I
suoi principali interessi riguardano l’epigramma greco e latino,
letterario ed epigrafico (dalle origini fino ad Ausonio),
l’elegia ellenistica e romana, la
Appendix Vergiliana
e il dramma senecano.
Ha organizzato diversi Convegni
internazionale, pubblicandone gli Atti (
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The
Roman
Conquest
of
Cyprus
in
the
Rhetorical Strategies
of Cicero’s
De domo sua
and Pro Sestio
Spyridon Tzounakas
https://doi.org/10.60983/003-1.1
ABSTRACT
This study explores how the Roman conquest of Cyprus is
rhetorically treated by Cicero in two of his speeches,
De domo sua and
Pro Sestio. It argues
that Cicero not only criticizes the actions of Clodius and his
compatriots, but presents the conquest of Cyprus as an example
of injustice both on the part of Roman foreign policy and of
Clodius personally. In this way, Cicero on the one hand hopes to
destroy any political aspirations his adversary may have had as
a result of the part he played in the expansion of the Roman
Republic, while on the other he attempts to besmirch Clodius’
image with traits that could work effectively in combination
with other negative elements of his portrayal in the context of
a targeted invectiva.
Within this framework, the references to Cyprus seem to blend in
harmoniously within the context, serve the broader aims of the
particular rhetorical speeches and reinforce Cicero’s
argumentation with an additional parallel that acts as an
exemplum, making the
claim that his political adversary is constantly plotting
against innocent and peaceful people all the more credible.
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