Form and Function in Roman Oratory

In this book Roman oratory is explored from the perspective of form and function. Leading scholars in the field of Latin prose consider not only the speeches of Cicero, Pliny, Apuleius and the later panegyrists, but also those found in Roman philosophical writing, and in the histories of Caesar, Sallust, Livy and Tacitus. In each case, analysis of the interplay of form and function takes us to the heart of the process by which the author's aims are realised. The book also considers the functions of texts within speeches, the functions of not speaking and the representation of oratorical 'form' in Roman sculpture. An original and wide-ranging study, Form and Function in Roman Oratory will appeal to scholars and students with interests in Roman oratory, historiography, philosophy and art.

D. H. Berry is Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Cicero: Pro P. Sulla Oratio (1996), Cicero: Defence Speeches (2000) and Cicero: Political Speeches (2006). He has also edited a revision of M. L. Clarke's Rhetoric at Rome (1996).

Andrew Erskine is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of The Hellenistic Stoa: Political Thought and Action (1990) and Troy between Greece and Rome: Local Tradition and Imperial Power (2001). He is also the editor of A Companion to the Hellenistic World (2003) and A Companion to Ancient History (2009).