The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era / Michael C. AlexanderThe Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era / Michael C. Alexander
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Book, 2002
Current format, Book, 2002, , All copies in use.Book, 2002
Current format, Book, 2002, , All copies in use. Offered in 0 more formatsMuch of the modern world's knowledge of criminal court trials in the Late Roman Republic derives from the orations of Cicero. His eleven court trial speeches have provided information about the trials and the practices of the time period. Records of the prosecution's case are lost; these speeches, our only transcripts of the time, were delivered by the defense. The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era attempts to restore the judicial balance by depicting the lost side of the trial.
Guided by Cicero's argument, Michael C. Alexander recreates the prosecution's case against the defendants in the trials.
Organized into eleven chapters, each detailing one trial, the core of the work discusses the different dimensions of each trial, the circumstances surrounding the cases, those involved, the legal charges and allegations made by the prosecution, the ways in which the prosecution might have countered Cicero's rebuttal and the outcome. There is also a discussion concerning particular problems the prosecution may have faced in preparing for the trial. This book reveals strong points in favor of the prosecution; justifies the hope of the prosecutor, a private citizen who had volunteered to undertake the case; and asks why the prosecutors believed they would come out victorious, and why they eventually failed.
The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era draws on ancient rhetorical theory and on Roman law to shed light on these events. It will interest historians and classicists interested in Ciceronian oratory and those intrigued by legal history.
Michael C. Alexander is Associate Professor of History, University of Illinois, Chicago.
Cicero's success as a defender was unequalled in late Republican Rome, a place where most trials routinely ended in conviction. This readable yet scholarly study does not focus on the genius of Cicero's sentence construction, instead it searches eleven defence speeches for clues to the arguments of the prosecutor which, in many cases, have been lost to history. The aim is to reconstruct Roman trials and Roman law whilst also highlighting Cicero's enormous skill in, usually but not always, extracting victory against the odds. Each speech has its own chapter and these are divided into cases of extortion, electoral malpractice, homicide and violence. Each extract is accompanied by an English translation. The book begins with a lengthy introduction to criminal prosecutions. It closes with lists of each defendant's crimes, a catalogue of witnesses and documents from Cicero's most famous trial as prosecutor, that of Verres.
<div><div>A reconstruction of the case for the prosecution in the eleven trials in which Cicero delivered an extant defense speech<br></div></div>
A reconstruction of the case for the prosecution in the eleven trials in which Cicero delivered an extant defense speech
<div><div>Much of the modern world's knowledge of criminal court trials in the Late Roman Republic derives from the orations of Cicero. His eleven court trial speeches have provided information about the trials and the practices of the time period. Records of the prosecution's case are lost; these speeches, our only transcripts of the time, were delivered by the defense. <i>The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era</i> attempts to restore the judicial balance by depicting the lost side of the trial.<br>Guided by Cicero's argument, Michael C. Alexander recreates the prosecution's case against the defendants in the trials.<br>Organized into eleven chapters, each detailing one trial, the core of the work discusses the different dimensions of each trial, the circumstances surrounding the cases, those involved, the legal charges and allegations made by the prosecution, the ways in which the prosecution might have countered Cicero's rebuttal and the outcome. There is also a discussion concerning particular problems the prosecution may have faced in preparing for the trial. This book reveals strong points in favor of the prosecution; justifies the hope of the prosecutor, a private citizen who had volunteered to undertake the case; and asks why the prosecutors believed they would come out victorious, and why they eventually failed.<br><i>The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era</i> draws on ancient rhetorical theory and on Roman law to shed light on these events. It will interest historians and classicists interested in Ciceronian oratory and those intrigued by legal history.<br>Michael C. Alexander is Associate Professor of History, University of Illinois, Chicago.<br></div></div>
Guided by Cicero's argument, Michael C. Alexander recreates the prosecution's case against the defendants in the trials.
Organized into eleven chapters, each detailing one trial, the core of the work discusses the different dimensions of each trial, the circumstances surrounding the cases, those involved, the legal charges and allegations made by the prosecution, the ways in which the prosecution might have countered Cicero's rebuttal and the outcome. There is also a discussion concerning particular problems the prosecution may have faced in preparing for the trial. This book reveals strong points in favor of the prosecution; justifies the hope of the prosecutor, a private citizen who had volunteered to undertake the case; and asks why the prosecutors believed they would come out victorious, and why they eventually failed.
The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era draws on ancient rhetorical theory and on Roman law to shed light on these events. It will interest historians and classicists interested in Ciceronian oratory and those intrigued by legal history.
Michael C. Alexander is Associate Professor of History, University of Illinois, Chicago.
Cicero's success as a defender was unequalled in late Republican Rome, a place where most trials routinely ended in conviction. This readable yet scholarly study does not focus on the genius of Cicero's sentence construction, instead it searches eleven defence speeches for clues to the arguments of the prosecutor which, in many cases, have been lost to history. The aim is to reconstruct Roman trials and Roman law whilst also highlighting Cicero's enormous skill in, usually but not always, extracting victory against the odds. Each speech has its own chapter and these are divided into cases of extortion, electoral malpractice, homicide and violence. Each extract is accompanied by an English translation. The book begins with a lengthy introduction to criminal prosecutions. It closes with lists of each defendant's crimes, a catalogue of witnesses and documents from Cicero's most famous trial as prosecutor, that of Verres.
<div><div>A reconstruction of the case for the prosecution in the eleven trials in which Cicero delivered an extant defense speech<br></div></div>
A reconstruction of the case for the prosecution in the eleven trials in which Cicero delivered an extant defense speech
<div><div>Much of the modern world's knowledge of criminal court trials in the Late Roman Republic derives from the orations of Cicero. His eleven court trial speeches have provided information about the trials and the practices of the time period. Records of the prosecution's case are lost; these speeches, our only transcripts of the time, were delivered by the defense. <i>The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era</i> attempts to restore the judicial balance by depicting the lost side of the trial.<br>Guided by Cicero's argument, Michael C. Alexander recreates the prosecution's case against the defendants in the trials.<br>Organized into eleven chapters, each detailing one trial, the core of the work discusses the different dimensions of each trial, the circumstances surrounding the cases, those involved, the legal charges and allegations made by the prosecution, the ways in which the prosecution might have countered Cicero's rebuttal and the outcome. There is also a discussion concerning particular problems the prosecution may have faced in preparing for the trial. This book reveals strong points in favor of the prosecution; justifies the hope of the prosecutor, a private citizen who had volunteered to undertake the case; and asks why the prosecutors believed they would come out victorious, and why they eventually failed.<br><i>The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era</i> draws on ancient rhetorical theory and on Roman law to shed light on these events. It will interest historians and classicists interested in Ciceronian oratory and those intrigued by legal history.<br>Michael C. Alexander is Associate Professor of History, University of Illinois, Chicago.<br></div></div>
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- Ann Arbor : The University of Michigan Press, c2002.
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