oa Vie sociale et norme épistolaire: les lettres de Cicéron et la breuitas

Contrary to a whole Graeco-Roman and humanistic rhetorical tradition, Cicero never made brevity a norm of his letter-writting. As far as he aimed at effectiveness, stylistic and aesthetic considerations took easily second place to the social and political necessities of life, and he expected his correspondents to fulfill their officium scribendi with substantial and long letters.