Cassius Severus

Titus Cassius Severus (died in 32 AD) was an ancient Roman rhetor from the gens Cassia. He lived during the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula. Cassius Severus, a fearless fighter for freedom of speech, was sharply eloquent against the new governmental order, which finally saw him exiled and his works banned after his death.

Cassius Severus was said to have risen from a simple background. He was a legendary success as a teacher of rhetoric. He was considered to be very well read. His negative qualities were also apparent. He was sometimes uncontrollably aggressive and cynical in his speeches and also reacted badly to insults.

Oratory played a vital role in the social and political life of Rome; rhetoric thus was a vital aspect when Severus was living. The transition from the Republican to Monarchial rule in Rome also brought about changes in the way oratory was conducted.

Ciceronian oratory was becoming impossible under the increasing Monarchical rule of Augustus. This necessitated the need to employ a different kind of oratory in the post-Ciceronian world. Cassius Severus was one of those who deviated from the ancient manner decisively and brought in the new style. It was Severus's conscious intention to step into the new era, adapting oratory to the requirement of the new age of imperialism.

The manner and style of oratory became more violent and aggressive than previously practiced under the Republic. Steven H. Rutledge in his essay, "Delatores and the Tradition of Violence in Roman Oratory," provides a different point of view. He points out the violence in both the republican accusers and delatores speech under the Empire. On the other hand, Marcus Aper and Vipsanus Messalla had different opinions regarding oratory and its contemporary state in ancient Rome. But in Dialogus De Oratoribus, these two men turn unanimous at one point in stating that Cassius Severus has had no contribution on the change in oratory from the days of Cicero. In the words of Vipsanus:

"If (Cassius) were compared to those who were later, he can be called an orator, although the greater part of these books contain more bile than blood. For he was the first who, having despised good composition, with no sense of modesty or shame in his diction, and even disorderly and generally thrown off his feet by the very weapons he used due to his eagerness to strike, did not fight but bickered."

He is still known today by the surviving analyses of his speeches by Quintilian, Seneca and Tacitus. All three authors are ambivalent towards him, regarding him to be talented and witty (Quintilian calls him compulsory reading) but at times as too passionate and thus often inordinate and ridiculous. Tacitus uses him as an example to explain the "boundary" between the rhetoric of the Republic and the Principate, and in his Annals he called him:

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