Scripta Quae Manserunt Omnia Fasc. 24: Oratio de Provinciis Consularibus, Oratio pro L. Cornelio Balbo

by Tadeusz Maslowski (Editor)

This text is based on an examination of the extant manuscripts and an evaluation of the textual studies which have appeared since the last edition in the Bibliotheca Teubneriana series, that of A. Klotz (1916). After 90 years, it is the first reworked edition to be published anywhere in the world of these two highly regarded speeches of Cicero.

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, Philosophy

85 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1958

Reviews

[AB · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that I should do with all the more vehemence, were I not hindered by my personal enmity to that woman's husband- I meant to say brother; I always make that slip

[k · Rating 3 out of 5]

unpopular opinion but (AS OF NOW) i do not get the cicero hype. i'm sorry

[Brotologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cicero makes me want to cry because he is so darn boring. The guy is like consistently angry for no legitimate reason and anybody who's obsessed over him is just either German or Italian

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cicero's Pro Caelio is his defence speech on behalf of Marcus Caelius Rufus accused of a number of 'crimes' including adultery with Clodia Metelli whom he possibly (or possibly not) tried to poison. In a speech which revolves around ideas of truth, integrity, abuse, slander, lies and deception, Cicero himself gives us the key to exonerating Clodia from these accusations which have left her as one of the most vilified and notorious of Roman women: 'quotus quisque istam effugere potest in tam maledicta civitate? How few there are who can avoid such reports in so slanderous a city?' (38).

This particular speech is especially telling when read in conjunction with Catullus' poems (Catullus) and the depiction of young, urban, hedonistic Rome.

This Loeb translation hasn't been updated since 1958 and may feel a little old-fashioned in places (thou, thy, thine) which is slightly at odds with some of Cicero's use of 'neoteric' terms. That said, it's readable, flowing and pretty accurate, and captures Cicero's outrageous, entertaining mode of speech, complete with all the rhetorical tricks (such as the double use of prosopopoeia). This really is Roman legal speech as street theatre.