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t w e L f t h e d I t I o N
the ARt of PUBLIC SPeAKING
stephen e. Lucas
m
Determining the General Purpose 82
Determining the Specific Purpose 82
Tips for Formulating the Specific Purpose Statement 84
Questions to Ask About Your Specific Purpose 86
Is the Purpose Relevant to My Audience? 87
Phrasing the Central Idea 89
What Is the Central Idea? 89
Guidelines for the Central Idea 90
Chapter 6 Analyzing the Audience 96

Audience-Centeredness 98
Your Classmates as an Audience 99
The Psychology of Audiences 100
Demographic Audience Analysis 101
Age 102
Gender 102
Religion 103
Sexual Orientation 103
Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Background 104
Group Membership 105
Situational Audience Analysis 106
Size 106
Physical Setting 106
Disposition Toward the Topic 107
Disposition Toward the Speaker 108
Disposition Toward the Occasion 109
Getting Information About the Audience 110
Adapting to the Audience 113
Audience Adaptation Before the Speech 113
Audience Adaptation During the Speech 114
Chapter 7 Gathering Materials 118

Using Your Own Knowledge and Experience 120
Doing Library Research 120
Librarians 120
The Catalogue 121
Reference Works 121
Newspaper and Periodical Databases 122
Academic Databases 123
Searching the Internet 124
Search Engines 124
Specialized Research Resources 125
Evaluating Internet Documents 127
CONTENTS vii
Interviewing 129
Before the Interview 130
During the Interview 131
After the Interview 132
Tips for Doing Research 133
Start Early 133
Make a Preliminary Bibliography 133
Take Notes Efficiently 134
Think About Your Materials as You Research 136
Chapter 8 Supporting Your Ideas 140

Examples 142
Brief Examples 143
Extended Examples 143
Hypothetical Examples 144
Tips for Using Examples 144
Statistics 147
Understanding Statistics 148
Tips for Using Statistics 151
Testimony 155
Expert Testimony 155
Peer Testimony 155
Quoting Versus Paraphrasing 156
Tips for Using Testimony 156
Citing Sources Orally 159
PART THREE SPEECH PREPARATION: ORGANIZING AND

OUTLINING
Chapter 9 Organizing the Body

of the Speech 164
Organization Is Important 166
Main Points 166
Number of Main Points 168
Strategic Order of Main Points 169
Tips for Preparing Main Points 174
Supporting Materials 175
Connectives 178
Transitions 178
Internal Previews 178
Internal Summaries 179
Signposts 179
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 10 Beginning and Ending
the Speech 184
The Introduction 186
Get Attention and Interest 186
Reveal the Topic 192
Establish Credibility and Goodwill 192
Preview the Body of the Speech 194
Sample Introduction with Commentary 195
Tips for the Introduction 196
The Conclusion 196
Signal the End of the Speech 196
Reinforce the Central Idea 198
Sample Conclusion with Commentary 201
Tips for the Conclusion 202
Chapter 11 Outlining the Speech 204

The Preparation Outline 206
Guidelines for the Preparation Outline 206
Sample Preparation Outline with Commentary 210
The Speaking Outline 213
Guidelines for the Speaking Outline 214
Sample Speaking Outline with Commentary 216
PART FOUR PRESENTING THE SPEECH
Chapter 12 Using Language 220

Meanings of Words 222
Using Language Accurately 223
Using Language Clearly 224
Use Familiar Words 224
Choose Concrete Words 225
Eliminate Clutter 226
Using Language Vividly 227
Imagery 228
Rhythm 230
Using Language Appropriately 232
Appropriateness to the Occasion 233
Appropriateness to the Audience 233
Appropriateness to the Topic 233
Appropriateness to the Speaker 234
A Note on Inclusive Language 234
CONTENTS ix
Chapter 13 Delivery 238
What Is Good Delivery? 240
Methods of Delivery 240
Reading from a Manuscript 241
Reciting from Memory 241
Speaking Impromptu 241
Speaking Extemporaneously 242
The Speaker’s Voice 243
Volume 244
Pitch 244
Rate 244
Pauses 245
Vocal Variety 245
Pronunciation 246
Articulation 246
Dialect 247
The Speaker’s Body 248
Personal Appearance 248
Movement 249
Gestures 250
Eye Contact 250
Practicing Delivery 251
Answering Audience Questions 252
Preparing for the Question-and-Answer Session 252
Managing the Question-and-Answer Session 253
Presenting Your Speech Online 255
Understand the Special Nature of the Online Environment 256
Know Your Technology 256
Control the Visual Environment 257
Adapt Your Nonverbal Communication 258
Adjust Your Pacing for the Online Environment 259
Manage Q&A for the Online Environment 259
Rehearse for the Online Environment 259
Have a Backup Plan 260
Chapter 14 Using Visual Aids 264

Kinds of Visual Aids 266
Objects and Models 266
Photographs and Drawings 266
Graphs 267
Charts 269
Video 270
The Speaker 270
Presentation Technology 271
Pluses and Minuses of Presentation Technology 271
Planning to Use Presentation Technology 272
x CONTENTS
Guidelines for Preparing Visual Aids 273
Prepare Visual Aids Well in Advance 273
Keep Visual Aids Simple 273
Make Sure Visual Aids Are Large Enough 273
Use a Limited Amount of Text 273
Use Fonts Effectively 274
Use Color Effectively 275
Use Images Strategically 275
Guidelines for Presenting Visual Aids 276
Display Visual Aids Where Listeners Can See Them 276
Avoid Passing Visual Aids Among the Audience 277
Display Visual Aids Only While Discussing Them 277
Explain Visual Aids Clearly and Concisely 278
Talk to Your Audience, Not to Your Visual Aid 278
Practice with Your Visual Aids 279
Check the Room and Equipment 280
PART FIVE VARIETIES OF PUBLIC SPEAKING
Chapter 15 Speaking to Inform 282

Types of Informative Speeches: Analysis and Organization 284
Speeches About Objects 284
Speeches About Processes 286
Speeches About Events 288
Speeches About Concepts 290
Guidelines for Informative Speaking 292
Don’t Overestimate What the Audience Knows 292
Relate the Subject Directly to the Audience 293
Don’t Be Too Technical 295
Avoid Abstractions 296
Personalize Your Ideas 297
Be Creative 299
Sample Speech with Commentary 299
Chapter 16 Speaking to Persuade 304

The Importance of Persuasion 306
Ethics and Persuasion 306
The Psychology of Persuasion 307
The Challenge of Persuasive Speaking 307
How Listeners Process Persuasive Messages 308
The Target Audience 310
Persuasive Speeches on Questions of Fact 311
What Are Questions of Fact? 311
Analyzing Questions of Fact 311
Organizing Speeches on Questions of Fact 312
CONTENTS xi
Persuasive Speeches on Questions of Value 313
What Are Questions of Value? 313
Analyzing Questions of Value 313
Organizing Speeches on Questions of Value 314
Persuasive Speeches on Questions of Policy 315
What Are Questions of Policy? 315
Types of Speeches on Questions of Policy 315
Analyzing Questions of Policy 317
Organizing Speeches on Questions of Policy 319
Problem-Cause-Solution Order 320
Chapter 17 Methods of Persuasion 330

Building Credibility 332
Factors of Credibility 332
Types of Credibility 333
Enhancing Your Credibility 334
Using Evidence 336
How Evidence Works: A Case Study 337
Tips for Using Evidence 338
Reasoning 340
Reasoning from Specific Instances 341
Reasoning from Principle 342
Causal Reasoning 343
Analogical Reasoning 343
Fallacies 344
Appealing to Emotions 348
What Are Emotional Appeals? 349
Generating Emotional Appeal 350
Ethics and Emotional Appeal 351
Chapter 18 Speaking on Special

Occasions 358
Speeches of Introduction 360
Speeches of Presentation 362
Speeches of Acceptance 364
Commemorative Speeches 364
xii CONTENTS
Chapter 19 Speaking in Small Groups 370
What Is a Small Group? 372
Leadership in Small Groups 373
Kinds of Leadership 373
Functions of Leadership 374
Responsibilities in a Small Group 375
Commit Yourself to the Goals of Your Group 375
Fulfill Individual Assignments 376
Avoid Interpersonal Conflicts 377
Encourage Full Participation 377
Keep the Discussion on Track 378
The Reflective-Thinking Method 379
Define the Problem 379
Analyze the Problem 380
Establish Criteria for Solutions 381
Generate Potential Solutions 382
Select the Best Solution 383
Presenting the Recommendations of the Group 384
Oral Report 384
Symposium 385
Panel Discussion 385
Appendix Speeches for Analysis

and Discussion A1
Medical Robots: From Science Fiction to Science Fact A2
Ramadan A4
The Danger of Cell Phones A5
Phony Pharmaceuticals A7
The Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss A9
Elie Wiesel A11
Notes N1
Photo Credits C1
Index I1
CONTENTS xiii
SPEECHES
Tap, Tap, Tap (Sample Speech with Commentary) 72

Third-Culture Kid (Sample Speech with Commentary) 73
Surrounded by Stuff (Sample Introduction with Commentary) 195
Surrounded by Stuff (Sample Conclusion with Commentary) 201
Beneficial Bacteria (Sample Preparation Outline with Commentary) 211
Beneficial Bacteria (Sample Speaking Outline with Commentary) 216
Lady Liberty (Sample Speech with Commentary) 300
Changing Lives Through the Literacy Network (Sample Speech with
Commentary) 324
The Living-Wage Solution (Sample Speech with Commentary) 352
Presenting the National Teacher of the Year Award Barack Obama 363
Accepting the National Teacher of the Year Award
Rebecca Mieliwocki 364
Make a Wish 367
Ramadan A4
Elie Wiesel A11
SPEECHES BY GENRE
INTRODUCTORY SPEECHES
Tap, Tap, Tap 72
Third-Culture Kid 73
INFORMATIVE SPEECHES
Surrounded by Stuff (Sample Introduction with Commentary) 195
Surrounded by Stuff (Sample Conclusion with Commentary) 201
Beneficial Bacteria (Sample Preparation Outline with Commentary) 211
Beneficial Bacteria (Sample Speaking Outline with Commentary) 216
Lady Liberty (Sample Speech with Commentary) 300
Ramadan A4
xiv CONTENTS
PERSUASIVE SPEECHES
Changing Lives Through the Literacy Network 324
The Living-Wage Solution 352
SPEECHES OF PRESENTATION
Presenting the National Teacher of the Year Award Barack Obama 363
SPEECHES OF ACCEPTANCE
Accepting the National Teacher of the Year Award Rebecca Mieliwocki 364
COMMEMORATIVE SPEECHES
Make a Wish 367
Elie Wiesel A11
CONTENTS xv
A Note from the Author
W
hen I wrote the first edition of The Art of Public Speaking, I could not
have imagined the extraordinary response the book would receive. I am
deeply appreciative of the students and teachers who have made it the
leading work on its subject at colleges and universities across the United States
and around the world.
In preparing this edition, I have retained what readers have identified as the
main strengths of the book. The Art of Public Speaking is informed by classical
and contemporary theories of rhetoric, but it does not present theory for its own
sake. Keeping a steady eye on the practical skills of public speaking, it offers full
coverage of all major aspects of speech preparation and presentation.
It also follows David Hume’s advice that one “who would teach eloquence
must do it chiefly by examples.” Whenever possible, I have tried to show the
principles of public speaking in action in addition to describing them. Thus you
will find in the book a large number of narratives, speech excerpts, and full sam-
ple speeches that illustrate the principles of effective public speaking.
Because the immediate task facing students is to present speeches in the
classroom, I rely heavily on examples that relate directly to students’ classroom
needs and experiences. The speech classroom, however, is a training ground
where students develop skills that will serve them throughout life. Therefore, I also
include a large number of illustrations drawn from the kinds of speaking experi-
ences students will face after they graduate from college.
Because speeches are performative acts, students need to be able to view
speakers in action as well as read their words on the printed page. The Art of
Public Speaking has an extensive video program that is available both on DVD
and on Connect, McGraw-Hill’s innovative online learning platform. The video pro-
gram includes 36 full student speeches, plus more than 60 speech excerpts. Ten
of the full speeches and 15 of the excerpts are new to this edition.
Connect also provides a wide range of teaching and learning resources in
addition to the speech videos. These resources include SmartBook Achieve,
hands-on study tools, critical-thinking exercises, speech analysis questions, work-
sheets, assessment forms, and more. Taken together, The Art of Public Speaking
and the digital resources available on Connect provide an interactive public speak-
ing program that meets the needs of students and teachers alike.
The Art of Public Speaking has changed over the years in response to changes
in technology, student demographics, and instructional needs. But it has never
lost sight of the fact that the most important part of speaking is thinking. The
ability to think critically is vital to a world in which personality and image too often
substitute for thought and substance. While helping students become capable,
responsible speakers, The Art of Public Speaking also seeks to help them become
capable, responsible thinkers.
xvi
Instructor’s Guide to McGraw-Hill
Connect
When you assign Connect you can be confident—and have data to demonstrate—
that your students, however diverse, are acquiring the skills, principles, and
critical processes that constitute effective communication. This leaves you to focus
on your highest course expectations.
TAILORED TO YOU. Connect offers on-demand, single sign-on access to learners—wherever
they are and whenever they have time. With a single, one-time registration,
learners receive access to McGraw-Hill’s trusted content. Learners also have
access to a two-week courtesy access period during registration.
EASY TO USE. Connect seamlessly supports all major learning management systems
with content, assignments, performance data, and LearnSmart, the leading
adaptive learning system. With these tools you can quickly make assignments,
produce reports, focus discussions, intervene on problem topics, and help at-risk
learners—as you need to and when you need to.
SmartBook Achieve
SmartBook Achieve is the first and only adaptive reading and study experience
designed to change the way students read and master key course concepts. As a
student engages with SmartBook Achieve, the program creates a personalized
learning path by highlighting the most impactful concepts the student needs to
learn at that moment in time. The learning path continuously adapts by deliver-
ing just-in-time learning resources—videos, animations, and other interactivities—
catered to each student’s needs. These rich, dynamic resources help students learn
the material, retain more knowledge, and get better grades.
SmartBook Achieve
highlights the key
concepts of every
chapter, offering stu-
dents a high-impact
learning experience.
Here, highlighted
text and an illustra-
tion together explain
the physical aspects
of sound.
xvii
Insight Analytics
Mobile-ready Connect Insight provides at-a-glance analysis on five key insights,
available at a moment’s notice from your tablet device. The first and only ana-
lytics tool of its kind, Insight will tell you, in real time, how individual students
or sections are doing (or how well your assignments have been received) so you
can take action early and keep struggling students from falling behind.
Connect Insight
shows instructors
how many students
have completed an
assignment, how
long they spent on
the task, and how
they scored.
With Connect
Insight, instructors
can see, at a glance,
individual student
performance: analytics
showing student
investment in
assignments, and
success at completing
them, help instructors
identify, and aid,
those who are at risk.
xviii
Connect LearnSmart Reports
LearnSmart Instructor Reports allow instructors to quickly monitor student activity,
making it easy to identify which students are struggling and to provide immediate
help to ensure those students stay enrolled in the course and improve their perfor-
mance. The Instructor Reports also highlight the concepts and learning objectives
that the class as a whole is having difficulty grasping. This essential information lets
you know exactly which areas to target for review during your limited class time.
Some key LearnSmart reports include:
Progress Overview report—View student progress for all LearnSmart mod-
ules, including how long students have spent working in the module, which
modules they have used outside of any that were assigned, and individual stu-
dent progress through LearnSmart.
Missed Questions report—Identify specific LearnSmart probes, organized by
chapter, that are problematic for students.
Most Challenging Learning Objectives report—Identify the specific topic
areas that are challenging for your students; these reports are organized by chapter
and include specific page references. Use this information to tailor your lecture time
and assignments to cover areas that require additional remediation and practice.
Metacognitive Skills report—View statistics showing how knowledgeable
your students are about their own comprehension and learning.
Speech Capture
Designed for use in face-to-face, real-time classrooms, as well as online courses,
Speech Capture allows you to evaluate your students’ speeches using fully cus-
tomizable rubrics. You can also create and manage peer review assignments and
upload videos on behalf of students for optimal flexibility.
Students can access rubrics and leave comments when
preparing self-reviews and peer reviews. They can eas-
ily upload a video of their speech from their hard drive
or use Connect’s built-in video recorder. Students can
even attach and upload additional files or documents,
such as a works-cited page or a PowerPoint presentation.
PEER REVIEW
Peer review assignments are easier than ever. Create and
manage peer review assignments and customize privacy
settings.
SPEECH ASSESSMENT
Connect Speech Capture lets you customize the assign-
ments, including self-reviews and peer reviews.
Connect saves your frequently used comments, simpli-
fying your efforts to provide feedback.
xix
Support to Ensure Success
Digital Success Academy—

The Digital Success Acad-
emy on Connect offers a
wealth of training and
course creation guidance
for instructors and students
alike. Instructor support
is presented in easy-to-
navigate, easy-to-complete
sections. It includes the
popular Connect video
shorts, step-by-step Click
through Guides, and First
Day of Class materials
that explain how to use
both the Connect platform
and its course-specific tools
and features. http://create.mcgraw-hill.com/wordpress-mu/success-academy
Digital Success Team—The Digital Success Team is a group of specialists
dedicated to working online with instructors—one-on-one—to demonstrate
how the Connect platform works and to help incorporate Connect into a cus-
tomer’s specific course design and syllabus. Contact your digital learning con-
sultant to learn more.
Digital Learning Consultants—Digital Learning Consultants are local
resources who work closely with your McGraw-Hill learning technology con-
sultants. They can provide face-to-face faculty support and training. http://
catalogs.mhhe.com/mhhe/findRep.do
Digital Faculty Consultants—Digital Faculty Consultants are experienced
instructors who use Connect in their classroom. These instructors are avail-
able to offer suggestions, advice, and training about how best to use Connect
in your class. To request a Digital Faculty Consultant to speak with, please
e-mail your McGraw-Hill learning technology consultant. http://connect.
customer.mcgraw-hill.com/dfc/
National Training Webinars—McGraw-Hill offers an ongoing series of
webinars for instructors to learn and master the Connect platform as well
as its course-specific tools and features. We hope you will refer to our online
schedule of national training webinars and sign up to learn more about
Connect! http://webinars.mhhe.com/
CONTACT OUR CUSTOMER SUPPORT TEAM

McGraw-Hill is dedicated to supporting instructors and students. To contact
our customer support team, please call us at 800-331-5094 or visit us online at
http://mpss.mhhe.com/contact.php
xx
New to the Twelfth Edition of
The Art of Public Speaking
A personalized and adaptive learning experience with Smartbook
Achieve. As a student engages with SmartBook Achieve, the program cre-
ates a personalized learning path by highlighting the most impactful con-
cepts a student needs to learn at that moment in time. The learning path
continuously adapts by delivering just-in-time learning resources—videos,
animations, and other interactivities—catered to each student’s needs. These
rich, dynamic resources help students learn the material, retain more knowl-
edge, and get better grades.
Student performance analytics with Connect Insight. Mobile ready

for students, Insight will also be available for students. Students will be able
to track their performance throughout the course.
New and expanded coverage of presenting online. Chapter 13, on
speech delivery, explores the appropriate technology and specialized skills
needed to present professional, compelling speeches in a digital environ-
ment. The chapter has been updated with an extensive discussion of the
special nature of the online milieu. Professor Lucas explains the impor-
tance of mastering today’s technology and controlling the visual environ-
ment, and offers tips on lighting, camera technique, appropriate onscreen
atmosphere, and personal appearance. The discussion also explores how
speakers can adapt their nonverbal communication, adjust their pacing,
and manage Q&A when speaking online.
Fresh real-world examples. Every chapter of The Art of Public Speaking
opens with an engaging and relevant model, and dozens of additional exam-
ples appear throughout the chapters, each demonstrating the importance—
and art—of public speaking in school, business, and social settings.
xxi
New checklist. Chapter 13 includes an important,
Luc23917_ch13_238-263.indd Page 260 25/08/14 8:58 AM user-f467
8-point checklist to help
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students successfully prepare and deliver an online speech.
checklist
Presenting an Online Speech
YES NO
1. Have I considered the special nature of the online speech environment?

2. Do I understand the capabilities and limitations of my presentation software?
3. Do I control the visual environment of my presentation so it will work to my
advantage?
4. Have I adapted my nonverbal communication so it will be effective when
viewed online?
5. Will the pacing of my speech keep the audience focused on my message?
6. Have I considered how best to handle questions and answers?
7. Have I taken all the steps necessary to rehearse my speech for online
presentation?
8. Do I have a backup plan in case I run into technical problems?
New compelling student speeches. Ten full speeches, plus 15 excerpts

and six “needs improvement” versions, are new to this edition, augmenting
the robust Lucas video program, which now includes 36 full student speeches
and more than 60 speech excerpts. Whether a full speech or an excerpt,
each video illustrates specific skills and concepts from the text and models
the unique features of a variety of speech genres.
Updated MLA and APA citation models. Chapter 7, on gathering mate-
rials, presents all-new sample bibliography entries, reflecting the latest MLA
and APA citation formats to help students correctly cite academic, digital,
and other sources.
Expanded coverage of outlining and revised model outlines.
Chapter 11, on outlining the speech, features updated models that illustrate
the features of a good speech outline. The chapter also features additional
discussion of the principles of outlining to help students better understand
how to arrange their thoughts clearly and effectively.
Updated discussion of presentation technology. Guidance on the use
of visual aids and presentation technology is enhanced to explore best prac-
tices when using PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, Google Docs, Zoho Show, and
other tools that aid the public speaking experience.
xxii NEW TO THE TWELFTH EDITION

Resources for Instructors
Instructors’ Guide to Connect. An overview of Connect and information
to get you started can be found on pages xvii–xx.
Annotated Instructor’s Edition. The Annotated Instructor’s Edition pro-
vides a wealth of teaching aids for each chapter in the book. It is also
cross-referenced with Connect, the Instructor’s Manual, the Instructor’s Resource
CD, and other supplements that accompany The Art of Public Speaking.
Resources within Connect:
Connect Insight. This powerful analytics tool displays a range of visual
data—framed by an intuitive question—to provide instructors at-a-glance
information regarding how their classes are doing.
Connect Reports. Assignments and activities on Connect allow instruc-
tors and departments to gauge students’ grasp of public speaking skills
with exercises and assessment built around learning outcomes. Detailed
reports support formative assessment and improve efficacy at the student,
section, and program levels.
Instructors’ Manual. This comprehensive guide to teaching from The
Art of Public Speaking contains suggested course outlines and speaking
assignments; chapter outlines; supplementary exercises and classroom
activities; and teaching tips for all exercises and activities.
Test Bank. The Lucas Test Bank furnishes 2,782 examination questions
based on The Art of Public Speaking; more than 300 of the questions are
new or revised for this edition.
PowerPoint Slides with Video Clips. The PowerPoint presentations
for The Art of Public Speaking provide chapter highlights that help instruc-
tors create focused yet individualized lesson plans.
Teaching Public Speaking Online. Fully revised for the twelfth edi-
tion, the Teaching Public Speaking Online manual includes new and revised
chapter exercises and discusses performance analytics and approaches to
the flipped classroom.
Instructor’s Online Resource Center. Augment the planning and teach-
ing experience with the help of a full suite of Lucas instructional tools,
including speech transcripts, professional resources, speech evaluation forms,
and speech-preparation worksheets.
Instructor’s Resources CD. Captured on a single disc for maximum con-
venience, access the Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, PowerPoint Slides,
Teaching Public Speaking Online manual, Selections from the Communication
Teacher, and the Handbook for Teachers of Non-Native Speakers of English.
NEW TO THE TWELFTH EDITION xxiii

Acknowledgments
“’Tis the good reader,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson, “that makes the good
book.” I have been fortunate to have very good readers indeed, and I would
like to thank the reviewers and other contributors whose names appear on
pages xxv–xxvii for their expertise and recommendations.
In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to the students at the
University of Wisconsin whose speeches provided the material for many of the
examples in the book—especially to Shannon Huberty, Rebecca Miller, Heidi
Voelker, and Su Hyun (Sarah) Yim. I am grateful as well to the teaching staff
of Communication Arts 100 at Wisconsin and to Sarah Jedd, assistant course
director, for her splendid work in that capacity and for her insights about the
book and its pedagogy.
Thanks go as well to Margaret Procario for her work on the Instructor’s
Manual and the Test Bank; to Jennifer Cochrane for her many contributions,
including her supplement on using The Art of Public Speaking in an online course;
and to Jeff Przybylo and Tim Pierce for their activities on behalf of the book’s
digital program. Above all, I am indebted to Paul Stob, who has worked with
me on four editions, including this one. In addition to taking on primary respon-
sibility for the Instructor’s Manual, he has collaborated on multiple aspects of the
book and the entire Art of Public Speaking program. To say that he has been
indispensable is an understatement.
I also owe much to the Art of Public Speaking team at McGraw-Hill. Susan
Gouijnstook provided superb overall direction; I have been fortunate to have
top-notch editors over the years, but Susan takes a back seat to none of them.
Program manager Jennifer Gehl kept everything on track notwithstanding an
exacting schedule and the inevitable obstacles that arise in any large and com-
plex publishing project. After a hiatus of several years, Keith McPherson returned
to McGraw-Hill and proved once again why he is a superior designer. Jennifer
Blankenship was unflagging in finding the best photographs to give visual res-
onance to the principles discussed in the book.
Many other people at McGraw-Hill made their mark on this edition. Michael
O’Loughlin dealt with a host of matters, large and small. Laura Kennedy over-
saw the marketing effort. Shawntel Schmitt coordinated the image licensing.
Meghan Campbell and Janet Byrne Smith spearheaded the book’s innovative
digital program. They were assisted by John Francis, Irina Blokh-Reznik, Jonathan
Genkin, Srinivas Nathani, Navaneetha Krishan, Srini Mogalipuvuu, Sarah
Hegarty, Andrea Pasquarelli, and Adina Lonn. Finally, but certainly not least,
Kurt Strand, Michael Ryan, Kim David, David Patterson, and Lisa Pinto lent
executive direction to the entire project.
As always, my biggest debt is to my wife, Patty, whose love and support
have sustained me through the years.
Stephen E. Lucas
Madison, Wisconsin
xxiv
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causes, racy and imaginary details that diverted the audience
(causam mendaciunculis adspergere).[44] Cicero quotes with great
commendation some of these agreeable little lies which perhaps cost
the honour or the life of some unfortunate people who were unlucky
enough to have too witty opponents, and as he had himself a fertile
imagination in this way, he did not stint himself in having recourse
to this easy means of success. Nothing was more indifferent to the
ancient advocate than being inconsistent with himself. It was said
that the orator Antonius never would write any of his speeches, lest
some one should take it into his head to compare his late with his
present opinion. Cicero had not these scruples. He contradicted
himself all his life, and was never uneasy about it. One day, when he
too openly stated the contrary to what he had formerly upheld, as he
was pressed to explain these sudden changes, he answered without
perturbation: “You are mistaken if you think that you find the
expression of our personal opinions in our speeches; they are the
language of the cause and the case, and not that of the man and the
orator.”[45] This at least is a sincere avowal; but how much do the
orator and the man not lose by thus suiting their language to
circumstances! They learnt to be careless of putting order and
consistency in their lives, to dispense with sincerity in their opinions,
and conviction in their speech, to make the same expenditure of
talent for untruth as for truth, to consider only the needs of the
moment, and the success of the case in hand. These are the lessons
that the bar of that age taught Cicero. He remained at it too long, and
when he quitted it at forty to make his first essay in political oratory,
he could not shake off the bad habits acquired there.
Does this mean that Cicero should be struck off the list of political
orators? If this name is given to every man whose speech has some
influence on the affairs of his country, who sways the mob, or
convinces honest people, it seems difficult to refuse it to Cicero. He
knew how to talk to the multitude and make himself listened to. At
times he mastered it in its most furious outbursts. He made it accept
and even applaud opinions contrary to its preferences. He seemed to
drag it out of its apathy, and to call up in it for a short time an
appearance of energy and patriotism. He is not to blame if his
successes were not followed up, if after these grand triumphs of
eloquence brute force remained master. At least he did with his
words all that words could then do. I admit, however, that what was
wanting in his character was wanting also in his political eloquence.
It is nowhere sufficiently resolute, decided, practical. It is too much
taken up with itself, and not enough with the questions it is treating.
It does not attack them boldly on their salient points. It is involved in
pompous phrases, instead of trying to speak that clear and precise
language which is the language of public business. When we examine
it closely, and begin to analyze it, we find that it is chiefly composed
of a good deal of rhetoric and a little philosophy. All those agreeable
and smart arguments, all those artifices of debate, and also all that
ostentation of pathos that we find in it, come from rhetoric.
Philosophy has furnished those grand commonplaces developed with
talent, but not always germane to the subject. There is too much
artifice and method about it. A concise and simple statement would
be more suitable to the discussion of affairs than these subtleties and
emotions; these long philosophical tirades would be advantageously
replaced by a clear and judicious exposition of the orator’s principles
and of the general ideas that regulate his conduct. Unfortunately, as I
have said, Cicero preserved, on reaching the rostrum, the habits he
had acquired at the bar. He attacks, with the arguments of an
advocate, that agrarian law, so honest, moderate, and wise, which
was proposed by the tribune Rullus. In the fourth Catilinarian
Oration he had to discuss this question, one of the gravest that can
be placed before a deliberative assembly, namely, how far is it
permitted to deviate from legality in order to save one’s country? He
has not even approached it. It is painful to see how he hangs back
from it, how he flies from and avoids it, to develop small reasons and
lose himself in a vulgar pathos. The grave and serious kind of
eloquence evidently was not that which Cicero preferred, and in
which he felt most at ease. If you wish to know the real tendency of
his talents, read, immediately after the fourth Catilinarian Oration,
the speech for Muraena, delivered at the same time. There is none
more agreeable in the collection of his speeches, and we wonder how
a man who was consul, and who had then so many affairs on his
hands, found his mind sufficiently free to joke with so much ease and
point; the truth is, there he was in his element. Accordingly, although
he was consul or consular, he returned to the bar as often as he
could. It was to oblige his friends, he said. I think that he wished still
more to please himself; he appears happy, and his animation and wit
expand so freely, when he has some agreeable and lively case to
plead. Not only did he never miss an opportunity of appearing before
the judges, but as much as possible he threw his political discourses
into the form of ordinary pleadings. Everything turned into personal
questions with him. The discussion of ideas usually leaves him cold.
He had to contend against some one in order to let us see him at his
best. The finest speeches he delivered in the Forum or the senate are
eulogies or invectives. In them he is unrivalled; in them, according to
one of his expressions, his eloquence rises and triumphs; but
however fine invectives and eulogies may be, they are not altogether
our ideal of political eloquence, and we demand something else of it
now-a-days. All that can be said in justification of Cicero’s speeches
is, that they were perfectly appropriate to his time, and that their
character is explained by the circumstances in which they were
delivered. Eloquence did not then guide the state as in the best times
of the republic. Other influences had replaced it; in the elections,
money and the intrigues of the candidates, in out-door discussions,
the occult and terrible power of the popular societies, and above all
the army, which, since Sulla, raised or overthrew every government.
Eloquence feels itself powerless in the midst of these forces which
overpower it. How can it still preserve the commanding accent, the
imperious and resolute tone of one who knows his power? Need it
appeal to reason and logic, and try and force itself upon men’s
convictions by a close and forcible argument, when it knows that the
questions it is treating are decided otherwise? M. Mommsen
maliciously remarks, that in most of his great political speeches
Cicero pleads causes already victorious. When he published the
Verrine Orations, the laws of Sulla on the composition of the
tribunals had just been abolished. He well knew that Catiline had
decided to leave Rome when he pronounced the first Catilinarian
Oration, in which he so feelingly adjures him to go away. The second
Philippic, which seems so bold when we think of it as spoken to the
face of the all-powerful Antony, was only made public at the moment
when Antony was flying to Cisalpine Gaul. Of what use then were all
these fine speeches? They did not cause decisions to be taken, since
these decisions were already taken; but they caused them to be
accepted by the multitude, they stirred public opinion and excited it
in their favour: this was something. It was necessary to accept the
facts of the situation; speech no longer governed, eloquence could no
longer hope to direct events, but it acted on them indirectly, it tried
to produce those great movements of opinion that prepare or
complete them; “it does not secure votes and acts, it arouses the
emotions.”[46] If this moral effect is the only end it had in view at the
time, Cicero’s eloquence, by its copiousness and splendour, by its
brilliancy and pathos, was well calculated to attain it.
At first he had put his eloquence at the service of the popular
party; we have seen that it was in the ranks of this party that he made
his first political appearance; but although he faithfully served it for
seventeen years, I am inclined to think that he did not always do so
heartily. The excesses of the aristocratic government threw him
towards democracy, but he must have found democracy not much
wiser, especially when it was victorious. It sometimes gave him
terrible clients to defend. He had to plead the cause of factious and
seditious persons who were always troubling the public peace. One
day he even pleaded, or was on the point of pleading, for Catiline. It
is probable that all this was painful to him, and that the violent
excesses of democracy tempted him more than once to separate from
it. Unfortunately he did not know where to go if he left it, and if the
plebeians offended him by their violence, the aristocracy, by its
arrogance and prejudices, did not any more attract him. Since in
existing parties he did not find any which exactly corresponded to his
convictions, and which altogether suited his disposition, he had no
other resource than to form one for himself. This is what he tried to
do. When he felt that the brilliancy of his eloquence, the offices he
had filled, the popularity that surrounded him, made him an
important person, in order to assure his future, to take a higher and
more permanent position in the republic, to free himself from the
requirements of his former protectors, in order not to be forced to
stretch out his hand to his old enemies, he sought to create a new
party, composed of the moderate men of all parties, and of which he
was to be the head. But he very well understood that he could not
create this party in a moment and produce it from nothing. It was
necessary first to find a nucleus around which the new recruits that
he expected should group themselves. He thought he had found it in
that class of citizens to which he belonged by his birth, and who were
called the knights.
Rome always lacked what we now call the middle and citizen class.
In proportion as the small farmers left their friends to go and live in
the city, and “as those hands which had worked at the corn and the
vine were only occupied in applauding at the theatre and the
circus,”[47] the gap became greater between the opulent aristocracy
which possessed almost all the public wealth, and that indigent and
famished people that was continually recruited from the slaves. The
sole intermediaries were the knights. This name, at the time we are
considering, was not only used to describe the citizens to whom the
state gave a horse (equites equo publico), and who voted separately
in the elections; it was also given to all those who possessed the
equestrian income qualification, that is to say, those whose fortune
exceeded 400,000 sesterces (£3200). We may well believe that the
nobility behaved haughtily to these obscure plebeians whom chance
or economy had enriched; it kept these parvenus at a distance; dealt
out its disdain to them as liberally as to the poor people of the plebs,
and obstinately closed the entrance to public dignities to them. When
Cicero was appointed consul it was thirty years since a new man,
whether knight or plebeian, had attained the consulship. Removed
from political life by the jealousy of the great nobles, the knights
were obliged to turn their energies elsewhere. Instead of wasting
time in useless candidatures, they busied themselves in making their
fortunes. When Rome had conquered the world, it was the knights
especially who profited by these conquests. They formed an
industrious and enlightened class, they were already in easy
circumstances, and able to make loans, and thought they could
speculate in the conquered countries for their own profit.
Penetrating wherever the Roman arms were carried, they became
merchants, bankers, farmers of the taxes, and amassed immense
riches. As Rome was no longer the Rome of the Curii and the
Cincinnati, and dictators were no longer taken from the plough, their
wealth gave them consideration and importance. From that time
they were spoken of with more respect. The Gracchi, who wished to
make them allies in the struggle they were waging with the
aristocracy, caused it to be decided that the judges should be taken
from their ranks. Cicero went further; he tried to make them the
foundation of the great moderate party he wished to create. He knew
that he could count on their devotedness. He belonged to them by
birth; he had shed over them the splendour that surrounded his
name; he had never neglected to defend their interests before the
tribunals or in the senate. He also reckoned that they would be
grateful to him for wishing to augment their importance and call
them to a great political future.
All these combinations of Cicero seemed at first to succeed very
happily; but, to tell the truth, the merit of this success was chiefly
due to circumstances. This great coalition of the moderates upon
which he congratulated himself as his finest work, almost succeeded
under the influence of fear. A social revolution seemed imminent.
The dregs of all the old parties, wretched plebeians and ruined
nobles, old soldiers of Marius, and proscribers of Sulla, had united
under the leadership of a bold and able chief, who promised them a
new distribution of public wealth. The existence of this party
compelled those whom it threatened to unite also in order to defend
themselves. Fear was more efficacious than the finest speeches
would have been, and in this sense we may say that Cicero was
perhaps more indebted for this union which he regarded as the main
point of his policy to Catiline rather than to himself. Community of
interests, then, brought about, at least for a time, a reconciliation of
the aims of various classes. The richest, and consequently the most
seriously endangered, namely the knights, were naturally the soul of
the new party. By their side the honest plebeians who did not wish
political reforms to be exaggerated took their stand, as well as those
nobles whose threatened pleasures drew them from their apathy,
who would have allowed the republic to perish without defending it,
but who did not wish their lampreys and fish-ponds touched. The
new party had not to look about long for a head. Pompey was in Asia,
Caesar and Crassus secretly favoured the conspiracy. Besides these
there was no greater name than Cicero’s. This explains that great
wave of public opinion which carried him into the consulship. His
election was almost a triumph. I shall say nothing of his consulship,
of which he has had the misfortune to speak too much himself. I do
not wish to underrate the victory that he gained over Catiline and his
accomplices. The danger was serious; even his enemy Sallust affirms
it. Behind the plot were hidden ambitious politicians ready to profit
by events. Caesar knew well that the reign of anarchy could not last
long. After some pillaging and massacres, Rome would have
recovered from her surprise, and honest folks, being driven to
activity by despair, would have again got the upper hand. Only it is
probable that then one of those reactions that usually follow great
anarchy would have taken place. The remembrance of the ills from
which they had escaped with such difficulty would have disposed
many people to sacrifice the liberty which exposed them to so many
perils, and Caesar held himself ready to offer them the sovereign
remedy of absolute power. By cutting the evil at the root, by
surprising and punishing the conspiracy before it broke out, Cicero
perhaps delayed the advent of monarchical government at Rome for
fifteen years. He was not wrong, then, in boasting of the services he
rendered at that time to his country’s liberty, and we must
acknowledge, with Seneca, that if he has praised his consulship
without measure he has not done so without reason.[48]
Coalitions of this kind, unfortunately, seldom long survive the
circumstances that give rise to them. When the interests that a
common danger had united began to feel themselves secure, they
recommenced their old quarrels. The plebeians, who were no longer
afraid, felt their old animosity against the nobility revive. The nobles
began again to envy the wealth of the knights. As to the knights, they
had none of those qualities that were necessary to make them the
soul of a political party, as Cicero had hoped. They were more
occupied with their private affairs than with those of the republic.
They had not the strength of numbers, like the plebeians, and were
wanting in those great traditions of government that maintained so
long the authority of the nobility. Their only guiding principle was
that instinct usual with men of large fortunes, which led them to
prefer order to liberty. They sought, before all things, a strong power
which could defend them, and Caesar had in the end no more
devoted followers than they. In this break-up of his party, Cicero,
who could not stand alone, asked himself on which side he ought to
place himself. The fright that Catiline had given him, the presence of
Caesar and Crassus in the ranks of the democracy, prevented his
return to that party, and he finally attached himself to the nobility,
notwithstanding his repugnance. From the date of his consulship he
resolutely turned towards this party. We know how the democracy
avenged itself for what it considered a betrayal. Three years after it
condemned its old head, now become its enemy, to exile, and only
consented to recall him to cast him at the feet of Caesar and Pompey,
whose union had made them masters of Rome.[49]
III.
The gravest political crisis that Cicero passed through, after the
great struggles of his consulship, was certainly that which terminated
in the fall of the Roman republic at Pharsalia. We know that he did
not willingly engage in this terrible conflict, of which he foresaw the
issue, and that he hesitated for nearly a year before deciding on his
course. It is not surprising that he hesitated so long. He was no
longer young and obscure as when he pleaded for Roscius. He had a
high position and an illustrious name that he did not wish to
compromise, and a man may be allowed to reflect before he risks
fortune, glory, and perchance life on a single cast. Besides, the
question was not so simple nor the right so clear as they seem at first
sight. Lucan, whose sympathies are not doubtful, yet said that it
could not be known on which side justice lay, and this obscurity does
not seem to be altogether dissipated, since, after eighteen centuries
of discussion, posterity has not yet succeeded in coming to an
agreement. It is curious that, among us, in the seventeenth century,
at the height of monarchical government, the learned all pronounced
against Caesar without hesitation. Magistrates of the high courts,
men cautious and moderate by their offices and character, who
approached the king and were not sparing of flattery, took the liberty
of being Pompeians and even furious Pompeians in private. “The
First President,” says Guy-Patin, “is so much on Pompey’s side, that
one day he expressed his joy that I was so, I having said to him, in his
fine garden at Bâville, that if I had been in the senate when Julius
Caesar was killed, I would have given him the twenty-fourth stab.”
On the contrary, it is in our own days, in a democratic epoch, after
the French Revolution, and in the name of the revolution and the
democracy, that the side of Caesar has been upheld with the greatest
success, and that the benefit humanity has reaped from his victory
has been set in its clearest light.
I have no intention to re-open this debate, it is too fertile in stormy
discussions. I only wish here to deal with so much of it as is
indispensable to explain Cicero’s political life. There are, I think, two
very different ways of looking at the question: our own first, namely,
that of people unconcerned in these quarrels of a former age, who
approach them as historians or philosophers, after time has cooled
them, who judge them less by their causes than by their results, and
who ask themselves, above all, what good or evil they have done in
the world; then that of contemporaries, who judge of them with their
passions and prejudices, according to the ideas of their time, in their
relation to themselves, and without knowing their remote
consequences. I am going to place myself solely at this latter point of
view, although the other seems to me grander and more profitable;
but as my only design is to ask from Cicero an explanation of his
political actions, and as one cannot reasonably require of him that he
should have divined the future, I shall confine myself to showing how
the question was stated in his time, what reasons were alleged on
both sides, and in what manner it was natural for a wise man who
loved his country to appreciate those reasons. Let us forget, then, the
eighteen centuries that separate us from these events, let us suppose
ourselves at Formiae or Tusculum during those long days of anxiety
and uncertainty that Cicero passed there, and let us hear him
discuss, with Atticus or Curio, the reasons that the two parties urged
to draw him into their ranks.
What shows plainly that the judgment of contemporaries on the
events which pass before them is not the same as that of posterity is,
that the friends of Caesar, when they wished to gain over Cicero, did
not employ the argument that seems the best to us. The chief reason
that is appealed to now to justify Caesar’s victory is that, on the
whole, if by it Rome lost some of her privileges, it was for the
advantage of the rest of the world that she was despoiled. What does
it matter that a few thousand men, who did not make a very good use
of their political liberty, were deprived of it, if by the same stroke
almost the entire world was rescued from pillage, slavery, and ruin?
It is certain that the provinces and their inhabitants, so roughly
treated by the proconsuls of the republic, found themselves better off
under the régime inaugurated by Caesar. His army was open to all
foreigners; he had with him Germans, Gauls, and Spaniards. They
helped him to conquer, and naturally profited by his victory: and this
was, without his wishing it perhaps, the revenge of the conquered
nations. These nations were not anxious to recover their
independence; they had lost the taste for it with their defeat. Their
ambition was quite the reverse: they wished to be allowed to become
Romans. Up till then, however, that proud and greedy aristocracy,
who held power, and who meant to use the human race for the
benefit of their pleasures or their grandeur, had obstinately refused
to raise them to a level with themselves, no doubt in order to
preserve the right of treating them according to their caprice. In
overthrowing the aristocracy, Caesar overthrew the barrier that
closed Rome to the rest of the nations. The empire made the entire
world Roman; it reconciled, says a poet, and blended under one
name, all the nations of the universe. These are surely great things,
and it does not become us to forget them, us the sons of the
vanquished, called by Caesar to partake in his victory. But who, in
Cicero’s time, thought it would be thus? who could foresee and
indicate these remote consequences? The question did not present
itself then as it does to us who study it from a distance. Caesar does
not anywhere allege the interest of the conquered among the reasons
he gives for his enterprise. The senate never claimed to be the
representative of the Roman nationality, threatened by an invasion
of the barbarians, and it does not appear that the provinces rose in
favour of him who came to defend them; on the contrary, they were
almost equally divided between the two rivals. If the West fought on
Caesar’s side, all the East repaired to Pompey’s camp, which proves
that when the struggle commenced its consequences were unknown
even to those who were to profit by them, and whose interest should
have made them clear-sighted. Besides, even if Cicero had suspected
the benefits that the world was going to draw from Caesar’s triumph,
can we think that this reason would have sufficed to decide him? He
was not one of those whose love for the whole of humanity excuses
them from serving their country. He would have resigned himself
with difficulty to the sacrifice of his liberty, under the pretence that
this sacrifice would profit the Gauls, the Britons, and the Sarmatians.
No doubt he was not indifferent to the interest of the world, but that
of Rome touched him closer. His temper was gentle and humane, he
had written in beautiful works that all nations are only one and the
same family, he had made himself loved in the province he had
governed; nevertheless, when Caesar opened the city and even the
senate to the strangers who accompanied him, he showed himself
very discontented, and attacked these barbarians with his most cruel
raillery. He saw plainly that those Spaniards and Gauls who were
walking proudly about the Forum were triumphing over Rome. His
Roman pride revolted at this sight, and I see no reason to blame him
for it. If he could divine or even catch a glimpse of the general
emancipation of the conquered nations which was preparing, he
understood also that this emancipation would bring with it the loss
of the original, distinct, and independent existence of his country. It
was natural that a Roman should not wish to pay this price even for
the prosperity of the world.
Putting aside this reason, another, specious if not true, was much
used to entice the irresolute. They were told that the republic and
liberty were not interested in the war, that it was simply a struggle
between two ambitious men who were contending for power. In this
assertion there was a certain amount of truth capable of misleading
thoughtless minds. Personal questions certainly held a large place in
this contest. The soldiers of Caesar fought solely for him, and
Pompey had in his suite many friends and creatures whom thirty
years of prosperity and power had gained for him. Cicero himself
gives us to understand, several times, that it was his old friendship
for Pompey that led him into his camp. “It is to him and to him alone
that I sacrifice myself,” said he, when he was preparing to leave Italy.
[50]
There are moments in which he seems to take pleasure in limiting
the subject of this quarrel he is about to engage in, and when, writing
to his friends, he repeats to them what Caesar’s partisans said—“It is
a conflict of ambition, regnandi contentio est.”[51] But we must be
careful when reading his correspondence of this period, and must
read it with caution. Never was he more irresolute. He changes his
opinion every day, he attacks and defends all parties, so that by
skilfully putting together all the words let fall in this discontent and
uncertainty, one may find in his letters grounds for charges against
everybody. These are only the sallies of a restless and frightened
mind, of which we must not make too much use either against others
or against himself. Here, for instance, when he asserts that the
republic has nothing to do in the contest, he does not say what he
really thinks. It is only one of those pretexts that he invents to justify
his hesitation in his friends’ eyes and his own. So rare is it to be quite
sincere, I do not say with others only but with oneself! We are so
ingenious in proving to ourselves that we have a thousand reasons
for doing what we do without reason, or through interest or caprice!
But when Cicero wishes to be frank, when he has no motive to delude
himself or deceive others, he speaks in another manner. Then the
cause of Pompey becomes really that of justice and right, that of
honest men and of liberty. Without doubt, Pompey had rendered
very indifferent services to the republic before being led by
circumstances to defend it. He could not be trusted entirely, and his
ambition was to be feared. In his camp he affected the airs of a
sovereign; he had his flatterers and his ministers. “He is a little
Sulla,” said Cicero, “who dreams also of proscriptions, sullaturit,
proscripturit.”[52] The republican party would certainly have taken
another defender if it had been free to choose; but at the time when
Caesar assembled his troops, this party, which had neither soldiers
nor generals, was really forced to accept Pompey’s aid. It accepted it
as that of an ally whom one distrusts and watches, who, perhaps, will
become an enemy after the victory, but with whom one cannot
dispense during the fight. Besides, although Pompey might not
altogether secure liberty, it was known that it ran fewer risks with
him than with Caesar. He was ambitious doubtless, but more
ambitious of honours than of power. Twice he had been seen to
arrive at the gates of Rome with an army. The democracy called him,
to make himself king, he had only to will it, and twice he had
disbanded his troops and laid down the fasces. He had been made
sole consul, that is to say, almost dictator, and at the end of six
months he had voluntarily taken a colleague. These precedents made
sincere republicans believe that after the victory he would content
himself with sonorous titles and pompous eulogies, and that his
services would be repaid, without danger to any one, with laurels and
the purple. In any case, if he had demanded something else, we may
be certain that he would have been refused, and that he would have
found adversaries in the greater number of those who had become
his allies. There were in his camp many persons who were not his
friends, and who cannot be suspected of having taken arms to win a
throne for him. Cato distrusted him, and had always opposed him.
Brutus, whose father he had killed, hated him. The aristocracy did
not pardon him for having restored the power of the tribunes, and
for having united with Caesar against it. Is it likely that all these
eminent persons, experienced in affairs, were the dupes of this
indifferent politician who never deceived anybody, and that, without
knowing it, they worked for him alone? or must we admit, which is
still less likely, that they knew it, and that they voluntarily
abandoned their country, risked their fortunes, and gave their lives
to serve the interests and the ambition of a man whom they did not
love? Assuredly, for them, something else was in question. When
they went over sea, when they decided, notwithstanding their
repugnance, to begin a civil war, when they came to put themselves
under the orders of a general against whom they had so many
reasons for ill-will, they did not intend to intervene solely in a
personal quarrel, but to come to the help of the republic and of that
liberty which were threatened. “But here,” people say, “you are
deceived again. These names, liberty and republic, delude you. It was
not liberty that was defended in Pompey’s camp, it was the
oppression of the people by a caste. They wished to maintain the
privileges of a burdensome and unjust aristocracy. They fought to
preserve for it the right to oppress the plebs, and to crush the world.”
At that rate the friends of liberty ought to keep for Caesar the
sympathies they generally accord to Pompey, for he is the liberal and
the democrat, the man of the people, the successor of the Gracchi
and of Marius. This is indeed the part he assumed from the day
when, almost a child, he had braved Sulla. Praetor and consul, he
had appeared to serve the popular cause with devotion, and at the
moment when he marched on Rome, abandoned by the senate, he
still said, “I come to deliver the Roman people from a faction that
oppresses it.”[53]
How much truth is there in this pretence that he makes of being
the defender of the democracy? What ought to be thought of it, I do
not say by a patrician, who naturally thought much ill of the people,
but by an enemy of the nobility, by a new man like Cicero? Whatever
anger the disdain of the aristocracy had caused to Cicero, whatever
impatience he had felt at always finding in his way, in his
candidatures, one of those nobles to whom “honours came while
they slept,” I do not find that his ill-humour had ever led him to
pretend that the people was oppressed;[54] and I suppose that when it
was asserted before him that Caesar took up arms to restore him his
liberty, he asked how long it was since he had lost it, and what new
privileges they wished to add to those he already possessed? He
called to mind that the people possessed a legal organization, had
their own magistrates to whom they appealed from the decisions of
others, magistrates inviolable and sacred, whom the law armed with
the enormous power of staying the action of the government by their
interference, and of interrupting political life; that they had the
liberty of speech and of the rostrum, the right of voting, in which
they trafficked for a living, and finally, free access to all grades of the
magistracy, and he had only to cite his own case to demonstrate that
it was possible for a man without birth and almost without fortune to
attain even the consulship. Such success in truth was rare. The
equality laid down in the law disappeared in practice. The consular
records of that period contain scarcely any but illustrious names. A
few great families seem to have established themselves in the highest
dignities of the state; they guarded the avenues to them, and allowed
no one to approach; but was it necessary, in order to break down the
obstacles that the cleverness of a few ambitious men opposed to the
regular working of the institutions, to destroy these institutions
themselves? was the evil so great that it was necessary to have
recourse to the radical remedy of absolute power? Was it impossible
to think that it would be more surely cured by liberty than by
despotism? Had it not been seen by recent examples that a strong
current of popular opinion was sufficient to overturn all this
aristocratic resistance? The laws gave the people the means of
recovering their influence if they willed it energetically. With the
liberty of voting and of speaking in the public assembly, with the
intervention of the tribunes and the invincible strength of numbers,
they must always end in being masters. It was their own fault if they
left the power to others, and they deserved the degradation in which
the nobility held them, since they made no effort to free themselves.
Cicero had small esteem for the common people of his time; he
thought them careless and apathetic by nature. “They demand
nothing,” said he, “they desire nothing”;[55] and every time he saw
them stirring in the Forum he suspected that the liberality of some
ambitious men had worked this miracle. He was not, therefore, led to
think it necessary to accord them new rights when he saw them use
their ancient rights so little or so ill, and so he did not regard the
pretext put forth by Caesar for taking up arms as serious. He never
consented to look upon him as the successor of the Gracchi coming
to emancipate the oppressed plebs; the war which was preparing
never seemed to him to be the renewal of the ancient struggles
between the people and the aristocracy, of which Roman history is
full. In fact, an assembly of ruined nobles, like Dolabella, Antony,
and Curio, marching under the leadership of him who boasted of
being the son of the gods and of kings, little deserved the name of the
popular party, and there was something else at stake than the
defence of the privileges of birth in a camp to which so many knights
and plebeians had repaired, and which reckoned among its chiefs
Varro, Cicero, and Cato, that is to say, two burgesses of small fortune
of Arpinum and Reate, and the descendant of the peasant of
Tusculum.
Caesar, however, does not seem to have been very much
prepossessed with this part of champion of the democracy. We do
not find, on reading his memoirs, that he speaks very much of the
people’s interests. The phrase just quoted is almost the only one in
which they are mentioned. Elsewhere he is more frank. At the
beginning of the civil war, when he set forth his reasons for
commencing it, he complained that he was refused the consulship,
that his province was taken from him, that he was torn from his
army; he says not a word of the people, of their unrecognized rights,
of their crushed liberty. This was, however, the moment to speak of
them in order to justify an enterprise that so many people, and those
the most honest, condemned. What did he demand in the final
conditions he laid before the senate before marching on Rome? His
consulship, his army, his province; he defended his personal
interests, he bargained for himself, it never came into his mind to
demand any guarantee for that people whose defender he called
himself. Around him, in his camp, one thought no more of the people
than they did of themselves. His best friends, his bravest generals,
had no pretension to be reformers or democrats. They did not think,
in following him, that they were going to give liberty to their fellow-
citizens; they wished to avenge their outraged chief, and to win
power for him. “We are the soldiers of Caesar,” said they with Curio.
[56]
They had no other title, they knew no other name. When some
one came to speak to those old centurions who had seen Germany
and Britain, who had taken Alesia and Gergovia, of abandoning
Caesar and passing over to the side of the laws and the republic, they
did not reply that they were defending the people and their rights.
“We,” said they, “shall we quit our general who has given all of us our
ranks, shall we take arms against an army in which we have served
and been victorious for thirty-six years? We will never do it!”[57]
These men were no longer citizens but soldiers. After thirty-six years
of victories, they had lost the traditions of civil life and the taste for
it; the rights of the people had become indifferent to them, and for
them glory took the place of liberty. Cicero and his friends thought
that these surroundings were not those of a popular chief who came
to restore liberty to his fellow-citizens, but those of an ambitious
man who came to establish absolute power by arms, and they were
not mistaken. Caesar’s conduct after the war proves this more than
all the rest. How did he use his victory? What benefits did he confer
on the people whose interests he pretended to defend? I do not speak
of what he was able to do for their comfort and their pleasures, the
sumptuous feasts, the public meals that he gave, the corn and oil that
he so generously distributed to the poorest, the 400 sesterces (£3
4s.) that he paid each citizen on the day of his triumph: if these alms
satisfied the plebeians of that time, if they consented to sacrifice their
liberty at that price, I pardon Cicero for not having more esteem for
them, and for not putting himself on their side; but if they demanded
something else, if they wished for a more complete independence, for
a larger share in the affairs of their country, for new political rights,
they did not obtain them, and Caesar’s victory, notwithstanding his
promises, rendered them neither freer nor more powerful. Caesar
humiliated the aristocracy, but only for his own advantage. He took
the executive power out of the hands of the senate, but only to put it
in his own. He established equality between all the orders, but it was
an equality of servitude, and all were henceforth reduced to the same
level of obedience.
I know that after he had silenced the public speakers, deprived the
people of the right of voting, and united in himself all public
authority, the senate that he had appointed, having exhausted
flattery, solemnly awarded to him the name of Liberator, and voted
the erection of a Temple of Liberty. If it is against this liberty that
Cicero and his friends are accused of having taken up arms, I do not
think it is worth the trouble to defend them from this charge.
Let us call things by their real name. It was for himself and not for
the people that Caesar worked, and Cicero, in opposing him, thought
he was defending the republic and not the privileges of the
aristocracy.
But did this republic deserve to be defended? Was there any hope
of preserving it? Was it not manifest that its ruin was inevitable?
This is the greatest charge that is made against those who followed
Pompey’s party. I admit it is not easy to answer it. The evil that Rome
suffered, and which showed itself in those disorders and that
violence of which Cicero’s letters give us such a sad picture, was not
of a kind to be averted by a few wise reforms. It was ancient and
profound. It became worse every day without any law being able to
prevent or arrest it. Could one hope to cure it with those slight
changes that the boldest proposed? Of what use was it to diminish, as
was wished, the privileges of the aristocracy and to augment the
rights of the plebeians? The sources of public life themselves were
seriously impaired. The evil came from the way in which the
citizenship was acquired.
For a long time Rome had drawn her strength from the country
people. It was from the rustic tribes, the most honoured of all, that
those valiant soldiers who had conquered Italy and subdued
Carthage had come; but this agricultural and warlike people, who
had so well defended the republic, could not defend themselves
against the encroachments of the great estates. Enclosed little by
little by those immense domains where cultivation is easiest, the
poor peasant had for a long time struggled against misery and the
usurers; then, discouraged in the struggle, he had ended by selling
his field to his rich neighbour, who coveted it to round off his estate.
He had tried then to become a tenant farmer, a metayer, a hired
labourer on the property where he had been for so long the master,
but there he met with the competition of the slave, a more frugal
worker, who did not stand out for his wages, who did not make
terms, who might be treated as one liked.[58] Thus, driven twice from
his fields, both as owner and as tenant farmer, without work or
resources, he had been forced to migrate to the city. At Rome,
however, life was not more easy for him. What could he do there?
There was little trade, and usually it was not in the hands of the free
men. In countries where slavery flourishes, work is looked down
upon. To die of hunger without doing anything, is regarded by the
free man as a privilege and an honour. Besides, each noble had men
of all trades among his slaves, and as such a number of workmen
were too many for himself alone, he hired them out to those who had
none, or made them keep shop in a corner of his house for his own
profit. Here again slave competition killed free labour. Happily at
this time Marius opened the ranks of the army to the poorest citizens
(capite censi). These unfortunate men, finding no other resource,
became soldiers. For lack of something better to do, they achieved
the conquest of the world, subjugated Africa, Gaul, and the East,
visited Britain and Germany, and the greater number of them, the
bravest and best, were killed in these distant expeditions. During this
time, the vacancies left in the city by those who departed and did not
return were ill filled. Since Rome had become powerful, people from
all parts of the world came to her, and we may well suppose they
were not always the most respectable.
Several times she had endeavoured to defend herself against these
invasions of foreigners; but it was useless to make severe laws to
remove them, they always returned to hide themselves in that
immense city without a police, and, once settled there, the more
prosperous, by means of their money, the others by means of base
services or cunning, succeeded in obtaining the title of citizens.
Those who received it more naturally, and without needing to
demand it, were the freedmen. No doubt the law did not grant them
all political rights at once; but after one or two generations all these
reservations disappeared, and the grandson of him who had ground
at the mill and who had been sold in the slave-market voted the laws
and elected the consuls like a Roman of the old stock. It was of this
mixture of freedmen and foreigners, that was formed what at this
time was called the Roman people, a wretched people who lived on
the bounty of private persons or the alms of the state, who had
neither memories nor traditions, nor political capacity, nor national
character, nor even morality, for they were ignorant of that which
makes up the honour and dignity of life in the lower classes, namely,
work. With such a people a republic was no longer possible. This is,
of all governments, that which demands the greatest integrity and
political judgment in those who enjoy it. The more privileges it
confers the more devotedness and intelligence it demands. People
who did not use their rights, or only used them to sell them, were not
worthy to preserve them. That absolute power which they had invited
by their votes, which they had received with applause, was made for
them; and one understands that the historian who studies from afar
the events of the past, when he sees liberty disappear from Rome,
consoles himself for its fall by saying that it was deserved and
inevitable, and that he pardons or even applauds the man who, in
overturning it, was only an instrument of necessity or justice.
But the men who lived then, who were attached to the republican
government by tradition and memories, who recalled the great
things it had done, who owed to it their dignities, position, and
renown, could they think like us and resign themselves as easily to its
fall? Firstly, this government existed. They were familiarized to its
defects, since they had lived with them so long. They suffered less
from them, through the long habit of enduring them. On the other
hand, they did not know what this new power that wished to replace
the republic would be. Royalty inspired the Romans with an
instinctive repugnance, especially since they had conquered the East.
They had found there, under this name, the most odious of
governments, the most complete slavery in the midst of the most
refined civilization, all the pleasures of luxury and the arts, the finest
expansion of intellect with the heaviest and basest tyranny; princes
accustomed to play with the fortune, honour, and life of men, a
species of cruel spoilt children, such as are only now to be found in
the African deserts. This picture did not attract them, and whatever
disadvantages the republic had, they asked themselves if it was worth
while to exchange them for those that royalty might have. Besides, it
was natural that the fall of the republic should not appear to them so
near and so sure as it does to us. It is with states as with men, for
whom we find, after their death, a thousand causes of death which
nobody suspected during their life-time. While the machinery of this
ancient government was still working it could not be seen how
disorganized it was. Cicero has, sometimes, moments of profound
despair, in which he announces to his friends that all is lost; but
these moments do not last, and he quickly regains his courage. It
seems to him that a firm hand, an eloquent voice, and the agreement
of good citizens can repair all, and that liberty will easily remedy the
abuses and faults of liberty. He never perceives the whole gravity of
danger. In the worst days, his thoughts never go beyond the
schemers and the ambitious men who disturb the public repose; it is
always Catiline, Caesar, or Clodius whom he accuses, and he thinks
that all will be saved if one can succeed in overcoming them. He was
mistaken, Catiline and Clodius were only the symptoms of a deeper
evil that could not be cured; but is he to be blamed for entertaining
this hope, chimerical as it was? Is he to be blamed for having thought
that there were other means of saving the republic than the sacrifice
of liberty? An honest man and a good citizen ought not to accept
these counsels of despair at first. It is useless to tell him that the
decrees of destiny condemn to perish the constitution that he prefers
and that he has promised to defend, he does well not to believe it
entirely lost until it is actually overthrown. We may call such men, if
we like, blind or dupes; it is honourable in them not to be too
perspicacious, and there are errors and illusions that are worth more
than a too easy resignation. Real liberty existed no longer at Rome,
as I believe, the shadow only remained, but the shadow was still
something. One cannot bear a grudge against those who attached
themselves to it and made desperate efforts not to allow it to perish,
for this shadow, this semblance, consoled them for lost liberty and
gave them some hope of regaining it. This is what honest men like
Cicero thought, who, after mature reflection, without enthusiasm,
without passion, and even without hope, went to find Pompey again;
this is what Lucan makes Cato say in those admirable lines which
seem to me to express the feelings of all those who, without
concealing from themselves the sad state of the republic, persisted in
defending it to the last: “As a father who has just lost his child takes
pleasure in conducting his obsequies, lights with his own hands the
funeral pyre, leaves it with regret, as tardily as he can; so, Rome, I
will not forsake thee until that I have held thee dead in my arms. I
will follow to the end thy very name, O Liberty, even when thou shalt
be no more than a vain shadow!”[59]
IV.
Pharsalia was not the end of Cicero’s political career, as he had

thought. Events were to lead him back once more to power and
replace him at the head of the republic. His retired life, his silence
during the early days of Caesar’s dictatorship, far from injuring his
reputation, on the contrary enhanced it. Statesmen do not lose so
much as they think by remaining for a time outside of affairs.
Retirement, supported with dignity, increases their importance. That
they are no longer in power suffices for people to find some
inclination to regret them. There are fewer reasons to be severe
towards them when their place is not coveted, and as people no
longer suffer from their faults the memory of them is easily lost, and
their good qualities only are remembered. This is what happened to
Cicero. His disgrace disarmed all the enemies that his power had
made him, and his popularity was never so great as when he kept
himself voluntarily from the public eye. A little later, when he
thought he ought to draw nearer to Caesar, he conducted himself
with so much tact, he adjusted so cleverly submission and

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12th Edition by Stephen Lucas

the ARt of PUBLIC SPeAKING

Chapter 6 Analyzing the Audience 96

Chapter 7 Gathering Materials 118

Chapter 8 Supporting Your Ideas 140

PART THREE SPEECH PREPARATION: ORGANIZING AND

Chapter 9 Organizing the Body

Chapter 11 Outlining the Speech 204

PART FOUR PRESENTING THE SPEECH

Chapter 12 Using Language 220

Chapter 14 Using Visual Aids 264

PART FIVE VARIETIES OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

Chapter 15 Speaking to Inform 282

Chapter 16 Speaking to Persuade 304

Chapter 17 Methods of Persuasion 330

Chapter 18 Speaking on Special

Appendix Speeches for Analysis

Tap, Tap, Tap (Sample Speech with Commentary) 72

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Pharsalia was not the end of Cicero’s political career, as he had

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