The ethnic 'Other' in Cicero's Pro Scauro
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2016
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Melbourne Authors
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School of Historical and Philosophical Studies
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Masters Research thesis
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© 2016 Caroline Jessica Chong
Abstract
In the Pro Scauro, Marcus Tullius Cicero defends Marcus Aemilius Scaurus against a charge of repetundae. One of Cicero’s rhetorical strategies in the oration is to discredit the prosecution’s Sardinian witnesses on the basis of their ethnicity. This thesis examines Cicero’s ethnically orientated rhetorical techniques and explores the reasons for the jury’s acceptance of Cicero’s tactics. This study builds upon previous research into Roman and Greek perceptions of the ethnic ‘Other’, as well as research that employs Colonial Discourse Analysis, Postcolonial Theory, and Intersectionality as methodological frameworks for the examination of literary texts. Social Psychology Theories are also utilised to support the reading of the text.
It will be demonstrated that Cicero utilises negative Phoenician and Carthaginian stereotypes in order to bias the jury’s perception of the current Sardinian witnesses. Cicero further alludes to various wars fought between Rome and the Sardinians’ forebears for the purposes of eliciting anxiety within the jurors. Such anxiety is enhanced by the numerous Sardinian rebellions against Rome and the existence of non-Punic Sardinians whom the Romans were unable to subjugate. As the manipulation of ethnic stereotypes to discredit a witness was a common rhetorical tactic in the late Republic, there needed to be underlying reasons for the jury’s acceptance of Cicero’s rhetoric. This thesis will demonstrate that the Pro Scauro can be read as a document of Roman imperialism through examination of Cicero’s presentation of the Sardinian (male) witnesses and an unnamed Sardinian woman. Colonial Discourse Analysis and Postcolonial Theory are utilised to explicate why the jury accepted Cicero’s ethnic tactics. An application of Edward Said’s concept of manifest and latent Orientalism to the Pro Scauro shows that denigratory attitudes towards the Phoenicians and Carthaginians were imbued in Roman education. Consequently, these stereotypical ‘knowledges’ would be perceived as ‘true’, allowing the jurors to accept Cicero’s depiction of the Sardinians as mendacious and treacherous. Lastly, the text will be read in light of Bhabha’s theory of mimicry. Such a reading will demonstrate that Sardinian mimicry of Roman behaviour elicited anxiety as it disrupted the perception of Roman superiority. To mitigate such unease, Cicero strategically arranges the order in which he presents information about the Sardinians and thereby undermines any positive construction of Sardinian behaviour. Overall, it will be shown that Cicero’s ethnic rhetorical tactics were effective, in part, because he was able to align justification for Roman rule with Scaurus’ acquittal.