Handling of Facts and Strategy in Cicero’s Speech in Defence of King Deiotarus

Abstract

The three orationes Caesarianae, i.e., Pro Marcello and Pro Ligario given in 46 and Pro rege Deiotaro delivered in 45 are connected by the fact that the addressee of all of them is Caesar. The speech made in defence of King Deiotarus is the fruit (if possible) of both a legally and rhetorically critical situation: the judge of the case is identical with the injured party of the act brought as a charge: Caesar. Thus, the proceedings, conducted in the absence of the accused, in which eventually no judgment was passed, should be considered a manifestation of Caesar’s arrogance, who made mockery of the lawsuit, rather than a real action-at-law. This speech has outstanding significance both in terms of the lawyer’s/orator’s handling of the facts of the case under circumstances far from usual, and in the development of the relation between Cicero and Caesar. We can also observe some thoughts on the theory of the state framed by Cicero, the fight against Caesar’s dictatorship gaining ground, for the sake of saving the order of the state of the Republic.