"No one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike..."

Part three of the unit explores the ancient Roman orator Cicero’s famous First Catilinarian Oration to demonstrate Cicero’s skilled use of rhetoric as a leader.  As context for first oration, Cicero is updating Roman senate on his knowledge of the conspiracy and that Catiline has fled the city, but Catiline shows up as a surprise. Cicero then must adapt his speech to this new circumstance on the fly because Catiline and his co-conspirators were present in the Senate and heard the speech. Therefore, senators would have been present, as well as skeptics who weren’t sure who to believe (Cicero or Catiline).

NOTE: Roman oratory was not only speech, but persuasive in a variety of communicative modes. This means not only did Cicero use emphasis in his voice and deliberate pauses for dramatic silence, but there were a whole range of hand gestures that meant something to an ancient Roman audience that were used. A quick chart that shows some of these gestures can be found here. The setting of the senate would also contribute to the effect the speech had on listeners. Here are some images of what a Roman senate may have looked like. Preview both as you prepare to listen to the audio file of Cicero’s first oration.

Listening for Leadership

Possible Group Activity