Political Crisis in Rhetorical Exercises of the Early Roman Empire

Shunichiro Yoshida

doi:10.6667/interface.2.2017.34

Political Crisis in Rhetorical Exercises of the Early Roman Empire

Shunichiro Yoshida

Abstract

The ancient Romans experienced a great political crisis in the first century B. C. They fought many civil wars, which ended the republic and led to the establishment of theempire. The nature of these civil wars and the new regime was a politically very sensitive question for the next generation and could not be treated in a direct manner. In this paper I shall examine how literature in this age dealt with this sensitive problem. Special attention will be paid on declamations (rhetorical exercises on fictitious themes), which discussed repeatedly themes concerned with political crises such as domestic discord or rule of a tyrant.

Keywords

Latin Oratory, Rhetorical Training, Early Roman Empire, Roman Politics

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6667/interface.2.2017.34

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