The Peroration of Cicero’s Pro Milone

By employing the figure of prosopopoeia / sermocinatio in the peroration of his Pro Milone, Cicero aims not only at reinforcing Milo’s favorable portrayal and the lines of defense, but also at protecting his own image following the legal defeat and at indirectly embarking on self-praise. The implied prediction of Cicero’s literary fame and glory, the information about his person, the atmosphere of death that brings to mind epitaphs, and the poetic motifs presented at the end of the speech could be interpreted as an intentional strategy that allows the orator to provide a sphragis for his work.