Download or read book A Rhetorical Figure: Cicero in the Early Empire written by Thomas John Keeline and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: My dissertation investigates the reception of Cicero in the early Roman Empire, focusing on the first 250 years after his death. I show that this reception is primarily constructed by the ancient rhetorical schoolroom, where young Romans first encountered Cicero, reading his speeches and writing Ciceronian declamations. Here they were exposed to a particular version of the man, with emphases often selected for political purposes. When they grew up, that schoolroom image of Cicero continued to permeate their thought and writing. My study unpacks this complex process and lays bare the early Empire's relationship with one of its most significant late Republican predecessors.