This book investigates the historical intersection of rhetoric and poetics to challenge the traditional separation of these two disciplines in antiquity. Jeffrey Walker, a scholar of classical rhetoric, utilizes a series of four extended essays to argue that epideictic-poetic eloquence served as a foundational element of the ancient rhetorical tradition. By re-examining primary texts and historical contexts, the author provides a framework that integrates poetic practice into the broader study of civic oratory.

Scholars in the field of classical rhetoric recognize this work as a significant intervention in the historiography of the discipline. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the rigorous nature of the author's historical argumentation.