Classics evening lecture

Oratorical education was an important part of a young man’s life in Republican Rome since being an accomplished orator was a key precondition for a career at the bar and in politics, the main occupations of Romans of higher social classes. But how did one actually get there? What did young people learn and what rules did they have to observe? This lecture charts the path of young people through the education system and surveys the oratorical conventions and tricks they had to become familiar with. Considering this aspect of oratory contributes to a better understanding of surviving speeches and also enables comparisons with education in the modern world.

Gesine Manuwald is Professor of Latin and Head of Department in the Department of Greek and Latin at University College London (UCL). Her research interests include Roman epic, Roman drama, Roman oratory and the reception of classical antiquity, especially in Latin literature of the Renaissance; she has published widely on all those areas.