Treatise on Rhetorical Invention and Treatise on Topics de Marcus Tullius. Cicero

Treatise on Rhetorical Invention and Treatise on Topics

Marcus Tullius. Cicero

en Limba Engleză Paperback – 31 dec 2008

Cicero placed a high value on the importance of mastering the skill of rhetoric, which is the art of using language as a means to persuade. Such a skill was important especially in the practice of law and politics, of which he did both. In the "Treatise of Rhetorical Invention" Cicero outlines his theories on rhetoric in this early composition. In "Topics" we find an exposition of the tools that an orator may avail himself of in crafting a convincing argument. Cicero is thought of as one of the greatest orators of all time and it is due in no small part to his mastery of rhetoric. This collection, translated by C. D. Yonge, will give the reader great insight into the skill of rhetoric as it was thought of and practiced by an early master of the skill.

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Notă biografică

Marcus Tullius Cicero (3 January 106 BC - 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, orator, lawyer and philosopher, who served as consul in the year 63 BC. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the Roman equestrian order, and is considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists. His influence on the Latin language was immense: it has been said that subsequent prose was either a reaction against or a return to his style, not only in Latin but in European languages up to the 19th century. Cicero introduced the Romans to the chief schools of Greek philosophy and created a Latin philosophical vocabulary (with neologisms such as evidentia, humanitas, qualitas, quantitas, and essentia), distinguishing himself as a translator and philosopher. Though he was an accomplished orator and successful lawyer, Cicero believed his political career was his most important achievement. It was during his consulship that the second Catilinarian conspiracy attempted to overthrow the government through an attack on the city by outside forces, and Cicero suppressed the revolt by summarily and controversially executing five conspirators. During the chaotic latter half of the 1st century BC marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. Following Julius Caesar's death, Cicero became an enemy of Mark Antony in the ensuing power struggle, attacking him in a series of speeches. He was proscribed as an enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and consequently executed by soldiers operating on their behalf in 43 BC after having been intercepted during an attempted flight from the Italian peninsula. His severed hands and head were then, as a final revenge of Mark Antony, displayed on the Rostra.