Cicero’s Oratory and Rhetoric Influence on Roman Politics Essay

The establishment of Rome as a body politic in 509 BC was initiated by the overthrow of the Tarquin monarchy by Junius Brutus. From the remains of the fallen monarchy, the Senate put on full provides in governing Rome with the Senate as its highest governing body. on that point were no written constitutions simply laws and traditions guided the majority rule . From that point forward, the Senate had the power to w mount up war, impose taxes and run the bureaucracy of the expanding land with officials delegated to every hazard under the supreme authority of the Senate.The Republic thus evolved from a simple method of governance inherited from the previous institutions. New offices were invented in value to respond to the needs of the snip. Hence, from consuls rose the ranks of the proconsul then the qauestors, praetors, censors and so on. These offices had specific tasks and delegations with powers that vary in length of effect and severity. However, all these powers were concentrated in the detainment of the patricians which the plebeian section resented until semipolitical currents soon swept and shook the foundations of the republican institutions controlled by the magnanimousness .In 1st century BC these events culminated into a dictatorship by a former proconsul, Julius Caesar and soon the papistic Republic was on the verge of dissolution. A conflict between two loving classes ensued and at last the Roman Republic that was ruled by the Senate was no much than a puppet of a tyrant. During the final years of the Roman Republic, a brilliant orator emerged from the ranks of the aristocracy, Marcus Tullius Cicero, whose life was intertwined with the republics collapse.Though originally, Cicero was not born from a wealthy family such that he would be, by impartiality of birth, destined to be a part of the ruling aristocracy in the Senate. His was a political ambition which he gained through and through a occupational group in law. He eyed fo r a seat in the Senate and with that he studied philosophy, jurisprudence and rhetoric. With the gift of words he do it into the Roman bureaucracy by being elected into the succeeding offices of the qauestor, aedile, praetor and finally consul in 63 BC . Ciceros ascension to the highest office was attri buted to Lucius Sergius Catalina who was vying for the post.To interdict Catalina (Catiline) from being elected, Ciceros party nominated him. His speech during the election was sooner essential in the exceptional rise to power by a non-patrician. In his First Oration against Catiline, DOoge translates Ciceros speech beforehand the Roman Senate Before what youth, whom you had ensnared by the charm of your enticements, have you not carried a sword to encourage for his audacity or a torch to tone-beginning for his lust this, Cicero said in the presence of Catalina who tried to defend himself but the senators hauled at him a barrage of questions and interruptions that made Catalina f lee from the Forum.Further sweet hatred against Catalina among the upper class senators, Cicero even invented that Catalina murdered his wife . He likewise included in his speech the senators were either fearful of zilch or fearful of everything that they declined at commencement to act against Catalina . Such was Ciceros powerful speech that the tables were turned against Catalina. In Catalinas desperate attack to attain the consulship, he hatched conspiracies which were passed to Cicero who presently reported back to the Senate.With such virtuosity, Cicero acquired emergency powers from the Senate. He later obtained messages Catalina sent to the Allobroges in lieu of his plans to wear the city. All these events were articulated by Cicero in a series of speeches in the Senate asserting that a threat had been extinguished. Following his presentation of evidence to the Senate, arrests were immediately carried out and the conspirators were executed without trial . Ciceros revel ations received frenzied applauses from the Senate as the rebellion was quelled before it touched the streets of Rome.Hence, the Cataline conspiracy gave way for Cicero and his oratory the popularity among the citizens and earned his consulship all at the same time . It was not the first time that Cicero made use of his oratorical skills but it was the very go bad of his outstanding accomplishments as a senator for the winds of the civil war upon Rome, and it was just a little time that Julius Caesar had tolerated the whimpering of the useless Senate . It was inevitable that Cicero eventually fell for the complexities of the armed forces mind of Julius Caesar.He was eventually exiled for rallying behind the losers side. His exile was based on the allegations that he executed the Catilinarian conspirators without trial made by his archenemy Publius Claudius, but in reality, it was caused by his defense of Romes republican structure and the maintenance of the Senate which Caesar he ld powerless through the Triumvirate, with Crassus and Pompey . His exile gave him time to reflect his republican commandments. His three major works worth to be discussed here in length was On the Orator, On the Republic and On the Laws. These documents in the form of dialogue were his manifesto of the republican principle he adhered to and believed to be the best for Rome. These treatises were interconnected with each other as each one was a prerequisite to the next. On the Orator discussed the characteristics of an apotheosis orator. Here he ascribed that a good orator must likewise be well acquainted with philosophy and law as a rhetorician should always have the solid foundations of factual basis for his arguments. ostensibly possible that the rhetorical abilities were reciprocally beneficial so that philosophical and political ideas could be well articulated hence better unders similarlyd and subsequently agreed upon by a target audience. An ideal orator, he said, had to be at the fore of political decisions, create the necessary laws and be in himself an example of the correct way of living. These necessary traits of the orator were essential for the governing body of an ideal republic which he detailed in the treatise On the Republic. It was deliberated in that respect that the Roman institutions were undermined at the on even out of the Triumvirate.He further evaluated that the Roman Republic was a concoction of the components of a monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. In this paper his abhor for the aristocracy which had marginalized him in the beginning of his career became evident. The moral decay of the aristocracy had been pointed out to be a possible cause of the governments destruction. In modulate to avert such destruction, virtue must be actively exercised and the essence of the foundations of community had to be considered at all times. Therefore, the solon who ran the affairs of the republic had to be accustomed to the concept of n atural law.These laws he asserted on the last treatise, On the Laws, were to be based on the natural order of things such that man should perform his duties as what was mulish of him to do even before his birth. He asserted that only through reason justice could be discovered that would subsequently provide the commonwealth with the laws that would govern its affairs . These discourses on the republican principles however, were deemed useless since Julius Caesar was just hold for the right moment to strike. When Cicero was finally permitted to return to Rome, he was accepted by the citizens with somewhat unchanged enthusiasm.Feeling indebted to Pompey, he again took the subject matter stage of the Forum to persuade the Senate to give Pompey dictatorial powers which Pompey took advantage date Caesar was on a military campaign in Gaul . piece having these especial dictatorial powers, Pompey moved against Caesars advantage. The strokes of history went against Cicero as Julius Caes ar ultimately defeated Pompey and became the sole dictator of the Roman Empire. Thus along with Pompeys vanquish from the city, senators who also went to Pompeys side fled in hope that they would be able to remove Caesar from his tyranny through Pompeys legions in Africa and Spain.When Cicero was given(p) clemency by Julius Caesar in 47 B. C. , a condition was set that he would not be busy in politics but when Caesar was assassinated in March 44 B. C. , Cicero again meddled with the affairs of the struggle factions who were eyeing Caesars former position. He was after all, hopeful that Octavian, the heir unmixed to Caesars throne, would be influenced and manipulated to bring the Senate back to its former glory. In order to ensure Octavians victory over Mark Anthony, he engaged into the battle of persuading the senators, though they only held ceremonial powers, to aid Octavian.This series of speeches were called the Philippics. The Philippics had shown the superior orator and rh etoric in Cicero and come scholars say that it was the finest moment in his political career but those speeches only spelled his death. Clearly, the Philippics were aimed to crush Mark Anthony. Unfortunately, Octavian had already come up with agreements with other contending parties. Cicero met his death quite sardonically too deviated from the eloquence of his oratory and the refinement of rhetoric. It was a brutal end for a man who lived by the word.His head was displayed at the Forum to convey a clear message to the Romans that the Roman Republic was extinct and that the new age had commenced .ReferencesBoatwright, M. T. , Gargola, D. J. , & Talbert, R. J. A. (2006). A Brief History of the Romans. New York Oxford University Press, Inc. Clayton, E. (Ed. ) (2006) The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Michigan. DOoge, B. L. (1915). Cicero Select Orations. New York Benj. H. Sanborn & Co. Holland, T. (2003). Rubicon The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic. capital of the Uni ted Kingdom Little Brown. Suetonius. (2003). The Twelve Caesars (R. Graves, Trans. ). London Penguin Group.