 Yet there is also, from the point of view of the dramatic context, something peculiar about this approach. Balbus, it is true, is conversing with a group of staunch Romans. But they are also Romans whose philosophical sophistication has been emphasised. Is recounting tales of divine support for the Roman enterprise really the best way to persuade such an audience of the truth of one’s philosophical position? The short answer, of course, is that Cicero’s intended audience is wider and no doubt on average less philosophically sophisticated than the interlocutors at the scene. But there is a bit more going on than this.