Overview

The Agrarian Speeches (Orationes de lege agraria) were delivered in January 63 BCE, just after Cicero had entered office as consul; they are his inaugural orations and therefore the first element of his consular activity. They not only provide valuable testimony for approaches to agrarian legislation in the late Republic, but also show how the new consul presented himself before the Senate and the People at the beginning of his consular year, a significant political event for which very few extensive sources remain. These speeches are also significant in demonstrating Cicero's rhetorical virtuosity and the sophistication of his political tactics in arguing against a proposal for a grand scheme of buying, selling, and allocating land put forward by the Tribune of the People, P. Servilius Rullus. Delivered in the same year as his arguably more famous orations against Catiline, they have nevertheless found less attention in modern scholarship. This edition offers a comprehensive introduction, a revised Latin text alongside a new English translation, and the first detailed commentary on the corpus, which, besides addressing numerous linguistic and textual issues, also explains the complex legal and historical situation and illustrates Cicero's sophisticated argumentative techniques. Drawing on the contemporary resurgence of academic interest in political oratory, it aims to bring these neglected speeches to a wider audience and will be particularly suitable for both scholars and students interested in Cicero, oratory, Roman law, or the history of the Roman Republic.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gesine Manuwald (Professor of Latin, Professor of Latin, University College London)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 3.80cm , Length: 24.00cm
Weight:   0.946kg
ISBN:  

9780198715405

ISBN 10:   0198715404
Pages:   536
Publication Date:   08 February 2018
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Scholarship  2. Historical background  2.1. The political situation in 64/63 BCE 2.2. Roman agrarian laws  2.2.1. Roman agrarian laws (before and after 64/63 BCE) and Cicero's position 2.2.2. Rullus' agrarian bill of 64/63 BCE 2.3. Procedural context  2.4. Cicero the consul  3. The corpus of the Agrarian Speeches 3.1. Title and structure  3.2. Delivery and publication  3.3. Political and rhetorical strategies 4. Note on text and translation  Text and translation Testimonia  De lege agraria 1 / Agrarian Speech 1  De lege agraria 2 / Agrarian Speech 2 De lege agraria 3 / Agrarian Speech 3 Commentary Testimonia  Introduction  Notes  Agrarian Speech 1  Introduction  Outline of structure and contents Notes  Agrarian Speech 2  Introduction  Outline of structure and contents Notes  Agrarian Speech 3  Introduction  Outline of structure and contents Notes  Endmatter Bibliography 1. Editions, commentaries, and translations of Cicero's Agrarian Speeches 2. Other works cited  Indexes   1. Names (of people and places) 2. Subjects

Reviews

It should be emphasized that Manuwald has provided a much-needed tool that students of these speeches will return to with profit again and again. * Andrew R. Dyck, Bryn Ma wr Classical Review *

Author Information

Gesine Manuwald is Professor of Latin at University College London. Her research interests cover Roman oratory, drama, and epic, and also reception studies, especially in the field of Neo-Latin literature. She has published widely across all of these subjects.

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