In 1576 the Cambridge University praelector in rhetoric, Gabriel Harvey, began his spring series of lectures with an oration which he later published under the title of Ciceronianus. In this speech, he announced his conversion from the superficial Ciceronianism of those who express themselves only in the words and phrases of their master to the more profound Ciceronianism of those who understood the reasoning and expression of his speeches. He advised his audience:

Harvey planned to devote his lectures to a rhetorical and dialectical analysis of Cicero's oration Post reditum in Senatu. The distinctive humanist contribution to rhetorical education was the use of dialectic and rhetoric together to read classical texts. The precepts of rhetoric and dialectic would inform the reader's observation of the practice of Cicero and Virgil; reading Cicero and Virgil would in turn enrich one's understanding of how to use both words and arguments. The classical authors would also provide a rich store of material for use in new compositions.