"Brutus" gives an account of the Roman tradition of public and lawcourt speeches from its beginning to what Cicero described as the polished and entertaining speeches of his own day. Along the way Cicero has interesting things to say about the influence of the speaker's audience on his style and technique. Also notable here is an autobiographical sketch.

Cicero's own very wide practical experience informs "Orator," which depicts the ideal speaker. Here he details the principles of eloquent oratory and quotes instructive examples. Both works date from 46 BCE and are dedicated to the...

Cicero (Marcus Tullius, 10643 BCE), Roman lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, of whom we know more than of any other Roman, lived through the stirring era which saw the rise, dictatorship, and death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially and in his correspondence we see the excitement, tension and intrigue of politics and the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches, delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political, before jurors if judicial, 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the...