Cicero on Clodia: Rome

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  • Cicero on Clodia
    • Clodia is accusing Caelio of stealing her gold and trying to poison her. Cicero claims that a lot of the accusations are false and just gossip
      • Cicero only says enough to repute the accusations, and comments on Clodia's relationship with her brother, suggesting incest and promiscuity
        • Cicero pretends to be Caecus and claims it would be better to be blind than see Clodia. Caecus thinks Clodia is a disgrace to her family, who are all consuls and Vestal Virgins
          • Cicero then makes comments on Clodia's behaviour, which included orgies and incest. He said she could deny the claims or admit that she is nice.
    • Theme: Men's attitudes to women
      • Promiscuity and incest are vices and women should not make claims against men
    • Authorship: Cicero was a lawyer, scholar and writer, he was a skilled writer and therefore made a convincing argument
    • Why does Cicero adopt a personae?
      • Because it was a public holiday and nobody wanted to be there, so he had to be entertaining

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