Tiziano Boggio, University of Cincinnati
The rhetorical use of silence represents a peculiar feature of Cicero’s prose, which has recently attracted much scholarly interest (Gowing 2000, Guerin 2011, Taylor 2013, Marchese 2014, Stephan 2016, Winter 2021). The notion of silence appears particularly connected to the literature of exile since it symbolizes the void surrounding the exiled. Although silence has been interpreted as a key theme in Ovid’s exilic poetry (Natoli 2018), few scholars (Claassen 1999, Garcea 2005) have devoted attention to silence as a literary motif in Cicero’s letters during his banishment. In alignment with those who interpret Cicero’s correspondence as a literary artifact (Hutchinson 1998, Hall 2009, White 2010), I propose that Cicero utilizes silence as a multi-layered notion, which conveys the orator’s isolation and severance from civic life in Rome. Cicero, I argue, describes his segregation by depicting himself as a silenced voice, deprived of the intellectual capacity to speak and thus interact with his community.
The first part of the paper shows how Cicero characterizes silence by detailing his fellow citizens’ deliberate lack of response and indifference towards his exile. Cicero describes how, despite his numerous appeals, his associates failed to prevent or revoke his banishment. The orator emphasizes Pompey’s uncommunicative attitude regarding his cause (Att. 3.13.1), as well as Atticus’ unresponsiveness at the time of his departure (Att. 3.15.7). Pompey and Atticus’ silence represents a recurrent theme, which amplifies the distance between the orator and his fellow countrymen.
Next, the paper illustrates how Cicero equates his condition of exile with the disappearance of the free voice in Rome. Cicero laments his solitude by pointing out the silence of Roman institutions regarding his banishment (Att. 3.12.1). He ascribes the Senate’s indifference to the tyrannical rule of Clodius, who passed a law prescribing silence over the question of Cicero’s recall (Att. 3.15.6). In Cicero’s letters, Rome appears completely insensible to the man who saved it, and 58 BC is depicted as a true “year of silence” because of Clodius’ despotic edicts. The idea of silence exemplifies not only Cicero’s absence but also Rome’s numbness towards his misery.
Finally, the paper interprets Cicero’s silence as a sign of his intellectual death. It has been observed that Cicero connects the deprivation of social prestige and familial ties with the loss of his identity as an orator (Narducci 1997, Grebe 2003, MacIntosh 2013). The overwhelming dolor caused by this identity crisis appears to trigger a process of mental degradation, which interrupts Cicero’s voice. This speechlessness is described in terms of intellectual and physical death. Borrowing a famous tragic image, Cicero depicts himself as an ἔμψυχος νεκρός (QFr. 1.3.1), a breathing cadaver deprived of his rights and pulled away from society. His mental deterioration, which culminates in silence, symbolizes the marginalization of his voice from public debate in Rome. Cicero paints his return to Rome as a true palingenesis, effected by the restoration of his social status and, consequently, his identity (Att. 4.1.8).