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Cicero's Rhetorical Analysis

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Marcus Tullius Cicero was born January 3, 106 BC in Arpinum, which is a town about 70 miles southeast of Rome (May & Wisse 6), and he died December 7, 43 BC at the command of Mark Anthony (Petersson 2). Cicero was considered the greatest orator and rhetorical theorist of Rome, even though many of his theories of rhetoric were based on the theories and writings of Plato and Aristotle, as well as Isocrates (Clark 59). Cicero was also a lawyer and a politician and he started his career by defending citizens who were arraigned on various charges and usually worked for the defense as opposed to being the prosecutor (Petersson 73).
In Cicero’s life as an orator and rhetorical theorist he wrote many books and speeches. In reference to rhetoric, in which he had been interested in since he was a young man, he believed that when the orator was preparing for his speech the two most important things he must give attention to is the thought …show more content…
Additionally, Cicero felt that the ideal orator must also have a good moral character and must be knowledgeable in all areas (May & Wisse 10). He felt that the ideal orator must have knowledge of philosophy, especially in the areas of ethics, physics and dialectic (May & Wisse 11). The last skills that Cicero felt the ideal orator must have are the combination of linguistics and comprehensive knowledge (May & Wisse 12). The possibility of one person possessing all of these skills seems impossible and it has been stated that Cicero was criticized for his idea of the ideal orator because his notion is unrealistic (May & Wisse 12). He knew this ideal orator was unrealistic and did not expect anyone to possess all of these skills, but felt the ideal orator would strive to possess all of them (May & Wisse

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