His aim is to draw attention to Archias' profession and appeal to his value in Roman culture. 1.19.6, 1.20.3; cf. If he can somehow imply that Archias trains advocates, then that will give a much more favourable impression than saying that he merely provides instruction in Greek poetry. 54). Our information about Archias derives almost exclusively from Ciceros speech. For all branches of culture are linked by a sort of common bond and have a certain kinship with one another. The head of the family, L. Licinius Lucullus, went into exile, probably in 102, after being convicted of misconduct in Sicily the previous year, but he had two teenage sons at home, Lucius and Marcus, and Archias no doubt assisted with their education. The prosecution laid out four accusations in its case against Archias: Because of Archias' close association with Lucullus, the case was probably a political attack directed at the politician by one of his many enemies. Cicero does not bother to mention the further censuses of 65 and 64, since the jury would be aware that they too had been abandoned. of good disposition, large fortune, respect- III. BMCR provides the opportunity to comment on reviews in order to enhance scholarly communication. The digressio concludes ( 2830) with Ciceros admission that he too wishes to be immortalized in verse; as he has demonstrated, there are many honourable precedents for this. First, M. Lucullus arranged for him to be granted honorary citizenship at Heraclea. Du Bois, the influence of Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta on The Souls of Black Folk is one of the most important. as for the part of my speech which was out of keeping with the Forum and the tradition of the courtswhen I discussed my clients talents and literary studies in generalI hope that this has been received in good part by you, gentlemen, as I know it has been by the man who is presiding over this court. In 65 the tribune C. Papius had carried a law expelling from Rome all non-citizens who did not have a fixed residence in Italy: residents of Rome, therefore, who could not prove themselves Roman citizens, were liable to be prosecuted under the law and expelled from the city. The jury must be persuaded both that Archias is a Roman citizen and that he deserves to be one. Cicero immediately takes us into a world of intelligent culture in which he and Archias play a part, and in which the jury are flattered into fancying that they also belong. This twofold pattern of argument is a common one in Cicero, and is found most famously in Pro Milone:Milo did not set out deliberately to kill Clodius; but had he done so, it would have been justified.18 In Pro Archia, the first stage of the argument (enstasis) occupies 4b11, while the encomium of literature, occupying 1230, is formally the second stage (antiparastasis). The conclusio ( 312) recapitulates the main points of the case, and contains no emotional appeal. 2 In this context, Cicero asserted that even lawyers lack a proper education, unless they possess a . First we have Alexander at Sigeum, desiderating a Homer who could write of his achievements. Archias was not the sort of person that a Roman juror would necessarily have considered desirable as a member of the Roman citizen body. If he has not, then the further argument is obviously required. How many finely executed portraits of the most valiant men have the Greek and Latin writers left us, and not only for our contemplation but for our emulation! 21): we are told by Memnon, a second-century ad historian of Heraclea Pontica, that the naval battle off Tenedos was in fact won not by Lucullus himself but by his subordinate Triarius (FGrH III B, 361 (33.1)). The extent of upper-class Roman prejudice regarding a mans place of origin is revealed by the fact that, in the year before Archias trial, Cicero himself had been described in the Senate by one patrician as animmigrant citizen (inquilinus civis, Sal. But if Cicero had written a treatise on literature for an educated readership outside the courtroom, we can be certain it would have had little resemblance to the version which was offered to Archias jury. As for his declaration before the praetor Metellus, Cicero produces the citizen lists which Metellus compiled, argues for their accuracy, and points to the name of A. Licinius. In (p. xviii); there are two very similar notes on inde usque (p. 5); the cross-reference to 199-200 (on quae cum ita sint) should probably read 200-203 (p. 85). Rocks and deserts respond to the poets voice; ferocious wild animals are often turned aside by singing and stopped in their tracks: shall we, then, who have been brought up to all that is best, remain unmoved by the voice of a poet? In this section, Cicero discredits the four points raised against his client. Mur. Plutarch tells us that Cicero was a good friend of L. Lucullus (Luc. Such language does not occur often in Ciceros speeches, at least after the earlier ones:27 as we have already observed, the style of this speech is pitched at a higher level than normal. Cicero states that poets have a natural gift and that Ennius called poets holy. Secondly, the digressio is an enjoyable diversion for the jurors (and also an intellectually undemanding one, despite Ciceros flattery). Rome In Pro Lege Manilia, admittedly a speech to the people, he pretends to be only vaguely aware that Athens was once a great sea power (Leg. It is not a passage that could not be included were it not for the presence of a sympathetic praetor. The glossaries cover those terms most essential to understanding the intellectual, political, and social milieu in which Cicero operates. Without praise, he explains, men would have no incentive to perform great deeds (the point is repeated from 23). Lord Broughams often-quoted pronouncement: Ciceros speech for Archias, which is exquisitely composed, but of which not more than one-sixth is to the purpose, could not have been delivered in a British court of Justice, On the nature of Archias relationship with these men see. [Kuhlmann, 1976]). Although technically delivered in a court of law, the speech possesses the unique characteristics of a more ornamental realm of oratory, epideictic, which includes speeches such as funeral orations, or laudatio funebris. Pro Archia has been described asundoubtedly the least typical speech of the Ciceronian corpus.1 Ciceros client is not, as so often, a prominent Roman aristocrat accused of violence, bribery, or extortion, but a Syrian poet whose claim to Roman citizenship was disputed. In 65 BC, the Roman Senate passed the Lex Papia de Peregrinis, which challenged false claims of citizenship and expelled foreigners from Rome. The next paragraph takes us from the war against the Cimbri to the Third Mithridatic War, about which Archias had also written (and at much greater length). Saxa atque solitudines voci respondent, bestiae saepe immanes cantu flectuntur atque consistunt; nos instituti rebus optimis non poetarum voce moveamur? The Romans seem to have found it advantageous to make use of every argument at their disposal, not merely the decisive ones: this can be observed not only in oratory but also for example in Lucretius. Chief among his enemies, and one who would stand to gain much by disgracing Lucullus was Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, better known as Pompey the Great. We should therefore begin by asking what it was about this particular case that led Cicero to adopt such a style.17 The question is especially pertinent in the context of the exordium, since stylistic brilliance was normally to be avoided in this part of the speech (Inv. Commanders NFL Draft takeaways: Defense adds juice, but was the value Even if we had not been informed by the scholia (175 Stangl), we would, I think, have been able to tell that the praetor in question is Ciceros brother Quintus. The Rhetoric of Persuasion: Cicero, Archias, and the Defense of the Expressions of thanks or praise should be sent directly to the reviewer, using the email address in the review. The Pro Archia, then, is an oration with a complex network of layered meaning with broad cultural implications both for Cicero's audience and for readers today. I suggest three reasons. Archias did not appear on the Roman census because he was away on campaign with Lucullus at each time they were taken. So let the name of poet, gentlemen, which no barbarian race has ever treated with disrespect, be a sacred name among you, the most enlightened of men. The link was not copied. In some cases, however, the ascriptions read not justArchias butArchias the grammatikos,Archias of Macedon,Archias of Byzantium,Archias of Mytilene, and Archias the younger. If Archias accuser is indeed connected with Pompey, as seems likely, then the reference has added point: in seeking to deprive Lucullus man of his citizenship, Grattius is ignoring the precedent set by his own patron. 61): Et quoniam non est nobis haec oratio habenda aut in imperita multitudine aut in aliquo conventu agrestium, audacius paulo de studiis humanitatis quae et mihi et vobis nota et iucunda sunt disputabo. Cicero and his Italian Clients in the Forensic Speeches, The Rhetoric of Character in the Roman Courts, Audience Expectations, Invective, and Proof. In this regard C.s correct but unconnected observation on Ciceros avoidance of strict parallelism at the end of section 27 (sentence 2 on the note to togati iudices) strikes me as awkwardly formalistic (one wonders if Gotoffs analysis lurks in the background).3 Yet the immediately preceding comment (sentence 1) on Ciceros attempt to insert Archias into an esteemed line of Roman exempla both hits the mark and gives students food for thought. The idea that poets who honour great men honour the Roman people at the same time is continued in 22, but with Ennius as the example: Ennius praised the elder Scipio, the elder Cato, Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, M. Claudius Marcellus, and M. Fulvius Nobilior, and was rewarded with Roman citizenship. Macrob. Yet beyond its simultaneous appeal both as and for belles-lettres the recent attention paid to this work as part of Ciceronian self-fashioning can lend sophistication and new direction to classroom discussions about the place of the Pro Archia in Ciceros public career and in Roman culture more generally.4 C. economically yet sufficiently highlights the works social and historical contexts. I focus here on its usefulness to an introductory/intermediate-level university class, drawing partly upon my experience with C.s first edition to teach a third-semester Latin Prose course at Yale University in the Fall of 2003 to a group of 20 undergraduate and graduate students. Literature tells and celebrates achievements. He'll need an impressive summer to enter the defensive end . Catiline would presumably not have made such a remark unless he expected it at least to carry some weight with some of the senators. 1.16.15). 61, already quoted). 3. Pro Archia, then, is genuinely, all of it, an exercise in persuasion. Again, Lucullus had helped Cicero during the Catilinarian conspiracy (ibid. Metellus, we learn, was anxious for his deeds to be immortalized in verse, and this leads Cicero back to a theme he has touched on earlier (at 20), the desire of all great men to be praised. You will ask me, Gratius, why I am so enthusiastic about this man. NFL Draft 2023 winners and losers: Eagles, Seahawks get stronger 5.7 (April 62 bc) shows him seeking to form closer ties with Pompey. 3. The passage on literature in general ends with 17. I therefore have a duty to save him ( 1). Throughout the speech Cicero wishes to show that Archias is someone who is useful to society. Thus in the last (hopelessly corrupt) sentence of section 5, C. informs us of a textual crux but maintains focus upon the meaning of the sentence as printed. In any case, Archias is mentioned once more by Cicero, in a philosophical treatise of 44, with affection (Div. In this passage (which comprises less than two-thirds of the Latin sentence) the atmosphere of high culture is conveyed not only by what Cicero is saying but very largely by the sophisticated way in which the clauses are accumulated and integrated. He uses dramatic rhetoric to discredit the case of his opponent, Grattius,[3] whom he here names. 5.113), and it was partly for Phaedrus sake that he intervened with C. Memmius to prevent him from demolishing Epicurus house in Athens (Fam. Indeed, I myself when serving as a magistrate, have always kept these men before my eyes, and have modelled myself on them, heart and mind, by meditating on their excellences. Cicero mentions three benefits of literature: literature provides refreshment for the spirit and repose for the senses; it provides Cicero with inspiration for his daily speeches and therefore strengthens his oratorical powers; and it contains moral lessons and provides examples to contemplate and to emulate. C. largely bases his text on Clarks OCT (1911) and mentions textual problems only when absolutely necessary. defense of Archias. Cicero divided the speech by following the formal structure of the dispositio: Cicero begins his speech by gaining the goodwill or benevolentia of the judges. All good men wish their name to live on for ever after their lives are over; and whether or not Cicero, after his death, will have any awareness of his posthumous fame, he at least derives pleasure at this moment from the thought that his achievements will be remembered. By the end of 63, it was already clear that Cicero would be open to attack for his execution of the conspirators, and it was therefore useful to him to remain closely allied with the conservative elements in the Senate, who would (at least until the formation of theFirst Triumvirate) be in a position to protect him. Again, in outlining the content of Platos Phaedo in Pro Scauro, he implies that he has not read the work, and adds, for the jurys benefit, that Plato was a great philosopher (Scaur. The Luculli straight away received Archias into their house, although even at this time he was still of the age when the toga of boyhood is worn. It is therefore impossible that Quintus should have assured Cicero in advance that an epideictic style would be well received or that Archias would be acquitted. There could therefore be as many as six Archiases, and we have no way of knowing for certain which of the epigrams in the Greek Anthology are the work of our poet.5 Cicero tells us that Archias travelled to southern Italy (he was probably doing a round of festivals),6 and was granted honorary citizenship by some of the cities he visited. Stripped to its essentials, the argument runs as follows:If I have any talent, experience in speaking, or technical skill in oratory derived from training in the liberal arts, then Archias has a strong claim on it. Cicero is not, however, attempting to predate Archias acquisition of the citizenship: he is simply encouraging the jury to think of Archias in terms appropriate to a Roman citizen. The technique is similar to that employed the previous year in Pro Murena (Mur. (Cic. Others can more ably comment on the editions success in that regard. Cicero begins by explaining to the jury why he is obliged to defend Archias (or A. Licinius, as he prefers to call him at important moments in the speech). After providing the jury with the legal foundations of Archiass citizenship, he proceeds to argue that even if reasonable doubt were to surround Archiass claim to be a Roman citizen, he should nevertheless be considered worthy of inclusion in the citizen body as a result of the contribution his poetry has made to the Republic. 81). (2001) How to Make (and Break) a Cicero: Epideixis, Textuality, and Self-fashioning in the, Nesholm, E.J. Rome should therefore be grateful that Archias already belongs to her (the argument concludes in the same way as the argument from Homer at 19). JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Roscius and Archias were artists of quite a different kind: Roscius was a Roman eques, now dead, who had acted in plays before large audiences; Archias was a Syrian immigrant who wrote poetry in Greek for a small number of aristocratic families. Grattius, of course, has already delivered his speech, and has not asked such a question, but the question gives Cicero an excuse to embark upon his digression and, later, to parade Archias virtues. Classical Art History, History of Scholarship of, Greek Domestic Architecture c.800 bce to c.100 bce, History of Modern Classical Scholarship (Since 1750), The. But the Luculli were aristocrats in the fishpond class (Att. In the first, 1217 (Porter and MacKendrick also agree on a break at around 17), Cicero discusses literature in general rather than specifically poetry (here I do disagree with Porter), and provides a series of arguments to show that literature is useful, or at least not harmful. Cicero's oration Pro Archia Poeta ("On Behalf of Archias the Poet") is the published literary form of his defense of Aulus Licinius Archias, a poet accused of not being a Roman citizen. Trump's defense grills E. Jean Carroll about old social media posts in However, it also provides an invaluable insight into the early stages of Ciceros senior statesman persona. First some nuts and bolts. Clearly, then, in attempting to persuade a jury that Archias deserved to be a Roman citizen, Cicero faced an uphill struggle. The important point is then made that Archias poetry celebrates the military glory of the Roman people: his poem on the war against the Cimbri actually won the approval of Marius. Cicero. Pro Archia Poeta Oratio. Introduction, Text, Vocabulary, and Metellus had died by the time of the trial, but Cicero talks in 26 of Metellus concern to have his achievements immortalized in verse, and it seems that Archias put his obligation to that family before his obligation to Cicero.
in defense of archias summary