Roman Rhetoric

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This advanced course introduces students to Roman writings on rhetoric, the science and practice of persuasive speech. Roman theorists of rhetoric understood the state as a community of speech to be led by a great orator. In practice, rhetoric was the chief component of the educational curriculum and the basis for written and much spoken communication. We shall read selections from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, Cicero, the elder Seneca, Quintilian, and Tacitus. We shall also consider the ongoing history of classical rhetoric--its influence on theorists of language, communication, and power. Recommended for students with advanced Latin skills.