Preface
Analysis of the Argument, Index of Names, Index of Matters (complete)

Introduction

Chapter I

Chapter II
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter III
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter IV
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter V
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter VI
Analysis of the Argument

Chapter VII
Analysis of the Argument

Index of Names (in chapters II-VII only)

Index of Matters (in chapters II-VII only)

Critical Notes


M. FABI QUINTILIANI

INSTITUTIONIS ORATORIAE

LIBER DECIMUS

 

CHAPTER II.
Of Imitation.

§§ 1-3. While the command of words, figures, and arrangement is to be acquired by the study of the best authors, as recommended in the foregoing chapter, the mind must also be exercised in the imitation of all the good qualities which such authors exemplify. The place of imitation in art: a natural and universal instinct. The very ease of imitation has its dangers.

§§ 4-13. Only a dull and sluggish spirit will be content to do nothing but imitate, without inventing anything new. With our advantages of training, we are even more bound than our predecessors to progress. We ought even to surpass our models: if we confine ourselves to imitation alone, shall we ever realise the ideal in oratory? Nature herself does not achieve exact resemblance in reproduction. Moreover, there is much in oratory that is characteristic of individual speakers, and due to natural gifts: this cannot be made matter of imitation. You may imitate the language and rhythmical arrangement of a great speech; but the fashion of words changes, and as for arrangement, there must always be an adaptation of sound to sense.

§§ 14-18. Imitation is therefore a part of study in regard to which great circumspection must be used,—first in the choice of models, and, secondly, in determining the good points we would seek to reproduce; for even good authors have their defects. Again, we must know the difference between superficial imitation and that in which the inner spirit is represented. In cases where only the outward manner is caught elevation becomes bombast, and simplicity carelessness; roughness of form and insipidity in substance pass for antique plainness; want of polish and point, for Attic restraint; artificial obscurity claims to rank above Sallust and Thucydides; the dull and spiritless challenge comparison with Pollio; easy-going drawlers call their diffuse periods Ciceronian, delighted if they can finish off a sentence with Esse videatur.

§§ 19-21. The student must consider which models his own gifts qualify him to imitate. A bold rugged style, for example, is appropriate to the form of genius which would make shipwreck by an excessive affectation of refinement. It is of course within the province of the teacher to supply the natural defects of his pupils; but it is a far harder matter to mould and form one’s own nature. Even the teacher will not keep up a prolonged struggle against obstacles of natural disposition.

§§ 21-26. In oratory we ought not to imitate the characteristic qualities of poets and historians, and vice versa: each kind of composition has its own appropriate laws. Let us imitate what is common to eloquence in all its manifestations. We must adapt our style to the topic and occasion: even different parts of one and the same speech call for different treatment. And we should not blindly follow any one model exclusively.

§§ 27-28. Imitation must not be confined to words only: we should study also propriety, arrangement, exordium, narrative, argument, pathos, &c. The perfect orator, whom our age may hope to see, will be he who shall unite all the good qualities of his predecessors and reject all the bad.

De Imitatione.

II:1 II. Ex his ceterisque lectione dignis auctoribus et verborum sumenda copia est et varietas figurarum et componendi ratio, tum ad exemplum virtutum omnium mens derigenda. Neque enim dubitari potest, quin artis pars magna contineatur imitatione. Nam ut invenire primum fuit estque praecipuum, sic ea quae bene inventa sunt utile sequi.

§ 1. verborum ... copia: cp. 1 §5 and §8.

varietas figurarum: see note on plurima vero mutatione figuramus 1 §12.

componendi ratio, the ‘theory of rhythmical arrangement’: see on compositione 1 §79: and cp. §§44, 52, and 66.

tum ... virtutum omnium: i.e. in reading the best authors we are not only to acquire facility and dexterity in regard to the points enumerated, but to imitate also all the good qualities exemplified in their works.

ad exemplum, ‘after the model of,’ as ii. 3, 12 ad Phoenicis Homerici exemplum dicere ac facere: not like in exemplum §2 below, ‘as a model.’ The same use of ad occurs below ad propositum sibi praescriptum: and 7 §3 ad incursus tempestatum ... ratio mutanda est.

mens derigenda: so vi. 5, 2 ideoque nos quid in quaque re sequendum cavendumque sit docemus ac deinceps docebimus, ut ad ea iudicium derigatur. For the form derigo see Munro on Lucr. vi. 823: ‘this was probably the only genuine ancient form.’ So Cic. pro Mur. §3 vitam ad certam rationis normam derigenti: Orator §9 ad illius similitudinem artem et manum derigebat (where, however, Sandys reads dirigebat): Tac. Dial. §5 ad utilitatem vitae omnia consilia ... derigenda sunt: Ann. iv. 40 ad famam praecipua rerum derigere. Cp. note on 3 §28.

dubitari: see on 1 §73, §81.

imitatione: a reference to Aristotle’s general theory of art, made to introduce the subject of imitation (μίμησις, ζῆλος) in the sphere of oratory. This is defined by Cornif. ad Herenn. i. 2, 3 imitatio est qua impellimur cum diligenti ratione ut aliquorum similes in dicendo velimus esse: cp. de Orat. ii. §90 sq.

II:2 Atque omnis vitae ratio sic constat, ut quae probamus in aliis facere ipsi velimus. Sic litterarum ductus, ut scribendi fiat usus, pueri sequuntur; sic musici vocem docentium, pictores opera priorum, rustici probatam experimento culturam in exemplum intuentur; omnis denique disciplinae initia ad propositum sibi praescriptum formari videmus.

§ 2. ratio sic constat: ‘it is a universal rule of life that,’ &c. More usual would have been ‘ita ratio comparata est vitae ut,’ &c. (Cic. de Amicit. §101). The phrase ratio constat (cp. rationem reddere) was originally a figure taken from commerce (ratio—reor, ‘calculate,’ ‘count’), as Tac. Ann. i. 6 eam condicionem esse imperandi ut non aliter ratio constet quam si uni reddatur: i.e. if you are an absolute ruler the only way to ‘get your accounts square’ is to audit them yourself. So Nettleship (Lat. Lex.) would explain here ‘there is this balance in ordinary life’: i.e. the account of life only comes out right on the supposition that, &c,—civilised life would come to an end unless, &c. More probably Quintilian is employing here a loose combination of two modes of expression, ratio constat ut, &c., and such a phrase as that quoted from Cic. de Amicit. §101: cp. Acad. ii. §132 omnis ratio vitae definitione summi boni continetur. In Pliny’s letters the same expression is constantly used (like ratio est in Cicero) for ‘it is right or reasonable’: iii. 18, 10 confido in hoc genere materiae laetioris stili constare rationem: i. 5, 16 mihi et temptandi aliquid et quiescendi ... ratio constabit: ii. 4, 4 in te vero ratio constabit: cp. vii. 6, 4.—For the thought cp. Arist. Poet. 1, 4 τό τε γὰρ μιμεῖσθαι σύμφυτον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐκ παίδων ἐστί κ.τ.λ.

ductus, ‘tracings,’—writing-copies made on wax-tablets: cp. i. 1. 25 sq., esp. §27 cum vero iam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit eas tabellae quam optime insculpi, ut per illos velut sulcos ducatur stilus.

usus: cp. Cic. Acad. ii. §2 Ingenii magnitudo non desideravit indocilem usus disciplinam: de Orat. i. §15 ut ad eam doctrinam quam suo quisque studio adsecutus esset adiungeretur usus frequens: pro Balbo §45.

experimento: cp. vi. 2, 25 experimento meo ac natura ipsa duce. The phrase experimento probare occurs in the Vulgate, Esth. iii. 5.

in exemplum: cp. §11 in exemplum adsumimus.

initia, abstract for concrete: cp. 3 §8 hanc moram et sollicitudinem initiis (i.e. incipientibus) impero. So in ii. 4, 13 ‘studia’ is put for ‘studiosi.’

ad ... praescriptum: subst. as frequently in Cicero, e.g. Orat. §36. So Quint. ii. 13, 2: iv. 2, 84: ix. 4, 117. Cp. Seneca Ep. 94 §51 pueri ad praescriptum discunt. On the other hand propositum is even more frequently used as a noun by Quintilian: e.g. §11 omnis imitatio ... ad alienum propositum accommodatur: ii. 10, 15 omne propositum operis a nobis destinati: v. 11, 31 ad praesens propositum.

II:3 Et hercule necesse est aut similes aut dissimiles bonis simus. Similem raro natura praestat, frequenter imitatio. Sed hoc ipsum quod tanto faciliorem nobis rationem rerum omnium facit quam fuit iis qui nihil quod sequerentur habuerunt, nisi caute et cum iudicio adprehenditur, nocet.

§ 3. hoc ipsum quod must go together, ‘the fact that’: cp. ix. 2, 69 aperta figura perdit hoc ipsum quod figura est. The commentators wrongly take quod as the conjunction and explain hoc ipsum as imitatio (or perhaps the advantage of having examples to follow).

tanto without a correlative: cp. tanto plena §28: Cic. pro Rosc. Amer. i. 1, 2 at tanto officiosior quam ceteri? In all three instances the quam depends on the comparative.

rationem rerum omnium: the general course, method, or procedure of everything, ‘every process’: cp. 3 §31 ratio delendi. Ratio is often used with the genitive of a subst. as a periphrasis for the subst. itself, Zumpt. §678: the various instances are well classified by Nettleship, Lat. Lex. p. 566, 9 and 11.

adprehenditur, frequent in Quintilian of taking hold of a fact, idea, or argument: cp. v. 14, 23 quae (leges oratorias) Graeci adprehensa magis in catenas ligant: vi. 4, 18 quod adprehendens maius aliquid cogatur dimittere: vii. 1, 56 in hoc de quo loquimur patre quid adprehendi potest?

II:4 Ante omnia igitur imitatio per se ipsa non sufficit, vel quia pigri est ingenii contentum esse iis quae sint ab aliis inventa. Quid enim futurum erat temporibus illis quae sine exemplo fuerunt, si homines nihil, nisi quod iam cognovissent, faciendum sibi aut cogitandum putassent? Nempe nihil fuisset inventum.

§ 4. Ante omnia: cp. the formula ac primum quidem, introducing the first argument, viz. that imitation is not sufficient in itself: others follow in §7: §10: and §12 adde quod ea quae in oratore maxima sunt imitabilia non sunt, &c.

vel quia: ‘just because,’ i.e. because (if for no other reason) it is the mark of, &c. The use of vel implies that there are other reasons which could be adduced, if the reader cared to have them (vel—si velis). Cp. 1 §75 vel hoc est ipso probabilis: §80, §86: 5 §8: Roby §2222.

Quid futurum erat: §7 below. Contrast the use of the plpf. subj. in the definite apodosis supplied in ‘nihil fuisset inventum.’ For the indic. cp. longum est 1 §118: oportebat 2 §28: fas erat 5 §7: satis erat 6 §2.

Nempe, ‘why!’ For a similar use of nempe, apart from all irony, in answer to a question, cp. Livy vi. 41 penes quos igitur sunt auspicia more maiorum? nempe penes patres. In such cases the assent of the imaginary interlocutor is taken for granted.—Frotscher compares Libanius, Declam. xviii. p. 487 εἰ δ᾽ ἀεί τινος ἔδει παραδείγματος οὐκ ἂν ἀρχὴν οὐδὲ ἓν ἐλάμβανεν.

II:5 Cur igitur nefas est reperiri aliquid a nobis, quod ante non fuerit? An illi rudes sola mentis natura ducti sunt in hoc, ut tam multa generarent: nos ad quaerendum non eo ipso concitemur, quod certe scimus invenisse eos qui quaesierunt?

§ 5. illi rudes is explained by §4 temporibus illis quae sine exemplo fuerunt. An is the mark of a double question, being used to introduce the second alternative as opposed to the first, even when the first is understood rather than expressed. Here it almost = num, and implies the needlessness of the preceding remark (Roby 2255), and introduces an à fortiori argument; cp. Cicero, Tusc. v. §90 Cur pecuniam ... curet omnino? An Scythes Anacharsis potuit pro nihilo pecuniam ducere, nostrates philosophi facere non potuerunt? Cic. Cat. i. 1, 3. So 3 §29 below an vero ... hoc cogitatio praestat: 5 §7.

certe scimus. Certe is less absolute than certo. Acc. to Klotz ad Cic. de Sen. i. 2 certe scio = certum est me scire (‘I am sure that I know’): certo scio = certum est quod scio (‘I have certain or sure knowledge,’ ‘my knowledge is accurate’). Cp. Ter. Andr. 503 with 929.

II:6 Et cum illi, qui nullum cuiusquam rei habuerunt magistrum, plurima in posteros tradiderunt, nobis usus aliarum rerum ad eruendas alias non proderit, sed nihil habebimus nisi beneficii alieni? quem ad modum quidam pictores in id solum student, ut describere tabulas mensuris ac lineis sciant.

§ 6. cuiusquam rei. Quisquam (generally subst.) is, when employed adjectivally, more usually found along with names of persons or words implying personality: cp. iv. 1, 10 ne contumeliosi in quenquam hominem ordinemve videamur: 7 §3 below quisquam ... orator: iii. 1, 22 cuiusquam sectae.

in posteros: so i. 1, 6: ad posteros xii. 11, 28.—For tradiderunt, see Crit. Notes.

eruendas: ix. 2, 64 latens aliquid eruitur: xii. 8, 13 multa ... patronus eruet: iv. 2, 60 hoc quoque tamquam occultum et a se prudenter erutum tradunt. Quintilian follows Cicero in the figurative use of this word; e.g. de Orat. ii. 146 scrutari locos ex quibus argumenta eruamus: ibid. 360 hac exercitatione non eruenda memoria est, si est nulla naturalis, sed certe, si latet, evocanda est.

beneficii. This gen. occurs in the phrase ‘sui beneficii facere,’ not uncommon in the Latin of the Silver Age, ‘to make dependent on one’s own bounty or favour.’ Suet. Claud. 23 commeatus a senatu peti solitos benefici sui fecit: Iust. xiii. 4, 9 ut munus imperii beneficii sui faceret: Sen. Ben. iii. 18, 4. The phrase is equivalent to nihil habebimus nisi quod sit or quod non sit ben. al. = nisi quod debeamus aliis (‘due to the favour of others’). Becher cites the analogous expression ‘tui muneris habeo’ in Tac. Ann. xiv. 55: cp. ib. xv. 52, 4 ne ... sui muneris rem publicam faceret, and tui muneris est Hor. Car. iv. 3, 21. So ‘ducere aliquid offici sui.’ The genitive must not therefore be explained as a gen. of quality, dependent on nihil (as Meister).

in id solum student. The construction (which occurs again xii. 6, 6 in quam rem studendum sit) seems to be modelled on that of niti. Here, however, ei soli could not have stood.—The process of ‘copying by measures and lines’ is not unknown even now. The picture to be reproduced, and the surface on which the copy was to be made, were divided into equal numbers of squares (mensurae) by lines drawn across at right angles.

II:7 Turpe etiam illud est, contentum esse id consequi quod imiteris. Nam rursus quid erat futurum, si nemo plus effecisset eo quem sequebatur? Nihil in poetis supra Livium Andronicum, nihil in historiis supra pontificum annales haberemus; ratibus adhuc navigaremus; non esset pictura, nisi quae lineas modo extremas umbrae, quam corpora in sole fecissent, circumscriberet.

§ 7. turpe etiam. For the argument see Crit. Notes.

contentum ... consequi. The constr. c. infin. is very common in Quintilian: over a dozen instances are given in Bonn. Lex. (q.v.). It passed from the usage of poetry (e.g. Ovid, Metam. i. 461) into the prose of the Silver Age. Cicero would have used satis habere. Cp. solus legi dignus 1 §96.

rursus resumes quid futurum erat §4.

in poetis ... in historiis: see on 1 §28: 1 §75.

Livius Andronicus. Cicero (Brutus §71) compares his translation of the Odyssey to the first rude attempts at sculpture, which passed under the name of Daedalus: nam et Odyssia Latina est sic tamquam opus aliquod Daedali et Livianae fabulae non satis dignae quae iterum legantur. Cp. Liv. xxvii. §37 forsitan laudabile rudibus ingeniis, nunc abhorrens et inconditum.—Livius was a native of Tarentum, who came to Rome as a slave after the capture of his native city (272 B.C.) and set up as a schoolmaster: his Odyssey survived for scholastic purposes down to the days of Orbilius and Horace (Ep. ii. 1, 69). His production in B.C. 240—the year after the end of the First Punic War—of a tragedy and comedy in Latin (in which he discarded the old Saturnian metre), may be said to mark the beginning of Roman literature. For thirty years he continued to produce plays at the Roman games, adapting the indigenous Italian drama, such as it was, to the laws which regulated dramatic composition among the Greeks; and when he died at a ripe old age, a compliment was paid to his memory by the assignment of the Temple of Minerva on the Aventine to the ‘guild of poets’ (collegium poetarum) as a place for their meetings.

pontificum annales: also called Annales Maximi, probably because they were kept by the Pontifex Maximus. In them was preserved the list of consuls and other magistrates, and they recorded in the baldest fashion the most noteworthy events of each magistracy. Cp. Cic. de Orat. ii. §52 erat enim historia nihil aliud nisi annalium confectio, &c. P. Mucius Scaevola, the consul of 133 B.C., edited them in thirty books. Teuffel §66: Mommsen, i. 477 sq.

lineas extremas, i.e. the tracing of outlines: this was said to have been the origin of painting. Pliny N. H. xxxv. 5 Graeci (picturam affirmant) ... repertam ... umbra hominis lineis circumducta. Cp. the distinction between free imitation and servile copying in the following from Aulus Gellius (xvii. 20, 8): ea quae in Platonis oratione demiramur, non aemulari quidem, sed lineas umbrasque facere ausi sumus.

II:8 Ac si omnia percenseas, nulla mansit ars qualis inventa est, nec intra initium stetit: nisi forte nostra potissimum tempora damnamus huius infelicitatis, ut nunc demum nihil crescat: nihil autem crescit sola imitatione.

§ 8. nisi forte: cp. 1 §70: 3 §31: 5 §6.

infelicitatis: cp. on 1 §7 infelicis operae. So viii. prooem. §27 abominanda ... haec infelicitas ... quae et cursum dicendi refrenat et calorem cogitationis extinguit mora et diffidentia. xi. 2, 49 haec rara infelicitas erit. Pliny N. H. praef. 23 has ‘infelix’ ingenium for ‘sterile.’ The opposite would be beatissima ubertas 1 §109. For the constr. c. genit. cp. ii. 5, 24 neque enim nos tarditatis natura damnavit: ix. 2, 81 tyrannidis affectatae damnatus: vii. 8, 3 incesti damnata.

demum: v. on 1 §44.

II:9 Quod si prioribus adicere fas non est, quo modo sperare possumus illum oratorem perfectum? cum in his, quos maximos adhuc novimus, nemo sit inventus in quo nihil aut desideretur aut reprehendatur. Sed etiam qui summa non adpetent, contendere potius quam sequi debent.

§ 9. oratorem perfectum: §28 below, with which cp. the preface to Book i, §9 Oratorem autem instituimus illum perfectum qui esse nisi vir bonus non potest. So Cicero, Orat. §7: de Orat. i. §117.

nemo sit inventus: cp. Pr. i. §18 qualis fortasse nemo adhuc fuerit. So too i. 10, 4 where referring to Cicero’s Orator he says: quibus ego primum hoc respondeo, quod M. Cicero scripto ad Brutum libro frequentius testatur: non eum a nobis institui oratorem qui sit aut fuerit, sed imaginem quandam concepisse nos animo perfecti illius et nulla parte cessantis. Orat. §7 non saepe atque haud scio an nunquam.

summa: Pr. i. §§19-20 nobis ad summa tendendum est ... altius tamen ibunt qui ad summa nitentur. xii. 11 §26 contendere = certare ut priores sunt, ‘compete,’ ‘rival.’

II:10 Nam qui hoc agit ut prior sit, forsitan etiamsi non transierit aequabit. Eum vero nemo potest aequare cuius vestigiis sibi utique insistendum putat; necesse est enim semper sit posterior qui sequitur. Adde quod plerumque facilius est plus facere quam idem; tantam enim difficultatem habet similitudo ut ne ipsa quidem natura in hoc ita evaluerit ut non res quae simillimae quaeque pares maxime videantur utique discrimine aliquo discernantur.

§ 10. forsitan: c. ind. as in Quint. Curt. iv. xiv. 20.

utique. See on 1 §20. Tr. ‘in whose footsteps he thinks he must by all means follow.’

adde quod, used thrice within three paragraphs §§10, 11, 12: another proof of a certain want of finish in Quintilian’s style. Cp. on 2 §23: and discrimine ... discernantur, below.—See Introd. p. liii.

in hoc, i.e. in the endeavour to reproduce.

utique ... aliquo: iv. 5, 8 in omni partitione est utique aliquid potentissimum: iv. 1, 77 aliquam utique sententiam: xii. 10, 67 utique aliquo momento.

II:11 Adde quod quidquid alteri simile est, necesse est minus sit eo quod imitatur, ut umbra corpore et imago facie et actus histrionum veris adfectibus. Quod in orationibus quoque evenit. Namque iis quae in exemplum adsumimus subest natura et vera vis; contra omnis imitatio facta est et ad alienum propositum accommodatur.

§ 11. veris adfectibus. Cp. vi. 2, 35 Vidi ego saepe histriones atque comoedos, cum ex aliquo graviore actu personam deposuissent, flentes adhuc egredi. quod si in alienis scriptis sola pronuntiatio ita falsis accendit adfectibus, quid nos faciemus qui illa cogitare debemus ut moveri periclitantium vice possimus? Cp. Hor. A. P. 431-433.

alienum proposition, i.e. the purpose of the imitator, not that of the original writer or speaker.

II:12 Quo fit ut minus sanguinis ac virium declamationes habeant quam orationes, quod in illis vera, in his adsimilata materia est. Adde quod ea quae in oratore maxima sunt imitabilia non sunt, ingenium, inventio, vis, facilitas et quidquid arte non traditur.

§ 12. sanguinis: 1 §60 (of Archilochus) plurimum sanguinis atque nervorum: §115 eum (Calvum) ... verum sanguinem perdidisse: viii. 3, 6 (hic ornatus) sanguine et viribus niteat.

illis ... his. This is only an apparent inversion of the usual arrangement: declamationes is the nearer subject in thought, as being the subject of the sentence, in which it comes before orationes. The use of hic may also serve to indicate the prevalence of declamation in Quintilian’s day: 5 §14.—See Zumpt §700.

II:13 Ideoque plerique, cum verba quaedam ex orationibus excerpserunt aut aliquos compositionis certos pedes, mire a se quae legerunt effingi arbitrantur, cum et verba intercidant invalescantque temporibus, (ut quorum certissima sit regula in consuetudine,) eaque non sua natura sint bona aut mala— nam per se soni tantum sunt— sed prout opportune proprieque aut secus collocata sunt, et compositio cum rebus accommodata sit, tum ipsa varietate gratissima.

§ 13. compositionis: see §1 componendi ratio. Tr. ‘particular cadences in the arrangement’ 1 §52. Cp. especially ix. 4, 116 quem in poemate locum habet versificatio, eum in oratione compositio.

cum et, &c., ‘though, as for the words, they drop out or come into use in course of time ... while the arrangement,’ &c. Verba is opp. to compositio below: cp. verba and comp. pedes above. See Crit. Notes.

verba intercidant ... consuetudine. Hor. A. P. 70, Multa renascentur quae iam cecidere, cadentque Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, Quem penes arbitrium est et ius et norma loquendi. Ibid. 60-62 Ut silvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos, Prima cadunt, ita verborum vetus interit aetas, Et iuvenum ritu florent modo nata vigentque. viii. 6, 32 cum multa (ὀνόματα) cotidie ab antiquis ficta moriantur.

ut quorum = quippe. Cp. 1 §55 ut in qua ... sit: 1 §§57, 74. I have put this clause in brackets to show that it stands by itself: consuetudine explains temporibus, while non sua natura ... sed prout ... collocata introduce a new idea. See following note.

eaque is a continuation of the clause cum et verba. The use and disuse of words is a matter of fashion: and moreover their value depends on their proper employment.—The commentators, except Krüger (3rd ed.), explain this as part of the clause ut quorum, &c., the demonstr. taking the place of the relative, as not infrequently with double relative clauses in Cicero: Orat. §9 quam intuens in eaque defixus: de Fin. i. 12, 42 quod ipsum nullam ad aliam rem, ad id autem res referuntur omnes (where see Madvig): ad Att. x. 16, 3: Brutus §258. Cp. Lucr. i. 718-21, and Munro’s note. But the context is against this. See Crit. Notes.

proprie: v. on 1 §9.

collocata here not much more than adhibita. In themselves words are nothing: their effect depends entirely on their appropriate use.

et compositio: i.e. and though, as to the arrangement (et compositio corresponds to et verba above), it may owe its effect in the original to the manner in which it has been adapted to the sense (rebus accommodata), while moreover (cum ... tum) its charm lies in its very variety. The art by which the compositio is saved from monotony in the original is lost by the servile copyists of particular extracts: they take no account of the fact that the style ought to reflect the sense, and they forget that the motive for a particular compositio in their original was the desire to produce an agreeable effect by diversity of form.—See Crit. Notes.

II:14 Quapropter exactissimo iudicio circa hanc partem studiorum examinanda sunt omnia. Primum, quos imitemur: nam sunt plurimi qui similitudinem pessimi cuiusque et corruptissimi concupierint: tum in ipsis quos elegerimus, quid sit ad quod nos efficiendum comparemus.

§ 14. exactissimo: so 7 §30 commentarii ita exacti = perfecti. In the sense of ‘perfectly finished’ it is found Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 72: Ovid, Met. i. 405.

circa: v. on 1 §52.

corruptissimi: cp. §16 declinant in peius, &c. The word is used of a vicious style, 1 §125.

efficiendum = effingendum, as §13 above.

II:15 Nam in magnis quoque auctoribus incidunt aliqua vitiosa et a doctis inter ipsos etiam mutuo reprehensa; atque utinam tam bona imitantes dicerent melius quam mala peius dicunt. Nec vero saltem iis quibus ad evitanda vitia iudicii satis fuit sufficiat imaginem virtutis effingere et solam, ut sic dixerim, cutem vel potius illas Epicuri figuras, quas e summis corporibus dicit effluere.

§ 15. in ... auctoribus. In is used for apud in speaking of an author’s whole works or general characteristics, not of a particular passage or a particular composition. So Hor. Sat. i. 10, 52: Tu nihil in magno doctus reprendis Homero? 1 §76 tanta vis in eo (Demosthene). For apud cp. 1 §39 brevitas illa ... quae est apud Livium in epistula ad filium scripta.—The same warning is given 1 §24 Neque id statim legenti persuasum sit, omnia quae optimi auctores dixerint utique esse perfecta.

a doctis, ‘by competent critics’: cp. 1 §97 qui esse docti adfectant: viii. 3, 2 in ceteris iudicium doctorum, in hoc vero etiam popularem laudem petit: xii. 10, 72 tum laudem quoque, nec doctorum modo sed etiam vulgi consequatur: ib. 1 §20: 9 §4: 10 §50.

inter ipsos is to be referred to in magnis auctoribus, not to a doctis: hence the comma.—Inter ipsos would have been inter se if the word to which the pronoun refers had been nom. or acc. Cp. 1, 14 non semper enim haec inter se idem faciunt: Cic. de Off. i. §50 conciliat inter se homines. But societas hominum inter ipsos, Cic. de Off. i. §20: quam sancta est societas civium inter ipsos, Leg. ii. 7: latissime patens hominibus inter ipsos ... societas haec est, de Off. i. §51. Cp. §23 below. On the other hand we have multa sunt civibus inter se communia, de Off. i. §53: communia esse amicorum inter se omnia, Ter. Ad. v. 3, 18.

mutuo, only here in Quintilian: he frequently uses invicem. Liv. viii. 24, 6 cum interclusissent trifariam a mutuo inter se auxilio.

mutuo reprehensa. Cp. the reference to the letters of Calvus and Brutus to Cicero, Tac. Dial. 18 ex quibus facile est deprehendere Calvum quidem Ciceroni visum exsanguem et attritum, Brutum autem otiosum atque diiunctum; rursusque Ciceronem a Calvo quidem male audisse tanquam solutum et enervem, a Bruto autem, ut ipsius verbis utar, tanquam fractum atque elumbem.—For the position of tam, cp. on 7 §27.

mala (sc. imitantes) peius, as in the case of Seneca’s imitators: placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda quae poterat: 1 §127.

nec ... saltem. Saltem with a negative is used by Quintilian in the sense of ne ... quidem, standing sometimes before, sometimes after the word to which it applies: here with sufficiat. Cp. i. 1, 24 Neque enim mihi illud saltem placet quod fieri in plurimis video: 7 §20 below ut non breve saltem tempus sumamus, &c.: v. 1, 4 neque enim de omnibus causis dicere quisquam potest saltem praeteritis, ut taceam de futuris: xii. 11, 11 ut ipsum iter neque impervium neque saltem durum putent.

ut sic dixerim, for the more classical ‘ut ita dicam’: cp. 1 §§6, 77. So Tac. Ann. xiv. 53, 14: Dial. 34, 8: 40, 19: ut ita dixerim Agr. 3, 13. See Crit. Notes.

Epicuri figuras. The reference is to the theory of εἴδωλα first adopted to explain sensation by Democritus, and afterwards developed by Epicurus. Cp. Plut. de Pl. Phil. iv. 8 Λεύκιππος καὶ Δημόκριτος τὴν αἴσθησιν καὶ τὴν νόησιν γίγνεσθαι εἰδώλων ἔξωθεν προσιόντων. See Ritter and Preller §155 sq. Cp. Lucret. iv. 42 sq. Dico igitur rerum effigias tenuesque figuras Mittier ab rebus summo de corpore rerum, Quoi quasi membranae, vel cortex nominitandast, Quod speciem ac formam similem gerit eius imago Cuiuscumque cluet de corpore fusa vagari: cp. 157-8 Perpetuo fluere ut noscas e corpore summo Texturas rerum tenues tenuesque figuras.

II:16 Hoc autem his accidit qui non introspectis penitus virtutibus ad primum se velut adspectum orationis aptarunt; et cum iis felicissime cessit imitatio, verbis atque numeris sunt non multum differentes, vim dicendi atque inventionis non adsequuntur, sed plerumque declinant in peius et proxima virtutibus vitia comprehendunt fiuntque pro grandibus tumidi, pressis exiles, fortibus temerarii, laetis corrupti, compositis exultantes, simplicibus neglegentes.

§ 16. numeris, ‘rhythm’: cp. compositio §13, and 1 §79. Numeros ῥυθμούς accipi volo ix. 4, 45.

sunt ... differentes: a Greek construction.

vim dicendi 1 §1: viii. pr. 30. Neither in force of expression nor in power of thought do they come up to their models.

in peius. Cp. i. 1, 5 bona facile mutantur in peius, i. 3, 1: ii. 16, 2: Verg. Georg. i. 200 in peius ruere. See Introd. p. xlvii.

proxima virtutibus vitia. Cp. Hor. A. P. 25-28 Decipimur specie recti: brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio; sectantem levia nervi Deficiunt animique; professus grandia turget; Serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae. Below (32-37) Quintilian draws the moral that knowledge is necessary in order to avoid a fault, otherwise the opposite fault may be committed. With ‘specie recti’ in Horace cp. Quint. viii. 3, 56 Κακόζηλον, id est mala adfectatio, per omne dicendi genus peccat: nam et tumida et pusilla et praedulcia et abundantia et arcessita et exultantia sub idem nomen cadunt. Denique cacozelon vocatur quidquid est ultra virtutem, quotiens ingenium iudicio caret et specie boni fallitur, omnium in eloquentia vitiorum pessimum.

comprehendunt: a rare use. See on §3 adprehenditur. Cp. Cic. pro Balb. §3 omnes animo virtutes penitus comprehendere.

pro grandibus tumidi: so grandia non tumida xii. 10, 80: professus grandia turget Hor. l.c.

pressis, ‘concise,’ ‘chaste,’ 1 §44, §46.

exiles, ‘bald.’ Cp. Cic. Brut. §202 Sed cavenda est presso illi oratori inopia et ieiunitas, amplo autem inflatum et corruptum orationis genus.

fortibus temerarii: strength of style ought not to become rashness. Cp. iii. 7, 25 pro temerario fortem ... vocemus: ii. 12, 4 est praeterea quaedam virtutum vitiorumque vicinia qua maledicus pro libero, temerarius pro forti, effusus pro copioso accipitur: ii. 12, 11 vim appellant quae est potius violentia.

laetis corrupti: xii. 10, 80 laeta non luxuriosa. Wealth of style ought not to degenerate into extravagance. For laetus cp. 1 §46.

compositis exultantes: lit. ‘bounding instead of measured’: cp. exultantia coercere 4 §1, where see note. For compositis v. 1 §44: for exultantes cp. ix. 4, 28 quaedam transgressiones ... sunt etiam compositione vitiosae quae in hoc ipsum petuntur ut exultent atque lasciviant quales illae Maecenatis: Sole et aurora rubent plurima, &c., ibid. §142, where saltare is used of this style, in which the excessive care bestowed on the arrangement (compositio) degenerates into affectation. See Crit. Notes.

simplicibus neglegentes: Cicero, de Inv. i. 21, 30 opposes dilucide et ornate ... to obscure et neglegenter. Neglegentes implies contempt for as well as absence of ornament, almost ‘slovenliness.’

II:17 Ideoque qui horride atque incomposite quidlibet illud frigidum et inane extulerunt, antiquis se pares credunt; qui carent cultu atque sententiis, Attici sunt scilicet; qui praecisis conclusionibus obscuri, Sallustium atque Thucydiden superant; tristes ac ieiuni Pollionem aemulantur; otiosi et supini, si quid modo longius circumduxerunt, iurant ita Ciceronem locuturum fuisse.

§ 17. horride atque incomposite: horride inculteque Cic. Orat. 28: cp. 1 §66 rudis in plerisque et incompositus (Aeschylus): Tac. Dial. 18 sunt enim horridi et impoliti et rudes et informes. Horridus is the opposite of nitidus: Cic. de Orat. iii. 51: de Legg. i. 2, 6: Brutus §§68, 83, 117, 238, 268.

quidlibet illud frigidum et inane. As the expression horride atque incomposite denotes the unpleasing form, so this phrase (cp. frigida et inanis adfectatio ix. 3, 74) stigmatises the tasteless and vapid substance of the incompetent imitators (Hor. Ep. i. 19, 19 O imitatores, servum pecus): tr. ‘writers who have come out with their favourite platitudes and inanities.’ There is something deictic about illud. Becher compares ix. 2, 94 postulandum est ut nescio quid illud quod adversarii obliquis sententiis significare voluerint obiciant palam: i. 3, 4 hi sunt qui ... quicquid illud possunt statim ostendunt: Liv. ix. 3, 13 vivet semper in pectoribus illorum quidquid istud praesens necessitas inusserit. Cp. xii. 6, 2: vi. pr. §3 (quidquid hoc est in me), and often ipsum illud, hoc illud (e.g. Liv. praef. 10): Liv. i. 29, 3 domos suas ultimum illud visuri.

extulerunt. The commentators explain as = dicendo extulerunt: cp. i. 5, 16: viii. 3, 40: and Cicero, Orat. §150. But it is more probably the same use as we have in 1 §109, viz. a metaphor from a productive soil: cp. Cic. de Natur. Deor. ii. §86, and Brut. §16.

antiquis: 1 §43 quidam solos veteres legendos putant: Tac. Dial. 20 tristem et impexam antiquitatem: 21 sordes autem illae verborum et hians compositio et inconditi sensus redolent antiquitatem: Quint. v. 14, 32 se antiquis per hoc similes vocant. In the Dialogue, Aper (15-23) criticises excessive devotion to antique models,—holding ‘vitio malignitatis humanae vetera semper in laude, praesentia in fastidio esse.’

cultu = ornatu: 1 §124: See Introd. p. xliv.

sententiis: 1 §61, §90, §129.

Attici: 1 §44. See Crit. Notes. Cp. xii. 10, 16 Et antiqua quidem illa divisio inter Atticos atque Asianos fuit, cum hi pressi et integri, contra inflati illi et inanes haberentur, in his nihil superflueret, illis iudicium maxime ac modus deesset: ibid. 21 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. Cp. Cic. de Opt. Gen. Orat. §11: Brutus §284 sq.: Orator §28 putant enim qui horride inculteque dicat, modo id eleganter enucleateque faciat, eum solum Attice dicere. scilicet, ironical.

praecisis. iv. 2, 47 neque mihi umquam tanta fuerit cura brevitatis ut non ea quae credibilem faciunt expositionem inseri velim. Simplex enim et undique praecisa non tam narratio vocari potest quam confessio.

conclusionibus, the clauses that ‘round off’ the period: cp. on concludit 1 §106. Anacoluths result in such a style from the omission of something essential to the complete period.

obscuri. A similar cause of obscurity is noted viii. 2, 19 alii brevitatem aemulati necessaria quoque orationi subtrahunt verba et, velut satis sit scire ipsos, quid dicere velint, quantum ad alios pertineant, nihil putant referre. For the omission of sunt, see Introd. p. lv.

Sallustium: cp. 1 §32, §102: iv. 2, 45 quare vitanda est etiam illa Sallustiana (quamquam in ipso virtutis obtinet locum) brevitas et abruptum sermonis genus.

Thucydiden: 1 §73.

tristes ac ieiuni. The opposite would be hilares et copiosi: viii. 3, 49 proinde quaedam hebes, sordida, ieiuna, tristis (‘dreary’), ingrata, vilis oratio est. Quae vitia facillime fient manifesta contrariis virtutibus. Nam primum acuto, secundum nitido, tertium copioso, deinceps hilari, iucundo, accurato diversum est.

Pollionem, 1 §113. Cp. vi. 3, 110 de Pollione Asinio seriis iocisque pariter accommodato dictum est, esse eum omnium horarum.

otiosi et supini: ‘your easy-going drawler.’ For supinus cp. ὑπτιος in Dion. Hal. de Isocr. 15: de Dein. 8, &c. So supini securique xi. 3. 3: Iuv. 1, 66 multum referens de Maecenate supino: Martial ii. 6, 13 nunquam deliciae supiniores: vi. 42, 22 Non attendis, et aure me supina Iamdudum quasi negligenter audis. See Introd. p. xliii. and xlvi.—For otiosus, see on 1 §76.

circumduxerunt: ix. 4, 124 cum sensus unus longiore ambitu circumducitur.

Ciceronem: cp. lentus est in principiis, &c. Tac. Dial. 22.

II:18 Noveram quosdam qui se pulchre expressisse genus illud caelestis huius in dicendo viri sibi viderentur, si in clausula posuissent ‘esse videatur.’ Ergo primum est ut quod imitaturus est quisque intellegat, et quare bonum sit sciat.

§ 18. se expressisse. This unusual construction (after sibi viderentur = persuasum haberent) may express intensity of conviction: these imitators are thoroughly convinced of their own excellence, whatever the opinion of others may be (sibi, sc. non aliis). Cp. Cic. de Off. iii. §71 ea malitia quae volt ... videri se esse prudentiam. The same construction occurs sometimes after mihi videtur in the sense of mihi placet: 1 §91: Cic. Tusc. v. 5, 12 Non mihi videtur ad beate vivendum satis posse virtutem: Sall. Iug. 85, 2: Livy xxxvi. 13, 9 quia videbatur et Limnaeum eodem tempore oppugnari posse.

caelestis: 1 §86.

clausula. Cicero gives minute directions for ending a period, Orator. §215: cp. Quint. ix. 3, 45 and 77: iv. 62, 75, 96, &c.

esse videatur: Tac. Dial. 23 illud tertio quoque sensu in omnibus orationibus pro sententia positum ‘esse videatur’: Quint, ix. 4, 73 esse videatur iam nimis frequens, octonarium inchoat. An instance occurs below 7 §29.

primum est ut: cp. rarum est ut 7, §24. Zumpt §623.

II:19 Tum in suscipiendo onere consulat suas vires. Nam quaedam sunt imitabilia, quibus aut infirmitas naturae non sufficiat aut diversitas repugnet. Ne, cui tenue ingenium erit, sola velit fortia et abrupta, cui forte quidem, sed indomitum, amore subtilitatis et vim suam perdat et elegantiam quam cupit non persequatur; nihil est enim tam indecens quam cum mollia dure fiunt.

§ 19. consulat suas vires. So Hor. A. P. 38 Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam Viribus, et versate diu quid ferre recusent, Quid valeant umeri. Cui lecta potenter erit res Nec facundia deseret hunc nec lucidus ordo.

imitabilia: i.e. there are some things which are (in themselves) fit patterns for imitation, but—then follows the limitation (quibus c. subj.).

tenue ingenium = ability for the tenue genus dicendi, for which see on 1 §44. Cp. xii. 10, 35 nec rerum nimiam tenuitatem ... fortioribus ... verbis miscebimus.

fortia et abrupta: a ‘bold and rugged style,’ the latter quality being often associated with excessive brevity: iv. 2, 45 vitanda est illa Sallustiana brevitas et abruptum sermonis genus.

forte (sc. ingenium): a talent for vigorous and energetic diction. Cp. Cic. de Orat. ii. 183 non enim semper fortis oratio quaeritur, sed saepe placida, summissa, lenis. So below §23 ‘lene ac remissum genus causarum’ is that which calls for ‘lene ac remissum genus dicendi.’

indomitum: ‘violent,’ unbridled, unrestrained. In such a case the genus dicendi grande atque robustum will be more appropriate than the genus subtile: cp. 1 §44. For the union of subtilitas and elegantia cp. 1, 78 Lysias subtilis atque elegans.

et ... et: not for aut ... aut as Bonnell-Meister, on the ground that et is inconsistent with the negative. He loses vis and fails to secure elegantia at one and the same time. The construction occurs when the writer wishes to indicate that the coincidence of the two should be guarded against: cp. Cic. ad Att. iii. 7, 2 ne et meum maerorem exagitem et te in eundem luctum vocem: id. xii. 40, 2: ad Fam. xi. 7, 2: de Off. i. 14, 42.

mollia = lenia, dulcia. He might have added, having regard to what has gone before, aut cum dura molliter. Cp. Arist. Rhet. iii. 7 ἐὰν οὖν τὰ μαλακὰ σκληρῶς καὶ τὰ σκληρὰ μαλακῶς λέγηται ἀπίθανον γίγνεται.

II:20 Atque ego illi praeceptori quem institueram in libro secundo credidi non ea sola docenda esse, ad quae quemque discipulorum natura compositum videret; nam is et adiuvare debet quae in quoque eorum invenit bona, et, quantum fieri potest, adicere quae desunt et emendare quaedam et mutare; rector enim est alienorum ingeniorum atque formator. Difficilius est naturam suam fingere.

§ 20. atque has in transitions often the force of atqui. Tr. ‘To be sure ... I expressed the belief that’ (credidi.)

in libro secundo: ch. 8, where he discusses the question, An secundum sui quisque ingenii naturam docendus sit. The conclusion arrived at there might seem inconsistent with what he is now saying, so this paragraph is added to clear away the contradiction.—The sequence of thought is as follows: the teacher must not confine himself to what his pupils have a natural bent for. Besides developing latent talent, he must ‘adicere quae desunt et emendare quaedam et mutare’: for his office is to mould the minds of others, and that is not so hard. It is more difficult to form one’s own character. But he ought not to waste his pains over what he finds repugnant to the mind of his pupils.

compositum: cp. ii. 8, 7.

naturam suam fingere: i.e. without the help and supervision of a praeceptor to assist in applying such principles as are laid down in §19.

II:21 Sed ne ille quidem doctor, quamquam omnia quae recta sunt velit esse in suis auditoribus quam plenissima, in eo tamen cui naturam obstare viderit laborabit.

Id quoque vitandum, in quo magna pars errat, ne in oratione poetas nobis et historicos, in illis operibus oratores aut declamatores imitandos putemus.

§ 21. quamquam: v. 1 §33 and §96: 7 §17 below.

in illis operibus, sc. in poesi et historia: cp. 1 §31.

declamatores: 1 §71.

II:22 Sua cuique proposito lex, suus decor est: nec comoedia in cothurnos adsurgit, nec contra tragoedia socco ingreditur. Habet tamen omnis eloquentia aliquid commune: id imitemur quod commune est.

§ 22. proposito, i.e. officio poetarum, historicorum, oratorum: cp. ix. 4, 19: xi. 1, 33. See Crit. Notes.

decor, ‘appropriate character’: v. on 1 §27. Quintilian seems to have in view here the passage in Ars Poetica (86-118) where Horace insists on the necessity for maintaining proper tone and style. Cp. esp. 86 Descriptas servare vices operumque colores, and 92 Singula quaeque locum teneant sortita decentem. Cp. also Cicero, de Opt. Gen. Oratorum 1 §1 Itaque et in tragoedia comicum vitiosum est, et in comoedia turpe tragicum: et in ceteris suus est cuique sonus et quaedam intellegentibus vox.

cothurnos ... socco. Hor. A. P. 89-91 Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult; Indignatur item privatis ac prope socco Dignis carminibus narrari cena Thyestae. In line 80 he contrasts the soccus (κρηπίς) or ‘slipper’ of comedy with the grandes cothurni (‘buskins’) of tragedy. Cp. Milton’s ‘the buskin’d stage,’ and ‘If Jonson’s learned sock be on.’ Bombast must be avoided in comedy, though Interdum tamen et vocem comoedia tollit, Iratusque Chremes tumido delitigat ore (A. P. 93): and tragedy on the other hand should soar above the tone suited to the affairs of daily life (cp. 95 sq.).—For adsurgit cp. 1 §52.

nec ... nec contra: iv. 1, 60 Nec argumentis autem nec locis nec narrationi similis esse in prooemio debet oratio, neque tamen deducta semper atque circumlita, &c.

habet tamen, i.e. notwithstanding the rules appropriate to each department (lex cuique proposita).

omnis eloquentia. For this wide use of the word cp. Tac. Dial. x. Ego vero omnem eloquentiam omnesque eius partes sacras et venerabiles puto: nec solum cothurnum vestrum aut heroici carminis sonum, sed lyricorum quoque iucunditatem et elegorum lascivias et iamborum amaritudinem et epigrammatum lusus et quamcumque aliam speciem eloquentia habeat, anteponendam ceteris aliarum artium studiis credo. For oratoria eloquentia on the other hand see cap. vi. and passim.

II:23 Etiam hoc solet incommodi accidere iis qui se uni alicui generi dediderunt, ut, si asperitas iis placuit alicuius, hanc etiam in leni ac remisso causarum genere non exuant; si tenuitas aut iucunditas, in asperis gravibusque causis ponderi rerum parum respondeant: cum sit diversa non causarum modo inter ipsas condicio, sed in singulis etiam causis partium, sintque alia leniter alia aspere, alia concitate alia remisse, alia docendi alia movendi gratia dicenda; quorum omnium dissimilis atque diversa inter se ratio est.

§ 23. uni alicui: cp. §24 below, also in reverse order 7 §16 aliquam rem unam. It is used as the singular of singuli.

asperitas, ‘passion,’ opp. to lenitas and aequabilitas. Cp. Cic. de Orat. ii. 64 genus orationis fusum atque tractum (‘easy and flowing’) et cum lenitate quadam aequabili profluens sine hac iudiciali asperitate et sine sententiarum forensibus aculeis: Quint. i. 8, 11 forensi asperitate: cp. 5 §14 below. The same antithesis is given in other words Orat. §53 Elaborant alii in lenitate et aequabilitate et puro quasi quodam et candido genere dicendi; ecce aliqui duritatem et severitatem quandam in verbis et orationis quasi maestitiam sequuntur. Cp. de Orat. iii. 7, 28 Gravitatem Africanus, lenitatem Laelius, asperitatem Galba, profluens quiddam habuit Carbo et canorum.

alicuius, ‘some particular author’: for the use of the full form in a conditional clause, whereby the pronoun receives emphasis, cp. 1 §22, §130: 6 §5: 7 §2, §15, §16.

leni ac remisso, cp. on forte (sc. ingenium) §19, above. So Brutus §317 Cotta et Hortensius, quorum alter remissus et lenis et propriis verbis comprehendens solute et facile sententiam, alter ornatus, acer, ... verborum et actionis genere commotior: de Orat. ii. 95 dicendi molliora ac remissiora genera.

tenuitas: like subtilitas in §19 above, amore subtilitatis vim suam perdat: cp. 12, 2, 13 sectas ad tenuitatem suam vires ipsa subtilitate consumet. In conjunction with iucunditas (cp. 1 §§46, 64, 82, 96, 101, 113) it is certainly not used in a depreciatory sense, though it always implies the absence of all attempt at embellishment. Ernesti (Clav. Cic.) says: corporis est tenuitas, cum sucus ei et carnis copia deest, cum sit sanum: unde ad dicendi genus subtile transfertur, quod sine vitiis est, sed et sine ornamentis. Tr. ‘simplicity,’ ‘naturalness’: cp. 1 §44. Perhaps tenuitas and iucunditas together might be rendered ‘artless grace,’ which does not suffice where gravitas or even asperitas orationis is called for. See Crit. Notes.

asperis: ‘exciting’ causes, i.e. such as arouse passion, so that the speaker cannot be lenis ac remissus, ‘smooth and unimpassioned.’

cum sit: cp. §13.

diversa ... diversa: an instance of negligent repetition, of which we have another in uni alicui immediately following. Cp. 1 §§8, 9, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 42, 80, 94, 116, 126, 131: 2 §§11-13, 24: 3 §§7, 21: 5 §§6, 7: 6 §7: 7 §§7, 30.

inter ipsas, §15.

docendi ... movendi, cp. xii. 10, 58 quoted on 1 §44.

II:24 Itaque ne hoc quidem suaserim, uni se alicui proprie, quem per omnia sequatur, addicere. Longe perfectissimus Graecorum Demosthenes, aliquid tamen aliquo in loco melius alii, plurima ille. Sed non qui maxime imitandus, et solus imitandus est.

§ 24. suaserim ... se addicere: for the infinitive cp. Cic. de Orat. i. §251; Zumpt 616.

sequatur: the subj. is to be supplied from the indefinite pronoun (sc. aliquem) understood before addicere. Cp. 1 §7: ii. 15, 12 primum esse ... ducere in id quod velit: 16, 19 in quae velit ducere. For this use of sequi cp. 1 §28: 2 §7.

longe perfectissimus: 1 §§39, 105.

melius. The same ellipse of the verb is repeated below 3 §25.

II:25 Quid ergo? non est satis omnia sic dicere quo modo M. Tullius dixit? Mihi quidem satis esset, si omnia consequi possem: quid tamen noceret vim Caesaris, asperitatem Caeli, diligentiam Pollionis, iudicium Calvi quibusdam in locis adsumere?

§ 25. non est: cp. 1 §56.

M. Tullius; for Quintilian’s reverence for Cicero see 1 §39 and §105 sq.

quid tamen noceret should be taken in connection with the foregoing. The meaning is, ‘yet even if I could rival Cicero in every respect, what harm would it do?’ etc. The impf. is motived by the preceding si possem,—an unrealisable supposition.

vim Caesaris: 1 §114. Cp. i. 7, 34 vim Caesaris fregerunt editi de analogia libri?

asperitatem Caeli: 1 §115. For an example see iv. 2, 123. For ‘asperitatem’ Eussner proposes acerbitatem.

Pollionis: 1 §113.

Calvi: 1 §115. A similar enumeration is given, xii. 10, 11, vim Caesaris, indolem Caeli, subtilitatem Calidi, diligentiam Pollionis, dignitatem Messallae, sanctitatem Calvi, gravitatem Bruti, acumen Sulpici, acerbitatem Cassi.

adsumere: as §27 utilitatis gratia adsumpta; not as 1 §121.

II:26 Nam praeter id quod prudentis est quod in quoque optimum est, si possit, suum facere, tum in tanta rei difficultate unum intuentes vix aliqua pars sequitur. Ideoque cum totum exprimere quem elegeris paene sit homini inconcessum, plurium bona ponamus ante oculos, ut aliud ex alio haereat, et quo quidque loco conveniat aptemus.

§ 26. praeter id quod: see on 1 §28: cp. 3 §6.

tum, as if the sentence had opened with Nam primum.

vix ... sequitur: ‘some element, or quality, is realised with difficulty, if we look only at one model.’ Vix aliqui gives prominence to the affirmative, and so differs from vix quisquam: it is achieved but with difficulty. For aliqua cp. 7 §16. Sequitur here = contingit. See on §27: and cp. xi. 2, 39, quod meae quoque memoriae infirmitatem sequebatur.

aliud ex alio: sc. scriptore.

haereat: sc. in animo legentis. Cp. Hor. A. P. 195 quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte.

II:27 Imitatio autem (nam saepius idem dicam) non sit tantum in verbis. Illuc intendenda mens, quantum fuerit illis viris decoris in rebus atque personis, quod consilium, quae dispositio, quam omnia, etiam quae delectationi videantur data, ad victoriam spectent; quid agatur prooemio, quae ratio et quam varia narrandi, quae vis probandi ac refellendi, quanta in adfectibus omnis generis movendis scientia, quamque laus ipsa popularis utilitatis gratia adsumpta, quae tum est pulcherrima, cum sequitur, non cum arcessitur. Haec si perviderimus, tum vere imitabimur.

§ 27. saepius: §§12-13: §16.

non sit: cp. non putemus 3 §16: ibid. §5. (Cp. also utinam non inquinasset 1 §100.) Cic. pro Cluent. §155 a legibus non recedamus: Hor. Sat. ii. 5, 91 non etiam sileas. Draeger, Hist. Synt. 1, 312 speaks of the usage as a stronger negation than ne. Nettleship on Aen. 12, 78 says that non is used ‘if a particular part of the sentence is to be emphasized.’ Kr.3 suggests that non should be taken with tantum.—See Introd. p. lii.

delectationi ... data: xii. 10, 45 atque id fecisse M. Tullium video, ut cum plurimum utilitati, turn partem quandam delectationi daret.

ad victoriam: 1 §29 ad victoriam niti: ii. 4, 32: v. 12, 22: xii. 10, 48.

prooemio, narrandi, probandi, refellendi, adfectibus movendis give the five essential parts of a judicial speech (iii. 9, 1); the introduction, the narrative, the proof, the refutation, and the closing appeal (epilogus, peroratio).

laus popularis: cp. 1 §17 laudantium clamor: referring to the crowd surrounding the tribunal. Tac. Dial. vi. coire populum et circumfundi coronam et accipere adfectum quemcumque orator induerit. In viii. 3, 2 Quintilian opposes to laus popularis, iudicium doctorum.

adsumpta (sit): ‘how popular applause itself has been worked in,’ made useful for winning the case.

cum sequitur, ‘when it is given spontaneously, not courted.’ So viii. prooem. 18 decoris qui est in dicendo mea quidem sententia pulcherrimus, sed cum sequitur, non cum adfectatur. Cp. Sall. Cat. 54 ad fin.: quo minus petebat gloriam, eo magis illum sequebatur: ibid. 3. Plin. Epist. i. 8, 14 sequi enim gloria non adpeti debet, nec si casu aliquo non sequatur, idcirco quod gloriam meruit minus pulchrum est.

II:28 Qui vero etiam propria his bona adiecerit, ut suppleat quae deerunt, circumcidat si quid redundabit, is erit, quem quaerimus, perfectus orator; quem nunc consummari potissimum oporteat, cum tanto plura exempla bene dicendi supersunt quam illis qui adhuc summi sunt contigerunt. Nam erit haec quoque laus eorum, ut priores superasse, posteros docuisse dicantur.

§ 28. perfectus orator: see on §9 quomodo sperare possumus illum oratorem perfectum?

quem ... consummari. If quem can be referred only to orator in what immediately precedes (and not to perfectus orator) the inf. need not mean anything more than ‘perfectum fieri.’ This is Becher’s view (Quaest. Quint. p. 19) adopted by Krüger (3rd ed.). But ‘perfectus orator’ forms so much a single idea here that it seems more probable that quem covers both the noun and the adj. In so loose a writer as Quintilian no difficulty need be felt about consummari, though the editors think it necessary to assume that, with the infin., perfectus is proleptic = oratorem consummari ita ut perfectus fiat, comparing (with Krüger, 2nd ed.) Demosth. μέγας ἐκ μικροῦ ὁ Φίλιππος ηὔξηται. See 1 §122 on consummatus.

oporteat: see Crit. Notes.

eorum: sc. qui adhuc summi sunt,—those who have hitherto been (and are) pre-eminent.

CHAPTER III.
How to Write.

§§ 1-4. Introductory to the three chapters on Writing: chs. iii. and iv. treating of the manner of writing (quomodo), and ch. v. of the matter and form of writing (quae maxime scribi oporteat §4). The pen is the best teacher: write much and carefully. Writing is a fundamental part of the orator’s training.

§§ 5-18. As to the manner of writing, it should at first be deliberate and slow, with careful attention alike to subject-matter, language, and the arrangement of words and phrases. And the whole must be subjected to careful revision, especially if it is written in a glow, as it were, of inspiration. ‘Write quickly, and you will never write well; write well, and in time you will write quickly.’ In the case of the orator it is advisable gradually to accelerate the pace: he will never be able to overtake his professional duties unless he gets rid of the habit of carping self-criticism. Story of Iulius Florus. Judgment is also necessary, as well as practice, if we are to write naturally and clearly in any given circumstances. The evil results of hasty composition can seldom be undone even by much verbal correction. Your work should be done with so much care from the first that it may need only to be filed and chiselled, not recast.

§§ 19-27. Condemnation of the fashionable practice of dictating to an amanuensis. He who writes for himself, no matter how rapidly, takes time to think; but your scribe hurries you on, while shame forbids you to pause. Such compositions reflect neither a writer’s care nor a speaker’s animation: your one idea is to ‘keep going.’ Besides, an awkward scribe will check the current of your thoughts. And how absurd it is to have him looking on at the gestures which often accompany and stimulate the process of cogitation! On the other hand, while silence and solitude are helpful, rural seclusion and attractive scenery cannot be said to favour concentration: closed doors are better. Night hours are the best, but only in moderation.

§§ 28-30. But solitude cannot always be secured: those who cannot command it must habituate themselves to rise superior to every distraction. They who only study when in the humour will never want an excuse for idleness. It is possible to think, and to prepare for debate, in a crowd, on a jury, and even amid the noise and confusion of the law-courts.

§§ 31-33. The proper writing materials: wax-tablets to be preferred to parchment. Write on one side only, and leave the other for additions and corrections.

Quo modo scribendum sit.

III:1 III. Et haec quidem auxilia extrinsecus adhibentur; in iis autem quae nobis ipsis paranda sunt, ut laboris, sic utilitatis etiam longe plurimum adfert stilus. Nec immerito M. Tullius hunc ‘optimum effectorem ac magistrum dicendi’ vocat, cui sententiae personam L. Crassi in disputationibus quae sunt de oratore adsignando, iudicium suum cum illius auctoritate coniunxit.

§ 1. nobis ipsis opp. to extrinsecus: what we must provide for ourselves, by our own gifts and industry. There is, however, much to be said for Gertz’s conjecture e nobis ipsis, which gives a better antithesis to extrinsecus: cp. 5 §10 plurimum autem parari facultatis existimo ex simplicissima quaque materia.

stilus: see on 1 §2.

M. Tullius: de Orat. i. §150 caput autem est quod, ut vere dicam, minime facimus; est enim magni laboris, quem plerique fugimus: quam plurimum scribere. stilus optimus et praestantissimus dicendi effector ac magister; neque iniuria: nam si subitam et fortuitam orationem commentatio et cogitatio facile vincit, hanc ipsam profecto adsidua ac diligens scriptura superabit: ibid. §257 stilus ille tuus, quem tu vere dixisti perfectorem dicendi esse ac magistrum, multi sudoris est. Cp. iii. §190: Brutus §96 artifex, ut ita dicam, stilus: ad Fam. vii. 25, 2 is (stilus) est dicendi opifex.

L. Crassi. L. Licinius Crassus, B.C. 140-91, was the most illustrious of Roman orators before Cicero, who in the De Oratore seems to make him the mouthpiece of his own opinions. The other leading character in the dialogue is M. Antonius (B.C. 143-87), grandfather of the triumvir. For a parallel estimate of the two see Brutus §143 sq.

personam ... adsignando: cp. 1 §71 plures subire personas.

III:2 Scribendum ergo quam diligentissime et quam plurimum. Nam ut terra alte refossa generandis alendisque seminibus fecundior fit, sic profectus non a summo petitus studiorum fructus effundit uberius et fidelius continet. Nam sine hac quidem conscientia ipsa illa ex tempore dicendi facultas inanem modo loquacitatem dabit et verba in labris nascentia.

§ 2. alte refossa: see Crit. Notes. The meaning is that just as deep ploughing produces heavy crops, so progress that is not superficial (non a summo petitus) brings forth fruit more abundantly and secures its permanence. For the figure cp. i. 3, 5 non multum praestant, sed cito. Non subest vera vis nec penitus immissis radicibus nititur, ut quae summo solo sparsa sunt semina celerius se effundunt et imitatae spicas herbulae inanibus aristis ante messem flavescunt. For refodere cp. Lucan, iv. 242 tellure refossa: Plin. N. H. xix. 88 solo quam altissime refosso.

profectus: cp. §15 below, ad profectum opus est studio: i. 3, 5 stat profectus (‘growth’). The word does not occur in Cicero, though it is often used in the same sense by Seneca: e.g. Ep. 71, 35-36, nemo profectum ibi invenit ubi reliquerat ... magna pars est profectus velle proficere: 100, 11 ad profectum omnia tendunt. Quintilian frequently insists that it requires diligent and constant practice: e.g. ii. 7, 1 cum profectus praecipue diligentia constet.

a summo, i.e. from the surface, ‘superficial,’ as i. 3, 5 quae summo solo sparsa sunt semina. The opposite is ‘verus ille profectus et alte radicibus nixus,’ i. 1, 28. Cp. 2 §15. Other instances of such expressions are 1 §13 ex proximo: 7 §7 ad ultimum: §10 ex ultimo: 2 §16 in peius. See Introd. p. xlvii.

sine hac conscientia = sine huius rei conscientia, i.e. without the consciousness of diligent application in composition. In such expressions (frequent with words like cura, metus, spes, timor) the pronoun takes the place of a complementary genitive, suggested by what goes before: cp. i. 10, 28 haec ei cura, &c.: and below 7 §19.

verba in labris nascentia. Cp. Sen. Ep. 10, 3 non a summis labris ista venerunt; habent hae voces fundamentum.

III:3 Illic radices, illic fundamenta sunt, illic opes velut sanctiore quodam aerario conditae, unde ad subitos quoque casus, cum res exiget, proferantur. Vires faciamus ante omnia, quae sufficiant labori certaminum et usu non exhauriantur.

§ 3. illic = stilo sive exercitatione scribendi.

sanctiore ... aerario. The reference is to the reserve treasure (aerarium sanctius) that was never touched except in great emergencies. It was kept in a vault in the Temple of Saturn. Caes. B. C. i. 14, 1: Livy xxvii., 10, 11: Macrob. i. 8, 3: Lucan. Phars. iii. 153 sq.

certaminum: so 1 §4 quo genere exercitationis ad certamina praeparandus sit. Certamen = ἀγών. Cp. 1 §§31, 106, &c.

proferantur: for the subj. (consecutive) cp. 1 §30: 3 §33: 5 §10.

et ... non: not neque, as the negative really connects only with the verb, while et serves simply to introduce usu. Cp. 7 §33.

III:4 Nihil enim rerum ipsa natura voluit magnum effici cito, praeposuitque pulcherrimo cuique operi difficultatem; quae nascendi quoque hanc fecerit legem, ut maiora animalia diutius visceribus parentis continerentur.

Sed cum sit duplex quaestio, quo modo et quae maxime scribi oporteat, iam hinc ordinem sequar.

§ 4. rerum ipsa natura: here of ‘nature’ as a creative agency: cp. §26 below: Munro on Lucretius i. 25.

praeposuitque. When it is clear from the context that there is an opposition, sentences and words of opposite meanings are often coupled (after a negative) not by a disjunctive but by a conjunctive particle, as here: cp. Cic. de Off. i. §22 non nobis solum nati sumus ortusque nostri partem patria vindicat partem amici: ibid. §86 neque opes aut potentiam consectabitur totamque eam (rempublicam) sic tuebitur ut omnibus consulat: Hor. Car. iii. 30, 6 Non omnis moriar, multaque pars mei Vitabit Libitinam. In each instance, however, the positive clause (que, et, atque) is an explanation of, rather than an antithesis to, the negative: the opposition is formal rather than real.

difficultatem. Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 9, 59 Nil sine magno Vita labore dedit mortalibus: Hesiod ἔργα καὶ ἡμέρ. 289 τῆς δ᾽ ἀρετῆς ἱδρῶτα θεοὶ προπάροιθεν ἔθηκαν: Soph. El. 945 πόνου τοι χωρὶς οὐδὲν εὐτυχεῖ, &c. Frag. 364 οὔτοι ποθ᾽ ἅψει τῶν ἄκρων ἄνευ πόνου: Epicharmus in Xenoph. Mem. ii. 1, 20 τῶν πόνων πωλοῦσιν ἡμῖν πάντα τἀγάθ᾽ οἱ θεοί.

quae maxime, v. ch. 5.

iam hinc ordinem sequar, i.e. ‘I shall now proceed to deal with these questions in their order.’ And so follows quomodo in chs. iii-iv, and quae maxime scribi oporteat in ch. v. The phrase is parallel to iii. 6, 104 nunc, quia in tria genera causas divisi, ordinem sequar: cp. ut ordinem sequar ix. 4, 33. In support of Obrecht’s reading hunc ordinem Kiderlin (Blätter f. d. Bayer, Gymn. 1888, pp. 84-5) urges that in the instances quoted for iam hinc (ii. 11, 1, and iii. 1, 1: add viii. 3, 40 iam hinc igitur ad rationem sermonis coniuncti transeamus, and hinc iam viii. pr. 14: ii. 4, 1) there is always a marked transition to a new subject, whereas here the preceding subordinate clause (cum sit ... oporteat) lays down the order that is afterwards followed.—But all that iam hinc means here is simply that the writer will now take the two questions he has proposed in the order stated.

III:5 Sit primo vel tardus dum diligens stilus, quaeramus optima nec protinus offerentibus se gaudeamus, adhibeatur iudicium inventis, dispositio probatis; dilectus enim rerum verborumque agendus est et pondera singulorum examinanda. Post subeat ratio collocandi versenturque omni modo numeri, non ut quodque se proferet verbum occupet locum.

§ 5. dum diligens, without a verb: cp. 1 §94 quamvis uno libro: Cic. Acad. ii. §104 sequentes tantum modo quod ita visum sit, dum sine adsensu: cp. Hirtius in Cic. ad Att. xv. 6, 3 dummodo diligentibus.

optima, i.e. both in thought and word.

protinus goes with gaudeamus, not with offerentibus, which can stand by itself: cp. 1 §§2 and 42. For offerentibus cp. on eminentibus 1 §86.

dilectus ... agendus. This may possibly be one of Quintilian’s military figures: xii. 3, 5 dilectus agere (of an imperator); Tac. Hist. ii. 16, 82, Agric. 7. But cp. also ii. 8, 7 studiorum facere dilectum: Tac. Dial. 22 verbis delectum adhibuit: Cic. de Or. iii. §150 in hoc verborum genere propriorum delectus est habendus quidam atque in aurium quodam iudicio ponderandus est: de Off. i. §149 habere dilectum civis et peregrini: ib. §49: de Fin. v. §90: Brut. §253 verborum dilectum originem esse eloquentiae.

ratio collocandi. For this periphrastic constr. see Nägelsbach §27 ad fin. (p. 130) and note on vim dicendi 1 §1. Cp. Cic. ad Quint. Fr. i. 1, 6, 18 sed nescio quo pacto ad praecipiendi rationem delapsa est oratio mea: pro Rosc. Amer. 1 §3 ignoscendi ratio ... de civitate sublata est.—Dion. Hal. unites ἐκλογὴ τῶν ὀνομάτων with σύνθεσις τῶν ἐκλεγέντων.

numeri: ix. 4, 45 numeros ῥυθμούς accipi volo. Cp. note on 2 §16.

III:6 Quae quidem ut diligentius exsequamur, repetenda saepius erunt scriptorum proxima. Nam praeter id quod sic melius iunguntur prioribus sequentia, calor quoque ille cogitationis, qui scribendi mora refrixit, recipit ex integro vires et velut repetito spatio sumit impetum; quod in certamine saliendi fieri videmus, ut conatum longius petant et ad illud quo contenditur spatium cursu ferantur, utque in iaculando brachia reducimus et expulsuri tela nervos retro tendimus.

§ 6. repetenda: we must go back on what we have just written.

praeter id quod: cp. 2 §26, and see note on 1 §28.

repetito spatio, i.e. ‘going back to take a spring,’ as is shown by what follows. He passes from the figure involved in calor ... refrixit, and anticipates the idea contained in the next clause: calor ... sumit impetum = calor ... denuo exardescit. Hild compares de Orat. i. §153 for a similar figure: ut concitato navigio, cum remiges inhibuerunt, retinet tamen ipsa navis motum et cursum suum intermisso impetu pulsuque remorum, sic in oratione perpetua, cum scripta deficiunt, parem tamen obtinet oratio reliqua cursum scriptorum similitudine et vi concitata.

quod ... videmus, ut. For a similar instance of the use of the pronoun to anticipate a dependent clause cp. 7 §11. The other two examples commonly given are rather cases of pleonasm, viz. 1 §58 and 5 §18.

conatum longius petant: ‘take a longer run.’ Cp. repetito spatio above.

ad illud quo contenditur spatium, i.e. jump the distance they aim at covering. Quo contenditur = lit. to which their efforts are directed.

retro tendimus. Cp. Verg. Aen. v. 500 Validis flexos incurvant viribus arcus.

III:7 Interim tamen, si feret flatus, danda sunt vela, dum nos indulgentia illa non fallat; omnia enim nostra dum nascuntur placent, alioqui nec scriberentur. Sed redeamus ad iudicium et retractemus suspectam facilitatem.

§ 7. interim = interdum, v. on 1 §9.

danda sunt vela: ‘we must spread our sails before a favouring breeze’ (cp. quo ventus ferebat Caes. B. G. iii. 15, 3). So Ep. ad Tryph. §3 permittamus vela ventis et oram solventibus bene precemur. The figure is frequent in Cicero: quocunque feremur danda nimirum vela sunt Orat. §75: ad id unde aliquis flatus ostenditur vela do (i.e. set my sails to catch the breeze from a particular quarter) de Orat. ii. §187. So Martial (of Nerva’s modesty) Pieriam tenui frontem redimire corona Contentus, famae nec dare vela suae viii. 70.

dum ... non, instead of ne, as sometimes in poetry. Here the negative attaches closely to the verb: cp. §3. So xii. 10, §48 dum rem contineant et copia non redundent. Quintilian never uses dummodo: only dum, or modo. Si modo (si quidem), which Meister cites, is different: it expresses the limitation of a hypothesis.

dum nascuntur: cp. 1 §16 excipimusque nova illa velut nascentia cum favore ac sollicitudine.

nec for ne ... quidem: ii. 13, 7 alioqui nec scriberem: v. 10, 119 alioqui nec dixissem: ix. 2, 67 quod in foro non expedit, illic nec liceat (not in Cicero). For other instances see Bonn. Lex. nec η and neque ζ: Roby 2230b: Madvig de Finibus pp. 816-822.

facilitatem: abstract for concrete = quae facilius scripta sunt. Cp. initiis below, and 2 §2.

III:8 Sic scripsisse Sallustium accepimus, et sane manifestus est etiam ex opere ipso labor. Vergilium quoque paucissimos die composuisse versus auctor est Varius.

§ 8. Sallustium: see on 1 §101.

Vergilium: Aul. Gell. N. A. 17, 10 Dicere solitum ferunt parere se versus more atque ritu ursino. Namque ut illa bestia fetum ederet ineffigiatum informemque, lambendoque id postea, quod ita edidisset, conformaret et fingeret; proinde ingenii quoque sui partes recentes rudi esse facie et imperfecta, sed deinceps tractando colendoque reddere iis se oris et vultus lineamenta. So too in the Donatus Life of Vergil ix: Cum Georgica scriberet traditur cotidie meditatos mane plurimos versus dictare solitus, ac per totum diem retractando ad paucissimos redigere, non absurde carmen se ursae more parere dicens et lambendo demum effingere.

die, for in die. Cp. Hor. Sat. ii. 1, 3 putat ... mille die versus deduci posse: i. 4, 9 in hora saepe ducentos ... dictabat versus. So bisque die Verg. Ecl. iii. 34: Cic. pro Rosc. Am. 46 §132 in anno: ad Fam. xv. 16, 1 in hora.

Varius, see on 1 §98. His biographical sketch of his lifelong friend was entitled De ingenio moribusque Vergilii. Aul. Gell. (xvii. 10) speaks of the Amici familiaresque P. Vergilii in eis quae de ingenio moribusque eius memoriae tradiderunt.

III:9 Oratoris quidem alia condicio est; itaque hanc moram et sollicitudinem initiis impero. Nam primum hoc constituendum, hoc obtinendum est, ut quam optime scribamus: celeritatem dabit consuetudo. Paulatim res facilius se ostendent, verba respondebunt, compositio sequetur, cuncta denique ut in familia bene instituta in officio erunt.

§ 9. sollicitudinem: 1 §20 scribendi sollicitudinem: and §20, below, scribentium curam.

initiis = incipientibus: cp. 2 §2. So also ii. 4, 13 quatenus nullo magis studia (= studiosi) quam spe gaudent.

compositio: 1 §79: cp. §§44, 46. The three essentials are here enumerated: thought (res), language (verba), arrangement (compositio).

in officio: cp. viii. pr. §30 erunt in officio. As in a well-ordered establishment, he says, everything will be found fulfilling its proper function.

III:10 Summa haec est rei: cito scribendo non fit ut bene scribatur, bene scribendo fit ut cito. Sed tum maxime, cum facultas illa contigerit, resistamus ut provideamus, efferentes se equos frenis quibusdam coerceamus; quod non tam moram faciet quam novos impetus dabit. Neque enim rursus eos qui robur aliquod in stilo fecerint ad infelicem calumniandi se poenam adligandos puto.

§ 10. summa haec. ‘Write quickly and you will never write well: write well and in time you will write quickly.’ The Greek rhetoricians are said to have had a saying ἐκ τοῦ λέγειν τὸ λέγειν πορίζεται, on which Cicero seems to make Crassus found a similar utterance de Orat. i. §150 dicendo homines ut dicant efficere solere, ... perverse dicere homines perverse dicendo facillime consequi.

facultas illa, sc. cito scribendi.

resistamus: ‘let us pause,’ ‘call a halt.’ Cp. §19: 7 §14: xi. 2, 46: 3, 121: ix. 3, 55. Cp. the use of intersistere ix. 4, 33.

ut provideamus: 6 §6 non sollicitos et respicientes et una spe suspensos recordationis non sinant providere: 7 §10 ut donec perveniamus ad finem non minus prospectu procedamus quam gradu: i. 12, 4 nonne alia dicimus, alia providemus. So far from being a gloss, the words seem to be necessary to define the meaning and motive of resistamus: it is in order to ‘look ahead’ that we ought to pause from time to time. See Crit. Notes.

efferentes se: ‘running away,’ or rather, ‘trying to make off,’ a praesens conatus, as is shown by non tam moram faciet, &c. Cp. Hom. Il. 23, 376 ποδώκεες ἔκφερον ἵπποι: Xen. de Re Equestr., 3 §4. In Livy xxx. 20, 3, the figure is taken rather from the ‘prancing and curveting’ of a horse, Neque ... tam P. Scipio exultabit atque efferet sese quam Hanno. (Hild’s parallel βίᾳ φέρουσιν, sc. ἄστομοι πῶλοι from Soph. Electr. 725, cp. Eurip. Hippol. 1224, is more appropriate to the reading ferentes equos.) For the omission of et before efferentes (found in no MS.) cp. 7 §1 where a figure is added without any conjunction (auxilium in publicum polliceri ... intrare portum).

neque enim: the ellipse may be supplied as follows,—si moram faceret non suaderem. The meaning is, it is only in cases where it will not cause injurious delay that I recommend this curbing and self-restraint; for neither, again, &c.

robur fecerint: §3 vires faciamus.

infelicem: see on 1 §7 cuiusdam infelicis operae.

calumniandi se: ‘the wretched task of pedantic self-criticism.’ See on 1 §115 nimia contra se calumnia: viii. pr. 31 quibus nullus est finis calumniandi se et cum singulis paene syllabis commoriendi, qui etiam cum optima sunt reperta, quaerunt aliquid quod sit magis antiquum: §11 remotum, inopinatum.

III:11 Nam quo modo sufficere officiis civilibus possit qui singulis actionum partibus insenescat? Sunt autem quibus nihil sit satis: omnia mutare, omnia aliter dicere quam occurrit velint,— increduli quidam et de ingenio suo pessime meriti, qui diligentiam putant facere sibi scribendi difficultatem.

§ 11. officiis civilibus: ‘the duties of a citizen,’ here with special reference to legal practice and the advocacy of cases in courts of law: 7 §1: cp. Suet. Tib. 8 civilium officiorum rudimentis. The phrase in its widest application includes all the ‘civilities’ and attentions which one citizen may be expected to show to another, especially in the relation of patron and client: e.g. officio togae virilis interfui, Plin. Ep. i. 9 §2. Casaubon defines officium ‘cum honoris causa praesentiam nostram alicui commodamus’: for instances of its use in this sense cp. Plin. Ep. i. 5, 11: i. 13, 7: ii. 1, 8: Hor. Epist. i. 7, 8 officiosaque sedulitas et opella forensis: Sat. ii. 6, 24 officio respondeat (‘answer duty’s call,’ Palmer).

velint: potential, as often. The clause stands by itself, and there is no need for supposing the omission of the relative.

increduli quidam: ‘a diffident sort of people,’ ‘somehow afraid of themselves.’ For quidam cp. 1 §76. It is employed, as often by Cicero, to show that the word used is as near the author’s meaning as possible, though sometimes it is joined with an expression that is merely a makeshift: cp. τινες. It indicates an undefined degree of the adjective with which it is connected, and has sometimes a modifying, sometimes an intensifying effect: here the former is not so probable considering the strength of the phrase that follows, ‘sinning grievously against their natural gifts.’

diligentiam is pred.: supply esse. The subject is facere ... difficultatem.

III:12 Nec promptum est dicere utros peccare validius putem, quibus omnia sua placent an quibus nihil. Accidit enim etiam ingeniosis adulescentibus frequenter, ut labore consumantur et in silentium usque descendant nimia bene dicendi cupiditate. Qua de re memini narrasse mihi Iulium Secundum illum, aequalem meum atque a me, ut notum est, familiariter amatum, mirae facundiae virum, infinitae tamen curae, quid esset sibi a patruo suo dictum.

§ 12. validius. Common in Quintilian: iii. 8, 61 verborum autem magnificentia non validius est adfectanda suasorias declamantibus, sed contingit magis: vi. Prooem. §8 quo me validius cruciaret: ix. 2, 76 quanto validius bonos inhibet pudor quam metus. The superlative is frequent in Pliny: e.g. validissime placere Ep. i. 20, 22: te validissime diligo iii. 15, 2: vi. 8, 9 validissime vereor: ix. 35, 1 validissime cupere. Cp. Caelias in Cic. ad Fam. viii. 2, 1 ego quum pro amicitia validissime facerem ei. Horace has valdius oblectat populam A. P. 321: cp. Ep. i. 9, 6.

omnia sua: cp. 1 §130 (of Seneca) si non omnia sua amasset: ibid. §88 (of Ovid) nimium amator ingenii sui.

narrasse: Quintilian always uses the perfect infin. after memini, even where the person who recalls the event was a witness of it. The rule is thus stated by Roby §1372 ‘Memini is used with the present (and sometimes the perfect) infinitive of events of which the subject himself was witness, with the perfect infinitive of events of which the subject was not witness.’ On this Dr. Reid has a valuable note de Amic. §2: ‘The rule may be somewhat more precisely stated thus: If the person who recalls an event was a witness of it, he may either (a) vividly picture to himself the event and its attendant circumstances so that it becomes really present to his mind’s eye for the moment, in which case he uses the present infinitive, or (b) he may simply recall the fact that the event did take place in past time, in which case the perfect infinitive is used. If he was not a witness, he evidently can conceive the event only in the latter of these two ways. As regards (a) cp. Verg. Ecl. ix. 52 longos cantando puerum memini me condere soles with Georg. iv. 125 memini me Corycium vidisse senem. Examples like the latter of these two are more numerous than is commonly supposed.’

Iulius Secundus, 1 §120.

III:13 Is fuit Iulius Florus, in eloquentia Galliarum, quoniam ibi demum exercuit eam, princeps, alioqui inter paucos disertus et dignus illa propinquitate. Is cum Secundum, scholae adhuc operatum, tristem forte vidisset, interrogavit quae causa frontis tam adductae?

§ 13. Iulius Florus is generally supposed to be identical with the individual to whom, as one of the comites of Tiberius Claudius in his mission to the East, Horace addresses (B.C. 20) the Third Epistle of the First Book: cp. also ii. 2. Horace indicates his young friend’s ability in the following lines (i. 3, 21) Non tibi parvum Ingenium, non incultum est et turpiter hirtum: Seu linguam causis acuis, seu civica iura Respondere paras, seu condis amabile carmen, Prima feres hederae victricis praemia. The scholiast Porphyrio tells us that he wrote satires: Hic Florus fuit satirarum scriptor, cuius sunt electae ex Ennio, Lucilio, Varrone satirae, ‘by which is meant, doubtless,’ says Prof. Wilkins, ‘that he re-wrote some of the poems of these earlier authors, adapting them to the taste of his own day, much as Dryden and Pope re-wrote Chaucer’s tales.’ There is, however, a chronological difficulty in the identification of the Florus who was a young man in B.C. 20 with the Florus who was the patruus of Iulius Secundus, a contemporary of Quintilian (aequalem meum), who died towards the end of Domitian’s reign before he had completed the natural term of life (si longius contigisset aetas 1 §120). Seneca (Controv. ix. 25, 258) mentions a Iulius Florus who was a pupil of Porcius Latro (fl. cir. B.C. 17). There is also the Gaulish nobleman who headed a rebellion among the Treveri, and afterwards committed suicide, A.D. 21 (Tac. Ann. iii. 40-42). Hild identifies this Florus with the one in the text: but it is absolutely impossible that the Florus who died in A.D. 21 can have seen Secundus (scholae adhuc operatum), who cannot have been born till about twenty years later.

in eloquentia. The genitive is more common with princeps: 1 §58: viii. 6, 30 Romanae eloquentiae principem: vi. 3, 1.

Galliarum. Eloquence flourished in Gaul under the Empire. At Lugdunum Caligula instituted (A.D. 39-40) a contest in Greek and Latin oratory (certamen Graecae Latinaeque facundiae, Suet. Calig. 20). Cp. Iuv. i. 44 Aut Lugdunensem rhetor dicturus ad aram.

quoniam introduces what is virtually a parenthesis, referring not to the whole sentence but only to Galliarum.

ibi demum: 1 §44: 2 §8: 6 §5. Here it leads up to alioqui (apart from this fact: moreover) (1 §64): it was in Gaul that he practised, but he would have shone anywhere.

alioqui: 1 §64. Here it = apart from this fact, even if compared with orators of other countries. Transl. ‘besides,’ and cp. Tac. Ann. iv. 37 validus alioqui spernendis honoribus: Hist. ii. 27: iii. 32. Other instances in Quintilian are ii. 1, 4: 15, 9: iv. pr. 6: v. 9, 11, &c.

inter paucos, ‘as few have ever been’: Livy xxii. 7, 1 inter paucas memorata populi Romani clades: cp. xxiii. 44, 4: xxxviii. 15, 9; Q. Curtius iv. 8, 7 in paucis Alexandro carus: cp. vi. 8, 2.

illa propinquitate, i.e. his relationship to Secundus, of whom Quintilian speaks with pride as a friend and contemporary 1 §120.

Is fuit ... Is cum: one of Quintilian’s negligences: cp. 2 §23.

adhuc = etiam tum, as Livy xxi. 48 Scipio quamquam gravis adhuc vulnere erat. Strictly adhuc is applicable to what continues up to the time of speaking: here of continuance in past time. Introd. p. l.

operatum: cp. Tac. Ann. iii. 42 nobilissima Galliarum subole liberalibus studiis ibi operata (v. 2): reipublicae Livy iv. 60, 2: conubiis arvisque novis operata iuventus Verg. Aen. iii. 136.

adductae. So adducere frontem Sen. Ben. i. 1: cp. attrahere frontem 6, 7: cp. contrahere frontem Cic. pro Cluent. §72. The opposite is frontem remittere: Pliny, Ep. ii. 5, 5. Cp. sollicitam explicuere frontem Hor. Car. iii. 29, 16. Obductus is used in a similar sense: cp. Hor. Epod. xiii. 5 obducta solvatur fronte senectus: Iuv. Sat. ix. 2 quare ... tristis occurras fronte obducta.

III:14 Nec dissimulavit adulescens, tertium iam diem esse quod omni labore materiae ad scribendum destinatae non inveniret exordium; quo sibi non praesens tantum dolor, sed etiam desperatio in posterum fieret. Tum Florus adridens, ‘numquid tu,’ inquit, ‘melius dicere vis quam potes?’

§ 14. Tertium diem ... quod. Quod does not here = ex quo, as it denotes not point of time, but duration: in the direct it would be quod non invenio, not quod (ex quo) non inveni. An exact analogy is Plaut. Amphit. i. 1, 148 (302) iam diu ’st quod ventri victum non datis (where, however, Fleckeisen reads quom, and is followed by Palmer). The commentators quote Pliny, Ep. iv. 27, 1 Tertius dies est quod audivi recitantem Sentium: but there quod = ex quo, just as ut is used for ex quo Stich. 29 Nam viri nostri domo ut abierunt hic tertiust annus. Nägelsbach (note on p. 167) says this construction of Quintilian’s was imitated not only by Pliny (l.c.), but by others: Schmalz, Antibarbarus, s.v. e, ex. It might, however, be argued that we ought to read quum (quomomni): C. ad Fam. xv. 14 Multi anni sunt cum M. Attius in meo aere est, and often elsewhere, e.g. de Off. ii. §75 (Roby §1723). If quod stands it must = ‘as regards the fact that he could find no exordium, it was now the third day’: cp. the German ‘es ist schon der dritte Tag dass,’ &c.

omni labore: a modal ablative, ‘in spite of every effort.’ There are two instances in Cicero of a similar use of the ablative, with the gerundive: pro Mur. §17 qui non modo Curiis, Catonibus, Pompeiis, antiquis illis fortissimis viris, sed his recentibus, Mariis et Didiis et Caeliis, commemorandis iacebant: = quamvis Curios, &c., commemorarent: de Off. i. 2 §5 quis est enim qui nullis officii praeceptis tradendis philosophum se audeat dicere? = quamvis non tradat.

materiae: cp. v. 10, 9 quo apparet omnem ad scribendum destinatam materiam ita appellari (sc. argumentum): ‘a theme on which he had to write.’ There seems no reason why materiae should not be taken as genitive, though Hild and others make it dative of the remote object of inveniret.

III:15 Ita se res habet: curandum est ut quam optime dicamus, dicendum tamen pro facultate; ad profectum enim opus est studio, non indignatione. Ut possimus autem scribere etiam plura et celerius, non exercitatio modo praestabit, in qua sine dubio multum est, sed etiam ratio: si non resupini spectantesque tectum et cogitationem murmure agitantes expectaverimus quid obveniat, sed quid res poscat, quid personam deceat, quod sit tempus, qui iudicis animus intuiti, humano quodam modo ad scribendum accesserimus. Sic nobis et initia et quae sequuntur natura ipsa praescribit.

§ 15. sine dubio. This substantival use of the neuter adj. with prep. is frequent in Cicero, but does not occur in Caesar or Sallust. Nägelsb. Stil. §21: cp. Introd. p. liii.

ratio, ‘judgment’ (λόγος), such as rational human beings may be expected to show (cp. humano quodam modo, below). In this sense ratio and consilium are often found together. A parallel passage is ii. 11, §4 Quin etiam in cogitando nulla ratione adhibita aut tectum intuentes magnum aliquid, quod ultro se offerat, pluribus saepe diebus expectant, aut murmure incerto velut classico instincti concitatissimum corporis motum non enuntiandis sed quaerendis verbis accommodant.

resupini (‘with upturned face’) goes closely with spectantes tectum: cp. Martial ix. 43, 3 Quaeque tulit spectat resupino sidera vultu.

quod sit tempus. xi. 1, 46 Tempus quoque ac locus egent observatione propria; nam et tempus tum triste tum laetum, tum liberum tum angustum est, atque ad haec omnia componendus orator.

humano quodam modo, ‘in true human or rational fashion,’ i.e. without looking for inspiration to—the ceiling! Cp. instincti, quoted above, and 7 §14 deum tunc affuisse, &c. For quidam see §11.

III:16 Certa sunt enim pleraque et, nisi coniveamus, in oculos incurrunt; ideoque nec indocti nec rustici diu quaerunt, unde incipiant; quo pudendum est magis, si difficultatem facit doctrina. Non ergo semper putemus optimum esse quod latet: immutescamus alioqui, si nihil dicendum videatur nisi quod non invenimus.

§ 16. certa, fixed and definite, as belonging necessarily to the subject, and suggested at once by the thought of it. Pleraque is not limited to initia, though the next sentence is (unde incipiant).

non ... putemus: v. on 2 §27. Emphasis is secured both by the use of non for ne, and by its place in the sentence.

immutescamus, very rare for obmutescamus, Stat. Theb. v. 542 ruptis immutuit ore querelis: vi. 184.

alioqui. The condition implied in the word is here expressed in the clause which follows: cp. §30 below. Introd. p. li.

III:17 Diversum est huic eorum vitium qui primo decurrere per materiam stilo quam velocissimo volunt, et sequentes calorem atque impetum ex tempore scribunt; hanc silvam vocant. Repetunt deinde et componunt quae effuderant; sed verba emendantur et numeri, manet in rebus temere congestis quae fuit levitas.

§ 17. diversum with the dat. (like contrarium) is common in Quintilian and later writers: Cicero has ab c. abl. Cp. Hor. Ep. i. 18, 5 Est huic diversum vitio vitium prope maius: Caesar B.C. iii. 30, 2 diversa sibi consilia.

silvam. This word is here used as a translation of ὕλη, properly timber for building, then, metaphorically, raw material, or as here ‘rough draft.’ Cic. Orat. §12 omnis enim ubertas et quasi silva dicendi ducta ab illis (philosophis) est, nec satis tamen instructa ad forenses causas: §139 quasi silvam vides: de Or. ii. 65 infinita silva: iii. 93 rerum est silva magna: 103 primum silva rerum (ac sententiarum) comparanda est: 118 qui loco omnis virtutum et vitiorum est silva subiecta: 54 ea est ei (oratori) subiecta materies (ὑποκειμένη ὕλη): de Inv. i. 34 quandam silvam atque materiam ... omnium argumentationum: Suet. Gram. 24 Reliquit non mediocrem silvam observationum sermonis antiqui (Probus). The philosophical definition of ὕλη; is given in Isidorus, Orig. xiii. 3, 1 hylen (ὕλην) Graeci rerum quamdam primam materiam dicunt, nullo prorsus modo formatam, sed omnium corporalium formarum capacem, ex qua visibilia haec elementa formata sunt.

componunt, of ‘arrangement’: cp. 1, §§44, 66, 79.

levitas, ‘superficiality,’ want of thoroughness and solidity: opp. to gravitas. Cp. 7, §4 manet eadem quae fuit incipientibus difficultas.—The improvement extends only to the verba and numeri, not to the substance.

III:18 Protinus ergo adhibere curam rectius erit atque ab initio sic opus ducere, ut caelandum, non ex integro fabricandum sit. Aliquando tamen adfectus sequemur, in quibus fere plus calor quam diligentia valet.

§ 18. protinus = statim ab initio.

opus ducere: 5 §9 velut eadem cera aliae aliaeque formae duci solent: ii. 4, 7 si non ab initio tenuem nimium laminam duxerimus et quam caelatura altior rumpat. The same figure is used Hor. Sat. i. 10, 43-44 forte epos acer ut nemo Varius ducit. So carmen ducere Ov. Trist. i. 11, 18: iii. 14, 32: ex Pont. i. 5, 7: ducere versus, Trist. v. 12, 63. In all these the metaphor is originally from drawing out the threads in spinning: cp. Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 225 tenui deducta poemata filo: Sat. ii. 1, 3 putat ... mille die versus deduci posse. In reference to statuary we have Hor. Ep. ii. 1, 240 ducent aera fortis Alexandri vultum simulantia: Verg. Aen. vi. 84, 7 vivos ducent de marmore vultus.

caelandum, ‘chiselled,’ ‘filed’: Hor. Ep. ii. 2, 92 caelatumque novem Musis opus.

sequemur: so 1 §58 revertemur: 7, 1 renuntiabit: a common use of the future in rules. Warmth of feeling, he says, will often compensate for want of finish.

III:19 Satis apparet ex eo quod hanc scribentium neglegentiam damno, quid de illis dictandi deliciis sentiam. Nam in stilo quidem quamlibet properato dat aliquam cogitationi moram non consequens celeritatem eius manus: ille cui dictamus urget, atque interim pudet etiam dubitare aut resistere aut mutare quasi conscium infirmitatis nostrae timentes.

§ 19. illis dictandi deliciis: i.e. the practice which is so much in fashion, so much ‘affected’: for deliciae (‘affectation’) cp. 1 §43 recens haec lascivia deliciaeque: xii. 8, 4 ne illas quidem tulerim delicias eorum qui, &c. The phrase in deliciis esse alicui is common in Cicero: cp. also Orat. §39 longissime tamen ipsi a talibus deliciis vel potius ineptiis afuerunt. The practice of dictation became so common that dictare came to have the same sense as scribere (‘compose’): Pers. i. 52 non si qua eligidia crudi dictarunt proceres? Literary men had of course always their librarii; and we get a glimpse of a great advocate at work in Brutus §87 illum ... omnibus exclusis commentatum in quadam testudine cum servis litteratis fuisse, quorum alii aliud dictare eodem tempore solitus esset. Pliny, the elder, used to redeem the time by dictating to a notarius even when on his travels: so too his nephew (who tells of his uncle’s habits iii. 5, 15), notarium voco et die admisso quae formaveram dicto ix. 36, 2: illa quae dictavi identidem retractantur ibid. 40, 2. Gesner has an interesting note: “scilicet iam tum notabilis erat ea mollities, ut circa scribendi artem negligentiores essent homines in aliquo fastigio constituti: (vid. i. 1, 28) quae postea ita invaluit ut dictare iam esset eruditorum hominum opus, quem admodum antea scribere. Itaque vario dictandi genere supergressum se alios dicit Sidonius Apollin. 8, 6 et ab initio eiusdem epistolae coniungit studia certandi, dictandi, lectitandique.” He quotes authorities to show that, owing to the growth of the practice of dictation, the leading men in Charlemagne’s time, as well as the bishops, and Charlemagne himself, were ignorant of the art of writing.

in stilo: i.e. when the author himself uses it. The quidem introduces an antithesis in ille cui dictamus.

urget: he ‘presses,’ whereas even those authors who can write fast take time to stop and think. No doubt the most practised amanuensis would fail to write as fast as a man can think, but this is not asserted. All that is said in the antithesis is that the amanuensis is always ready for more, as it were: his whole interest is in the writing, not in the thought. One even (etiam) feels ashamed at times (in addition to being merely conscious of the fact that the scribe’s pen is not busy) of one’s hesitancy, &c. See Crit. Notes.

resistere: v. on §10.

III:20 Quo fit ut non rudia tantum et fortuita, sed impropria interim, dum sola est conectendi sermonis cupiditas, effluant, quae nec scribentium curam nec dicentium impetum consequantur. At idem ille qui excipit, si tardior in scribendo aut incertior in intellegendo velut offensator fuit, inhibetur cursus, atque omnis quae erat concepta mentis intentio mora et interdum iracundia excutitur.

§ 20. impropria = quae significatione deerrant. Cp. i. 5, 46 dubito an id improprium potius appellem; significatione enim deerrat. On verba propria see 1 §6.

consequantur: i.e. such utterances do not come up either to the care with which one writes or the animation with which one speaks.

at idem ille introduces the second objection to dictation: §21 supplies a third and §22 a fourth.

incertior in intellegendo, i.e. not to be depended upon to understand what is dictated to him. See Crit. Notes. Against legendo it must be urged that the reference to reading is not very appropriate: the author would not be likely to call on the scribe to read what he had written, except at an appropriate pause, otherwise he would himself be to blame for the interruption to the ‘swing’ (cursus) of his thoughts.

offensator, a ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, whence the use of velut. It is employed here of one whose slowness or muddle-headedness is always bringing the author to a standstill. Cp. offensantes 7 §10.

quae erat: cp. §17 quae fuit levitas.

concepta mentis intentio, i.e. the thread of ideas. Concipere is of frequent occurrence in Quintilian: 7 §14: xi. 3, 25: ix. i, 16: ii. 20, 4: vi. 2, 33, &c. For the gen. cp. animi intentio i. 1, 34. The reading conceptae mentis (see Crit. Notes) is supported by i. 2, 29 praeceptores ipsos non idem mentis ac spiritus in dicendo posse concipere: the genitive would then be objective, as §23 below: perhaps ‘attention to the conceived thought.’

excutitur: Aristoph. Clouds 138 καὶ φροντίδ᾽ ἐξήμβλωκας ἐξευρημένην.

III:21 Tum illa, quae altiorem animi motum sequuntur quaeque ipsa animum quodam modo concitant, quorum est iactare manum, torquere vultum, frontem et latus interim obiurgare, quaeque Persius notat, cum leviter dicendi genus significat, ‘nec pluteum,’ inquit, ‘caedit nec demorsos sapit ungues,’ etiam ridicula sunt, nisi cum soli sumus.

§ 21. quaeque ipsa: i.e. per se: so §23 below, quae ipsa delectant.

frontem et latus ... obiurgare. I venture to insert this conjecture in the text, as justified both by the MSS. tradition (see Crit. Notes) and by the context. Quintilian is speaking not of the gestures by which animation is imparted to an actual effort of oratory, but of such little mannerisms as the men of his day indulged in when in the throes of solitary composition,—just as they bite quill pens to pieces or scratch their heads now. For frontem obiurgare cp. Brut. §278 nulla perturbatio animi nulla corporis, frons non percussa, non femur, quoted xi. 3, 123: femur pectus frontem caedere ii. 12, 10: ut frontem ferias Cic. ad Att. i. 1, 1, though this last passage implies a more vexatious state of distraction.

obiurgare, i.e. caedere, ferire, plectere. Gertz objected to latus obiurgare on the ground that obiurgare by itself could not mean to ‘strike.’ We have ablatives in Pers.v. 169 solea puer obiurgabere rubra: Sen. de Ira iii. 12, 6 servulum istum verberibus obiurga: Suet. Calig. §20 ferulis obiurgari: id. Otho §2 flagris: Petronius 34 colaphis. But in all these the abl. is needed to define the meaning of obiurgare, while no one could mistake latus obiurgare.

leviter dicendi genus: cp. §17 levitas. The reference is to listlessness and carelessness of style, ‘not the kind that beats the desk or savours of the bitten nail,’—without earnestness or feeling.

nec pluteum caedit. The pluteus or pluteum is the back board of the ‘lecticula lucubratoria’ in which writing was done in a recumbent position. The quotation is from Sat. i. 106, where Persius pictures a drivelling versifier, listlessly pouring forth his verses without any physical exertion or trace of feeling.

demorsos sapit ungues: imitated from Hor. Sat. i. 10, 70, speaking of what Lucilius would do if he lived now: in versu faciendo Saepe caput scaberet, vivos et roderet ungues.

nisi cum soli sumus. This refers to practice only. A different point of view is stated in i. ii. §31, where Quintilian sums up in these words, Non esset in rebus humanis eloquentia, si tantum cum singulis loqueremur.

III:22 Denique ut semel quod est potentissimum dicam, secretum in dictando perit. Atque liberum arbitris locum et quam altissimum silentium scribentibus maxime convenire nemo dubitaverit: non tamen protinus audiendi qui credunt aptissima in hoc nemora silvasque, quod illa caeli libertas locorumque amoenitas sublimem animum et beatiorem spiritum parent.

§ 22. ut semel ... dicam: 1 §17.

secretum in dictando. This is the fourth objection. Cp. 7 §16 cum stilus secreto gaudeat atque omnes arbitros reformidet. Hirt (Substantivierung des Adj. bei Quint.—Berlin, 1890) notes that this use of the nom. neut. standing by itself is not so common as other cases: he cites about a dozen instances, e.g. iv. 1, 41 honestum satis per se valet: v. 11, 13 dissimile plures casus habet: vi. 3, 84 inopinatum et a lacessente poni solet. See Crit. Notes.

protinus: see on 1 §3, §42.

aptissima in hoc. A poetical constr.: only here in Quintilian, instead of dat. or ad. Livy xxviii. 31 genere pugnae in quod minime apti sunt: Ovid Metam. xiv. 765 formas deus aptus in omnes.

nemora silvasque. Quintilian is speaking of oratory: poetry on the other hand may fitly seek its inspiration in solitude. Tac. Dial. ix. poetis ... in nemora et lucos id est in solitudinem recedendum est: cp. xii nemora vero et luci et secretum ipsum, &c. The poet’s love of retirement and the necessity for his being exempted from the fears and anxieties of the vulgar is in fact a commonplace in Latin literature: Horace, Car. i. 1, 30: 32, 1: iv. 3, 10 sq.: Ep. ii. 2, 77: A. P. 298: Ovid, Tristia i. 1, 41 Carmina secessum scribentis et otia quaerunt, cp. v. 12, 3: Iuv. vii. 58: Pliny ix. 10 §2 (to Tacitus) poemata quiescunt, quae tu inter nemora et lucos commodissime perfici putas: so for study of all kinds i. 6, 2; cp. ix. 36, 6.

beatiorem spiritum: i. §27, §44 (spiritus: cp. 5 §4 sublimis spiritus): and i. §61, §109 (beatus). Cp. dives vena in Hor. A. P. 409.

III:23 Mihi certe iucundus hic magis quam studiorum hortator videtur esse secessus. Namque illa, quae ipsa delectant, necesse est avocent ab intentione operis destinati. Neque enim se bona fide in multa simul intendere animus totum potest, et quocumque respexit, desinit intueri quod propositum erat.

§ 23. hortator: cp. Liv. xxvii. 18, 14 foederum ruptor dux et populus: Cic. pro Mil. §50 ipse ille latronum occultator et receptor locus. Introd. p. xlv.

quae ipsa: §21 above. Cic. Tusc. Disp. v. 21, 62 iam ipsae defluebant coronae.

bona fide, ‘earnestly and conscientiously’: ut non fallat (sc. animus) sed officiis suis probe sufficiat (Wolff). The phrase is borrowed from the language of the law-courts, where it was applied to judicial awards made not according to any positive enactment but in equity. Cicero, de Off. iii. 61 et sine lege iudiciis, in quibus additur ex fide bona. See Holden’s note ad loc.

III:24 Quare silvarum amoenitas et praeterlabentia flumina et inspirantes ramis arborum aurae volucrumque cantus et ipsa late circumspiciendi libertas ad se trahunt, ut mihi remittere potius voluptas ista videatur cogitationem quam intendere.

§ 24. late circumspiciendi. Wölfflin thinks that Quintilian designedly avoided such alliterations as ‘longe lateque circumspicere’: cp. Sall. Iug. 5, Tac. Hist. iv. 50. In viii. 3, 65 he has ‘vultum et oculos’ instead of ‘ora et oculos’: and ‘satis’ by itself, or ‘satis abunde,’ instead of ‘satis superque.’

remittere ... intendere: the figure is derived from the use of the bow.

III:25 Demosthenes melius, qui se in locum ex quo nulla exaudiri vox et ex quo nihil prospici posset recondebat, ne aliud agere mentem cogerent oculi. Ideoque lucubrantes silentium noctis et clausum cubiculum et lumen unum velut tectos maxime teneat.

§ 25. Demosthenes: Plut. Dem. 7 ἐκ τούτου κατάγειον μὲν οἰκοδομῆσαι μελετήριον ὃ δὴ διεσώζετο καὶ καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς.

cogerent: for a similar modified use of cogere cp. Corn. Nep. Milt. 7, 1: Suet. Domit. 11.

lumen for lucerna: Cic. de Divin. 1 §36 lumine adposito.

velut tectos, ‘as if under cover’: sc. ad omnia quae oculis vel auribus incursant. This is said to be one of Quintilian’s military metaphors, whence the use of velut. Becher (Philol. xliii. 203 sq.) compares de Orat. i. 8, 32 quid autem tam necessarium quam tenere semper arma quibus vel tectus ipse esse possis vel provocare improbos vel te ulcisci lacessitus? and Orelli on pro Deiot. 6, 16: (quis consideratior illo? quis tectior? quis prudentior?) ‘est metaphora petita a gladiatoribus qui, uti debent, contra ictus adversariorum se tegunt.’ Here the ‘weapons of defence’ are three: ‘silentium noctis,’ ‘clausum cubiculum,’ and ‘lumen unum’ (i.e. nobis solum appositum). The opposite of tectus in this sense is apertus: e.g. latus apertum Tac. Hist. ii. 21 aperti incautique muros subiere, ‘of a force which has no adequate defensive means at its disposal for conducting a siege’ (Spooner). For the thought Krüger (3rd ed.) compares Plin. Ep. x. 36 clausae fenestrae manent. Mire enim silentio et tenebris animus alitur. Ab iis quae avocant abductus et liber et mihi relictus non oculos animo sed animum oculis sequor, qui eadem quae mens vident, quoties non adsunt alia.—See Crit. Notes.

maxime = potissimum, and leads up to §28 ut sunt maxime optanda. Cp. μάλιστα: Plat. Rep. 326 A πεῖσαι μάλιστα μὲν καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἄρχοντας, εἰ δὲ μὴ τὴν ἄλλην πόλιν.

teneat, potential: ‘if we work at night, the silence, &c. will secure us from interruption.’ But Krüger (2nd ed.), looking to lucubrantes (which is emphatic), explains = ita lucubremus ut ... teneat, and Wrobel makes it an imperative, ‘let us work by night, and under such conditions, with such precautions that,’ &c.

III:26 Sed cum in omni studiorum genere, tum in hoc praecipue bona valetudo, quaeque eam maxime praestat, frugalitas necessaria est, cum tempora ab ipsa rerum natura ad quietem refectionemque nobis data in acerrimum laborem convertimus. Cui tamen non plus inrogandum est quam quod somno supererit, haud deerit;

§ 26. in hoc, i.e. for night work (= in hoc studiorum genere; viz. cum lucubramus).

frugalitas: regularity of life, in a wide sense (as moderatio, temperantia, σωφροσύνη): cp. xii. 1, 8 Age non ad perferendos studiorum labores necessaria frugalitas? quid ergo ex libidine ac luxuria spei? Cic. pro Deiot. ix. §26.

cum ... convertimus: the temporal signification of cum c. ind. passes here into the causal. Cp. i. 6, 2 auctoritas ab oratoribus vel historicis peti solet ... cum summorum in eloquentia virorum iudicium pro ratione, et vel error honestus est magnos duces sequentibus.—Becher on the other hand (followed by Krüger 3rd ed.) insists that the use is here exclusively temporal, and that the clause is merely a development of ‘cum lucubramus,’— the idea contained in the foregoing in hoc (sc. stud. genere).

cui: sc. labori scribendi.

inrogandum = impendendum, tribuendum.

supererit ... deerit. Tr. ‘only so much as would be superfluous for sleep, not insufficient.’ The meaning is clear: we must not encroach on the time necessary for the repose of mind and body,—‘not more than what is not needed for sleep, and what will not be missed.’ For what may seem a superfluous addition cp. 1 §115 si quid adiecturus sibi non si quid detracturus fuit: Verg. Aen. ix. 282 ‘tantum fortuna secunda Haud adversa cadat.’ The juxtaposition of compounds of esse is very common: esp. superesse, deesse. Asin. Pollio, ad Fam. x. 33, 5: Cic. ad Fam. xiii. 63, 2: Cic. in Gellius i. 22, 7: Val. Max. viii. 7, 2: Suet. Aug. 56 (Schmalz). See Crit. Notes.

III:27 obstat enim diligentiae scribendi etiam fatigatio, et abunde, si vacet, lucis spatia sufficiunt; occupatos in noctem necessitas agit. Est tamen lucubratio, quotiens ad eam integri ac refecti venimus, optimum secreti genus.

§ 27. si vacet ... occupatos. The antithesis should be noted: the days are long enough when one has nothing else to do: it is the busy man who is driven to encroach on the night.

III:28 Sed silentium et secessus et undique liber animus ut sunt maxime optanda, ita non semper possunt contingere; ideoque non statim, si quid obstrepet, abiciendi codices erunt et deplorandus dies, verum incommodis repugnandum et hic faciendus usus, ut omnia quae impedient vincat intentio; quam si tota mente in opus ipsum derexeris, nihil eorum quae oculis vel auribus incursant ad animum perveniet.

§ 28. codices: writing-books or tablets, as §32.

faciendus usus. Cp. ut scribendi fiat usus in 2 §2: and §3 below vires faciamus: 6 §3 facienda multo stilo forma est.

derexeris: see on 2 §1. So xii. 3, 8: ii. 13, 5: ii. 1, 11. On the other hand in x. 1 §127 and v. 7, 6 Halm and Meister print dirigere.

incursant: stronger than §16 in oculos incurrunt. The constr. with the dative is poetical (Ovid, Metam. i. 303, xiv. 190).

III:29 An vero frequenter etiam fortuita hoc cogitatio praestat, ut obvios non videamus et itinere deerremus: non consequemur idem, si et voluerimus? Non est indulgendum causis desidiae. Nam si non nisi refecti, non nisi hilares, non nisi omnibus aliis curis vacantes studendum existimarimus, semper erit propter quod nobis ignoscamus.

§ 29. An vero ... non consequemur. For this form of the argumentum a minore ad maius cp. 2 §5. Cic. pro Rab. 5 An vero servos nostros ... dominorum benignitas ... liberabit hos a verberibus ... nostri honores (non) vindicabunt?

deerremus with simple abl. is post-classical.

idem, i.e. the same abstraction.

si et voluerimus: ‘by an effort of will,’ opp. to fortuita cogitatio.

non nisi: see on 1 §20.

III:30 Quare in turba, itinere, conviviis etiam faciat sibi cogitatio ipsa secretum. Quid alioqui fiet, cum in medio foro, tot circumstantibus iudiciis, iurgiis, fortuitis etiam clamoribus, erit subito continua oratione dicendum, si particulas quas ceris mandamus nisi in solitudine reperire non possumus? Propter quae idem ille tantus amator secreti Demosthenes in litore, in quo se maximo cum sono fluctus inlideret, meditans consuescebat contionum fremitus non expavescere.

§ 30. itinere: Sen. Ep. 72 §2 quaedam enim sunt quae possis et in cisio scribere: Plin. Ep. iv. 14 §2 accipies cum hac epistula hendecasyllabos nostros, quibus nos in vehiculo, in balineo, inter cenam oblectamus otium temporis. Pliny even took with him to the chase his pugillares, that he might note down any passing thought: i. 6, 1: ix. 10, 2. He had learnt the lesson from his uncle, who made use of his time at dinner, in the bath, on a journey: see the description his nephew gives of his habits Ep. iii. 5 §§10, 11, 14-16. Cato the Younger used to read while the Senate was assembling: Cic. de Fin. iii. 2 §7.

alioqui: see on §16. Cp. §7 and Introd. p. li.

tot circumstantibus iudiciis. Four courts were commonly held in one and the same basilica. Cp. xii. 5, 6 cum in basilica Iulia diceret primo tribunali (Trachalus 1 §119) quatuor autem iudicia, ut moris est, cogerentur, atque omnia clamoribus fremerent, et auditum eum et intellectum et, quod agentibus ceteris contumeliosissimum fuit, laudatum quoque ex quatuor tribunalibus memini: Plin. Ep. i. 18, 3 eram acturus ... in quadruplici iudicio: iv. 24, 1: vi. 33, 2.

particulas: the ‘jottings’ which we ought to be able to make even in spite of surrounding confusion, if we are to be effective when called on to speak ex tempore.

ceris: used especially for rough notes. Iuv. i. 63: xiv. 191. These tablets were “made of thin slabs or leaves of wood, coated with wax, and having a raised margin all round to preserve the contents from friction. They were made of different sizes and varied in the number of their leaves, whence the word, in this sense, is applied in the plural” (Rich).

in litore: Frotscher quotes Lib. Vit. Demosth. φασὶν αὐτὸν ἄνεμον ῥαγδαῖον τηροῦντα, καὶ κινουμένην σφοδρῶς τὴν θάλατταν, παρὰ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς βαδίζοντα, λέγειν καὶ τῷ τῆς θαλάττης ἤχῳ συνεθίζεσθαι φέρειν τὰς τοῦ δήμου καταβοάς: Plut. Vit. X Orat. 8, p. 844 E καὶ κατιόντα ἐπὶ τὸ Φαληρικὸν πρὸς τὰς τῶν κυμάτων ἐμβολὰς τὰς σκέψεις ποιεῖσθαι, ἵν᾽ εἴ ποτε θορυβοίη ὁ δῆμος, μὴ ἐκσταίη: Cic. de Fin. v. 2, 5 Noli inquit, ex me quaerere, qui in Phalericum etiam descenderim, quo in loco ad fluctum aiunt declamare solitum Demosthenem, ut fremitum assuesceret voce vincere: Val. Max. viii. 7, ext. 1.

meditans, ‘practising’: cp. de Orat. i. §260 (Demosthenes) perfecit meditando ut nemo planius esse locutus putaretur: §136: Brutus §302 nullum patiebatur esse diem (Hortensius) quin aut in foro diceret aut meditaretur extra forum: Quint. ii. 10, 2: iv. 2, 29.

expavescere. This corresponds with the motive attributed to Demosthenes by Plutarch and Libanius, as quoted above; Cicero’s explanation (ut fremitum assuesceret voce vincere) is perhaps the more credible.

III:31 Illa quoque minora (sed nihil in studiis parvum est) non sunt transeunda: scribi optime ceris, in quibus facillima est ratio delendi, nisi forte visus infirmior membranarum potius usum exiget, quae ut iuvant aciem, ita crebra relatione, quoad intinguntur calami, morantur manum et cogitationis impetum frangunt.

§ 31. optime: §33: 1 §72 (prave): 1 §105 (fortiter), where see note: 5 §13 (rectene and honestene). Becher says ‘optime giebt ein Urteil über die Handlung an, drückt nicht die Art und Weise aus’: hence it = optimum esse.

scribi ceris: for the omission of in cp. xi. 2, 32 illud neminem non iuvabit iisdem quibus scripserit ceris ediscere. In viii. 6, 64 Meister reads in ceris.

ratio delendi: see on 2 §3: ‘erasure,’ the ‘art of blotting.’ A similar periphrasis is ratio collocandi §5. For the purpose of erasure the reverse end of the stilus was flat. Hor. Sat. i. 10, 72 saepe stilum vertas (cp. 4 §1): Cic. de Orat. ii. §96 luxuries quaedam quae stilo depascenda est. With parchment the method of erasure was of course different: Hor. A. P. 446 incomptis adlinet atrum transverso calamo signum.

nisi forte is not ironical here, as in 1 §70: 2 §8: 5 §§6-7.

membranarum. Parchment was more expensive than the tablets (cerae), though probably cheaper now than it had been previously. It could be used for rough notes, the writing being erased to make room for fresh matter,—‘palimpsest.’ Even when a published book consisted of papyrus paper (charta), parchment was often used for the wrapper. It was called membrana pergamena because the industry received its development under the kings of Pergamum.

exiget: for the indic. cp. v. 2, 2 refelluntur autem (praeiudicia) raro per contumeliam iudicum, nisi forte manifesta in iis culpa erit. The commentators quote Sall. Iug. xiv. 10, but there the subj. is really consecutive.

relatione is here used in the etymological sense of ‘carrying the pen back,’ or ‘to and fro’ in supplying it with ink. No other example can be quoted in which this sense ( = reductio) occurs. Kiderlin (l.c.) thinks that the idea of ‘raising’ the hand would be more appropriate to the context than that of ‘drawing it back’: he proposes therefore to read ‘crebriore elatione.’ See Crit. Notes.

intinguntur, i.e. in the ink (atramentum), which was generally an artificial compound, sometimes the natural juice of the cuttle-fish.

III:32 Relinquendae autem in utrolibet genere contra erunt vacuae tabellae, in quibus libera adiciendo sit excursio. Nam interim pigritiam emendandi angustiae faciunt, aut certe novorum interpositione priora confundant. Ne latas quidem ultra modum esse ceras velim, expertus iuvenem studiosum alioqui praelongos habuisse sermones, quia illos numero versuum metiebatur, idque vitium, quod frequenti admonitione corrigi non potuerat, mutatis codicibus esse sublatum.

§ 32. contra = ex adverso. Space must be left for corrections and additions opposite to what has been written: there must be blank pages. Cp. contra 1 §114.

adiciendo, ‘for making additions,’ comes under the head of the ‘dative for work contemplated’ Roby §§1156 and 1383. So Tacitus constantly uses the dative of gerund or gerundive in a final sense after verbs and adjectives. See Crit. Notes.

aut certe, with no previous aut: cp. ix. 2, 94: 3, 60. For novorum cp. subitis 7 §30, and see Introd. p. xlvii.

confundant: potential. It states a possibility: faciunt a fact.

expertus with acc. and inf. is rare.

studiosum: 1 §45.

alioqui: see Introd. p. li.

versuum: 1 §38.

III:33 Debet vacare etiam locus in quo notentur quae scribentibus solent extra ordinem, id est ex aliis quam qui sunt in manibus loci, occurrere. Inrumpunt enim optimi nonnumquam sensus, quos neque inserere oportet neque differre tutum est, quia interim elabuntur, interim memoriae sui intentos ab alia inventione declinant ideoque optime sunt in deposito.

§ 33. locus ... loci. There is something of Quintilian’s not infrequent negligence of style in the repetition of the word, especially as by locus he means only ‘room,’ while loci are the different parts of the composition.

notentur, ‘jot down.’

inrumpunt, ‘break in upon us,’ with a force that is hard to resist (cp. memoriam sui intentos below).

sensus: ‘ideas’: viii. 5, 2 sententiam veteres quod animo sensissent vocaverunt ... sed consuetudo iam tenuit ut mente concepta sensus vocaremus, lumina autem praecipueque in clausulis posita sententias: 5 §5: 7 §6.

interim ... interim: frequent in Quintilian (see Introduction p. li.) for nunc ... nunc, modo ... modo.

optime sunt: §31 = optimum est eos esse.

inventione: ‘line of thought.’

in deposito: ‘in store,’ ‘in a place of safety,’ i.e. noted down: see Introd. p. xlvii. The phrase is borrowed from law: vii. 2, 51 depositi quaestiones, Pandects, xxxvi. 3, 5.