ABSTRACT
Syrum is generally taken to mean that Piso is of servile origin. The fact that Piso really belonged to an aristocratic Roman family is one that Cicero might choose to ignore; but actually he does not ignore it. Only half a dozen lines later he claims that Piso was elected to magistracies for no other reason than the renown of his ancestors: obrepsisti ad honores errore hominum, commendatione fumosarum imaginum. The situation is, then, that just before using the word Syrum Cicero says at some length that Piso's maternal ancestors were Gallic, and just after using it he says at some length that his paternal ancestors were noble Romans. But the difficulty disappears if Syrum is not a disparagement of Piso's origin but a joke about his appearance. Everyone knows Piso is a Roman, but he looks like an oriental.
