The perfect orator

Here are some parts that I have marked in my copy of the“Cicero” book by Gesine Manuwald.

Cicero

1. “Cicero’s public interventions in this period are documented by a group of orations called Philippics, which have survived and were presumably selected for dissemination from a larger number of speeches made by him during those months. As his letters reveal, the title was selected by Cicero himself and was not chosen factually, but rather ideologically, to indicate a connection with the cycle of Philippics delivered by the Greek orator Demosthenes in a conflict with Philip, king of Macedon, in the mid fourth century BCE.”

2. “Demosthenes was not only a paradigmatic orator for Romans of Cicero’s time, mentioned with praise in Cicero’s rhetorical treatises, but, as Cicero says with respect to his own consular speeches, he also provided an example of an orator having ‘turned away from this argumentative, forensic type of oratory to appear in the more elevated role of statesman’. Presumably this is how Cicero too wanted to appear on the basis of his consular speeches and later of his Philippics. The published versions of these speeches spread Cicero’s political views and proposed strategy to a wider audience, beyond those who had listened to the oral

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3. “As Cicero explains in his rhetorical treatises, he regarded a profound, all-round education as an essential basis for success as an orator and politician. As a first fruit of this thorough engagement with rhetoric, he published the treatise De inuentione rhetorica (On Rhetorical Invention) in the mid to late 80s BCE; as the title says, this is a study of the first task of the orator: ‘to find’ the material. In active life at this time Cicero was keen to win glory as an orator: in Republican Rome this was achieved by appearing in the Forum as a lawyer and working as a politician.”

4. “As the overview of Cicero’s biography shows, his entire life is closely intertwined with political developments: his aim from the beginning was to go through the Roman career ladder and reach an influential position in the Republic; he worked on literature during enforced periods of quiet, and many of his writings are presented as another form of service to his countrymen and deal with political questions.”

5. “The dialogue goes on to describe the three primary forms of government (monarchy, aristocracy, democracy) as well as their opposites, the negative forms into which these can degenerate (tyranny, oligarchy, ochlocracy). This leads to the question of which of these is the best form of government. Again according to Scipio, the best form is none of those on its own, but a mixture of the three positive forms:

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Scipio

Scipio. ‘[ … ] That is why, though monarchy is, in my view, much the most desirable of the three primary forms, monarchy is itself surpassed by an even and judicious blend of the three simple forms at their best. A state should possess an element of regal supremacy; something else should be assigned and allotted to the authority of aristocrats; and certain affairs should be reserved for the judgement and desires of the masses. Such a constitution has, in the first place, a widespread element of equality which free men cannot long do without. Secondly, it has stability; for although those three original forms easily degenerate into their corrupt versions (producing a despot instead of a king, an oligarchy instead of an aristocracy, and a disorganized rabble instead of a democracy), and although those simple forms often change into others, such things rarely happen in a political structure which represents a combination and a judicious mixture – unless, that is, the politicians are deeply corrupt. For there is no reason for change in a country where everyone is firmly established in his own place, and which has beneath it no corresponding version into which it may suddenly sink and decline.”

6. “All men are ‘men of the best sort’ who do no harm, are not wicked or rabid in their nature, and are not hobbled by embarrassments in their domestic affairs. The fact of the matter, then, is that those whom you called a ‘breed’ are just those who are sound and sane and

www.capitalideasonline.com Page - 3 The perfect orator have their domestic affairs in good order. The men who, in piloting the commonwealth, serve the will, the interests, and the views of the latter folk are considered defenders of the ‘men of the best sort’ and are themselves counted the most serious men of the best sort, the most distinguished citizens, and the foremost men of the civil community.”

7. “The aim that the ‘men of the best sort’ are striving for is defined in ProSestio as ‘tranquillity joined with worthy standing’, the earliest occurrence of the term that has developed into a hallmark of Cicero’s political ideology. Further well-known phrases denoting elements of Cicero’s policy are the terms ‘harmony of the orders’ and ‘consensus of all honest men’, which express the notion that all well-intentioned men (as defined by Cicero), irrespective of standing, can work together to create stable and peaceful conditions (with the exception of opponents to the state in Cicero’s view). Cicero apparently sees this status as being guaranteed by the traditional structure of the Republic, which prevents the concentration of power in the hands of a single individual.”

8. “Therefore the material of the art of rhetoric seems to me to be that which we said Aristotle approved. The parts of it, as most authorities have stated, are Invention, Arrangement, Expression, Memory, Delivery [i.e. the five tasks of an orator or parts of rhetoric: inuentio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, pronuntiatio (or actio)]. Invention is the discovery of valid or seemingly valid arguments to render one’s cause plausible. Arrangement is the distribution of arguments thus discovered in the proper order. Expression is the fitting of the proper language to the invented matter. Memory is the firm mental grasp of matter and words. Delivery is the control of voice and body in a manner suitable to the dignity of the subject matter and the style.”

9. “For long thought, I have been loo by reason itself to hold this opinion first and foremost,

www.capitalideasonline.com Page - 4 The perfect orator that wisdom without eloquence does too little for the good of states, but that eloquence without wisdom is generally highly disadvantageous and is never helpful. Therefore if anyone neglects the study of philosophy and moral conduct, which is the highest and most honourable of pursuits, and devotes his whole energy to the practice of oratory, his civic life is nurtured into something useless to himself and harmful to his country; but the man who equips himself with the weapons of eloquence, not to be able to attack the welfare of his country but to defend it, he, I think, will be a citizen most helpful and most devoted both to his own interests and those of his community.”

10. “As Cicero stresses later in the treatiseOrator , the ‘perfect orator’ is the person ‘who is able to speak in court or in deliberative bodies so as to prove, to please and to sway or persuade’; while he must be competent in all tasks, the use of language is most important, and this is the area in which he must excel.”

11. “We must now turn to the task of portraying the perfect orator [perfoctus orator] and the highest eloquence. The very word ‘eloquent’ shows that he excels because of this one quality, that is, in the use of language, and that the other qualities are overshadowed by this. For the all-inclusive word is not ‘discoverer’ [inventor], or ‘arranger [compositor], or ‘actor’ [actor], but in Greek he is called [rhetor] from the word ‘to speak’ [eloqui], and in Latin he is said to be ‘eloquent’ [eloquens]. For everyone claims for himself some part of the other qualities that go to make up an orator, but the supreme power in speaking [dicere], that is eloquence, is granted to him alone.”

12. “The key requirement for the ‘perfect orator’, repeated by the interlocutors at various points in their conversation, is knowledge of all important areas such as law, history, philosophy and psychology, supplemented by technical sophistication? This is expressed

www.capitalideasonline.com Page - 5 The perfect orator early in the introduction in the writer’s own voice:

The truth of the matter is, however, that this faculty is something greater, and is a combination of more arts and pursuits, than is generally supposed. [ … ] To begin with, one must acquire knowledge of a very great number of things, for without this a ready flow of words is empty and ridiculous; the language itself has to be shaped, not only by the choice of words but by their arrangement as well; also required is a thorough acquaintance with all the emotions with which nature has endowed the human race, because in soothing or in exciting the feelings of the audience the full force of oratory and all its available means must be brought into play.”

13. “In addition, it is essential to possess a certain esprit and humor, the culture that befits a gentleman, and an ability to be quick and concise in rebuttal as well as attack, combined with refinement, grace, and urbanity. Moreover, one must know the whole past with its storehouse of examples and precedents, nor should one fail to master statutes and the civil law. Surely I don’t need to add anything about delivery? What shall I say about the universal treasure- house, the memory? It is clear that unless this faculty is applied as a guard over the ideas and words that we have devised and thought out for our speech, all the qualities of the orator, however brilliant, will go to waste.”

14. “Let us stop wondering, then, why there are so few eloquent speakers, seeing that eloquence depends on the combination of all these accomplishments, anyone of which alone would be a tremendous task to perfect. Let us rather encourage our children, and all others whose fame and reputation are dear to us, to appreciate fully its enormous scope. They should not rely on the precepts or the teachers or the methods of practice in general use, but be confident that they can achieve their goals by means that are of a quite different order. It is at least my opinion that it will be impossible for anyone to be an orator endowed with all

www.capitalideasonline.com Page - 6 The perfect orator praiseworthy qualities, unless he has gained a knowledge of all the important subjects and arts. For it is certainly from knowledge that a speech should blossom and acquire fullness: unless the orator has firmly grasped the underlying subject matter, his speech will remain an utterly empty, yes, almost childish verbal exercise.”

15. “Nevertheless, it is not my intention to lay upon orators – least of all upon ours who are so intensely occupied with life at Rome – this enormous burden of having to know everything, even though the essence of the notion ‘orator’, and the very claim of being able to speak well, seem to imply the definite promise to speak distinctively, and abundant about whatever subject has been put forward.”

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