ii. 12, 2 excipit adversarii mollis articulus (of the gladiator handling

his sword _with flexible fingers_, which like xi. 1, 70 (quam molli articulo tractavit Catonem) points to a proverbial expression.

cotidiana pugna retundatur: cp. 1 §27 velut attrita cotidiano actu forensi ingenia optime rerum talium blanditia reparantur with the passage from pro Archia §12 quoted there. Pliny, Epist. vii. 9, 7 Scio nunc tibi esse praecipuum studium orandi: sed non ideo semper pugnacem et quasi bellatorium stilum suaserim. Ut enim terrae variis mutatisque seminibus, ita ingenia nostra nunc hac nunc illa meditatione recoluntur.

quem ad modum ... sic. Cp. iii. 6, 33: v. 10, 125: ix. 2, 46, and (with _ita_) ii. 5, 1. In the instance in the text, however, there is no comparison between two different subjects: the two clauses are parallel. _Ut ... ita_ would have been more usual: 3 §28: sicut ... ita 1 §1.

V:17 Sed quem ad modum forensibus certaminibus exercitatos et quasi militantes reficit ac reparat haec velut sagina dicendi, sic adulescentes non debent nimium in falsa rerum imagine detineri, et inanibus simulacris usque adeo ut difficilis ab his digressus sit adsuescere, ne ab illa, in qua prope consenuerunt, umbra vera 164 discrimina velut quendam solem reformident.

§ 17. forensibus certaminibus exercitatos: Petron. 118 forensibus ministeriis exercitati frequenter ad carminis tranquillitatem tamquam ad portum feliciorem refugerunt.

quasi militantes: 1 §§29, 31, 79.

haec velut sagina dicendi: ‘this rich food of eloquence.’ Cp. iucundioribus epulis §15 above: gladiatoria sagina Tac. Hist. ii. 88.

falsa rerum imagine, i.e. the declamations, which in contrast with the reality of ‘forenses actiones’ are mere shams: cp. note on ad veritatem accommodatae §14: xii. 11, 15 quid attinet tam multis annis ... declamitare in schola et tantum laboris in rebus falsis consumere, cum satis sit modico tempore imaginem veri discriminis et dicendi leges comperisse. Cp. ii. 10, 4: Tac. Dial. 35 quidquid in scholis cotidie agitur, in foro vel raro vel nunquam: 34 nec praeceptor deerat ... qui faciem eloquentiae non imaginem praestaret. Cp. 2 §12 above.

inanibus simulacris: ii. 10 §8 quibusdam pugnae simulacris ad verum discrimen aciemque iustam consuescimus. For the reading see Crit. Notes.

ab illa ... umbra: i.e. in coming out of it. Juvenal vii. 173 ad pugnam qui rhetorica descendit ab umbra. For _ab_ in sense of _post_ cp. Livy xliv. 34 ab his praeceptis contionem dimisit: Introd. p. lii.

in qua prope consenuerunt: xii. 6, 5 non nulli senes in schola facti stupent novitate cum in iudicia venerunt.

umbra ... solem. The shady retreat of the school is constantly compared with the dust and sun of real life. Cicero, de Leg. iii. 6, 14 a Theophrasto Phalereus ille Demetrius ... mirabiliter doctrinam ex umbraculis eruditorum otioque non modo in solem atque in pulverem, sed in ipsum discrimen aciemque produxit: Brut. §37 processerat in solem et pulverem non ut e militari tabernaculo sed ut e Theophrasti doctissimi hominis umbraculis: de §64 (umbratilis—‘cloistral’). So ‘umbraticavita’ Quint. i. 2, 18: ‘studia in umbra educata’ 164 Tac. Ann. xiv. 53: ‘umbraticas litteras’ Pliny, Epist. ix. 2, 3-4, opp. to ‘arma castra cornua tubas sudorem pulverem soles’: M. Seneca Contr. ix. pr. §4 itaque velut ex umbroso et obscuro prodeuntes loco clarae lucis fulgor obcaecat, sic istos a scholis in forum transeuntes omnia tanquam nova et inusitata perturbant. For analogies in Greek cp. Plat. Phaedrus 239 c. οὐδ᾽ ἐν ἡλίῳ καθαρῷ τεθραμμένον ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ συμμιγεῖ σκιᾷ, with Thompson’s note.

V:18 Quod accidisse etiam M. Porcio Latroni, qui primus clari nominis professor fuit, traditur, ut, cum ei summam in scholis opinionem obtinenti causa in foro esset oranda, impense petierit uti subsellia in basilicam transferrentur. Ita illi caelum novum fuit ut omnis 165 eius eloquentia contineri tecto ac parietibus videretur.

§ 18. Quod ... ut. The pronoun is here used pleonastically, to lead up to the dependent clause. Cp. 1 §58.

M. Porcius Latro, a celebrated rhetorician in the reign of Augustus, the friend and compatriot of the elder Seneca, who praises him greatly (Controv. i. pr. §13 sq.). Of his pupils Ovid was the most distinguished. ‘In his school he was accustomed to declaim himself, and seldom set his pupils to declaim, whence they received the name of _auditores_, which word came gradually into use as synonymous with _discipuli_.’ (Smith, Dict.)

professor is post-Augustan: it was used of a public teacher of rhetoric, and then acquired a more extended sense: Quint. xii. 11, 20 geometrae et musici et grammatici ceterarumque artium professores: ii. 11, 1 exemplo magni quoque nominis professorum. _Profiteri_ with acc. is quite Ciceronian: Tusc. ii. §12 quod in eo ipso peccet cuius profitetur scientiam: ibid., artemque vitae professus delinquit in vita. The introduction of _professor_ was helped by the fact that the verb came to be used absolutely (ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι): Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 1 audistine Valerium Licinianum in Sicilia profiteri? ibid. 14 translatus est in Siciliam ubi nunc profitetur: cp. Plin. ii. 18, 3.

opinionem = existimationem, famam, with which it is often joined. For this absolute use cp. 7 §17 below: fructu laudis opinionisque: i. 2, 4 exempla ... conservatae opinionis: ii. 12, 5 adfert et ista res opinionem: xii. 9, 4 cupidissimis opinionis. So too Tac. Dial. 10 ne opinio quidem et fama, cui soli serviunt. In Cicero and Caesar, who also use the word absolutely, there is always an implied reference to those who have the _opinio_: a man’s ‘esteem’ and ‘reputation’ depend on the ‘estimate’ and ‘opinion’ formed of him by others. Cp. Videor enim non solum studium ad defendendas causas, verum opinionis aliquid et auctoritatis afferre, pro Sulla iii. §10, with opinione fortasse non nulla quam de meis moribus habebat, de Amic. §30: detracta opinione probitatis (‘character for’ high principle) de Off. ii. §34, and opinio iustitiae (character for justice), ibid. §39, with quorum de iustitia magna esset opinio multitudinis ibid. §42. So too de Orat. ii. §156 opinionem istorum studiorum et suspicionem artificii apud eos qui res iudicent oratori adversariam esse arbitror. The passages in Caesar are all reducible to this ‘passive’ sense,—the estimate entertained by others: B.G. ii. 8 propter eximiam opinionem virtutis: ii. 24 Treviri quorum inter Gallos virtutis opinio est singularis: iv. 16 uti opinione et amicitia populi Romani tuti esse possint: vi. 24 quae gens ... summam habet iustitiae et bellicae laudis opinionem: cp. vii. 59 and 83. Cp. Introd. p. xliv.

subsellia ... transferrentur, ‘that the court should remove.’ For this general sense of _subsellia_ cp. Cic. Brutus §289 subsellia grandiorem et pleniorem vocem desiderant: de Orat. i. §32 and §264 (habitare in subselliis, to ‘haunt the law-courts’). The word sometimes means the bench of judges, sometimes the seats of the lawyers, suitors, witnesses, &c., and sometimes both: Cic. in Vatin. §34, pro Rosc. Amer. §17 (accusatorum subsellia), ad Fam. xiii. 10, 2 (versatus in utrisque subselliis). In Quintilian the word is never used except of the law-courts.

basilicam. The basilicae erected in or near the forum served as courts of justice as well as places for merchants and business people to meet in. See Rich. Dict. Antiq.—For the incident cp. Sen. Controv. iv. pr. Narratur ... declamatoriae virtutis Latronem Porcium unicum exemplum, cum pro reo in Hispania Rustico Porcio propinquo suo 165 diceret, usque eo esse confusum ut a soloecismo inciperet nec ante potuisse confirmari, tectum ac parietes desiderantem, quam impetravit ut iudicium ex foro in basilicam transferretur. Usque eo ingenia in scholasticis exercitationibus delicate nutriuntur ut clamorem silentium risum caelum denique pati nesciant.

V:19 Quare iuvenis qui rationem inveniendi eloquendique a praeceptoribus diligenter acceperit (quod non est infiniti operis, si docere sciant et velint), exercitationem quoque modicam fuerit consecutus, oratorem sibi aliquem, quod apud maiores fieri solebat, deligat, quem sequatur, quem imitetur: iudiciis intersit quam plurimis, et sit certaminis cui destinatur frequens spectator.

§ 19. inveniendi eloquendique covers briefly the whole field of theoretical rhetoric.

apud maiores: xii. 11, 5 frequentabunt vero eius domum optimi iuvenes more veterum et vere dicendi viam velut ex oraculo petent. Tac. Dial. 34 Ergo apud maiores nostros iuvenis ille qui foro et eloquentiae parabatur, imbutus iam domestica disciplina, refertus honestis studiis, deducebatur a patre vel a propinquis ad eum oratorem qui principem in civitate locum obtinebat. Hunc sectari, hunc prosequi, huius omnibus dictionibus interesse, sive in iudiciis sive in contionibus, adsuescebat, ita ut altercationes quoque exciperet et iurgiis interesset utque sic dixerim pugnare in proelio disceret. So Cicero tells us in Brut. ch. 89 how he sought every opportunity of hearing the distinguished speakers of his day: §305 reliquos frequenter audiens acerrimo studio tenebar cotidieque et scribens et legens et commentans oratoriis tantum exercitationibus contentus non eram.

iudiciis intersit: Cic. Brut. §304 cui (iudicio) frequens aderam.

V:20 Tum causas, vel easdem quas agi audierit, stilo et ipse componat, vel etiam alias, veras modo, et utrimque tractet et, quod in gladiatoribus fieri videmus, decretoriis exerceatur, ut fecisse Brutum diximus pro Milone. Melius hoc quam rescribere veteribus orationibus, ut fecit Cestius contra Ciceronis actionem habitam pro eodem, cum alteram partem satis nosse non posset ex sola defensione. 166 § 20. et ipse: frequent in Livy, like ipse quoque = καὶ αὐτός. Cicero uses ipse, ipse etiam (etiam ipse). Cp. on §4: 7 §26.

utrimque: 1 §22.

in gladiatoribus: xi. 3, 66 nutus ... in mutis pro sermone sunt. Cp. Caes. B.C. i. 61 Caesaris erat in barbaris nomen obscurius.

decretoriis, sc. armis, ‘decisive’ or ‘real weapons’: Seneca, Ep. 117, 25 Renove ista lusoria arma, decretoriis opus est. Cp. vi. 4, 6 pugnamque illam decretoriam imperitis ac saepe pullatae turbae relinquunt. Suet. Calig. 54 has ‘pugnatoria,’ sc. arma: opp. to ‘rudes,’ as Tac. Dial. 34 adversarii et aemuli ferro, non rudibus dimicantes, and Cic. de Opt. Gen. Orat. vi. 17 non enim in acie versatur et ferro, sed quasi rudibus eius eludit oratio. Quint. v. 12, 17 declamationes quibus ad pugnam forensem velut praepilatis exerceri solebamus.

diximus: 1 §23, where see note.

rescribere: ἀντιγράφειν. Tac. Ann. iv. 34, of Caesar’s ‘Anticato,’ Ciceronis libro ... dictator Caesar ... rescripta oratione velut apud iudices respondit. The word is common in this sense in Suetonius: Caes. 73, Calig. 53, Gram. 19; cp. Aug. 85.

Cestius: Sen. Contr. iii. pr. 13 (Ciceronis) orationes non legunt nisi eas quibus Cestius rescripsit. L. Cestius Pius taught rhetoric at Rome towards the end of the Republic and in the beginning of the Empire. Seneca has preserved several passages of his declamations. His hostile criticisms of Cicero were avenged on him by Cicero’s son: Sen. Suas. §7, 13. See Teuffel, 263 §6.

166

V:21 Citius autem idoneus erit iuvenis, quem praeceptor coegerit in declamando quam simillimum esse veritati et per totas ire materias, quarum nunc facillima et maxime favorabilia decerpunt. Obstant huic, quod secundo loco posui, fere turba discipulorum et consuetudo classium certis diebus audiendarum, nonnihil etiam persuasio patrum numerantium potius declamationes quam aestimantium.

§ 21. per totas ire materias. This use of the prep. after _ire_ with an acc. of extent over which speech, thought, or feeling travels, is poetical (Aen. i. 375) and post-classical. Cp. vii. 1, 64: Tac. Dial. 32.

favorabilia, ‘popular’; frequent in Quintilian, who also has _favorabiliter_. The word is first found in Velleius, also in Tacitus and Pliny.

quod secundo loco posui, i.e. the practice of treating a subject thoroughly: per totas ire materias. What he recommends _primo loco_ is given in §§19-20. For the formula cp. vii. 2, 9: ix. 2, 6.

classium: not used in this sense before the Silver Age; i. 2, 23 Non inutilem scio servatum esse a praeceptoribus morem, qui cum pueros in classes distribuerant, ordinem dicendi secundum vires ingenii dabant, et ita superiore loco quisque declamabat ut praecedere profectu videbatur. Huius rei iudicia praebebantur: ea nobis ingens palma, ducere vero classem multo pulcherrimum.

persuasio: frequent in this sense in Quintilian; for exx. see Bonnell’s Lex. Tac. Agric. 11. superstitionum persuasione. The interference of parents is commented on also in ii. 7, 1 Illud ex consuetudine mutandum prorsus existimo in iis, de quibus nunc disserimus, aetatibus, ne omnia quae scripserint ediscant et certa, ut moris est, die dicant: quod quidem maxime patres exigunt atque ita demum studere liberos suos, si quam frequentissime declamaverint, credunt, cum profectus praecipue diligentia constet.

V:22 Sed, quod dixi primo, ut arbitror, libro, nec ille se bonus praeceptor maiore numero quam sustinere possit onerabit et nimiam loquacitatem recidet, ut omnia quae sunt in controversia, non, ut quidam volunt, quae in rerum natura, dicantur; et vel longiore potius dierum spatio laxabit dicendi necessitatem vel materias dividere permittet.

§ 22. primo ... libro: i. 2, 15 neque praeceptor bonus maiore se turba quam ut sustinere eam possit oneraverit.

recidet. Hor. A. P. 447 ambitiosa recidet ornamenta: Sat. I. 10, 69 recideret omne quod ultra Perfectum traheretur.

laxabit &c.: ‘he will either extend the period within which speaking is compulsory, or allow the pupil to distribute his matter over several days.’

dicendi necessitatem: cp. remissa ... ciborum atque exercitationum certa necessitate §15, above. This would break in on the ‘consuetudo classium certis diebus andiendarum’ referred to in §21.

materias dividere, i.e. he will allow the subject to be treated of in parts on successive declamation days.

V:23 Diligenter effecta plus proderit quam plures inchoatae et quasi degustatae. Propter quod accidit 167 ut nec suo loco quidque ponatur, nec illa quae prima sunt servent suam legem, iuvenibus flosculos omnium partium in ea quae sunt dicturi congerentibus; quo fit ut timentes ne sequentia perdant priora confundant.

§ 23. effecta. There is the same antithesis v. 13, 34 ut ... pro effectis relinquant vixdum inchoata.

inchoatae: Cic. de Off. i. §153 cognitio manca atqne inchoata (‘imperfect’): de Nat. Deor. ii. §33 a primis inchoatisque naturis ad ultimas perfectasque procedere: de Orat. i. §5 inchoata ac rudia.

degustatae: cp. genera degustamus 1 §104; the word means ‘dip into,’ ‘skim over.’

Propter quod: see on 1 §66, The idea contained in the relative is the superficial methods alluded to in _degustatae_: cp. facillima et maxime favorabilia decerpunt §21. When such methods are adopted, says Quintilian, everything is sure to go wrong.

167 servent suam legem: the commencement (illa quae prima sunt: cp. priora below) is not what it should be: it goes beyond reasonable limits, as the young men crowd together in the part each is to deliver the embellishments that would naturally be distributed throughout the whole (omnium partium), if the production were _diligenter effecta_ and not merely _inchoata et quasi degustata_.

flosculos: ii. 5, 22 recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti. The word is always used in a depreciatory sense: xii. 10, 73: vi. pr. §9: (opp. to certos fructus). Cp. Seneca, Ep. 33 §1 and §7 viro captare flosculos turpe est.

timentes: the fear that they will not be able to finish makes them introduce into the earlier parts inapposite and confusing embellishments.

priora confundant = permisceant ea rebus alienis, i.e. with the ornamentation that would have been more appropriate later on.