Handbuch Antike Rhetorik

Thomas Baier

8Römische Beredsamkeit von Appius Claudius bis zu Seneca d. Ä.

Abstract: The article gives an overview from the beginnings of Roman rhetoric to the florescence of declamatory art in the imperial age. The first speech in Rome of which we have a tolerably clear view is Cato’s Pro Rhodiensibus. The extant fragments show the self-declared hater of all Greek Culture as a cultivated, even humane orator imbued with Greek erudition. He applies techniques of Greek rhetoric by instinct, probably without knowing much about the underlying theories. His word order, however, is unsophisticated and corresponds to the natural line of thoughts. This underlines the archaic flavour of his style. In the second half of the article, Cato’s speech to the ...