On this day in 64 BC, the Roman Senate was electing the consul of the first 63 years. It's a sunny day and the wind is blowing gently. An eloquent young man is giving a speech to all the candidates for senator and consul. He lashed out at another popular candidate, Katilin, with a loud voice and sharp words, thus hiding Katilin's plot. He is Cicero, a famous orator, politician and philosopher in the late Roman Republic.

"Katerina ... don't you know that your plan has been exposed? Don't you see, because all the members present already know about it, and your plot has been firmly subdued? Do you think any of us don't know what you did last night, what you did the night before yesterday, where you were, who you met and what plans you made? What era is this! What fashion! "

Cicero was born in Rome in the late Republic of China. As a politician, Cicero cannot be compared with Caesar, Pompey, Anthony and others. However, as a philosophical speaker, Cicero became the most important representative of Roman classical political philosophy with his rich works and far-reaching influence.

First, the birth knight family

In BC 106, Malcus Tullius Cicero was born into a knight's family in Noum, Alpine province of Rome.

In ancient Rome, knights were between nobles and civilians. Although they are relatively rich, their political status is not high, and even the jurisdiction of the permanent court has been deprived. Cicero's father attached great importance to education in order to make his son get ahead.

Cicero seems to have a natural talent for learning, or he became famous among his classmates when he was a teenager. His classmate's father often comes to school just to see Cicero's style.

Cicero's father is also very proud of his exceptionally clever son. In order to enable his son to study at a higher level, he spent a huge sum of money to send Cicero to Rome for education.

Cicero didn't give up any chance to learn in Rome. He came to crassus's door for education. When he was about to grow up, Cicero became a student of Kravos, the consul of BC 1 17.

As a fortune teller, Kelavos was proficient in Roman law and history, and more importantly, he was a firm peacemaker, which inevitably influenced Cicero. Maintaining and defending peace has become Cicero's lifelong pursuit.

Keira Voss is not Cicero's only teacher in Rome. Through the introduction of Keira Voss, Cicero met some famous figures in the intellectual circle, including the Greek poet Arthas, the philosopher Philan and the speaker Moran. Therefore, from Cicero's defense, we can see both the gorgeous rhetoric of Al Zeiss and Moran's mature speech skills.

As an adult, Cicero traveled east to Greece and Asia Minor to visit famous teachers in order to learn more knowledge.

He came to Athens for the first time, took classes under the guidance of Antioch Oscar, and learned his beautiful and fluent language.

Later, Cicero sailed to Asia, where he studied rhetoric under Zenoclus, Dionysus and Menipes. Later, he came to Rhodes and studied rhetoric and philosophy under the guidance of apollonius. Apollonius admired Cicero's speech skills:

"I admire and admire you, Cicero, but I sympathize with the misfortune of Greece, because I have seen that the rest of our knowledge and eloquence have also been brought to Rome by you." -"Cicero"

Cicero attached so much importance to eloquence for a reason. In Rome and the Republic, some official positions are elected by the people. If you are not from a noble family, you must gain a certain reputation in society before you can be appointed.

Cicero was born in a knight's family, and if he wants to be among the officialdom, he can only take the elected route. At that time, Rome was often in a state of war and armed violence was rampant. In this context, defense has played an important role.

Especially if the other person is a noble, he can not only get rich rewards, but also gain political fame, thus paving the way for entering the official career. Excellent speakers can even influence the decisions of the citizens' assembly and the Senate.

Cicero seems to be born with all the talents of an outstanding speaker, so after some consideration, he decided to realize his political ideal through his speech.

Second, from the first lawyer in Rome to the "father of the country"

Cicero did not become famous at once, but remained silent for a period of time until he became famous for defending Rhodes Thaus in 8 1 BC.

In 80 BC, in order to embezzle Rothesay's property, Sula MP Clezogonus put Rothesay's father on the public enemy declaration list. At that time, once he was on the public enemy declaration list, he had to be executed and his property confiscated. In order to kill Roses, Clezogonus falsely accused Roses of killing his father. After the incident, Clezogonus hired the most famous orator at that time, Tian Sesi, to defend him.

Cicero, who knows everything, resolutely decided to help Rothesay.

In court, Cicero mercilessly exposed the crime of Clezogonus with solid legal knowledge and irrefutable facts. The success of this case made Cicero emerge as a lawyer.

At that time, even with fame, it was difficult for non-nobles to become senior officials. They call politicians without aristocratic status "newcomers", which sets many obstacles for their promotion.

The first is the age limit. In BC 188, Rome * * * and People's Republic of China (PRC) promulgated the Law on the Length of Service, which stipulated that "the minimum legal age for a financial officer is 30 years old, a magistrate is 39 years old, and a consul is 42 years old." Although the regulations were destroyed in the late Republic of China, they were strictly enforced against non-nobles at that time. Cicero became a financial officer at the age of 30.

The second is qualification restrictions. Usually, if you want to be a consul, you must be promoted step by step, that is, in the order of financial officer-municipal officer-local officer-consul.

In 66 BC, Cicero was successfully elected as a magistrate. As a knight, it is unique to be in this office, but Cicero is not satisfied with it. His ambition is to become a consul.

In 64 BC, Cicero decided to run for consul for the next year. Cicero is actually the most qualified of the seven, but there are no elders at home. However, the Senate has a deep-rooted discrimination against class status. Cicero, who was born in a noble family, even if he is excellent, has little chance of being elected consul.

But this year, a historical event helped him. This historical event is the "Katilin conspiracy".

At that time, there were seven people running for consul, but the popular candidates were Katerina and Cicero. Catiline also received financial support from Sura and crassus, but Cicero also had a large number of followers, because he helped countless people get rid of lawsuits.

Cicero is not a nobleman, and the Senate doesn't particularly like him. But as an orator, Cicero is very good at observing and quickly discovering each other's weaknesses. He soon saw Catilin's fundamental intention of running for consul: that is, to make a windfall when he was elected consul.

Not only that, Cicero also discovered a great event: Catiline actually recruited troops in the dark, as if preparing to launch a military operation.

In order to get * * *, Cicero bribed a * * named Fulvia to be his own insider.

Fulvia is the mistress of Curio who participated in the plot. Curio was extremely arrogant and didn't know how to avoid it, so the inside story was quickly known by Fulvia and then quickly spread to Cicero.

Cicero immediately told the Senate what he knew. On the day of the Senate election, Cicero delivered a famous speech "The First Speech against Carpathian". The opening remarks of this speech are very famous:

"Katerina, when are you going to abuse our patience? How long will your crazy behavior fool us? How arrogant will your unscrupulous style be? "

This prologue was deeply implanted in the minds of the Romans and was widely used later. For example, the revolutionaries described by Salid used "the bravest people, how long will you have to endure?" To inspire followers.

Catiline's plot was caught red-handed by the Senate, which had to vote for Cicero.

Of course, the result was that Katilin lost the election and the "Katilin conspiracy" also failed. Cicero, who made great contributions to Rome, is known as the "father of the country".

Third, mourn for the times.

The failure of "Katilin plot" made the Senate aware of the hidden danger of self-respect, so differentiation and containment became the first thing for the Senate to do.

After the failure of the "Catiline plot", crassus's power was weakened to a certain extent, while Caesar was far from gaining power at that time, so the Senate decided to split Pompeii's power.

When Pompeii, who returned from the victory in the East, found himself not only neglected by the Senate, but also forced to give up military power, Pompeii had to temporarily form a "tripartite alliance" with former political enemies crassus and Caesar. Caesar is fine, too. In order to win over Pompeii, he married his daughter to him.

This is the beginning of Caesar's rise.

With the help of the Troika, Caesar was elected consul. After Caesar was elected consul, he knew that the land bill would be opposed by the Senate, but he submitted it at the first time. Caesar's approach has been supported by many people.

After the consul expired, Caesar became the governor of Gaul and Illyria. The victory of Gaul War made Caesar accumulate rich material foundation and high prestige.

Cicero thought Pompeii was a pacifist, so he made friends with him. At that time, while trying to maintain the authority of the Senate, he expected Pompeii to support him in defending the peace after returning from the Eastern Front. But to his disappointment, Pompey did not form a "tripartite alliance" with crassus and Caesar.

Cicero was forced to stay away from the political center because he supported peace. In 58 BC, Claudius, Cicero's enemy Democrat, was elected tribune. Immediately after Claudius took office, he promulgated a special bill: officials who execute Roman citizens without court trial should be "deprived of fire and water."

This is Cicero, because Cicero executed Catiline without trial in the "Catiline conspiracy", and Claudius obviously wanted to make an issue of it against Cicero. Cicero was forced to leave Macedonia in 58 BC. In the following years, Cicero was an official, but he was always on the edge of politics.

After crassus's death, the "three-headed alliance" became the "two-headed alliance". In order to monopolize power, Caesar and Pompeii had to defeat each other, and Pompeii decided to win Cicero over Caesar.

However, Pompeii was completely defeated by Caesar in the Battle of Salou, and Cicero was forced to go to Caesar. Although Caesar and Cicero have never dealt with each other, most nobles who went to Caesar and the Senate maintained their original political stance, including Cicero, because Caesar implemented the policy of reconciliation.

In 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated at the height of his integrity. After Caesar died, Cicero saw hope again. In order to restore peace, he ran around and gave speeches everywhere. At that time, Cicero and the Senate thought Anthony was the enemy of peace. In order to deal with Anthony, Cicero delivered fourteen anti-Anthony speeches, Philip Peak, in order to expose Anthony's attempt to establish personal dictatorship and undermine peace. He also works with Octavian.

The actions of Cicero and the Senate aroused Anthony's strong dissatisfaction. Soon after, Anthony slaughtered Cicero and about 300 elders, more than 2,000 knights and countless citizens in the name of the citizens' declaration.

After Cicero's death, his hands and head were cut off by the executioner and displayed in the square.

The axle of history is rolling forward, which goes against the historical development trend and is the inevitable product of Cicero's death for the times.

Although the goddess of fate does not favor Cicero, Cicero's "equal body" handed down from generation to generation has passed on his thoughts and eloquent words, which are still shining today after more than 2,000 years.

Fourthly, Cicero's speech skills come from the introduction of the speaker.

Cicero is a prolific writer, and his main works include On Speakers, On Harmony, On Law, On Divinity, On Obligation, On Friendship, On Old Age and so on.

Among these works, the most important one is On the Speaker, because not only Cicero himself has always been very complacent about the title of "the speaker", but more importantly, in this work, Cicero perfectly summarizes the various characteristics of the speaker, "summarizing all kinds of rhetorical theories, philosophical viewpoints of various schools, traditions of Roman culture and his own practical experience".

The full text of "On Speakers" is in the form of dialogue, which mainly talks about "how those talented and prestigious people view the whole speech theory".

How to be an orator

At the beginning of the book, Cicero turned himself into Krasus and paid tribute to the speaker:

"I really don't think there is anything better than using language to master people's wisdom, win people's goodwill, lead their thoughts in the direction they want, or lead them away from the direction you want."

Krasus praised the speaker, but Skyvola disagreed with him. In his view, the establishment of a country has nothing to do with oratory, and he cited many examples to refute Krasus's point of view. Finally, he hit the nail on the head and pointed out that "the most eloquent people do far more harm to the country than they help it".

Speaking of which, Skyvola also thinks that speech has nothing to do with skill. Krasus's invincible position in court is entirely due to his education and innate talent, which is not the skill of an orator.

In the face of Schivo's disparagement of the speaker, Krasus described his experience of studying in Greece. The most charming speeches he heard were only learned people.

Having said that, Krasus made the following summary on how to become a real "speaker":

(1) needs extensive knowledge, especially don't underestimate the understanding of law and civil law. You know, without this knowledge, words will become empty and boring, and may even become empty talk.

(2) At the same time, humor is commensurate with the status of education, because the power of speech is either peaceful or can arouse the hearts of the audience, so the speech needs to choose words, so that the speech can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

(3) You should have certain performance skills, besides the changes of body movements, hands posture, facial expressions and vocal music, you should also try to control your own facial expressions and movements to immerse the audience.

2. Speech skills

"There is hardly a young man who is eager for honor who doesn't think that he should learn oratory with great enthusiasm. At first, they didn't understand any theoretical knowledge, thinking that without training methods and artistic rules, they could only reach the level that talent and personal thinking can achieve. " -Cicero "On Speakers"

Some people say that there is no way to make a speech, but in Cicero's view, this is completely wrong. Cicero summed up three skills about public speaking:

Proof, love, touch

First of all, we should observe the nature of the event, especially carefully explore whether it really happened, how it happened and how to define it. Only by knowing the ins and outs of the matter can we understand the nature of the case and eliminate unnecessary arguments.

Cicero, for example, was a lawyer in the Lasccoup case.

The Lasccoup case took place in 63 BC, when Cicero was the consul and Lasccoup was the sheriff. Together, they suppressed Katrina's rebellion. In the second year, Lasccoup went to Asia Minor as governor for three years. As soon as he left office, Desimus accused him of illegally taxing in Asia Minor and organizing the fleet privately.

In this case, Cicero admitted the fact of taxation to the court, but it was approved by the Senate, which was not illegal. He also acknowledged the existence of the fleet, but there were still residual pirate forces at that time, and they would still pose a threat to the security of Asia Minor.

Find the questions related to the controversial issues in the trial, as well as the questions that both the prosecution and the defense will ask, and make reasonable answers at the same time, and the defense will be half successful.

If you want to win the audience's favor, the softness of language, the humility of facial expression and the kindness of language will add a lot of points. If the problem is sharp, you should act as if you have to do it. Besides, you should be kind, noble, gentle and pious. Modest, stubborn and honest, it is easy to win people's favor.

③ Guide the judge's feelings. Judges are human beings. Since they have feelings, especially in difficult cases, we should study the mentality of judges so as to understand their thoughts and expectations as soon as possible. After thinking clearly about the judge's mentality, and then arguing with the emotions that are in line with the judge's wishes, we will certainly capture the rebellious enemy.

3. Ideal litigation mode

In Cicero's view, the ideal litigation mode is that the prosecution fiercely defends, the defense refutes according to reason, and unbiased witnesses testify in court, so as to clarify the facts. Then, on the basis of grasping the facts, use various speech skills to accuse or defend.

But the fact is that a neutral witness is always an ideal form, and everyone will inevitably be subjective to some extent because of the limitations of their own understanding or the limitations of their time.

Cicero, for example, thinks he is just, but in another famous case-the case against Willers, the governor of Sicily, he thinks that "respected, credible and sworn" is an elder, while "despicable and disgraceful" is a person.

This deep-rooted class concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it is inevitable that there will be too much subjectivity in the case.

In our view today, Cicero's speech is full of emotion and less rational reasoning, which is emphasized by modern law. However, more than 2,000 years ago, it was not easy to combine speech with legal reasoning perfectly. In particular, he insists that a mature speaker should not only have various skills, but also combine philosophy and wisdom, which is very valuable.

Cicero's life is a life that fully demonstrates the power of eloquence. He used his speech skills to become a Roman consul from a "newcomer" whose ancestors never entered the Senate. He also fought side by side with Caesar, Octavian and Anthony and became a famous politician at that time.

There are not many famous orators in history, let alone those who can get to the center of the political stage. As an orator, Cicero created a legend.