ABSTRACT
Before they knew Greece, the Romans had no notion of either philosophy or science. It was, therefore, natural that in philosophy and science they should take all their lessons from the Greeks. But they had long practised the art of oratory. Skill in words was indispensable in a republic to anyone who aspired to dominate the masses. Political eloquence must have come into being among them at the same time as politics. Still more, the development of law and the custom of the client calling upon his patron for support in the courts made it a duty for the aristocrat to be able to defend a case. The desire to shine and the ambition of forcing oneself upon the attention of the citizens found the most usual and most certain means in public speaking. “In such a great and ancient republic,” Cicero says, “in which the most brilliant rewards await eloquence, all have desired to exercise the gift of words.” 1 So in the Brutus, when he undertakes to relate the history of Roman eloquence, he does not hesitate to trace its origin to L. Brutus who drove out the Tarquins, and he manages to cite a fair number of orators previous to Cato. We might therefore have expected Roman oratory to continue this old tradition, or at least to keep some original features and an independent character in the face of Greek eloquence.
