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Ciceronians
Ciceronianism was the tendency among the Renaissance humanists to imitate the language and style of Cicero (106–43 BC) and hold it up as a model of Latin. The term was coined in the 19th century from the much older term ''ciceronianus'', 'a Ciceronian'.Manfred Landfester"Ciceronianism" in ''Brill's New Pauly''. That term is contrasted with ''christianus'' (Christian) in Jerome in the 4th century. Erasmus employs it the same way in the title of his dialogue ''Ciceronianus'' (1528).Fosca Mariani Zini"Ciceronianism" in Marco Sgarbi (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy'' (Springer, 2022), pp. 747–750. During the Renaissance, however, the term could have both positive and negative connotations, depending on whether slavish or creative imitation was in view. Cicero's writing was already considered classical by Quintilian in the 1st century. He was admired for his style in the Middle Ages, but only his ''De inventione'' and ''Topica'' were widely known.A. García-Bryce"Cicero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ciceronianus
''Ciceronianus'' ("The Ciceronian") is a treatise written by Desiderius Erasmus and published in 1528.Kate RobinsonFame with Tongue (Lingua verius quam calamo celebrem), or, The Gift of the Gab/ref> It attacks the style of scholarly Latin written during the early 16th century, which style attempted to ape Cicero's Latin. Content As Cicero lived before Jesus, Erasmus saw Cicero's Latin as pagan, and therefore unsuited to translating holy texts. Because Cicero had no words for Christian theological concepts, he suggested that modern Ciceronian purists would have to use pagan language, for example calling the Christian God "Jupiter Maximus" and Jesus himself "Apollo". Erasmus argues that if Cicero himself had become a Christian he would have adapted his language to incorporate Biblical names and concepts. Erasmus also sought to defend medieval Latinists whose allegedly barbarous style the Ciceronians had ridiculed. He argued that excessively strict adherence to Cicero led to a for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
