Certamen Oratorum
The Duel
Two speeches enter the forum. The eight Ciceronian dimensions decide. Choose your combatants from the Hall of Orators.
Contestant Aureus · gold
Contestant Rubeus · rouge
Sponsio · Place Your Wager
Predict the duel before the gods rule.
Pick the victor, then score each speech on the eight Ciceronian criteria (0–10). The actual verdict — radar, table, and final Cicero Score — stays sealed until you submit.
John F. Kennedy · 1962
We Choose to Go to the Moon
"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills."
Demosthenes · 330 BC
On the Crown
"I have been preserved to you, men of Athens, by no skill of my own, but by the gods, and by your goodwill."
Your Victor
| Criterion | Kennedy | Demosthenes |
|---|---|---|
Ethos Appeal through the speaker's character, credibility, and moral authority. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Logos Appeal through reasoned argument, evidence, and logical structure. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Pathos Appeal through the emotions of the audience. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Anaphora Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Periodic Structure Suspended sentence whose meaning is completed only at its close. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Antithesis Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Amplificatio Heightening of subject matter through accumulation and intensification. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Civic Virtue Appeals to the res publica, duty, and shared political life. | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Pick a victor first.