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Cicero: Pro Cluentio a trumped up charge of poisoning.
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Cicero: Pro Cluentio a trumped up charge of poisoning On each slide click for a question and click again for a possible answer; this presentation does not try to ask every possible question; it is designed to give you a flavour of the sorts of questions you may get asked. The presentation assumes you know what the Latin means! • Some Links • For a re-enactment of a Roman wedding go to http://www.roman-empire.net/society/soc-marriage-pictures.html • Further details on Sassia and Oppianicus. • The prescribed text.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning A Cluentius Habitus fuit, pater huiusce, iudices, homo non solum municipi Larinatis ex quo erat sed etiam regionis illius et vicinitatis virtute, existimatione, nobilitate princeps. Who is huiusce? A Cluentius Habitus junior Why is he in court being defended by Cicero? A coin from Larinum At the instigation of his mother, Sassia, he had been accused of having poisoned and murdered his step-father Oppianicus the elder; Oppianicus was Sassia’s third husband and he had earlier been narrowly convicted of poisoning Cluentius junior and been banished. How does Cicero convey just how extensive was A Cluentius Habitus senior’s reputation and status? He uses the pair of non solum.... sed etiam (not only... but also) to emphasise that he had a reputation not only in his town (municipi) but also in the area (regionis) and neighbourhood (vicinitatis).
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning A Cluentius Habitus fuit, pater huiusce, iudices, homo non solum municipi Larinatis ex quo erat sed etiam regionis illius et vicinitatis virtute, existimatione, nobilitate princeps. What are the three ways in which Cicero emphasises the qualities of A Cluentius Habitus senior; discuss choice and order of words and use of language. • He uses a tricolon of qualities A Cluentius Habitus had (virtute, existimatione, nobilitate); this is always a rhetorical emphasis. • He defines a wide range of good qualities: his inner qualities (virtute), how others viewed him (existimatione), his “breeding” (nobilitate) • He postpones to the emphatic final position in the sentence the word princeps ~ Cluentius not only had good qualities, he was pre-eminent in them. Why does Cicero discuss A Cluentius Habitus senior in this way at this point in the speech? Cicero needs to use “every trick in the book” to persuade the jury of his client’s good character and the unlikelihood that he poisoned his step-father; what better way than to remind the jury of the good qualities of the father. Cluentius junior was not popular in Rome; there were rumours that he had bribed jurors in an earlier court case against Oppianicus.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning is cum esset mortuus Sulla etPompeioconsulibus, reliquit hunc annos xv natum, grandem autem et nubilem filiam quae brevi tempore post patris mortem nupsit A Aurio Melino, consobrino suo, adulescenti in primis, ut tum habebatur, inter suos et honesto et nobili. Who is is? A Cluentius Habitus senior. When did he die? He died when Sulla and Pompey were consuls (88 BCE) Who is hunc? This is A Cluentius Habitus junior whom Cicero is defending against a charge of poisoning and murder Who is A Aurius Melius He was a cousin of Cluentius junior and his sister Cluentia; he married Cluentia. A mosaic from Larinum showing Romulus and Remus and the wolf
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning is cum esset mortuus Sulla etPompeioconsulibus, reliquit hunc annos xv natum, grandem autem et nubilem filiam quae brevi tempore post patris mortem nupsit A Aurio Melino, consobrino suo, adulescenti in primis, ut tum habebatur, inter suos et honesto et nobili. How does Cicero emphasise the good qualities of A Aurius Melius? He uses a pair of powerful adjectives (honesto and nobili) and places them in an emphatic position at the end of the sentence. He ties them together into a “significant whole” with the double et ~ both...and..... Why does Cicero feel the need to qualify what he says with ut tum habebatur? Melinus may have been viewed very positively at this point, when he married the young Cluentia, but, Cicero says, look at what happened later: he was seduced by an older woman, his mother-in-law and aunt, abandoned his wife of two years and married the mother-in-law/aunt. That was not behaviour which was either honestus or nobilis for a right thinking Roman.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning cum essent eae nuptiae plenae dignitatis plenae concordiae, repente est exorta mulieris importunae nefaria libido, non solum dedecore verum etiam scelere coniuncta. Discuss the purpose of Cicero’s choice of repente. It separates the calm, dignified, peaceful, controlled marriage of Cluentia and Melinus from the mad, out of control appearance of the lust-filled Sassia. repente conveys emphatically the idea of Sassia suddenly bursting onto the scene and disturbing the peace and harmony of the household. Who is the mulieris importunae? This is Sassia. She had been married to A Cluentius Habitus senior and is therefore the mother of A Cluentius Habitus junior and his sister Cluentia. How does Cicero by his choice of words and word order emphasise his view of the woman’s character? He uses a string of very condemnatory words: she is importuna (indecorous, without good manners, not following the rules); she is full of lust (libido) – not how a well born Roman lady should behave; her lust is nefaria (impious, contrary to divine law); the lust was accompanied not only by dedecus (shameful deeds) but also scelus (impious, criminal deeds). The order of the words takes us through a scale from inappropriate through to behaviour that was against the laws of the gods.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning cum essent eae nuptiae plenae dignitatis plenae concordiae, repente est exorta mulieris importunae nefaria libido, non solum dedecore verum etiam scelere coniuncta. What did Sassia do to create this feeling? She conceived a passion for her son in law, persuaded him to divorce her daughter, Cluentia, and then took him into her bed and married him. For Cicero, who believes in being decorous and modest and following the social rules (women by and large should be seen and not heard), Sassia is totally beyond the pale. Why does Cicero describe her behaviour as a scelus? • There may not be a law against it but marrying your son-in-law/nephew is clearly outside the norms of social behaviour backed by the gods – it is a crime against the natural order sanctioned by the gods. • To ruin the marriage of your own daughter is similarly against the natural order. This tombstone reflects the natural order of things where marriage is concerned.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning nam Sassia , mater huius Habiti — mater enim a me in omni causa, tametsi in hunc hostili odio et crudelitate est, mater, inquam, appellabitur, neque umquam illa ita de suo scelere et immanitate audiet ut naturae nomen amittat; What is Cicero’s purpose in this sentence? He wants to paint Sassia, Cluentius’ accuser, in the blackest light possible to undermine her credibility. He therefore four times reminds the jury that Sassia is Cluentius’ mother but is nevertheless arranging for her son to be accused of murdering her husband. He reminds the jury by implication that Sassia is also Cluentia’s mother but nevertheless she supplanted her daughter in her own marriage bed. How does he emphasise the difference between her name and her behaviour; discuss choice and order/placement of words? The repetition (anaphora) of mater, - a word with positive resonances, - is powerful when it sandwiches the very negative phrase hostili odio et crudelitate, making a close comparison between her name and her behaviour. The insertion of inquam (I say) emphasises mater strongly and then, following a description of Sassia’s scelus and immanitas there is a final reminder (naturae nomen) that she is his mother. Again there is a close comparison between her name and her behaviour.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning nam Sassia , mater huius Habiti — mater enim a me in omni causa, tametsi in hunc hostili odio et crudelitate est, mater, inquam, appellabitur, neque umquam illa ita de suo scelere et immanitate audiet ut naturae nomen amittat; What is the hostili odio et crudelitate that Cicero alleges against Sassia? She is treating her son (and her daughter) with the hatred and cruelty that an enemy would use (hostili), in that she is instigating the accusation of her son for murder and has stolen her daughter’s husband and ruined her marriage. A reconstruction of a lectus genialis ~ the marriage bed. A model of such a bed was displayed in the atrium of the house with the obvious symbolism of a stable and productive marriage.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning quo enim est ipsum nomen amantius indulgentiusque maternum, hoc illius matris quae multos iam annos et nunc cum maxime filium interfectum cupit singulare scelus maiore odio dignum esse ducetis How here does Cicero try to engage the jury in hatred for Sassia? He again draws a comparison between what the word mater should imply about love and care and the reality of Sassia’s singulare scelus of wanting her son dead. What effect does the pairing of the comparative adjectives have? It highlights powerfully what “resonances” the word mother (nomen maternum) should create about loving and caring relationships. What is the effect of using ducetis in this sentence? The ideal of the Roman mother with her son. From the imperial period but in general the ideals had not changed from Cicero’s time. This is a speech in a law court and here Cicero directly addresses the jury and tells them “they should consider....” . Cicero is not just telling a story but trying to engage the jury directly in the events.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning ea igitur mater Habiti, Melini illius adulescentis, generi sui, contra quam fas erat amore capta primo, neque id ipsum diu, quoquo modo poterat in illa cupiditate continebatur; What are the three ways in which Cicero underlines how unacceptable Sassia’s behaviour is? • Right at the beginning he reminds the jury that Sassia is a mother (mater). • He states that Melinus is a very young man (adulescens), whereas Sassia is a mature lady. • Melinus is her own son-in-law (gener). How does Cicero imply through choice of words how dissolute Sassia is? She was capta amore (overwhelmed by passion), which was contrary to what was right (contra quam fas erat); she was greedy in her lust (cupiditate) and she was not able for long to control herself (neque id ipsum diu). Busts of Roman youths
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning deinde ita flagrare coepit amentia, sic inflammata ferri libidine ut eam non pudor, non pietas, non macula familiae, non hominum fama, non fili dolor, non filiae maeror a cupiditate revocaret. Who are the filius and filia referred to here? Why are they showing sadness and grief (dolor, maeror)? The filius is A Cluentius Habitus junior. He is grieved because his mother is behaving in a totally inappropriate way, in chasing after a much younger man who is her son-in-law. The filia is Cluentia, Cluentius’ sister. She is sad and grieving because her husband of two years has been seduced by her mother, Sassia. Discuss the effect of the repetition of non. The non is repeated six times. This anaphora emphasises the list of things which Sassia has ignored in her lust for Melinus and piles them up to make them even more impressive. The nons are like “bangs on the table”. The list of items is itself emphatic but the emphasis is doubled by the nons
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning deinde ita flagrare coepit amentia, sic inflammata ferri libidine ut eam non pudor, non pietas, non macula familiae, non hominum fama, non fili dolor, non filiae maeror a cupiditate revocaret. How by choice and positions of words does Cicero paint a picture of Sassia here? • He uses many “graphic” words to describe how out of control Sassia is. She was the opposite of cool and restrained ~ how a Roman lady should be; she is inflamed (inflammata), crazy (amentia), burning/seething (flagrare) with lust (libidine); she is besotted with the young man (cupiditate). • The list of items which did not restrain her is ordered in such a way that it ascends in significance from a sense of restraint (pudor) through a sense of duty to protect the family name (pietas), fear of a stain on the family name (macula familiae), concern about reputation in the wider society (hominum fama), concern about the distress caused to her son (fili dolor) and the grief caused to her daughter (filiae maeror). All of these items would be of great importance to most of the jury to whom Cicero is speaking. However for Sassia, Cicero says, there is no consideration which will restrain this woman in her lust for her son-in-law.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning animum adulescentis nondum consilio ac ratione firmatum pellexit eis omnibus rebus quibus illa aetas capi ac deleniri potest. Who is the adulescens referred to here? A Aurius Melius, married to Sassia’s daughter, Cluentia. What effect does Cicero hope this sentence will have on the jury? Melius is young (adulescens) and “impressionable”; he has not reached maturity and does not yet have the ability to think things through (consilio ac ratione firmatum) ~ like most adolescent young men he is governed by hormones! Cicero hopes the jury will take pity on Cluentius and take against the instigator of the accusation against him, Sassia, as being an older woman who has exploited this impressionable youth for her own sexual gratification. How by choice of words does Cicero suggest that Melinus is “mesmerised” by Sassia? Pellexit is a strong word and suggests attracting, decoying, luring, trapping him; the image of trapping is continued with capi; deleniri suggests “softening up/ lulling into a false sense of security”. The image is of an animal being lured into a trap. Children hunting, from the Hunt mosaic at the Villa del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning filia , quae non solum illo communi dolore muliebri in eius modi viri iniuriis angeretur sed nefarium matris paelicatum ferre non posset de quo ne queri quidem se sine scelere posse arbitraretur, ceteros sui tanti mali ignaros esse cupiebat; Comment on the choice and position of filia. As first word in the sentence it is in a very strong position. The jury have just heard how the impressionable young man was seduced. Emphatically Cicero now moves attention to the effect on his wife, Cluentia. Using filia reminds the jury emphatically that this woman, Sassia, has stolen away the husband of her own daughter. What contrast does Cicero draw in the first half of this sentence? What is the effect? There are two aspects to Cluentia’s grief: she has the grief common to all women (illo communi dolore muliebri) when their husbands behave like Melinus and have an affair with another woman (in eius modi viri iniuriis) but on top of that she has to deal with what Cicero describes as the prostitution (paelicatum) of her mother, behaviour which is against the laws of the gods (nefarium). The effect is that the jury will go along with the first half, the normal reaction of women to their husbands abandoning them, but then be all the more shocked to be told that Cluentia also had to put up with the “antics” of her own mother.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning filia , quae non solum illo communi dolore muliebri in eius modi viri iniuriis angeretur sed nefarium matris paelicatum ferre non posset de quo ne queri quidem se sine scelere posse arbitraretur, ceteros sui tanti mali ignaros esse cupiebat; Why does Cluentia want everyone to be ignorant of her misfortune? In this culture family reputation and honour are everything (remember macula familiae and hominum fama earlier). Men having mistresses was probably “what men do” . The difference here is that the “mistress” is the mother-in-law; that clearly puts a stain on the family name. Cluentia as a “good” daughter would not wish for the behaviour of her mother to be known in society. A sculpture expressing an ideal view of the solemnity of the marriage ceremony. Explain the phrase sine scelere. scelus is a very strong word for a morally bad act or quality. Cluentia cannot even complain about her mother’s behaviour in stealing her husband without making known a very bad act of sexual transgressions within the family.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning in huius amantissimi sui fratris manibus et gremio maerore et lacrimis consenescebat. Comment on Cicero’s arrangement of words in this sentence. The two pairs of words (manibus et gremio, maerore et lacrimis) are affecting and underline both Cluentius’ care for his sister and her grief at what has happened. One word in each pair would have given the information but the doubling up makes the picture he is painting more emphatic. The position of the superlative amantissimi close to the beginning of the sentence helps further to increase the feeling of care and love in grief. Pablo Picasso La femme qui pleure Drypoint, aquatint and etching on paper, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art What is the effect of the word consenescebat? Literally the word means “to grow old”. Here it is being used metaphorically to express the idea of Cluentia getting grey and worn through grief and tears, and becoming old “before her time”.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning ecce autem subitum divortium quod solacium malorum omnium fore videbatur! discedit a Melino Cluentia ut in tantis iniuriis non invita, ut a viro non libenter. How does Cicero communicate how suddenly things changed? ecce, “lo and behold”, alerts the listener that something significant is coming up, subitum tells us it was sudden, divortium tells us what it was: all of this in the space of four words at the beginning of the sentence. To emphasise the speed and immediacy, the sentence is also strikingly short in comparison with a “typical” Ciceronian sentence. Sculpture projecting the ideal of stable and long lasting marriage. What effect is Cicero aiming for with his word order in the second sentence? The action of Cluentia leaving Melinus is stated simply in the first four words; then with a pair of equal/ balanced phrases (ut + ablative phrase + non + adjective/adverb) Cicero vividly communicates to the jury that Cluentia had a difficult decision to make: she was happy to leave because of the insult she had suffered but still, because it was her husband (duty and all that), part of her was reluctant to go.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning tum vero illa egregia ac praeclara mater palam exsultare laetitia, triumphare gaudio coepit, victrix filiae non libidinis; diutius suspicionibus obscuris laedi famam suam noluit; Comment on Cicero’s choice of adjectives to describe Sassia. It is wonderfully sarcastic to describe her as outstanding and famous (egregia ac praeclara); these are usually very positive words but Cicero means something very negative – she is outstanding but for very bad reasons and she is famous, or rather infamous, for all the wrong reasons. Comment on the effect of the words exsultare laetitia, triumphare gaudio. The pair of equal and identical meaning phrases (infinitive + ablative) emphasises more strongly than just using one phrase how Sassia presented herself ; she was openly “over the moon” and triumphalist that she had got her man. How does the phrase victrix filiae non libidinis help to “put the boot in”? victrix should be a very positive word but here tied to filiae it becomes very negative – what is the honour in beating your own daughter? She has however not beaten her lust – an opponent that a “good” Roman lady would have controlled. The jury would have seen these points and drawn conclusions about Sassia.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning tum vero illa egregia ac praeclara mater palam exsultare laetitia, triumphare gaudio coepit, victrix filiae non libidinis; diutius suspicionibus obscuris laedi famam suam noluit; egregia, praeclara, exsultare, triumphare, victrix: what picture is Cicero building up by using these words? The image seems to be that of a Roman triumph when a victorious general who would be outstanding and therefore famous was granted the right to ride in a chariot and march his army through the city of Rome and boast about his achievements (exsultare) by displays of slaves and plunder in the procession; Sassia’s display is of her toy boy Melinus and her sad and dejected daughter. A mould for making honey cakes showing a general riding his chariot in triumph. From the museum of Acquincum. 2nd cent CE diutius ...... noluit: comment on Cicero’s sarcasm in this sentence. “She did not want her reputation to be harmed any longer by uncertain or unsubstantiated suspicions”. This is beautifully sarcastic: Sassia clearly did not care at all about her reputation – a point Cicero has made again and again. Her bringing the situation out into the open has to do with her unbridled lust for young Melinus rather that any concern about her reputation.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning lectum illum genialem quem biennio ante filiae suae nubenti straverat, in eadem domo sibi ornari et sterni expulsa atque exturbata filia iubet. What are the different ways in which Cicero tries to convey to the jury just how unacceptable Sassia’s behaviour is He starts with a description of the marriage bed with genialis used in two senses: literally the bed in which sexual activity, procreation, birth will take place and metaphorically the bed of joy and pleasure. He reminds the jury that this had been Cluentia’s for two years and that Sassia herself had made up the bed for her daughter on the wedding night. Cicero then goes on to emphasise that in the same house (by implication in the same room) Sassia had a marriage bed made up and decorated for herself after engineering the expulsion of her own daughter; to add insult to injury the man who will share Sassia’s bed is the same man who shared it with Cluentia previously. The wedding dress
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning nubit genero socrus nullis auspicibus, nullis auctoribus, funestis ominibus omnium. Comment on the opening words of this sentence. The verb nubit (married) comes first to emphasise the fact, followed immediately by the “killer” genero socrus (son-in-law, mother-in-law). In three words Cicero sums up beautifully how horrendous this event was. How does Cicero emphasise how “out of order” this marriage is? He uses the emphatic tricolon of no witnesses to the wedding (nullis auspicibus), no supporters (nullis auctoribus) and everyone forecasting a dismal outcome for the marriage (funestis ominibus omnium). Cicero is probably using the words auspicibus, auctoribus, ominibus in a metaphorical sense here but auspicibus and ominibus have strong religious overtones which would not have escaped the jury. An auspex looks at the future through the flight of birds, an omen is an unusual event or phenomenon which is a message from the gods and signifies something about the future. Cicero is implying that not only did this marriage not have the approval of fellow Romans but in addition it did not have the approval of the gods.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning o mulieris scelus incredibile et praeter hanc unam in omni vita inauditum! o libidinem effrenatam et indomitam! o audaciam singularem! What is Cicero saying about Sassia with his phrase praeter hanc unam? “apart from this one woman” no-one had ever heard of any woman behaving in this out of control, totally unacceptable way, in particular in stealing her son-in-law from her daughter. How does Cicero continue here to emphasise how “out of order” Sassia is? Cicero employs a set of three exclamations, a tricolon, emphatic in itself. He then adds to it with the repetition of o (say it aloud to get the effect!), almost an appeal to the gods above, repeated three times. He then further emphasises the cumulative continuity of what he is saying with the repetition of accusative nouns + adjectives (o scelus incredibile, o libidinem effrenatam, o audaciam singularem).
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning nonne timuisse, si minus vim deorum hominumque famam, at illam ipsam noctem facesque illas nuptiales, non limen cubiculi, non cubile filiae, non parietes denique ipsos superiorum testes nuptiarum? How does Cicero focus our attention on Sassia at the beginning of this sentence? He addresses a question to her which with nonne expects the answer yes. What are the first two things that Cicero suggests should have stopped Sassia behaving as she did? The power of the gods (vim deorum) and her reputation among people (famam hominum) Comment on the list of items that Cicero suggests Sassia should have been afraid of. After highlighting the two most important things Sassia should have considered, - the power of the gods and her reputation among people, - Cicero takes the jury effectively through the marriage rituals: in the evening (illam noctem) after the ceremony at the bride’s house the bride was taken in procession to her new home accompanied by torches (faces illas nuptiales), she was lifted over the threshold by her husband (limen cubiculi), - stumbling was bad luck, - she sat on the marriage bed (cubile filiae) and gave prayers. Giving this list Cicero is reminding the jury that Sassia has subverted a very solemn event. He finishes by reminding the jury that this was the daughter’s bed (cubile filiae) and that the room had also witnessed the previous marriage (parietes superiorum testes nuptiarum)
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning perfregit ac prostravit omnia cupiditate ac furore; vicit pudorem libido, timorem audacia, rationem amentia. Comment on Cicero’s use of ac in this sentence. ac (atque) is a stronger form of et. Cicero is describing how Sassia destroyed everything: omnia goes in the middle of the first sentence, surrounded by two pairs of words, each joined by ac. The careful arrangement of words with omnia being “overwhelmed/ suffocated” by the destructive actions surrounding it and those destructive actions being paired up strongly with ac emphasise powerfully Sassia’s destructive power. How does Cicero emphasise how he condemns Sassia’s behaviour? He employs the emphatic device of a tricolon, three pairs of accusative noun + nominative noun. In each pair the positive (pudorem, timorem, rationem) is highlighted by being put first, followed by the negative which overcame the positive (libido, audacia, amentia). Putting the positives first in each pair emphasises strongly what was missing from Sassia’s behaviour.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning tulit hoc commune dedecus familiae, cognationis, nominis graviter filius; augebatur autem eius molestia cotidianis querimoniis et adsiduo fletu sororis; What was the commune dedecus? This was Sassia’s behaviour in marrying her son-in-law. It was a dishonour (dedecus) to everyone (commune); it dishonoured the family (familiae), the ‘clan’ (cognationis) and their good name (nominis). Cicero emphasises what he says by employing a set of three nouns, a tricolon. Who was the filius? A Cluentius Habitus junior. Who was the soror? What was she complaining and crying about? Cluentia; she is complaining and crying because her husband had divorced her and married her mother. How does Cicero emphasise what Cluentius has to put up with? He puts the verbs (tulit ~ he bore; augebatur ~ [this misery] was increased) in emphatic positions at the beginning of the two sentences. Comment on the word order Cicero uses in this sentence. He puts the two verbs at the beginning of their sentences and the two personalities affected by Sassia’s behaviour (filius, sororis) right at the ends of the sentences, with the causes of the distress sandwiched in between. Therefore both the people and the effect on them are highlighted to the jury.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning statuit tamen nihil sibi in tantis iniuriis ac tanto scelere matris gravius esse faciendum quam ut illa ne uteretur, ne quae videre sine summo animi dolore non poterat, ea, si matre uteretur, non solum videre verum etiam probare suo iudicio putaretur. Describe in your own words what Cluentius decided to do (statuit). He decided he would do nothing, despite the provocation, except to stop treating Sassia as his mother. Why did he make this decision? If he continued to treat Sassia with the respect due to a mother, he would appear not only to see what she had done but to be approving of it. Cicero twice uses the word mater; explain his purpose. He needs to keep reminding the jury that the instigator of the accusation, Sassia, is not to be given any credibility because although she was her mother she destroyed her daughter’s marriage and stole her husband; she is not a person of good character. In addition the jury would have an idealised view of the materfamiliae and what her character should be; Sassia’s was not thus! The ideal of the materfamiliae – sober, modest, restrained.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning nihil in vita vidit calamitatis A Cluentius , nullum periculum mortis adiit, nihil mali timuit quod non totum a matre esset conflatum et profectum. How does Cicero emphasise here how much Cluentius has been hurt? The repetition of the negative three times and placement at the start of the clause in each case (nihil, nullum, nihil) keeps hammering home the disasters brought on him by his mother. The postponement to the end of the sentence of the relative clause “which did not originate totally from his mother” gives it extra emphasis. What is the periculum mortis referred to? Sassia has persuaded her son in law, Oppianicus, to accuse her son Cluentius of poisoning and murdering her third husband, Oppianicus. If he were convicted he would face the death penalty.
Cicero: Pro Cluentio ~ a trumped up charge of poisoning quae hoc tempore sileret omnia atque ea, si oblivione non posset, tamen taciturnitate sua tecta esse pateretur; sed vero sic agitur ut prorsus reticere nullo modo possit. What are the quae...omnia to which Cicero refers? Sassia’s behaviour in conceiving a passion for her own son-in-law, persuading him to divorce her daughter and marry her, usurping the marriage bed the daughter had occupied , bringing disgrace on the family and the clan. sic agitur: what had Sassia done to force Cluentius to break his silence? She has engineered an accusation against him of poisoning and murdering her third husband, Oppianicus. The abduction (“rape”) of the Sabine women, an episode in early Roman history whereby the Romans acquired women. The bride was symbolically abducted by her husband and taken to her new home. A torchlight procession accompanied the bride and groom on their journey to their new home. The bride being lifted over the threshold – stumbling there would have been very unlucky. The bride being dressed in the flammeum – the yellow veil.
