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Cicero and his Models

Professor Weische's book is an admirable contribution to a surprisingly neglected field. He introduces the subject by distinguishing two types of imitations, those intended to repeat the practical effect of the original, and those intended (especially on publication of a speech) to be recognized as literary reminiscences; there could also be a classicizing imitation of a Greek model as a whole, e.g. the second Philippic. Weische then sets out the imitative passages which he has found in Cicero's speeches, in chronological order and with literary and linguistic commentary. Generally he shows due appreciation of the uncertainties involved in identifying imitations. His external criteria for arguing from similarity to indebtedness, even if one occasionally remains sceptical, are reasonable: (i) some irrelevance to the Ciceronian context, (ii) the proximity of indubitable parallels, (iii) the presence of expressions rare in Latin (sometimes the suggested Greek source too shows peculiarities). One result of the investigation is surprising. Cicero's description of various categories of malcontents in In Catilinam offers amid so much that is vague and unconvincing, something concrete and even believable—yet stylistically the passage is closely modelled on Aeschines. Again there are passages employing specifically Roman legal or political terminology, for which a Greek derivation, once pointed out, is totally convincing.