in defense of archias summary in defense of archias summary

The Luculli straight away received Archias into their house, although even at this time he was still of the age when the toga of boyhood is worn. Here Cicero was confronted by a marked xenophobic and anti-intellectual prejudice, one with which he and his brother had no sympathy, but which was prevalent among the jury. After a brief hit at philosophers for their hypocrisy in writing their names on the books they have written, we are back with Roman generals once again: D. Junius Brutus Callaicus inscribed his monuments with poems by Accius, and M. Fulvius Nobilior dedicated his spoils of war to the Muses ( 26b27). 1.25; Quint. Thereafter, Archias was set up with a permanent residence in Rome in preparation for achieving full Roman citizenship. The comparison with Ennius is a useful one for Cicero, since Ennius was Romes great national poet and would have been fully acceptable to the jury. It is clear from Pro Flacco that the sort of unremarkable, upper-class men who for the most part constituted Roman juries cannot have had any great respect for the Greek nation. Pro Archia, then, is genuinely, all of it, an exercise in persuasion. Cicero boldly connects military success and regard for poets. There is an exordium ( 14a), then a narratio ( 4b7) outlining Archias career and the process by which he became a Roman citizen. There is no partitio,16 and no reprehensio (unless 1011 are viewed as reprehensio). As an honorary citizen of Heraclea, Archias satisfied condition (a), and as a long-standing resident of Rome he satisfied condition (b). Metellus had died by the time of the trial, but Cicero talks in 26 of Metellus concern to have his achievements immortalized in verse, and it seems that Archias put his obligation to that family before his obligation to Cicero. First, Archias was a literary man, a poet, and this is a factor which was potentially prejudicial to the defence. We can infer this from the reticent tone Cicero feels it necessary to adopt in other speeches when he is discussing subjects with any kind of intellectual content. Such a characterization could not have been employed by Cicero unless the jury already held, or at least were disposed to hold, a similar view themselves. The accusation is believed to have been a political move against Lucullus through Archias. He starts with his trademark periodic sentence by depicting his strengths of natural talent, experience, and strategy while appearing humble and inferior to the qualities of his client. W. M. Porter divides it into three parts, 1216 covering the benefits afforded by the study of poetry, 1719 covering the intrinsic virtues of poets, and 2030 covering the relationship of the poet and his poetry to the state. The Pro Archia, then, is an oration with a complex network of layered meaning with broad cultural implications both for Cicero's audience and for readers today. The introductory material places the Pro Archia among Ciceros most aesthetically powerful orations and stresses the speechs championing of humanistic principles. Here it is done with charm. Rome The first point to bear in mind, then, is that this passage is, formally at least, the second stage of Ciceros argument as announced at 4a. I should like therefore to pause at this point and consider what are Ciceros reasons for including this digression, and for allowing it so to dominate the speech. Arch. [3] Due to political unrest, Archias, while yet a mere youth, left Antioch and travelled around the major cities of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, in each of . So let the name of poet, gentlemen, which no barbarian race has ever treated with disrespect, be a sacred name among you, the most enlightened of men. On the political aspect see further Gruen and Stockton (cited n. 12), the former making too much of and the latter too little of the trials political significance. The digressio begins as if in anticipation of a question from the prosecutor ( 12):You will no doubt ask me, Grattius, why I am so delighted with this man (Quaeres a nobis, Gratti, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur). 5.11.25, 8.3.75, 9.4.44, 11.1.34, 11.3.84, 11.3.167). Lucullus command proved to be highly successful in the early stages of the war, but after pursuing Mithridates into Armenia in 69 he began to lose the support of his troops; when his subordinate C. Valerius Triarius was heavily defeated in 67, he was relieved of his command, and Pompey was appointed the following year to bring the war to a successful conclusion. He therefore declared himself before his friend the praetor Q. Metellus Pius and obtained Roman citizenship. Whether this reason or his desire to protect his old teacher weighed more heavily with him it would be foolish to speculate.14 A third reason not explicitly mentioned in the speech but quite clear from it is that Cicero wished to oblige the Luculli. Persuasion of a different kind occurs in the next section ( 6): Erat temporibus illis iucundus Q. Metello illi Numidico et eius Pio filio, audiebatur a M. Aemilio, vivebat cum Q. Catulo et patre et filio, a L. Crasso colebatur, Lucullos vero et Drusum et Octavios et Catonem et totam Hortensiorum domum devinctam consuetudine cum teneret, adficiebatur summo honore , Back in those days Archias was regarded with affection by the famous Q. Metellus Numidicus and his son Pius; his recitations were attended by M. Aemilius; he was constantly in the company of Q. Catulus and his son; his friendship was cultivated by L. Crassus; and as for the Luculli, Drusus, the Octavii, Cato, and the entire family of the Hortensii, he was on the closest terms with all of them and was treated by them with the greatest respect . Poets (at least good ones) were of course highly esteemed by cultured Romans such as the Catuli, the Luculli, and Cicero himself, but such men were a minority. 4.74), and there is no reason to suppose that the one that heard Archias the following year was any different. 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In this section, Cicero discredits the four points raised against his client. Archias does not appear on the Roman census rolls taken during the period in which he claimed to have lived there. The Pro Archia, or, to give it its full (and translated) name, the Speech on Behalf of Aulus Licinius Archias the Poet, is a speech given by the Roman orator Cicero, in defence of Archias on the charge of falsely claiming to be a Roman citizen. ), and Cicero had set aside time during it to defend a relation of Lucullus (Att. (Cic. How many finely executed portraits of the most valiant men have the Greek and Latin writers left us, and not only for our contemplation but for our emulation! Cicero mentions three benefits of literature: literature provides refreshment for the spirit and repose for the senses; it provides Cicero with inspiration for his daily speeches and therefore strengthens his oratorical powers; and it contains moral lessons and provides examples to contemplate and to emulate. At the same time he is also alluding to the uniquely Roman custom whereby nobles kept wax masks (imagines) of their ancestors who had held curule office within the atria of their houses. It could even be read as a sort of laudatio funebris for Archias, Cicero, and liberal learning. 54). BMCR provides the opportunity to comment on reviews in order to enhance scholarly communication. The Romans seem to have found it advantageous to make use of every argument at their disposal, not merely the decisive ones: this can be observed not only in oratory but also for example in Lucretius. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 101 N. Merion Ave., We know that Archias wrote, in Greek, a historical poem in several books on the Mithridatic War ( 21). Cicero cannot conceal or explain away Archias occupation, and so he has no choice but to make a virtue of it. Examples of hendiadys abound, and C. carefully explains and smoothly translates these tricky bits of Ciceronian fullness, as in section 3, where tanto conventu hominum ac frequentia is both translated literally and then rendered as with so numerous a throng of men. Students are taught to distinguish the literal meaning from Ciceros meaning. 28), The measures which I, jointly with you, undertook in my consulship for the safety of the empire, the lives of our citizens, and the common weal of the state, have been taken by my client as the subject of a poem which he has begun; he read this to me, and the work struck me as at once so forcible and so interesting, that I encouraged him to complete it. That's comparable to the share who say the same about the federal budget deficit (49%), violent crime (48% . This would be an ideal moment to demonstrate (and to explain) the artistry of Ciceros language. This is a convenient idea for Cicero because it will allow him, later in the speech, to widen his discussion to include other disciplines of more obvious practicality or value. this page. That generation will be fortunate to begin reading the Pro Archia with this edition. In this regard C.s correct but unconnected observation on Ciceros avoidance of strict parallelism at the end of section 27 (sentence 2 on the note to togati iudices) strikes me as awkwardly formalistic (one wonders if Gotoffs analysis lurks in the background).3 Yet the immediately preceding comment (sentence 1) on Ciceros attempt to insert Archias into an esteemed line of Roman exempla both hits the mark and gives students food for thought. Ciceros defense of Archias follows a two-pronged argument. The head of the family, L. Licinius Lucullus, went into exile, probably in 102, after being convicted of misconduct in Sicily the previous year, but he had two teenage sons at home, Lucius and Marcus, and Archias no doubt assisted with their education. After the rebuttal Cicero presents his case for Archias citizenship. The speech is rounded off with a brief conclusio ( 312). Cicero emphasizes the stature of those who gave patronage to Archias by altering the usual word order. He continued to live with the Luculli, accompanying L. Lucullus to the East in the 80s and again during the Third Mithridatic War (7363 bc), in the period when Lucullus was in command of the Roman forces (7367). Cicero in fact knew well how to serve one side without offending the other: he had done it before in Pro Lege Manilia (66 bc), in which praise for Pompey is combined with a generous appreciation of Lucullus achievements. This chapter reviews the historical circumstances of Archias' trial, and then discusses the speech itself and some of the issues it raises, especially that of why the encomium of literature is included, and how it contributes to the defence. In this chapter I shall briefly review the historical circumstances of Archias trial, and then discuss the speech itself and some of the issues it raises, especially that of why the encomium of literature is included, and how it contributes to the defence. If Archias accuser is indeed connected with Pompey, as seems likely, then the reference has added point: in seeking to deprive Lucullus man of his citizenship, Grattius is ignoring the precedent set by his own patron. What is interesting, however, is the way Cicero brings in a popular celebrity who has little or nothing to do with Archias and blatantly capitalizes on his star status and the affection in which he was held. (2001) How to Make (and Break) a Cicero: Epideixis, Textuality, and Self-fashioning in the, Nesholm, E.J. Cicero came to his former teacher's defense at his trial in 62 BC, only months after delivering the famous Catiline Orations. Clark, Albert Curtis: in Oxford Classical Texts, Dugan, J. The notes are clear throughout and fruitfully employ the glossary explanations of key rhetorical features, such as chiasmus, hyperbaton, and hendiadys. Being Economical with the Truth: What Really Happened at Lampsacus? He does, it is true, make an exception for the Greeks of Achaea, who could point to a more distinguished, if remote, past, and lived closer to Rome. In the narratio, the facts are very simply stated. The reason for this, Cicero continues, is that there is no one who is unwilling to have his own deeds immortalized in verse (this was indeed true in his own case, as he will later reveal). Please subscribe or login. He applied the three techniques that were expected of ancient oratory: pathos (emotional persuasion), ethos (credibility persuasion), and logos (logical persuasion). Polyb. Ciceros reasons for undertaking the defence are apparent from the speech. H. C. Gotoff asserts that the reference iseither jocular or tasteless, and adds:Perhaps the best way to understand the reference to his brother is to take it together with Ciceros decision to speak in a style more epideictic than usually deemed effective in the law courts, and to assume that the orator had reason to be confident from the start in the outcome of the trial.32 This suggestion cannot be accepted, because a praetor in charge of a court had no means of determining or influencing a jurys verdict; this is why in his speeches Cicero addresses himself to the jury, and generally ignores the praetor. In addition to defending Archias at this time, he also undertook the defence of Pompeys brother-in-law P. Sulla Fam. The legal argument now being triumphantly concluded, it might be assumed that Ciceros defence is over. He continued, however, to live in Rome. That astonishing naval battle off Tenedos, when L. Lucullus killed the enemy commanders and sank their fleet, will always be spoken of and proclaimed as ours: ours are the trophies, ours the monuments, ours the triumphs. After providing the jury with the legal foundations of Archiass citizenship, he proceeds to argue that even if reasonable doubt were to surround Archiass claim to be a Roman citizen, he should nevertheless be considered worthy of inclusion in the citizen body as a result of the contribution his poetry has made to the Republic. The sententious and lyrical language in which the point is made effectively proves the point ( 16): Nam ceterae neque temporum sunt neque aetatum omnium neque locorum; at haec studia adulescentiam acuunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solacium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur. 4.1.5460). The brief introduction (Section B) includes the background of the trial, defense strategy, date, outcome (probably acquittal), and an outline of the speech. Now that I have become a famous advocate, I feel that I have a duty to defend him. But this would of course be much less neat rhetorically, and would also make Ciceros obligation appear much less pressing. This chapter examines the influence of Cicero's ancient defense of the poet Archias on the structure of Du Bois's argument in defense of full civil rights and access to liberal education for African Americans. He reveals this thesis in lines 2022: He continues with this approach in the final lines of this section where he proposes that even if Archias were not enrolled as a citizen, his virtuous qualities should compel us to enroll him. Let us now turn to the argument of the opening sections; this is also revealing of Ciceros techniques. To begin with, he was a Syrian by birth, a Greek-speaker from the eastern edge of the Empire. Life of Archias. For centuries it has been seen as a charming encomium of literature, and it would be wrong to deny that it is that. Archias, who first arrived in Rome in 102 BCE, had, since the conclusion of the Social War in 89 BCE, been living as a Roman citizen and enjoying all of its attendant privileges.