How to Write.
136
136
Quo modo scribendum sit.
III:1
III. Et haec quidem auxilia extrinsecus adhibentur; in iis autem quae
nobis ipsis paranda sunt, ut laboris, sic utilitatis etiam longe
plurimum adfert stilus. Nec immerito M. Tullius hunc ‘optimum
effectorem ac magistrum dicendi’ vocat, cui sententiae personam
L. Crassi in disputationibus quae sunt de oratore adsignando,
iudicium suum cum illius auctoritate coniunxit.
§ 1.
nobis ipsis opp. to _extrinsecus_: what _we_ must
provide for _ourselves_, by our own gifts and industry. There is,
however, much to be said for Gertz’s conjecture _e nobis ipsis_,
which gives a better antithesis to _extrinsecus_: cp. 5 §10 plurimum autem parari facultatis existimo
ex simplicissima quaque materia.
stilus: see on 1 §2.
M. Tullius: de Orat. i. §150 caput autem est quod, ut vere
dicam, minime facimus; est enim magni laboris, quem plerique fugimus:
quam plurimum scribere. stilus optimus et praestantissimus dicendi
effector ac magister; neque iniuria: nam si subitam et fortuitam
orationem commentatio et cogitatio facile vincit, hanc ipsam profecto
adsidua ac diligens scriptura superabit: ibid. §257 stilus ille tuus,
quem tu vere dixisti perfectorem dicendi esse ac magistrum, multi
sudoris est. Cp. iii. §190: Brutus §96 artifex, ut ita dicam, stilus: ad
Fam. vii. 25, 2 is (stilus) est dicendi opifex.
L. Crassi. L. Licinius Crassus, B.C. 140-91, was the most illustrious of Roman
orators before Cicero, who in the De Oratore seems to make him the
mouthpiece of his own opinions. The other leading character in the
dialogue is _M. Antonius_ (B.C. 143-87), grandfather of the triumvir. For a
parallel estimate of the two see Brutus §143 sq.
personam ... adsignando: cp. 1 §71 plures subire personas.
III:2
Scribendum ergo quam diligentissime et quam plurimum. Nam ut terra alte
refossa generandis alendisque seminibus fecundior fit, sic profectus non
a summo petitus studiorum fructus effundit uberius et fidelius continet.
Nam sine hac quidem conscientia ipsa illa ex tempore dicendi facultas
inanem
137
modo loquacitatem dabit et verba in labris nascentia.
§ 2.
alte refossa: see Crit.
Notes. The meaning is that just as deep ploughing produces heavy
crops, so progress that is not superficial (non a summo petitus) brings
forth fruit more abundantly and secures its permanence. For the figure
cp. i. 3, 5 non multum praestant, sed cito. Non subest vera vis nec
penitus immissis radicibus nititur, ut quae summo solo sparsa sunt
semina celerius se effundunt et imitatae spicas herbulae inanibus
aristis ante messem flavescunt. For _refodere_ cp. Lucan, iv. 242
tellure refossa: Plin. N. H. xix. 88 solo quam altissime
refosso.
profectus: cp. §15 below, ad
profectum opus est studio: i. 3, 5 stat profectus (‘growth’). The word
does not occur in Cicero, though it is often used in the same sense by
Seneca: e.g. Ep. 71, 35-36, nemo profectum ibi invenit ubi reliquerat
... magna pars est profectus velle proficere: 100, 11 ad profectum omnia
tendunt. Quintilian frequently insists that it requires diligent and
constant practice: e.g. ii. 7, 1 cum profectus praecipue diligentia
constet.
a summo, i.e. from the surface, ‘superficial,’ as i. 3, 5 quae
summo solo sparsa sunt semina. The opposite is ‘verus ille profectus et
alte radicibus nixus,’ i. 1, 28. Cp. 2 §15. Other instances of such expressions are
1 §13 ex proximo: 7 §7 ad ultimum: §10 ex ultimo: 2 §16 in peius. See Introd. p. xlvii.
sine hac conscientia = sine huius rei conscientia, i.e.
without the consciousness of diligent application in composition. In
such expressions (frequent with words like cura, metus, spes, timor) the
pronoun
137
takes the place of a complementary genitive, suggested by what goes
before: cp. i. 10, 28 haec ei cura, &c.: and below 7 §19.
verba in labris nascentia. Cp. Sen. Ep. 10, 3 non a summis
labris ista venerunt; habent hae voces fundamentum.
III:3
Illic radices, illic fundamenta sunt, illic opes velut sanctiore quodam
aerario conditae, unde ad subitos quoque casus, cum res exiget,
proferantur. Vires faciamus ante omnia, quae sufficiant labori
certaminum et usu non exhauriantur.
§ 3.
illic = stilo sive exercitatione scribendi.
sanctiore ... aerario. The reference is to the reserve
treasure (aerarium sanctius) that was never touched except in great
emergencies. It was kept in a vault in the Temple of Saturn. Caes.
B. C. i. 14, 1: Livy xxvii., 10, 11: Macrob. i. 8, 3: Lucan. Phars.
iii. 153 sq.
certaminum: so 1 §4 quo genere exercitationis ad
certamina praeparandus sit. Certamen = ἀγών. Cp. 1 §§31, 106, &c.
proferantur: for the subj. (consecutive) cp. 1 §30: 3 §33: 5 §10.
et ... non: not _neque_, as the negative really connects
only with the verb, while _et_ serves simply to introduce
_usu_. Cp. 7 §33.
III:4
Nihil enim rerum ipsa natura voluit magnum effici cito, praeposuitque
pulcherrimo cuique operi difficultatem; quae nascendi quoque hanc
fecerit legem, ut maiora animalia diutius visceribus parentis
continerentur.
Sed cum sit duplex quaestio, quo modo et quae maxime scribi oporteat,
iam hinc ordinem sequar.
§ 4.
rerum ipsa natura: here of ‘nature’ as a creative agency: cp. §26 below: Munro on Lucretius i. 25.
praeposuitque. When it is clear from the context that there is
an opposition, sentences and words of opposite meanings are often
coupled (after a negative) not by a disjunctive but by a conjunctive
particle, as here: cp. Cic. de Off. i. §22 non nobis solum nati sumus
ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat partem amici: ibid. §86 neque
opes aut potentiam consectabitur totamque eam (rempublicam) sic tuebitur
ut omnibus consulat: Hor. Car. iii. 30, 6 Non omnis moriar, multaque
pars mei Vitabit Libitinam. In each instance, however, the positive
clause (que, et, atque) is an explanation of, rather than an antithesis
to, the negative: the opposition is formal rather than real.
difficultatem. Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 9, 59 Nil sine magno Vita
labore dedit mortalibus: Hesiod ἔργα καὶ ἡμέρ. 289 τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ
προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν: Soph. El. 945 πόνου τοι χωρὶς οὐδὲν εὐτυχεῖ,
&c. Frag. 364 οὔτοι ποθ᾽ ἅψει τῶν ἄκρων ἄνευ πόνου:
Epicharmus in Xenoph. Mem. ii. 1, 20 τῶν πόνων πωλοῦσιν ἡμῖν
πάντα τἀγάθ᾽ οἱ θεοί.
quae maxime, v. ch. 5.
iam hinc ordinem sequar, i.e. ‘I shall now proceed to deal
with these questions in their order.’ And so follows _quomodo_ in
chs. iii-iv, and _quae maxime scribi_ oporteat in ch. v. The
phrase is parallel to iii. 6, 104 nunc, quia in tria genera causas
divisi, ordinem sequar: cp. ut ordinem sequar ix. 4, 33. In support
of Obrecht’s reading _hunc ordinem_ Kiderlin (Blätter f. d. Bayer,
Gymn. 1888, pp. 84-5) urges that in the instances quoted for _iam
hinc_ (ii. 11, 1, and iii. 1, 1: add viii. 3, 40 iam hinc igitur ad
rationem sermonis coniuncti transeamus, and _hinc iam_ viii. pr.
14: ii. 4, 1) there is always a marked transition to a new subject,
whereas here the preceding subordinate clause (cum sit ... oporteat)
lays down the order that is afterwards followed.—But all that
_iam hinc_ means here is simply that the writer will _now_
take the two questions he has proposed in the order stated.
III:5
Sit primo vel tardus dum
138
diligens stilus, quaeramus optima nec protinus offerentibus se
gaudeamus, adhibeatur iudicium inventis, dispositio probatis; dilectus
enim rerum verborumque agendus est et pondera singulorum examinanda.
Post subeat ratio collocandi versenturque omni modo numeri, non ut
quodque se proferet verbum occupet locum.
§ 5.
dum diligens, _without a verb_: cp. 1 §94 quamvis uno libro: Cic.
Acad. ii. §104 sequentes tantum modo quod ita visum sit, dum sine
adsensu: cp. Hirtius in Cic. ad Att. xv. 6, 3 dummodo diligentibus.
138
optima, i.e. both in thought and word.
protinus goes with _gaudeamus_, not with
_offerentibus_, which can stand by itself: cp. 1 §§2 and 42. For _offerentibus_ cp. on
_eminentibus_ 1 §86.
dilectus ... agendus. This may possibly be one of Quintilian’s
military figures: xii. 3, 5 dilectus agere (of an _imperator_);
Tac. Hist. ii. 16, 82, Agric. 7. But cp. also ii. 8, 7 studiorum
facere dilectum: Tac. Dial. 22 verbis delectum adhibuit: Cic. de Or.
iii. §150 in hoc verborum genere propriorum _delectus est habendus
quidam_ atque in aurium quodam iudicio _ponderandus est_: de
Off. i. §149 habere dilectum civis et peregrini: ib. §49: de Fin. v.
§90: Brut. §253 verborum dilectum originem esse eloquentiae.
ratio collocandi. For this periphrastic constr. see Nägelsbach
§27 ad fin. (p. 130) and note on _vim dicendi_ 1 §1. Cp. Cic. ad Quint. Fr. i. 1,
6, 18 sed nescio quo pacto ad praecipiendi rationem delapsa est oratio
mea: pro Rosc. Amer. 1 §3 ignoscendi ratio ... de civitate sublata
est.—Dion. Hal. unites ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων with σύνθεσις τῶν ἐκλεγέντων.
numeri: ix. 4, 45 numeros ῥυθμούς accipi volo. Cp. note on 2 §16.
III:6
Quae quidem ut diligentius exsequamur, repetenda saepius erunt
scriptorum proxima. Nam praeter id quod sic melius iunguntur prioribus
sequentia, calor quoque ille cogitationis, qui scribendi mora refrixit,
recipit ex integro vires et velut repetito spatio sumit impetum; quod in
certamine saliendi fieri videmus, ut conatum longius petant et ad illud
quo contenditur spatium cursu ferantur, utque in iaculando brachia
reducimus et expulsuri tela nervos retro tendimus.
§ 6.
repetenda: we must go back on what we have just written.
praeter id quod: cp. 2 §26,
and see note on 1 §28.
repetito spatio, i.e. ‘going back to take a spring,’ as is
shown by what follows. He passes from the figure involved in calor ...
refrixit, and anticipates the idea contained in the next clause: calor
... sumit impetum = calor ... denuo exardescit. Hild compares de Orat.
i. §153 for a similar figure: ut concitato navigio, cum remiges
inhibuerunt, retinet tamen ipsa navis motum et cursum suum intermisso
impetu pulsuque remorum, sic in oratione perpetua, cum scripta
deficiunt, parem tamen obtinet oratio reliqua cursum scriptorum
similitudine et vi concitata.
quod ... videmus, ut. For a similar instance of the use of the
pronoun to anticipate a dependent clause cp. 7 §11. The other two examples commonly given
are rather cases of pleonasm, viz. 1 §58 and 5 §18.
conatum longius petant: ‘take a longer run.’ Cp. repetito
spatio above.
ad illud quo contenditur spatium, i.e. jump the distance they
aim at covering. _Quo contenditur_ = lit. to which their efforts
are directed.
retro tendimus. Cp. Verg. Aen. v. 500 Validis flexos incurvant
viribus arcus.
III:7
Interim tamen, si feret flatus, danda sunt vela, dum nos indulgentia
illa non
139
fallat; omnia enim nostra dum nascuntur placent, alioqui nec
scriberentur. Sed redeamus ad iudicium et retractemus suspectam
facilitatem.
§ 7.
interim = interdum, v. on 1 §9.
danda sunt vela: ‘we must spread our sails before a favouring
breeze’ (cp. quo ventus ferebat Caes. B. G. iii. 15, 3). So
Ep. ad Tryph. §3 permittamus vela ventis et oram solventibus bene
precemur. The figure is frequent in Cicero: quocunque feremur danda
nimirum vela sunt Orat. §75: ad id unde aliquis flatus ostenditur vela
do (i.e. set my sails to catch the breeze from a particular quarter) de
Orat. ii. §187. So Martial (of Nerva’s modesty) Pieriam tenui frontem
redimire corona Contentus, famae nec dare vela suae viii. 70.
dum ... non, instead of _ne_, as sometimes
139
in poetry. Here the negative attaches closely to the verb: cp. §3. So
xii. 10, §48 dum rem contineant et copia non redundent. Quintilian never
uses _dummodo_: only _dum_, or _modo_. Si modo (si
quidem), which Meister cites, is different: it expresses the limitation
of a hypothesis.
dum nascuntur: cp. 1 §16 excipimusque nova illa
velut nascentia cum favore ac sollicitudine.
nec for ne ... quidem: ii. 13, 7 alioqui nec scriberem:
v. 10, 119 alioqui nec dixissem: ix. 2, 67 quod in foro non expedit,
illic nec liceat (not in Cicero). For other instances see Bonn. Lex.
_nec_ η and _neque_ ζ: Roby 2230b: Madvig de Finibus
pp. 816-822.
facilitatem: abstract for concrete = quae facilius scripta
sunt. Cp. initiis below, and 2 §2.
III:8
Sic scripsisse Sallustium accepimus, et sane manifestus est etiam ex
opere ipso labor. Vergilium quoque paucissimos die composuisse versus
auctor est Varius.
§ 8.
Sallustium: see on 1 §101.
Vergilium: Aul. Gell. N. A. 17, 10 Dicere solitum ferunt
parere se versus more atque ritu ursino. Namque ut illa bestia fetum
ederet ineffigiatum informemque, lambendoque id postea, quod ita
edidisset, conformaret et fingeret; proinde ingenii quoque sui partes
recentes rudi esse facie et imperfecta, sed deinceps tractando
colendoque reddere iis se oris et vultus lineamenta. So too in the
Donatus Life of Vergil ix: Cum Georgica scriberet traditur cotidie
meditatos mane plurimos versus dictare solitus, ac per totum diem
retractando ad paucissimos redigere, non absurde carmen se ursae more
parere dicens et lambendo demum effingere.
die, for _in die_. Cp. Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 3 putat ... mille
die versus deduci posse: i. 4, 9 in hora saepe ducentos ... dictabat
versus. So bisque die Verg. Ecl. iii. 34: Cic. pro Rosc. Am.
46 §132 in anno: ad Fam. xv. 16, 1 in hora.
Varius, see on 1 §98. His biographical sketch of
his lifelong friend was entitled De ingenio moribusque Vergilii. Aul.
Gell. (xvii. 10) speaks of the Amici familiaresque P. Vergilii in
eis quae de ingenio moribusque eius memoriae tradiderunt.
III:9
Oratoris quidem alia condicio est; itaque hanc moram et sollicitudinem
initiis impero. Nam primum hoc constituendum, hoc obtinendum est, ut
quam optime scribamus: celeritatem dabit consuetudo. Paulatim res
facilius se ostendent, verba respondebunt, compositio sequetur, cuncta
denique ut in familia bene instituta in officio erunt.
§ 9.
sollicitudinem: 1 §20 scribendi sollicitudinem:
and §20, below, scribentium curam.
initiis = incipientibus: cp. 2 §2. So also ii. 4, 13 quatenus nullo magis
studia (= studiosi) quam spe gaudent.
compositio: 1 §79: cp. §§44, 46. The three essentials are here
enumerated: thought (_res_), language (_verba_), arrangement
(_compositio_).
in officio: cp. viii. pr. §30 erunt in officio. As in a
well-ordered establishment, he says, everything will be found fulfilling
its proper function.
III:10
Summa haec est rei: cito scribendo non fit ut bene scribatur, bene
scribendo fit ut cito. Sed tum maxime, cum facultas illa contigerit,
resistamus ut provideamus, efferentes
140
_se_ equos frenis quibusdam coerceamus; quod non tam moram faciet
quam novos impetus dabit. Neque enim rursus eos qui robur aliquod in
stilo fecerint ad infelicem calumniandi se poenam adligandos puto.
§ 10.
summa haec. ‘Write quickly and you will never write well: write
well and in time you will write quickly.’ The Greek rhetoricians are
said to have had a saying ἐκ τοῦ λέγειν τὸ λέγειν πορίζεται, on which
Cicero seems to make Crassus found a similar utterance de Orat. i. §150
dicendo homines ut dicant efficere solere, ... perverse dicere homines
perverse dicendo facillime consequi.
facultas illa, sc. cito scribendi.
resistamus: ‘let us pause,’ ‘call a halt.’ Cp. §19: 7 §14: xi.
2, 46: 3, 121: ix. 3, 55. Cp. the use of _intersistere_ ix.
4, 33.
ut provideamus: 6 §6 non
sollicitos
140
et respicientes et una spe suspensos recordationis non sinant providere:
7 §10 ut donec perveniamus ad finem
non minus prospectu procedamus quam gradu: i. 12, 4 nonne alia dicimus,
alia providemus. So far from being a gloss, the words seem to be
necessary to define the meaning and motive of _resistamus_: it is
in order to ‘look ahead’ that we ought to pause from time to time. See
Crit. Notes.
efferentes se: ‘running away,’ or rather, ‘trying to make
off,’ a _praesens conatus_, as is shown by _non tam moram
faciet_, &c. Cp. Hom. Il. 23, 376 ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι: Xen. de Re
Equestr., 3 §4. In Livy xxx. 20, 3, the figure is taken rather from
the ‘prancing and curveting’ of a horse, Neque ... tam P. Scipio
exultabit atque efferet sese quam Hanno. (Hild’s parallel βίᾳ φέρουσιν, sc. ἄστομοι πῶλοι from Soph. Electr.
725, cp. Eurip. Hippol. 1224, is more appropriate to the reading
_ferentes equos_.) For the omission of _et_ before
_efferentes_ (found in no MS.) cp. 7 §1 where a figure is added without any
conjunction (auxilium in publicum polliceri ... intrare portum).
neque enim: the ellipse may be supplied as follows,—si
moram faceret non suaderem. The meaning is, it is only in cases where it
will not cause injurious delay that I recommend this curbing and
self-restraint; for neither, again, &c.
robur fecerint: §3 vires
faciamus.
infelicem: see on 1 §7 cuiusdam infelicis
operae.
calumniandi se: ‘the wretched task of pedantic
self-criticism.’ See on 1 §115 nimia contra se calumnia:
viii. pr. 31 quibus nullus est finis calumniandi se et cum singulis
paene syllabis commoriendi, qui etiam cum optima sunt reperta, quaerunt
aliquid quod sit magis antiquum: §11
remotum, inopinatum.
III:11
Nam quo modo sufficere officiis civilibus possit qui singulis actionum
partibus insenescat? Sunt autem quibus nihil sit satis: omnia mutare,
omnia aliter dicere quam occurrit velint,— increduli quidam et de
ingenio suo pessime meriti, qui diligentiam putant facere sibi scribendi
difficultatem.
§ 11.
officiis civilibus: ‘the duties of a citizen,’ here with special
reference to legal practice and the advocacy of cases in courts of law:
7 §1: cp. Suet. Tib. 8 civilium
officiorum rudimentis. The phrase in its widest application includes all
the ‘civilities’ and attentions which one citizen may be expected to
show to another, especially in the relation of patron and client: e.g.
_officio_ togae virilis interfui, Plin. Ep. i. 9 §2. Casaubon
defines _officium_ ‘cum honoris causa praesentiam nostram alicui
commodamus’: for instances of its use in this sense cp. Plin. Ep. i. 5,
11: i. 13, 7: ii. 1, 8: Hor. Epist. i. 7, 8 _officiosaque_
sedulitas et opella forensis: Sat. ii. 6, 24 officio respondeat (‘answer
duty’s call,’ Palmer).
velint: potential, as often. The clause stands by itself, and
there is no need for supposing the omission of the relative.
increduli quidam: ‘a diffident sort of people,’ ‘somehow
afraid of themselves.’ For quidam cp. 1 §76. It is employed, as often
by Cicero, to show that the word used is as near the author’s meaning as
possible, though sometimes it is joined with an expression that is
merely a makeshift: cp. τινες. It indicates an undefined degree of the adjective
with which it is connected, and has sometimes a modifying, sometimes an
intensifying effect: here the former is not so probable considering the
strength of the phrase that follows, ‘sinning grievously against their
natural gifts.’
diligentiam is pred.: supply _esse_. The subject is
_facere ... difficultatem_.
III:12
Nec promptum est dicere utros peccare validius
141
putem, quibus omnia sua placent an quibus nihil. Accidit enim etiam
ingeniosis adulescentibus frequenter, ut labore consumantur et in
silentium usque descendant nimia bene dicendi cupiditate. Qua de re
memini narrasse mihi Iulium Secundum illum, aequalem meum atque a me, ut
notum est, familiariter amatum, mirae facundiae virum, infinitae tamen
curae, quid esset sibi a patruo suo dictum.
§ 12.
validius. Common in Quintilian: iii. 8, 61 verborum autem
magnificentia non validius est adfectanda suasorias declamantibus, sed
contingit magis: vi. Prooem. §8 quo me validius cruciaret: ix. 2, 76
quanto validius bonos inhibet pudor quam metus. The superlative is
frequent in Pliny: e.g. validissime placere Ep. i. 20, 22: te
validissime diligo iii. 15, 2: vi. 8, 9 validissime vereor: ix. 35, 1
141
validissime cupere. Cp. Caelias in Cic. ad Fam. viii. 2, 1 ego quum pro
amicitia validissime facerem ei. Horace has valdius oblectat populam
A. P. 321: cp. Ep. i. 9, 6.
omnia sua: cp. 1 §130 (of Seneca) si non omnia
sua amasset: ibid. §88 (of
Ovid) nimium amator ingenii sui.
narrasse: Quintilian always uses the perfect infin. after
_memini_, even where the person who recalls the event was a witness
of it. The rule is thus stated by Roby §1372 ‘_Memini_ is used with
the present (and sometimes the perfect) infinitive of events of which
the subject himself was witness, with the perfect infinitive of events
of which the subject was not witness.’ On this Dr. Reid has a valuable
note de Amic. §2: ‘The rule may be somewhat more precisely stated thus:
If the person who recalls an event was a witness of it, he may either
(_a_) vividly picture to himself the event and its attendant
circumstances so that it becomes really present to his mind’s eye for
the moment, in which case he uses the present infinitive, or (_b_)
he may simply recall the _fact_ that the event _did_ take
place in past time, in which case the perfect infinitive is used. If he
was not a witness, he evidently can conceive the event only in the
latter of these two ways. As regards (_a_) cp. Verg. Ecl. ix. 52
longos cantando puerum memini me condere soles with Georg. iv. 125
memini me Corycium vidisse senem. Examples like the latter of these two
are more numerous than is commonly supposed.’
Iulius Secundus, 1 §120.
III:13
Is fuit Iulius Florus, in eloquentia Galliarum, quoniam ibi demum
exercuit eam, princeps, alioqui inter
142
paucos disertus et dignus illa propinquitate. Is cum Secundum, scholae
adhuc operatum, tristem forte vidisset, interrogavit quae causa frontis
tam adductae?
§ 13.
Iulius Florus is generally supposed to be identical with the
individual to whom, as one of the _comites_ of Tiberius Claudius in
his mission to the East, Horace addresses (B.C. 20) the Third Epistle of the First Book: cp.
also ii. 2. Horace indicates his young friend’s ability in the
following lines (i. 3, 21) Non tibi parvum Ingenium, non incultum
est et turpiter hirtum: Seu linguam causis acuis, seu civica iura
Respondere paras, seu condis amabile carmen, Prima feres hederae
victricis praemia. The scholiast Porphyrio tells us that he wrote
satires: Hic Florus fuit satirarum scriptor, cuius sunt electae ex
Ennio, Lucilio, Varrone satirae, ‘by which is meant, doubtless,’ says
Prof. Wilkins, ‘that he re-wrote some of the poems of these earlier
authors, adapting them to the taste of his own day, much as Dryden and
Pope re-wrote Chaucer’s tales.’ There is, however, a chronological
difficulty in the identification of the Florus who was a young man in
B.C. 20 with the Florus who was the
_patruus_ of Iulius Secundus, a contemporary of Quintilian
(aequalem meum), who died towards the end of Domitian’s reign before he
had completed the natural term of life (si longius contigisset aetas 1 §120). Seneca (Controv.
ix. 25, 258) mentions a Iulius Florus who was a pupil of Porcius Latro
(fl. cir. B.C. 17). There is also the
Gaulish nobleman who headed a rebellion among the Treveri, and
afterwards committed suicide, A.D. 21
(Tac. Ann. iii. 40-42). Hild identifies this Florus with the one in the
text: but it is absolutely impossible that the Florus who died in A.D. 21 can have seen Secundus (_scholae
adhuc operatum_), who cannot have been born till about twenty years
later.
in eloquentia. The genitive is more common with princeps: 1 §58: viii. 6, 30 Romanae
eloquentiae principem: vi. 3, 1.
Galliarum. Eloquence flourished in Gaul under the Empire. At
Lugdunum Caligula instituted (A.D.
39-40) a contest in Greek and Latin oratory (certamen Graecae Latinaeque
facundiae, Suet. Calig. 20). Cp. Iuv. i. 44 Aut Lugdunensem rhetor
dicturus ad aram.
quoniam introduces what is virtually a parenthesis, referring
not to the whole sentence but only to _Galliarum_.
ibi demum: 1 §44: 2 §8: 6 §5.
142
Here it leads up to _alioqui_ (_apart from this fact:
moreover_) (1 §64):
it was in Gaul that he practised, but he would have shone anywhere.
alioqui: 1 §64. Here it = apart from this
fact, even if compared with orators of other countries. Transl.
‘besides,’ and cp. Tac. Ann. iv. 37 validus alioqui spernendis
honoribus: Hist. ii. 27: iii. 32. Other instances in Quintilian are ii.
1, 4: 15, 9: iv. pr. 6: v. 9, 11, &c.
inter paucos, ‘as few have ever been’: Livy xxii. 7, 1 inter
paucas memorata populi Romani clades: cp. xxiii. 44, 4: xxxviii. 15, 9;
Q. Curtius iv. 8, 7 in paucis Alexandro carus: cp. vi.
8, 2.
illa propinquitate, i.e. his relationship to Secundus, of whom
Quintilian speaks with pride as a friend and contemporary 1 §120.
Is fuit ... Is cum: one of Quintilian’s negligences: cp. 2 §23.
adhuc = etiam tum, as Livy xxi. 48 Scipio quamquam gravis
adhuc vulnere erat. Strictly _adhuc_ is applicable to what
continues up to the time of speaking: here of continuance in past time.
Introd. p. l.
operatum: cp. Tac. Ann. iii. 42 nobilissima Galliarum subole
liberalibus studiis ibi operata (v. 2): reipublicae Livy iv. 60, 2:
conubiis arvisque novis operata iuventus Verg. Aen. iii. 136.
adductae. So adducere frontem Sen. Ben. i. 1: cp. attrahere
frontem 6, 7: cp. contrahere frontem Cic. pro Cluent. §72. The opposite
is _frontem remittere_: Pliny, Ep. ii. 5, 5. Cp. sollicitam
explicuere frontem Hor. Car. iii. 29, 16. _Obductus_ is used in a
similar sense: cp. Hor. Epod. xiii. 5 obducta solvatur fronte senectus:
Iuv. Sat. ix. 2 quare ... tristis occurras fronte obducta.
III:14
Nec dissimulavit adulescens, tertium iam diem esse quod omni labore
materiae ad scribendum destinatae non inveniret exordium; quo sibi non
praesens tantum dolor, sed etiam desperatio in posterum fieret. Tum
Florus adridens, ‘numquid tu,’ inquit, ‘melius dicere vis quam
potes?’
§ 14.
Tertium diem ... quod. _Quod_ does not here = _ex quo_,
as it denotes not point of time, but duration: in the direct it would be
_quod non invenio_, not _quod_ (ex quo) _non inveni_. An
exact analogy is Plaut. Amphit. i. 1, 148 (302) iam diu ’st _quod_
ventri victum non datis (where, however, Fleckeisen reads _quom_,
and is followed by Palmer). The commentators quote Pliny, Ep. iv. 27, 1
Tertius dies est quod audivi recitantem Sentium: but there _quod_ =
_ex quo_, just as _ut_ is used for _ex quo_ Stich. 29 Nam
viri nostri domo ut abierunt hic tertiust annus. Nägelsbach (note on
p. 167) says this construction of Quintilian’s was imitated not
only by Pliny (l.c.), but by others: Schmalz, Antibarbarus, s.v. e, ex.
It might, however, be argued that we ought to read _quum_
(_quomomni_): C. ad Fam. xv. 14 Multi anni sunt cum M. Attius
in meo aere est, and often elsewhere, e.g. de Off. ii. §75 (Roby §1723).
If _quod_ stands it must = ‘as regards the fact that he could find
no _exordium_, it was now the third day’: cp. the German ‘es ist
schon der dritte Tag dass,’ &c.
omni labore: a modal ablative, ‘in spite of every effort.’
There are two instances in Cicero of a similar use of the ablative,
_with the gerundive_: pro Mur. §17 qui non modo Curiis, Catonibus,
Pompeiis, antiquis illis fortissimis viris, sed his recentibus, Mariis
et Didiis et Caeliis, commemorandis iacebant: = quamvis Curios, &c.,
commemorarent: de Off. i. 2 §5 quis est enim qui nullis officii
praeceptis tradendis philosophum se audeat dicere? = quamvis non
tradat.
materiae: cp. v. 10, 9 quo apparet omnem ad scribendum
destinatam materiam ita appellari (sc. argumentum): ‘a theme on which he
had to write.’ There seems no reason why _materiae_ should not
143
be taken as genitive, though Hild and others make it dative of the
remote object of _inveniret_.
III:15
Ita se res habet: curandum est ut quam optime dicamus, dicendum tamen
pro facultate; ad profectum enim opus est studio, non indignatione. Ut
possimus autem scribere etiam plura et celerius,
143
non exercitatio modo praestabit, in qua sine dubio multum est, sed etiam
ratio: si non resupini spectantesque tectum et cogitationem murmure
agitantes expectaverimus quid obveniat, _sed_ quid res poscat, quid
personam deceat, quod sit tempus, qui iudicis animus intuiti, humano
quodam modo ad scribendum accesserimus. Sic nobis et initia et quae
sequuntur natura ipsa praescribit.
§ 15.
sine dubio. This substantival use of the neuter adj. with prep.
is frequent in Cicero, but does not occur in Caesar or Sallust. Nägelsb.
Stil. §21: cp. Introd. p. liii.
ratio, ‘judgment’ (λόγος), such as rational human beings may be expected to
show (cp. humano quodam modo, below). In this sense _ratio_ and
_consilium_ are often found together. A parallel passage is
ii. 11, §4 Quin etiam in cogitando nulla ratione adhibita aut tectum
intuentes magnum aliquid, quod ultro se offerat, pluribus saepe diebus
expectant, aut murmure incerto velut classico instincti concitatissimum
corporis motum non enuntiandis sed quaerendis verbis accommodant.
resupini (‘with upturned face’) goes closely with
_spectantes tectum_: cp. Martial ix. 43, 3 Quaeque tulit spectat
resupino sidera vultu.
quod sit tempus. xi. 1, 46 Tempus quoque ac locus egent
observatione propria; nam et tempus tum triste tum laetum, tum liberum
tum angustum est, atque ad haec omnia componendus orator.
humano quodam modo, ‘in true human or rational fashion,’ i.e.
without looking for inspiration to—the ceiling! Cp.
_instincti_, quoted above, and 7 §14 deum tunc affuisse, &c. For
_quidam_ see §11.
III:16
Certa sunt enim pleraque et, nisi coniveamus, in oculos incurrunt;
ideoque nec indocti nec rustici diu quaerunt, unde incipiant; quo
pudendum est magis, si difficultatem facit doctrina. Non ergo semper
putemus optimum esse quod latet: immutescamus alioqui, si nihil dicendum
videatur nisi quod non invenimus.
§ 16.
certa, fixed and definite, as belonging necessarily to the
subject, and suggested at once by the thought of it. _Pleraque_ is
not limited to _initia_, though the next sentence is (unde
incipiant).
non ... putemus: v. on 2 §27. Emphasis is secured both by the use of
_non_ for _ne_, and by its place in the sentence.
immutescamus, very rare for _obmutescamus_, Stat. Theb.
v. 542 ruptis immutuit ore querelis: vi. 184.
alioqui. The condition implied in the word is here expressed
in the clause which follows: cp. §30
below. Introd. p. li.
III:17
Diversum est huic eorum vitium qui primo decurrere per materiam stilo
quam velocissimo volunt, et sequentes calorem atque impetum ex tempore
scribunt; hanc silvam vocant. Repetunt
144
deinde et componunt quae effuderant; sed verba emendantur et numeri,
manet in rebus temere congestis quae fuit levitas.
§ 17.
diversum with the dat. (like _contrarium_) is common in
Quintilian and later writers: Cicero has _ab_ c. abl. Cp. Hor. Ep.
i. 18, 5 Est huic diversum vitio vitium prope maius: Caesar B.C. iii.
30, 2 diversa sibi consilia.
silvam. This word is here used as a translation of ὕλη, properly timber for building, then,
metaphorically, raw material, or as here ‘rough draft.’ Cic. Orat. §12
omnis enim ubertas et quasi silva dicendi ducta ab illis (philosophis)
est, nec satis tamen instructa ad forenses causas: §139 quasi silvam
vides: de Or. ii. 65 infinita silva: iii. 93 rerum est silva magna: 103
primum silva rerum (ac sententiarum) comparanda est: 118 qui loco omnis
virtutum et vitiorum est silva subiecta: 54 ea est ei (oratori) subiecta
materies (ὑποκειμένη
ὕλη): de Inv. i. 34 quandam silvam atque materiam ... omnium
argumentationum: Suet. Gram. 24 Reliquit non mediocrem silvam
observationum sermonis antiqui (Probus). The philosophical definition of
ὕλη; is given in Isidorus,
Orig. xiii. 3, 1 hylen (ὕλην)
144
Graeci rerum quamdam primam materiam dicunt, nullo prorsus modo
formatam, sed omnium corporalium formarum capacem, ex qua visibilia haec
elementa formata sunt.
componunt, of ‘arrangement’: cp.
1, §§44,
66,
79.
levitas, ‘superficiality,’ want of thoroughness and solidity:
opp. to _gravitas_. Cp. 7, §4 manet
eadem quae fuit incipientibus difficultas.—The improvement extends
only to the _verba_ and _numeri_, not to the substance.
III:18
Protinus ergo adhibere curam rectius erit atque ab initio sic opus
ducere, ut caelandum, non ex integro fabricandum sit. Aliquando tamen
adfectus sequemur, in quibus fere plus calor quam diligentia valet.
§ 18.
protinus = statim ab initio.
opus ducere: 5 §9 velut eadem
cera aliae aliaeque formae duci solent: ii. 4, 7 si non ab initio tenuem
nimium laminam duxerimus et quam caelatura altior rumpat. The same
figure is used Hor. Sat. i. 10, 43-44 forte epos acer ut nemo Varius
ducit. So carmen ducere Ov. Trist. i. 11, 18: iii. 14, 32: ex Pont. i.
5, 7: ducere versus, Trist. v. 12, 63. In all these the metaphor is
originally from drawing out the threads in spinning: cp. Hor. Ep. ii. 1,
225 tenui deducta poemata filo: Sat. ii. 1, 3 putat ... mille die versus
deduci posse. In reference to statuary we have Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 240
ducent aera fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia: Verg. Aen. vi. 84, 7
vivos ducent de marmore vultus.
caelandum, ‘chiselled,’ ‘filed’: Hor. Ep. ii. 2, 92
caelatumque novem Musis opus.
sequemur: so 1 §58 revertemur: 7, 1
renuntiabit: a common use of the future in rules. Warmth of feeling, he
says, will often compensate for want of finish.
III:19
Satis apparet ex eo quod hanc scribentium neglegentiam damno, quid de
illis dictandi deliciis sentiam. Nam in stilo quidem quamlibet properato
dat aliquam cogitationi moram non consequens celeritatem eius manus:
ille cui dictamus urget,
145
atque interim pudet etiam dubitare aut resistere aut mutare quasi
conscium infirmitatis nostrae timentes.
§ 19.
illis dictandi deliciis: i.e. the practice which is so much in
fashion, so much ‘affected’: for _deliciae_ (‘affectation’) cp. 1 §43 recens haec lascivia
deliciaeque: xii. 8, 4 ne illas quidem tulerim delicias eorum qui,
&c. The phrase _in deliciis esse alicui_ is common in Cicero:
cp. also Orat. §39 longissime tamen ipsi a talibus deliciis vel potius
ineptiis afuerunt. The practice of dictation became so common that
_dictare_ came to have the same sense as _scribere_
(‘compose’): Pers. i. 52 non si qua eligidia crudi dictarunt proceres?
Literary men had of course always their _librarii_; and we get a
glimpse of a great advocate at work in Brutus §87 illum ... omnibus
exclusis commentatum in quadam testudine cum servis litteratis fuisse,
quorum alii aliud dictare eodem tempore solitus esset. Pliny, the elder,
used to redeem the time by dictating to a _notarius_ even when on
his travels: so too his nephew (who tells of his uncle’s habits iii.
5, 15), notarium voco et die admisso quae formaveram dicto ix. 36,
2: illa quae dictavi identidem retractantur ibid. 40, 2. Gesner has
an interesting note: “scilicet iam tum notabilis erat ea mollities, ut
circa scribendi artem negligentiores essent homines in aliquo fastigio
constituti: (vid. i. 1, 28) quae postea ita invaluit ut
_dictare_ iam esset eruditorum hominum opus, quem admodum antea
_scribere_. Itaque _vario dictandi genere_ supergressum se
alios dicit Sidonius Apollin. 8, 6 et ab initio eiusdem epistolae
coniungit _studia certandi, dictandi, lectitandique_.” He quotes
authorities to show that, owing to the growth of the practice of
dictation, the leading men in Charlemagne’s time, as well as the
bishops, and Charlemagne himself, were ignorant of the art of
writing.
in stilo: i.e. when the author himself uses it. The
_quidem_ introduces an antithesis in _ille cui dictamus_.
urget: he ‘presses,’ whereas even
145
those authors who can write fast take time to stop and think. No doubt
the most practised amanuensis would fail to write as fast as a man can
think, but this is not asserted. All that is said in the antithesis is
that the amanuensis is always ready for more, as it were: his whole
interest is in the writing, not in the thought. One even (etiam) feels
_ashamed_ at times (in addition to being merely conscious of the
fact that the scribe’s pen is not busy) of one’s hesitancy, &c. See
Crit. Notes.
resistere: v. on §10.
III:20
Quo fit ut non rudia tantum et fortuita, sed impropria interim, dum sola
est conectendi sermonis cupiditas, effluant, quae nec scribentium curam
nec dicentium impetum consequantur. At idem ille qui excipit, si tardior
in scribendo aut incertior in _intel_legendo velut offensator fuit,
inhibetur cursus, atque omnis quae erat concepta mentis intentio mora et
interdum iracundia excutitur.
§ 20.
impropria = quae significatione deerrant. Cp. i. 5, 46 dubito an
id improprium potius appellem; significatione enim deerrat. On verba
propria see 1 §6.
consequantur: i.e. such utterances do not come up either to
the care with which one writes or the animation with which one
speaks.
at idem ille introduces the second objection to dictation: §21 supplies a third and §22 a fourth.
incertior in intellegendo, i.e. not to be depended upon to
understand what is dictated to him. See Crit. Notes. Against
_legendo_ it must be urged that the reference to _reading_ is
not very appropriate: the author would not be likely to call on the
scribe to read what he had written, except at an appropriate pause,
otherwise he would himself be to blame for the interruption to the
‘swing’ (cursus) of his thoughts.
offensator, a ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, whence the use of _velut_. It is
employed here of one whose slowness or muddle-headedness is always
bringing the author to a standstill. Cp. offensantes 7 §10.
quae erat: cp. §17 quae fuit
levitas.
concepta mentis intentio, i.e. the thread of ideas.
_Concipere_ is of frequent occurrence in Quintilian: 7 §14: xi. 3, 25: ix. i, 16: ii. 20, 4: vi. 2,
33, &c. For the gen. cp. animi intentio i. 1, 34. The reading
_conceptae mentis_ (see Crit. Notes) is supported by i. 2, 29
praeceptores ipsos non idem mentis ac spiritus in dicendo posse
concipere: the genitive would then be objective, as §23 below: perhaps ‘attention to the conceived
thought.’
excutitur: Aristoph. Clouds 138 καὶ φροντίδ᾽ ἐξήμβλωκας
ἐξευρημένην.
III:21
Tum illa, quae altiorem animi motum sequuntur quaeque ipsa animum quodam
modo concitant, quorum est iactare manum, torquere vultum, _frontem
et_ latus interim obiurgare, quaeque Persius
146
notat, cum leviter dicendi genus significat, ‘nec pluteum,’ inquit,
‘caedit nec demorsos sapit ungues,’ etiam ridicula sunt, nisi cum soli
sumus.
§ 21.
quaeque ipsa: i.e. per se: so §23
below, quae ipsa delectant.
frontem et latus ... obiurgare. I venture to insert this
conjecture in the text, as justified both by the MSS. tradition (see Crit. Notes) and by the
context. Quintilian is speaking not of the gestures by which animation
is imparted to an actual effort of oratory, but of such little
mannerisms as the men of his day indulged in when in the throes of
solitary composition,—just as they bite quill pens to pieces or
scratch their heads now. For _frontem obiurgare_ cp. Brut. §278
nulla perturbatio animi nulla corporis, frons non percussa, non femur,
quoted xi. 3, 123: femur pectus frontem caedere ii. 12, 10: ut frontem
ferias Cic. ad Att. i. 1, 1, though this last passage implies a more
vexatious state of distraction.
obiurgare, i.e. caedere, ferire, plectere. Gertz objected to
_latus obiurgare_ on the ground that _obiurgare_ by itself
could not mean to ‘strike.’ We have ablatives in Pers.v. 169 solea puer
obiurgabere rubra: Sen. de Ira iii. 12, 6 servulum istum verberibus
obiurga: Suet. Calig. §20 ferulis obiurgari: id. Otho §2 flagris:
Petronius 34 colaphis. But in all these
146
the abl. is needed to define the meaning of _obiurgare_, while no
one could mistake _latus obiurgare_.
leviter dicendi genus: cp. §17
levitas. The reference is to listlessness and carelessness of style,
‘not the kind that beats the desk or savours of the bitten
nail,’—without earnestness or feeling.
nec pluteum caedit. The _pluteus_ or _pluteum_ is
the back board of the ‘lecticula lucubratoria’ in which writing was done
in a recumbent position. The quotation is from Sat. i. 106, where
Persius pictures a drivelling versifier, listlessly pouring forth his
verses without any physical exertion or trace of feeling.
demorsos sapit ungues: imitated from Hor. Sat. i. 10, 70,
speaking of what Lucilius would do if he lived now: in versu faciendo
Saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet ungues.
nisi cum soli sumus. This refers to practice only.
A different point of view is stated in i. ii. §31, where Quintilian
sums up in these words, Non esset in rebus humanis eloquentia, si tantum
cum singulis loqueremur.
III:22
Denique ut semel quod est potentissimum dicam, secretum in dictando
perit. Atque liberum arbitris locum et quam altissimum silentium
scribentibus maxime convenire nemo dubitaverit: non tamen protinus
audiendi qui credunt aptissima in hoc nemora silvasque, quod illa caeli
libertas locorumque amoenitas sublimem animum et beatiorem spiritum
parent.
§ 22.
ut semel ... dicam: 1 §17.
secretum in dictando. This is the fourth objection. Cp. 7 §16 cum stilus secreto gaudeat atque
omnes arbitros reformidet. Hirt (Substantivierung des Adj. bei
Quint.—Berlin, 1890) notes that this use of the nom. neut.
standing by itself is not so common as other cases: he cites about a
dozen instances, e.g. iv. 1, 41 honestum satis per se valet: v. 11, 13
dissimile plures casus habet: vi. 3, 84 inopinatum et a lacessente poni
solet. See Crit. Notes.
protinus: see on 1 §3, §42.
aptissima in hoc. A poetical constr.: only here in
Quintilian, instead of _dat._ or _ad_. Livy xxviii. 31 genere
pugnae in quod minime apti sunt: Ovid Metam. xiv. 765 formas deus aptus
in omnes.
nemora silvasque. Quintilian is speaking of oratory: poetry on
the other hand may fitly seek its inspiration in solitude. Tac. Dial.
ix. poetis ... in nemora et lucos id est in solitudinem recedendum est:
cp. xii nemora vero et luci et secretum ipsum, &c. The poet’s love
of retirement and the necessity for his being exempted from the fears
and anxieties of the vulgar is in fact a commonplace in Latin
literature: Horace, Car. i. 1, 30: 32, 1: iv. 3, 10 sq.: Ep. ii. 2, 77:
A. P. 298: Ovid, Tristia i. 1, 41 Carmina secessum scribentis et
otia quaerunt, cp. v. 12, 3: Iuv. vii. 58: Pliny ix. 10 §2 (to
Tacitus) poemata quiescunt, quae tu inter nemora et lucos commodissime
perfici putas: so for study of all kinds i. 6, 2; cp. ix.
36, 6.
beatiorem spiritum: i. §27, §44 (spiritus: cp. 5 §4 sublimis spiritus): and i. §61, §109
(beatus). Cp. dives vena in Hor. A. P. 409.
III:23
Mihi certe iucundus hic magis quam studiorum hortator videtur esse
secessus. Namque illa, quae ipsa delectant, necesse est avocent ab
intentione operis destinati. Neque enim se bona fide
147
in multa simul intendere animus totum potest, et quocumque respexit,
desinit intueri quod propositum erat.
§ 23.
hortator: cp. Liv. xxvii. 18, 14 foederum ruptor dux et populus:
Cic. pro Mil. §50 ipse ille latronum occultator et receptor locus.
Introd. p. xlv.
quae ipsa: §21 above. Cic.
Tusc. Disp. v. 21, 62 iam ipsae defluebant coronae.
bona fide, ‘earnestly and conscientiously’: ut non fallat (sc.
animus) sed officiis suis probe sufficiat (Wolff). The phrase is
borrowed from the language of the law-courts, where it was applied to
judicial awards made not according to any positive enactment but in
equity. Cicero, de Off. iii. 61 et sine lege iudiciis,
147
in quibus additur _ex fide bona_. See Holden’s note _ad
loc._
III:24
Quare silvarum amoenitas et praeterlabentia flumina et inspirantes ramis
arborum aurae volucrumque cantus et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas
ad se trahunt, ut mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videatur
cogitationem quam intendere.
§ 24.
late circumspiciendi. Wölfflin thinks that Quintilian designedly
avoided such alliterations as ‘longe lateque circumspicere’: cp. Sall.
Iug. 5, Tac. Hist. iv. 50. In viii. 3, 65 he has ‘vultum et oculos’
instead of ‘ora et oculos’: and ‘satis’ by itself, or ‘satis abunde,’
instead of ‘satis superque.’
remittere ... intendere: the figure is derived from the use of
the bow.
III:25
Demosthenes melius, qui se in locum ex quo nulla exaudiri vox et ex quo
nihil prospici posset recondebat, ne aliud agere mentem cogerent oculi.
Ideoque lucubrantes silentium noctis et clausum cubiculum et lumen unum
velut _t_ectos maxime teneat.
§ 25.
Demosthenes: Plut. Dem. 7 ἐκ τούτου κατάγειον μὲν οἰκοδομῆσαι μελετήριον ὃ δὴ διεσώζετο καὶ
καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς.
cogerent: for a similar modified use of _cogere_ cp.
Corn. Nep. Milt. 7, 1: Suet. Domit. 11.
lumen for _lucerna_: Cic. de Divin. 1 §36 lumine
adposito.
velut tectos, ‘as if under cover’: sc. ad omnia quae oculis
vel auribus incursant. This is said to be one of Quintilian’s military
metaphors, whence the use of _velut_. Becher (Philol. xliii. 203
sq.) compares de Orat. i. 8, 32 quid autem tam necessarium quam tenere
semper arma quibus vel tectus ipse esse possis vel provocare improbos
vel te ulcisci lacessitus? and Orelli on pro Deiot. 6, 16: (quis
consideratior illo? quis tectior? quis prudentior?) ‘est metaphora
petita a gladiatoribus qui, uti debent, contra ictus adversariorum se
tegunt.’ Here the ‘weapons of defence’ are three: ‘silentium noctis,’
‘clausum cubiculum,’ and ‘lumen unum’ (i.e. nobis solum appositum). The
opposite of _tectus_ in this sense is _apertus_: e.g. latus
apertum Tac. Hist. ii. 21 _aperti_ incautique muros subiere, ‘of a
force which has no adequate defensive means at its disposal for
conducting a siege’ (Spooner). For the thought Krüger (3rd ed.)
compares Plin. Ep. x. 36 clausae fenestrae manent. Mire enim silentio et
tenebris animus alitur. Ab iis quae avocant abductus et liber et mihi
relictus non oculos animo sed animum oculis sequor, qui eadem quae mens
vident, quoties non adsunt alia.—See Crit. Notes.
maxime = potissimum, and leads up to §28 ut sunt _maxime_ optanda. Cp. μάλιστα: Plat. Rep. 326 A πεῖσαι μάλιστα μὲν καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἄρχοντας, εἰ δὲ
μὴ τὴν ἄλλην πόλιν.
teneat, potential: ‘if we work at night, the silence, &c.
will secure us from interruption.’ But Krüger (2nd ed.), looking to
_lucubrantes_ (which is emphatic), explains = ita lucubremus ut ...
teneat, and Wrobel makes it an imperative, ‘let us work by night, and
under such conditions, with such precautions that,’ &c.
III:26
Sed cum in omni studiorum genere, tum in hoc praecipue bona valetudo,
quaeque eam maxime praestat, frugalitas necessaria est, cum tempora ab
ipsa
148
rerum natura ad quietem refectionemque nobis data in acerrimum laborem
convertimus. Cui tamen non plus inrogandum est quam quod somno
supererit, haud deerit;
§ 26.
in hoc, i.e. for night work (= in hoc studiorum genere; viz.
cum lucubramus).
frugalitas: regularity of life, in a wide sense (as moderatio,
temperantia, σωφροσύνη): cp. xii. 1, 8 Age non ad perferendos
studiorum labores necessaria frugalitas? quid ergo ex libidine ac
luxuria spei? Cic. pro Deiot. ix. §26.
cum ... convertimus: the temporal signification of _cum_
c. ind. passes here into the causal. Cp. i. 6, 2 auctoritas ab
oratoribus vel historicis peti solet ... cum summorum in eloquentia
virorum iudicium pro ratione, et vel error honestus est magnos duces
sequentibus.—Becher on the other hand (followed by Krüger 3rd ed.)
insists that the use is here exclusively temporal, and that the clause
is merely a development of ‘cum lucubramus,’—
148
the idea contained in the foregoing in hoc (sc. stud. genere).
cui: sc. labori scribendi.
inrogandum = impendendum, tribuendum.
supererit ... deerit. Tr. ‘only so much as would be superfluous for
sleep, not insufficient.’ The meaning is clear: we must not encroach on
the time necessary for the repose of mind and body,—‘not more than
what is not needed for sleep, and what will not be missed.’ For what may
seem a superfluous addition cp. 1 §115 si quid adiecturus sibi
non si quid detracturus fuit: Verg. Aen. ix. 282 ‘tantum fortuna secunda
Haud adversa cadat.’ The juxtaposition of compounds of _esse_ is
very common: esp. _superesse_, _deesse_. Asin. Pollio, ad Fam.
x. 33, 5: Cic. ad Fam. xiii. 63, 2: Cic. in Gellius i. 22, 7: Val. Max.
viii. 7, 2: Suet. Aug. 56 (Schmalz). See Crit. Notes.
III:27
obstat enim diligentiae scribendi etiam fatigatio, et abunde, si vacet,
lucis spatia sufficiunt; occupatos in noctem necessitas agit. Est tamen
lucubratio, quotiens ad eam integri ac refecti venimus, optimum secreti
genus.
§ 27.
si vacet ... occupatos. The antithesis should be noted: the days
are long enough when one has nothing else to do: it is the busy man who
is driven to encroach on the night.
III:28
Sed silentium et secessus et undique liber animus ut sunt maxime
optanda, ita non semper possunt contingere; ideoque non statim, si quid
obstrepet, abiciendi codices erunt et deplorandus dies, verum incommodis
repugnandum et hic faciendus usus, ut omnia quae impedient vincat
intentio; quam si tota mente in opus ipsum derexeris, nihil eorum quae
oculis vel auribus incursant ad animum perveniet.
§ 28.
codices: writing-books or tablets, as §32.
faciendus usus. Cp. ut scribendi fiat usus in 2 §2: and §3 below
vires faciamus: 6 §3 facienda multo
stilo forma est.
derexeris: see on 2 §1. So
xii. 3, 8: ii. 13, 5: ii. 1, 11. On the other hand in x. 1 §127 and v. 7, 6 Halm and
Meister print _dirigere_.
incursant: stronger than §16 in
oculos incurrunt. The constr. with the dative is poetical (Ovid, Metam.
i. 303, xiv. 190).
III:29
An vero frequenter etiam fortuita hoc cogitatio praestat, ut obvios non
videamus et itinere deerremus: non consequemur idem, si et voluerimus?
Non est indulgendum causis desidiae. Nam si non nisi refecti, non nisi
hilares, non nisi omnibus aliis curis vacantes studendum existimarimus,
semper erit propter quod nobis ignoscamus.
§ 29.
An vero ... non consequemur. For this form of the _argumentum a
minore ad maius_ cp. 2 §5. Cic. pro
Rab. 5 An vero servos nostros ... dominorum benignitas ... liberabit hos
a verberibus ... nostri honores (non) vindicabunt?
deerremus with simple abl. is post-classical.
idem, i.e. the same abstraction.
si et voluerimus: ‘by an effort of will,’ opp. to _fortuita
cogitatio_.
non nisi: see on 1 §20.
III:30
Quare in turba, itinere, conviviis etiam faciat sibi cogitatio ipsa
149
secretum. Quid alioqui fiet, cum in medio foro, tot circumstantibus
iudiciis, iurgiis, fortuitis etiam clamoribus, erit subito continua
oratione dicendum, si particulas quas ceris mandamus nisi in solitudine
reperire non possumus? Propter quae idem ille tantus amator secreti
Demosthenes in litore, in quo se maximo cum sono fluctus inlideret,
meditans consuescebat contionum fremitus non expavescere.
§ 30.
itinere: Sen. Ep. 72 §2 quaedam enim sunt quae possis et in
cisio scribere: Plin. Ep. iv. 14 §2 accipies cum hac epistula
hendecasyllabos nostros, quibus nos in vehiculo, in balineo, inter
149
cenam oblectamus otium temporis. Pliny even took with him to the chase
his _pugillares_, that he might note down any passing thought: i.
6, 1: ix. 10, 2. He had learnt the lesson from his uncle, who made
use of his time at dinner, in the bath, on a journey: see the
description his nephew gives of his habits Ep. iii. 5 §§10, 11, 14-16.
Cato the Younger used to read while the Senate was assembling: Cic. de
Fin. iii. 2 §7.
alioqui: see on §16. Cp. §7 and
Introd. p. li.
tot circumstantibus iudiciis. Four courts were commonly held
in one and the same basilica. Cp. xii. 5, 6 cum in basilica Iulia
diceret primo tribunali (Trachalus 1 §119) quatuor autem iudicia, ut
moris est, cogerentur, atque omnia clamoribus fremerent, et auditum eum
et intellectum et, quod agentibus ceteris contumeliosissimum fuit,
laudatum quoque ex quatuor tribunalibus memini: Plin. Ep. i. 18, 3 eram
acturus ... in quadruplici iudicio: iv. 24, 1: vi. 33, 2.
particulas: the ‘jottings’ which we ought to be able to make
even in spite of surrounding confusion, if we are to be effective when
called on to speak _ex tempore_.
ceris: used especially for rough notes. Iuv. i. 63: xiv. 191.
These tablets were “made of thin slabs or leaves of wood, coated with
wax, and having a raised margin all round to preserve the contents from
friction. They were made of different sizes and varied in the number of
their leaves, whence the word, in this sense, is applied in the plural”
(Rich).
in litore: Frotscher quotes Lib. Vit. Demosth. φασὶν
αὐτὸν ἄνεμον ῥαγδαῖον τηροῦντα, καὶ κινουμένην σφοδρῶς τὴν θάλατταν,
παρὰ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς βαδίζοντα, λέγειν καὶ τῷ τῆς θαλάττης ἤχῳ
συνεθίζεσθαι φέρειν τὰς τοῦ δήμου καταβοάς: Plut. Vit. X Orat. 8,
p. 844 E καὶ κατιόντα ἐπὶ τὸ Φαληρικὸν πρὸς
τὰς τῶν κυμάτων ἐμβολὰς τὰς σκέψεις ποιεῖσθαι, ἵν᾽ εἴ ποτε θορυβοίη ὁ
δῆμος, μὴ ἐκσταίη: Cic. de Fin. v. 2, 5 Noli inquit, ex me
quaerere, qui in Phalericum etiam descenderim, quo in loco ad fluctum
aiunt declamare solitum Demosthenem, ut fremitum assuesceret voce
vincere: Val. Max. viii. 7, ext. 1.
meditans, ‘practising’: cp. de Orat. i. §260 (Demosthenes)
perfecit meditando ut nemo planius esse locutus putaretur: §136: Brutus
§302 nullum patiebatur esse diem (Hortensius) quin aut in foro diceret
aut meditaretur extra forum: Quint. ii. 10, 2: iv. 2, 29.
expavescere. This corresponds with the motive attributed to
Demosthenes by Plutarch and Libanius, as quoted above; Cicero’s
explanation (ut fremitum assuesceret voce vincere) is perhaps the more
credible.
III:31
Illa quoque minora (sed nihil in studiis parvum est) non sunt
transeunda: scribi optime ceris, in quibus facillima est ratio delendi,
nisi forte visus infirmior membranarum potius usum
150
exiget, quae ut iuvant aciem, ita crebra relatione, quoad intinguntur
calami, morantur manum et cogitationis impetum frangunt.
§ 31.
optime: §33: 1 §72 (prave): 1 §105 (fortiter), where see
note: 5 §13 (rectene and honestene).
Becher says ‘_optime_ giebt ein Urteil über die Handlung an, drückt
nicht die Art und Weise aus’: hence it = _optimum esse_.
scribi ceris: for the omission of in cp. xi. 2, 32 illud
neminem non iuvabit iisdem quibus scripserit ceris ediscere. In viii. 6,
64 Meister reads _in ceris_.
ratio delendi: see on 2 §3:
‘erasure,’ the ‘art of blotting.’ A similar periphrasis is _ratio
collocandi_ §5. For the purpose of
erasure the reverse end of the _stilus_ was flat. Hor. Sat. i. 10,
72 saepe stilum vertas (cp. 4 §1):
Cic. de Orat. ii. §96 luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est. With
parchment the method of erasure was of course different: Hor. A. P.
446 incomptis adlinet atrum transverso calamo signum.
nisi forte is not ironical here, as in 1 §70: 2 §8: 5 §§6-7.
150
membranarum. Parchment was more expensive than the tablets
(cerae), though probably cheaper now than it had been previously. It
could be used for rough notes, the writing being erased to make room for
fresh matter,—‘palimpsest.’ Even when a published book consisted
of papyrus paper (charta), parchment was often used for the wrapper. It
was called _membrana pergamena_ because the industry received its
development under the kings of Pergamum.
exiget: for the indic. cp. v. 2, 2 refelluntur autem
(praeiudicia) raro per contumeliam iudicum, nisi forte manifesta in iis
culpa erit. The commentators quote Sall. Iug. xiv. 10, but there the
subj. is really consecutive.
relatione is here used in the etymological sense of ‘carrying
the pen back,’ or ‘to and fro’ in supplying it with ink. No other
example can be quoted in which this sense ( = reductio) occurs. Kiderlin
(l.c.) thinks that the idea of ‘raising’ the hand would be more
appropriate to the context than that of ‘drawing it back’: he proposes
therefore to read ‘_crebriore elatione_.’ See Crit. Notes.
intinguntur, i.e. in the ink (atramentum), which was generally
an artificial compound, sometimes the natural juice of the
cuttle-fish.
III:32
Relinquendae autem in utrolibet genere contra erunt vacuae tabellae, in
quibus libera adiciendo sit excursio. Nam interim pigritiam emendandi
angustiae faciunt, aut certe novorum interpositione priora confundant.
Ne latas quidem ultra modum esse ceras velim, expertus iuvenem studiosum
alioqui praelongos habuisse sermones, quia illos numero versuum
metiebatur, idque vitium, quod frequenti admonitione corrigi non
potuerat, mutatis codicibus esse sublatum.
§ 32.
contra = ex adverso. Space must be left for corrections and
additions opposite to what has been written: there must be blank pages.
Cp. _contra_ 1 §114.
adiciendo, ‘for making additions,’ comes under the head of the
‘dative for work contemplated’ Roby §§1156 and 1383. So Tacitus
constantly uses the dative of gerund or gerundive in a final sense after
verbs and adjectives. See Crit.
Notes.
aut certe, with no previous _aut_: cp. ix. 2, 94:
3, 60. For novorum cp. _subitis_ 7 §30, and see Introd. p. xlvii.
confundant: potential. It states a possibility: _faciunt_
a fact.
expertus with acc. and inf. is rare.
studiosum: 1 §45.
alioqui: see Introd. p. li.
versuum: 1 §38.
III:33
Debet vacare etiam locus in quo notentur quae scribentibus solent extra
ordinem, id est ex aliis quam qui sunt in manibus loci, occurrere.
Inrumpunt enim optimi nonnumquam sensus, quos neque inserere oportet
neque differre tutum est, quia interim elabuntur, interim memoriae sui
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intentos ab alia inventione declinant ideoque optime sunt in
deposito.
§ 33.
locus ... loci. There is something of Quintilian’s not infrequent
negligence of style in the repetition of the word, especially as by
_locus_ he means only ‘room,’ while _loci_ are the different
parts of the composition.
notentur, ‘jot down.’
inrumpunt, ‘break in upon us,’ with a force that is hard to
resist (cp. memoriam sui intentos below).
sensus: ‘ideas’: viii. 5, 2 sententiam veteres quod animo
sensissent vocaverunt ... sed consuetudo iam tenuit ut mente concepta
sensus vocaremus, lumina autem praecipueque in clausulis posita
sententias: 5 §5: 7 §6.
interim ... interim: frequent in Quintilian (see Introduction
p. li.) for _nunc ... nunc_, _modo ... modo_.
optime sunt: §31 = optimum est
eos esse.
151
inventione: ‘line of thought.’
in deposito: ‘in store,’ ‘in a place of safety,’ i.e. noted
down: see Introd. p. xlvii. The phrase is
borrowed from law: vii. 2, 51 depositi quaestiones, Pandects, xxxvi.
3, 5.