Cicero's Second Philippic Against Antony, By Marcus Tullius Cicero

Marcus Tullius Cicero was believed to be not only the greatest Latin writer but also the greatest writer in any language. Cicero was a greatly respected Roman philosopher and writer who tried teaching the Romans about Greek philosophy and rhetoric. He wrote his “Second Philippic Against Antony” to try to stop Marcus Antonius, better known as Mark Antony, from turning the Roman Republic from an oligarchy into an autocracy. To persuade the Roman citizens, Cicero used the art of rhetoric in his speeches. While reading his speech again, one can notice the use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos—the three ways to persuade an audience, according to Greek philosopher Aristotle (Edlund). Through his use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, Cicero is able to to attack …show more content…
This technique focuses on the writer’s image or character. If a writer is not respected by all, it will be harder for him to convince his readers of his writing. Cicero had gained a lot of respect for himself through the years because of his writings and his leadership as he was part of the consul. In his “Second Philippic” he clearly states: “A very full house of the Senate so warmly applauded my consulship that there was not a man there who did not thank me as if I had been his father. Their possessions, their lives, their children’s lives, their country – they owed all these, said every one of them, to me” (Cicero 108). Cicero was so respected by the Senate that they said they owed their lives to him—this shows that he had gained the respect of not only the citizens of Rome, but also the …show more content…
He begins his speech with small claims such as: “[Antony] has absolutely no idea how to behave…[his] action proves he is totally uncivilized…how unbelievable stupid he is as well” (Cicero 106). He also states that “[Antony] is no true consul at all. He does not live like one; he does not work like one; and he was never elected to be one” (107). Cicero starts his speech by simply showing Antony does not know how to behave but then ruins his image by first mentioning his bankruptcy then writing “At first you were just a public prostitute, with a fixed price: quite a high one, too. But very soon Curio intervened and took you off the streets, promoting you, one might say, to wifely status, and making a sound, steady, married woman of you” (Cicero 122). He does not only mock Antony’s bankruptcy in his adolescence but then goes on to blame him of prostitution and homosexuality. By ruining his character with the use of hyperboles, Cicero makes Antony seem worse to the reader than he