Proditio, patria, Rhetorica ad Herennium, oratory, Late Roman Republic
Abstract
This paper focuses on the topic of patriotism in the rhetorical exempla dating from the Late Roman Republic. The aim is to demonstrate how the charge of military betrayal (proditio hostibus patriae) is connected to the conflicts between factiones after the fall of the Gracchi. The objective is achieved by analysing this matter from the perspective of the populares, reported by the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium.
