Rhetorical Themes and Features in the Speeches of Julius Caesar’s De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili

The aim of this study is to examine what rhetorical themes and features are present in the speeches of Julius Caesar’s De bello Gallico and De bello civili. The investigation is based on the 172 speeches found in De Bello Gallico and the 83 speeches found in De Bello Civili. Lausberg’s Handbook of Literary Rhetoric: A Foundation for Literary Study provides the theoretical framework for the analysis. The analysis also entails a study and comparison of the 255 speeches. The investigation shows, among other things, that Caesar, through the use of rhetorical themes and features, in connection with the use of certain keywords is keen to show that his actions are justified, i.e. that he is “in the right”. The use of rhetorical features and propagandistic elements increases in those sections where Caesar’s position could be described as tenuous. There are also several recurring themes, some scenes tend toward the formulaic; Caesar’s opponents, whether Gallic or Pompeian, are given the same inherent traits, e.g. greed, cruelty and hubris. In his work Caesars Commentarii – Stil und Stilwandel am Beispiel der direkten Rede, Detlev Rasmussen makes the claim that the style becomes more rhetorical as the two works progress. The current investigation cannot find anything to support this claim