Cicero's Rhetorical Style — Anaphora, Rhetorical Questions

Cicero's Rhetorical Style — Anaphora, Rhetorical Questions, Antithesis, Climax

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify and explain four major rhetorical devices in Cicero's prose, with specific quotations and analysis from the Catilinarians.

Introduction

Cicero was the greatest orator in Roman history and arguably in all of Western antiquity. He trained formally in Greek rhetoric and applied its principles with extraordinary skill to Latin. Unlike Caesar, who aimed for simplicitas, Cicero aimed for copia — abundance, richness, emotional power. His style is deliberately artificial: it is meant to move audiences. At B2, being able to name and explain his devices is essential for AP Latin essays and for deep reading. More practically: once you see how Cicero builds his sentences, reading him becomes much faster.

Core Concept — Four Key Devices

1. Anaphora (Repetition at the Start of Clauses)

Cicero repeats a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses to build rhythmic momentum.

"Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum omnium… moverunt?" (Cat. I.1)

Six nihil phrases. Each one adds to the accumulation. The listener cannot escape the rhythm.

"Nusquam domus, nusquam fons, nusquam ara, nusquam ignis, nusquam dii penates." (Pro Rege Deiotaro, different speech)
"Nowhere a home, nowhere a spring, nowhere an altar, nowhere fire, nowhere the household gods."

Anaphora of nusquam (nowhere) — five units, each a stripped-down loss.

2. Rhetorical Question (Erotesis)

A question asked not to get an answer but to make an assertion with emotional force.

"Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?" (Cat. I.1)
"How long, Catiline, will you abuse our patience?" — not a real question; the answer is implicit: "too long already."

"Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet?"
"How long will that madness of yours mock us?" — another rhetorical question; the answer is "it should not mock us a moment longer."

Cicero rarely asks a question to receive information. His questions are weapons.

3. Antithesis (Contrast of Opposites)

Two contrasting ideas are placed in grammatical parallel, each throwing the other into sharper relief.

"O tempora, o mores! Senatus haec intellegit, consul videt; hic tamen vivit. Vivit? Immo vero etiam in senatum venit…" (Cat. I.1, slightly later) "O the times, O the morals! The senate understands this, the consul sees it; yet he still lives. Lives? No, he even comes into the senate…"