Making a new man

"Making a New Man investigates how Cicero, Rome's most influential orator (106-43 B.C.E.), used a series of treatises on rhetorical theory in order to mould his identity within Roman culture. John Dugan argues that Cicero's rhetorical works - far from being disinterested, purely abstract investigations of oratory - form part of a discernible programme in which Cicero constructs his self. Cicero uses these cultural works to solidify his political and literary legacy and to frame himself as a new entity within Roman cultural life: a leader who bases his authority upon intellectual, oratorical, and literary accomplishments instead of the traditional avenues for prestige - a distinguished familial pedigree, political or military feats. Eschewing conventional Roman notions of manliness, Cicero constructs a distinctly aestheticized identity that flirts with the questionable domains of the theatre and the feminine, and thus fashions himself as a 'new man'."--Jacket.