The arguments that follow continue the close connection of poetry with military affairs. That generation will be fortunate to begin reading the Pro Archia with this edition. 61, already quoted). But Ciceros technique is not simply one of flattery. It was, in short, beneath the consideration of a Roman. Now since I am not making this speech before an ignorant rabble or before some gathering of rustics I shall be a little more bold in discussing those cultural studies with which you and I are so familiar, and which we find so agreeable. I am grateful to Professor A. J. Woodman for drawing my attention to the Sallust passage. Cicero immediately takes us into a world of intelligent culture in which he and Archias play a part, and in which the jury are flattered into fancying that they also belong. Pro Archia has been described asundoubtedly the least typical speech of the Ciceronian corpus.1 Ciceros client is not, as so often, a prominent Roman aristocrat accused of violence, bribery, or extortion, but a Syrian poet whose claim to Roman citizenship was disputed. 1.79)). The jury must be persuaded both that Archias is a Roman citizen and that he deserves to be one. 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. This argument, understood literally, does in fact have some validity. The digressio concludes ( 2830) with Ciceros admission that he too wishes to be immortalized in verse; as he has demonstrated, there are many honourable precedents for this. Archias wrote poems of the general's military exploits, and in 93 BC, Lucullus helped him gain citizenship of the municipium of Heraclea. (III) For when first Archias grew out of childhood, and out of the studies of those arts by which young boys are gradually trained and refined, he devoted himself to the study of writing. Again, Lucullus had helped Cicero during the Catilinarian conspiracy (ibid. At the same time the names confer legitimacy and respectability not only on Archias, but on the world of intelligent culture to which he belongs. 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 is because he was my teacher. 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). Your current browser may not support copying via this button. To begin with, he was a Syrian by birth, a Greek-speaker from the eastern edge of the Empire. Manil. A brief discussion of content would also be useful at this crucial moment in the speech. 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. This sentence, with its elegant series of carefully balanced clauses, immediately raises the question of the style of the speech: with the exception, naturally, of the narratio, the speech is pitched at a higher stylistic level than is normal in Cicero. This second edition by Steven M. Cerutti (hereafter C.) of Ciceros speech in defense of the poet Archias delivers an introduction, text, commentary, vocabulary, and two appendices covering (respectively) proper or place names and rhetorical or political terminology. He reinforces that proposition through the alliteration of Mars, manubiae, and the Muses: the language demonstrates the idea. First, whatever the jurors private views on poetry and culture, it is nevertheless flattering for them to be treated as intellectuals, as a select group of people who are well educated and superior to the common herd (cf. 5.11.25, 8.3.75, 9.4.44, 11.1.34, 11.3.84, 11.3.167). After this, Cicero goes on to declare that poets are divinely inspired, and hence sacred. 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. The prosecutor, Grattius, is not otherwise known, but in view of the hostility between Lucullus and Pompey he is usually assumed to have been one of Pompeys supporters, and the prosecution is therefore interpreted as an attack by a supporter of Pompey on the protg of Pompeys enemy Lucullus.12 This seems plausible: it is difficult to see why anyone should otherwise have wished to call into question Archias citizenship, which had gone unchallenged for twenty-seven years. But Roscius was a figure who was familiar to the jury and entirely acceptable to them (partly, perhaps, on account of his high social status, unusual for an actor): Cicero now hopes that he can lay claim to that acceptance for Archias too. The exordium ends ( 4a) with a statement of what Cicero intends to prove: (i) that Archias is a Roman citizen, and (ii) that, were he not a citizen, he ought to be one (and ought therefore to be acquitted). Archiass defense was undertaken by a former pupil of his, the previous years Consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero. In 65 BC, the Roman Senate passed the Lex Papia de Peregrinis, which challenged false claims of citizenship and expelled foreigners from Rome. 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. 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. He trained my voice, which I have used to save people on trial. 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. 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. First of all at Antioch, (for he was born there, and was of high rank there,) formerly an illustrious and wealthy city, and the seat of learned men and of . Etenim omnes artes quae ad humanitatem pertinent habent quoddam commune vinclum et quasi cognatione quadam inter se continentur. The poet was originally Greek but had been living in Rome for an extended period of time. However, it also provides an invaluable insight into the early stages of Ciceros senior statesman persona. Inst. The idea that poets who honour great men honour the Roman people at the same time is continued in 22, but with Ennius as the example: Ennius praised the elder Scipio, the elder Cato, Q. Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, M. Claudius Marcellus, and M. Fulvius Nobilior, and was rewarded with Roman citizenship. A typical jurorone of a panel of seventy-five20would have taken an entirely different view. 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. Some time later, Archias accompanied M. Lucullus on a visit to Sicily, and on their return journey Lucullus arranged for him to be granted honorary citizenship at Heraclea in Lucania. That's comparable to the share who say the same about the federal budget deficit (49%), violent crime (48% . 12.73); Cic. (Cic. This, then, is the attitude with which Cicero, himself derided as awee Greek (Graeculus) by his detractors (Dio 46.18.1; cf. One quibble: it seems odd that C. defines civitas only as citizenship in the vocabularies, although Cicero also employs civitas in the more familiar meaning city (C. gives this sense, however, in the note cum translation at the end of section 6). Life of Archias. Cicero's Defense of Archias, Political Motives in, 62-70 Cognate Accusative Relative Clauses in Greek, 281-288 College (The) of Quindecim-viri (Sacris Faciundis) in 17 B. C., 289-294 Constitution (The) of the Five Thousand, 189-198 COPLEY, FRANK O. Catullus 55, 9-14, 295-297 Covenant, Hannibal's, 1-2 PAGE Cretan Heroic Poetry and Homer: A Study . Cicero's defense of Archias follows a two-pronged argument. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 101 N. Merion Ave., It will also give him a much larger pool of examples on which to draw, including the actor Q. Roscius Gallus ( 17), the rhetorician L. Plotius Gallus ( 20), and the historian Theophanes of Mytilene ( 24), none of whom would otherwise be relevant to his argument. (Cic. By this line of argument, Archias, though Greek, is turned into someone who helps to promote Roman values and bolsters Roman authority and tradition.22 He therefore has an important part to play in Roman society, and hence deserves his place within it as a Roman citizen. 4. He therefore declared himself before his friend the praetor Q. Metellus Pius and obtained Roman citizenship. Roscius and Archias were artists of quite a different kind: Roscius was a Roman eques, now dead, who had acted in plays before large audiences; Archias was a Syrian immigrant who wrote poetry in Greek for a small number of aristocratic families. Arch. Stripped to its essentials, the argument runs as follows:If I have any talent, experience in speaking, or technical skill in oratory derived from training in the liberal arts, then Archias has a strong claim on it. After the Social War, citizenship was granted to the allies by the lex Iulia in 90, and this was followed in 89 by a further measure, the lex Plautia Papiria, which among other provisions extended the citizenship to honorary citizens of federate states not resident in those states but nevertheless resident in Italy, provided that they reported to one of the praetors at Rome within sixty days.10 As an honorary citizen of Heraclea, which had been allied to Rome since 278, and being long resident in Rome, Archias duly reported to the praetor Metellus Pius within the specified period. But all books, all the words of the wise and all history are full of examples which teach this lessonexamples which would all be lying in obscurity, had not the light of the written word been brought to them. 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. 12). Archias poetry, according to Cicero, is serious historical poetry, written to celebrate the glorious exploits of Romes generals and statesmen and make them known throughout the worlda large part of which, he adds, speaks only Greek. First there is the genuine sense of gratitude he felt towards his old teacher ( 1), a factor which should not be cynically denied. 3. D. 1.79).7 The other consul, Marius, though reputedly uninterested in Greek culture, approved of Archias poem on Marius own defeat of the Cimbri in 101 ( 19). It was Metellus Pius who had enrolled him as a citizen and whose careful records provided the documentary evidence that he needed to establish his claim to citizenship. Luc. 21): we are told by Memnon, a second-century ad historian of Heraclea Pontica, that the naval battle off Tenedos was in fact won not by Lucullus himself but by his subordinate Triarius (FGrH III B, 361 (33.1)). Now Plotius was not a poet but a rhetorician, and if he praised Marius he would have done so in a Latin speech, not a Greek poem. [Kuhlmann, 1976]). In the second part, 1830, he turns from literature to poetry and brings Archias into the discussion (Archias is not referred to at all in 1317), arguing that poetry, and a fortiori Archias, is useful to society. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. 1.16.15). Lord Broughams often-quoted pronouncement: Ciceros speech for Archias, which is exquisitely composed, but of which not more than one-sixth is to the purpose, could not have been delivered in a British court of Justice, On the nature of Archias relationship with these men see. 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. 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. Cicero says that he attracted the attention of the Metelli Numidicus and Pius, M. Aemilius Scaurus, and L. Crassus, and also that he was on close terms with M. Livius Drusus (the tribune of 91), the Octavii, Cato (the father of Uticensis), and the Hortensii ( 6).8 During this period the young Cicero also received instruction from Archias ( 1): Archias was presumably his Greek grammatikos.9. Theophanes is, nevertheless, a good example for Cicero to cite, not only because he was a Greek who was given the citizenship, but because he was given it by Pompey. You will ask me, Gratius, why I am so enthusiastic about this man. See also C. Murgias detailed review of Gotoffs book: Murgia, C. Review Article: Analyzing Ciceros Style, CP 76 (1981): 301-313. He studied at his native city, and received a liberal education. At Rome, Archias was accepted into the household of the Luculli. Cicero makes a final emotional appeal to the jury. Clearly Cicero would not have jeopardized his relationship with such a family by refusing to defend their poet. Inst. Manil. The important point is then made that Archias poetry celebrates the military glory of the Roman people: his poem on the war against the Cimbri actually won the approval of Marius. He continues ( 14): Sed pleni omnes sunt libri, plenae sapientium voces, plena exemplorum vetustas; quae iacerent in tenebris omnia, nisi litterarum lumen accederet. He wisely refuses to encumber a students progression through the text (and therefore progress in Latin) with minutiae better left to more advanced readers, such as the distinction between a potentially less assertive certe scio and the less reluctant certo scio with which Cicero unreservedly concludes the speech. Cicero cannot conceal or explain away Archias occupation, and so he has no choice but to make a virtue of it. It was in 62 that Cicero sought to improve his social position (Att. Beyond this, the speech also offers readers a glimpse at the complicated procedures involved in spreading Roman citizenship throughout the Italian peninsula. A letter from Cicero to Titus Pomponius Atticus in the year following the trial makes mention of Archias, but there is no conclusive evidence about the outcome of the trial. 2. Arch. 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). 5.7 (April 62 bc) shows him seeking to form closer ties with Pompey. The conclusio ( 312) recapitulates the main points of the case, and contains no emotional appeal. This twofold pattern of argument is a common one in Cicero, and is found most famously in Pro Milone:Milo did not set out deliberately to kill Clodius; but had he done so, it would have been justified.18 In Pro Archia, the first stage of the argument (enstasis) occupies 4b11, while the encomium of literature, occupying 1230, is formally the second stage (antiparastasis). 2.26; Val. The argument reaches a climax at the beginning of 19: Sit igitur, iudices, sanctum apud vos, humanissimos homines, hoc poetae nomen quod nulla umquam barbaria violavit. 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). Cicero's oration Pro Archia Poeta ("On Behalf of Archias the Poet") is the published literary form of his defense of Aulus Licinius Archias, a poet accused of not being a Roman citizen. In Pro Lege Manilia, admittedly a speech to the people, he pretends to be only vaguely aware that Athens was once a great sea power (Leg. What he does, in fact, is to base his defence upon a positive, robust view of literature (as we shall see below), and in this strategy the style of his speech, as displayed initially in the exordium, plays an integral part. 41.3, 42.4), and in politics they shared the same conservative outlook. By now Cicero may or may not have persuaded the jury of Archias legal claim. Lucullus must have helped to bring about Ciceros election to the consulship, and in July 63 Cicero in return had enabled Lucullus to celebrate his long-delayed triumph (Cic. 5.8.3. This paper examines Cicero's Pro Archia Poeta Oratio and the author's implicit and explicit views on how Roman cultural identity is constructed.
