Rhetoric and political power in the last century of the roman republic

Abstract

Rhetoric in the last century of Republican Rome was so much entrenched in the fabrics of the Roman political society in such a way that, politicians who lacked the ability to speak persuasively denied themselves the opportunity to effectively affect the politics of the time. During the last century of the Roman Republic, Rome had an excellent military might which ensured that Rome was acclaimed the mistress of the world and inevitably controlled the Mediterranean region. Consequently, Rome‟s military prowess became a universally accepted phenomenon; due to this, it is often the case that more attention is given to militarism with regards to political power in Rome than to rhetoric or oratory. The importance of rhetoric to attaining political power is most often than not treated in silence or in extreme cases, glossed over. In order to achieve the purpose of this research, I will employ the historical narrative approach, that is, a narrative explanation, presumably, presenting an account of the linkages between events as a process leading to the outcome I seek to explain. This outcome is that rhetorical prowess was very crucial to Roman politicians who had the intent of winning and or exercising political power. With the nature of the Roman Republican system of governance being rhetoric friendly, politicians simply needed the art of persuasion so much that, even the likes of Caesar and Pompey who had armies behind them simply could not rely on their armies to exercise political power all the time but, had to use rhetorical prowess to get the job (exercising political power) done when necessary.