Download ENGL 4103 Day 11 - Intro to Roman Rhetoric

ENGL / COMM 4103
RHETORIC & PERSUASION
Introduction to Roman Rhetoric
Rhetoric after Aristotle
“In the centuries between Aristotle and Cicero,
rhetoric traveled between Athens and Rome,
carried along in the general wave of Hellenism
. . . that flowed westward” (Glenn 56).
Hermagoras: Stasis Theory

Stasis Theory is a rhetorical process to determine the point
at issue in an argument (Lanham 93 – 94).
Conjectural:
1.


Dispute over a fact.
Was the deed done?
Definitional:
2.


Dispute over a definition.
What kind of deed was done?
Qualitative:
3.


Dispute over the value, quality, or nature of the deed.
Was it a legal deed?
Translative:
4.


Dispute over moving the issue from one court to another.
Are we trying the case in the right court?
Neo-platonic Rhetoric



Attempted to harmonize the rhetorical theories of
Plato and Aristotle.
Favored the Platonic texts – Phaedrus and Gorgias –
and Hermogenes’ theories concerning stasis and
style.
Influential into the Medieval era.
Roman Rhetoric
“Athenian rhetoric offered much to the burgeoning
Roman republic: not only could individual speakers
advance themselves and enhance their political
aspirations but they could also ‘direct civic affairs by
securing action through persuasion’” (Glenn and Enos
qtd. in Glenn 56)
Greek Influence in Roman Rhetoric

The Hellenistic Period:
 Dates:
 Followed
Alexander’s death in 338 BC.
 Lasted until Roman consolidation of power in 30 BC.
 Influence:
 Spread
Greek culture across the eastern Meditteranean.
 Established Greek language and education as the common
standards across the expanding Roman empire.
 Roman conquerors absorbed and adapted the robust
cultural, educational, and religious practices of the Greeks.
Greek Influence in Roman Rhetoric
Well-ordered
political and
legal system.
Bureaucratic
necessity of large
empire.
Aggressively
pragmatic
worldview.
Roman
Rhetoric
Existing Greek
rhetorical
theory and
practice.