Ciceronianism

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Ciceronianism is a modern term that describes the attitude of authors who write in Latin, who regard the ancient orator and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero as an authoritative model. The word is derived from the ancient name Ciceronianus ("Ciceronian", "Ciceronian"); it was used in ancient times for someone who eagerly studied Cicero's works and imitated her style. What is meant is imitation of the language of Cicero and a commitment to his ideal of education, the combination of wisdom ( sapientia ) and eloquence ( eloquentia ). Agreement with his philosophical or political views is often, but not necessarily, associated with it. Sometimes Ciceronianism is also expressed in a preference for the literary genres preferred by Cicero and especially for the form of dialogue.

Ciceronianism was founded as a theory in the 1st century AD by the rhetoric teacher Quintilian . Quintilian considered Cicero to be the ideal orator par excellence and wrote that Cicero's name did not stand for a specific person, but for the eloquence itself. In doing so, he raised Cicero's expression to the norm for rhetorical education. Since Quintilian was very influential, his conception shaped the school system. He thought the rhetoric of his time was corrupt, childish and bombastic; he countered it with the model of Cicero. Since it is an appeal to a “classical” ideal from the past, to which the present classified as inferior should be oriented for the purpose of recovery, Ciceronianism is a form of classicism .

The pioneer of Renaissance humanism Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), an enthusiastic admirer of Cicero, emphasized the exemplary nature of Cicero. However, he was not a true Ciceronian, as despite the imitation of Cicero he deviated considerably from the model in his Latin works and his Latin was also influenced by Seneca and Augustine . Later humanists, who were consistent Ciceronians, accused him of this and therefore rejected him. Only in the following generation did the real Ciceronianism emerge, which made Cicero the exclusive authority and excluded any concession to the style of other ancient or even post-ancient authors.

Strict, radical Ciceronians went so far as to avoid all words and expressions that do not appear in Cicero. From the point of view of their opponents, this extremely conservative position hindered individuality and originality. The question of how far the Cicero imitation should go was hotly debated. Radical Ciceronians argued that a good Latin style could only be learned from a model. Therefore one should take the best author, Cicero, as a model and limit oneself to his style, as there is nothing better. In this way one could record the highest perfection achieved in the history of Latin literature and prevent signs of decay. The opponents, who were usually moderate Ciceronians, pointed out that Cicero himself used more than a single style and was of the opinion that stylistically one should adapt flexibly to the requirements of the respective situation.

The radical Ciceronians among the Renaissance humanists included Gasparino Barzizza , Guarino da Verona , Paolo Cortesi , Ermolao Barbaro and Pietro Bembo .

Erasmus of Rotterdam († 1536), who himself was an admirer of Cicero, fought radical Ciceronianism in his 1528 work Ciceronianus or About the best way of speaking . From the second half of the 16th century, scholars became less interested in Ciceronianism, especially since Greek authors now came to the fore. In the school system, however, Ciceronianism had fully established itself and was able to maintain its predominance over the long term. Even today, the Latin taught in grammar school classes is strongly based on the language used by Cicero.

Text output

Joann Dellaneva and Brian Duvick (Eds.): Ciceronian Controversies . Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Mass.) 2007, ISBN 978-0-674-02520-2 (Latin source texts on the humanistic controversies surrounding Ciceronianism with English translations)

literature