Thursday, February 21, 2008
Cicero Journal due Monday Feb. 25th
To defend Archias successfully, Cicero decided upon a less customary courtroom procedure. In a well-written essay (or at least a paragraph or so), describe his new approach and include how Cicero approaches the jury, requests the exception he wants, and defends his request. What Ciceronian elements (e.g., rhetorical devices, word placement) are evident and how do they help his case? Be sure to include Latin (translated or paraphrased into English) that supports your ideas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Annie Alexandrian
2/21/08
Latin Journal #3
Cicero’s decision to reshape the way he approached the jury was very strategically. He is a great orator, because he knows how to win the favor of the judges and how not to offend them. In the exordium, his opening statement, he speaks very humbly about himself, but at the same time hints at his merits. He also explains beforehand that his sermo (style of speaking) is going to be changed to fit the case. In the beginning he speaks about how Archias helped him be able to succeed in oratory, with poetry. So, he wants not only to defend Archias but put on display how Archias helped make Cicero the great orator he is. It is very smart of him to give them notice that he will be speaking differently. By doing that, he prevents himself from coming off as arrogant or irrelevant. He uses his presentation as support for Archias’s case.
He also compliments and makes a connection with the court with his word placement, by using words such as eruditus, litteratus (accomplished, well-read). He is a saying that his new way of speaking would not be hard for them, thus he is complimenting them. This way of speaking is very effective for Cicero because he will have their attention and in the end their admiration.
Cicero Journal
2/24/08
Beginning in line 28 of Pro Archia, Cicero approaches the jury and says, “I ask from you that in this case, you give to me this indulgence appropriate to this defendant which I hope is not bothersome to you; that you allow me to speak a little more freely, (paulo loqui liberius) for this very great poet, a well educated man, speaking in this cultured assembly of men, and according to your culture, at last with this Roman magistrate exercising judgment you allow me to speak more freely about the pursuits of culture and literature…. (line 36-37) and so you allow me to use an unusual and unaccustomed style of speaking.”
Cicero asks the court if he may be allowed to speak more freely because he is in the company of very a cultured assembly of men. He says that he wishes to use a style of speaking that is suited more towards poets and scholars (otium ac stadium) than lawyers and courts (iudiciis periculisque). (Note here that Cicero uses a hendiadys which is an expression composed of two elements, generally nouns, joined by a conjunction, where the sense strictly demands a single modified noun) Undoubtedly, Cicero is attempting to complement the people of the court in the hopes that they will be more inclined to not only listen to his case, but to believe it wholeheartedly as well.
At the end of his argument (lines 36-37) Cicero repeats the statement he made at the beginning of the sentence, that in his defense he will utilize a style of speaking that usually heard in a court of law.
Cicero Journal #3
In the beginning, Cicero acts humble, saying how little talent he has as a speaker. He's bragging in a way, because everybody by then knew that he was a great orator. He credits Archias for his successes in life and requests the jury to allow him to speak in an unusual manner not seen in courts.
"queaeso a vobis ut in hac causa mihi detis hanc veniam *accommodatam huic reo, vobis, quemadmodum spero, non molestam; ut me pro summo poeta atque eruditissimo homine dicentem hoc concursu hominum litteratissimorum." (lines 28-32)
*chiastic word order used to create rhetorical effect
He requests that he speak freely, a way that would be most appropriate for Archias, a Greek poet. He complements the people of the court, highly educated men, "hominum litteratissimorum". The more you complement someone, the more likely they'll like you, or be friendly to you. By complementing the people of the court and giving the praetor a sense of respect ("such a praetor as this one that presides this trial"), it gives Cicero a better chance of winning the trial.
"Quod si mihi a vobis tribui concedique sentiam, perficiam profecto ut hunc A. Licinium non modo non segregandum, cum sit civis, a numero civium verum etiam, si non esset, putetis asciscendum fuisse." (lines 37-41)
Cicero says that if he feels that he was given the freedom to defend Archia as he felt, then he was sure that they would grant citizenship to Archias.
Cicero's approach to the court is very creative. It's unusual to the court. It is nice to hear something new occasionally. The courtroom might enjoy listening to a creative approach as a defense and they may give him points for being fresh.
For Archias' case, Cicero decides to employ a style of speaking not usually heard in a court of law: a poetic voice. He attributes his decision (to speak in an unique way) to Archias' poetic abilities...as we know, Cicero thinks very highly of Arc (his nic name), and wants to represent him in a way that somewhat honors his interests and accomplishments (since we know many think highly of Arc and his reputation). Cicero approaches the jury with a statement of fact in lines 39-42, translated as follows:
"But if I percieve that this (namely the type of speech he's going to use) is granted to me (Cic) by you (the judges, etc.), that this Archias Lucinius should not be segregated from a list of true citizens, and if he wasn't a citizen, you would think that he ought to be."
So basically, Cic is telling the judges that what he's about to say will prove Arc's citizenship if he hasn't said enough on Arc's behalf already.
Cic continues on, talking about Arc's growth out of the arts "artibus" and into the study of writing "scribendi studium". Then he talks about Arc becoming the smartest dude in Antioch, which was already full of very smart men "eruditissimis hominibus" and the liberal arts "liberalissimisque". Lastly, Cic mentions that Arc's arrivals "adventus" were so anticipated "celebrabantur" that the expectation "expectatio" of his arrival far surpassed of the reputation of his ability "famam ingeni", and that the admiration of his arrival surpassed the expectation.
Phew.
This isn't really word placement, but I think the superlatives that are used (concerning the men and studies in Antioch) for the sake of Arc's case are muy importante. They work to stress just how special this guy is - they set him apart from the average, rule-breaking citizens...they give him a sort of merit that makes any normal person feel kind of inferior to Arc, even though he is the defendant. Yeah.
i'm going to write it in the morning.
Sorry this is so late!
Okay, so in the beginning of the trial/presentation, Cicero starts off my self deprecating himself, and saying that he wasn’t very smart.
Then, a few lines into Pro Archius, Cicero asks the court if he may speak a little more freely “Paulo loqui liberius.” He goes on to say that he feels that it would be more approperate for this trial, being that Archius is a poet, that he is a little more free in his speech.
He also thinks that speaking this way would also work, due to the high stature of the men in the court “hominum litteratissimorum” meaning the very well educated men. He feels that because they are smarter than your average group, this style of speaking would be more suitable. This is also his way of complementing the judge and on lookers because he’s saying that they are smart. By saying this, they are, perhaps, more likely to vote for him in the decision.
I think that this is actually a pretty cool way to present a trail – especially in these times when I believe lawyers followed a pretty strict format for giving legal speeches. This also sort of shows Cicero’s power in Rome, because I get the feeling that they wouldn’t let just any old poet/scholar get up in the forum and start babbling on in poetry like speech. I think it’s actually very creative, and it sort of shows the court even more what kind of a person Archius is (that he is someone that would be represented by this flowery and nice language) that they will be more inclined to give him citizenship.
Post a Comment