Preface
Analysis of the Argument, Index of Names, Index of Matters (complete)

Introduction

Chapter I
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter I: Greek Literature
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter I: Roman Literature
Analysis of the Argument

Index of Names (in chapter I only)

Index of Matters (in chapter I only)

Chapters II-VII

Critical Notes


11

M. FABI QUINTILIANI

INSTITUTIONIS ORATORIAE

LIBER DECIMUS

 

ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT (1-46)
CHAPTER I.
How to acquire a command of Diction.

§§1-4. The question whether a ready command of speech is best acquired by writing, or by reading, or by speaking, is of little practical importance, all three being indispensable. But what is theoretically most indispensable does not necessarily take first rank for the purpose of practical oratory. Speaking comes first: then imitation (§8 and ch. ii), including reading and hearing: lastly, writing (chs. iii-v). That is the order of development—not necessarily the order of importance. The early training of the orator has been overtaken in the first two books. We have now to deal, not with the theory of rhetoric, but with the best methods of applying theory to practice.

§§5-15. The necessary store of things and words can be obtained only by reading and hearing. We ought to read the best writings and hear the best orators. And much reading and hearing will not only furnish a stock of words: it will stimulate independent thought, and will show the student actual examples of the theoretical principles taught in the schools.

§§16-19. The comparative advantages of hearing and reading: the former more ‘catching,’ the latter more independent.

§§20-26. The best writers should be read first. Reading ought to be slow and searching, with careful attention (especially in the case of speeches) to details, followed by a review of the whole. We should also acquaint ourselves with the facts of the cases to which the speeches relate, and read those delivered on both sides. Other speeches on the same side should be read, if accessible. But even in studying a masterpiece our admiration must always be tempered with judgment: we cannot assume the perfection of every part. It is safer, however, to err on the side of appreciation: uncritical approbation is preferable to continual fault-finding.

§§27-30. The study of Poetry is important for the orator, as conferring a greater 2 elevation of spirit and diction, besides serving as a pleasurable recreation. But poetry is not restrained by the practical aims of the orator, whose stage is a battle-field where he must ever strive for the mastery.

§§31-34. History, too, will furnish a rich and genial aliment, which should be used, however, with caution: its very excellences are often defects in the orator. It tells its story, and recalls the past; whereas the orator must address himself to immediate proof. Considered as a mine of ancient precedents, history is very useful; but this point of view is rather outside the scope of the present chapter.

§§35-36. Philosophy will give familiarity with the principles of ethics and dialectics, as well as skill in controversy. But here also we must bear in mind that the atmosphere of the lecture-room differs from that of the law-court.

§§37-42. In laying down a plan of reading it would be impossible to notice individually all the writers in both languages, though it may be said generally that almost all, whether old or new, are worth reading,—at least in part. There may be much that is valuable in relation to some branch of knowledge, but outside my present object, which is to recommend what is profitable for the formation of style.

§§43-46. Before proceeding to give a list of typical authors, a word must be said about the different opinions and tastes of orators and critics regarding the various schools and styles of eloquence. Some are prejudiced in favour of the old writers; others admire the affectation and refinement which characterise those of our own day. And even those who desire to follow the true standard of style differ among each other. The list now to be given contains only a selection of the best models: it does not profess to be exhaustive.

De copia verborum.

I:1 I. Sed haec eloquendi praecepta, sicut cognitioni sunt necessaria, ita non satis ad vim dicendi valent, nisi illis firma 12 quaedam facilitas, quae apud Graecos ἕξις nominatur; accesserit; ad quam scribendo plus an legendo an dicendo conferatur, solere quaeri scio. Quod esset diligentius nobis examinandum, si qualibet earum rerum possemus una esse contenti:

§ 1. haec eloquendi praecepta. The reference is generally to the theoretical part of the work, which has just been completed, but specially to the two books immediately preceding, in which Quintilian deals with elocutio (φράσις, ‘style’). In Books III-VII he has treated of inventio (including dispositio); and the transition to Books VIII and IX is marked in the words ‘a dispositione ad elocutionis praecepta labor’ vii. §17 ad fin. He passes now to the exercises necessary for practice: quo genere exercitationis ad certamina praeparandus sit (sc. orator) (§4.)

sicut ... ita = μὲν ... δὲ. So quemadmodum ... sic 5 §17: cp. §14 below. More commonly ut ... ita: §§4, 15, 62, 72, 74: 3 §§28, 31. Frequent in Livy: e.g. xxi. 35, 10 pleraque Alpium ab Italia sicut breviora ita arrectiora sunt: cp. 39, 7.

cognitioni: so most edd. except Halm and Hild (see Crit. Notes). The word denotes ‘theoretical knowledge,’ and is set over against vis dicendi: for a similar opposition between theory and practice (scientia ... exercitatio) see Tac. Dial. 33. The reading may be supported by a reference to qui sciet §2, qui ... sciet ... perceperit §4. Cp. viii. pr. §1 Quam (rationem inveniendi et inventa disponendi) ut ... penitus cognoscere ad summam scientiae necessarium est ita, &c.: ib. §28, qui rationem loquendi primum cognoverit ... deinde haec omnia exercitatione plurima roborarit. In ii. 18, 1 cognitio is used to distinguish θεωρητική from πρακτική and ποιητική. Cp. too iii. 1, 3 ut ... adliceremus ... iuventutem ad cognitionem eorum quae necessaria studiis arbitrabamur.—The reading cogitatio would have to be understood in a wider sense than it has in ch. 6, or in 3 §19: Hild takes it of ‘toute la préparation oratoire qui précède le discours proprement dit.’

vim dicendi: ‘true eloquence,’ as in §8 vim orandi, 2 §16 vim dicendi atque inventionis non adsequuntur: 6 §2 vim cogitandi: xii. 1, 33 vis ac facultas dicendi expugnat ipsam veritatem. Cp. viii. pr. 30 praeparata dicendi vis: xii. 10, 64. Bonn. Lex., p. 233.—The vis of a thing is its essence, that which makes it what it is: Cic. de Am. §15 id in quo est omnis vis amicitiae. So with the genitive of a gerund it gives the idea contained in the infinitive when used as a noun: cp. de Fin. v. §76 percipiendi vis (i.e. τὸ αἰσθάνεσθαι) ita definitur a Stoicis: ibid. ii. §17 Zenonis est ... hoc Stoici: omnem vim loquendi (πᾶν τὸ φθέγγεσθαι) in duas tributam esse partes. See Nägelsbach, Lat. Stil., (8th ed.) p. 45: and cp. ratio collocandi 3 §5, pronuntiandi ratio 1 §17: ratio delendi 3 §31.

non satis ... valent, nisi, &c. For the necessity of practice in addition to theory cp. 5 §19: also i. pr. §§18, 23, 27: ii. 13, 15: vii. 10, 14-15: Cic. de Orat. i. §§109-110: Dion. Hal. de Comp. Verb. 26 ad fin. οὐ γὰρ αὐτάρκη τὰ παραγγέλματα τῶν τεχνῶν ἐστὶ ... δίχα μελέτης τε καὶ γυμνασίας.

firma quaedam facilitas, a ‘sure readiness’: cp. §44 qui confirmare facultatem 12 dicendi volent: §59 dum adsequimur illam firmam, ut dixi, facilitatem: 2 §12: 7 §18 sq.: xii, 9, 21 vires facilitatis.

ἕξις: §59 and 5 §1. Pliny, Ep. ii. 3, 4 (of Isaeus) ad tantam ἕξιν studio et exercitatione pervenit. See Schäfer on Dion. de Comp. i. p. 7.—In the sphere of morals the ἕξις is the fixed tendency that results from repeated acts: ἐκ τῶν ὁμοίων ἐνεργειῶν αἱ ἕξεις γίνονται Eth. Nic. ii. 1, 1103a, 31.—Prof. Mayor compares Cicero’s use of habitus constans, de Inv. i. §36: ii. §30.

scribendo ... legendo ... dicendo: i. pr. §27 haec ipsa (natural gifts) sine doctore perito, studio pertinaci, scribendi, legendi, dicendi multa et continua exercitatione per se nihil prosunt. So §2 eloquentia ... stilo ... lectionis. Reading is covered by chs. i ii: chs. iii-v treat of writing; and ch. vii. of extemporary declamation.

conferatur: frequent in this sense in Quint. (cp. συμφέρειν): (1) with ad, as here, i. 8, 7: ii. 19, 1: vii. 1, 41: xii. 1, 1 and passim: (2) with in, 7 §26: (3) with dat., §§27, 63, 71, 95: i. 1, 6, &c. Bonn. Lex., p. 155.

solere quaeri (ζητεῖσθαι): the subject is treated, e.g., by Crassus in Cic. de Orat. i. chs. 33-34. For quaeri cp. i. 4, 26: ib. 12 §1 (quaeri solet): x. 5, 13.

qualibet ... una: v. 10, 117, quamdiu quilibet unus superfuerit. In reverse order i. 12, 7 una res quaelibet: xii. 1, 44 unum ex iis quodlibet. The collocation does not occur in Cicero.

I:2 verum ita sunt inter se conexa et indiscreta omnia ut, si quid ex his defuerit, frustra sit in ceteris laboratum. Nam neque solida atque robusta fuerit umquam eloquentia nisi multo stilo vires acceperit, et citra lectionis exemplum labor ille carens rectore fluitabit; et qui sciet quae quoque sint modo dicenda, 13 nisi tamen in procinctu paratamque ad omnes casus habuerit eloquentiam, velut clausis thesauris incubabit.

§ 2. conexa et indiscreta. Et is intensive: ‘so closely, nay, inseparably connected.’ So i. 2, 3: iuncta ista atque indiscreta sunt. Indiscretus in this sense occurs Tac. Hist. iv. 52 and often in Pliny: not in Cicero. For the use of the perf. part. pass. instead of a verbal adj., cp. Sall. Iug. 43, §5 invictus: ib. 2 §3 incorruptus: 76 §1 infectum: Livy ii. 1, 4 inviolatum: ib. 55 §3 contemptius (‘more contemptible’). So intactus, inaccessus, &c.

neque ... et = οὔτε ... τε, as 3 §23: 4 §3: 5 §22.

solida ... robusta ... vires. Hild notes that the figure is taken from a living organism which gathers strength from the nourishment supplied to it: cp. §§19, 31, &c. Tac. Dial. 21: oratio autem sicut corpus hominis ea demum pulchra est in qua non eminent venae nec ossa numerantur, sed temperatus ac bonus sanguis implet membra et exsurgit toris ipsosque nervos rubor tegit et decor commendat: cp. 23.

multo stilo: ‘by much practice in writing.’ Cic. de Orat. i. §150 Stilus optimus et praestantissimus dicendi effector ac magister (where see Wilkins’ note). Quintilian returns to this subject below 3 §1 sq.: cp. 6 §§1 and 3: 7 §§4 and 7.

citra lectionis exemplum: ‘without the models which reading supplies.’ Citra is common in this sense (for sine, sometimes praeter) in Quint. (Bonn. Lex. p. 127) and other post-Aug. writers. So 7 §7 citra divisionem: xii. 6, 4 plusque, si separes, usus sine doctrina quam citra usum doctrina valet. Cp. Ov. Trist. v. 8, 23 peccavi citra scelus (‘short of’): Plin. Ep. ii. 1, 4 citra dolorem tamen.

labor ille, sc. scribendi.

fluitabit, like a vessel drifting about without a pilot (carens rectore). The writing will want method, and the definiteness of aim which models would impose. So vii. pr. §2 sic oratio carens hac virtute (sc. ordine) tumultuetur necesse est et sine rectore fluitet nec cohaereat sibi, multa repetat, multa transeat, velut nocte in ignotis locis errans, nec initio nec fine proposito casum potius quam consilium sequatur: cp. xii. 2 §20.

quae quoque sint modo. This is the 13 reading of the oldest MSS. (see Crit. Notes), and was adopted by Halm: cp. §8 quod quoque loco sit aptissimum: 7 §5 quid quoque loco primum sit, and §6 quid quoque loco quaerant. So iv. 2, 33 quid quoque loco prosit. Quae covers inventio: while quoque modo may be taken of the exhaustive discussion of the various departments of elocutio which has just been concluded.—Meister has returned to Spalding’s quo quaeque sint modo, probably from a doubt whether Halm (followed by Mayor) is right in explaining quae quoque as = quae et quomodo, ‘what is to be said and how’; ‘copulae enim que in coniunctione talium membrorum relativorum inter se discretorum non aptus est locus,’ Osann, i. p. 14. But quoque may very well be the abl. of quisque, though Cicero seems to avoid such a collocation, unless there is a prep. to make the construction clear: e.g. pro Sulla §73 quae ex quoque ordine multitudo: pro Domo §33 qui de quaque re constituti iudices sint: HarResp. §24 quae de quoque deo ... tradita sunt. Cp. in Cat. iii. §10 tabellas quae a quoque dicebantur datae. Even in the exactly parallel passage Sall. Cat. 23, 4 quae quoque modo audierat ... narravit (where Mommsen suggests quoquo), it is possible to understand quoque of the various methods Fulvia had employed to get information from Curius. So quid ubique, ib. 21, 1.

tamen: see Crit. Notes.

in procinctu: ‘ready for battle.’ So xii. 9, 21 quem armatum semper ac velut in procinctu stantem non magis umquam in causis oratio quam in rebus cotidianis ac domesticis sermo deficiet. Similarly in 7 §24 promptum hoc et in expedito positum. Examples of the proper use of the phrase occur Tac. Hist. iii. 2: Ovid Pont. i. 8, 10: Gell. i. 11: Plin. Nat. Hist. vi. 22. Quintilian expresses a similar idea by another of his military metaphors, viii pr. 15: eloqui enim hoc est omnia quae mente conceperis promere atque ad audientes perferre; sine quo supervacua sunt priora et similia gladio condito atque intra vaginam suam haerenti: cp. vi. 4, 8. For the explanation of the phrase procingo, ‘I gird up’ see Mayor’s note on Cic. de N. D. ii. 3 §9: “in procinctu is used of an army in readiness for battle, Milton’s ‘war in procinct’ (P. L. vi. 19): cp. Festus, pp. 43 and 225 procincta classis dicebatur cum exercitus cinctus erat Gabino cinctu confestim pugnaturus. Vetustius enim fuit multitudinem hominum, quam navium, classem appellari, also p. 249 procincta toga Romani olim ad pugnam ire soliti. The cinctus Gabinus was a particular way of wearing the toga, so as to use part of it as a girdle, tying it in a knot in front. Servius (Aen. vii. 612) says the ancient Latins, before they were acquainted with the use of defensive armour, praecinctis togis bellabant, unde etiam milites in procinctu esse dicuntur.” For the figurative use cp. Sen. de Benef. i. 1, 4 severitatem abditam clementiam in procinctu habeo: [Quint.] Decl. 3, 1 neque in militiam gravissimo asperrimoque bello ita venit, ut nesciret sibi mortem in procinctu habendam.

paratam: 5 §12: Cic. ad Fam. vi. 21, 1 ad omnem eventum paratus sum.

velut cl. thes. incubabit. Unless he adds practice to his theoretical knowledge, all he knows will be as useless as a miser’s hoard. The phrase is a reminiscence of Verg. Georg. ii. 507 condit opes alius, defossoque incubat auro: cp. Aen. vi. 610 aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis. Martial, xii. 53, 3-4 largiris nihil incubasque gazae, ut magnus draco. Mayor quotes Ecclus. 20, 30 Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is hoarded up, what profit is in them both?

I:3 Non autem 14 ut quidquid praecipue necessarium est, sic ad efficiendum oratorem maximi protinus erit momenti. Nam certe, cum sit in eloquendo positum oratoris officium, dicere ante omnia est, atque hinc initium eius artis fuisse manifestum est: proximum deinde imitatio, novissimum scribendi quoque diligentia.

§ 3. The argument here requires elucidation. Quint. has said (§§12) that for the firma facilitas or ἕξις which must be superadded to theory, writing, reading and speaking are all essential. He now goes on to state that it does not follow that what is theoretically most indispensable (cp. cognitioni necessaria §1 above) is for the practical training of the orator of greatest consequence. The most essential element is of course that of speech (dicere)—followed by imitation and writing. But perfection of speech can only be attained, like other forms of perfection, by starting from first beginnings (principia), which become relatively unimportant (minima) as things progress. This is not however the place for dealing with the methods of preliminary training in rhetoric: our student has done his theory, and we must now show him how to apply it to practice. Cp. Analysis, p. 1.

14

ut quidquid. Properly quisquis is an indefinite relative: in this usage it has the same force as quisque (Roby, 2283, 2285). It may have been an archaism which became colloquial. Madvig (on de Fin. v. §24) shows that undoubted instances occur in Plautus, Terence, Cato (de R. R. 57: uti quidquid operis facient), Lucretius (with whom it is especially common: e.g. ruit qua quidquid fluctibus obstat, i. 289, where see Munro), Cicero (Tusc. v. 98), and in the Agrarian Law (utei quicquid quoieique ante h. l. r. licuit, ita &c. Mommsen C.I.L. 1 n. 200 v. 27). Cp. vii. 2, 35. So too Corn. ad. Herenn. ii. §47, where the MSS. almost without exception give quidquid (quicquid) for quicque. For the spelling here, cp. i. 7, 6 frigidiora his alia, ut ‘quidquid’ c quartam haberet, ne interrogare bis videremur.

ad efficiendum oratorem: i. 10, 2.

protinus, of logical consequence, as frequently continuo in Cicero: generally with a negative, or a question implying a negative answer. For the form of the sentence cp. viii. 2, 4 non tamen quidquid non erit proprium protinus et improprii vitio laborabit: and §42 below, sed non quidquid ad aliquam partem scientiae pertinet protinus ad faciendam φράσιν ... accommodatum. So 3 §22 (§§5 and 18 are different): ii. 21, 10: v. 10, 102 and 119: vii. 4, 38.

nam certe. This leads up to the next sentence, beginning sed ut.

in eloquendo: cp. viii. pr. 15 (quoted on in procinctu, §2 above): Cic. Or. §61 sed iam illius perfecti oratoris et summae eloquentiae species exprimenda est; quem hoc uno (sc. in eloquendo) excellere cetera in eo latere indicat nomen ipsum. Non enim inventor aut compositor aut actor qui haec complexus est omnia, sed et Graece ab eloquendo ῥήτωρ et Latine eloquens dictus est. Ceterarum enim rerum quae sunt in oratore partem aliquam sibi quisque vindicat; dicendi autem, id est eloquendi, maxima vis soli huic conceditur. Cp. de Orat. ii. §38.

ante omnia est. Becher vindicates the traditional reading by comparing ii. 15, 12 atqui non multum ab hoc fine abest Apollodorus dicens iudicialis orationis primum et super omnia esse persuadere iudici et sententiam eius ducere in id quod velit. So too iii. 8, 56 an pro Caesare fuerit occidi Pompeium?—See Crit. Notes. For ante omnia cp. Introd. p. lii.

hinc ... fuisse: cp. viii. 2, 7 proprie tamen unde initium est: vi. pr. §10 ut prorsus posset hinc esse tanti fulminis metus.

proximum: cp. i. 3, 1 proximum imitatio. As is evident from ch. ii, imitatio here includes not lectio only but auditio as well: §8 optima legendo atque audiendo. It was in this sense that Dion. Hal. entitled his work περὶ μιμήσεως: see Usener, Praef. pp. 1-4: and cp. Cic. de Orat. i. §14 sq. and §149 sq.

I:4 Sed ut perveniri ad summa nisi ex principiis non potest, ita procedente iam opere minima incipiunt esse quae prima sunt. Verum nos non quo modo sit instituendus orator hoc loco dicimus, 15 (nam id quidem aut satis aut certe uti potuimus dictum est), sed athleta, qui omnes iam perdidicerit a praeceptore numeros, quo genere exercitationis ad certamina praeparandus sit. Igitur eum qui res invenire et disponere sciet, verba quoque et eligendi et collocandi rationem perceperit, instruamus qua ratione quod didicerit facere quam optime, quam facillime possit.

§ 4. sed ut perveniri, &c. 7 §18. Cp. i. pr. §§4-5 contemnentes tamquam parva quae prius discimus studia ... ego cum existimem nihil arti oratoriae alienum sine quo fieri non posse oratorem fatendum est, nec ad ullius rei summam nisi praecedentibus initiis perveniri ad minora illa ... demittere me non recusabo.

procedente iam opere: here of the progress of the orator’s training.

minima in importance: prima in point of time. Krüger says that dicere alone is meant, being the initium artis above; but it seems better to understand Quint. to be indicating here that the order of importance does not correspond with the order of development as stated above, viz. (1) the faculty of speech, (2) reading (included under imitatio) and (3) writing. These are to be taken first as the subsidiary beginnings (principia) from which we attain to the ultimate object: but as things progress they will become relatively unimportant (minima), and their 15 place will be taken by systematic training in speaking or declamation, an exercise which is always essential to success and can therefore never be left off (7 §24).

aut ... aut in the sense of si minus satis, at certe uti potuimus: cp. xii. 11, 21.

athleta: a metaphor abruptly introduced: cp. §33: 3 §7: 4 §4: 7 §§1 and 23. The orator is often compared to an athlete, gladiator, soldier, &c.: see on §33 non athletarum toris sed militum lacertis, and Introd. p. lvi. Cp. §§29, 31, 79: 3 §3: 5 §§15, 17. Cic. de Orat. i. §73 ut qui pila ludunt ... sic in orationibus: iii. §83: Or. §§14, 42, 228-9. Tac. Dial. 34 ferro non rudibus dimicantes: cp. end of 37.

numeros: here of rhythmical movements, ‘movements according to rule, “passes” in fencing, “throws” in wrestling,’ &c.—Mayor. The use of the word in this sense is probably founded on the analogy between rhythm (for which see ix. 4, 45) and graceful motion: ix. 4, 8 in omni palaestra quid satis recte cavetur ac petitur cui non artifex motus et certi quidam pedes adsint? Cp. xii. 2, 12: ut palaestrici doctores illos quos numeros vocant non idcirco discentibus tradunt, ut iis omnibus ii qui didicerint in ipso luctandi certamine utantur ... sed ut subsit copia illa ex qua unum aut alterum cuius se occasio dederit efficiant: ii. 8, 13 sicut ille ... exercendi corpora peritus non ... nexus modo atque in iis certos aliquos docebit, sed omnia quae sunt eius certaminis. Sen. de Benef. vii. 1 §4 magnus luctator est non qui omnes numeros nexusque perdidicit. So Iuv. vi. 249 of the lady in the arena, omnes implet numeros: cp. Tac. Dial. 32 per omnes eloquentiae numeros isse. That this use is based on the notion of rhythm may be seen from a comparison of these exx. with Hor. Ep. ii. 2, 144 verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae. For the wider meaning of numeri, in which it is used of that which is complete and perfect in all its parts, v. on §70.

igitur. As to whether the position of igitur at the beginning of a sentence is to be considered an instance of transmutatio (like ‘quoque ego,’ ‘enim hoc voluit’) Quintilian says (i. 5, 39) there is a doubt: ‘quia maximos auctores in diversa fuisse opinione video, cum apud alios sit etiam frequens, apud alios numquam reperiatur.’ Numerous instances from his own work are given in Bonn. Lex., p. 394. In Tacitus, igitur always stands first except in the following passages: Dial. 8, 29: 10, 37: 20, 21: Agr. 16, 12: Germ. 45, 22: Hist. iv. 15, 15: Ann. i. 47, 5 (Gerber and Greef). In Cicero it is very rarely found first: de Leg. Agr. ii. 72: pro Milone §48: Phil. ii. §94: de Fin. i. §61: de Nat. Deor. i. §80.

res invenire. For the five parts of oratory (which are quite distinct from the five parts of an oration) cp. 7 §9: iii. 3, §§1 and 7. They are inventio (treated of in Books iii.-vi.), dispositio (vii.), elocutio (viii.-ix.), memoria, actio or pronuntiatio (xi.). Cicero has substantially the same division de Orat. ii. §79, quinque faciunt quasi membra eloquentiae, invenire quod dicas, inventa disponere, deinde ornare verbis, post memoriae mandare, tum ad extremum agere ac pronuntiare: cp. i. §142: and for inventio, de Inv. i. §9, inventio est excogitatio rerum verarum aut veri similium quae causam probabilem reddant.—For the antithesis between res and verba, cp. §§5 and 6: also §61: 2 §27: 3 §§5, 9: 6 §2: 7 §§9, 22.

sciet. Bonnell calls attention to the use of the fut. in dependent relative sentences as common in manuals of instruction: §§5, 10, 13, 17, 22, 25, 33, 112, &c. Instruamus is virtually future.

eligendi §6: cp. dilectus 3 §5.

collocandi: Cic. de Orat. ii. §307 ordo collocatioque rerum ac locorum: cp. Or. §50: Brut. §139. For both cp. Brut. §140 in verbis et eligendis ... et collocandis: de Part. Or. i. §3. Both are parts of elocutio, for which see viii. 1, 1. For ratio with gerund cp. §§17, 54: 2 §1: 3 §§5, 31: and see note on 2 §3.

qua ratione. The recurrence of ratione so soon after rationem need create no difficulty in Quintilian: for similar instances of negligence see on 2 §23. For 16 Kiderlin’s treatment of the whole passage, see Crit. Notes.

optime ... facillime, xii. 10, 77 neque vero omnia ista de quibus locuti sumus orator optime tantum sed etiam facillime faciet.

16

I:5 Non ergo dubium est quin ei velut opes sint quaedam parandae, quibus uti, ubicumque desideratum erit, possit: eae constant copia rerum ac verborum.

§ 5. velut ... quaedam. So §§18, 61: 3 §3: 5 §17: 7 §1, and frequently elsewhere: e.g. xii. 10, 19 velut sata quaedam: iii. 8, 29 veluti quoddam templum. Cicero generally uses quasi or tanquam quidam. Indeed Quintilian seems to have a general preference for velut over quasi or tanquam in introducing similes: cp. 7 §6 ducetur ante omnia rerum ipsa serie velut duce: viii. 5, 29 inaequalia tantum et velut confragosa: see Bonn. Lex., s.v.

ubicumque, so §10 below. For a less classical use (as an indefinite) see 7 §28 quidquid loquemur ubicumque.

I:6 Sed res propriae sunt cuiusque causae aut paucis communes, verba in universas paranda; quae si rebus singulis essent singula, minorem curam postularent, nam cuncta sese cum ipsis protinus rebus offerrent. Sed cum sint aliis alia aut magis propria aut magis ornata aut plus efficientia 17 aut melius sonantia, debent esse non solum nota omnia, sed in promptu atque, ut ita dicam, in conspectu, ut, cum se iudicio dicentis ostenderint, facilis ex his optimorum sit electio.

§ 6. sed res ... paranda: an example of the construction so common in Greek and Latin, by which two contrasted clauses are co-ordinated. In English we subordinate the one to the other by using ‘while,’ ‘whereas,’ or some such word. In Greek the use of μὲν makes the antithesis plainer.—Here res = νοήματα: verba = ὀνόματα.

paucis communes. For the loci communes, appropriate to several causae, v. Cic. de Inv. ii. §48 argumenta quae transferri in multas causas possunt, and compare the Topica.

cum ipsis protinus rebus. For the order of words cp. §33 historico nonnumquam nitore. Herbst gives the following exx. of an adv. inserted between the adj. and the noun: §§38, 41, 104, 116, 120: 2 §§7, 8: 3 §§2, 31: 5 §7: 7 §§3, 28.—For the thought, cp. Hor. A. P. 311 verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur: Cic. de Orat. ii. §146 ea (sc. res et sententiae) vi sua verba parient: iii. §125 rerum enim copia verborum copiam gignit. No doubt Quintilian in his teaching also gave due prominence to Cato’s golden rule, ‘rem tene verba sequentur.’

propria. The general meaning under which all uses of proprius and its cognates may be included is that in which it contrasts with all departures from and innovations on ordinary language. Sometimes it may mean nothing more than ‘suitable,’ ‘appropriate,’ in which sense proprie occurs immediately below, in §9: cp. opportune proprieque 2 §13, and proprie et copiose (dicere) i. 4, 5. This is the meaning with which it is applied to the language of Simonides §64 below,—‘natural’; cp. Cic. de Orat. i. §154, where verba propria occurs alongside of ornatissima and corresponds with idonea, introduced shortly afterwards: cp. id. iii. §31, where propria is reinforced by apta, and ib. §49 proprie demonstrantibus (verbis) ea quae significari ac declarari volemus. The use of proprietas in §46 and §121 below may be compared with this: cp. also the first of the meanings assigned to the word in the important passage viii. 2, 1-11: also ix. 2, 18 and xii. 2, 19. The translators here render by ‘suitable’ or ‘significant,’ but the juxtaposition of ornata seems rather to point to the use in which verba propria are the antithesis of translata,—direct, literal, and natural, as opposed to figurative: i. 5, 71 propria sunt verba cum id significant in quod primo denominata sunt: translata, cum alium natura intellectum, alium loco praebent. Cp. i. 5, 3: viii. 3, 24: 6, 5, and 48 (where propria ... ornata in the passage above may well be illustrated by the words species ex arcessitis verbis venit et intellectus ex propriis): ix. 1, 4. This is undoubtedly the meaning in which proprius is used in §29 below: also in 5 §8 alia translatis virtus alia propriis. The nearest equivalent in Greek would be οἰκεῖα ὀνόματα, rather than κύρια ὀνόματα, which correspond to ‘usitata verba’ in Quint, (i. 5, 71, and v. 14, 33 verbis quam maxime propriis et ex usu),—though he may have had in mind here, as Mayor suggests, ἔστι γὰρ ἄλλο ἄλλου κυριώτερον, Arist. Rhet. iii. 2, p. 1405 b, 11. (For the distinction between ὄνομα οἰκεῖον and ὄνομα κύριον see Cope on Ar. Rhet. iii. 2 17 §§2 and 6, and Introd. p. 282 note). Many parallels might be cited from Cicero: e.g. de Or. iii. §149 (verbis eis) quae propria sunt et certa quasi vocabula rerum, paene una nata cum rebus ipsis: cp. ib. §150: Brutus §274: Or. §80.

ornata: cp. viii. 3, 15 quamquam enim rectissime traditum est perspicuitatem propriis, ornatum translatis verbis magis egere, sciamus nihil ornatum esse quod sit improprium: ib. pr. §26 ut propria sint (verba) et dilucida et ornata et apte collocentur, and §31: ii. 5, 9 quod verbum proprium, ornatum, sublime: and especially viii. 1, 1 in singulis (verbis) intuendum est ut sint Latina, perspicua, ornata, ad id quod efficere volumus accommodata.

plus efficientia, ‘more significant’: ix. 4, §123 membrum autem est sensus ... per se nihil efficiens. The adj. efficax occurs only once in Quint. (vi. 1, 41).

melius sonantia. So vocaliora viii. 3, §16 sq.: cp. i. 5, 4 sola est quae notari possit vocalitas, quae εὐφωνία dicitur: cuius in eo dilectus est ut inter duo quae idem significant ac tantundem valent quod melius sonet malis. Cic. de Or. iii. §150 lectis atque illustribus (verbis) utatur, in quibus plenum quiddam et sonans inesse videatur: Or. §163 verba ... legenda sunt potissimum bene sonantia: §149, and §80 (verbum) quod aut optime sonat aut rem maxime explanat (= plus effic.): Part. Or. §17 alia (verba) sonantiora, grandiora, leviora: and §53 gravia, plena, sonantia verba.

non solum ... sed (οὐ μόνον ... ἀλλά), a formula used where the second clause is stronger than or includes and comprehends the first. Cp. §8 below: §46 (nec modo sed): 7 §8 (non modo sed): 3 §20 (non tantum sed): 5 §5 (neque tantum sed): 7 §16 (non tantum sed). Of the numerous exx. in Cicero’s speeches (Merguet, pp. 361-2) none are exceptions to the rule thus stated,—not even the seeming anticlimax of pro Sest. §45 iecissem me potius in profundum ut ceteros conservarem quam illos mei tam cupidos non modo ad certam mortem sed in magnum vitae discrimen adducerem: here sed still introduces the stronger clause, as the sacrifice would be greater if it were made to avert discrimen than if it were made to avert certa mors. Becher cps. pro Lege Manil. §66: Div. in Caec. §27.—There is nothing in the distinction which Herbst (followed by Dosson) seeks to set up (on the strength of sed etiam in §13): ‘pro simplici sed, ἀλλά, infertur sed etiam, ἀλλὰ καί, si utrumque orationis membrum pari vi praeditum est.’ Cp. the following: (a) non solum sed, vi. 2, 13 and 36: non solum sed (or verum) etiam, vii. 10, 17: ii. 2, 14: vii. 5, 3: viii. 3, 64: i. 11, 14. (b) non tantum sed, ix. 3, 28, 78: xi. 1, 7: ii. 17, 2: non tantum sed etiam (or et), xi. 2, 5: viii. 3, 3: ix. 2, 50. (c) non modo sed, pr. §9: x. 1, 46: ii. 17, 3: iv. 5, 6: non modo sed etiam (or quoque), ix. 3, 50: xi. 1, 15: i. 10, 9: ii. 2, 12: vi. 3, 57: ix. 3, 47: i. 1, 34: i. 4, 6: i. 11, 13: ix. 4, 9: x. 1, 10.

in promptu—in readiness, ‘at one’s fingers’ ends,’ as it were: i.e. not only must we be able to recognise them when we see or hear them, but we must always have a stock of them on hand. Cp. ii. 4, 27 ut quidam ... scriptos eos (locos) memoriaeque diligentissime mandatos in promptu habuerint: vii. 10, 14 non respiciendum ad haec sed in promptu habenda: viii. pr. 28 ut semper in promptu sint et ante oculos: xi. 2, 1 exemplorum ... velut quasdam copias quibus abundare quasque in promptu habere debet orator. In ix. 1, 13 we have simplex atque in promptu positus dicendi modus. Cp. Demetrius Cynicus ap. Senec. de Benef. vii. 1 §3: plus prodesse si pauca praecepta sapientiae teneas sed illa in promptu tibi et in usu sint quam si multa quidem didiceris sed illa non habeas ad manum.—In Lucr. ii. 149 and 246 (in promptu manifestumque esse videmus) the phrase rather = in aperto: as often in Cicero, e.g. de Off. i. §§61, 95, 105, 126.

ut ita dicam, in conspectu. So vii. 1, 4 cum haec (themata s. proposita) in conspectu quodammodo collocaveram. Cp. viii. 3, 37 quod idem (‘ut ita dicam’) etiam in iis quae licentius translata erunt proderit.

I:7 Et quae idem significarent solitos scio ediscere, quo facilius et 18 occurreret unum ex pluribus, et, cum essent usi aliquo, si breve intra spatium rursus desideraretur, effugiendae repetitionis gratia sumerent aliud quo idem intellegi posset. Quod cum est puerile et cuiusdam infelicis operae, tum etiam utile parum: turbam tantum modo congregat, ex qua sine discrimine occupet proximum quodque.

§ 7. quae idem significarent: ‘synonyms.’ Cp. i. 5, 4 (quoted above on melius sonantia): viii. 3, 16.

solitos sc. quosdam. Cp. §56 audire videor congerentes. See Crit. Notes.

18

occurreret = in mentem veniret: §13: 3 §33.

quo idem intellegi posset. Cp. iii. 11, 27 his plura intelleguntur. See Crit. Notes.

cum ... tum etiam. Cp. cum ... tum praecipue 3 §28: and, for cum ... tum, §§60, 65, 68, 84, 101. Bonn. Lex., s.v. cum p. 195.

cuiusdam. This use of quidam indicates that the word to which it is attached is being employed in some peculiar sense, or else that it comes nearest to the idea in the writer’s mind: cp. §§76, 81.

infelicis operae: of trouble which one gives oneself unnecessarily (cp. 3 §10: 7 §14), with the further idea of unproductiveness, as 2 §8 nostra potissimum tempora damnamus huius infelicitatis: tr. ‘a thankless task.’ Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 1, 90 infelix operam perdas: A. P. 34 infelix operis summa. With viii. pr. §§27-8 Mayor compares Plato Phaedr. 229d ἄλλως τὰ τοιαῦτα χαρίεντα ἡγοῦμαι λίαν δὲ δεινοῦ καὶ ἐπιπόνου καὶ οὐ πάνυ εὐτυχοῦς ἀνδρός.

congregat. The subject here is indefinite, and must be supplied from the context—‘the man who learns by rote.’ Quintilian often omits such words as discipulus, orator, declamator, lector: cp. 2 §24: 7 §4 and 2 §24: §25 est alia exercitatio cogitandi totasque materias vel silentio (dum tamen quasi dicat intra se ipsum) persequendi. So Cic. de Off. i. §101 omnis autem actio vacare debet temeritate et neglegentia nec vero agere quicquam cuius non possit (sc. is qui agit) causam probabilem reddere: ib. §121 si natura non feret ut quaedam imitari possit (sc. is qui imitatur): §134: ii. §39: iii. §107: de Amic. §25 quae non volt: §72 quoad ... possit: de Or. ii. §62 audeat.—There is thus no need for Gemoll’s conjecture congregat actor.

§§8-15. The preceding sections (§§5-7) form the transition to what he now seeks to prove,—the need for multa lectio and auditio. ‘By reading and hearing the best models we learn to choose appropriate words, to arrange and pronounce them rightly; to employ the figures of speech in their proper places.’—Mayor.

I:8 Nobis autem copia cum iudicio paranda est, vim orandi non circulatoriam volubilitatem spectantibus. Id autem consequemur 19 optima legendo atque audiendo; non enim solum nomina ipsa rerum cognoscemus hac cura, sed quod quoque loco sit aptissimum.

§ 8. cum iudicio, §116: 2 §3. Mayor cites Cic. de Or. iii. §150 sed in hoc verborum genere propriorum dilectus est habendus quidem atque is aurium quoque iudicio ponderandus est. The phrase gives the antithesis of sine discrimine above.

vim orandi: see on §1 above, vim dicendi: cp. 5 §6: ii. 16, 9: vi. 2, 2. The words denote ‘true oratory’ as opposed to the ‘fluency of a mountebank’ or charlatan. For the absolute use of orare (common in the Silver Age) see on §16.

circulatoriam volubilitatem: ii. 4, 15 circulatoriae vere iactationis est. The circulator was a strolling mountebank who amused the crowd by his legerdemain: Sen. de Benef. vi. 11, 2. So of quack philosophers, Id. Epist. 29 §7 circulatores qui philosophiam honestius neglexissent quam vendunt: 40 §3 sic itaque habe, istam vim dicendi rapidam atque abundantem aptiorem esse circulanti quam agenti in rem magnam ac seriam docentique: 52 §8 eligamus non eos qui verba magna celeritate praecipitant, et communes locos volvunt et in privato circulantur, sed eos qui vita[m] docent.—For volubilitas cp. xi. 3, 52: Cic. de Orat. §17 est enim et scientia comprehendenda rerum plurimarum, sine qua verborum volubilitas inanis atque inridenda est, et ipsa oratio conformanda non solum electione sed etiam constructione verborum: so linguae volubilitas, pro Planc. §62 flumen aliis verborum volubilitasque cordi est: pro Flacc. §48 homo volubilis praecipiti quadam celeritate dicendi. Pliny Ep. v. 20, 4: est plerisque Graecorum ut illi pro copia volubilitas. Juvenal’s sermo promptus et Isaeo torrentior (3, 73-4) indicates the same feature.

id, of the idea contained in the previous sentence (parare copiam cum iudicio): 6 §6: 7 §4.

19

non enim. Herbst cites §109 and 5 §8 to show that in this form the negative is either attached to a single word, or is meant to be more emphatic: so Cic. Orat. §§47, 101. On the other hand neque enim has less emphasis: §105: 2 §1: 3 §§10, 23: 4 §1: 6 §5: 7 §§5, 18, 19, 27. For enim ... enim ... nam he compares 3 §2 and, in Greek, Xen. Anab. iii. 2, 32: v. 6, 4.

quod quoque. See Crit. Notes.

I:9 Omnibus enim fere verbis praeter pauca, quae sunt parum verecunda, in oratione locus est. Nam scriptores quidem iamborum veterisque comoediae etiam in illis saepe laudantur, sed nobis nostrum opus intueri sat est. Omnia verba, exceptis de quibus dixi, sunt alicubi optima; nam et humilibus interim et vulgaribus est opus, et quae nitidiore in parte videntur 20 sordida, ubi res poscit, proprie dicuntur.

§ 9. parum verecunda. These expressions are characterised in the same indirect way i. 2, 7 verba ne Alexandrinis quidem permittenda deliciis. Cp. viii. 3, 38 excepto si obscena nudis nominibus enuntientur: ib. 2 §1 obscena vitabimus. Cic. ad Fam. ix. 22.

nam is here slightly elliptical (cp. §83), introducing a confirmation of the statement contained in the words praeter pauca quae sunt parum verecunda: ‘I make exceptions, for though even these may be admired in ἰαμβογράφοι (Archilochus §59, Hipponax, &c.), and in the old Comedy, we must look to our own department.’ The sentence might have run,—nam, etiamsi scriptores quidem, &c. etiam in illis saepe laudantur, nobis nostrum opus intueri sat est. This seems better than, with Mayor, to press in oratione: ‘in oratione I say, for even these may be admired, &c.’

scriptores iamborum: §59 Horace imitated Archilochus in some of his Epodes: these are ‘parum verecunda.’ Mayor refers also to the Priapeia. The vetus comoedia (antiqua in §65) is often associated with ἰαμβογράφοι: §§59, 65, 96. Hor. Sat. i. 4, 1 sq.: ii. 3, 12.

in illis ... laudantur. In such expressions in with the abl. denotes the range or scope within which the action of the verb takes place. Nägelsb. p. 491. Cic. Qu. fr. ii. 6, 5 Pompeius noster in amicitia P. Lentuli vituperatur. Cp. §§54, 63, 64: v. 12, 22 ut ad peiora iuvenes laude ducuntur ita laudari in bonis malent.

nostrum opus: not ‘our proper work, the education of an orator’ (Hild); but ‘what we have to do with here,’ our ‘department’ or ‘branch.’ It thus = opus dicendi Cic. Brut. §214, or oratorium ib. §200. In the Silver Age opus (like genus) is often used to denote a special branch. Herbst cites §§31, 35, 64, 69, 70, 72, 74, 93, 96, 123; 2 §21. Cp. Introd. p. xliv.

intueri: v. 13, 31 dum locum praesentem non totam causam intuentur. Cp. 2 §§2, 26: 7 §16.

exceptis ... dixi: sc. iis (parum verecundis). Cp. §104 circumcisis quae dixisse ei nocuerat.

humilibus ... vulgaribus. So xi. 1, 6 humile et cotidianum sermonis genus. Humilia verba (ταπεινά ὀνόματα) are opposed to grandia, elata verba. By Cicero abiectus is often used to indicate a still lower depth: Brut. §227 verbis non ille quidem ornatis utebatur, sed tamen non abiectis. Mayor cites De Orat. iii. §177 non enim sunt alia sermonis, alia contentionis verba, neque ex alio genere ad usum cotidianum, alio ad scenam pompamque sumuntur; sed ea nos cum iacentia sustulimus e medio sicut mollissimam ceram ad nostrum arbitrium formamus et fingimus. Hor. A. P. 229 ne ... migret in obscuras humili sermone tabernas.

interim for interdum, as often in Quintilian, Seneca, and Pliny: cp. §24: 3 §§7, 19, 20, 32, 33 (where we have interim ... interim for modo ... modo): 7 §31. See Introd. p. li.

nitidiore ... sordida. There is the same antithesis at viii. 3. 49. Cp. Cic. Brut. §238 non valde nitens non plane horrida oratio. See note on §79: and cp. §§33, 44, 83, 97, 98, 113, 124. Sulp. Vict. inst. or. 15 in Halm rhet. lat. p. 321, 3 adhibendus est nitor ... ut scilicet verba non sordida et vulgaria et de trivio, quod dicitur, sumpta sint, sed electa de libris et hausta de liquido fonte doctrinae.— 20 For sordida cp. Sen. Ep. 100 (of Fabianus) nihil invenies sordidum ... verba ... splendida ... quamvis sumantur e medio. Quint. ii. 5, 10: viii. 2, 1.

proprie: v. on §6 propria. Cp. 5 §4 verba poetica libertate audaciora non praesumunt eadem proprie dicendi facultatem: viii. 2, 2 non mediocriter errare quidam solent qui omnia quae sunt in usu, etiam si causae necessitas postulet, reformidant.

I:10 Haec ut sciamus atque eorum non significationem modo, sed formas etiam mensurasque norimus, ut ubicumque erunt posita conveniant, nisi multa lectione atque auditione adsequi nullo modo possumus, cum omnem sermonem auribus primum accipiamus. Propter quod infantes a mutis nutricibus iussu regum in solitudine educati, etiamsi verba quaedam emisisse traduntur, tamen loquendi facultate caruerunt.

§ 10. non ... modo, sed ... etiam: see on §6. Herbst notes that Quint. usually separates these words by others, as here: cp. §55 non forum modo, verum ipsam etiam urbem: 2 §23 non causarum modo inter ipsas condicio, sed in singulis etiam causis partium. On the other hand we have 3 §15 non exercitatio modo ... sed etiam ratio: 7 §19 non in prosa modo, sed etiam in carmine.

formas. The forma of a word, in the widest sense, must mean its shape as determined by the syllables and letters of which it consists: cp. viii. 3, 16, where he notes the importance of this in regard to sound. But the reference here is more particularly to the grammatical forms of inflection, i.e. accidence, τὰς πτώσεις τῶν ὀνομάτων καὶ τὰς ἐγκλίσεις τῶν ῥημάτων (Dion. Hal. Comp. Verbor. 25, p. 402 Schäfer). See i. 6, 15 sq. Mayor refers to the grammatical discussions in Cic. Orat. §§152-161. Quint. i. 4 esp. §§22-29: 5-7.

mensuras: the ‘quantities’ of single syllables, i.e. prosody. Cic. Or. §159: §§162-236: Quint. i. 10 ‘de musice.’ Latin concrete plurals often correspond to our abstract names of sciences, e.g. numeri ‘arithmetic,’ tempora ‘chronology.’ Nägelsbach 12 §2, p. 71.

ut ubicumque. For ut (L) most MSS. (G H S) give et. Krüger records a conj. by Rowecki, who proposes to read utque, so as to make both ut sciamus and ut conveniant depend upon adsequi. But this seems unnecessary.

auditione. Then, as now, auditio would be specially valuable in regard to prosody (mensurae). The next clause gives the reason for putting it alongside of lectio, and also serves to introduce the reference which follows.

propter quod ( = δι᾽ ὅ), often in Quint. where Cicero would have used quam ob rem. Cp. §66: 5 §23: 7 §6: propter quae (= δι᾽ ἅ) §61: 3 §30: ii. 13, 14: xii. 1, 39. At §28 and 3 §6 we have praeter id quod for praeterquam quod.

infantes ... caruerunt. In spite of the vagueness of regum and a mutis nutricibus, the reference is obviously to the story told by Herodotus (ii. 2), which Quint. may only have remembered indistinctly. Psammetichus, king of Egypt, wishing to discover if there were any people older than the Egyptians, gave two infants into the charge of a shepherd, who was to keep them out of reach of all human sounds and bring them up on the milk of goats. After two years they greeted the shepherd with the cry βεκός, which on inquiry turned out to be the Phrygian for bread. On the strength of this experiment the sapient king allowed that the Phrygians were more ancient than the Egyptians. Claudian, in Eutrop. ii. 252-4 nec rex Aegyptius ultra Restitit, humani postquam puer uberis expers In Phrygiam primum laxavit murmura vocem. A similar story is told of James IV of Scotland, with the difference that in his case Hebrew instead of Phrygian resulted from the experiment.—By mutis nutr. Quint. probably means the goats of Psammetichus; mutus having its proper sense, ‘uttering inarticulate sounds’: so mutae pecudes Lucr. v. 1059: animalia muta Iuv. viii. 56: mutum ac turpe pecus Hor. Sat. i. 3, 100.

verba emisisse: Lucr. v. 1087-8 ergo si varii sensus animalia cogunt Muta tamen cum sint, varias emittere voces, &c.

caruerunt is obviously the right reading, not caruerint (Hild), which would 21 introduce too great an element of uncertainty into the narrative: caruerunt propter(ea) quod sermonem auribus non acceperunt. Even though Quint. may have been sceptical about the story its ‘moral’ agreed entirely with his own conclusions.—Note etiamsi ... traduntur, etiamsi ... sint §11 below.

I:11 Sunt autem alia huius naturae, ut idem 21 pluribus vocibus declarent, ita ut nihil significationis, quo potius utaris, intersit, ut ‘ensis’ et ‘gladius’; alia vero, etiamsi propria rerum aliquarum sint nomina, τροπικῶς quasi tamen ad eundem intellectum feruntur, ut ‘ferrum’ et ‘mucro’.

§ 11. alia, sc. verba. See Crit. Notes.

vocibus: ‘sounds,’—words in regard to their sound and form, while verba are words in regard to their meaning. The distinction is given Cic. Or. §162 rerum verborumque iudicium prudentiae est, vocum autem et numerorum aures sunt iudices: de Or. iii. §196 itaque non solum verbis arte positis moventur omnes, verum etiam numeris ac vocibus (of musical sounds). Hor. Sat. i. 3, 103 donec verba quibus voces sensusque notarent, Nominaque invenere—where verba are the articulate words by which men gave form and meaning to the primitive inarticulate sounds (voces).

significationis, for the more usual ad significationem, ‘in point of meaning’: vii. 2, 20 nihil interest actionum: ix. 4, 44 plurimum refert compositionis. So Plin. Ep. ix. 13 §25 verane haec adfirmare non ausim: interest tamen exempli ut vera videantur. Cicero has in ad Fam. iv. 10, 5 multum interesse rei familiaris tuae te quam primum venire: and interesse reipublicae occurs (as a sort of personal genitive) in Cicero, Caesar, and Livy. But with such a word as that in the text Cicero would have used ad c. acc.: ad Fam. v. 12, 1 equidem ad nostram laudem non multum video interesse, sed ad properationem meam quiddam interest non te exspectare dum ad locum venias.

quo, sc. verbo.

ensis is the poetic word for gladius, though in Quint.’s time the difference between prose usage and poetical in regard to such words had begun to disappear. Mayor (following Gesner) notes that ‘ensis’ occurs over sixty times in Vergil, ‘gladius’ only five times.

τροπικῶς, by a ‘turn’ or change of application. On metaphor see viii. 2, 6 sq.: Cic. de Orat. iii. §155: Or. §§81, 82 sq. The meaning is that while some words are naturally synonymous, others become synonyms (ad eundem intellectum feruntur) when used figuratively, though in their literal sense they have each a distinct application (propria rerum aliquarum sint nomina). In the one case there are several words with the same meaning: in the other the original meaning is different (e.g. ferrum, mucro), but the words come to be used synonymously.—For the position of quasi, after τροπικῶς, cp. Sall. Iug. 48 §3: and see Crit. Notes.

ad eundem intellectum, viii. 3, 39: feruntur 3 §6: lit. ‘pass into the same meaning.’

ferrum, mucro, viii. 6, 20 (of synecdoche) nam prosa ut ‘mucronem’ pro gladio et ‘tectum’ pro domo recipiet, ita non ‘puppem’ pro navi nee ‘abietem’ pro tabellis, et rursus ut pro gladio ‘ferrum’ ita non pro equo ‘quadripedem.’—Mayor compares the use of ‘iron’ and ‘steel’ for ‘sword’ in Shakespeare.

I:12 Nam per abusionem 22 sicarios etiam omnes vocamus qui caedem telo quocumque commiserunt. Alia circuitu verborum plurium ostendimus, quale est ‘et pressi copia lactis.’ Plurima vero mutatione figuramus: scio ‘non ignoro’ et ‘non me fugit’ et ‘non me praeterit’ et ‘quis nescit?’ et ‘nemini dubium est’.

§ 12. Nam is again elliptical, as in §9. It introduces here a proof of what has just been said in the shape of a reference to something still more striking: ‘and we may go even further, for,’ &c. It may be translated ‘and indeed,’ or ‘nay more,’ or ‘likewise.’ Cp. §§23, 83: and with quidem §50. The ellipse may be supplied by the words ‘neque id mirum’: ‘and no wonder, for.’

per abusionem: by the figure called ‘catachresis,’—the use of a word of kindred signification for the proper word: Corn. ad Herenn. 10 §45 abusio est quae verbo simili et propinquo pro certo et proprio abutitur. Cp. viii. 2, 5 abusio, quae κατάχρησις dicitur, necessaria: ib. 6 §34 κατάχρησις, quam recte dicimus abusionem, quae non habentibus nomen suum accommodat, quod in proximo est, sic: equum divina Palladis arte Aedificant: iii. 3, 9: ix. 2, 35. Cic. de Orat. iii. §169: Or. §94. Quint. states the difference between abusio and translatio viii. 6 §35: discernendumque est ab hoc totum translationis genus, quod abusio est ubi nomen deficit, translatio ubi aliud fuit: i.e. abusio is used when a thing has not a name, and the name of something similar is given to it, translatio when one name is used instead of another. Mayor cites Serv. Georg. iii. 22 533 donaria proprie loca sunt in quibus dona reponuntur deorum, abusive templa. Cp. Quint. viii. 6, 35 poetae solent abusive etiam in his rebus quibus nomina sua sunt vicinis potius uti.

sicarios. The sica among the Romans specially denoted the assassin’s poniard: Cic. de Off. iii. §36: de Nat. Deor. iii. §74: pro Rosc. Amer. §103. Hor. Sat. i. 4, 4.

quocumque. Even before Quint.’s time quicumque had acquired the force of an indefinite pronoun (quivis or quilibet): Cic. Cat. 2, 5 quae sanare poterunt, quacumque ratione (potero) sanabo. Cp. §105, 7 §2: i. 10, 35: ii. 21, 1: and frequently in Tacitus, Suetonius, and Juvenal (e.g. x. 359). Mayor cites among other passages from Martial viii. 48, 5 non quicumque capit saturatas murice vestes.

circuitu verborum plurium, i.e. periphrasis. viii. 6, 59 pluribus autem verbis cum id quod uno aut paucioribus certe dici potest explicatur περίφρασιν vocant, circuitum quendam eloquendi: ib. §61 cum in vitium incidit περισσολογία dicitur. Cp. xii. 10, 16: 41: viii. pr. §24: 2 §17.

ostendimus = declaramus, significamus, as §14.

et pressi copia lactis: Verg. Ecl. 1, 81.

plurima, ‘very many,’ not ‘most’: a common usage in Quint. Cp. §§22, 27, 40, 49, 58, 60, 65, 81, 95, 107, 109, 117, 128: 2 §§6, 14, 24: 6 §1: 7 §17.

mutatione figuramus. For this use of figurare (σχηματίζειν) cp. ix. 1, 9 tam enim translatis verbis quam propriis figuratur oratio: here however plurima is a cognate accus.,—lit. ‘we very often use a figure in substituting one form of expression for another.’ The verb is found in this sense also in Seneca and Pliny. See Crit. Notes.—Figurae is Quint.’s favourite word for rendering σχήματα. He uses it in more than a hundred places (i. 8, 16 schemata utraque, id est figuras, quaeque λέξεως quaeque διανοίας vocantur): and it is to this use of the word by him and by the later rhetoricians that we owe the modern term ‘figure.’ Cicero has no fixed equivalent for σχήματα: he uses formae, conformationes, lumina, gestus, figurae,—often with the Greek word added; e.g. Brut. §69 sententiarum orationisque formis quae vocant σχήματα: cp. Or. §83, and de Opt. Gen. §14 (where figuris is accompanied by tanquam). Quint. defines figura ix. 1, 4 as ‘conformatio quaedam orationis remota a communi et primum se offerente ratione’: ib. §14 arte aliqua novata forma dicendi. The idea of a divergence from what is usual and ordinary is always prominent in his treatment of figurae: ii. 13, 11 mutant enim aliquid a recto atque hanc prae se virtutem ferunt quod a consuetudine vulgari recesserut: ix. 1, 11 in sensu vel sermone aliqua a vulgari et simplici specie cum ratione mutatio.—That this idea is not involved in the original meaning of σχήματα, but was extended to them from the τρόποι (a name which indicates changes or ‘turns of expression’), is shown by Causeret pp. 170-180.

I:13 Sed etiam ex proximo mutuari licet. Nam et ‘intellego’ et ‘sentio’ et ‘video’ saepe idem valent quod ‘scio’. Quorum nobis ubertatem 23 ac divitias dabit lectio, ut non solum quo modo occurrent, sed etiam quo modo oportet utamur.

§ 13. ex proximo mutuari: i.e. borrow a word that is cognate in meaning, instead of using such negative inversions as the preceding.—Intellego, sentio, video, scio, are cognate words,—‘next door’ (in proximo) to each other.—For the substantival use (in Cicero and Livy) of neuter adjectives in acc. and abl., with prepositions, in expressions denoting place and the like, see Nägelsbach §21 pp. 102-109. Exx. are ex integro (§20), in aperto, ex propinquo, in immensum, de alieno, ad extremum, in praecipiti, in praesenti, in melius, e contrario (§19).

idem valent = ταὐτό or ἴσον δύναται, as often in Cicero and elsewhere in Quintilian.

ubertatem ac divitias: hendiadys, ‘a rich store.’ For the use of two synonymous nouns in Latin instead of a noun and an adjective, see Nägelsbach, §73 pp. 280-281. Exx. are Cic. de Or. i. §300 absolutionem perfectionemque ( = summa 23 perfectio, which never occurs): de Off. ii. 5, 16 conspiratione hominum atque consensu. For this metaphorical use of divitiae cp. de Orat. i. §161 in oratione Crassi divitias atque ornamenta eius ingenii per quaedam involucra atque integumenta perspexi.

occurrent: §7 and frequently elsewhere in this sense.

I:14 Non semper enim haec inter se idem faciunt, nec sicut de intellectu animi recte dixerim ‘video’, ita de visu oculorum ‘intellego’, nec ut ‘mucro’ gladium, sic mucronem ‘gladius’ ostendit.

§ 14. non semper enim, etc., ‘they do not always coincide in meaning,’ are not always identical and interchangeable. Cf. ix. 3, 47 nec verba modo sed sensus quoque idem facientes acervantur: where facere = efficere, the words being spoken of as if they were agents in producing the meaning. Inter se (ἀλλήλοις) = ‘reciprocally,’ ‘mutually’: cp. ix. 3, 31: ib. §49.

intellego: repeat recte dixerim. For the ellipse Herbst compares v. 11, 26: viii. 6, 20: xii. 11, 27.

mucro: for instance in 5 §16 gladius could not be substituted for mucro without the point being lost. Cp. viii. 6, 20: vi. 4, 4: ix. 4, 30.

ostendit = indicat, significat. Cp. §12.

I:15 Sed ut copia verborum sic paratur, ita non verborum tantum gratia legendum vel audiendum est. Nam omnium, quaecumque docemus, hoc sunt exempla potentiora etiam ipsis quae traduntur artibus (cum eo qui discit perductus est, ut intellegere ea sine demonstrante et sequi iam suis viribus possit), quia quae doctor praecepit orator ostendit.

24

§ 15. ut ... ita: v. on sicut ... ita §1.

sic, multa lectione atque auditione §10. In reading and hearing we are not to aim merely at increasing our stock of words: many other things may be learned by the same practical method. Cp. 2 §1.

hoc = idcirco, ideo, corresponding to quia below. Cp. §34 hoc potentiora quod: §129 eo perniciosissima quod: v. 11, 37. See Crit. Notes.

etiam ipsis: §24. Herbst cites also Hor. Sat. i. 3, 39 Turpia decipiunt caecum vitia aut etiam ipsa haec delectant. Cicero uses etiam ipse (with rather more emphasis than ipse quoque) de Nat. Deor. ii. §46: Rab. Post. §33: pro Planc. §73: pro Mil. §21—Nägelsbach p. 367.

quae traduntur artibus. Artes is here used, as often in the plural, for the rules or collections of rules taught in schools. So 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. ii. 14: a cavalry officer must make his men often scour their cuirasses, helmets and pikes: plurimum enim terroris hostibus armorum splendor importat. quis credat militem bellicosum cuius dissimulatione situ ac rubigine arma foedantur?

ferri: viii. 3, 5 nam et ferrum adfert oculis terroris aliquid, et fulmina ipsa non tam nos confunderent si vis eorum tantum non etiam ipse fulgor timeretur.

quo, sc. fulgore.

praestringitur §92. Cic. de Fin. iv. §37 aciem animorum nostrorum virtutis splendore praestringitis: and with ut ita dicam to soften the metaphor de Sen. §42 mentis ut ita dicam praestringit oculos (sc. voluptas.)

auri argentique ... periculosus. The practical speaker would only prejudice 34 his case by the use of ornament which, as in poetry, makes ostentatio and voluptas (§28) its chief object. The commentators cite Livy ix. 17, 16 of Darius: inter purpuram atque aurum, oneratum fortunae apparatibus suae, praedam verius quam hostem ... incruentus devicit (sc. Alexander): ib. 40 §4 militem ... non caelatum auro et argento sed ferro et animis fretum: so Livy x. 39 per ... aurata scuta transire Romanum pilum: cp. Aesch. Septem c. Th. 397. Curt. iii. 10 §§9, 10 aciem hostium auro purpuraque fulgentem intueri iubebat, praedam non arma gestantem, irent et imbellibus feminis aurum viri eriperent.

potius is used pretty much as saepius (‘oftener than not’) below §32. Krüger takes it closely with habenti (sc. quam adversario). This is better than Hild’s quam utilis.

I:31 Historia quoque alere oratorem quodam uberi iucundoque suco potest; verum et ipsa sic est legenda ut sciamus plerasque eius virtutes oratori esse vitandas. Est enim proxima poetis et 35 quodam modo carmen solutum, et scribitur ad narrandum, non ad probandum, totumque opus non ad actum rei pugnamque praesentem, sed ad memoriam posteritatis et ingenii famam componitur; ideoque et verbis remotioribus et liberioribus figuris narrandi taedium evitat.

§ 31. Historia §§73-75: §§101-104; ii. 4, 2 apud rhetorem initium sit historia, tanto robustior quanto verior: ib. 5 §1: 8 §7: iii. 8, 67: xii. 4. Cic. de Orat. i. §201 monumenta rerum gestarum et vetustatis exempla oratori nota esse (debent): ii. §§51-64, where Antonius discourses on history: Or. §66 huic generi historia finitima est, in qua et narratur ornate et regio saepe aut pugna describitur; interponuntur etiam contiones et hortationes, sed in his tracta quaedam et fluens expetitur, non haec contorta et acris oratio,—of the flowing smoothness of ‘historical oratory’ as against the compact and incisive style of actual public speaking. Pliny Ep. v. 8 §9 habet quidem oratio et historia multa communia, sed plura diversa in his ipsis quae communia videntur. Narrat illa, narrat haec, sed aliter: huic pleraque humilia et sordida et ex medio petita, illi omnia recondita splendida excelsa conveniunt: hanc saepius ossa musculi nervi, illam tori quidam et quasi iubae decent: haec vel maxime vi amaritudine instantia, illa tractu et suavitate atque etiam dulcedine placet. Postremo alia verba, alius sonus, alia constructio. Nam plurimum refert, ut Thucydides ait, κτῆμα sit an ἀγώνισμα; quorum alterum oratio, alterum historia est.—The relation of this last passage to the text is discussed by Eussner in Blätter f. d. bayer. Gymn. xvii. vol. 9, pp. 391-393. He rightly insists (as against de la Beye) that in Pliny illa, illi, illam refer to historia, haec, huic, hanc to oratio.

suco, ‘sap’: Donatus on Ter. Eun. ii. 3, 7 (‘corpus solidum et suci plenum’) explains sucus as ‘humor in corpore quo abundant bene valentes.’ Cicero often uses the same figure: de Or. ii. §93 (Critias Theramenes Lysias) retinebant illum Pericli sucum, sed erant paulo uberiore filo: ib. §88: iii. §96: Brut. §36 sucus ille et sanguis incorruptus: and ad Att. iv. 16 c §10 amisimus ... omnem non modo sucum ac sanguinem sed etiam colorem et speciem pristinae civitatis.—For uberi see Crit. Notes.

et ipsa: like poetry in §28: καὶ αὐτή, ‘likewise.’ For the much debated question whether et ipse was used by Cicero see the note in Nägelsbach, pp. 366-367, from which it will appear that no conclusive instance can be cited: Merguet gives only pro Rosc. Am. §48 qui et ipsi incensi sunt studio, where, however, the et is now generally disconnected from ipsi and referred to the following vitamque rusticam arbitrantur. In all other passages et seems to have been interpolated in conformity with the later usage.—“Livy often uses et ipse meaning ‘on his part’ or ‘as well,’ in cases where it is implied that the predicate or attribute of the subject expressed is common thereto with a subject unexpressed save in the context, e.g. xxi. 17, 7 Cornelio minus copiarum datum, quia L. Manlius praetor et ipse cum haud invalido praesidio in Galliam mittebatur, ‘Manlius was being sent as well (as Cornelius)’; i. pr. §3 iuvabit tamen rerum gestarum memoriae principis terrarum populi pro virili parte et ipsum consuluisse. ‘I shall be glad to have done my part (as well as others) for Roman history.’ In each case the words in question are equivalent to a very strong etiam.”—Fausset on Cic. pro Cluent. §141.—For other exx. see 5 §§4, 20: 6 §1: 7 §26.

sic ... ut: ‘in reading history we must bear in mind,’ &c.

vitandas: cp. 2 §21. Cic. Or. §68 seiunctus igitur orator a philosophorum eloquentia, a sophistarum, ab historicorum, 35 a poetarum, explicandus est nobis qualis futurus sit.

poetis = poetarum operibus. The metonymy here is motived by Quintilian’s avoidance of poesis (cp. on §28). Many such exx. occur in Cicero: e.g. de Or. ii. §4 nostrorum hominum prudentiam Graecis (Graecorum prudentiae) anteferre. In these and similar instances the property of one thing is compared (by comparatio compendiaria), not with the property of another thing but with the thing itself, to which the property belongs. So Pliny Ep. i. 16, 3 orationes eius ... facile cuilibet veterum ... comparabis. Cp. Holden’s note on de Off. i. §76: Madvig §280, obs. 2.—Cp. the passage in Aristotle’s Poetics (ch. ix.) on the relations of Poetry to History. Dosson refers to Dion. Hal. de Thucyd. Iud. ch. li. ad fin., and Lucian’s Πῶς δεῖ ἱστορ. συγγρ. 44-79. For est enim, see Crit. Notes.

solutum, sc. necessitate pedum §29.

opus: the whole class of work: see on §9.

ad actum rei = ad rem agendam, the doing or performance of a thing. Cp. §27 actu forensi: 6 §1 inter medios rerum actus (where see note): vii. 2, 41: ii. 18, 1 actus operis. So Plin. Ep. ix. 25, 3 me rerum actus ... distringit: Suet. Aug. §78 residua diurni actus. In Suet. Aug. §32 actus rerum is used specially of judicial proceedings: cp. Claud. §15: Nero §17. So actus alone came to mean the method followed in such proceedings, Trajan ap. Plin. Ep. x. 97 (Nettleship, Lat. Lex.).—Note the chiastic construction, actum rei corresponding with ingenii famam and pugnam praes. with memor. posteritatis.

pugnam praesentem §29. So ad pugnam forensem (ἀγῶνα) v. 12, 17. Cp. what Thucydides says of his history i. 22, 4 κτῆμά τε ἐς ἀεὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀγώνισμα ἐς τὸ παραχρῆμα ἀκούειν ξύγκειται,—referred to in the passage quoted above from Pliny Ep. v. 8, 9-11.

ad memoriam posteritatis et ingenii famam. Pliny l.c. §1 mihi pulchrum in primis videtur non pati occidere quibus aeternitas debeatur aliorumque famam cum sua extendere. In vii. 17, 3 he looks less to the last element: non ostentationi sed fidei veritatique componitur. Hild quotes Livy Pr. §3 et si in tanta scriptorum turba mea fama in obscuro sit, &c.: and Cic. Brut. §92 where Cicero, speaking of some orators, says memoriam autem in posterum ingenii sui non desiderant.—For memoria posteritatis cp. §§41, 104: 7 §30: i. 10, 9: vi. 1, 22: xii. 11, 3: Plin. Ep. v. 8, 2.

remotioribus = ab usu remotis iv. 2 36: viii. 2, 12. Cp. libertate verborum §28.

evitat, ‘seeks to avoid,’ a present of endeavour.

I:32 Itaque, ut dixi, neque illa Sallustiana brevitas, qua nihil apud aures vacuas atque eruditas potest esse perfectius, apud occupatum variis cogitationibus iudicem et saepius ineruditum captanda nobis est, neque illa 36 Livi lactea ubertas satis docebit eum qui non speciem expositionis, sed fidem quaerit.

§ 32. ut dixi. Cp. iv. 2, 45 vitanda est etiam illa Sallustiana ... brevitas et abruptum sermonis genus: quod otiosum fortasse lectorem minus fallat, audientem transvolat, nec dum percipiatur expectat, cum praesertim lector non fere sit nisi eruditus, iudicem rura plerumque in decurias mittant, de eo pronuntiaturum quod intellexerit. §102 illam immortalem Sallusti velocitatem.—So Cicero, speaking of Thucydides, says ‘nihil ab eo transferri potest ad forensem usum et publicum,’ Or. §30: cp. Brut. §287.

vacuas is opposed to ‘occupatum variis cogitationibus,’ just as eruditas is to ‘saepius ineruditum.’ Cp. si vacet §90: 3 §27. The word is frequently used in this sense, both in poetry and prose, e.g. Lucr. i. 50: the opposite occupatae aures occurs Livy xlv. 19, 9: cp. Tac. Hist. iv. 17 arriperent vacui occupatos.

saepius ineruditum. Since Augustus added to the three ‘iudicum decuriae’ a fourth to judge of minor cases (quartam ex inferiore censu quae ... iudicaret de levioribus summis Suet. Aug. 32), this office fell into disrepute. Caligula afterwards raised the number to five: Calig. 16. 36 As with us, it was not considered necessary that the juror who was to say ‘Guilty’ or ‘Not Guilty’ (in the iudicia publica) should be learned in the law, or even that he should be an educated man.—Cp. the quotation above from iv. 2, 45 cum ... iudicem rura plerumque in decurias mittant. So v. 14, 29 saepius apud omnino imperitos atque illarum certe ignaros litterarum loquendum est: cp. xii. 10, 53. Mayor quotes Iuv. vii. 116-7 dicturus dubia pro libertate bubulco iudice, where see his note.

lactea ubertas: ‘pure, clear, fulness.’ The expression is evidently chosen to denote the characteristic of Livy’s style mentioned in §101 (clarissimi candoris): ii. 5, 19 (candidissimum et maxime expositum): it signifies not rich fulness merely, but fulness combined with clearness and simplicity: cp. Hieron. Ep. 53, 1 T. Livius lacteo eloquentiae fonte manans. Milk is taken as the type of natural sweet and simple fare: cp. candens lacteus umor Lucr. i. 258. It is also nourishing, so that lactea ubertas is not the mere fulness of empty words: ii. 4, 5 quin ipsis quoque doctoribus hoc esse curae velim ut teneras adhuc mentes more nutricum mollius alant et satiari velut quodam iucundioris disciplinae lacte patiantur.—Becher (Phil. Rundschau iii. 15, p. 469) compares Seneca Controv. vii. pr. 2, p. 268 (Müll.) sententiae, quas optime Pollio Asinius albas vocabat, simplices, apertae, nihil occultum, nihil insperatum adferentes, sed vocales et splendidae, and explains lactea ubertas as ‘eine reine lautere Fülle und keine forcierte, künstlich aufgebauschte, schwülstige.’

satis docebit, i.e. in narratio §49 (διήγησις). See note on the three genera dicendi §80.

speciem ... fidem. It is not beauty of exposition (species or splendor) that the juror looks for in narratio or expositio, but truth and credibility (fides): cp. ad narrandum non ad probandum, of history, §31. For fides cp. Tac. Ann. iv. 34 Titus Livius eloquentiae ac fidei praeclarus in primis.

I:33 Adde quod M. Tullius ne Thucydiden quidem aut Xenophontem utiles oratori putat, quamquam illum ‘bellicum canere,’ huius ‘ore Musas esse locutas’ existimet. Licet tamen nobis in digressionibus uti vel historico 37 nonnumquam nitore, dum in his de quibus erit quaestio meminerimus non athletarum toris, sed militum lacertis opus esse, nec versicolorem illam, qua Demetrius Phalereus dicebatur uti, 38 vestem bene ad forensem pulverem facere.

§ 33. Adde quod 2 §§10, 11, 12. See Crit. Notes. Cp. Introd. p. liii.

M. Tullius. Or. §§30, 31, 32 quis porro umquam Graecorum rhetorum a Thucydide quicquam duxit? ‘at laudatus est ab omnibus,’ fateor; sed ita ut rerum explicator prudens, severus, gravis; non ut in iudiciis versaret causas, sed ut in historiis bella narraret, itaque numquam est numeratus orator ... nactus sum etiam qui Xenophontis similem esse se cuperet, cuius sermo est ille quidem melle dulcior, sed a forensi strepitu remotissimus. Yet Dion. Hal. tells us that Demosthenes was especially indebted to Thucydides (Iud. de Thuc. 52). Cicero saw that ‘Thucydides represents an immature stage in the development of oratory: his speeches had been superseded by maturer models’ (Sandys). Cp. Brut. §287-8.—Cp. §73.

Xenophontem §§75, 82. Cic. Brut. §112 complains that while the Cyropaedia was read the speeches and autobiography of Scaurus were neglected: ad Quint. Fratr. i. §23.

quamquam with subj. as 2 §21: 7 §17.

bellicum canere: Or. §39 incitatior fertur et de bellicis rebus canit etiam quodam modo bellicum: his style is a ‘call to arms,’ it stirs like the sound of a war-trumpet §76. Cp. pro Mur. §30: Phil. vii. 3. Quint, ix. 4, 11 non eosdem modos adhibent cum bellicum est canendum et cum posito genu supplicandum est.

huius ore, &c. Or. §62 Xenophontis voce Musas quasi locutas ferunt. Diog. Laert. ii. §57 ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ Ἀττικὴ Μοῦσα γλυκύτητι τῆς ἑρμηνείας. Cp. §82 below, with the note: Brut. §132 molli et Xenophonteo genere sermonis: de Or. ii. 58.

in digressionibus: opposed to in his de quibus erit quaestio below. See the ch. on Egressio iv. 3: especially §12 hanc partem παρέκβασιν vocant Graeci, Latini egressum vel egressionem, defined afterwards (§14) as alicuius rei, sed ad utilitatem pertinentis, extra ordinem excurrens tractatio. Cp. ix. 2, 55. Cic. de Or. ii. 37 311 sq. digredi tamen ab eo quod proposueris atque agas permovendorum animorum causa saepe utile est: ib. §80 ornandi aut augendi causa digredi: Brut. §82: de Inv. i. §97.

historico ... nitore: 5 §15: Plin. Ep. ii. 5, 5 descriptiones locorum, quae in hoc libro frequentiores erunt, non historice tantum sed prope poetice prosequi fas est: id. vii. 9, 8 saepe in orationes quoque non historica modo sed prope poetica descriptionum necessitas incidit. For nitor see on §9 nitidus: cp. Cic. Or. §115 quidam orationis nitor.

dum. Quint. does not use dummodo: dum is again used in this sense in 3 §7: 7 §25. In 3 §5 it occurs without a verb, sit primo vel tardus dum diligens, stilus: so modo 5 §20.

toris ... lacertis, ‘not the athlete’s swelling thews, but the sinewy arm of the soldier.’ Cp. the antithesis carnislacertorum §77. The primary meaning of torus seems to be anything swelling or bulging, e.g. the knots of a rope or the protuberance of the muscles. The point of the antithesis is clearly brought out in xi. 3, 26 adsueta gymnasiis et oleo corpora, quamlibet sint in suis certaminibus speciosa atque robusta, si militare iter fascemque et vigilias imperes, deficiant et quaerant unctores suos nudumque sudorem,—a passage which must have been suggested by the contrast Plato draws between the sleepy habit of athletes and the wiry vigour of the soldier: σχέδον γέ τι πάντων μάλιστα (sc. ἐμποδίζει) ἥ γε περαιτέρω γυμναστικῆς ἡ περιττὴ αὕτη ἐπιμέλεια τοῦ σώματος‧ καὶ γὰρ πρὸς οἰκονομίας καὶ πρὸς στρατείας καὶ πρὸς ἑδραίους ἐν πόλει ἀρχὰς δύσκολος Rep. iii. 408. Mayor cites also xii. 10, 41 sicut athletarum corpora, etiam si validiora fiant exercitatione et lege quadam ciborum (cp. x. 5, 15) non tamen esse naturalia (sc. putant) atque ab illa specie quae sit concessa hominibus abhorrere. Cp. Tac. Dial. 21 oratio autem sicut corpus hominis, &c.: Nepos xv. 2 §4: Pliny v. 8, 10 (quoted on §31 above). For cognate metaphors see Nägelsbach 136, 4 pp. 556-8. From Professor Mayor’s rich list of parallel passages I select the following: ‘Kleochares ... compared the speeches of Demosthenes to soldiers διὰ τὴν πολεμικὴν δύναμιν, those of Isokrates to athletes τέρψιν γὰρ παρέχειν αὐτοὺς θεατρικήν. Plut. Philopoem. 3 §§3, 4 Philopoemen when recommended to enter upon a course of athletic training asked whether it did not interfere with military exercises; and when told that the frame and life, diet and training of the two were entirely different, the athlete needing much sleep and food, regular intervals of exercise and rest, and being unable to bear any change from his habits, while the soldier was inured to hunger and thirst and sleepless nights; he both in his private capacity wholly abstained from athletic exercises, and tried to abolish them when a general. Id. Fab. Max. 19 §2 Fabius hoped that Hannibal, if unopposed, would wear himself out, ὥσπερ ἀθλητικοῦ σώματος τῆς δυναμεως ὑπεργονου γενομένης καὶ καταπόνου. Lucian Dial. Mort. x. 5 the athlete Damasias, πολύσαρκός τις ὤν, lest he should sink Charon’s boat by his weight, is forced to strip off his flesh and crowns.’

lacertis. As opposed to brachium, lacertus is the upper part of the arm, from the shoulder to the elbow. Cp. Cic. Brut. §64 in Lysia sunt saepe etiam lacerti, sic ut fieri nihil possit valentius.

versicolorem ... vestem, probably a translation of some Greek phrase used in reference to Demetrius, to indicate a style too ornamental for the forum: cp. viii. pr. 20 similiter illa translucida et versicolor quorundam elocutio res ipsas effeminat, quae illo verborum habitu vestiantur. For Demetrius see on §80. ‘His style, like his life, was elegantly luxurious; but in becoming ornate it became nerveless; there is no longer, says Cicero, “sucus ille et sanguis incorruptus,” the sap, the fresh vigour, which had hitherto been in oratory; in their place there is “fucatus nitor,” an artificial gloss,’ Jebb, Att. Or. ii. p. 441. Vestis is more than a mere metaphor here: Demetrius was as foppish in dress as he was in his style. The main feature of the latter is generally indicated by floridus and similar terms: e.g. Cic. Brut. §285: dulcis de Off. i. §3 (cp. Or. §94), suavis Brut. §38: it was over-coloured (like his dress), being intended only to please. For the figure suggested 38 cp. Tac. Dial. 26: adeo melius est orationem vel hirta toga induere quam fucatis et meretriciis vestibus insignire.

dicebatur, i.e. by his contemporaries.

bene ad ... facere: 5 §11 in hoc optime facient infinitae quaestiones. This construction is common in Ovid; e.g. Her. xvi. 189 ad talem formam non facit iste locus: cp. ib. vi. 128: and with dat. Prop. iii. 1, 19 non faciet capiti dura corona meo. “It is also occasionally used absolutely: so Ovid, complaining in his exile, says Trist.(?) ‘Nec caelum nec aquae faciunt nec terra nec imber’: ‘do not agree with me.’ It is thus used especially in medicine. Cp. Colum. viii. 17, Facit etiam ex pomis adaperta ficus: ‘is serviceable.’” Palmer on Ov. Her. ii. 39.

pulverem. Cp. Cic. Brut. §37 (quoted on §80 inclinasse): and for a different judgment de Legg. iii. §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.

I:34 Est et alius ex historiis usus et is quidem maximus, sed non ad praesentem pertinens locum, ex cognitione rerum exemplorumque, quibus in primis instructus esse debet orator, ne omnia testimonia exspectet a litigatore, sed pleraque ex vetustate diligenter sibi cognita sumat, hoc potentiora, quod ea sola criminibus odii et gratiae vacant.

§ 34. historiis: for the plural see on §75. Cp. note on lectionum §45.

alius usus ... ex cognitione, &c. Crassus in the de Or. i. §48 insists on this: neque enim sine multa pertractatione omnium rerum publicarum, neque sine legum, morum, iuris scientia ... in his ipsis rebus satis callide versari et perite potest (sc. orator): cp. ib. §18 tenenda praeterea est omnis antiquitas exemplorumque vis: §158 cognoscendae historiae: §256: Brutus §322: Tac. Dial. 30 nec in evolvenda antiquitate ... satis operae insumitur. In Quint. cp. ii. 4, 20 multa inde cognitio rerum venit exemplisque, quae sunt in omni genere causarum potentissima, iam tum instruitur, cum res poscet, usurus: iii. 8, 67: v. 11 ‘de exemplis’—παράδειγμα quo nomine et generaliter usi sunt in omni similium adpositione et specialiter in iis quae rerum gestarum auctoritate nituntur: xii. 4, 10: cp. §17 rerum cognitio cotidie crescit, et tamen quam multorum ad eam librorum necessaria lectio est, quibus aut rerum exempla ab historicis aut dicendi ab oratoribus petuntur.

et is quidem. Cic. de Fin. i. §65 Epicurus una in domo, et ea quidem angusta, quam magnos ... tenuit amicorum greges. In 5 §7 we have et quidem with the pronoun omitted: cp. Cic. Phil. ii. 43 et quidem immunia: and often in Pliny, e.g. Ep. i. 6, 1 ego ille quem nosti apros tres et quidem pulcherrimos cepi.

non ad praesentem ... locum, because here he is speaking of the advantage of reading history only from the point of view of elocutio: his subject is copia verborum. For the material benefit to be obtained from the study of history see the passages cited above: esp. xii. 4: v. 11, 36 sq.

testimonia. Cp. v. 7, 1 ea dicuntur aut per tabulas aut a praesentibus. The advocate is not to confine himself to these.

litigatore, the client, from whom the essential facts of the case must be learned: xii. 8 §§6-8.

cognita (with vetustate), of the result rather than the process. Before sumat supply ut.

hoc quod ... vacant §15. Cp. v. 11, 36-37 Adhibebitur extrinsecus in causam et auctoritas ... si quid ita visum gentibus, populis, sapientibus viris, claris civibus, inlustribus poetis referri potest. Ne haec quidem vulgo dicta et recepta persuasione populari sine usu fuerint. Testimonia sunt enim quodam modo vel potentiora etiam, quod non causis accommodata sunt, sed liberis odio et gratia mentibus ideo tantum dicta factaque, quia aut honestissima aut verissima videbantur. Cp. Cic. pro Marcello §29: Tac. Hist. i. 1: Ann. i. 1.

I:35 A philosophorum vero lectione ut essent multa nobis petenda 39 vitio factum est oratorum, qui quidem illis optima sui operis parte cesserunt. Nam et de iustis, honestis, utilibus iisque quae sunt istis contraria, et de rebus divinis maxime dicunt et argumentantur acriter Stoici, et altercationibus atque interrogationibus oratorem futurum optime Socratici praeparant.

§ 35. philosophorum: §§81-84: §§123-131. We have the same complaint, that the orator has ‘abandoned the fairest part of his province’ to the philosopher in Book i. pr. §§9-18: esp. neque 39 enim hoc concesserim, rationem rectae honestaeque vitae ... ad philosophos relegandam, cum vir ille vere civilis et publicarum privatarumque rerum administrationi accommodatus, qui regere consiliis urbes, fundare legibus, emendare iudiciis possit, non alius sit profecto quam orator.... Fueruntque haec, ut Cicero apertissime colligit, quemadmodum iuncta natura, sic officio quoque copulata, ut idem sapientes atque eloquentes haberentur. Scidit deinde se studium atque inertia factum est ut artes esse plures viderentur. Nam ut primum lingua esse coepit in quaestu institutumque eloquentiae bonis male uti, curam morum qui diserti habebantur reliquerunt. Cp. xii. 2 §§4-10, esp. §8 id quod est oratori necessarium nec a dicendi praeceptoribus traditur ab iis petere nimirum necesse est apud quos remansit: evolvendi penitus auctores qui de virtute praecipiunt, ut oratoris vita cum scientia divinaram rerum sit humanarumque coniuncta. Quintilian’s frequent statement of the argument that philosophy, especially moral philosophy, is an essential part of the orator’s equipment is a corollary to his main thesis, ‘non posse oratorem esse nisi virum bonum’: i. pr. §9: xii. 1: cp. rationem dicendi a bono viro non separamus. Cp. Introd. p. xxv. In the Orator §§11-19 Cicero places a philosophical training among the first requisites of the ideal orator: esp. §14 nam nec latius neque copiosius de magnis variisque rebus sine philosophia potest quisquam dicere: ib. §118: cp. de Or. i. §87: ib. iii. §§56-73 hanc, inquam, cogitandi pronuntiandique rationem vimque dicendi veteres Graeci sapientiam nominabant ... §61 hinc (from the separation of eloquence and philosophy made by Socrates) discidium illud exstitit quasi linguae atque cordis, absurdum sane et inutile et reprehendendum, ut alii nos sapere, alii dicere docerent. Cicero has told us himself what he owed to philosophy: xii. 2, 23 M. Tullius non tantum se debere scholis rhetorum quantum Academiae spatiis frequenter (e.g. Or. §12, Brut. 315) ipse testatus est: Tac. Dial. §31 sq.

operis: see on §9. So ea iure vereque contenderim esse operis nostri. i. pr. §11.

cesserunt: for this constr. with dat. and abl. cp. Cic. pro Mil. §75 nisi sibi hortorum possessione cessissent.

de iustis, &c.: cp. i. pr. §§11, 12.

de rebus divinis. The Stoic definition of σοφία included this—ἐμπειρία τῶν θείων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ τῶν τούτου αἰτιῶν, transl. by Cicero, de Off. ii. 5: cp. Tusc. iv. 57: Sen. Ep. xiv. 1, 5. They made this σοφία the foundation of every virtue: it is ‘speculative wisdom’ as distinguished from ‘practical wisdom’ (φρόνησις).

maxime = potissimum.

Stoici: §84: xii. 2, 25 Stoici ... nullos aut probare acrius aut concludere subtilius contendunt. Stoici was first inserted by Meister. Hirt (Berl. Wochenschrift v. p. 629) objects, on the ground that Quintilian is only giving here the general idea that eloquence and philosophy were at first mutually inclusive: cp. de Or. iii. §54. See Crit. Notes.

altercationibus. The essence of the altercatio is that it was conducted in the way of short answers or retorts: it is specially used of a dispute carried on in this way between two speakers in the senate, or in a court of law, or in public. A famous instance in the senate is the dialogue between Cicero and Clodius (ad Att. i. 16, 8): Clodium praesentem fregi in senatu cum oratione perpetua plenissima gravitatis, tum altercatione, &c. Tac. Dial. 34 ut altercationes quoque exciperet et iurgiis interesset. The altercatio (actio brevis atque concisa vi. 4, 2) is opp. to perpetua or continua oratio: e.g. Liv. iv. 6, 1 res a perpetuis orationibus in altercationem vertisset: Tac. Hist. iv. 7 paulatim per altercationem ad continuas et infestas orationes provecti sunt.—As to the construction, both words are generally taken as ablatives of instrument; not ‘for debates and examinations of witnesses.’ By interrogationibus is then meant the Socratic ἔλενχος: cp. v. 7, 28 in quibus (dialogis) adeo scitae sunt interrogationes ut, cum plerisque bene respondeatur, res tamen ad id quod volunt efficere perveniat. But see Crit. Notes.

40

Socratici: §83. The writers of the Socratic form of dialogue are meant, Plato, Xenophon, and Aeschines Socraticus: v. 11, 27 etiam in illis interrogationibus Socraticis ... cavendum ne incante respondeas. Their practice of fashioning the imagined objections of their opponents in such a manner as to make them easy of refutation would render them good models: cp. xii. 1, 10 ne more Socraticorum nobismet ipsi responsum finxisse videamur.

I:36 Sed 40 his quoque adhibendum est simile iudicium, ut etiam cum in rebus versemur isdem non tamen eandem esse condicionem sciamus litium ac disputationum, fori et auditorii, praeceptorum et periculorum.

§ 36. his quoque, sc. philosophis—as well as with the poets and historians §§28, 31.

ut ... sciamus, consecutive, expressing result, not final: tr. by participle ‘remembering,’ &c.: cp. ut sciamus after sic in §31. Not all the instances of the introduction of a subordinate clause by this consecutive ut cited by Herbst are exactly apposite: cp. 2 §28: 4 §4: 5 §§6, 9: 6 §3: 7 §10.

in rebus isdem: ‘on the same topics,’ viz. questions of right and wrong, &c., which are common to philosophy and law.

litium ac disputationum: ‘lawsuits and philosophical discussions’: vii. 3 §13 sed de his disputatur non litigatur: xi. 1, 70 inter eos non forensem contentionem, sed studiosam disputationem crederes incidisse: Cic. de Off. i. §3 illud forense dicendi et hoc quietum disputandi genus: de Fin. i. §28 neque enim disputari sine reprehensione, nec cum iracundia aut pertinacia recte disputari potest: Brut. §118 iidem (Stoici) traducti a disputando ad dicendum inopes reperiantur: cp. Or. §113. There is a similar antithesis in foro ... in scholis v. 13, 36.

fori ... periculorum: note the chiasmus. For the antithesis fori ... auditorii cp. §79 auditoriis ... non iudiciis. Tac. Dial. 10 nunc te ab auditoriis et theatris in forum et ad causas et ad vera proelia voco. For auditorium used of the lecture-room, or generally a place for public prelections, literary and philosophical, cp. ii. 11, 3: v. 12, 20: Suet. Aug. 85. These auditoria were the scene of the recitationes of which we hear so much in this age: §18.

periculorum: law-suits, actions-at-law, referring, as often in Cicero, to the issues at stake for the defendant in such actions. Cp. 7 §1: iv. 2, 122 capitis aut fortunarum pericula: vi. 1, 36 (where ‘pericula’ and ‘privatae causae’ are contrasted). Etymologically periculum is from the root PER-, seen in πεῖρα, περάω: it denotes ‘trial’ and, in view of possible failure, ‘danger.’ Cp. Reid on Cic. pro Arch. §13: the English ‘danger’ (Low Latin dangiarium from dominium, Old Fr. dongier, feudal authority) was originally a legal term: Shakesp. Merchant of Venice iv. 1, ‘You stand within his danger.’ Chaucer, Prol. 663. See Skeat’s Etym. Dict.

I:37 Credo exacturos plerosque, cum tantum esse utilitatis in legendo iudicemus, ut id quoque adiungamus operi, qui sint legendi, quae in auctore quoque praecipua virtus. Sed persequi singulos infiniti fuerit operis.

§ 37. This paragraph forms a transition from the general consideration of oratory (§20), poetry (§27), history (§31), and philosophy (§35) to the characterisation of individual representatives of each of these four departments. Quintilian now begins to discourse on the ‘Choice of Books,’ or the ‘Best Hundred Authors,’ both in Greek and Latin. His list does not however aim at completeness: it is conditioned by the object which he has in view, viz. the reading of what is profitable for the formation of style (ad faciendam φράσιν §42), and he constantly reminds the reader that he is merely giving a sample of the best authors (§§44: 56-60: 74: 80: 104: 122). Cp. Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §§15-16.

qui sint legendi: see Crit. Notes.

auctore: see on §24.

persequi singulos: ‘to notice all individually’: §118 sunt alii multi diserti quos persequi longum est.

fuerit: cp. superaverit §46: dixerim §14: maluerim §26: dederit §85: cesserimus §86: quos viderim §98: cesserit §101: opposuerim §105: abstulerit 41 §107: ne hoc ... suaserim 2 §24: nemo dubitaverit 3 §22: contulerit 5 §4: ne ... contrarium fuerit 5 §15.

I:38 Quippe cum in Bruto M. Tullius 41 tot milibus versuum de Romanis tantum oratoribus loquatur et tamen de omnibus aetatis suae, [quibuscum vivebat], exceptis Caesare atque Marcello, silentium egerit, quis erit modus si et illos et qui postea fuerunt et Graecos omnes persequamur [et philosophos]?

§ 38. Quippe cum, only here in Quint.: cp. §76.

versuum: often in Quint. of ‘lines’ of prose: §41: 3 §32: 7 §11: xi. 2, 32 (but §39 opp. to prosam orationem): vii. 1, 37 multis milibus versuum scio apud quosdam esse quaesitum, &c. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 53-4, of a will, quid prima secundo cera velit versu. Cic. Rab. Post. vi. §14 ut primum versum (legis) attenderet: ad Att. ii. 16, 3: Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 16.

Romanis ... oratoribus. One of Cicero’s motives in writing the Brutus was to do justice to the earlier Roman orators, and to trace the development of the art down to his own time. Hild cites Fronto (de elog. p. 235 ed. Rom.) oratores quos ... Cicero eloquentiae civitate gregatim donavit, as showing that the writer thought that Cicero wished to exalt his own style by contrast with the ruder efforts of his predecessors.

aetatis suae. Frieze remarks that this expression, taken by itself, would embrace either the whole career of Cicero as an orator, about 35 years, to the date of the Brutus (B.C. 46), or else his life from the time when he began to hear the orators of the forum as a student (B.C. 90), a period of over 44 years: Brut. §303 hoc (Hortensio) igitur florescente, Crassus est mortuus, Cotta pulsus, iudicia intermissa bello, nos (Cicero) in forum venimus.—The rule which Cicero imposed on himself in the Brutus is given §231: in hoc sermone nostro statui neminem eorum qui viverent nominare.

[quibuscum vivebat]: see Crit. Notes.

Caesare atque Marcello. These exceptions were made at the request of Brutus himself §248. Brutus eulogises Marcellus, while the account of Caesar is mainly put into the mouth of Atticus: then at §262 Cicero returns to the dead,—sed ad eos, si placet, qui vita excesserunt revertamur.—For Caesar see on §114. M. Claudius Marcellus, consul B.C. 51, was a Pompeian who, after Pharsalus, retired to Mitylene, where he studied under Cratippus. His friends procured the pardon which he would not himself sue for, and Cicero in the pro Marcello (B.C. 46) expresses his satisfaction at the event. On his way home in the following year Marcellus was assassinated at Athens. Cp. Sen. ad Helviam ix. §§4-8.

quis ... modus. When quis is used adjectivally, as here and in §50, it does not mean ‘what kind of’ (as qui), but rather ‘will there be any?’ &c. Cp. quis locus = ‘where is the spot?’ vii. 2, 54 quis testis? quis iudex? ... quod pretium? quis conscius? For the reading see Crit. Notes.

I:39 Fuit igitur brevitas illa tutissima quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta, ‘legendos Demosthenen atque Ciceronem, tum ita, ut quisque esset Demostheni et Ciceroni simillimus.’

§ 39. brevitas illa = brevis illa sententia, introducing the clause in acc. c. inf. Hirt compares Cic. Tusc. iv. §83 et aegritudinis et reliquorum animi morborum una sanatio est, omnes opinabiles esse et voluntarios. For fuit see Crit. Notes.

apud Livium. Cp. ii. 5, 20 Cicero ... et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum, sed etiam amari potest: tum, quemadmodum Livius praecipit, ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus. In viii. 2, 18 there is a reference probably to the same source: Livy is made the authority for the story of a teacher ‘qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utens σκότισον.’ Sen. Ep. 100 Nomina adhuc T. Livium. scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentes libros. The son is mentioned again in Plin. N. H. i. 5 and 6. See Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 251 §4.

Demostheni et Ciceroni: §§105-112: Iuv. x. 114. Note the pointed repetition of the names.

I:40 Non est dissimulanda nostri quoque iudicii 42 summa. Paucos enim vel potius vix ullum ex his qui vetustatem pertulerunt existimo posse reperiri, quin iudicium adhibentibus adlaturus sit utilitatis aliquid, cum se Cicero ab illis quoque vetustissimis auctoribus, ingeniosis quidem, sed arte carentibus, plurimum fateatur adiutum.

§ 40. nostri iudicii summa: ‘my 42 opinion in general,’ as opposed to the criticism of each writer individually. What the gist of this opinion is he states in the next sentence, with enim: see Crit. Notes.—For summa cp. §48: 3 §10.

vix ullum, &c.: §57. Mayor compares Plin. Ep. iii. 5 §10 (of the elder Pliny) nihil enim legit quod non excerperet: dicere enim solebat nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. It would be hard to be so charitable now!

vetustatem pertulerunt: ‘have stood the test of time.’ The phrase is properly used of wine,—wine that will ‘keep,’ as we should say (aetatem ferre): Cic. de Amic. §67 ut ea vina quae vetustatem ferunt: ii. 4, 9 musta ... et annos ferent et vetustate proficiunt: Cat. de R. R. 114, 2 vinum in vetustatem servare. So Ovid, of his own works, scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent, Trist. v. 9, 8. For vetustas (lapse of time) cp. Cic. Brut. §258.—There is a sort of antithesis between the class of authors here referred to and the vetustissimi auctores mentioned below. In the former he includes Cato and the Gracchi, ii. 5, 21: the latter are those who were hardly read at all in Quintilian’s day. In general he uses veteres or antiqui in contradistinction to those who were to him novi, i.e. the writers of the post-Augustan period: including in the former Cicero himself as well as his predecessors. ii. 5, 23 et antiquos legere et novos: v. 4, 1 orationes veterum ac novorum: ix. 3, 1 omnes veteres et Cicero praecipue: Plin. Ep. ix. 22, 1, of C. Passennus Paullus, in litteris veteres aemulatur ... Propertium in primis: Tac. Dial. 17, 18.

iudicium adhibentibus: §131: §72.

ingeniosis ... carentibus: i. 8, 8 multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt. Ov. Amor. i. 15, 14, of Callimachus, quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet: Tr. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis. Mayor quotes also from Munro’s Lucretius: vol. ii. p. 18 ‘At this period when the νεώτεροι, as Cicero calls them, were striving to bring the Alexandrine style into fashion, there seems to have been almost a formal antithesis between the rude genius of Ennius and the modern art.’

ingeniosis quidem. Here again (cp. on §34) Cicero would have used the pronoun,—ingeniosis illis quidem. Cp. §§88, 124: i. 10, 17.

Cicero ... fateatur. The Brutus contains e.g. a eulogy of Cato, who is said to be rough, but excellent, like the early statues and paintings and poems: §§61-66: Or. §109. Mayor cites Seneca apud Gell. xii. 2 (Fragmenta 111) Apud ipsum quoque Ciceronem invenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam ex quibus intelligas illum non perdidisse operam quod Ennium legit.

I:41 Nec multo aliud de novis sentio; quotus enim quisque inveniri tam demens potest, 43 qui ne minima quidem alicuius certe fiducia partis memoriam posteritatis speraverit? Qui si quis est, intra primos statim versus deprehendetur, et citius nos dimittet quam ut eius nobis magno temporis detrimento constet experimentum.

§ 41. multo aliud: cp. quanto aliud §53. Aliud here serves for a comparative. So ix. 4, 26 multo optimum: §72 multo foedissimum, and in Plin. N. H. multo very often for the more usual longe. Spald.

novis: the writers subsequent to Cicero; viii. 5, 12: ix. 2, 42.

quotus quisque: ‘each unit of what whole number’ = ‘one in how many,’ and so ‘how small a proportion,’ ‘how few.’ In the nom. sing. masc. it occurs several times in Cicero, and frequently in Pliny’s letters. Ovid, A. A. iii. 103, has the fem., Forma dei munus. Forma quota quaeque superbit. The dat. quoto cuique Plin. Ep. iii. 20 §8: the acc. quotum quemque Tac. Dial. 29.

tam demens ... qui: §48 nemo erit tam indoctus qui non ... fateatur: on the other hand §57 tam ... ut non. Herbst cites Pliny, Ep. viii. 14, 3 quotus enim quisque tam patiens ut velit discere quod in usu non sit habiturus: cp. ib. ii. 19, 6: Panegyr. 15: Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 12 τίς οὕτω μαίνεται ὅστις οὐ σοὶ βούλεται φίλος εἶναι; ib. vii. 1, 28 ἔστι τις οὕτως ἄφρων ὅστις οἴεται ἂν ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι;; Cic. Phil. ii. §33, where Mayor quotes Dem. Mid. p. 536, 6 §66 τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ... ἔστιν ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν ... ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; and

‘Lives there a man with soul so dead

Who never to himself has said...?’

43

alicuius fiducia partis: ‘with even the smallest confidence at least in some portion or other (of his writings).’ For the obj. gen. cp. iv. 2, 113: ix. 3, 51.

memoriam posteritatis: see on §31.

versus: §38.

detrimento: vi. 3, 35 nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat. The word occurs less commonly than some of its synonyms with the genitive: here its etymological meaning (detero–tempus ‘terere’) makes it very appropriate.

I:42 Sed non quidquid ad aliquam partem scientiae pertinet, protinus ad faciendam φράσιν, de qua loquimur, accommodatum.

Verum antequam de singulis loquar, pauca in universum de varietate opinionum dicenda sunt.

§ 42. protinus: ‘at once,’ ‘as a matter of course.’ See on §3: cp. statim §24.

ad faciendam φράσιν: ‘for the formation of style’: cp. §87 phrasin ... faciant: viii. 1, 1 igitur quam Graeci φράσιν vocant, Latine dicimus elocutionem. For the whole expression cp. §65 ad oratores faciendos aptior: xii. 8, 5 cur non sit orator quando ... oratorem facit: x. 3, 3 vires ... faciamus: ib. §10 qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint: ib. §28 faciendus usus: also i. 10, 6: ii. 8, 7: xii. 7, 1. Faciendam must have belonged to the original text: see Crit. Notes.—Hild reminds us that we must always keep this point of view in mind in estimating the literary judgments pronounced by Quintilian in this book: he is concerned mainly with form, in its relation to oratorical style. In the same way, §87, he does not insist on the study of Macer and Lucretius: legendi quidem sed non ut φράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae, faciant. M. Seneca opposes φράσις to ἕξις (§1): non ἕξις magna sed φράσις (of Albucius) Contr. vii. pr. §2: elsewhere he has (Excerpt. Contr. iii. pr. §7) habebat ... phrasin non vulgarem nec sordidam, sed lectam.

in universum: Tac. Germ. 6 in universum aestimanti: ib. 27 in commune opp. to singuli.

de varietate opinionum. Dosson refers to Hipp. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes, vol. i. 1859. In the third cent. B.C. the question of the superiority of the ancients over the moderns was discussed between the supporters and the opponents of Demetrius of Phalerum: in Cicero’s day it had become confused with the quarrel between the true and the false Atticists (cp. Brut. §283 sq.): Horace treated it in the first Epistle of the Second Book: in Quintilian’s own time it was still discussed, as may be seen from this passage and from the Dialogus de Oratoribus.

I:43 Nam quidam solos veteres legendos putant neque in ullis aliis esse naturalem eloquentiam et robur viris dignum arbitrantur, alios recens haec lascivia 44 deliciaeque et omnia ad voluptatem multitudinis imperitae composita delectant.

§ 43. solos veteres. Here again (see on §40) veteres includes the writers of the Augustan age: cp. §§118, 122, 126: 2 §17. See also ii. 5, 21 sq., where Quintilian says that in the case of young people both extremes should be avoided:—the ancients (such as the Gracchi and Cato), fient enim horridi atque ieiuni: the moderns, with their depraved taste, ‘ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur.’

robur viris dignum: ii. 5, 23 ex quibus (sc. antiquis) si adsumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet: i. 8, 9 sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis (i.e. the veteres Latini) petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus: v. 12, 17.

recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: ‘the voluptuous and affected style of our own day’ opp. to rectum dicendi genus, below. Cp. ‘recentis huius lasciviae flosculi,’ quoted above, also ‘deliciarum vitia.’ Mayor cites Sen. Ep. xxxiii. 1 non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextus 44 illorum virilis est. See on lascivus §88. Seneca is probably aimed at here: cp. §125 sq., and Introd. p. xxv. sqq.

I:44 Ipsorum etiam qui rectum dicendi genus sequi volunt, alii pressa demum et tenuia atque quae minimum 45 ab usu cotidiano recedant, sana et vere Attica putant; quosdam 46 elatior ingenii vis et magis concitata et plena spiritus capit; sunt etiam lenis et nitidi et compositi generis non pauci amatores. De qua differentia disseram diligentius, cum de genere dicendi quaerendum erit: interim summatim, quid et a qua lectione petere possint qui confirmare facultatem dicendi volent, attingam: paucos enim, qui sunt eminentissimi, excerpere in animo est.

§ 44. rectum dicendi genus: the true standard of style (cp. §89), natural and unaffected, and imitating neither the rude archaism of the ancients nor the bad taste of the moderns. In ii. 5, 11 it is called sermo rectus (‘straight,’ i.e. direct and natural) et secundum naturam enuntiatus: and in ix. 3, 3, simplex rectumque loquendi genus: the style which aims above everything at the clear and effective expression of thought, apart from all ornament and trickery. Though termed here a genus, it is itself divided into three genera: (1) the simple, terse, concise (ἰσχνόν, tenue, subtile, pressum ... quod minimum ab usu cotidiano recedit); (2) the grand, broad, lofty, stirring, passionate (ἁδρόν, uber, grande, amplum, elatum, concitatum); (3) the flowing, plastic, polished, smooth, melodious, intermediate (ἀνθηρόν, lene, nitidum, suave, compositum, medium).

This threefold division of style, ascribed to Theophrastus, was generally recognised in Greece after the latter part of the 4th century B.C. Gellius (vi. 14, 8) tells us that Varro recognised it, employing uber, gracile, and mediocre to represent ἁδρόν, ἰσχνόν, and μέσον; and Mr. Nettleship (J. of Philol. xviii. p. 232) thinks that his treatise περὶ χαρακτήρων bore on this subject. It is adopted in Cornif. ad Herenn. iv. §§11-16, and is carefully explained by Cicero in the Orator §§20-21 (where see Sandys’ notes): tria sunt omnino genera dicendi quibus in singulis quidam floruerunt, peraeque autem, id quod volumus, perpauci in omnibus. Quintilian evidently considers that Cicero (see §108) came up to his own ideal standard in all three styles: Or. §100 is est enim eloquens qui et humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate potest dicere.

Dion. Hal. (probably following Theophrastus περὶ λέξεως) has the same division, distinguishing as the τρία πλάσματα τῆς λέξεως or γενικώτατοι χαρακτῆρες the χαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός (genus grande), ἰσχνός (genus tenue, subtile), and μέσος (medium, mediocre): de Dem. 33 and 34. In xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi genera inter se videntur. Namque unum subtile, quod ἰσχνόν vocant, alterum grande atque robustum, quod ἁδρόν dicunt, constituunt; tertium alii medium ex duobus, alii floridum (namque id ἀνθηρόν appellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356 a 2 τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος (those which conciliate good-will—the medium, lene, compositum genus), αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως (those which stir the passions—the grande genus), αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι (those which are addressed to the intellect—the genus subtile). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.

In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designation floridum (ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on §80.

pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. the subtile genus, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’ 45 and the juxtaposition of tenuis here shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere. Pressum is well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia 4 §1. To writers pressus is applied §§46, 102: 2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks that pressus (verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.

tenuia: §64: 2 §19. The Greek equivalents are ἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning of tenuis is ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (like ἰσχνός and gracilis), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124 ‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum, al. rarum). Cp. subtilis and simplex.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—For atque quae, see Crit. Notes.

demum, 3 §13: 6 §5: = ‘only,’ for tantum, dumtaxat, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, like adeo: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.

usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.

sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all three genera. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quam 46 iactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. So ὑγιές in Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.

elatior ingenii vis, as in the grave genus, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp. tersior §94.

et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive with magis: cp. §§74, 77, 88, 94, 120. For concitata cp. §§73, 90, 114, 118: 2 §23: xii. 10, 26.

plena spiritus: see on §27: cp. §§16, 61, 104: 3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his time plenus was generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.

lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on §121 (with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words as vehemens, acer, &c. makes it probable that lenis is the right reading here, not levis (see Crit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.

nitidi: see on §9.

compositi: see on §79 compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words, §§52, 66: 2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)

de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.

confirmare facultatem dicendi = i.e. acquire the firma facilitas of §1.

I:45 Facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his simillimi, iudicare, ne quisquam queratur omissos forte aliquos quos ipse valde probet; fateor enim plures legendos esse quam qui a me nominabuntur. Sed nunc genera ipsa lectionum, quae praecipue convenire intendentibus ut oratores fiant existimem, persequar.

47

§ 45. paucos enim explains summatim, ‘for only a few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp. §§3, 8, 27, 31, 35, 42, 67, 87 for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.

studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum 3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (with iuvenis) 3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly with dicendi): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.

ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, see Crit. Notes.

genera ipsa: here and in §104 genera = classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“For ipsum in the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.

lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeos 47 subdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp. §19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.

ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT (46-84)

§§ 46-84. GREEK LITERATURE.

§§ 46-72. Greek Poetry.

§§46-61. Epic, didactic, pastoral, elegiac, iambic, and lyric poetry proper.

The praise of Homer, §§46-51: ‘it is much to understand, impossible to rival, his greatness.’ Hesiod is rich in moral maxims, and a master of the ‘middle style’: Antimachus, Panyasis, Apollonius, Aratus, Theocritus, and others, §§52-57. A word in passing about the elegiac poets, represented by Callimachus and Philetas, §58. Of iambographi the typical writer is Archilochus, §§59-60. The chief lyric poets are Pindar (§61), Stesichorus (§62), Alcaeus (§63), and Simonides (§64).

§§65-72. Dramatic poetry.

The Old Comedy (§§65-66) with its pure Attic diction and freedom of political criticism is more akin to oratory and more fitted to form the orator than any other class of poetry,—always excepting Homer.

Tragedy (§§67-68) is represented by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides: of the latter two Euripides is more useful for the orator. He was imitated by Menander (§§69-72), the ‘mirror of life,’ who might alone suffice to form the orator. Menander’s superiority to all other comic dramatists.

§§73-75. Greek Historians.

The pregnant brevity of Thucydides, the charm and transparency of Herodotus. Theopompus: Philistus (‘the little Thucydides’): Ephorus, and others.

§§76-80. Greek Orators.

Demosthenes the standard of eloquence, in whom there is nothing either too 3 much or too little. Aeschines more diffuse: ‘more flesh, less muscle.’ Hyperides is pleasing, but more at home in less important causes. Lysias resembles a clear spring rather than a full river. Isocrates belongs to the gymnasium rather than to the field of battle: in arrangement punctilious to a fault. Demetrius of Phalerum the last Athenian worthy of the name of orator.

§§81-84. Greek Philosophers.

Both in respect of reasoning power and for beauty of style, Plato holds the first place. Of Xenophon’s artless charm it might be said that ‘Persuasion herself perched upon his lips.’ Aristotle is famous alike for knowledge, productiveness, grace of style, invention, and versatility. Theophrastus owed even his name to the divine splendour of his language. The Stoics were the champions of virtue, and showed their strength in defending their tenets: the grand style they did not affect.

I:46 Igitur, ut Aratus ab Iove incipiendum putat, ita nos rite coepturi ab Homero videmur. Hic enim, quem ad modum ex Oceano dicit ipse omnium fluminum fontiumque cursus initium capere, omnibus eloquentiae partibus exemplum et ortum dedit. 48 Hunc nemo in magnis rebus sublimitate, in parvis proprietate superaverit. Idem laetus ac pressus, iucundus et gravis, tum copia tum brevitate mirabilis, nec poetica modo, sed oratoria virtute eminentissimus.

§ 46. ab Iove incipiendum. Phaenom. 1 ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα. Cic. de Rep. i. §36 imitemur (al. mitabor ergo) Aratum qui magnis de rebus dicere exordiens a Iove incipiendum putat ... rite ab eo dicendi principium capiamus. So Theocr. xvii. 1 Ἐκ Διὸς ἀρχώμεσθα καὶ ες Δία λήγετε Μοῖσαι—imitated by Vergil, Ecl. iii. 60 Ab Iove principium musae: cp. Hor. Od. i. 12, 13 quid prius dicam solitis parentis laudibus?—For Aratus see on §55

rite. Cp. §85 ut apud illos (Graecos) Homerus sic apud nos Vergilius auspicatissimum dederit exordium. “Such a commencement will be a sort of consecration of the whole course; it is the solemn and auspicious order of proceeding.”—Mayor.

coepturi ... videmur: sc. nobis: cp. §56: Cic. de Off. i. §§1, 2: ii. §5.—For the participle instead of the fut. inf. cp. v. pr. §5 eius praecepta sic optime divisuri videmur: ib. 7 §13: i. 2, 2: ii. 5, 3: vi. pr. §1 hanc optimam partem relicturus hereditatis videbar: ib. 4, 1: vii. 2, 42. Becher (Quaest. Gramm. p. 16) explains the usage by assuming an ellipse, so that ‘rite coepturi ab Homero videmur’ = ‘nos ab Homero coepturi rite coepisse videmur’; but this is unnecessary, and the collocation of coepturi and coepisse in fact impossible.

ab Homero. So in the schools i. 8, §5 ideoque optime institutum est ut ab Homero atque Vergilio lectio inciperet: cp. Plin. Ep. ii. 14, §2.

ex Oceano. Il. xxi. 195-197 Ὠκεανοῖο ἐξ οὗπερ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα καὶ πᾶσαι κρῆναι καὶ φρείατα μακρὰ νάουσιν.—Dion. Hal. uses the same image de Comp. Verb. 24 Κορυφὴ μὲν οὖν ἁπάντων καὶ σκοπός, ἐξ οὗπερ πάντες ποταμοὶ καὶ πᾶσα θάλασσα καὶ πᾶσαι κρῆναι δικαίως ἂν Ὅμηρος λέγοιτο. Cp. Ovid, Amor. iii. 9, 25 Aspice Maeoniden, a quo, ceu fonte perenni, Vatum Pieriis ora rigantur aquis.

omnium fluminum fontiumque. For the reading see Crit. Notes: cp. §78.

omnibus eloquentiae partibus. Eustathius pr. ad Odys. p. 1379 τὸν πάσης τῆς ἐν λόγοις τέχνης καθηγητήν, ἐξ οὗ οἷα τινὸς ὠκεανοῦ πάντες ποταμοῖ καὶ πᾶσαι λογικῶν μεθόδων πηγαί: Manilius, Astr. ii. 8 Cuiusque ex ore profusos Omnis posteritas latices in carmina duxit Amnemque in tenues ausa est diducere rivos Unius fecunda bonis. Cp. the references to Homer in the various departments of literature dealt with by Quintilian: §§62, 65, 81, 85, 86. So xii. 11, 21 in quo (sc. Homero) nullius non artis aut opera perfecta aut certe non dubia vestigia reperiuntur. Cic. Brut. §40 ornatus in dicendo et plane orator. Homer’s influence on all later culture is a common-place in ancient writers. Specially in regard to oratory, the speeches of his three heroes were taken as types of three styles of rhetoric: xii. 10, 64: ii. 17, 8. The eulogy here pronounced on him is systematically arranged with reference to the essential elements of practical oratory. After alluding to (1) the three kinds of oratory (see notes on §44) in the terms sublimitas, proprietas, pressus, laetus (§46), he passes (2) to the two classes of practical speeches, judicial and deliberative (litium ac consiliorum) (§47): and then refers to (3) the mastery of the emotions (adfectus) (§48): (4) the constituent parts of a regular forensic speech—(prooemium, genera probandi ac refutandi, epilogus) (§§48, 49, 50): (5) well-chosen terms, well-put thoughts, lively figures, and everywhere clear arrangement (dispositio) (§50). “In this notice of Homer and in that of Cicero (§105 sqq.) and of Seneca (§125 sqq.) Quintilian introduces more of detail than in his brief remarks on the rest of the authors in his sketch. In general his plan, as indicated above in §§44, 45, is to mention the typical writers of different departments of literature best adapted to the purposes of the orator or forensic advocate, and in a few words to point out their characteristics with particular reference to their fitness as exemplars of oratorical style, or φράσις. As this is his sole aim, so distinctly stated, the strictures of some critics on the brevity and meagreness of these notices show that they have failed to comprehend the purpose of the author.”—Frieze.

48

sublimitate: §27: viii. 6, §11.

proprietate. Here this word furnishes a sort of antithesis to sublimitas, and means ‘suitability,’ ‘simplicity,’ ‘naturalness’: cp. the definition given at viii. 2, 1 sua cuiusque rei appellatio. In the same sense §64 sermone proprio, of an easy and unaffected style. A different use of proprius will be found at §6 (where see note): §29: 5 §8.

superaverit. For this subj. of modified assertion cp. on fuerit §37.

laetus, ‘flowery,’ i.e. rich, ornate, exuberant. Cp. 2 §16: xii. 10, 80: xi. 1, 49. This use is akin to that by which the word is employed as a metaphor to denote richness of vegetation: Verg. Georg. i. 1 and 74 (cp. note on 5 §14): and also of the sleek condition of well-fed cattle: Aen. iii. 220. Cp. Cic. de Orat. iii. §155.—There is no need for Francius’s conj. latus or Kraffert’s latior (cp. xii. 10, 23), or Gustaffson’s elatus (4 §1).

pressus, pruned, trimmed down,chaste,’ ‘concise’: see on §44.

iucundus et gravis, ‘sprightly and serious.’ So §119 iucundus et delectationi natus: and iucunditas §§64, 82: 2 §23. Mayor cites Plin. Ep. iv. 3, 2 nam severitatem istam pari iucunditate condire summaeque gravitati tantum comitatis adiungere non minus difficile quam magnum est: ib. v. 17, 2 (of Calpurnius Piso) excelsa depressis, exilia plenis, severis iucunda mutabat.

tum ... tum: a usage (frequent in Cicero) which Quintilian sought to revive. Wölfflin, Archiv f. Lexikogr. ii. p. 241.

I:47 Nam ut de laudibus, exhortationibus, 49 consolationibus taceam, nonne vel nonus liber, quo missa ad Achillen legatio continetur, vel in primo inter duces illa contentio vel dictae in secundo sententiae omnes litium ac consiliorum explicant artes?

§ 47. Nam ut, &c. This sentence contains the proof of Homer’s oratoria virtus: he furnishes models of the three recognised styles of rhetoric, (1) genus demonstrativum (ἐπιδεικτικόν) or laudativum: (2) genus deliberativum sive suasorium (συμβουλευτικόν): and (3) genus iudiciale (δικανικόν). Cp. iii. 4. Cope Arist. Rhet. introd. 118-123, and the notes on 13 §1: Cic. de Inv. i. §§7, 8, 12: ii. §§12, 13: Orat. Part. §§10-14, 69-138: de Orat. i. §141 and Wilkins’ introd. p. 56.

In the words ut ... taceam, Quintilian passes lightly over the main features of the γένος ἐπιδεικτικόν (set speeches aiming at display—ἐπίδειξις, ‘ostentatio declamatoria’ iv. 3, 2), in order to dwell more specially on the appropriateness of the study of Homer with reference to forensic and legislative debates (litium ac consiliorum). In doing so, he no doubt wishes to indicate the relative importance of the three kinds for the practical training of the orator, just as Cicero (Or. §§37-42) restricts his portraiture of the perfect orator to the practical oratory of public life, i.e. the deliberative and forensic branches, to the exclusion of the γένος ἐπιδεικτικόν.

laudibus. These belong distinctly to the epideictic branch, for which see iii. 4, 12: Tac. Dial. 31 in laudationibus de honestate disserimus. So ἔπαινοι and ἐγκώμια: see Volkmann, Rhet. §33. As examples of laudationes may be cited Cicero’s Eulogy on Cato (Or. §35) and his sister Porcia (ad Att. xiii. 37, 3): and in Greek the Evagoras and Helenae Encomium of Isocrates.

exhortationibus might in itself (like consolationibus: cp. xi. 3, 153) be used of the genus deliberativum, which included the suasoriae (Tac. Dial. 35)—‘consilium dedimus Sullae privatus ut altum dormiret’, Iuv. i. 16; and in order to find a reference in each of the three items enumerated to the three kinds of rhetoric, Kraffert proposed to read consultationibus for consolationibus (cp. controversiae Tac. Dial. 35), so that laudibus should = laudativum genus, exhortationibus = deliberativum, and consultationibus = iudiciale. But this is a misunderstanding of Quintilian’s meaning. Exhortatio and consolatio may easily enter into a λόγος ἐπιδεικτικός, a speech written for display and not for delivery in public, just as suasio does in the passage of the Orator referred to above: laudationum et historiarum et ... suasionum ... reliquarumque scriptionum formam, quae absunt a forensi contentione, eiusque totius generis, quod Graece ἐπιδεικτικόν nominatur ... non complectar hoc tempore (§37). Cp. Quint. iii. 4, 14 an quisquam negaverit Panegyricos ἐπιδεικτικούς esse? atqui formam suadendi habent, &c.

49

legatio of Odysseus, Aias, and Phoenix: contentio between Achilles and Agamemnon: dictae ... sententiae: the council of war (Agamemnon, Ulysses, Nestor, Thersites) Il. ii. 40-394.—The selection from a poet of such passages as seemed to bear most closely on the training of a student of rhetoric was a familiar process in ancient schools.

litium ac consiliorum. These words contain a distinct reference to the genus iudiciale and the genus deliberativum, respectively,—to the exclusion of the genus demonstrativum, i.e. the ‘epideictic’ or non-practical kind of speeches. Cp. Cic. de Orat. i. §22 Graecos ... video ... seposuisse a ceteris dictionibus eam partem dicendi quae in forensibus disceptationibus iudiciorum aut deliberationum versaretur: cp. suasoriae et controversiae Tac. Dial. 35. The prominence given to litium ac consiliorum shows that Professor Mayor is wrong in seeing in exhortationibus and consolationibus above a specific reference to the ‘genus deliberativum’: that would involve a duplicate enumeration.

artes: the ‘rules of art,’ or technical precepts of the rhetoricians. See on §15 exempla potentiora ... ipsis quae traduntur artibus.

I:48 Adfectus quidem vel illos mites vel hos concitatos nemo erit tam indoctus qui non in sua potestate hunc auctorem habuisse fateatur. Age vero, non utriusque operis sui ingressu in paucissimis versibus legem prooemiorum non dico servavit, sed constituit? Nam benevolum auditorem invocatione dearum 50 quas praesidere vatibus creditum est, et intentum proposita rerum magnitudine, et docilem summa celeriter comprehensa facit.

§ 48. Adfectus quidem, &c. In the passage which Quintilian may have had in view. Dionysius, after showing, as Quintilian has done, that Homer is admirable in every respect, and not in one only, goes on to say that he is a master in particular of the ἤθη and πάθη, of μέγεθος (rerum magnitudine §48) and of οἰκονομία (in dispositione totius operis §50): τῆς μὲν οὖν Ὁμηρικῆς ποιήσεως οὐ μίαν τινὰ τοῦ σώματος μοῖραν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκτύπωσαι τὸ σύμπαν, καὶ λάβε ζῆλον ἠθῶν τε τῶν ἐκεῖ καὶ παθῶν καὶ μεγέθους, καὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρετῶν ἁπασῶν εἰς ἀληθῆ τὴν παρὰ σοὶ μίμησιν ἠλλαγμένων: περὶ μιμήσεως 2 (Usener, p. 19). See what Quintilian says of adfectus in vi. 2 §§8-10: esp. adfectus igitur concitatos πάθος, mites atque compositos ἦθος esse dixerunt: and cp. §§73 and 101 below. Illos ... hos indicates what was a well-known antithesis. The former (ἤθη) were habitual and characteristic conditions of individual minds: the latter (πάθη) for the most part occasional (temporale vi. 2, 10), and more moving (perturbatio ib.).

tam ... qui: see on §41.

auctorem: ‘master,’ ‘teacher.’ Cp, on §24.

Age vero: ‘and further,’ a formula of transition generally leading to something more important. Here it introduces the five constituent parts of an oration, exordium (προοίμιον), narratio, probatio, refutatio (διήγησις, πίστις or ἀπόδειξις or κατασκευή, λύσις or ἀνασκευή §49), peroratio (ἐπίλογος). Cp. Cic. Or. §122 and de Orat. ii. §80 with Sandys’ and Wilkins’ notes: de Inv. i. §19: Cornif. ad Herenn. i. §4.

ingressu: see Crit. Notes.

non dico ... sed. So 7 §2: cp. i. 10, 35.

legem prooemiorum ... constituit: iv. 1, 34 docilem sine dubio et haec ipsa praestat attentio, sed et illud, si breviter et dilucide summam rei, de qua cognoscere debeat, iudicaverimus: quod Homerus atque Vergilius operum suorum principiis faciunt: ib. §42 ut sit in principiis recta benevolentiae et attentionis postulatio: Hor. Ars Poet. 140.

benevolum ... intentum ... docilem. The orator’s first task is to gain the good-will of his hearers, and to secure their attention. Cp. iv. i, 5 causa principii (i.e. prooemii, exordii) nulla alia est quam ut auditorem, quo sit nobis in ceteris partibus accommodatior, praeparemus. Id fieri tribus maxime rebus inter auctores plurimos constat, si benevolum attentum docilem fecerimus: iii. 5, 2: xi. 1, 6. Cic. de Orat. ii. §115 and 50 322-3: Brut. §185. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. de Lysia 17 οὔτε γὰρ εὔνοιαν κινῆσαι βουλόμενος, οὔτε προσοχήν, οὔτε εὐμάθειαν, ἀτυχήσειέ ποτε τοῦ σκοποῦ.

invocatione dearum. Μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, and Ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, Μοῦσα.

vatibus: ‘bards,’ instinctis divino spiritu vatibus xii. 10, 24: Verg. Eclog. ix. 32 me fecere poetam Pierides ... me quoque dicunt vatem pastores. Tac. Dial. 9 Saleium nostrum, egregium poetam, vel si hoc honorificentius est, praeclarissimum vatem. Poeta, which is sometimes used slightingly of verse-makers (Cic. in Pis. 29 ut assentatorem, ut poetam: Tusc. i. 2 quod in provinciam poetas duxisset), had not the same solemn associations as vates.

creditum est: as at 4 §1: cp. ii. 15, 7. The perfect is continuous = νενόμισται. The personal construction occurs at §125. For the impersonal cp. Tac. Ann. ii. 69. ‘Tacitus appears to prefer the personal construction when a single personal subject is spoken of, and the impersonal in other cases, but even this rule is by no means without exceptions’ Furneaux, Introd. to Annals, p. 45.

intentum ... magnitudine. Cic. de Inv. i. §23 attentos autem faciemus si demonstrabimus ea quae dicturi erimus magna nova incredibilia esse.

docilem: ‘receptive’; iv. 1, 34 (cited above on legem prooemiorum), ad Herenn. i. §7 dociles auditores habere poterimus, si summam causae breviter exponemus.

comprehensa: cp. xi. 1, 51: ix. 3, 91 comprehensa breviter sententia. So Lucr. vi. 1083 sed breviter paucis praestat comprendere multa: Cic. de Orat. i. §34. So that celeriter here almost = breviter.

I:49 Narrare vero quis brevius quam qui mortem nuntiat Patrocli, quis significantius potest quam qui Curetum Aetolorumque proelium exponit? Iam similitudines, amplificationes, exempla, digressus, signa rerum et argumenta ceteraque genera probandi 51 ac refutandi sunt ita multa ut etiam qui de artibus scripserunt plurima earum rerum testimonia ab hoc poeta petant.

§ 49. narrare: iv. 2, 31 eam (narrationem) plerique scriptores ... volunt esse lucidam, brevem, veri similem: Cic. de Inv. i. §28 brevis, aperta, probabilis.

qui ... nuntiat: Antilochus, Il. xviii. 18. His κεῖται Πάτροκλος seems to have become proverbial: Pliny Ep. iv. 11, 12.

significantius: ‘more graphically,’ or ‘with more force of expression.’ Cp. significantia §121.

qui ... exponit, Phoenix, in Il. ix. 529 sqq.

iam, transitional particle, as often in Cicero: §§98, 111.

similitudines. v. 11, 1 tertium genus ex iis quae extrinsecus adducuntur in causam Graeci vocant παράδειγμα, quo nomine et generaliter usi sunt in omni similium adpositione et specialiter in iis quae rerum gestarum auctoritate nituntur. Nostri fere similitudinem vocare maluerunt quod ab illis παραβολή dicitur, hoc alterum exemplum: viii. 3, 72 praeclare ad inferendam rebus lucem repertae sunt similitudines (i.e. the use of simile).

amplificationes = αὐξήσεις (Cic. Or. §125). The various rhetorical means of expanding and developing an idea in expression are discussed in viii. 4, 3 under the heads of incrementum, comparatio, ratiocinatio, and congeries. Ad Herenn. ii. 47 amplificatio est res quae per locum communem instigationis auditorum causa sumitur.

exempla: v. 11, 6 potentissimum autem est inter ea quae sunt huius generis exemplum, id est rei gestae aut ut gestae utilis ad persuadendum id quod intenderis commemoratio: ib. 2 §1: Cic. de Inv. i. §49. The stock illustration is that given in Aristotle’s Rhetoric: “if a man has asked for a bodyguard, and the speaker wishes to show that the aim is a tyranny, he may quote the ‘instances’ (παραδείγματα) of Dionysius and Pisistratus.”

digressus, ‘episodes’: cp. on §33.

signa rerum et argumenta: the ‘evidence of material facts’ and ‘inferences.’ In the former we have sensible proof of things (e.g. cruenta vestis, clamor, livor, &c. v. 9, 1); in the latter logical deductions from circumstantial facts: v. 10, 11 cum sit argumentum ratio probationem praestans, qua colligitur aliquid per aliud, et quae quod est dubium per id quod dubium non est confirmat. To distinguish signa from argumenta Quintilian says v. 9, 1 nec inveniuntur ab oratore 51 sed ad eam cum ipsa cansa deferuntur: and again, signa sive indubitata sunt, non sunt argumenta, quia, ubi illa sunt, quaestio non est, argumento autem nisi in re controversa locus esse non potest: sive dubia non sunt argumenta, sed ipsa argumentis egent: Cic. de Inv. §48. For argumenta see v. 10, 1 hoc ... nomine complectimur omnia quae Graeci ἐνθυμήματα, ἐπιχειρήματα, ἀποδείξεις vocant: ib. §§10-12.

ceteraque genera: see Crit. Notes.

probandi. After narratio comes probatio or (as more commonly in Cicero, e.g. de Inv. i. §34) confirmatio (see on 5 §12). So ii. 17, 6 narrent, probent, refutent. Cp. iv. 2, 79 aut quid inter probationem et narrationem interest, nisi quod narratio est probationis continua propositio, rursus probatio narrationi congruens confirmatio? For the probationes artificiales (ἔντεχνοι πίστεις) see v. chs. 8-12: for the probationes inartificiales ἄτεχνοι πίστεις ib. chs. 1-7.

refutandi. For Quintilian’s definition see v. 13, 1 sq., and cp. note on destructio 5 §12. Cicero often uses refellere: de Orat. ii. §163 aut ad probandum aut ad refellendum. For refutare cp. ib. §80 nostra confirmare argumentis ac rationibus, deinde contraria refutare: §§203, 307, 312.—In de Prov. Cons. §32 and de Har. Resp. §7 (conatum refutabo) the word is used in the sense of repellere.

artibus, the ‘principles of rhetoric’: §§15 and 47.

testimonia, ‘illustrations,’ confirmatory examples. Cp. i. 8, 12. ‘Homerus’ in the index to most Greek and Latin authors will supply evidence of the truth of Quintilian’s statement. Cic. ad Att. i. 16, 1 respondebo tibi ὕστερον πρότερον Ὀμηρικῶς: Plin. Ep. iii. 9, 28 praepostere ... facit hoc Homerus multique illius exemplo.

I:50 Nam epilogus quidem quis umquam poterit illis Priami rogantis Achillen precibus aequari? Quid? In verbis, sententiis, figuris, dispositione totius operis nonne humani ingenii modum excedit? ut magni sit virtutes eius non aemulatione, quod fieri non 52 potest, sed intellectu sequi.

§ 50. nam. See on §12: cp. §§950.

epilogus = peroratio: see note on §107. The advocate will find many pathetic and moving passages in Homer such as will be serviceable for his closing appeal, which is generally addressed to the feelings and hearts of his hearers; vii. 4, 19 epilogi omnes in eadem fere materia versari solent: vi. 1, 1 eius (perorationis) duplex ratio est, posita aut in rebus aut in adfectibus. Cicero uses conclusio as a synonym, de Inv. i. §98, where he says it has three parts, enumeratio, indignatio, and conquestio, defining the last (§106) as oratio auditorum misericordiam captans. in hac primum animum auditoris mitem et misericordem conficere oportet.—For Priam’s entreaty see Il. xxiv. 486 sqq.

Quid? ... nonne: cp. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §119. So with non §56 below, and 2 §25.

verbis, sententiis, figuris: xii. 9, 6 verborum quidem dilectus, gravitas sententiarum, figurarum elegantia. For figurae see on §12. Sententiis = γνώμαις §§52, 60, 68, 90, 102, 129, 130: 2 §17: 5 §4. See viii. 5, 1 sq. consuetudo iam tenuit ut mente concepta sensus vocaremus, lumina autem praecipueque in clausulis posita sententias ... antiquissimae sunt quae proprie, quamvis omnibus idem nomen sit, sententiae vocantur, quas Graeci γνώμας appellant: utrumque autem nomen ex eo acceperunt quod similes sunt consiliis aut decretis. est autem haec vox universalis, quae etiam citra complexum causae possit esse laudabilis, &c.

dispositione = οἰκονομίᾳ: see on adfectus §48. Cp. 5 §14.

humani ingenii modum: §86 ut illi naturae caelesti atque immortali cesserimus.

ut magni sit. There has been some controversy over this. The text is best explained by supplying ingenii out of what immediately precedes. Others supply viri, which is actually given in some of the later MSS.: while others again take magni as a gen. of price ‘of great value,’ or ‘worth much.’ Wrobel thinks it can stand alone, as res magni est: i.e. it ‘takes a good deal’ even to appreciate Homer’s excellences. Kiderlin supposes that spiritus has fallen out, and compares i. 9, 6. See Crit. Notes.

52

intellectu sequi: ii. 5, 21 neque vim eorum adhuc intellectu consequentur.

I:51 Verum hic omnes sine dubio et in omni genere eloquentiae procul a se reliquit, epicos tamen praecipue, videlicet quia clarissima in materia simili comparatio est.

§ 51. sine dubio: see Introd. p. liii.

clarissima comparatio: ‘the contrast is most striking.’

I:52 Raro adsurgit Hesiodus magnaque pars eius in nominibus est occupata, tamen utiles circa praecepta sententiae levitasque verborum et compositionis probabilis, daturque ei palma in illo medio genere dicendi.

§ 52. adsurgit: cp. insurgit §96: 2 §23: i. 8, 5 sublimitate heroi carminis animus adsurgat.—If Hesiod ‘seldom soars’ it is because in him epic poetry has descended to the sphere of common life. Homer was the bard of ‘warriors and noble men’ in the brave days of old. Hesiod is the poet of the people, earning their daily bread in the labour of the field.

pars eius: metonymy for pars carminum eius; cp. on §31 poetis.—Gemoll proposes to read operis eius: cp. §§35 and 63.

in nominibus: specially in the Theogony: e.g. 226 sqq., 337 sqq.

circa: ‘in regard to’: 2 §14: 5 §§5, 6. Such uses of circa (like περί, ἀμφί, c. acc.) are very frequent in Quintilian and later writers: ii. 16, 14 circa quae omnia multus hominibus labor: iii. 11, 5 circa verba dissensio. Also with verbs Pr. §20 circa ima subsistere: vii. 1, 54 circa patrem quaerimus; and for ‘in the time of’ (like κατά) ii. 4, 41 circa Demetrium Phalerea. It is also used absolutely ix. 2, 45 omnia circa fere recta sunt: cp. 7 §16 below. For exx. from other writers see Hand, Turs. ii. pp. 66-8.

praecepta. Lindner translates ‘Lehrvorschriften.’ The reference is to Hesiod’s proverbial philosophy: ‘maxims of moral wisdom.’

sententiae: §50. See Duncker’s Greece, vol. i. p. 485: Cic. ad Fam. vi. 18, 5 Lepta suavissimus ediscat Hesiodum et habeat in ore τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετης ἱδρῶτα et cetera: Brut. §15 illud Hesiodium laudatur a doctis, quod eadem mensura reddere iubet qua acceperis, aut etiam cumulatiore, si possis. Cp. Crit. Notes.

levitas verborum et compositionis. Here Quintilian is again in exact agreement with Dion. Hal. περὶ μιμήσεως 2 (Usener, p. 19), Ἡσίοδος μὲν γὰρ ἐφρόντισεν ἡδονῆς καὶ ὀνομάτων λειότητος καὶ συνθέσεως ἐμμελοῦς. It is also to be noted that Dionysius names Hesiod, Antimachus, and Panyasis after Homer.—Mayor cites Demetrius περὶ ἑρμηνείας §176, who ‘calls that ὄνομα λεῖον which has many vowels, as Αἴας,—opp. to τραχύ as βέβρωκε; ib. §299 he defines ἡ λειότης ἡ περὶ σύνθεσιν, such as the school of Isocrates cultivated, the painful avoidance of hiatus.’ Cic. de Orat. iii. §171 struere verba sic ut neve asper eorum concursus neve hiulcus sit, sed quodam modo coagmentatus et levis: cp. §172: Or. §20: Quint, ii. 5, 9 levis et quadrata ... compositio: viii. 3, 6.—For compositio (the combination of words) see on §79: and cp. §§44, 66, 118: 2 §13: 3 §9: viii. ch. 4, esp. §22 in omni porro compositione tria sunt genera necessaria, ordo, iunctura, numerus: ad Herenn. iv. §18 compositio est verborum constructio quae facit omnes partes orationis aequabiliter perpolitas.

medio genere. See on §44. Dion. Hal. de Comp. Verb. 23, p. 173 R. ἐποποιῶν μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε μάλιστα νομίζω τουτονὶ τὸν χαρακτῆρα (sc. τὸν ἀνθηρόν or medium Quint, xii. 10, 58) ἐπεξεργάσασθαι Ἡσίοδον.—From the point of view of oratory, the medium genus was the Rhodian school (xii. 10, 18), which stood between the genus Atticum and Asianum, ‘quod velut medium esse atque ex utroque mixtum volunt: neque enim Attice pressi neque Asiane sunt abundantes’ (sc. Rhodii).

I:53 Contra in Antimacho vis 53 et gravitas et minime vulgare eloquendi genus habet laudem. Sed quamvis ei secundas fere grammaticorum consensus deferat, et adfectibus et iucunditate et dispositione et omnino arte deficitur, ut plane manifesto appareat quanto sit aliud proximum esse, aliud secundum.

§ 53. Antimachus of Colophon (or rather Claros by Colophon) flourished about B.C. 405. He wrote a Thebaid, an epic narrative of the wars of the Seven against Thebes and of the Epigoni: Cic. Brut. §191. Fragments of his poems have been preserved. He also edited a critical text of Homer. Antimachus served as a model for Statius, and for the emperor Hadrian: Spartian §15 Catachanas libros 53 obscurissimos Antimachum imitando scripsit. For the criticism vis ... laudem cp. Dion. Hal. l.c. Ἀντίμαχος δ᾽ εὐτονίας (ἐφρόντισεν) καὶ ἀγωνιστικῆς τραχύτητος καὶ τοῦ συνήθους τῆς ἐξαλλαγῆς.

minime vulgare: viii. pr. §25: Arist. Poet. §22 λέξεως δὲ ἀρετῆ σαφῆ καὶ μὴ ταπεινὴν εἶναι. An uncommon elevation of style was evidently one of his characteristics.

habet laudem = ἔχει ἔπαινον. Xen. Anab. vii. 6, 33: Plin. xxxvii. §65: xxxvi. §164.

secundas: sc. partes, after Homer: §58. So Cic. Or. §18 cui (Pericli) primae sine controversia deferebantur: Brut. §84: ad Att. i. 17, 5. The phrase is probably borrowed from the theatre: primas agere Brut. §308: Hor. Sat. i. 9, 46. On the other hand primas ferre (Brut. §183) suggests πρωτεῖα φέρεσθαι. Tac. Ann. xiv. 21 eloquentiae primas nemo tulit, sed victorem esse Caesarem pronuntiatum.

grammaticorum consensus. For this sense of grammatici (‘literary critics,’ ‘professors of literature’ Hor. A. P. 78) cp. ii. 1, 4 grammatice, quam in Latinum transferentes litteraturam vocaverunt ... cum praeter rationem recte loquendi non parum alioqui copiosam prope omnium maximarum artium scientiam amplexa sit.—The phrase is one more indication of the second-hand character of Quintilian’s criticism of Greek authors: cp. §27, where he specially refers to Theophrastus: §52 datur ei palma: §54 putant: §58 princeps habetur and confessione plurimorum: §59 Aristarchi iudicio: §72 consensu omnium: §73 nemo dubitat. No doubt Quintilian and Dionysius were both indebted to the lists of the Alexandrian bibliographers.

adfectibus ... deficitur: ‘he fails in pathos’: §48. His lament for Lyde (nec tantum Clario Lyde dilecta poetae Ovid, Tr. i. 6, 1) contained a catalogue of the misfortunes of all the mythical heroes who had lost their loves. Λύδη καὶ παχὺ γράμμα καὶ οὐ τόρον Callim. fr. 441.

iucunditate: see on §46.

dispositione: §50. Catull. 95, 10 At populus tumido gaudeat Antimacho.

arte: ‘poetical skill.’

plane: see Introd. p. lii.

proximum ... secundum. Cp. Verg. Aen. v. 320 proximus huic longo sed proximus intervallo insequitur Salius. Secundus here means much less than proximus (‘very near’): it only means ‘prior tertio et reliquis.’ Cp. Corn. Nep. Pelop. iv. 2 haec fuit altera persona Thebis sed tamen secunda ita ut proxima esset Epaminondae: §85 below, secundus ... est Vergilius, propior tamen primo quam tertio, i.e. Vergil is proximus to Homer as well as secundus.—This is the usual explanation, motived probably by the recurrence of secundum so soon after secundas above (cp. §§58, 72, 85). The difficulty is that it is exactly the reverse of the well-known passage in Horace, Car. i. 12, 18 nec viget quidquam simile (Iovi) aut secundum: proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores, where the idea is that Pallas is what sportsmen call a ‘bad second,’—proximus meaning ‘next’ (however far apart), while secundus (sequor) implies contiguity. The two passages could be reconciled by supposing that Quintilian has negligently omitted to note the repetition secundas ... secundum, and that he means ‘what a difference there is between a bad (proximum) and a good second (secundum)’—between being second and coming near the first. Cp. Cic. Brut. §173 Duobus igitur summis, Crasso et Antonio, L. Philippus proximus accedebat, sed longo intervallo tamen proximus; itaque eum, etsi nemo intercedebat qui se illi anteferret, neque secundum tamen neque tertium dixerim. If Quintilian is conscious of the recurrence of secundus, he may mean that the Greek critics would have been nearer the truth if they had called Antimachus next (proximus) rather than second to Homer.—Cp. Crit. Notes.

I:54 Panyasin, ex utroque mixtum, putant in 54 eloquendo neutrius aequare virtutes, alterum tamen ab eo materia, alterum disponendi ratione superari. Apollonius in ordinem a grammaticis datum non venit, quia Aristarchus atque Aristophanes poetarum iudices neminem sui temporis in numerum redegerunt; non tamen contemnendum reddidit opus aequali quadam mediocritate.

§ 54. Panyasin. Panyasis of Halicarnassus, the uncle of Herodotus, wrote a Heracleia in fourteen books, fragments of which are quoted by Stobaeus and 54 Athenaeus. He also composed six books of ‘Ionica,’—elegiac poems on the Ionic migration. Suidas describes him as “an epic poet, who fanned into a flame the smouldering embers of epic poetry, ὁς σβεσθεῖσαν τὴν ποίησιν ἐπανήγαγε. Among the poets he is ranked after Homer; according to some, also after Hesiod and Antimachus” (Mayor). Panyasis flourished circ. B.C. 480.

ex utroque mixtum. Dion. Hal. l.c. Πανύασις δὲ τὰς τ᾽ ἀμφοῖν ἀρετὰς ἠνέγκατο καὶ αὐτῶν (εἰσηνέγκατο καὶ αὐτός—Usener) πραγματείᾳ (materia) καὶ τῇ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν (αὐτὴν?) οἰκονομίᾳ διήνεγκεν.

putant. Mr. Nettleship (Journ. Phil. xviii. p. 259) notes that Quintilian ‘while saying evidently much the same as Dionysius, says not putat Dionysius but putant,’ showing that both Dionysius and he followed the grammatici, i.e. probably Aristarchus and Aristophanes. Cp. Usener, p. 110 sq., and see Introd. p. xxxii.

alterum ... materia: Hesiod, the ‘singer of Helots.’ “The labours of Herakles supply a more varied and attractive theme than the pedigrees of a Theogony or the homely Tusser-like maxims of the ‘Works and Days.’” Mayor.

Apollonius, surnamed Rhodius, because he was honoured with the freedom of the city of Rhodes, after having retired thither from Alexandria. Returning to Alexandria he succeeded Eratosthenes as librarian. He was a pupil of Callimachus, and flourished circ. 220 B.C. For a sympathetic account of the Argonautica see Mahaffy’s Greek Lit. vol. i. ch. ix. It was rendered into Latin by Atacinus Varro (§87) and Valerius Flaccus (§90).

ordinem a grammaticis datum. The lists of approved authors drawn up by the critics of Alexandria constituted what they called κανόνες (indices, here called ordo). See Usener, p. 134 sq. Cp. venire, redigi, recipi in ordinem or numerum. So i. 4 §3 ut ... auctores alios in ordinem redegerint alios omnino exemerint numero. See Introd. p. xxxv.

Aristarchus, of Samothrace, lived and taught at Alexandria about the middle of the second cent. B.C. His name is inseparably associated with the text of the Homeric poems: see Wolf’s Prolegomena, Lehrs de Aristarchi Studiis Homericis (3rd edit. 1882), and Pierron’s Introd. to Homer, p. xxxv. sq. It became a synonym for rigorous criticism: Cic. ad Att. i. 14, 3 meis orationibus quarum tu Aristarchus es: Hor. A. P. 450 fiet Aristarchus.—See Mahaffy’s Grk. Lit. ch. iii. §32 sq.

Aristophanes, of Byzantium, was librarian at Alexandria before Aristarchus, having succeeded Apollonius Rhodius. He died about 180 B.C. He revised his master Zenodotus’s edition of Homer, and was the first to reject the end of the Odyssey after xxiii. 296. He also left critical and exegetical commentaries on the lyric and dramatic poets, and compiled argumenta or prefaces to the individual plays.

poetarum iudices. This looks like a gloss: see Crit. Notes.

in numerum redegerunt: cp. above on in ordinem a grammaticis datum. The phrase represents the Greek ἐγκρίνειν.—With the exception of the official eulogy of Domitian (§91), Quintilian followed this rule himself.

reddidit. Though it would be hard to find an exact parallel, this use of reddo seems not impossible, especially in Quintilian. It must be explained either by the analogy of the use in which land is said to ‘produce’ the expected crop (cp. tibiae sonum reddunt xi. 3, 20), or less probably with reference to the use which describes such physical processes as dum nimis imperat voci ... sanguinem reddidit Plin. v. 19, 6. In Cicero such an expression could only have been explained on the analogy of ‘placidum reddere’ for ‘placare’: cp. omnia enim breviora reddet ordo et ratio et modus xii. 11, 13.—But see Crit. Notes.

aequali quadam mediocritate: §86 aequalitate pensamus. No disparagement 55 is implied: the meaning is that Apollonius keeps pretty uniformly to the genus medium (see on §44), neither rising on the one hand to the genus grande nor on the other descending to the genus subtile. So in the περὶ ὕψους 33 §4 he receives the epithet ἄπτωτος. For this sense of mediocritas cp. Gellius 7 §14 of Terence: Hor. Car. ii. 10, 5.—“This is a fair criticism of the greatest of the Alexandrine poems; it is learned and correct, tells the story of the Argonauts with a due regard to proportion, and has many minor idyllic beauties, but wants epic unity and inspiration.” Mayor.

I:55 Arati materia motu caret, ut 55 in qua nulla varietas, nullus adfectus, nulla persona, nulla cuiusquam sit oratio; sufficit tamen operi cui se parem credidit. Admirabilis in suo genere Theocritus, sed musa illa rustica et pastoralis non forum modo, verum ipsam etiam urbem reformidat.

§ 55. Arati. Aratus was born at Soli in Cilicia, and lived at the court of Antigonus Gonatas, king of Macedonia, circ. B.C. 270. At the request of the latter he composed Φαινόμενα καὶ Διοσημεῖα, a didactic epic on the heavenly bodies and meteorology, which was translated into Latin verse by Cicero and afterwards by Germanicus. Avienus also made a rendering of it, probably late in the fourth century. See Teuffel §259 §6 and §394 §2, and Munro on Lucr. v. 619 (cp. vol. ii. pp. 3, 9, 299: J. B. Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. §104).

ut in qua. Törnebladh (‘de coniunctionum causalium apud Quint. usu’) has collected ten additional examples of this construction in Quint.,—ut qui i. 2, 19: x. 1, 57 and 74: xi. 3, 53 (sing.): v. 14, 28 (plur.): ut quae (sing.) iii. 5, 9: xii. 2, 20; ut quod viii. 3, 12: 4, 16: ut quorum x. 2, 13. For ut cum see on §76. It is incorrect to say that the usage does not occur in Cicero: see Draeger, Hist. Syn. ii. p. 509.

Theocritus lived at Syracuse (probably his native place) under Hiero, and spent some time also at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, where he wrote his 14th, 15th, and 17th idylls about the year 259 B.C. Vergil’s obligations to him in the Eclogues are well known: cp. Sicelides Musae iv. 1: Arethusa x. 1.

musa illa rustica et pastoralis. Theocritus is the type of real, as opposed to artificial, pastoral poetry. “He finds all things delectable in the rural life: ‘sweet are the voices of the calves, and sweet the heifer’s lowing; sweet plays the shepherd on the shepherd’s pipe, and sweet is the echo.’ Even in courtly poems and in the artificial hymns ... the memory of the joyful country life comes over him. He praises Hiero, because Hiero is to restore peace to Syracuse, and when peace returns, then ‘thousands of sheep fattened in the meadows will bleat along the plain, and the kine, as they flock in crowds to the stalls, will make the belated traveller hasten on his way.’” Mr. Lang’s Introduction.

I:56 Audire videor undique congerentes nomina plurimorum poetarum. Quid? Herculis acta non bene Pisandros? Nicandrum frustra secuti Macer atque Vergilius? Quid? 56 Euphorionem transibimus? Quem nisi probasset Vergilius idem, numquam certe ‘conditorum Chalcidico versu carminum’ fecisset in Bucolicis mentionem. Quid? Horatius frustra Tyrtaeum Homero subiungit?

§ 56. videor: §46. Hor. Car. iii. 4, 6 audire magnos iam videor duces. So often videre videor: e.g. Cic. in Catil. iv. §11.

congerentes: participle without subject: cp. solitos §7.

non: 2 §25.

Pisandros, of Cameirus in Rhodes, fl. circ. B.C. 645. He wrote a poem called Heracleia, an epic narrative of the deeds of Hercules. He is often cited as an authority for the various details of the legend, and was the first to arm the hero with the club and lion’s skin.

Nicandrum, of Colophon, lived in the middle of the second century B.C. at the court of Attalus III, king of Pergamus. His didactic poem on the bites of venomous animals (Θηριακὰ καὶ Ἀλεξιφάρμακα) is still extant. He also wrote five books of ἑτεροιούμενα, on which Ovid drew for his Metamorphoses.

frustra = temere, ‘without good reason’ (sine iusta causa): cp. frustra ... subiungit below. Cicero, de Div. ii. 60 nec frustra ac sine causa quid facere deo dignum est. So i. 10, 15 non igitur frustra Plato civili viro ... necessariam musicen credidit: xii. 2, 5 Caesar has non nequiquam in the same sense B. G. 56 ii. 27, 5. In some cases it makes little difference whether the rendering is ‘without good reason’ or ‘without good result,’ but here it is very improbable that Quintilian is asking ‘whether Vergil can be called an unsuccessful follower of Nicander,’ as Conington puts it.

Macer: §87. Aemilius Macer of Verona, the friend and contemporary of Vergil and Ovid, wrote the ‘Ornithogonia’ (‘bird-breeding’) and the ‘Theriaca,’ neither of which is extant. Ovid, Trist. iv. 10, 43-4 Saepe suos volucres legit mihi grandior aevo, Quaeque necet serpens, quae iuvet herba, Macer.

Vergilius. See Conington’s Vergil, vol. i. pp. 141 sqq. None of the extant fragments of Nicander’s Γεωργικά justify the supposition that Vergil was indebted to it for the Georgics; but he seems to have used his work on bees (μελισσουργικά) and also the θηριακά above mentioned (Georg. iii. 415, 425). And Macrobius (Sat. v. 22) tells us that it was from Nicander that Vergil borrowed the legend of Pan drawing the moon down after him to the woods by a fleece of snow-white wool (Georg. iii. 391).

Euphorionem. Euphorion, of Chalcis in Euboea, was a contemporary of Ptolemy Euergetes, and Antiochus the Great, circ. B.C. 220. Among other works he wrote a Georgica, or poem on agriculture.

in Bucolicis. Verg. Ecl. x. 50 ibo et Chalcidico quae sunt mihi condita versu Carmina pastoris Siculi modulabor avena, where the speaker is the elegiac poet Cornelius Gallus (§93 note), who had introduced Euphorion to general notice by translating some of his poems.

Tyrtaeum. Tyrtaeus was a native either of Athens or of Aphidnae in Attica, and flourished at the time of the second Messenian War (in the seventh century B.C.), in which he is said to have contributed to the success of the Spartan arms by his inspiring battle-songs. The reference to Horace is A. P. 401 Post hos (Orpheus and Amphion) insignis Homerus Tyrtaeusque mares animos in Martia bella Versibus exacuit. Mayor cites passages from Dio Chrys. where Homer and Tyrtaeus are coupled in the same way: cp. Plato, Laws ix. 858 E, where Tyrtaeus is classed with Homer for his moral and political influence.

I:57 Nec sane quisquam est tam procul a cognitione eorum remotus ut non indicem certe ex bibliotheca sumptum transferre in libros suos possit. Nec ignoro igitur quos transeo nec utique damno, ut qui dixerim esse in omnibus utilitatis aliquid.

§ 57. tam ... ut non: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 10: cp. §41 and §48 above.

indicem, ‘a catalogue.’ Any one can at least (if he does not know anything more about them) make out a list of such poets in some library, and note the titles of their works in his compilation. For index cp. Cic. Hortens., indicem tragicorum: Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 fungar indicis partibus: Seneca de Tranq. 9 §4 quo innumerabiles libros et bibliothecas, quarum dominus vix tota vita indices perlegit? Ep. 39 §2 sume in manus indicem philosophorum.—Non ... certe almost = ne quidem.

nec utique, ‘nor by any means.’ See on §20: cp. §24. Krüger3 renders by ‘unbedingt,’ ‘absolut,’ ‘jedenfalls.’

ut qui dixerim: see on §55.

I:58 Sed ad illos iam perfectis constitutisque viribus revertemur, quod in cenis grandibus saepe 57 facimus, ut, cum optimis satiati sumus, varietas tamen nobis ex vilioribus grata sit. Tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere, cuius princeps habetur Callimachus, secundas confessione plurimorum Philetas occupavit.

§ 58. perfectis constitutisque viribus, i.e. by the reading of the epic poets who are most suited to our purpose: §59 optimis adsuescendum est, &c. So §131 (of Seneca) iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus: 5 §1 iam robustorum. Cp i. 8, 6 (of amatory elegy and hendecasyllabics) amoveantur, si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur: §12 robustiores.—For constitutis cp. ἐν τῇ καθεστηκυίᾳ ἡλικίᾳ: xi. 3, 29.

revertemur: future used as a mild imperative. Cp. 7 §1.

quod ... ut. The dependent clause here gives the explanation of quod facimus 57 in the form of a result, so that the construction is really pleonastic: cp. 5 §18: 7 §11. In 3 §6 (where see note) ut may have more of the idea of purpose.

tunc: when our taste is formed.

elegiam. Cp. i. 8, 6 quoted above. In A. P. 77 Horace characterises the elegy as exiguus, i.e. it is slighter and less dignified than the epic hexameter.

vacabit. This impersonal use (cp. §90) does not occur in Cicero. For the expression see Introd. p. xxxii, note.

Callimachus, of Cyrene, was the second director of the library at Alexandria (§54): he flourished in the middle of the 3rd century. Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid all imitated his elegies. ‘The erotic elegy of Callimachus, Philetas, and their school is chiefly interesting as having been the model of the Roman elegy, which is one of the glories of Latin literature in the hands of Ovid, Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius.’ Mahaffy.

secundas, §53.

Philetas of Cos, instructor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 290 B.C. Like Callimachus he was a literary critic as well as a poet, though probably less erudite than his greater contemporary.

occupavit: Hor. Car. i. 12, 19 proximos illi tamen occupavit Pallas honores.

I:59 Sed dum adsequimur illam firmam, ut dixi, facilitatem, optimis adsuescendum est et multa magis quam multorum lectione formanda mens et ducendus color. Itaque ex tribus receptis Aristarchi iudicio scriptoribus 58 iamborum ad ἕξιν maxime pertinebit unus Archilochus.

§ 59. adsequimur, a present of endeavour: cp. §31. This gives a good contrast to iam perfectis constitutisque viribus and tunc, so that there is no need for Halm’s conjecture adsequamur, which is however generally adopted: see Crit. Notes.

ut dixi: see on §1.

multa ... multorum: Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §15 tu memineris sui cuiusque generis auctores diligenter eligere. Aiunt enim multum legendum esse, non multa. Mayor compares also Seneca, Epist. 2 §§2-4.

ducendus color: Verg. Ecl. ix. 49 (astrum) quo duceret apricis in collibus uva colorem. Ducere expresses the gradual process of ‘taking on’ a tinge; the agent in this process is here lectio, as in Vergil it is the constellation. Color is here the ‘appropriate tone’ which will vary with the subject or the occasion: xii. 10, 71 non unus color prooemii, narrationis, argumentorum, egressionis, perorationis servabitur. Sen. Ep. 108 §3 non novimus quosdam qui multis apud philosophum annis persederint et ne colorem quidem duxerint: ib. 71 §31. So Cicero, Orat. §42 educata huius (Isocratis) nutrimentis eloquentia ipsa se postea colorat (‘gathers strength and colour’): de Or. ii. 60 ut cum in sole ambulem ... fieri natura ... ut colorer, sic, cum istos libros ... studiosius legerim, sentio illorum tactu orationem meam quasi colorari. Cp. on §116: 6 §5: 7 §7.

ex tribus receptis: sc. in ordinem sive numerum: cp. §54. The other two are Simonides of Amorgos (Semonides) and Hipponax of Ephesus. The former is best known by his satire on women; the latter is often mentioned along with Archilochus: his spirit reappears in the later comedy. The treatise of Dion. Hal. as we have it now does not contain any criticism either of the elegiac or the iambic poets. Proclus however has: Ἰάμβων ποιηταὶ Ἀρχίλοχός τε ἄριστος καὶ Σιμωνίδης καὶ Ἱππῶναξ (p. 242, Westphal.)

Aristarchi iudicio: §52.

scriptoribus iamborum: see on §9. Diomedes iii. p. 485 11 k (p. 18, Reiff.) iambus est carmen maledicum plerumque trimetro versu et epodo sequente compositum ... appellatum est autem παρὰ τὸ ἰαμβίζειν, quod est maledicere. Cuius carminis praecipui scriptores apud Graecos Archilochus et Hipponax, apud Romanos Lucilius et Catullus et Horatius et Bibaculus: cp. §96.—The word ἄαμβος is derived from ἰάπτω ‘I fling’ (Curt. Etym.5 537: E. T. ii. 154), and denoted originally a ‘flinging,’ or a verse ‘flung at’ a person: hence ἰαμβίζειν, ‘to lampoon.’ Cp. ix. 4, 141 aspera vero et maledica ... etiam in carmine iambis grassantur. Hor. Car. i. 16, 2 criminosis ... iambis: ib. 58 22-5 me quoque pectoris Temptavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem.

ἕξιν: see on §1.

maxime unus. Unus is very commonly used in this way to strengthen a superlative: Cic. in Verr. i. §1 quod unum ad invidiam vestri ordinis ... sedandam maxime pertinebat: de Amic. §1 quem unum nostrae civitatis ... praestantissimum audeo dicere: Verg. Aen. ii. 426 cadit et Rhipeus iustissimus unus. Becher thinks unus may merely be set over against tribus: cp. pro Sest. §49 unus bis rempublicam servavi.

Archilochus of Paros (circ. 686 B.C.) was a master of various forms of metrical composition; but his distinctive characteristic was that alluded to here,—the employment of the iambic trimeter as the vehicle of satire, the sting of which, as wielded by him, is said to have driven people into hanging themselves. Hor. A. P. 79 Archilochum proprio rabies armavit iambo.

I:60 Summa in hoc vis elocutionis, cum validae tum breves vibrantesque sententiae, plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum, adeo ut videatur quibusdam, quod quoquam minor est, materiae esse, non ingenii vitium.

§ 60. vibrantes, of the quivering motion of a spear (cp. ‘shafts’ of eloquence) thrown from a stout arm. Cic. Brut. §326 oratio incitata et vibrans: Quint. xii. 9, 3 nec illis vibrantibus concitatisque sententiis velut missilibus utetur: xi. 3, 120 sententias vibrantes digitis iaculantur: ix. 4, 55 neque enim Demosthenis fulmina tanto opere vibratura dicit nisi numeris contorta ferrentur: cp. note on 7 §7 below.

sanguinis atque nervorum. The former refers to the quality of ‘fulness’ or ‘richness’ of thought and style, the latter (often lacerti) to ‘force’: sanguinis et virium 2 §12. Cp. tori and caro §33 (note) and §77. For sanguis, cp. §115 verum sanguinem: 2 §12. “In good Latin nervus, like νεῦρον, always denotes sinews or tendons (literal or metaphorical): cp. Celsus viii. 1 nervi quos τένοντας Graeci appellant; but sometimes appears to include also what we call ‘nerves’: see Mayor on Cic. de Nat. Deor. ii. 55, 136. Galen (born 130 A.D.) was the first to limit νεῦρον to the meaning ‘nerve,’ in its present sense.” Wilkins on Hor. A. P. 26.

quibusdam: cp. §64 ut quidam ... eum ... praeferant: §93 quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores: §113 adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur.

quod quoquam minor est. This clause is the subject of videatur, and the meaning is: with such high qualities the fact that Archilochus comes behind any (if that is the case) is to be attributed to his materia, not to his ingenium, which latter would give him a claim to a place alongside of the very foremost, Homer: cp. §65 post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est. So §62 copiae vitium est: §74 praedictis minor. For quod without id, cp. 4 §4. See Crit. Notes.

materia, ‘subject-matter,’ which was mainly personal character and conduct in common life. Pind. Pyth. ii. 55 ψογερὸν Ἀρχίλοχον βαρυλόγοις ἔχθεσιν πιαινόμενον. Hor. Ep. i. 19, 23 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio, numeros animosque secutus Archilochi non res et agentia verba Lycamben: 28 Temperat Archilochi musam pede mascula Sappho Temperat Alcaeus sed rebus et ordine dispar, Nec socerum quaerit quem versibus oblinat atris Nec sponsae laqueum famoso carmine nectit. Val. Max. vi. 3, E. §1 tells us that the Spartans banished the poems of Archilochus because of their corrupting influence on the morals of their youth: Maximum poetam aut certe summo proximum ... carminum exilio multarunt. Velleius (i. 5, 1) brackets Homer and Archilochus.

I:61 Novem vero lyricorum longe Pindarus 59 princeps spiritu magnificentia, sententiis figuris, beatissima rerum verborumque copia et velut quodam eloquentiae flumine; propter quae Horatius eum merito credidit nemini imitabilem.

§ 61. novem ... lyricorum. Of the nine lyric poets not received into the ‘canon’ those not mentioned here are Alcman, Sappho, Ibycus, Anacreon, and Bacchylides. The four whom Quintilian names are the same as those criticised by Dionysius, except that in the latter Simonides comes next after Pindar.

Pindarus (521-441 B.C., though known to us now mainly by his Epinician Odes, essayed various forms of the lyric art, most of which (except the skolia and encomia) are pervaded by a deeply religious tone. He had the disadvantage of belonging to the Medising city of 59 Thebes, but he spoke fearlessly out (after Salamis) for the liberators of Greece; and both in the instinct for a national unity to which his poems bear witness and in his ethical and religious beliefs he is eminently representative of his age. He is the crowning glory of Greek lyric poetry, and may be said in a sense to stand as it were midway between the Homeric epos and the drama at Athens.

princeps, &c. Here Quintilian again coincides with Dionysius (l.c.) Ζηλωτὸς δὲ καὶ Πίνδαρος ὀνομάτων καὶ νοημάτων εἵνεκα, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπείας καὶ τόνου, καὶ περιουσίας ... καὶ σεμνότητος καὶ γνωμολογίας καὶ ἐνεργείας καὶ σχηματισμῶν.

spiritu: see on §27: i. 8, 5. See Crit. Notes.

magnificentia, μεγαλοπρέπεια iv. 2, 61. This is Pindar’s distinctive quality: he is φιλάγλαος, ‘splendour-loving.’ Cp. magnificus §63: §84: iii. 8, 61: vi. 1, 52: xi. 3, 153.

sententiis: see on §50.

figuris: see on §12.

beatissima = fecundissima, uberrima: §109: 3 §22. Cp. Tac. Dial. 9: Hist. iii. 66.

propter quae: see on §10, propter quod.

Horatius: Car. iv. 2, 1 Pindarum quisquis studet aemulari ... Monte decurrens velut amnis imbres Quem super notas aluere ripas, Fervet immensusque ruit profundo Pindarus ore.

I:62 Stesichorum, quam sit ingenio validus, materiae quoque ostendunt, maxima bella et clarissimos canentem duces et epici carminis onera lyra sustinentem. Reddit enim personis in agendo simul loquendoque debitam dignitatem, ac si tenuisset modum, videtur aemulari proximus Homerum potuisse; sed 60 redundat atque effunditur, quod ut est reprehendendum, ita copiae vitium est.

§ 62. Stesichorus of Himera in Sicily (cir. 632-553 B.C.) is, like Simonides and Pindar, a representative of the Dorian or choral lyric poetry of Greece,—distinguished from the Aeolic (Alcaeus and Sappho) by its greater complexity of structure and by the wider audience to which it was addressed. His real name is said to have been Teisias: that by which he is known he derived from the changes in the structure of the choral ode which were introduced by him. He relieved the combination of strophe and antistrophe by the epode, composed in a different manner, and sung by the chorus standing before the altar,—thus affording it an interval of rest after the movements to right and left. By Alexander the Great, Homer and Stesichorus were classed together as the two poets worthy to be studied by kings and conquerors.—With Quintilian’s criticism cp. Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 20) Ὅρα δὲ καὶ Στησίχορον ἔν τε τοῖς ἑκατέρων τῶν προειρημένων (Pindar and Simonides) πλεονεκτήμασι κατορθοῦντα, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι λείπονται κρατοῦντα‧ λέγω δὲ τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν κατὰ τὰς ὑποθέσεις πραγμάτων, ἐν οἷς τὰ ἤθη καὶ τὰ ἀξιώματα τῶν προσώπων τετήρηκεν.

ingenio validus: Cic. in Verr. ii. 35 Stesichori qui ... et est et fuit tota Graecia summo propter ingenium honore et nomine.

materiae. The titles of his poems (Ἰλίου Πέρσις, Γηρυονηίς, Ὀρέστεια, Νόστοι, Κέρβερος, Ἑλένα) show that Stesichorus made extensive use of the old epic legends, which would naturally fall more or less into a narrative form. Cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 8 Stesichorique graves Camenae. Ael. Hist. Anim xvii, 37 calls him σεμνός: and Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 15, 54 has Stesichori et Pindari vatum sublimia ora.

si tenuisset ... videtur potuisse = potuit, ut videtur. Cp. on §98. This use of the pf. indic. in such clauses indicates the possibility (or duty, obligation, &c.) more unconditionally than the plpf. subj. would do: e.g. Cic. in Vatin. §1 debuisti, Vatini, etiamsi falso venisses in suspicionem P. Sestio, tamen mihi ignoscere: pro Mil. §31 quod si ita putasset, certe optabilius Miloni fuit. &c. In the indirect there is a parallel instance, de Off. i. §4 Platonem existimo ... si ... voluisset ... potuisse dicere.

aemulari, with dat. §122.

Homerum. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ calls Stesichorus Ὁμηρικώτατος, 13 §3: cp. Dio Chr. Or. ii. p. 284 60 τοῦτό γε ἅπαντές φασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες, Στησίχορον Ὁμήρου ζηλωτὴν γενέσθαι καὶ σφόδρα γε ἐοικέναι κατὰ τὴν ποίησιν.

redundat atque effunditur. Hermogenes, de Id. ii. 4 p. 322 Στησίχορος σφόδρα ἡδὺς εἶναι δοκεῖ, διὰ τὸ πολλοῖς χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐπιθέτοις. Mayor quotes also Anth. Pal. vii. 75, 1-2 Στασίχορον, ζαπληθὲς ἀμετρήτου στόμα Μούσης, ἐκτέρισεν Κατάνας αἰθαλόεν δάπεδον.

copiae vitium: ii. 4, 4 vitium utrumque, peius tamen illud quod ex inopia quam quod ex copia venit: ib. 12 §4 effusus pro copioso accipitur. Cp. Plin. Ep. i. 20 §§20-1; Cic. de Orat. ii. §88.

I:63 Alcaeus in parte operis ‘aureo plectro’ merito donatur, qua tyrannos insectatus multum etiam moribus confert, in eloquendo quoque brevis et magnificus et diligens et plerumque oratori similis; sed et lusit et in amores descendit, maioribus tamen aptior.

§ 63. Alcaeus of Mitylene, cir. 600 B.C. The criticism of Dionysius is as follows:—Ἀλκαίου δὲ σκόπει τὸ μεγαλοφυὲς καὶ βραχὺ καὶ ἡδὺ μετά δεινότητος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοὺς σχηματισμοὺς καὶ τὴν σαφήνειαν, ὅσον αὐτῆς μὴ τῇ διαλέκτῳ τι κεκάκωται‧ καὶ πρὸ ἁπάντων τὸ τῶν πολιτικῶν πραγμάτων (ποιημάτων?) ἦθος. Πολλαχοῦ γοῦν τὸ μέτρον τις εἰ περιέλοι, ῥητορικὴν ἂν εὕροι πολιτείαν (ῥητορείαν ... πολιτικήν Usener).

in parte: see on §9 in illis.

aureo plectro. ‘Plectrum’ is from πλήσσω (πλήκτρον), the ‘striking thing.’ Hor. Car. ii. 13, 26 Et te sonantem plenius aureo Alcaee plectro dura navis, Dura fugae mala, dura belli.

tyrannos insectatus. These were Myrsilus and Pittacus, by the latter of whom Alcaeus was driven into banishment. Those of his poems which relate to the ten years’ civil war waged against the tyrants were called στασιωτικά. At some time during the rule of Pittacus, the party of Alcaeus attempted a forcible return: Alcaeus was taken prisoner, but was at once set free by the ruler whom he had so bitterly attacked. Cp. Hor. l.c. sed magis Pugnas et exactos tyrannos Densum umeris bibit ore vulgus: id. i. 32, 5.

moribus: cp. ἦθος in the passage quoted from Dionysius. Mayor appositely cites his saying ἄνδρες γὰρ πόλιος πύργος ἀρεύιοι.—For confert with dat. cp. §27.

brevis ... magnificus ... oratori similis: cp. in regard to each of these points the criticism of Dionysius.—For diligens see Crit. Notes.

lusit. For ludere, ‘to write sportively,’ to ‘trifle’, cp. Hor. Car. iv. 9, 9 nec si quid olim lusit Anacreon delevit aetas: i. 32, 2: Verg. Georg. iv. 566 carmina qui lusi.

in amores descendit, in his ἐρωτικά and συμποτικά. Cic. Tusc. Disp. iv. §71 fortis vir in sua republica cognitus quae de iuvenum amore scribit Alcaeus! Hor. Car. i. 32, 3 sqq. Age, dic Latinum, barbite, carmen, Lesbio primum modulate civi, Qui ferox bello tamen inter arma, Sive iactatam religarat udo Litore navim, Liberum et Musas Veneremque et illi Semper haerentem puerum canebat, Et Lycum nigris oculis nigroque Crine decorum.

maioribus = rebus maioribus, ‘loftier themes.’ Introd. p. xlvii. Cp. i. pr. §5 ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas, non sit maioribus locus. Cp. subitis 7 §30: Nägelsbach §24, 2 (pp. 116-117).

I:64 Simonides, tenuis alioqui, sermone 61 proprio et iucunditate quadam commendari potest; praecipua tamen eius in commovenda miseratione virtus, ut quidam in hac eum parte omnibus eius operis auctoribus praeferant.

§ 64. Simonides of Ceos (556-468), like Pindar, was fortunate in his age, and the most considerable of his fragments that remain are full of the fire kindled in his heart by the great national struggle with Persia. He was a sort of cosmopolitan poet, living by turns in Athens, at the court of the Aleuadae and Scopadae in Thessaly, Corinth, Sparta, and Sicily. He cultivated friendly relations with Miltiades and Themistocles, with Pausanias of Sparta, and (like Pindar and Aeschylus) with Hiero of Syracuse. He was famed for his elegies, epigrams, epinician odes, and every form of choral lyric poetry. His wisdom was renowned: σοφὸς καὶ θεῖος ὁ ἀνήρ, Plat. Rep. 331 E, where some of his gnomic utterances are discussed: cp. ib. 335 E: Protag. 316 D.—The criticism of Dionysius (l.c.) corresponds: Σιμωνίδου δὲ παρατήρει τὴν ἐκλογὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων (sermone proprio), τῆς συνθέσεως τὴν ἀκρίβειαν‧ πρὸς τούτοις, καθ᾽ ὃ βελτίων εὑρίσκεται καὶ Πινδάρου, τὸ οἰκτίζεσθαι μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς, ἀλλὰ παθητικῶς.

61

tenuis, ‘simple,’ ‘natural’: cp. 2 §19 and §23 (tenuitas), also μὴ μεγαλοπρεπῶς quoted above. Λεπτότης (‘terse simplicity’) was a quality of Simonides’ style, especially in his epigrams: ‘when least adorned adorned the most,’ Mayor. Cp. §44, note. Opposites are grandis, copiosus, plenus.

alioqui = τὰ μὲν ἄλλα, ‘for the rest’: cp. ceterum. See on 3 §13, and Introd. p. li.

sermone proprio: see on §46.

iucundidate: see on iucundus §46, and cp. §§82, 96, 101, 110, 113: 2 §23. Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. §60 non enim poeta solum suavis, verum etiam ceteroqui doctus sapiensque traditur. So Tac. Dial. 10 lyricorum iucunditatem.

miseratione. He was a master of pathos, especially in his θρῆνοι: witness his ‘Lament of Danae,’ truly a ‘precious tender-hearted scroll of pure Simonides.’ Generally his poems seem to have been tinged with the same melancholy resignation as inspired the earlier writers of elegy: e.g. fr. 39 ‘slight is the strength of men, and vain are all their cares, and in their brief life trouble follows upon trouble; and death, which none can shun, hangs over all,—in him both good and bad share equally.’ Catull. 38, 7 paulum quidlibet adlocutionis maestius lacrimis Simonidis: Hor. Car. ii. 1, 37 sed ne relictis Musa procax iocis Ceae retractes munera neniae.

quidam: see on putant §54.

in hac parte, ‘in this respect.’ Cp. i. 3, 17: 7 §19: 10 §4: ii. 17, 1: iii. 6, 64: xii. 1, 16. So ab (ex) hac parte.

operis = generis, ‘class of poetry.’ See on §9: cp. §28 §85.

auctoribus, §24.

I:65 Antiqua comoedia cum sinceram illam sermonis Attici gratiam prope sola retinet, tum facundissimae libertatis est et in insectandis vitiis praecipua; plurimum tamen virium etiam in 62 ceteris partibus habet. Nam et grandis et elegans et venusta, et nescio an ulla, post Homerum tamen, quem ut Achillen semper excipi par est, aut similior sit oratoribus aut ad oratores faciendos aptior.

§ 65. Quintilian now proceeds to deal with the Comic and Tragic Drama. In the περὶ μιμήσεως of Dionysius there is nothing about the Old Comedy, and very little that corresponds with Quintilian in the sections on Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Both however pass from Euripides to Menander.

The Old Comedy (§§65-66) was closely connected with the political life of the day, as may be seen from its plots, and especially from the parabases. When the licence of ridicule was curbed (by the laws μὴ κωμῳδεῖν and μὴ κωμῳδεῖν ὀνομαστί), it passed into what is known as Middle Comedy (B.C. 404-338), in which literary and speculative pursuits take the place of politics; its atmosphere is not that of the agora, but of the literary academies and schools of philosophy. In the New Comedy (§§69-72) the Chorus, which has been becoming less and less important, is altogether abandoned, along with other features which the Middle Comedy had in common with the Old. Its strength lies in its delineation of social life and manners, and the materials on which it relied were handed on to Rome, whence, through Plautus and Terence, they were transmitted to Modern Comedy.

Quintilian takes no notice of what is termed Middle Comedy. Between the Old and the New, Tragedy is made to find a place (§§66-67), the plays of Euripides affording a transition to those of Menander.

antiqua comoedia: cp. veteris comoediae §§9 and 82. See Hor. Sat. i. 4, 2: 10, 17.

sinceram ... gratiam: §44 sana et vere Attica: §100 illam solis concessam Atticis venerem: §107 illa quae Attici mirantur. The same phrase occurs xii. 10, 35. Of Roman Comedy he says (i. 8, 8) in comoediis elegantia et quidam velut ἀττικισμός inveniri potest.

libertatis = παρρησίας §§94, 104. Hor. Sat. i. 4, 5 multa cum libertate notabant: A. P. 281-284 successit vetus his comoedia, non sine multa Laude; sed in vitium libertas excidit et vim Dignam lege regi; lex est accepta chorusque Turpiter obticuit sublato iure nocendi. Isocr. de Pace 14 ἐγὼ δ᾽ οἶδα μὲν ὅτι ... δημοκρατίας οὔσης οὐκ ἔστι παρρησία πλὴν ... ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ τοῖς κωμῳδιδασκάλοις. Marc. Aurel. xi. 6:) 62 ἡ ἀρχαία κωμῳδία ... παιδαγωγικὴν παρρησίαν ἔχουσα.—For the reading see Crit. Notes.

grandis = ὑψηλός, §77: 2 §16 (where it is opposed to tumidus). Hor. A. P. 93-4 Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit. Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore.

elegans: §§78, 87, 93, 99: 2 §19, ‘choice,’ ‘tasteful.’ Cp. Cic. Brut. §272 verborum delectus elegans. In the treatise ad Herenn. (iv. 12) elegantia stands along with compositio and dignitas as a requisite of style: it includes Latinitas (which avoids solecisms and barbarisms), and explanatio, which uses verba usitata and propria.

venusta: vi. 3, 18 venustum esse quod cum venere quadam et gratia dicatur apparet. Krüger sees in these adjj. a reference to the main characteristics of the three different styles distinguished by rhetoricians, §44.

nescio an ulla: see Crit. Notes.

ut Achillen: Il. ii. 673-4 Νιρεύς, ὃς κάλλιστος ἀνὴρ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἦλθε Τῶν ἄλλων Δαναῶν μετ᾽ ἀμύμονα Πηλεΐωνα: ib. 768. Alcaeus fr. 63 Κρονίδα βασιλήας γένος Αἴαν, τὸν ἄριστον πεδ᾽ Ἀχιλλέα.

similior oratoribus: §63 plerumque oratori similis. The same description of the style of the Old Comedy is given by one of the rhetoricians, Walz Rhet. Gr. v. 471 (cp. vi. 164, vii. 932) λόγοειδεστέρα‧ τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἡ κωμικωτέρα καὶ προσβεβληκυῖα λόγῳ πεζῷ κατὰ συνθήκην, ὅθεν τινὲς καὶ ῥητορικὴν ἔμμετρον τὴν κωμῳδίαν ἐκόλεσαν. Students of oratory went to the comic actors for pronuntiatio and gestus: i. 11, 1-14: 12, 14: xi. 3, 181.

I:66 Plures eius auctores, Aristophanes tamen et Eupolis Cratinusque praecipui. Tragoedias primus in lucem Aeschylus protulit, sublimis et gravis et grandiloquus 63 saepe usque ad vitium, sed rudis in plerisque et incompositus; propter quod correctas eius fabulas in certamen deferre posterioribus poetis Athenienses permiserunt, suntque eo modo multi coronati.

§ 66. Aristophanes ... Eupolis ... Cratinus. The same representatives of Old Comedy are named in Hor. Sat. i. 4, 1: cp. Persius i. 123 Audaci quicumque adflate Cratino Iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene palles. So also Dionysius, Art. Rhet. viii. 11, p. 302 R (there is nothing about Old Comedy in the ἀρχ. κρ.): ἡ δὲ κωμῳδία ὅτι πολιτεύεται ἐν τοῖς δράμασι καὶ φιλοσοφεῖ, ἡ τῶν περὶ τὸν Κρατῖνον καὶ Ἀριστοφάνην καὶ Εὔπολιν, τί δεῖ καὶ λέγειν; Velleius i. 16, 3: Diomed. p. 489 K (p. 9 Reiff.) ‘Ar. Eup. et Crat. qui vel principum vitia sectati acerbissimas comoedias composuerunt.’ The chronological order would be, Cratinus (519-422), Aristophanes (448-380), Eupolis (446-410). In 424 B.C. Cratinus with his Πυτίνη (‘Wine-flask’) gained the victory over the Clouds of Aristophanes, while in the previous year Eupolis is said to have helped his greater rival in the composition of the Knights. Cratinus was the real originator of political comedy: see the grammarian quoted by Meineke (i. p. 540): ‘he added a serious moral object to the mere amusement in comedy, by reviling evil-doers (τοὺς κακῶς πράττοντας διαβάλλων, cp. insectandis vitiis) and chastising them with his comedy, as it were with a public scourge’: cp. Platon. de Com. p. 27 οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ ὁ Ἀριστοφάνης ἐπιτρέχειν τὴν χάριν τοῖς σκώμμασι ποιεῖ ... ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῶς καὶ κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν γυμνῇ κεφαλῇ τίθησι τὰς βλασφημίας κατὰ τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων.

primus. Just as in treating of Comedy Quintilian passes over the Megarian farces of Susarion, and such earlier writers as Chionides and Magnes, so now he omits all mention of Pratinas, Choerilus, Thespis and Phrynichus. Thespis introduced the actor (ὑποκριτής) and arranged that the dithyrambic choruses should be interrupted by regular dialogue between the coryphaeus and the actor. This step secured the entrance of the dramatic element, as distinct from the lyric, and made subsequent development easy. Aeschylus is however the real founder of tragedy: he introduced a second actor and subordinated the choral song to the dialogue, besides elaborating the machinery of the stage and the scenic decoration employed thereon. Cp. Hor. A. P. 275 sqq.

sublimis, &c. Cp. Dionysius, l.c., (Usener, p. 21) 63 Ὁ δ᾽ οὖν Αἰσχυλος πρῶτος ὑψηλός τε καὶ τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας ἐχόμενος, καὶ ἠθῶν καὶ παθῶν τὸ πρέπον εἰδώς, καὶ τῇ τροπικῇ καὶ τῇ κυρίᾳ λέξει διαφερόντως // κεκοσμημενος, πολλαχοῦ δὲ καὶ αὐτος δημιουργὸς καὶ ποιητὴς ἰδίων ὀνομάτων καὶ πραγμάτων.

grandiloquus. Cp. Aristoph. Frogs 823 βρυχώμενος ἥσει ῥήματα γομφοπαγῆ, 939 τὴν τέχνην ... οἰδοῦσαν ὑπὸ κομπασμάτων καὶ ῥημάτων ἐπαχθων, 1004, ἀλλ᾽ ὦ πρῶτος τῶν Ἑλλήνων πυργώσας ῥήματα σεμνὰ καὶ κοσμήσας τραγικὸν λῆρον κ.τ.λ. So too the biographer of Aeschylus, κατὰ δὲ τὴν σύνθεσιν τῆς ποιήσεως ζηλοῖ τὸ ἁδρὸν (see on §44) ἀεὶ πλάσμα ... πᾶσι τοῖς δυναμένοις ὄγκον τῇ φράσει περιθεῖναι χρώμενος. Hor. A. P. 280 ‘et docuit magnumque loqui nitique cothurno.’

rudis et incompositus, ‘uncouth and inharmonious.’ Cp. horride atque incomposite 2 §17: and note on compositus §44. In the de Comp. Verb. c. 22 Dionysius names Aeschylus along with Antimachus as a representative of ἡ αὐστηρὰ ἁρμονία (p. 150 R). For rudis cp. Hor. Sat. i. 10, 66 rudis et Graecis intacti carminis auctor: for incompositus see Introd. p. xlv. The author of the treatise ‘On the Sublime’ qualifies his eulogy of Aeschylus by adding in the same way that his plays were frequently unpolished, ill digested, and rough in style.

in plerisque; neut. ‘in general,’ ‘for the most part.’ See Intod. p. xlvii.

propter quod = quam ob rem: 7 §6: 5 §23. See on §10.

correctas ... permiserunt. This passage has been the subject of much controversy. It seems inconsistent with our knowledge of the statute passed by the orator Lycurgus (396) enacting that official copies of the plays of the three great tragedians should be made, and that no new performance of them should be allowed without a comparison of the acting copy with the State MS. Perhaps Quintilian misunderstood the phrase δράματα διεσκευασμένα, commonly applied to plays revised by the author himself with a view to a second representation. Madvig however (Kl. philol. Schr. 1875, pp. 464-5) thinks it quite probable that revised versions of plays of Aeschylus were allowed to be brought into competition by later poets (say in the latter half of the 4th century), when Aeschylus came in for criticism on the score of the defects alluded to above (rudis et incompositus), but when, on the other hand, creative genius was not so abundant. Krüger quotes Rohde (‘Scenica,’ Rhein. Mus. 1883, vol. 38, p. 289 sqq.), who sees in the words of the scholiast on Arist. Ach. 10 (μόνου αὐτοῦ τὰ δράματα ψηφίσματι κοινῷ καὶ μετὰ θάνατον ἐδιδάσκετο) a compliment paid to Aeschylus alone, and consisting not merely in the appreciative revival of his plays after his death, but in the fact that they were reproduced not as παλαιαί but as new dramas, were provided afresh with choruses by the archon, and were admitted to competition at the great Dionysia (where only new tragedies were represented) if any one appeared, who in the name of the dead poet asked to be provided with a chorus. Cp. οὐκ ὀλίγας μετὰ τελευτὴν νίκας ἀπηνέγκατο, vit. Acschyl. 68, Dindorf5.

I:67 Sed longe clarius inlustraverunt hoc opus Sophocles atque Euripides, quorum in dispari dicendi via uter sit poeta melior inter plurimos quaeritur. Idque ego sane, quoniam ad praesentem materiam nihil pertinet, iniudicatum 64 relinquo. Illud quidem nemo non fateatur necesse est, iis qui se ad agendum comparant utiliorem longe fore Euripiden.

§ 67. longe, with the comp. vi. 4, 21: 3 §13. Cp. Verg. Aen. ix. 556: Vell. ii. 74, 1. In Cicero longe is used only with the superl. (and with alius: pro Caec. i. §3) with the compar. he generally has multo. Quintilian has also longe princeps §61: and multo with superl., e.g. i. 2, 24.

opus: sc. tragoedias in lucem proferendi. See on §9.

in dispari dicendi via. By Dionysius Euripides is made the only representative of the ‘smooth’ style of composition (γλαφυρὰ ἁρμονία, de Comp. Verb. c. 23), while Sophocles represents the middle style (κοινή or μέση ἁρμονία, ib. c. 24). This must of course be kept distinct from the three λέξεις, or styles of diction, which he enumerates in his essay on Demosthenes, c. 1-3.

quaeritur. Modern criticism has taken 64 up the issue, and Euripides has suffered from being identified with what was practically a dramatic revolution. Schlegel depreciated him as contrasting with Sophocles in many points. Mr. Jebb’s utterance will stand: ‘no one is capable of feeling that Sophocles is supreme who does not feel that Euripides is admirable’ (Att. Or. i. p. xcix).

utiliorem: so magis accedit oratorio generi immediately below: Dionysius l.c. xi. (Usener, p. 22) κεκραμένη μεσότητι τῆς λέξεως κέχρηται.

I:68 Namque is et sermone (quod ipsum reprehendunt quibus gravitas et cothurnus et sonus Sophocli videtur esse sublimior) magis accedit oratorio generi, et sententiis densus et in iis quae a sapientibus tradita sunt paene ipsis par, et dicendo ac respondendo cuilibet eorum qui fuerunt in foro diserti comparandus; in adfectibus vero cum omnibus mirus, tum in iis qui in miseratione constant facile praecipuus.

§ 68. quod ipsum reprehendunt: see Crit. Notes.

gravitas ... sublimior. The use of the comparative takes away from the difficulty which commentators have found in the conjunction of sublimior as a predicate with gravitas and cothurnus as well as with sonus.—For cothurnus, cp. Iuv. vi. 634 Fingimus haec, altum Satira sumente cothurnum Scilicet et finem egressi legemque priorum Grande Sophocleo carmen bacchamur hiatu.

sententiis densus: cp. sent. creber §102: and for densus (= pressus) §§73, 76. Euripides had been a pupil of Anaxagoras. Something might be said in support of Halm’s suggestion to insert est after densus.

sapientibus. In Euripides philosophy is brought on the stage, and different theories are put forward in his plays as to such questions as the moral government of the world, the opposition between freedom and authority, the nature of punishment, the question of a future life, &c.

dicendo ac respondendo. In this appears the influence of his sophistic training. Euripides knew his audience, and in his plays the characters indulge to the full all the tendencies that were fostered by the sophistic habit of debate, while the chorus is as it were the jury to which they address their arguments for and against a particular proposition. Cp. Dion. l.c. πολὺς ἐν ταῖς ῥητορικαῖς εἰσαγωγαῖς.

adfectibus ... miseratione. Arist. Poet. 13 τραγικώτατός γε τῶν ποιητῶν φαίνεται.

facile. So facile princeps Cic. ad Fam. vi. 10, 2: facile primus pro Rosc. Amer. §15. For the reading see Crit. Notes.

I:69 Hunc admiratus maxime est, ut saepe testatur, et secutus, quamquam in opere diverso, Menander, qui vel unus meo quidem iudicio diligenter lectus ad cuncta quae praecipimus effingenda sufficiat: ita omnem 65 vitae imaginem expressit, tanta in eo inveniendi copia et eloquendi facultas, ita est omnibus rebus, personis, adfectibus accommodatus.

§ 69. testatur: not in any extant fragment, though it is by no means improbable that in some of his numerous plays Menander expressed an admiration for the most popular tragedian of the day.

Menander, 342-290 B.C. At his death the Athenians erected his tomb near the cenotaph of Euripides, in token of the affectionate regard in which he had held the elder poet. ‘Euripides was the forerunner of the New Comedy; the poets of this species admired him especially, and acknowledged him for their master. Nay, so great is this affinity of tone and spirit between Euripides and the poets of the New Comedy, that apothegms of Euripides have been ascribed to Menander and vice versa. On the contrary, we find among the fragments of Menander maxims of consolation which rise, in a striking manner, even into the tragic tone.’ Schlegel. See Meineke Com. Frag. iv. Epimetrum ii., Menander imitator Euripidis.

omnem vitae imaginem. Menander was the ‘mirror of life’: cp. the exclamation of Aristophanes of Byzantium Ὦ Μένανδρε καὶ βίε, πότερος ἄρ᾽ ὑμῶν πότερον ἐμιμήσατο; Manilius v. 470 Menander 65 Qui vitam ostendit vitae. So Cicero in a fragment of the De Republica (or the Hortensius, Usener, p. 120): Comoedia est imitatio vitae, speculum consuetudinis, et veritatis imago.—For this use of exprimere, a figure from the plastic art, cp. Hor. A. P. 32-3.

tauta in eo, &c. Cp. with this Dionysius l.c. (Usener, p. 22) τῶν δὲ κωμῳδῶν μιμητέον τὰς λεκτικὰς ἀρετὰς ἁπάσας‧ εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασι καθαροὶ καὶ σαφεῖς, καὶ βραχεῖς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς καὶ δεινοὶ καὶ ἠθικοί. Μενάνδρου δὲ καὶ τὸ πραγματικὸν θεωρητέον.

I:70 Nec nihil profecto viderunt qui orationes, quae Charisi nomini addicuntur, a Menandro scriptas putant. Sed mihi longe magis orator probari in opere suo videtur, nisi forte aut illa iudicia, qua Epitrepontes, Epicleros, Locroe habent, aut meditationes in Psophodee, Nomothete, Hypobolimaeo non omnibus oratoriis numeris sunt absolutae.

§ 70. nihil viderunt: they have not ‘lacked discrimination.’ So, of political insight or foresight, Cic. pro. Leg. Manil. §64 sin autem vos plus in republica vidistis: Phil. ii. §39 cum me vidisse plus fateretur, se speravisse meliora.

Charisius, an Athenian orator, a contemporary of Demosthenes, who wrote speeches for others, in which he was thought to imitate Lysias: he was in turn imitated by Hegesias, Cic. Brut. §286.

addicuntur: Aul. Gell. iii. 3. 13 istaec comoediae nomini eius (Plauti) addicuntur.

in opere suo: ‘I consider that he proves his oratorical ability far more in his own department’ (i.e. as a writer of comedy)—than in those speeches of Charisius, supposing that he did compose them. For opus see on §9: cp. §67.

nisi forte, ironical: see on 5 §6: cp. 2 §8. The formula introduces ‘a case which is in fact inadmissible, but is intended to suggest to another person that he cannot differ from our opinion, without admitting as true a thing which is improbable and absurd,’ Zumpt §526.

iudicia ... meditationes: ‘judicial pleadings,’ speeches suitable to be made before a court—‘extra-judicial pleadings,’ law-school speeches, declamationes, μελέται. Cp. iv. 2, 29 cum sit declamatio forensium actionum meditatio: 5 §14.—The names are those of some of Menander’s comedies: The Trusting, The Heiress, The Locri, The Timid Man, The Lawyer, The Changeling. The second and the last are known to have been imitated by Caecilius. For the reading see Crit. Notes.

numeris: here as at §91 rather than as at §4, where see note. Here it only = partibus and has nothing to do with rhythmical composition. In this sense it is found almost invariably with omnis: Varro apud Aul. Gell. xiii. 11, 1 ipsum deinde convivium constat ex rebus quatuor, et tum denique omnibus suis numeris absolutum est, &c.: Cic. de N. D. ii. §37 mundum ... perfectum expletumque omnibus suis numeris et partibus: de Div. i. §23 quod omnes habet in se numeros: de Off. iii. §14: de Fin. iii. §24 omnes numeros virtutis continent: Sen. Ep. 71 §16 (veritas) habet numeros suos: plena est: 95 §5: Iuv. vi. 249: Tac. Dial. 32 per omnes eloquentiae numeros isse. So viii. pr. §1 per omnes numeros penitus cognoscere.

I:71 Ego tamen plus adhuc quiddam collaturum eum declamatoribus puto, quoniam his necesse est secundum 66 condicionem controversiarum plures subire personas, patrum filiorum, militum rusticorum, divitum pauperum, irascentium deprecantium, mitium asperorum; in quibus omnibus mire custoditur ab hoc poeta decor.

§ 71. plus adhuc quiddam = πλέον τι, or ἔτι καὶ πλέον. Adhuc with compar. (for etiam) is post-Augustan: cp. §99. Here quiddam (like τι) is used to modify the force of the comparative. So adhuc melius ii. 4, 13: adhuc difficilior i. 5, 22: liberior adhuc disputatio vii. 2, 14: and Tac. Germ. 29: Suet. Nero 10: Sen. Ep. 85, 24: Spalding on i. 5, 22.

declamatoribus. Students in the schools of rhetoric, and even speakers of a more mature type, practised declamation at Rome in the shape of oratorical compositions on questions which, though fictitious, were yet akin to such as were argued in the law-courts. The youthful aspirant learned in this way to speak in 66 public (Cic. de Orat. i. §149: Quint. ii. 10, 4: ib. §12), while the orator had the opportunity of perfecting his articulation and delivery. To these two aims the Greek terms μελέτη and φωνασκία correspond: for the first cp. de Orat. i. §251, and for the second Brut. §310. It was in the age of the decadence of Roman oratory that declamation came to be an end in itself. At first it had been merely a preparatory exercise; now, under the head of suasoriae (deliberativae materiae) and controversiae (iudiciales materiae), finished oratorical compositions were produced, graced by all the ornaments of genuine rhetoric. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35.

controversiarum. Cp. iv. 2, 97 evenit aliquando in scholasticis controversiis quod in foro an possit accidere dubito: iii. 8, 51 praecipue declamatoribus considerandum est quid cuique personae conveniat, qui parcissimas controversias ita dicunt ut advocati: plerumque filii, parentes, divites, senes, asperi, lenes, avari, denique superstitiosi, timidi, derisores fiunt, ut vix comoediarum actoribus plures habitus in pronuntiando concipiendi sunt, quam his in dicendo.

decor: see on §27.

I:72 Atque ille quidem omnibus eiusdem operis auctoribus abstulit nomen et fulgore quodam suae claritatis tenebras obduxit. Tamen habent alii quoque comici, si cum venia leguntur, quaedam quae possis decerpere, et praecipue Philemon; qui ut prave sui temporis iudiciis Menandro saepe praelatus est, ita consensu tamen omnium meruit credi secundus.

§ 72. eiusdem operis, i.e. Comedy, not the New Comedy only, as is shown by alii comici below. Along with Menander and Philemon, Velleius (i. 16, 3) and Diomedes (p. 489 K, p. 9 Reiff.) mention Diphilus, on whom both Plautus and Terence drew for material.

nomen: see on §87.

fulgore ... obduxit: ‘has put them in the shade by the brightness of his own glory.’

cum venia: cp. i. 5, 11: Ov. Tr. i. 1, 46 scriptaque cum venia qualiacumque leget: ib. iv. 1, 104 cum venia facito, quisquis es, ista legas. Kiderlin rightly holds this reading to be, not only possible, but at least as appropriate to habent quaedam as any of the conjectures (see Crit. Notes) by which it has been proposed to supplant it. The severe critic will perhaps not find anything in the other comic poets useful for the orator: but he who reads them with indulgence (i.e. making allowance for their poverty as compared with Menander) will find something. It is different with Menander, in whose plays even the rigorous critic will find everything that the orator needs (§69).

Philemon, of Soli in Cilicia, 360-262. Fragments of fifty-six of his ninety plays are extant. His Θησαυρός was used by Plautus for the Trinummus, and his Ἔμπορος for the Mercator.

prave, ‘adverbium pro sententia.’ Cp. iii. 7, 18 quidam sicut Menander iustiora posteriorum quam suae aetatis iudicia sunt consecuti: Aul. Gell. 17, 1 Menander a Philemone nequaquam pari scriptore in certaminibus comoediarum ... saepenumero vincebatur.—See Crit. Notes.

meruit credi = merito creditus est (or creditur). Cp. §74. Elsewhere mereo means little more than adipisci, consequi: §§94, 116: vi. 4, 5 nec immerito quidam ... meruerunt nomina patronorum. For the nomin. with inf. cp. §97 qui esse docti adfectant: Ov. Met. xiii. 314 esse reus merui.

§73-75. Greek Historians:—

In his Ἀρχαίων κρίσις (or περὶ μιμήσεως 2) Dionysius says nothing of Ephorus, Clitarchus, or Timagenes, but draws a more elaborate parallel (Usener, p. 22) between Herodotus and Thucydides, as well as between Philistus and Xenophon: Theopompus he treats by himself. Illustrative 67 passages are found also in the Iudicium de Thucydide and the Epistola ad Cn. Pompeium (de Praecip. Historicis). Cp. also Cicero, de Orat. ii. §55 sq., where the order is Herodotus and Thucydides, Philistus, Theopompus and Ephorus, Xenophon, Callisthenes, and Timaeus. For the last two Quint. substitutes Clitarchus and Timagenes. Cp. Introd. p. xxxiii.

I:73 Historiam multi scripsere praeclare, sed nemo dubitat longe 67 duos ceteris praeferendos, quorum diversa virtus laudem paene est parem consecuta. Densus et brevis et semper instans sibi 68 Thucydides, dulcis et candidus et fusus Herodotus: ille concitatis hic remissis adfectibus melior, ille contionibus hic sermonibus, ille vi hic voluptate.

§ 73. scripsere. In i. 5, 42 Quint. (speaking of the forms scripsere and legere) says ‘evitandae asperitatis gratia mollitum est ut apud veteres pro male mereris, male merere,’ ib. §44 ‘quid? non Livius circa initia statim primi libri, tenuere, inquit, arcem Sabini? et mox, in adversum Romani subiere? sed quem potius ego quam M. Tullium sequor, qui in Oratore, non reprehendo, inquit, scripsere; scripserunt esse verius sentio.’ The passage referred to is Or. §157. The termination -ere for -erunt is ‘found in some of the earliest inscriptions, and is not uncommon in Plautus and Terence, rare in Cicero and Caesar, but frequent in dactylic poets and Livy,’ Roby, §578. Mr. Sandys also quotes Dr. Reid: ‘There is hardly a sound example of -ere in the perfect in any really good MS. of Cicero (see Neue, ii. 390 ff.); and similarly in the case of Caesar.’ Quintilian has permiserunt, §66 (where the later MSS. give -ere): illustraverunt §67: viderunt §70: indulsere §84. See Bonnell, Proleg. de Gramm. Quint. p. xxvii.

nemo dubitat ... praeferendos. The acc. and inf. with dubito (for the negative expression of doubt) is much the more common construction in Quint. (cp. §81, 4 §2), though he also uses quin and subj. (e.g. 2 §1: xii. 1, 42 ad hoc nemo dubitabit quin ... magis e republica sit). A study of the instances in Bonn. Lex. will fail to reveal any principle of difference: cp. vii. 6, 10 quis dubitaret quin ea voluntas fuisset testantis? with ix. 4, 68 quis enim dubitet unum sensum in hoc et unum spiritum esse? and i. 10, 12 atqui claros nomine sapientiae viros nemo dubitaverit studiosos musices fuisse. The acc. with inf. belongs on the whole to the usage of the Silver Age, being frequent in Livy, Nepos (e.g. his opening words ‘non dubito fore plerosque, Attice’), Tacitus, Pliny (e.g. praef. 18 nec dubitamus multa esse), Pliny the Younger, Tacitus and Suetonius. It never occurs in Caesar or Sallust, and in Cicero only in doubtful cases: these are his youthful transl. of Xenophon’s Oeconomicus, where he has (§6) quis enim dubitet nihil esse pulchrius in omni ratione vitae dispositione atque ordine? ad Att. vii. 1, 2, where the passage may be differently construed: de Fin. iii. 11, 38 nihil est enim de quo minus dubitari possit quam et honesta expetenda per se et eodem modo turpia per se esse fugienda. In the last instance the dependent clause ‘de quo ... possit’ = ‘certius’: and after ‘quam’ ‘illud’ may be supplied. On the other hand cp. for quin Rep. i. 23: Brut. §71: de Sen. §31: in Verr. ii. 1, 40. In young Cicero’s letter to Tiro (ad Fam. xvi. 21, 2) we find the acc. c. inf., though below (§7) he has the usual construction.

diversa virtus ... consecuta: as for example from Dionysius, Epist. ad Cn. Pomp. pp. 775-7 R (Usener, p. 57 sq.).

Densus, §68. It is opposed to fusus here as in §106 to copiosus. Cp. Dionysius, p. 869 R, τό τε πειρᾶσθαι δι᾽ ἐλαχίστων ὀνομάτων πλεῖστα σημαίνειν πράγματα, καὶ πολλὰ συντιθέναι νοήματα εἰς ἕν.

brevis: Dion. Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 425 R (Usener, pp. 22-3) καὶ τὸ μὲν σύντομόν ἐστι παρὰ Θουκυδίδῃ τὸ δ᾽ ἐναργὲς παρ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις. This is what Dion. calls τὸ τάχος τῆς σημασίας p. 793 R (Us. p. 82).

semper instans sibi, ‘ever pressing on.’ Thucydides does not ‘let things drift,’ but closely follows up each thought, making every word tell, and even hurrying on to a new idea before he has fully developed the previous one: Dion. l.c. καὶ ἔτι προσδεχόμενόν τι τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἀκούσεσθαι καταλιπεῖν. Cp. xi. 3, 164 instandum quibusdam in partibus et densanda oratio. Hor. Ep. i. 2, 71 nec praecedentibus insto: cp. Sat. i. 10, 9 est brevitate opus ut currat sententia neu se impediat verbis lassas onerantibus aures.—Cicero’s references to Thucydides are similar: Orat. §40 Thucydides praefractior nec satis ut ita dicam rotundus; de Orat. ii. §56 creber est rerum frequentia ... porro verbis est aptus et pressus; ibid. §93 (with Pericles and Alcibiades) subtiles, acuti, breves, sententiisque magis quam verbis abundantes; Brut. §29 grandes erant verbis, crebri 68 sententiis, compressione rerum breves et ob eam ipsam causam interdum subobscuri.

dulcis, §77, ‘pleasing,’ cp. voluptate, below. So Cic. Hortens. ‘quid enim aut Herodoto dulcius aut Thucydide gravius?’ Γλυκύτης is one of the essentials of ἡδεῖα λέξις in Dionysius (de Comp. Verb. xi. p. 53 R). In the preceding chapter he has distinguished between ἡ ἡδονή and τὸ καλόν, allowing the latter to Thucydides and both to Herodotus: ἡ δὲ Ἡροδότου σύνθεσις ἀμφότερα ταῦτα ἔχει‧ καὶ γὰρ ἡδεῖά ἐστι καὶ καλή. Hermogenes (ii. p. 226) makes γλυκύτης the characteristic of Herodotus on account of the attractiveness of his digressions.

candidus: §§113, 121: Cic. Orat. §53 elaborant alii in ... puro et quasi quodam candido genere dicendi. So in ii. 5, 19 Quintilian recommends young persons to read candidum quemque et maxime expositum,—Livy rather than Sallust: of Livy he says elsewhere (§101) in narrando mirae iucunditatis clarissimique candoris. The word denotes ‘clearness,’ ‘transparency’: Dion. (Ἀρχ. κρ. R, Us. p. 22) τῆς δὲ σαφηνείας ἀναμφισβητήτως Ἡροδότῳ τὸ κατόρθωμα δέδοται. Such a quality of style is the revelation of a man’s inner nature. It avoids all adventitious ornament (ibid. τῷ ἀφελεῖ αὐτοφυεῖ ἀβασανίστῳ). Undue brevitas often interferes with it (ἀσαφὲς γίγνεται τὸ βραχύ), so that the word gives a partial antithesis to brevis.

fusus supplies the antithesis to densus as well as to semper instans sibi. Cp. §77: ii. 3, 5 constricta an latius fusa oratio: ix. 4, 138 fusi ac fluentes. So Cicero Orat. §39 alter sine ullis salebris quasi sedatus amnis fluit, alter incitatior fertur.

concitatis ... remissis adfectibus. Dionysius, speaking of τῶν ἠθων τε καὶ παθῶν μίμησις (ad Cn. Pomp. p. 776 R, Us. p. 58), says διῄρηνται τὴν ἀρετὴν ταύτην οἱ συγγράφεις‧ Θουκυδίδης μὲν γὰρ τὰ πάθη δηλῶσαι κρείττων, Ἡρόδοτος δὲ τὰ γ᾽ ἤθη παραστῆσαι δεινότερος. So (Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 425 R, Us. p. 23) ἐν μέντοι τοῖς ἠθικοῖς κρατεῖ Ἡρόδοτος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς παθητικοῖς ὁ Θουκυδίδης. Cp. p. 793 R ὑπὲρ ἅπαντα δ᾽ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα τὸ παθητικόν. For the distinction between τὸ ἠθικόν (the appeal to the moral sense) and τὸ παθητικόν (the appeal to the emotions) see Cic. Orat. §128: Quint. vi. 2, §§8-10 Adfectus igitur hos concitatos πάθος illos mites atque compositos ἦθος esse dixerunt, and sq. Cp. §§48 and 101 of this book, and iii. 4, 15 concitandis componendisve adfectibus.

contionibus ... sermonibus: not the same antithesis as narrando ... contionibus §101, q.v. The opposition here is between the set harangues of Thucydides and the less formal conversations of Herodotus. In Thucydides the only dialogues are that between the Melians and the Athenians in Book V, and that between Archidamus and the Plataeans in Book II, whereas Herodotus ‘seldom speaks where there is a fair pretext for making the characters speak.... Even the longer speeches have usually the conversational tone rather than the rhetorical,’ Jebb. (Hild is wrong in referring sermonibus to τὸ πραγματικὸν εἶδος in Dionysius and contionibus to τὸ λεκτικόν: Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 424 R, Us. p. 22: cp. de Admir. Deor. vi. c. 51, p. 1112 R sq.). The speeches of Thucydides are criticised by Dionysius (under the head both of τὸ πραγματικὸν μέρος and τὸ λεκτικόν) in his Iudicium, ch. 34, p. 896 R sq. Herodotus on the other hand (ibid. 23 ad fin.), οὐδὲ δημηγορίαις πολλαῖς ... οὐδ᾽ ἐναγωνίοις κέχρηται λόγοις, οὐδ᾽ ἐν τῷ παθαίνειν καὶ δεινοποιεῖν τὰ πράγματα τὴν ἀλκὴν ἔχει. Dionysius’s own opinion of the speeches in Thucydides is seen from the last chapter of his Iudicium (pp. 950-2 R) to have agreed with that of Cicero, Orator §30: ipsae illae contiones ita multas habent obscuras abditasque sententias vix ut intellegantur. (Cp. Brutus §287.) On this ground he says nihil ab eo transferri potest ad forensem usum et publicum: cp. de Opt. Gen. 15, 16. Dionysius, however (ch. 34 ad init.) indicates that some people thought differently: τῶν δημηγοριῶν ἐν αἷς οἴονταί τινες τὴν ἄκραν τοῦ συγγραφέως εἶναι δύναμιν.—For the speeches see Blass, Att. Bereds p. 231 sq.: and Jebb’s Essay in Hellenica, esp. pp. 269-275.

vi ... voluptate. Many passages may be quoted from Dionysius to illustrate this antithesis: Ἀχρ. κρ. p. 425 R, Usener p. 23 69 ῥώμῃ δὲ καὶ ἰσχύι καὶ τόνῳ καὶ τῷ περιττῷ καὶ πολυσχηματίστῳ παρηυδοκίμησε Θουκυδίδης: ἡδονῇ δὲ καὶ πειθοῖ καὶ χάριτι ... μακρῷ διενεγκόντα τὸν Ἡρόδοτον εὑρίσκομεν: ad. Cn. Pomp. iii. p. 776 R (Us. p. 58) ἕπονται ταύταις αἱ τὴν ἰσχὺν καὶ τὸν τόνον καὶ τὰς ὁμοιοτρόπους δυνάμεις τῆς φράσεως ἀρεταὶ περιέχουσαι. κρείττων ἐν ταύταις Ἡροδότου Θουκυδίδης. ἡδονὴν δὲ καὶ πειθὼ καὶ τέρψιν καὶ τὰς ὁμοιογενεῖς ἀρετὰς εἰσφέρεται μακρῷ Θουκυδίδου κρείττονας Ἡρόδοτος. So Iud. de Thucyd. 23, p. 866 R πειθοῦς τε καὶ χαρίτων καὶ τῆς εἰς ἀκρὸν ἡκούσης ἡδονῆς ἕνεκα. So in the Epist. ad Pomp. iii. p. 767 R he praises Herodotus for his choice of subject (ὑπόθεσιν ... καλὴν καὶ κεχαρισμένην τοῖς ἀναγνωσομένοις Us. p. 50), while Thucyd. was conscious ὅτι εἰς μὲν ἀκρόασιν ἧττον ἐπιτερπὴς ἡ γραφή ἐστι (de Comp. Verb. p. 165 R). It is his variety (μεταβολὴ καὶ ποικίλον) and the providing of agreeable ἀναπαύσεις that give Hdt. his charm: καὶ γὰρ τὸ βιβλίον ἢν αὐτοῦ λάβωμεν μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης συλλαβῆς ἀγάμεθα καὶ ἀεὶ τὸ πλεῖον ἐπιζητοῦμεν p. 772 R: while Thucydides is by comparison ἀσαφὴς καὶ δυσπαρακολούθητος p. 773 (Usener pp. 54-5).

For vi cp. also Orat. §39 alter incitatior fertur, et de bellicis rebus canit etiam quodam modo bellicum: for voluptate Quint. ix. 4, 18 in Herodoto vero cum omnia, ut ego quidem sentio, leniter fluunt, tum ipsa διάλεκτος habet eam iucunditatem ut latentes in se numeros complexa videatur. And again Dionysius, p. 777 R: Us. p. 59 διαφέρουσι δὲ κατὰ τοῦτο μάλιστα ἀλλήλων ὅτι τὸ μὲν Ἡροδότου κάλλος ἱλαρόν ἐστι, φοβερὸν δὲ (‘impressive’) τὸ Θουκυδίδου.

I:74 Theopompus his proximus 69 ut in historia praedictis minor, ita oratori magis similis, ut qui, antequam est ad hoc opus sollicitatus, diu fuerit orator. Philistus quoque meretur qui turbae quamvis bonorum post eos auctorum eximatur, imitator Thucydidi et ut multo infirmior, 70 ita aliquatenus lucidior. Ephorus, ut Isocrati visum, calcaribus eget. Clitarchi probatur ingenium, fides infamatur.

§ 74. Theopompus, of Chios, born about 378 B.C. What Quint. says of him is not found in Dion. though the latter gives him high praise in the Epist. ad Cn. Pomp. p. 782 R sq. Cp. Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 428 sq. He wrote two histories, neither of which has come down to us:—(1) Ἡλληνικά, containing in twelve books the sequel to the Peloponnesian War, down to the battle of Knidos (B.C. 394); and (2) Φιλιππικά, a history of affairs under Philip, in fifty-eight books. Dionysius says that he was the most distinguished of all the pupils of Isocrates, whom he resembled in style (l.c. p. 786). His master said that he needed the bit, as Ephorus (see below) the spur: ii. 8, 11, cp. Brut. §204. Quint. says elsewhere (ix. 4, 35) that, like the followers of Isocrates in general, he was unduly solicitous about avoiding the coalition of vowels: Orat. §151. In the Brutus (§66) Cicero, comparing him with Philistus and Thucydides, says officit Theopompus elatione atque altitudine orationis suae. His fragments are collected in Müller’s Fragm. Histor. Graec. i. pp. 278-333.

praedictis = antea, supra dictis. This is the usual meaning of the word in Quint.: cp. tria quae praediximus iii. 6, 89: vicina praedictae sed amplior virtus viii. 3, 83: ii. 4, 24: ix. 3, 66: Vell. Pat. i. 4, 1: Suet. Aug. 90: Plin. N. H. lxxii. 16, 35. The Ciceronian use appears only in ‘praedicta pernicies’ iii. 7, 19 (cp. iv. 2, 98): vii. 1, 30.

opus: §§31, 67, 69, 70, 96, 123: 2 §21. Cp. Introd. p. xliv.

sollicitatus by his master Isocrates. Cicero tells us this: postea vero ex clarissima quasi rhetorum officina duo praestantes ingenio, Theopompus et Ephorus, ab Isocrate magistro impulsi se ad historiam contulerunt (de Orat. ii. §57).

Philistus, of Syracuse, born about B.C. 430. He was a contemporary of both the Dionysii, by the elder of whom he was exiled and by the younger recalled. He wrote a history of Sicily in two parts,—περὶ Σικελίας μὲν τὴν προτέραν ἐπιγραφων, περὶ Διονυσίου δὲ τὴν ὑστέραν, Dion. ad Pomp. p 780 R (Us. p. 61). Cicero says he liked the latter: me magis de Dionysio delectat, ad Q. Fr. ii. 13, 4.—Müller, Fragm. Hist. Gr. i. 185-192.

meretur qui: see on §72.

quamvis bonorum. For this brachyology cp. §94, and note: Livy ii. 54 §7 nec auctor quamvis audaci facinori deerat: ibid. 51 §7. Cp. quamlibet properato 3 §19. Introd. p. liv.

eximatur: with ex or de in classical Latin, as in the phrase ex reis eximi, aliquem de reis eximere (Cic.) For the dat. cp. i. 4, 3 ut auctores alios omnino exemerint numero (opp. to in ordinem redigere): Hor. Car. ii. 2, 19 Phraaten numero beatorum eximit virtus. The same meaning appears in xii. 2, 28 quid ... eximat nos opinionibus vulgi. In Tac. the dat. is common in the sense of to ‘free from’: infamiae, morti, ignominiae. 70 What follows might be a condensation of Dion.’s criticism of Philistus: Φίλιστος δὲ μιμητής ἐστι Θουκυδίδου, ἔξω τοῦ ἤθους‧ ᾧ μὲν γὰρ ἐλεύθερον καὶ φρονήματος μεστόν‧ τούτῳ δὲ θεραπευτικὸν τῶν τυράννων καὶ δοῦλον πλεονεξίας, Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 426 R, Us. p. 24: cp. ad Pomp. v. (p. 779 R) Φίλιστος δὲ Θουκυδίδη μᾶλλον <ἂν> δοξεῖεν ἐοικέναι, καὶ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον κοσμεῖσθαι τὸν χαρακτῆρα: Cic. de Orat. ii. 57 hunc (Thucydidem) consecutus est Syracosius Philistus qui, cum Dionysii tyranni familiarissimus esset, otium suum consumpsit in historia scribenda, maximeque Thucydidem est, sicut mihi videtur, imitatus.

infirmior: Cic. ad Q. Fr. ii. 13, 4 Siculus ille (Philistus) capitalis, creber, acutus, brevis, paene pusillus Thucydides: Dionysius, Ἀρχ. κρ. (p. 427 R, Us. p. 25) μικρὸς δὲ ἐστι καὶ ταπεινὸς κομιδῇ ταῖς ἐκφράσεσιν ... οὐδὲ ὁ λόγος τῷ μεγέθει τοῦ πράγματος ἐξισοῦται: ad Pomp. (p. 781 R) μικρός τε περὶ πᾶσαν ἰδέαν ἐστὶ καὶ ἐντελής κ.τ.λ.

aliquatenus with comparative, instead of the ablative aliquanto, just as he uses longe and multum for multo. So xi. 3, 97 aliquatenus liberius.

lucidior: τῆς δὲ λέξεως τὸ μὲν γλωσσηματικὸν καὶ περίεργον οὐκ ἐζήλωκε Θουκυδίδου (Ἀρχ. κρ. l.c.). Yet Dionysius blames him, even more than Thucyd., for ἀταξία τῆς οἰκονομίας, and adds that, like Thucyd., δυσπαρακολούθητον τὴν πραγματείαν τῇ συνχύσει τῶν εἰρημένων πεποίηκε.

Ephorus, of Cumae in Aeolis, was a contemporary of Philip and Alexander: fl. cir. B.C. 340. He wrote a Universal History down to his own times. Like Theopompus, he was a pupil of Isocrates (de Orat. ii. §57: iii. §36: Orator §191); and Dionysius mentions him, along with Theopompus, as the best example, among historians, of ἡ γλαφυρὰ καὶ ἀνθηρὰ σύνθεσις, just as Isocrates was among rhetoricians (de Comp. Verb. 23, p. 173 R). Plutarch (Dion. 36) blames him for his sophistical tendencies: Polybius (v. 33, 2) praises his wide knowledge.

calcaribus. Brutus §204 ut Isocratem in acerrimo ingenio Theopompi et lenissimo Ephori dixisse traditum est, alteri se calcaria adhibere, alteri frenos: de Orat. iii. 9, 36 quod dicebat Isocrates, doctor singularis, se calcaribus in Ephoro contra autem in Theopompo frenis uti solere: Hortensius: quid ... aut Philisto brevius aut Theopompo acrius aut Ephoro mitius inveniri potest? Cp. also ad Att. vi. 1, 12: Quint, ii. 8, 11. So Suidas, ὁ γοῦν Ἰσοκράτης τὸν μὲν Θεόπομπον ἔφη χαλινοῦ δεῖσθαι, τὸν δὲ Ἔφορον κέντρου (s.v. Ephorus). A similar story is told of Plato, teacher of Aristotle and Xenocrates; and of Aristotle, who in turn taught Theophrastus and Callisthenes.

Clitarchus, of Megara, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, whom he accompanied on his expeditions, and whose history he wrote, in twelve books, down to the battle of Ipsos. He also wrote a history of the Persians before and after Xerxes. Cicero alludes (Brutus §42 sq.) to his romantic turn: concessum est rhetoribus ementiri in historiis, ut aliquid dicere possint argutius (‘more racily’); ut enim tu nunc de Coriolano, sic Clitarchus, sic Stratocles de Themistocle finxit: de Legg. i. 2.

I:75 Longo post intervallo temporis natus Timagenes vel hoc est ipso probabilis, quod intermissam historias scribendi industriam nova 71 laude reparavit. Xenophon non excidit mihi, sed inter philosophos reddendus est.

§ 75. Timagenes belongs to the Augustan Age. He is said to have been a native of Syria, who came to Rome after the capture of Alexandria (B.C. 55). At Rome he founded a school of rhetoric, and wrote a history of Alexander the Great and his successors. He was a friend of Asinius Pollio, and enjoyed the patronage of Augustus till he incurred his censure for having spoken too boldly of the members of the Imperial family: Hor. Ep. i. 19, 15. Quintilian might have filled the gap (intervallo temporis) between Clitarchus and Timagenes with such names as Timaeus (de Orat. ii. §58), Polybius, and Dionysius himself.

historias scribendi: cp. §34 and 2 §7. The plural is used of historical works, in the concrete: the sing. generally of history as a mode of composition: §§31, 73, 74, 101, 102; 5 §15,—seldom as 1. 8, 20 cum historiae cuidam tanquam vanae repugnaret. Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 3, 89 amaras porrecto iugulo historias captivus ut audit: Car. ii. 12, 9 pedestribus dices historiis praelia Caesaris. Cicero has the sing. most frequently: Brutus §287 si historiam scribere ... cogitatis: but the pl. occurs ib. §42 (quoted above).

71

Xenophon §§33 and 82. By Dionysius he is treated as a historian, and compared to Philistus. The philosophic character of his work is however indicated in several places: e.g. Ἀρχ. κρ. (p. 426 R, Us. p. 24) ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τοῦ πρέποντος τοῖς προσώποις πολλάκις ἐστοχάσατο, περιτιθεὶς ἀνδράσιν ἰδιώταις καὶ βαρβάροις ἐσθ᾽ ὅτε λόγους φιλοσόφους: ad Cn. Pomp. 4 (p. 777) τὰς ὑποθέσεις τῶν ἱστοριῶν ἐξελέξατο καλὰς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς καὶ ἀνδρὶ φιλοσόφῳ προσηκούσας‧ τήν τε Κύρου παιδείαν, εἰκόνα βασιλέως ἀγαθοῦ καὶ εὐδαίμονος κ.τ.λ.. Besides Cicero (de Orat. ii. §58 denique etiam a philosophia profectus—Xenophon—scripsit historiam), Diogenes Laertius and Dio Chrysostom speak of Xenophon as a philosopher, all probably following an ancient authority. See Usener, p. 117, and cp. Introd. p. xxxiii.

inter. Becher notes this use of the prep. ( = ‘among a number of’) as occurring first in Livy. Cp. §116 ponendus inter praecipuos.

§§76-80. Attic Orators:—

I:76 Sequitur oratorum ingens manus, ut cum decem simul Athenis 72 aetas una tulerit. Quorum longe princeps Demosthenes ac paene lex orandi fuit: tanta vis in eo, tam densa omnia, ita quibusdam nervis intenta sunt, tam nihil otiosum, is dicendi modus, ut nec quod desit in eo nec quod redundet invenias.

ut cum. So utpote cum Cic. ad Att. v. 8, 1 and Asinius Pollio ad Fam. x. 32, 4: quippe cum ad Att. x. 3. Bonn. Lex. s.v. ut (B ad fin.) gives other exx. from Quintilian: e.g. v. 10, 44: vi. 1, 51: 3, 9: ix. i, 15.

decem. This is not a round number (Hild), but indicates a recognised group of orators, generally considered to have been canonised by the critics of Alexandria, in the course of the last two centuries before the Christian era. Brzoska, however, in a recent paper (De canone decem oratorum Atticorum quaestiones—Vratislaviae, 1883) develops with great probability the view of A. Reifferscheid, that the canon originated, towards the end of the second cent. B.C., with the school of Pergamus, where special attention was paid to rhetoric and grammar, which the Alexandrian critics neglected in favour of poetry. The group consisted of Antiphon, Andocides, Lysias, Isocrates, Isaeus, Demosthenes, Aeschines, Lycurgus, Hyperides, and Dinarchus. Of these Quintilian omits here Antiphon, Andocides, Isaeus, Lycurgus, and Dinarchus, though all except the last-named are mentioned in xii. 10, §§21-22. Demetrius of Phalerum is thrown in at the end, probably after Cicero (see on §80). The earliest reference to the Ten Orators as a recognised group occurs in the title of a lost work by Caecilius of Calacte,—περὶ χαρακτῆρος τῶν δέκα ῥητόρων. But though Caecilius was a contemporary of Dionysius at Rome in the age of Augustus, and is known to have been intimate with him (p. 777 R, Us. p. 59), there is no reference in Dionysius’s writings to the canon thus adopted. Mr. Jebb thinks he may have deliberately disregarded it as not helpful for the purpose with which he wrote, viz. to establish a standard of Greek prose by a study of the orators as representing tendencies in the historical development of the art of oratory (Att. Or. Introd. p. 67: but see Brzoska, pp. 20-22). Besides this decem in Quintilian (cp. on ceteros §80), the number ten is again recognised in the treatise on the Lives of the Ten Orators, wrongly attributed to Plutarch, by Proclus (circ. 450 A.D.), and by Suidas (circ. 1100). In selecting the five whom he treats here, Quintilian would seem to have followed Dionysius. In the De Oratoribus Antiquis, 4 (p. 451 R), he gives a chronological classification (κατὰ τὰς ἡλικίας), taking Lysias, Isocrates, and Isaens to represent the first series (ἐκ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων: cp. his aetate Lysias maior §74); and Demosthenes, Hyperides, and Aeschines for the next. Elsewhere (de Din. Iud. i. p. 629 R) he arrives at the same result on another principle, Lysias, Isocrates, and Isaeus being classed as εὑρεταὶ ἰδίου χαρακτῆρος, while the other three (Aeschines now taking the second place, as emphatically at p. 1063 R) appear as τῶν εὑρημένων ἑτέροις τελειωταί. Of Demosthenes, Hyperides, and Aeschines he says: ἡ γὰρ δὴ τελειοτάτη ῥητορικὴ καὶ τὸ κράτος τῶν ἐναγωνίων λόγων ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἔοικεν εἶναι, de Isaeo Iud. p. 629 R. The Ἀρχαίων κρίσις briefly characterises, in the order in which they are named, Lysias, Isocrates, Lycurgus, Demosthenes, Aeschines, and Hyperides; Quintilian omits Lycurgus, the paragraph about whom in the Ἀρχ. κρ. is suspected by Claussen (p. 352). (Brzoska notes that Quintilian’s list is identical with that given by Cicero de Orat. iii. 28: and from a comparison of de Opt. Gen. Or. §7—qui aut Attici numerantur aut dicunt 72 Attice—he infers that the canon was probably known also to Cicero.) We have separate treatises by Dionysius on Lysias, Isocrates, and Isaeus (the εὑρεταί), but those in which he discussed Demosthenes, Hyperides, and Aeschines (the τελειωταί), are no longer extant. Instead we have the first part of a longer work on Demosthenes (περὶ τῆς λεκτικῆς Δημοσθένους δεινότητος pp. 953-1129 R), and a bibliographical account of Dinarchus. Antiphon he only alludes to briefly (de Isaeo, 20), in company with Thrasymachus, Polycrates, and Critias: cp. Quint, iii. 1, 11.

Athenis. Dionysius groups the orators of whom he treats under the title Ἀττικοί (p. 758 R, ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν Ἀττικῶν πραγματείᾳ ῥητόρων). Ammon (pp. 81-82) points out that Demetrius Magnes used the same appellation (Dion. de Din. i. p. 631 R), and further suggests that the Attic canon is already indicated in Cicero de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 ex quo intellegitur quoniam Graecorum oratorum praestantissimi sint ii qui fuerunt Athenis, eorum autem princeps facile Demosthenes, hunc si qui imitetur eum et attice dicturum et optime, ut quoniam attici propositi sunt ad imitandum bene dicere id sit attice dicere.

aetas una, used here in a wide sense (as is shown by aetate ... maior, below). The period referred to extends from the latter part of the 5th to the latter part of the 4th century B.C. So Cicero, Brut. §36 haec enim aetas effudit hanc copiam: where he gives a place among the others to Demades.

longe princeps: Dion. de Thucyd. Iud. 55, p. 950 R, Δημοσθένει ὃν ἁπάντων ῥητόρων κράτιστον γεγενῆσθαι πειθόμεθα: cp. de vi Demosth. 33, p. 1058 R sq.

vis, δεινότης. Dion. de Thucyd. Iud. 53, p. 944 R τὴν ἐξεγείρουσαν τὰ πάθη δεινότητα (of Demosthenes): cp. p. 865 τὸ ἐρρωμένον καὶ ἐναγώνιον πνεῦμα ἐξ ὧν ἡ καλουμένη γίγνεται δεινότης: Cic. de Orat. iii. 28 vim Demosthenes habuit. For the place of vis in oratory cp. Orat. §69, and de Orat. ii. 128-9.

densa: §§68, 73, 106. So pressus: Introd. p. xliii. The Greek equivalent is τὸ πυκνόν, ἡ πυκνότης. Dionysius attributes his brevity and conciseness, as well as his energy and power of rousing the emotions, to the influence of Thucydides.

quibusdam, inserted on account of the metaphor, as often in Cicero, e.g. de Orat. i. §9 procreatricem quandam et quasi parentem: Brut. §46 eloquentia est bene constitutae civitatis quasi alumna quaedam: and constantly in translating Greek words and phrases (cp. Reid on Acad. i. 5, 20 and 24). For nervis intenta cp. εὔτονος τῇ φράσει, Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 433 R: also ix. 4, 9, and note on 1 §60.

tam nihil otiosum, i.e. everything is so much to the point. Cp. i. 1, 35 otiosas sententias, of copy-book headings that have no point: viii. 3, 89 ἐνέργεια ... cuius propria sit virtus non esse quae dicuntur otiosa: ibid. 4, 16: ii. 5, 7: Sen. Epist. 100, 11 exibunt multa nec ferient et interdum otiosa praeterlabetur oratio. In Tac. Dial. §§18 and 22 the meaning is ‘spiritless,’ ‘wearisome’ (cp. lentitudo and tepor §21). In Quintilian there is also the idea of ‘superfluous,’ ‘unprofitable’: i, 12, 18 otiosis sermonibus, useless gossip: ii. 10, 8: viii. 3, 55 quotiens otiosum fuerit et supererit: ix. 4, 58 adicere dum non otiosa et detrahere dum non necessaria. Cp. Introd. p. xlv.

is dicendi modus: Cic. Orat. §23 hoc nec gravior exstitit quisquam nec callidior nec temperatior.

quod desit: a reminiscence of Cic. Brut. §35 nam plane quidem perfectum et cui nihil admodum desit Demosthenem facile dixeris. Quintilian qualifies his eulogy in comparing him with Cicero §107 below: cp. xii. 12, 26, and Cic. Orat. §§90 and 104. See Crit. Notes.

I:77 Plenior Aeschines et magis fusus et grandiori similis, quo 73 minus strictus est; carnis tamen plus habet, minus lacertorum. Dulcis in primis et acutus Hyperides, sed minoribus causis— 74 ut non dixerim utilior— magis par.

§ 77. Plenior ... magis fusus: opposed to tam densa omnia, above. Aeschines had not the terseness and intensity of Demosthenes, but was not without a certain fluent vehemence of his own. Cicero mentions levitas and splendor verborum as characteristics of Aeschines, 73 Orat. §110; and Dionysius, Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 434 R, has ἀτονώτερος μὲν τοῦ Δημοσθένους, ἐν δὲ τῇ λέξεων ἐκλογῇ πομπικός ἅμα καὶ δεινός ... καὶ σφόδρα ἐνεργὴς καὶ βαρὺς καὶ αὐξητικὸς καὶ πικρὸς καὶ ... σφοδρός: Cic. de Orat. iii. §128 sonitum Aeschines habuit. For a comparison between the two great rivals v. Jebb’s Alt. Or. ii. 393 sq. See also Cicero’s de Optim. Gen. Orat., which was written as a preface to his translation of Aeschines’s speech against Ctesiphon and Demosthenes on the Crown.

grandiori is certainly not neuter (sc. generi dicendi) as Krüger (2nd edition), who compares the plural maioribus §63 (where however we have aptior, not similior), and ii. 11, 2, which is quite different: moreover Quintilian never uses grandius by itself to designate the more sublime style, and with such an expression as ‘grandiori generi dicendi’ he would have employed magis accedit (§68) or propior est (§78) rather than similis. If the text is allowed to stand grandiori must be masc. (just like strictus) and be used in a good sense: e.g. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §9 imitemur Lysiam, et eius quidem tenuitatem potissimum: est enim multis in locis grandior: Brut. §203 fuit Sulpicius ... grandis et ut ita dicam tragicus orator: Orat. §119 quo grandior sit et quodam modo excelsior. Similis gets the force of a comparative from magis preceding, and minus following it (cp. §93 tersus atque elegans maxime: xii. 6, 6 a quam maxime facili ac favorabili causa) so that we may render ‘he has an appearance of greater elevation in proportion as his style is less compressed.’ See Crit. Notes.

minus strictus = remissior, cp. ἀτονώτερος above. Instead of being nervis intenta (εὔτονος) his style was characterised as προπετής (‘headlong’) by the critics.

carnis ... lacertorum. The style of Aeschines is deficient in compact force: it is often overcharged and redundant (cp. πομπικός and αὐξητικός above). So also Dem. Or. 19 (of Aeschines) §133 σεμνολόγος: §255 σεμνολογεῖ. For lacerti cp. Brut. §64 in Lysia saepe sunt etiam lacerti sic ut fieri nihil possit valentius.

Hyperides, one of the leading orators of the patriotic party, was put to death by order of Antipater, B.C. 322, just seven days before the death of Demosthenes, with whom he had generally acted, though differences arose between them in later life.

Dulcis: §73. So Dion. Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 435 R χάριτος μεστός: cp. de Din. Iud. 8, p. 645 R, where he says that the imitators of Hyperides, by failing to reproduce his exquisite charm, as well as his force, became dry and rough in style: διαμαρτόντες τῆς χάριτος ἐκείνου καὶ τῆς ἄλλης δυνάμεως αὐχμηροί τινες ἐγένοντο.

acutus. Cic. de Orat. iii. §28 acumen Hyperides ... habuit: Orat. §110 nihil argutiis et acumine Hyperidi (cedit Demosthenes). Acumen (§§106, 114) is the quality required for the tenue genus which aims at instructing (Cic. de Orat. ii. §129: Quint, xii. 10, 59): it appeals mainly to the intellect. Here therefore acutus means ‘pointed,’ ‘direct’: cp. xii. 10, 39, Orat. §§20, 84, 98, where it is used of style. Subtilis and acutus sometimes go together as characteristics of the plain style: so in 5 §2 subtilitas is ascribed to Hyperides. On the other hand acutus is used (§84 below) expressly of power of thought as opposed to power of expression: cp. too §83 inventionem acumine opposed to eloquendi suavitate, and §81 acumine disserendi ... eloquendi facultate. So it may be that Quintilian uses acutus here to represent Dionysius: εὔστοχος μὲν ... καὶ συνέσει πολλῇ κεχορήγηται (p. 434 R).

minoribus causis. Cp. with this the criticisms of Longinus, Hermogenes, and others in Blass’s preface to the Teubner text. The author of περὶ ὕψους says:—“He knows when it is proper to speak with simplicity, and does not, like Demosthenes, continue the same key throughout,” §34, and below: “Nevertheless all the beauties of Hyperides, however numerous, cannot make him sublime. He never exhibits strong feeling, has little energy, rouses no emotion” (Havell). His style is “that of a newer school than Demosthenes—of the school of Menander and the New Comedy, to whom long periods and elaborate structure seemed tedious, and who affected short and terse statement, clear and epigrammatic points, smart raillery, and an easy and careless tone even in serious debate. Hence the critics, such as Quintilian, think him more suited to slight subjects.” Mahaffy, ii. p. 377. Dionysius says εὔστοχος μὲν σπάνιον δ᾽ αὐξητικός: he hits his mark neatly, but 74 seldom lends grandeur to his theme by amplification. His Funeral Oration is an exception: here he has ‘thoroughly caught from Isocrates the tone of elevated panegyric’ (Jebb). His reputation as a wit and an easy-going member of society may have helped to produce on casual students the impression Quintilian wishes to convey: ‘unquestionably one great secret of his success as a speaker,’ says Mr. Jebb, ‘was his art of making a lively Athenian audience feel that here was no austere student of Thucydides, but one who was in bright sympathy with the everyday life of the time.’ For his wit cp. Cic. Orat. §90 and Sandys’ note. Dionysius’s judgment is given at length in Jebb’s Attic Orators, ii. p. 383 sq.

ut non dixerim = ne dicam. Cp. 2 §15, and note. Tacitus makes a similar use of the potential perfect in secondary clauses.—For utilior Maehly needlessly conjectures futilibus.

I:78 His aetate Lysias maior, subtilis atque elegans et quo nihil, si oratori satis sit docere, quaeras perfectius; nihil enim est inane, nihil arcessitum, puro 75 tamen fonti quam magno flumini propior.

§ 78. aetate maior. The date of his birth has been variously fixed at B.C. 459 and B.C. 436: see Sandys, Introd. to Orator, p. xiii, and note; Wilkins, de Orat. i. (2nd ed.), p. 33. Jebb gives the approximate date of his extant work as 403-380 B.C.

subtilis atque elegans. Cic. Orat. §30 subtilem et elegantem: Brut. §35 egregie subtilis scriptor et elegans, quem iam prope audeas oratorem perfectum dicere: ibid. §64: de Orat. iii. §28 subtilitatem ... Lysias habuit: Orat. §110 nihil Lysiae subtilitate (cedit Demosthenes). It is the ‘plain elegance’ of Lysias, his artistic and graceful plainness, that Quintilian is commending: cp. ix. 4, 17 nam neque illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum laetioribus numeris corrumpendum erat: perdidisset enim gratiam, quae in eo maxima est, simplicis atque inaffectati coloris, perdidisset fidem quoque.—Subtilitas and elegantia go together 2 §19.

subtilis. Originally ‘suited for weaving’ (* sub–telis from tela—Wharton). From this the word came to be used metaphorically:—(1) ‘graceful,’ ‘refined,’ ‘delicate’: subtilitas pronuntiandi, de Orat. iii. §42, ‘graceful refinement of utterance’: (2) ‘precise,’ ‘accurate,’ common in Cicero to represent ἀκριβης: cp. praeceptor acer atque subtilis, Quintilian i. 4, 25: (3) ‘plain,’ ‘unadorned’: especially subtile genus dicendi (xii. 10, 58) = τὸ ἰσχνὸν γένος, the ‘plain’ style of rhetorical composition, which, with a careful concealment of art, imitated the language of ordinary life, unlike the ‘grand’ style, which was more artificial, seeking by the use of ornament to rise above the common idiom. The sense in which the word is used here is mainly (3): it represents what Dionysius says Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 432 R, (Us. p. 28) ἰσχνότητι γὰρ τῆς φράσεως σαφῆ καὶ ἀπηκριβωμένην ἔχουσι τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἔκθεσιν. But there is a reference also to (1), helped out by the addition of elegans, ‘choice,’ ‘tasteful.’ The style of Lysias was plain, but not without Attic refinement.

docere. So Dion., in eulogising him for τὴν δεινότητα τῆς εὑρέσεως, says (de Lysia 15, p. 486 R), τὰ πάνυ δοκοῦντα τοῖς ἄλλοις ἄπορα εἶναι καὶ ἀδύνατα εὔπορα καὶ δυνατὰ φαίνεσθαι ποιεῖ. He could make the most of his case: persuasiveness (πιθανότης) is mentioned (ibid. 13) as one of his leading characteristics. ‘His statements of facts,’ says Mr. Jebb (ii. 182), ‘are distinguished by conciseness, clearness, and charm, and by a power of producing conviction without apparent effort to convince’: cp. Dion. de Lysia 18, p. 492 R ἐν δὲ τῷ διηγεῖσθαι τὰ πράγματα ... ἀναμφιβόλως ἡγοῦμαι κράτιστον αὐτὸν εἶναι πάντων ῥητόρων, ὅρον τε καὶ κάνονα τῆς ἰδέας ταύτης αὐτὸν ἀποφαίνομαι: and below, αἱ διηγήσεις ... τὴν πίστιν ἅμα λεληθότως συνεπιφέρουσιν. But that this is not the whole office of the orator Quintilian himself declares iv. 5, 6 non enim solum oratoris est docere, sed plus eloquentia circa movendum valet. Cp. iii. 5, 2: Brut. §105: de Orat. ii. §128. In regard to this, Lysias is comparatively weak: ‘he cannot heighten the force of a plea, represent a wrong, or invoke compassion, with sufficient spirit and intensity,’ Jebb: in the words of Dion. (19, p. 496 R), περὶ τὰ πάθη μαλακώτερός ἐστι: he understands οὔτε αὐξήσεις οὔτε δεινώσεις οὔτε οἴκτους. Cp. 13 ad fin.

nihil ... inane: cp. Orator §29 dum intellegamus hoc esse Atticum in Lysia, non quod tenuis sit atque inornatus sed quod nihil habeat insolens aut ineptum.

75

nihil arcessitum: Cp. Dion. de Lysia 13 ad fin. p. 483 R ἀσφαλής τε μᾶλλόν ἐστιν ἢ παρακεκινδυνευμένη, καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἰσχὺν ἱκανὴ δηλῶσαι τέχνης ἐφ᾽ ὅσον ἀλήθειαν εἰκάσαι φύσεως. Cp. 8, p. 468 ἀποίητός τις καὶ ἀτεχνίτευτος ὁ τῆς ἁρμονίας αὐτοῦ χαρακτήρ. So Ἀρχ. κρ. πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον καὶ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν αὐτάρκης—Krüger3 suggests nihil enim inest inane. For the order see Introd. p. liii.

magno flumini: cp. Cicero, Orator §30 nam qui Lysiam sequuntur causidicum quemdam sequuntur, non illum quidem amplum atque grandem, subtilem et elegantem tamen et qui in forensibus causis possit praeclare consistere. Cp. Dion. 13, p. 482, where he says that, besides pathos, Lysias wants also grandeur and spirit: ὑψηλὴ δὲ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπὴς οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ Λυσίου λέξις, οὐδὲ καταπληκτικὴ μὰ Δία καὶ θαυμαστή ... οὐδὲ θυμοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἐστι μεστή. Cicero says he shows elevation at times, though grandeur was seldom possible in the treatment of the subjects he chose. Cp. the whole passage, de Opt. Gen. Oratorum §9 Imitemur si potuerimus, Lysiam, et eius quidem tenuitatem potissimum. Est enim multis locis grandior; sed quia et privatas ille plerasque et eas ipsas aliis et parvarum rerum causulas scripsit videtur esse ieiunior, cum se ipse consulto ad minutarum genera causarum limaverit. He therefore prefers Demosthenes as a model on account of his power: ib. §10 ita fit ut Demosthenes certe possit summisse dicere, elate Lysias fortasse non possit.

Lysias was the favourite model of those who at Rome, in Cicero’s time, sought to bring about the revival of Atticism. The unaffected simplicity of his diction, his purity, lucidity, and naturalness amply entitled him to this distinction. Dionysius’ criticism is most appreciative: he praises the style of Lysias ‘not only for its purity of diction, its moderation in metaphor, its perspicuity, its conciseness, its terseness, its vividness, its truth to character, its perfect appropriateness, and its winning persuasiveness; but also for a nameless and indefinable charm, which he compares to the bloom of a beautiful face, to the harmony of musical tones, or to perfect rhythm in the marking of time’—v. de Lysia xi, xii.: Sandys, Introd. to Orator, p. xvi.

I:79 Isocrates in diverso genere dicendi nitidus et comptus et palaestrae quam pugnae 76 magis accommodatus omnes dicendi veneres sectatus est, nec immerito: auditoriis enim se, non iudiciis compararat: in inventione facilis, honesti studiosus, in compositione adeo diligens 77 ut cura eius reprehendatur.

§ 79. Isocrates, the most celebrated of all the ancient teachers of rhetoric, and called the father of eloquence (ille pater eloquentiae, de Orat. ii. §10) from the number of orators produced by his school. His home is described as being a school of eloquence and manufactory of rhetoric for the whole of Greece, from which, as from the Trojan horse, there came forth heroes only: Brut. §32 Isocrates, cuius domus cunctae Graeciae quasi ludus quidam patuit atque officina dicendi: de Orat. ii. §94 cuius e ludo tamquam ex equo Troiano meri principes exierunt: Orat. §40 domus eius officina habita eloquentiae est. He is said to have died of voluntary starvation shortly after the battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.) at the advanced age of 97. The story of his death is examined by Jebb, ii. 31.

in diverso genere dicendi. The pupil of Gorgias, according to Aristotle (v. Quint, iii. 1, 13), Isocrates worked out his master’s theory of elaborately ornate and rhythmical style of composition. His is not the subtile genus of which Lysias is the best representative: suavitas (‘smoothness’) rather than subtilitas (‘plainness’) is his chief characteristic (de Orat. iii. §28). He carefully cultivated the period, to which he gave a large and luxuriant expansion: Or. §40 primus instituit dilatare verbis et mollioribus numeris explere sententias: Dion. de Isocr. 13, p. 561 R ὁ τῶν περιόδων ῥυθμός, ἐκ παντὸς διώκων τὸ γλαφυρόν. In comparing him with Lysias (de Isocr. ii.-iii.), Dion. notes that his style is less terse and compact, and characterised by a kind of opulent diffuseness (κεχυμένη πλουσίως), as well as by a more free use of metaphor and other tropes.

nitidus: its opposite is sordidus (viii. 3, 49): cp. Brut. §238 non valde nitens sed plane horrida oratio. So nitidum et laetum (genus verborum) de Orat. i. §81: where Wilkins says the word is used ‘especially of things which are bright, because of the pains bestowed on them,’ and cps. Hor. Ep. i. 4, 15 ‘nitidum bene curata cute vises.’ There is the same opposition between niddus and horridus Orat. §36: squalidus, ibid. §115: cp. de Orat. iii §51 ita de horridis rebus nitida ... est oratio tua: de Legg. i. 2, 6 (of Caelius Antipater) habuitque vires agrestes ille quidem atque horridas, sine nitore et 76 palaestra: Brut. §238 (of C. Macer) non valde nitens, non plane horrida oratio.

comptusκομψεύεται, Dion. Ἀρχ. κρ.: cp. viii. 3, 42 non quia comi expolirique non debeat (oratio). With nitidus et comptus cp. Cicero’s statement that he had lavished on a Greek version of the story of his consulship, ‘all the fragrant essences of Isocrates and all the little perfume-boxes of his pupils’: totum Isocrati μυροθήκιον atque omnes eius discipulorum arculas, ad Att. ii. 1, §1.

palaestrae quam pugnae: Cp. Orat. §42 of epideictic oratory (dulce ... orationis genus) pompae quam pugnae aptius gymnasiis et palaestrae dicatum, spretum et pulsum foro: de Orat. i. §81 nitidum quoddam genus est verborum et laetum et palaestrae magis et olei quam huius civilis turbae ac fori. So of Demetrius non tam armis institutus quam palaestrae, Brut. §37. For the meaning cp. ibid. §32 forensi luce caruit intraque parietes aluit eam gloriam. Isocrates had not the vigorous compression of style necessary for real contests, πανηγυρικώτερος ἐστι μᾶλλον ἢ δικανικώτερος ... καὶ πομπικός ἐστι ... οὐ μὴν ἀγωνιστικός Dion. Ἀρχ. κρ., p. 432 R: Pseudo-Plut. Vit. X Or. p. 845 (Φιλιππος) ἐκάλει τοὺς μὲν αὐτοῦ (Δημοσθένους) λόγους ὁμοίους τοῖς στρατιώταις διὰ τὴν πομπικὴν δύναμιν, τοὺς δ᾽ Ἰσοκράτους τοῖς ἀθληταῖς. For the figure involved in pugnae (ἀγών) cp. §§29, 31: 3, 3: 5, 17. Cicero says the pupils of Isocrates were great alike on parade and in actual combat: eorum partim in pompa partim in acie illustres esse voluerunt, de Orat. §94. See Jebb, ii. 70-71.

veneres: in this sense only in poetry and post-Augustan prose, and generally in the singular. Cp. Hor. Ars Poet. 320 Fabula nullius veneris sine pondere et arte. Cp. §100 illam solis concessam Atticis venerem: vi. 3, 18 venustum esse quod cum gratia quadam et venere dicatur apparet: iv. 2, 116 narrationem ... omni qua potest gratia et venere exornandam puto: Seneca, de Benef. ii. 28, 2 habuit suam venerem: Plin. 35, 10, 36 §79 (of paintings) deesse iis unam illam suam venerem dicebat quam Graeci charita vocant.

sectatus est: cp. Dion. de Isocr. 2, p. 538 R ὁ γὰρ ἀνὴρ οὗτος τὴν εὐέπειαν ἐκ παντὸς διώκει, καὶ τοῦ γλαφυρῶς λέγειν στοχάζεται μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ ἀφελῶς. There is a certain elaborate affectation about Isocrates: what in Lysias is the gift of nature he attempts to gain by the aid of art,—πέφυκε γὰρ ἡ Λυσίου λέξις ἔχειν τὸ χαρίεν, ἡ δ᾽ Ἰσοκράτους βούλεται ibid. p. 541. For the whole passage cp. Orat. §38 In Panathenaico autem (§§1, 2) Isocrates ea se studiose consectatum fatetur; non enim ad iudiciorum certamen sed ad voluptatem aurium scripserat.

nec immerito: see on §27.

auditoriis ... non iudiciis: cp. §36: Dion, de Isocr. 2, p. 539 R ἀναγνώσεώς τε μᾶλλον οἰκειότερός ἐστιν ἢ ῥήσεως‧ τοιγάρτοι τὰς μὲν ἐπιδείξεις τὰς ἐν ταῖς πανηγύρεσι καὶ τὴν ἐκ χειρὸς θεωρίαν φέρουσιν αὐτοῦ οἱ λόγοι, τοὺς δ᾽ ἐν ἐκκλησίαις καὶ δικαστηρίοις ἀγῶνας οὐχ ὑπομένουσι Aristotle, Rhet. i. a 9 (p. 1368 a) διὰ τὴν ἀσυνήθείαν τοῦ δικολογεῖν. Isocrates himself tells us that it was his weakness of utterance and timidity of disposition that precluded him from public appearances: Panath. §10 οὕτω γὰρ ἐνδεὴς ἀμφοτέρων ἐγενόμην, φωνῆς ἱκανῆς καὶ τόλμης, ὡς οὐκ οἶδ᾽ εἰ τις ἀλλος τῶν πολιτῶν. Cp. Cic. de Rep. iii. 30, 42 duas sibi res quominus in volgus et in foro diceret confidentiam et vocem defuisse: Plin. Ep. vi. 29, 6 infirmitate vocis, mollitie frontis, ne in publico diceret impediebatur. Moreover he laid claim to being a teacher of morality; and looking on rhetoric as the highest and most important branch of education, he spoke with contempt of those who wrote for the law-courts, and with whom victory was the only object: Jebb, ii. p. 7 and p. 43: Isocr. Panegyr. §11 with Sandys’ note.

inventione: here Dionysius says he is in no way inferior to Lysias: ἡ μὲν εὕρεσις τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων ἡ πρὸς ἕκαστον ἁρμόττουσα πρᾶγμα πολλὴ καὶ πυκνὴ καὶ οὐδὲν ἐκείνης (sc. Lysiae) λειπομένη Iud. de Isocr. 4, p. 452 R.

honesti studiosus. This may refer to the diction of Isocrates: cp. Dion. Iud. 2, p. 538 R, where his λέξις is said to be ἠθική τε καὶ πιθανή: and again de Dem. p. 963. Cp. ix. 4, 146-7, on which Becher mainly relies for his proposal (supported by Hirt. Berl. Jahr. xiv. 1888, p. 59) to take ‘honesti studiosus in compositione’ together: compositio debet esse 77 honesta, iucunda, varia ... cura ita magna ut sentiendi atque eloquendi prior sit: so viii. 3, 16. But two considerations seem to prove the correctness of the traditional interpretation and punctuation: (1) the ascription of honestum (in an ethical sense) to Isocrates is peculiarly appropriate, and the word is constantly used in this sense by Quintilian (see Bonn. Lex. s.v. ii γ): and (2) diligens could hardly stand alone, divorced from in compositione: and moreover a similar expression (in compositione adeo diligens, &c.) is used by Dionysius, ἐν τῇ συνθέσει τῶν ὀνομάτων ... Ἰσοκράτην περιεργότερον (de Isocr. Iud. 11, p. 557 R): cp. p. 538. There is a similar criticism at §118 in cura verborum nimius et compositione nonnumquam longior.

As to (1) cp. Jebb, ii. pp. 44-5. The high moral tone of Isocrates is seen both in his choice of noble themes and in the care with which he ever keeps the higher aspects of his subject in view. Dion. Iud. 4, p. 543 R μάλιστα δ᾽ ἡ προαίρεσις ἡ τῶν λόγων περὶ οὓς ἐσπούδαζε καὶ τῶν ὑποθέσεων τὸ κάλλος ἐν αἷς ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διατριβάς‧ ἐξ ὧν οὐ λέγειν δεινοὺς μόνον ἀπεργάσαιτ᾽ ἂν τοὺς προσέχοντας αὐτῷ τὸν νοῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἤθη σπουδαίους ... κράτιστα γὰρ δὴ παιδεύματα πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐν τοῖς Ἰσοκράτους ἐστὶν εὑρεῖν λόγοις. (2) Though Becher points to the chiasmus obtained by punctuating ‘in inventione facilis, honesti studiosus in compositione’ (cp. §97: Bonn. Lex. pr. lxviii) the rhythm of the sentence tells the other way; and to his objection that the ethical point of view does not belong to the history of literature (especially when inserted between two such words as inventio and compositio) we can only answer that Quintilian is not an artist in style, and that the ethical tone of Isocrates is too characteristic to have been overlooked.

There is no need for Maehly’s conjecture ‘disponendi studiosus’: nor for Eussner’s proposal to invert the clauses and read ... ‘compararat, honesti studiosus: in inventione facilis, in comp. a. d.’ &c.: on the ground that honesti studiosus refers to the γένος ἐπιδεικτικόν of Isocrates, which is regulated by honestum, as the δημηγορικόν is by utile, and the δικανικόν by iustum.

compositione: §§44, 66; ix. 4, 116: quem in poemate locum habet versificatio eam in oratione compositio: ad Her. iv. 12, 18 compositio est verborum constructio quae facit omnes partes orationis aequabiliter perpolitas: Ἀρχ. κρ. p. 433 R, (Us. p. 28) καὶ αὐτοῦ μάλιστα ζηλωτέον τὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐκλογὴν καὶ συνέχειαν. ‘Isocrates was the earliest great artist in the rhythm proper to prose,’ Jebb, ii. pp. 60-1. Cicero, Brutus §32 primus intellexit etiam in soluta oratione, dum versum effugeres, modum tamen et numerum quendam oportere servari: Orat. §174.

cura ... reprehendatur. This refers especially to his studied avoidance of hiatus: cp. ix. 4, 35 nimiosque non immerito in hac cura putant omnes Isocratem secutos, praecipueque Theopompum. So Orat. §151 in quo quidam Theopompum etiam reprehendunt ... etsi idem magister eius Isocrates—(with Sandys’ note). Dionysius (de Isocr. 2) contrasts in general terms his σύνθεσις (compositio) with that of Lysias, noting especially the point here alluded to: p. 558 R περιεργοτέραν, and de Dem. 4, pp. 963-4 R. Plutarch, de gloria Athen. p. 350 E πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἔμελλεν ἅνθρωπος (Isocr.) ψόφον ὅπλων φοβεῖσθαι καὶ σύρρηγμα φάλαγγος ὁ φοβούμενος φωνῆεν φωνήεντι συγκροῦσαι καὶ συλλαβῇ τὸ ἰσόκωλον ἐνδεὲς ἐξενεγκεῖν; Jebb, ii, pp. 66-7. With such excessive solicitude we can understand how Isocrates should have taken ten years to write the Panegyricus (4 §4).

The judgments of Cicero and Dionysius will be found conveniently summarised in Sandys’ Introd. to Orator, pp. xx-xxii.

I:80 Neque ego in his de quibus sum locutus has solas virtutes, sed has praecipuas puto, nec ceteros parum fuisse magnos. Quin etiam Phalerea illum Demetrium, 78 quamquam is primum inclinasse eloquentiam dicitur, multum ingenii habuisse et facundiae fateor, vel ob hoc memoria dignum, quod ultimus est fere ex Atticis qui dici possit orator; quem tamen in illo medio genere dicendi praefert omnibus Cicero.

§ 80. ceteros: cp. on decem §76. The use of the word involves a reference to a recognised group, from which he has omitted Antiphon, Andocides, Isaeus, Lycurgus, and Dinarchus. So Dion. p. 451 R, after mentioning Lysias, Isocrates, Isaeus, Demosthenes, Hyperides, Aeschines, says οὓς ἐγὼ τῶν ἄλλων ἡγοῦμαι κρατίστους. Demetrius is evidently an addition by Quintilian himself, as is shown by the use of quin etiam.

78

Demetrius, of Phalerum, governed Athens, under Cassander, from 317 B.C. till he was overthrown by Demetrius Poliorcetes in 307. He fled to Thebes and thence to Egypt, where he died in 283, after assisting Ptolemy to draw up laws and found his famous library. In citing him after the Attic orators, Quintilian seems to follow Cicero, Brut. §37 Phalereus ... successit eis senibus adulescens, &c. The same order (Phalereus before Demetrius) occurs in Cicero, de Legg. iii. 14: de Orat. ii. §95: de Rep. ii. 2: Brut. §285.—For illum see on §17.

inclinasse: Brut. §38 (where primus has been used (Halm) as an argument against primum in the text, though Quintilian is only quoting from memory, as often, cp. §94): hic primus inflexit orationem et eam mollem teneramque reddidit et suavis, sicut fuit, maluit esse quam gravis. He impaired the strength of Attic oratory, depriving it of what Cicero calls its ‘sap and fresh vigour’ (sucus ille et sanguis incorruptus), and substituting an ‘artificial gloss’ (fucatus nitor): processerat enim in solem et pulverem, non ut e militari tabernaculo, sed ut e Theophrasti doctissimi hominis umbraculis. ibid. §37. Of all the orators who flourished after Demosthenes (when alia quaedam molliora ac remissiora genera viguerunt) he was the most polished: de Orat. ii. §95. He was more florid than Hyperides and Lysias, Brut. §285. In the Orator, §§91-2, Cicero says that his diction has a smooth and tranquil flow, and is also ‘lit up by the stars of metaphor and metonymy’: oratio cum sedate placideque labitur, tum illustrant eam quasi stellae quaedam tralata verba atque immutata. Cp. de Off. i. §3 disputator subtilis, orator parum vehemens, dulcis tamen, ut Theophrasti discipulum possis agnoscere.

multum ingenii ... et facundiae: Diog. Laert. v. 82 χαρακτὴρ δὲ φιλόσοφος, εὐτονίᾳ ῥητορικῇ καὶ δυνάμει κεκραμένος.

ultimus ... ex Atticis: Brut. §285 mihi quidem ex illius orationibus redolere ipsae Athenae videntur.

medio genere dicendi: the ‘middle’ style: see on §44. In xii. 10, 59 he says of this style ‘ea fere est ratio ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium’: with which cp. Cicero of Demetrius, delectabat magis Athenienses quam inflammabat.—Of the middle style generally Cicero says (Orator, §21) est autem quidam interiectus inter hos medius et quasi temperatus nec acumine posteriorum nec flumine utens superiorum, vicinus amborum, in neutro excellens, utriusque particeps, vel utriusque, si verum quaerimus, potius expers; isque uno tenore, ut aiunt, in dicendo fluit nihil adferens praeter facilitatem et aequabilitatem, aut addit aliquos ut in corona toros (‘raised ornaments’ or ‘knots’) omnemque orationem ornamentis modicis verborum sententiarumque distinguit.

praefert omnibus Cicero: de Orat. ii. §95 omnium istorum mea sententia politissimus: Orat. §92 in qua (sc. media orationis forma) multi floruerunt apud Graecos, sed Phalereus Demetrius meo iudicio praestitit ceteris.—For quem tamen see Crit. Notes.

§§ 81-84. Greek Philosophers:—

In this paragraph there is a correspondence between the criticisms of Quintilian and those of Cicero and Dionysius. In the Ἀρχ. κρ. (ch. 4, Us. pp. 26-7) the latter recommends the study of the Pythagorean philosophers (μεγαλοπρεπεῖς γὰρ τῇ λέξει καὶ ποιητικοί), holding up Xenophon and Plato as the best models, and eulogising also Aristotle and his followers: μιμητέον δὲ ... μάλιστα Ξενοφῶντα καὶ Πλάτωνα ... παραληπτέον δὲ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλη εἰς μίμησιν ... φιλοτιμώμεθα δ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς ἐντυνχάνειν. Quintilian’s selection of Theophrastus is probably motived by the passage in Cicero, Orat. §2 (already quoted by him in §33): philosophi quidam ornate locuti sunt, siquidem et Theophrastus divinitate loquendi nomen invenit et Aristoteles Isocratem ipsum lacessivit 79 et Xenophontis voce Musas quasi locutas ferunt et longe omnium, quicunque scripserunt aut locuti sunt, exstitit et gravitate et suavitate princeps Plato.

I:81 Philosophorum, ex quibus plurimum se traxisse eloquentiae 79 M. Tullius confitetur, quis dubitet Platonem esse praecipuum sive acumine disserendi sive eloquendi facultate divina quadam et Homerica? Multum enim supra prosam orationem et quam pedestrem Graeci vocant surgit, ut mihi non hominis ingenio, sed quodam Delphici videatur oraculo dei instinctus.

§ 81. confitetur: xii. 2, 23 nam M. Tullius non tantum se debere scholis rhetorum quantum Academiae spatiis frequenter ipse testatus est: neque se tanta unquam in eo fudisset ubertas si ingenium suum consaepto fori non ipsius rerum natura finibus terminasset. In the Orator, §12, Cicero tells us he had got his oratory not from the narrow schoolrooms and mechanical workshops of the rhetoricians, but from the groves of the Academy, the real school for every kind of discourse: fateor me oratorem, si modo sim aut etiam quicunque sim, non ex rhetorum officinis sed ex Academiae spatiis exstitisse; illa enim sunt curricula multiplicium variorumque sermonum in quibus Platonis primum sunt impressa vestigia. Cp. Tac. Dial. de Or. §32. In the De Div. ii. §4 Cicero speaks of his rhetorical works as bordering on philosophy: quumque Aristoteles itemque Theophrastus, excellentes viri cum subtilitate tum copia, cum philosophia dicendi etiam praecepta coniunxerint, nostri quoque oratorii libri in eundem numerum referendi videntur.

praecipuum: cp. Orat. §62 (quoted above) longe omnium ... princeps Plato. So Dionysius ad Pomp. p. 752 R: de Dem. 41, p. 1083 R.

sive ... sive: cp. xii. 10, 26 quae defuisse ei sive ipsius natura seu lege civitatis videntur: Cic. pro Clu. §76. Sive is frequently used as a single disjunctive, to give one word as an alternative for another: i. 4, 20 vocabulum sive appellationem nomini subiecerunt: xii. 10, 59 delectandi sive ... conciliandi officium. Cp. too Cic. de Am. §100 ex quo exardescit sive amor sive amicitia—a kind of brachyology: de Orat. ii. §70 in hac sive ratione sive exercitatione dicendi,—a shorter formula than ib. §29 hoc totum, quicquid est, sive artificium sive studium dicendi.

divina. Cic. Tusc. Disp. i. §79 quem (Platonem) omnibus locis divinum, quem sapientissimum, quem sanctissimum, quem Homerum philosophorum appellat (Panaetius). Cp. Dion. de Dem. 23, p. 1024 R πάντων ... φιλοσόφων τε καὶ ῥητόρων ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὰ πράγματα δαιμονιώτατον..

Homerica: §86 ut illi naturae caelesit atque immortali cesserimus: §§48, 65.

prosam orationem et. The omission of et, proposed by recent editors, would make Quintilian give a rather useless synonym for prosa oratio, which (like prosa by itself) he often uses without explanation. Prosa oratio is used of prose as contrasted with verse (cp. xi. 2, 39 facilius versus ediscimus quam prosam orationem): pedestris oratio includes all composition of a prosaic order, not necessarily prose only: so Horace speaks of his Satires as Musa pedestris (Sat. ii. 6, 17): pedestres historiae in Car. ii. 12, 9 are prose histories: sermo pedester in A. P. 95 (tragicus plerumque dolet sermone pedestri) is homely language: cp. ib. 229, and Ep. ii. 1, 251. So Plato, Soph. 237 A πεζῇ τε ὧδε ἑκάστοτε λέγων καὶ μετὰ μέτρων: Aristoph. Fr. 713 παῦσαι μελῳδοῦς᾽ ἀλλὰ πεζῇ μοι φράσον. Palmer (on Hor. Sat. l.c.) cites also Luc. de Consecr. Hist. 8 πεζή τις ποιητική of a bombastic history: and adds ‘the metaphor is from a person soberly jogging on on foot, contrasted with the dashing pace of a mounted cavalier.’—For prose Cicero uses oratio soluta (Brut. §32) to which he opposes vincula numerorum (Orat. §§64, 77: de Orat. iii. §184).—Numerous examples of a similar use of et are cited, Bonn. Lex. s.v. et iii.

quodam Delphici, &c. See Crit. Notes. For quodam cp. §109 dono quodam providentiae genitus: xii. 11, 5 ductus amore quodam operis: ib. 10 §21: ix. 2, 76: and §82 below; and for Delphici ... dei Cic. de Legg. i. §58 cuius praecepti tanta vis ... est ut ea non homini cuipiam sed Delphico deo tribueretur.

80

I:82 Quid ego 80 commemorem Xenophontis illam iucunditatem inadfectatam, sed quam nulla consequi adfectatio possit? ut ipsae sermonem finxisse Gratiae videantur, et quod de Pericle veteris comoediae testimonium est in hunc transferri iustissime possit, in labris eius sedisse quandam persuadendi deam.

§ 82. Xenophontis, §§33, 75.

iucunditatem: so Tac. Dial. 31. Dionysius’s criticism is fuller: καθαρὸς τοῖς ὀνόμασι καὶ σαφὴς καὶ ἐναργής, καὶ κατὰ τὴν σύνθεσιν ἡδὺς καὶ εὔχαρις: Diog. Laert. ii. 57 ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ Ἀττικὴ Μοῦσα γλυκύτητι τῆς ἑρμηνείας: Suidas Ξενοφῶν Ἀττικὴ μέλιττα ἐπανομάζετο: Brutus, §132 molli et Xenophonteo genere sermonis: cp. ibid. §292: Orat. §32 cuius sermo est ille quidem melle dulcior sed a forensi strepitu remotissimus: de Orat. ii. §58 leniore quodam sono est usus, et qui illum impetum oratoris non habeat, vehemens fortasse minus, sed aliquanto tamen est, ut mihi quidem videtur, dulcior.—For inadfectatus, see Introd. p. xlii.

Gratiae: for the form of expression cp. Orat. §62 Xenophontis voce Musas quasi locutas ferunt (x. 1 §33). So §99 below: Plin. Ep. ii. 13, 7: Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 27.

de Pericle. So xii. 2, 22: 10, 65: Pliny, Ep. i. 20, 17 nec me praeterit summum oratorem Periclem sic a comico Eupolide laudari ... πειθώ τις ἐπεκάθητο τοῖσι χείλεσιν κ.τ.λ. (The line is given in Kock’s Fragmenta 1, p. 281 πειθώ τις ἐπεκάθιζεν ἐπὶ τοῖς χείλεσιν: so Meineke ii. p. 458.) Brutus §38 quemadmodum de Pericle scripsit Eupolis: §59 πειθώ quam vocant Graeci, cuius effector est orator, hanc Suadam appellavit Ennius ... ut quam deam in Pericli labris scripsit Eupolis sessitavisse huius hic medullam nostrum oratorem (sc. Cethegum) fuisse dixerit. (Cp. de Orat. iii. §138.) The phrase of which this is the explanation (suadae medulla—the essence, marrow, of persuasiveness) is used again de Sen. §50: cp. Quint, ii. 15, 4. Horace has Suadela, Ep. i. 6, 38.

quandam, i.e. something which may be called persuadendi dea: cp. quodam below, and quibusdam §76: xii. 10, ii quadam eloquentiae frugalitate. See Crit. Notes.

I:83 Quid reliquorum Socraticorum elegantiam? Quid Aristotelen? Quem dubito scientia rerum an scriptorum copia an eloquendi suavitate an inventionum acumine an varietate operum clariorem putem. Nam in Theophrasto tam est loquendi nitor ille divinus ut 81 ex eo nomen quoque traxisse dicatur.

§ 83. Socratici §35.

elegantiam: §114: 2 §19: ‘chaste simplicity,’ Frieze.

Aristotelen. It is to be noticed that in both Dionysius and Quintilian, Aristotle comes after Plato and Xenophon: Ἀρχ. κρ. 4, (Us. p. 27) παραληπτέον δὲ καὶ Ἀριστοτέλη εἰς μίμησιν τῆς τε περὶ τὴν ἑρμηνείαν δεινότητος καὶ τῆς σαφηνείας καὶ τοῦ ἡδέος καὶ πολυμαθοῦς: Brut. §121 quis Aristotele nervosior? Orat. §172 quis omnium doctior, quis acutior, quis in rebus vel inveniendis vel iudicandis acrior Aristotele fuit?

scientia ... copia ... suavitate: Orat. §5 admirabili quadam scientia et copia: Topica 1 §3 dicendi incredibili quadam quum copia tum etiam suavitate: cp. de Inv. ii. §6.

acumine: see on §77.

nam has come to serve as a transition-formula: so §§9, 12, 50: 4, 4. It generally involves an ellipse: cp. Sall, Iug. ch. 19, 2: 31, 2: 82, 2: Cicero, Tusc. Disp. iv. §52.

Theophrasto. Brut. §121 quis Theophrasto dulcior? Theophrastus succeeded Aristotle in the conduct of his school B.C. 322, and died 287.

tam est loquendi nitor ille divinus ut. Becher takes tam closely with divinus, making tam divinus est the pred. and loquendi nitor ille the subj.: and so Krüger (3rd ed.). For the order of words he compares §122 habebunt magnam eos qui nunc vigent materiam vere laudandi, and adds (Quaest. p. 18) ‘omnino autem tenendum est perplexam et arcessitam verborum turbam magis quam ordinem (Bonn. Proleg. lxxviii.) aetatis argenteae scriptoribus in deliciis fuisse, quae intellectum legentium non tam adiuvet quam 81 impediat.’ We might also cp. §76 tam nihil otiosum, and 7 §27. Even in Cicero a similar separation occurs: pro Cael. §16 nunquam enim tam Caelius amens fuisset: in Verr. v. §121 quis tam fuit illo tempore durus et ferreus. Kiderlin, however (Hermes 23, p. 109), challenges this explanation, contending that the words loquendi nitor ille divinus are obviously meant to be taken together, and that ille makes it impossible to join tam and divinus. He rejects as inappropriate the analogies cited from Brutus §58 (cp. §§174, 41): ad Q. Fr. i. 2, 3 §9 (atque ego haec tam esse quam audio non puto—where it has been proposed to insert a word): ad Fam. vi. 7, 1. But more weight should be attached to the following passages to which K. himself refers: Quint. ii. 16, 15 (sed ipsa ratio neque tam nos iuvaret neque tam esset in nobis manifesta, nisi, &c.) and viii. 3, 5 (et fulmina ipsa non tam nos confunderent si, &c.). Kiderlin however holds that all those passages differ from this, inasmuch as either there is a negative with tam, or it is joined with an adverb, or it follows quam immediately. He rejects Spalding’s tantus est, and proposes to read tam manifestus est: manifestus goes well with the preceding sentence, where Quintilian does not know which of Aristotle’s great points to praise most, while with Theophrastus there is no such doubt, since his loquendi nitor is so striking that he is said, &c. K. thinks that manifestus (which is a favourite word of Quintilian: see Bonn. Lex.) might easily have fallen out, as tam est and manifest are pretty much alike.—In support of the reading loquendi (for which Meister gives, by a misprint, eloquendi), Kiderlin points out that Quintilian probablv wished to translate φράζειν.

nitor: cp. §§33, 9, 79 (where see note on nitidus): Cicero, de Fin. iv. 3, 5 primum enim ipsa illa, quae subtiliter disserenda erant, polite apteque dixerunt, tum definientes, tum partientes, ut vestri etiam; sed vos (Stoici) squalidius; illorum (sc. Peripateticorum et Academicorum) vides quam niteat oratio. Of the Peripatetics generally he says (Brutus §120) in doctrina atque praeceptis disserendi ratio coniungitur cum suavitate dicendi et copia.

nomen traxisse: Orat. §62 siquidem et Theophrastus divinitate loquendi nomen invenit: Diog. Laert. v. 38 τοῦτον, Τύρταμον λεγόμενον, Θεόφραστον διὰ τὸ τῆς φράσεως θεσπέσιον Ἀριστοτέλης μετωνόμασεν.

I:84 Minus indulsere eloquentiae Stoici veteres, sed cum honesta suaserunt tum in colligendo probandoque quae instituerant plurimum valuerunt, rebus tamen acuti magis quam (id quod sane non adfectaverunt) oratione magnifici.

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§ 84. Stoici veteres. See xii. 1, 24 sq. for a discussion of the various philosophical systems in regard to their fitness for oratorical purposes. For the comparative unfitness of the Stoic writers see esp. Cic. de Orat. iii. 18, 66: de Fin. iv. 28, 78 sq.: de Orat. ii. 38, 159. So too Brutus §114 (Stoicorum) peracutum et artis plenum orationis genus scio tamen esse exile nec satis populari adsensioni adcommodatum: §118 ut omnes fere Stoici prudentissimi in disserendo sint et id arte faciant sintque architecti paene verborum, eidem traducti a disputando ad dicendum inopes reperiantur.

quae instituerant: ‘their principles.’ De Off. i. 1, 1 praecepta institutaque philosophiae: de Am. §13: de Fin. v. 3, 7 scripta et instituta: Brut. §31 and esp. §119.

colligendo: ‘arguing,’ not necessarily here of the formal process of syllogistic reasoning. Cp. xii. 2, 10 ambigua aperire et perplexa discernere et de falsis iudicare et colligere et resolvere quae velis oratorum est.

rebus acuti: ‘shrewd thinkers,’ rather than masters of the grand style. For the constr. (where in Greek the pr. part. would have been used) cp. §80 vel ob hoc memoria dignum.

quod sane non adfect. Cp. Sen. Ep. 108, 35 illud admoneo, auditionem philosophorum lectionemque ad propositum beatae vitae trahendam, non ut verba prisca aut ficta captemus et translationes improbas figurasque dicendi, sed ut profutura praecepta et magnificas voces et animosas, quae mox in rem transferantur: sic ista ediscamus ut quae fuerint verba sint opera.

ANALYSIS OF THE ARGUMENT (85-131)

§§ 85-131. ROMAN LITERATURE.

§§ 85-100. Roman Poetry.

§§85-92. Epic Poets.

Vergil must head the list, ranking nearer to Homer than any third poet does to him. For consistent and uniform excellence he may surpass even Homer, however little he may rival Homer’s best passages. Macer and Lucretius are worth reading, but not for style. Varro Atacinus has some merit as a translator, but will not add to an orator’s resources. Ennius is like some venerable grove, whose trees have more sanctity than beauty: there are others nearer our own day, and more useful for our special purpose. Ovid is uncontrolled even in his hexameters, and lets his fancy run away with him: yet admirable in parts. Cornelius Severus fell away from the standard of his first book. The youthful works of Serranus display great talent and a correct taste in style. We lately lost much in Valerius Flaccus. The inspiration of Saleius Bassus also failed to take on the mellowness of age. Rabirius and Pedo are worth reading in spare moments. Lucan has fire and point, and is a model for orators rather than for poets. Domitian I would name had not the care of the world prevented him from becoming our greatest poet. Even the compositions of his earlier days, after he had handed over the empire, are lofty, learned, and of surpassing excellence: ‘the poet’s ivy is entwined with the conquering bay.’

§§93-96. Elegy, Satire, iambic and lyric poetry.

In Elegy we can challenge the Greeks. The most polished and refined is, in my opinion, Tibullus; some prefer Propertius. Ovid is more uncontrolled than either, Gallus harsher. Satire is all our own. Lucilius is by some still preferred to all poets whatsoever. I deprecate such extravagant eulogy, as I disagree with the censure of Horace. Lucilius has learning, boldness, causticity, wit. Horace is the prince of satirists. Persius earned renown by a single book. Others still alive will have a name hereafter. Terentius Varro wrote saturae of the earlier kind. A profound scholar, antiquarian, and historian, he has made greater contributions to knowledge than to oratory. As a separate form of composition, iambic poetry is not much in vogue. Horace is our great lyric poet,—everywhere pleasing and graceful, and very happy in his language. Caesius Bassus too may be added: but there are living authors of greater merit.

§§97-100. Dramatic Poetry.

Of Tragedians, Attius and Pacuvius are most renowned for weight of thought 4 and style, and for the dignity of their characters; but they lack finish. Attius has more strength, Pacuvius more learning. Varius’s Thyestes may be set beside any Greek play. Ovid’s Medea shows what he might have done if he could have kept within bounds. Pomponius Secundus is by far the greatest of all whom I have myself seen. Comedy is not our strong point. Notwithstanding Plautus, Caecilius, and Terence, we scarcely reproduce a faint shadow of our originals: perhaps our language is incapable of the grace and charm which, even in Greek, is peculiar to the Attic. Afranius is the best writer of togatae, but his is not a pure art.

§§101-104. Roman Historians.

In history we hold our own. Sallust may be pitted against Thucydides, Livy against Herodotus. Livy is remarkable for the charm and transparency of his narrative style, as well as for the eloquence and appropriateness of his speeches; and in the presentation of passion, especially on its softer side, he is unsurpassed. Sallust is different but not inferior. Servilius Nonianus wants conciseness. Aufidius Bassus did more to maintain the dignity of history. There is also the glory of our own age, the historian who is still with us, and whom I do not mention by name. Cremutius Cordus is appreciated for his independent spirit, which still survives in his works in spite of the revision and expurgation they have been subjected to. There are others, but I am only giving samples of classes, not ransacking libraries.

§§105-122. Roman Orators.

Cicero can stand against Demosthenes. I do not propose, however, to make a detailed comparison between them, and I admit that Demosthenes is worthy of being learnt by heart. In invention they resemble each other: in style they differ, Demosthenes being more concise, Cicero more diffuse; the one always pierces with the point of his weapon, the other often lets you feel the weight of it; the one has more art, the other a greater natural gift. In wit and pathos Cicero excels. Demosthenes was perhaps debarred from glowing perorations; but on the other hand the genius of the Latin language denies to us a full measure of the peculiar ‘Attic charm.’ Still Demosthenes came first, and Cicero owes much to him. He is however no mere imitator,—‘no cistern of rain-water, but a living source.’ Instructive, affecting, pleasing, he carries his audience away with him. He wins conviction not by the zeal of a partisan, but by the impartiality of a judge: everything he does is natural and easy. He was king of the bar in his own day, and with us his name is a synonym for eloquence: it is a mark of progress to have a high appreciation of Cicero. Pollio, with all his good points, is so far behind Cicero in charm and polish that it might be thought he lived a century earlier. Messalla is lucid and distinguished, but wants force. Caesar might have disputed the palm with Cicero; his speeches breathe his warlike ardour, and yet he is above all things ‘elegans.’ Caelius has genius and wit: he deserved a longer life. Calvus is by some preferred to all others; but Cicero thought that by too rigorous self-criticism he lost the very life-blood of style. He is moral, weighty, chastened, and often vigorous withal. He was a strict Atticist; and it is a pity that he died so young, if there was a likelihood of his enriching his style. Servius Sulpicius made a name by three speeches. Cassius Severus wants tone and dignity: he has genius, causticity, and wit; but his anger outruns his judgment. Of those whom I have seen, Afer and Africanus rank highest: the 5 former might be classed with the orators of former days, the latter is more vigorous, but careless, wordy, and over-bold in metaphor. Trachalus has elevation; he had great personal advantages as well. Vibius Crispus is delightful, but more fitted for private than for public cases. Iulius Secundus did not live long enough to secure his due share of fame. He is too much of an artist and too little of a fighting-man: yet he has fluency, lucidity, and other good qualities. Our own era will furnish the future historian with many subjects of eulogy.

§§123-131. Roman Philosophers.

Though we are not strong in philosophy, yet here the universal Tully is a match for Plato. Brutus, too, is greater here than in oratory: he speaks from the heart. Celsus has written a considerable number of works. Among the Stoics, Plautus will be of service to the inquirer. Catius the Epicurean has no great weight, but is pleasant withal. I might have mentioned Seneca before, and in every department, but have purposely kept him waiting: I am accused of disliking him. The fact is that at a time when he alone was studied I strove to introduce a purer taste. He disparaged the ‘ancients,’ and his imitators aggravated his defects. He possessed wide learning, though on special subjects he was sometimes misled by others. His versatility is shown in oratory, poetry, letters, and dialogues. A stern moralist, but a vicious, yet seductive, stylist. His defects endear him to the young, but rob him of the praise of those of riper years. Yet these too may find profit in him, if they use their judgment. Would that he had had nobler aims! Yet he realised the aims he had.

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§§85-100. Roman Poets.—Quintilian’s criticisms of Latin literature, though naturally more independent than his judgments of Greek authors, are hampered, as Professor Nettleship has shown (Journ. Phil. 18 p. 262 sq.) by ‘the idea of making canons of classical Latin authors to correspond as closely as possible with the Greek canons. Vergil leads the van among the poets as the Latin Homer; Macer and Lucretius follow as representing Hesiod and the didactic poets. The elegiac poets, Propertius and Tibullus, follow next, answering to Tyrtaeus; then the satirists who of course have no Greek counterparts; then the writers of lampoon, Catullus, Bibaculus, and Horace, to match Archilochus; the lyric poets, Horace corresponding to Pindar; the dramatists, comic and tragic, among whom Varius is singled out as equal to any Of the Greeks: the historians, Sallust being matched with Thucydides, and Livy with Herodotus; the orators, Cicero being of course compared in detail with Demosthenes; and the philosophers, among whom we are told that Cicero is aemulus Platonis.’

I:85 Idem nobis per Romanos quoque auctores ordo ducendus est. Itaque ut apud illos Homerus, sic apud nos Vergilius auspicatissimum dederit exordium, omnium eius generis poetarum Graecorum nostrorumque haud dubie proximus.

§ 85. Idem ... ordo ducendus. Cp. 5 §1 robustorum studiis ordinem dedimus: xii. 2, 10 ut ordinem retro agamus. There is a suggestion of military associations in the use of the phrase: tr. ‘in the same way we must marshal.’ Cp. Brut. §15 explicatis ordinibus temporum; and i. 4, 3 with Spalding’s note.—For ordinem ducere in the sense of ‘to be the leader of a company’ (sc. as centurion) cp. Cic. Phil. i. 8, 20: Caes. B. C. i. 13, 4: iii. 104, 3: Livy ii. 23, 4.

Vergilius: his claim to rank along with Homer is indicated in i. 8, 5 optime institutum est ut ab Homero atque Vergilio lectio inciperet.

auspicatissimum. Cp. Tac. Germ. 11 agendis rebus hoc anspicatissimum initium credunt: Plin. ad Traian, xvii. 3 cum mihi contigerit, quod erat auspicatissimum, natalem tuum in provincia celebrare. Cp. the opening words of Pliny’s Panegyricus: Bene ac sapienter, patres conscripti, maiores instituerunt ut rerum agendarum ita dicendi initium a precationibus capere, quod nihil rite, nihil providenter homines sine deorum immortalium ope consilio honore auspicarentur. Cicero, de Div. i. 16, 28 Nihil fere quondam maioris rei nisi auspicato ne privatim quidem gerebatur.

dederit: v. on §37.

haud dubie: see Crit. Notes.

I:86 Utar enim verbis isdem quae ex Afro Domitio iuvenis excepi: qui mihi 83 interroganti quem Homero crederet maxime accedere, ‘secundus,’ inquit, ‘est Vergilius, propior tamen primo quam tertio.’ Et hercule ut illi naturae caelesti atque immortali cesserimus, ita curae et diligentiae vel ideo in hoc plus est, quod ei fuit magis laborandum; et quantum eminentibus vincimur fortasse aequalitate pensamus.

§ 86. Afro Domitio. The order is characteristic of the silver age, though examples are found also in Cicero’s letters (Introd. p. lv.): cp. Atacinus Varro, below, and §103. Domitius Afer (cp. §24) was a distinguished orator who flourished under Tiberius and his successors, and died in the reign of Nero, A.D. 59 (Tac. Ann. xiv. 19). He was a native of Nemausus (Nismes), and first rose to fame by the prosecution of Agrippina’s cousin Claudia Pulchra: Tiberius avowed that he was a ‘born orator’ (suo iure disertum, Tac. Ann. iv. 52). Being of an unscrupulous character (quoquo facinore properus clarescere, ibid.) he placed his rhetorical powers at the disposal of the government: mox capessendis accusationibus aut reos tutando prosperiore eloquentiae quam morum fama fuit, ibid. Quintilian’s connection with him (cp. v. 7, 7 quem adolescentulus senem colui) comes out in the story he told to Pliny about Afer: ‘adsectabar Domitium,’ Plin. Epist. ii. 14. Below (§118) he speaks of him, along with Iulius Africanus, (to whom he prefers him) as the best orator he had ever heard: though he tells us elsewhere that Afer lost much of his reputation by continuing to speak in public after he should have retired: vidi ego longe omnium quos mihi cognoscere contigit summum oratorem, Domitium Afrum, valde senem, cotidie aliquid ex ea quam meruerat auctoritate perdentem, cum agente illo quem principem fuisse quondam fori non erat dubium alii, quod indignum videatur, riderent, alii erubescerent; quae occasio fuit dicendi, malle eum deficere quam desinere. Cp. Tac. Ann. iv. 52 ad fin. aetas extrema multum etiam eloquentiae dempsit dum fessa mente retinet silentii impatientiam.

excepi. As distinguished from accipere, 83 which, when used in this sense, means to get some information at second-hand, excipere always refers to what is said in one’s presence, whether one is meant to hear, as in this passage, or not; as Livy ii. 4 sermonem eorum ex servis unus excepit.

Homero. The same dative with accedere occurs §68 magis accedit oratorio generi (Euripides). With the name of a person Cicero also uses the dative,—e.g. Crasso et Antonio L. Philippus proximus accedebat, Brut. §173, and so ad Fam. 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. vi. 26) quotes twenty-five hexameters of his, with the introductory remark, which seems well deserved, ‘nemo ex tot disertissimis viris melius Ciceronis mortem deflevit quam Severus Cornelius.’

etiamsi sit. The use of the subj. would seem to indicate that Quintilian leaves the truth of the criticism an open question (Roby §1560). Osann is wrong in taking it as indicating Quintilian’s own opinion. See Crit. Notes

versificator. This word occurs also in Justin. vi. 9, 4: versificatores meliores quam duces: Vopisc. Saturn. i. 7, 4: Terent. Maur. 1012: Bede 2354 P. If taken in a depreciatory sense it seems rather inconsistent with the high praise given him in what follows: but we gather from notices in the grammarians and from the extant fragments that Severus was ‘inclined to artificiality of expression and to the affectation of elegance, even where the thought is quite simple,’ as in the quotation in Charisius, p. 83 Huc ades Aonia crinem circumdata serta. For the antithesis versificator ... poeta cp. Hor. Sat. i. 4, 39 neque enim concludere versum dixeris esse satis ... (ut) putes hunc esse poetam.

si tamen. Tamen really goes with vindicaret, but the inversion tamen si (Hild) is quite unnecessary; elsewhere in Quintilian tamen is found attached to the subordinate and not to the principal sentence: xi. 3, 56 etiam si non utique vocis sunt vitia, quia tamen propter vocem accidunt, potissimum huic loco subiciantur: ii. 17, 24-25: cp. cum tamen xi. 3, 91. (In ix. 2, 55 si tamen = si modo, si quidem: in quo est et illa si tamen inter schemata numerari debet ... digressio: cp. ii. 15, 4.)

ut est dictum. Becher agrees with Halm in considering this to be a gloss on 86 etiam si (sit) melior, and it is omitted in Krüger’s 3rd ed. But it is obvious that (unless he is quoting from himself) Quintilian is here giving a criticism at secondhand (dictum sc. ab aliis), and conveying the opinion of contemporary critics: cp. §60 adeo ut videatur quibusdam, of Archilochus. No great difficulty need be occasioned by the position of the words, though they would have been at least as well placed in the main sentence. Kiderlin (in Hermes) proposes to read ‘etiamsi versificator quam poeta melior sit, tamen, ut est dictum, si ad exemplar,’ &c.

bellum Siculum: i.e. the war with Sext. Pompeius B.C. 38-36 (Siculae classica bella fugae Propert. ii. 1, 28). Scaliger suggested bellum civile, with which Severus’s poems seem to have dealt, either in whole or in part. The primus liber is unknown. Bernhardy refers to the extract in Seneca, Suas. vii. (Burm. A. L. ii. 155) as justifying Quintilian’s criticism, and seems inclined to hazard the conjecture (based on a quotation from Valerius Probus in the Wiener Analecta Gramm. p. 216—Cornelius Severus rerum Romanarum l. 1) that the title of the whole work was Res Romanae, the Bellum Siculum being only a section.—(Can bellum Siculum have crept into the text as a gloss on ‘primi libri,’ the more general title bellum civile dropping out? The whole poem cannot have dealt with the bellum Siculum).

perscripsisset: common enough in the sense of ‘write a full account of’: here ‘from beginning to end’: cp. perlegere, pervenire.

secundum locum—among epic poets, after Vergil.

Serranum is the conjectural emendation generally adopted in place of the readings of the MSS. It rests on the passage in Juvenal vii. 79 Contentus fama iaceat Lucanus in hortis Marmoreis; at Serrano tenuique Saleio Gloria quantalibet quid erit, si gloria tantum est? Some have ascribed to him the Eclogues which have come down to us under the name of Calpurnius Siculus. Martial (iv. 37, 2) speaks of a Serranus who was deep in debt. Most old edd. read Sed eum, still referring to Severus.

consummari: cp. §122: 2 §28: 5 §14 and frequently in Quintilian (v. Bonnell’s Lex.). Seneca, Ep. 88, 28, una re consummatur animus, scientia bonorum ac malorum immutabili, quae soli philosophiae competit.

in aetate illa: ‘for one so young.’

recti generis: cp. §44 rectum dicendi genus: ix. 3, §3: ii. 5, §11. The objective genitive after ‘voluntas’ is noteworthy: cp. libertatis novae gaudium Flor. i. 9, 3.

I:90 Multum in Valerio Flacco nuper amisimus. Vehemens et poeticum ingenium Salei Bassi 87 fuit, nec ipsum senectute maturuit. Rabirius ac Pedo non in digni cognitione, si vacet. Lucanus ardens et concitatus et sententiis clarissimus, et, ut dicam quod sentio, magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus.

§ 90. Valerio Flacco. Martial addresses him in i. 77, exhorting him, with some irony, to give up verse-writing as unprofitable and turn lawyer. From another epigram (i. 61) we gather that he was a native of Padua (‘Apona tellus’). He flourished in the reign of Vespasian, to whom he dedicated his Argonautica, c. A.D. 70, and died about 88. Juvenal may be referring to this poem i. 8-10: where see Mayor’s notes. There is a touch of personal sorrow about the use of amisimus. For the expression cp. Florus iv. 7, 14 Brutus cum in Cassio suum animum perdidisset.

nuper: Flaccus died about 88 A.D. Quintilian wrote his work between 93 and 95.

Salei Bassi. Cp. tenuique Saleio, Iuv. vii. 80, quoted above. His name occurs several times in the Dial. de Orat.: Saleium Bassum, cum optimum virum tum absolutissimum poetam §5: egregium poetam vel si hoc honorificentius est praeclarissimum vatem §9, where it is stated that he got a gift of 500 sestertia from Vespasian: cp. also §10. The Bassus ridiculed by Martial (iii. 47, 58: v. 23: viii. 10: vii. 96) is a different person, though he also wrote tragedies: v. 53, 1-2 Colchida quid scribis, quid scribis, amice, Thyesten? Quo tibi vel Nioben, Basse, vel Andromachen?

87

nec ipsum senectute maturuit: ‘but it was not mellowed by age’: nec ipsum = his genius no more than that of Serranus, above. On the other reading (senectus maturavit) ipsum would be accus. masc.: but the construction is harsh, and maturo in this transitive use is only found in Pliny, of the processes of nature.

Rabirius, a contemporary of Ovid, Ep. ex Ponto iv. 16, 5 magnique Rabirius oris. Velleius Paterculus mentions him along with Vergil, omitting Horace: inter quae (ingenia) maxime nostri aevi eminent princeps carminum Vergilius Rabiriusque ii. 36, 3: Seneca de Benef. vi. 3, 1 egregie mihi videtur M. Antonius apud Rabirium poetam ... exclamare, hoc habeo quodcunque dedi. He is generally supposed to be the author of a fragment on the battle of Actium and the death of Cleopatra, discovered in the rolls of Herculaneum.

Pedo, C. Albinovanus, friend of Ovid, who styles him sidereus ex Pont. iv. 16, 6, carissime iv. 10, 3. Martial refers to him as a scholarly poet (doctique Pedonis ii. 77) and epigrammatist (i. praef.)—in both places along with Domitius Marsus: Paley and Stone are wrong in identifying him with the Celsus Albinovanus of Horace, Epist. i. 3, 15 and 8, 1. Seneca tells a story he had heard from him in Ep. 122, 13, and compliments him as being ‘fabulator elegantissimus.’ M. Seneca (Suas. i. 14) gives us 23 hexameters of his which formed part of a poem celebrating the famous voyage of Germanicus (cp. Tac. Ann. ii. 23). The ‘Consolatio ad Liviam Augustam de morte Drusi Neronis,’ first attributed to him by Scaliger, is now believed to be a production of the fifteenth century (Bernhardy, pp. 486-7). He also wrote a Theseis (Ovid, ex Pont. iv. 10, 71 sq.).

Lucanus, M. Annaeus, the author of the ‘Pharsalia,’ A.D. 38-65. The criticism of Quintilian puts before us Lucan’s merits and defects,—the predominance of the declamatory element being prominent among the latter. In the Dial. de Orat. §20 he is classed along with Vergil and Horace, exigitur ... ab oratore etiam poeticus decor ... ex Horatii et Vergilii et Lucani sacrario prolatus. On the other hand Serv. ad Aen. i. 382 Lucanus ideo in numero poetarum esse non meruit quia videtur historiam composuisse non poema: cp. Petron. Sat. 118. So, too, Martial xiv. 194 Lucanus, Sunt quidam qui me dicant non esse poetam, Sed qui me vendit bibliopola putat. The ut dicam quod sentio seems to indicate that Quintilian is combating the prevailing sentiment about Lucan.—Cp. Heitland’s Introd. to Lucan’s Pharsalia (Haskins), p. lxx.

sententiisγνώμαις, v. §§50, 61, ‘such general utterances as have a bearing upon human life and action,’ Heitland, pp. lxv-lxvii.

I:91 Hos nominavimus, quia Germanicum Augustum ab institutis studiis deflexit cura terrarum, parumque 88 dis visum est esse eum maximum poetarum. Quid tamen his ipsis eius operibus, in quae donato imperio iuvenis secesserat, sublimius, doctius, omnibus denique numeris praestantius? Quis enim caneret bella melius quam qui sic gerit? Quem praesidentes studiis deae propius audirent? Cui magis suas artes aperiret familiare numen Minervae?

§ 91. Hos, sub. tantum: as 5 §7 uno genere. See Nägelsbach §84 on the omission of adverbs: p. 331 sq.

Germanicum. Domitian took this title after his expedition against the Chatti, A.D. 84: Frontinus, Strateg. ii. 11, 7 Imperator Caesar Augustus Germanicus eo bello quo victis hostibus cognomen Germanici meruit. Of this triumph Tacitus says (Agric. 39) that Domitian was conscious ‘derisui fuisse falsum e Germania triumphum.’ For the tone of adulation cp. Proem. Book IV, 2 sq., where Domitian is spoken of as ‘sanctissimus censor,’ and ‘principem ut in omnibus ita in eloquentia eminentissimum,’ and is even invoked as a divinity,—nunc omnes in auxilium deos ipsumque in primis quo neque praesentius aliud nec studiis magis propitium numen est, invocem. Hild compares the following passages as showing the spirit of the age:—Statius, Silvae i. 1 and 4: iii. 3: iv. 1 and 2: Silius Italicus iii. 618 sq.: Valerius Flaccus i. 12: and Martial, Epist. Ded. of vii.: cp. 65, 82 et passim. See Introd. p. xi.

ab institutes studiis: Suet. Dom. 2 simulavit et ipse mire modestiam imprimisque poeticae studium, tam insuetum antea sibi quam postea spretum et abiectum, recitavitque etiam publice. From Val. Flacc. i. 12 it would appear that he contemplated an epic poem on the war with the Jews. Tac. Hist. iv. 86 Domitianus sperni a senioribus iuventam suam cernens, modice quoque et usurpata antea munia imperii omittebat, simplicitatis ac 88 modestiae imagine, in altitudinem conditus studiumque litterarum et amorem carminum simulans, quo velaret animum et fratris aemulationi subduceretur, cuius disparem mitioremque naturam contra interpretabatur. Cp. Pliny, Introd. to Nat. Hist. But Suetonius §20 gives the reverse side: nunquam ... aut historiae carminibusve noscendis operam ullam, aut stilo vel necessario dedit. Praeter commentarios et acta Tiberii Caesaris nihil lectitabat; epistolas orationesque et edicta alieno formabat ingenio.

cura terrarum: cp. Mart. viii. 82 Posse deum rebus pariter Musisque vacare Scimus, et haec etiam serta placere tibi.

donato imperio, i.e. to his father Vespasian, as he pretended, and his brother Titus: cp. Suet. Dom. §13 principatum adeptus neque in senatu iactare dubitavit ‘et patri se et fratri imperium dedisse.’

numeris: §70.

qui sic gerit: cp. §114 of Julius Caesar, ‘eodem animo dixisse quo bellavit.’ Statius has a similar compliment to Domitian, Achil. i. 15, 16 cui geminae florent vatumque ducumque certatim laurus: olim dolet altera vinci.

praesidentes deae: §48 invocatione dearum quas praesidere vatibus creditum est.

propius audirent: cp. Aen. i. 526 parce pio generi et propius res aspice nostras. The phrase is used of interest as well as nearness, and refers either to the presence and sympathy of the Muses when the poet reads his compositions (recitavitque etiam publice Suet. Dom. 2), or (less probably) to their gracious answer to his prayer for inspiration. Becher cites also Ovid, Trist. i. 2, 7 oderat Aenean propior Saturnia Turno.—See Crit. Notes.

familiare numen Minervae: Domitian was desirous of passing for a son of Minerva (Philostratus, Vit. Apoll. vii. 24), and punished with death a priest of Tarentum who had failed to address him by this title in offering sacrifice. He also instituted the Quinquatria Minervae (Suet. 4), with contests in poetry and rhetoric. At the quinquennial festival of Jupiter Capitolinus he himself presided, ‘capite gestans coronam auream cum effigie Iovis ac Iunonis Minervaeque.’ Merivale vii. 391-394.—Krüger cites Aen. i. 447 (templum) donis opulentum et numine divae.

I:92 Dicent haec plenius futura saecula, nunc enim ceterarum fulgore virtutum laus ista praestringitur. Nos tamen sacra litterarum colentes feres, Caesar, si non tacitum hoc praeterimus et Vergiliano certe versu testamur:

inter victrices hederam tibi serpere laurus.

§ 92. praestringitur: §30.

feres, see Crit. Notes. The subj. (feras) is given in many edd. as more appropriate to the subservient tone of the whole passage.

Vergiliano: Ecl. viii, 13, addressed to Pollio. Cp. Mart. viii. 82, 7 Non quercus te sola decet, nec laurea Phoebi: fiat et ex hedera civica nostra tibi.

I:93 Elegea quoque Graecos provocamus, cuius mihi tersus atque 89 elegans maxime videtur auctor Tibullus: sunt qui Propertium malint. Ovidius utroque lascivior, sicut durior Gallus. Satura quidem tota nostra est, in qua primus insignem laudem 90 adeptus Lucilius quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores ut eum non eiusdem modo operis auctoribus sed omnibus poetis praeferre non dubitent.

§ 93. Elegea. The form elegea is received into the text by Halm in i. 8, 6, but not by Meister. Ovid has elegeïa,—flebilis indignos elegeia solve capillos, Am. iii. 9, 3: cp. cultis aut elegia comis Martial v. 30, 4. Elegi is more common: Hor. Car. i. 33, 2 miserabiles, A. P. 77 exiguos: Tib. ii. 4, 13: Prop. v. 1, 135: Iuv. i. 4.—The same names are enumerated in chronological order by Ovid: Successor fuit hic (Tibullus) tibi, Galle, Propertius illi. Quartus ab his serie temporis ipse fui, Trist. iv. 10, 63: Teuffel §29.

provocamus: post-Aug. in this figurative sense: Plin. Ep. ii. 7, 4 senes illos provocare virtute: (cp. ea pictura naturam ipsam provocavit Plin. N. H. xxxv. 10, 36 §94.) So of things immensum Iatus circi templorom 89 pulchritudinem provocat, Panegyr. §51.—Hild quotes Diomed. iii. 60, p. 484 Quod genus carminis praecipue scripserunt apud Romanos Propertius et Tibullus et Gallus, imitati graecos Callimachum et Euphoriona. Catullus also had used the elegiac metre, though, as Mr. Munro says (Catullus, p. 231), his elegies are by no means up to the level of his lyrics. In his hands the elegy retained the ease and freedom of its original form, though often wanting in technical finish: Tibullus and his successors Latinized it, and adapted it to new conditions.

tersus, ‘smooth and finished’: xii. 10, 50 quod libris dedicatur ... tersum ac limatum ... esse oportere. So below §94.

Tibullus, c. 54-18 B.C. Hor. Epist. i. 4: Ovid, Am. iii. 9. As distinguished from Propertius (c. 50-15 B.C.), he is the poet of warm, tender, natural feeling, which he expresses in neat and finished verse. He confines himself to such themes and such scenes as suited the limitations of his genius. Propertius has more force and strength; but he is more involved, often in fact obscure; and his indirectness and artificiality have greatly interfered with the adequate recognition of his undoubted powers. Cp. Muretus, Schol. in Propert.: illum (Tibullum) iudices simplicius scripsisse quae cogitaret: hunc (Propertium) diligentius cogitasse quae scriberet. In illo plus naturae, in hoc plus curae atque industriae perspicias. For a modern estimate cp. Postgate’s Select Elegies lvii. sqq., esp. lxvii: “No real judge of poetry will hesitate for a moment to place Propertius high above them both (Tibullus and Ovid). It is true that in some respects they may both claim the advantage over him; Tibullus for refined simplicity, for natural grace and exquisiteness of touch; Ovid for the technical merits of execution, for transparency of construction, for smoothness and polish of expression. But in all the higher qualities of a poet he is as much their superior.”

lascivior: v. on §88. The antithesis is here given in durior (‘more masculine’), which seems to show that the reference is primarily to Ovid’s style: (cp. ix. 4, 142, quoted at §88). Ovid’s exuberant vivacity and sportive imagination, as well as his indifference to deep conviction and high ideals, might however well be included in the criticism. Tac. Dial. 10 elegorum lascivias et iamborum amaritudinem. Martial has of Propertius ‘Cynthia te vatem fecit, lascive Properti’ viii. 73, 5: which, like Ovid’s tener (A. A. iii. 333), Postgate thinks refers rather to his subject than to his treatment of it. “With Tibullus and Propertius love was at any rate a passion. With Ovid it was une affaire de cœur.”

Gallus, Cornelius, of Forum Iulii (69-26), was the first praefectus Aegypti under Augustus, but on a report of some rash speeches was banished, and committed suicide in his forty-third year. Vergil is said to have originally finished the Georgics with a tribute to Gallus, and on being ordered to erase it, substituted the Aristaeus episode which now occupies the latter half of Book IV. Vergil’s regard for him, however, comes out in Eclogue vi. 64 sqq., and in the dedication of Eclogue x. (sollicitos Galli dicamus amores), in which he seeks to console him for the loss of his love Lycoris (Cytheris). On it Servius observes: et Euphorionem ... transtulit in latinum sermonem (l. 50) et amorum suorum de Cytheride scripsit libros quatuor. Cp. Ovid, Trist. ii. 445 Nec fuit opprobrio celebrasse Lycorida Gallo, Amor. i. 15, 30: Trist. iv. 10, 53: Remed. 765 Quis potuit lecto durus discedere Gallo?

Satura. As to the derivation, v. Diomed. iii. p. 485 (Palmer, Introd. to Hor. Sat. p. vii) Satira autem dicta sive a Satyris, quod similiter in hoc carmine ridiculae res pudendaeque dicuntur, quae velut a Satyris proferuntur et fiunt; sive satura a lance, quae referta variis multisque primitiis in sacro apud priscos dis inferebatur...; sive a quodam genere farciminis, quod multis rebus refertum saturam dicit Varro vocitatum. The second derivation (lanx satura—the platter filled with first fruits of various sorts which was an annual thank-offering to Ceres and Bacchus: and so a ‘medley’ or ‘hodge-podge’) was long preferred; but Mommsen holds (cp. Ribbeck, Röm. Trag. 21) that the word means the ‘masque of the full men’ (σάτυροι),—the song enacted at a popular carnival, when repletion in the performers leads to 90 a certain ‘fulness’ about the performance. Cp. Tibullus ii. 1, 23 saturi ... coloni: 53 satur arenti primum est modulatus avena carmen (agricola).

tota nostra. This claim must be understood of satire in its Roman form. The spirit of personal invective had already found expression in the lampoons of Greek satire, e.g. in the iambics of Archilochus and Hipponax, to say nothing of the Old Comedy at Athens; but Satire at Rome grew to be a distinct art, a serious practical aim being imposed on the literary form that was developed out of the original Satura (for which see below, §95). “It followed the Old Comedy of Athens in its plain-speaking, and the method of Archilochus in its bitter hostility to those who provoked attack. But it differed from the former in its non-political bias, as well as its non-dramatic form; and from the latter in its motive, which is not personal enmity, but public spirit. Thus the assertion of Horace (S. i. 4, 1-6) that Lucilius is indebted to the old comedians, must be taken in a general sense only, and not be held to invalidate the generally received opinion that, in its final and perfective form, Satire was a genuine product of Rome” (Cruttwell, R. L. p. 76). Contrast the ‘hinc omnis pendet Lucilius hosce secutus’ (est) of the passage referred to with ‘Lucilius ausus (est) primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem’ (ii. 1, 62), and the recognition of Ennius as ‘Graecis intacti carminis auctor’ (i. 10, 66). The claim made by Quintilian springs from the consciousness that Satire was pre-eminently the national organ of public opinion at Rome. Whatever the topic treated might be,—politics, literature, philosophy, or social life and manners,—the tone was always genuinely national and popular. Moreover, it was the only form of literature that enjoyed a continuous development at Rome, extending as it did from the most flourishing era of the Commonwealth into the second century of the Empire. See for the whole subject Professor Nettleship’s Essay on the Roman Satura—its original form in connection with its literary development, Clarendon Press, 1878: Palmer’s Satires of Horace, Intr. p. ix.

Lucilius, C. (B.C. 168(?)-103), was a member of an equestrian family of Suessa, and belonged to the circle of the younger Scipio, under whom he had served during the Numantine War. He left behind him thirty books of Satires, of which the first twenty and the thirtieth were in hexameter verse, the others being in different metres; and of these only some 1100 lines are now extant. He gave Satire its true popular tone at Rome, speaking out openly and with a courageous frankness against the iniquity and incompetence of the nobles, the sordid, avaricious and pleasure-seeking aims of the middle-class, and the venality of the mob. Horace passes a rather mixed judgment on him, censuring his discursiveness, roughness, careless rapidity, and verbosity; but commending him for his original force and frank outspokenness. See Sat. i. 4, 6-12, 57: 10, 1-5, 20-24, 48-71: ii. 1, 17, 29-34, 62-75. In the time of Tacitus some preferred Lucilius to Horace: Dial. 23 vobis utique versantur ante oculos qui Lucilium pro Horatio et Lucretium pro Vergilio legunt.

I:94 Ego quantum ab illis, tantum ab Horatio dissentio, qui Lucilium fluere lutulentum et esse aliquid quod tollere possis, putat. Nam eruditio in eo mira et libertas atque inde acerbitas et abunde salis. Multum est tersior ac 91 purus magis Horatius et, non labor eius amore, praecipuus. Multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit. Sunt clari hodieque et qui olim nominabuntur.

§ 94. fluere lutulentum, a quotation from memory of Sat. i. 4, 11 cum flueret lutulentus erat quod tollere velles. Cp. i. 10, 50-1 ferentem plura quidem tollenda relinquendis.

eruditio mira: i. 6, 8 hominis eruditissimi (Lucili).

libertas: Hor. Sat. i. 4, 5 multa cum libertate notabant. Trebonius in Cic. Fam. xii. 16, §3 deinde qui magis hoc Lucilio licuerit assumere libertatis quam nobis? quum, etiamsi odio pari fuerit in eos quos laesit, tamen certe non magis dignos habuerit, in quos tanta libertate verborum incurreret: Macr. iii. 16, §17 Lucilius acer et violentus poeta.

inde: it was his personal independence (libertas) that gave so keen an edge to his satire (acerbitas): Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 62. inde is in fact causal here. Becher notes pro Mur. §26 as the only parallel 91 instance in Cicero, and there it occurs in a law formula: inde ibi ego te ex iure manu consertum voco.

abunde salis: Verg. Aen. vii. 552 terrorum et fraudis abunde est: Suet. Caes. 86 potentiae gloriaeque abunde, but not in earlier prose. According to Hand. Turs. i. 71 abunde was originally neut. of abundis, used substantially (cp. pote and necesse) and so becoming an adverb, from which was formed in time, by a false analogy, an adj. abundus. Other uses are (1) like ‘satis esse,’ as in Tac. Hist. ii. 95, §5 ipse abunde ratus si praesentibus frueretur: (2) as simple adv. qualifying verbs adjectives and other adverbs (cp. on §25): Cic. Div. ii. 1, 3 erit abunde satisfactum toti huic quaestioni. Sall. Iug. 14, 18 abunde magna praesidia. Wharton takes it from *habundus, ‘possessing,’ the gerundive of habeo.—See Crit. Notes.

multum: for multum before a comparative, like πολὺ μεῖζον etc., see Introd. p. li.: cp. Stat. Theb. ix. 559, Iuv. x. 197. In spite of ‘multum maius’ (de Or. iii. §92), Cicero very rarely has multum for multo. For the reading, see Crit. Notes.

purus magis gives the antithesis to lutulentus.

non labor: cp. vi. 3, 3 sive amore immodico praecipui in eloquentia viri (Ciceronis) labor: Cic. Brut. 244 ambitione labi. In spite of the stricture passed in i. 8, 6 (Horatium nolim in quibusdam interpretari), Quint. had a high admiration for Horace: see below §96. Many codd. give nisi for non: see Crit. Notes. For praecipuus used absolutely cp. §§68, 81, 116.

Multum et verae = multum gloriae et quidem verae gloriae. Cp. Cic. ad Fam. iv. 6, 1 filium consularem, claram virum et magnis rebus gestis, amisit. So the Greek καὶ ταῦτα. For acc. w. mereo cp. §116.

quamvis: cp. §74. Even in classical Latin quamvis is used with adjectives and adverbs, and without any verb: but this is a more remarkable instance than e.g. Cic. Nat. Deor. ii. 1, 1 rhetorem quamvis eloquentem: Tusc. iii. §73 stultitiam accusare quamvis copiose licet.

Persius (34-62 A.D.) The best account of his satires is that prefixed to Conington’s edition. Cp. Mart. iv. 29, 7 Saepius in libro numeratur Persius uno Quam levis in tota Marsus Amazonide.

Sunt clari hodieque et: ‘there are brilliant satirists at the present day,—men whose names will hereafter be on the roll of fame.’ Cp. for the general sense iii. 1, 21 sunt et hodie clari eiusdem operis auctores, qui si omnia complexi forent, consuluissent labori meo, sed parco nominibus viventium: veniet eorum laudi suum tempus: ad posteros enim virtus durabit, non perveniet invidia. So too §104 below qui olim nominabitur nunc intellegitur.—This use of hodieque (‘noch heutzutage’) is quite different from such simple instances as e.g. Cic. de Orat. i. 103 hoc facere coeperunt hodieque faciunt, where -que is merely copulative. The Dictt. quote several instances in post-Augustan prose, though the word occurs in Quint. only here: Vell. Paterc. i. 4, 3 quae hodieque appellate Ionia: ii. 8, 3 porticus quae hodieque celebres sunt: 27, 3 Utcunque cecidit, hodieque tanta patris imagine non obscuratur eius memoria: Seneca, Epist. 90, 16 non hodieque magna Scytharum pars tergis vulpium induitur? Plin. ii. 58, 59 §150 in Abydi gymnasio colitur hodieque: viii. 45, 70 §176 et hodieque reliquiae durant: Tac. Germ. iii. quod in ripa Rheni situm hodieque incolitur: Dial. 34 ad fin., quas hodieque cum admiratione legimus: Suet. Claud. 17: Tit. 2. Krüger (3rd. ed.) thinks that que is thrown in to correspond with et in what follows (τε ... καί, ‘sowohl als auch’): ‘posthumous renown is introduced, as the more precious, not simply by et olim but in a special relative clause.’ Certainly it is the same writers who are clari now and who will hereafter receive proper recognition (nominabuntur cp. §104 below), though at present he refrains from giving names. The position of et, and indeed its presence at all in the sentence, seem to be motived by the choice of the form hodieque. But see Crit. Notes.

Juvenal can hardly be referred to here, as his first Satire is later than the reign of Domitian, under whom Quint. composed his work. The reference is more probably to some minor Satirists, like the authors of the ‘scripta famosa, vulgoque edita, quibus primores viri ac feminae notabantur,’—mentioned by Suet. (Dom. 8) as current in Domitian’s reign. Cp. Nero 42: Tac. Ann. i. 72.—For olim see on §104.

I:95 Alterum illud etiam 92 prius saturae genus, sed non sola carminum varietate mixtum condidit Terentius Varro, vir Romanorum eruditissimus. 93 Plurimos hic libros et doctissimos composuit, peritissimus linguae Latinae et omnis antiquitatis et rerum Graecarum nostrarumque, plus tamen scientiae collaturus quam eloquentiae.

§ 95. Alterum illud, &c. This takes
92
us back to the earliest forms of the Roman Satura. Alongside of the Fescennine verses (Hor. Epist. ii. 139, sq.), which had originated in the rustic raillery and coarse mirth of vintage and harvest homes, there grew up a sort of dramatic medley or farce, probably containing an element of dialogue, to give opportunity for the sportive exchange of repartees, and soon coming to have a regular musical accompaniment and corresponding gestures. These ‘Saturae’ differed from the Fescennine verses in having more of a set form and not being extemporised; while, again, they were distinct from the developed drama in having no connected plot. They seem from the first to have contained a dramatic element, consisting as they did of comic songs or stories recited with gesticulation and flute accompaniment. In addition to the censorious freedom which they derived from the Fescennine verses, the Saturae received an impulse from the mimetic dances that had been imported from Etruria. They had been acted on the stage for more than a century before Livius Andronicus gave his first dramatic representation (B.C. 240), and after the development of the regular drama they passed into a distinct form of literature, which retained to some extent its dramatic cast, but was not intended now for public representation. In the hands of Ennius the Satura became a medley of metrical pieces—a metrical miscellany—in which the poet gave utterance, not without the element of dialogue, to his views on things in general, in a tone that began to be more serious than would have suited the stage and the theatre-going public, who were now to look to Latin Comedy for undiluted amusement. With Lucilius, Satire passed from miscellaneous metrical composition to that aggressive and censorious criticism of persons, manners, literature, and politics, which the word has ever since been employed to denote. It was a form of literary activity that would seem to have been called for by the social and political conditions of Roman life in the latter part of the second century.—The transition is indicated in the following passage from Diomedes, Art. Gram. iii. p. 485 K Satira dicitur carmen apud Romanos nunc quidem maledicum et ad carpenda hominum vitia archaeae comoediae charactere compositum, quale scripserunt Lucilius et Horatius et Persius; at olim carmen quod ex variis poematibus constabat satira vocabatur, quale scripserunt Pacuvius et Ennius.

etiam prius, i.e. even before the satura of Lucilius: cp. olim carmen quod, &c. in the passage just quoted. The satura of Varro (like that of Menippus, whom he imitated), besides being composed in all sorts of metres, admitted prose also: hence ‘non sola carminum varietate mixtum’ (for the implied antithesis cp. 7 §19 in prosa ... in carmine). It was also, in respect of material, a sort of pot-pourri or ‘hodge-podge’: cp. multis rebus refertum, Diomedes, l.c. See Crit. Notes.

condidit: see §56. There is no need for Jahn’s conj. condivit. The word means ‘wrote,’ ‘composed’ (not ‘founded,’ as Mayor in his analysis): cp. iii. 1, 19 primus condidit aliqua (in arte rhetorica) M. Cato: xii. II, 23 Cato ... idem historiae conditor.

Terentius Varro, M. (B.C. 116-27). Of his many works (said to number about 600) we have only three books of the De Re Rustica, parts of the De Lingua Latina (in 25 books), and fragments of the Menippean Satires. For the last v. esp. Mommsen, iv. pt. 2, p. 594. A good account of Varro’s life and writings is given in Cruttwell’s Rom. Lit. pp. 141-156. In regard to the Saturae, v. esp. pp. 144-145: ‘There was one class of semi-poetical composition which Varro made peculiarly his own, the Satura Menippea, a medley of prose and verse, treating of all kinds of subjects just as they came to hand in the plebeian style, often with much grossness, but with sparkling point. Of these Saturae he wrote no less than 150 books, of which fragments have been preserved amounting to near 600 lines. Menippus of Gadara, the originator of this style of composition, lived about 280 B.C.; he interspersed jocular and commonplace topics with moral maxims and philosophical doctrines, and may have added contemporary pictures, though this is uncertain. Varro followed him; we find him in the Academicae Quaestiones of Cicero (i. 2, 8) saying that he adopted this method in the hope of enticing the unlearned to read something that might profit them. In these saturae topics were 93 handled with the greatest freedom. They were not satires in the modern sense. They are rather to be considered as lineal descendants of the old saturae which existed before (cp. etiam prius) any regular literature.’

Romanorum eruditissimus: cp. Cicero ad Att. xiii. 18 where, with some pique, he writes homo πολυγραφώτατος nunquam me lacessivit (by dedicating a work to him): August. C. D. vi. 2 homo omnium facile acutissimus et sine ulla dubitatione doctissimus. Dion. Hal. ii. 21 ἀνὴρ ... πολυπειρότατος: and Plut. Rom. 12 ἄνδρα Ῥωμαίων ἐν ἱστορίᾳ βιβλιακώτατον.

omnis antiquitatis. He wrote Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum, in forty-one books. Cp. Cic. Brut. 15, 60 diligentissimus investigator antiquitatis. For his general activity v. Acad. Post. i. 3, 9 nos in nostra urbe peregrinantes ... tui libri quasi domum reduxerunt ... tu aetatem patriae, tu descriptiones temporum, tu sacrorum iura, tu sacerdotum, tu domesticam, tu bellicam disciplinam, tu sedem regionum, locorum, tu omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum nomina, genera, officia, causas aperuisti plurimumque idem poetis nostris omninoque latinis et litteris luminis et verbis attulisti, atque ipse varium et elegans omni fere numero poema fecisti philosophiamque multis locis inchoasti, ad inpellendum satis, ad edocendum parum. Cp. Phil. ii. 41, 105, where distinct reference is made (as Halm points out) to treatises de Iure Civili, in fifteen books: de Vita Populi Romani, in four books: Annales in three books: Antiquitates in forty-one books: de Fama Philosophiae: and nine books Disciplinarum: Quint. xii. 11, 24, Quam multa, paene omnia, tradidit Varro.—For this use of antiquitas cp. Tac. Ann. ii. 59 cognoscendae antiquitatis: and other exx. in Nettleship’s Lat. Lex. s.v. 3.

scientiae ... eloquentiae: cp. August. C. D. vi. 2 M. Varro ... tametsi minus est suavis eloquio, doctrina tamen atque sententiis ita refertus est ut in omni eruditione ... studiosum rerum tantum iste doceat quantum studiosum verborum Cicero delectat. For the datives cp. §27, §63, §71: conferre with in c. acc. occurs 7 §26, q.v.

I:96 Iambus non sane a Romanis celebratus est ut proprium opus, sed aliis quibusdam interpositus; cuius acerbitas in Catullo, Bibaculo, 94 Horatio, quamquam illi epodos intervenit, reperietur. At lyricorum idem Horatius fere solus legi dignus; nam et insurgit aliquando et plenus est iucunditatis et gratiae et varius figuris et verbis felicissime audax. Si quem adicere velis, is erit Caesius Bassus, quem nuper vidimus; sed eum longe praecedunt ingenia viventium.

§ 96. Iambus = carmina iambica: cp. §9, §59.

celebratus est: cp. ix. 2, 92 celebrata apud Graecos schemata: i. 9, 6 narratiunculas a poetis celebratas. Cp. frequentare.

ut proprium opus, i.e. as a separate form of composition, such as it was in the hands of Archilochus, Hipponax, and Simonides.

aliis quibusdam (sc. carminibus) interpositus. Hild takes this as referring both to the alternation of the iambic with other metres and the substitution of other feet for the iambus itself (as commonly in Horace). It is probable that it only includes the former, being repeated, as regards Horace, in the words quamquam illi epodos intervenit.’ See Crit. Notes.

Catullo. Cp. Fragm. i. At non effugies meos iambos. The most famous examples of his acerbitas are the lampoons on Julius Caesar, especially that contained in the twenty-ninth poem (where see Munro for an appreciation of the meaning of ancient defamation and invective). Here Catullus appears as the genuine successor of the early Greek iambic writers. (Cp. the more offensive hendecasyllabics of lvii.) These are the two poems which Suetonius (Caesar 73) regarded as having attached an ‘everlasting stigma’ to the name of Caesar: cp. liii. ad fin. Irascere iterum meis iambis Immerentibus unice imperator. Sellar’s Roman Poets, p. 431 sq.

Bibaculo. M. Furius Bibaculus (b. at Cremona B.C. 99), like Catullus, the author of lampoons directed especially against the monarchists: Tac. Ann. iv. 34 carmina Bibaculi et Catulli referta contumeliis Caesarum leguntur: sed ipse divus Iulius, ipse divus Augustus et tulere ista et reliquere. Some apply to him the words of Horace, Satires ii. 5, 40, sq. seu pingui tentus omaso Furius hibernas cana nive conspuet Alpes (where the scholiast credits him with having written an account of the Gallic War): also i. 10, 36 Turgidus 94 Alpinus iugulat dum Memnona,—the nickname Alpinus having been given to him on account of this ludicrous description of Jupiter sputtering snow over the Alps: v. Quint. viii. 6, 17, where the original line is quoted as an instance of a forced metaphor. The reference in i. 10, 36 is however doubtful; and Bernhardy (R. L. p. 566) supposes that in both passages some unknown poet is meant, whose name may have been Furius Alpinus. See Teuffel, R. L. i. 313.

illi, sc. iambo = iambicis versibus.

epodos: ὁ ἐπῳδός, sc. στίχος = a shorter (iambic) verse, alternating with a longer. Epodi dicuntur versus quolibet modo scripti et sequentes clausulas habentes particularum quales sunt epodi Horatii: in quibus singulis versibus singulae clausulae adiciuntur.... Dicti autem epodi συνεκδοχικῶς a partibus versuum, quae legitimis et integris versibus ἐπᾴδονται, i.e. accinuntur: Diomedes. Though the term epode includes all kinds of metre (except elegiac) in which a long and a short line are combined, it is used especially of the alternation of the iambic trimeter and dimeter (Hor. Epod. 1-10). Horace himself (who has only one poem—Epod. 17—in iambic trimeter by itself) includes all his Epodes under the head of iambi: Epod. 14, 7: Ep. i. 19, 23-25 Parios ego primus iambos ostendi Latio numeros animosque secutus Archilochi: cp. Car. i. 16, 3, and esp. 23-25 me quoque pectoris Tentavit in dulci iuventa Fervor et in celeres iambos Misit furentem. In Ep. ii. 2, 59 he divides his poetry into carmina—Odes: iambi—Epodes: and ‘Bionei sermones’—Satires. Of course it was not Horace who introduced the epode into the Archilochean iambics: the form was invented and used by Archilochus himself. See Bernhardy, p. 601.

legi dignus: a poetical constr., which passed into the prose of the Silver Age: cp. Plin. Paneg. vii. 4 dignus alter eligi alter eligere. See Crit. Notes.

varius figuris: cp. §68 sententiis densus.

verbis felicissime audax: cp. Hor. A. P. 46 sq.: In verbis etiam tenuis cautusque serendis, hoc amet, hoc spernat promissi carminis auctor. Dixeris egregie notum si callida verbum Reddiderit iunctura novum,—where Orelli gives, as instances of callida iunctura in Horace himself, the well-known phrases ‘splendide mendax,’ ‘insanientis sapientiae consultus,’ ‘animae magnae prodigus.’ Cp. Petron. Sat. 118 Horatii curiosa felicitas. Ovid pronounces his eulogy in Trist. iv. 10, 49 Tenuit nostras numerosus Horatius aures, Dum ferit Ausonia carmina culta lyra.

Caesius Bassus: mentioned by Ovid in the lines immediately preceding the passage just quoted, ll. 47-8: Ponticus Heroo, Bassus quoque clarus Iambo, Dulcia convictus membra fuere mei. He was the friend of Persius, who addresses his sixth Satire to him: and at the request of Cornutus he edited the whole six, after they had been prepared for publication by the latter. He is said to have perished in the eruption of Vesuvius (A.D. 79), which was fatal also to the elder Pliny. He is probably the Bassus who wrote a treatise on metres, which still exists in an interpolated epitome: Keil. Gram. Lat. vi. 305 sq.—For vidimus, ‘amisimus’ and ‘perdidimus’ have been needlessly suggested.

ingenia viventium: cp. sunt clari hodieque §94 above. It is only in favour of Domitian §91 that Quint. breaks his rule not to mention living writers. Hild suspects Quint. of a little ‘log-rolling’ in these compliments.

I:97 Tragoediae scriptores veterum Attius atque Pacuvius clarissimi 95 gravitate sententiarum, verborum pondere, auctoritate personarum. 96 Ceterum nitor et summa in excolendis operibus manus magis videri potest temporibus quam ipsis defuisse; virium tamen Attio plus tribuitur, Pacuvium videri doctiorem qui esse docti adfectant volunt.

§ 97. Tragoediae scriptores. Quint. did not consider it necessary for his purpose to take any account of the first beginnings of tragedy, otherwise he would have mentioned Livius Andronicus (284-204), Naevius (235), and Ennius himself, who was probably almost as great in tragedy as in narrative poetry. It was
95
Ennius who first impressed on Roman tragedy the deeply moral and highly didactic character which it bore down to the age of Cicero. He made it his endeavour to hold up patterns of heroic virtue to his audience and to inspire them with right ideas of life. Even his adaptations from the Greek (nearly half of the extant names of his tragedies suggest subjects taken from the Trojan cycle) are fired with the truly national spirit which he succeeded in handing on to his successors, Attius and Pacuvius. Ennius also wrote some praetextatae (i.e. national tragedies on historic subjects of poetic interest, e.g. the Rape of the Sabine Women); and in view of this fact it may appear strange that his example was not more widely followed, so that these national dramas should have outlived the hackneyed subjects drawn from Greek legend. The reason probably is that there was too much party life in Rome to make the dramatic treatment of the national history equally acceptable to all. Few incidents could have been dramatised that would not have excited various feelings in the hearts of an audience, say, in the times of the Gracchi. Under the Empire the free treatment of the national history for dramatic purposes was positively discouraged, and under the Republic the Senate had exercised almost as severe a political censorship as the Emperor did in later times.

From many points of view it might have been expected that tragedy would have found a congenial home at Rome. There was much in the national character, history, and institutions that was favourable to its growth. The speculative element and the deep spiritual interest which pervades Greek tragedy must no doubt have been absent; though Schlegel thought that the place of Nemesis could naturally have been taken by the idea of Religio, in so far as it comprehended the subordination of the individual to the State, and his supreme self-surrender. But tragedy flourished at Rome only during a comparatively short period: the populace probably failed to rise to the demands made on them by its lofty and serious purpose. Their tastes became more and more estranged from it, as gladiatorial and spectacular shows grew in favour; and appreciation of the drama came to be the proof of the culture of a small and exclusive class. But the popularity which it enjoyed for a time must have been due to the fact that, though the subjects were generally adapted from the Greek, Roman tragedy came to have a character of its own. It appealed to the ethical and political sympathies of the audience, and satisfied that taste for rhetoric which led afterwards to the development of Latin oratory. There may have been about it no subtle analysis of character, no lofty delineation of the action and passion of men entangled in the meshes of a destiny which they could neither understand nor unravel; but it seems to have embodied all the manly feeling and moral dignity of which the nation was capable. By its vigorous rhetoric it may be said at least to have helped to develop the language for use in those departments in which it achieved so great success, i.e. oratory, history, and philosophical composition. And when under the Empire literature had become altogether divorced from practical life, the composition of tragedies was still a favourite practice with many (e.g. Seneca) who recognised in that pursuit an appropriate sphere for the rhetorical style which was then so much in vogue.

Attius L., (170-about 90 B.C.) should have come after Pacuvius, as being fifteen years younger. He produced his first play in conjunction with Pacuvius, cir. 140. We have the titles of about fifty of his dramas, and the fragments extant contain some 700 verses. He seems to have had pretty much the same qualities as Ennius and Pacuvius, manly seriousness of style combined with fervour of spirit. Cicero, who is said to have conversed with him in his boyhood, and others, bear witness to his oratorical force, his gravity, and passionate energy: pro Plancio, §59 gravis et ingeniosus poeta: pro Sest. §120 summus poeta: Ovid, Am. i. 15, 19 animosi Attius oris: Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 55-6 Ambigitur quotiens uter utro sit prior, aufert Pacuvius docti famam senis, Accius alti. Sellar’s Rom. Poets, pp. 146-7. Quintilian gives a shrewd answer of his (v. 13, 43): aiunt Attium interrogatum cur causas non ageret, cum apud eum in tragoediis tanta vis esset optime respondendi, hanc reddidisse rationem: quod illic ea dicerentur quae ipse vellet, in foro dicturi adversarii essent quae minime vellet.

Pacuvius, M. (220-132), the son of Ennius’s sister. Of provincial birth (his birth-place was Brundisium), he could 96 not, according to Cicero, boast the pure Latinity which was the pride of Naevius and Plautus: Brut. §258 Caecilium et Pacuvium male locutos videmus. But in Orat. §36 an imaginary opinion is given as follows:—omnes apud hunc ornati elaboratique versus, multa apud alterum (Ennium) neglegentius. Martial (xi. 90), addressing a wrong-headed admirer of the old poets, jeers at him for delighting in archaisms,—Attonitusque legis terrai frugiferai Attius et quidquid Pacuviusque vomunt. We have about 400 lines extant, which are discussed in Sellar’s Roman Poets, and also by Ribbeck (Römische Tragödie, pp. 216-339). The epithet doctus, in the use of which Horace and Quintilian agree, probably refers to his wide acquaintance with Greek literature: see below.

clarissimi: see Crit. Notes.

nitor: v. on §79: and cp. §§33, 83, 98, 113: §124 cultus ac nitor.

summa manus: Cic. Brut. §126 manus extrema (the ‘finishing touch’) non accessit operibus eius: Cp. i. pr. §4 quasi perfectis omni alio genere doctrinae summam inde eloquentiae manum imponerent. See on §21.

magis ... temporibus: but see Cicero, Brut. l.c. Aetatis illius ista fuit laus, tamquam innocentiae, sic latine loquendi ... omnes tum fere ... recte loquebantur.

virium Attio: cp. Ovid’s ‘animosi oris,’ quoted above: Vell. Paterc. ii. §9 adeo quidem ut in illis limae in hoc paene plus videatur fuisse sanguinis. Persius is less complimentary, Brisaei ... venosus liber Acci (1, 76), the ‘shrivelled volume of the old Bacchanal Accius.’—Quintilian is here only recording current literary opinion: but such references as those at i. 5, 67: 7, 14: 8, 11: v. 10, 84: 13, 43 go far to prove independent knowledge.

doctiorem: cp. Horace’s ‘docti famam senis,’ quoted above.

esse docti adfectant: for the constr. cp. §72 meruit credi secundus: Introd. p. lvi. Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 9, 7 noris nos, inquit, docti sumus, where Professor Wilkins remarks: “The epithet of doctus was especially assumed by those who were versed in Greek literature and mythology, especially the products of the Alexandrine school.” It aptly characterises the artificial tendencies of the literature of the Empire.

Iam—a formula of transition. Kr.3 suggests Nam: see on §12.

I:98 Iam Vari Thyestes cuilibet Graecarum comparari potest. Ovidi Medea videtur mihi ostendere quantum ille vir praestare potuerit si ingenio suo imperare quam indulgere 97 maluisset. Eorum quos viderim longe princeps Pomponius Secundus, quem senes quidem parum tragicum putabant, eruditione ac nitore praestare confitebantur.

§ 98. L. Varius Rufus (64 B.C.-9 A.D.), the friend of Vergil and Horace (Hor. Sat. i. 5, 40: 6, 55), enjoyed a high reputation as an epic poet before he took up tragedy. Macrobius (vi. 1, 39 sq.: i. 2, 19 sq.) gives twelve hexameters of his from an epic poem on Caesar’s death: hence Hor. Sat. i. 10, 51 forte epos acer ut nemo Varius ducit. From a Panegyricus Augusti Horace is said to have borrowed the verses which occur Ep. i. 16, 27-29. Cp. the ode addressed to Agrippa (i. 6) Scriberis Vario ... Maeonii carminis alite. He is mentioned as an epic poet together with Vergil, Ep. ii. 1, 147: A. P. 55. His tragedy Thyestes was performed at the games after the battle of Actium (B.C. 29). Cp. Tac. Dial. 12 Nec ullus Asinii aut Messallae liber tam illustris est quam Medea Ovidii aut Varii Thyestes: Philargyr. on Verg. Ecl. viii. 10 Varium cuius exstat Thyestes tragoedia, omnibus tragicis praeferenda. A quotation from it is given iii. 8, 45. He edited the Aeneid after Vergil’s death, along with Plotius and Tucca: probably prefixing the biographical sketch from which Quintilian quotes x. 3, 8.

Graecarum, sc. fabularum.

Medea: a quotation from it is given viii. 5, 6 servare potui: perdere an possim rogas?

quantum potuerit ... si maluisset: cp. §62. The use of the perf. subj. in such a sentence corresponds to the use of the pf. ind. in oratio recta with verbs implying possibility, duty, right, &c., as if to express the idea more unconditionally: e.g. deleri totus exercitus potuit si fugientes persecuti victores essent (Livy xxxii. 12), So Ventum erat eo ut si hostem similem antiquis Macedonum regibus habuisset consul magna clades accipi potuerit (Livy xliv. 4). Roby, 1568.

ingenio imperare: cp. nimium amator ingenii sui §88.

97

quos viderim, §118. The subj. seems to be used here on the analogy of the qui of restriction and limitation (Roby 1692): omnium quidem oratorum, quos quidem ego cognoverim, acutissimum iudico Q. Sertorium Brut. §48: cp. §65. The indic. is also used: in iis etiam quos ipsi vidimus xii. 10, 11.

Pomponius Secundus underwent an imprisonment of several years’ duration on account of his friendship with Aelius Gallus, son of Sejanus: Tac. Ann. v. 8 multa morum elegantia et ingenio illustri: ibid. xi. 13: xii. 28, where we are told that he obtained a triumph under Claudius,—modica pars famae eius apud postero, in quis carminum gloria praecellit: Dial. xiii, ne nostris quidem temporibus Secundus Pomponius Afro Domitio vel dignitate vitae vel perpetuitate famae cesserit. One of his plays was called ‘Aeneas.’ He died 60 A.D.

parum tragicum: contrast Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 166 Nam spirat tragicum satis et feliciter audet. See Crit. Notes.

I:99 In comoedia maxime claudicamus. Licet Varro Musas, Aeli Stilonis sententia, 98 Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si Latine loqui vellent, licet Caecilium veteres laudibus ferant, licet Terenti scripta ad Scipionem Africanum referantur (quae tamen sunt in hoc 99 genere elegantissima, et plus adhuc habitura gratiae si intra versus trimetros stetissent),

§ 99. maxime claudicamus. No doubt this dictum must be taken as implying that ‘the educated taste of Romans under the Empire did not find much that was congenial in the works of Plautus, Caecilius, or Terence’ (Sellar, R. P. p. 154). But Quintilian must also have been biassed by a comparison with Greek Comedy, of the superiority of which we can have only an imperfect appreciation, owing to the scantiness of the survivals; while in depreciating Roman Comedy, as compared with Tragedy, he also had the advantage over us of a full acquaintance with the whole range of the latter. Moreover, it was Satire, not Comedy, that represented at Rome much of the spirit of the old Comedy of Athens. Horace, too, is more severe on Plautus than on Ennius and the tragic poets (Ep. ii. 1, 170: A. P. 270 sq.). Again, in Quintilian’s day the Mimus had so completely re-asserted its position that the production of comedies seems to have almost entirely ceased. “Comedy was not congenial to the educated or the uneducated taste of Romans in the last years of the Republic, and in the early Empire. But, on the other hand, the popularity enjoyed by the old comedy between the time of Naevius and of Terence, and even down to the earlier half of the Ciceronian age, when some of the great parts in Plautus continued to be performed by the ‘accomplished Roscius,’ and the admiration expressed for its authors by grammarians and critics, from Aelius Stilo down to Varro and Cicero, shows its adaptation to an earlier and not less vigorous, if less refined stage of intellectual development; while the actual survival of many Roman comedies can only be accounted for by a more real adaptation to human nature, both in style and substance, than was attained by Roman tragedy in its straining after a higher ideal of sentiment and expression.” Sellar, Roman Poets l.c.

Musas. To this Muretus added ‘Ne illae saepe, si Plautino more loquerentur, meretricio magis quam virginali more loquerentur.’ For the epigram cp. Plato on Aristophanes Αἱ χάριτες τέμενός τι λαβεῖν ὅπερ οὐχὶ πεσεῖται Διζόμεναι ψυχὴν εὗρον Ἀριστοφάνους.

Aeli Stilonis, the first Roman philologist (144-70 B.C.). His name was L. Aelius Praeconinus: he received the additional cognomen Stilo on the ground of his literary eminence. Suet, de Gramm. 2 Aelius cognomine duplici fuit; nam et Praeconinus, quod pater eius praeconium fecerat, vocabatur, et Stilo, quod orationes nobilissimo cuique scribere solebat. Cp. Cic. Brut. §205 scribebat tamen orationes quas alii dicerent: and above, fuit is omnino vir egregius et eques Romanus cum primis honestus idemque eruditissimus et Graecis litteris et Latinis, antiquitatisque nostrae et in inventis rebus et in actis scriptorumque veterum litterate peritus. Quam scientiam Varro noster acceptam ab illo auctamque per sese ... pluribus et illustrioribus litteris explicavit. Varro ap. Gell. N. A. i. 18, 2 L. Aelius noster, litteris ornatissimus memoria nostra: and L. L. vii. 2 homo in primis in litteris latinis exercitatus. Varro was his pupil; and we are told by Gellius (iii. 3, 1) that both master and pupil made lists of the plays of Plautus, Varro distinguishing his classes according to his personal feeling and judgment as to whether a play was worthy of Plautus or not. Cicero tells 98 us (l.c.) that in his youth he was a very diligent student under Aelius; and as Lucilius addressed some of his satires to him he may be looked on as a bond of connection between the two epochs.

sententia: abl. by itself, after the analogy of mea, tua, sententia. Varro took the criticism from his master.

vellent: the possibility is looked upon as still present.

Plautino sermone. Plautus (254-184) fills a very distinct place in the development of Latin comedy. He engrafted the festive traditions of the Italian farce on the literary form which he borrowed from Greece, producing a picture of Roman life and manners which secured for his dramas a degree of popularity that caused them to be represented almost uninterruptedly down even to the fourth century of our era. Modern comedy is under deep obligations to him if only for his spirit of unrestrained fun. See Bernhardy, p. 452 sq.: Teuffel §§84-88: Cruttwell’s Rom. Lit. pp. 43-48: and Sellar’s Roman Poets, p. 189 sq.

Caecilius, Statius (219-166), an Insubrian Gaul by birth, and contemporary with Ennius. Fragments of his plays are preserved by Gellius, who tells us (xv. 24) that Volcatius Sedigitus (a critic who probably belonged to the earlier part of the first century,—Ritschl, Parerga, p. 240 sq.) placed him at the head of all the Roman comic poets: Caecilio palmam statuo dandam comico, Plautus secundus facile exsuperat ceteros. The three next are Naevius, Licinius, and Atilius; Terence comes only sixth on the list. Cicero inclines to the same verdict: de Opt. Gen. Orat. §1 itaque licet dicere et Ennium summum epicum poetam, si cui ita videtur: et Pacuvium tragicum: et Caecilium fortasse comicum. But elsewhere he censures his provincial style: Brutus, §258 Caecilium et Pacuvium male locutos videmus: ad. Att. vii. 3, 10 malus enim auctor Latinitatis est. For other quotations v. de Orat. ii §40: Lael. 99: de Sen. 96: de Fin. i. 4. Nonius (p. 374) quotes Varro as saying In argumentis Caecilius poscit palmam, in ethesi Terentius, in sermonibus Plautus. Horace’s criticism (Ep. ii. 1, 57) is still more familiar: Dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro, Plautus ad exemplar Siculi properare Epicharmi, Vincere Caecilius gravitate, Terentius arte. By gravitas Horace probably means the sententious maxims for which he was distinguished (Sellar, p. 202). See Mommsen, ii. 441. Caecilius imitated Menander mainly, to whom Gellius compares him (ii. 23), while admitting the superiority of his Greek model. He is said neither to have amused his audience, like Plautus, by confounding Greek and Roman terms, manners, and customs, &c., nor like Terence, on the other hand, to have carefully excised everything that did not accord with Roman usage. He is said also to have recognised the division of tastes and interests that was now springing up at Rome, and to have begun to address only the higher classes, to whom Plautus had appealed along with ‘the gallery.’

laudibus ferant, for the Ciceronian efferant: Tac. Ann. ii. 13. Cp. Introd. p. l.

Terentii scripta ... elegantissima. The gap between the classes at Rome, alluded to above, had widened in the interval that separates Plautus from Terence (cir. 194-159 B.C.). The educated class was growing more refined and fastidious under the leavening influence of Greek culture, while the uneducated section of the people was gradually becoming coarser and more debased. A leading member of the Scipionic circle, he may be said to have begun the movement by which the creations of the genius of Rome became more perfect as works of art addressed to a smaller circle of men of rank and education, but lost also something of directness of purpose as having less bearing on the passions and interests of the time. The growing appreciation of Greek literature had produced a sense of dissatisfaction with the uncouth efforts of a previous age; and elegance of style, the cultivation of refinement and taste in thought and language, were the objects now aimed at. There is distinctly less of the drollery of the tavern about Terence than about Plautus. The ‘art’ with which Horace credits him (v. above) is seen in the careful finish of his style. Cp. Caesar’s lines, quoted by Sueton. Vit. Terent., in which he calls him puri sermonis amator, and dimidiate Menander. See Sellar, p. 208 sq.: Mommsen, vol. iii. p. 449 sq.

ad Scipionem Africanum. Cp. Sueton. Vit. Ter. (Roth. p. 293) non obscura fama 99 est adiutum Terentium in scriptis a Laelio et Scipione, eamque ipse auxit nunquam nisi leviter refutare conatus, ut in prologo Adelphorum: Nam quod isti dicunt malevoli, homines nobiles Hunc adiutare adsidueque una scribere, &c. The rumour may have arisen from the fact of his Carthaginian origin, which renders all the more remarkable the success with which he cultivated a refined and elegant style.

plus adhuc = etiam plus: see on §71.

habitura. For this use of the fut. part, in a conditional sentence cp. xi. 1, 74 detracturus alioqui plurimum auctoritatis sibi si eum se esse qui temere nocentes reos susciperet fateretur. So too §119 below (without a si clause): pronuntiatio vel scaenis suffectura.

intra versus trimetros. This is a curious criticism, but it can be paralleled from Priscian, de Metris Terentii: quosdam vel abnegare esse in Terentii comoediis metra, vel ea quasi arcana quaedam et ab omnibus doctis semota sibi solis esse cognita confirmare. The vagaries of comic prosody were certainly not appreciated by ancient critics: they could not excuse what to them seemed carelessness and undue freedom from constraint: cp. Cicero, Orat. §184 at comicorum senarii propter similitudinem sermonis sic saepe sunt abiecti ut nonnunquam vix in eis numerus et versus intellegi possit. Quintilian and others would no doubt have preferred a stricter imitation of Menander’s versification. Horace himself took the same point of view in writing about Plautus, Ep. ii. 1, 272 si modo ego et vos ... legitimumque sonum digitis callemus et aure. Cp. Bernhardy, 325 n. and 350 n.

I:100 vix levem consequimur umbram: adeo ut mihi sermo ipse Romanus non recipere videatur illam solis concessam Atticis venerem, cum eam ne Graeci quidem in alio genere linguae suae obtinuerint. Togatis excellit Afranius: utinam non inquinasset argumenta puerorum foedis amoribus mores suos fassus.

100

§ 100. vix levem ... umbram: a proverbial expression, from the same disparaging point of view as claudicamus, above.

alio genere linguae suae, i.e. another dialect. The charm referred to is the peculiar property of Attic writers generally,—not the comic poets alone. Latin is too formal and rhetorical to fall into the simple naturalness and directness of Attic Greek. For suae see Crit. Notes.

Togatis, sc. fabulis. The Comoediae Togatae (though founded on Greek models) aspired to be thoroughly national in dress, manners, and tone: quae scriptae sunt secundum ritus et habitum togatorum, i.e. Romanorum (Diom. iii. p. 489). On the other hand, in the Palliatae of Plautus, Caecilius and Terence (so called from pallium, the Greek actor’s cloak, xi. 3, 143), all the surroundings are meant to be Greek, though much of the fun of the Plautine comedy is the result of the inconsistencies that sprang from the introduction into Greek circumstances of Roman names, scenes, manners, and characters.

Afranius, fl. cir. 150 B.C. He was the chief writer of togatae, and began to aim at getting rid altogether of Greek surroundings: and so comedy, descending into the low humours of Italian country life, and specially the debaucheries of the Italian towns, rapidly degenerated into farce. He borrowed freely from Menander: dicitur Afrani toga convenisse Menandro, Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 57,—‘Menander’s speeches came very well from the characters of Afranius.’ Cic. de Fin. i. 3, 7. But he did not confine his attentions to Menander only: Macrob. Sat. vi. 1, 4 Afranius togatarum scriptor ... non inverecunde respondens arguentibus quod plura sumpsisset a Menandro, ‘Fateor,’ inquit, ‘sumpsi non ab illo modo sed ut quisque habuit conveniret quod mihi, quodque me non melius facere credidi, etiam a Latino.’ Cicero, Brut. §167 L. Afranius poeta, homo perargutus, in fabulis quidem etiam, ut scitis, disertus.

utinam non, i. 2, 6: ix. 3, 1: more usually utinam ne: Cic. ad Fam. 5, 17 illud utinam ne vere scriberem: Catull. 64, 171. Krüger (3rd ed.) cites however Cic. ad Att. xi. 9, 3 haec ad te die natali meo scripsi: quo utinam susceptus non essem aut ne quid ex eadem matre postea natum esset.

foedis amoribus: cp. Auson. Epigr. 100 71 vitiosa libido ... quam toga facundi scenis agitavit Afrani.

I:101 At non historia cesserit Graecis. Nec opponere Thucydidi Sallustium verear, nec indignetur sibi Herodotus aequari Titum Livium, cum in narrando mirae iucunditatis clarissimique candoris, tum in contionibus supra quam enarrari potest eloquentem: 101 ita quae dicuntur omnia cum rebus, tum personis accommodata sunt: adfectus quidem praecipueque eos qui sunt dulciores, ut parcissime dicam, nemo historicorum commendavit magis.

§ 101. cesserit. So §85 auspicatissimum dederit exordium: cp. cesserimus §86. There is no need for Halm’s suggestion in historia cesserimus: or Spalding’s cesserim with historia in abl. Cp. Cicero, de Legg. i. 2, 5 ut in hoc etiam genere Graeciae nihil cedamus, and the whole passage.

Sallustium. This is a bold statement. Sallust evidently accepted Thucydides as his literary model, imitating his style, and following him in his speeches and the general arrangement of his work. (Capes’ Sallust: Introd. p. 13 sq.). Brevity (cp. illa Sallustiana brevitas §32) is a conspicuous feature in both: but the brevity of Thucydides is greatly the result of inability to keep pace with the rush of thought, whereas that of Sallust is often laboured and artificial, and is attained by conscious processes of excision and compression. Cp. iv. 2, 45 vitanda est etiam illa Sallustiana (quamquam in ipso virtutis obtinet locum) brevitas et abruptum sermonis genus: Seneca, Ep. 114, 17 Sallustio vigente amputatae sententiae et verba ante exspectatum cadentia et obscura brevitas fuere pro cultu: Aul. Gell. iii. 1, 6 Sallustium subtilissimum brevitatis artificem. His Grecisms are referred to by Quint. ix. 3, 17 ex Graeco vero translata vel Sallustii plurima. According to Suetonius (Gramm. 10 extr.) Ateius exhorted Asinius Pollio (ut) vitet maxime obscuritatem Sallustii et audaciam in translationibus. For the high esteem in which he was held in antiquity cp. Velleius ii. 36, 2 aemulum Thucydidi Sallustium: Tacitus, Ann. iii. 30 rerum Romanarum florentissimus auctor: Martial xiv. 191 primus Romana Crispus in historia. See Teuffel §§203-205. In modern times Milton exalted him above Tacitus, saying of the latter that ‘his highest praise consists in his having imitated Sallust with all his might.’ On the other hand Scaliger spoke of Sallust’s style as ‘anxium atque insiticium dicendi genus.’

Titum Livium. Quintilian’s estimate of Livy is very happily expressed so far as it goes. He ignores of course the defects which are obvious to modern students of Livy,—his want of that historic sense which shows itself in ability to trace the gradual development of institutions and to take a philosophic view of general political and social conditions, his indifference to the scrupulous collation and weighing of evidence, and his neglect of chronological and geographical precision. Munro in his ‘Criticisms and Elucidations of Catullus’ speaks of Livy’s style as the greatest prose style that has ever been written in any age or language, and certainly it has all the beauties which Quintilian mentions here: besides, the happy adaptation of the language to the ever-varying phases of the subject is one of its greatest charms. Teuffel, §251 sq. The best proof of Livy’s popularity in ancient times may be found in the story of the man from Gades, Pliny, Ep. ii. 3, 8 Nunquamne legisti Gaditanum quendam Titi Livi nomine gloriaque commotum ad visendum eum ab ultimo terrarum orbe venisse statimque ut viderat abisse?

narrando ... contionibus. This antithesis is common in Dionysius: διηγήσεσιν ... δημηγορίαις (ad Pomp. p. 776 R, Us. pp. 58-9) τὸ διηγηματικὸν μέρος ... τὸ δημηγορικόν (Iud. de Thucyd.) p. 952 R.

candoris, ‘transparency’: ii. 5, 19 candidissimum quemque et maxime expositum velim, ut Livium a pueris magis quam Sallustium: etsi hic historiae maior est auctor, ad quem tamen intellegendum iam profectu opus sit: §32 lactea ubertas. Cp. dulcis et candidus et fusus Herodotus §73, where see note: §113 nitidus et candidus.—In a different sense, Seneca, Suas. vi. 22, ut est natura candidissimus omnium magnorum ingeniorum aestimator T. Livius.

contionibus. The speeches are introduced in order to give a portrait of some one (xlv. 25, 3), or to indicate motives (viii. 7: iii. 47, 5). Though they make no claim to historical truth (in hanc sententiam locutum accipio iii. 67, 1), they generally give a trustworthy picture of the circumstances and character of the speaker: cp. e.g. vii. 34. In some instances we can see how Livy rhetorically 101 enlarges on the brief hints of a predecessor: cp. Polyb. iii. 64 with Liv. xxi. 40 sq. Teuffel §252, 12.

supra quam: cp. Sall. Cat. 5, 3 supra quam cuiquam credibile est: Iug. 24, 5: Cicero, Orator §139 saepe supra feret quam fieri posset (cp. de Nat. Deor. ii. §136). Quintilian has inenarrabilis xi. 3, 177, which occurs also in Livy xliv. 5, 1: xli. 15, 2.

eloquentem: viii. 1, 3 Tito Livio, mirae facundiae viro: Tac. Agr. 10 Livius veterum Fabius Rusticus recentium eloquentissimi auctores: Ann. iv. 34 T. Livius eloquentiae ac fidei praeclarus in primis: Seneca, de Ira i. 20, 6 apud disertissimum virum Livium.

adfectus: §48 adfectus quidem, vel illos mites vel hos concitatos: ‘the softer passions.’

parcissime: cp. below, 4 §4 qui parcissime: xi. 1, 66: 3, 100.

commendavit magis: ‘has set in a fairer light,’ ‘represented more perfectly’ (‘hat angemessen und eindringlich dargestellt.’—Bonnell-Meister). Spalding felt a difficulty about this word, but rightly suggested that it means ‘approbavit suis lectoribus,’—a meaning to which ut parcissime dicam is quite appropriate. The nearest parallel is iv. 1, 13 Nam tum dignitas eius (litigatoris) adlegatur, tum commendatur infirmitas (‘set in a strong light,’ ‘made much of’),—where too the verb is used absolutely, without a dative. The usual construction is found v. 11, 38 misericordiam commendabo iudici. In the sense of ‘set off’ (ornare), without a dat., we have quae memoria complecteretur actio commendaret viii. Prooem. 6: quaedam ... virtus haec sola commendat ix. 4, 13: hoc oratio recta, illud figura declinata commendat x. 5, 8.—For the reading commodavit see Crit. Notes.

I:102 Ideoque immortalem Sallusti velocitatem diversis virtutibus consecutus est. Nam mihi egregie dixisse videtur Servilius Nonianus, pares eos magis quam similes; qui et ipse a 102 nobis auditus est clarus vi ingenii et sententiis creber, sed minus pressus quam historiae auctoritas postulat.

§ 102. immortalem: so §86, where it is more appropriate.

velocitatem: ‘rapid brevity.’ It is the quality which Dionysius denotes by τὸ τάχος τῆς ἀπαγγελίας p. 870 R. Cp. Hor. Sat i. 10, 9 Est brevitate opus ut currat sententia,—quoted on §73 brevis et semper instans sibi Thucydides, where see note. Arist. Rhet. iii. 16, 4 ταχεῖαν διήγησιν. So celeritas xii. 10, 65 hanc vim et celeritatem in Pericle miratur Eupolis: Eupolis having said of Pericles ταχὺς λέγειν μέν, πρὸς δέ γ᾽ αὐτῷ τῷ τάχει πειθώ τις (Schol. Aristoph. Acharn. 535).

consecutus est, lit. = ‘equalled in point of fame’: the real object is not velocitatem, so that the idea is awkwardly expressed. Quintilian means that by other good points (cp. §73 diversis virtutibus) Livy obtained a degree of fame not inferior to what Sallust gained by his ‘velocitas.’ It is in fact a brachyology for ‘immortalitatem illius Sallustianae velocitatis.’ Cp. Cic. Phil. xiv. 35 parem virtutis gloriam consecuta est (legio): Quint. iii. 7, 9 quod immortalitatem virtute sint consecuti. See Crit. Notes.

Servilius Nonianus. In mentioning his death (A.D. 60) along with that of Domitius Afer (§86), Tacitus says that he rivalled the latter’s abilities and surpassed his morals:—summis honoribus et multa eloquentia viguerant, ille orando causas, Servilius diu foro, mox tradendis rebus Romanis celebris et elegantia vitae, quam clariorem effecit, ut par ingenio, ita morum diversus. Cp. Dial. ch. 23 eloquentia ... Servilii Noniani. Like most of the Roman historians, except Livy, he was a man of affairs. Pliny, N. H. xxviii. 2, 5 princeps civitatis. He was the friend—possibly at one time the teacher—of the satirist Persius, who is said to have reverenced him as a father (coluit ut patrem). Pliny tells us (Ep. i. 13, 3) how Claudius, on hearing the thunders of applause that greeted his recitations, entered the building and seated himself unobserved among the audience: memoria parentura Claudium Caesarem ferunt, cum in palatio spatiaretur andissetque clamorem, causam requisisse, cumque dictum esset recitare Nonianum, subitum recitanti inopinantique venisse.

et ipse. Quintilian had not only read his works, but had heard him: he 102 would be between twenty and twenty-five when Servilius died.—For et ipse see on §31.

clarus vi ingenii: see Crit. Notes.

sententiis creber; cp. §68 sententiis densus. For sententiis (γνώμαις) cp. §60 §61: 2 §17. He was full of point and matter, but not concise enongh for the dignity of history. For pressus v. §44.

I:103 Quam paulum aetate praecedens eum Bassus Aufidius egregie, utique in libris belli Germanici, praestitit genere ipso, probabilis in omnibus, sed in quibusdam suis ipse viribus minor.

§ 103. Bassus Aufidius. Tacitus mentions him along with Servilius Nonianus, Dial. 23, where he speaks of antiquarians ‘quibus eloquentia Aufidii Bassi aut Servilii Noniani ex comparatione Sisennae aut Varronis sordet.’ Seneca gives some account of him in his thirtieth letter: §1 Bassum Aufidium, virum optimum, vidi quassum, aetati obluctantem: §3 Bassus tamen noster alacer animo est. hoc philosophia praestat. Cp. §§5, 10, 14. His history probably ended with the reign of Claudius, at which point Pliny the elder took it up: N. H. praef. 20 diximus ... temporum nostrorum historiam, orsi a fine Aufidii Bassi. The ‘libri Belli Germanici’ may have been an independent work.—The practice of placing the cognomen before the gentile name grew under the Empire: many instances are found even in Cicero’s letters, but not in the ordinary prose of the Republic; cp. §86, and Introd. p. lv.

genere ipso = ‘gerade durch den Stil’ (Kiderlin)—as being suitable to historiae auctoritas. Quintilian often uses genus in this sense (without dicendi): often with an adj. like rectum, but often also without, e.g. x. 2, 18 noveram quosdam &c.: 2 §23 uni alicui generi. For the reading, see Crit. Notes.—From the specimens (on the death of Cicero) given by Seneca the rhetorician (Suas. vi. 18 and 23), we should infer that the style of Bassus was rather affected and pretentious.

I:104 Superest adhuc et exornat 103 aetatis nostrae gloriam vir saeculorum memoria dignus, qui olim nominabitur, nunc intellegitur. Habet amatores nec immerito Cremuti libertas, quamquam circumcisis quae dixisse ei nocuerat; sed elatum abunde spiritum et audaces sententias deprehendas etiam in his quae manent. Sunt et alii scriptores boni, sed nos genera degustamus, non bibliothecas excutimus.

§ 104. Superest. The fact that Cremutius put an end to his life in A.D. 25 is sufficient to disprove the theory that he is referred to here: superest when taken along with exornat aetatis nostrae gloriam cannot mean anything but superstes est (cp. supersunt 2 §28).—The Bonnell-Meister edition (1882) understands the reference to be to Tacitus: but though admirers of Tacitus would like to appropriate for him the phrase vir saeculorum memoria dignus, this can hardly be accepted. In the first place the words superest adhuc are, in their natural sense, inapplicable to one who had not published anything when Quintilian wrote (about 93 A.D.). He has just spoken of Servilius, who is known to have died in A.D. 60, and of Aufidius, who was old and frail in Seneca’s life-time, i.e. before A.D. 65: and though it may be proposed to take superest adhuc as meaning simply ‘I have still to refer to (a living writer),’ (cp. supersunt §123), in which sense the words might apply to Tacitus, it seems extremely improbable that after speaking of a youthful contemporary, Quintilian would in the next sentence return to Cremutius, who died as far back as A.D. 25. It might be argued that the point of the passage is that, after this indirect eulogy of Tacitus, the writer means to imply that the spirit of Cremutius still survives in him: ‘there is with us now one who will afterwards be famous but of whom we may not speak at present. The independence of Cremutius is still appreciated.’ But habet amatores will hardly cover this interpretation: it introduces a critique of Cremutius which has no relation to what goes before. And moreover it is doubtful whether Quintilian, who never mentions any living writer, except Domitian, would have hazarded a reference to one whose anti-imperial tendencies must have been so well known in Rome. Krüger’s supposition (3rd ed. p. 97) that after adhuc the name Tacitus has fallen out, or that we should write ‘superest Tacitus et ornat,’ is altogether out of the question: it would quite destroy the point of the sentence (nominabitur ... intellegitur). It seems safest, therefore, to follow those who with Nipperdey (Philol. vi. p. 193) understand the historian here meant to be Fabius Rusticus. It would have been strange if Quintilian had omitted to mention him, considering his eminence: Livius veterum, Fabius Rusticus recentium eloquentissimi 103 auctores, Tac. Agr. 10. And what he says fits Fabius very well; he was an intimate friend of Seneca (Tac. Ann. xiii. 20 sane Fabius inclinat ad laudes Senecae cuius amicitia floruit), and from the fact that he was made co-heir with Tacitus and Pliny in the will of Dasumius we know that he was still alive 108 or 109 A.D. Mommsen thinks that to him also is addressed Pliny, Ep. ix. 29.

vir saeculorum memoria dignus: Cp. §80: iii. 7, 18 ingeniorum monumenta, quae saeculis probarentur: xi. 1, 13 perpetua saeculorum admiratione celebrantur.

olim, of future time, as §94. The writer referred to will come actually to enjoy the renown of which Quint. here declares him worthy.

nunc intellegitur. For Quint.’s rule not to mention living writers cp. iii. 1, 21, quoted at §95; and for the antithesis between nominabitur and intellegitur, xi. 1, 10 maluit emim vir sapientissimus (Socrates) quod superesset ex vita sibi perire quam quod praeterisset. Et quando ab hominibus sui temporis parum intellegebatur, posterorum se iudiciis reservavit brevi detrimento iam ultimae senectutis aevum saeculorum omnium consecutus.

Cremuti libertas: παρρησία, §65, §94. Cremutius Cordus published a history of the Civil Wars and of the reign of Augustus—unius saeculi facta, Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 26, 5. Augustus is said to have read the work, or to have heard it read, without disapproval (Dion. 57, 24, 2; Sueton. Tib. 61). He afterwards incurred the displeasure of Sejanus by some bold remarks, as, for example, when he said in regard to the statue of Sejanus which he was told the Senate had resolved to erect in Pompey’s theatre, restored by Tiberius after a fire, ‘tunc vere theatrum perire’—Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 22, 4. In A.D. 25 he was brought to trial ‘novo ac tunc primum audito crimine, quod editis annalibus laudatoque M. Bruto C. Cassium Romanorum ultimum dixisset’ (Tac. Ann. iv. 34 sq.). Finding his case prejudged, after a spirited defence he went home and starved himself to death. The Senate ordered his books to be burned: ‘sed manserunt,’ says Tacitus, ‘occultati et editi.’ Dion. tells us that ‘afterwards (i.e. under Caligula) they were published again, for they had been preserved by various people, and particularly by his daughter Marcia; and they were esteemed much more highly on account of the fate of Cordus’ (lvii. 24). For Marcia v. Senecae Consolatio ad Marciam c. 1. Suet. Calig. 16 tells us that the suppressed writings of others also (Titus Labienus and Cassius Severus) were allowed by Caligula to come again into circulation, after a process of editing similar to that referred to by Quint. (circumcisis, &c.). Tacitus’s reflections on the ineffectual attempt to destroy Cremutius’s works are interesting in connection with our passage: quo magis socordiam eorum inridere licet, qui praesenti potentia credunt extingui posse etiam sequentis aevi memoriam. Nam contra, punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas, neque aliud externi reges aut qui eadem saevitia usi sunt, nisi dedecus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere, Ann. iv. 35 ad fin.

abunde: used here to emphasise elatum: v. on §94.

spiritus, §§44, 61; 3 §22. The excisions and emendations in regard to matters of detail had evidently not interfered with the independent tone of Cremutius’s writings.

alii scriptores, συγγραφεῖς: the word being used specially of historians. He has not mentioned Caesar, or Nepos, or Velleius, or Quintus Curtius.

degustamus: ‘dipping into’: 5 §23 inchoatae et quasi degustatae. The opposite is persequi: §45 genera ipsa lectionum ... persequar.

I:105 Oratores vero vel praecipue Latinam eloquentiam parem facere 104 Graecae possunt; nam Ciceronem cuicumque eorum fortiter opposuerim. Nec ignoro quantam mihi concitem pugnam, cum 105 praesertim non id sit propositi ut eum Demostheni comparem hoc tempore; neque enim attinet, cum Demosthenen in primis legendum vel ediscendum potius putem.

§ 105. parem facere. Cicero uses aequare in a passage of the Brutus (§138), in which, speaking of Antonius and Crassus, he says: nam ego sic existimo, 104 hos oratores fuisse maximos et in his primum cum Graecorum gloria Latine dicendi copiam aequatam. In the Silver Age, the phrase paria facere commonly occurs for ‘settling up’: e.g. nihil differamus. cotidie cum vita paria faciamus Sen. Ep. 101, 7. A near parallel to the passage in the text is ii. 8, 13 ea cura paria faciet iis in quibus eminebat.—Other reff. to Cicero’s pre-eminence are vi. 3, 1 Latinae eloquentiae princeps: xii. 1, 20 stetisse ipsum (Ciceronem) in fastigio eloquentiae fateor.

cuicumque, §12. The use of quicumque (which in classical Latin is joined with a verb) for quivis or quilibet (which are used absolutely) may be noted as a sign of the decay of the language. Cp. note on §12: Roby §2289.—For eorum Andresen and Jeep propose Graecorum.

fortiter opposuerim. The adv. is not merely one of manner: it conveys the expression of a judgment, ‘nicht die Art und Weise, sondern ein Urteil über die Handlung,’ Becher. So ‘inique Castorem cum Domitio comparo,’ Cicero, pro Deiot. §31. Cp. i, 5, 72 fortiter diceremus: v. 10, 78 fortiter ... iunxerim.—Roby (1540) gives numerous examples of this use of subj. (involving a suppressed condition such as ‘if occasion arose’) with such adverbs as merito, facile, lubenter, citius.

quantam ... pugnam: owing to the existing prejudice against the style of Cicero. Cp. Tac. Dial. 12 Plures hodie reperies qui Ciceronis gloriam quam qui Vergilii detrectent: ibid. 18 Satis constat ne Ciceroni quidem obtrectatores defuisse, quibus inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus, sed supra modum exsultans et superfluens et parum Atticus videretur. Legistis utique et Calvi et Bruti ad Ciceronem missas epistulas ex quibus facile est deprehendere Calvum quidem Ciceroni visum exsanguem et aridum, Brutum autem otiosum atque diiunctum, rursus Ciceronem a Calvo quidem male audisse tamquam solutum et enervem, a Bruto autem, ut ipsius verbis utar, tamquam fractum atque elumbem.—Hortensius had been from B.C. 95 the Latin representative of Asianism. Under the influence of his teachers, the Rhodian eclectics, Cicero emancipated himself from this school without, on the other hand, binding himself by the most rigorous canons of Atticism. His critics, who adhered to severer models, considered the fulness and richness of his style turgidity and bombast, and pointed to his elaborately periodic structure and rhythmical amplitude as proving that he was really an Asianist in disguise. Besides Brutus and Calvus, mentioned above (cp. Quint, xii. 1, 22), there were the Asinii, father and son (etiam inimice, ibid.), and Caelius. Asinius Gallus wrote a work de comparatione patris et Ciceronis, which was controverted by the emperor Claudius: Plin. Epist. vii. 4 §6 libros Galli ... quibus ille parenti ausus de Cicerone dare est palmamque decusque: Sueton. Claud. 41. Cicero, on the other hand, thought that his Atticising critics were too apt to forget (what he asks Atticus to remember) that the ‘thunders of Demosthenes show that the Attic style is quite consistent with the highest degree of grandeur’—si recordabere Δημοσθένους fulmina, tum intelliges posse et ἀττικώτατα gravissime dici, ad Att. xv. 1, ad fin. Quintilian denounces them in strong language, xii. 10, §§12-14 A. At L. M. Tullium non illum habemus Euphranorem circa plures artium species praestantem, sed in omnibus quae in quoque laudantur eminentissimum. Quem tamen et suorum homines temporum incessere audebant ut tumidiorem et Asianum et redundantem et in repetitionibus nimium et in salibus aliquando frigidum et in compositione fractum, exultantem ac paene, quod procul absit, viro molliorem: postea vero quam triumvirati proscriptione consumptus est, passim qui oderant, qui invidebant, qui aemulabantur, adulatores etiam praesentis potentiae non responsurum invaserunt. Ille tamen, qui ieiunus a quibusdam et aridus habetur, non aliter ab ipsis inimicis male audire quam nimiis floribus et ingenii adfluentia potuit. Falsum utrumque, sed tamen illa mentiendi propior occasio. Praecipue vero presserunt eum qui videri Atticorum imitatores concupierant. Haec manus quasi quibusdam sacris initiata ut alienigenam et parum superstitiosum devinctumque illis legibus insequebatur, unde nunc quoque aridi et exsuci et exsangues. Hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendant: qui quia clariorem vim eloquentiae velut solem ferre non possunt, umbra magni nominis (i.e. Athens) delitescunt. In Quintilian’s own day (cp. nunc quoque above) a certain 105 Largius Licinus wrote a work which he called Ciceromastix, repeating the criticisms of Asinius Gallus: cp. Aul. Gell. xvii. 1, 1 nonnulli tam prodigiosi tamque vaecordes exstiterunt in quibus sunt Gallus Asinius et Largius Licinus, cuius liber etiam fertur infando titulo ‘Ciceromastix,’ ut scribere ausi sint M. Ciceronem parum integre atque improprie atque inconsiderate locutum. These rigid Atticists appear to have ignored, as Sandys has pointed out (Introd. to Orator, p. lxii), the ‘difference between the two languages, between the power and breadth and compass of Greek as compared with the more limited resources of Latin.’ Mr. Sandys appends an apt quotation from J. H. Newman (in H. Thompson’s Rom. Lit.—Encyc. Metrop. p. 307, ed. 1852):—‘Greek is celebrated for copiousness in its vocabulary and perspicuity in its phrases; and the consequent facility of expressing the most novel or abstruse ideas with precision and elegance. Hence the Attic style of eloquence was plain and simple, because simplicity and plainness were not incompatible with clearness, energy, and harmony. But it was a singular want of judgment, an ignorance of the very principles of composition, which induced Brutus, Calvus, Sallust, and others to imitate this terse and severe beauty in their own defective language, and even to pronounce the opposite kind of diction deficient in taste and purity. In Greek, indeed, the words fall, as it were, naturally, into a distinct and harmonious order; and from the exuberant richness of the materials, less is left to the ingenuity of the artist. But the Latin language is comparatively weak, scanty, and unmusical; and requires considerable skill and management to render it expressive and graceful. Simplicity in Latin is scarcely separable from baldness; and justly as Terence is celebrated for chaste and unadorned diction, yet even he, compared with Attic writers, is flat and heavy (Quint. x. 1, §100).’ Cp. for a similar contrast Quint. xii. 10, §§27-39.

cum praesertim: Krüger (3rd ed.) gives the sense as follows, ‘especially since I do not intend to prove my statement by a detailed comparison’: following Becher (but see Crit. Notes), who thinks that Quint. means to say that the pugna will be all the more violent because he does not intend to go into a detailed comparison. Such a comparison would be out of place (neque enim attinet), as he is not denying the supreme excellence of Demosthenes. Cum praesertim means that there is all the less reason for controversy as he does not intend to compare the two: it gives an additional ground for what is really, if not formally, the main idea in the writer’s mind, viz. the needlessness of a pugna at this point. Hence it comes to have the force of quamvis, or idque cum tamen: tr. ‘and that though,’ ‘though indeed,’ ‘which is all the less necessary because,’ etc. Cp. Cic. de Fin. ii. 8, 25 cum praesertim in eo omne studium poneret,—where see Madvig’s note: in Verr. ii. 113 ut ex oppido Thermis nihil ex sacro, nihil de publico attingeres, cum praesertim essent multa praeclara, &c., i.e. ‘which is all the more wonderful because’—very much as in our text: Philipp. viii. 2, 5 C. quidem Caesar non expectavit vestra decreta, praesertim cum illud aetatis erat—i.e. as he might well have done at his age: ibid. ii. 64 inventus est nemo praeter Antonium, praesertim cum tot essent, &c.: i.e. which was all the more remarkable as, &c.: Brutus, §267 M. Bibulus qui et scriptitavit adcurate, cum praesertim non esset orator, et, &c., i.e. ‘and that too though’: de Off. ii. 56: Orator §32 nec vero si historiam non scripsisset (Thucydides) nomen eius exstaret, cum praesertim fuisset honoratus et nobilis. Roby §1732: Nägelsbach8, pp. 695-6.

propositi: for the gen. cp. iv. 2, 21 quid acti sit: quid tui consilii sit (Cic. ad Att. xii. 29, 2: Caes. B. G. i. 21, 2): quid offici sui sit Cic. Acad. Pr. ii. §25, with Dr. Reid’s note.

hoc tempore: Demosthenes and Cicero are eulogised together, xii. 1, §§14-22.

neque enim attinet, i.e. nor would there be any point in such a controversy. They have no need to draw the sword against me, for I too give Demosthenes the highest place. In exalting Cicero I do not mean to depreciate Demosthenes. Cp. Tac. Dial. 25 quo modo inter Atticos primae Demostheni tribuuntur ... sic apud nos Cicero quidem ceteros eorundem temporum disertos antecessit.

106

I:106 Quorum ego virtutes 106 plerasque arbitror similes, consilium, ordinem, dividendi, praeparandi, probandi rationem, [omnia] denique quae sunt inventionis. 107 In eloquendo est aliqua diversitas: densior ille hic copiosior, ille concludit adstrictius hic latius, pugnat ille acumine semper hic frequenter et pondere, illi nihil detrahi potest huic nihil adici, curae plus in illo in hoc naturae.

§ 106. consilium: vi. 5 §3 consilium vero ratio est quaedam alte petita et plerumque plura perpendens et comparans habensque in se et inventionem et iudicationem: §11 illud dicere satis habeo, nihil esse non modo in orando, sed in omni vita prius consilio, and the whole passage from §9 to end: ii. 13, 2 res in oratore praecipua consilium est, quia varie et ad rerum momenta convertitur. This ‘tact’ or ‘judgment’ would be specially shown in inventio and in dispositio, here made a part of inventio: elocutio is a higher gift. Cp. viii, Pr. §14 M. Tullius inventionem quidem ac dispositionem prudentis hominis putat, eloquentiam oratoris: Cicero, de Orat. ii. 120 cum haec duo nobis quaerenda sint in causis, primum quid [inventio], deinde quomodo [elocutio] dicamus, alterum ... prudentiae est paene mediocris [quid dicendum sit videre]: alterum est, in quo oratoris vis illa divina virtusque cernitur, ea quae dicenda sunt ornate copiose varieque dicere; Orator §44 nam et invenire et iudicare quid dicas magna illa quidem sunt et tamquam animi instar in corpore, sed propria magis prudentiae quam eloquentiae.

ordinem (τάξιν): ordo corresponds to dispositio iii. 3, 8. In vii. 1, 1 the two are separately defined: ordo recta quaedam collocatio prioribus sequentia adnectens: dispositio utilis rerum ac partium in locos distributio.

dividendi. Divisio is defined, along with partitio, in vii. 1, 1: divisio rerum plurium in singulas, partitio singularum in partes discretio. Here dividendi ratio is used in a more general sense, as equivalent to partitio in iv. 5: i.e. nostrarum aut adversarii propositionum aut utrarumque ordine collocata enumeratio. Of this useful process Quintilian says (iv. 5, 22): neque enim solum id efficit ut clariora fiant quae dicuntur, rebus velut ex turba extractis et in conspectu iudicum positis, sed reficit quoque audientem certo singularum partium fine, non aliter quam facientibus iter multum detrahunt fatigationis notata inscriptis lapidibus spatia.—Kiderlin (Hermes 23, p. 176) thinks it remarkable that divisio should here be ranked alongside of praeparandi, probandi rationem, whereas in iii. 3, 1 it stands independently alongside of inventio itself. He sees no difference between ordinem and dividendi rationem (iii. 3, 8), and suggests that in the MSS. readings (videndi and indicendi) there may be concealed some noun to correspond with ordinem: e.g. viam dicendi (‘der Gang der Reden’): cp. iv. 5, 3: x. 7, 5. But in x. 7, 9 we have both ordo and dispositio, in spite of iii. 3, 8, and so it is here.

praeparandi: iii. 9, 7 expositio enim probationum est praeparatio, nec esse utilis potest nisi prius constiterit, quid debeat de probatione promittere. A less formal use occurs x. 1 §21: cp. iv. 2 §55.

probandi rationem = confirmationem, the establishment of the case. Understanding the passage to contain an enumeration of the five parts of an oration (exordium, narratio, probatio, refutatio, and peroratio), Kiderlin takes probandi here as covering the third and fourth, which were often considered one part. Praeparandi = exordium, and the peroratio is omitted, because here Demosthenes and Cicero were unlike, for the reason given below (§107). In order to include narratio, he proposes to insert narrandi after praeparandi: it may easily, he thinks, have fallen out after -arandi. It is always included in similar enumerations: ii. 5, 7-8: ii. 13, 1: iv. pr. 6: x. 2, 27.

[omnia] denique quae sunt inventionis: see Crit. Notes. ‘Inventio,’ the orator’s first requisite, may of course be shown in all the various parts of a speech, e.g. narratio, divisio, confirmatio, as here. But in the antithesis between inventionis and in eloquendo Quintilian is thinking of that fundamental distinction between substance and form on which he based his treatment of his subject. Applying a rough division to his work, we may say that Books iii. to vii. deal with inventio including dispositio, i.e. εὕρεσις and τάξις: while Books viii-xi. treat of elocutio (λέξις), including actio or pronuntiatio, ‘delivery’ (ὑπόκρισις). So Cicero in the Orator §43 introduces a description of the ideal orator in the three relations of (1) inventio—quid dicat (εὕρεσις): (2) collocatio or dispositio—quo quidque loco (τάξις), and (3) actio or pronuntiatio (ὑπόκρισις): and elocutio (λέξις)—quo modo. Quintilian in iii. 3 gives in more detail the traditional parts of rhetoric: inventio, dispositio, elocutio, memoria, pronuntiatio (or actio). See §§1-9. For the division here cp. also xii. 10, 27 Latina mihi facundia, ut inventione, dispositione, consilio, ceteris huius generis artibus similis Graecae ac prorsus discipula eius videtur, ita circa 107 rationem eloquendi vix habere imitationis locum.

aliqua diversitas: Morawski (Quaest. p. 33) thinks that this passage may be founded on a tractate by Caecilius (contemporary with Dion. Hal.), which is mentioned by Plutarch, Dem. 3 σύγκρισις τοῦ Δημοσθένους καὶ Κικέρωνος. A parallel passage is found in the περὶ ὕψους (Sp. i. p. 261), the author of which may also have borrowed from Caecilius:—ὁ μὲν γὰρ (Δημοσθένης) ἐν ὕψει τὸ πλέον ἀποτόμῳ, ὁ δὲ Κικέρων ἐν χύσει, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἡμέτερος διὰ τὸ μετὰ βίας ἕκαστα, ἔτι δὲ τάχους, ῥώμης, δεινότητος οἷον καίειν τε ἅμα καὶ διαρπάζειν, σκηπτῷ τινι παρεικάζοιτ᾽ ἂν ἢ κεραυνῷ, ὁ δὲ Κικέρων ὡς ἀμφιλαφής τις ἐμπρησμὸς οἶμαι πάντη νέμεται καὶ ἀνειλεῖται.... Cp. Introd. p. xxxviii.

densior: §76 tam densa omnia: so of Thucydides §73 densus et brevis.

concludit, not, as Bonnell = ratiocinatur (xii. 2, 25), but of the ‘rounding off’ of a period: ix. 4, 22, περίοδον quae est vel ambitus vel circumductum vel continuatio vel conclusio. Cp. Cic. Brutus §33 verborum ... quaedam ad numerum conclusio: cp. §34 below, concluditque sententiam: Orator §20 conclusa oratio: §177 concluse apteque dicere: §§200, 220, 230, 231: de Orat. ii. §34 quod carmen artificiosa verborum conclusione (‘artistic period’) aptius? Hor. Sat. i. 4, 40 concludere versum. The opposite is membratim caesimque dicere, Quint. ix. 4, 126: cp. Cic. Orat. §212 incise membratimve: de Orat. iii. 49, 190 carpere membris minutioribus orationem. For a contrast cp. Brutus §120 ut Stoicorum adstrictior est oratio aliquantoque contractior quam aures populi requirunt, sic illorum (Peripateticorum Academicorumque) liberior et latior quam patitur consuetudo iudiciorum et fori: §162 quin etiam comprehensio et ambitus ille verborum, si sic περίοδον appellari placet, erat apud illum (i.e. Crassum) contractus et brevis, et in membra quaedam, quae κῶλα Graeci vocant, dispertiebat orationem libentius.

astrictius ... latius: there is more compactness about the periodic structure in Demosthenes, greater breadth in that of Cicero. This could hardly be said of Demosthenes’s periods as a whole: it rather refers to the care which Cicero and Roman orators generally bestowed on the closing syllables of a period (Blass, Att. Ber. iii. 117). It was this liking for a sonorous and copious diction that seemed to Cicero’s critics to justify the epithets (inflatus, tumens, &c.) applied to him in Dial. de Orat. 18 (quoted above, §105); he himself tells us in the Orator, §104, that his ears craved for something more full and sonorous even than Demosthenes: ‘non semper implet aures meas: ita sunt avidae et capaces et semper aliquid immensum infinitumque desiderant.’

pugnat: used figuratively for dicit: cp. §4.

acumine: the word is used in §§81 and 83 of ‘power of thought,’ ‘intellectual penetration’: viii. 2, 21: x. 1, §81 and §83. See on acutus §77. So Cic. de Orat. i. §128 acumen dialecticorum. Here it includes the idea of ‘point’ in expression: following up the metaphor contained in ‘pugnat,’ we might render, ‘Demosthenes always thrusts with the rapier, Cicero often uses the bludgeon too.’ (Landor, speaking of Shaftesbury and Bolingbroke, as compared with Lord Brougham, said that they had ‘more of the rapier than the bludgeon.’) Cp. de Orat. ii. §158 ipsi se compungunt suis acuminibus. The contrast is something like that implied in xii. 10, 36 subtilitate vincimur (a Graecis): valeamus pondere: cp. ibid. §11 gravitatem Bruti acumen Sulpici.

nihil detrahi: cp. §76 is dicendi modus ut nec quod desit in eo nec quod redundet invenias.

curae ... naturae: v. Jebb’s Attic Orators, i. Introd. p. cvi, where it is remarked that this paradox is true in this sense alone, ‘that Cicero is an inferior artist, and indulges more freely the taste of the natural man for ornament.’ Quintilian may also refer to the laborious training which Demosthenes imposed on himself, and in consequence of which, says Plutarch, δόξαν εἶχεν ὡς οὐκ εὐφυὴς ὤν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ πόνου συγκειμένῃ δεινότητι καὶ δυνάμει χρώμενος (Vit. Demosth. viii.). Cp. the taunt of Pytheas, that his work ‘smelled of the lamp’: ἐλλυχνίων ὄζειν, ibid.; also 108 Parallel. ch. i. It was the rule with Demosthenes never to speak without preparation: Cicero may have relied at times on the faculty of extemporising at need.

I:107 Salibus certe et 108 commiseratione, quae duo plurimum in adfectibus valent, vincimus. Et fortasse epilogos illi mos civitatis abstulerit, sed et nobis illa, quae Attici mirantur, diversa Latini sermonis ratio 109 minus permiserit. In epistulis quidem, quamquam sunt utriusque, dialogisve, quibus nihil ille, nulla contentio est.

§ 107. salibus: cp. vi. 3, 2 plerique Demostheni facultatem defuisse huic rei credunt, Ciceroni modum, nec videri potest noluisse Demosthenes, cuius pauca admodum dicta nec sane ceteris eius virtutibus respondentia palam ostendunt non displicuisse illi iocos sed non contigisse ... mihi quidem ... mira quaedam in eo (Cicerone) videtur fuisse urbanitas. So §21 Demosthenem urbanum fuisse dicunt, dicacem negant: Cic. Orat. §90 non tam dicax quam facetus: Dion. Hal. Dem. c. 54 πάσας ἔχουσα τὰς ἀρετὰς ἡ Δημοσθένους λέξις ... λείπεται εὐτραπελίας. Cp. περὶ ὕψους, 34, where the judgment is unduly severe, ἔνθα μέντοι γελοῖος εἶναι βιάζεται καὶ ἀστεῖος οὐ γέλωτα κινεῖ μᾶλλον ἢ καταγελᾶται. Cp. Sandys’ note on Orat. §90, “Though not obtrusively witty, Demosthenes nevertheless is not wanting in humour, as is proved by the speech on the Chersonesus §§5, 11 ff. and esp. 23 (characterized by Brougham as ‘full of refined and almost playful wit’): Plut. iii. §66: de Cor. §§198, 234 (Blass, Att. Ber. iii. 163-6).” For a criticism of Cicero’s wit, on the other hand, v. Plut. Parallel. §1 Κικέρων δὲ πολλαχοῦ τῷ σκωπτικῷ πρὸς τὸ βωμολόχον ἐκφερόμενος καὶ πράγματα σπουδῆς ἄξια γέλωτι καὶ παιδιᾷ κατειρωνευόμενος ἐν ταῖς δίκαις εἰς τὸ χρειῶδες ἠφείδει τοῦ πρέποντος, and below, Cato’s ὡς γελοῖον, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἔχομεν ὕπατον. Δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ γέλωτος οἰκεῖος ὁ Κικέρων γεγονέναι καὶ φιλοσκώπτης κ.τ.λ.

commiseratione, ‘pathos.’ See Orator §130 in quo ut viderer excellere non ingenio, sed dolore adsequebar; i.e. it was real sympathy more than any special talent that enabled him to excel in this respect.

in adfectibus, ‘where the feelings are concerned.’ Under adfectus (vi. 2) is included everything that makes an impression on the judges: §1 opus ... movendi iudicum animos: among other things laughter itself, virtus quae risum iudicis movendo et illos tristes solvit adfectus et animum ab intentione rerum frequenter avertit et aliquando etiam reficit et a satietate vel a fatigatione renovat.

vincimus: for the present cp. §§93, 101, 105.

epilogos, ‘perorations.’ The peroration was looked on as giving a great opportunity for moving the feelings: Arist. Rhet. iii. 19 says one of its parts is εἰς τὰ πάθη τὸν ἀκροατὴν καταστῆσαι. So Quint. iv. 1, 28 quod in ingressu parcius et modestius praetemptanda sit iudicis misericordia: in epilogo vero liceat totos effundere adfectus. The word is common in this sense in Quintilian: vi. 1, 37, sq. esp. §52 at hic, si usquam, totos eloquentiae aperire fontes licet. Nam et, si bene diximus reliqua, possidebimus iam iudicum animos, et e confragosis atque asperis evecti tota pandere possumus vela, et, cum sit maxima pars epilogi amplificatio, verbis atque sententiis uti licet magnificis et ornatis. Tunc est commovendum theatrum cum ventum est ad ipsum illud, quo veteres tragoediae comoediaeque cluduntur, plodite: cp. also Cicero, Brutus §33 exstat eius peroratio, qui epilogus dicitur: de Orat. ii. §278: ad Att. iv. 15, 4.

mos civitatis: ii. 16 §4 Athenis ubi actor movere adfectus vetabatur velut recisam orandi potestatem: vi. 1, 7, where he says that with the Attic orators the epilogus generally took the form of recapitulation (ἀνακεφαλαίωσις = enumeratio) ‘quia Athenis adfectus movere etiam per praeconem prohibebatur orator.’ Cp. xii. 10, 26. This would be especially the case in trials before the Areopagus. But it was the Hellenic instinct for moderation that imposed its own law. Lord Brougham, in his Dissertation on the Eloquence of the Ancients (p. 25), remarks on the calmness of the Greek peroration: cp. his Essay on Demosthenes (p. 184): ‘It seems to have been a rule enjoined by the severe taste of those times, that after being wrought up to a great pitch of emotion, the speaker should, in quitting his audience, leave an impression of dignity, which cannot be maintained without composure.’ Cp. Jebb, i. ciii-civ: ‘Cicero has now and then an Attic peroration, as in the Second Philippic and the Pro Milone; more often he breaks off in a burst of eloquence—as in the First Catilinarian, the Pro Flacco, and the Pro Cluentio.’

illa quae Attici mirantur: cp. §65, §100 illam solis concessam Atticis venerem: xii. 10 §35 illam gratiam sermonis Attici.

109

epistulis. If it were not for the ineptitude of the comparison which follows (in quibus nihil ille) we might be inclined to imagine that Quintilian knew of more letters of Demosthenes than the six which are still extant, and which are generally considered apocryphal.

dialogis: comprising most of Cicero’s philosophical works, and the Brutus and De Oratore among his rhetorical.

nihil ille, sc. effecit, consecutus est: cp. §§56, 123: 2 §§6, 24: 3 §25: 7 §§7, 23.

I:108 Cedendum vero in hoc, quod et prior fuit et ex magna parte Ciceronem quantus est fecit. Nam mihi videtur M. Tullius, cum se totum ad imitationem Graecorum contulisset, effinxisse vim Demosthenis, copiam Platonis, iucunditatem Isocratis.

§ 108. effinxisse, ‘artistically reproduced.’

iucunditatem. ‘The idea which Cicero got from Isocrates was that of number. See esp. de Orat. iii. 44 §173.’ Jebb. So ‘suavitatem Isocrates ... vim Demosthenes habuit’ de Orat. iii. §28.

I:109 Nec vero quod in quoque optimum fuit studio consecutus est tantum, sed plurimas vel potius omnes ex se ipso virtutes extulit immortalis ingenii beatissima ubertate. Non enim ‘pluvias,’ ut ait Pindarus, ‘aquas colligit, sed vivo gurgite exundat,’ dono quodam providentiae genitus, in quo totas vires suas eloquentia experiretur.

§ 109. ex se ipso ... extulit: cp. Cic. Acad. ii. 8, 23 artem vivendi quae ipsa ex sese habeat constantiam, where Dr. Reid cites this passage, along with many others, e.g. Sen. Ep. 52, 3 hos quibus ex se impetus fuit: Cic. N. D. iii. 88 a se sumere.

beatissima: cp. §61 beatissima rerum verborumque copia: 3, §22 beatiorem spiritum. Cp. the eulogy by Caesar, in his Analogia (written as he was crossing the Alps, and dedicated to Cicero himself): ac si ut cogitata praeclare eloqui possent non nulli studio et usu elaboraverunt, cuius te paene principem copiae atque inventorem bene de nomine ac dignitate populi Romani meritum esse existimare debemus, &c.—quoted in Brutus §253. Hild adds Pliny H. N. vii. 30 Facundiae Latiarumque litterarum parens atque ... omnium triumphorum gloria maior, quanto plus est ingenii Romani terminos in tantum promovisse quam imperii,—where the language has a close resemblance to that of Cicero himself in Brutus §255.

ut ait Pindarus. We get the pluvias aquas in the οὐρανίων ὑδάτων ὀμβρίων of Olymp. xi, but there is nothing in Pindar’s extant works that corresponds to the quotation.

exundat: cp. Tac. Dial. 30 ex multa eruditione et plurimis artibus et omnium rerum scientia exundat et exuberat illa admirabilis eloquentia.

providentia is used very frequently by itself in Quintilian, e.g. i. 10, 7 oratio qua nihil praestantius homini dedit providentia (v. Bonn. Lex.); also in xi. i, 23 with deorum immortalium.

eloquentia: cp. Sen. Ep. 40, 11 Cicero quoque noster, a quo Romana eloquentia exsiluit.

I:110 Nam quis docere diligentius, movere vehementius potest? Cui tanta umquam iucunditas adfuit? ut ipsa illa quae extorquet 110 impetrare eum credas, et cum transversum vi sua iudicem ferat, tamen ille non rapi videatur, sed sequi.

§ 110. docere ... movere. Cp. iii. 5 §2 tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet (quoted on §80). Iucunditas here expresses the third. So Cicero, Brutus §185 tria sunt enim, ut quidem ego sentio, quae sint efficienda dicendo: ut doceatur is apud quem dicetur, ut delectetur, ut moveatur vehementius.

extorquet: cp. v. 7, 17 at in eo qui invitus dicturus est prima felicitas interrogantis extorquere quod is noluerit: ib. §27. Cic. de Or. ii. §74 qui nunquam sententias de manibus iudicum vi quadam orationis extorsimus ac potius placatis eorum animis tantum quantum ipsi patiebantur accepimus.

110

transversus = ‘turned across,’ i.e. at right angles to the original line. So transversis itineribus Sall. Iug. 45, 2. For the figure contained in transversum ferat cp. ibid. 6, 3 opportunitas quae etiam mediocres viros ... transversos agit: 14, 20. The iudex is ‘turned athwart’—away from the path of his own judgment. So Sen. Ep. 8, 3 cum coepit transversos agere felicitas: Cic. Brutus 331 cuius in adulescentiam ... transversa incurrit misera fortuna rei publicae.

I:111 Iam in omnibus quae dicit tanta auctoritas inest ut dissentire pudeat, nec advocati studium sed testis aut iudicis adferat fidem; cum interim haec omnia, quae vix singula quisquam intentissima cura consequi posset, fluunt inlaborata et illa, qua nihil pulchrius auditum est, oratio prae se fert tamen felicissimam facilitatem.

§ 111. advocati, ‘pleader,’ as generally in Quintilian, syn. with ‘actor causae,’ ‘causidicus,’ ‘patronus.’ In Cicero the word is reserved for those who lent their countenance and personal support to a friend, especially in legal matters: e.g. Brutus §289: pro Clu. §110 quis eum unquam non modo in patroni, sed in laudatoris aut advocati loco viderat? See Fausset’s note on advocabat pro Clu. §54.

fidem: ‘trustworthiness,’ ‘credibility.’ So quantam afferat fidem iv. 2, 125.

cum interim: Roby §1732. Cp. note on §18.

posset: the use of the imperf. subj. points to a suppressed protasis, sc. si vellet. Cp. i. 1, 22 cur improbetur si quis ea quae domi suae recte faceret in publicum promit? So too below, 2 §25 qui noceret, where see note.

tamen is a reminiscence of tamen ille non rapi videatur, in the previous sentence, and must be taken with cum interim: = ‘for all that.’

facilitatem: cp. §1.

I:112 Quare non immerito ab hominibus aetatis suae regnare in iudiciis dictus est, apud posteros vero id consecutus, ut Cicero iam non hominis nomen sed eloquentiae habeatur. Hunc igitur spectemus, hoc propositum nobis sit exemplum, ille se profecisse sciat, cui Cicero valde placebit.

§ 112. regnare: cp. Cic. ad Fam. vii. 24, 1 olim quum regnare existimabamur: ad Att. i. 1 illud suum regnum iudiciale,—his ‘sovereignty of the bar’: in Verr. i. 12, 35 (of Hortensius) omnis dominatio regnumque iudiciorum: ad Fam. ix. 18, 1 amisso regno forensi: cp. pro Sulla §7.

non hominis ... sed eloquentiae. There is no thought here of holding the balance with Demosthenes, §105. Cp. what Brutus says after Caesar’s eulogy quoted above (§109 note): quo enim uno vincebamur a victa Graecia, id aut ereptum illis est aut certe nobis cum illis communicatum: Brut. §254. Hild quotes from Plutarch (Cicero, §4) the story of Molo, one of Cicero’s teachers, who, on hearing him declaim, said that he had to pity the hard fate of Greece, from whom the palm of eloquence, her sole surviving glory, was now to pass away.

exemplum, predicative, hoc being neuter by a common form of attraction: cp. 3 §17.

profecisse: Hild quotes Boileau, Art. Poet. iii. 308, speaking of Homer: c’est avoir profité que de savoir s’y plaire.

I:113 Multa in Asinio Pollione inventio, summa 111 diligentia, adeo ut quibusdam etiam nimia videatur, et consilii et animi satis: a nitore et iucunditate Ciceronis ita longe abest ut videri possit saeculo prior. At Messalla nitidus et candidus et quodam modo praeferens in dicendo nobilitatem suam, viribus minor.

§ 113. Quintilian makes no mention of orators previous to Cicero: for them see Brutus §53 sqq. Velleius disposes of them in the following sentence (i. 17, 3): At oratio ac vis forensis perfectumque prosae eloquentiae decus, ut idem separetur Cato, pace P. Crassi Scipionisque et Laeli et Gracchorum et Fanni et Servi Galbae dixerim, ita universa sub principe operis sui erupit Tullio, ut delectari ante eum paucissimis, mirari vero neminem possis, nisi aut ab illo visum aut qui illum viderit. Cp. Tac. Dial. 25. Hild cites also Seneca, Controv. i. praef.: quidquid Romana facundia habet, quod insolenti Graeciae aut opponat aut praeferat, circa Ciceronem effloruit; omnia ingenia quae lucem studiis nostris attulerunt, tunc nata sunt.

111

Asinio Pollione. C. Asinius Pollio (75 B.C.–4 A.D.) was consul in 40, when he helped Maecenas to arrange the Peace of Brundisium: afterwards becoming estranged from Antony he retired into private life and devoted himself to letters. Vergil dedicates the Fourth Eclogue to him, and in the first Ode of Book ii Horace recounts his various titles to distinction. He was a poet as well as an orator: Verg. Ecl. viii. 10 Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno: iii. 86 Pollio et ipse facit nova carmina: Hor. S. i. 10, 42. He was also distinguished as a historian, having written a history of the Civil Wars from the first triumvirate (Motum ex Metello consule Hor. Car. ii. 1, 1). In the same Ode (II. 13, 14) Horace alludes to his fame as an orator, both at the bar and in the senate. Quintilian’s judgment on him in this capacity may be compared with that of Seneca, Ep. 100, 7 Lege Ciceronem: compositio eius una est, pedem servat lenta et sine infamia mollis. At contra Pollionis Asinii salebrosa et exsiliens et ubi minime expectes relictura. Denique omnia apud Ciceronem desinunt, apud Pollionem cadunt exceptis paucissimis, quae ad certum modum et ad unum exemplar adstricta sunt. Cp. 2 §17 below tristes ac ieiuni Pollionem aemulantur.

diligentia: 2 §25 vim Caesaris, asperitatem Caelii, diligentiam Pollionis. The word does not refer to the historian’s painstaking care (which could hardly ever be ‘nimia’), but to the ‘precision’ or ‘exactitude’ of his language: v. the fragment quoted in ix. 4, 132.

consilii, ‘judgment,’ §106.

animi, ‘spirit,’ ‘vivacity.’

nitore: v. on §97.

saeculo prior. ‘As an orator and writer he affected antique severity in opposition to Ciceronian smoothness,’—Teuffel. Cp. Tac. Dial. 21 Asinius quoque quamquam propioribus temporibus natus sit, videtur mihi inter Menenios et Appios studuisse; Pacuvium certe et Accium non solum tragoediis sed etiam orationibus suis expressit: adeo durus et siccus est: Sen. Controv. iv. praef. 3 illud strictum eius et aspersum et nimis iratum in censendo iudicium adeo cessabat ut in multis illi venia opus esset quae ab ipso vix impetrabatur. See Schmalz ‘Ueber den Sprachgebrauch des Asinius Pollio,’ p. 289; München, 1890. Pollio’s antipathy to Cicero and his dislike of Cicero’s style may be seen from the story in Seneca, Suas. vi. extr., quoted by Bernhardy (q.v.), R. L. p. 268 (note 182).

Messalla, M. Valerius Corvinus (64 B.C.-8 A.D.), the friend of Tibullus, who dedicates to him i. 7: cp. the panegyric iv. 1. Cp. Tac. Dial. 18 Cicerone mitior Corvinus et dulcior et in verbis magis elaboratus,—with the latter part of which cp. Sen. Controv. ii. 12, 8 Latini utique sermonis observator diligentissimus. Cicero’s own opinion of him may be seen in Epist. ad Brutum i. 15, 1 cave putes probitate, constantia, cura, studio reipublicae quidquam illi esse simile; ut eloquentia, qua mirabiliter excellit, vix in eo locum ad laudandum habere videatur: quamquam in hac ipsa sapientia plus apparet: ita gravi iudicio multaque arte se exercuit in verissimo genere dicendi, tanta autem industria est tantumque evigilat in studio ut non maxima ingenio (quod in eo summum est) gratia habenda videatur. By verissimum genus dicendi Cicero seems to indicate that Messalla was neither an Asianist like Hortensius, nor an extreme Atticist like Calvus. See also Brutus §246, where the judgment is less favourable: nullo modo inops, sed non nimis ornatus genere verborum.

nitidus: cp. i. 7, 35 ideo minus Messalla nitidus quia, &c.

candidus: v. on §73.

quodam modo: cp. Cic. Brut. §30 (where Kellogg wrongly renders ‘with a certain style’): ib. §149: de Orat. iii. §37: §184.

praeferens = prae se ferens: cp. vi. 3, 17: 2, 14.

viribus minor: cp. §103.

I:114 C. vero Caesar si foro tantum vacasset, non alius ex 112 nostris contra Ciceronem nominaretur. Tanta in eo vis est, id acumen, ea concitatio, ut illum eodem animo dixisse quo bellavit appareat; exornat tamen haec omnia mira sermonis, cuius proprie studiosus fuit, elegantia.

§ 114. Caesar. The purity and correctness of Caesar’s style are eulogised in the Brutus §§251-262: see esp. §261 non video cui debeat cedere. Cp. Phil. ii. 45 Fuit in illo ingenium, ratio, memoria, 112 litterae, cura, cogitatio, diligentia: and with special reference to his oratorical talent, Suet. Caes. 55, where is cited a fragment from a letter of Cicero: ‘Quid? oratorum quem huic antepones eorum qui nihil aliud egerunt? Quis sententiis aut acutior aut crebrior? Quis verbis aut ornatior aut elegantior?’ Tac. Ann, xiii. 3 dictator Caesar summis oratoribus aemulus.

si foro tantum vacasset. So of Pompeius (Brut. 239), vir ad omnia summa natus, maiorem dicendi gloriam habuisset, nisi eum maioris gloriae cupiditas ad bellicas laudes abstraxisset: Tac. Dial. 21 concedamus sane C. Caesari, ut propter magnitudinem cogitationum et occupationes rerum in eloquentia non effecerit quae divinum eius ingenium postulabat.

contra, ‘by the side of,’ with the notion of being ‘pitted against’: cp. proximumque Ciceroni Caesarem, Vell. Pat. ii. 36, 2.

vis: xii. 10, 11 vim Caesaris.

acumen. See on §106: here probably of a pointed incisive style.

eodem animo: Livy xxxviii. 50 dicebantur enim ab eodem animo ingenioque a quo gesta erant.

proprie studiosus: cp. i. 7, 34 aut vim C. Caesaris fregerunt editi de analogia libri? Suet. Caes. 56: Gell. xix. 8, 3. See too Brutus §253, where we learn that the work was dedicated to Cicero: ‘qui etiam in maximis occupationibus ad te ipsum,’ inquit in me intuens, ‘de ratione Latine loquendi adcuratissime scripserit primoque in libro dixerit verborum delectum originem esse eloquentiae.’—Cp. Gell. xvi. 8 C. Caesar gravis auctor linguae latinae,—Proprie in this sense is post-Augustan: cp. Vell. Pat. ii. 9, 1.

elegantia: Brutus §252 ita iudico ... illum omnium fere oratorum Latine loqui elegantissime. In the Preface to B. G. viii. Hirtius says Erat autem in Caesare quum facultas atque elegantia summa scribendi tum, etc.

I:115 Multum ingenii in Caelio et praecipue in accusando multa urbanitas, dignusque vir, cui et mens melior et vita longior contigisset. Inveni qui Calvum 113 praeferrent omnibus, inveni qui Ciceroni crederent eum nimia contra se calumnia verum sanguinem perdidisse; sed est et sancta et gravis oratio et castigata et frequenter vehemens 114 quoque. Imitator autem est Atticorum, fecitque illi properata mors iniuriam, si quid adiecturus sibi non si quid detracturus fuit.

§ 115. Caelius, M. Rufus (82-48 B.C.), a man of loose morals and luxurious life, whom Cicero defended from some charges of sedition and attempted poisoning, 56 B.C. He had not much strength of character: during Cicero’s absence in Cilicia he was in friendly correspondence with him, but afterwards he joined Caesar, while urging Cicero to remain neutral. Becoming discontented, he intrigued with Milo to raise an insurrection against Caesar, and was put to death near Thurii by some foreign cavalry, 48 B.C. Cp. Brutus §273 splendida et grandis et eadem in primis faceta et perurbana oratio. Graves eius contiones aliquot fuerunt, acres accusationes tres (one against C. Antonius) ... defensiones ... sane tolerabiles. There was something bitter about him: 2 §25 asperitatem Caelii: cp. Tac. Dial. 25 amarior Caelius: Sen. de Ira iii. 8, 6 oratorem ... iracundissimum. A description of one of his speeches is given iv. 2, 123 sq.: for witticisms on Clodia v. viii. 6, 53. Cp. Tac. Dial. 21 and 25.

praecipue in accusando: vi. 3, 69 idem (Cicero) per allegoriam M. Caelium, melius obicientem crimina quam defendentem, bonam dextram malam sinistram habere dicebat.

urbanitas is defined vi. 3, 17 as sermonem praeferentem in verbis et sono et usu proprium quendam gustum urbis et sumptam ex conversatione doctorum tacitam eruditionem, denique cui contraria sit rusticitas. Here the idea of wit is uppermost, as in ii. 11, 2 and vi. 3, 105. Cp. vi. 3 §41 Caelius cum omnia venustissime finxit tum illud ultimum: i. 6, 29.

mens melior: Brut. §273 quaecunque eius in exitu vel fortuna vel mens fuit: Vell. Pat. ii. 68 vir eloquio animoque Curioni simillimus, sed in utroque perfectior nec minus ingeniose nequam.

Calvus, Gaius Licinius (B.C. 82-48), was the leading spirit among the stricter Atticists in Cicero’s day, and is censured by him in the Brutus (§§284-291) for taking so narrow a view of the full meaning of Attic oratory as to have introduced the attempt to imitate certain particular models among the Attic orators. A poet himself, he was the friend of Catullus, and, like Catullus, an opponent of Caesar. He prosecuted Vatinius on three separate 113 occasions, and once showed such vehemence and energy that the defendant rose in court, saying ‘rogo vos, iudices, num si iste disertus est ideo me damnari oportet’ (Sen. Controv. vii. 6): Tac. Dial. 34 Vatinium eis orationibus insecutus est, quas hodieque cum admiratione legimus: cp. ib. 21. Cp. Catullus 53, where we get a lively idea of his energetic eloquence at the trial. The passage of Cicero referred to (Brutus §283 quoted below) was written after the death of Calvus: but already in Dec. 47 Cicero, in writing to his friend Trebonius, had stated his opinion that Calvus had made an error of judgment in the choice of his style, and that he was wanting in force: ad Fam. xv. 21 §4 genus quoddam sequebatur, in quo iudicio lapsus, quo valebat, tamen assequebatur quod probaret. Multae erant et reconditae litterae, vis non erat (Quint. x. 2, 25 ‘iudicium Calvi’). In the Dial. de Or. ch. 18 Tacitus refers to certain letters, now lost, from Calvus and Brutus to Cicero, showing that the latter regarded Calvus as exsanguis and attritus (v.l. aridus), while Calvus stigmatised Cicero as solutus and enervis. His position as leader of a school (which took Lysias mainly for its model and cultivated ‘plainness’ at the expense of other good qualities) is indicated by Cicero’s remark that he ‘not only went wrong himself, but also led others astray’ (Brut. §284).

Ciceroni crederent, &c. “In writing of his oratorical style in the Brutus, two years after his death, Cicero observes that, while he was more accomplished in literature than the younger Curio, he had also a more accurate and exquisite style; and although he handled it with skill and elegance, he was too minute and nice in his self-criticism; losing the very life-blood of style for fear of tainting its purity, and cultivating too scrupulous a taste to win the approval of the general public” (Sandys, Orator, Introd. xlvi.). The passage from the Brutus (283) is as follows:—adcuratius quoddam dicendi et exquisitius adferebat genus; quod quanquam scienter eleganterque tractabat, nimium tamen inquirens in se atque ipse sese observans metuensque ne vitiosum colligeret, etiam verum sanguinem deperdebat ... Atticum ... se dici oratorem volebat; inde erat ista exilitas, quam ille de industria consequebatur.

nimia ... calumnia, ‘by over-rigorous self-censure,’—a morbid habit of introspective criticism: the word being used to express nimium inquirens ... observans ... metuensque in the passage just quoted. Perhaps the nearest parallel to this use is to be found in Caec. ap. Cic. ad Fam. vi. 7, 4 in hac igitur calumnia, timoris et caecae suspicionis tormento,—of exaggerated fears inspired by the spirit of carping self-criticism, for which cp. 4 §3: 7 §14. The verb is found in the same sense in 3 §10 infelicem calumniandi se poenam: viii. prooem. 31 nullus est finis calumniandi se et cum singulis paene syllabis commoriendi. Cp. Plin. xxxiv. 8, 19 §92 calumniator sui, of one who is over-anxious in regard to his work. Cicero uses the verb absolutely: ad Fam. ix. 2, 3 mihi quidem venit in mentem bellum esse aliquo exire ... sed calumniabar ipse: putabam qui obviam mihi venisset ... suspicaturum aut dicturum, &c., where the meaning is ‘I indulged groundless fears’ (Nägelsbach, p. 54). The word calumnia is derived from the root calv found in calvor, to trick, quibble, through a participial form *calvomenos, calumnus (cp. autumnus, aerumna, columna). Its first meaning is a malicious charge or ‘cavil’: ad Fam. i. 1, 1, religionis calumniam, the ‘trumped-up plea of a religious difficulty.’ Hence it was applied in Roman law (Gaius 4, 178) to the vexatious abuse of legal forms, chicanery, legal quirks and quibbles, and generally to the pettifogging tendency which exalts the letter above the spirit.

verum sanguinem perdidisse: cp. 4 §3 exsanguia.

sancta et gravis: his style is ‘solemn and weighty,’ xii. 10, 11 ‘sanctitatem Calvi.’

castigata, ‘chastened,’ ‘severely finished’: cp. Hor. A. P. 292 carmen reprehendite quod non Multa dies et multa litura coercuit atque Praesectum decies non castigavit ad unguem, i.e. by pruning away everything that is useless and inappropriate: Tac. Dial. 25 adstrictior Calvus, numerosior Asinius.

frequenter: see on §17.

vehemens: cp. Sen. Controv. viii. 7 114 solebat praeterea excedere subsellia sua et impetu latus usque ad adversariorum partem transcurrere. Seneca adds that he resembled Demosthenes inasmuch as he was all struggle and excitement, though he sometimes employed a gentler style, ib. §8 nihil in illa (compositione) placidum, nihil lene est, omnia excitata et fluctuantia.

properata mors: cp. immatura mors. He died at the early age of 34. Cp. Brutus §279 facienda mentio est ... duorum adulescentium (Curio and Calvus) qui si diutius vixissent magnam essent eloquentiae laudem consecuti.

adiecturus, i.e. if it was likely that he would have added to the purity of his diction other and richer qualities. The cold dry manner of the strictest Atticists failed to hold the ear of Roman audiences: Brut. §289 subsellia grandiorem et pleniorem vocem desiderant, a larger and fuller utterance than that of the Atticists who spoke ‘anguste et exiliter.’ See Crit. Notes.

detracturus: sc. nimia contra se calumnia. He is exilis enough as it is.

I:116 Et Servius Sulpicius insignem non immerito famam tribus orationibus meruit. Multa, si cum iudicio legatur, dabit imitatione digna Cassius Severus, qui si ceteris virtutibus colorem et gravitatem orationis adiecisset, ponendus inter praecipuos foret.

§ 116. Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the most distinguished jurist of Cicero’s day, consul B.C. 51. See reff. in Brutus §150: §152: §153 (adiunxit etiam et litterarum scientiam et loquendi elegantiam). His letter of sympathy to Cicero on the death of Tullia is well known: ad Fam. iv. 5. Cp. 5 §4: 7 §30 and above §22.

meruit = consecutus est, as §94. See on §72.

Cassius Severus flourished under Augustus, and was banished on account of his libellous attacks (procacibus scriptis), first to Crete and then to Seriphos, where he is said to have died A.D. 34, in the twenty-fifth year of his exile; Tac. Ann. iv. 21: i. 72. He is spoken of as the introducer of the new school of declamatory eloquence, Tac. Dial. 19 Antiquorum admiratores ... Cassium Severum ... primum affirmant flexisse ab illa vetere atque directa dicendi via, &c.: ibid. 26 equidem non negaverim Cassium Severum ... si iis comparetur qui postea fuerunt, posse oratorem vocari, quamquam in magna parte librorum suorum plus bilis habeat quam sanguinis: primus enim contempto ordine rerum, omissa modestia ac pudore verborum, ipsis etiam quibus utitur armis incompositus et studio feriendi plerumque detectus, non pugnat sed rixatur; ceterum ... et varietate eruditionis et lepore urbanitatis et ipsaram virium robore multum ceteros superat.

colorem: cp. on §59. The word is not here used in the technical sense which it bears in rhetoric, i.e. the particular aspect given to a case by a skilful representation of the facts,—the ‘gloss’ or ‘varnish’ put on them by either the accused or the accuser. For this sense see iv. 2, 88: Inv. vi. 279 Dic aliquem, sodes, dic Quintiliane colorem: vii. 155 with Mayor’s note. Here it has a more general sense. Quintilian is charging Cassius with a want of proper ‘tone’: cp. omissa modestia ac pudore verborum, above: Cic. de Or. iii. 96 ornatur oratio genere primum et quasi colore quodam et suco suo.

gravitatem: Cassius was wanting in dignity, and his wit was apt to carry him too far. Quintilian gives an instance of this xi. 1, 57; Seneca, Controv. iii. praef. 2 says however ‘gravitas, quae deerat vitae, actioni supererat.’

I:117 Nam et ingenii plurimum est in eo et acerbitas mira et urbanitas et fervor, sed plus stomacho quam consilio dedit. Praeterea 115 ut amari sales, ita frequenter amaritudo ipsa ridicula est.

§ 117. ingenii plurimum: Tacitus (Ann. iv. 21) allows that he was ‘orandi validus’: and Seneca (l.c.) says oratio eius erat valens culta ingentibus plena sententiis ... non est quod illum ex his quae edidit aestimetis ... eloquentia eius longe maior erat quam lectio.

acerbitas mira: cp. Tac. Ann. i. 72 commotus Cassii Severi libidine qua viros feminasque inlustres procacibus scriptis diffamaverat.

urbanitas, v. on §115. For examples see vi. 1, 43: viii. 3, 89: xi. 3, 133.

et fervor: see Crit. Notes, and cp. 115 Seneca l.c. habebat ... genus dicendi ... ardens et concitatum.

stomacho: he was full of passionate impulse: cp. the passage quoted from Dial. 26 above.

praeterea ... ridicula est. Spalding’s interpretation of this passage is followed by Krüger (2nd ed.) and Hild: the other editors do not seem to have felt any difficulty. The sentence is taken in continuation of the praise of Cassius, attaching closely to ‘urbanitas’: the words from sed plus to dedit being then interjected as the only note of disparagement. The literal translation would then be ‘while his wit is bitter, the bitterness itself is often enough to make you laugh.’ ‘He has a caustic wit, but his causticity by itself will often make you laugh.’ For this sense of ridicula (Sp. ‘risum movet auditorum’) cp. vi. 3, 22 ridiculum ... haec tota disputatio a Graecis περὶ γελοίου inscribitur: 3 §6 ridiculum (‘funny,’ ‘droll’) dictum plerumque falsum est (ad hoc semper humile). Frieze compares vi. 3, 7: and adds ‘success in exciting the mirth of the court and the audience is not always a proof of the orator’s wit; but is often due to mere bitterness of invective, and coarse and rough or droll terms of abuse.’

One objection to this interpretation is the arrangement of the sentences: praeterea ... ridicula est connects even more naturally with sed plus ... dedit than with the eulogy contained in urbanitas et fervor. And it may be doubted if Quintilian or any other writer who had just been censuring Cassius for stomachus would immediately go on (using ridiculus in a good sense) to say that ‘often when he is merely bitter without being witty (this is the force of amaritudo ipsa, cp. note on §45) he makes you laugh.’ Drollery can hardly be claimed for unrelieved acrimoniousness.

A better sense can be obtained by taking amaritudo ipsa ridicula est as part not of the praise but of the censure of Cassius, and interpreting ridicula as ‘silly,’ ‘absurd,’ ‘ridiculous.’ Cicero uses the word in this sense, and there is abundant authority in Quintilian himself: cp. sint grandia et tumida, non stulta etiam et acrioribus oculis intuenti ridicula ii. 10, 6; ridiculum est v. 13, 7; fecit enim risum sed ridiculus fuit vi. 1, 48; quibus nos ... ridiculi videmur vii. 1, 43: ix. 3, 100; x. 3, 21; xi. 3, 128. The meaning then is ‘while his wit is bitter, yet bitterness by itself is silly,’ i.e. his wit has a bitter turn, but where he is (as often) bitter without being witty, the result is poor. There is undoubtedly something unsatisfactory about ut amari sales (sc. sunt), which might well have a general reference. See Crit. Notes.

I:118 Sunt alii multi diserti, quos persequi longum est. Eorum quos viderim Domitius Afer et Iulius Africanus longe praestantissimi. 116 Verborum arte ille et toto genere dicendi praeferendus et quem in numero veterum habere non timeas: hic concitatior, sed in cura verborum nimius et compositione nonnumquam longior et translationibus parum modicus. Erant clara et nuper ingenia.

§ 118. diserti here, as in §68 and 3 §13, almost synonymous with eloquentes. In viii. pr. §13, however, Quintilian quotes a saying of M. Antonius, which was meant to establish a difference: nam et M. Antonius ... cum a se disertos visos esse multos ait, eloquentem neminem, diserto satis putat dicere quae oporteat, ornate autem dicere proprium esse eloquentis. Cp. i. 10, 8 ‘Fuit aliquis sine his disertus’: ‘at ego oratorem volo.’ Cicero gives the same quotation: Orat. §18: de Orat. i. §94, where the reason for the distinction between the ‘accomplished speaker’ and ‘the eloquent orator’ is given by Antonius himself,—quod ego eum statuebam disertum, qui posset satis acute atque dilucide apud mediocres homines ex communi quadam opinione hominum dicere, eloquentem vero, qui mirabilius et magnificentius augere posset atque ornare quae vellet, omnesque omnium rerum, quae ad dicendum pertinerent, fontes animo ac memoria contineret. Cp. Plin. Ep. v. 20 §5. For the derivation of disertus v. Sandys on Orat. §18.

longum est: the action is spoken of as still possible. Roby 1735. So Cic. pro Sest. 5: Longum est ea dicere: sed hoc breve dicam. Cp. 2 §§4, 7: 5 §7: 6 §2.

quos viderim: see on §98. In xii. 10, 11 he has ‘in iis etiam quos ipsi vidimus,’ mentioning both Afer and Africanus. Quintilian’s fondness for the perfect subjunctive is marked: cp. xii. 5, 5.

Domitius Afer: see on §86: cp. v. 7, 7 quem adolescentulus senem colui.

Iulius Africanus: a native of Gaul, who flourished under Nero. In xii. 10, 11 he is again named alongside of Afer,—vires Africani, maturitatem Afri. He is quoted as speaking to Nero in the name of Gaul viii. 5, 15 Insigniter Africanus apud Neronem de morte matris: rogant 116 te, Caesar, Galliae tuae, ut felicitatem tuam fortiter feras. He divided the palm of eloquence with Afer: Tac. Dial. 15, He was a son of the Iulius Africanus of whom Tacitus speaks (Ann. vi. 7) as e Santonis Gallica civitate (Saintonge, to the N. of the lower Garonne): a grandson of his, also an orator, is mentioned by Pliny vii. 6, 11.

in numero veterum: cp. Tac. Dial. 15, ad fin.

compositione: v. on §79. If it has the same meaning here, it must = the euphonious collocation of words: see Cicero Orat. §147 de verbis enim componendis, &c., and §149 sq. Quintilian treats of compositio ix. 4, 1: Tr. ‘tedious in his phraseology’: viii. 3, 52: ix. 4, 144 neque longioribus quam oportet hyperbolis compositioni serviamus.

longior: i.e. he used ‘padding’ in the effort to round off his periods.

translationibus: viii. 6, 4 sq.: esp. 16 sed copia quoque modum egressa vitiosa est, praecipue in eadem specie.

I:119 Nam et Trachalus plerumque sublimis et satis apertus fuit et quem velle optima crederes, auditus tamen maior; nam et vocis, quantam in nullo cognovi, felicitas et pronuntiatio vel scaenis suffectura et decor, omnia denique ei, quae sunt extra, superfuerunt: et Vibius Crispus compositus et iucundus et delectationi 117 natus, privatis tamen causis quam publicis melior.

§ 119. Trachalus, M. Galerius: consul A.D. 68 along with Silius Italicus. Tacitus (Hist. i. 90) tells us he was supposed to have written the speech delivered by Otho to an assembly of the people: in rebus urbanis Galerii Trachali ingenio Othonem uti credebatur. Et erant qui genus ipsum orandi noscerent, crebro fori usu celebre et ad inplendas populi aures latum et sonans. After Otho’s death he was fortunate in securing the protection of Galeria, wife of Vitellius (ibid. ii. 60), who may have been a relation of his. From viii. 5, 19 we learn that he had published an oration Contra Spatalem, in a case where Vibius Crispus appeared for the accused. Cp. vi. 3, 78.

velle optima, not ‘well-meaning,’ in a moral sense, but with reference to qualities of style: cp. below §122 ad optima tendentium: §131 meliora vellet.

auditus maior. In the passage often quoted already (xii. 10, 11) Quintilian singles out his sonus for special mention,—‘sonum Trachali.’—Gertz suggested melior for maior.

vocis ... felicitas: cp. xii. 5, 5, where, after enumerating vox, latus, and decor as the ‘naturalia instrumenta’ of the orator, he refers specially to the ‘external advantages’ (cp. omnia ... quae sunt extra, below) of Trachalus: Habuit oratores aetas nostra copiosiores, sed cum diceret eminere inter aequales Trachalus videbatur, Ea corporis sublimitas erat, is ardor oculorum, frontis auctoritas, gestus praestantia, vox quidem non, ut Cicero desiderat, paene tragoedorum sed super omnes, quos ego quidem audierim, tragoedos. Certe cum in basilica Iulia diceret primo tribunali, quattuor autem iudicia, ut moris est, cogerentur, atque omnia clamoribus fremerent, et auditum eum et intellectum et, quod agentibus ceteris contumeliosissimum fuit, laudatum quoque ex quattuor tribunalibus memini. Sed hoc votum est et rara felicitas.

suffectura, conditional, for quae suffectura fuisset, without the protasis si voluisset. Cp. note on habitura §99. So taciturus xi. 2, 16. Hor. Car. iv. 3, 20 donatura, si libeat: and ii. 6, 1 (where there is no protasis), Septimi Gades aditure mecum—For pronuntiatio see on §17.

superfuerunt, he had an abundant share of such advantages.

Vibius Crispus, a delator of the age of Nero, who amassed great wealth by the practice of his profession down to about A.D. 90. Tac. Hist. ii. 10 Vibius Crispus, pecunia potentia ingenio inter claros magis quam inter bonos ... Crispum easdem accusationes cum praemio exercuisse meminerant: ibid. iv. 41, 43. In the Dialogue Tacitus speaks of the fame of his eloquence, ch. 8 ausim contendere Marcellum Eprium et Crispum Vibium 117 non minores esse in extremis partibus terrarum quam Capuae aut Vercellis, ubi nati dicuntur; hoc ... illis praestat ... ipsa eloquentia...; per multos iam annos potentissimi sunt civitatis ac, donec libuit, principes fori, nunc principes in Caesaris (i.e. Vespasiani) amicitia agunt feruntque cuncta, &c. And yet (ibid. 13) Adligati canum adulatione nec imperantibus unquam satis servi videntur nec nobis satis liberi. That he was still in favour with Domitian appears from Suet. 3 inter initia principatus quotidie secretum sibi horarium sumere solebat; nec quidquam amplius quam muscas captare ac stylo praeacuto configere: ut cuidam interroganti esset ne quis intus cum Caesare non absurde responsum sit a Vibio Crispo ‘Ne musca quidem.’ His wealth was proverbial: divitior Crispo Mart. iv. 54, 7: he was worth 200,000,000 sesterces, or even 300,000,000 according to Dial. 8. By its means he was enabled to shelter his brother Vibius Secundus, when accused of ‘repetundae’ in Mauretania: Tac. Ann. xiv. 28. Juvenal gives a sketch of his character iv. 81-93 Venit et Crispi iucunda senectus Cuius erant mores qualis facundia mite Ingenium ... nec civis erat qui libera posset Verba animi proferre et vitam impendere vero ... Sic multas hiemes atque octogesima vidit Solstitia his armis illa (of Domitian) quoque tutus in aula.

compositus: generally applied to style, ‘well-balanced,’ e.g. §44 lenis et nitidi et compositi generis: cp. Cicero Orat. §208 composita oratio. Here the epithet is transferred to the orator in the sense of ‘orderly,’ ‘finished’ in the choice and combination of words. Cp. Orat. §232 compositi oratoris bene structam collocationem dissolvere permutatione verborum: 2 §16 below fiunt ... pro ... compositis exultantes: §66 incompositus.

iucundus, ‘lively, agreeable, entertaining’: cp. Crispi iucunda senectus, Iuv., quoted above. In xii. 10, §11 Quintilian places iucunditatem Crispi alongside of the distinguishing characteristics of other orators: cp. v. 13, 48 Vibius Crispus vir ingenii iucundi et elegantis.

I:120 Iulio Secundo, si longior contigisset aetas, clarissimum profecto nomen oratoris apud posteros foret; adiecisset enim atque adiciebat ceteris virtutibus suis quod desiderari potest, id est autem ut esset multo magis pugnax et saepius ad curam rerum ab elocutione respiceret.

§ 120. Iulius Secundus is highly spoken of 3 §12 below: aequalem meum atque a me, ut notum est, familiariter amatum, mirae facundiae virum, infinitae tamen curae: and in xii. 10, 11 he is named as conspicuous for ‘elegantia.’ He is one of the interlocutors in the Dialogue of Tacitus, where he is made to pose as umpire between the representatives of Imperial and Republican eloquence: cp. esp. ch. 2 Aper et Iulius Secundus, celeberrima tum (under Vespasian) ingenia fori nostri ... Secundo purus et pressus et in quantum satis erat profluens sermo non defuit: chs. 4 and 14.

adiciebat: he had begun the improvement when death overtook him. He died about 88 A.D., not long before Quintilian began his Institutio.

curam rerum: he is to care for substance as well as form. Fabianus in Seneca (Epist. 100) had the opposite fault: visne illum assidere pusillae rei, verbis?

I:121 Ceterum interceptus quoque magnum sibi vindicat locum: ea est facundia, tanta in explicando quod velit gratia, tam candidum et lene et speciosum dicendi genus, tanta verborum etiam quae adsumpta sunt proprietas, tanta in 118 quibusdam ex periculo petitis significantia.

§ 121. interceptus: so vi. pr. 1 si me ... fata intercepissent.

candidum: ‘lucid,’ v. on §73 (Herodotus), and cp. §113 Messalla ... candidus: §101 clarissimi candoris, of Livy.

lene opp. to forte et vehemens dicendi genus: §44. See Crit. Notes.

adsumpta = translata, ‘used figuratively.’ Cp. viii. 3, 43 adsumere ea, quibus inlustrem fieri orationem putat, delecta, translata, superlata, ad nomen adiuncta, duplicata et idem significantia atque ab ipsa actione atque imitatione rerum non abhorrentia. When the process is carried too far the verba adsumpta, become arcessita viii. 3. 56.

proprietas, v. on §46.

118

ex periculo: ii. 12, 5 quod est in elocutione ipsa periculum: viii. 6, 11 (verba) quae audaci et proxime periculum translatione tolluntur ... qualis est: pontem indignatus Araxes. Cp. paene periclitantia xi. 1, 32. For the phrase ex periculo petere cp. ii. 11, 3 sententiis grandibus, quarum optima quaeque a periculo petarur. Gr. παρακεκινδυνευμένα.

significantia: §49.

I:122 Habebunt qui post nos de oratoribus scribent magnam eos qui nunc vigent materiam vere laudandi; sunt enim summa hodie, quibus inlustratur forum, ingenia. Namque et consummati iam patroni veteribus aemulantur et eos iuvenum ad optima tendentium imitatur ac sequitur industria.

§ 122. eos qui nunc vigent. Who these were we can infer from the Dialogue of Tacitus and from Pliny’s Letters, e.g. Aper, Marcellus, Maternus, Aquilius Regulus, and others. Quintilian must of course have meant to include Tacitus and Pliny themselves.

consummati: often equivalent to perfectus in Quintilian: 5 §14. Cp. above §89. It is combined with perfectus v. 10, 119 ne se ... perfectos protinus atque consummates putent.

veteribus. Aemulari occurs elsewhere with the accusative, §62; 2 §17. So of envious emulation Cic. Tusc. i. §44: cp. iv. §17 with the dative of the person.

iuvenum ad optima tendentium. Hild refers to the speeches of Messalla and Maternus in the Dial. (28-30, 34-36) as indicating the oratorical aspirations of the youth of Rome when Quintilian wrote.

I:123 Supersunt qui de philosophia scripserint, quo in genere paucissimos adhuc eloquentes litterae Romanae tulerunt. Idem igitur M. Tullius, qui ubique, etiam in hoc opere Platonis aemulus 119 extitit. Egregius vero multoque quam in orationibus praestantior Brutus suffecit ponderi rerum: scias eum sentire quae dicit.

§ 123. philosophia. For the attitude of the Romans to philosophy see Teuffel, §40 sq. Abstract speculation, leading to no practical end, was not held in honour by them: like Neoptolemus, in the play of Ennius, they said ‘philosophari est mihi necesse, at paucis (i.e. ‘only a little’: Roby, §1237) nam omnino haud placet,’—Cicero de Orat. ii. §156: de Repub. i. 18, 30: Pacuvius too (in Gell. xiii. 8) had made one of his characters exclaim: ego odi homines ignava opera et philosopha sententia. The Romans disliked the unsettling tendencies which seemed to accompany the study of philosophy: hence e.g. their treatment of the Athenian ambassadors in the middle of the second century B.C. The prejudice against such studies had by no means entirely disappeared even in the time of Cicero, who constantly apologises for and seeks to justify his leanings to philosophy: de Off. ii. 1, 2 sqq.: de Fin. i. 1, 1. Tacitus, Agricola 4, tells us that Agricola used to say ‘se prima in iuventa studium philosophiae acrius, ultra quam concessum Romano ac senatori, hausisse, ni prudentia matris incensum ac flagrantem animum coercuisset.’ About the time when Quintilian was writing, Domitian banished the philosophers from Rome: ibid. ch. 2. For the help which philosophy can give to oratory see xii. 11, which contains (§7) an expression of the Roman ideal: atqui ego illum quem instituo Romanum quendam velim esse sapientem, qui non secretis disputationibus, sed rerum experimentis atque operibus vere civilem virum exhibeat. Cp. Cicero’s boast in regard to himself and Cato of Utica: nos philosophiam veram illam et antiquam, quae quibusdam otii esse ac desidiae videtur, in forum atque in rempublicam atque in ipsam aciem paene deduximus. See on §84.

paucissimos ... eloquentes. The addition of an adj. to another adj. used as a subst. is rare in Quintilian. Hirt (Subst. des Adj. p. 17) cites only five exx. besides this one: e.g. iii. 8, 31 antiquis nobilibus ortos.

qui ubique. The sense is clear: it is a repetition of the claim made in §108 mihi videtur M. Tullius ... effinxisse vim Demosthenis, copiam Platonis, iucunditatem Isocratis. But it was not ubique that Cicero rivalled Plato: it was only in Plato’s own domain (sc. in hoc opere). The expression 119 was adopted for brevity’s sake: Spalding says it is equivalent to ‘ut ubique Graecorum praestantissimi cuiusque, ita in hoc opere Platonis.’ For Cicero’s philosophical writings cp. Teuffel, §173 sq.

Brutus: cp. §23. He is not included in Quintilian’s list of orators; and though Cicero uses towards him the language of extravagant eulogy (v. esp. Brut. §22) in many of his works, yet we know from a passage in the Dialogue already quoted that he sometimes found him ‘otiosum atque disiunctum’ ch. 18. Cp. ch. 21 Brutum philosophiae suae relinquamus. Nam in orationibus minorem esse, fama sua etiam admiratores eius fatentur. A reference follows to his speech ‘Pro rege Deiotaro,’ which the speaker (Aper) considers ‘dull and tedious’—lentitudo and tepor being the words used. A fragment of a declamation by him is quoted ix. 3 §95–. On his philosophical works see Cic. Acad. i. 3, 12 (with Reid’s note). He was an adherent of the Stoico-academic school, whose tenets he had studied under Aristus and Antiochus: cp. Tusc. v. 21: Brut. 120, 149, 332: de Fin. v. 8. There was a treatise de Virtute addressed to Cicero, one περὶ καθήκοντος, and one de Patientia: Teuffel, 209 §§2 and 3.

suffecit ponderi rerum: Quint. xii. 10, 11 names gravitas as his distinguishing quality: cp. gravior Brutus, Tac. Dial. ch. 25.

sentire quae dicit. The intensity and sincerity of his nature can be inferred from ad Att. xiv. 1, 2, where Caesar is quoted as saying of him magni refert hic quid velit, sed quicquid vult valde vult. For his devotion to study see 7 §27 below.

I:124 Scripsit non parum multa Cornelius Celsus, Sextios secutus, non sine cultu ac nitore. Plautus in Stoicis rerum cognitioni utilis. In Epicureis levis quidem, sed non iniucundus tamen 120 auctor est Catius.

§ 124. non parum multa: litotes, as at vi. 2, 3 semper fuerunt non parum multi.—Becher compares also non parum multi Cic. in Verr. iii. 9, 22: Phil. vii. 6, 18: pro Quinctio 3, 11: in Verr. iv. 12, 29: parum saepe de Fin. ii. 4, 12. The opposite of non parum is non nimis: cp. Liv. xxii. 26, 4 haud parum callide with Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 25, 70 nihil horum nimis callide.

Cornelius Celsus: a celebrated encyclopaedist under Augustus and Tiberius, who wrote on rhetoric, jurisprudence, farming, medicine, military art, and practical philosophy. Only eight books on medicine have come down to us. He survived into the reign of Nero. Cp. §23 above. Of his philosophy Augustine writes as follows (de Haeres. Prol.): opiniones omnium philosophorum qui sectas varias condiderunt usque ad tempora sua ... sex non parvis voluminibus ... absolvit; nec redarguit aliquem, sed tantum quid sentirent aperuit, ea brevitate sermonis ut tantum adhiberet eloquii quantum ... aperiendae iudicandaeque sententiae sufficeret. In xii. 11, 24 Quintilian refers to the universality of his knowledge, though he speaks of him as mediocri vir ingenio. “In other passages also Quintilian often expresses his disagreement from this predecessor of his, e.g. ii. 15, 22, 32: iii. 6, 13 sq.: viii. 3, 47: ix. 1, 18 ... Even when he agrees with him he does so with reserve, e.g. vii. 1, 10.—It may be that Quintilian was vexed that a subject to which he had devoted an entire life was merely cursorily treated by Celsus, and besides an encyclopaedia might easily be open to technical objections. At all events, Celsus’ rhetorical manual was obscured by that of Quintilian. It is mentioned only by Fortunat. iii. 2 (p. 121, 10 H)”—Teuffel, 275.

Sextios. The Sextii, father and son, were contemporary with Caesar and Augustus, and belonged to the Pythagorean school, though not without a leaning to the Stoics (Seneca, Ep. 64 §2–). Seneca speaks frequently of the elder Sextius in his letters: e.g. 59 §7– ‘virum acrem, Graecis verbis, Romanis moribus philosophantem.’ In the Nat. Quaest. vii. 32, 2 we are told how their following—‘Sextiorum nova et Romani roboris secta’—soon fell away: ‘inter initia sua extincta est,’ v. Teuffel 261.

cultu ac nitore: v. §79 and §83, with notes.

Plautus. The text is not certain (see Crit. Notes), but as Quintilian elsewhere (ii. 14, 2 and iii. 6, 23) refers to a philosopher 120 of this name as employing the unusual words queentia and essentia, it may as well be retained. (In ii. 14, 2 however Meister reads Flavi: cp. Teuffel, 261, §9.)

levis: ‘of no weight.’

Catius, an Insubrian by birth, contemporary with Cicero, who speaks of his recent death ad Fam. xv. 16, 1; cp. 19, 2 Epicurus, a quo omnes Catii et Amafinii, mali verborum interpretes (referring to their faithful transcripts of Greek terminology) proficiscuntur. The scholiast on Hor. Sat. ii. 4 tells us that he wrote ‘quattuor libros de rerum natura et de summo bono.’

I:125 Ex industria Senecam in omni genere eloquentiae distuli propter vulgatam falso de me opinionem, qua damnare eum et invisum quoque habere sum creditus. Quod accidit mihi dum corruptum et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi genus revocare ad severiora iudicia contendo; tum autem solus hic fere in manibus adulescentium fuit.

§ 125. Seneca: A.D. 2-65. For his life and works see Teuffel 282 sqq., Bernhardy p. 871 sq. Martha gives an estimate of the moral teaching of his well-known Letters in ‘Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain.’ Quintilian’s criticism of Seneca is subjected to a searching examination by M. Samuel Rocheblave in a pamphlet De M. Fabio Quintiliano L. Annaei Senecae Judice (Paris, 1890): see esp. chs. iii. and iv. Introduction, pp. xxiv. sqq.

opinionem. Quintilian worked hard to recall the Romans to a more temperate and classical style. He aimed too at a partial ‘return to Cicero,’ and considered Seneca a dangerous model for the youth of the day. See Introduction, pp. xxxix. sqq. Fronto and others used stronger language: e.g. p. 155 N eloquentiam ... Senecae mollibus et febriculosis prunuleis insitam subvertendam censeo radicitus ... neque ignoro copiosum sententiis et redundantem hominem esse, verum sententias eius tolutares video, quatere campum quadripedo concita cursu, tenere nusquam, pugnare nusquam ... dicteria potius eum quam dicta continere. Cp. Aul. Gell. xii. 2, 1 de Annaeo Seneca partim existimant ut de scriptore minime utili, cuius libros attingere nullum pretium operae sit, quod oratio eius vulgaris videatur et protrita, res atque sententiae aut inepto inanique impetu sint aut levi et quasi dicaci argutia, eruditio autem vernacula et plebeia nihilque ex veterum scriptis habens neque gratiae neque dignitatis. Alii vero elegantiae in verbis parum esse non infitias eunt, sed et rerum quas dicat scientiam doctrinamque ei non deesse dicunt et in vitiis morum obiurgandis severitatem gravitatemque non invenustam. So too Caligula (Suet. 53) had called Seneca’s productions arena sine calce, commissiones merae.

damnare ... invisum habere. There is nothing in this of a moral judgment, though some of Quintilian’s contemporaries, notably Tacitus, disliked Seneca, probably because they could not acquit him from blame in regard to his pupil Nero’s excesses, and other matters. The only parallel to et invisum quoque in classical Latin is said by Becher to be Cic. pro Domo §47 quoniam iam dialecticus es et haec quoque liguris. It does not occur in Caesar, seldom in Livy, but frequently in Quintilian. Cp. on §20.

corruption ... genus. He is not speaking of the false taste of Seneca’s style exclusively, but of the general deterioration that prevailed: cp. §43 recens haec lascivia.

dum contendo: ‘through the efforts I made’: the tum which follows shows that it refers to past time.

solus hic fere in manibus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 3 fuit illi viro ingenium amoenum et temporis eius auribus adcommodatum. In his endeavours to introduce a purer taste Quintilian naturally made so popular an author as Seneca the peg on which to hang his discourse.

I:126 Quem non equidem omnino conabar excutere, sed potioribus praeferri non sinebam, quos ille non destiterat incessere, cum diversi sibi conscius 121 generis placere se in dicendo posse iis quibus illi placerent diffideret. Amabant autem eum magis quam imitabantur, tantumque ab illo defluebant quantum ille ab antiquis descenderat.

§ 126. excutere: sc. e manibus adulescentium.

incessere. At the close of the passage quoted above, Gellius goes on to quote, with much indignation, Seneca’s disparaging criticism of Ennius, Cicero, and Vergil, from Book xxii of the Letters to Lucilius (no longer extant). In Ep. 114 we find 121 him censoring Sallust and those who imitated him. Sueton. Ner. 52 a cognitione veterum oratorum Seneca praeceptor, quo diutius in admiratione sui detineret (Neronem avertit). For iis, see Crit. Notes.

defluebant = degenerabant, i. 8, 9 quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus.

I:127 Foret enim optandum pares ac saltem proximos illi viro fieri. Sed placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda, quae poterat; deinde cum se iactaret eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat.

§ 127. Foret ... optandum, of a wish that is considered impossible,—which shows how high was Quintilian’s opinion of Seneca: cp. ac saltem proximus. So velles §130. For the infin. see Introd. p. lvi.

ad ea ... effingenda: cp. Cic. Orat. §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum dirigebat. For effingenda cp. §108.

quae poterat, sc. effingere: cp. Caesar, B.C. 37 quam celerrime potuit (comparare).

infamabat, ‘brought reproach on.’

I:128 Cuius et multae alioqui et magnae virtutes fuerunt, ingenium facile et copiosum, plurimum studii, multa rerum cognitio, in qua tamen aliquando ab his quibus inquirenda quaedam mandabat deceptus est.

§ 128. alioqui: see Introd. p. li.

quibus ... mandabat. Especially for physical science he must have been greatly indebted to external aid. His VII Books ‘Naturalium Quaestionum,’ with the addition of moral meditations, were used as a text-book in the Middle Ages.

I:129 Tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam; nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistulae et dialogi feruntur. In philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectator 122 fuit. Multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda, sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.

§ 129. orationes. None survive. Quintilian refers (viii. 5, 18) to the speech he made for Nero on the occasion of his mother’s funeral: Tac. Ann. xiii. 3, cp. 11. It is probable also that Seneca wrote the speeches mentioned by Suet. Ner. 7, the ‘gratiarum actio’ in the Senate, ‘pro Bononiensibus latine, pro Rhodiis atque Iliensibus graece.’ He also pleaded with success in the law-courts (Dion Cass. 59, 19, 7.).

poemata. That Seneca wrote poetry is evident from Tacitus Ann. xiv. 52, where his accusers, in order to prejudice him in the eyes of Nero (who was jealous of his reputation as a poet and an orator),—obiiciebant etiam eloquentiae laudem uni sibi adsciscere et carmina crebrius factitare postquam Neroni amor eorum venisset: cp. Suet. Ner. 52. He is said also to have written epigrams, and other forms of verse.—His tragedies are not referred to here, though Quintilian quotes from the Medea ix. 2, 8: see for them Teuffel 285; Bernhardy, note 322.

epistulae. The Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, as we have them now (see 3rd vol. of Teubner edition), are 124 in number, arranged in twenty books. There were more however originally, and Priscian speaks of Book x of the letters to Novatus (in decimo epistularum ad Novatum), while Martial (vii. 45, 3) refers to letters to Caesonius Maximus, of which we know nothing more.

dialogi, i.e. the works called by this name in the Milan MS., not his tragedies, though these were written to be read rather than to be acted. There are twelve of them (v. Teuffel 284 §4–), and each is dedicated to some particular individual. There is besides the De Clementia ad Neronem, and a Dialogus de Superstitione (no longer extant except in the fragment given in Augustine’s C.D. vi. 10) directed against the anthropomorphism of popular superstition.

feruntur: §23.

parum diligens: ‘not very critical.’ He was a student of life rather than a student of thought.

vitiorum insectator: cp. Lactantius, 122 Inst. Div. v. 9 morum vitiorumqne publicorum et descriptor verissimus et accusator acerrimus.

eo for ideo: cp. Hor. Sat. i. 6, 89 eoque non ... Quod non ingenuos habeat ... parentes.

I:130 Velles eum suo ingenio dixisse, alieno iudicio; nam si obliqua contempsisset, si parum recta non concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset, si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset, consensu potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.

§ 130. iudicio, ‘taste,’ as §127 above: cp. M. Seneca (of Capito) ‘habebat in sua potestate ingenium, in aliena modum.’

obliqua. For this apt conjecture (in place of the traditional aliqua), see Crit. Notes.

si parum recta. On the assumption that a word has fallen out of the MSS. after parum, recta is preferable to Halm and Meister’s sana. For rectum as abstr. cp. ii. 13, 11: xii. 1, 12. See Crit. Notes.

omnia sua amasset, §88 of Ovid, nimium amator ingenii sui. Cp. below 3 §12 utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent...

rerum pondera ... fregisset: contrast §123 suffecit ponderi rerum. Seneca ‘weakened the force of his matter by striving after epigrammatic brevity.’

amore, of an ill-considered attachment (§94: 2 §19), whereas studio would have indicated mature taste, vi. 2, 12 amor πάθος, caritas ἦθος.

I:131 Verum sic quoque iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus vel ideo quod exercere potest utrimque iudicium. Multa enim, ut dixi, probanda in eo, multa etiam admiranda sunt; eligere modo curae sit, quod utinam ipse fecisset. Digna enim fuit illa natura, quae meliora vellet: quod voluit effecit.

§ 131. sic quoque = καὶ οὕτως.

robustis, opp. to pueris: cp. 5 §1 below. Cp. Tac. Dial. 35 ‘controversiae robustioribus adsignantur,’ while ‘suasoriae pueris delegantur.’

firmatis. So occupatos 3 §27: exercitatos 5 §17. Introd. pp. xlviii-ix.

vel ideo quod: §86: 5 §16.

utrimque, i.e. laudantium et vituperantium, ‘for and against him.’ So 5, 20: 6, 7: and cp. 1, 22. Introd. p. lii.

Multa enim ... digna enim, another instance of the want of care that has been already noted, 2 §23.

natura: cp. §86.


223

INDEX OF NAMES.

 

(The references are to chapters and sections.)

 

Achilles, i. 47, 50, 65.

Aelius (Lucius) Stilo, i. 99.

Aeschines, i. 22, 77.

Aeschylus, i. 66.

Afranius, i. 100.

Alcaeus, i. 63.

Antimachus, i. 53.

Apollonius, i. 54.

Aratus, i. 55.

Archilochus, i. 59.

Aristarchus, i. 54, 59.

Aristophanes, i. 66.

Aristophanes of Byzantium, i. 54.

Aristotle, i. 83.

Asinius Pollio, i. 22, 24, 113.

Asprenas, C. Nonius, i. 22.

Attici—Attic Orators, i. 76-80: cp. i. 115.

Attius (Accius), i. 97.

Aufidia, i. 22.

Aufidius Bassus, i. 103.

Bibaculus, M. Furius, i. 96.

Brutus, M. Iunius, i. 123, 23.

Caecilius Statius, i. 99.

Caelius, M. Rufus, i. 115.

Caesar, C. Iulius, i. 114.

Caesius Bassus, i. 96.

Calidius M., i. 23.

Callimachus, i. 58.

Cassius Severus, i. 22, 116.

Catius, i. 124.

Catullus, i. 96.

Charisius, i. 70.

Cicero, i. 33, 40, 80, 81, 105-112, 123.

Clitarchus, i. 75.

Cornelius Celsus, i. 23, 124.

Cornelius Gallus, i. 93.

Cornelius Severus, i. 89.

Cratinus, i. 63.

Cremutius, i. 104.

Crispus, i. 23.

Demetrius of Phalerum, i. 33, 80.

Demosthenes, i. 22, 24, 39, 76, 105.

Domitian, i. 91.

Domitius Afer, i. 23, 86, 118.

Ennius, i. 88.

Ephorus, i. 75.

Epicurus, ii. 15: cp. i. 124.

Euphorion, i. 56.

Eupolis, i. 65.

Euripides, i. 67.

Gallus (Cornelius), i. 93.

Hercules, i. 56.

Herodotus, i. 73, 101.

Hesiod, i. 52.

Hipponax, see on i. 59.

Homer, i. 24, 48 sqq., 57, 62, 81, 85.

Horace, i. 24, 56, 61, 94, 96.

Hortensius, i. 23.

Hyperides, i. 77.

Isocrates, i. 79, 108.

Iulius Africanus, i. 118.

Iulius Secundus, i. 120.

Laelius, Decimus, i. 23.

Ligarius, i. 23.

Livy, i. 32, 39, 101.

Lucan, i. 90.

Lucilius, i. 93 sqq.

Lucretius, i. 87.

Lysias, i. 78.

Macer, i. 56, 87.

Marcellus, i. 38.

Menander, i. 69 sqq.

Messalla, i. 22, 24, 113.

Milo, i. 23.

Minerva, i. 91.

Nicander, i. 56.

Ovid, i. 88, 93, 98.

Pacuvius, i. 97.

Panyasis, i. 54.

Patroclus, i. 49.

Pedo Albinovanus, i. 90.

Pericles, i. 82.

Persius, i. 94.

Philemon, i. 72.

Philetas, i. 50.

224

Philistus, i. 74.

Pindar, i. 109.

Pisandros, i. 56.

Plato, i. 81.

Plautus, i. 99.

Plautus (Stoicus), i. 124.

Pomponius Secundus, i. 98.

Priam, i. 50.

Propertius, i. 93.

Rabirius, i. 90.

Saleius Bassus, i. 90.

Sallust, i. 31, 101, 102.

Scipio, i. 99.

Seneca, i. 125-131.

Serranus, i. 89.

Servilius Nonianus, i. 101.

Sextii (father and son), i. 124.

Simonides, i. 64.

Simonides of Amorgos, see on i. 59.

Sophocles, i. 67 sqq.

Stesichorus, i. 62.

Sulpicius, i. 22, 116.

Terence, i. 99.

Theocritus, i. 55.

Theophrastus, i. 27, 83.

Theopompus, i. 74.

Thucydides, i. 33, 73, 101.

Thyestes, i. 98.

Tibullus, i. 93.

Timagenes, i. 75.

Trachalus, i. 119.

Tubero, i. 23.

Tyrtaeus, i. 56.

Valerius Flaccus, i. 90.

Varius, i. 98.

Varro (M. Terentius), i. 95.

Varro Atacinus, i. 87.

Vergil, i. 56, 85.

Verres, i. 23.

Vibius Crispus, i. 119.

Volusenus Catulus, i. 23.

Xenophon, i. 33, 82.

225

INDEX OF MATTERS.

 

(The first reference is to the chapter and section of the text; the second to the page and column of the explanatory notes. References to the Introduction are given separately.)

The above paragraph was in the original text. For this e-text, only the section numbers are linked; sections are generally very short, and notes adjoin the text.

abunde, i. 94: 91a.

abusio, i. 12: 21b.

accedere, i. 86: 83a.

actio, i. 17: 24b.

actus rei, i. 31: 35a.

acutus, i. 77: 73b.

acumen, i. 106: 107b.

adfectus, i. 27: 31b.: and i. 48: 49a.

advocatus, i. 111: 110a.

ἄλογος τριβή, vii. 11: 174a.

altercatio, i. 35: 39b.

ambitus rerum, i. 16: 24a.

amplificationes, i. 49: 50b.

argumenta et signa rerum, i. 49: 50b.

artes, i. 15: 23b.

atticus, i. 44: 45b.

auctor, i. 24: 30a.

auditorium, i. 36: 40a.

aureum plectrum, i. 63: 60a.

auspicatus, i. 85: 82a.

beatus, i. 61: 59a.

bellicum canere, i. 33: 36b.

calumnia, i. 115: 113b.

calcaribus egere, i. 74: 70a.

candidus, i. 73: 68a.

candor, i. 101: 100b.

caro, i. 77: 73a.

circa, i. 52: 52a.

circulatorius, i. 8: 18b.

citra, i. 2: 12b.

claudicare, i. 99: 97a.

color, i. 116: 114b.

Comedy, Greek, i. 65: 61a.

 „Latin, i. 99: 97a.

commendare, i. 101: 101a.

compositio, i. 52: 52b. and i. 79: 77b.

compositus, i. 119: 117a.

concludere, i. 106: 107a.

conferre, i. 1: 12a.

conrogati, i. 18: 26b.

cothurnus (Sophocli), i. 68: 64a.

cum interim, i. 18: 26b.

cum praesertim, i. 105: 105a.

decor, i. 27: 32a.

dicendi veneres, i. 79: 76a.

declamatores, i. 71: 65b.

digerere cibum, i. 19.

digressiones, i. 33: 36b.

disertus, i. 118: 115b.

Dramatic Poetry, Greek, i. 65: Latin, i. 97.

dubitare, i. 73: 67a.

ducere (colorem), i. 59: 57a.

dulcis, i. 73: 68a.

226

elegans, i. 65: 62a.

Elegy, Greek, i. 58: Latin, i. 93.

Epic Poetry, Greek, i. 46 sqq.: Latin, i. 85 sqq.

epilogus, i. 50: 51b: and i. 107: 108b.

epodos, i. 96: 94a.

exempla, i. 49: 50b.

facere (bene) ad aliquid, i. 33: 38a.

facilitas, i. 1.

figurae, i. 12: 22a.

frequenter, i. 17: 25b.

genera dicendi, i. 44: 44-5.

genera lectionum, i. 45: 46b.

grammatici, i. 53: 53a.

grandis, i. 65: 62a.

habere laudem, i. 53: 53a.

ἕξις, i. 1: 12a.

History, i. 31: 34a; Greek, i. 73: 66a; Latin, i. 101: 100a.

hodieque, i. 94: 91b.

Iambic Poetry, Greek, i. 59: 57b; Latin, i. 96.

ideoque, i. 21: 28b.

igitur, i. 4: 15a.

index, i. 57: 56b.

indiscretus, i. 2: 12a.

interim, i. 9: 19b.

inventio, i. 106: 106b.

iucundus, i. 46: 48a.

lacerti, i. 33: 37a.

lactea (ubertas), i. 32: 36a.

laetus, i. 46: 48a.

lascivia (recens haec), i. 43: 43b.

lascivus, i. 88: 84b.

lene dicendi genus, i. 121: 117b.

Lyric Poetry, Greek, i. 61: 58b; Latin, i. 96.

medium dicendi genus, i. 52: 52b; i. 80: 78b.

memoria posteritatis, i. 31: 35b.

mensurae verborum, i. 10: 20a.

merere, i. 72: 66b.

nam (elliptical), i. 9: 19a.

nescio an ulla, i. 65.

nisi forte, i. 70: 65a.

nitidus, i. 9: 19b; i. 79: 75b.

numeri, i. 4: 15a; i. 70: 65b.

olim, i. 104: 103a.

opus, i. 9: 19b.

Oratory, Greek, i. 76: Latin, i. 105.

Orators, Canon of the Ten, i. 76: 71a.

ostentatio, i. 28: 32b.

otiosus, i. 76: 72b.

palaestra, i. 79: 76a.

parem facere, i. 105: 103b.

parum (non), i. 124: 119a.

pedestris oratio, i. 81: 79b.

periculum, i. 36: 42b.

Philosophy, i. 35: 38b: Greek, i. 81: 78b; Latin, i. 123: 118a.

φράσις, i. 42: 43a.

Poetry, the study of, i. 27 sqq.

praesertim (cum), i. 105: 105a.

praestringere, i. 30: 33b.

pressus, i. 44: 44b.

procinctu (in), i. 2: 13a.

propria, i. 6: 16a.

proprietas, i. 46: 48a.

prosa (oratio), i. 81: 79b.

protinus, i. 3: 14a.

proximus—secundus, i. 53: 53b.

quicunque, i. 12: 22a.

quisque, i. 2: 12b.

quoque (etiam), i. 20: 28a; i. 125: 120b.

quotas quisque, i. 41: 42b.

rectum (dicendi genus), i. 44: 44a.

ridiculus, i. 117: 115a.

sales, i. 107: 108a.

sanguis, i. 60: 58a.

Satire, i. 93: 89b.

sententiae, i. 50, 52, 68, 90, 102, 129, 130.

signa rerum et argumenta, i. 49: 50b.

similitudines, i. 49: 50b.

Socratici, i. 35: 39b.

solum (non, sed), i. 6: 17a.

sordidus, i. 9: 19b.

spiritus, i. 27: 31b.

stilus, i. 2: 12b; iii. 1, 32.

Stoici, i. 84: 81b.

subtilis, i. 78: 74a.

tacitus, i. 19: 26a.

tenuis, i. 44: 45a.

togatae, i. 100: 99b.

tori athletarum, i. 33: 37a.

227

Tragedy, Latin, i. 97: 94b; Greek, i. 66.

transversus, i. 110: 110a.

τροπικῶς, i. 11: 21a.

urbanitas, i. 115: 112b.

utinam non, i. 100: 99b.

utique: i. 20: 28a.

utrimque, i. 131: 122b.

velocitatem (Sallusti), i. 102: 101a.

veneres dicendi, i. 79: 76a.

verbum—vox, i. 11: 21a.

versificator, i. 89: 85b.

vibrantes sententiae, i. 60: 58a.

vis dicendi, i. 1: 11b.

voluntas recti generis, i. 89: 86b.

vox—verbum, i. 11: 21a.


Preface

Introduction

Chapter I top

Chapters II-VIII

Critical Notes