xi. 21, 4 me huic tuae virtuti proxime accedere: otherwise more commonly

ad c. acc. Cp. de Orat. 1 §262 (dubitare) utrius oratio propius ad veritatem videretur accedere with Quint. xii. 10, 9 ad veritatem Lysippum ac Praxitelem optime accessisse. So xii. 2, 2: 1, 20: 2, 25.

propior tamen primo. See note on §53 ut plane manifesto appareat quanto sit aliud proximum esse, aliud secundum. Here the interval between first and second is less than that between second and third: Vergil is a ‘good second.’

ut illi: see Crit. Notes.

naturae = ingenio, as §119 erant clara et nuper ingenia: cp. §122. Cic. in Verr. ii. 1 §40 non enim potest ea natura quae tantum facinus commiserit hoc uno scelere esse contenta.

caelesti: for the hyperbole cp. caelestis huius in dicendo viri (Ciceronis) 2 §18. So Cic. Phil. v. §28 caelestes divinasque legiones: Ps. Cic. ad Brutum ii. 7, 2 res a te gesta memorabilis et paene caelestis.

ut ... cesserimus ita. For _ut ... ita_ (μὲν ... δέ) cp. 3, §§1 and 31. _Ut_ is not concessive and does not affect the verb, which is in the subjunctive of modified assertion (for cedendum est): cp. dederit above §85: Cic. Brut. §25 sine ulla dubitatione confirmaverim. Quintilian is speaking throughout of the Romans in the person of their great poet: cp. vincimur, pensamus, below; also §93 provocamus, §99 consequimur, §107 vincimus. Kiderlin’s objection that, as fully admitting the superiority of Homer, he would not have been likely to choose, on patriotic grounds, a form that seems to modify the force of the concession, is met by the instance of the potential subj. quoted above alongside of _sine ulla dubitatione_.

eminentibus: neut. of adj. used substantively,—common enough in Quintilian even with adjj. of the third declension: cp. 3 §5 nec protinus offerentibus se gaudeamus. See Introduction, p. xlix (5). Such ‘outstanding’ passages as those alluded to Horace terms the ‘speciosa miracula’ (‘striking,’ ‘picturesque marvels’) of the Homeric poems, A. P. 144.

aequalitate, ‘uniform excellence’: cp. aequali quadam mediocritate §54. In §24 Quintilian has already referred to the _quandoque dormitat_, and his words are probably an echo of the Horatian criticism. For the use of _aequalitas_ cp. xi. 3, §§43-44. In regard to style, Cicero has Orat. §198 omnis nec claudicans nec quasi fluctuans sed aequaliter constanterque ingrediens numerosa habetur oratio: and using _aequabilitas_ ibid. §53 elaborant alii in lenitate et aequabilitate et puro quasi quodam et candido genere dicendi.

I:87 Ceteri omnes longe sequentur. Nam Macer et Lucretius legendi quidem, sed non ut φράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae faciant, elegantes in sua quisque materia, sed alter humilis, alter difficilis. Atacinus Varro in iis per quae nomen 84 est adsecutus interpres operis alieni, non spernendus quidem, verum ad augendam facultatem dicendi parum locuples.

§ 87. Macer: v. on §56.

Lucretius. The references made to Lucretius in Latin literature are collected by Teuffel, R. L. §201. The two are named together again xii. 11 §27.

φράσιν = elocutionem, v, §42. So ad augendam facultatem dicendi, below. For ‘corpus eloquentiae’ cp. Petronius, Satyr. ii. (of the imitators of Seneca) ‘effecistis ut corpus orationis enervaretur et caderet.’

humilis: ‘common-place,’

difficilis: cp. multis luminibus ingenii multae tamen artis,—Cicero’s criticism, dealt with by Munro, ii. p. 315 (3rd ed.).

Varro, P. Terentius (B.C. 82-37), called 84 Atacinus from the river Atax in Gallia Narbonensis, his native province. Quintilian’s criticism here refers to the work by which he was best known—his translation of the _Argonautica_ of Apollonius Rhodius (‘interpres operis alieni’). He also wrote what is described as a metrical system of astronomy and geography under the title _Chorographia_ or _Cosmographia_: a heroic poem _Bellum Sequanicum_, in the style of Ennius and Naevias: and _Saturae_ which, if we may trust Horace, were a failure: Satires i. 10, 46 Hoc erat experto frustra Varrone Atacino ... Melius quod scribere possem.

per quae: common in Quintilian to designate ‘means by which’: cp. v. 10, 32. So also _per quod_, _per hoc_: see on §10.

nomen: cp. §72, §120, 5, §18: xii. 6, 7: ii. 11, 1: Tac. Dial. 10 nomen inserere famae: ib. 36 plus notitiae ac nominis apud plebem parabat.

I:88 Ennium sicut sacros vetustate lucos adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua robora iam non tantam habent speciem quantam religionem. Propiores alii, atque ad hoc de quo loquimur magis utiles. Lascivus 85 quidem in herois quoque Ovidius et nimium amator ingenii sui, laudandus tamen in partibus.

§ 88. Ennius, the Chaucer of Latin literature (239-169 B.C.),—qui primus amoeno detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam (Lucr. i. 119). Lucretius in this passage calls him ‘Ennius noster,’ as does also Cicero, pro Archia §18, §22.

‘It will be observed,’ says Professor Nettleship, ‘that Quintilian is a Ciceronian, and that both as against the younger school of his own day and as against the pre-Ciceronian literature. Ennius he sets aside with a few respectful words: Pacuvius and Accius, one must almost suppose, he had never read (97): if he had read them, then, he did not think it worth while to pass an independent judgment upon them (but see note ad loc.) The comedians, Plautus, Caecilius, and Terence, he will hardly notice; so far, he thinks, do they fall below their Greek originals. Lucretius he totally misconceives, even granting his point of view, for can it be said that there are no fine passages of rhetoric in the De Rerum Natura? The criticisms on the post-Ciceronian orators are for the most part (remembering that Quintilian is thinking of the needs of an orator) sound and well expressed, notably that upon Ovid (88). But they are mostly too short, and leave the impression that the writer is anxious to get to the end of them. In speaking of Cicero, however, Quintilian rises to the height of real enthusiasm.’ Journ. of Phil. l.c.

sacros vetustate lucos. For the reverence attaching to groves cp. Seneca, Epist. Mor. IV, xii. (41) Si tibi occurrerit vetustis arboribus et solitam altitudinem egressis frequens lucus et conspectum caeli ramorum aliorum alios protegentium umbra submovens: illa proceritas silvae et secretum loci et admiratio umbrae in aperto tam densae atque continuae fidem tibi numinis facit.

speciem. So Ovid, Trist. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus, arte rudis: Am. i. 15, 19 Ennius arte carens. Cp. Quint, i. 8, 8 plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt (veteres Latini).

Propiores, not Vergilio, as Bonnell and Krüger (the latter, in 2nd ed., contrasting §86 ceteri omnes longe sequentur): but rather, by inference from ‘vetustate’ and ‘antiqua’ in the previous sentence = propiores nostrae aetati. But see Claussen, Quaest. Quintil. pp. 358-9.

ad hoc de quo loquimur = ad augendam facultatem dicendi: φράσιν.

lascivus: so below §93 Ovidius utroque (Tibullo et Propertio) lascivior, sicut durior Gallus. The word and its cognates are used by Quintilian of ‘running riot,’ whether in thought, language, or manner. The verb _lascivire_ is used in regard to a certain mannerism of Ovid, iv. 1, 77 ut Ovidius lascivire in metamorphosesi solet,—wrongly classed in Bonnell’s lexicon under _mores_: cp. ix. 4, 28. So ii. 4, 3 neque ... arcessitis descriptionibus, in quas plerique imitatione poeticae licentiae ducuntur, lasciviat: xii. 10, 73 genus dicendi quod puerilibus sententiolis lascivit: ix. 4, 6: iv. 2, 39: xi. 1, 56. See above, recens haec lascivia §43: cp. ii. 5, 10 and 22: Tac. Dial. §26 lascivia verborum et levitate sententiarum et licentia compositionis. The adjective occurs along with _hilare_ v. 3, 27, and with _dicaces_ vi. 3, 41: cp. Tac. Dial. §29 parvulos assuefaciunt ... lasciviae et dicacitati. It 85 means ‘exuberance’ of any kind, as against severe restraint: ix. 4, 142 duram potius atque asperam compositionem malim esse quam effeminatam et enervem, qualis apud multos, et cotidie magis, lascivissimis syntonorum modis saltat: Horace, A. P. 106 ludentem lasciva (verba decent) severum seria dictu: i.e. ‘sportive’ as opp. to ‘serious’: Ep. ii. 2, 216 lasciva decentius aetas, ‘that may more becomingly make merry.’ Wilkins says the word occurs ten times in Horace, and never in a distinctly bad sense: lascivi pueri Sat. i. 3, 134: lasciva puella Verg. Ecl. iii. 64.

in herois quoque: sc. versibus. Cp. ix. 4, 88 and 89. This characteristic of his elegiac compositions reappears even in his heroic verse, i.e. the Metamorphoses. At ix. 4, 88 (pes) herous = μέτρον ἡρῷον. So Martial iii. 20, 6 lascivus elegis an severus herois?

nimium amator ingenii sui: cp. §98 below, si ingenio suo imperare quam indulgere maluisset. M. Seneca, Controv. iv. 28, 17 (p. 281) Ovidius nescit quod bene cessit relinquere: ii. 10, 12 (of a declamatio by Ovid) verbis minime licenter usus est nisi in carminibus, in quibus non ignoravit vitia sua, sed amavit ... adparet summi ingenii viro non indicium defuisse ad compescendam licentiam carminum suorum, sed animum. Cp. Sen. Nat. Quaest. iii. 27, 13 poetarum ingeniosissimus ... nisi tantum impetum ingenii et materiae ad pueriles ineptias reduxisset. Of Seneca the philosopher Quintilian uses similar language below §130 si non omnia sua amasset. For the use of an adv. with verb-noun in -tor (as if it were a participle) cp. Hor. Sat. i. 10, 12 Quis tam Lucili fautor inepte est. See Introd. p. xlv.

in partibus, opp. to _totum_ (‘in einzeln Partien’—Nägelsbach §76 p. 296). Cp. in parte 7 §25: also 2 §26 in partibus: vii. 2, 22 si quando in partibus laborabimus, universitate pugnandum est. The frequency with which _in parte_ occurs in Quintilian (as well as _ex parte_, which is used by Cicero and Livy) makes the reading probable, though the MSS. omit _in_, while many give _parcius_ for _partibus_. Cp. ii. 8, 6 quod ... mihi in parte verum videtur: iv. 5, 13: v. 7, 22: xi. 2, 34.

I:89 Cornelius autem Severus, etiamsi sit versificator quam poeta melior, si tamen, ut est 86 dictum, ad exemplar primi libri bellum Siculum perscripsisset, vindicaret sibi iure secundum locum. Serranum consummari mors immatura non passa est, puerilia tamen eius opera et maximam indolem ostendunt et admirabilem praecipue in aetate illa recti generis voluntatem.

§ 89. Cornelius Severus, contemporary and friend of Ovid, who addresses to him Epist. ex Ponto iv. 2 (1 O vates magnorum maxime regum: 11 sq. fertile pectus habes interque Helicona colentes Uberius nulli provenit ista seges): cp. carmen regale iv. 16, 9. In spite of the apology in iv. 2 (eius adhuc nomen nostros tacuisse libellos), it is probable that Epist. i. 8 is also addressed to him: v. 2 pars animae magna, Severe, meae: 25, o iucunde sodalis. M. Seneca (Suas.