Dialogus de oratoribus

Bibliographic Data

ID20073300
AuthorsChristopher S Van Den Berg (corresponding author)
Year2025
Pages36-47
Publication date2025-07-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Oxford Critical Guide to Tacitus (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University PressOxford (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/9780191915086.003.0004
OpenAlexW4411063951
ISBN9780191915086
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited305

This chapter examines how Tacitus’ Dialogus draws on the language and ideas of statehood found in Cicero’s De Republica. The two dialogues conceptualize governance of the Roman state as being intertwined with rhetoric. Tacitus, especially in the final speech of Maternus, reworks Cicero’s discussion of monarchy and state equilibrium, largely accepting Cicero’s terms while also challenging many of his ideas. The similarities in the two authors shed light on Tacitus’ attitudes toward the Principate across his writings and offer a framework for understanding the political and moral focuses of Maternus’ provocative plays

Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Analyses

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