De Oratore

A dialogue by Cicero, written in 55 BCE, that presents his views on the education, knowledge, and eloquence required of an ideal orator.

Rhetoric: The art of using language to persuade, inform, or move an audience. Cicero treats oratory as a demanding form of rhetoric grounded in civic life.
Invention (rhetoric): The rhetorical process of finding arguments and material suited to a speech. The ideal orator needs sound judgment to discover what a case requires.
Cicero: Roman statesman, lawyer, and author whose writings shaped Latin rhetoric and philosophy. He wrote the dialogue and presented its ideal through characters drawn from Roman public life.
Quintus Cicero: Roman politician and younger brother of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Cicero addresses him in the dialogue’s prefatory dedication.
Institutio Oratoria: A twelve-book treatise by Quintilian on the education and professional formation of an orator. Quintilian’s ideal speaker continues Cicero’s fusion of rhetorical training and character.
Roman Republic: The period and political system of ancient Rome before the establishment of the imperial principate. The dialogue imagines eloquence operating within the Republic’s political institutions.
Arrangement (rhetoric): The organization of a speech’s arguments and parts into an effective sequence. Cicero’s model treats structure as part of persuasive command, not mere ornament.
55 BC: A year in the Roman calendar corresponding to the late Republic. Cicero composed the work during a period of political upheaval and constrained public activity.
Julius Caesar Strabo: A Roman orator and statesman who appears among the speakers in De Oratore. His wit and account of humor broaden the dialogue’s treatment of persuasive speech.
Ciceronianism: The imitation or study of Cicero’s Latin style and rhetorical principles. The dialogue helped make Cicero a model for later theories of eloquence.

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Quintus RosciusRelated: Cicero uses Roscius as an example when discussing performance and delivery.