Cicero: Brutus and Orator

Robert A. Kaster

The first new English translation of both works in over 80 years
A detailed introduction places the works in their historical and cultural context, brings to the fore the issues that readers should keep before them as they read the works, and explains the key stylistic concepts and terminology that Cicero uses in his analyses
Extensive notes accompany the translations, helping readers at every step contend with unfamiliar names, terms, and concepts from Roman culture and history

Cicero: Brutus and Orator

Robert A. Kaster

Description

Cicero's Brutus and Orator constitute his final major statements on the history of Roman oratory and the nature of the ideal orator. In the Brutus he traces the development of political and judicial speech over the span of 150 years, from the early second century to 46 BCE, when both of these treatises were written. In an immensely detailed account of some 200 speakers from the past he dispenses an expert's praise and criticism, provides an unparalleled resource for the study of Roman rhetoric, and engages delicately with the fraught political circumstances of the day, when the dominance of Julius Caesar was assured and the future of Rome's political institutions was thrown into question. The Orator written several months later, describes the form of oratory that Cicero most admired, even though he insists that neither he nor any other orator has been able to achieve it. At the same time, he defends his views against critics — the so-called Atticists — who found Cicero's style overwrought.

In this volume, the first English translation of both works in more than eighty years, Robert Kaster provides faithful and eminently readable renderings, along with a detailed introduction that places the works in their historical and cultural context and explains the key stylistic concepts and terminology that Cicero uses in his analyses. Extensive notes accompany the translations, helping readers at every step contend with unfamiliar names, terms, and concepts from Roman culture and history.

Cicero: Brutus and Orator

Robert A. Kaster

Preface
Introduction
1. Times of War and Silence (51-46 bce)
2. Brutus
3. Orator
4. Outlines of Brutus and Orator
5. Translation, Notes, Text
6. Further Reading
Abbreviations
Ancient Authors and Works Cited
Brutus
Orator
Biographical Sketches
Glossary of Roman Political Terms
Appendix A: On the Best Kind of Orator
Appendix B: Variant Readings
Bibliography
Indexes

Cicero: Brutus and Orator

Robert A. Kaster

Author Information

Robert A. Kaster, Professor of Classics, emeritus, and Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin Language and Literature, emeritus, at Princeton University.

Robert A. Kaster is Professor of Classics, emeritus, and Kennedy Foundation Professor of Latin Language and Literature, emeritus, at Princeton University.

Cicero: Brutus and Orator

Robert A. Kaster

Reviews and Awards

"Kaster's edition of the Brutus and the Orator is a superb and much needed volume which offers rich and eloquent translations, as well as comprehensive introductory material, appendices, and annotations.... Considering its extremely reasonable paperback price, I find this volume of great value and strongly recommend it for those interested in Cicero's later rhetorical contributions, from the layperson to the specialist." - Bess R. H. Myers, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"In this pair of essays written three years before his death, Cicero composed a fascinating valediction for Roman oratory.His understanding of the qualities that had made it great and his chagrin at having witnessed its decline are perfectly captured in these lucid translations by Robert Kaster." - Peter White, University of Chicago

"Robert Kaster's new translation of Cicero's Brutus and Orator is a delight to read, and his superb introduction and notes make these important works on the history and theory of oratory accessible to the broad audience they deserve. They are among Cicero's most brilliant works, and Kaster's edition is a masterpiece itself." - James E. G. Zetzel, Columbia University