Pro Archia 12: A Prosaic Analysis

We are back, for the second week, with another prosaic analysis! But despite Pro Archia continuing to differ stylistically from the majority of Ancient Roman poems, it still carries with it a certain poetic quality. Indeed, if you groaned after realizing that this would be a post about prose rather than poetry, you might find some solace in knowing that the prose we'll be discussing is practically a love letter to poetry itself. Cicero, always the fan of tangents, departed from his original purpose when writing Pro Archia, namely to defend Archias, and instead pivoted towards a celebration of the arts, including poetry. So, in a similar vein, we will now do the same: analyze prose to uncover the beauty in it and in the rest of Ancient Roman literature.

The Text Itself

*The English translation is once again translated by yours truly, Aeterna Poesis

Latin Text

quaeres a nobis, Gratti, cur tanto opere hoc homine4 delectemur. quia suppeditat nobis ubi et animus ex hoc forensi strepitu reficiatur et aures convicio defessae conquiescant. an tu existimas aut suppetere nobis posse quod cotidie dicamus in tanta varietate rerum, nisi animos nostros doctrina excolamus, aut ferre animos tantam posse contentionem, nisi eos doctrina eadem relaxemus? ego vero fateor me his studiis esse deditum. ceteros pudeat, si qui ita se litteris abdiderunt ut nihil possint ex eis neque ad communem adferre fructum neque in aspectum lucemque proferre; me autem quid pudeat qui tot annos ita vivo, iudices, ut a nullius umquam me tempore aut commodo aut otium meum abstraxerit aut voluptas avocarit aut denique somnus retardarit?

English Translation

You seek from us, Grattus, why we are delighted so greatly by this man. It is because he makes available for us a place where our souls are revived out of this forensic clamor, and our ears, having been exhausted by argumentation, relax. Do you judge that it would be possible for us to recall that which we speak of daily in so many and so various topics, except if we trained our minds with teachings, or that our minds would be able to carry so much contention if we did not relax them with this same doctrine? I verily confess that I am devoted to these studies. Let it shame others, if anyone has buried themselves in letters in such a way that they can produce nothing out of these words for the common benefit or bring them forth into the light; what should shame me, however, who has lived for so many years in such a way, judges, so that from the time and help of nobody ever has my leisure distracted me or pleasure diverted me or sleep finally stolen me away.

A Brief History

This passage marks the beginning of the confirmatio, the third part in a typical Roman oratory. In this section of the speech, Cicero should be making the argument on behalf of his client, in this case Archias. If he were any other orator, the confirmatio would likely have consisted of reasons as to why Archias is indeed a citizen of the Roman Empire and thus should not be unlawfully deported. Yet, Cicero is not any other orator; he is the leading Roman orator of his time, and therefore has the capability to bend the rules. Believing, and rightfully so, that earlier on in his speech he sufficiently defended Archias himself, he now uses the confirmatio to transition into a defense of art as a whole. Battling not against his opponent but rather spreading Roman anti-intellectualism, Cicero here conflates a decision in favor of Archias being Roman with one in favor of Rome continuing to support and value the arts. On an extended and, at many times, self-referential tangent, Cicero will, throughout the rest of the speech, deliver a disquisition on the importance of liberal arts for an ordered, educated, and distinctly Roman society.

An important note before we begin the proper rhetorical analysis. In the passage translated previously, Cicero mentions always being available to help all those who needed it. Rather than speaking generally, Cicero here is alluding to a specific event: the Catiline Conspiracy. If you recall from our last prosaic analysis, Cicero, while consul, exposed a group of Conspirators he believed sought to overthrow the consulship. Led by Lucius Sergius Catilina, who had just lost the consulship to Cicero himself, the group of conspirators was brought to trial by Cicero. Delivering a powerful oration against these men, Cicero easily won the case, prompting Catilina to flee Rome and the rest of his conspirators to be executed without a trial. To honor him for exposing the conspiracy, Cicero was granted the title of “pater patriae” (father of the fatherland). In short, he was the man who saved the empire, and he is making sure you remember that.

Rhetorical Analysis

In this speech, Cicero seeks to accomplish two main goals. First, he hopes to diametrically oppose himself, both in terms of talent and beliefs, from his opponent, Grattus, who is prosecuting Archias. Second, he hopes to establish credibility for the arts by both praising them directly and inspiring recognition in the audience for their utility. In this short passage, each line serves this dual purpose remarkably effectively.

Cicero vs Grattus

The first line of Pro Archia 12 immediately establishes a line of questioning between Grattus and Cicero. However, Cicero does not open with his personal interrogation of Grattus; rather, he places himself on the defensive and pre-empts what he believes Grattus will say during his speech. In the lines, "quaeres a nobis, Gratti, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur," translated as "You seek from us, Grattus, why we are delighted so greatly by this man," Cicero uses an indirect question to frame Grattus as outside of the tradition of great oratory. Indeed, Cicero uses the "royal we" here, conjugating all verbs with a subject of "we" rather than "I", to further stress that the entirety of the court understands the significance of the arts, and only Grattus is too obtuse to comprehend them. In doing so, Cicero asserts himself as the dominant speaker disseminating truth.

Additionally, Cicero here anticipates a personal attack on his own poetic interests, a belief not unfounded, as personal attacks were commonplace in Roman oratorical practice. Thus, Cicero places himself as a key agent in his love for poetry in order to render Grattus's attack unsurprising: it is less meaningful to connect someone to something they themselves already admit to being connected to. In the line, "ego vero fateor me his studiis esse deditum," translated as "I verily confess that I am devoted to these studies," Cicero's use of the adverb "vero" ("verily") illustrates the pride he holds in this association. He firmly believes that "his studiis" (referring to poetry), is worthy of being devoted to. Departing from his traditional practice of using litotes to self-referentially understate his talent or devotion to something other than the arts, Cicero here capitalizes on overstatement to drive home his pride in being considered a lover of the arts.

Because of Art,

Rome was saved. Or at least that is the idea Cicero is promulgating here. In the lines "ceteros pudeat, si qui ita se litteris abdiderunt ut nihil possint ex eis neque ad communem adferre fructum neque in aspectum lucemque proferre," translated as "let it shame others, if anyone has buried themselves in letters in such a way that they can produce nothing out of these words for the common benefit, or bring them forth into the light," Cicero equates letters, or literature writ large, with "communem fructum" ("common benefit"). This choice of adjective, "communem" (or "common"), is purposefully chosen to reframe the arts from an individual study to one that possesses the power to tangibly benefit society. Archias, and the art he now comes to represent, not only does not harm Roman society or culture, but is integral to it. Additionally, in this statement, Cicero proposes two identities for the jury to follow: that of an art lover and defender, or that of one ashamed of enjoying the arts. He chooses these two paths purposefully to assert that everyone in the room has enjoyed the arts, just some (including him) are brave enough to say it. Using the jussive subjective "pudeat," or "let it shame," Cicero talks directly to those who fall into the latter camp of those who have been benefitted by the arts but taken a passive, backseat role when it comes to defending them.

Cicero, moreover, in a preceding line, decrees that the entire profession of speaking would crumble without an instruction in the arts: "an tu existimas aut suppetere nobis posse quod cotidie dicamus in tanta varietate rerum, nisi animos nostros doctrina excolamus, aut ferre animos tantam posse contentionem, nisi eos doctrina eadem relaxemus?" Translated as, "do you judge that it would be possible for us to recall that which we speak of daily in so many and so various topics, except if we trained our minds with teachings, or that our minds would be able to carry so much contention if we did not relax them with this same doctrine?," these lines conflate remembering one's speeches, arguably the most critical part of oratory, with training in the "doctrina" (referring to the arts). He uses a future-less, vivid conditional here to make clear that the possibility of functioning as an orator without using art to learn and to relax with would be an extremely rare occurrence-- one he deems impossible. Here, art serves a dual purpose for Cicero as both a necessary stepping stone to becoming an orator and a critical practice for maintaining longevity in the practice.

Always the Narcissist...

Cicero simply refuses to let anyone in the audience, at any point in his speech, forget that he saved the state. While his actions are, no doubt, commendable, he does not restate them merely for his own pride: he weaponizes them against the jury. Indeed, in the lines "ut a nullius umquam me tempore aut commodo aut otium meum abstraxerit aut voluptas avocarit aut denique somnus retardarit?", translated as "so that from the time and help of nobody ever has my leisure distracted me or pleasure diverted me or sleep finally stolen me away," Cicero pre-emptively defends his lifestyle, equating his cherishment of the arts with his ability to save the Roman public. He has not let the leisure time he devoted towards liberal studies, or the pleasures of day-to-day life, or even sleep itself distract him from his principal duty as pater patriae-- liberal studies cannot be demonized insofar as they have never caused any harm. This line, therefore, reads like Cicero calling in a favor: he saved the Roman Empire, so he should win the case.

In Conclusion...

Cicero's passionate defense of the arts in Pro Archia is at least in part responsible for the continuing tradition of Ancient Roman poetry. When the most powerful speaker and politician of an age sings the praises of any person or practice, they disseminate some of their respect and goodwill onto it. And Cicero, via spending an entire speech arguing that the arts are integral to the functioning and well-being of society, gives more than just some of his social capital to the arts. His defense of Archias, and by extension all other Ancient Roman poets, allowed for subsequent groundbreaking works to emerge, creating and feeding our modern-day fascination with Ancient Roman works. So I think we all owe Cicero a thank you here; I wouldn't be writing, and you wouldn't be reading all these posts without him.

We hope you enjoyed this prosaic analysis of Cicero’s Pro Archia 12. Please leave any comments, questions, or concerns below, and be sure to recommend future prose or poems for us to dive into!