Further voices and familiar perspectives in Cicero’s Letters
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Ruth Morello [1]
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[1] University of Manchester
University of Manchester
Reino Unido
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- Localización: Hermathena, ISSN 0018-0750, Nº. 202-203, 2017 (Ejemplar dedicado a: The epistolary Cicero: further readings in the Letters), págs. 147-184
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Cicero’s Epistulae ad familiares collection includes over seventy letters composed by late Republican writers other than Cicero. This paper explores the degree to which such epistolary polyphony shapes a reader’s experience. The non-Ciceronian letters function as ‘further voices’ within the corpus, inviting sceptical interpretations of Cicero’s persona and persuasive authority, and enhancing the felt presence of the unknown editor, whose placement of non-Ciceronian letters within the design and architecture of each book helps to guide our interpretations of a collection that is sometimes regarded as ‘overwhelmingly unidirectional’. An extended case study of the ‘weighted dialogue’ of Cicero’s correspondence with Plancus in Book 10 demonstrates Plancus’ skilful management of Cicero as addressee, and the development of Plancus’ quasi-Caesarian military and epistolary authority.
