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Rhetorical theory, the core of Roman education, taught rules of public speaking that are still influential today. But Roman rhetoric has long been regarded as having little important to say about political ideas. The State of Speech presents a forceful challenge to this view. The first book to read Roman rhetorical writing as a mode of political thought, it focuses on Rome's greatest practitioner and theorist of public speech, Cicero. Through new readings of his dialogues and treatises, Joy Connolly shows how Cicero's treatment of the Greek rhetorical tradition's central questions is shaped by his ideal of the republic and the citizen. Rhetoric, Connolly argues, sheds new light on Cicero's deepest political preoccupations: the formation of individual and communal identity, the communicative role of the body, and the "unmanly" aspects of politics, especially civility and compromise.
Transcending traditional lines between rhetorical and political theory, The State of Speech is a major contribution to the current debate over the role of public speech in Roman politics. Instead of a conventional, top-down model of power, it sketches a dynamic model of authority and consent enacted through oratorical performance and examines how oratory modeled an ethics of citizenship for the masses as well as the elite. It explains how imperial Roman rhetoricians reshaped Cicero's ideal republican citizen to meet the new political conditions of autocracy, and defends Ciceronian thought as a resource for contemporary democracy.
List of contents
Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations used xiii Introduction: Rhetoric and political thought 1 Chapter One: Founding the state of speech 23 Politics in public 30 Ideology and power 38 Expressions of traditional authority 47 The rhetoric of equality 56 The rationalized republic 65 Chapter Two: Naturalized citizens 77 The nature of republics 82 Introducing the problem: The Ciceronian preface 89 Rome, naturally 104 Hybridity 113 Chapter Three: The body politic 118 The problem with philosophers 121 The corporeal citizen 130 A theory of political communication 137 An alternative history of the self 148 Fragility 151 Chapter Four: The aesthetics of virtue 158 The problem of liberty 158 The republic of passions 163 Decorum: Enactment of civic love 169 Catullus's republican rhetoric 175 Oratory and liberty, decorum and consent 185 Falling in love with the law 191 Chapter Five: Republican theater 198 Being and seeming 200 The civic stage 211 Women and speech 214 The best orator 223 The terrors of collectivity 231 Chapter Six: Imperial reenactments 237 Replay and parody 239 Reading resistance in Augustan declamation 242 Quintilian: A republican education for autocracy 254 Conclusion: The Ciceronian citizen in a global world 262 Bibliography 275 Ancient sources 293 Index 295
About the author
Joy Connolly
Summary
Rhetorical theory, the core of Roman education, taught rules of public speaking that are still influential today. But Roman rhetoric has long been regarded as having little important to say about political ideas. The State of Speech presents a forceful challenge to this view. The first book to read Roman rhetorical writing as a mode of political thought, it focuses on Rome's greatest practitioner and theorist of public speech, Cicero. Through new readings of his dialogues and treatises, Joy Connolly shows how Cicero's treatment of the Greek rhetorical tradition's central questions is shaped by his ideal of the republic and the citizen. Rhetoric, Connolly argues, sheds new light on Cicero's deepest political preoccupations: the formation of individual and communal identity, the communicative role of the body, and the "unmanly" aspects of politics, especially civility and compromise.
Transcending traditional lines between rhetorical and political theory, The State of Speech is a major contribution to the current debate over the role of public speech in Roman politics. Instead of a conventional, top-down model of power, it sketches a dynamic model of authority and consent enacted through oratorical performance and examines how oratory modeled an ethics of citizenship for the masses as well as the elite. It explains how imperial Roman rhetoricians reshaped Cicero's ideal republican citizen to meet the new political conditions of autocracy, and defends Ciceronian thought as a resource for contemporary democracy.
Additional text
"With a comprehensive grasp of political theory and literary criticism, Connolly creates a compelling case for using classical rhetorical texts as a lens for viewing political thought."---Laurie Wilson, Journal of Roman Studies
