Contains Cicero’s De Oratore and Brutus, influential sources over the centuries for ideas on rhetoric and training for public leadership.
The De Oratore, written in 55 B.C., argues that rhetoric is socially significant because states are established and maintained through the leadership of eloquent men.
The three books of dialogues in this volume feature discussions between well-known figures in Roman history, including Lucius Crassus, Marcus Antonius, Quintus Lutatius Catulus, Quintus Marcius Scaevola, Caius Aurelius Cotta, Julius Caesar Strabo Vopicus, and Publius Sulpicus Rufus.
The Brutus continues the theme of the dialogues, giving a history of eminent orators whose performances exemplify the Ciceronian theory that rhetoric finally adds up to leadership.