- Roman who lived under the republic and was executed for speaking publicly against the rising empire
- More specifically he was against Mark Anthony after Julius Caesar's assassination
- Anthony had his head and hands removed because of their symbolic connection to speech and writing
- Not of the highest Roman class (Patrician), but he achieved the highest positions in Roman public life
- His family wasn't poor–just not quite at the top
- His work dominated rhetorical education from the Classical period up through the Renaissance
- Because rhetoric was a cornerstone of education during these periods, Cicero has had some of the most significant and far-reaching effects on education and civilization in Western history
- Cicero's thought incorporates much of the preceding Greek rhetorical theory
- Gorgias, Isocrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other Greeks became known through Cicero's commentaries rather than through their own work (which was periodically lost or fell into disrepute while Cicero abided)
- His work became the standard source about the three types of speech (deliberative, forensic, epideictic) and the five canons of rhetoric (invention, arrangement, style, memory, delivery)
- Established the three well-known functions of rhetoric: to teach, to delight, and to move
- He saw knowledge of philosophy as crucial to rhetorical training
- In this he evinces a more Platonic stance, although he seemed to value philosophy for its practical utility rather than its absolute truth claims
- In De Oratore, Cicero seems to indict Plato's Socrates for separating philosophy and rhetoric
- Cicero's thought is decidedly pragmatic and civic. He values rhetoric because it helps one effectively manage the home and the state, personal and social life.
De Oratore
- Dialog structure (recalling Plato, but not of the same style)
- Emphasizes language's function in distinguishing humans from animals
- Rejects Plato's confinement of rhetoric in the Gorgias
- Like Isocrates, this piece seems to hold that natural ability in speaking is paramount but it can be refined through practice and education
- Also seems to uphold Isocrates's dislike of charlatan sophists who try to reduce speaking to a few standard rules
- Attempts to define rhetoric so that it might be discussed (reiterates Plato's charge that it is no art because it deals in popular opinion rather than stable fact, but also seems to reject this assertion in a somewhat Aristotelian way by observing that some speak better than others so there must be reasons why)
Orator
| Purpose |
Style |
| To teach |
Low (or Plain) |
| To delight |
Middle |
| To move |
High (or Grand) |
|
|