Ever since G. Kennedy's publications on the importance of character in oratory (see especially The Art of Rhetoric in the Roman World [1972]), English-speaking scholars of Cicero have been interested in how the orator's self-presentation helps to advance his rhetorical goals. More recent work has progressed this line of inquiry by considering how the carefully curated presentation of Cicero's ethical and intellectual qualifications supports his political and intellectual career (especially J. Dugan, Making a New Man [2005]; H. van der Blom, Cicero's Role Models [2010]; C. Bishop, Cicero, Greek Learning, and the Making of a Roman Classic [2019]). K.'s book returns to the original oratorical preoccupations of this body of scholarship by considering how Cicero's self-presentation in the speeches delivered between 57 and 43 bce helps him claim political significance in an environment dominated by Pompey and Caesar.
The post-exile speeches have primarily been studied for the strategies that Cicero employs to manage the legacy of his consulship. As a result, the speeches delivered immediately upon the orator's return from exile and those that most vigorously engage with his political opponents have dominated the conversation. K. has broader aims. The book considers all speeches from De domo sua to the Philippics (including the three relatively under-studied Caesarean speeches) in order to explore thematic links between them. Moreover, K.'s Cicero does not just look back at his consulship, but tests out various strategies for negotiating Rome's new political landscape.
K.'s central argument is that all these speeches are motivated by an interest in curating an image of Cicero as a figure of continued political importance. The overtly stated rhetorical goals of the speeches, be they to defend a client against bribery charges or to prove an opponent's impiety, are therefore secondary. As a result, Cicero prominently appears in these speeches as a commentator, moral authority and man of action. In order to fit the different rhetorical contexts and to suggest his adaptability to the new political world, Cicero crafts eight different personalities for himself: the attacker, the friend, the martyr, the powerless orator, the senator, the man of the people, the partisan, and the supporter of Pompey and Caesar. Some speeches lean heavily on one of these personae, while others mix several.
After a short introduction that outlines the objectives of the study and summarises the theoretical models most useful to the study of Cicero's various personae, the book falls into eight chapters of roughly equal length, each devoted to a single rhetorical strategy. Chapter 1, ‘The Orator as Attacker’, focuses on invective with particular attention on In Vatinium and the Philippics. The chapter is a useful introduction to K.'s approach throughout the book, which is to read the speeches thematically rather than chronologically. It successfully shows that the orator relies on the same strategies, such as derisive humour, for speeches written over a decade apart and in radically different circumstances. Chapter 2, ‘The Orator as Friend’, shifts to Cicero's amicitia with Caesar and Pompey. Here, the limitations of the book's singular focus on oratory become apparent. Amicitia is widely recognised as a relationship between social equals. In the oratorical works, however, Cicero rarely, if ever, appears on an equal footing with Caesar and Pompey. The most significant passage that might contradict this view, Prov. Con. 40–3, is mentioned in this chapter, but not discussed in detail. Instead, the rhetoric of praise and gratitude for Caesar and Pompey dominates this chapter and leaves readers wondering whether Cicero ever successfully presents himself as the equal of the two mighty generals.
Chapter 3, ‘The Orator as Martyr’, finds itself on well-trodden ground by examining how Cicero portrays his exile as a sacrifice for the good of Rome with a focus on De domo sua, Pro Sestio and the Philippics. The discussions of Cicero's consulship and its aftermath in these texts have already received ample attention from other scholars, and the chapter contributes little new to the conversation. In my view, Chapter 4, ‘The Orator without Authority’, is the strongest. It discusses the frequent references to silence and the inability to speak found in Pro Milone and Pro Marcello. While K. is not the first to make the argument that the Caesarean speeches (including Pro Marcello) offer veiled criticism of Caesar, she significantly advances the robustness of this line of reasoning by putting Cicero's speeches in dialogue with scholarship on silence and critique in the imperial period. This is a tantalising glimpse of Ciceronian oratory not as the high point and finale of republican free speech, but as a moment of transition to the more cautious and circumspect oratorical performances of the empire.
Chapters 5, ‘The Champion of the Senate’, and 6, ‘The Popular Orator’, return to the idea of Cicero as a figure of continued political importance. The primary argumentative thrust of these chapters is to show that, whether he reflects on his own career or speaks on behalf of others, Cicero is at pains to convince his audience that the senate and the people have the same interests. A defender of the rights of the senate is therefore by definition also a champion of the people of Rome. The most innovative part of the discussion comes in Chapter 6 (pp. 161–9), where K. explores what Cicero has to say in Pro Sestio and Pro Plancio about how a Roman politician can confirm that he is truly popular. Here we catch a glimpse of yet another Ciceronian persona, the political advisor who guides others in managing their image. Overall, there is considerable overlap between these two chapters and Chapter 7, ‘The Voice of a Faction’, which focuses on Cicero's efforts to show that various self-proclaimed populares have no real popular support and have to resort to illegitimate means to advance their political aims. While the previous chapters can be read as stand-alone discussions, these three chapters with their interlocking arguments and similar source material are best read as a unit, especially because the Philippics form the core of all three chapters. The final chapter, ‘A Great Man's Spokesperson’, returns to Cicero's relationship with Caesar and Pompey by exploring the orator's efforts to deliver speeches on behalf of supporters of the triumvirs. Pro Balbo and Pro Marcello receive the most attention in this chapter. A brief general conclusion sums up the main arguments of the book.
The book is well researched, and its extensive bibliography is an invaluable starting point for further research on Ciceronian oratory. K. makes a good case for reading the neglected speeches of the 50s and 40s bce, such as Pro Balbo, Pro Plancio, Pro Ligario and Pro Marcello, with fresh eyes. Since the book focuses on thematic readings and oratorical techniques and does not provide extensive introductions to its source material, it will be of primary interest to specialists in the study of Cicero and Roman oratory. These scholars will doubtlessly profit from K.'s thorough survey of what the study of self-fashioning can contribute to our understanding of Cicero's late oratorical works.
