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Oratorical Strategy in Sallust's Letter of Mithridates Reconsidered

Oratorical Strategy in Sallust's Letter of Mithridates Reconsidered ORATORICAL STRATEGY IN SALLUST'S LETTER OF MITHRIDATES RECONSIDERED BY F. AHLHEID In his recent monograph on Mithridates VI Eupator, McGing describes the propaganda with which the king of Pontus tried to ob- tain support in his wars against Rome1). Among the texts discussed by McGing, Sallust Hist.4,69 Maurenbrecher figures as "poten- tially one of the most important sources for Mithridates' prop- aganda, as it purports to be a personal letter of the king himself" (154,178). On the other hand, it is probably not based on an authentic document and encompasses several ideas of a "general rhetorical nature", which Sallust easily could have thought out without any knowledge of Greek and Mithridatic anti-Roman propaganda, by just putting himself in Mithridates' situation. (McGing 154-160). We think it probable that the form in which the arguments of Mithridates are presented is also Sallustian invention of the same general rhetorical nature. Apart from the opening for- mula (Rex Mithridates regi Arsaci salutem), the text is an elaborate specimen of deliberative oratory. As such, it has been analysed with the help of Aristotle's Rhetorica and handbooks written by contem- poraries of Sallust by E. Bikerman in an article written in 1941 and published http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mnemosyne Brill

Oratorical Strategy in Sallust's Letter of Mithridates Reconsidered

Mnemosyne , Volume 41 (1-2): 67 – Jan 1, 1988

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1988 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0026-7074
eISSN
1568-525X
DOI
10.1163/156852588X00057
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

ORATORICAL STRATEGY IN SALLUST'S LETTER OF MITHRIDATES RECONSIDERED BY F. AHLHEID In his recent monograph on Mithridates VI Eupator, McGing describes the propaganda with which the king of Pontus tried to ob- tain support in his wars against Rome1). Among the texts discussed by McGing, Sallust Hist.4,69 Maurenbrecher figures as "poten- tially one of the most important sources for Mithridates' prop- aganda, as it purports to be a personal letter of the king himself" (154,178). On the other hand, it is probably not based on an authentic document and encompasses several ideas of a "general rhetorical nature", which Sallust easily could have thought out without any knowledge of Greek and Mithridatic anti-Roman propaganda, by just putting himself in Mithridates' situation. (McGing 154-160). We think it probable that the form in which the arguments of Mithridates are presented is also Sallustian invention of the same general rhetorical nature. Apart from the opening for- mula (Rex Mithridates regi Arsaci salutem), the text is an elaborate specimen of deliberative oratory. As such, it has been analysed with the help of Aristotle's Rhetorica and handbooks written by contem- poraries of Sallust by E. Bikerman in an article written in 1941 and published

Journal

MnemosyneBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1988

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