# M. Fabi Quintiliani institutionis oratoriae liber decimus

## CHAPTER II.

Book page: https://www.cyberlibrary.org/la/books/m-fabi-quintiliani-institutionis-oratoriae-liber-decimus-21827/index.md

Of Imitation.

De Imitatione.

II:1 II. Ex his ceterisque lectione dignis auctoribus et verborum sumenda copia est et varietas figurarum et componendi ratio, tum ad exemplum virtutum omnium mens derigenda. Neque 123 enim dubitari potest, quin artis pars magna contineatur imitatione. Nam ut invenire primum fuit estque praecipuum, sic ea quae bene inventa sunt utile sequi.

§ 1. verborum ... copia: cp. 1 §5 and §8.

varietas figurarum: see note on plurima vero mutatione figuramus 1 §12.

componendi ratio, the ‘theory of rhythmical arrangement’: see on _compositione_ 1 §79: and cp. §§44, 52, and 66.

tum ... virtutum omnium: i.e. in reading the best authors we are not only to acquire facility and dexterity in regard to the points enumerated, but to imitate also all the good qualities exemplified in their works.

ad exemplum, ‘after the model of,’ as ii. 3, 12 ad Phoenicis Homerici exemplum 123 dicere ac facere: not like _in exemplum_ §2 below, ‘as a model.’ The same use of _ad_ occurs below ad propositum sibi praescriptum: and 7 §3 ad incursus tempestatum ... ratio mutanda est.

mens derigenda: so vi. 5, 2 ideoque nos quid in quaque re sequendum cavendumque sit docemus ac deinceps docebimus, ut ad ea iudicium derigatur. For the form _derigo_ see Munro on Lucr. vi. 823: ‘this was probably the only genuine ancient form.’ So Cic. pro Mur. §3 vitam ad certam rationis normam derigenti: Orator §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum derigebat (where, however, Sandys reads dirigebat): Tac. Dial. §5 ad utilitatem vitae omnia consilia ... derigenda sunt: Ann. iv. 40 ad famam praecipua rerum derigere. Cp. note on 3 §28.

dubitari: see on 1 §73, §81.

imitatione: a reference to Aristotle’s general theory of art, made to introduce the subject of imitation (μίμησις, ζῆλος) in the sphere of oratory. This is defined by Cornif. ad Herenn. i. 2, 3 imitatio est qua impellimur cum diligenti ratione ut aliquorum similes in dicendo velimus esse: cp. de Orat. ii. §90 sq.

II:2 Atque omnis vitae ratio sic constat, ut quae probamus in aliis facere ipsi velimus. Sic litterarum ductus, ut scribendi fiat usus, pueri sequuntur; sic musici vocem docentium, pictores opera priorum, rustici probatam experimento culturam in exemplum intuentur; omnis denique disciplinae initia ad propositum sibi praescriptum formari videmus. 124 § 2. ratio sic constat: ‘it is a universal rule of life that,’ &c. More usual would have been ‘ita ratio comparata est vitae ut,’ &c. (Cic. de Amicit. §101). The phrase _ratio constat_ (cp. rationem reddere) was originally a figure taken from commerce (ratio—reor, ‘calculate,’ ‘count’), as Tac. Ann. i. 6 eam condicionem esse imperandi ut non aliter ratio constet quam si uni reddatur: i.e. if you are an absolute ruler the only way to ‘get your accounts square’ is to audit them yourself. So Nettleship (Lat. Lex.) would explain here ‘there is this balance in ordinary life’: i.e. the account of life only comes out right on the supposition that, &c,—civilised life would come to an end unless, &c. More probably Quintilian is employing here a loose combination of two modes of expression, ratio constat ut, &c., and such a phrase as that quoted from Cic. de Amicit. §101: cp. Acad. ii. §132 omnis ratio vitae definitione summi boni continetur. In Pliny’s letters the same expression is constantly used (like _ratio est_ in Cicero) for ‘it is right or reasonable’: iii. 18, 10 confido in hoc genere materiae laetioris stili constare rationem: i. 5, 16 mihi et temptandi aliquid et quiescendi ... ratio constabit: ii. 4, 4 in te vero ratio constabit: cp. vii. 6, 4.—For the thought cp. Arist. Poet. 1, 4 τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστί κ.τ.λ.

ductus, ‘tracings,’—writing-copies made on wax-tablets: cp. i. 1. 25 sq., esp. §27 cum vero iam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit eas tabellae quam optime insculpi, ut per illos velut sulcos ducatur stilus.

usus: cp. Cic. Acad. ii. §2 Ingenii magnitudo non desideravit indocilem usus disciplinam: de Orat. i. §15 ut ad eam doctrinam quam suo quisque studio adsecutus esset adiungeretur usus frequens: pro Balbo §45.

experimento: cp. vi. 2, 25 experimento meo ac natura ipsa duce. The phrase _experimento probare_ occurs in the Vulgate, Esth. iii. 5.

in exemplum: cp. §11 in exemplum adsumimus.

initia, abstract for concrete: cp. 3 §8 hanc moram et sollicitudinem initiis (i.e. incipientibus) impero. So in ii. 4, 13 ‘studia’ is put for ‘studiosi.’

ad ... praescriptum: subst. as frequently in Cicero, e.g. Orat. §36. So Quint. ii. 13, 2: iv. 2, 84: ix. 4, 117. Cp. Seneca Ep. 94 §51 pueri ad praescriptum discunt. On the other hand _propositum_ is even more frequently used as a noun by Quintilian: e.g. §11 omnis imitatio ... ad alienum propositum accommodatur: ii. 10, 15 omne propositum operis 124 a nobis destinati: v. 11, 31 ad praesens propositum.

II:3 Et hercule necesse est aut similes aut dissimiles bonis simus. Similem raro natura praestat, frequenter imitatio. Sed hoc ipsum quod tanto faciliorem nobis rationem rerum omnium facit quam fuit iis qui nihil quod sequerentur habuerunt, nisi caute et cum iudicio adprehenditur, nocet.

§ 3. hoc ipsum quod must go together, ‘the fact that’: cp. ix. 2, 69 aperta figura perdit hoc ipsum quod figura est. The commentators wrongly take _quod_ as the conjunction and explain _hoc ipsum_ as imitatio (or perhaps the advantage of having examples to follow).

tanto without a correlative: cp. tanto plena §28: Cic. pro Rosc. Amer. i. 1, 2 at tanto officiosior quam ceteri? In all three instances the quam depends on the comparative.

rationem rerum omnium: the general course, method, or procedure of everything, ‘every process’: cp. 3 §31 ratio delendi. _Ratio_ is often used with the genitive of a subst. as a periphrasis for the subst. itself, Zumpt. §678: the various instances are well classified by Nettleship, Lat. Lex. p. 566, 9 and 11.

adprehenditur, frequent in Quintilian of taking hold of a fact, idea, or argument: cp. v. 14, 23 quae (leges oratorias) Graeci adprehensa magis in catenas ligant: vi. 4, 18 quod adprehendens maius aliquid cogatur dimittere: vii. 1, 56 in hoc de quo loquimur patre quid adprehendi potest?

II:4 Ante omnia igitur imitatio per se ipsa non sufficit, vel quia pigri est ingenii contentum esse iis quae sint ab aliis inventa. Quid enim futurum erat temporibus illis quae sine exemplo fuerunt, si homines nihil, nisi quod iam cognovissent, faciendum sibi aut cogitandum putassent? Nempe nihil fuisset inventum.

§ 4. Ante omnia: cp. the formula _ac primum quidem_, introducing the first argument, viz. that imitation is not sufficient in itself: others follow in §7: §10: and §12 adde quod ea quae in oratore maxima sunt imitabilia non sunt, &c.

vel quia: ‘just because,’ i.e. because (if for no other reason) it is the mark of, &c. The use of _vel_ implies that there are other reasons which could be adduced, if the reader cared to have them (vel—si velis). Cp. 1 §75 vel hoc est ipso probabilis: §80, §86: 5 §8: Roby §2222.

Quid futurum erat: §7 below. Contrast the use of the plpf. subj. in the _definite_ apodosis supplied in ‘nihil fuisset inventum.’ For the indic. cp. longum est 1 §118: oportebat 2 §28: fas erat 5 §7: satis erat 6 §2.

Nempe, ‘why!’ For a similar use of _nempe_, apart from all irony, in answer to a question, cp. Livy vi. 41 penes quos igitur sunt auspicia more maiorum? nempe penes patres. In such cases the assent of the imaginary interlocutor is taken for granted.—Frotscher compares Libanius, Declam. xviii. p. 487 εἰ δ᾽ ἀεί τινος ἔδει παραδείγματος οὐκ ἂν ἀρχὴν οὐδὲ ἓν ἐλάμβανεν.

II:5 Cur igitur nefas est reperiri aliquid a nobis, quod ante non fuerit? An illi rudes sola mentis natura ducti sunt in hoc, ut tam multa generarent: nos ad quaerendum non eo ipso concitemur, quod certe scimus invenisse eos qui quaesierunt?

§ 5. illi rudes is explained by §4 temporibus illis quae sine exemplo fuerunt. _An_ is the mark of a double question, being used to introduce the second alternative as opposed to the first, even when the first is understood rather than expressed. Here it almost = num, and implies the needlessness of the preceding remark (Roby 2255), and introduces an _à fortiori_ argument; cp. Cicero, Tusc. v. §90 Cur pecuniam ... curet omnino? An Scythes Anacharsis potuit pro nihilo pecuniam ducere, nostrates philosophi facere non potuerunt? Cic. Cat. i. 1, 3. So 3 §29 below an vero ... hoc cogitatio praestat: 5 §7.

certe scimus. _Certe_ is less absolute 125 than _certo_. Acc. to Klotz ad Cic. de Sen. i. 2 certe scio = certum est me scire (‘I am sure that I know’): certo scio = certum est quod scio (‘I have certain or sure knowledge,’ ‘my knowledge is accurate’). Cp. Ter. Andr. 503 with 929.

II:6 Et 125 cum illi, qui nullum cuiusquam rei habuerunt magistrum, plurima in posteros tradiderunt, nobis usus aliarum rerum ad eruendas alias non proderit, sed nihil habebimus nisi beneficii alieni? quem ad modum quidam pictores in id solum student, ut describere tabulas mensuris ac lineis sciant.

§ 6. cuiusquam rei. _Quisquam_ (generally subst.) is, when employed adjectivally, more usually found along with names of persons or words implying personality: cp. iv. 1, 10 ne contumeliosi in quenquam hominem ordinemve videamur: 7 §3 below quisquam ... orator: iii. 1, 22 cuiusquam sectae.

in posteros: so i. 1, 6: ad posteros xii. 11, 28.—For tradiderunt, see Crit. Notes.

eruendas: ix. 2, 64 latens aliquid eruitur: xii. 8, 13 multa ... patronus eruet: iv. 2, 60 hoc quoque tamquam occultum et a se prudenter erutum tradunt. Quintilian follows Cicero in the figurative use of this word; e.g. de Orat. ii. 146 scrutari locos ex quibus argumenta eruamus: ibid. 360 hac exercitatione non eruenda memoria est, si est nulla naturalis, sed certe, si latet, evocanda est.

beneficii. This gen. occurs in the phrase ‘sui beneficii facere,’ not uncommon in the Latin of the Silver Age, ‘to make dependent on one’s own bounty or favour.’ Suet. Claud. 23 commeatus a senatu peti solitos benefici sui fecit: Iust. xiii. 4, 9 ut munus imperii beneficii sui faceret: Sen. Ben. iii. 18, 4. The phrase is equivalent to nihil habebimus _nisi quod sit_ or _quod non sit_ ben. al. = nisi quod debeamus aliis (‘due to the favour of others’). Becher cites the analogous expression ‘tui muneris habeo’ in Tac. Ann. xiv. 55: cp. ib. xv. 52, 4 ne ... sui muneris rem publicam faceret, and tui muneris est Hor. Car. iv. 3, 21. So ‘ducere aliquid offici sui.’ The genitive must not therefore be explained as a gen. of quality, dependent on _nihil_ (as Meister).

in id solum student. The construction (which occurs again xii. 6, 6 in quam rem studendum sit) seems to be modelled on that of _niti_. Here, however, _ei soli_ could not have stood.—The process of ‘copying by measures and lines’ is not unknown even now. The picture to be reproduced, and the surface on which the copy was to be made, were divided into equal numbers of squares (mensurae) by lines drawn across at right angles.

II:7 Turpe etiam illud est, contentum esse id consequi quod imiteris. Nam rursus quid erat futurum, si nemo plus effecisset eo quem sequebatur? Nihil in poetis supra Livium Andronicum, nihil in historiis supra 126 pontificum annales haberemus; ratibus adhuc navigaremus; non esset pictura, nisi quae lineas modo extremas umbrae, quam corpora in sole fecissent, circumscriberet.

§ 7. turpe etiam. For the argument see Crit. Notes.

contentum ... consequi. The constr. c. infin. is very common in Quintilian: over a dozen instances are given in Bonn. Lex. (q.v.). It passed from the usage of poetry (e.g. Ovid, Metam. i. 461) into the prose of the Silver Age. Cicero would have used _satis habere_. Cp. solus legi dignus 1 §96.

rursus resumes quid futurum erat §4.

in poetis ... in historiis: see on 1 §28: 1 §75.

Livius Andronicus. Cicero (Brutus §71) compares his translation of the Odyssey to the first rude attempts at sculpture, which passed under the name of Daedalus: nam et Odyssia Latina est sic tamquam opus aliquod Daedali et Livianae fabulae non satis dignae quae iterum legantur. Cp. Liv. xxvii. §37 forsitan laudabile rudibus ingeniis, nunc abhorrens et inconditum.—Livius was a native of Tarentum, who came to Rome as a slave after the capture of his native city (272 B.C.) and set up as a schoolmaster: his Odyssey survived for scholastic purposes down to the days of Orbilius and Horace (Ep. ii. 1, 69). His production in B.C. 240—the year after the end of the First Punic War—of a tragedy and comedy in Latin (in which he discarded the old Saturnian metre), may be said to mark the beginning of Roman literature. For thirty years he continued to produce plays at the Roman games, adapting the indigenous Italian drama, 126 such as it was, to the laws which regulated dramatic composition among the Greeks; and when he died at a ripe old age, a compliment was paid to his memory by the assignment of the Temple of Minerva on the Aventine to the ‘guild of poets’ (collegium poetarum) as a place for their meetings.

pontificum annales: also called Annales Maximi, probably because they were kept by the Pontifex Maximus. In them was preserved the list of consuls and other magistrates, and they recorded in the baldest fashion the most noteworthy events of each magistracy. Cp. Cic. de Orat. ii. §52 erat enim historia nihil aliud nisi annalium confectio, &c. P. Mucius Scaevola, the consul of 133 B.C., edited them in thirty books. Teuffel §66: Mommsen, i. 477 sq.

lineas extremas, i.e. the tracing of outlines: this was said to have been the origin of painting. Pliny N. H. xxxv. 5 Graeci (picturam affirmant) ... repertam ... umbra hominis lineis circumducta. Cp. the distinction between free imitation and servile copying in the following from Aulus Gellius (xvii. 20, 8): ea quae in Platonis oratione demiramur, non aemulari quidem, sed lineas umbrasque facere ausi sumus.

II:8 Ac si omnia percenseas, nulla _man_sit ars qualis inventa est, nec intra initium stetit: nisi forte nostra potissimum tempora damnamus huius infelicitatis, ut nunc demum nihil crescat: nihil autem crescit sola imitatione.

§ 8. nisi forte: cp. 1 §70: 3 §31: 5 §6.

infelicitatis: cp. on 1 §7 infelicis operae. So viii. prooem. §27 abominanda ... haec infelicitas ... quae et cursum dicendi refrenat et calorem cogitationis extinguit mora et diffidentia. xi. 2, 49 haec rara infelicitas erit. Pliny N. H. praef. 23 has ‘infelix’ ingenium for ‘sterile.’ The opposite would be beatissima ubertas 1 §109. For the constr. c. genit. cp. ii. 5, 24 neque enim nos tarditatis natura damnavit: ix. 2, 81 tyrannidis affectatae damnatus: vii. 8, 3 incesti damnata.

demum: v. on 1 §44.

II:9 Quod si prioribus adicere fas non est, quo modo sperare possumus illum oratorem perfectum? cum in his, quos maximos adhuc novimus, nemo sit inventus in quo nihil aut desideretur aut reprehendatur. Sed etiam qui summa non adpetent, contendere potius quam sequi debent.

§ 9. oratorem perfectum: §28 below, with which cp. the preface to Book i, §9 Oratorem autem instituimus illum perfectum qui esse nisi vir bonus non potest. So Cicero, Orat. §7: de Orat. i. §117.

nemo sit inventus: cp. Pr. i. §18 qualis fortasse nemo adhuc fuerit. So too i. 10, 4 where referring to Cicero’s Orator he says: quibus ego primum hoc respondeo, quod M. Cicero scripto ad Brutum libro frequentius testatur: non eum a nobis institui oratorem qui sit aut fuerit, sed imaginem quandam concepisse nos animo perfecti illius et nulla parte cessantis. Orat. §7 non saepe atque haud scio an nunquam.

summa: Pr. i. §§19-20 nobis ad summa tendendum est ... altius tamen ibunt qui ad summa nitentur. xii. 11 §26 contendere = certare ut priores sunt, ‘compete,’ ‘rival.’

II:10 Nam qui hoc agit ut prior sit, forsitan etiamsi non transierit aequabit. Eum vero nemo potest aequare cuius vestigiis sibi utique insistendum putat; necesse est enim semper sit posterior qui 127 sequitur. Adde quod plerumque facilius est plus facere quam idem; tantam enim difficultatem habet similitudo ut ne ipsa quidem natura in hoc ita evaluerit ut non res quae simillimae quaeque pares maxime videantur utique discrimine aliquo discernantur.

§ 10. forsitan: c. ind. as in Quint. Curt. iv. xiv. 20.

utique. See on 1 §20. Tr. ‘in whose footsteps he thinks he must by all means follow.’

127 adde quod, used thrice within three paragraphs §§10, 11, 12: another proof of a certain want of finish in Quintilian’s style. Cp. on 2 §23: and discrimine ... discernantur, below.—See Introd. p. liii.

in hoc, i.e. in the endeavour to reproduce.

utique ... aliquo: iv. 5, 8 in omni partitione est utique aliquid potentissimum: iv. 1, 77 aliquam utique sententiam: xii. 10, 67 utique aliquo momento.

II:11 Adde quod quidquid alteri simile est, necesse est minus sit eo quod imitatur, ut umbra corpore et imago facie et actus histrionum veris adfectibus. Quod in orationibus quoque evenit. Namque iis quae in exemplum adsumimus subest natura et vera vis; contra omnis imitatio facta est et ad alienum propositum accommodatur.

§ 11. veris adfectibus. Cp. vi. 2, 35 Vidi ego saepe histriones atque comoedos, cum ex aliquo graviore actu personam deposuissent, flentes adhuc egredi. quod si in alienis scriptis sola pronuntiatio ita falsis accendit adfectibus, quid nos faciemus qui illa cogitare debemus ut moveri periclitantium vice possimus? Cp. Hor. A. P. 431-433.

alienum proposition, i.e. the purpose of the imitator, not that of the original writer or speaker.

II:12 Quo fit ut minus sanguinis ac virium declamationes habeant quam orationes, quod in illis vera, in his adsimilata materia est. Adde quod ea quae in oratore maxima sunt imitabilia non sunt, ingenium, inventio, vis, facilitas et quidquid arte non traditur.

§ 12. sanguinis: 1 §60 (of Archilochus) plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum: §115 eum (Calvum) ... verum sanguinem perdidisse: viii. 3, 6 (hic ornatus) sanguine et viribus niteat.

illis ... his. This is only an apparent inversion of the usual arrangement: _declamationes_ is the nearer subject in thought, as being the subject of the sentence, in which it comes before _orationes_. The use of _hic_ may also serve to indicate the prevalence of declamation in Quintilian’s day: 5 §14.—See Zumpt §700.

II:13 Ideoque plerique, cum verba quaedam ex orationibus excerpserunt aut aliquos compositionis certos pedes, mire a se quae legerunt effingi arbitrantur, cum et verba intercidant invalescantque temporibus, (ut quorum certissima 128 sit regula in consuetudine,) eaque non sua natura sint bona aut mala— nam per se soni tantum sunt— sed prout opportune proprieque aut secus collocata sunt, et compositio cum rebus accommodata sit, tum ipsa varietate gratissima.

§ 13. compositionis: see §1 componendi ratio. Tr. ‘particular cadences in the arrangement’ 1 §52. Cp. especially ix. 4, 116 quem in poemate locum habet versificatio, eum in oratione compositio.

cum et, &c., ‘though, as for the words, they drop out or come into use in course of time ... while the arrangement,’ &c. _Verba_ is opp. to _compositio_ below: cp. _verba_ and _comp. pedes_ above. See Crit. Notes.

verba intercidant ... consuetudine. Hor. A. P. 70, Multa renascentur quae iam cecidere, cadentque Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, Quem penes arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi. Ibid. 60-62 Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos, Prima cadunt, ita verborum vetus interit aetas, Et iuvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque. viii. 6, 32 cum multa (ὀνόματα) cotidie ab antiquis ficta moriantur.

ut quorum = quippe. Cp. 1 §55 ut in qua ... sit: 1 §§57, 74. I have put this clause in brackets to show that it stands by itself: _consuetudine_ explains _temporibus_, while _non sua natura ... sed prout ... collocata_ introduce a new idea. See following note.

128 eaque is a continuation of the clause _cum et verba_. The use and disuse of words is a matter of fashion: _and moreover_ their value depends on their proper employment.—The commentators, except Krüger (3rd ed.), explain this as part of the clause _ut quorum_, &c., the demonstr. taking the place of the relative, as not infrequently with double relative clauses in Cicero: Orat. §9 quam intuens in eaque defixus: de Fin. i. 12, 42 quod ipsum nullam ad aliam rem, ad id autem res referuntur omnes (where see Madvig): ad Att. x. 16, 3: Brutus §258. Cp. Lucr. i. 718-21, and Munro’s note. But the context is against this. See Crit. Notes.

proprie: v. on 1 §9.

collocata here not much more than _adhibita_. In themselves words are nothing: their effect depends entirely on their appropriate use.

et compositio: i.e. and though, as to the arrangement (_et compositio_ corresponds to _et verba_ above), it may owe its effect in the original to the manner in which it has been adapted to the sense (_rebus accommodata_), while moreover (cum ... tum) its charm lies in its very variety. The art by which the _compositio_ is saved from monotony in the original is lost by the servile copyists of particular extracts: they take no account of the fact that the style ought to reflect the sense, and they forget that the motive for a particular _compositio_ in their original was the desire to produce an agreeable effect by diversity of form.—See Crit. Notes.

II:14 Quapropter exactissimo iudicio circa hanc partem studiorum examinanda sunt omnia. Primum, quos imitemur: nam sunt plurimi qui similitudinem pessimi cuiusque et corruptissimi concupierint: tum in ipsis quos elegerimus, quid sit _ad_ quod nos efficiendum comparemus.

§ 14. exactissimo: so 7 §30 commentarii ita exacti = perfecti. In the sense of ‘perfectly finished’ it is found Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 72: Ovid, Met. i. 405.

circa: v. on 1 §52.

corruptissimi: cp. §16 declinant in peius, &c. The word is used of a vicious style, 1 §125.

efficiendum = effingendum, as §13 above.

II:15 Nam in magnis quoque auctoribus incidunt aliqua vitiosa et a doctis inter ipsos etiam mutuo reprehensa; 129 atque utinam tam bona imitantes dicerent melius quam mala peius dicunt. Nec vero saltem iis quibus ad evitanda vitia iudicii satis fuit sufficiat imaginem virtutis effingere et solam, ut sic dixerim, cutem vel potius illas Epicuri figuras, quas e summis corporibus dicit effluere.

§ 15. in ... auctoribus. _In_ is used for _apud_ in speaking of an author’s whole works or general characteristics, not of a particular passage or a particular composition. So Hor. Sat. i. 10, 52: Tu nihil in magno doctus reprendis Homero? 1 §76 tanta vis in eo (Demosthene). For _apud_ cp. 1 §39 brevitas illa ... quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta.—The same warning is given 1 §24 Neque id statim legenti persuasum sit, omnia quae optimi auctores dixerint utique esse perfecta.

a doctis, ‘by competent critics’: cp. 1 §97 qui esse docti adfectant: