Cicero made a multiple bid for literary acclaim with his oratory and his writings on rhetoric, together with his works on politics, religion and philosophy. He was both orator and critic and his efficiency in preserving written versions of his speeches have left us with an abundance of material for the comparison of theory with practice. In this book Stephen Usher gives a detailed account of how Cicero viewed oratory, and what influenced the formation of his ideal. Cicero himself identifies eight desirable qualities and refinements that oratory should contain: literary knowledge and culture, knowledge and understanding of philosophy, knowledge of law, knowledge of history, wit and humour, emotional appeal, digression and dilatation. His assessment of both past and his contemporary orators exposes the intensity of the rivalry which underlies much of Cicero's rhetorical writing, and adds impetus to how he measures up to his own criteria. Usher sets each speech in its historical and forensic context, in chronological order, and examines to what extent and how successfully Cicero employs these definitions of great oratory.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus had migrated to Rome by 30 BCE, where he lived until his death some time after 8 BCE, writing his "Roman Antiquities" and teaching the art of rhetoric and literary composition.

Dionysius's purpose, both in his own work and in his teaching, was to re-establish the classical Attic standards of purity, invention and taste in order to reassert the primacy of Greek as the literary language of the Mediterranean world. He advocated the minute study of the styles of the finest prose authors of the fifth and fourth century BCE, especially the Attic orators. His critical essays on these and on the historian Thucydides represent an important development from the somewhat mechanical techniques of rhetorical handbooks to a more sensitive criticism of individual authors. Illustrating his analysis with well-chosen examples, Dionysius preserves a number of important fragments of Lysias and Isaeus.

The essays on those two orators and on Isocrates, Demosthenes and Thucydides comprise Volume I of this edition. Volume II contains three letters to his students; a short essay on the orator Dinarchus; and his finest work, the essay "On Literary Composition, " which combines rhetoric, grammar and criticism in a manner unique in ancient literature.

The Loeb Classical Library also publishes a seven volume edition of "Roman Antiquities, " by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a history from earliest times to 264 BCE.

In the aftermath of the devastating First World War, Rudolf Steiner gained a reputation as a leading social thinker. One mainstream reviewer of his book Towards Social Renewal referred to it as `... perhaps the most widely read of all books on politics appearing since the war'. Steiner's proposals for the reconstruction of Europe and the rebuilding of society's crumbling social structure were thus publicly discussed as a serious alternative to both Communism and Capitalism. Steiner's `threefold' ideas involved the progressive independence of society's economic, political and cultural institutions. This would be realised through the promotion of human rights and equality in political life, freedom in the cultural realm and associative cooperation in economics or business. In this carefully assembled anthology of Steiner's lectures and writing, Stephen E. Usher gathers key concepts and insights to form a coherent picture of social threefolding. Apart from fundamental lectures on the theme, the volume also features the full content of Steiner's unique Memoranda of 1917. The original texts are complemented with the Editor's introduction, commentary and notes.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus had migrated to Rome by 30 BCE, where he lived until his death some time after 8 BCE, writing his "Roman Antiquities" and teaching the art of rhetoric and literary composition.

Dionysius's purpose, both in his own work and in his teaching, was to re-establish the classical Attic standards of purity, invention and taste in order to reassert the primacy of Greek as the literary language of the Mediterranean world. He advocated the minute study of the styles of the finest prose authors of the fifth and fourth century BCE, especially the Attic orators. His critical essays on these and on the historian Thucydides represent an important development from the somewhat mechanical techniques of rhetorical handbooks to a more sensitive criticism of individual authors. Illustrating his analysis with well-chosen examples, Dionysius preserves a number of important fragments of Lysias and Isaeus.

The essays on those two orators and on Isocrates, Demosthenes and Thucydides comprise Volume I of this edition. Volume II contains three letters to his students; a short essay on the orator Dinarchus; and his finest work, the essay "On Literary Composition, " which combines rhetoric, grammar and criticism in a manner unique in ancient literature.

The Loeb Classical Library also publishes a seven volume edition of "Roman Antiquities, " by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a history from earliest times to 264 BCE.

Rational persuasion and appeal to an audience's emotions are elements of most literature, but they are found in their purest form in oratory. The speeches written by the Greek Orators for delivery in law-courts, deliberative councils and assemblies enjoyed an honoured literary status, and rightly so, for the best of them have great vitality. There is no crude, primitive stage of development: the earliest speeches are perfect in form and highly sophisticated in technique. They inform the reader about aspects of Greek society and about their moral values, in a direct and illuminating way not paralleled in other literature.This edition offers a contrasting pair of early orators. In his speech The Murder of Herodes, edited by Michael Edwards, Antiphon relies on a varied and resourceful use of probability argument, presented with great force and gravity. Motivation of both defendant and prosecutor is also explored thoroughly, as are the religious aspects of homicide. The five speeches by Lysias, edited by Stephen Usher, illustrate that orator's skill in using narrative to portray character and his talent for creating and dispelling personal and political prejudice in difficult cases. The Commentary seeks to call attention to the orators' rhetorical and stylistic skills to a degree not previously attempted in editions of the orators, to elucidate historical and legal matters and to explain textual and grammatical difficulties. The notes are keyed to the translation, rendering the speeches accessible to the reader with little or no Greek.Greek text with translation, commentary and notes.

Universally recognised as the greatest speech by the finest of the Attic Orators, On the Crown is Demosthenes' vindication of his lifelong devotion to Athenian primacy among the Greek states and opposition to the advance of Philip II of Macedon. He won the case, and his opponent Aeschines went into exile. By their verdict, the Athenian jury agreed that his fight for Greek freedom was worthy of their city's traditions, in spite of military failure. Demosthenes defends himself and attacks his enemies on a broad front. Rhetorical skills, refined over thirty years, are concentrated in this final performance skills of argument, narrative, invective and patriotic oratory deployed in a style rich in imagery, yet foreceful and persuasive. This edition is the first to combine text, translation, and full commentary. The latter deals with historical, political and legal matters on an equal footing with those of rhetoric and style, as in previous volumes by the present author. Greek text with facing-page translation, introduction and commentary. 208p (Aris and Phillips 1993)

Two contrasting works, both in style and content, illustrate the versatility of Isocrates, the most accomplished writer of polished periodic Greek prose. The Panegyricus is a patriotic work of Athenian propaganda composed with great care and also intended to advertise his skills to potential pupils at his school for leading statesmen. In it he argues the case for Athenian leadership of a pan-Hellenic expedition against Persia, representing it as a cultural as well as a military crusade. In To Nicocles, he offers advice to one of his pupils, the newly-crowned king of Cyprus, on how to rule acceptably to his people and tolerably to himself. From it emerges a portrait of the ideal Hellenistic monarch. Less elaborately written than the Panegyricus, it displays its author's ability to write with clairty and economy. Greek text with parallel English translation.

Speakers address audiences in the earliest Greek literature, but oratory became a distinct genre in the late fifth century and reached its maturity in the fourth. This book traces the development of its techniques by examining the contribution made by each orator. Dr Usher makes the speeches come alive for the reader through an in-depth analysis of the problems of composition and the likely responses of contemporary audiences. His study differs from previous books in its recognition of the richness of the early tradition which made innovation difficult, however, the orators are revealed as men of remarkable talent, versatility, and resource. Antiphon's pioneering role, Lysias' achievement of balance between the parts of the speech, the establishment of oratory as a medium of political thought by Demosthenes and Isocrates, and the individual characteristics of other orators - Andocides, Isaeus, Lycurgus, Hyperides, Dinarchus and Apollodorus - together make a fascinating study in evolution; while the illustrative texts of the orators (which are translated into English) include some of the liveliest and most moving passages in Greek literature.

Our understanding of Greek and Roman civilization is in considerable measure a product of the intelligence and literary skills of its historians. Writing at different times and from different vantage points, the surviving historians illustrate the influences to which the genre was subjected in the course of its development. After Herodotus had established history as an independent form of literature, Thucydides defined its purpose and set a high standard of scientific and literary skill. Xenophon introduced new and abiding characteristics and Polybius repudiated the influences of rhetoric and drama and introduced Hellenistic qualities and an new focus - Rome. Sallust, Caesar, Tacitus and Livy among others, commented on the affairs of the Roman Republic and Empire. This book provides a survey of the historians of the ancient Greek and Roman world, exporing their surviving work, style and influences.

This volume, originally published in 1978, offers some 800-850 lines of the 'Anabasis' in Greek with English summaries of the intervening passages to give an idea of the whole of Xenophon's exciting adventure. Notes at the foot of each page assist with content and language; they assume only basic grammatical knowledge. The edition includes a consolidated vocabulary. The book was specifically designed to offer a number of reasonably self-contained prescriptions for GCSE to replace the old 'blue Macmillan' editions of individual books.

Some of the finest Greek writers - Demosthenes, Lysias, Antiphon - were also great orators. However, a number of other Greek writers who specialized purely in oratory have largely been overlooked by classicists. Dr Usher addresses this imbalance by showing the diversity of the inherited rhetorical tradition, and by demonstrating through close critical examination how the individual characteristics of the orators were developed. The illustrative texts (which are translated into English) include some of the liveliest and most moving passages in Greek literature.

This companion, keyed to the Penguin translation of Aubrey de Selincourt, is to those parts of Herodotus' history that tell the story of Marathon, Salamis and the final Persian retreat: books 7-9 with parts of books 5 and 6. The introduction concentrates on the political and literary background to Herodotus' writing, and includes a brief historical account of the whole work. The commentary which forms the bulk of the book explains differences of interpretation and constantly reveals the bias and intent of Herodotus' sources. There is frequent emphasis on the importance of the literary tradition, and references to the scholarly literature enable readers to take their study further.