Institutio Oratoria

Quintilian

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.

For who can instruct with greater thoroughness, or more deeply stir the emotions? Who has ever possessed such a gift of charm? He seems to obtain as a boon what in reality he extorts by force, and when he wrests the judge from the path of his own judgment, the latter seems not to be swept away, but merely to follow.

Further, there is such weight in all that he

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says that his audience feel ashamed to disagree with him, and the zeal of the advocate is so transfigured that it has the effect of the sworn evidence of a witness, or the verdict of a judge. And at the same time all these excellences, of which scarce one could be attained by the ordinary man even by the most concentrated effort, flow from him with every appearance of spontaneity, and his style, although no fairer has ever fallen on the ears of men, none the less displays the utmost felicity and ease.

It was not, therefore, without good reason that his own contemporaries spoke of his

sovereignty

at the bar, and that for posterity the name of Cicero has come to be regarded not as the name of a man, but as the name of eloquence itself. Let us, therefore, fix our eyes on him, take him as our pattern, and let the student realise that he has made real progress if he is a passionate admirer of Cicero.

Asinius Pollio [*]( Asinius Pollio (75 B.C.—A.D. 4), the friend of Virgil, distinguished as poet, historian and orator. ) had great gifts of invention and great precision of language (indeed, some think him too precise), while his judgment and spirit were fully adequate. But he is so far from equalling the polish and charm of Cicero that he might have been born a generation before him. Messala, [*]( M. Valerius Corvinus (64 B.C.—A.D. 8), the friend of Tibullus and distinguished as an orator. ) on the other hand, is polished and transparent and displays his nobility in his utterance, but he fails to do his powers full justice.

As for Gaius Caesar, if he had had leisure to devote himself to the courts, he would have been the one orator who could have been considered a serious rival to Cicero. Such are his force, his penetration and his energy that we realise that he was as vigorous in speech as in his conduct of war. And yet all these qualities are enhanced by a marvellous elegance of language, of which he was an exceptionally zealous

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student.

Caelius [*]( M. Rufus Caelius, defended by Cicero in the pro Catlio. Killed in 48 B.C. Cp. IV. ii. 123.: VII. i. 53. ) has much natural talent and much wit, more especially when speaking for the prosecution, and deserved a wiser mind and a longer life. I have come across some critics who preferred Calvus [*]( Calvus ((Gaius Licinius), a distinguish poet and. with Brutus, the leading orator of the Attic School. He died at the age of 34 in 48 B.C. ) to all other orators, and others again who agreed with Cicero that too severe self-criticism had robbed him of his natural vigour. But he was the possessor of a solemn, weighty and chastened style, which was also capable at times of genuine vehemence. He was an adherent of the Attic school and an untimely death deprived him of his full meed of honour, at least if we regard him as likely to have acquired fresh qualities.

Servius Sulpicius [*]( Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the greatest jurist of the Ciecronian age. ) acquired a great and well-deserved reputation by his three speeches. Cassius Severus, [*]( assius Severus ( d. A.D. 34) banished by Augustus on account of his scurrilous lampoons. ) if read with discrimination, will provide much that is worthy of imitation: if to his other merits he had added appropriateness of tone and dignity of style,

he would deserve a place among the greatest. For his natural talents are great, his gift of bitterness, wit and passion remarkable, but he allowed the sharpness of his temper to prevail over his judgment. Moreover, though his jests are pungent enough, this very pungency often turned the laugh against himself.

There are many other clever speakers, but it would be a long task to deal with them all. Domitius Afer [*]( Domitius Afer ( d. 59 A.D.), the leading orator of the reigns of Tiberius and his successors. ) and Julius Africanus [*]( Iulius Africanus, a Gaul, who flourished in the reign of Nero. ) are by far the most distinguished. The former is superior in art and in every department of oratory, indeed he may he ranked with the old orators without fear of

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contradiction. The latter shows greater energy, but is too great a precisian in the choice of words, prone to tediously long periods and somewhat extravagant in his metaphors. There have been distinguished talents even of more recent date.

For example, Trachalus [*]( M. Galerius Trachalus (cos. (18 A.D.) Cp XII v. 5 ) was, as a rule, elevated and sufficiently clear in his language: one realised that his aims were high, but he was better to listen to than to read. For his voice was, in my experience, unique in its beauty of tone, while his delivery would have done credit to an actor, his action was full of grace and he possessed every external advantage in profusion. Vibius Crispus, [*]( Vibius Crispus, a delator under Nero, died about A.D. 90, after acquiring great wealth. Cp. Juv. iv. 81–93. ) again, was well-balanced, agreeable and born to charm, though he was better in private than in public cases.

Julius Secundus, [*]( Julius Secundus, a distinguished orator of the reign of Vespasian. One of the characters in the Dialogus of Tacitus. ) had he lived longer, would undoubtedly have attained a great and enduring reputation. For he would have acquired, as he was actually acquiring, all that was lacking to his qualities, namely, a far greater pugnacity and a closer attention to substance as well as form.