Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Archia [On Behalf of Archias]

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Pro Archia

is a forensic speech by Cicero, given in defence of Aulus Licinius Archias, a Greek poet, in 62 BCE, the year after Cicero held the consulship. Archias was accused by a prosecutor, Grattius (otherwise unknown), of having illegally passed himself off as a Roman citizen, in contravention of the

lex Papia de peregrinis

(Papian law concerning aliens). The presiding magistrate was Quintus Tullius Cicero, Cicero’s younger brother. Archias was defended only by Cicero, who secured his acquittal. There is no reason to suppose that the extant speech is different from the speech which Cicero delivered; Cicero presumably published the speech immediately after delivery. It is one of his shortest and least political speeches, and the case was a minor one: a character in Tacitus’

Dialogus

1016 words

Citation: Berry, Dominic Henry. "Pro Archia". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 February 2013 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20491, accessed 06 October 2024.]

20491 Pro Archia 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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