Grice e Tullio

 Here is the brilliant Grice/Speranza conversational register. In each dyad, a Roman speaker sets a literal, grammatical baseline, only for the second speaker to flout a conversational maxim to trigger a precise conversational implicatum (+>).

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Adgominazione (Agnominatio / Paronomasia)

• Aulus: Cur in curia hodie non eras? (Why were you not in the Senate house today?)
• Beatus: Non in curia sed in curis fui! (I was not in the Senate house, but in cares!)
  • +> that civic political duty has been completely eclipsed by overwhelming personal anxieties.

Allegoria (Allegoria)

• Aulus: Quomodo valet res publica nostra? (How fares our Republic?)
• Beatus: Navis nostra inter undas saevas sine gubernatore fluctuat. (Our ship tosses among savage waves without a helmsman.)
  • +> that the Roman government is undergoing a catastrophic political crisis due to completely incompetent leadership.

Allusione (Allusio)

• Aulus: Sperasne Marcum debitum tibi cras redditurum esse? (Do you hope that Marcus will return his debt to you tomorrow?)
• Beatus: Certe, et Marcus meus Rubiconem non transibit. (Of course, and my Marcus will not cross the Rubicon.)
  • +> that Marcus is absolutely going to commit a reckless act of betrayal rather than honor his financial obligations.

Anaphora (Anaphora)

• Aulus: Visne mihi paululum pecuniae mutuae dare? (Are you willing to lend me a little bit of money?)
• Beatus: Nihil habeo, nihil debeo, nihil tibi dabo! (Nothing do I have, nothing do I owe, nothing will I give you!)
  • +> that there is absolutely zero chance of any financial transaction occurring under any circumstances.

Antitesi (Antithesis)

• Aulus: Quid sentis de hoc novo vino pretioso? (What do you think of this expensive new wine?)
• Beatus: Os laudat, sed crumena plorat. (The mouth praises, but the purse weeps.)
  • +> that despite the wine tasting excellent, its exorbitant price tag is financially ruinous.

Aposiopesi (Aposiopesis / Reticentia)

• Aulus: Cur servus tuus ex horto cucurrit? (Why did your slave run out of the garden?)
• Beatus: Si illum iterum ibi invenero, ego illi... sed melius est tacere. (If I find him there again, I will... but it is better to be silent.)
  • +> that the slave will face severe physical punishment if he commits the offense one more time.

Circolazione (Chiasmus / Commutatio)

• Aulus: Estne Marcus vir magnus in philosophia? (Is Marcus a great man in philosophy?)
• Beatus: Non Marcus philosophiam laudat, sed laudat philosophia Marcum. (It is not that Marcus praises philosophy, but philosophy praises Marcus.)
  • +> that Marcus has achieved absolute, peerless intellectual mastery over the philosophical discipline.

Concessione (Concessio / Epitrope)

• Aulus: Licetne mihi omnem pecuniam familiae in aleis perdere? (Is it permitted for me to lose all the family money on dice games?)
• Beatus: Sane! Perde omnia, egeat familia, et sub ponte dormiamus! (Certainly! Lose everything, let the family starve, and let us sleep under a bridge!)
  • +> that playing dice games with family funds is an incredibly irresponsible idea that must be stopped immediately.

Disgiunzione (Asyndeton / Dissolutio)

• Aulus: Quomodo heri apud thermas pugnatum est? (How went the fight at the public baths yesterday?)
• Beatus: Clamavimus, pugnavimus, vicimus, cucurrimus. (We shouted, we fought, we conquered, we ran.)
  • +> that the encounter was an incredibly fast-paced, chaotic brawl that concluded in an instantaneous getaway.

Inversione (Hyperbaton / Transgressio)

• Aulus: Quid in foro hodie vidisti? (What did you see in the forum today?)
• Beatus: Magnam vidi inter cives rixam. (A great I saw among the citizens brawl.)
  • +> that the sheer scale and intensity of the public fight was the most shocking and notable aspect of the day.

Ironia (Ironia / Illusio)

• Aulus: Quid sentis de Clodio, qui templum iustitiae incendit? (What do you think of Clodius, who burned down the temple of justice?)
• Beatus: Egregius civi ac amicus pacis est! (He is an outstanding citizen and a true friend of peace!)
  • +> that Clodius is actually a thoroughly destructive criminal and a massive threat to civil society.

Litote (Litotes / Diminutio)

• Aulus: Estne uxor tua formosa? (Is your wife beautiful?)
• Beatus: Non est invenusta. (She is not unlovely.)
  • +> that she is highly attractive, though expressed with characteristically diplomatic Roman restraint.

Permutazione (Metonymia / Transnominatio)

• Aulus: Cur senatores ad curiam armati festinant? (Why are the senators hurrying to the Senate house armed?)
• Beatus: Quia ferrum hodie regnat. (Because iron reigns today.)
  • +> that military force and naked violence have completely usurped the peaceful democratic rule of law.

Preterizione (Praeteritio / Occultatio)

• Aulus: Quid de hoc novo candidato dicere potes? (What can you tell me about this new political candidate?)
• Beatus: Praetereo ebrietatem eius, taceo debita, nihil de furto dicam. (I pass over his drunkenness, I am silent about his debts, I shall say nothing of his theft.)
  • +> that the candidate is an utterly corrupt, heavily indebted alcoholic who is completely unfit for public office.

Superlazione (Hyperbole / Exsuperatio)

• Aulus: Esne esuriens post tantum iter? (Are you hungry after such a long journey?)
• Beatus: Totum bovem comedere possum! (I am able to eat a whole ox!)
  • +> that I am experiencing an extreme state of physical exhaustion and severe hunger.

Translatio (Metaphora / Translatio)

• Aulus: Qualis orator est Cicero in iudicio? (What kind of orator is Cicero in a trial?)
• Beatus: Cicero est leo in foro. (Cicero is a lion in the forum.)
  • +> that Cicero argues legal cases with fierce, terrifying, and utterly dominant verbal power.

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Which of these classical pragmatic moves would you like to build into a deeper Gricean calculus next, or shall we examine how Speranza maps these specific implicata onto the Latin text of Cicero's letters?