Cicero's Political Personae

Kenty, Joanna

doi:10.1017/9781108878098

“…463 Success in this campaign for the armed suppression of Antony rested on Cicero's self-positioning as someone from whom his addressees-influential military generals-could receive legitimacy. 464 He begins fashioning this authoritative ethos by imploring his correspondents not to wait for senatorial support before engaging in private resistance (privatum consilium) on behalf of the res publica 12.7.2;10.16.2). 465 Because it is not yet liber, the Senate is unable to formally express its approval of the anti-Antonian cause through official sanction.…”

Section: Princeps Sumendorum Sagorummentioning

confidence: 99%

All Things to All Men: Ethos in Cicero’s Post-Ides Correspondence

Galloway¹

2021

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In the wake of Caesar’s assassination, Cicero was without the necessary magisterial and martial authority to direct affairs and his influence over the fractious Senate was fragile at best. So, too, did he face the challenge of physical distance. With influential statesmen scattered across the Roman world, the reliance on correspondence for political manoeuvring and the performance of self was more pronounced than ever before. Cicero’s letters, then, played an essential role in his self-fashioning of authority after the Ides of March. This thesis illuminates the nuanced, critical, and underappreciated role that Cicero’s correspondence played in his cultivation of fresh influence after Caesar’s death by assessing the post-Ides corpus through the lens of ethos. In particular, Aristotle’s conception of ethos as comprising phronesis (‘practical wisdom’ or ‘prudence’), eunoia (‘goodwill’ or ‘benevolence’), and aretē excellence’ or ‘moral virtue’) provides a valuable framework. When applied to the letters, three distinct instances of epistolary persona creation are revealed: Cicero as Nestor, Cicero as amicus, and Cicero as saviour. Each of these personae, it is demonstrated, are ultimately employed by the statesman to establish authority as the res publica’s helmsman.

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“…463 Success in this campaign for the armed suppression of Antony rested on Cicero's self-positioning as someone from whom his addressees-influential military generals-could receive legitimacy. 464 He begins fashioning this authoritative ethos by imploring his correspondents not to wait for senatorial support before engaging in private resistance (privatum consilium) on behalf of the res publica 12.7.2;10.16.2). 465 Because it is not yet liber, the Senate is unable to formally express its approval of the anti-Antonian cause through official sanction.…”

Section: Princeps Sumendorum Sagorummentioning

confidence: 99%

All Things to All Men: Ethos in Cicero’s Post-Ides Correspondence

Galloway¹

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the wake of Caesar’s assassination, Cicero was without the necessary magisterial and martial authority to direct affairs and his influence over the fractious Senate was fragile at best. So, too, did he face the challenge of physical distance. With influential statesmen scattered across the Roman world, the reliance on correspondence for political manoeuvring and the performance of self was more pronounced than ever before. Cicero’s letters, then, played an essential role in his self-fashioning of authority after the Ides of March. This thesis illuminates the nuanced, critical, and underappreciated role that Cicero’s correspondence played in his cultivation of fresh influence after Caesar’s death by assessing the post-Ides corpus through the lens of ethos. In particular, Aristotle’s conception of ethos as comprising phronesis (‘practical wisdom’ or ‘prudence’), eunoia (‘goodwill’ or ‘benevolence’), and aretē excellence’ or ‘moral virtue’) provides a valuable framework. When applied to the letters, three distinct instances of epistolary persona creation are revealed: Cicero as Nestor, Cicero as amicus, and Cicero as saviour. Each of these personae, it is demonstrated, are ultimately employed by the statesman to establish authority as the res publica’s helmsman.

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Books Received 71.1

2021

The Class. Rev.

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Cicero's Political Personae

Cited by 5 publications

References 240 publications

All Things to All Men: Ethos in Cicero’s Post-Ides Correspondence

All Things to All Men: Ethos in Cicero’s Post-Ides Correspondence

All Things to All Men: Ethos in Cicero’s Post-Ides Correspondence

Books Received 71.1

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