What to Write.
153
Quae scribenda sint praecipue.
V:1
V. Proximum est ut dicamus quae praecipue scribenda sint ἕξιν parantibus. _Non est huius_
quidem operis ut explicemus quae sint materiae, quae prima aut secunda
aut deinceps tractanda sint (nam id factum est iam primo libro, quo
puerorum, et secundo, quo iam robustorum studiis ordinem dedimus), sed,
de quo nunc agitur, unde copia ac facilitas maxime veniat.
§ 1.
ἑξιν: v. 1 §1 and note. For the reading see
Crit. Notes.
operis: ‘this part of my work,’ viz. the present chapter.
materiae. The plural is especially frequent in Quintilian 1 §62: 5 §22: 7 §25: cp. ii. 4, 12 and 41: 6, 1: 10, 1 and
4: iii. 5, 2: iv. 1, 43: vi. 2, 10: 3, 15: vii. pro. §4: 4, 24 and 40.
He is not treating here of the kinds of subjects for a general course of
rhetorical training, but limits himself to the point ‘de quo agitur,
unde copia ac facilitas maxime veniat.’
primo libro: see ch. 9, where he adds to the office of the
grammarian, after _ratio loquendi_ and _enarratio auctorum_,
quaedam dicendi primordia quibus aetates nondum rhetorem capientes
instituant.
secundo: ch. 4 de primis apud rhetorem exercitationibus, and
ch. 10 de utilitate et ratione declamandi.
puerorum ... robustorum: cp. i. 8, 12 priora illa ad pueros
magis, haec sequentia ad robustiores pertinebunt: ii. 2, 14 infirmitas a
robustioribus separanda est: x. 1 §130 robustis et severiore
genere satis firmatis: ii. 5, 2 robusti iuvenes: i. 1, 9 robustum quoque
et iam maximum regem ab institutione illa puerili sunt prosecuta: i. 5,
9: 12, 1.
sed: supply _ut explicemus_, or (for an independent
clause) _explicandum est_.
de quo nunc agitur: i.e. the avowed object of the tenth book:
cp. 1 §1.
copia: 1 §5
opes quaedam parandae ... eae constant copia rerum ac verborum. It is
the _copia verborum_ that is specially meant here.
V:2
Vertere Graeca in Latinum veteres nostri oratores optimum iudicabant. Id
se L. Crassus in illis Ciceronis de Oratore libris dicit
factitasse; id Cicero sua ipse persona frequentissime praecipit, quin
etiam libros Platonis atque Xenophontis edidit hoc
154
genere translatos; id Messallae placuit, multaeque sunt ab eo scriptae
ad hunc modum orationes, adeo ut etiam cum illa Hyperidis pro Phryne
difficillima Romanis subtilitate contenderet. Et manifesta est
exercitationis huiusce ratio.
§ 2.
Latinum: to be taken substantively, cp. i. 6, 3 and 19: ii. 1, 4:
§4 below, _Latinis_: cp. Cicero Tusc.
iii. §29 licet, ut saepe facimus, in Latinum illa convertere.
de Oratore i. §155 postea mihi placuit, eoque sum usus
adulescens, ut summorum oratorum Graecas orationes explicarem, quibus
lectis hoc adsequebar, ut cum ea quae legeram Graece, Latine redderem,
non solum optimis verbis uterer et tamen usitatis, sed etiam exprimerem
quaedam verba imitando, quae nova nostris essent, dummodo essent idonea.
Prof. Wilkins there refers, for the value to be attached to translation
at sight, as giving a command over appropriate diction, to Stanhope’s
Life of Pitt, vol. i. pp. 8 and 18. Cp. Stanley’s Arnold, i.
120.
sua ipse persona: in his own name, and not merely by the mouth
of one of the persons of a dialogue, like Crassus in the De Oratore.
There are no passages in Cicero’s extant writings that account for the
words _frequentissime praecipit_: cp., however, Brutus §310
Commentabar declamitans ... idque faciebam multum etiam Latine sed
Graece saepius: ad Fam. xvi. 21, 5 declamitare Graece apud Cassium
institui. The introductions to the De Officiis and De Finibus contain
Cicero’s advocacy of the study of Greek. Suet. de Rhet. 1-2 Cicero ad
praeturam usque Graece declamavit, Latine vero senior quoque.
libros Platonis atque Xenophontis. Cicero translated, at about
the age of 20
154
years (de Off. ii. §87) the Oeconomicus of Xenophon: in early life also
the Protagoras of Plato, and later the Timaeus. Quintilian might have
included a reference to Cicero’s translation of Aeschines in
Ctesiphontem and Demosthenes de Corona, his preface to which survives in
the De Optimo Genere Oratorum: §14 Converti enim ex Atticis duorum
eloquentissimorum nobilissimas orationes inter se contrarias, Aeschinis
Demosthenisque: nec converti ut interpres sed ut orator, &c. His
motive was to lay down a standard of ‘Atticism,’ as well as to free
himself from the charge of ‘Asianism’: §23 erit regula ad quam eorum
dirigantur orationes qui Attice volent dicere. Cp. Quint, xii. 10.
hoc genere: 3 §26: and
below §7.
Messallae: v. 1 §22 and §113 with the notes.
Hyperidis pro Phryne: Quintilian refers to the well-known
story ii. 15, 9 et Phrynen non Hyperidis actione quamquam admirabili,
sed conspectu corporis, quod illa speciosissimum alioqui diducta
nudaverit tunica, putant periculo liberatam. Phryne was accused of ἀσέβεια. For Hyperides v. 1 §77, and note.
cum illa ... pro Phryne ... subtilitate. The commentators
quote a similar brachyology in Cic. Orator §108 ipsa enim illa pro
Roscio iuvenilis redundantia, though the text is not certain.
difficillima Romanis subtilitat. Cp. 1 §100 cum sermo ipse Romanus
non recipere videatur illam solis concessam Atticis venerem. For
_subtilitas_ cp. 1 §78, 2 §19, Brutus §67 sed ea in nostris inscitia
est, quod hi ipsi, qui in Graecis antiquitate delectantur eaque
subtilitate quam Atticam appellant, hanc in Catone ne noverunt quidem.
Hyperidae volunt esse et Lysiae. Laudo; sed cur nolunt Catones?
V:3
Nam et rerum copia Graeci auctores abundant et plurimum artis in
eloquentiam intulerunt, et hos transferentibus verbis uti optimis licet;
omnibus enim utimur nostris. Figuras vero, quibus maxime ornatur oratio,
multas ac varias excogitandi etiam necessitas quaedam est, quia
plerumque a Graecis Romana dissentiunt.
§ 3.
auctores: see on 1 §24.
transferentibus: personal dat. after _licet_.
verbis uti optimis: cp. hoc adsequebar ut .... non solum
optimis verbis uterer de Oratore i. §155, quoted above.
nostris is predicative = omnia enim quibus utimur nostra sunt.
Translation from the Greek leaves us free to choose the best
expressions: it is not like translation from Latin (i.e. reproduction or
paraphrase), where we must often borrow from our models (optimis
occupatis §5.).
figuras. Cp. 1 §12, note on figuramus. In ix.
1, Quintilian discusses the meaning of _figura_, which he defines
broadly in §4 as ‘conformatio quaedam orationis remota a communi et
primum se offerente ratione.’ Here he refers both to rhetorical and to
grammatical figures; the latter require idiomatic rendering, while a
rhetorical figure which may be appropriate in the one language may not
be allowable in the other. In i. 1, 13 he gives a warning against the
exclusive use of Greek in early training: hinc enim accidunt et oris
plurima vitia in peregrinum sonum corrupti et sermonis, cui cum Graecae
figurae adsidua consuetudine haeserunt, in diversa quoque loquendi
ratione pertinacissime durant.
V:4
Sed et illa ex Latinis conversio multum et ipsa contulerit.
155
Ac de carminibus quidem neminem credo dubitare, quo solo genere
exercitationis dicitur usus esse Sulpicius. Nam et sublimis spiritus
attollere orationem potest, et verba poetica libertate audaciora non
praesumunt eadem proprie dicendi facultatem; sed et ipsis sententiis
adicere licet oratorium robur et omissa supplere et effusa
substringere.
§ 4.
ex Latinis conversio. Verbal nouns are often joined with the case
governed by the verb from which they are derived: vii. 2, 35 ex causis
probatio. In Plautus there are several instances even of the accusative,
but the dative is more frequent.
multum et ipsa = ipsa quoque ... multum contulerit, ‘even
paraphrase of
155
itself,’ i.e. apart from translation. See on 1 §31 and cp. §20 below, 6 §1: 7 §26.
contulerit: v. on 1 §37. (Cicero uses ipse by
itself, or ipse etiam: Livy, ipse quoque.)
de carminibus: Hild wrongly takes this of Greek poetry.
Quintilian is commending those exercises in ‘reproduction’ or
‘paraphrase,’ which are substituted in many schools now for English
‘parsing.’
Sulpicius, 1 §116.
sublimis spiritus: cp. 1 §27 in rebus spiritus et in
verbis sublimitas: §61
spiritu, magnificentia: §104 elatum abunde spiritum: 3 §22 beatiorem spiritum.
orationem: ‘prose style.’ The fire of the poetry gives
elevation to the paraphrase. _Oratio_ is used (without prosa) in
Cicero for ‘prose’: Orator §70 saepissime et in poematis et in oratione
peccatur: ibid. §§166, 174, 178, 198, &c.
poetica libertate. Cp. Quintilian’s remarks on the study of
poetry, 1 §§27-30, esp.
§28 libertate verborum ...
licentia figurarum.
praesumunt. The use of this verb, with such a nominative as
_verba_ (which seems here to be in a way personified), would be
hard to parallel either from Quintilian or from any other writer.
Elsewhere it is generally used with a personal reference in the sense of
to ‘take beforehand’ (προλαμβάνω)),—with derived meanings; e.g. i.
10, 27: i. 1, 19: ii. 4, 7; 17, 28: viii. 6, 23: xii. 9, 9. The
passage xi. 1, 27 inviti iudices audiunt praesumentem partes suas is
quoted as showing that the meaning is ‘encroach upon,’ but that is
secondary: there it simply means ‘anticipating them in the discharge of
their functions,’ cp. sumere sibi imperatorias partes Caesar B.C. iii.
51. ‘Forestall’ is the nearest English equivalent: praeripere (Becher),
praecidere (Hild), praecipere (sumere aliquid ante tempus) Dosson. Cp.
Aen. xi. 18: Ovid Ar. Amat. iii. 757: and praeclusam §7 below.—In what follows eadem is the only
reading that will make sense of a very difficult passage: if it is the
nom. pl. (agreeing with _verba_), tr. ‘do not at the same time
(i.e. in consequence of their being _poet. libert. audac._) exhaust
beforehand the power of using the language of ordinary prose: no (sed =
ἀλλὰ), we may add to the
thought (of the poem) the strength of rhetoric,’ &c. Even if the
words are ‘poetica libertate audaciora’ the ‘facultas proprie dicendi’
can secure strength, completeness, and compactness for the reproduction.
But _eadem_ is usually taken as the acc. pl. neut.: ‘do not use up
beforehand the ability to say the same things in ordinary prose.’ The
reading _eandem_ (Halm and Meister) would seem to require a
different meaning for _praesumunt_.—See Crit. Notes.
effusa substringere: cp. 4 §1 luxuriantia adstringere.
_Substringere_ means to ‘gather up’ as one does with dishevelled
(_effusus_) hair, from which the figure may be taken: Tac. Germ. 38
substringere crinem nodo. Burmann quotes from Tertullian de Oration,
ch. i. de brevitate orationis dominicae quantum substringitur
verbis tantum diffunditur sensibus.
V:5
Neque ego paraphrasin esse interpretationem tantum volo, sed circa
eosdem sensus certamen atque aemulationem. Ideoque ab illis dissentio
qui vertere
156
orationes Latinas vetant, quia optimis occupatis, quidquid aliter
dixerimus, necesse sit esse deterius. Nam neque semper est desperandum
aliquid illis quae dicta sunt melius posse reperiri, neque adeo ieiunam
ac pauperem natura eloquentiam fecit ut una de re bene dici nisi semel
non possit:
§ 5.
paraphrasin, subject: cp. conversio §4 above. The paraphrase is not to be a mere
word-for-word translation: for interpretatio cp. iii. 5, 17. Among
the ‘dicendi primordia’ proper for the training of ‘aetates nondum
rhetorem capientes’ Quintilian lays down the practice of paraphrase: tum
paraphrasi audacius vertere (Aesopi Fabellas), qua et breviare quaedam
et exornare salvo modo poetae sensu permittitur.
circa eosdem sensus. The writer is to endeavour to rival his
original in expressing the same idea. For _sensus_ cp. 3 §33: _circa_ again below §6 circa voces easdem. See on 1 §52.
vertere orationes. Till now he has
156
been speaking of _conversio ex carminibus_. It was probably the
custom in schools of rhetoric to make pupils give a free rendering
(vertere) of passages also from some great oration. Quintilian is
defending such practices against the criticism which Cicero, for
example, puts in the mouth of Crassus, de Orat. i. §154 equidem mihi
adulescentulus proponere solebam illam exercitationem maxime ... ut aut
versibus propositis quam maxime gravibus aut oratione aliqua lecta ad
eum finem, quem memoria possem comprehendere, eam rem ipsam quam
legissem verbis aliis quam maxime possem lectis pronuntiarem: sed post
animadverti hoc esse in hoc vitii, quod ea verba quae maxime cuiusque
rei propria quaeque essent ornatissima atque optima occupasset aut
Ennius, si ad eius versus me exercerem, aut Gracchus, si eius orationem
mihi forte proposuissem: ita, si eisdem verbis uterer, nihil prodesse,
si aliis, etiam obesse, cum minus idoneis uti consuescerem. So he took
to translating from the Greek, as shown in what follows, quoted on §2 above.
una de re. Along with _in eadem materia_ below, this
shows what freedom Quintilian would allow in such reproductions: cp. non
interpretationem tantum, &c. above. Hild refers to a quotation, on
the other hand, from La Bruyère (Ouvrages de l’Esprit 17), which has
more of the spirit of the true artist: Entre toutes les différentes
expressions qui peuvent rendre une seule de nos pensées, il n’y en a
qu’une qui soit la bonne. On ne la rencontre pas toujours en parlant ou
en écrivant; il est vrai néanmoins qu’elle existe, que tout ce qui ne
l’est pas est faible, et ne satisfait point un homme d’esprit qui veut
se faire entendre.
V:6
nisi forte histrionum multa circa voces easdem variare gestus potest,
orandi minor vis, ut dicatur aliquid post quod in eadem materia nihil
dicendum sit. Sed esto neque melius quod invenimus esse neque par, est
certe proximis locus.
§ 6.
nisi forte: a formula generally used, as in Cicero, to introduce
an ironical argument, e.g. i. §70: 2 §8. For a similar constr. cp. i. 10, 6: nisi
forte ἀντιδότους
quidem atque alia, quae oculis aut vulneribus medentur, ex multis atque
interim contrariis quoque inter se effectibus componi videmus ... et
muta animalia mellisillum inimitabilem humanae rationis saporem vario
florum ac sucorum genere perficiunt: nos mirabamur si oratio, qua nihil
praestantius homini dedit providentia, pluribus artibus egeat. And, with
_autem_ in the second clause, ii. 3, 6 Nisi forte Iovem quidem
Phidias optime fecit, illa autem alius melius elaborasset. Cp. the use
of _an_, _an vero_ with antithetical clauses.—The
reasoning is by no means conclusive, the analogy on which it rests
having nothing to recommend it except to a teacher of rhetoric.
Quintilian may have had in his mind what went on between Cicero and
Roscius: Satis constat contendere eum cum ipso histrione solitum, utrum
ille saepius eandem sententiam variis gestibus efficeret, an ipse per
eloquentiae copiam sermone diverso pronuntiaret,—Macrobius,
Saturn. ii. 40.
esto: with acc. and infin. as in Hor. Ep. i. 1, 81 Verum esto
aliis alios rebus studiisque teneri: Idem eadem possunt horam durare
probantes. The subj. is more common: Cic. pro Sest. 97 esto (est) ... ut
sint. Or else _esto_ may be used independently: Hor. Sat. ii.
2, 30. Quint. ix. 2, 84 sed esto, voluerit: Verg. Aen. iv. 35 esto,
nulli flexere mariti.
par ... proximis: cp. 1 §127 pares ac saltem proximos
illi viro fieri. With _proximis_ understand ‘illis quae dicta
sunt.’
V:7
An vero ipsi non bis ac saepius de eadem re dicimus et quidem continuas
nonnumquam sententias? Nisi
157
forte contendere nobiscum possumus, cum aliis non possumus. Nam si uno
genere bene diceretur, fas erat existimari praeclusam nobis a prioribus
viam; nunc vero innumerabiles sunt modi plurimaeque eodem viae
ducunt.
§ 7.
An vero: see on 3 §29.
et quidem: see on 1 §34, and cp. Plin. Ep. i. 12, 1 decessit Corellius Rufus, et quidem sponte.
157
nisi forte: v. on §6 above. For
such repetitions see 2 §23, and
note.
uno: supply _tantum_, as in 1 §91 hos nominavimus. For genere
(= ratione, modo) cp. 3 §26.
fas erat. With verbs expressing possibility, duty, necessity,
convenience, intention, &c. the indicative is often used in the
apodosis when the verb in the protasis is subjunctive. Cp. Livy v. 6 Si
mediusfidius ad hoc bellum nihil pertineret, ad disciplinam certe
militiae plurimum intererat, &c.: Sallust. Iug. 85 ad fin. Quae si
dubia aut procul essent, tamen omnes bonos rei publicae subvenire
decebat.
plurimae ... ducunt. The expression seems proverbial: cp. ‘All
roads lead to Rome.’
V:8
Sua brevitati gratia, sua copiae, alia translatis virtus, alia propriis,
hoc oratio recta, illud figura declinata commendat. Ipsa denique
utilissima est exercitationi difficultas. Quid quod auctores maximi sic
diligentius cognoscuntur? Non enim scripta lectione secura
transcurrimus, sed tractamus singula et necessario introspicimus et,
quantum virtutis habeant, vel hoc ipso cognoscimus, quod imitari non
possumus.
§ 8.
oratio recta. See on 1 §44 rectum dicendi genus: the
opposite is _oratio figurata_, or _figura declinata_ (1 §12). Cp. ix. 1, 3 Utraque
res (figures and tropes) de recta et simplici ratione cum aliqua dicendi
virtute deflectitur.
figura is ablative, the phrase being equivalent to
_figurata_: 1 §12.
commendat: v. 1 §101.
tractamus: cp. repetamus autem et tractemus 1 §19.
V:9
Nec aliena tantum transferre, sed etiam nostra pluribus modis tractare
proderit, ut ex industria sumamus sententias quasdam easque versemus
quam numerosissime, velut eadem cera aliae aliaeque formae duci
solent.
§ 9.
numerosissime: not merely ‘as often as possible’ (saepissime),
but ‘in every possible variety’: cp. aliae aliaeque formae, below. Cp.
ii. 12, 3 sparsa compositis numerosiora creduntur: viii. pr. §2
difficultate institutionis tam numerosae atque perplexae deterreri: xi.
2, 27 ni forte tam numerosus (locus) ut ipse quoque dividi debeat: vi.
3, 36 neque enim minus numerosi sunt loci ex quibus haec dicta ...
ducuntur. But Quintilian also uses it in the Ciceronian sense
(‘rhythmically,’ ‘harmoniously’) viii. 6, 64 sermonem facere numerosum:
ix. 4, 56: xi. 1, 33.
eadem cera: Cic. de Orat iii. §177 sed ea nos ... sicut
mollissimam ceram ad nostrum arbitrium formamus et fingimus: Pliny Ep.
vii. 9, 11 Ut laus est cerae mollis cedensque sequatur Si doctos digitos
iussaque fiat opus, &c.
aliae aliaeque, ‘first one and then another’: of a continuous
succession: cp. quam numerosissime, above. Cp. Cels. iii. 3 extr. febres
... aliae aliaeque subinde oriuntur. With this exception, Quintilian
consistently prefers the Ciceronian _atque_ in such expressions,
instead of the enclitic. Krüger cites Tibull. iv. 1, 16, sq. ut tibi
possim Inde alios aliosque memor componere versus.
duci: 3 §18: ii. 4, 7 si
non ab initio tenuem nimium laminam duxerimus.
V:10
Plurimum autem parari facultatis existimo ex simplicissima quaque
materia. Nam illa multiplici
158
personarum, causarum, temporum, locorum, dictorum, factorum diversitate
facile delitescet infirmitas, tot se undique rebus, ex quibus aliquam
adprehendas, offerentibus.
§ 10.
illa ... diversitate: xii. 10, 15 umbra magni nominis
delitescunt. The less complicated the subject, the more will the orator
have to depend on his own resources: with the _diversitas_ that
characterises actual pleading, where the speaker must have regard to
every feature
158
of the case, want of original talent or poverty of invention
(infirmitas) can easily shelter itself behind a crowd of details.
causarum, ‘circumstances’: opp. to _personarum_, as
_loca_, to _tempora_, and _facta_ to _dicta_. So
personis causisque iii. 5, 11: _rerum_ is used in a similar
enumeration iii. 5, 7. So Krüger, of the ‘points of law’ involved
in particular cases: for _causa_ in the wider sense cp. iii. 5, 18
with Cic. Top. §80.
V:11
Illud virtutis indicium est, fundere quae natura contracta sunt, augere
parva, varietatem similibus, voluptatem expositis dare et bene dicere
multa de paucis.
In hoc optime facient infinitae quaestiones, quas vocari theses
159
diximus, quibus Cicero iam princeps in re publica exerceri solebat.
§ 11.
fundere ... contracta: cp. ii. 13, 5 constricta an latius fusa
narratio: _fusus_ 1 §73. The word = dilatare (cp.
Cic. de Fin. iii. 15), copiosius et latius efferre. So _latum atque
fusum_ is opp. to _contractum atque submissum_ xi. 3, 50.
Cp. Cicero Orat. §125 tum se latius fundet orator,—a phrase which
Quintilian reproduces in many places.
augere parva. Cp. Plato, Phaedrus 267 A (of Tisias and
Gorgias) τά τε αὖ σμικρὰ
μεγάλα καὶ τὰ μεγάλα σμικρὰ φαίνεσθαι ποιοῦσι διὰ ῥώμην λόγου.
Isocrates is said to have defined rhetoric as that which τά τε
μικρὰ μεγάλα, τὰ δὲ μεγάλα μικρὰ ποιεῖ—Pseudo-Plutarch
838 F. See too the Exordium of the Panegyricus of Isocrates §8
ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ οἱ λόγοι τοιαύτην ἔχουσι τὴν φύσιν ὥσθ᾽ οἷον τ᾽
εἶναι περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν πολλαχῶς ἐξηγήσασθαι (varietatem similibus)
καὶ τά τε μεγάλα ταπεινὰ ποιῆσαι
καὶ τοῖς μικροῖς μέγεθος περιθεῖναι κ.τ.λ.
expositis: ‘commonplace,’ ‘trite.’ Iuv. vii. 53 Sed vatem
egregium, cui non sit publica vena, Qui nil expositum soleat deducere,
nec qui Communi feriat carmen triviale moneta. Introd. p. xlvii.
In hoc: cp. 2 §5. It denotes
the end or aim, like _ad hoc_. For this use of _facere_ cp. 1 §33 bene ad forensem
pulverem facere: 7 §4 quid porro
multus stilus ... facit?
infinitae quaestiones quas vocari theses diximus: iii. 5, 5
sq. Item convenit quaestiones esse aut infinitas aut finitas. Infinitae
sunt quae remotis personis et temporibus et locis ceterisque similibus
in utramque partem (i.e. affirmatively and negatively) tractantur, quod
Graeci θέσιν dicunt,
Cicero propositum, alii quaestiones universales civiles, alii
quaestiones philosopho convenientes, Athenaeus partem caussae appellat.
Hoc genus Cicero scientia et actione distinguit (speculative and
practical), ut sit scientia ‘an providentia mundus regatur,’ actionis
‘an accedendum ad rempublicam administrandam.’ ... Finitae autem sunt ex
complexu rerum, personarum, temporum, ceterorumque quae ὑποθέσεις a Graecis dicuntur,
causae a nostris. In his omnis quaestio videtur circa res personasque
consistere. Amplior est semper infinita, inde enim finita descendit.
Quod ut exemplo pateat, infinita est ‘an uxor ducenda,’ finita ‘an
Catoni ducenda.’—The division of the subject-matter of oratory
into questions of the universal kind, ‘general problems,’ and questions
of a special kind, ‘particular problems,’ is familiar in ancient
rhetoric. The former were abstract, and had no specified relation to
individual persons or circumstances: the latter were concrete, involving
a reference to actual persons and circumstances. In the ad Herenn. the
_quaestiones infinitae_ (θέσεις), _proposita_ (Top. §79) or
_consultationes_ (Part. Or. §61) are subdivided, as above, into
_quaestiones scientiae_ or _cognitionis_, ‘theoretical
questions’ (e.g. ecquid bonum sit praeter honestatem), and
_quaestiones actionis_ ‘questions of practical life,’ (e.g. an uxor
ducenda). The _quaestiones finitae_, on the other hand, ὑποθέσεις, _causae_,
_controversiae_ (de Orat. iii. §109), are those concerning
individuals: cum personarum certarum interpositione, de Inv. i.
6, 8. The θέσις is
thus defined in Hermogenes, Sp. ii. 17: ἐπίσκηψίν τινος πράγματος θεωρουμένου, ἀμοιροῦσαν πάσης
ἰδικῆς περιστάσεως: cp. res posita in infinita dubitatione, de
Orat. ii. §78. The _quaestio finita_ on the other hand is res
posita in disceptatione reorum et controversia (ibid.):
159
προστεθείσης περιστάσεως τελεία ὑπόθεσις
γίνεται (Nicolaus Soph. Progym. Sp. iii. 493). The passages to
compare in Cicero are the following:—de Orat. i. §138: ii. §41,
§78, and §133: iii. §109-§111: Orat. §45: Top. §79: de Invent. i. 6, §8:
Part. Orat. §61, §106.
Cicero. It was considered one of his strong points that he
could rise from the special instance to the higher ground of the general
principle: Brutus §322 dicam de ceteris quorum nemo erat qui ...
dilatare posset atque a propria ac definita disputatione hominis ac
temporis ad communem quaestionem universi generis orationem traducere.
He writes to Atticus in 49 B.C. (ix.
4, 1) Ne me totum aegritudini dedam, sumpsi mihi quasdam tanquam
θέσεις: cp. ib. 9, 1
θέσεις meas commentari
non desino. Aristotle recognised the importance of the practice of the
θέσις: in hac A.
adulescentes, non ad philosophorum morem tenuiter disserendi, sed ad
copiam rhetorum in utramque partem ut ornatius et uberius dici posset,
exercuit. Cp. Tusc. Disp. ii. 3 §9: de Orat. iii. §107: Quint. xii.
2, 25. Among his θέσεις we may probably reckon the Paradoxa.
V:12
His confinis est destructio et confirmatio sententiarum. Nam cum sit
sententia decretum quoddam atque praeceptum, quod de re, idem de iudicio
rei quaeri potest. Tum loci communes,
160
quos etiam scriptos ab oratoribus scimus. Nam qui haec recta tantum et
in nullos flexus recedentia copiose tractaverit, utique in illis plures
excursus recipientibus magis abundabit eritque in omnes causas paratus;
omnes enim generalibus quaestionibus constant.
§ 12.
confinis: frequent in this figurative sense in Quintilian: not in
Cicero.
destructio ... confirmatio correspond respectively to ἀνασκευή (refutatio) and κατασκευή (probatio). Cp. ii.
4, 18 Narrationibus non inutiliter subiungitur opus destruendi
confirmandique eas, quod ἀνασκευή et κατασκευή vocatur. Hermog. Sp. ii. 8 ἀνασκευή ἐστιν ἀνατροπὴ τοῦ
προτεθέντος πράγματος, κατασκευὴ δὲ τοὐναντίον βεβαίωσις. For
_confirmatio_ v. Cic. de Invent. i. 24: de Orat. ii. 331: Part. Or.
1, 4: 8, 27: Cornif. ad Her. i. 3: Quint. iv. 3, 1: v. 13, 1.
Quintilian here transfers to judicial findings the language applicable
to _narratio_, as above: _sententia_ = a judicial sentence,
and is synonymous with _iudicium_. “In sententia, quae est de re
iudicium, fieri potest idem quod in facto narrato, quod est res
ipsa.”—Spalding. That is to say, _sententia_ and
_iudicium_ “pertain to individual cases (res): but the particular
sentence or judgment is also _a kind_ of (general) _decree and
prescription_, or general rule of law; because, to be sustained or
refuted, it must be put into a general form or statement like such a
general decree. Thus the special sentence is argued (quaeritur) on the
same grounds as the case itself (res) on which it has been pronounced.
See the case of Milo, quoted below, ii §13. Of course no specific
question of fact will come into such a discussion; only a general one of
right or wrong, of legal precedent, or of law in general.” Frieze.
loci communes: ‘general arguments,’ ‘commonplaces,’ i.e.
topics for argument on all sorts of matters. Cicero defines them de
Invent. ii. 48 sq. haec argumenta, quae transferri in multas causas
possunt, locos communes nominamus ... distinguitur autem oratio atque
illustratur maxime raro inducendis locis communibus et aliquo loco iam
certioribus illis argumentis confirmato ... omnia autem ornamenta
elocutionis, in quibus et suavitatis et gravitatis plurimum consistit,
in communes locos conferuntur: de Or. iii. §106 consequentur etiam illi
loci, qui quamquam proprii causarum et inhaerentes in earum nervis esse
debent, tamen quia de universa re tractare solent, communes a veteribus
nominati sunt, quorum partim habent vitiorum et peccatorum acrem quandam
cum amplificatione incusationem aut querelam ... quibus uti confirmatis
criminibus oportet...; alii autem habent deprecationem aut miserationem;
alii vero ancipites disputationes, in quibus de universo genere in
utramque partem disseri copiose licet: Orat. §§46-7: §126: Part. Orat.
§115. Quint. ii. 4, 22 communes loci ... quibus citra personas in ipsa
vitia moris est perorare, ut in adulterum, aleatorem, petulantem: ii. 1,
9-11. “Any subject or topic of a general character that is capable of
being variously applied and constantly introduced on any appropriate
occasion is a _locus communis_; any common current maxim or
alternative proposition, such as _suspitionibus credi_
[_oportere_] _non oportere et contra suspitionibus credi
oportere, testibus credi oportere et non oportere._ Again
_invidia_, _avaritia_, _testes inimici_, _potentes
amici_ (Quint. v. 12 §§15, 16) may furnish _loci communes_; or
they may be constructed _de virtute_, _de officio_, _de_
160
_aequo et bono_, _de dignitate_, _utilitate_,
_honore_, _ignominia_, and on other moral topics” (Cope’s
Intr. to Ar. Rhet. p. 130).
ab oratoribus: e.g. Cicero and Hortensius. ii. 1, 11 Communes
loci, sive qui sunt in vitia directi, quales legimus a Cicerone
compositos, seu quibus quaestiones generaliter tractantur, quales sunt
editi a Q. quoque Hortensio, ut: ‘Sitne parvis augmentis credendum?’ et
pro testibus et in testes. Aristotle made _loci communes_ the
subject of his τοπικά, in
eight books, and it was the substance of this treatise that Cicero
reproduced in his ‘Topica.’
haec recta ... in illis, &c. The opposition here is
between the simple themes (cp. ex simplicissima quaque materia, §10) which deal with the general and abstract and
do not diverge into the special (ii. 1, 9 citra complexum rerum
personarumque), and the digressions involved in the ‘multiplex
personarum causarum temporum locorum dictorum factorum diversitas,’
referred to in §10. With the former cp.
Cic. de Orat. ii. §67 vaga et libera et late patens quaestio: iii. §120
orationes eae quae latissime vagantur et a privata ac singulari
controversia se ad universi generis vim explicandam conferunt: Brutus
§322 nemo qui dilatare posset atque a propria ac definita disputatione
hominis ac temporis ad communem quaestionem universi generis orationem
traducere. The two form the duo genera causarum of de Orat. ii. §133
unum ... in quo sine personis atque temporibus de universo genere
quaeratur; alterum, quod personis certis et temporibus definiatur. For
_recta tantum et in nullos flexus recedentia_ cp. v. 13, 2 inde
recta fere ... est actio, hinc mille flexus et artes desiderantur: §8 above, oratio recta ... figura
declinata.
utique, ‘without fail’: common in this sense in Cicero’s
letters. In Quintilian it is very frequent, especially in stating a
consequence: cp. 1 §24
and note.
in illis, i.e. the great majority of causes.
plures excursus recipientibus, i.e. that admit of various
digressions, and are susceptible of various applications according to
circumstances, persons, place, time, &c.
in omnes causas paratus: for the constr. cp. Tac. Dial. xli.
inter bonos mores et in obsequium regentis paratos. A similar
expression occurs ibid. xxxiv. solus statim et unus cuicunque causae par
erat. So too x. 1, 2, above, paratam ad omnes casus ... eloquentiam.
generalibus quaestionibus. Cp. iii. 5, 9 Hae autem, quas
infinitas voco, et generales appellantur: quod si est verum, finitae
speciales erunt. In omni autem speciali utique inest generalis, ut quae
sit prior: xii. 2, 18 omnis generalis quaestio speciali potentior, quia
universo pars continetur, non utique accedit parti quod universum est:
ii. 4, 22 ab illo generali tractatu ad quasdam deduci species. Cp. v.
7, 35.
V:13
Nam quid interest ‘Cornelius tribunus plebis,
161
quod codicem legerit, reus sit,’ an quaeramus ‘violeturne maiestas, si
magistratus rogationem suam populo ipse recitarit’: ‘Milo Clodium
rectene occiderit’ veniat in iudicium, an ‘oporteatne insidiatorem
interfici vel perniciosum rei publicae civem, etiamsi non insidietur’:
‘Cato Marciam honestene tradiderit Hortensio,’ an ‘conveniatne res talis
bono viro’? De personis iudicatur, sed de rebus contenditur.
§ 13.
C. Cornelius was tribune in B.C. 67, when he tried to do some useful work. In
order to check the bribery and corruption that were rife at the time, he
proposed a law to make all loans that should be lent to foreign
ambassadors non-actionable. The rejection of this proposal prompted the
tribune to bring forward the rogation here referred to,—ne quis
nisi per populum legibus solveretur. The senate had usurped the power of
giving dispensations in particular cases, without any reference whatever
to the people, though constitutionally such dispensations lay with the
people and not the senate. When the bill was to be read, a colleague,
P. Servilius Globulus, acting in the interests of the senate,
interposed his veto, and forbade the herald to make the proclamation
which he would otherwise have done in the form dictated by the clerk.
Thereupon Cornelius himself read the draft of the proposed law
(codicem). A riot ensued, and the meeting was broken up. Cornelius
was afterwards successful in securing the enactment of a law which
provided that 200 senators should be present when any dispensation was
granted. On the expiry of his term of office Cornelius was impeached by
P. Cominius
161
for having disregarded the veto of his colleague, and though the case
was suppressed it came on again in the following year (65). Cornelius
was defended by Cicero (Brutus §271), who delivered the two speeches of
which we have a few important fragments, along with the interesting
Argumentum of Asconius. Cornelius was evidently a fighting character:
Asconius calls him ‘pertinacior,’ and says ‘per ... contentiones totus
prope tribunatus eius peractus est.’ Another of his laws was ‘ut
praetores ex edictis suis perpetuis ius dicerent’: “what had hitherto
been understood as matter of course was now expressly laid down as a
law, that the praetors were bound to administer justice in conformity
with the rules set forth by them, as was the Roman use and wont, at
their entering on office.” Mommsen.—For the reference in the text
cp. iv. 4, 8: v. 13, 26: vi. 5, 10: vii. 3, 35 (maiestas est in imperii
atque in nominis populi Romani dignitate): vii. 3, 3.
reus sit. The subjunctive is motived only by the double
interrogation, so there is no need for Halm’s conjectural emendation
(see Crit. Notes). In the
direct speech the _finita_, or _specialis causa_ would run:
C. Cornelius ... reus est: cp. vii. 1, 34 accusatur Milo, quod
Clodium occiderit: iii. 5, 10. It is put in the form of a positive
statement. The _infinita causa_ on the other hand is stated in the
form of a question, and this form is maintained in both the
_finitae_ and the _infinitae quaestiones_ that follow.
violeturne maiestas. Asconius: Cicero quia non poterat negare
id factum esse, eo confugit ut diceret non ideo quod lectus sit codex a
tribuno imminutam esse tribunitiam potestatem. Cicero in Vatin. ii. §5
Codicem legisse dicebatur: defendebatur, testibus collegis suis, non
recitandi causa legisse, sed recognoscendi. Constabat tamen Cornelium
concilium illo die dimisisse, intercessioni paruisse.
oporteatne ... interfici. This is the line taken in the Pro
Milone, for which cp. 1 §23. Also iii. 6, 93: iv. 3,
17: vii. 1, 34.
Cato Marciam, &c. This remarkable episode is referred to
also iii. 5, 11. Marcia lived with Hortensius from 56 to 50 with
the consent both of her husband and her father, and then went back on
the death of Hortensius to Cato. Lucan says of Cato ii. 388 Urbi pater
est urbique maritus. Cp. Meyer’s Orat. Rom. Fragm. p. 377: Strab.
xi. p. 515: Hild also cites Tertullian (Apol. 39),
St. Augustine (de Bono Conj. 18), as protesting against such an
instance of pagan corruption.
rebus = rebus generalibus, i.e. general questions, principles.
_Oporteatne_ and _conveniatne_ above give the special
questions treated as _quaestiones infinitae_.
V:14
Declamationes vero, quales in scholis rhetorum dicuntur, si modo sunt ad
veritatem accommodatae
162
et orationibus similes, non tantum dum adulescit profectus sunt
utilissimae, quia inventionem et dispositionem pariter exercent, sed
etiam cum est consummatus ac iam in foro clarus; alitur enim atque
enitescit velut pabulo laetiore facundia et adsidua contentionum
asperitate fatigata renovatur.
§ 14.
Declamationes, 2 §12.
Quintilian defines them ii. 4, 41 fictas ad imitationem fori
consiliorumque materias apud Graecos dicere circa Demetrium Phalerea
institutum fere constat. Cp. iv. 2, 28-9. This sense of the word came in
about the end of Augustus’s reign, though the thing was known to Cicero,
de Orat. i. §149. Cp. M. Seneca Controv. praef. xi. sqq.: and see
note on _declamatoribus_ 1 §71.
ad veritatem accommodatae. That they were by no means always
so may be seen from Tac. Dial. 35 Quales per fidem et quam
incredibiliter compositae! Sequitur autem ut materiae abhorrenti a
veritate declamatio quoque adhibeatur. Cp. Quint. ii. 20, 4 qui in
declamationibus, quas esse veritati dissimillimas volunt, aetatem multo
studio ac labore consumunt. See the whole of ch. 10, ibid. esp. §4
declamatio imitetur eas actiones, in quarum exercitationem reperta est,
and §12 declamatio iudiciorum
consiliorumque imago: iv. 2, 29 cum sit declamatio forensium actionum
meditatio.
162
orationibus, real speeches made in court.
profectus: abstract for concrete: cp. facilitatem 3 §7: initiis 2 §2. So too i. 2, §26 firmiores in litteris
profectus alit aemulatio. See Crit. Notes.
pariter: i.e. simul cum elocutione, this last being the most
important element in such rhetorical exercises. Dispositio is
defined Cic. de Invent. i. §9 rerum inventarum in ordinem
distributio.
consummatus: sc. adulescens, or rather iuvenis: as though
_adulescit profectus_ above had been _adulescens proficit_.
For _consummatus_ see on 1 §89.
velut pabulo laetiore. Livy has in the ordinary language of
prose ‘ut quiete et pabulo laeto reficeret boves’ i. 7, 4: for the
figure cp. Quint. viii. Prooem. §23 velut laeto gramine sata.
_Laetus_ is frequently used in Vergil of rich vegetation: e.g.
Georg. iii. 385 fuge pabula laeta, where, however, as also in 494, the
word means ‘luxuriant,’ in the sense of rankness rather than richness.
In Lucretius ‘pabula laeta’ occurs six or seven times with armenta,
arbusta, vineta: e.g. i. 14.—Hortensius is a case in point: nullum
enim patiebatur esse diem quin aut in foro diceret aut meditaretur extra
forum; saepissime autem eodem die utrumque faciebat Brut. §302.
V:15
Quapropter historiae nonnumquam ubertas in aliqua exercendi stili parte
ponenda et dialogorum libertate gestiendum. Ne carmine quidem ludere
contrarium fuerit, sicut athletae, remissa quibusdam temporibus ciborum
atque exercitationum certa necessitate,
163
otio et iucundioribus epulis reficiuntur.
§ 15.
historiae ubertas. Cp. 1 §31. Pliny, Epist. vii. 9, 8
Volo interdum aliquem ex historia locum adprehendas ... nam saepe in
orationes quoque non historica modo sed prope poetica descriptionum
necessitas incidit.
in aliqua ... ponenda: ‘should be introduced in some part of
our written exercises.’ Becher (Quaest. gramm.) compares Cic. Tusc.
Disp. iv. §42 aegritudines susceptae continuo in magna pestis parte
versantur, i.e. magnam partem continent. He renders ‘Es mache einen
Theil der Stilübung aus, die Fülle der geschichtlichen Darstellung in
Anwendung zu bringen.’
dialogorum libertate gestiendum: ‘we should indulge (‘let
ourselves out’) in the easy freedom of dialogue.’ The same abl. occurs
in Livy vi. 36, 1 gestire otio: secundis rebus xlv. 19, 7: in Cicero it
is generally voluptate or laetitia. For _gestio_ c. inf. see Hor.
Ep. ii. 1, 175: A. P. 159.
Ne carmine quidem &c. Cp. Pliny l.c. Fas est et carmine
remitti ... Lusus vocantur. Ludere is used of poetry in all the
Latin poets, especially of love poetry: e.g. Ovid. Tr. i. 9, 61 scis
vetus hoc iuveni lusum mihi carmen: Catullus l. 2 multum lusimus in meis
tabellis: Hor. Car. i. 32 Poscimur: si quid vacui sub umbra Lusimus
tecum. Even in prose it is used of light writings thrown off in sport:
Cic. Parad. pr. illa ipsa ludens conieci in communes locos: especially,
as here, where a contrast is implied between sport and serious business,
e.g. videant ... ad ludendumne an ad pugnandum arma sint sumpturi (of
military exercises) de Orat. ii. §84. So too ‘_ludicra_’: pueri
etiam cum cessant exercitatione aliqua ludicra (‘in sport’) delectantur
de Nat. Deor. i. §102: exercitatione quasi ludicra praediscere ac
meditari de Orat. i. §147. ‘Res ludicra,’ the drama (Hor. Ep. ii. 1,
180), introduces another set of associations.
contrarium = alienum, inconsistent with one’s aim,
‘inapposite.’ So Tacitus, speaking of the unpractical character of the
rhetorical theses in the schools of declamation, says ‘ipsae vero
exercitationes magna ex parte contrariae’ Dial. 35: cp. ‘ubi nemo impune
stulte aliquid aut contrarie dicit’ ibid. 34.
sicut athletae: for this frequently recurring comparison see
on 1 §4.
ciborum ... certa necessitate. Epictetus uses ἀναγκοφαγέω and ἀναγκοτροφέω
163
for eating by regimen like athletes in training.—The chiasmus may
be noted.
V:16
Ideoque mihi videtur M. Tullius tantum intulisse eloquentiae lumen,
quod in hos quoque studiorum secessus excurrit. Nam si nobis sola
materia fuerit ex litibus, necesse est deteratur fulgor et durescat
articulus et ipse ille mucro ingenii cotidiana pugna retundatur.
§ 16.
studiorum secessus: the ‘by-ways’ of study, remote from the
_adsidua contentionum asperitas_ referred to above. Cp. 3 §§23 and 28.
So Tacitus contrasts the ‘securum et quietum Vergilii secessum’ with the
‘inquieta et anxia oratorum vita’ Dial. 13: cp. secedit animus in loca
pura atque innocentia 12.
durescat articulus keeps up the figure of athletic contests.
_Articulus_ is properly a little limb: then esp. the finger. Cp.
ii. 12, 2 excipit adversarii mollis articulus (of the gladiator handling
his sword _with flexible fingers_, which like xi. 1, 70 (quam molli
articulo tractavit Catonem) points to a proverbial expression.
cotidiana pugna retundatur: cp. 1 §27 velut attrita cotidiano
actu forensi ingenia optime rerum talium blanditia reparantur with the
passage from pro Archia §12 quoted there. Pliny, Epist. vii. 9, 7 Scio
nunc tibi esse praecipuum studium orandi: sed non ideo semper pugnacem
et quasi bellatorium stilum suaserim. Ut enim terrae variis mutatisque
seminibus, ita ingenia nostra nunc hac nunc illa meditatione
recoluntur.
quem ad modum ... sic. Cp. iii. 6, 33: v. 10, 125: ix. 2, 46,
and (with _ita_) ii. 5, 1. In the instance in the text,
however, there is no comparison between two different subjects: the two
clauses are parallel. _Ut ... ita_ would have been more usual: 3 §28: sicut ... ita 1 §1.
V:17
Sed quem ad modum forensibus certaminibus exercitatos et quasi
militantes reficit ac reparat haec velut sagina dicendi, sic
adulescentes non debent nimium in falsa rerum imagine detineri, et
inanibus simulacris usque adeo ut difficilis ab his digressus sit
adsuescere, ne ab illa, in qua prope consenuerunt, umbra vera
164
discrimina velut quendam solem reformident.
§ 17.
forensibus certaminibus exercitatos: Petron. 118 forensibus
ministeriis exercitati frequenter ad carminis tranquillitatem tamquam ad
portum feliciorem refugerunt.
quasi militantes: 1 §§29, 31, 79.
haec velut sagina dicendi: ‘this rich food of eloquence.’ Cp.
iucundioribus epulis §15 above: gladiatoria
sagina Tac. Hist. ii. 88.
falsa rerum imagine, i.e. the declamations, which in contrast
with the reality of ‘forenses actiones’ are mere shams: cp. note on ad
veritatem accommodatae §14: xii. 11, 15
quid attinet tam multis annis ... declamitare in schola et tantum
laboris in rebus falsis consumere, cum satis sit modico tempore imaginem
veri discriminis et dicendi leges comperisse. Cp. ii. 10, 4: Tac. Dial.
35 quidquid in scholis cotidie agitur, in foro vel raro vel nunquam: 34
nec praeceptor deerat ... qui faciem eloquentiae non imaginem
praestaret. Cp. 2 §12 above.
inanibus simulacris: ii. 10 §8 quibusdam pugnae
simulacris ad verum discrimen aciemque iustam consuescimus. For the
reading see Crit. Notes.
ab illa ... umbra: i.e. in coming out of it. Juvenal vii. 173
ad pugnam qui rhetorica descendit ab umbra. For _ab_ in sense of
_post_ cp. Livy xliv. 34 ab his praeceptis contionem dimisit:
Introd. p. lii.
in qua prope consenuerunt: xii. 6, 5 non nulli senes in schola
facti stupent novitate cum in iudicia venerunt.
umbra ... solem. The shady retreat of the school is constantly
compared with the dust and sun of real life. Cicero, de Leg. iii. 6, 14
a Theophrasto Phalereus ille Demetrius ... mirabiliter doctrinam ex
umbraculis eruditorum otioque non modo in solem atque in pulverem, sed
in ipsum discrimen aciemque produxit: Brut. §37 processerat in solem et
pulverem non ut e militari tabernaculo sed ut e Theophrasti doctissimi
hominis umbraculis: de §64 (umbratilis—‘cloistral’). So
‘umbraticavita’ Quint. i. 2, 18: ‘studia in umbra educata’
164
Tac. Ann. xiv. 53: ‘umbraticas litteras’ Pliny, Epist. ix. 2, 3-4, opp.
to ‘arma castra cornua tubas sudorem pulverem soles’: M. Seneca
Contr. ix. pr. §4 itaque velut ex umbroso et obscuro prodeuntes loco
clarae lucis fulgor obcaecat, sic istos a scholis in forum transeuntes
omnia tanquam nova et inusitata perturbant. For analogies in Greek cp.
Plat. Phaedrus 239 c. οὐδ᾽ ἐν ἡλίῳ καθαρῷ
τεθραμμένον ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ συμμιγεῖ σκιᾷ, with Thompson’s note.
V:18
Quod accidisse etiam M. Porcio Latroni, qui primus clari nominis
professor fuit, traditur, ut, cum ei summam in scholis opinionem
obtinenti causa in foro esset oranda, impense petierit uti subsellia in
basilicam transferrentur. Ita illi caelum novum fuit ut omnis
165
eius eloquentia contineri tecto ac parietibus videretur.
§ 18.
Quod ... ut. The pronoun is here used pleonastically, to lead up
to the dependent clause. Cp. 1 §58.
M. Porcius Latro, a celebrated rhetorician in the reign of
Augustus, the friend and compatriot of the elder Seneca, who praises him
greatly (Controv. i. pr. §13 sq.). Of his pupils Ovid was the most
distinguished. ‘In his school he was accustomed to declaim himself, and
seldom set his pupils to declaim, whence they received the name of
_auditores_, which word came gradually into use as synonymous with
_discipuli_.’ (Smith, Dict.)
professor is post-Augustan: it was used of a public teacher of
rhetoric, and then acquired a more extended sense: Quint. xii. 11, 20
geometrae et musici et grammatici ceterarumque artium professores: ii.
11, 1 exemplo magni quoque nominis professorum. _Profiteri_ with
acc. is quite Ciceronian: Tusc. ii. §12 quod in eo ipso peccet cuius
profitetur scientiam: ibid., artemque vitae professus delinquit in vita.
The introduction of _professor_ was helped by the fact that the
verb came to be used absolutely (ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι): Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 1 audistine
Valerium Licinianum in Sicilia profiteri? ibid. 14 translatus est in
Siciliam ubi nunc profitetur: cp. Plin. ii. 18, 3.
opinionem = existimationem, famam, with which it is often
joined. For this absolute use cp. 7 §17 below: fructu laudis opinionisque: i. 2,
4 exempla ... conservatae opinionis: ii. 12, 5 adfert et ista res
opinionem: xii. 9, 4 cupidissimis opinionis. So too Tac. Dial. 10 ne
opinio quidem et fama, cui soli serviunt. In Cicero and Caesar, who also
use the word absolutely, there is always an implied reference to those
who have the _opinio_: a man’s ‘esteem’ and ‘reputation’ depend on
the ‘estimate’ and ‘opinion’ formed of him by others. Cp. Videor enim
non solum studium ad defendendas causas, verum opinionis aliquid et
auctoritatis afferre, pro Sulla iii. §10, with opinione fortasse non
nulla quam de meis moribus habebat, de Amic. §30: detracta opinione
probitatis (‘character for’ high principle) de Off. ii. §34, and opinio
iustitiae (character for justice), ibid. §39, with quorum de iustitia
magna esset opinio multitudinis ibid. §42. So too de Orat. ii. §156
opinionem istorum studiorum et suspicionem artificii apud eos qui res
iudicent oratori adversariam esse arbitror. The passages in Caesar are
all reducible to this ‘passive’ sense,—the estimate entertained by
others: B.G. ii. 8 propter eximiam opinionem virtutis: ii. 24 Treviri
quorum inter Gallos virtutis opinio est singularis: iv. 16 uti opinione
et amicitia populi Romani tuti esse possint: vi. 24 quae gens ... summam
habet iustitiae et bellicae laudis opinionem: cp. vii. 59 and 83. Cp.
Introd. p. xliv.
subsellia ... transferrentur, ‘that the court should remove.’
For this general sense of _subsellia_ cp. Cic. Brutus §289
subsellia grandiorem et pleniorem vocem desiderant: de Orat. i. §32 and
§264 (habitare in subselliis, to ‘haunt the law-courts’). The word
sometimes means the bench of judges, sometimes the seats of the lawyers,
suitors, witnesses, &c., and sometimes both: Cic. in Vatin. §34, pro
Rosc. Amer. §17 (accusatorum subsellia), ad Fam. xiii. 10, 2 (versatus
in utrisque subselliis). In Quintilian the word is never used except of
the law-courts.
basilicam. The basilicae erected in or near the forum served
as courts of justice as well as places for merchants and business people
to meet in. See Rich. Dict. Antiq.—For the incident cp. Sen.
Controv. iv. pr. Narratur ... declamatoriae virtutis Latronem Porcium
unicum exemplum, cum pro reo in Hispania Rustico Porcio propinquo suo
165
diceret, usque eo esse confusum ut a soloecismo inciperet nec ante
potuisse confirmari, tectum ac parietes desiderantem, quam impetravit ut
iudicium ex foro in basilicam transferretur. Usque eo ingenia in
scholasticis exercitationibus delicate nutriuntur ut clamorem silentium
risum caelum denique pati nesciant.
V:19
Quare iuvenis qui rationem inveniendi eloquendique a praeceptoribus
diligenter acceperit (quod non est infiniti operis, si docere sciant et
velint), exercitationem quoque modicam fuerit consecutus, oratorem sibi
aliquem, quod apud maiores fieri solebat, deligat, quem sequatur, quem
imitetur: iudiciis intersit quam plurimis, et sit certaminis cui
destinatur frequens spectator.
§ 19.
inveniendi eloquendique covers briefly the whole field of
theoretical rhetoric.
apud maiores: xii. 11, 5 frequentabunt vero eius domum optimi
iuvenes more veterum et vere dicendi viam velut ex oraculo petent. Tac.
Dial. 34 Ergo apud maiores nostros iuvenis ille qui foro et eloquentiae
parabatur, imbutus iam domestica disciplina, refertus honestis studiis,
deducebatur a patre vel a propinquis ad eum oratorem qui principem in
civitate locum obtinebat. Hunc sectari, hunc prosequi, huius omnibus
dictionibus interesse, sive in iudiciis sive in contionibus,
adsuescebat, ita ut altercationes quoque exciperet et iurgiis interesset
utque sic dixerim pugnare in proelio disceret. So Cicero tells us in
Brut. ch. 89 how he sought every opportunity of hearing the
distinguished speakers of his day: §305 reliquos frequenter audiens
acerrimo studio tenebar cotidieque et scribens et legens et commentans
oratoriis tantum exercitationibus contentus non eram.
iudiciis intersit: Cic. Brut. §304 cui (iudicio) frequens
aderam.
V:20
Tum causas, vel easdem quas agi audierit, stilo et ipse componat, vel
etiam alias, veras modo, et utrimque tractet et, quod in gladiatoribus
fieri videmus, decretoriis exerceatur, ut fecisse Brutum diximus pro
Milone. Melius hoc quam rescribere veteribus orationibus, ut fecit
Cestius contra Ciceronis actionem habitam pro eodem, cum alteram partem
satis nosse non posset ex sola defensione.
166
§ 20.
et ipse: frequent in Livy, like ipse quoque = καὶ αὐτός. Cicero uses ipse, ipse
etiam (etiam ipse). Cp. on §4: 7 §26.
utrimque: 1 §22.
in gladiatoribus: xi. 3, 66 nutus ... in mutis pro sermone
sunt. Cp. Caes. B.C. i. 61 Caesaris erat in barbaris nomen
obscurius.
decretoriis, sc. armis, ‘decisive’ or ‘real weapons’: Seneca,
Ep. 117, 25 Renove ista lusoria arma, decretoriis opus est. Cp. vi. 4, 6
pugnamque illam decretoriam imperitis ac saepe pullatae turbae
relinquunt. Suet. Calig. 54 has ‘pugnatoria,’ sc. arma: opp. to ‘rudes,’
as Tac. Dial. 34 adversarii et aemuli ferro, non rudibus dimicantes, and
Cic. de Opt. Gen. Orat. vi. 17 non enim in acie versatur et ferro, sed
quasi rudibus eius eludit oratio. Quint. v. 12, 17 declamationes quibus
ad pugnam forensem velut praepilatis exerceri solebamus.
diximus: 1 §23, where see note.
rescribere: ἀντιγράφειν. Tac. Ann. iv. 34, of Caesar’s
‘Anticato,’ Ciceronis libro ... dictator Caesar ... rescripta oratione
velut apud iudices respondit. The word is common in this sense in
Suetonius: Caes. 73, Calig. 53, Gram. 19; cp. Aug. 85.
Cestius: Sen. Contr. iii. pr. 13 (Ciceronis) orationes non
legunt nisi eas quibus Cestius rescripsit. L. Cestius Pius taught
rhetoric at Rome towards the end of the Republic and in the beginning of
the Empire. Seneca has preserved several passages of his declamations.
His hostile criticisms of Cicero were avenged on him by Cicero’s son:
Sen. Suas. §7, 13. See Teuffel, 263 §6.
166
V:21
Citius autem idoneus erit iuvenis, quem praeceptor coegerit in
declamando quam simillimum esse veritati et per totas ire materias,
quarum nunc facillima et maxime favorabilia decerpunt. Obstant huic,
quod secundo loco posui, fere turba discipulorum et consuetudo classium
certis diebus audiendarum, nonnihil etiam persuasio patrum numerantium
potius declamationes quam aestimantium.
§ 21.
per totas ire materias. This use of the prep. after _ire_
with an acc. of extent over which speech, thought, or feeling travels,
is poetical (Aen. i. 375) and post-classical. Cp. vii. 1, 64: Tac. Dial.
32.
favorabilia, ‘popular’; frequent in Quintilian, who also has
_favorabiliter_. The word is first found in Velleius, also in
Tacitus and Pliny.
quod secundo loco posui, i.e. the practice of treating a
subject thoroughly: per totas ire materias. What he recommends _primo
loco_ is given in §§19-20. For the
formula cp. vii. 2, 9: ix. 2, 6.
classium: not used in this sense before the Silver Age; i. 2,
23 Non inutilem scio servatum esse a praeceptoribus morem, qui cum
pueros in classes distribuerant, ordinem dicendi secundum vires ingenii
dabant, et ita superiore loco quisque declamabat ut praecedere profectu
videbatur. Huius rei iudicia praebebantur: ea nobis ingens palma, ducere
vero classem multo pulcherrimum.
persuasio: frequent in this sense in Quintilian; for exx. see
Bonnell’s Lex. Tac. Agric. 11. superstitionum persuasione. The
interference of parents is commented on also in ii. 7, 1 Illud ex
consuetudine mutandum prorsus existimo in iis, de quibus nunc
disserimus, aetatibus, ne omnia quae scripserint ediscant et certa, ut
moris est, die dicant: quod quidem maxime patres exigunt atque ita demum
studere liberos suos, si quam frequentissime declamaverint, credunt, cum
profectus praecipue diligentia constet.
V:22
Sed, quod dixi primo, ut arbitror, libro, nec ille se bonus praeceptor
maiore numero quam sustinere possit onerabit et nimiam loquacitatem
recidet, ut omnia quae sunt in controversia, non, ut quidam volunt, quae
in rerum natura, dicantur; et vel longiore potius dierum spatio laxabit
dicendi necessitatem vel materias dividere permittet.
§ 22.
primo ... libro: i. 2, 15 neque praeceptor bonus maiore se turba
quam ut sustinere eam possit oneraverit.
recidet. Hor. A. P. 447 ambitiosa recidet ornamenta: Sat. I.
10, 69 recideret omne quod ultra Perfectum traheretur.
laxabit &c.: ‘he will either extend the period within
which speaking is compulsory, or allow the pupil to distribute his
matter over several days.’
dicendi necessitatem: cp. remissa ... ciborum atque
exercitationum certa necessitate §15,
above. This would break in on the ‘consuetudo classium certis diebus
andiendarum’ referred to in §21.
materias dividere, i.e. he will allow the subject to be
treated of in parts on successive declamation days.
V:23
Diligenter effecta plus proderit quam plures inchoatae et quasi
degustatae. Propter quod accidit
167
ut nec suo loco quidque ponatur, nec illa quae prima sunt servent suam
legem, iuvenibus flosculos omnium partium in ea quae sunt dicturi
congerentibus; quo fit ut timentes ne sequentia perdant priora
confundant.
§ 23.
effecta. There is the same antithesis v. 13, 34 ut ... pro
effectis relinquant vixdum inchoata.
inchoatae: Cic. de Off. i. §153 cognitio manca atqne inchoata
(‘imperfect’): de Nat. Deor. ii. §33 a primis inchoatisque naturis ad
ultimas perfectasque procedere: de Orat. i. §5 inchoata ac rudia.
degustatae: cp. genera degustamus 1 §104; the word means ‘dip
into,’ ‘skim over.’
Propter quod: see on 1 §66, The idea contained in the
relative is the superficial methods alluded to in _degustatae_: cp.
facillima et maxime favorabilia decerpunt §21. When such methods are adopted, says Quintilian,
everything is sure to go wrong.
167
servent suam legem: the commencement (illa quae prima sunt:
cp. priora below) is not what it should be: it goes beyond reasonable
limits, as the young men crowd together in the part each is to deliver
the embellishments that would naturally be distributed throughout the
whole (omnium partium), if the production were _diligenter effecta_
and not merely _inchoata et quasi degustata_.
flosculos: ii. 5, 22 recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti.
The word is always used in a depreciatory sense: xii. 10, 73: vi. pr.
§9: (opp. to certos fructus). Cp. Seneca, Ep. 33 §1 and §7 viro captare
flosculos turpe est.
timentes: the fear that they will not be able to finish makes
them introduce into the earlier parts inapposite and confusing
embellishments.
priora confundant = permisceant ea rebus alienis, i.e. with
the ornamentation that would have been more appropriate later on.