The Rhetorical Use of Maxims in Caesar

Caesar's Commentarii de bello civili show a significantly higher occurrence of γνῶμαι than his books on the Gallic war. I argue that this difference in style is due to the different goals of the two works: in De bello civili Caesar has to convince the reader that he was loyal to Roman values wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Guasti, Duccio ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Österreichischen Akademie d. Wissenschaften 2023
In: Wiener Studien
Year: 2023, Volume: 136, Pages: 123-146
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Summary:Caesar's Commentarii de bello civili show a significantly higher occurrence of γνῶμαι than his books on the Gallic war. I argue that this difference in style is due to the different goals of the two works: in De bello civili Caesar has to convince the reader that he was loyal to Roman values while Pompey was not, therefore maxims have, as Aristotle prescribes (Rh. 2,21,16), the function of creating a moral "common ground" with the reader and to show that the author is "a man of good character".
ISSN:1813-3924
Contains:Enthalten in: Wiener Studien
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1553/wst136s123