Abstract
Abstract The Life of Attila, composed by the Hungarian patriot and churchman Miklos [Nicolaus] Oláh (1493-1568), includes several speeches by Attila. His style, the most striking character of these harangues, cannot be described better than as “elevated Ciceronian” whence the title Cicero hunnicus. This article establishes the manner in which the rhetoric of Attila serves as a strategy of rehabilitation through the use of which Oláh defends the image of his hero (and that of the Hungarian people). In conclusion, there is outlined a sketch of how, in the XVIth century, an attempt was made to establish the Hungarian national identity on rhetorical foundations.