Cicero’s Speeches
Spring 2021


NEXT DEADLINES

Tuesday, April 27

Thursday, April 29

Tuesday, May 4

Thursday, May 6

Friday, May 7

Tuesday, May 11


Course Information

Meeting Time: TR 9:45am to 11am
Meeting Place: Online (Zoom)
Instructor: Prof. Daniel Libatique (he/him/his)
Office: Fenwick 410
Student Hours: M 12:30-1:30pm, Th 12-1pm, or by appointment
E-mail: dlibatiq [at] holycross.edu
Website: Click here.


Course Objectives


Course Description

We will explore the oratorical works of the preeminent Roman politician Cicero, whose works give us first-hand accounts of the political intrigues, shifting alliances, and struggles for power in the turbulent first century B.C.E. Through this course, we will build your syntactic and grammatical knowledge of Latin, develop an appreciation for Cicero’s brilliant prose style and power of persuasion, articulate the definition of rhetoric/oratory and understand its different forms (forensic, deliberative, and demonstrative), and investigate the biographies of Cicero and the powerful Romans with whom he interacted. Our tentative reading list includes selections from In Verrem, Pro Archia, Pro Caelio, In Catilinam, and the Philippics with possible supplemental readings from Cicero’s letters and oratorical treatises.