Invective’s (dys-)function
3. Why Read Cicero’s Second Philippic Today?
3.3 The Power of Eloquence and Post-Truth Politics
Cicero conceived of the Philippics as monumental oratory — his rhetorical testament as it were: ‘Invoking the dangers he submits to as well as his contempt for death, a Leitmotiv in the Philippics, Cicero not only amplifies and dramatises the contemporary political situation, but he refashions it into the time-transcending narrative of a man desperately but resolutely fighting for his convictions. Thus Cicero ensures that his speeches would be read long after the conflict had been resolved and,
more importantly, even in case Antony prevailed’.48 While he failed in his efforts to restore republican freedom to the Roman commonwealth, he certainly succeeded in bequeathing his vision (of himself, of Antony, of the world) to posterity. What remains are his writings: they articulate an (arguably tragic) vision of resistance against (perceived) tyranny and constitute a type of political activism and civic commitment in a time of chaos, when constitutional safeguards and institutions, legal procedures and republican norms arguably no longer guaranteed the survival of the senatorial commonwealth. (What do you think: does Cicero take a courageous stance against tyranny here or is he a deluded and self-righteous warmonger who tries to rip Antony’s heart out while shooting himself in the foot?)
As a (now classical) speech-act of universalizing import, Philippic 2 invites questions of a trans-historical nature: about the judgment of the author, the secrets of persuasive oratory, the power of spin, the divisive impact of hate-speech and its relation to physical violence, to name a few. Cicero was a master of (re-)defining reality — indeed inventing it — whenever the facts did not suit his purpose. In the Philippics, he generated a largely imaginary character portrait and corresponding curriculum vitae of Antony, which he embedded within a narrative on Roman politics to produce a moment of existential crisis, of bare survival, of life or death for each individual and the civic community at large — a favourite script of his, in which he invested throughout his career. The text to be studied is both a sensational exercise of dragging someone’s reputation through the sewer and a fantastic illustration of how Cicero managed to make an impact on, indeed invent, reality through his rhetorical skills and the powers of his imagination.
Cicero’s approach in Philippic 2 thus arguably has certain affinities with contemporary variants of ‘post-truth’ politics, in which decency, respect for one’s opponents, and cultivation of civilized language give way to polarizing abuse. In Cicero’s case, the abuse has become classical — should it continue to inspire?
48 Scheidegger-Lämmle (2017: 34).
TEXT
© Ingo Gildenhard, CC BY 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0156.03
§ 44: A Glance at Teenage Antony: Insolvent, Transgendered, Pimped, and Groomed
Visne igitur te inspiciamus a puero? sic opinor; a principio ordiamur. tenesne memoria praetextatum te decoxisse? ‘patris’, inquies, ‘ista culpa est’. concedo.
etenim est pietatis plena defensio. illud tamen audaciae tuae quod sedisti in quattuordecim ordinibus, cum esset lege Roscia decoctoribus certus locus constitutus, quamvis quis fortunae vitio, non suo decoxisset. sumpsisti virilem, quam statim muliebrem togam reddidisti. primo vulgare scortum; certa flagitii merces nec ea parva; sed cito Curio intervenit, qui te a meretricio quaestu abduxit et, tamquam stolam dedisset, in matrimonio stabili et certo collocavit.
Study Questions:
• Parse visne.
• Identify and explain the mood of inspiciamus.
• Identify and explain the mood of ordiamur.
• On what noun does the genitive patris depend?
• Parse inquies.
• Identify and explain the case of audaciae tuae.
• What did the lex Roscia stipulate? When was it passed?
• What noun does the adjective virilem modify?
• Who was Curio?
Stylistic Appreciation:
• How would you describe the overall tone Cicero adopts in this paragraph?
Can you point to specific details in the text that epitomize it?
• What is the rhetorical effect of the word order in the sentence etenim est pietatis plena defensio?
• Discuss Cicero’s choice of adverbs and adjectives in the second half of the passage, with an eye to the contrast between the seemingly banal (certus, statim, certa, parva, cito, certo) and the more elaborate (virilem, muliebrem, vulgare, meretricio, stabili).
Discussion Points:
• What’s Cicero cooking up here (cf. decoxisse, decoctoribus, decoxisset) — or how does he construe a plot reminiscent of Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover — with Antony performing in all four roles?
• Clothes make the wo/man: discuss the fashion-show staged in this paragraph (cf. praetextatum, virilem (sc. togam), muliebrem togam, stolam).
• Why is cross-dressing funny? Discuss with reference to contemporary takes, such as Some Like it Hot, Tootsie, or The World According to Garp.
• Can you think of more recent instances in which public figures are shamed for (alleged) misdemeanors in their youth? What’s your take on this practice?
45 Text § 44
inspicio, -icere, -exi, -ectum to examine, investigate, consider opinor, -ari, -atus to hold as an opinion, think, believe ordior, -diri, -sus to embark on, start, begin
praetextatus, -a, -um being of an age to wear the toga praetexta
decoquo, -quere, -xi, -ctum
to boil down, waste away, squander;
to be unable to pay debts;
(intr.) to become insolvent
concedo, -dere, -ssi, -ssum to go away, withdraw; to concede, grant
etenim (conj.) and indeed; for
audacia, -ae, f. daring, boldness, impudence, recklessness sedeo, -ere, sedi, sessum to sit, be seated
quattuordecim fourteen
ordo, -inis, m. row (of seats in a theatre), rank, standing order decoctor, -oris, m.
[decoquo + tor] an insolvent person, defaulting debtor
quamvis to any degree you like
no matter how, however much vitium, -i, n. defect, fault, disadvantage
sumo, -mere, -mpsi, -mptum to take up, put on (clothes etc.), seize
toga virilis the toga worn by free male Roman upon reaching maturity
statim (adv.) immediately, at once
toga muliebris a toga worn by prostitutes and other stigmatized females prohibited from wearing the stola reddo, -ere, -idi, -itum to give back, restore, repay, render, deliver
(w. predicate) to render, cause to turn out vulgaris, -is, -e common, ordinary, everyday
scortum, -i, n. whore, prostitute, harlot
certus, -a, -um fixed, settled, definite; certain, indisputable flagitium, -(i)i, n. shameful / disgraceful act; disgrace, infamy merces, -edis, f. payment for services rendered, wage, reward
cito (adv.) quickly
meretricius, -a, -um of, belonging to, or typical of a prostitute quaestus, -us, m. income, profit, occupation
abduco, -cere, -xi, -ctum to lead away, carry off, remove;
to attract away, entice away; divert tamquam (conj.) just as, (w. subj.) as though
stola, -ae, f. garment for upper-class married women stabilis, -is, -e steady, lasting, permanent
colloco, -are, -avi, -atum to put or set up, settle, establish, bestow
§ 45: Desire and Domesticity: Antony’s Escapades as Curio’s Toy-Boy Nemo umquam puer emptus libidinis causa tam fuit in domini potestate quam tu in Curionis. quotiens te pater eius domu sua eiecit, quotiens custodes posuit ne limen intrares! cum tu tamen nocte socia, hortante libidine, cogente mercede, per tegulas demitterere. quae flagitia domus illa diutius ferre non potuit. scisne me de rebus mihi notissimis dicere? recordare tempus illud cum pater Curio maerens iacebat in lecto; filius se ad pedes meos prosternens, lacrimans, te mihi commendabat; orabat ut se contra suum patrem, si sestertium sexagiens peteret, defenderem; tantum enim se pro te intercessisse dicebat. ipse autem amore ardens confirmabat, quod desiderium tui discidi ferre non posset, se in exilium iturum.
Study Questions:
• What noun does the genitive Curionis depend on?
• What kind of ablative is domu sua?
• Parse demitterere.
• Explain the syntax of quae (flagitia…).
• Parse scisne. What kind of construction does it introduce?
• Parse recordare.
• Reconstruct the scenario presupposed in the ut-clause introduced by orabat.
• Explain the grammar and syntax of the phrase sestertium sexagiens.
• Parse defenderem.
• What kind of genitive is tui discidi?
• Parse iturum.
Stylistic Appreciation:
• Discuss the word order … te pater eius….
• Analyze how Cicero correlates and contrasts Curio father and Curio son in the second half of the paragraph (recordare … se in exilium iturum).
• Cicero here evokes a scenario (two young lovers prevented by an older guardian from carrying on their affair) familiar from New Comedy: can you identify stylistic and thematic touches reminiscent of the genre?
Discussion Points:
• How does Cicero construe the relationships between himself, Antony, Curio Junior, and Curio Senior?
• How would you describe the impact of Antony on the Curio household?
(Start by picking out those terms that belong to the semantic field of
‘household’.)
• Explore the nexus between ‘family household’ (overseen by a paterfamilias) and the ‘commonwealth’ (res publica) in Rome’s cultural imaginary. What makes Cicero’s portrayal of Antony’s impact on the domestic situation in the Curio family so damning from a civic point of view?
47 Text § 45
nemo, inis, m. / f. nobody, no one; as adj.: no
puer, -eri, m. boy
(here) slave boy emo, emere, emi, emptum to buy, purchase
libido, -inis, f. desire, craving, sexual appetite, lust causâ (abl., governing a gen.) for the purpose of, for the sake of quotiens (interr. or exclam.) How many times? How many times!
domus, -us, f. house
eicio, eicere, eieci, eiectum to throw out, remove, expel
custos, -odis, m. and f. guardian
limen, -inis, n. threshold, doorstep
socia, -ae f. a (female) partner, associate
cogo, -ere, coegi, coactum to drive together, collect, summon, gather to compel, force, constrain
merces, -edis, f. payment for services rendered, wage, reward
tegula, -ae, f. a roof-tile
demitto, -ittere, -isi, -issum to let fall, drop, make descend, lower flagitium, -(i)i, n. shameful / disgraceful act; disgrace, infamy diu (comparative: diutius) (adv.) for a long time, long
recordor, -ari, -atus to call to mind, recollect
maereo, -ere to be sad, mourn, grieve
lectus, -i, m. bed, couch
prosterno, -ernere, -ravi, -ratum to lay low, strike down, knock down to lay prostrate on the ground
commendo, -are, -avi, -atum to commit / entrust someone (acc.) to (dat.) sestertius, -i, m.
(decies centena milia) sestertium
sesterce (a Roman coin)
a hundred thousand sesterces
sexagiens (adv.) sixty times
peto, -ere, -ivi / ii, -itum to go for, seek out, seek to obtain, ask to sue for, lay claim to, demand
tantum, -i, (pron.) so much
intercedo, -dere, -ssi, -ssum to intervene; to exist between; oppose to intervene as guarantor, stand surety confirmo, -are, -avi, -atum to strengthen, make robust; to assert, declare desiderium, -(i)i, n. desire, longing; want, need; object of desire discidium, -(i)i, n. splitting, separation; divorce
§ 46: Family Therapy: Cicero as Counselor
Quo tempore ego quanta mala florentissimae familiae sedavi vel potius sustuli!
patri persuasi ut aes alienum fili dissolveret; redimeret adulescentem, summa spe et animi et ingeni praeditum, rei familiaris facultatibus eumque non modo tua familiaritate sed etiam congressione patrio iure et potestate prohiberet.
haec tu cum per me acta meminisses, nisi illis quos videmus gladiis confideres, maledictis me provocare ausus esses?
Study Questions:
• What kind of construction is quo tempore?
• What kind of ablatives are familiaritate and congressione?
• What norms and institutions does Cicero evoke with the formulation patrio iure et potestate?
• What are the swords that Cicero claims he and his audience see (cf. illis quos videmus gladiis)?
• What kind of conditional sequence does nisi introduce?
• What does Cicero refer to with maledictis?
• Parse ausus esses.
Stylistic Appreciation:
• Identify the stylistic features by which Cicero announces that he came to the rescue (quo tempore … sustuli!).
• The middle sentence of the paragraph begins and ends with p-alliteration:
patri persuasi … patrio iure et potestate prohiberet. What (if anything) does Cicero thereby wish to emphasize?
• Analyze the rhetorical design of the ut-clause (ut aes alienum … prohiberet).
Discussion Points:
• What advice would you have given to Curio pater in this situation?
• To what extent (if at all) should parents be responsible for the extravagances of their offspring?
49 Text § 46
malum, -i, n. trouble, distress, pain, hardship; harm, evil florens, -ntis flowering; prosperous, flourishing;
distinguished
sedo, -are, -avi, -atum to cause to subside; allay, relieve, mitigate tollo, -ere, sustuli, sublatum to pick up, raise, hoist; get rid of, remove persuadeo, -dere, -si, -sum (usually w. dat. of person) to persuade,
prevail upon aes alienum
(cf. aes, aeris, n.
debt
copper, bronze, brass)
dissolvo, -vere, -vi, -utum to undo, dismantle, set free, clear up, pay redimo, -imere, -emi, -emptum to buy back, pay the cost of; rescue, save praeditus, -a, -um (w. abl.) endowed with, equipped / furnished with res, rei, f. property, wealth; thing, matter, material res familiaris private property, estate, patrimony facultas, -atis, f. ability, power, capacity, skill;
(pl., as here) resources, means familiaritas, -atis, f. close friendship, intimacy
congressio, -onis, f. meeting, encounter; sexual intercourse
memini, -inisse to remember, pay heed to
patrius, -a, -um paternal; ancestral
confido, -dere, -sus sum (w. dat.) to put one’s trust in, have confidence in maledictum, -i, n. insult, reproach, taunt
provoco, -are, -avi, -atum to call out, stir up, challenge audeo, -dere, -sus to dare, venture, be bold
§ 47: Hitting ‘Fast-Forward’, or: How to Pull Off a Praeteritio
Sed iam stupra et flagitia omittamus: sunt quaedam quae honeste non possum dicere; tu autem eo liberior quod ea in te admisisti quae a verecundo inimico audire non posses. sed reliquum vitae cursum videte, quem quidem celeriter perstringam. ad haec enim quae in civili bello, in maximis rei publicae miseriis fecit, et ad ea quae cotidie facit, festinat animus. quae peto ut, quamquam multo notiora vobis quam mihi sunt, tamen, ut facitis, attente audiatis. debet enim talibus in rebus excitare animos non cognitio solum rerum sed etiam recordatio;
etsi incidamus, opinor, media ne nimis sero ad extrema veniamus.
Study Questions:
• Parse omittamus.
• Parse eo.
• Parse perstringam.
• Explain the syntax of quae (quae peto ut…).
• What kind of ablative is multo?
• ut facitis: what is the meaning of ut here?
• Parse incidamus.
Stylistic Appreciation:
• Analyze the word order in the sentence ad haec enim … festinat animus.
• Analyze the design of the sentence debet enim … recordatio.
Discussion Points:
• What is a praeteritio? Why (and when) is it an effective rhetorical technique?
Can you design your own on a topic of the day?
• What exactly is it that Cicero leaves unspoken? And is it decent to even ask this question?
• Why does Cicero claim that Antony’s more recent misdeeds are better known to his audience than to himself?
51 Text § 47
iam (adv.) now; by now, by then, already
stuprum, -i, n. dishonour, shame; illicit sexual intercourse flagitium, -(i)i, n. shameful / disgraceful act; disgrace, infamy omitto, -ittere, -isi, -issum to let go of; withdraw from; abandon
to leave out of account, pass over, omit quidam, quaedam, quiddam a certain person; a certain (undefined) thing honeste (adv.) honourably, with propriety, decently liber, libera, liberum free; licentious; showing lack of restraint verecundus, -a, -um modest, seemly, becoming
inimicus, -i, m. personal adversary
audio, -ire, -ivi / ii, -itum to hear; to listen to
to hear said with respect to oneself
reliquus, -a, -um left, remaining
perstringo, -ngere, -nxi, -ctum to constrict, brush, graze, skirt, hug miseria, -ae, f. (esp. pl.) affliction, distress; trouble, woe
festino, -are, -avi, -atum to act hurriedly, make haste, move quickly attente (adv.) carefully, with concentration
excito, -are, -avi, -atum to cause to move, rouse, stir, provoke cognitio, -onis, f. the act of getting to know; investigation recordatio, -onis, f. recollection
etsi (conj.) even if, although
(introducing main clause) and yet incîdo, -dere, -di, -sum [in + caedo]
not to be confused with:
incido, -ere, -i, incasum [in + cado]
to cut open, sever, break up, cut short
to fall (into), rush upon, arise, occur nimis (adv.) to an excessive degree, too much, unduly
sero (adv.) late, tardily; too late
extremum, -a, um situated at the end, last remaining
§ 48: Antony Adrift
Intimus erat in tribunatu Clodio qui sua erga me beneficia commemorat;
eius omnium incendiorum fax, cuius etiam domi iam tum quiddam molitus est. quid dicam ipse optime intellegit. inde iter Alexandriam contra senatus auctoritatem, contra rem publicam et religiones; sed habebat ducem Gabinium, quicum quidvis rectissime facere posset. qui tum inde reditus aut qualis? prius in ultimam Galliam ex Aegypto quam domum. quae autem domus? suam enim quisque domum tum obtinebat nec erat usquam tua. domum dico? quid erat in terris ubi in tuo pedem poneres praeter unum Misenum, quod cum sociis tamquam Sisaponem tenebas?
Study Questions:
• What case is Clodio? How does it fit into the syntax of the sentence?
• What is the antecedent of qui?
• What are Antony’s beneficia towards Cicero?
• What is the verb of the clause eius omnium incendiorum fax?
• What is the antecedent of cuius?
• Parse domi.
• Identify and explain the mood of dicam.
• Parse senatus.
• What is the verb of the sentence inde iter … et religiones?
• What kind of accusative is Alexandriam?
• Parse qui (tum inde reditus).
• What is the verb of the question qui tum inde reditus aut qualis?
• What are the verbs in the sentence prius in ultimam Galliam ex Aegypto quam domum?
• Explain the mood of poneres.
• Where is Sisapo?
Stylistic Appreciation:
• Quite a few sentences in this paragraph lack a verb: what is the rhetorical effect of these elisions?
• Analyze the rhetorical design of contra senatus auctoritatem, contra rem publicam et religiones.
• quid dicam? – qui … reditus aut qualis? – quae autem domus? – quid erat in terris?:
the paragraph teems with rhetorical questions: why does Cicero opt for this device here?
• Explore the rhetorical effect of such indefinite pronouns as quiddam, quidvis, and quisque.
53 Text § 48
Discussion Points:
• cuius domi – quam domum – quae autem domus? – suam domum – nec erat … tua [sc. domus] – domum dico: what is Cicero trying to achieve with his relentless focus on the home / household? How does this emphasis relate to the ‘imperial geography’ that his references to Alexandria, Gaul, and Spain evoke?
intimus, -a, -um (w. dat.) (of friends) most intimate, closest tribunatus, -us, m. the office of tribune; tribuneship erga (prep. + acc.) towards, for, to
beneficium, -(i)i, n. service, kindness, favour
commemoro, -are, -avi, -atum to recall, mention, relate; place on record incendium, -(i)i, n. destructive fire, conflagration
fax, facis, f. torch, firebrand
(fig.) a person that starts mischief
quidam, quaedam, quiddam a certain person; a certain (undefined) thing molior, -iri, -itus to labour, make efforts, strive, set in motion intellego, -gere, -xi, -ctum to understand, realize, discern
inde (adv.) from there, thence; next
religio, -onis, f. supernatural feeling of constraint;
religious scruple, fear, or awe habeo, -ere, -ui, -itum
(w. double acc.) to have someone acting in a certain capacity
quicum = cum quo
quivis, quaevis, quidvis (pron.) anyone, anything
reditus, -us, m. the act of coming back, return prius (adv.) at an earlier time, previously, before obtineo, -inere, -inui, -entum to maintain, keep up; to govern, hold
to secure, gain
usquam (adv.) in any place, anywhere
pedem ponere (in + abl.) to set foot (in)
§ 49: Credit for Murder
venis e Gallia ad quaesturam petendam. aude dicere te prius ad parentem tuam venisse quam ad me. acceperam iam ante Caesaris litteras ut mihi satis fieri paterer a te: itaque ne loqui quidem sum te passus de gratia. postea sum cultus a te, tu a me observatus in petitione quaesturae; quo quidem tempore P. Clodium approbante populo Romano in foro es conatus occidere, cumque eam rem tua sponte conarere, non impulsu meo, tamen ita praedicabas, te non existimare, nisi illum interfecisses, umquam mihi pro tuis in me iniuriis satis esse facturum.
in quo demiror cur Milonem impulsu meo rem illam egisse dicas, cum te ultro mihi idem illud deferentem numquam sim adhortatus. quamquam, si in eo perseverares, ad tuam gloriam rem illam referri malebam quam ad meam gratiam.
Study Questions:
• What is the sense of ad in the gerundive phrase ad quaesturam petendam?
• Parse aude.
• Parse paterer.
• Explain the grammar and syntax of quo (quidem tempore).
• What construction is approbante populo Romano?
• What does the -que in cumque link?
• Parse conarere.
• Parse interfecisses and explain the tense and mood.
• What does rem illam refer to?
• Identify and explain the mood of dicas.
• What kind of clause does quamquam introduce?
Stylistic Appreciation:
• Analyze the rhetorical design of the cum-clause cumque eam rem tua sponte
• Analyze the rhetorical design of the cum-clause cumque eam rem tua sponte