Cicero rhetor

This fundamentally new interpretation of the Partitiones oratoriae shows the small dialogue to be a demanding compendium of the whole system of rhetorical doctrine and places it at the centre of a specifically Ciceronian concept of rhetoric. By drawing upon Cicero's other philosophical and rhetorical works, the author reveals the political relevance: Cicero's learned writings present criteria for the selection of suitable politicians, to whom powers of decision-making should only be given after they have proved themselves to have studied and to possess methodical abilities. Thus Cicero's work as a writer after his exile cannot sensibly be separated from his political activity.

Autorentext

Alexander Arweiler lehrt als Privatdozent am Institut für Klassische Altertumskunde der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

Klappentext

Die grundsätzliche Neuinterpretation der Partitiones oratoriae erweist den kleinen Dialog als anspruchsvolles Kompendium des gesamten Systems rhetorischer Lehre und rückt ihn ins Zentrum einer spezifisch ciceronischen Konzeption der Rhetorik. Bei der Einbeziehung der übrigen philosophischen und rhetorischen Werke Ciceros wird die politische Relevanz sichtbar: Ciceros gelehrte Schriften bieten Kriterien für die Auswahl geeigneter Politiker, denen die Entscheidungsgewalt nur nach dem Nachweis ihrer Studien und methodischen Fähigkeiten übertragen werden soll. Die schriftstellerische Tätigkeit nach dem Exil kann somit nicht sinnvoll von der politischen getrennt betrachtet werden.

Zusammenfassung

This fundamentally new interpretation of the Partitiones oratoriae shows the small dialogue to be a demanding compendium of the whole system of rhetorical doctrine and places it at the centre of a specifically Ciceronian concept of rhetoric. By drawing upon Cicero's other philosophical and rhetorical works, the author reveals the political relevance: Cicero's learned writings present criteria for the selection of suitable politicians, to whom powers of decision-making should only be given after they have proved themselves to have studied and to possess methodical abilities. Thus Cicero's work as a writer after his exile cannot sensibly be separated from his political activity.