Observations on the rhetorical device of feminisation in Ciceronian invective

Abstract

In Cicero´s texts we find frequent reflections about what it means to be Roman, through statements about this identity. These definitions about “Romanness” are complemented by other statements related to the “non-Roman”: identity is also configured by opposition, pointing out those features that exclude an individual from the group. This kind of statement is found in the invective speeches in which Cicero attacks an adversary and accuses him, among other things, of not being a true Roman and not exhibiting the characteristic features of that identity. In this paper, we will analize the topic of feminization, consisting of attacking and disqualifying the (male) adversary by pointing out feminine behaviours. Feminization places the target of the attack in a place of political, social and moral weakness – it can no longer adequately play its role in the res publica. Likewise, the adversary is marked as a dangerous individual, subject to unbridled appetites at odds with the “normal” behaviour expected of a Roman citizen. We will consider passages from the invectives against Verres (70 BC), from the speech in gratitude to the Senate upon his return from exile (57 BC), from De haruspicum responso (56 BC), from the defences of Sestius (56 BC) and Milo (52 BC), and the second Philippic (44 BC), in order to analyze examples of the use of this topic throughout the entire career of our speaker.

En los textos de Cicerón hallamos una y otra vez reflexiones acerca de la identidad romana. ¿En qué consiste ser romano, en un mundo cambiante, en el que Roma no es ya sólo una ciudad, sino la urbe más importante de Italia y del Mediterráneo? ¿Se trata de una mera cuestión de ciudadanía, o existen aspectos relativos a la lengua, a las costumbres, a la cultura, a la religión que definen la romanidad? Cicerón propone respuestas a esta incógnita una y otra vez en sus textos, configurando una imagen de lo que significa ser romano a través de afirmaciones en torno a dicha identidad.