one stamped his foot, for fear, I suppose, that the Stoics might hear of it.’[7] (p 45)
Wit as a weapon of oratory belongs to the Roman tradition. So no doubt does pathos. ‘Demosthenes’, wrote Swift, ‘who had to deal with a people of much more Politeness, Learning and Wit, laid the greater weight of his oratory upon the Strength of his Arguments offered to their Understanding and Reason. Whereas Tully [i.e. Cicero] considered the Disposition of a sincere more ignorant and less mercurial Nation by dwelling almost entirely on the Pathetick Part.’[8] Whether this analysis of national character is correct or not, the pathetic is a note which sounds stronger in Roman than in Greek oratory. It sounded at full blast in Antonius’ defence of Aquilius, when he contrasted the former glories of the consul and triumphant commander with his present piteous and precarious condition, displayed his client in person, sorrowing and dressed in mourning, tore open his shirt and showed his wounds.[9] (pp 47-48)
[1] De Oratore I. 38, Brutus 103, De Hauspicum Responsis 41. In early life Cicero was more favourably disposed to the politics of the Gracchi. In De Inventione (I.5) they are bracketed with Cato, Laelius and Africanus as men in whom was ‘summa virtus et summa virtute amplificata auctoritas et quae et his rebus ornamento et rei publicae praesidio esset eloquentia.’
[2] De Oratore III .214, fragment 58 Malcovati, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta Liberae Rei Publicae. Cf. Quintilian XI. iii. 115
[3] Cicero, Orator 233
[4] Cicero Brutus (id) 114
[5] Cicero De Oratore I. 228
[6] De Oratore 237-230 Brutus 115. One of his advocates was Q. Mucius Scaevola, also a Stoic, whose sober legal judgements proved ineffective against Crassus’s mockery in the causa Curiana. See p. 47.
[7] De Oratore I 230. Other Stoic orators were Q. Aelius Tubero, whose mode of speaking, according to Cicero, matched the harshness and uncouthness of his life (Brutus 117, De Officiis III. 63), Mummius (Brutus 94, cf De Republica V. 11) and Fannius (Brutus 101).
[8] A letter to a Young Gentleman lately enter’d into Holy Orders.
[9] Cicero De Oratore II. 195.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Beware...
I let my guard down over the weekend and neglected to comment on the passing of the Ides of March, which is no great tragedy I suppose, but I do feel I should post at least something about it. The Ides of course marks the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 B.C. To celebrate (belatedly) you could dress up in a toga, watch this video or read Suetonius' account of the assassination:
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Assidentem conspirati specie officii circumsteterunt, ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius accessit renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus differenti ab utroque umero togam adprehendit; deinde clamantem: "Ista quidem vis est!" alter e Cascis aversum vulnerat paulum infra iugulum.
As he took his seat, the conspirators gathered about him as if to pay their respects, and straightway Tillius Cimber, who had assumed the lead, came nearer as though to ask something; and when Caesar with a gesture put him off to another time, Cimber caught his toga by both shoulders; then as Caesar cried, "Why, this is violence!" one of the Cascas stabbed him from one side just below the throat.
Caesar Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit conatusque prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput obvolvit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore corporis parte velata.
Caesar caught Casca's arm and ran it through with his stylus, but as he tried to leap to his feet, he was stopped by another wound. When he saw that he was beset on every side by drawn daggers, he muffled his head in his robe, and at the same time drew down its lap to his feet with his left hand, in order to fall more decently, with the lower part of his body also covered.
Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito, etsi tradiderunt quidam Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: καὶ σὺ τέκνον; Exanimis diffugientibus cunctis aliquamdiu iacuit, donec lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli domum rettulerunt.
And in this wise he was stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, though some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, "You too, my child?" All the conspirators made off, and he lay there lifeless for some time, and finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down.
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Friday, March 13, 2009
Columbaria inter alia
Eternallycool has some interesting posts and some great photos of a couple of different exhibitions on at the Palazzo Massimo at the moment. Check out these beautiful frescoes taken from columbaria, and this incredible carved sarcophagus.
Year 7 Latin
For this afternoon's lesson you have two options:
- You can spend some time revising for your upcoming test by visiting the Cambridge Latin Course website and giving yourself a vocab quiz or doing some of the Practising the Language exercises.
- If you would prefer to work on your assignment, you may find the following sites helpful:
- Harry Potter Encyclopedia
- Spells in Harry Potter (wikipedia)
- Latin Family Trees
- Roman Gods' Family Tree
Have fun!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Hominem te memento!
Over the weekend I was reading an interview with Bono where he said something about how The Edge is always whispering in his ear, reminding him not to get too big for his boots. It reminded me of the Roman Triumph (which Bono may well have had in mind).
When a Roman general had won a great military victory he would celebrate with a triumph- kind of like a big tickertape parade. The army would march through the city displaying all the plunder and prisoners of war they had brought back while the people lined the streets to cheer them on. The general himself would ride along in a magnificent chariot pulled by white horses. Apparently the whole spectacle was so magnificent and so overwhelming that a slave would stand behind the general, on his chariot, and whisper into his ear to remind him that he was just a human, not a god.
Here's how Tertullian describes it:
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While he has been mocked as St. Bono, he strives not to be too single-minded. He says 'Edge is always whispering in my ear: "You're an artist. That's how you're getting away with this. If you start to behave in a correct fashion and very serious and doing a serious job, it's awful." '
When a Roman general had won a great military victory he would celebrate with a triumph- kind of like a big tickertape parade. The army would march through the city displaying all the plunder and prisoners of war they had brought back while the people lined the streets to cheer them on. The general himself would ride along in a magnificent chariot pulled by white horses. Apparently the whole spectacle was so magnificent and so overwhelming that a slave would stand behind the general, on his chariot, and whisper into his ear to remind him that he was just a human, not a god.
Here's how Tertullian describes it:
Hominem se esse etiam triumphans in illo sublimissimo curru admonetur. suggeritur enim ei a tergo, 'Respice post te! Hominem te memento!' Et utique hoc magis gaudet tanta se gloria coruscare, ut illi admonitio condicionis suae sit necessaria.
Even as he celebrates his triumph in that most exalted chariot, he is warned that he is, after all, human. For from behind him a voice whispers, 'Look behind you! Remember you are human!' And he delights all the more in this fact, that he shines with such great glory, that he needs a warning in regards to his condition.
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