Cicero's rhetorical works are often a hard sell to students. Compared to the power and drama of his published speeches, subjects such as the development of oratory, oratorical style and the nature of the ideal orator have the potential to appear stale. That perception is thankfully becoming much easier to challenge. As K. notes in the preface to this volume (p. ix), the excellent translation of the De oratore by J. May and J. Wisse (Cicero: On the Ideal Orator [2001]) has made significant headway in opening Cicero's rhetorical corpus to a new audience of readers; K.'s translations of Brutus and Orator are hence presented as a ‘sequel’, and they are a welcome addition to the bibliography on Cicero. The last English versions of these texts were the translations by G.L. Hendrickson and H.M. Hubbell (Loeb Classical Library [1939]). What K. offers is much more than an up-to-date and lucid translation; this volume of Brutus and Orator is a complete and enjoyable reading experience, through which the reader becomes immersed in the mature rhetorical thought of Cicero.
A detailed introduction sets the scene. K. judiciously avoids repeating material that can be found in May and Wisse, and instead delves into the historical context relevant for understanding the two works. Brutus marks Cicero's first literary endeavour following his return from civil war and was probably completed in spring 46 bc; Orator followed soon afterwards and was ready for publication by the end of the summer of that year. Between them they capture the anxiety and difficulties of life in Rome as the characters of the two essays first await news of Caesar's campaign against the Pompeians in Africa and later adjust to the new reality presented by Caesar's political domination. These were years in which Cicero took refuge in his literary studies and even offered them as an alternative form of service to the state. K. selects 51 bc as the starting point for the introduction and neatly charts the anguish Cicero experienced in the face of political turmoil and personal vicissitudes (pp. 1–5); he then turns to the contents of Brutus (pp. 5–17) and Orator (pp. 17–31), providing outlines of each text (pp. 32–4), comments on the translation, notes and texts (pp. 35–6), and further reading (p. 36).
There are many delights to be found among these opening pages. Instructors teaching these texts for the first time will find K.'s summary of interpretative difficulties a highly useful resource for initiating discussion. Moreover, in line with K.'s stated aim of making Cicero's writings accessible to an audience that cannot read them in Latin, the use of Lincoln's ‘Gettysburg Address’ perfectly exemplifies the idea of a periodic sentence in the English language. Explanations of rhythmic clausulae using both conventional and musical annotations, and the pairing of Latin sounds with popular American songs, enable readers to hear or imagine the effects Cicero sought in his oratory. In so doing, K. provides material that has relevance far beyond the immediate purpose of explaining Cicero's goal in the Orator, and which can be used in any course on Cicero's speeches. For readers less familiar with abbreviations and citations in Classics, several pages are devoted to listing common abbreviations for important works of reference, frequently used terms, and ancient authors and works (pp. 37–48).
The translations are sharp and a joy to read. K. strives to maintain the formality of Cicero's original expressions while making the English idiomatic and fluent. Aside from the modern touch the text has received in K.'s hands, other improvements on the Loeb texts can be seen when they are compared side by side. At Brut. 72, for example, where Hendrickson translates the Latin Livius primus fabulam as ‘Livius produced his first play’, K. more accurately renders it ‘Livius first produced a play’, thus bestowing greater credit on Livius Andronicus as a pioneer of his time. A better gloss of the Latin is provided by K. at Brut. 79 where he translates P. Scipio Nasica Corculum's cognomen as ‘brains’ (‘from cor, denoting the heart as the center of intelligence’), compared to Hendrickson's explanation that Scipio was ‘the darling of the people’. At Brut. 289, Hendrickson translates sed in comitium veniant, ad stantem iudicem dicant as ‘But let them [the Atticists] come before a public assembly, let them speak before the people standing attentive in its capacity of judge’. However, the assumption that ad stantem iudicem refers to the people ‘standing’ in judgement in a contio misrepresents what Cicero is saying. As K. correctly explains, matters of private law were decided by a single judge, who presided in the comitium. Cicero's point in this passage is that this is the only kind of audience who might be swayed by the Atticists’ manner of speaking. K. hence gets it across better when he translates this clause as ‘But they should go to the place of assembly and speak to a single standing judge’. This also makes much better sense in the context of the sentence, which concludes: ‘the benches where a jury sits want a grander and more ample voice’.
The notes that accompany the volume are extensive and comprehensive in their content. Since the many historical allusions made by Cicero, especially in the Brutus, may be off-putting to readers with less knowledge of Roman Republican history, it is useful that K. includes a section of biographical sketches and a glossary of Roman political terms; what makes the volume even more user-friendly is that key information and sources are provided in footnotes as opposed to endnotes. The same goes for the list of Greek sculptors at Brutus 70–4 and the descriptions of figures of speech and thought at Orator 134–9. Everything the reader needs to understand the text is supplied. Other notes make a significant contribution to K.'s goal of elucidating the text for readers without Latin while providing valuable information for those who do not have the Latin text to hand. Thus K. explains plays on Latin words that might otherwise have been missed (e.g. the play on salus/salutatio at Brut. 13 or ferre/auferre at Orat. 27); lacunae and textual supplements are explained (e.g. at Brut. 273, Orat. 16 and 50), along with an appendix listing variant readings. Cicero's text is not always clear, and K. offers guidance through the more difficult sections of Cicero's prose (e.g. at Orat. 73), while dividing the material into digestible and easy-to-follow sections.
Cicero conceived of Orator and Brutus as part of a larger project of five rhetorical works when added to his three volumes On the Ideal Orator (Cic. Div. 2.4). Thus, K.'s own edition completes the English translation of this set, providing us with unrivalled access to Cicero's thinking on oratory and the ideal orator towards the end of his career. Yet between Brutus and Orator Cicero had embarked on another publication: a Latin translation of Demosthenes’ and Aeschines’ respective speeches for and against Ctesiphon in the trial on the crown. Neither of Cicero's attempts survives, but a document purporting to be the introduction – On the Ideal Kind of Orator – has been transmitted under Cicero's name and is now widely believed as authentic. It was a bonus, then, to find a translation of this third work included in K.'s volume (pp. 269–75), treated with the same degree of care and attention lavished upon the main texts. Indeed, as K. explains in the preface (p. x), his approach has been ‘to err on the side of inclusion’, and it is precisely this aspect of K.'s work that makes the book so valuable. Whether one is reading these essays for the first time or is a seasoned reader of Cicero's works, this volume will deliver new insights into the history and theory of Roman oratory.
