Congenital Virtue: Mos Maiorum in Cicero's Orations

Cicero's appeals to antiquity with the term mos maiorum, or simply maiores, in his orations enable the orator to appeal to his audience's emotions, and to highlight their collective identity and cultural heritage as the proper basis for the decision he advocates. His usage is not strongly correlated with any chronological or generic subset of the orations, as is shown by a simple statistical analysis of their distribution. It is better understood as a strategic response to the circumstances particular to each oration, in a less formal sense.