Institutio Oratoria

But the most important point (which I shall proceed to discuss a little later) is the necessity of adapting the voice to suit the nature of the various subjects on which we are speaking and the moods that they demand: otherwise our voice will be at variance with our language. We must, therefore, avoid that which the Greeks call monotony, that is to say, the unvarying exertion both of lungs and voice. By this I do not simply mean that we must avoid saying everything in a loud tone, a fault which amounts to madness, or in a colloquial tone, which creates an impression of lifelessness, or in a subdued murmur, which is utterly destructive of all vigour.

What I mean is this: within the limits of one passage and the compass of one emotion we may vary our tone to a certain, though not a very great extent, according as the dignity of the language, the nature of the thought, the conclusion and opening of our sentences or transitions from one point to another, may demand. Thus, those who paint in monochrome

Let us take as an example the opening of Cicero's magnificent speech in defence of Milo. Is it not clear that the orator has to change his tone almost at every stop? it is the same face, but the expression is changed. Etsi vereor, iudices, ne turpe sit,

pre fortissimo viro dicere incipientem timere.[*](pro Mil. i. 1 sqq. Although I fear, gentlemen, that it may be discreditable that I should feel afraid on rising to defend the harvest of men, and though it is far from becoming that, whereas Titus Annius is more concerned for the safety of the State than for his own, I should he unable to bring a like degree of courage to aid me in pleading his cause; still, the strange appearance of this novel tribunal dismays my eyes, which, whithersoever they turn, look in vain for the customary aspect of the forum and the time-honoured usage of the courts. For your bench is not surrounded, as it used to be, by a ring of spectators, etc. ) Although the general tone of the passage is restrained and subdued, since it is not merely an exordium, but the exordium of a man suffering from serious anxiety, still something fuller and bolder is required in the tone, when he says pro fortissiomo viro, than when he says etsi cereor and turpe sit and timere.

But his second breath must be more vigorous, partly owing to the natural increase of effort, since we always speak our second sentence with less timidity, and partly because he indicates the high courage of Milo: minimeque deceat, cum T. Annius ipse magis de rei publicae salute quam de sua perturbetur. Then he proceeds to something like a reproof of himself: me ad eius causam parem animi maguitudinem adferre non posse.

The next clause suggests a reflexion on the conduct of others: tamen haec novi iudicii nova forma terret oculos. And then in what follows he opens every stop, as the saying is: qui, quocunque inciderunt, consuetudinem fori et pristinum morem iudiciorum requirunt: while the next clause is even fuller and freer: non enim corona cousessus vester cinctus est, ut solebat.

I have called attention to these points to make it clear that there is a certain variety, not merely in

We must also beware of confusing our utterance by excessive volubility, which results in disregard of punctuation, loss of emotional power, and sometimes in the clipping of words. The opposite fault is excessive slowness of speech, which is a sign of lack of readiness in invention, tends by its sluggishness to render our hearers inattentive, and, further, wastes the time allotted to us for speaking, [*](aquam perdit. Lit. wastes water. The reference is to the clepsydra or water-clock employed for the measurement of time. ) a consideration which is of some importance. Our speech must be ready, but not precipitate, under control, but not slow,

while we must not take breath so often as to break up our sentence, nor, on the other hand, sustain it until it fails us from exhaustion. For the sound produced by loss of breath is disagreeable; we gasp like a drowning man and fill our lungs with long drawn inhalations at in appropriate moments, giving the impression that our action is due not to choice, but to compulsion. Therefore, in attacking a period of abnormal length, we should collect our breath, but quickly, noiselessly and imperceptibly. On other occasions we shall be able to take breath at the natural breaks in the substance of our speech.

But we must exercise our breathing capacity to make it as great as possible. To produce this result Demosthenes used to recite as many successive lines as

Sometimes the breath, although capable of sustained effort and sufficiently full and clear, lacks firmness when exerted, had for that reason is liable to become tremulous, like bodies which, although to all appearances sound, receive insufficient support from the sinews. This the Greeks call βρασμός. [*](βράγχος is generally read, but the word is used in the sense of hotrseness, which is not what Quintilian describes. I would read βρασμός, a word meaning effervescence, shaking, shivering. Here = tremolo. ) There are some too who, owing to the loss of teeth, do not draw in the breath naturally, but suck it in with a hissing sound. There are others who pant incessantly and so loudly that it is perfectly audible within them: they remind one of heavily-laden beasts of burden straining against the yoke.