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BUT THESE precepts of being eloquent, though necessary to be known, are not sufficient to produce the full power of eloquence unless there be united to them a certain Facility, which among the Greeks is called Hexis, “habit.” I know that it is often asked whether more is contributed by writing, by reading, or by speaking. This question we should have to examine with careful attention if in fact we could confine ourselves
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to any one of these activities; but in truth they are all so connected, so inseparably linked with one another, that it any one of them is neglected, we labor in vain in the other two—for our speech will never become forcible and energetic unless it acquires strength from great practice in writing; and the labor of writing, if left destitute of models from reading, passes away without effect, as having no director; while he who knows how everything ought to be said, will, if he has not his eloquence in readiness and prepared for all emergencies, merely brood, as it were, over locked-up treasure.
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Though some one element, again, may be requisite above others, it will not necessarily, for that purpoes, be chief in importance for forming the orator. For since the business of the orator lies in speaking, to speak is doubtless necessary to him before anything else; and it is evident that from speaking the commencement of the art arose; also that the next thing in order is imitation;1 and, last of all, diligent exercise
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in writing. But as we cannot arrive at the highest excellence otherwise than by initial efforts, so, as our work proceeds,
those things which are of the greatest importance begin to appear of the least.
But I am not here saying how the orator is to be trained—for that has been told already, if not satisfactorily, at least as well as I could—but by what kind of discipline an athlete, who has already learned all his exercises from his master, is to be prepared for real contests. Let me, therefore, instruct the student, who knows how to invent and arrange his matter, and who has also acquired the art of selecting and disposing his words, by what means he may be able to practice, in the best and easiest possible manner, that which he has learned.
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Can it then be doubted, that he must secure certain resources, which he may use whenever it shall be necessary? Those resources will consist in supplies of matter and of
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words. But every cause has its own peculiar matter, or matter common to it with but few others; words are to be prepared for all kinds of causes. If there were a single word for every single thing, words would require less care, for all would then at once present themselves with the things to be expressed. As some, however, are more appropriate, or more elegant, or more significant, or more euphonious, than others, they ought all, not only to be known, but to be kept in readiness, and, if I may so express myself, in sight, so that, when they present themselves to the judgment of the speaker, the choice of the
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best of them may be easily made. I know that some make a practice of learning by heart such words as have the same signification, in order that one word out of several may the more readily occur to them, and that, when they have used one of the number, they may, if it should be wanted again within a short space of time, substitute for it, for the sake of avoiding repetition, another from which the same thing may be understood. But this is a childish practice, attended with miserable labor, and productive of very little profit; for the learner merely musters a crowd of words, to snatch from it without distinction whichsoever first presents itself.
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By us, on the contrary, our stock of words must be prepared with judgment, as we have a view to the proper force
of oratory and not to the volubility of the charlatan. But this object we shall effect by reading and listening to the best language; for, by such exercise, we shall not only learn words expressive of things, but shall learn for what place each word
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is best adapted. Almost all words, indeed, except a few that are of indecent character, find a place in oratorical composition; and the writers of iambics and of the old comedy are often commended for the use of words of that description; but it is sufficient for us at present to look to our own work. All sorts of words, then, except those to which I have alluded, may be excellently employed in some place or other; for we have sometimes occasion for low and coarse words; and such as would seem mean in the more elegant parts of a speech, are, when the subject requires them, adopted with propriety.2
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To understand words thoroughly, and to learn not only the signification of them, but their forms and measures, and to be able to judge whether they are adapted to the places to which they are assigned, are branches of knowledge that we cannot acquire but by assiduous reading and hearing, since we receive all language first of all by the ear. Hence infants brought up, at the command of princes, by dumb nurses and in solitude, were destitute of the faculty of speech, though they are said to have uttered some unconnected words.3
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There are, however, some words of such a nature that they express the same thing by different sounds, so exactly that it makes no difference to the sense which we use in preference to another; for instance ensis and gladius. There are others, again, which, though properly belonging to distinct objects, are yet by a trope, as it were, used for conveying the same
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idea; as ferrum and mucro.4 Thus, too, by a catachresis, we call all assassins sicarii,5 whatever be the weapon with which
they have committed slaughter. Some things, moreover, we indicate by a circumlocution, as pressi copia lactis.6 Many things also, by change of words, we express figuratively, as, for I know, we say I am not ignorant, or It does not escape me, or It does not fail to attract my attention, or Who is not aware?
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or No man doubts. We may likewise profit by the near import of words, for I understand, I perceive, I see, have often just the same meaning as I know. Of such synonyms reading will furnish us with copious supplies, so that we may use them not only as they present themselves, but as they ought to be
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adopted. For such terms do not always express exactly the same things; and though I may properly say “I see” in reference to the perception of the mind, I cannot say “I understand” in reference to the sight of the eyes; nor, though mucro
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indicates gladius, does gladius indicate mucro. But though a copious stock of words be thus acquired, we are not to read or hear merely for the sake of words; for in all that we teach examples are more powerful even than the rules which are taught—I mean when the learner is so far advanced that he can enter into the subjects without a guide, and pursue them with his own unassisted efforts—inasmuch as what the master teaches, the orator exhibits.
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Some speeches contribute more to our improvement when we hear them delivered, others when we peruse them. He who speaks to us rouses us by his animation, and excites us, not by an artificial representation and account of things, but by the things themselves. Everything seems to live and move before us, and we catch the new ideas, as it were at their birth, with partiality and affection. We feel interested, not only in the event of the cause, but in the perilous efforts of those who
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plead it. In addition to this, a becoming tone and action, a mode of delivery adapted to what particular passages require, (which is perhaps the most powerful element in oratory), and, in a word, all excellent qualities in combination teach us at the same time. In reading, on the other hand, the judgment is applied with more certainty, for, when a person is
listening to speeches, his own partiality for any particular speaker, or the ordinary applause of approving auditors,
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often deprives him of the free exercise of his judgment. Sometimes we are ashamed to express dissent from others, and are prevented, by a sort of secret modesty, from trusting too much to ourselves, though what is faulty sometimes please the majority, and even what does not please is applauded by those
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who are engaged to applaud. On the contrary, too, it sometimes happens that the bad taste of the audience does not do justice to the finest passages. But reading is free, and does not escape us with the rapidity of oral delivery, but allows us to go over the same passages more than once, whether we have any doubt of their meaning, or are desirous to fix them in our memory. Let us review, then, and reconsider the subject of our reading, and as we consign our food to our stomach only when it is masticated and almost dissolved, in order that it may be easier of digestion, so let what we read be committed to the memory and reserved for imitation, not when it is in a crude state, but after being softened, and as it were triturated, by frequent repetition.
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For a long time, too, none but the best authors must be read, and such as are least likely to mislead him who trusts them; but they must be read with attention, and indeed with almost as much care as if we were transcribing them; and every portion must be examined, not merely partially, but a whole book, when read through, must be taken up afresh, and especially any excellent oration, of which the merits are often
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designedly concealed; for the speaker frequently prepares his audience for what is to follow, dissembles with them, and places ambuscades; and states in the first part of his pleading what is to have its full effect at the conclusion. Hence what is advanced in its proper place often pleases us less than it ought, since we are not aware why it is advanced; and all such passages, accordingly, ought to be perused again after we have read the whole. But one of the most useful exercises, is to
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learn the history of those causes of which we have taken the pleadings in hand for perusal, and, whenever opportunity shall offer, to read speeches delivered on both sides of the
same question; as those of Demosthenes and Aeschines in opposition to each other; those of Servius Sulpicius and Messala, of whom one spoke for Aufidia and the other against her; thoes of Pollio and Cassius when Asprenas was accused; and
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many others. Even if the pleaders seem unequally matched, yet some of the speeches may be reasonably consulted in order to ascertain the question for decision, as the orations of Tubero against Ligarius and of Hortensius on behalf of Verres, in opposition to those of Cicero. It will also be of advantage to know how different orators pleaded the same causes; for Calidius delivered a speech concerning the house of Cicero. Brutus wrote an oration in defense of Milo, merely as an exercise; Cornelius Celsus, indeed, thinks that Brutus spoke it, but he
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is mistaken. Pollio and Messala, too, defended the same persons; and, when I was a boy, there were in circulation celebrated speeches of Domitius Afer, Crispus Passienus, and Decimus Lælius, in defense of Volusenus Catulus.
Nor must he who reads feel immediately convinced that everything that great authors have said is necessarily perfect; for they sometimes make a false step, or sink under their burden, or give way to the inclination of their genius; nor do they always equally apply their minds, but sometimes grow weary; as Demosthenes seems to Cicero sometimes to nod, and
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Homer himself appears to Horace to do so.7 They are great men, indeed, but men nevertheless; and it often happens to those, who think that whatever is found in such authors is a law for eloquence, that they imitate what is inferior in them—for it is easier to copy their faults than their excellences—and fancy that they fully resemble great men when they have merely adopted great men’s defects.
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Yet students must pronounce with diffidence and circumspection on the merits of such illustrious characters, lest, as is the case with many, they condemn what they do not understand. If they must err on one side or the other, I should prefer that every part of them should please youthful readers rather than that many parts should displease them.
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Theophrastus says that the reading of the poets is of the greatest use to the orator. Many others adopt his opinion, and not without reason, for from them is derived animation in relating facts, sublimity in expression, the greatest power in exciting the feelings, and gracefulness in personifying character; and—what is of the utmost service—the faculties of the orator, worn out as it were by daily pleading in the forum, are best recruited by the charms of the works of such authors. Accordingly Cicero thinks that relaxation should be sought
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in that sort of reading. But we must remember that poets are not to be imitated by the orator in every respect—not, for instance, in freedom of language, or unrestrained use of figures—that the style of poets is adapted for display, and, besides, that it aims merely at giving pleasure, and pursues its object by inventing not only what is false, but even sometimes
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what is incredible; that it enjoys certain privileges, inasmuch as, being confined to the regular requirements of feet, it cannot always use proper terms, but, being driven from the straight road, must necessarily have recourse to certain bypaths of eloquence, and is obliged not only to change words, but to lengthen, shorten, transpose, and divide them; but that we orators stand in arms in a field of battle, contend for concerns of the highest moment, and must struggle only for victory.8
1 That is, careful reading and listening for the purpose of identifying and then imitating the best qualities of good models. It is also an important method in the instruction of the young, as Quintilian points out in Books I and II. See the Introduction, pp. 30–31.
2 See also Quintilian’s discussion of “custom” in I.vi.43–45.
3 Quintilian speaks as if this experiment had been conducted several times, though the only well-known instance is that of Psametichus, King of Egypt, as recorded in Herodotus II.2.
4 Ferrum means any steel weapon, mucro the point of such a weapon.
5 From sica, a dagger or poniard.
6 “Plenty of pressed milk” for “cheese.” Virgil, Eclogues I.81.
7 The references are to famous passages in Cicero, Orator 29, and Horace, Ars poetica 359.
8 Here begins a lengthy discussion of particular orators and writers. Since these figures would be virtually unknown to modern readers, his comments on them are omitted here.