In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Cicero's Speeches: Overviews and Themes

  • Introduction
  • General Overviews
  • Bibliographies
  • Digital Resources
  • Editions: Texts, Translations, Commentaries

Classics Cicero's Speeches: Overviews and Themes
by
Henriette van der Blom
  • LAST MODIFIED: 07 January 2025
  • DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0423

Introduction

Cicero was and is considered the greatest Roman orator of all time. His speeches offer invaluable information about Latin oratory and rhetoric, and—together with his letters and his rhetorical and political treatises—offer the most substantial source material for the Roman republican period by any single person. A total of fifty-eight speeches are extant in (almost) complete form, fifteen exist only in brief fragments, and Cicero delivered at least eighty further speeches (see Crawford’s M. Tullius Cicero, the lost and unpublished orations, 1994, pp. 3–4); a total of 153 speeches. He may have delivered more speeches unknown today, while a few of the extant speeches purport delivery but were never actually delivered, only circulated in written form (e.g., In Pisonem, Pro Milone, Philippic II). Traditionally divided into forensic (court case) speeches and deliberative (political) speeches delivered in the popular assemblies or the senate, Cicero’s speeches span his entire career from a budding advocate in the private law courts (first extant speech in 81 BCE) to senior senator addressing the senate in spring 43 BCE. The speeches were transmitted as examples of excellent oratory and excellent Latin for the benefit of Cicero’s contemporary and posthumous reputation and for educational purposes, and they are still used to teach students of Latin, rhetoric, history, and political thought. Much current knowledge about the Roman republic, especially the first century BCE, derives from Cicero—and much of this from Cicero’s speeches. This article does not include scholarship that makes use of Cicero’s speeches to elucidate aspects of republican Rome, unless a substantial and clearly demarcated part of it is focused on Cicero’s speeches. Nor does it include scholarship that focuses mainly on other genres employed by Cicero, such as his many treatises on rhetoric and philosophy or his corpus of letters. See the separate Oxford Bibliographies in Classics articles Cicero, Cicero’s Philosophical Works, Cicero’s Rhetorical Works, and Roman Literary Letters. Rather, the bibliography includes works which discuss Cicero’s speeches explicitly as speeches or as sources for Roman oratorical and rhetorical practice, by which “oratory” means the practice of speech while “rhetoric” means the theory of preparing and delivering persuasive speech. This bibliography cross-references to its “sister” bibliography, the Oxford Bibliographies in Classics article Cicero’s Speeches: Individual Speeches.

General Overviews

Cicero’s speeches as a whole can be approached from different angles: Kennedy 1972 and Pernot 2000 include Cicero in a historical overview of rhetoric in the Roman world and in Greco-Roman perspective, whereas Dominik and Hall 2007 offers a series of introductory studies to Roman rhetoric, including Cicero. Marinone 2004 offers a helpful chronological overview. The collections of chapters in May 2002 and Steel 2013 focus on Cicero and include discussions of Cicero’s speeches, while Steel 2005 stress Cicero’s written works (including speeches) to support his career. Mitchell 1979, Mitchell 1991 and Tempest 2011 provide biographical contexts to Cicero’s speeches.

  • Dominik, William J., and Jon C. R. Hall, eds. 2007. A companion to Roman rhetoric. Oxford: Blackwell.

    A total thirty-two chapters on all aspects of rhetoric and oratory in Rome, including a dedicated chapter on Cicero as orator.

  • Kennedy, George A. 1972. The art of rhetoric in the Roman world, 300 BC–AD 300. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.

    Places Cicero’s speeches and rhetorical works within the longer history of rhetoric and oratory in the Roman world and offers concise discussion of many of his most influential speeches.

  • Marinone, Nino. 2004. Cronologia ciceroniana. 2d ed. Bologna, Italy: Pàtron Editore.

    Cicero’s life and works in chronological order, providing excellent overview and evidence for dating Cicero’s extant and known speeches.

  • May, James M., ed. 2002. Brill’s companion to Cicero: Oratory and rhetoric. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.

    Dedicated to Cicero’s speeches and rhetorical works, leading experts provide both overview and detailed discussions of most of the speeches as well as an extensive bibliography of scholarship (up to 2002).

  • Mitchell, Thomas N. 1979. Cicero: The ascending years. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.

    Comprehensive biography of Cicero from birth to the consulship, including his speeches in the context of his career. The source references are particularly full and helpful.

  • Mitchell, Thomas N. 1991. Cicero: The senior statesman. New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press.

    DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt1xp3tcd

    The second volume of Mitchell’s biography, covering Cicero’s consulship in 63 BCE to his death.

  • Pernot, Laurent. 2000. La rhétorique dans l’Antiquité. Paris: Librairie Générale Française.

    Introduction to rhetoric in Greco-Roman antiquity, including substantial discussion of Cicero’s speeches. English translation by W. E. Higgins, Rhetoric in Antiquity (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2005).

  • Steel, Catherine. 2005. Reading Cicero: Genre and performance in late Republican Rome. London: Duckworth.

    Discusses Cicero’s writings as a means to further his career and offers insightful observations on the role of speeches circulated in written version.

  • Steel, Catherine, ed. 2013. The Cambridge companion to Cicero. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.

    A series of chapters on all aspects of Cicero, including his speeches, their political impact, his prose style, and the reception of his person and works.

  • Tempest, Kathryn. 2011. Cicero: Politics and persuasion in ancient Rome. London: Bloomsbury.

    Detailed yet engaging biography, based mainly on Cicero’s speeches and letters. It provides excellent historical and political context to the speeches, while remaining alert to rhetorical features.

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