In 1, Cicero claims that he owes his skill in speaking to Archias. He therefore declared himself before his friend the praetor Q. Metellus Pius and obtained Roman citizenship. 2 In this context, Cicero asserted that even lawyers lack a proper education, unless they possess a . Were it not for his study of literature, he says, he would never have stood up to Catiline. Theophanes is, nevertheless, a good example for Cicero to cite, not only because he was a Greek who was given the citizenship, but because he was given it by Pompey. It is the encomium of literature, however, for which Pro Archia is read and remembered, and which makes this speech a particular favourite among readers for whom the cut and thrust of late Republican politics is not a primary concern. Arch. He starts the confirmatio by asking himself a question on behalf of Grattius. At Rome, Archias was accepted into the household of the Luculli. C. also knows when less is more. The legal argument, that Archias is a Roman citizen, is divided into two roughly equal halves, the narratio ( 4b7) and the confirmatio ( 811). 4. Catiline would presumably not have made such a remark unless he expected it at least to carry some weight with some of the senators. Cicero states that poets have a natural gift and that Ennius called poets holy. It is not a passage that could not be included were it not for the presence of a sympathetic praetor. Cicero's Pro Archia - Classics - Oxford Bibliographies - obo ), and Cicero had set aside time during it to defend a relation of Lucullus (Att. C. accompanies that choice with a keen understanding of vocabulary acquisition: The second time a word occurs, it is marked with an asterisk; the third time two asterisks; the fourth time, three asterisks, and thereafter it is dropped from the listit is likely that the studentwill, on the fifth encounter with the word, be able to recognize it and, in context, recall its meaning (p. xi). At the same time the names confer legitimacy and respectability not only on Archias, but on the world of intelligent culture to which he belongs. Manil. The digressio, then, is not simply an instrument of persuasion, it is also an elegant essay that would have been as appealing to its original audience as it has been to readers down the ages. Pro Archia Poeta - Wikipedia He reveals this thesis in lines 2022: He continues with this approach in the final lines of this section where he proposes that even if Archias were not enrolled as a citizen, his virtuous qualities should compel us to enroll him. erature or the humanities and the law, the defense of Archias the poet is indeed a story worth recounting today and for ages hence.' Due to an eloquent, lengthy, and, arguendo, even quite unnecessary digression, Cicero's speech on the poet's behalf, Pro Auluo Licinio Archia Poeta Oratio, has justly achieved a measure The notes are clear throughout and fruitfully employ the glossary explanations of key rhetorical features, such as chiasmus, hyperbaton, and hendiadys. After this, 16 closes with the argument that literature is inherently pleasant. Cicero now moves on to the confirmatio, which, because of the simplicity of the case, is almost as brief as the narratio. Others can more ably comment on the editions success in that regard. Gotoff, H. C. Ciceros Elegant Style: An Analysis of the Pro Archia, Urbana, Illinois (1979). Abstract. Consequently this passage, though it might formally be termed digressio, is, like other digressions in Ciceros speeches, central to the case. Both poets were befriended by a leading family at Rome (Ennius by the Fulvii Nobiliores), taken on campaign by them, and granted citizenship through their influence; unlike Archias, however, Ennius was from Italy and wrote in Latin. Cicero und das rmische Brgerrecht: die Verteidigung des Dichters Volume Information - JSTOR 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. He gracefully concedes the point, but then goes on to instance some outstanding Romans who did study literature ( 16): Ex hoc esse hunc numero quem patres nostri viderunt, divinum hominem, Africanum, ex hoc C. Laelium, L. Furium, moderatissimos homines et continentissimos, ex hoc fortissimum virum et illis temporibus doctissimum, M. Catonem illum senem; qui profecto si nihil ad percipiendam colendamque virtutem litteris adiuvarentur, numquam se ad earum studium contulissent. (2001) How to Make (and Break) a Cicero: Epideixis, Textuality, and Self-fashioning in the, Nesholm, E.J. 54). 28), The measures which I, jointly with you, undertook in my consulship for the safety of the empire, the lives of our citizens, and the common weal of the state, have been taken by my client as the subject of a poem which he has begun; he read this to me, and the work struck me as at once so forcible and so interesting, that I encouraged him to complete it. There he said that he intended to prove first that Archias is a Roman citizen, and secondly that, were he not a citizen, he ought to be one. From the persuasive point of view, it is the second of these questions that is the more difficult, and therefore the more interesting. In 62 Archias was prosecuted under this law. Cf. The work celebrates the merits of literature and art, which offers a powerful description of what makes an individual Roman. 19.9.1014 (19.9.14: cf. 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. Cicero's 'Pro Archia Poeta' - UGA At the risk of waxing biographical, as a Biology major at UC Berkeley I switched camps to Classics/CompLit largely because of Brian Krostenkos intermediate Latin course on Vergil: by drawing students attention to the Aeneids interconnection of language and theme, he gave life to the focus on Latin grammar and Vergilian hexameter. In this part he turns his attention specifically to poetry and to Archias, and argues that both are useful to society. The Art of Citizenship: Roman Cultural Identity in Cicero's Pro Archia Archias had become eligible for Roman citizenship under the Lex Iulia de Civitate Latinis Danda, passed in 90 BC, and the Lex Plautia Papiria de Civitate Sociis Danda, passed in 89 BC. Just as in the exordium he makes clear that this was an unusual speech compared to the tradition of trials. 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). The argument reaches a climax at the beginning of 19: Sit igitur, iudices, sanctum apud vos, humanissimos homines, hoc poetae nomen quod nulla umquam barbaria violavit. Cicero cannot conceal or explain away Archias occupation, and so he has no choice but to make a virtue of it. I therefore have a duty to save him ( 1). After this he quickly moves on to less controversial territory. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. Cicero makes a final emotional appeal to the jury. The prosecution of Archias was probably undertaken, as we have seen, by a supporter of Pompey, and was directed not so much against Archias as against his patron L. Lucullus. The link was not copied. 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). 32), I hope that my departure from the practice and the conventions of the courts, and my digression upon the subject of my clients genius, and, in general terms, upon the art which he follows, has been welcomed by you in as generous a spirit as I am assured it has been welcomed by him who presides over this tribunal. The first point to bear in mind, then, is that this passage is, formally at least, the second stage of Ciceros argument as announced at 4a. In addition to the vocabulary at the back C. has chosen to provide a running vocabulary on the left-hand page, thus sparing pointless flipping through either this edition or a dictionary. He does not have documentary proof that Archias is a citizen of Heraclea, he says, because the public record office at Heraclea was burnt down in the Social War and all the records destroyed;19 but he can nevertheless produce M. Lucullus as a witness to Archias enrolment, and an official deputation has been sent from Heraclea with a written statement confirming Archias claim. At the same time he is also alluding to the uniquely Roman custom whereby nobles kept wax masks (imagines) of their ancestors who had held curule office within the atria of their houses. The accusation is believed to have been a political move against Lucullus through Archias. Examples of hendiadys abound, and C. carefully explains and smoothly translates these tricky bits of Ciceronian fullness, as in section 3, where tanto conventu hominum ac frequentia is both translated literally and then rendered as with so numerous a throng of men. Students are taught to distinguish the literal meaning from Ciceros meaning. This second edition by Steven M. Cerutti (hereafter C.) of Cicero's speech in defense of the poet Archias delivers an introduction, text, commentary, vocabulary, and two appendices covering (respectively) proper or place names and rhetorical or political terminology. In 65 BC, the Roman Senate passed the Lex Papia de Peregrinis, which challenged false claims of citizenship and expelled foreigners from Rome. Arch. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. OLD locus 17 and TLL VII, 1588, 38 ff. Ciceros main point here is that Archias poem honours not just Lucullus but the Roman people as well: this is meant to show that Archias is useful to the Roman people, and so ought to be cherished by them. By Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian. Cicero claims that this covered the warin its entirety (Mithridaticum vero bellum totum ab hoc expressum est, 21), but in view of the great hostility which had arisen between Lucullus and Pompey this must be an exaggeration: the poem was a commission from the Luculli (Att. This chapter examines the influence of Cicero's ancient defense of the poet Archias on the structure of Du Bois's argument in defense of full civil rights and access to liberal education for African Americans. 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. Cf. But Roscius was a figure who was familiar to the jury and entirely acceptable to them (partly, perhaps, on account of his high social status, unusual for an actor): Cicero now hopes that he can lay claim to that acceptance for Archias too. The Speech for Aulus Licinius Archias, the Poet - Forum Romanum Without praise, he explains, men would have no incentive to perform great deeds (the point is repeated from 23). That's comparable to the share who say the same about the federal budget deficit (49%), violent crime (48% . C. also promotes invaluable reading strategies along the way. For all branches of culture are linked by a sort of common bond and have a certain kinship with one another. He studied at his native city, and received a liberal education. Archias career is recounted up as far as his arrival in Rome in 102; Cicero impressively manages to connect him with both the consuls of that year, Marius and Catulus. Finally, the digressio performs an important function in diverting attention from the political aspect of the trial. Du Bois, the influence of Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta on The Souls of Black Folk is one of the most important. But the poem on Ciceros consulship seems never to have been written, a strange omission on Archias part, since he had a clear duty to provide it. First, M. Lucullus arranged for him to be granted honorary citizenship at Heraclea. In reality Archias, if he ever wore a toga at all, which is doubtful, would not have done so until 89, by which time he had been settled in Rome for thirteen years. The speech then comes to stand as proof of Archiass great teaching, as Ciceros exceptional command of language and rhetoric illustrates his teachers vast influence. Again, Lucullus had helped Cicero during the Catilinarian conspiracy (ibid. However, it also provides an invaluable insight into the early stages of Ciceros senior statesman persona. P. MacKendrick on the other hand, divides it into four parts, 1217a, 17b22, 237, and 2830.24 Without wishing to dispute either of these schemes, I prefer myself to divide the passage into just two basic parts. This is because he was my teacher. Cicero's famous defense of the poet Aulus Licinius Archias in Pro Archia Poeta Oratio remains one of the most eloquent and important works of Latin literature to date. Your email address will not be published. The digressio begins as if in anticipation of a question from the prosecutor ( 12):You will no doubt ask me, Grattius, why I am so delighted with this man (Quaeres a nobis, Gratti, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur). In Tacitus Dialogus de Oratoribus, one of the speakers, Maternus, is made to remark,It is not, I take it, the speeches which Demosthenes composed against his guardians that make him famous, nor is it Ciceros defences of P. Quinctius or Licinius Archias that make him a great orator: it was Catiline and Milo and Verres and Antony who covered him with glory (Non, opinor, Demosthenen orationes inlustrant quas adversus tutores suos composuit, nec Ciceronem magnum oratorem P. Quinctius defensus aut Licinius Archias faciuntCatilina et Milo et Verres et Antonius hanc illi famam circumdederunt, Dial. The speech is rounded off with a brief conclusio ( 312). But the study of literature sharpens youth and delights old age; it enhances prosperity and provides a refuge and comfort in adversity; it gives enjoyment at home without being a hindrance in the wider world; at night, and when travelling, and on country visits, it is an unfailing companion. While the speech itself is the legal defense of the poet Archias' claim to Roman citizenship, it also situates the debate of legal citizenship within a broader context of Roman cultural . Quaeres a nobis, Grati, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur. 41.36). Thereafter, Archias was set up with a permanent residence in Rome in preparation for achieving full Roman citizenship. We know that Archias wrote, in Greek, a historical poem in several books on the Mithridatic War ( 21). When Cicero states Primum Antiochaenam ibi natus est loco nobilicelebri quondam urbe (section 4), he slips in the detail loco nobili not in praise of Antioch, but rather in order to designate Archias social standing: he was born there into a good/noble family (cf. D. 1.79).7 The other consul, Marius, though reputedly uninterested in Greek culture, approved of Archias poem on Marius own defeat of the Cimbri in 101 ( 19). This is understandable in view of the higher social status of the Metelli. For other forms of mental relaxation are in no way suited to every time, age, and place. Especially relevant are Narducci, E. Cicerone e leloquenza romana, Rome and Bari (1997), and Dugan, J. Historical Background of Cicero's Oration, "The Citizenship of Archias 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. Great stress is laid, for example, on ita, sic, or tam preceding a result clause, or on the use of demonstrative pronouns to anticipate relative clauses, as in section 4: ab eis artibus quibus aetas puerilis ad humanitatem informari solet. Pointing out such features crucially nudges students beyond the beginners tendency to atomize Latin into discrete, unconnected units and instead gets them to read longer sentences as coherent structures. The argument itself is feeble (if rhetorically neat) and requires no further comment. 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. Our information about Archias derives almost exclusively from Ciceros speech. The reason for this, Cicero continues, is that there is no one who is unwilling to have his own deeds immortalized in verse (this was indeed true in his own case, as he will later reveal). Ciceros reasons for undertaking the defence are apparent from the speech. At 18 Cicero moves to the second part of the digressio. But all books, all the words of the wise and all history are full of examples which teach this lessonexamples which would all be lying in obscurity, had not the light of the written word been brought to them. 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). Several more arguments follow, but they are of little practical value since Cicero has already proved his case. 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 notes to section 27 could offer more help with Fulvius non dubitavit Martis manubias Musis consecrare. Teachers who recognized the numerous virtues of the first edition (1998) will equally welcome the second. Catulus was an enthusiast for Greek culture, and admitted Archias to his circle. This paper examines Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta Oratio and the author's implicit and explicit views on how Roman cultural identity is constructed. Archias's Roman citizenship has been called into question, and through an artful display of oratory and rhetoric, Cicero reconstructs the reality of Archias's life and contributions to provide proof of his worth as a citizen. A show of stylistic brilliance on Ciceros part will therefore reflect creditably on the man who taught him. Callim. 12). (Cic. H. C. Gotoff asserts that the reference iseither jocular or tasteless, and adds:Perhaps the best way to understand the reference to his brother is to take it together with Ciceros decision to speak in a style more epideictic than usually deemed effective in the law courts, and to assume that the orator had reason to be confident from the start in the outcome of the trial.32 This suggestion cannot be accepted, because a praetor in charge of a court had no means of determining or influencing a jurys verdict; this is why in his speeches Cicero addresses himself to the jury, and generally ignores the praetor. If this argument too is put another way, its weakness will be apparent:You may be surprised to hear me attributing my success in the courts to a poet rather than a rhetorician, but rhetoric is not the only subject I have studied, and in any case rhetoric and poetry are really the same sort of thing. The main value of this argument, however, is that it introduces the idea of thecommon bond (commune vinclum) by which Cicero claims all branches of culture are linked. With 259 selections made, the league's teams will soon begin figuring out how to fit all of these puzzle pieces together. Porter (cited n. 14) 140 f.; MacKendrick (cited n. 16) 110 f. Cf. But in case anyone is surprised to hear me say this, given that my clients talents lie not in the theory and practice of oratory but in another direction, I should point out that I have never devoted myself exclusively to this one art. This paper examines Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta Oratio and the author's implicit and explicit views on how Roman cultural identity is constructed. Archias's defense was undertaken by a former pupil of his, the previous year's Consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero. Quas ego mihi semper in administranda re publica proponens animum et mentem meam ipsa cogitatione hominum excellentium conformabam. Ciceros next argument begins with a rhetorical and effective (if not very logical) comparison between Archias and Homer: various Greek cities vie for the honour of having numbered Homer among their citizens, so Rome should be grateful that Archias belongs to her. There is an exordium ( 14a), then a narratio ( 4b7) outlining Archias career and the process by which he became a Roman citizen. 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. Themistocles is cited as an example, but then we have the surprising sentence ( 20):It was for the same reason that Marius was so fond of L. Plotius: he thought that his achievements could be made famous by Plotius talent (Itaque ille Marius item eximie L. Plotium dilexit, cuius ingenio putabat ea quae gesserat posse celebrari). If Archias was Ciceros grammatikos, he would have taught him to recite Homer and other Greek poets, and the vocal training that this involved may genuinely have helped him on his way to becoming a great orator. 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. In his speech defending Archias-the Pro Archia-Cicero argues that Archias was a Roman citizen. It was in Rome where Archias became a mentor and teacher of Cicero in his early education in rhetoric. Please subscribe or login. It argues that Pro Archia is an exercise in persuasion. It is clear from Pro Flacco that the sort of unremarkable, upper-class men who for the most part constituted Roman juries cannot have had any great respect for the Greek nation. He reinforces that proposition through the alliteration of Mars, manubiae, and the Muses: the language demonstrates the idea. This argument, understood literally, does in fact have some validity. This plea for Archias may man of Rome, a man of high birth, a sol- be divided thus: dier of no mean capacity, and an orator of mi I. Cicero's reasons for undertaking the unusual success. Here it is done with charm. 61, already quoted). It ends with a curious reference to the praetor in charge of the court ( 32): quae a foro aliena iudicialique consuetudine et de hominis ingenio et communiter de ipso studio locutus sum, ea, iudices, a vobis spero esse in bonam partem accepta, ab eo qui iudicium exercet certo scio. The high stylistic level, secondly, serves to establish an atmosphere of culture and sophistication, and this too is something that was best done right from the start. This is a fair parallel, since Homer and Archias were both Greek poets who produced poems narrating the exploits of military leaders. Then ( 5): Statim Luculli, cum praetextatus etiam tum Archias esset, eum domum suam receperunt. 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. (Watts translation[4]). It is for that reason that many noble Romans had a poet to write for them. A number of epigrams in the Greek Anthology appear under the name of Archias. What is interesting, however, is the way Cicero brings in a popular celebrity who has little or nothing to do with Archias and blatantly capitalizes on his star status and the affection in which he was held. Cicero: Pro Archia Poeta Oratio - Google Books The oration was rediscovered in Lige by Petrarch in 1333.[2]. 31.7). This second part can be subdivided in several ways (MacKendrick identifies the decisive breaks), but for the most part the transitions are gradual and one point merges into the next. Archias poetry, according to Cicero, is serious historical poetry, written to celebrate the glorious exploits of Romes generals and statesmen and make them known throughout the worlda large part of which, he adds, speaks only Greek. Cicero was always aware of the importance of entertaining and amusing his audiences, and he won them over partly by providing them with passages they would derive pleasure from listening to. 12.73); Cic. If he has not, then the further argument is obviously required. 1.16.15). 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. 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? Go fishing with the idea that Cicero (and classical authors tout court) keenly considered and combined form and content in a manner that was meaningful and not simply mechanical, and at least some students will bite.2 C. astutely notes how Cicero, while describing Archias attempts to obtain citizenship (section 7), imitates the language of the law he has just cited in order to suggest Archias compliance with it.
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