Inter omnes Asiae civitates Pergamum clarius: Elements of Possible Pergamene Influence on Roman Oratory and Rhetoric in the Middle and Late Republic

This chapter aims to examine the possible forms and ways in which the cultural world of Pergamon influenced Roman rhetoric and oratory mainly between the second and first centuries BC. In the various sections of the chapter, the characters of rhetoricians and orators who were active in the realm of Pergamon or in the neighbouring territories are collected, and the role that ambassadors, individual rhetoricians, and schools of declamation played in building this influence is examined. By way of hypothesis, an attempt is also made to identify through stylistic-rhetorical analysis some textual elements in Latin testimonia that might lead one to suspect the influence of Pergamene rhetoric.