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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Richard Marshall
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Public speaking was fundamental to the public assemblies, Senate, and law courts of the Roman Republic; as the constitution was drastically re-shaped by Augustus and continued to evolve under his successors, the nature and importance of public speech at Rome was itself transformed. Tacitus and his contemporaries were extremely sensitive to these changes, as oratory remained a chief means of career advancement for the Roman elite, while an oratorical education was the only model recognized by the schools. Roman orators made their reputations by speaking in public; some also relied on publishing written versions of their speeches. The term “Roman orators” can thus be applied to public speakers generally, and to a set of authors who embody a particular literary tradition. By the time of Tacitus, this tradition was dominated by the orators of the Late Republic and Augustan periods, in particular by Cicero.
Author(s): Marshall RMA
Editor(s): Pagán, V
Publication type: Book Chapter
Publication status: Published
Book Title: The Tacitus Encyclopedia
Year: 2023
Pages: 927-933
Print publication date: 01/06/2023
Online publication date: 01/06/2024
Acceptance date: 16/06/2020
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Place Published: Chichester
URL: https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Tacitus+Encyclopedia-p-9781444350258
Library holdings: Search Newcastle University Library for this item
ISBN: 9781444350258
