Philosophical dialogue · 55 BC
On the Orator (De Oratore)
Three books on the making of the perfect orator, in dialogue between Crassus, Antonius and their friends
Translated by J. S. Watson (1855)
Cicero's dialogue on eloquence, written in 55 BC and set in 91 BC at the Tusculan villa of the orator Lucius Crassus. Crassus and Marcus Antonius, with Scaevola, Catulus, Cotta and Sulpicius, discuss what the perfect orator must know: his learning, the invention and arrangement of his matter, the use of wit, and the style and delivery of his speech. J. S. Watson's translation, with the chapter numbers kept as plain leading numbers.
Contents · 3 parts