INTERSECTIONALITY IN CICERONIAN INVECTIVE

Abstract

AbstractThis article applies an intersectional approach to Roman invective (and praise) to elucidate how those at the centre of Roman power exploited discriminatory and laudatory ideologies relating to intersections of identity to sway a Roman jury. Analysing the depiction of an unnamed woman in thePro Scauroshows how Cicero plays upon normalized prejudices to bias the jury againstista Sarda. These internalized prejudices could also be utilized to discredit women with privileged intersectional identities, as demonstrated by Cicero's portrayal of Clodia and Sassia in thePro Caelioand thePro Cluentio, a process that helps reify the marginalization of certain identities.