Cicero’s rationale for his use of prose rhythm in argumentation

ABSTRACT

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43BCE) is widely regarded, both in theory and practice, as a preeminent figure in the history of rhetoric, especially for his mastery of argumentation. Yet, Cicero was heavily criticized by his contemporaries for his rhetorical style, particularly his use of prose rhythm. In response, Cicero credited (and justified) his use of prose rhythm to Hellenic sources. Cicero’s rationale for his prose rhythm is best understood by examining the full range of his rhetorical treatises (i.e. his Rhetorica) and his practice, taking into account the social exigences and constraints that influenced his choice of style generally, and prose rhythm specifically, in rhetorical situations involving argumentation.

KEYWORDS:

• Aristotle
• Cicero
• Demosthenes
• argumentation
• prose rhythm

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Norden (1909) 1974, 212–233) provides a thorough discussion of Kunstprosa, with specific attention paid to Cicero in volume one. See also Martin (1974, 247–328). For a survey of rhetoric and poetics see Solmsen (1968) and Walker (2000).

2 Wüst’s (1881) early work on Cicero’s “rhetorical clausula” was followed by Zieliński (1904) and Zieliński (1914). These pioneering works focus on the oratory of Cicero while this study integrates Cicero’s rhetorical theory and other relevant ancient works, especially Hellenic rhetoric. Further, this essay also utilizes current research on rhetoric and argumentation that was unavailable at the time of these nascent studies.

3 Cicero’s Rhetorica refers not to any specific work but rather the collective treatises of his theoretical writings on rhetoric.

4 The Aristotelian-based distinctions between mimetic and non-mimetic discourse, and the implications for Cicero’s rhetoric, are thoroughly explained by Howell (1975).

5 For a thorough overview of Cicero’s wide-ranging admiration for Greek rhetoric, see Bishop (2019).

6 Valuing a “manly” sense of auctoritas and virtus, Romans would criticize rhetors whom they considered to display an excessive style to be “Greeklings” as a derogatory expression for what they demeaningly labelled as an effeminate style.

7 Ancient rhythm uses ∪ as a short syllable and — for a syllable twice as long. Thus, the dactyl is —∪∪ or 2:2; the iamb is ∪— or 1:2; and the paean is ∪∪∪— or—∪∪∪ or 3:2/2:3. One must remember that ∪∪ equals — so that the two can be frequently substituted for variety and cadence. Similarly, an anceps—often labelled by an “X”—could replace a symbol in conventional clausulae and could be either short or long. Such modifications or replacements are termed “resolution” and common with orators such as Cicero, who is noted for his variety. In fact, his famous prose-ending phrase esse videatur (“as it seems to be”) is not only a stock rhetorical phrase of probability but an illustration of a resolution to a conventional, formulaic ending of a rhythmical pattern (—∪ —| — X). See Powell (2011, 386); Powell (1996, 1261); cf. Zieliński (1904, 14).

8 For a discussion of public and private reading, see Vatri (2017, 34, 39).

9 Technically, this passage is closer to the more relaxed iambic senarius than the iambic trimeter, and was more commonly used by Latin poets and playwrights than by orators.

10 For a thorough discussion of the auditors’ role in the rhetorical act see Grimaldi (1990).

11 Other Ciceronian clausulae labelled as “favourites” [sic] include (— ∪ — X) and (— ∪ — | — X), see Powell (1996, 1261).

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Richard Leo Enos

Richard Leo Enos is an Emeritus Piper Professor (State of Texas) and the Quondam Holder of the Lillian Radford Chair of Rhetoric and Composition at Texas Christian University (USA). His research interest is in Classical Rhetoric. He is a Fellow and Past President of the Rhetoric Society of America, and an Emeritus Member of the Managing Committee of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In 2008 he was the recipient of the Texas Christian University “Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher and Scholar” and in 2018 he received the Rhetoric Society of America “Cheryl Geisler Mentorship Award.”