Abstract

Tacitus'Dialogus de oratoribus(c. 100c.e.) may be the most perplexing of the extant Roman dialogues, quite possibly, of the entire Greco-Roman tradition. Despite advances in the rhetorical and literary appreciation of ancient dialogues, this text continues to elude understanding. Oddly, the difficulties stem neither from obscurities of subject matter and presentation nor from any anomalismvis-à-visthe norms of the genre. Six compelling speeches lucidly detail the value, history and development ofeloquentia(‘skilled speech’) from the perspective of the late first and early second centuriesc.e. They provide convincing accounts of rhetoric and its evolution: the social and political efficacy ofeloquentia(Marcus Aper's and Curiatius Maternus' prescriptions on how best to assert oneself with and against the powerful, and the famous yet notoriously tumultuous oratory of the Late Republic), evaluative categories for rhetoric, including the competing discourses that prized renown and canonical status (Vipstanus Messalla's praise of the ancients), or external and absolute aesthetic criteria; and lastly, exemplary instances (e.g. past luminaries) or suitable models for imitation (ancient and modern orators and poets). The richness of these diverse emphases, along with the complex and ambiguous reworking of literary forerunners, not to mention the open-endedness at the work's conclusion, all conspire against the expectation of a uniform message.