21): we are told by Memnon, a second-century ad historian of Heraclea Pontica, that the naval battle off Tenedos was in fact won not by Lucullus himself but by his subordinate Triarius (FGrH III B, 361 (33.1)). In this regard the commentary puts its finger on one of the most difficult tasks in learning (and teaching) Latin at this stage: no longer reading solely in order to translate for the test but also in order to develop a more refined Sprachgefhl. Let us turn now to the digressio itself The structure of this passage is difficult to analyse. Quam multas nobis imagines non solum ad intuendum verum etiam ad imitandum fortissimorum virorum expressas scriptores et Graeci et Latini reliquerunt! Being Economical with the Truth: What Really Happened at Lampsacus? At this point there is nothing further that Cicero can say that is directly relevant to the legal issue, and so the digressio ( 1230), consisting of the encomium of literature, intervenes. There he said that he intended to prove first that Archias is a Roman citizen, and secondly that, were he not a citizen, he ought to be one. But Ciceros technique is not simply one of flattery. 4. He says that he was yet only sixteen or seventeen years old, wearing the striped toga or praetextatus, when he began his studies in the arts and gained the attention of some of Rome's most influential citizens. If Archias had not already possessed Roman citizenship, Cicero says, he could easily have obtained it as a favour from some general such as Sulla, or from his friend Metellus Pius ( 2526a). First we have Alexander at Sigeum, desiderating a Homer who could write of his achievements. Cokun notes that the second part of Cicero's pleading is integral to the defense and should not be regarded as an indication that Archias' legal case was weak. Archias had become eligible for Roman citizenship under the Lex Iulia de Civitate Latinis Danda, passed in 90 BC, and the Lex Plautia Papiria de Civitate Sociis Danda, passed in 89 BC. The view it would have taken of sophisticated Greek poetry can easily be surmised. Archias must indeed be a teacher of genius, the jury will conclude, if he taught Cicero to speak like this. He gracefully concedes the point, but then goes on to instance some outstanding Romans who did study literature ( 16): Ex hoc esse hunc numero quem patres nostri viderunt, divinum hominem, Africanum, ex hoc C. Laelium, L. Furium, moderatissimos homines et continentissimos, ex hoc fortissimum virum et illis temporibus doctissimum, M. Catonem illum senem; qui profecto si nihil ad percipiendam colendamque virtutem litteris adiuvarentur, numquam se ad earum studium contulissent. For the argument to be effective, Cicero has to imply that it was Archias who made him the great orator he has become; this then demands an element of vagueness as to precisely what Archias contribution was. 2.26; Val. Thus in the last (hopelessly corrupt) sentence of section 5, C. informs us of a textual crux but maintains focus upon the meaning of the sentence as printed. In this part he turns his attention specifically to poetry and to Archias, and argues that both are useful to society. The occasional note that relates sentence structure or vocabulary choice to larger themes both fulfills pedagogical needs and also reminds us of the tricky balancing act between simply teaching and inspiring real interest in sophisticated texts with a readership at this level: fit your line solely with technical syntactical and rhetorical terms or with explanations of subjunctive X in subordinate clause Y and students are less likely to take the bait. The Pro Archia, then, is an oration with a complex network of layered meaning with broad cultural implications both for Cicero's audience and for readers today. 32), I hope that my departure from the practice and the conventions of the courts, and my digression upon the subject of my clients genius, and, in general terms, upon the art which he follows, has been welcomed by you in as generous a spirit as I am assured it has been welcomed by him who presides over this tribunal. In addition to defending Archias at this time, he also undertook the defence of Pompeys brother-in-law P. Sulla Fam. He does, it is true, make an exception for the Greeks of Achaea, who could point to a more distinguished, if remote, past, and lived closer to Rome. 28), The measures which I, jointly with you, undertook in my consulship for the safety of the empire, the lives of our citizens, and the common weal of the state, have been taken by my client as the subject of a poem which he has begun; he read this to me, and the work struck me as at once so forcible and so interesting, that I encouraged him to complete it. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. The two examples he mentions here are Alexander the Great and Pompey the Great ( 24); the comparison is highly complimentary to the latter. Pro Archia has been described asundoubtedly the least typical speech of the Ciceronian corpus.1 Ciceros client is not, as so often, a prominent Roman aristocrat accused of violence, bribery, or extortion, but a Syrian poet whose claim to Roman citizenship was disputed. At the same time he is also alluding to the uniquely Roman custom whereby nobles kept wax masks (imagines) of their ancestors who had held curule office within the atria of their houses. Archiass defense was undertaken by a former pupil of his, the previous years Consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero. As for his declaration before the praetor Metellus, Cicero produces the citizen lists which Metellus compiled, argues for their accuracy, and points to the name of A. Licinius. A letter from Cicero to Titus Pomponius Atticus in the year following the trial makes mention of Archias, but there is no conclusive evidence about the outcome of the trial. It was here that he earned a living as a poet and gained the patronage of the Roman general and politician L. Lucullus. 13.1.4).13 Secondly, Cicero had high hopes that Archias would immortalize his suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy in Greek verse ( 28, 31), just as he had immortalized the achievements of Lucullus.
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