Rhetoric’s domain slightly changes from Ancient Athens to Ancient Rome in that the practice of rhetoric as an art began fading away, while the use of rhetoric in politics expanded. In Acient Athens, Sophists often use rhetoric to discuss a topic artistically. They persuaded their audience by using their imagination and skill to paint new ideas in the minds of their listeners. In some cases, the audience was politicians. Many rhetoricians in Ancient Athens sought to persuade the actions of politicians with rhetoric. However, rhetoric was not as significant to politics in Ancient Athens as it was in Ancient Rome.

Rhetoric in Ancient Rome differed from that of Ancient Athens in that some emporers, such as Galba, were greatly concerned with the thoughts of rhetoricians. As rhetoric gained presence in the political sphere of Ancient Rome its artistic characteristics faded. Emporers and other politicians sought to educate the youth of Ancient Rome, however, they did not combine rhetorical education with artistic practices as the Early Sophists did in Ancient Greece. Thus, rhetorics domain expanded towards politics and contracted away from art.