Institutio Oratoria

The praise awarded to perfect brevity is well-deserved; but, on the other hand, brachylogy, which I shall deal with when I come to speak of figures, that is to say, the brevity that says nothing more than what is absolutely necessary, is less effective, although it may be employed with admirable results when it expresses a great deal in a very few words, as in Sallust's description of Mithridates as

huge of stature, and armed to match.

But unsuccessful attempts to imitate this form of terseness result merely in obscurity.

A virtue which closely resembles the last, but is on a grander scale, is emphasis, which succeeds

in revealing a deeper meaning than is actually expressed by the words. There are two kinds of emphasis: the one means more than it says, the other often means something which it does not actually say.

An example of the former is found in Homer, [*](Od. xi. 523. ) where he makes Menelaus say that the Greeks descended into the Wooden Horse, indicating its size by a single verb. Or again, there is the following example by Virgil: [*](Aen. ii. 262. )

1. Descending by a rope let down,

a phrase which in a similar manner indicates the height of the horse. The same poet, [*](Aen. iii. 631. ) when he says that the Cyclops lay stretched

throughout the cave,

by taking the room occupied as the standard of measure, gives an impression of the giant's immense bulk.

The second kind of emphasis consists either in the complete suppression of a word or in the deliberate omission to utter it. As an example of complete suppression I may quote the following passage from the pro Ligario, 4 where Cicero says:

But if your exalted position were not matched by your goodness of heart, a quality which is all your own, your very own—I know well enough what I am saying——

Here he suppresses the fact, which is none the less clear enough to us, that he does not lack counsellors who would incite him to cruelty. The omission of a word is produced by aposiopesis, which, however, being a figure, shall be dealt with in its proper place. [*]( v. 15: The passage goes on, Then your victory would have brought bitter grief in its train. For how many of the victors would have wished you to be cruel! Where then is the suppression? Quintilian is probably quoting from memory and has forgotten the context. ix. ii. 54; iii. 60. )