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The Classical Development of Rhetoric

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Abstract

Rhetoric had a prominent position, role, and influence in the classical era. With origins from

ancient Greece, oratory art made its way to Rome and became ingrained into its cultural,

political, and social fabric. This paper evaluates the classical development of rhetoric. First, the

paper provides a working definition of rhetoric as the mastery and study of the art or skill of

persuasive oratory expression to influence an audiences’ decisions or actions. The following part

of the essay explains various emerging socio-political influences of Rhetoric in Greece. Rhetoric

influenced judicial proceedings, political debates, citizens’ participation in pollical issues,

legislation, and policymaking. Rhetoric also introduced sophist educators, paid to the school, and

became an educated individual in society. More importantly, the sophists' rhetoric and thinking

introduced logical reasoning that appealed to younger people than the cosmological and mythical

reasoning of the Greeks and Romans.

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The Classical Development of Rhetoric

The art of rhetoric has its roots in ancient Greek, developed by 5th century B.C. sophists.

However, its form, definition, practice, and use have evolved, mirroring changing political

contexts and eras. Simultaneously, rhetoric has had a significant socio-political impact on other

societies, including Greek and Roman. Classical rhetoric influenced several socio-political

changes and historical revolutions in the Greek and Roman societies, including common citizens'

political qualification and level of participation, the nature of judicial proceedings, and the

establishment of Sophist schools and rhetoric education.

First, rhetoric implies the persuasive use of language to sway an audiences’ view on an

issue. According to Herricks (2018), George Kennedy defined rhetoric as “the energy inherent in

emotion and thought, transmitted through a system of signs, including language, to others to

influence their decisions or actions” (p.5). Scholars like Aristotle and James Murphy, on the

other hand, considered rhetoric as a study of the various means of persuasion or language use.

For Aristotle particularly, the term signified “the faculty of discovering the available means of

persuasion in any setting” (p. 88). Therefore, rhetoric can be defined as the study and master of

persuasive language application to influence others’ decisions or views. This view of the term

explains its influential role and impact in mainstream Greek-Roman politics and social matters.

Democratic Greek created a conducive political atmosphere for rhetoric development.

More specifically, the art started in Syracuse in Sicily when it became a democracy. For

example, Ober and Strauss (1990) mention that rhetoric was a useful tool to argue their case to

reclaim their properties in the absence of evidential ownership documents. As such, rhetoric led

to the emergence of schools teaching persuasive speech to avail trained advocates or litigators

who could help citizens reclaim their seized properties. Corax was one of the best rhetors to
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emerge in this period. It also led to a judicial system consisting of citizen jurors to help solve

disputes.

Athens is also a democratic polis where rhetoric had notable socio-political influence.

According to Ahmadi and Poornamdarain (2017), rhetoric reached its full potential in Athens.

Similar to Sicily, Athens’ democratic political system provided opportunities for rhetoric

practice. Athens’s political government consisted of an assembly (Ecclesia) and the council

(Boule). To be elected, the members of the council needed to defend and campaign for

themselves continuously. To this end, rhetoric mastery was quite important. Similarly, rhetoric

influenced how the court system resolved conflicts between individuals. For example, it provided

the form and language defendants used to plead their cases. In ancient Greece, most citizens

were compelled to speak for themselves and contribute to policymaking and legislation, making

rhetoric mainstream and necessary in the political and social spheres.

Rhetoric also led to the emergence of Sophists and persuasive speaking schools. The term

sophists refer to teachers of rhetoric or skilled person. Herricks (2018) posits that sophists

brought verbal persuasion to Athens from other cities, creating a unique social class of foreigners

in the city. Sophists primarily believed that laws were artificial. Therefore, the only man could

transform them (Ober & Strauss, 1990). In this manner, they introduced logical reasoning

dissimilar and challenging to the predominant mythological and cosmological way of thinking.

For this reason and the exorbitant fees for their teaching services, the general Greek populous

saw Sophists' teachings and abilities "as a dangerous element in their society" (Herricks, 2018, p.

36). On the contrarily, the younger people admired sophists’ views and desired to learn from

them. Consequently, Sophists like Isocrates established schools where they taught politically

ambitious youth persuasive discourse following the centrality of rhetoric in public and political
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life careers. Plato and Aristotle were notable critics of sophists' versions of rhetoric. Both

scholars had criticized sophists’ rhetoric for its lack of interest in knowledge or truth.

Nonetheless, 5th B.C. sophists’ persuasive oratory had a crucial influence on Greek life and

rhetoric principles.

Rhetoric became part of the Roman culture when it conquered Greece, significantly

influencing its socio-political life. Like in Athens and Sicily, rhetoric became central in Roman

politics, expansion, judicial proceedings, and political participation. For instance, in the Roman

Republic, an individual had to have rhetorical prowess and knowledge to participate in the civic

or political arena (Derk, 2019). For example, education and persuasive speaking were essential

and instrumental to political success for Roman politicians in the Republic era. Rhetoric was also

critical for court proceedings and public civic forums in the democratic Roman Republic.

Rhetoric thrives in democratic political systems from the examples of Athens and democratic

Rome.

In 70 B.C., general Pompey and Crassus took control over Rome, ushering the tyrannic

era and creation of the Roman Empire. While orators like Cicero continued to use persuasive

speech to attains and hold power and the significance of rhetoric skill for a successful political

career remained intact, the art’s prominence diminished significantly. Unlike in the democratic

context, politicians no longer needed to seek support from the citizens through rhetoric. During

the Roman Empire, senators’ power also decreased against the emperors’, diminishing the

“importance of rhetoric as a means of shaping policy” (Herricks, 2019). Perhaps the most

significant impact of the dictatorship system is the Second Sophistic, characterized by unique

oratory components of the classic Greek Sophists. Similarly, those who practiced it merely

applied rhetoric for art’s sake, entertaining people and preserving the Hellenic culture rather than
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insight into political or social change. As Herricks (2018) opines, the second sophists

intentionally shun political and controversial subjects.

Classical rhetoric development reflects key socio-political changes and evolutions. As

mentioned, rhetoric played significant functions in the courtroom or judicial proceedings,

political arena, and public spaces. Concerning politics, where the impact of rhetoric is mostly

obvious, rhetoric enabled men from humble backgrounds to participate in policymaking and

occupy political positions. A case in point is Cicero, one of the greatest Roman rhetors in history.

It also allowed citizens to hold their leaders accountable for their service. Additionally, rhetoric

eloquence became synonymous with educations and educated and a key requirement for a

political career. Moreover, rhetoric led to the development of paid learning in sophist schools.

Overall, rhetorical education gave common people the voice and tools to defend themselves and

contribute to their societies’ social and political courses.

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References

Ahmadi, M., & Poornamdarain, T. (2017). An introduction to Multiple Meanings of

Rhetoric. Journal of Language and Translation Studies (JLTS), 50(1), 27-52.

https://doi.org/10.22067/lts.v50i1.64634.

Derk, I. (2019). Epideictic rhetoric: Questioning the stakes of ancient praise by Laurent

Pernot. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 22(3), 471-474. https://doi.org/10.1353/ajp.2017.0006.

Herricks, J. A. (2018). The history and theory of rhetoric an introduction. Routledge

Ober, J., & Strauss, B. (1990). Drama, political rhetoric, and the discourse of Athenian

democracy. In J. J. Winkler (Ed.), Nothing to do with Dionysos?: Athenian drama in its

social context (pp. 237-270). Princeton University Press.