Controlling laughter

by Anthony Corbeill

During the last generation of the Roman Republic (ca. 100-49 B.C.E.) political rhetoric flourished. In this period of social upheaval, rhetoric played an important role in defining the relationship between the individual citizen and the Roman state. The most successful orators of the era often used the aggressive humor of political invective to persuade audiences of their opponents' inferior (and therefore their own superior) values. Although numerous scholars have studied Late Republican humor, this is the first book to examine its social and political context. Anthony Corbeill maintains that political abuse exercised real powers of persuasion over Roman audiences and he demonstrates how public humor both creates and enforces a community's norms.