Haec argumenta locos communes appellamus. Cicero’s Concept of the Commonplace in De inventione

Authors

  • Antje Junghanß Technische Universität Dresden
  • Bernhard Kaiser Technische Universität Dresden

Abstract

Cicero’s De inventione has often been neglected as the immature work of a young man. However, among other valuable aspects, it provides a particularly detailed explanation of the locus communis. As the understanding of the term is quite inconsistent in contemporary research, this paper will explore Cicero’s concept of the locus communis and highlight its specifics with regard to function and design. As will be shown, Cicero conceives of it as a highly sophisticated feature of rhetorical amplificatio and a most challenging task both in content and form. Cicero’s concept must therefore be clearly distinguished both from the loci argumentorum (understood as search formulae) and from the modern understanding of the commonplace.

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Author Biographies

Antje Junghanß, Technische Universität Dresden

After studying French, Latin and Italian, Antje Junghanß completed a PhD on the significance of beneficia
in Cicero, Seneca and Lactantius. She is postdoctoral researchers at the Institute for Classical Philology at the Technische Universität Dresden. She is working on ancient philosophy and rhetoric. 

Bernhard Kaiser, Technische Universität Dresden

Bernhard Kaiser studied Law and Classics; his PhD centers on the verbal attacks against Socrates in Plato’s Gorgias. He is postdoctoral researchers at the Institute for Classical Philology at the Technische Universität Dresden. He is working on ancient philosophy and rhetoric. 

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Published

2025-01-31

How to Cite

Junghanß, A., & Kaiser, B. (2025). Haec argumenta locos communes appellamus. Cicero’s Concept of the Commonplace in De inventione. Ciceroniana On Line, 8(2), 703–717. Retrieved from https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/COL/article/view/11654

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2024): “Lecturae Ciceronis I, 2024. Le De inuentione entre philosophie, droit et rhétorique” Proceedings edited by Charles GUÉRIN and Veronica REVELLO

Section

Papers

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