Marcus Tullus Cicero (106 - 43 B.C.)

Principally influenced by Isocrates, and Aristotle, Cicero was an attorney all of his life, but he was most famous as a Roman statesman. Cicero's influence on rhetorical thought is difficult to exaggerate. He is considered a "conduit" through which Greek philosophy was channeled into Rome.

Cicero's ideal was to unite philosophy, politics, and rhetoric through sustained education. Cicero was a pragmatic individual who saw rhetoric as a pragmatic art. He argued that distinctions between philosophy and rhetoric are absurd in that both are forms of learning. He held that one who speaks is one who can learn other forms of knowledge. A liberal education, Cicero believed, was essential in order for a rhetorician to become successful, as the rhetor must be knowledgeable in all fields in order to produce the best arguments. Cicero stressed the ultimate importance of "eloquence" in being able to communicate such knowledge to the audience. For this reason, the nature of his teachings focused on instruction on the rhetorical canons of delivery, invention, and organization.

Cicero's first treatise On Invention dealt with legal oratory. This work dealt with invention, style, and organization. His second rhetorical work, thirty years later, On Oratory provides a theoretical approach to rhetoric. This work clearly emulates Isocrates , especially when Cicero writes: "Oratory is central to civilization." Cicero holds that rhetoric is not only related to persuasion; rhetoric is about warning, teaching, comforting, encouraging, it is about human interaction. In other words all human interaction has a rhetorical side.

Cicero felt that we are never neutral about knowledge; therefore, a speaker/writer can't just convey knowledge, rather we must try to affect the audience's disposition about the knowledge. This is known as the affective domain.

Cicero's theories are strongest in the area of invention. His principle contribution is the Doctrine of Stasis which asks three questions:

1. Did Anything Happen? [Did anyone see or hear the defendant do anything? Best answered by physical evidence.]
2. What name should be applied to what happened? [a precise definition which exists in the affective domain.]
3. What sort of action was it?

The Doctrine of Stasis is tied to Cicero's notion of mitigation, where he argues that behaviors aren't good nor bad. A value judgement of behavior must be placed in a context before they can be understood. When questions in the Stasis are asked, forms [arguments] are created. Then the rhetor can gather all the data, assemble the arguments, and, if all the questions can be answered, the rhetor will construct a valid argument that is plausible due to the inferential relationship between the questions. Cicero holds that speakers win arguments by getting the audience to accept their own value perceptions.

Cicero also demonstrates some Platonism when her argues for a "perfect orator." This, according to Cicero, is a "variable ideal" and what he sees as perfection may not be perfect for all situations.