Philippine speeches

The Philippine Speeches were written by Marcus Tullius Cicero in 44 BC. Chr./43 BC Held.

The expression Philippine Speech ( Philippica ) goes back to between 351 BC. BC to 341 BC Speeches held by Demosthenes ( λόγοι Φιλιππικοί ) against King Philip of Macedonia , who threatened Athens . It is obviously a name chosen jokingly by Cicero himself, as can be seen from the correspondence with Marcus Junius Brutus - the murderer of Caesar. Possibly he suggested that as a Roman he felt himself to be on a par with the greatest Greek orator Demosthenes. In the structure of his 3rd Philippine speech, he clearly imitated Demosthenes.

Cicero attacked Mark Antony in the Philippicae, portraying him as a threat to the Roman Republic - these speeches are the author's final attempt to save the free Roman Republic. Because after the death of Julius Caesar , Marcus Antonius strove to take over his leading position in the state.

The published corpus consists of a total of fourteen speeches. The first speech was given on September 2, 44 BC. Held, the last on April 21, 43 BC. With them, Cicero swung himself up for the last time as spokesman for the Roman Senate : In this respect, the speeches flank the domestic political processes in the Roman Empire from the death of Caesar to the double battle at Forum Gallorum and Mutina in their expressiveness as first-rate source texts. Cicero has undoubtedly taken the floor more often during this period, but only fourteen speeches on the subject have been published:

Overview

1. Philippica (Senate speech, September 2, 44): Cicero's criticism of the legislation of the incumbent consuls Marcus Antonius and Publius Cornelius Dolabella , who, in Cicero's opinion, violated the decrees of Caesar ( acta Caesaris ). Postulate: return of the consuls to politics for the good of the Roman people.

2. Philippica (Cicero's pamphlet, conceived as a Senate speech, completed October 24, 44 and possibly not published until after Cicero's death): Cicero's violent attacks on Marcus Antonius with the accusation that his claim to political power even surpassed Lucius Sergius Catilina and Publius Clodius Pulcher , catalog the "outrage" of Mark Antony. (Note: this is by far the longest of Cicero's Philippine discourses.)

3. Philippica (Senate speech, December 20, 44 in the morning): Cicero's appeal to the Senate to act in war against Mark Antony - demand for solidarity with Gaius Octavius (Octavian) and Decimus Junius Brutus . (Note: These demands of Cicero were raised to a resolution by the Roman Senate.)

4. Philippica (speech at the public assembly, December 20, 44 afternoon): Cicero regards Antony as an "enemy of the state" and declares a peace with Antony unthinkable.

5. Philippica (Senate speech, delivered in the Temple of Jupiter on January 1, 43 under the new consuls Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Panza Caetronianus ): Cicero pleads not to send an embassy from the Roman Senate to Antonius and warns urgently of Antony's intentions; Cicero applies for honorary resolutions and a. for Decimus Junius Brutus, Gaius Octavius and his troops and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus . (Note: Cicero's request to suspend the legation was rejected: the Roman Senate sent the three consulares Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus , Lucius Marcius Philippus and Servius Sulpicius Rufus to Marcus Antonius.)

6. Philippica (speech at the public assembly, January 4, 43): Cicero regards the embassy, which has meanwhile been decided by the Senate, as a delayed declaration of war on Antonius and considers the declaration of war to be certain after the ambassadors return. Appeal to general unity in the struggle for freedom.

7. Philippica (Senate speech outside the agenda, mid-January 43): Cicero presents himself as the advocate of peace, but considers a war against Antony to be the order of the day; he again articulates the demand to refrain from negotiations with Antonius.

8. Philippica (Senate speech, February 3, 43): Since Antonius rejected the demands of the Senate, Cicero states that the domestic political situation is de facto tantamount to a war situation, whereby he expressly favors the term bellum (= factual war), the term tumultus (= Threat of war) as a characterization of the situation. In it he includes the criticism of those consulars (namely Quintus Fufius Calenus ) who prefer peace with Antonius - peace under Antonius is bondage. Application for a resolution on the impunity of all soldiers of Antonius who defected by March 15, 43. All who subsequently joined Antony should be regarded as enemies of the state. (Note: Cicero's request was made a resolution by the Roman Senate.)

9. Philippica (Senate speech, February 4, 43): Cicero demands honors for Servius Sulpicius Rufus , who died during the legation trip to Marcus Antonius. (Note: Cicero's request was made a resolution by the Roman Senate.)

10. Philippica (Senate speech, mid-February 43): Cicero praises the military deeds of Marcus Junius Brutus in Macedonia and Illyria . He demands that Brutus be confirmed as governor of Macedonia, Greece, and Illyria with his troops. (Note: Cicero's request was made a resolution by the Roman Senate.)

11. Philippica (Senate speech, end of February 43): Cicero castigates Dolabella's murder of Gaius Trebonius , governor of the province of Asia . He demands the governorship of the Roman province of Syria for Gaius Cassius Longinus . (Note: Cicero's request was rejected by the Roman Senate.)

12. Philippica (Senate speech, beginning of March 43): Cicero rejects a second delegation to Antonius after he had initially agreed to participate. (Note: Cicero's demand was passed on to a resolution by the Roman Senate; there was no further peace delegation.)

13. Philippica (Senate speech, March 20, 43): Cicero denounces the actions of Mark Antony in Northern Italy as "warlike" ( siege of Mutina ). Reading of a letter from M. Antonius addressed to C. Caesar (= Octavi (an) us) and A. Hirtius, on which Cicero comments. He rejects a peace admonition from Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and provides a reference to the "criminal" activities of Antonius. He demands honors for Sextus Pompey .

14. Philippica (Senate speech, April 21, 43, given immediately after the victory of the allied armies of Gaius Octavius and the Senate under Hirtius and Panza over Mark Antony): Cicero requests a celebration of thanks and praises the victorious commanders and troops. He emphatically postulates to declare Mark Antony an enemy of the state ( hostis ). (Note: The consuls Hirtius and Panza had fallen. Cicero's last demand was passed by the Roman Senate, and on April 26, 43, Mark Antony was officially declared an enemy of the state.)

Conception

The first two speeches marked the outbreak of enmity between Antony and Cicero. Cicero might want to build on his successes against the conspiracy of Catiline in 63; at least he put Mark Antony at the side of his greatest political opponents Catiline and Clodius with rhetorical skill. In the following two speeches (3 and 4) of December 20, 44, he sought the military alliance with Octavius, he was concerned with the destruction of Antonius and the restoration of the res publica libera - the free republic; he clearly favored military means. Since the Senate, on the other hand, decided on a peace delegation, in speeches 5 to 9 it tried to disavow the idea of a delegation and to mobilize the Senate and the people of Rome for war. In speeches 10 and 11 he advocated the military strengthening of the Republicans Brutus and Cassius, but was only successful in the first case. In the last speeches 12, 13 and 14 he wanted to dispel the concerns about the Ciceronian war policy. In the last speech - after the victory over Antonius - he warned urgently against a readiness for peace too quickly.

Cicero's leitmotifs in the Philippicae were therefore:

Fight of the res publica against the main enemy Mark Antony.
Thought of freedom against a kingship of Antony.

effect

Cicero's success after the Battle of Mutina - the declaration of Antonius as an enemy of the state - could not be politically enforced. Cicero's old “res-publica” model and his republican convictions as a whole - similar to the case of his role model Demosthenes, who agitated in vain against Macedonian expansion - proved to be politically outdated: Antony and Gaius Octavius, contrary to his expectations, soon approached in November 43 they formed a triumvirate with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus: Cicero was immediately publicly proscribed ( proscribed ) by Antonius , i.e. declared outlawed . Cicero was born on December 7, 43 BC. Killed by the captors of Mark Antony, his hands and head on public display in the Roman Forum .

Today there is still the expression “to hold a Philippika”, that is, to hold a speech of contention.

Single receipts

↑ Cicero, Ad Brutum 2,3,4 (April 1, 43) and 2,4,2 (April 12, 43)
↑ cf. the remark in Cicero, Ad Atticum 15,13,1.
↑ cf. overall Marcus Tullius Cicero: The political speeches. Latin-German. Edited, translated and explained by Manfred Fuhrmann. Volume 3, Darmstadt 1993, pp. 587-716 (with introduction, literature on the speeches as a whole / commentary on each individual speech).

Web links

The Filipino Discourses in the Latin Library

literature

M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, tom. II. Recognovit brevique adnotatione critica instruxit Albertus Curtis Clark ( Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis ). Clarendon, Oxford 1901, pp. 91-321. 2nd edition 1918, further new editions.
Cicero: State speeches. Part Three: The Philippine Speeches. Latin and German, by Helmut Kasten (= writings and sources of the Old World. Volume 28). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin (-Ost) 1970, ISBN 3-05-000331-6 . 4th edition 1988.
Marcus Tullius Cicero: The political speeches. Latin-German. Edited, translated and explained by Manfred Fuhrmann . Volume 3, Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993.
Wilfried Stroh : Cicero's Philippine speeches: political struggle and literary imitation. In: Martin Hose (ed.): Masterpieces of ancient literature: From Homer to Boethius. CH Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 76-102.
Jon Hall: The Philippics. In: James Michael May (Ed.): Brill's Companion to Cicero. Oratory and Rhetoric. Brill, Leiden / Boston / Cologne 2002, pp. 273-304.
Cicero: Philippics I - II . Edited by John T. Ramsey ( Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics ). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003, ISBN 978-0-521-42285-7 (with bibliography). 2nd edition 2007.
Gesine Manuwald : Making a defeat a success rhetorically: Cicero's Sixth Philippine Speech as a paradigmatic reading. In: Forum Classicum , Volume 2, 2007, pp. 90-97.
Rainer Nickel (Ed.): Cicero: Die Philippischen Reden / Philippica. Latin – German ( Tusculum Collection ). Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-05-005927-3 .

[1] Cicero, Ad Brutum 2,3,4 (April 1, 43) and 2,4,2 (April 12, 43)

[2] . the remark in Cicero, Ad Atticum 15,13,1.

[3] . overall Marcus Tullius Cicero: The political speeches. Latin-German. Edited, translated and explained by Manfred Fuhrmann. Volume 3, Darmstadt 1993, pp. 587-716 (with introduction, literature on the speeches as a whole / commentary on each individual speech).