Oratory and Political Career in the Late Roman Republic

Oratory and Political Career in the Late Roman Republic is a pioneering investigation into the role of oratory in Roman Republican politics.

Henriette van der Blom (Author)

9781107051935, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 August 2016

388 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.69 kg

'Henriette van der Blom's new monograph is an exciting and important contribution to a new wave of scholarship on Roman oratory and rhetoric. She has gathered a trove of useful information about well-known figures of the late Republic, but much of that information will be new to her readers, who know figures like Pompey, Caesar, and Antony better as military leaders than as practitioners of oratory.' Joanna Kenty, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Oratory and Political Career in the Late Roman Republic is a pioneering investigation into political life in the late Roman Republic. It explores the nature and extent to which Roman politicians embraced oratorical performances as part of their political career and how such performances influenced the careers of individual orators such as Gaius Gracchus, Pompeius Magnus, and Julius Caesar. Through six case studies, this book presents a complex and multifaceted picture of how Roman politicians employed oratory to articulate their personal and political agendas, to present themselves to a public obsessed with individual achievement, and ultimately to promote their individual careers. By dealing specifically with orators other than Cicero, this study offers much-needed alternatives to our understanding of public oratory in Rome. Moreover, the assessment of the impact of public speeches on the development of political careers provides new perspectives on the hotly debated nature of republican political culture.

Introduction
Part I. The Role of Oratory in Roman Politics: 1. Oratorical settings and career possibilities
2. Other routes to political success
Part II. Themes and Oratorical Careers: 3. Tribunician oratory and family inheritance: Gaius Gracchus' political career
4. Politics behind the scenes: Pompeius' oratory and political career
5. The oratorical springboard: Caesar's political career
6. The oratory and career of Piso Caesoninus
7. Powerful profiling: Cato the Younger and the impact of self-presentation
8. Career-making in a time of crisis: Marcus Antonius' oratory
Conclusion: towards a new Brutus
Appendix 1. Gaius Gracchus' public speeches
Appendix 2. Pompius' public speeches
Appendix 3. Caesar's public speeches
Appendix 4. Piso's public speeches
Appendix 5. Cato's public speeches
Appendix 6. Marcus Antonius' public speeches.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Language: history & general works [CBX]