Isocrates, Roman and Byzantine Rhetoric

Through the conquests of Alexander the Great and his armies, the hellenizing of the million square mile Macedonian Empire was assured. As Thomas M. Conley states in Rhetoric in the European Tradition, "In all these areas, colonies of Greeks were established and Greek culture imposed on the native peoples, the barbaroi, with astonishing speed and efficiency" (29). Through education, young men were initiated into the Greek way of life which ensured a practical concern was also met: the needs of a burgeoning bureaucracy. The program they established became standardized and was referred to as "enkyklios paideia" or "the rounded education". Grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy became the basic areas of study. Although the subject matter has been altered, the concept of a "rounded education" continues to form the foundation for instruction to the present day.
The teaching of rhetoric received much consideration and attention, not only for its practical application in governmental affairs, but the recognition within the Hellenistic world of the power of speech in setting policy, carrying out justice, promoting the military, and ensuring a cultural cohesiveness. Underlying the practical applications of rhetoric, was the obligation of the orator to be a virtuous man; principals set forth by Isocrates (436-338 B.C.).
As the Roman republic began to overtake the domination of the Hellenistic conquests, the influence of Hellenistic thought dominated Roman thinking and education. The influence of Isocrates comes to light in Patricia A. Matsen's Readings from Classical Rhetoric. In Chapter 3 "Greco-Roman Rhetoric", we are introduced to the texts of Cicero who is considered "the greatest Roman orator" (172).
Conley points out that Cicero (106-43 B.C.) "states explicitly that De oratore was written with Isocrates in mind" (36). More than a discussion of the components of oratory, this is a discourse on the political climate of the day and Conley further notes, "the notion of 'a good man skilled in speaking' are, as it were, mapped and measured" (37). Cicero would be killed for his challenges to the corrupt government of his day which led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire.
Quintillian (A.D. ca 30-100) was recognized, as Madsen points out, "a renowned teacher of oratory in imperial Rome" (209). In his work, De institutione oratoria, Quntillian sets out at the urging of his friends to write about the art of speaking. He would define rhetoric as "the art of speaking well", while adhering to the principals of Isocrates and Cicero. The orator has specific duties that are listed in De institutione oratoria, among them being to "deter criminal behavior and inspire the military". Both practical applications of oratory as laid out by Isocrates and echoed by Cicero.
The concept of a practical application and oratory spoken by a virtuous man is not only a concept that filtered into Western thinking. For the conquests of Alexander spread east from Greece and would come to include an area of Roman occupation that was to become known in the fifth and sixth centuries as "the Byzantine empire" (Conley, 63). One area of influence of Isocrates upon this empire and the Western world would be in the realm of religion. Namely, the conversion of the paegan world to Christianity. Here the influence of Greek rhetoric can also be seen, as its principals were used to obtain new converts. As Conley points out, it was only natural that the success of conversion would be promoted by men who studied and often taught rhetoric. The early church fathers were naturally suspicious of rhetoric because Christ did not reflect the necessity for this learning. However, in the Apologeticus, "the ideal Christian preacher is, ... quite close to that of the ideal orator of Isocrates" (Conley, 62).
Isocrates's concept of what rhetoric should achieve on a societal level has been recognized through the centuries. The ideals he espoused were embraced by the Roman and Byzantine world. Rhetoric should serve a practical purpose, should be spoken by virtuous men, and should serve the highest good of the community. Ideals we seek in our decisions today, recognizing that these are only ideals, was a reality that Isocrates and the citizens of our world face as we choose leaders, set policy, engage in warfare, and seek the common good.