{"id":35,"date":"2013-01-18T01:46:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T09:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/anouaux\/?p=35"},"modified":"2013-01-18T12:18:37","modified_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:18:37","slug":"the-art-of-oratory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/anouaux\/2013\/01\/18\/the-art-of-oratory\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Oratory"},"content":{"rendered":"

The famous Roman rhetorician, Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, describes\u00a0Roman philosopher,\u00a0Marcus Tullius Cicero, in his Institutes of Oratory<\/a> as the “perfect orator.”\u00a0 Despite having claimed that perfection in oratory is nearly impossible, it seems that Quintilian made an exception for Cicero.\u00a0 Quintilian’s book outlines the qualities of an effective orator.\u00a0 Only good men can become good orators because, unlike bad men, their minds are not “obsessed with obtaining their vice and satisfaction.”\u00a0 Quintilian states that you must also speak with eloquence and honest feeling.\u00a0\u00a0 Since “eloquence comes from the deepest source of wisdom,” Quintilian observes that the art of oratory is fit for philosophers (like Cicero).\u00a0 People with years of experience speaking and who hold vast amounts of knowledge in their head make for the best orators.<\/p>\n

\"cicero1\"<\/a>

Bust of Cicero<\/p><\/div>\n

However, simply having knowledge about a great many topics is not enough.\u00a0 Quintilian points out that while dialectic may be useful, the orator shouldn’t bog the audience down with facts, but “must move and delight them.”\u00a0 Instead, Quintilian stresses that good oratory rests on logic and ethical science.\u00a0 In other words, a good orator appeals to facts as well as the audience’s emotions.<\/p>\n

In a long and passionate speech, Cicero condemns the treacherous actions of Lucius Catilina and advises the Roman Senate to follow with just punishment.\u00a0 The accounts of the trial<\/a> reveal Cicero’s skill as a master orator. Throughout the trial, Cicero employs a number of rhetorical strategies in order to convince the Senate that the traitor, Catilina, must be banished from the city along with all of his accomplices.<\/p>\n

In his own book, De Oratore<\/a>, Cicero clearly lists the business or art of an orator into five parts:<\/p>\n