§ 37.This paragraph forms a transition from the general consideration of oratory (§20), poetry (§27), history (§31), and philosophy (§35) to the characterisation of individual representatives of each of these four departments. Quintilian now begins to discourse on the ‘Choice of Books,’ or the ‘Best Hundred Authors,’ both in Greek and Latin. His list does not however aim at completeness: it is conditioned by the object which he has in view, viz. the reading of what is profitable for the formation of style (ad faciendamφράσιν§42), and he constantly reminds the reader that he is merely giving a sample of the best authors (§§44: 56-60: 74: 80: 104: 122). Cp. Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §§15-16.qui sint legendi: seeCrit. Notes.auctore: see on§24.persequi singulos: ‘to notice all individually’:§118sunt alii multi diserti quos persequi longum est.fuerit: cp. superaverit§46: dixerim§14: maluerim§26: dederit§85: cesserimus§86: quos viderim§98: cesserit§101: opposuerim§105: abstulerit§107: ne hoc ... suaserim2 §24: nemo dubitaverit3 §22: contulerit5 §4: ne ... contrarium fuerit5 §15.I:38Quippe cum in Bruto M. Tulliustot milibus versuum de Romanis tantum oratoribus loquatur et tamen de omnibus aetatis suae, [quibuscum vivebat], exceptis Caesare atque Marcello, silentium egerit, quis erit modus si et illos et qui postea fuerunt et Graecos omnespersequamur[et philosophos]?§ 38.Quippe cum, only here in Quint.: cp.§76.versuum: often in Quint. of ‘lines’ of prose:§41:3 §32:7 §11: xi. 2, 32 (but §39 opp. to prosam orationem): vii. 1, 37 multis milibus versuum scio apud quosdam esse quaesitum, &c. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 53-4, of a will, quid prima secundo cera velit versu. Cic. Rab. Post. vi. §14 ut primum versum (legis) attenderet: ad Att. ii. 16, 3: Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 16.Romanis ... oratoribus. One of Cicero’s motives in writing theBrutuswas to do justice to the earlier Roman orators, and to trace the development of the art down to his own time. Hild cites Fronto (de elog. p. 235 ed. Rom.) oratores quos ... Cicero eloquentiae civitate gregatim donavit, as showing that the writer thought that Cicero wished to exalt his own style by contrast with the ruder efforts of his predecessors.aetatis suae. Frieze remarks that this expression, taken by itself, would embrace either the whole career of Cicero as an orator, about 35 years, to the date of the Brutus (B.C.46), or else his life from the time when he began to hear the orators of the forum as a student (B.C.90), a period of over 44 years: Brut. §303 hoc (Hortensio) igitur florescente, Crassus est mortuus, Cotta pulsus, iudicia intermissa bello, nos (Cicero) in forum venimus.—The rule which Cicero imposed on himself in the Brutus is given §231: in hoc sermone nostro statui neminem eorum qui viverent nominare.[quibuscum vivebat]: see Crit. Notes.Caesare atque Marcello. These exceptions were made at the request of Brutus himself §248. Brutus eulogises Marcellus, while the account of Caesar is mainly put into the mouth of Atticus: then at §262 Cicero returns to the dead,—sed ad eos, si placet, qui vita excesserunt revertamur.—For Caesar see on§114. M. Claudius Marcellus, consulB.C.51, was a Pompeian who, after Pharsalus, retired to Mitylene, where he studied under Cratippus. His friends procured the pardon which he would not himself sue for, and Cicero in the pro Marcello (B.C.46) expresses his satisfaction at the event. On his way home in the following year Marcellus was assassinated at Athens. Cp. Sen. ad Helviam ix. §§4-8.quis ... modus. Whenquisis used adjectivally, as here and in§50, it does not mean ‘what kind of’ (asqui), but rather ‘will there be any?’ &c. Cp. quis locus = ‘where is the spot?’ vii. 2, 54 quis testis? quis iudex? ... quod pretium? quis conscius? For the reading seeCrit. Notes.I:39Fuit igitur brevitas illa tutissima quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta, ‘legendos Demosthenen atque Ciceronem, tum ita, ut quisque esset Demostheni et Ciceroni simillimus.’§ 39.brevitas illa= brevis illa sententia, introducing the clause in acc. c. inf. Hirt compares Cic. Tusc. iv. §83 et aegritudinis et reliquorum animi morborum una sanatio est, omnes opinabiles esse et voluntarios. ForfuitseeCrit. Notes.apud Livium. Cp. ii. 5, 20 Cicero ... et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum, sed etiam amari potest: tum, quemadmodum Livius praecipit, ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus. In viii. 2, 18 there is a reference probably to the same source: Livy is made the authority for the story of a teacher ‘qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utensσκότισον.’ Sen. Ep. 100 Nomina adhuc T. Livium. scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentes libros. The son is mentioned again in Plin. N. H. i. 5 and 6. See Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 251 §4.Demostheni et Ciceroni:§§105-112: Iuv. x. 114. Note the pointed repetition of the names.I:40Non est dissimulanda nostri quoque iudiciisumma. Paucos enim vel potius vix ullum ex his qui vetustatem pertulerunt existimo posse reperiri, quin iudicium adhibentibus adlaturus sit utilitatis aliquid, cum se Cicero ab illis quoque vetustissimis auctoribus, ingeniosis quidem, sed arte carentibus, plurimum fateatur adiutum.§ 40.nostri iudicii summa: ‘myopinion in general,’ as opposed to the criticism of each writer individually. What the gist of this opinion is he states in the next sentence, withenim: seeCrit. Notes.—Forsummacp.§48:3 §10.vix ullum, &c.:§57. Mayor compares Plin. Ep. iii. 5 §10 (of the elder Pliny) nihil enim legit quod non excerperet: dicere enim solebat nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. It would be hard to be so charitable now!vetustatem pertulerunt: ‘have stood the test of time.’ The phrase is properly used of wine,—wine that will ‘keep,’ as we should say (aetatem ferre): Cic. de Amic. §67 ut ea vina quae vetustatem ferunt: ii. 4, 9 musta ... et annos ferent et vetustate proficiunt: Cat. de R. R. 114, 2 vinum in vetustatem servare. So Ovid, of his own works, scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent, Trist. v. 9, 8. Forvetustas(lapse of time) cp. Cic. Brut. §258.—There is a sort of antithesis between the class of authors here referred to and thevetustissimi auctoresmentioned below. In the former he includes Cato and the Gracchi, ii. 5, 21: the latter are those who were hardly read at all in Quintilian’s day. In general he usesveteresorantiquiin contradistinction to those who were to himnovi, i.e. the writers of the post-Augustan period: including in the former Cicero himself as well as his predecessors. ii. 5, 23 et antiquos legere et novos: v. 4, 1 orationes veterum ac novorum: ix. 3, 1 omnes veteres et Cicero praecipue: Plin. Ep. ix. 22, 1, of C. Passennus Paullus, in litteris veteres aemulatur ... Propertium in primis: Tac. Dial. 17, 18.iudicium adhibentibus:§131:§72.ingeniosis ... carentibus: i. 8, 8 multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt. Ov. Amor. i. 15, 14, of Callimachus, quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet: Tr. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis. Mayor quotes also from Munro’s Lucretius: vol. ii. p. 18 ‘At this period when theνεώτεροι, as Cicero calls them, were striving to bring the Alexandrine style into fashion, there seems to have been almost a formal antithesis between the rude genius of Ennius and the modern art.’ingeniosis quidem. Here again (cp. on§34) Cicero would have used the pronoun,—ingeniosis illis quidem. Cp.§§88,124: i. 10, 17.Cicero ... fateatur. The Brutus contains e.g. a eulogy of Cato, who is said to be rough, but excellent, like the early statues and paintings and poems: §§61-66: Or. §109. Mayor cites Seneca apud Gell. xii. 2 (Fragmenta 111) Apud ipsum quoque Ciceronem invenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam ex quibus intelligas illum non perdidisse operam quod Ennium legit.I:41Nec multo aliud de novis sentio; quotus enim quisque inveniri tam demens potest,qui ne minima quidem alicuius certe fiducia partis memoriam posteritatis speraverit? Qui si quis est, intra primos statim versus deprehendetur, et citius nos dimittet quam ut eius nobis magno temporis detrimento constet experimentum.§ 41.multo aliud: cp.quanto aliud§53.Aliudhere serves for a comparative. So ix. 4, 26 multo optimum:§72multo foedissimum, and in Plin. N. H.multovery often for the more usuallonge. Spald.novis: the writers subsequent to Cicero; viii. 5, 12: ix. 2, 42.quotus quisque: ‘each unit of what whole number’ = ‘one in how many,’ and so ‘how small a proportion,’ ‘how few.’ In the nom. sing. masc. it occurs several times in Cicero, and frequently in Pliny’s letters. Ovid, A. A. iii. 103, has the fem., Forma dei munus. Forma quota quaeque superbit. The dat. quoto cuique Plin. Ep. iii. 20 §8: the acc. quotum quemque Tac. Dial. 29.tam demens ... qui:§48nemo erit tam indoctus qui non ... fateatur: on the other hand§57tam ... ut non. Herbst cites Pliny, Ep. viii. 14, 3 quotus enim quisque tam patiens ut velit discere quod in usu non sit habiturus: cp. ib. ii. 19, 6: Panegyr. 15: Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 12τίς οὕτω μαίνεται ὅστις οὐ σοὶ βούλεται φίλος εἶναι;ib. vii. 1, 28ἔστι τις οὕτως ἄφρων ὅστις οἴεται ἂν ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι;; Cic. Phil. ii. §33, where Mayor quotes Dem. Mid. p. 536, 6 §66τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ... ἔστιν ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν ... ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; and‘Lives there a man with soul so deadWhonever to himself has said...?’alicuius fiducia partis: ‘with even the smallest confidence at least in some portion or other (of his writings).’ For the obj. gen. cp. iv. 2, 113: ix. 3, 51.memoriam posteritatis: see on§31.versus:§38.detrimento: vi. 3, 35 nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat. The word occurs less commonly than some of its synonyms with the genitive: here its etymological meaning (detero–tempus ‘terere’) makes it very appropriate.I:42Sed non quidquid ad aliquam partem scientiae pertinet, protinus ad faciendamφράσιν, de qua loquimur, accommodatum.Verum antequam de singulis loquar, pauca in universum de varietate opinionum dicenda sunt.§ 42.protinus: ‘at once,’ ‘as a matter of course.’ See on§3: cp. statim§24.ad faciendamφράσιν: ‘for the formation of style’: cp.§87phrasin ... faciant: viii. 1, 1 igitur quam Graeciφράσινvocant, Latine dicimus elocutionem. For the whole expression cp.§65ad oratores faciendos aptior: xii. 8, 5 cur non sit orator quando ... oratorem facit:x. 3, 3vires ... faciamus: ib.§10qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint: ib.§28faciendus usus: also i. 10, 6: ii. 8, 7: xii. 7, 1.Faciendammust have belonged to the original text: seeCrit. Notes.—Hild reminds us that we must always keep this point of view in mind in estimating the literary judgments pronounced by Quintilian in this book: he is concerned mainly withform, in its relation to oratorical style. In the same way,§87, he does not insist on the study of Macer and Lucretius: legendi quidem sed non utφράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae, faciant. M. Seneca opposesφράσιςtoἕξις(§1): nonἕξιςmagna sedφράσις(of Albucius) Contr. vii. pr. §2: elsewhere he has (Excerpt. Contr. iii. pr. §7) habebat ... phrasin non vulgarem nec sordidam, sed lectam.in universum: Tac. Germ. 6 in universum aestimanti: ib. 27in communeopp. tosinguli.de varietate opinionum. Dosson refers to Hipp. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes, vol. i. 1859. In the third cent.B.C.the question of the superiority of the ancients over the moderns was discussed between the supporters and the opponents of Demetrius of Phalerum: in Cicero’s day it had become confused with the quarrel between the true and the false Atticists (cp. Brut. §283 sq.): Horace treated it in the first Epistle of the Second Book: in Quintilian’s own time it was still discussed, as may be seen from this passage and from the Dialogus de Oratoribus.I:43Nam quidam solos veteres legendos putant neque in ullis aliis esse naturalem eloquentiam et robur viris dignum arbitrantur, alios recens haec lasciviadeliciaeque et omnia ad voluptatem multitudinis imperitae composita delectant.§ 43.solos veteres. Here again (see on§40)veteresincludes the writers of the Augustan age: cp.§§118,122,126:2 §17. See also ii. 5, 21 sq., where Quintilian says that in the case of young people both extremes should be avoided:—the ancients (such as the Gracchi and Cato), fient enim horridi atque ieiuni: the moderns, with their depraved taste, ‘ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur.’robur viris dignum: ii. 5, 23 ex quibus (sc. antiquis) si adsumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet: i. 8, 9 sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis (i.e. the veteres Latini) petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus: v. 12, 17.recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: ‘the voluptuous and affected style of our own day’ opp. to rectum dicendi genus, below. Cp. ‘recentis huius lasciviae flosculi,’ quoted above, also ‘deliciarum vitia.’ Mayor cites Sen. Ep. xxxiii. 1 non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextusillorum virilis est. See on lascivus§88. Seneca is probably aimed at here: cp.§125sq., and Introd.p. xxv. sqq.I:44Ipsorum etiam qui rectum dicendi genus sequi volunt, alii pressa demum et tenuia atque quae minimumab usu cotidiano recedant, sana et vere Attica putant; quosdamelatior ingenii vis et magis concitata et plena spiritus capit; sunt etiam lenis et nitidi et compositi generis non pauci amatores. De qua differentia disseram diligentius, cum de genere dicendi quaerendum erit: interim summatim, quid et a qua lectione petere possint qui confirmare facultatem dicendi volent, attingam: paucos enim, qui sunt eminentissimi, excerpere in animo est.§ 44.rectum dicendi genus: the true standard of style (cp.§89), natural and unaffected, and imitating neither the rude archaism of the ancients nor the bad taste of the moderns. In ii. 5, 11 it is called sermo rectus (‘straight,’ i.e. direct and natural) et secundum naturam enuntiatus: and in ix. 3, 3, simplex rectumque loquendi genus: the style which aims above everything at the clear and effective expression of thought, apart from all ornament and trickery. Though termed here agenus, it is itself divided into threegenera: (1) the simple, terse, concise (ἰσχνόν, tenue, subtile, pressum ... quod minimum ab usu cotidiano recedit); (2) the grand, broad, lofty, stirring, passionate (ἁδρόν, uber, grande, amplum, elatum, concitatum); (3) the flowing, plastic, polished, smooth, melodious, intermediate (ἀνθηρόν, lene, nitidum, suave, compositum, medium).This threefold division of style, ascribed to Theophrastus, was generally recognised in Greece after the latter part of the 4th centuryB.C.Gellius (vi. 14, 8) tells us that Varro recognised it, employinguber,gracile, andmediocreto representἁδρόν,ἰσχνόν, andμέσον; and Mr. Nettleship (J. of Philol. xviii. p. 232) thinks that his treatiseπερὶ χαρακτήρωνbore on this subject. It is adopted in Cornif. ad Herenn. iv. §§11-16, and is carefully explained by Cicero in the Orator §§20-21 (where see Sandys’ notes): tria sunt omnino genera dicendi quibus in singulis quidam floruerunt, peraeque autem, id quod volumus, perpauci in omnibus. Quintilian evidently considers that Cicero (see§108) came up to his own ideal standard in all three styles: Or. §100 is est enim eloquens qui et humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate potest dicere.Dion. Hal. (probably following Theophrastusπερὶ λέξεως) has the same division, distinguishing as theτρία πλάσματα τῆς λέξεωςorγενικώτατοι χαρακτῆρεςtheχαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός(genus grande),ἰσχνός(genus tenue, subtile), andμέσος(medium, mediocre): de Dem. 33 and 34. In xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi genera inter se videntur. Namque unumsubtile, quodἰσχνόνvocant, alterumgrandeatque robustum, quodἁδρόνdicunt, constituunt; tertium aliimediumex duobus, aliifloridum(namque idἀνθηρόνappellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356a2τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος(those which conciliate good-will—themedium,lene,compositum genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως(those which stir the passions—thegrande genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι(those which are addressed to the intellect—thegenus subtile). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designationfloridum(ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on§80.pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. thesubtile genus, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’and the juxtaposition oftenuishere shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere.Pressumis well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia4 §1. To writerspressusis applied§§46,102:2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks thatpressus(verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.tenuia:§64:2 §19. The Greek equivalents areἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning oftenuisis ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (likeἰσχνόςandgracilis), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum,al.rarum). Cp.subtilisandsimplex.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—Foratque quae, see Crit. Notes.demum,3 §13:6 §5: = ‘only,’ fortantum,dumtaxat, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, likeadeo: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all threegenera. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quamiactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. Soὑγιέςin Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.elatior ingenii vis, as in thegrave genus, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp.tersior§94.et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive withmagis: cp.§§74,77,88,94,120. Forconcitatacp.§§73,90,114,118:2 §23: xii. 10, 26.plena spiritus: see on§27: cp.§§16,61,104:3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his timeplenuswas generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on§121(with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words asvehemens,acer, &c. makes it probable thatlenisis the right reading here, notlevis(seeCrit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.nitidi: see on§9.compositi: see on§79compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words,§§52,66:2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.confirmare facultatem dicendi= i.e. acquire thefirma facilitasof§1.I:45Facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his simillimi, iudicare, ne quisquam queratur omissos forte aliquos quos ipse valde probet; fateor enim plures legendos esse quam qui a me nominabuntur. Sed nunc genera ipsa lectionum, quae praecipue convenire intendentibus ut oratores fiant existimem, persequar.§ 45.paucos enimexplainssummatim, ‘foronlya few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp.§§3,8,27,31,35,42,67,87for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (withiuvenis)3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly withdicendi): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, seeCrit. Notes.genera ipsa: here and in§104genera= classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“Foripsumin the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeossubdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp.§19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.
§ 37.This paragraph forms a transition from the general consideration of oratory (§20), poetry (§27), history (§31), and philosophy (§35) to the characterisation of individual representatives of each of these four departments. Quintilian now begins to discourse on the ‘Choice of Books,’ or the ‘Best Hundred Authors,’ both in Greek and Latin. His list does not however aim at completeness: it is conditioned by the object which he has in view, viz. the reading of what is profitable for the formation of style (ad faciendamφράσιν§42), and he constantly reminds the reader that he is merely giving a sample of the best authors (§§44: 56-60: 74: 80: 104: 122). Cp. Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §§15-16.qui sint legendi: seeCrit. Notes.auctore: see on§24.persequi singulos: ‘to notice all individually’:§118sunt alii multi diserti quos persequi longum est.fuerit: cp. superaverit§46: dixerim§14: maluerim§26: dederit§85: cesserimus§86: quos viderim§98: cesserit§101: opposuerim§105: abstulerit§107: ne hoc ... suaserim2 §24: nemo dubitaverit3 §22: contulerit5 §4: ne ... contrarium fuerit5 §15.I:38Quippe cum in Bruto M. Tulliustot milibus versuum de Romanis tantum oratoribus loquatur et tamen de omnibus aetatis suae, [quibuscum vivebat], exceptis Caesare atque Marcello, silentium egerit, quis erit modus si et illos et qui postea fuerunt et Graecos omnespersequamur[et philosophos]?§ 38.Quippe cum, only here in Quint.: cp.§76.versuum: often in Quint. of ‘lines’ of prose:§41:3 §32:7 §11: xi. 2, 32 (but §39 opp. to prosam orationem): vii. 1, 37 multis milibus versuum scio apud quosdam esse quaesitum, &c. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 53-4, of a will, quid prima secundo cera velit versu. Cic. Rab. Post. vi. §14 ut primum versum (legis) attenderet: ad Att. ii. 16, 3: Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 16.Romanis ... oratoribus. One of Cicero’s motives in writing theBrutuswas to do justice to the earlier Roman orators, and to trace the development of the art down to his own time. Hild cites Fronto (de elog. p. 235 ed. Rom.) oratores quos ... Cicero eloquentiae civitate gregatim donavit, as showing that the writer thought that Cicero wished to exalt his own style by contrast with the ruder efforts of his predecessors.aetatis suae. Frieze remarks that this expression, taken by itself, would embrace either the whole career of Cicero as an orator, about 35 years, to the date of the Brutus (B.C.46), or else his life from the time when he began to hear the orators of the forum as a student (B.C.90), a period of over 44 years: Brut. §303 hoc (Hortensio) igitur florescente, Crassus est mortuus, Cotta pulsus, iudicia intermissa bello, nos (Cicero) in forum venimus.—The rule which Cicero imposed on himself in the Brutus is given §231: in hoc sermone nostro statui neminem eorum qui viverent nominare.[quibuscum vivebat]: see Crit. Notes.Caesare atque Marcello. These exceptions were made at the request of Brutus himself §248. Brutus eulogises Marcellus, while the account of Caesar is mainly put into the mouth of Atticus: then at §262 Cicero returns to the dead,—sed ad eos, si placet, qui vita excesserunt revertamur.—For Caesar see on§114. M. Claudius Marcellus, consulB.C.51, was a Pompeian who, after Pharsalus, retired to Mitylene, where he studied under Cratippus. His friends procured the pardon which he would not himself sue for, and Cicero in the pro Marcello (B.C.46) expresses his satisfaction at the event. On his way home in the following year Marcellus was assassinated at Athens. Cp. Sen. ad Helviam ix. §§4-8.quis ... modus. Whenquisis used adjectivally, as here and in§50, it does not mean ‘what kind of’ (asqui), but rather ‘will there be any?’ &c. Cp. quis locus = ‘where is the spot?’ vii. 2, 54 quis testis? quis iudex? ... quod pretium? quis conscius? For the reading seeCrit. Notes.I:39Fuit igitur brevitas illa tutissima quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta, ‘legendos Demosthenen atque Ciceronem, tum ita, ut quisque esset Demostheni et Ciceroni simillimus.’§ 39.brevitas illa= brevis illa sententia, introducing the clause in acc. c. inf. Hirt compares Cic. Tusc. iv. §83 et aegritudinis et reliquorum animi morborum una sanatio est, omnes opinabiles esse et voluntarios. ForfuitseeCrit. Notes.apud Livium. Cp. ii. 5, 20 Cicero ... et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum, sed etiam amari potest: tum, quemadmodum Livius praecipit, ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus. In viii. 2, 18 there is a reference probably to the same source: Livy is made the authority for the story of a teacher ‘qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utensσκότισον.’ Sen. Ep. 100 Nomina adhuc T. Livium. scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentes libros. The son is mentioned again in Plin. N. H. i. 5 and 6. See Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 251 §4.Demostheni et Ciceroni:§§105-112: Iuv. x. 114. Note the pointed repetition of the names.I:40Non est dissimulanda nostri quoque iudiciisumma. Paucos enim vel potius vix ullum ex his qui vetustatem pertulerunt existimo posse reperiri, quin iudicium adhibentibus adlaturus sit utilitatis aliquid, cum se Cicero ab illis quoque vetustissimis auctoribus, ingeniosis quidem, sed arte carentibus, plurimum fateatur adiutum.§ 40.nostri iudicii summa: ‘myopinion in general,’ as opposed to the criticism of each writer individually. What the gist of this opinion is he states in the next sentence, withenim: seeCrit. Notes.—Forsummacp.§48:3 §10.vix ullum, &c.:§57. Mayor compares Plin. Ep. iii. 5 §10 (of the elder Pliny) nihil enim legit quod non excerperet: dicere enim solebat nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. It would be hard to be so charitable now!vetustatem pertulerunt: ‘have stood the test of time.’ The phrase is properly used of wine,—wine that will ‘keep,’ as we should say (aetatem ferre): Cic. de Amic. §67 ut ea vina quae vetustatem ferunt: ii. 4, 9 musta ... et annos ferent et vetustate proficiunt: Cat. de R. R. 114, 2 vinum in vetustatem servare. So Ovid, of his own works, scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent, Trist. v. 9, 8. Forvetustas(lapse of time) cp. Cic. Brut. §258.—There is a sort of antithesis between the class of authors here referred to and thevetustissimi auctoresmentioned below. In the former he includes Cato and the Gracchi, ii. 5, 21: the latter are those who were hardly read at all in Quintilian’s day. In general he usesveteresorantiquiin contradistinction to those who were to himnovi, i.e. the writers of the post-Augustan period: including in the former Cicero himself as well as his predecessors. ii. 5, 23 et antiquos legere et novos: v. 4, 1 orationes veterum ac novorum: ix. 3, 1 omnes veteres et Cicero praecipue: Plin. Ep. ix. 22, 1, of C. Passennus Paullus, in litteris veteres aemulatur ... Propertium in primis: Tac. Dial. 17, 18.iudicium adhibentibus:§131:§72.ingeniosis ... carentibus: i. 8, 8 multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt. Ov. Amor. i. 15, 14, of Callimachus, quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet: Tr. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis. Mayor quotes also from Munro’s Lucretius: vol. ii. p. 18 ‘At this period when theνεώτεροι, as Cicero calls them, were striving to bring the Alexandrine style into fashion, there seems to have been almost a formal antithesis between the rude genius of Ennius and the modern art.’ingeniosis quidem. Here again (cp. on§34) Cicero would have used the pronoun,—ingeniosis illis quidem. Cp.§§88,124: i. 10, 17.Cicero ... fateatur. The Brutus contains e.g. a eulogy of Cato, who is said to be rough, but excellent, like the early statues and paintings and poems: §§61-66: Or. §109. Mayor cites Seneca apud Gell. xii. 2 (Fragmenta 111) Apud ipsum quoque Ciceronem invenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam ex quibus intelligas illum non perdidisse operam quod Ennium legit.I:41Nec multo aliud de novis sentio; quotus enim quisque inveniri tam demens potest,qui ne minima quidem alicuius certe fiducia partis memoriam posteritatis speraverit? Qui si quis est, intra primos statim versus deprehendetur, et citius nos dimittet quam ut eius nobis magno temporis detrimento constet experimentum.§ 41.multo aliud: cp.quanto aliud§53.Aliudhere serves for a comparative. So ix. 4, 26 multo optimum:§72multo foedissimum, and in Plin. N. H.multovery often for the more usuallonge. Spald.novis: the writers subsequent to Cicero; viii. 5, 12: ix. 2, 42.quotus quisque: ‘each unit of what whole number’ = ‘one in how many,’ and so ‘how small a proportion,’ ‘how few.’ In the nom. sing. masc. it occurs several times in Cicero, and frequently in Pliny’s letters. Ovid, A. A. iii. 103, has the fem., Forma dei munus. Forma quota quaeque superbit. The dat. quoto cuique Plin. Ep. iii. 20 §8: the acc. quotum quemque Tac. Dial. 29.tam demens ... qui:§48nemo erit tam indoctus qui non ... fateatur: on the other hand§57tam ... ut non. Herbst cites Pliny, Ep. viii. 14, 3 quotus enim quisque tam patiens ut velit discere quod in usu non sit habiturus: cp. ib. ii. 19, 6: Panegyr. 15: Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 12τίς οὕτω μαίνεται ὅστις οὐ σοὶ βούλεται φίλος εἶναι;ib. vii. 1, 28ἔστι τις οὕτως ἄφρων ὅστις οἴεται ἂν ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι;; Cic. Phil. ii. §33, where Mayor quotes Dem. Mid. p. 536, 6 §66τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ... ἔστιν ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν ... ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; and‘Lives there a man with soul so deadWhonever to himself has said...?’alicuius fiducia partis: ‘with even the smallest confidence at least in some portion or other (of his writings).’ For the obj. gen. cp. iv. 2, 113: ix. 3, 51.memoriam posteritatis: see on§31.versus:§38.detrimento: vi. 3, 35 nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat. The word occurs less commonly than some of its synonyms with the genitive: here its etymological meaning (detero–tempus ‘terere’) makes it very appropriate.I:42Sed non quidquid ad aliquam partem scientiae pertinet, protinus ad faciendamφράσιν, de qua loquimur, accommodatum.Verum antequam de singulis loquar, pauca in universum de varietate opinionum dicenda sunt.§ 42.protinus: ‘at once,’ ‘as a matter of course.’ See on§3: cp. statim§24.ad faciendamφράσιν: ‘for the formation of style’: cp.§87phrasin ... faciant: viii. 1, 1 igitur quam Graeciφράσινvocant, Latine dicimus elocutionem. For the whole expression cp.§65ad oratores faciendos aptior: xii. 8, 5 cur non sit orator quando ... oratorem facit:x. 3, 3vires ... faciamus: ib.§10qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint: ib.§28faciendus usus: also i. 10, 6: ii. 8, 7: xii. 7, 1.Faciendammust have belonged to the original text: seeCrit. Notes.—Hild reminds us that we must always keep this point of view in mind in estimating the literary judgments pronounced by Quintilian in this book: he is concerned mainly withform, in its relation to oratorical style. In the same way,§87, he does not insist on the study of Macer and Lucretius: legendi quidem sed non utφράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae, faciant. M. Seneca opposesφράσιςtoἕξις(§1): nonἕξιςmagna sedφράσις(of Albucius) Contr. vii. pr. §2: elsewhere he has (Excerpt. Contr. iii. pr. §7) habebat ... phrasin non vulgarem nec sordidam, sed lectam.in universum: Tac. Germ. 6 in universum aestimanti: ib. 27in communeopp. tosinguli.de varietate opinionum. Dosson refers to Hipp. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes, vol. i. 1859. In the third cent.B.C.the question of the superiority of the ancients over the moderns was discussed between the supporters and the opponents of Demetrius of Phalerum: in Cicero’s day it had become confused with the quarrel between the true and the false Atticists (cp. Brut. §283 sq.): Horace treated it in the first Epistle of the Second Book: in Quintilian’s own time it was still discussed, as may be seen from this passage and from the Dialogus de Oratoribus.I:43Nam quidam solos veteres legendos putant neque in ullis aliis esse naturalem eloquentiam et robur viris dignum arbitrantur, alios recens haec lasciviadeliciaeque et omnia ad voluptatem multitudinis imperitae composita delectant.§ 43.solos veteres. Here again (see on§40)veteresincludes the writers of the Augustan age: cp.§§118,122,126:2 §17. See also ii. 5, 21 sq., where Quintilian says that in the case of young people both extremes should be avoided:—the ancients (such as the Gracchi and Cato), fient enim horridi atque ieiuni: the moderns, with their depraved taste, ‘ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur.’robur viris dignum: ii. 5, 23 ex quibus (sc. antiquis) si adsumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet: i. 8, 9 sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis (i.e. the veteres Latini) petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus: v. 12, 17.recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: ‘the voluptuous and affected style of our own day’ opp. to rectum dicendi genus, below. Cp. ‘recentis huius lasciviae flosculi,’ quoted above, also ‘deliciarum vitia.’ Mayor cites Sen. Ep. xxxiii. 1 non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextusillorum virilis est. See on lascivus§88. Seneca is probably aimed at here: cp.§125sq., and Introd.p. xxv. sqq.I:44Ipsorum etiam qui rectum dicendi genus sequi volunt, alii pressa demum et tenuia atque quae minimumab usu cotidiano recedant, sana et vere Attica putant; quosdamelatior ingenii vis et magis concitata et plena spiritus capit; sunt etiam lenis et nitidi et compositi generis non pauci amatores. De qua differentia disseram diligentius, cum de genere dicendi quaerendum erit: interim summatim, quid et a qua lectione petere possint qui confirmare facultatem dicendi volent, attingam: paucos enim, qui sunt eminentissimi, excerpere in animo est.§ 44.rectum dicendi genus: the true standard of style (cp.§89), natural and unaffected, and imitating neither the rude archaism of the ancients nor the bad taste of the moderns. In ii. 5, 11 it is called sermo rectus (‘straight,’ i.e. direct and natural) et secundum naturam enuntiatus: and in ix. 3, 3, simplex rectumque loquendi genus: the style which aims above everything at the clear and effective expression of thought, apart from all ornament and trickery. Though termed here agenus, it is itself divided into threegenera: (1) the simple, terse, concise (ἰσχνόν, tenue, subtile, pressum ... quod minimum ab usu cotidiano recedit); (2) the grand, broad, lofty, stirring, passionate (ἁδρόν, uber, grande, amplum, elatum, concitatum); (3) the flowing, plastic, polished, smooth, melodious, intermediate (ἀνθηρόν, lene, nitidum, suave, compositum, medium).This threefold division of style, ascribed to Theophrastus, was generally recognised in Greece after the latter part of the 4th centuryB.C.Gellius (vi. 14, 8) tells us that Varro recognised it, employinguber,gracile, andmediocreto representἁδρόν,ἰσχνόν, andμέσον; and Mr. Nettleship (J. of Philol. xviii. p. 232) thinks that his treatiseπερὶ χαρακτήρωνbore on this subject. It is adopted in Cornif. ad Herenn. iv. §§11-16, and is carefully explained by Cicero in the Orator §§20-21 (where see Sandys’ notes): tria sunt omnino genera dicendi quibus in singulis quidam floruerunt, peraeque autem, id quod volumus, perpauci in omnibus. Quintilian evidently considers that Cicero (see§108) came up to his own ideal standard in all three styles: Or. §100 is est enim eloquens qui et humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate potest dicere.Dion. Hal. (probably following Theophrastusπερὶ λέξεως) has the same division, distinguishing as theτρία πλάσματα τῆς λέξεωςorγενικώτατοι χαρακτῆρεςtheχαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός(genus grande),ἰσχνός(genus tenue, subtile), andμέσος(medium, mediocre): de Dem. 33 and 34. In xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi genera inter se videntur. Namque unumsubtile, quodἰσχνόνvocant, alterumgrandeatque robustum, quodἁδρόνdicunt, constituunt; tertium aliimediumex duobus, aliifloridum(namque idἀνθηρόνappellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356a2τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος(those which conciliate good-will—themedium,lene,compositum genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως(those which stir the passions—thegrande genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι(those which are addressed to the intellect—thegenus subtile). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designationfloridum(ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on§80.pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. thesubtile genus, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’and the juxtaposition oftenuishere shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere.Pressumis well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia4 §1. To writerspressusis applied§§46,102:2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks thatpressus(verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.tenuia:§64:2 §19. The Greek equivalents areἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning oftenuisis ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (likeἰσχνόςandgracilis), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum,al.rarum). Cp.subtilisandsimplex.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—Foratque quae, see Crit. Notes.demum,3 §13:6 §5: = ‘only,’ fortantum,dumtaxat, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, likeadeo: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all threegenera. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quamiactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. Soὑγιέςin Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.elatior ingenii vis, as in thegrave genus, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp.tersior§94.et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive withmagis: cp.§§74,77,88,94,120. Forconcitatacp.§§73,90,114,118:2 §23: xii. 10, 26.plena spiritus: see on§27: cp.§§16,61,104:3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his timeplenuswas generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on§121(with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words asvehemens,acer, &c. makes it probable thatlenisis the right reading here, notlevis(seeCrit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.nitidi: see on§9.compositi: see on§79compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words,§§52,66:2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.confirmare facultatem dicendi= i.e. acquire thefirma facilitasof§1.I:45Facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his simillimi, iudicare, ne quisquam queratur omissos forte aliquos quos ipse valde probet; fateor enim plures legendos esse quam qui a me nominabuntur. Sed nunc genera ipsa lectionum, quae praecipue convenire intendentibus ut oratores fiant existimem, persequar.§ 45.paucos enimexplainssummatim, ‘foronlya few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp.§§3,8,27,31,35,42,67,87for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (withiuvenis)3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly withdicendi): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, seeCrit. Notes.genera ipsa: here and in§104genera= classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“Foripsumin the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeossubdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp.§19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.
§ 37.This paragraph forms a transition from the general consideration of oratory (§20), poetry (§27), history (§31), and philosophy (§35) to the characterisation of individual representatives of each of these four departments. Quintilian now begins to discourse on the ‘Choice of Books,’ or the ‘Best Hundred Authors,’ both in Greek and Latin. His list does not however aim at completeness: it is conditioned by the object which he has in view, viz. the reading of what is profitable for the formation of style (ad faciendamφράσιν§42), and he constantly reminds the reader that he is merely giving a sample of the best authors (§§44: 56-60: 74: 80: 104: 122). Cp. Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §§15-16.qui sint legendi: seeCrit. Notes.auctore: see on§24.persequi singulos: ‘to notice all individually’:§118sunt alii multi diserti quos persequi longum est.fuerit: cp. superaverit§46: dixerim§14: maluerim§26: dederit§85: cesserimus§86: quos viderim§98: cesserit§101: opposuerim§105: abstulerit§107: ne hoc ... suaserim2 §24: nemo dubitaverit3 §22: contulerit5 §4: ne ... contrarium fuerit5 §15.
§ 37.This paragraph forms a transition from the general consideration of oratory (§20), poetry (§27), history (§31), and philosophy (§35) to the characterisation of individual representatives of each of these four departments. Quintilian now begins to discourse on the ‘Choice of Books,’ or the ‘Best Hundred Authors,’ both in Greek and Latin. His list does not however aim at completeness: it is conditioned by the object which he has in view, viz. the reading of what is profitable for the formation of style (ad faciendamφράσιν§42), and he constantly reminds the reader that he is merely giving a sample of the best authors (§§44: 56-60: 74: 80: 104: 122). Cp. Plin. Ep. vii. 9 §§15-16.
qui sint legendi: seeCrit. Notes.
auctore: see on§24.
persequi singulos: ‘to notice all individually’:§118sunt alii multi diserti quos persequi longum est.
fuerit: cp. superaverit§46: dixerim§14: maluerim§26: dederit§85: cesserimus§86: quos viderim§98: cesserit§101: opposuerim§105: abstulerit§107: ne hoc ... suaserim2 §24: nemo dubitaverit3 §22: contulerit5 §4: ne ... contrarium fuerit5 §15.
I:38Quippe cum in Bruto M. Tulliustot milibus versuum de Romanis tantum oratoribus loquatur et tamen de omnibus aetatis suae, [quibuscum vivebat], exceptis Caesare atque Marcello, silentium egerit, quis erit modus si et illos et qui postea fuerunt et Graecos omnespersequamur[et philosophos]?
§ 38.Quippe cum, only here in Quint.: cp.§76.versuum: often in Quint. of ‘lines’ of prose:§41:3 §32:7 §11: xi. 2, 32 (but §39 opp. to prosam orationem): vii. 1, 37 multis milibus versuum scio apud quosdam esse quaesitum, &c. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 53-4, of a will, quid prima secundo cera velit versu. Cic. Rab. Post. vi. §14 ut primum versum (legis) attenderet: ad Att. ii. 16, 3: Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 16.Romanis ... oratoribus. One of Cicero’s motives in writing theBrutuswas to do justice to the earlier Roman orators, and to trace the development of the art down to his own time. Hild cites Fronto (de elog. p. 235 ed. Rom.) oratores quos ... Cicero eloquentiae civitate gregatim donavit, as showing that the writer thought that Cicero wished to exalt his own style by contrast with the ruder efforts of his predecessors.aetatis suae. Frieze remarks that this expression, taken by itself, would embrace either the whole career of Cicero as an orator, about 35 years, to the date of the Brutus (B.C.46), or else his life from the time when he began to hear the orators of the forum as a student (B.C.90), a period of over 44 years: Brut. §303 hoc (Hortensio) igitur florescente, Crassus est mortuus, Cotta pulsus, iudicia intermissa bello, nos (Cicero) in forum venimus.—The rule which Cicero imposed on himself in the Brutus is given §231: in hoc sermone nostro statui neminem eorum qui viverent nominare.[quibuscum vivebat]: see Crit. Notes.Caesare atque Marcello. These exceptions were made at the request of Brutus himself §248. Brutus eulogises Marcellus, while the account of Caesar is mainly put into the mouth of Atticus: then at §262 Cicero returns to the dead,—sed ad eos, si placet, qui vita excesserunt revertamur.—For Caesar see on§114. M. Claudius Marcellus, consulB.C.51, was a Pompeian who, after Pharsalus, retired to Mitylene, where he studied under Cratippus. His friends procured the pardon which he would not himself sue for, and Cicero in the pro Marcello (B.C.46) expresses his satisfaction at the event. On his way home in the following year Marcellus was assassinated at Athens. Cp. Sen. ad Helviam ix. §§4-8.quis ... modus. Whenquisis used adjectivally, as here and in§50, it does not mean ‘what kind of’ (asqui), but rather ‘will there be any?’ &c. Cp. quis locus = ‘where is the spot?’ vii. 2, 54 quis testis? quis iudex? ... quod pretium? quis conscius? For the reading seeCrit. Notes.
§ 38.Quippe cum, only here in Quint.: cp.§76.
versuum: often in Quint. of ‘lines’ of prose:§41:3 §32:7 §11: xi. 2, 32 (but §39 opp. to prosam orationem): vii. 1, 37 multis milibus versuum scio apud quosdam esse quaesitum, &c. Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 53-4, of a will, quid prima secundo cera velit versu. Cic. Rab. Post. vi. §14 ut primum versum (legis) attenderet: ad Att. ii. 16, 3: Plin. Ep. iv. 11, 16.
Romanis ... oratoribus. One of Cicero’s motives in writing theBrutuswas to do justice to the earlier Roman orators, and to trace the development of the art down to his own time. Hild cites Fronto (de elog. p. 235 ed. Rom.) oratores quos ... Cicero eloquentiae civitate gregatim donavit, as showing that the writer thought that Cicero wished to exalt his own style by contrast with the ruder efforts of his predecessors.
aetatis suae. Frieze remarks that this expression, taken by itself, would embrace either the whole career of Cicero as an orator, about 35 years, to the date of the Brutus (B.C.46), or else his life from the time when he began to hear the orators of the forum as a student (B.C.90), a period of over 44 years: Brut. §303 hoc (Hortensio) igitur florescente, Crassus est mortuus, Cotta pulsus, iudicia intermissa bello, nos (Cicero) in forum venimus.—The rule which Cicero imposed on himself in the Brutus is given §231: in hoc sermone nostro statui neminem eorum qui viverent nominare.
[quibuscum vivebat]: see Crit. Notes.
Caesare atque Marcello. These exceptions were made at the request of Brutus himself §248. Brutus eulogises Marcellus, while the account of Caesar is mainly put into the mouth of Atticus: then at §262 Cicero returns to the dead,—sed ad eos, si placet, qui vita excesserunt revertamur.—For Caesar see on§114. M. Claudius Marcellus, consulB.C.51, was a Pompeian who, after Pharsalus, retired to Mitylene, where he studied under Cratippus. His friends procured the pardon which he would not himself sue for, and Cicero in the pro Marcello (B.C.46) expresses his satisfaction at the event. On his way home in the following year Marcellus was assassinated at Athens. Cp. Sen. ad Helviam ix. §§4-8.
quis ... modus. Whenquisis used adjectivally, as here and in§50, it does not mean ‘what kind of’ (asqui), but rather ‘will there be any?’ &c. Cp. quis locus = ‘where is the spot?’ vii. 2, 54 quis testis? quis iudex? ... quod pretium? quis conscius? For the reading seeCrit. Notes.
I:39Fuit igitur brevitas illa tutissima quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta, ‘legendos Demosthenen atque Ciceronem, tum ita, ut quisque esset Demostheni et Ciceroni simillimus.’
§ 39.brevitas illa= brevis illa sententia, introducing the clause in acc. c. inf. Hirt compares Cic. Tusc. iv. §83 et aegritudinis et reliquorum animi morborum una sanatio est, omnes opinabiles esse et voluntarios. ForfuitseeCrit. Notes.apud Livium. Cp. ii. 5, 20 Cicero ... et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum, sed etiam amari potest: tum, quemadmodum Livius praecipit, ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus. In viii. 2, 18 there is a reference probably to the same source: Livy is made the authority for the story of a teacher ‘qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utensσκότισον.’ Sen. Ep. 100 Nomina adhuc T. Livium. scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentes libros. The son is mentioned again in Plin. N. H. i. 5 and 6. See Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 251 §4.Demostheni et Ciceroni:§§105-112: Iuv. x. 114. Note the pointed repetition of the names.
§ 39.brevitas illa= brevis illa sententia, introducing the clause in acc. c. inf. Hirt compares Cic. Tusc. iv. §83 et aegritudinis et reliquorum animi morborum una sanatio est, omnes opinabiles esse et voluntarios. ForfuitseeCrit. Notes.
apud Livium. Cp. ii. 5, 20 Cicero ... et iucundus incipientibus quoque et apertus est satis, nec prodesse tantum, sed etiam amari potest: tum, quemadmodum Livius praecipit, ut quisque erit Ciceroni simillimus. In viii. 2, 18 there is a reference probably to the same source: Livy is made the authority for the story of a teacher ‘qui discipulos obscurare quae dicerent iuberet, Graeco verbo utensσκότισον.’ Sen. Ep. 100 Nomina adhuc T. Livium. scripsit enim et dialogos, quos non magis philosophiae adnumerare possis quam historiae, et ex professo philosophiam continentes libros. The son is mentioned again in Plin. N. H. i. 5 and 6. See Teuffel, Rom. Lit. 251 §4.
Demostheni et Ciceroni:§§105-112: Iuv. x. 114. Note the pointed repetition of the names.
I:40Non est dissimulanda nostri quoque iudiciisumma. Paucos enim vel potius vix ullum ex his qui vetustatem pertulerunt existimo posse reperiri, quin iudicium adhibentibus adlaturus sit utilitatis aliquid, cum se Cicero ab illis quoque vetustissimis auctoribus, ingeniosis quidem, sed arte carentibus, plurimum fateatur adiutum.
§ 40.nostri iudicii summa: ‘myopinion in general,’ as opposed to the criticism of each writer individually. What the gist of this opinion is he states in the next sentence, withenim: seeCrit. Notes.—Forsummacp.§48:3 §10.vix ullum, &c.:§57. Mayor compares Plin. Ep. iii. 5 §10 (of the elder Pliny) nihil enim legit quod non excerperet: dicere enim solebat nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. It would be hard to be so charitable now!vetustatem pertulerunt: ‘have stood the test of time.’ The phrase is properly used of wine,—wine that will ‘keep,’ as we should say (aetatem ferre): Cic. de Amic. §67 ut ea vina quae vetustatem ferunt: ii. 4, 9 musta ... et annos ferent et vetustate proficiunt: Cat. de R. R. 114, 2 vinum in vetustatem servare. So Ovid, of his own works, scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent, Trist. v. 9, 8. Forvetustas(lapse of time) cp. Cic. Brut. §258.—There is a sort of antithesis between the class of authors here referred to and thevetustissimi auctoresmentioned below. In the former he includes Cato and the Gracchi, ii. 5, 21: the latter are those who were hardly read at all in Quintilian’s day. In general he usesveteresorantiquiin contradistinction to those who were to himnovi, i.e. the writers of the post-Augustan period: including in the former Cicero himself as well as his predecessors. ii. 5, 23 et antiquos legere et novos: v. 4, 1 orationes veterum ac novorum: ix. 3, 1 omnes veteres et Cicero praecipue: Plin. Ep. ix. 22, 1, of C. Passennus Paullus, in litteris veteres aemulatur ... Propertium in primis: Tac. Dial. 17, 18.iudicium adhibentibus:§131:§72.ingeniosis ... carentibus: i. 8, 8 multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt. Ov. Amor. i. 15, 14, of Callimachus, quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet: Tr. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis. Mayor quotes also from Munro’s Lucretius: vol. ii. p. 18 ‘At this period when theνεώτεροι, as Cicero calls them, were striving to bring the Alexandrine style into fashion, there seems to have been almost a formal antithesis between the rude genius of Ennius and the modern art.’ingeniosis quidem. Here again (cp. on§34) Cicero would have used the pronoun,—ingeniosis illis quidem. Cp.§§88,124: i. 10, 17.Cicero ... fateatur. The Brutus contains e.g. a eulogy of Cato, who is said to be rough, but excellent, like the early statues and paintings and poems: §§61-66: Or. §109. Mayor cites Seneca apud Gell. xii. 2 (Fragmenta 111) Apud ipsum quoque Ciceronem invenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam ex quibus intelligas illum non perdidisse operam quod Ennium legit.
§ 40.nostri iudicii summa: ‘myopinion in general,’ as opposed to the criticism of each writer individually. What the gist of this opinion is he states in the next sentence, withenim: seeCrit. Notes.—Forsummacp.§48:3 §10.
vix ullum, &c.:§57. Mayor compares Plin. Ep. iii. 5 §10 (of the elder Pliny) nihil enim legit quod non excerperet: dicere enim solebat nullum esse librum tam malum ut non aliqua parte prodesset. It would be hard to be so charitable now!
vetustatem pertulerunt: ‘have stood the test of time.’ The phrase is properly used of wine,—wine that will ‘keep,’ as we should say (aetatem ferre): Cic. de Amic. §67 ut ea vina quae vetustatem ferunt: ii. 4, 9 musta ... et annos ferent et vetustate proficiunt: Cat. de R. R. 114, 2 vinum in vetustatem servare. So Ovid, of his own works, scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent, Trist. v. 9, 8. Forvetustas(lapse of time) cp. Cic. Brut. §258.—There is a sort of antithesis between the class of authors here referred to and thevetustissimi auctoresmentioned below. In the former he includes Cato and the Gracchi, ii. 5, 21: the latter are those who were hardly read at all in Quintilian’s day. In general he usesveteresorantiquiin contradistinction to those who were to himnovi, i.e. the writers of the post-Augustan period: including in the former Cicero himself as well as his predecessors. ii. 5, 23 et antiquos legere et novos: v. 4, 1 orationes veterum ac novorum: ix. 3, 1 omnes veteres et Cicero praecipue: Plin. Ep. ix. 22, 1, of C. Passennus Paullus, in litteris veteres aemulatur ... Propertium in primis: Tac. Dial. 17, 18.
iudicium adhibentibus:§131:§72.
ingeniosis ... carentibus: i. 8, 8 multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt. Ov. Amor. i. 15, 14, of Callimachus, quamvis ingenio non valet, arte valet: Tr. ii. 424 Ennius ingenio maximus arte rudis. Mayor quotes also from Munro’s Lucretius: vol. ii. p. 18 ‘At this period when theνεώτεροι, as Cicero calls them, were striving to bring the Alexandrine style into fashion, there seems to have been almost a formal antithesis between the rude genius of Ennius and the modern art.’
ingeniosis quidem. Here again (cp. on§34) Cicero would have used the pronoun,—ingeniosis illis quidem. Cp.§§88,124: i. 10, 17.
Cicero ... fateatur. The Brutus contains e.g. a eulogy of Cato, who is said to be rough, but excellent, like the early statues and paintings and poems: §§61-66: Or. §109. Mayor cites Seneca apud Gell. xii. 2 (Fragmenta 111) Apud ipsum quoque Ciceronem invenies etiam in prosa oratione quaedam ex quibus intelligas illum non perdidisse operam quod Ennium legit.
I:41Nec multo aliud de novis sentio; quotus enim quisque inveniri tam demens potest,qui ne minima quidem alicuius certe fiducia partis memoriam posteritatis speraverit? Qui si quis est, intra primos statim versus deprehendetur, et citius nos dimittet quam ut eius nobis magno temporis detrimento constet experimentum.
§ 41.multo aliud: cp.quanto aliud§53.Aliudhere serves for a comparative. So ix. 4, 26 multo optimum:§72multo foedissimum, and in Plin. N. H.multovery often for the more usuallonge. Spald.novis: the writers subsequent to Cicero; viii. 5, 12: ix. 2, 42.quotus quisque: ‘each unit of what whole number’ = ‘one in how many,’ and so ‘how small a proportion,’ ‘how few.’ In the nom. sing. masc. it occurs several times in Cicero, and frequently in Pliny’s letters. Ovid, A. A. iii. 103, has the fem., Forma dei munus. Forma quota quaeque superbit. The dat. quoto cuique Plin. Ep. iii. 20 §8: the acc. quotum quemque Tac. Dial. 29.tam demens ... qui:§48nemo erit tam indoctus qui non ... fateatur: on the other hand§57tam ... ut non. Herbst cites Pliny, Ep. viii. 14, 3 quotus enim quisque tam patiens ut velit discere quod in usu non sit habiturus: cp. ib. ii. 19, 6: Panegyr. 15: Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 12τίς οὕτω μαίνεται ὅστις οὐ σοὶ βούλεται φίλος εἶναι;ib. vii. 1, 28ἔστι τις οὕτως ἄφρων ὅστις οἴεται ἂν ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι;; Cic. Phil. ii. §33, where Mayor quotes Dem. Mid. p. 536, 6 §66τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ... ἔστιν ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν ... ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; and‘Lives there a man with soul so deadWhonever to himself has said...?’alicuius fiducia partis: ‘with even the smallest confidence at least in some portion or other (of his writings).’ For the obj. gen. cp. iv. 2, 113: ix. 3, 51.memoriam posteritatis: see on§31.versus:§38.detrimento: vi. 3, 35 nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat. The word occurs less commonly than some of its synonyms with the genitive: here its etymological meaning (detero–tempus ‘terere’) makes it very appropriate.
§ 41.multo aliud: cp.quanto aliud§53.Aliudhere serves for a comparative. So ix. 4, 26 multo optimum:§72multo foedissimum, and in Plin. N. H.multovery often for the more usuallonge. Spald.
novis: the writers subsequent to Cicero; viii. 5, 12: ix. 2, 42.
quotus quisque: ‘each unit of what whole number’ = ‘one in how many,’ and so ‘how small a proportion,’ ‘how few.’ In the nom. sing. masc. it occurs several times in Cicero, and frequently in Pliny’s letters. Ovid, A. A. iii. 103, has the fem., Forma dei munus. Forma quota quaeque superbit. The dat. quoto cuique Plin. Ep. iii. 20 §8: the acc. quotum quemque Tac. Dial. 29.
tam demens ... qui:§48nemo erit tam indoctus qui non ... fateatur: on the other hand§57tam ... ut non. Herbst cites Pliny, Ep. viii. 14, 3 quotus enim quisque tam patiens ut velit discere quod in usu non sit habiturus: cp. ib. ii. 19, 6: Panegyr. 15: Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 12τίς οὕτω μαίνεται ὅστις οὐ σοὶ βούλεται φίλος εἶναι;ib. vii. 1, 28ἔστι τις οὕτως ἄφρων ὅστις οἴεται ἂν ἡμᾶς περιγενέσθαι;; Cic. Phil. ii. §33, where Mayor quotes Dem. Mid. p. 536, 6 §66τίς οὕτως ἀλόγιστος ... ἔστιν ὅστις ἑκὼν ἂν ... ἐθελήσειεν ἀναλῶσαι; and
‘Lives there a man with soul so deadWhonever to himself has said...?’
‘Lives there a man with soul so dead
Whonever to himself has said...?’
alicuius fiducia partis: ‘with even the smallest confidence at least in some portion or other (of his writings).’ For the obj. gen. cp. iv. 2, 113: ix. 3, 51.
memoriam posteritatis: see on§31.
versus:§38.
detrimento: vi. 3, 35 nimium enim risus pretium est si probitatis impendio constat. The word occurs less commonly than some of its synonyms with the genitive: here its etymological meaning (detero–tempus ‘terere’) makes it very appropriate.
I:42Sed non quidquid ad aliquam partem scientiae pertinet, protinus ad faciendamφράσιν, de qua loquimur, accommodatum.
Verum antequam de singulis loquar, pauca in universum de varietate opinionum dicenda sunt.
§ 42.protinus: ‘at once,’ ‘as a matter of course.’ See on§3: cp. statim§24.ad faciendamφράσιν: ‘for the formation of style’: cp.§87phrasin ... faciant: viii. 1, 1 igitur quam Graeciφράσινvocant, Latine dicimus elocutionem. For the whole expression cp.§65ad oratores faciendos aptior: xii. 8, 5 cur non sit orator quando ... oratorem facit:x. 3, 3vires ... faciamus: ib.§10qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint: ib.§28faciendus usus: also i. 10, 6: ii. 8, 7: xii. 7, 1.Faciendammust have belonged to the original text: seeCrit. Notes.—Hild reminds us that we must always keep this point of view in mind in estimating the literary judgments pronounced by Quintilian in this book: he is concerned mainly withform, in its relation to oratorical style. In the same way,§87, he does not insist on the study of Macer and Lucretius: legendi quidem sed non utφράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae, faciant. M. Seneca opposesφράσιςtoἕξις(§1): nonἕξιςmagna sedφράσις(of Albucius) Contr. vii. pr. §2: elsewhere he has (Excerpt. Contr. iii. pr. §7) habebat ... phrasin non vulgarem nec sordidam, sed lectam.in universum: Tac. Germ. 6 in universum aestimanti: ib. 27in communeopp. tosinguli.de varietate opinionum. Dosson refers to Hipp. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes, vol. i. 1859. In the third cent.B.C.the question of the superiority of the ancients over the moderns was discussed between the supporters and the opponents of Demetrius of Phalerum: in Cicero’s day it had become confused with the quarrel between the true and the false Atticists (cp. Brut. §283 sq.): Horace treated it in the first Epistle of the Second Book: in Quintilian’s own time it was still discussed, as may be seen from this passage and from the Dialogus de Oratoribus.
§ 42.protinus: ‘at once,’ ‘as a matter of course.’ See on§3: cp. statim§24.
ad faciendamφράσιν: ‘for the formation of style’: cp.§87phrasin ... faciant: viii. 1, 1 igitur quam Graeciφράσινvocant, Latine dicimus elocutionem. For the whole expression cp.§65ad oratores faciendos aptior: xii. 8, 5 cur non sit orator quando ... oratorem facit:x. 3, 3vires ... faciamus: ib.§10qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint: ib.§28faciendus usus: also i. 10, 6: ii. 8, 7: xii. 7, 1.Faciendammust have belonged to the original text: seeCrit. Notes.—Hild reminds us that we must always keep this point of view in mind in estimating the literary judgments pronounced by Quintilian in this book: he is concerned mainly withform, in its relation to oratorical style. In the same way,§87, he does not insist on the study of Macer and Lucretius: legendi quidem sed non utφράσιν, id est corpus eloquentiae, faciant. M. Seneca opposesφράσιςtoἕξις(§1): nonἕξιςmagna sedφράσις(of Albucius) Contr. vii. pr. §2: elsewhere he has (Excerpt. Contr. iii. pr. §7) habebat ... phrasin non vulgarem nec sordidam, sed lectam.
in universum: Tac. Germ. 6 in universum aestimanti: ib. 27in communeopp. tosinguli.
de varietate opinionum. Dosson refers to Hipp. Rigault, Histoire de la querelle des anciens et des modernes, vol. i. 1859. In the third cent.B.C.the question of the superiority of the ancients over the moderns was discussed between the supporters and the opponents of Demetrius of Phalerum: in Cicero’s day it had become confused with the quarrel between the true and the false Atticists (cp. Brut. §283 sq.): Horace treated it in the first Epistle of the Second Book: in Quintilian’s own time it was still discussed, as may be seen from this passage and from the Dialogus de Oratoribus.
I:43Nam quidam solos veteres legendos putant neque in ullis aliis esse naturalem eloquentiam et robur viris dignum arbitrantur, alios recens haec lasciviadeliciaeque et omnia ad voluptatem multitudinis imperitae composita delectant.
§ 43.solos veteres. Here again (see on§40)veteresincludes the writers of the Augustan age: cp.§§118,122,126:2 §17. See also ii. 5, 21 sq., where Quintilian says that in the case of young people both extremes should be avoided:—the ancients (such as the Gracchi and Cato), fient enim horridi atque ieiuni: the moderns, with their depraved taste, ‘ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur.’robur viris dignum: ii. 5, 23 ex quibus (sc. antiquis) si adsumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet: i. 8, 9 sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis (i.e. the veteres Latini) petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus: v. 12, 17.recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: ‘the voluptuous and affected style of our own day’ opp. to rectum dicendi genus, below. Cp. ‘recentis huius lasciviae flosculi,’ quoted above, also ‘deliciarum vitia.’ Mayor cites Sen. Ep. xxxiii. 1 non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextusillorum virilis est. See on lascivus§88. Seneca is probably aimed at here: cp.§125sq., and Introd.p. xxv. sqq.
§ 43.solos veteres. Here again (see on§40)veteresincludes the writers of the Augustan age: cp.§§118,122,126:2 §17. See also ii. 5, 21 sq., where Quintilian says that in the case of young people both extremes should be avoided:—the ancients (such as the Gracchi and Cato), fient enim horridi atque ieiuni: the moderns, with their depraved taste, ‘ne recentis huius lasciviae flosculis capti voluptate prava deleniantur.’
robur viris dignum: ii. 5, 23 ex quibus (sc. antiquis) si adsumatur solida ac virilis ingenii vis deterso rudis saeculi squalore, tum noster hic cultus clarius enitescet: i. 8, 9 sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis (i.e. the veteres Latini) petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus: v. 12, 17.
recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: ‘the voluptuous and affected style of our own day’ opp. to rectum dicendi genus, below. Cp. ‘recentis huius lasciviae flosculi,’ quoted above, also ‘deliciarum vitia.’ Mayor cites Sen. Ep. xxxiii. 1 non fuerunt circa flosculos occupati: totus contextusillorum virilis est. See on lascivus§88. Seneca is probably aimed at here: cp.§125sq., and Introd.p. xxv. sqq.
I:44Ipsorum etiam qui rectum dicendi genus sequi volunt, alii pressa demum et tenuia atque quae minimumab usu cotidiano recedant, sana et vere Attica putant; quosdamelatior ingenii vis et magis concitata et plena spiritus capit; sunt etiam lenis et nitidi et compositi generis non pauci amatores. De qua differentia disseram diligentius, cum de genere dicendi quaerendum erit: interim summatim, quid et a qua lectione petere possint qui confirmare facultatem dicendi volent, attingam: paucos enim, qui sunt eminentissimi, excerpere in animo est.
§ 44.rectum dicendi genus: the true standard of style (cp.§89), natural and unaffected, and imitating neither the rude archaism of the ancients nor the bad taste of the moderns. In ii. 5, 11 it is called sermo rectus (‘straight,’ i.e. direct and natural) et secundum naturam enuntiatus: and in ix. 3, 3, simplex rectumque loquendi genus: the style which aims above everything at the clear and effective expression of thought, apart from all ornament and trickery. Though termed here agenus, it is itself divided into threegenera: (1) the simple, terse, concise (ἰσχνόν, tenue, subtile, pressum ... quod minimum ab usu cotidiano recedit); (2) the grand, broad, lofty, stirring, passionate (ἁδρόν, uber, grande, amplum, elatum, concitatum); (3) the flowing, plastic, polished, smooth, melodious, intermediate (ἀνθηρόν, lene, nitidum, suave, compositum, medium).This threefold division of style, ascribed to Theophrastus, was generally recognised in Greece after the latter part of the 4th centuryB.C.Gellius (vi. 14, 8) tells us that Varro recognised it, employinguber,gracile, andmediocreto representἁδρόν,ἰσχνόν, andμέσον; and Mr. Nettleship (J. of Philol. xviii. p. 232) thinks that his treatiseπερὶ χαρακτήρωνbore on this subject. It is adopted in Cornif. ad Herenn. iv. §§11-16, and is carefully explained by Cicero in the Orator §§20-21 (where see Sandys’ notes): tria sunt omnino genera dicendi quibus in singulis quidam floruerunt, peraeque autem, id quod volumus, perpauci in omnibus. Quintilian evidently considers that Cicero (see§108) came up to his own ideal standard in all three styles: Or. §100 is est enim eloquens qui et humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate potest dicere.Dion. Hal. (probably following Theophrastusπερὶ λέξεως) has the same division, distinguishing as theτρία πλάσματα τῆς λέξεωςorγενικώτατοι χαρακτῆρεςtheχαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός(genus grande),ἰσχνός(genus tenue, subtile), andμέσος(medium, mediocre): de Dem. 33 and 34. In xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi genera inter se videntur. Namque unumsubtile, quodἰσχνόνvocant, alterumgrandeatque robustum, quodἁδρόνdicunt, constituunt; tertium aliimediumex duobus, aliifloridum(namque idἀνθηρόνappellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356a2τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος(those which conciliate good-will—themedium,lene,compositum genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως(those which stir the passions—thegrande genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι(those which are addressed to the intellect—thegenus subtile). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designationfloridum(ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on§80.pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. thesubtile genus, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’and the juxtaposition oftenuishere shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere.Pressumis well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia4 §1. To writerspressusis applied§§46,102:2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks thatpressus(verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.tenuia:§64:2 §19. The Greek equivalents areἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning oftenuisis ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (likeἰσχνόςandgracilis), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum,al.rarum). Cp.subtilisandsimplex.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—Foratque quae, see Crit. Notes.demum,3 §13:6 §5: = ‘only,’ fortantum,dumtaxat, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, likeadeo: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all threegenera. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quamiactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. Soὑγιέςin Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.elatior ingenii vis, as in thegrave genus, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp.tersior§94.et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive withmagis: cp.§§74,77,88,94,120. Forconcitatacp.§§73,90,114,118:2 §23: xii. 10, 26.plena spiritus: see on§27: cp.§§16,61,104:3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his timeplenuswas generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on§121(with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words asvehemens,acer, &c. makes it probable thatlenisis the right reading here, notlevis(seeCrit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.nitidi: see on§9.compositi: see on§79compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words,§§52,66:2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.confirmare facultatem dicendi= i.e. acquire thefirma facilitasof§1.
§ 44.rectum dicendi genus: the true standard of style (cp.§89), natural and unaffected, and imitating neither the rude archaism of the ancients nor the bad taste of the moderns. In ii. 5, 11 it is called sermo rectus (‘straight,’ i.e. direct and natural) et secundum naturam enuntiatus: and in ix. 3, 3, simplex rectumque loquendi genus: the style which aims above everything at the clear and effective expression of thought, apart from all ornament and trickery. Though termed here agenus, it is itself divided into threegenera: (1) the simple, terse, concise (ἰσχνόν, tenue, subtile, pressum ... quod minimum ab usu cotidiano recedit); (2) the grand, broad, lofty, stirring, passionate (ἁδρόν, uber, grande, amplum, elatum, concitatum); (3) the flowing, plastic, polished, smooth, melodious, intermediate (ἀνθηρόν, lene, nitidum, suave, compositum, medium).
This threefold division of style, ascribed to Theophrastus, was generally recognised in Greece after the latter part of the 4th centuryB.C.Gellius (vi. 14, 8) tells us that Varro recognised it, employinguber,gracile, andmediocreto representἁδρόν,ἰσχνόν, andμέσον; and Mr. Nettleship (J. of Philol. xviii. p. 232) thinks that his treatiseπερὶ χαρακτήρωνbore on this subject. It is adopted in Cornif. ad Herenn. iv. §§11-16, and is carefully explained by Cicero in the Orator §§20-21 (where see Sandys’ notes): tria sunt omnino genera dicendi quibus in singulis quidam floruerunt, peraeque autem, id quod volumus, perpauci in omnibus. Quintilian evidently considers that Cicero (see§108) came up to his own ideal standard in all three styles: Or. §100 is est enim eloquens qui et humilia subtiliter et magna graviter et mediocria temperate potest dicere.
Dion. Hal. (probably following Theophrastusπερὶ λέξεως) has the same division, distinguishing as theτρία πλάσματα τῆς λέξεωςorγενικώτατοι χαρακτῆρεςtheχαρακτὴρ ὑψηλός(genus grande),ἰσχνός(genus tenue, subtile), andμέσος(medium, mediocre): de Dem. 33 and 34. In xii. 10, 58 Quintilian repeats this: discerni posse etiam recte dicendi genera inter se videntur. Namque unumsubtile, quodἰσχνόνvocant, alterumgrandeatque robustum, quodἁδρόνdicunt, constituunt; tertium aliimediumex duobus, aliifloridum(namque idἀνθηρόνappellant) addiderant. In the next section he goes on to connect this triple division with the three functions of the orator as laid down in iii. 5, 2: tria sunt item quae praestare debeat orator, ut doceat, moveat, delectet. The ‘plain’ style is especially adapted for teaching and explaining: the ‘grand’ for moving the feelings; while of the ‘middle’ he says ‘ea fere ratio est ut ... delectandi sive conciliandi praestare videatur officium.’ Cp. Arist. Rhet. i. 2 p. 1356a2τῶν δὲ διὰ τοῦ λόγου ποριζομένων πίστεων τρία εἴδη ἐστίν‧ αἱ μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἤθει τοῦ λέγοντος(those which conciliate good-will—themedium,lene,compositum genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν τῷ τὸν ἀκροατὴν διαθεῖναί πως(those which stir the passions—thegrande genus),αἱ δὲ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ λόγῳ διὰ τοῦ δεικνύναι ἢ φαίνεσθαι δεικνύναι(those which are addressed to the intellect—thegenus subtile). Further on (xii. 10 §64) he says that the three classes are typified by the oratory of Menelaus, Nestor, and Ulysses: cp. ii. 17, 8 and Gellius, vi. 14.
In anticipation of the rest of the section the main features of each of the three styles may here be resumed. The ‘grand’ is distinguished by a careful avoidance of everything familiar and ordinary: it seeks to rise above the common idiom by a sustained dignity both of thought and language, and employs a profusion of ornament of every kind. The ‘plain’ style is marked by simplicity and clearness: it may employ the aid of art, but it is an art that conceals itself in the avoidance of everything unfamiliar and in the artistic use of the language of ordinary life. The ‘middle’ style has more charm than force: while not distinguished for the excellencies of the other species it has a grace and sweetness of its own, whence its alternative designationfloridum(ἀνθηρόν) in Quintilian, quoted above: see note on§80.
pressa ... et tenuia, &c., i.e. thesubtile genus, or ‘plain style.’ Pressus is used in Quintilian both of a writer and of his style: it means ‘concise’ (premo), ‘terse,’and the juxtaposition oftenuishere shows that ‘plain straightforwardness’ is the quality referred to. Cp. xii. 10, 38 tenuiora haec ac pressiora: Cic. de Orat. ii. §96, where oratio pressior is opp. to luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est: Brut. §201 attenuate presseque dicere opp. to sublate ampleque: Quint. viii. 3, 40 dicere abundanter an presse ... magnifice an subtiliter: ii. 8, 4 presso limatoque genere dicendi: §15 non enim satis est dicere presse tantum aut subtiliter aut aspere.Pressumis well defined by Mayor on this passage: ‘pruned of all rankness, concise, quiet, moderate, self-controlled; opposed to extravagance, heat, turgidity, redundance’: cp. premere tumentia4 §1. To writerspressusis applied§§46,102:2 §16: cp. xii. 10, 16 (Attici) pressi et integri ... (Asiani) inflati et inanes: Brut. §51 parum pressi et nimis redundantes: ib. §202 cavenda presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas: Tac. Dial. 18 inflatus et tumens nec satis pressus sed supra modum exultans.—In Cic. de Or. ii. §56 Wilkins thinks thatpressus(verbis aptus et pressus—of Thucydides) means ‘precise,’ not ‘concise’: comparing de Fin. iv. 10, 24 mihi placet agi subtilius et pressius: Tusc. iv. 7, 14 definiunt pressius: Cic. Hortens. Fragm. 46 (Baiter) ‘pressum, subtile, M. Tullius in Hortensio, quis te aut est aut fuit unquam in partiundis rebus, in definiendis, in explicandis pressior?’ Cp. Quint, iv. 2, 117 pressus et velut adplicitus rei cultus.—The word frequently occurs in Pliny: see Mayor on iii. 18, 10.
tenuia:§64:2 §19. The Greek equivalents areἰσχνός, λιτός, ἀφελής. Cp Or. §20, where Sandys says “The primary meaning oftenuisis ‘thin’; its metaphorical use as an epithet of style is derived, not from the notion of slimness and slenderness of form (likeἰσχνόςandgracilis), but from thinness and fineness of texture (§124‘tenuis causa,’ ‘tenue argumentandi filum’; Quint. ix. 4, 17 illud in Lysia dicendi textum tenue atque rasum,al.rarum). Cp.subtilisandsimplex.” The word is used in a depreciatory sense xii. 8, 1 neque enim quisquam tam ingenio tenui reperietur qui, cum omnia quae sunt in causa diligenter cognoverit ad docendum certe iudicem non sufficiat. In this sense Hor. Car. ii. 16, 38 is generally interpreted: spiritum Graiae tenuem Camenae.—Foratque quae, see Crit. Notes.
demum,3 §13:6 §5: = ‘only,’ fortantum,dumtaxat, with no indication of time, though Frieze says the use implies ‘that some conclusion has been reached as the only thing that remains to be accepted after every alternative has been considered.’ So i. pr. 3 plusquam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, ... simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem: ii. 15, 1 bonis demum (haec) tribui volunt. Suet. Aug. 24: Traian. ad Plin. E. 10, 33.—It is, of course, frequent in Latin of every period with pronouns, to give emphasis, likeadeo: ei demum oratori, Cic. de Or. ii. §131.
usu cotidiano: xii. 10, 40 Adhuc quidam nullam esse naturalem putant eloquentiam nisi quae sit cotidiano sermoni simillima: viii. pr. 23 sunt optima minime arcessita et simplicibus atque ab ipsa veritate profectis similia, §25 atqui satis aperte Cicero praeceperat ‘in dicendo vitium vel maximum esse a vulgari genere orationis ... abhorrere’: xi. 1, 6 neque humile atque cotidianum sermonis genus ... epilogis dabimus. Mayor cites Dion. Hal. ad Cn. Pomp. de Plat. p. 758 R: id. de Lys. 3: de Isocr. 2 and 11.
sana et vere Attica. Those who take this view interpret the term ‘Attic’ too narrowly: it comprehends the best examples of all threegenera. Quintilian protests against this misrepresentation in xii. 10, 21 sq. quapropter mihi falli multum videntur qui solos esse Atticos credunt tenues et lucidos et significantes, sed quadam eloquentiae frugalitate contentos ac semper manum intra pallium continentes: §25 quid est igitur cur in iis demum qui tenui venula per calculos fluunt Atticum saporem putent, ibi demum thymum redolere dicant? ib. §26 melius de hoc nomine sentiant credantque Attice dicere esse optime dicere. The discussion of the true and the false Atticism holds a place also in the Brutus of Cicero: see esp. §201 sq. and §§283-292, the criticism of Calvus and his school: cp. ib. §51 illam salubritatem Atticae dictionis et quasi sanitatem ... Asiatici oratores ... parum pressi et nimis redundantes. Rhodii saniores et Atticorum similiores. Or. §90: de Opt. Gen. Or. §8 imitemur ... eos potius qui incorrupta sanitate sunt, quod est proprium Atticorum: ib. §§11, 12. Tac. Dial. 25 omnes (Calvus, Asinius, Caesar, Brutus, Cicero) eandem sanitatem eloquentiae prae se ferunt: cp. 26 illam ipsam quamiactant sanitatem non firmitate sed ieiunio consequuntur: Quint. ii. 4, 9 macies pro sanitate: xii. 10, 15 hi sunt enim qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendunt. Soὑγιέςin Greek: cp. bona valetudo, Brut. §64.
elatior ingenii vis, as in thegrave genus, or ‘grand style’: Cic. Orat. §§97-99. Cp. nihil elatum vi. 2, 19: ib. §§20-24. For the compar. cp.tersior§94.
et magis concitata. Frequently in Quintilian a comparative is followed by the positive withmagis: cp.§§74,77,88,94,120. Forconcitatacp.§§73,90,114,118:2 §23: xii. 10, 26.
plena spiritus: see on§27: cp.§§16,61,104:3 §22.—In ix. 3, 1 Quintilian observes that in his timeplenuswas generally used with the abl., while in Cicero it usually has the gen. He himself has both.
lenis et nitidi et compositi generis, i.e. the ‘middle’ style: see above, and on§121(with quotation from Cic. Or. §21: cp. ib. §91 and §§95-96). Cp. xii. 10, 60: and 67 illud lene aut ascendit ad fortiora aut ad tenuiora summittitur. The constant antithesis of such words asvehemens,acer, &c. makes it probable thatlenisis the right reading here, notlevis(seeCrit. Notes): cp. esp. Cic. de Or. ii. §211, where lenis atque summissa (oratio) is opposed to intenta ac vehemens (quae suscipitur ab oratore ad concitandos animos atque omni ratione flectendos): de Or. i. §255 sermonis lenitas ... vis et contentio: Brut. 317 alter remissus et lenis ... alter acer, verborum et actionis genere commotior: ‘lenis’ opposed to ‘vehemens’ de Or. ii. §§58, 200, 211, 216 and similarly to asper §64: ib. iii. 7, 28: Or. §127: Quint. iii. 8, 51: vi. 3, 87.
nitidi: see on§9.
compositi: see on§79compositione. It means ‘harmonious,’ ‘rhythmical,’ referring to the careful arrangement of words,§§52,66:2 §1. This is a special feature of the ‘middle’ style: compositione aptus xii. 10, 60.—(Dosson renders ‘tranquille,’ unimpassioned,—a common use of the word, but perhaps not so appropriate here.)
de genere dicendi: see xii. 10, §§63-70, where he teaches that every variety of style in oratory has its place and use.
confirmare facultatem dicendi= i.e. acquire thefirma facilitasof§1.
I:45Facile est autem studiosis, qui sint his simillimi, iudicare, ne quisquam queratur omissos forte aliquos quos ipse valde probet; fateor enim plures legendos esse quam qui a me nominabuntur. Sed nunc genera ipsa lectionum, quae praecipue convenire intendentibus ut oratores fiant existimem, persequar.
§ 45.paucos enimexplainssummatim, ‘foronlya few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp.§§3,8,27,31,35,42,67,87for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (withiuvenis)3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly withdicendi): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, seeCrit. Notes.genera ipsa: here and in§104genera= classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“Foripsumin the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeossubdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp.§19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.
§ 45.paucos enimexplainssummatim, ‘foronlya few.’ See Mayor on Iuv. x. 2: and cp.§§3,8,27,31,35,42,67,87for a similar limitation. See Crit. Notes.
studiosis, used absolutely (cp. studendum3 §29), of students of literature, or (most commonly) of students of rhetoric. So i. pr. 23: ii. 10, 15: xii. 10, 62: and (withiuvenis)3 §32: xii. 11, 31. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Or. §13 (possibly withdicendi): Plin. Ep. iii. 5, 2 (where see Mayor’s note): ib. iv. 13, 10: Tac. Dial. 21.
ne quisquam queratur: i.e. quod commemoro propterea, ne ... ‘I say this, lest,’ &c.—For qui a me, seeCrit. Notes.
genera ipsa: here and in§104genera= classes or kinds, as represented by their characteristic or typical writers.—“Foripsumin the sense of ‘merely’ cp. de Or. ii. §§109, 219, 306: ib. iii. §222: pro Balb. §33: ad Quint. Fratr. i. 3, 6: Val. Max. iii. 2, 7: Quint. ix. 2, 44: x. 1, 103.”—Reid, on Orator (Sandys), §181.
lectionum: ‘what is to be read.’ For the passive use cp. Sen. Tranq. i. 12 ubi lectio fortior erexit animum et aculeossubdiderunt exempla nobilia. The plural occurs only here in Quintilian: elsewhere the word is singular, with an abstract meaning: but cp.§19.—Note the accumulation of verbs at the end of the sentence.