The Research Of Cicero's Legal Rhetoric

Roman law played an important part in the legal history,which is considered highest mountain in jurisprudence.Researchers give their interpretation from the point of economic,politics and culture as well as other factors.Savigny,the founder of the history school of law in Germany,gave the view that it was the Roman jurists and the methods of jurisprudence due to the development of Roman law,which inspire me to think that the rhetoric of cicero and the legal method of it in the republic of Roman can be an important method to research Roman law and its jurisprudence.The precious research of Cicero focus on his natural law theory,constitution and republic thought,which pay no attention to rhetoric and its connection with Roman law.This means the space for this paper's research.Cicero's speeches,full of the thought of his rhetoric,could be an important tool to supplementary historical materials of roman law in the late republican period of roman,which help us have a imagine of the real Roman daily life as well as law.Rhetoric came from ancient Greek democracy.The features of public speaking and discussion made rhetoric developed.Rhetoric can help people of insight gain political prestige and achieve specific political goals through speeches.In Greek,one special class was formed,which is called sophist,who teach the art of rhetoric and were respected in the cities.Sophists suggest rhetoric focus all means to persuasion,despite the words are opinion or knowledge,which was denied by Plato.Plato thinks that rhetoric should teach young man true knowledge,and finally access to ideal itself.Besides rhetoric teachers have the duty to lead young man to live a good life.Aristotle takes the basic idea of Plato.He wrote the famous book “rhetoric”,which construct the basis of rhetoric theory.He divided the theory into three parts,which are “invention” “arrangement” and “style”.He also discusses the persuasion method,which include ethos,pathos and argument,which have great influence.From the aspect of the influence of rhetoric on the legal methods,Cicero firstly summarized and systemized the Greek rhetoric,and introduced them to Romans,written the book of topics about the legal argument.Cicero made the previous messy and individual persuading skills as well as argument methods systematic and Scientific,which could became an art of persuasion developing the technique element of law and the procession of Scientific finally.The rhetoric of Cicero basically obeyed the framework of the rhetoric of Aristotle,according with the development of Roman political life and judicial practice.There are three differences difference between the rhetoric of Cicero and Aristotle.Firstly,Cicero's Rhetoric added the element of “memory” and “delivery” to the basis of “invention”,“arrangement” and “style”.Secondly,Cicero's Rhetoric combines the theory and practice enriching the emotional persuading theory.Thirdly,Cicero gives his interpretation of topics,which can be used as a practical method of rational persuading.It is reasonable to interpret Cicero's legal Rhetoric by Combing emotional persuasion and rational persuasion.Firstly,the division of emotional persuasion and rational persuasion accord to the rules of Human psychology.Secondly,emotional persuasion and rational persuasion is real and can find basis in Cicero's rhetoric.Thirdly,the emotional persuasion and rational persuasion interpretation of Cicero's rhetoric is the most reasonable among the theories and analyses.Rational persuasion is based on the “topics” and “rhetoric”,which are the work of Aristotle.Moreover,Cicero's rational persuasion theory accepted and integrated the thought of stoics.At that time,Cicero introduced the logic of stoics and showed the five non argument induction forms.Cicero confirmed the mode of the argument by the topics,using the enthymeme and exemplification to inference.Cicero thinks that rational persuasion according to roman's legal process rules.Firstly,the oratory was before the judicial investigation and the debating between the two sides in the case.As a result,oratory decided the result.Secondly,the judicial process provide enough time for oratory,which gave the possibility of rational persuasion in preparation and practice.Thirdly,the judgement in the court is open,where the advocate played the prominent role,not the judge.There are no strict regulations for the process.This affected a free space for the rational persuasion.Rational persuasion depended on audience's reasonable expectation,which included obeying the law of city,eager for self-interests,regulation by the law of logic.Rational persuasion needs obeying the written law of the city,which could be the big premise in argument.The way of rational persuasion in Cicero's rhetoric theory is basically using topic,enthymeme and induction.We can find many examples of them in Cicero's oratory.The emotional persuasion based on the theory of argument by mankind of Aristotle,and which was developed and improved by Cicero's Rhetoric.Cicero's rhetoric emphasized on the emotional persuasion,and refined the argument by ethos and pathos of Aristotle.The emotional persuasion primarily included the using of ethos,empathy,anger and national spirit.Roman judicial process provided the theater circumstances needed by the emotional persuasion.The judicial theater has many people.Roman court always located in the public square,which was noisy,chaotic and unpredictable environment,without strictly regulations and process.The settings of the court and details helped the judge like the playing in the theater.In this relax and assembly situation,people were more likely invoked certain emotion by the oratory,where the court lost its Seriousness ought to have,giving the space for the rhetoric in the judicial theater.In the roman trail,rhetoric was the same as the performance of play,which became some kind of skill of actor in order to achieve best result,decided by the audience's emotion expectations,including special belief.Cicero argued that advocate could change the emotion by the way of changing their belief.The task of oratory was to lead the emotion of audience to the direction of what they want.The advocates need to grasp different kinds of emotions and their beliefs,and then show the exact belief for certain emotion.In the process of emotion persuasion,Cicero used the methods of ethos,sympathy,anger and national spirit to achieve the target,which we can find in his own speeches.Cicero's legal rhetoric had great influence on Roman's public and legal life.The key of Roman public life lies in the theater,public meeting,senate,court and other places of assembly,where Rhetoric played its art and role.Firstly,The Rhetoric of Cicero trained the youths of Roman in the fields of language,expression and words,which developed the legal education and jurisprudence in Roman,as well as the features of general,liberal art and practical.Rhetoric gave a great influence on the forming of Roman civil law and the belief of natural law.Cicero's legal Rhetoric realized the connection between Roman civil law and Roman public life,ensuring the organic connections and unity between Roman civil law and the source of law.It was the using of rhetoric by the advocates that created the content of Roman civil law in the public and legal life of Romans,when the rhetoric brought the spirit and characters of the citizens into the Roman law.Cicero's rhetoric theory developed the thoughts of Roman natural law.He argued natural law is the reason of things,which is universal.Rhetoric has the power of persuasion for the right reason in it.Everyone have right reason and share it with God.Cicero's legal rhetoric developed the constitution in the late republic of Roman.It helped the conflict dissolving mode convert from violence to negotiation,which stands for civilization.Cicero's legal rhetoric constructed the Roman constitution by the way of democratic Negotiation and reason,which created the Roman political life and the virtues of the citizens.Cicero's legal rhetoric also developed the jurisprudence of Roman law.Precedent was the starting point of Roman jurisprudence.The unique scientific life and the element of method of Roman jurisprudence was casuistry,which was the deduction based on precedent.The Prominent influences on Roman jurisprudence and the development of the methods of the Cicero rhetoric were focusing the development of Roman precedents and the deduction skills based on it as well as the legal arguments,which were due to the rhetoric of Cicero.The argument from the precedent could belong to the persuading by reason,as well as persuading by emotion.When the advocate using the precedent as the tool for logical argument,deduction or induction,we can say that belong to the persuading by reason.When the advocates pay attention to the emotion and character elements,inspiring the audience's passion,it is belong to the persuading by emotion.Once the success method contain both of the elements,which belong to both the rational persuading and emotional persuading.Cicero's rhetoric theory included the method of systematics,such as spices and category,section and unit,accepted by many later Roman jurists,which shaped the system of civil law.In addition,the theory of the relationship between spices and category,section and unit had great influence on the systematic of Roman law through the Istitutes by Gsius and the Istitutes by Justinian.