Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

64 Stephanie Bernhard
Plutarch portrays Cicero achieving his greatest early victory—in both
moral and political terms—when as praetor he convinces the public that he is
correct in speeding up the trial of Manilius. Though the trial is politically significant
only insofar as it involves Cicero defending a friend of Pompey, Plutarch
devotes nearly as much text to it as he does to the trial of Verres, which involves
the famous advocate Hortensius and the results of which help return the Republic
to a pre-Sullan state (Ward et al., 2003: 189). Plutarch considers this allocation
appropriate because, as he writes in the introduction to “Alexander,” he has
“chosen rather to epitomize the most celebrated parts of the story, than to insist
at large on every particular circumstance in it” (Alexander, 1). In the trial of
Manilius, the people are at first indignant at Cicero because they think he is
being unjust. When the tribunes challenge Cicero, however, he refuses to allow
Manilius more time to prepare a defense or to change his decision in any way.
Plutarch thus shows that Cicero’s moral character, not popular will, guides him
to do what is right. Instead of bending to the will of the people, Cicero rather
uses his words to convince the people that he is acting rightly, in accordance
both with justice and with the good of the people. Plutarch writes that his words
“produced a remarkable change in the feelings of the people. They praised him
to the skies” (Cicero, 9). In this historically minor story, Plutarch provides an
example of when it is acceptable for Cicero to receive the praise of the people
because he earns it through adhering to his moral code, not through bending to
the popular will.
Plutarch also uses Cicero’s actions at the beginning of his consulship in 63,
just when rumors of Catiline’s conspiracy are beginning to circulate, as material
to teach a moral lesson about the importance of earning success through
integrity rather than pandering to the public. When the tribunes propose a law to
form what would essentially be a new decemvirate, Plutarch portrays Cicero
using his eloquence alone to convince the senate and tribunes that the law will
not benefit the Republic. Plutarch writes that when summoned to appear before
the people, Cicero leads the way “without the slightest fear.” He does not worry
that his opinion will make him unpopular and he convinces them instead of
yielding to them. Plutarch affirms that Cicero’s superior oration overpowers the
arguments of the tribunes “by the force of his eloquence,” causing the law to be
rejected and leaving the subversive elements with no choice but to drop their
platform (Cicero, 12). Plutarch offers a further editorial comment to explain
why Cicero provides such a valuable moral example to the reader:
Cicero, more than anyone, made the Romans see how great is the charm
which eloquence confers on what is good, how invincible justice is if it is
well expressed in words, and how the good and efficient statesman should
always in his actions prefer what is right to what will win popularity, and in
his words should express the public interest in a manner that will please
rather than prove offensive. (Cicero, 13)