Narratieve technieken ter verdediging van Sextus Roscius

Forensic narratives, narrationes, provide the speaker with a number of typically narrative advantages in the process of persuasion. It is, for instance, easier to present the perspective of an outsider in the form of a story than as part of an argumentation. Moreover, a narrative allows the narrator to portray an exceptional situation as acceptable and to insert various voices without the risk of seeming
inconsistent. Stereotypes can also play a subtle and persuasive role in a story. This article will show how Cicero, in his defence of Roscius Amerinus, has used all these narrative techniques.