Cypriano de Soarez

Cypriano de Soarez, S.J. (1524–1593) was a sixteenth-century Spanish Jesuit who wrote De Arte Rhetorica, the first Jesuit rhetoric textbook.^[1] Concerned that young students in Jesuit colleges were not ready for major rhetorical texts such as Aristotle's Rhetoric, Cicero's De Oratore, and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria, Soarez wrote De Arte Rhetorica as digest of their work as an introduction for students still learning Latin.

Soarez wrote the first draft of the work around 1562; it was revised by fellow Jesuit Peter John Perpinian in about 1565.

The De Arte Rhetorica (1568) was organized in Aristotelian form but borrowed its content heavily from Cicero. Soarez intended the De Arte as an introductory digest that would introduce students to the principles of rhetoric and oratory; though students had learned Latin grammar, he found that they were not guaranteed to have facility reading “Quintilian, Cicero, Virgil, Sallust, and the other authors."^[2]

References

1. ^ The De Arte Rhetorica (1568) by Cyprian Soarez, S.J.: A Translation with Introduction and Notes. Diss. University of Florida, 1955. Ann Arbor: UMI: 2001.
2. ^ Flynn (1956). pp. 368. 

• Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. “Sources and Influence of Soarez’ De Arte Rhetorica.” QJS 43 (1957): 257-65. Print.
• Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. The De Arte Rhetorica (1568) by Cyprian Soarez, S.J.: A Translation with Introduction and Notes. Diss. University of Florida, 1955. Ann Arbor: UMI: 2001. Print.
• Flynn, Lawrence J., S.J. “The De Arte Rhetorica of Cyprian Soarez, S.J.” QJS 42 (1956): 367-74. Print.

Persondata
Name	Soarez, Cypriano De
Alternative names
Short description	Wrote first Jesuit rhetoric textbook
Date of birth	1524
Place of birth
Date of death	1593
Place of death