The speaker is Cicero himself.
‘The rest of those who were considered leading speakers of the time held magistracies, and I listened to them on a daily basis at the meetings of the assemblies. Among them was Gaius Curio,27 tribune of the plebs, who in fact was no longer giving speeches, as he had once been abandoned by the entire assembly; Quintus Metellus Celer, not exactly an orator, but not inarticulate either; Quintus Varius, Gaius Carbo and Gnaeus Pomponius28 were genuinely well spoken and quite at home on the speakers’ platform. Gaius Julius,29 curule aedile, gave careful speeches almost every day. I suffered my first blow of disappointment as an eager auditor when Cotta30 was banished. I listened to the rest repeatedly and with keen attention, and although I was writing and reading and taking notes every day, was not content with mere exercises alone. The following year Quintus Varius31 departed for exile, having been condemned by his own law.
‘For my part, I turned to the study of civil law with Quintus Scaevola,32 son of Publius, who, although he gave formal instruction to no one, managed to teach eager listeners through his responses to those who came to consult him. The following year, during the consulship of Sulla and Pompey,33 I became quite familiar with the oratory of Publius Sulpicius,34 who, as tribune, spoke in the assembly every day. At the same time, when Philo,35 leader of the Academy, together with the leading Athenians, had fled from the Mithradatic war and come to Rome, I devoted myself to him, spurred by a real zeal for philosophy. Although the variety and grandness of his subject matter thrilled me, I gave him special attention because it seemed at the time that the entire judicial system had been ruined for good.
‘Sulpicius died that year, and in the following year three orators from three different generations were all cruelly put to death, namely Quintus Catulus, Marcus Antonius and Gaius Julius.36 In the same year I studied at Rome with Molo the Rhodian,37 who excelled as pleader of cases and as an instructor. Although these matters might seem irrelevant to our proposed line of inquiry, I discuss them so that you, Brutus38 (for Atticus39 is familiar with them), can, as you wished, understand my development and see how closely I followed in the footsteps of Quintus Hortensius.40 For almost three years then the city was free of armed conflict. As a result of the death or retirement or exile of orators (for even the young Marcus Crassus and the two Lentuli41 were gone), Hortensius conducted the most important cases, and more and more each day Antistius showed his mettle, Piso made frequent speeches, less often Pomponius, rarely Carbo, once or twice Philippus.42
‘Throughout the same period I devoted myself to studies of every kind. I spent time with Diodotus the Stoic,43 who died recently at my house, having shared my residence while he lived. He trained me in a number of topics, most especially in dialectic, which can be regarded as a kind of constrained or constricted eloquence. Even you, Brutus, have said that without it, it’s impossible to attain genuine eloquence, which the Stoics call expanded dialectic.44 Although I was devoted to this teacher and his expertise, still I also engaged in oratorical exercise every day. I would often practise declamation – as it’s now called – with Marcus Piso or Quintus Pompeius,45 daily with someone. I would practise a great deal in Latin, more so in Greek, both because the Greek language with its greater supply of adornments prompts a similar tendency when speaking Latin and because I couldn’t be corrected or instructed by the best Greek teachers if I didn’t declaim in Greek.
‘Meanwhile there was a violent struggle to restore the republic, including the cruel deaths of three orators, Scaevola, Carbo and Antistius;46 the return of Cotta, Curio, Crassus, the Lentuli and Pompey;47 laws and courts placed on a firm footing, the republic recovered; but Pomponius, Censorinus and Murena48 carried off from the roll of orators. That was when I began to take on both public and private cases, not in order to learn in the forum, as many have done, but to enter the forum already having learned as much as I could.
‘At the same time, I turned my attention to Molo, who, while Sulla was dictator, had been deputized to approach the senate about the payment due the Rhodians. My first public action, on behalf of Sextus Roscius,49 received so much praise that no case seemed too great for me to handle. Many cases followed, which I handled with the utmost diligence, burning the midnight oil, so to speak.
‘Because you seem to want to know me in my entirety, and not just on the basis of a birthmark or other tokens, I must address some topics that might otherwise seem unnecessary. At that time I was very thin and physically weak, my neck long and slender, my overall condition not far from endangering my life if I strained my lungs through overexertion. My habit of speaking without remission or variation, greatly straining both voice and body, caused a great deal of worry to those to whom I was dear.
‘And so with my friends and doctors urging me to give up pleading cases, I decided that I would rather take any risk than abandon my hopes for glory through eloquence. But when I considered that with some relaxation and moderation of my voice and a different manner of speaking I could both avoid danger and speak in a tempered style, I travelled to Asia with just this goal in mind. Having spent two years as an active orator and already achieved some renown in the forum, I set out from Rome.
‘Once I arrived at Athens I spent six months with Antiochus,50 the distinguished and wise leader of the old Academy, and I renewed my study of philosophy, which I had cultivated and improved upon steadily from early adolescence, once again with an outstanding thinker and teacher. Also at Athens I continued my rhetorical exercises with Demetrius the Syrian,51 an experienced and well-known instructor.
‘Afterwards I travelled throughout Asia in the company of leading orators who willingly practised with me. Chief among these was Menippus of Stratonice,52 in my opinion the most eloquent man in all of Asia at that time; and if being “Attic” means never being boring or inept, then he rightly counts as Attic. Dionysius of Magnesia was regularly in my company, as were Aeschylus of Cnido and Xenocles of Adramyttium,53 who were considered the chief teachers of rhetoric in Asia at that time.
‘Not content with these, I went to Rhodes and attached myself to that same Molo I had studied with at Rome. He was an excellent speaker in real cases, an outstanding writer and very shrewd in noting and correcting vices and in offering guidance and instruction. He set out – if he could only correct one thing – to repress my tendency to gush and swell and, with a certain youthful licence and wilfulness, to overflow, as it were, the banks of speech. And so after two years I found myself not just improved but virtually transformed. My strained voice had relaxed, my language had cooled down, my lungs regained their strength, and my body took on a normal build.
‘At that time there were two outstanding orators who inspired me with a desire to imitate them, Cotta and Hortensius. The one was relaxed and mild and easily expressed his ideas in appropriate language. The other was more elaborate, keen and not as you knew him, when his powers were declining, Brutus, but more vigorous in language and delivery. And so I decided my rivalry would be with Hortensius, because I resembled him in the energy of my style and was closer to him in age. And I had noticed that when he and Cotta argued the same cases, for example in defence of Canuleius, and in defence of Dolabella, although Cotta was treated as lead counsel, Hortensius argued the more important sections of the case. For the crush of listeners and noise of the forum required an orator who was bold, impassioned, lively and resonant.
‘For one year, then, after I had returned from Asia, I argued prominent cases, while I sought the quaestorship, Cotta the consulate and Hortensius the aedileship. At which point my quaestorship took me to Sicily for a year, Cotta after the consulate proceeded to Gaul and Hortensius was recognized as the top orator. But when in the following year I had returned from Sicily, it was evident that my powers had been perfected, having attained a certain ripeness. I can see that I’m talking about myself too much. My point isn’t to get you to recognize my talent and eloquence (far from it!), but to make clear how hard I worked.
‘And so after about five years of participating in numerous cases alongside the leading orators, as aedile elect I took the side of the Sicilians54 in a major contest against Hortensius, who was consul designate. But since this discussion isn’t just a list of orators, but an attempt to offer some guidance as well, let me briefly explain what was noteworthy about Hortensius.
‘Now after his consulate he eased up on the ambition that had driven him since he was a child – presumably because, seeing no one comparable to himself among the ex-consuls, he failed to consider those who had not been consuls. He decided to enjoy his prosperity, to be happier, as he saw it, and certainly to live in a more relaxed manner. The first, second and third years detracted from him, as if from the colour of an antique painting, not so much that just anyone from among the people could tell, but such that a learned and thoughtful critic could recognize. But as more time passed, every aspect of his eloquence was affected and he especially lost the swiftness and fluency of his language, seeming each day less and less like himself.
‘For my part, I did not cease from every type of exercise and to augment whatever capability I had especially through writing. And so as to omit much in this period and from the years following my aedileship, I came in first in the election for praetor with an incredible show of popular support. For thanks to my energy and attentiveness in legal cases as well as my careful and elevated style of oratory I won men over with my new type of eloquence.
‘I won’t speak about myself. As for the rest, I will say that none of them seemed to have studied literature, which is the font of perfect eloquence, more carefully than the average person; none had embraced philosophy as the mother of all good deeds and sayings, or had studied civil law, a topic absolutely essential for private cases and for the practical wisdom of the orator; none had cultivated awareness of the Roman past, from which, if necessary, the dead can be summoned as the most reliable witnesses; none had acquired the ability to set the judges at ease by wittily mocking the opponent or to lead them gradually from sternness to lightheartedness and even laughter. Not one among them could broaden the scope of discussion and guide the speech from a point of dispute limited in person and time to a general question of universal significance. None could digress a bit from the case at hand for the sake of amusement, none could impel the judge to anger, lead him to tears, or – the greatest task of an orator – direct his mind wherever the issue demanded.
‘And so when Hortensius had all but vanished from the scene and I had been elected consul55 in the sixth year after his consulate (the earliest year I was eligible), he began to summon himself to labour once again, lest being equal to him in political status, I seem superior in anything else. Thus for twelve years after my consulate in the most important cases, when I ranked him ahead of myself, and he ranked me ahead of himself, we worked together in complete harmony; and my consulship, which had at first somewhat hurt his pride, ended up uniting us, thanks to his recognition of my achievements, which he regarded with admiration. Our joint activity had achieved great prominence just before all eloquence suddenly fell silent and speechless, Brutus, out of fear of armed violence. When the Pompeian law56 decreed only three hours for speakers, we daily argued anew similar or even identical cases. You, too, Brutus, participated in these proceedings, either jointly with us or on your own. Thus although Hortensius’ life was too short, he nonetheless rounded out his career as follows: having begun arguing cases ten years before you were born, in his sixty-fourth year, a few days before his death, he joined you in defending your father-in-law Appius. At any rate, our orations will indicate to posterity the type of eloquence each of the two of us employed.
‘But if we try to determine why Hortensius had a greater reputation as a young man than when he was older, we’ll find two likely reasons. First, his Asiatic style of oratory was better suited to youth than to old age. In fact, there are really two types of Asiatic style, one full of pointed sayings, less grave and serious than polished and balanced, as in the histories of Timaeus,57 the speeches of Hierocles of Alabanda, known from our youth, and especially those of his brother Menecles,58 both of whom being outstanding examples of the Asiatic style. The other version of the Asiatic style is less pointed, more hurried, even rushed, all the rage now in Asia, expressing a flow of speech in refined language, as practised by Aeschylus of Cnidos and my contemporary Aeschines of Miletus.59 Their flowing language prompted admiration, but there was none of the polished symmetry of phrases.
‘As I said, both of these styles are more suited to young men, as they lack the gravity appropriate to older speakers. And so Hortensius, capable of both styles, earned accolades when he was young. For he had Menecles’ fondness for frequent polished phrases, although, as with Menecles, they were pleasant and charming rather than essential or even useful. At the same time, his oratory could be swift and vibrant without loss of precision or polish. Neither approach met with the approval of older men, indeed I often saw Philippus60 laughing or even growing angry and disgusted. But young men were in awe, and the people as a whole were deeply impressed.
‘The youthful Hortensius thus stood out in the opinion of the common folk and easily held first place. For although his style of speaking commanded little genuine authority, it seemed well suited to his stage of life. In addition, because there was a certain cast to his talent, which he developed through practice, and he kept strict control of his language,61 he earned the audience’s great respect. But when his accumulation of honours and senior status demanded something a little weightier, he stayed the same, although it wasn’t appropriate to do so. And because he grew lax in the studies in which he had formerly been so energetic, the symmetry and frequent use of sententious sayings continued, but they were no longer wrapped in the same elegant cloak of language as they had been. This explains why, dear Brutus, the man perhaps pleased you less than he would have pleased you, if you had been able to hear him speak when he was burning with enthusiasm and in full control of his powers.’
Then Brutus replied: ‘I understand what you are saying, and I have always regarded Hortensius as a great speaker and I especially approved of his defence of Messalla, which took place when you were away.’62
‘That’s the general opinion,’ I went on, ‘and the written version, which is said to be just as he delivered it, confirms the verdict. And so he was a leading orator from the consulship of Crassus and Scaevola all the way to that of Paulus and Marcellus,63 while I had a comparable career from the dictatorship of Sulla64 also to the time of Paulus and Marcellus. The voice of Hortensius was silenced by his own death, mine by that of the republic.’
‘Please, speak words of better omen!’ said Brutus.
‘Let it be as you wish,’ I continued, ‘for your sake if not for mine. But the death of that man was fortunate, in that he did not live to see the future he had predicted. For often together we were moved to tears by the impending disasters, as we could see how civil war was arising from private desires, and the possibility of peace had been kept out of public consideration. But the good luck he had always enjoyed seems by death to have rescued him from the wretched situation that has indeed come to pass.
‘For our part, Brutus, after the death of that remarkable orator, Hortensius, we are left as guardians of eloquence. Let us then keep her safe with a custody suited to her free status, and reject these unfamiliar and shameless suitors and take precautions to safeguard the chastity of this adult maiden and protect her to the best of our ability from an onslaught of would-be lovers. It saddens me to think that I started on the path of life a little too late, and that before the journey has come to an end, I have stumbled into this dark night of the republic. Yet I am sustained by the consolation that your own kindly letter has provided, in which you urged me to be of strong mind because my accomplishments will speak for me even in my silence and live on after my death, bearing witness to the soundness of my advice concerning the state, whether through its survival, if things turn out well, or through its death.’