Hortensia's Suicides Speech

The classical women rhetor, Hortensia, in her speech, “Speech to the Triumvirs,” was one of the first to handle the idea “no taxation without representation.” Hortensia represents the other Roman women of the town who were called upon to financially support the war. Hortensia’s persuades members of the town on why women should not be forced to contribute to war funds when the law does not cater to them. Hortensia begins by evoking emotion as she builds her argument and uses logical thinking; posing many questions for the audience to think about as she speaks in an effective scholarly tone. Her persuasion was an over all success and changed the minds of many people. In Rome 42 B.C.E. the triumvirs were seeking revenge for Julius Caesar’s death. The reluctant triumvirate Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus, proposed that the richest Roman woman were called to report the values of their property so that state could tax them (Ritchie 17). The tax money would go towards the war funds. Women of the village chose Hortensia to speak on their behalf about the unfairness of the triumvir’s …show more content…
She introduces the women at the assembly as “benefited women,” because they are of the upper class citizens in the area. She follows with why they are gathered (Ritchie 17). They were gathered to petition against the taxation. She strikes the audience with a sense of guilt on what the war has done to the women already. The war had ripped them of their sons, husbands, and brothers. She then moves into the feminist issue of by asking the question, “why share the penalty when we did not share the guilt” (Ritchie 18). The women in Rome at this time were under the father of the houses control. They had no say on how the town was run or any decisions with war. The were quite and abided rules making no enemies. Being her first of many questions it also doubles as the thesis for her speech. She builds her argument along with the