Ciceronian
Grandly persuasive speaking
Ciceronian describes a style of speaking or writing that emulates the Roman orator and statesman Cicero, known for his elaborate, balanced, and rhythmical prose.
The term usually implies formal eloquence with carefully constructed periodic sentences—complex structures that build suspense before delivering their main point.
His Ciceronian flourishes impressed the jury but bored everyone else.
The style contrasts with plainer, more direct approaches to rhetoric.
Persuasive verbal grace
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- persuasionConvincing through reasoning
- orationFormal public speech
- declamationForceful, theatrical speaking
forensic · speechmaking · elocution · grandiloquence · amplification · cadence · flourish · peroration
State with elected leaders
- SenateLegislative body, often bicameral's elder
- consulshipTerm as chief magistrate
- constitutionalismGovernance bound by fundamental laws
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
tyrannicide · civic virtue · patriotism · statesmanship · antimonarchical · Brutus · Roman Republic · civic duty
Occurring at intervals
- balancedIn a state of equilibrium
- complex sentencesStatements with dependent clauses
- subordinationLower position in hierarchy
- copiousnessState of great abundance
amplification · parallelism · antithesis · tricolon · polysyndeton · ornate · elaborate · flowing
European cultural reawakening
- PetrarchMedieval Italian lyric poet
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- ErasmusDutch Renaissance humanist
- classical educationGreco-Roman intellectual training
Virtue-centered ancient philosophy
- eclecticismCombining from multiple sources
- AcademiaScholarly community collectively
- natural lawInherent moral principles
- Greek philosophyClassical Mediterranean intellectual tradition
Epicureanism · skepticism · moral duty · consolation · contemplative · wisdom · disputations · dialogues
eloquence
Persuasive verbal grace
- rhetoricArt of persuasive language
- persuasionConvincing through reasoning
- orationFormal public speech
declamation · forensic · speechmaking · elocution · grandiloquence · amplification · cadence · flourish · peroration · apostrophe
republic
State with elected leaders
- SenateLegislative body, often bicameral's elder
- consulshipTerm as chief magistrate
- constitutionalismGovernance bound by fundamental laws
liberty · tyrannicide · civic virtue · patriotism · statesmanship · antimonarchical · Brutus · Roman Republic · civic duty · democratic ideals
periodic
Occurring at intervals
- balancedIn a state of equilibrium
- complex sentencesStatements with dependent clauses
- subordinationLower position in hierarchy
copiousness · amplification · parallelism · antithesis · tricolon · polysyndeton · ornate · elaborate · flowing · majestic
Renaissance
European cultural reawakening
- PetrarchMedieval Italian lyric poet
- humanismPhilosophy prioritizing earthly reason
- ErasmusDutch Renaissance humanist
classical education · liberal arts · imitation · quattrocento · epistolary
Stoicism
Virtue-centered ancient philosophy
- eclecticismCombining from multiple sources
- AcademiaScholarly community collectively
- natural lawInherent moral principles
Greek philosophy · Epicureanism · skepticism · moral duty · consolation · contemplative · wisdom · disputations · dialogues · treatises
- Classical Rhetoricoration, oratory, declamation, panegyric, encomium
- grand stylegrandeur, sublime, splendor, majestic, magnificence
Ciceronianplain-spoken
Speaking without ornament
colloquial · vernacular · unpolished · artless · rough-hewn