Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
's oration ''Pro Archia Poeta'' ("On Behalf of Archias the Poet") is the published literary form of his defense of
Aulus Licinius Archias Aulus Licinius Archias ( grc-gre, Ἀρχίας; fl. c. 120 – 61 BC) was a Greco-Syrian poet.
Life
He was born in Antioch, Syria (modern Antakya, Turkey). He studied at his native city, and received a liberal education. During his school da ...
, a poet accused of not being a
Roman citizen
Citizenship in ancient Rome (Latin: ''civitas'') was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in Ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, t ...
. The accusation is believed to have been a political move against
Lucullus
Lucius Licinius Lucullus (; 118–57/56 BC) was a Roman general and statesman, closely connected with Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In culmination of over 20 years of almost continuous military and government service, he conquered the eastern kingdom ...
through Archias. The poet was originally Greek but had been living in Rome for an extended period of time. A letter from Cicero to
Titus Pomponius Atticus
Titus Pomponius Atticus (November 110 BC – 31 March 32 BC; later named Quintus Caecilius Pomponianus Atticus) was a Roman editor, banker, and patron of letters, best known for his correspondence and close friendship with prominent Roman s ...
in the year following the trial makes mention of Archias, but there is no conclusive evidence about the outcome of the trial. The oration was rediscovered in Liège by
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
in 1333.
Historical background
Licinius Archias was born in
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
around 120 BC and arrived in Rome in 102 BC. It was here that he earned a living as a poet and gained the patronage of the Roman general and politician L. Lucullus. Archias wrote poems of the general's military exploits, and in 93 BC, Lucullus helped him gain citizenship of the
municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...
of
Heraclea. Thereafter, Archias was set up with a permanent residence in Rome in preparation for achieving full Roman citizenship. It was in Rome where Archias became a mentor and teacher of Cicero in his early education in
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
.
Archias had become eligible for Roman citizenship under the ''
Lex Iulia
A ''lex Julia'' (plural: ''leges Juliae'') was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia. Most often, "Julian laws", ''lex Julia'' or ''leges Juliae'' refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, o ...
de Civitate Latinis Danda'', passed in 90 BC, and the ''
Lex Plautia Papiria
The ''Lex Plautia Papiria de Civitate Sociis Danda'' was a Roman plebiscite enacted amidst the Social War in 89 BCE. It was proposed by the Tribunes of the Plebs, M. Plautius Silvanus and C. Papirius Carbo. The law granted Roman citizenship to ...
de Civitate Sociis Danda'', passed in 89 BC. The ''Lex Iulia'' granted Roman citizenship to all citizens of municipia on the Italic peninsula, provided they had not fought against Rome in the
Social War.
Basis of the prosecution and defense
In 65 BC, the Roman Senate passed the ''Lex Papia de Peregrinis'', which challenged false claims of citizenship and expelled foreigners from Rome. It is most likely under this law that Archias was prosecuted. Cicero came to his former teacher's defense at his trial in 62 BC, only months after delivering the famous
Catiline Orations
The Catilinarian Orations (; also simply the ''Catilinarians'') are a set of speeches to the Roman Senate given in 63 BC by Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the year's consuls, accusing a senator, Lucius Sergius Catilina (Catiline), of leading a p ...
.
The prosecution laid out four accusations in its case against Archias:
*There was no official enrollment record for Archias as a citizen of Heraclea
*Archias did not maintain a permanent residence in Rome
*The records of the
praetor
Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vario ...
s of 89 BC, which list Archias’ name, are unreliable
*Archias does not appear on the Roman census rolls taken during the period in which he claimed to have lived there.
Cicero
argued in defense:
*There was no official enrollment record for Archias in Heraclea because the records office had notoriously been destroyed during the
Social War, and representatives of Heraclea testified that Archias was in fact a citizen.
*He did have a
residence
A residence is a place (normally a building) used as a home or dwelling, where people reside.
Residence may more specifically refer to:
* Domicile (law), a legal term for residence
* Habitual residence, a civil law term dealing with the status ...
in Rome.
*He also appeared in the records of the praetor
Metellus
The gens Caecilia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are mentioned in history as early as the fifth century BC, but the first of the Caecilii who obtained the consulship was Lucius Caecilius Metellus Denter, in 284 BC.'' ...
, which were very reliable.
*Archias did not appear on the Roman census because he was away on campaign with Lucullus at each time they were taken.
Because of Archias' close association with Lucullus, the case was probably a political attack directed at the politician by one of his many enemies. Chief among his enemies, and one who would stand to gain much by disgracing Lucullus was
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...
, better known as Pompey the Great.
Structure of the speech
Cicero divided the speech by following the formal structure of the ''
dispositio
Dispositio is the system used for the organization of arguments in the context of Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "organization" or "arrangement".
It is the second of five canons of classical rhetoric (the ...
'':
*''
Exordium'', lines 1–41
*''Narratio'', lines 42–89
*''Refutatio'', lines 90–143
*''Confirmatio'', lines 144–375
*''
Peroratio'', lines 376–397
''Exordium'' or introduction
Cicero begins his speech by gaining the
goodwill or ''benevolentia'' of the judges. He starts with his trademark
periodic sentence A periodic sentence is a sentence with a stylistic device featuring syntactical subordination to a single main idea, which usually is not complete until the very end of the sentence. The periodic sentence emphasizes its main idea by placing it at ...
by depicting his strengths of natural talent, experience, and strategy while appearing humble and inferior to the qualities of his client. He asks the court to indulge him with a ''novum genus dicendi'' "new manner of speaking", similar to the style of a poet. The greater part of the speech contains finely crafted rhetoric and an increased frequency of such poetical devices as
hendiadys
Hendiadys (; a Latinized form of the Greek phrase (') 'one through two') is a figure of speech used for emphasis—"The substitution of a conjunction for a subordination". The basic idea is to use two words linked by the conjunction "and" instea ...
,
chiasmus
In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wor ...
, and the
golden line
The golden line is a type of Latin dactylic hexameter frequently mentioned in Latin classrooms and in contemporary scholarship about Latin poetry, but which apparently began as a verse-composition exercise in schools in early modern Britain.
Defin ...
. His aim is to draw attention to Archias' profession and appeal to his value in Roman culture. He reveals this thesis in lines 20–22:
::''Etenim omnes artes quae ad humanitatem pertinent habent quoddam commune vinculum et quasi cognatione quadam inter se continentur.''
::To be sure, all arts which are relevant to human culture have a certain common bond, and are connected, one to another, by a sort of, as it were, kindred relationship.
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.
''Narratio'' or statement of the case
Cicero begins his account of Archias' life and travels through Asia and Greece during the poet's early career before his first arrival in Rome. He says that he was yet only sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing the striped toga or ''praetextatus'', when he began his studies in the arts and gained the attention of some of Rome's most influential citizens. Cicero emphasizes the stature of those who gave patronage to Archias by altering the usual word order.
::''Lucullos vero et Drusum et Octavios et Catonem et totam Hortensiorum domum devinctam consuetudine cum teneret, adficiebatur summo honore, quod eum non solum colebant qui aliquid percipere atque audire studebant, verum etiam si qui forte simulabant.''
::Lucullus, indeed, and Drusus and Octavius, and Cato and the whole house of Hortensii, since he held them bound by close social ties, he was treated by them with the highest of honors; for not only did everyone cultivate his friendship who devoted to hear and to take in anything they did, but even those who only pretended.
Instead of beginning with ''cum'' ("since") as what would be expected, Cicero suspends it to the end of the phrase to bring attention to the gravity of the names he states.
While naming the law under which Archias was granted citizenship at Heraclea, Cicero begins with the verb to emphasize that citizenship was indeed granted (''Data est'').
''Refutatio'' or rebuttal of the opponent's case
In this section, Cicero discredits the four points raised against his client. He uses dramatic rhetoric to discredit the case of his opponent, Grattius,
whom he here names. He starts with two chiastic structures identifying his witnesses, Lucius Lucullus and the embassy, and then ridicules the prosecution with a
tricolon
Isocolon is a rhetorical scheme in which parallel elements possess the same number of words or syllables. As in any form of parallelism, the pairs or series must enumerate like things to achieve symmetry. The scheme is called bicolon, tricolon, ...
crescendo.
::''Est ridiculum ad ea quae habemus nihil dicere, quaerere quae habere non possumus; et de hominum memoria tacere, litterarum memoriam flagitare; et, cum habeas amplissimi viri religionem, integerrimi municipi ius iurandum fidemque, ea quae depravari nullo modo possunt repudiare, tabulas, quas idem dicis solere corrumpi, desiderare.''
::It is ridiculous! To say nothing in contradiction of those things which we do have, but to ask for proof of those things which we cannot have; to keep silent with regard to the memory of men, but to demand the memory of documents; and (although you have the revered testimony of a distinguished gentleman and the sworn oath and good faith of a respectable municipality) to reject those things which in no way may be tarnished, but to demand records which you say yourself are often corrupted.
''Confirmatio'' or Cicero's own case
After the rebuttal Cicero presents his case for Archias’ citizenship. He starts the ''confirmatio'' by asking himself a question on behalf of Grattius.
''Quaeres a nobis, Grati, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur.'' (Cic. Arch. 12)
You will ask me, Gratius, why I am so enthusiastic about this man.
In his argument, Cicero discusses the benefits of literature, the intrinsic dignity or virtue of poets and the relationship of the poet to the state. 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.
Cicero states that poets have a natural gift and that Ennius called poets holy. Literature tells and celebrates achievements. It is for that reason that many noble Romans had a poet to write for them.
In the end of the ''confirmatio'' Cicero gives another reason for his passion for Archias:
''Nam quas res nos in consulatu nostro vobiscum simul pro salute huius urbis atque imperii et pro vita civium proque universa re publica gessimus, attigit hic versibus atque inchoavit: quibus auditis, quod mihi magna res et iucunda visa est, hunc ad perficiendum adhortatus sum.'' (Cic. Arch. 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. (Watts translation)
Apparently Archias was writing a poem about Cicero's consulship, and Cicero was eager for him to complete it.
''Peroratio'' or closing statement
Cicero makes a final emotional appeal to the jury. Just as in the ''exordium'' he makes clear that this was an unusual speech compared to the tradition of trials. He is however certain the judges have received it gladly:
''... quae a foro aliena iudicialique consuetudine et de hominis ingenio et communiter de ipsius studio locutus sum, ea, iudices, a vobis spero esse in bonam partem accepta, ab eo, qui iudicium exercet, certo scio.'' (Cic. Arch. 32)
I hope that my departure from the practice and the conventions of the courts, and my digression upon the subject of my client’s genius, and, in general terms, upon the art which he follows, has been welcomed by you in as generous a spirit as I am assured it has been welcomed by him who presides over this tribunal.
References and sources
;References
;Sources
* Reid, James S: ''M. Tulli Ciceronis pro A. Licinio Archia poeta ad iudices: edited for schools and colleges'' (Cambridge University Press, 1897)
* Clark, Albert Curtis: in Oxford Classical Texts, ''M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes'' vol.VI (Oxford University Press, 1911)
*Dugan, J. (2001) ‘How to Make (and Break) a Cicero: Epideixis, Textuality, and Self-fashioning in the ''Pro Archia'' and ''In Pisonem''’, ''Classical Antiquity,'' 20, 1, 35-77.
*Nesholm, E.J. (2010) ‘Language and Artistry in Cicero’s “''Pro Archia''”’, ''The Classical World,'' 103, 4, 477-490.
*Panoussi, V. (2009) ‘Roman Cultural Identity in Cicero’s ''Pro Archia''’, in Karamalengou, E. and Makrygianni, E.D., eds., ''Antiphilesis: Studies on Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Literature and Culture in Honour of John Theophanes A. Papademetriou.'' Stuttgart. 516-523.
*Porter, W.M. (1990) ‘Cicero’s ''Pro Archia'' and the Responsibilities of Reading’, ''A Journal of the History of Rhetoric,'' 8, 2, 137-152.
Further reading
* Gotoff, H C: ''Cicero's Elegant Style: an Analysis of the'' Pro Archia, (Urbana, 1979)
* Bellemore, Jane: "The Date of Cicero's ''Pro Archia''", ''Antichthon'' 36 (2002
003 003, O03, 0O3, OO3 may refer to:
*003, fictional British 00 Agent
*003, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian ambulance service (until 1986)
*1990 OO3, the asteroid 6131 Towen
* OO3 gauge model railway
*''O03 (O2)'' and other related ...
, 41–53
External links
*
M. TVLLI CICERONIS PRO A. LICINIO ARCHIA POETA ORATIO– original
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
M. TVLLI CICERONIS PRO A. LICINIO ARCHIA POETA ORATIO– original
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
with translation
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Orations of Cicero
Roman law