Cicero's Use of Judicial Theater

Chapter 2. A Sordid Business: The Use of “Mourning Clothes” in the Courts

40 Chapter 2 A Sordid Business The Use of “Mourning Clothes” in the Courts At modern trials, we often see defendants dressing up smartly for their appearances in court. This formal attire usually aims to convey an image of the accused as one who respects the authority of the judge and jurors, and who adheres to society’s rules. At times, this mask may slip a little, especially if the defendant seems entirely ill at ease with this type of dress. Yet the practice persists, presumably because lawyers believe it is effective in shaping the attitudes of the jury.1 But if the modern defendant ’s attire aims at an impression of safe conformity, Roman practices suggest a starkly different mentality. Aristocrats on trial in ancient Rome usually appeared in court dressed in filthy clothes (sordes), with beard and hair untrimmed.2 Evidently the goal was not to blend in but to stand out. There is an obvious theatricality to this garb that calls for close examination .3 It is easy perhaps to assume that the main purpose of the defendant’s 1. Cf. Mortimer (1983) 258; Hall (1995) 52; Bers (2009) 70–71. On Quintilian’s advice regarding the neatness of dress required of the Roman advocate (rather than defendant ), see Inst. 11.3.137–49; 156; 160–61. 2. This was the typical form of dress at trials when the charges were particularly serious . See, e.g., Kaster (2009) 312: “It had become customary, for example, for a defendant in a ‘capital’ trial, where his ‘life as a citizen’ (caput) was at stake, to ‘change garments’ (vestem mutare).” It is not clear, however, how far the practice extended to other proceedings in court. The phrase ne . . . quidem at Suet. Tib. 2.4 may suggest that such attire was appropriate in cases where the charges were less serious (ne capitis quidem quisquam reus). Cf. Greenidge (1901) 472. 3. This aspect of Roman trials is treated only briefly in traditional commentaries; see, e.g., Austin (1960) 49; Nisbet (1961) 159. It has received greater attention, however, in recent decades. See, e.g., Heskel (1994) 141–45; Flaig (2003) 101–2; Kaster (2006) 111; 177–78; 181–82; Edmondson (2008) 30–31; Blonski (2008). Blonski’s assertion (see pages 53–55) that sordes paradoxically ended up being the normal attire of the Roman aristocrat seems to me more piquant than plausible. A Sordid Business 41 dress was to assist with appeals to pity made during the trial.4 But in fact, as we shall see, Cicero draws relatively little attention to such attire during his perorations. To this extent, then, it was not usually integrated with the text of the advocate’s speech. Rather, it contributed to the visual theatrics that took place during the trial as a whole—and indeed to the social and political dramas in which individuals engaged even before the proceedings in court began. A History of Sordes The custom of donning sordes had a long tradition in Roman culture prior to its association with courts of law. Its origins lie in the context of (literal) bereavement. Upon hearing the news of an acquaintance’s death, Roman men regularly donned darkened clothes and refrained from trimming their hair and beard.5 The Latin terms squalor and sordes attest to the soiled and disshevelled state that the mourner achieved, as do the associated adjectives sordidatus, squalidus, and obsoletus.6 It is not entirely clear how this soiled appearance was produced. It may be that the clothes were deliberately smeared with dirt, but given the squalid conditions of ancient Rome, their unkempt condition may have followed readily enough if the bereaved did not change into clean garments for several days.7 Wealthy men typically possessed a specially darkened toga (the toga pulla) for use on specific ceremonial occasions;8 but donning 4. See, e.g., Dyck (2012) 161: “in order to appeal to the jurors’ pity in the peroration”; and 164: “a routine appeal to pity in the peroration.” Cf. Blonski (2008) 50. 5. See Kübler (1927); Herzog-Hauser (1937); Blonski (2008) 44. This rejection of cosmetic concerns probably reflects the psychological rupture regularly experienced by the bereaved. The distress caused by death often leads to the neglect of routine matters, such as the daily attention given to dress. Cf. Olson (2007) 100: “The essence of mourning, then, was ideally to demonstrate grief by a lack of interest in personal appearance.” 6. Cf. OLD, s.v. sordes, 1a...