The Rhetoric of the Martyrs

Abstract

AbstractThis final chapter argues that Augustine’s martyrs should be understood as Christian versions of the classical ideal of the rhetor and statesman. After tracing the origins of these civic ideals in Plato, Cicero, and Quintilian, this chapter shows how Augustine transforms his inherited tradition on ideal rhetors and statesmen before arguing that the martyrs, in his telling, conform to this Christian version of the ideal. The chapter concludes by crafting a theological vision of the martyr as a Christian rhetor and statesman calling into being and converting people to the virtues of the church, all as part of God’s providential ordering of salvation.