Pro Lege Manilia

Introduction: why does the set text matter?

“…Cicero specifies innocentia ('integrity'), temperantia ('moderation'), fides ('trustworthiness'), facilitas ('ease in interpersonal relations'), ingenium ('outstanding talent'), and humanitas ('human kindness'). 16 It is probably fair to say (and Cicero concedes as much in § 29) that many in the audience would not have intuitively thought of the qualities in the second set as essential attributes of virtus imperatoria and hence hallmarks of the perfect general. Cicero, in other words, does something decidedly unorthodox.…”

“…non-senator) in 81 or 80 and again in 71, 14 got married for the third time to Mucia, the relative of various prominent Romans, 15 contributed to Crassus's defeat of Spartacus's slave war, and was eventually elected to the consulship of 70 at the age of thirty-six, six years too young and (unlike Cicero) having held none of the prerequisite offices. 16 So much, then, for the stipulations of the various leges annales ('Laws of Minimum Age Requirements') detailed in footnote 2 above.…”

Commentary

“…It is worth questioning this piece of praise a bit, especially as it comes from Cicero. 12 Depending on the reader, it could imply very few military feats indeed; if, on the other hand, the reader Cicero has in mind is someone like himself (who had surely perused all the major Greek and Roman historiographers and most of the minor ones as well) the praise turns into panegyric hyperbole. It is perhaps unsurprising that the earliest attestation of the contrast comes from Cicero, whose first-hand experience of military life was notoriously limited, but who was a voracious reader.…”

“…Ingo Gildenhard, King's College Cambridge PS: The portion of the speech set for the AS-examination ( § § [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] covers most of Cicero's portrait of the perfect general but leaves out the end ( § § [46][47][48][49]. We are convinced that most, if not all, students would wish to read the full account and have therefore included these additional paragraphs in the present edition.…”

“…After this peek at the beginning and end of the speech (and Cicero's possible motivations for mounting the speaker's platform), it's time to get the speech as a whole into view, with a particular emphasis on his portrait of the perfect general ( § § , most of which (= § § [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] is included in your set text. Here is a basic outline: 8…”