WHY STUDY RHETORIC?
It was common for treatises on technical subjects to begin with a description of the benefits to be acquired from careful study of the subsequent material. In the opening pages of his dialogue On the Orator, the great Roman orator Cicero interweaves a justification for the study of rhetoric with reflections on the current state of affairs at Rome. In his view, rhetoric provides a generalized framework for rational deliberation and conflict resolution that is as useful to the well-being of a society as military prowess. He, along with the primary speaker in the dialogue, Crassus, insists on the comprehensive nature of the challenge facing the orator, and thus on the breadth of education required of him. For Cicero, as for Crassus, philosophy is but one manifestation of the human capacity for rational thought and communication, and thus a component of rhetorical education rather than a replacement for it. Like the fictionalized speakers in his dialogue, Cicero voices respect for the technical expertise of Greek teachers of rhetoric, but suggests that just as Roman power has eclipsed Greek, so Roman eloquence should surpass the standard set by Greek. He seeks to redirect the Roman drive for glory to cultural as opposed to military or narrowly political achievements.