Funeral eulogy and propaganda in the Roman Republic (Laudatio funebris)

In spite of the fact that the remains of the laudatio funebris in the Republic are by no means abundant, it is possible to put together a history showing how this became an instrument of propaganda. It is perhaps a little surprising that the best place to begin an account of Roman funeral eulogy lies in the Greek authors Polybius (ca. BC 200 - after 118) and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (late first century BC), where it is given serious attention. But Romans like Cicero and Quintilian also have important things to say. Together they suggest a number of features that make the laudatio funebris a natural vehicle for propaganda in the Republic: its Roman nature, the physical circumstances in which it takes place, and the part that rhetoric plays(1).