The Voice of Truth. Witness and Testimony in the Roman Courts of the 1st Century BC.
Beautiful Letters| N° d'inventaire | 19405 |
| Format | 15 |
| Détails | 432 p., paperback |
| Publication | Paris, 2015 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | |
In Republican Rome, a trial was not won solely by the speeches of accusers and lawyers: the witnesses, questioned by the orators themselves, often provided the real basis for the debates. Alongside the long pleas and their arguments, the witness, his account of the facts, and his claim to truth presented judges with other modalities of confrontation and other forms of persuasion. By reconstructing this aspect of judicial practices at the end of the 1st century BC, The Voice of Truth brings to light hitherto neglected legal, rhetorical, and ideological realities and offers a new perspective on the Latin relationship to eloquence and truth. What strategies did orators develop when faced with witnesses? How did the latter defend their position? And, above all, how could they be believed, since they sometimes had neither authority nor prestige to assert? It is the question of civic value, and very often of Romanity, which the witness, his interrogation and the assessment of his veracity raise.
In Republican Rome, a trial was not won solely by the speeches of accusers and lawyers: the witnesses, questioned by the orators themselves, often provided the real basis for the debates. Alongside the long pleas and their arguments, the witness, his account of the facts, and his claim to truth presented judges with other modalities of confrontation and other forms of persuasion. By reconstructing this aspect of judicial practices at the end of the 1st century BC, The Voice of Truth brings to light hitherto neglected legal, rhetorical, and ideological realities and offers a new perspective on the Latin relationship to eloquence and truth. What strategies did orators develop when faced with witnesses? How did the latter defend their position? And, above all, how could they be believed, since they sometimes had neither authority nor prestige to assert? It is the question of civic value, and very often of Romanity, which the witness, his interrogation and the assessment of his veracity raise.