The History of Roman Literature: From the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus AureliusCruttwell, Charles Thomas
Philosophy
The History of Roman Literature: From the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus Aurelius
Cruttwell, Charles Thomas
Latin literature -- History and criticism
For deliberative eloquence it has been already said that Cicero was not
well fitted, since on great questions of state it is not so much the
orator's fire or even his arguments that move as the authority which
attaches to his person. And in this lofty source of influence Cicero was
deficient. It was not by his fiery invective, or his impressive pictures
of the peril of the state, that the senate was persuaded to condemn the
Catilinarian conspirators to death without a trial; it was the stern
authoritative accents of Cato that settled their wavering resolution.
Cicero was always applauded; men like Crassus, Pompey, or Caesar, were
followed.
Even in his own special department of judicial eloquence Cicero's mind was
not able to cope with the great principles of law. Such fundamental
questions as "Whether law may be set aside for the purpose of saving the
state?" "How far an illegal action which has had good results is
justifiable?" questions which concern the statesman and philosopher as
much as the jurist, he meets with a superficial and merely popular
treatment. Without any firm basis of opinion, either philosophical like
Cato's, personal like Caesar's, or traditional like that of the senate, he
was compelled to judge questions by the results which he could foresee at
the moment, and by the floating popular standard to which, as an advocate,
he had naturally turned.
But while denying to Cicero the highest legal attributes, we must not
forget that the jury before whom he pleaded demanded eloquence rather than
profound knowledge. The orations to which they were accustomed were laid
out according to a fixed rhetorical plan, the plan proposed in the
treatise to Herennius and in Cicero's own youthful work, the _De
Inventione_. There is the introduction, containing the preliminary
statement of the case, and the ethical proof; the body of the speech, the
argument, and the peroration addressing itself to the passions of the
judge. No better instance is found of this systematic treatment than the
speech for Milo, [49] declared by native critics to be faultless, and of
which, for the sake of illustration, we give a succinct analysis. It must
be remembered that he has a bad case. He commences with a few introductory
remarks intended to recommend himself and conciliate his judges, dilating
on the special causes which make his address less confident than usual,
and claiming their indulgence for it. He then answers certain _a priori_
objections likely to be offered, as that no homicide deserves to live,
which is refuted by the legal permission to kill in self-defence; that
Milo's act had already been condemned by the senate, which is refuted by
the fact that a majority of senators praised it; that Pompey had decided
the question of law, which is refuted by his permitting a trial at all,
which he would not have done unless a legal defence could be entertained.
The objections answered, and a special compliment having been judiciously
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