τὰ καιριώτατα καὶ πραγματικώτατα. A survey on the speeches in Polybius

The historian, following other historians or inventing, has to present speeches before the most important battles. The epic heritage of historiography compels the historian to respect at least the basic rules of narrative: one of these is the presence of spoken words in order to prepare the narration, to display mo- tivations and so on. Before decisive battles, speeches also have the function of amplifying the events, bringing on stage the generals, presented as epic heroes. This results in conventional speeches, based on a limited group of common- places, inside typical scenes including: the situation that requires an exhortation, the general riding through the lines and/or speaking at a war council, the reac- tion of the troops. What is the difference between these speeches? The most ef- fective speeches (τὰ καιριώτατα καὶ πραγματικώτατα) are strongly connected with the situation, sometimes through gestures and actions (Hannibal before Ticinus and Cannae). In these cases, the reader is able to guess in advance who will win and who will be defeated. Therefore the function of speeches within the historical narrative is to offer paradigms, continuing a tradition of paradigms and respecting the corresponding literary conventions.