Institutio Oratoria

A colon, on the other hand, is the expression of a thought which is rhythmically complete, but is meaningless if detached from the whole body of the sentence. For example O callidos homines [*]( From the lost pro Cornelio. O the cunning of those men! O what careful forethought! I ask you did one of us fail to note that such would be your action? ) is complete in itself, but is useless if removed from the rest of the sentence, as the hand, foot or head if separated from the body. He goes on, O rein excogitatam. At what point do the members begin to form a body? Only when the conclusion is added: quem, quaeso, nostrum fefellit, id vos ita esse facturos? a sentence which Cicero regards as unusually concise. Thus as a rule commata and cola are fragmentary and require a conclusion.

The period is given a number of different names by Cicero, [*]( Orat. lxi. 204. ) who calls it ambitus, circuitus, comprehensio, continuatio and circumscriptio. It has two forms. The one is simple, and consists of one thought expressed in a number of words, duly rounded to a close. The other consists of commata and cola, comprising a number of different thoughts: for example, aderat ianitor carceris, carnriex praetoris [*](Verr. v. xlv. 118. There stood the jailer, the praetor's executioner. ) and the rest.

The period must have at least two cola. The average number would appear to be four, but it often contains even more. According to Cicero, [*](Or. lxvi. 222. Cicero says hexcameters, not senarii. ) its length should be restricted to the equivalent of four senarii or to the compass of a single breath. It is further essential that it should complete the thought which it expresses. It must be clear and intelligible and must

Wherever it is essential to speak with force, energy and pugnacity, we shall make free use of commata and cola, since this is most effective, and our rhythmical structure must be so closely conformed to our matter, that violent themes should be expressed in violent rhythms to enable the audience to share the horror felt by the speaker.

On the other hand we shall employ cola by preference when narrating facts, or relax the texture of our periods by considerable pauses and looser connexions, always excepting those passages in which narration is designed for decorative effect and not merely for the instruction of the audience, as for example the passage in the Verrines where Cicero [*](Verr. IV. xlviii. 106.) tells the story of the Rape of Proserpine: for in such cases a smooth and flowing texture is required.

The full periodic style is well adapted to the exordium of important cases, where the theme requires the orator to express anxiety, admiration or pity: the same is true of commonplaces and all kinds of amplification. But it should be severe when we are prosecuting and expansive in panegyric. It is also most effective in the peroration.

But we must only employ this form of rhythmical structure in its full development, when the judge has not merely got a grasp of the matter, but has been charmed by our style, surrendered himself to the pleader and is ready to be led whither we will, by the delight which he experiences. History does not so much demand full, rounded rhythms as a certain continuity of motion and connexion of style. For all its cola are closely linked

The demonstrative type of oratory requires freer and more expansive rhythms, while forensic and deliberative oratory will vary the arrangement of their words in conformity with the variety of their themes. I must now turn to discuss the first of the two points which I mentioned above. [*](Sect. 121.) No one will deny that some portions of our speech require a gentle flow of language, while others demand speed, sublimity, pugnacity, ornateness or simplicity, as the case may be,

or that long syllables are best adapted to express dignity, sublimity and ornateness. That is to say, while the gentler form of utterance requires length of vowel sounds, sublime and ornate language demands sonority as well. On the other hand, passages of an opposite character, such as those in which we argue, distinguish, jest or use language approximating to colloquial speech, are better served by short syllables.

Consequently in the exordium we shall vary our structure to suit the thought. For I cannot agree with Celsus, when he would impose a single stereotyped form upon the exordium and asserts that the best example of the structure required for this purpose is to be found in Asinius: e. g., si, Caesar, ex omnibus mortalibus, qui sunt ac fuerunt, posset huic causae disceptator legi, non quisquam te potius optandus nobis fuit. [*]( If, Caesar, one man of all that are or have ever been could be chosen to try this case, there is none whom we could have preferred to you. )

I do not for a moment deny that the structure of this passage is excellent, but I refuse to admit that the form of rhythmical structure which it exemplifies should be forced on all exordia. For there are various ways in which the

The statement of fact as a rule requires slower and what I may be allowed to call more modest feet; and the different kinds of feet should, as far as possible, be intermixed. For while the style of this portion of our speech is generally marked by restraint of language, there are occasions when it is called upon to soar to greater heights, although on the other hand its aim will at all times be to instruct the audience and impress the facts upon their minds, a task which must not be carried out in a hurry. Indeed my personal opinion is that the statement of fact should be composed of long cola and short periods. Arguments,

inasmuch as they are characterised by energy and speed, will employ the feet best adapted to these qualities. They will not however acquire rapidity at the expense of force by employing trochees, [*](Trochee (u u u). ) but will rather make use of those feet which consist of a mixture of long and short syllables, though the long should not outnumber the short. Lofty passages,

which employ long and sonorous vowels, are specially well served by the amplitude of the dactyl and the paean, feet which, although they contain a majority of short syllables, are yet not deficient in time-length. On the other hand, where

Subdued passages, such as occur in the peroration, also require slow syllables, which must, however, be less sonorous. Celsus insists that there is a special form of rhythmical structure which produces a particularly stately effect: I do not know to what he refers and, if I did, should not teach it, since it must inevitably be slow and flat, that is to say unless this quality is derived from the words and thoughts expressed. If it is to be sought for its own sake, independent of such considerations, I cannot sufficiently condemn it. But, to bring this discussion to a close,

I would remark that our rhythm must be designed to suit our delivery. Is not our tone subdued as a rule in the exordium, except of course in cases of accusation where we have to rouse the judge or fill him with indignation, full and clear in the statement of fact, in argument impetuous and rapid not merely in our language, but in our motions as well, expansive and fluent in commonplaces and descriptions and, as a rule, submissive and downcast in the peroration?

But the motions of the body also have their own appropriate rhythms, while the musical theory of rhythm determines the value of metrical feet no less for dancing than for tunes. Again, do we not adapt our voice and gesture to the nature of the themes on which

Consequently, where necessary, we must borrow the pompous effect produced by the spondees and iambi which compose the greater portion of the rhythms of tragedy, as in the line,

1. En, impero Argis, sceptra mi liquit Pelops.

From an unknown tragedian. [*](Lo, I am lord at Argos, where to me I Pelops the sceptre left.)

as for example in the line,

1. quid igiturfaciam? non earn, ne nunc quidem?

Ter. Eun. I. i. 1. [*](What shall I do then? Not go even now?) The pyrrhic never forms a separate foot, but does form part of the anapaest, tribrach and dactyl and it is in this connexion that it is mentioned by Quintilian.

1. Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati,
2. nisi impudicus et vorax et aleo?

Cat. xxix. 1. [*](Who save a lecherous gambling glutton can endure to gaze on such a sight as this)

if the choice were forced upon me, I should prefer my rhythm to be harsh and violent rather than nerveless and effeminate, as it is in so many writers, more especially in our own day, when it trips along in wanton measures that suggest the accompaniment of castanets. Nor will any rhythm ever be so admirable that it ought to be