How to win an argument with Cicero

Part XIV of the Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers series

[Based on How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion, by Cicero, translated by James M. May. Full book series here.]

Rhetoric, these days, has a fairly bad reputation. “Rhetorical” is not an adjective typically used in a complimentary fashion. Indeed, I know a number of colleagues, especially in the sciences, who recoil in horror a…