Mordacidade nos discursos de Cícero: ioci, facetiae et dicacitates ao serviço da oratória

Abstract

In his six major treatises on oratory, Cicero deals with the question of humour in speech, naming some of the orators that had excelled in exercising their jestful spirit, pointing out some of the processes of provoking laughter amidst the audience and emphasising its purpose and usefulness for the orator. His own texts (both his letters and philosophical treatises and his judicial and political speeches) reveal, with more or less intensity, his playful nature, be it aimed at his political antagonists, his professional peers or at individuals intending to sue his clients.