A ''controversia'' is an exercise in

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

; a form of

declamation Declamation (from the Latin: ''declamatio'') is an artistic form of public speaking. It is a dramatic oration designed to express through articulation, emphasis and gesture the full sense of the text being conveyed. History In Ancient Rome, decl ...

in which the student speaks for one side in a notional legal case such as treason or poisoning. The facts of the matter and relevant law are presented in a persuasive manner, in the style of a legal counsel.

History

Like ''thesis'' and ''

suasoria Suasoria is an exercise in rhetoric: a form of declamation in which the student makes a speech which is the soliloquy of an historical figure debating how to proceed at a critical junction in his life. As an academic exercise, the speech is deliv ...

'', ''controversia'' originated in ancient Greece. It was a rhetorical exercise and is associated with the history of Greek education. An early form of the Roman ''controversia'' was described by Seneca as a combination of thesis (''propositio'') and hypothesis (''causa''). The former pertained to the general topic being proposed for discussion from one or more points of view without delimitation of particular persons or circumstances. On the other hand, hypothesis refers to the particular controversy given by circumstances to a deliberating body for adjudication. Based on an example of the exercise cited in

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's ''

De oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, during which Marcus Antonius, the oth ...

'', it is cited that ''controversia'' emerged at least during 55 BCE, the date of ''De oratore'''s composition. The exercise was used in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, where it was, with the ''suasoria'', the final stage of a course in rhetoric at an

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. ''Controversia'' and ''suasoria'' provided students the best window into the play-speech of schooling and declamatory performance that formed the basis of ancient rhetorical mentality. As a form of disputation, it consists of a statement of one or more laws, which was followed by the circumstances of a fictitious case in which the speaker argued one side or the other. While ''suasoria'' required students to persuade a person (e.g., judge) or a group (e.g., jury) to act a certain way, ''controversia'' required a student to either prosecute or defend a person in a given legal case. The ''controversia'' is also distinguished from ''suasoria'' because of the complexity of its structural system of argument and the greater range of situations and characters employed. The distinction can also be explained in the way students who focused on this exercise ended up as forensic

orators Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

while those who trained in ''suasoria'' followed a career in

deliberative rhetoric Deliberative rhetoric (Greek: γένος συμβουλευτικόν, ''genos symbouleutikon''; Latin: ''genus deliberativum''; sometimes called legislative oratory) is one of the three kinds of rhetoric described by Aristotle. Deliberative rheto ...

. The process put students in the position of one offering reasoned advice and, as a result, earning experience in the application of the procedure of deliberative theory.

Seneca the Elder Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder ( ; – c. AD 39), also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rhetoric, ...

was an expert rhetorician and, from memory, compiled a set of classical themes for this exercise: the ''Controversiæ''. ''Controversia'' is demonstrated in the case of

Quintillian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quinti ...

's '' Declamationes Minores'' where ''suasoria'' was turned into this exercise by using a courtroom as a setting. The plot addressed the issue of a son who married the daughter of his father's enemy so he could use the

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

to ransom his who was captured by pirates. Quintillian used controversia as an analytical method, which involved a survey of diversity of opinions on a specific topic to identify positions as well as the pros and cons of each side. He also introduced the term ''controversia figurata'' (figured speech) to explain an excitement of suspicion for the purpose of indicating that what is meant is other than the words would seem to imply and such “meaning is not, in this case, contrary to that which we express, as in the case of irony, but rather a hidden meaning which is left to the hearer to discover.”

References

{{reflist Pedagogy Rhetoric