Language and Artistry in Cicero's Pro Archia

This paper examines Cicero's use of the language of artistic production to describe the composition of literature and its constructive role within Roman society in the Pro Archiaw, his defense of the Greek poet in his disputed claim to Roman citizenship. Cicero foregrounds the literary language of the speech; the recurring metaphors of artistic production reinforce connections between the arts; the integration of the literary into this forensic speech anticipates the integration of Archias into Roman citizenship. I argue that Cicero reactivates artistic metaphors so that the literary language of the speech is itself an important element in his argument.