Among all of the famous writings originating from Rome, Cicero’s oratory is the most analyzed and admired by translators. Cicero, who held power to what is similar to a judge, was defending Caelius Rufus. Caelius, who was a past student of Cicero, was charged with political violence. The trial is mostly focusing on Caelius for taking gold for the attempted murder of Dio of Alexandria as well as poisoning a woman named Clodia. Cicero made an effective introduction about Caelius to show that he is not guilty of these charges. Hence, the trial begins on a high note for Caelius. Cicero attempted to focus the trial on Caelius’ youthfulness. When the charges for the attempted murder arose, Caelius’ bad judgement came in full force. Cicero …show more content…
Clodia, who was the lover of Caelius, was behind some of the accusations. Clodia and Claudius, Clodia’s brother, sought revenge when Caelius left them, so parts of the accusation are out of spite. When Atratinus charged Caelius with the political violence, Clodia wanted to help. Clodia was a wealthy and influential woman in Rome, though she was believed to be stepping over the line with the case. For example, Cicero in Pro Caelio stated, “if he would consider that the woman’s lust out to be checked.” Cicero showed that Clodia was behind these accusations and has tried to influence the case. Therefore, Cicero also tried to focus the trial on the accusers rather than his own client. The Pro Caelio speech by Marcus Tullius Cicero is one of the most famous Roman oratory, setting the standards for trials and speeches throughout the world. By changing the focus of Caelius’ crimes onto his youth like qualities as well as outside forces influencing the case, Cicero has indeed shaped the outcome of the case. Cicero knows how to appeal to the judges, thus he continues to speak to win the case. Therefore, Cicero’s introduction changed the direction of the case for the benefit of Caelius
Yesterday around noon, Rome witnessed the fall of a mighty leader named Julius Caesar. The conspirators involved in this murder were witnessed by the names of Cassius, Casca, Cinna, Trebonius, Ligarius, Decius Brutus, Metellus Cimber and Brutus.
The pursuit of justice is an endeavor that many find to be challenging and a quest itself, as one will come across various trials and complications that may stop them in their pursuit or may mislead them. As humans, we find moral correctness and righteousness a very appealing state to be in, as justice will act as a platform to satisfy the desire for this correctness. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, we meet our miserable anti-hero, Oedipus, in his pursuit for truth and righting the wrong of the plague that is affecting his people of Thebes. As he makes efforts to solve this problem, he comes to find out that he is the source of the issue, thus exposing the tragic flaw of Oedipus and effectively making this play a very effective Greek tragedy. This pursuit of righteousness ends up being the downfall of Oedipus. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex, Oedipus pursues justice through his realization of his past, his interactions with various characters in the play, and comes to understand more of justice in his situation through his reactions to adversity in this play, in order to portray a questionably successful pursuit of justice.
Both Marcus Aurelius and Cicero try to create a guide, based on their stoic views, on how a person is supposed to live a purposeful life. Marcus Aurelius was an emperor and Cicero was a politician, so both serve somebody or something. In Cicero’s “On Friendship” he bases his guides on what he has learned from important people in his life. In Marcus Aurelius’ “Meditations” he bases his guide off of what he has learned as an emperor with stoic views. Some of what he Aurelius has learned is different from Cicero’s view of stoicism; an example of this is in section seven of Meditations. Section seven of Meditations is about what Aurelius learned from his tutor. He states, “Endure hardship, and have few needs; to do things for myself and not
Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, on this very important case. The defendant, Oedipus, has been falsely accused with patricide and incest. Oedipus was completely unaware of the fact that Laius and Jocasta were his parents, so can we really say that he had committed patricide and incest with intention.
In this quote Cassius seems jealous of Caesar. As you can see Cassius was guilty in the assassination of Julius
The establishment of the courts provides a place for the citizens to decide about what is moral and to debate the details of specific cases. The emergence of the jury trial also suggests that justice is not “just” unless it involves deliberation. In the earlier plays Orestes and Clytemnestra took justice into their own hands by acting impulsively and Aeschylus implies in his tragedy that When a person seeks justice they must be careful not to pursue it in a vindictive way because revenge will inevitably transgress into suffering for the person seeking reprisal. the law needs to be concerned with definitions justice itself. In other words, justice without judgment is too rash and impulsive. A jury is necessary so that questions can be deliberated. Was Orestes matricide justified? Circumstances, motives and consequences must be taken into account at trial.These are complicated moral
In, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” Brutus believes the actions and decisions he makes are justified. He makes it clear that, in his opinion, Caesar should not become king because he would not be able to hold the qualities of someone with that great amount of power. In order to convince the Plebeians to side with him, Brutus uses a variety of rhetorical appeals to persuade them.
Background Cicero was one of the greatest orators in Ancient Rome. He was not of noble birth, but in 64 BCE became consul, one of the most powerful offices in the Roman Republic. Cicero's time as consul was difficult, and he successfully prevented an overthrow of the Republic and his own assassination. Once Julius Caesar began to amass more and more personal power, however, he receded from active politics because he believed the ideals of the Republic would be diffused with tyranny. Once Caesar was assassinated, Cicero again became popular but because of his dislike (public and private) of Mark Antony, as Antony's power grew, Cicero's diminished. He was killed in December 43 BCE after being declared an enemy of the Republic.
He compares Caesar to a serpent in an egg which he must kill before it hatches. Brutus knows that Caesar is gaining too much power too quickly and it must come to an end. He shows his belief in a republic government by saying, “We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar / And in the spirit of men there is no blood" (II.i. 180-181). Cassius is a character who is jealous of Caesar’s power and also wants it to end. He forms a group of conspirators who are against Julius Caesar. He persuades Brutus to help him and the other conspirators to kill Caesar during the ides of March. Brutus joins but only due to his love for Rome and its people. He proves this by saying "Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius." (II.i. 179). This also proves his love for Caesar because he wants to kill him with some sort of honor. Brutus wants the citizens to look at him not as a murderer but for someone who cares for his country. He expresses his ideas toward the stabbing by saying , “If then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer-not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more" (III, ii, 17-19).
Justice is often found after a situation has occurred and more times than not it is seen through the eyes of revenge. Marc Antony, the main character, partakes in this reality by trying to get revenge on Julius Caesar’s, Marc Antony’s best friend, death. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare literally and symbolically delves into the choices that one makes when seeking revenge in the name of justice.
The speech Brutus gives his fellow conspirators contains a variety of figurative language to describe the act of killing Caesar and shows Brutus’ commitment to the cause. Originally, Cassius believed that Caesar needed to be killed while Brutus was unconvinced. However, Brutus’ diction in this speech shows how his thought process has changed. He tells the conspirators to carve Caesar as a “dish fit for the gods” (174) rather than slaughter him mercilessly. He believes that Caesar’s body should not be left as a “carcass fit for hounds” (175). Through the use of words such as “carve” and “carcass”, Brutus depicts Caesar’s murder in a rather gruesome manner. Brutus uses metaphors in his speech in order to describe the killing of Caesar. He compares the
In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, one must read the text closely to track the shifting motivations and loyalties of each character as the play progresses. An important factor that must be kept in mind while reading is the degree of loyalty, in other words, the degree to which characters act out of a motivation to help others. Throughout the play, each character's current degree of loyalty to others is clearly exhibited by words or behavior – this holds true for the characters of Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Portia, and Calpurnia. The focus on loyalty is critical because before the play ends an even-handed justice is meted out to a number of people who fail to live up to an expected standard of
Socrates’ three opponents in The Republic come in the form of Cephalus, Polemarchus, and Thrasymachus. Cephalus provides his opinion first, which is that justice is defined by, “truthfulness and returning anything we have borrowed (The Republic, 331C).” Socrates quickly counters, and says that Cephalus’ interpretation of justice cannot be right, because, “if one borrowed a weapon from a friend who subsequently went out of his mind
As we were walking along the street in the Capitol, we were shocked to see the treacherous senators stabbing our beloved leader, Julius Caesar, to death. To hear the justification of his death, we attended his funeral, where Brutus and Mark Antony orated. Both orations were moving: while Brutus appealed to reason and logic, Antony appealed to emotions. However, Antony’s oration genuinely revealed the truth behind everything; he presented his arguments that disproved Brutus’ claim that Caesar was ambitious and his assassination was noble. His oration was powerful, influential, and had a strong emotional appeal, which ultimately won our trust.
Caius Cassius plays one of the most important roles in William Shakespeare’s play, “Julius Caesar”, which is centred round the assassination of the Roman dictator. The driving force behind the conspiracy is Cassius though there are others who are unhappy with the state of affairs under the prevailing system. Yet, they do not take an active part in the design to get rid of powerful Caesar. So, it is not incorrect to state that the chief protagonist of the assassination plot is no one but Caius Cassius.