Role-Based Persuasion and Strategic Embarrassment in Cicero’s Letters

Abstract

This paper uses role theory to conduct a close reading of four letters written to Cicero in 49 BC by Marcus Antonius, Julius Caesar, and Marcus Caelius Rufus: three in which the writers attempt to convince Cicero not to join Gnaeus Pompeius in his conflict against Caesar (Att. 10, 8A-B; 10, 9A), and an exchange between Antonius and Cicero regarding the recall of Sextus Cloelius (Att. 14, 13A-B). It argues that a focus on the development of roles within epistolary correspondence provides new insight into the relationship between “facework” and persuasion, which builds upon established models of interactional analysis such as politeness theory. Specifically, it argues that letter writers could challenge the face of their interlocutor by emphasising the need to conform to aspects of the roles they occupied within society. Having established the presence of this persuasive strategy within Cicero’s letters, the paper offers a reflection on the broader utility of role theory as a model for the analysis of Ciceronian and broader Roman communication.