Pro Milo

Written Assignment 2. Pro Milone 8-10a

The speech itself is presumed to have been re-written by Cicero some time after he failed to get Titus Annius Milo acquitted for the murder of Publius Clodius Pulcher using the original. His performance on the day of the original trial was supposedly far below his usual high standards and this was said to have played a large part in his failure to win the case. This poor performance was apparently due in a large part to the heavy presence of armed men and troops on the day of the trial which led to Cicero being nervous during his delivery, a fact that he seems to acknowledge in the revised speech when in the opening section he says, "I realize, members of the jury, that it is disgraceful, when beginning a speech in defence of a man of great courage, to show fear oneself, [] But even so, the unfamiliar look of this unfamiliar court alarms my very eyes".#

The passage itself, found early in the speech, initially accepts that there can be no doubt that Milo was responsible for Clodius' death whether through self defence or deliberate attempt. The question therefore is not whether or not Milo was responsible for the death of Clodius, rather was this killing justifiable in terms of the law or in terms of any perceived benefit to the State. The approach taken by Cicero at this stage therefore is to argue that first and foremost the killing was done in self defence, but also that the Clodians were a people whose existence could have only have been seen as detrimental to the health of the Roman people and therefore the killing was justified according to its perceived nationalistic benefits.

It is clear that Cicero held a great personal dislike for the Clodians, in part due to his feud with the dead man Clodius. Throughout the speech therefore he emphasises Ethos, characterising Clodius and his family as people not worthy of their position in Rome. "Clodius is made out repeatedly to be a truly malevolent, invidious, effeminate character, craving power and organizing the ambush on Milo because he realized that Milo would easily secure the consulship, and thus stand in the way of Clodius' scheme to attain greater