M. Fabi Quintiliani institutionis oratoriae liber decimus
ii. 5, 14 hoc diligentiae genus ausim dicere plus collaturum discentibus
quam omnes omnium artes. Pr. §26 nihil praecepta atque artes valere nisi adiuvante natura: cp. §47 below litium et consiliorum artes: §49 qui de artibus scripserunt. This use is derived from that in which _ars_ stands generally for ‘system’ or ‘theory’: ii. 14, 5 ars erit quae disciplina percipi debet (cp. Cic. de Or. ii. §30 ars earum rerum est quae sciuntur): and below 7 §12 hic usus ita proderit si ea de qua locuti sumus ars antecesserit. Elsewhere in Quint. it is frequently used for a technical treatise: ii. 13, 1 a plerisque scriptoribus artium: 15 §4 si re vera ars quae circumfertur eius (Isocratis) est: cp. Iuv. 7, 177 artem scindes Theodori. This last use is found also in Cicero: Brutus §46 ait Aristoteles ... artem et praecepta Siculos Coracem et Tisiam conscripsisse: de Fin. iii. §4 ipsae rhetorum artes: iv. §5 non solum praecepta in artibus sed etiam exempla in orationibus bene dicendi reliquerunt: _ib._ §7 quamquam scripsit artem rhetoricam Cleanthes: de Invent. i. §8: ii. §7.—_Traduntur_ = docentur, just as accipere = discere: cf. i. 3, 3 quae tradentur non difficulter accipiet: ii. 9, 3: iii. 6, 59.
sine demonstrante: ‘without a guide’ or teacher. For this use of the participle, cp. i. 2, 12 lectio quoque non omnis nec semper praeeuntevel interpretante eget.
iam heightens the contrast between the two stages—pupilage and independent study. There is therefore no need for Hild’s conjecture _viam_.
ostendit ‘gives a practical demonstration of.’ We are not merely to learn the rules (artes) from the _doctor_, but to observe 24 how they are applied by the best writers and speakers.
I:16 Alia vero audientes, alia legentes magis adiuvant. Excitat qui dicit spiritu ipso, nec imagine et ambitu rerum, sed rebus incendit. Vivunt omnia enim et moventur, excipimusque nova illa velut nascentia cum favore ac sollicitudine. Nec fortuna modo iudicii, sed etiam ipsorum qui orant periculo adficimur.
§ 16. alia does not refer to some particular kinds of speeches, as Watson translates. Literally, it is ‘some things do more good when one hears them, others when one reads them’: but _alia_ and _adiuvant_ run into each other, as it were, and the meaning is ‘some benefits are derived from hearing, others from reading,’ i.e. they have each their special points. In the passive it would stand ‘aliter audientes adiuvantur aliter legentes.’
spiritu ipso: the ‘living breath’ (vivunt omnia et moventur), as opposed to the dead letter: the sound of the voice (viva vox) instead of the ‘cold medium of written symbols’ (Frieze), ii. 2, 8 viva illa, ut dicitur, vox alit plenius (sc. quam exempla). Plin. Ep. ii. 3, 9 multo magis, ut vulgo dicitur, viva vox adficit. nam liceat acriora sint quae legas, altius tamen in animo sedent quae pronuntiatio vultus habitus gestus etiam dicentis adfigit. Cic. Orat. §130 carent libri spiritu illo propter quem maiora eadem illa cum aguntur quam cum leguntur videri solent, where Sandys quotes Isocr. Phil. §26. So Dion. Hal. de Dem. 54 (p. 112 R) of the speeches of Demosthenes when ill delivered, τὸ κάλλιστον αὐτῆς (sc. τῆς λέξεως) ἀπολεῖται, τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ οὐδὲν διοίσει σώματος καλοῦ μὲν ἀκινήτου δὲ καὶ νεκροῦ.
ambitu rerum. This phrase has been variously explained. Wolff thought that it was equivalent to ‘rerum circumscriptio quam prima lineamenta ducentes faciunt pictores’; and following him many render by ‘bare outline,’ ‘rough draft or sketch,’ ‘outline drawing,’ without however citing any apposite parallel. Others say it = ‘ambitiosa rerum expositione’: cp. iv. 1, 18 hic ambitus ... pronuntiandi faciendique iniuste: xii. 10, 3 proprio quodam intellegendi ambitu (‘affectation of superior judgment’): Declam. IV, sub fin., novo mihi inauditoque opus est ambitu rerum: ib. I pr. si iuvenis innocentissimus iudices uti vellet ambitu tristissimae calamitatis. Schöll sees no difficulty if the phrase is taken in the same sense as ‘ambitus parietis,’ ‘ambitus aedificiorum.’ If _ambitus_ is not a gloss, may the meaning not be that the speaker goes straight to the heart of his subject instead of ‘beating about the bush,’ like the more leisurely writer? See Crit. Notes.
vivunt omnia enim: ‘all is life and movement.’ For the position of _enim_ cp. non semper enim §14. In Lucr. _enim_ often comes third in the sentence, and even later. Mayor cites Cic. ad Att. xiv. 6 §1 odiosa illa enim fuerant: Hor. Sat. ii. 7, 105.
nova illa velut nascentia: the ‘new births’ of his imagination—of the _spoken_ word which has more of the impromptu element about it than the written. 3 §7 omnia enim nostra dum nascuntur placent. For this use of _ille_ cp. §17 ille laudantium clamor: §47: 3 §6 calor quoque ille cogitationis: 3 §§18, 22, 31: 5 §§4, 12: ii 10, 7 tremor ille inanis.
fortuna iudicii: Cic. Or. §98 ancipites dicendi incertosque casus: de Orat. i. §120 dicendi difficultatem variosque eventus orationis: pro Marcello §15 incertus exitus et anceps fortuna belli. This is of the issue of the trial in itself: _ipsorum qui orant periculo_ is used of the issue as it affects the advocate, who will have all the credit or discredit of success or failure. For the strain which this involved cp. Plin. Ep. iv. 19 §3.—For the absolute use of _orare_ cp. §76: 5 §6. Plin. Ep. vii. 9, 7 studium orandi: cp. Tac. Hist. i. 90. Tac. Dial. §6 illa secretiora et tantum ipsis orantibus nota maiora sunt.
I:17 Praeter haec vox, actio decora, accommodata, ut quisque locus 25 postulabit, pronuntiandi (vel potentissima in dicendo) ratio et, ut semel dicam, pariter omnia docent. In lectione certius iudicium, quod audienti frequenter aut suus cuique favor aut ille laudantium clamor extorquet.
§ 17. vox, actio ... pronuntiandi ratio. Here _actio_ takes the place of _gestus_ in 7 §9, with the same meaning (the management of the person in speaking): adhibita vocis pronuntiationis gestus observatione. In a wider sense (§19) it is used of ‘delivery’ generally (ὑπόκρισις), occurring more commonly in this sense in previous writers than _pronuntiatio_, which Quintilian 25 gives as an alternative term in iii. 3, 1: cp. xi. 3, 1 pronuntiatio a plerisque actio dicitur, sed prius nomen a voce, sequens a gestu videtur accipere. Namque actionem Cicero alias (de Or. iii. §222) quasi sermonem, alias (Or. §55) eloquentiam quandam corporis dicit. Idem tamen duas eius partes facit quae sunt eaedem pronuntiationis, vocem atque motum: quapropter utraque appellatione indifferenter uti licet. In xi. 3, 14 he goes on to divide _actio_ into _vox_ and _gestus_: cp. Dion. Hal. de Dem. 53, where ὑπόκρισις is divided into τὰ πάθη τὰ τῆς φωνῆς and τὰ σχήματα τοῦ σώματος: Cic. Brut. §§141, 239.—_Pronuntiandi ... ratio_. As voice and gesture (together making up _actio_ or _pronuntiatio_ in the wide sense) have now been mentioned, it is tempting to take this third item in the narrower meaning of ‘articulation,’ in which it occurs 7 §22 tardior pronuntiatio: cp. dilucida pronuntiatio xi. 3, 33: citata ... pressa ib. §111. But the prominence given to it (see on _vel potentissima_ below) seems to make it necessary to understand _pronunt. ratio_ in the widest sense of _pronuntiatio_ (as probably §119), including voice, gesture, and other kindred elements; cp. ad Herenn. §3 pronuntiatio est vocis vultus gestus moderatio cum venustate: Cic. de Inv. §7 pronuntiatio est vocis et corporis moderatio. For _accommodata ut_ see Crit. Notes.
vel potentissima: §15 potentiora. For the supreme importance of ‘delivery’ cp. the well-known story of Demosthenes xi. 3, 6 Demosth. quid esset in toto dicendi opere primum interrogatus, pronuntiationi palmam dedit eidemque secundum ac tertium locum, donec ab eo quaeri desineret, ut eam videri posset non praecipuam sed solam iudicasse. Cp. Cic. Brut. §142: de Or. iii. §213: Or. §56. Cicero’s use of _actio_ for _pronuntiatio_ in these passages is probably the origin of the misunderstanding of this anecdote that shows itself, e.g. in Bacon’s Essay ‘Of Boldnesse.’ _Actio_ is far wider than our English word: for its scope and importance cp. de Orat. i. §18 (Actio) quae motu corporis, quae gestu, quae voltu, quae vocis conformatione ac varietate moderanda est: quae sola per se ipsa quanta sit, &c.
semel: ‘once for all’ 3 §22, and often; Cic. de Off. iii. §62 ut sibi ... semel indicaretur.
frequenter, as often in this sense in Quint. The lexx. give no example from Cicero, but cp. de Nat. Deor. i. 21, 59 Zenonem cum Athenis essem audiebam frequenter: de Fin. i. 5, 16 eos cum Attico nostro frequenter audivi: ii. 4, 12 hoc frequenter dici solet a vobis: v. 3, 8 qui fratrem eius Aristum frequenter audieris: Tusc. Disp. ii. 3, 9 Philo quem nos frequenter audivimus: Or. §221 non modo non frequenter verum etiam raro (Wilkins on de Or. ii. §155, 2nd ed.). Cp. Sandys’ note on Or. §81, where Dr. Reid adds ‘This sense is by no means as uncommon as it is usually thought to be. There are a good many exx. in the Letters.’ So Plin. Ep. i. 1, 1: ix. 23, 1.
suus cuique favor: ‘one’s preference for a particular speaker.’ Instead of the dat., we have ‘est naturalis favor pro laborantibus’ iv. 1, 9: Tacitus uses _in_ and _erga_ c. acc. (Hist. i. 53: Germ. 33.)
ille laudantium clamor. _Ille_ again (§16) to denote something notorious: ἐκεῖνος. Ancient audiences were highly appreciative: Isocrates (Panath. §2) speaks of the antitheses, the symmetrical clauses, and other figures which lend brilliancy to oratorical displays, compelling the listeners to give clamorous applause (ἐπισημαίνεσθαι καὶ θορυβεῖν). Cp. xi. 3, 126 conveniet etiam ambulatio quaedam propter immodicas laudationum moras: §131: and see on §18 below. The references in Cicero are numerous: Brut. §§164, 326: de Or. i. §152 haec sunt quae clamores et admirationes in bonis oratoribus efficiunt: ad Att. i. 14, 4 Quid multa? clamores: Or. §§214, 168. Tac. Dial. 39 oratori autem clamore plausuque opus est et velut quodam theatro, with which Andresen compares Brut. §191 poema enim reconditum paucorum approbationem, oratio popularis assensum vulgi debet movere. Plin. Ep. ii. 10, 7: iv. 5, 1: ix. 13, 18.
extorquet: iv. 5, 6 cognoscenti iudicium conamur auferre. For the figure Mayor cps. de Orat. ii. §74 numquam 26 sententias de manibus iudicum vi quadam orationis extorsimus.
I:18 Pudet enim dissentire, et velut 26 tacita quadam verecundia inhibemur plus nobis credere, cum interim et vitiosa pluribus placent, et a conrogatis laudantur etiam quae non placent.
§ 18. pudet dissentire: of Cicero §111 in omnibus quae dicit tanta auctoritas inest ut dissentire pudeat.
velut tacita quadam verecundia. _Tacitus_ is used frequently of ‘unexpressed’ thought or feeling: Cic. pro Balb. §2 opinio tacita vestrorum animorum: Cluent. §63 tacita vestra expectatio. Cp. Or. §203 (versuum) modum notat ars, sed aures ipsae tacito eum sensu sine arte definiunt, where Sandys renders ‘by an unconscious intuition’: de Or. iii. §195 magna quaedam est vis incredibilisque naturae; omnes enim tacito quodam sensu sine ulla arte aut ratione quae sint in artibus ac rationibus recta ac prava diiudicant. On these passages Nägelsbach relies to prove that _tacitus sensus_ (not inscius, insciens, nescius, imprudens, &c.) is the right equivalent for ‘the unconscious’—‘das Gefühl, das durch die Sprache nicht zum Ausdruck, mithin nicht zum Bewusstsein gekommen ist, also gleichsam stillschweigend in der Seele ruht.’ The correct Latin for Hartmann’s ‘philosophy of the unconscious’ is therefore ‘Hartmanni quae est de tacito sensu (hominum) philosophia.’ In proof of this the passage in the text is cited (p. 312) and translated ‘durch unbewusste Scheu,’ ‘owing to a sort of unconscious shyness’: cp. vi. 3, 17 urbanitas qua quidem significari video sumptam ex conversatione doctorum tacitam eruditionem, ‘unconsciously acquired’: xi. 2, 17 cum in loca aliqua post tempus reversi sumus quae in his fecerimus reminiscimur personaeque subeunt, nonnunquam tacitae quoque cogitationes in mentem revertuntur, ‘unausgesprochene, im Bewusstsein zurückgedrängte, unbewusst gewordene Gedanken.’
inhibemur ... credere. Cic. pro Rab. Post. §24 cum stultitia sua impeditus sit, quoquo modo possit se expedire. In classical Latin the infinitive is common enough after such verbs in the passive, and an object clause is often met with after _prohibere_ even in the active: after _impedire_ Cicero uses the infinitive only when there is a neuter subject: e.g. de Or. i. §163 me impedit pudor haec exquirere: de Off. ii. 2, 8: de Nat. Deor. i. §87.—For Quintilian’s preference for the infin. cp. §72 meruit credi: §96 legi dignus: §97 esse docti affectant: 2 §7 contentum esse id consequi: 5 §5 qui vertere orationes Latinas vetant. See Introd. pp. lv, lvi.
cum interim: with indic. as §111 below. This is the more common construction in Quintilian: Roby, 1733. Cp. i. 12, 3: ii. 12, 2: xii. 10, 67. So _cum interea_: Cic. Cluent. §82. The subj. occurs iv. 2, 57. Bonnell-Meister strangely say it = quin etiam here and §111. Translate ‘though all the time’ the taste of the majority is wrong, while the claqueurs will applaud anything. Cp. Crit. Notes.
vitiosa pluribus placent: i. 6, 44 unde enim tantum boni ut pluribus quae recta sunt placeant.
a conrogatis. The reference is to the _claqueurs_ who were often brought together for a fee to applaud the speakers in the courts: iv. 2, 37 ad clamorem dispositae vel etiam forte circumfusae multitudinis compositi: Plin. Ep. ii. 14, 4 sequuntur auditores actoribus similes, conducti et redempti: manceps convenitur: in media basilica tam palam sportulae quam in triclinio dantur ... heri duo nomenclatores mei ... ternis denariis ad laudandum trahebantur. tanti constat ut sis disertissimus. hoc pretio quamlibet numerosa subsellia implentur, hoc ingens corona colligitur, hoc infiniti clamores commoventur, cum μεσόχορος dedit signum. opus est enim signo apud non intellegentes, ne audientes quidem: nam plerique non audiunt, nec ulli magis laudant.... scito eum pessime dicere qui laudabitur maxime. primus hunc audiendi morem induxit Largus Licinus, hactenus tamen ut auditores corrogaret: ita certe ex Quintiliano, praeceptore meo, audisse memini. Cp. Iuv. vii. 44 with Mayor’s note.
I:19 Sed e contrario quoque accidit ut optime dictis gratiam prava iudicia non referant. Lectio libera 27 est nec actionis impetu transcurrit, sed repetere saepius licet, sive dubites sive memoriae penitus adfigere velis. Repetamus autem et tractemus et, ut cibos mansos ac prope liquefactos demittimus, quo facilius digerantur, ita lectio non cruda, sed multa iteratione mollita et velut confecta memoriae imitationique tradatur.
§ 19. gratiam ... non referunt: ‘a depraved taste will fail to give proper recognition to what is more than well spoken.’ For _prava iud._ cp. §125 severiora iudicia: so ii. 5, 10 iudiciorum pravitate: and §72 below, e contrario: see on _ex proximo_ §16, and cp. Crit. Notes.
27 nec actionis impetu transcurrit: ‘does not hurry past us with the rapid swoop of oral delivery.’ For the active use see 5 §8 non enim scripta lectione secura transcurrimus sed tractamus singula, which gives the same antithesis as there is between this sentence and the next. For the abl. cp. _diversitate_ 5 §10. See Crit. Notes.
sive ... sive: the subj. of the 2nd person represents the French _on_ or Germ. _man_ with the 3rd person. Cp. ix. 2, 69 ideoque a quibusdam tota res repudiatur, sive intellegatur sive non intellegatur.
repetamus et tractemus: subj. of command ‘we must go back on what we have read and revise (think over) it thoroughly.’ Cp. the antithesis in 5 §8 quoted above. Cic. Or. §118 habeat omnes philosophiae notos ac tractatos locos. See Crit. Notes.
cibos. Note the parallelism between _mansos_, _liquefactos_, and _demittimus_ on the one hand, and _mollita_, _confecta_, _tradatur_ on the other.—For _mansos_ cp. de Or. ii. §162: qui omnes tenuissimas particulas atque omnia minima mansa ut nutrices infantibus pueris in os inserant. The word _mandere_ (Eng. mange, manger) means originally ‘moisten,’ from root mand-, cp. mad-, madeo. Quint. xi. 2, 41 taedium illud et scripta et lecta saepius revolvendi et quasi eundem cibum remandendi.
digerantur, late Latin for _concoquantur_, xi. 2, 35 digestum cibum. Introd. p. 1.
lectio = ‘what we read.’
mollita. Herbst and Mayor cite Ov. Met. i. 228 atque ita semineces partim ferventibus artus Mollit aquis; and for _confecta_ (‘chewed,’ ‘masticated’) Columella vi. 2 §14 (of oxen) multi cibi edaces verum in eo conficiendo lenti: nam hi melius concoquunt ... qui ex commodo quam qui festinanter mandunt: Pliny, N. H. xi. §160 (of the teeth) qui digerunt cibum (the incisors) lati et acuti, qui conficiunt (the grinders) duplices. Cp. Cic. N. D. ii. §134: Livy ii. 32, 10. Elsewhere it is used of the action of the stomach on food: Cic. N. D. ii. §137: Pliny N. H. xi. §180: viii. §72.
memoriae imitationique, ‘to the memory for (subsequent) imitation.’
I:20 Ac diu non nisi optimus quisque et qui credentem sibi minime fallat legendus est, sed diligenter ac paene ad scribendi sollicitudinem, nec per partes modo scrutanda omnia, sed perlectus 28 liber utique ex integro resumendus, praecipueque oratio, cuius virtutes frequenter ex industria quoque occultantur.
§ 20. non nisi is here practically an adverb (tantum), modifying only one term of the proposition instead of, as in Ciceronian Latin, belonging to different clauses, or at least different parts of the same clause. In the latter case it is almost always separated, the _non_ preceding or following the _nisi_: 3 §30 nisi in solitudine reperire non possumus: 5 §5: 7 §1. For the text cp. 3 §29 non nisi refecti, and Ovid, Tr. iii. 12, 36.
fallat, i.e. as a model of style. For the construction cp. tenuia et quae minimum ab usu cotidiano recedant: §§78, 118, 119.
sed does not bear an adversative meaning, but is equivalent to _et quidem_, _immo vero_, ‘nay more.’ See Mayor on Iuv. iv. 27 and v. 147. Holden on de Off. i. §33 quotes ad Att. v. 21 §6 Q. Volusium, certum hominem, sed mirifice etiam abstinentem, misi in Cyprum: ad Fam. xiii. §64 apud ipsum praeclarissime posueris sed mihi etiam gratissimum feceris.
ad (i.e. usque ad) scribendi sollicitudinem, i.e. as thoroughly and as slowly. Cic. pro Mil. §80 prope ad immortalitatis et religionem et memoriam consecrantur: ‘bis zur Verehrung der Unsterblichkeit’ (Hand), i.e. ‘so much venerated as almost to obtain the religious worship and commemoration proper to an immortal state of being’ (Purton). For _scrib. soll._ (of the careful deliberation one gives to writing) cp. scribentium curam 3 §20: Plin. Ep. ii. 5 §2 his tu rogo intentionem scribentis accommodes.
28 utique, ‘by all means.’ In §57 we have nec utique = nullo modo: without the negative it = omni modo, ‘anyhow,’ ‘under any circumstances,’ ‘happen what may.’ (Cp. Cic. ad Att. xii. 8: xiii. 48, 2.) The difference may be seen in the following from Seneca (Ep. 85 §31) Sapienti propositum est in vita agenda non utique quod temptat efficere, sed omnino recte facere: gubernatori propositum est utique navem in portum perducere. It frequently occurs with the gerundive, as here: cp. §§24, 103: 2 §10: 5 §12: 7 §§14, 19, 30. For _non utique_ (‘not of course,’ ‘not necessarily’) cp. xii. 2, 18.
ex integro occurs four times in Quint., here and at 3 §§6, 18: xi. 3, 156. In such adverbial expressions _de_ or _ab_ was formerly more common: but cp. _ex improviso_ Cic. Verr. i. 112. Quintilian has _de integro_ only once, ii. 4, 13: cp. ix. 3, 37.
praecipue for _praesertim_: cp. §89: and with _cum_ ix. 2, 85: Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 261.
ex industria (§125: 5 §9) occurs Plaut. Poen. i. 2, 9: Livy i. 56, 8. Quintilian has _de industria_ ix. 4, 144.
quoque: as often in Quint. for _etiam_. Cp. on §125: Introd. p. liv.
I:21 Saepe enim praeparat, dissimulat, insidiatur orator, eaque in prima parte actionis dicit quae sunt in summa profutura. Itaque suo loco minus placent, adhuc nobis quare dicta sint ignorantibus; ideoque erunt cognitis omnibus repetenda.
§ 21. saepe enim: cp. xii. 9, 4.
praeparat: cp. iv. 2, 55 hoc faciunt et illae praeparationes, cum reus dicitur robustus, armatus, sollicitus contra infirmos, inermes, securos: ix. 2, 17.
actionis as below §22: 5 §20. Cp. Prima actio in Verrem, &c.
in summa: i.e. will not tell till the end is reached. Cp. iv. 2, 112 cur quod in summa parte sum actionis petiturus, non in primo statim rerum ingressu, si fieri potest, consequar? For summus = extremus, cp. §97 summa in excolendis operibus manus: see Introd. p. xlvi.
suo loco, ‘where they occur,’ not as 5 §23. To appreciate such points thoroughly, we must know their bearing on the whole argument.
ideoque very common in Quint. for _itaque_: §§27, 31, 102: 2 §§17, 26: 3 §§16, 25, 28, 33: 5 §§5, 16: 6 §§3, 5: 7 §15. So Tac. Dial. 31 ad fin.: Germ. 26.
repetenda as §19.
I:22 Illud vero utilissimum, nosse eas causas quarum orationes in manus sumpserimus, et, quotiens continget, utrimque habitas legere actiones: ut Demosthenis et Aeschinis inter se contrarias, et Servi Sulpici atque Messallae, quorum alter pro Aufidia, contra dixit alter, et Pollionis et Cassi reo Asprenate aliasque plurimas.
§ 22. illud, like ἐκεῖνο to introduce what follows: §67: 2 §7: 5 §11: 7 §32.
causas quarum orationes: Cic. de Senect. §38 causarum illustrium quascunque defendi nunc cum maxime conficio orationes.
utrimque, §131: 5 §20.
Demosthenis et Aeschinis. The reference is to the _De Corona_ of Demosthenes and Aeschines _Contra Ctesiphontem_,—both translated by Cicero (Opt. Gen. Or. §14): also to the _De Falsa Legatione_ and Aeschines _Contra Timarchum_.
Servi Sulpici: see on §116.
Messallae: see on §113.
pro Aufidia. From iv. 2, 106 it would appear that Messalla was prosecutor in this case: but in vi. 1, 20 that rôle is assigned to Sulpicius. Schöll has proposed to alter the text of the latter passage as follows: ut Servium Sulpicium Messalla contra Aufidiam ne signatorum, ne ipsius discrimen obiciat sibi praemonet. It is probable that the case concerned an inheritance.
Pollionis: see on §113.
Cassi: see on §116.
reo Asprenate. C. Nonius Asprenas, a friend of Augustus, was prosecuted by Cassius for poisoning, and was defended by Pollio, Suet. Aug. 56. In xi. 1, 57 Quint. urges that an accuser should always 29 appear reluctant to press the charge, and adds ‘ideoque mihi illud Cassi Severi non mediocriter displicet: di boni, vivo, et, quo me vivere iuvet, Asprenatem reum video.’ Pliny (N. H. 35, 46) tells us that 130 guests were poisoned.
I:23 Quin 29 etiam si minus pares videbuntur aliquae, tamen ad cognoscendam litium quaestionem recte requirentur, ut contra Ciceronis orationes Tuberonis in Ligarium et Hortensi pro Verre. Quin etiam easdem causas ut quisque _egerit utile_ erit scire. Nam de domo Ciceronis dixit Calidius et pro Milone orationem Brutus exercitationis gratia scripsit, etiamsi egisse eum Cornelius Celsus falso existimat, et Pollio et Messalla defenderunt eosdem, et nobis pueris insignes pro Voluseno Catulo Domiti Afri, Crispi Passieni, Decimi Laeli orationes ferebantur.
§ 23. quin etiam: see Crit. Notes.
minus pares, i.e. in point of rhetorical worth. For _si ... aliquae_ cp. 2 §23: 6 §5.
recte requirentur, i.e. ‘it will be well to get them up.’
Ciceronis orationes: ‘pro Ligario,’ and ‘in Verrem.’ The former was impeached by Q. Tubero (B.C. 46) in respect of having sided with the Pompeians in Africa. ‘Cicero defended him successfully before Caesar in the forum (Plut. Cic. 39); the speech was greatly admired at the time (ad Att. xiii. 12 §2: 19 §2: 20 §2: 44 §3) and since, for, short as it is, it is often cited by Quint. and the other rhet. lat.’ (Mayor).
Hortensi pro Verre, B.C. 70. Nothing of Hortensius remains, so that posterity has not had the opportunity which Cicero hoped it would enjoy: dicendi autem genus quod fuerit in utroque orationes utriusque etiam posteris nostris indicabunt (Brut. §324). Quint. does not mention him among the Roman orators, §§105-122. His oratory depended greatly for its effect on his graceful delivery, and he was not to be judged by his written speeches: Cic. Or. §132 dicebat melius quam scripsit Hortensius: he ‘spoke better, i.q. was accustomed to speak better than he has written,—than he shows himself in his written speeches which are still extant’ (Sandys): cp. Quint. xi. 3, 8 where he extols his effective delivery and goes on ‘cuius rei fides est quod eius scripta tantum intra famam sunt, qua diu princeps oratorum aliquando aemulus Ciceronis existimatus est, novissime, quoad vixit, secundus, ut appareat placuisse aliquid eo dicente quod legentes non invenimus.’—For other references to the case of Verres, see vi. 3, 98: 5, 4.
utile erit scire: see Crit. Notes.
de domo Ciceronis. Cicero’s house was destroyed at the instigation of Clodius, after his banishment in B.C. 58. On his return he delivered his speech pro Domo Sua before the Pontiffs, and the senate decreed that his house should be restored at the public cost.
dixit Calidius. His speech must have been something more than a mere rhetorical exercise, as some have supposed: it probably argued the question before a tribunal in a different form. For Calidius see Brut. §274 non fuit orator unus e multis, potius inter multos prope singularis fuit, &c. Cp. xi. 3, 123 and 155: xii. 10, 11 subtilitatem Calidii (‘finished elegance’): ib. §37. He was born B.C. 97; was praetor 57; and died 47.
Brutus, M. Iunius (B.C. 85-42) justified in this speech the murder of Clodius, not (as Cicero had done) by the statement that Clodius had plotted Milo’s death, but on the ground that he was a bad citizen and deserved to die: iii. 6, 93. Other references are §123 and 5 §20.
egisse: to have actually delivered it: opposed to _scripsit_.
Cornelius Celsus: see on §124.
et Pollio et Messalla. The first _et_ is not correlative to the second, but adds to the _et pro Milone_ clause a third example, as the _et_ before _nobis pueris_ does a fourth. Spalding thought that et ... et was here = tam ... quam.
defenderunt eosdem: e.g. Liburnia ix. 2, 34.
nobis pueris: an autobiographical reminiscence. Cp. i. 7, 27: vi. 3, 57: viii. 3, 22-3: ib. 1, 31: x. 1, 86: viii. 3, 76: 5, 21: i. 5, 24: v. 6, 6.
Voluseno Catulo: not mentioned elsewhere.
Domiti Afri: see on §§86, 118. Of 30 his orations, those on behalf of Volusenus and Cloatilla seem to have been the most celebrated: cp. viii. 5, 16: ix. 2, 20: 3, 66. For his work on Testimony, see v. 7, 7: and for his ‘libri urbane dictorum’ vi. 3, 42.
Crispi Passieni. He was the stepfather of Nero, according to Suetonius (Nero, 6), and died A.D. 49. In vi. 1, 50 we have a reference to a speech of his on behalf of his wife Domitia. Seneca, Nat. Quaest. iv. pr. §6 says of him ‘quo ego nil novi subtilius in omnibus rebus, maxime in distinguendis et curandis vitiis.’ In speaking of Caligula’s obsequiousness under Tiberius, Tacitus (Ann. vi. 20) says ‘unde mox scitum Passieni oratoris dictum percrebruit neque meliorem umquam servum neque deteriorem dominum fuisse.’ His father’s oratory is highly praised by M. Seneca, who ranks him after Pollio and Corvinus (Contr. 13, 17: Exc. Contr. 3 pr. 10, 14), and appears also to mention the grandfather (Contr. 10 pr. 11). Seneca the philosopher refers to the hereditary eloquence of the family in the epigram he addresses to Crispus: Maxima facundo vel avo vel gloria patri (vi. 9). Pliny, Ep. vii. 6, 11.
Decimi Laeli: probably the same as the Laelius Balbus who undertook an impeachment under Tiberius: Tac. Ann. vi. 47. In the next chapter we are told that the punishment which overtook him (deportation and loss of senatorian rank) was a source of satisfaction ‘quia Balbus truci eloquentia habebatur, promptus adversum insontes.’
ferebantur: ‘were in circulation,’ ‘were talked of’; cp. §129: 7 §30: vii. 224: i. pr. §7. Cic. Brut. §27 ante Periclem cuius scripta quaedam feruntur: Suet. Iul. 20: Tac. Dial. 10 ad fin.
30
I:24 Neque id statim legenti persuasum sit, omnia quae optimi auctores dixerint utique esse perfecta. Nam et labuntur aliquando et oneri cedunt et indulgent ingeniorum suorum voluptati, nec semper intendunt animum; nonnumquam fatigantur, cum Ciceroni dormitare interim Demosthenes, Horatio vero 31 etiam Homerus ipse videatur.
§ 24. Neque id statim introduces a second precept, the first having been given in §20. He passes here from orators to writers in general.
id of what follows (omnia ... esse perfecta): as §§37, 112: 2 §21. So _illud_ §22.
auctores = scriptores. In the Ciceronian age _auctor_ carried with it some idea of ‘authority,’ ‘warranty’ or the like: Cic. pro Mur. §30 and Tusc. iv. §3: cp. §§37, 40, 48, 66, 72, 74, 85, 93, 124: 2 §§1, 15: 5 §§3, 8. Prof. Nettleship (Lat. Lex.) thinks that it is never quite synonymous with _scriptor_, even in Quintilian, and would render by ‘master’: just as in Cic. Att. xii. 18, 1 quos nunc lectito auctores: Suet. Aug. 89 in evolvendis utriusque linguae auctoribus peritus: Sen. Ep. ii. 2 lectio auctorum multorum et omnis generis voluminum: Tranq. 9, 4 paucis te auctoribus tradere: Iuv. vii. 231 ut legat historias, auctores noverit omnes.
utique: see on §20. It is often used in stating a consequence: v. 10, 57 quod iustitia est utique virtus est, quod non est iustitia potest esse virtus: ib. §73 si continentia virtus utique et abstinentia. Bonn. Lex. p. 930.
labuntur: §94: 2 §15 nam in magnis quoque auctoribus incidunt aliqua vitiosa.
oneri cedunt: contrast §123 suffecit ponderi rerum.
indulgent ... voluptati: cp. §98: and nimium amator ingenii sui (of Ovid) §88.
intendunt animum: Sall. Cat. 51, 3 ubi intenderis ingenium valet (sc. animus).
dormitare: xii. 1, 22 quamquam neque ipsi Ciceroni Demosthenes videatur satis esse perfectus, quem dormitare interim dicit. Cic. Or. §104 ut usque eo difficiles ac morosi simus ut nobis non satisfaciat ipse Demosthenes. It was in a letter that Cicero made use of the expression here cited: Plut. Cic. 24 καίτοι τινὲς τῶν προσποιουμένων δημοσθενίζειν ἐπιφύονται φωνῇ τοῦ Κικέρωνος, ἣν πρός τινα τῶν ἑταίρων ἔθηκεν ἐν ἐπιστολῇ γράψας, ἐνιαχοῦ τῶν λόγων ὑπονυστάζειν τὸν Δημοσθένη.
interim: see on §9. Quint. here uses _aliquando_, _nec semper_, _nonnumquam_, and _interim_ alongside of each other: cp. iv. 5, 20.
Horatio: A. P. 359 et idem indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus. Homer was not above the criticism of the Greek grammarians and philosophers, who delighted to discover faults and inconsistencies 31 in his poems: hence Zoilus was known as Ὁμηρομάστιξ. The fragments of Horace’s predecessor Lucilius also contain some criticisms of Homer: e.g. Sat. ix. 12 (Gerlach) Quapropter dico nemo qui culpat Homerum Perpetuo culpat, &c., and xv. where he satirizes the story of Polyphemus.
etiam ... ipse: see on §15.
I:25 Summi enim sunt, homines tamen, acciditque his qui, quidquid apud illos reppererunt, dicendi legem putant, ut deteriora imitentur (id enim est facilius) ac se abunde similes putent si vitia magnorum consequantur.
§ 25. homines. Cp. Petronius 75 nemo nostrum non peccat: homines sumus non dei: ib. 130 fateor me, domina, saepe peccasse; nam et homo sum et adhuc iuvenis.
deteriora: cp. §127 sq. (of the imitation of Seneca’s faults): 2 §§15, 16.
facilius: Iuv. xiv. 40 quoniam dociles imitandis turpibus ac pravis omnes sumus. So Hor. Ep. i. 19, 17 decipit exemplar vitiis imitabile.
abunde, often used to heighten the force of adjs. and advbs. Cp. xi. 1, 36 abunde disertus: xii. 11, 19 abunde satis: Hor. Sat. i. 2, 59: Sall. Iug. 14: Liv. viii. 29. See on §94: and cp. §104.
vitia magnorum: cp. de Or. ii. §90 non ut multos imitatores saepe cognovi, qui aut ea quae facilia sunt aut etiam illa quae insignia ac paene vitiosa consectantur imitando—in eo ipso quem delegerat imitari etiam vitia voluit.
I:26 Modesto tamen et circumspecto iudicio de tantis viris pronuntiandum est, ne, quod plerisque accidit, damnent quae non intellegunt. Ac si necesse est in alteram errare partem, omnia eorum legentibus placere quam multa displicere maluerim.
§ 26. circumspecto. So verba non circumspecta Ov. Fast. v. 539: also in Sueton., Colum., Seneca, and Val. Max. Cp. v. 7, 31: xii. 10, 23.
plerisque: see Introd. p. xlvi.
damnent. Strabo vii. 3, p. 300, in speaking of Callimachus, who censured Homer, περὶ ὧν ἀγνοοῦσιν αὐτοί, περὶ τούτων τῷ ποιητῇ προφέρουσι.
ac si: 2 §8. It almost = quod si: both relate to what has gone before.
alteram = alterutram: ‘on one side or on the other.’ Cp. ii. 6, 2: v. 10, 69 ex duobus quorum necesse est alterum verum (esse): i. 4, 24: ix. 3, 6. So also in Cicero: e.g. ad Att. xi. 18, 1: Acad. ii. 43. 132.
maluerim: see on _fuerit_ §37.
I:27 Plurimum dicit oratori conferre Theophrastus lectionem poetarum multique eius iudicium sequuntur, neque immerito. Namque ab his in rebus spiritus et in verbis sublimitas et in 32 adfectibus motus omnis et in personis decor petitur, praecipueque velut attrita cotidiano actu forensi ingenia optime rerum talium blanditia reparantur; ideoque in hac lectione Cicero requiescendum putat.
§ 27. conferre with dat. §§63, 71, 95. Cp. on §1.
Theoparastus: probably in his lost work περὶ λέξεως, or some other of the ten treatises on Rhetoric which are ascribed to him by Diogenes Laertius (v. 46-50). See on §83.
neque immerito: ‘and not without reason,’—an elliptical expression (referring to both _dicit_ and _sequuntur_) used to introduce the proof of a foregoing statement. So §79 nec immerito, and ii. 8, 1: neque immerito vii. 7, 1: et merito vi. 1, 4. Cicero often has neque iniuria, nam, &c., e.g. de Or. i. §150: and even after _est_ pro Sext. Rosc. §116 in rebus minoribus socium fallere turpissimum est: neque iniuria.
ab his ... petitur: ‘it is to the poets that we must go for,’ &c.
rebus. See on §4.
spiritus: §§44, 61, 104: 3 §22: 5 §4: ‘inspiration.’ So often in Horace: Od. iv. 6, 29 spiritum Phoebus mihi ... dedit poetae: Sat. i. 4, 46 quod acer spiritus ac vis Nec verbis nec rebus inest. Cp. also i. 8, 5 interim et sublimitate heroi carminis animus adsurgat et ex magnitudine rerum spiritum ducat et optimis imbuatur.
in verbis sublimitas: ‘elevation of language.’ Cp. viii. 6, 11. So the author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ makes sublimity attainable by the imitation and emulation of the great writers and poets of former days: 13 §2.
in adfectibus motus omnis. Poetry 32 shows how to appeal to every feeling of our emotional nature. For _adfectus_ see vi. 2, 7, where the two divisions are given, πάθος and ἦθος. Cp. §§48, 53, 55, 68, 107: 2 §27: 7 §§14, 15.
in personis decor: ‘the appropriate treatment of the characters,’ a sense of what the fitness of things demands in adapting speech to the persons to whom it relates. Cp. Cic. Or. §§70-71 especially semperque in omni parte orationis ut vitae quid deceat est considerandum; quod et in re de qua agitur positum est, et in personis et eorum qui dicunt et eorum qui audiunt. This ‘propriety’ was always much praised in Lysias, Hor. A. P. 156-7. Cp. §§62, 71: 2 §27, 22: vi. 1, 25 prosopopoeiae, id est fictae alienarum personarum orationes quales litigatoris ore dicit patronus (e.g. Cicero pro Milone §93). Cic. de Off. i. §87 sed tum servare illud poetas quod deceat dicimus cum id quod quaque persona dignum est et fit et dicitur, &c. De Or. iii. §§210-211.
attrita cotidiano actu. 5 §14 alitur enim atque enitescit velut pabulo laetiore facundia et adsidua contentionum asperitate fatigata renovatur. So i. 8, 11: videmus ... inseri versus summa non eruditionis modo gratia, sed etiam iucunditatis, cum poeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirent. Petronius ch. 5 interdum subducta foro det pagina versum: 118 forensibus ministeriis exercitati frequenter ad carminis tranquillitatem tamquam ad portum feliciorem refugerunt. So Tac. Dial. 13 me vero dulces, ut Vergilius ait, Musae, &c.: cp. 3 and 4. Plin. Ep. viii. 4, 4.—For _attrita_ cp. viii. pr. §2 ingenia ... asperiorum tractatu rerum atteruntur: for the spelling _cotidie_ see i. 7, 6.
Cicero, pro Arch. §12 Quaeres a nobis, Grati, cur tanto opere hoc homine delectemur. Quia suppeditat nobis ubi et animus ex hoc forensi strepitu reficiatur et aures convicio defessae conquiescant.
I:28 Meminerimus tamen non per omnia poetas esse oratori sequendos nec libertate verborum nec licentia figurarum: _poeticam_ ostentationi comparatam et praeter id quod solam petit voluptatem, eamque etiam fingendo non falsa modo sed etiam quaedam incredibilia sectatur, patrocinio quoque aliquo iuvari,
§ 28. non per omnia, &c. 2 §§21-22.
libertate verborum, §29: 5 §4.
licentia figurarum see exx. in §12, with note on _figuramus_: cp. §29.
ostentationi comparatam. Poetry is ‘epideictic’ in character: and of the γενος ἐπιδεικτικόν Quint. says (iii. 4, 13) non tam demonstrationis vim habere quam ostentationis videtur. Forensic oratory, like everything else that has an immediate and practical aim, cannot afford to set such store on ‘beauty of presentation.’ Cp. ii. 10, 10: iv. 3, 2: viii. 3, 11. Cic. Orat. §§37, 38, 42. See Crit. Notes for _poeticam_.
praeter id quod for the more classical _praeterquam quod_ (which only occurs twice in Quint.). So 2 §26: 3 §6: cp. §80 ob hoc quod: §108 in hoc quod: 3 §18 ex eo quod.
fingendo ... falsa. Hild cites Arist. Poet. 9 and 24; especially (of Homer) Δεδίδαχε δὲ μάλιστα Ὅμηρος καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ψευδῆ λέγειν ὡς δεῖ ... Προαιρεῖσθαί τε δεῖ ἀδύνατα καὶ εἰκότα μᾶλλον ἢ δύνατα καὶ ἀπίθανα.
patrocinio: i. 12, 16 difficultatis patrocinia praeteximus segnitiae. Poetry has the benefit of a sort of ‘prerogative,’ as compared with history. Krüger explains = esse quae huic generi patrocinentur, unde defensionem et excusationem petat poetarum licentia. The idea of ‘defence’ implies ‘justification’: and much that could be justified and vindicated in the poet would be without excuse in the orator.
I:29 quod adligata ad certam pedum necessitatem 33 non semper uti propriis possit, sed depulsa recta via necessario ad eloquendi quaedam deverticula confugiat, nec mutare quaedam modo verba, sed extendere, conripere, convertere, dividere cogatur: nos vero armatos stare in acie et summis de rebus decernere et ad victoriam niti.
§ 29. adligata, 3 §10. For the ‘restraints of metre’ cp. i. 8, 14 servire metro coguntur (poetae). Cic. de Or. i. §70 est enim finitimus oratori poeta, numeris astrictior paulo verborum autem licentia liberior. Or. §67 cum sit versu astrictior (poeta).
33 propriis, sc. verbis: v. on §6. Direct, natural, and unartificial language is meant, as opposed to metaphorical.
deverticula: ‘by-ways’ of expression. The word literally means a lane turning off from a highway (ii. 3, 9 recto itinere lassi plerumque devertunt): and so metaphorically xii. 3, 11: ix. 2, 78: Livy ix. 17, 1.
mutare includes all changes in the use of words, and covers both _libertas verborum_ and _licentia figurarum_: e.g. ‘mucro’ for ‘gladius.’
extendere and conripere are used of syllables: convertere and dividere of words. An instance of ‘lengthening’ (extendere) is ‘induperator’ for imperator: of ‘contracting’ (conripere) ‘periclum’ for periculum. Mayor takes it of quantity only, and compares i. 5, 18: 6, 32: ix. 4, 89: 3, 69: vii. 9, 13. As an instance of ‘transposition’ (the removal of words from their usual order) we may take ‘collo dare bracchia circum’ for circumdare collum bracchiis, or ‘transtra per et remos’: and for _dividere_ (separation by tmesis) ‘hyperboreo septem subiecta trioni’ (viii. 6, 66) and other instances from Vergil (e.g. Aen. i. 610 ‘quae me cumque vocant terrae’).
nos: ‘we advocates.’ For the figure in _armatos stare_ see on §4 athleta. Cp. Or. §42 verum haec ludorum atque pompae; nos autem iam in aciem dimicationemque veniamus. Mayor cites also ii. 10, 8: vi. 4, 17: Cic. Opt. Gen. Or. §17: de Or. i. §147, 157: ii. 94: de Legg. iii. 14: Brut. §222: Introd. p. lvi.
decernere, another military figure: cp. Cic. de Or. ii. §200 pro mea omni fama prope fortunisque decernere. See on _decretoriis_ 5 §20: and cp. xii. 7, 5.
I:30 Neque ego arma squalere situ ac rubigine velim, sed fulgorem in iis esse qui terreat, qualis est ferri, quo mens simul visusque praestringitur, non qualis auri argentique, imbellis et potius habenti periculosus. 34 § 30. Neque ego velim: ‘and yet I should not like.’ The same adversative sense of neque = but not (elsewhere strengthened by _rursus_) is found §80: 5 §5: 7 §4. For _ego_ (_ergo_?) see Crit. Notes.
arma. De Orat. i. §32 Quid autem tam necessarium quam tenere semper arma quibus vel tectus ipse esse possis vel provocare improbos (conj. integer) vel te ulcisci lacessitus? Tac. Dial. 5 quid est tutius quam eam exercere artem qua semper armatus praesidium amicis, opem alienis, salutem periclitantibus, invidis vero inimicis metum et terrorem ultro feras? ... sin proprium periculum increpuit, non hercule lorica et gladius in acie firmius munimentum quam reo et periclitanti eloquentia praesidium simul ac telum, quo propugnare pariter et incessere sive in iudicio sive in senatu sive apud principem possis. So ‘arma facundiae’ ii. 16, 10 and often.
situs, the ‘rust’ or ‘mould’ that comes from _being let alone_ (sino), as often in Vergil, e.g. segnem patiere situ durescere campum Georg. i. 72: loca senta situ Aen. vi. 462. So i. 2, 18 quendam velut in opaco situm ducit: xii. 5, 2.
fulgorem ... qui terreat: viii. 3, 3 nec fortibus modo sed etiam fulgentibus armis proeliatur. Hor. Car. ii. 1, 19-20 iam fulgor armorum fugaces terret equos equitumque voltus. Mayor cites also Veget.