On Government by Cicero

Author:Cicero
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, History & Theory, Literary Collections, Essays, Ancient & Classical
Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 2006-02-23T05:13:34+00:00

So I went on. ‘In gaiety and wit,’ I continued, ‘Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus, son of Lucius, outdid all his contemporaries and his predecessors as well.3 His oratory was totally deficient in forcefulness, it is true, but its polish and charm and attractiveness gave it a flavour all of its own. Some of his speeches are extant, and from these, as from his tragedies, you can gain an impression of his smooth and rather unvigorous style. Among his contemporaries was Publius Cornelius Cethegus, who was a good enough speaker for political purposes.4 For he had a thorough knowledge of politics, and understood what they were about, so that in the Senate his influence was equal to that of any former consul. In criminal cases, on the other hand, he was negligible; though for the handling of private suits he had managed to acquire sufficient skill…1

‘Now we come to the category of orators, or one should rather say just loudmouths, men who possessed neither education nor manners or were positively uncouth. Within their ranks, I would claim that Quintus Sertorius among us senators,2 and Gaius Gargonius of the equestrian (knightly) order, take the prizes as far as fluent delivery and brain-power are concerned. A man who was a ready and easy speaker, and whose grand life-style and intellectual gifts earned admiration, was Titus Junius, son of Lucius. It was he who was the prosecutor who got the praetor designate, Publius Sextius, convicted of bribery. Junius only reached the office of tribune,3 but would have gone on to higher office but for his weak health and illness.

‘I realize perfectly well that I have concerned myself with the enumeration of many people who were never reputed to be orators and, in fact, were not orators at all, while at the same time I may have passed over certain earlier figures who deserved to be mentioned in favourable terms. But if so, I plead ignorance. For it is impossible to write anything about men of ancient epochs when they themselves have left us nothing, and no one else has left any records about them. As to those, on the other hand, whom I have personally seen, I am missing out practically no one whom I have ever heard speak. For what I want to make clear is that in our own great and antique country, which has granted such rich records to eloquence, all men have had the ambition to become speakers, but not a very great many have ventured to make the attempt, and few have succeeded. But I will say something about them all: so as to let you know which of them I consider to have been a mere ranter, and which a genuine orator…

‘The individuals who were contemporary with Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus, but slightly younger than he was, included as rich a crop of orators as any in our history.4 But among these personages, in my opinion and the opinion of the public, Cotta and Sulpicius easily ranked first.

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