Institutio Oratoria

Quintilian

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

One could only wish that he had shown greater restraint in his poems, which those who love him not are never weary of criticising. I refer to passages such as: [*](From the poem on his consulship.)

  1. Let arms before the peaceful toga yield,
  2. Laurels to eloquence resign the field,
or
  1. O happy Rome, born in my consulship!
together with that
Jupiter, by whom he is summoned to the assembly of the gods,
and the
Minerva that taught him her accomplishments
; extravagances which he permitted himself in imitation of certain precedents in Greek literature.

But while it is unseemly to make a boast of one's eloquence, it is, however, at times permissible to express confidence in it. Who, for instance, can blame the following? [*](Phil. i. 2. )

What, then, am I to think? That I am held in contempt? I see nothing either in my past life, or my position, or such poor talents as I may possess, that Antony can afford to despise.
And a little later he speaks yet more openly:

Or did he wish to challenge me to a contest of eloquence? I could wish for nothing better. For what ampler or richer theme could I hope to find than to speak at once for myself and against Antony?