Cicero, a Roman philosopher who would have recently celebrated his 2,113th birthday, is known for codifying the rules of rhetoric, among other things. As he defined it, rhetoric is the art of the persuasive argument. It’s the many techniques, some quite rational, some quite underhanded, that politicians, salesmen, husbands and wives, and all human beings use as they make their case.

For example, the ad hominem attack, which attacks an opponent personally as opposed to attacking their argument. It’s an effective technique if your argument is weak; it helps distract the audience. Cicero informs us, too, that pathos (emotion) beats logos (logic) – at least for most people.

What’s amazing about his depiction of the rules of rhetoric is how accurately they describe the noise in our own pubic forum. If you were to sit Cicero down in front of a cable news shout-fest, he’d nod knowingly. He’d note no surprise that the rules of persuasion haven’t changed. He essentially took his precepts from the ancient Greeks, and they hadn’t changed in the interim.

He wrote this when he was twenty-one, in about 80 B.C.:

“From the character of our adversaries, if we are able to bring them either into hatred, or into unpopularity, or into contempt. They will be brought into hatred, if any action of theirs can be adduced which has been lascivious, or arrogant, or cruel, or malignant. They will be made unpopular…”

From the same text:

“We shall render our hearers willing to receive information, if we explain the sum total of the cause with plainness and brevity, that is to say, the point on which the dispute hinges. For when you wish to make a hearer inclined to receive information you must also render him attentive. For he is above all men willing to receive information who is prepared to listen with the greatest attention.”

A popular saying of Cicero’s:

“We should be as careful of our words as of our actions.”

Is there any modern political candidate who doesn’t fret about Cicero’s words in every waking moment?