Disagreements and celebrations in rhetorical style: epistolary etiquette

Authors

  • Francesca Romana Nocchi Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata

Abstract

This paper argues that the Epistulae ad Brutum are sophisticated rhetorical artefacts that deserve greater attention than as mere historical documents. In this anthology of letters, Cicero has two objectives: to urge Brutus to act in defence of the res publica and to legitimise Cicero’s refusal to comply with personal requests. The analysis of ad Brut. 1, 12 (SB 21) and 1, 13 (SB 20) reveals the paradox of a rhetoric of refusal over that of consent, based on the alternation of conciliatory and polemical registers and the skilful management of adfectus. In ad Brut. 1, 9 (SB 18), the correspondence takes on the characteristics of an epistolary “contest”: the orator intertwines the public and private spheres, calls Brutus to duty and, as a result, claims glory and persuasive superiority, transforming consolation into reproach. Emerging from this reading is the figure of Cicero capable of manipulating emotions and reaffirming his role.

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Author Biography

Francesca Romana Nocchi, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata

Francesca Romana Nocchi è professoressa di Lingua e Letteratura Latina presso l’Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata. La sua attività di ricerca si articola lungo tre direttrici complementari: la formazione retorica, con particolare attenzione all’Institutio oratoria di Quintiliano; la poesia epigrammatica di età repubblicana e imperiale; la produzione poetica tardoantica e le sue connessioni con la tradizione retorica. Tra le sue pubblicazioni: Tecniche teatrali e formazione dell’oratore in Quintiliano (De Gruyter, 2013); Commento agli Epigrammata Bobiensia (De Gruyter, 2016); Quintiliano. Modelli pedagogici e pratiche didattiche (Morcelliana, 2020); Quintiliano. Memoria XI 2 (Bologna University Press, 2024); M. Winterbottom, Papers on Quintilian and Ancient Declamation (Oxford University Press, 2019), a cura di F.R. Nocchi, A. Stramaglia e G. Russo.

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Published

2025-12-31

How to Cite

Nocchi, F. R. (2025). Disagreements and celebrations in rhetorical style: epistolary etiquette. Ciceroniana On Line, 9(1), 375–400. Retrieved from https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/COL/article/view/13201

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2025): “Lecturae Ciceronis II, 2025. The Letters Ad Brutum between politics, rhetoric, and philosophy” Proceedings edited by Elisa DELLA CALCE, Federica LAZZERINI, Simone MOLLEA

Section

Papers

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