Institutio Oratoria

But it is not without good reason that some of the greatest men have devoted special attention to this science. Geometry has two divisions; one is concerned with numbers, the other with figures. Now knowledge of the former is a necessity not merely to the orator, but to any one who has had even an elementary education. Such knowledge is frequently required in actual cases, in which a speaker is regarded as deficient in education, I will not say if he hesitates in making a calculation, but even if he contradicts the calculation which he states in words by making an uncertain or inappropriate gesture with his fingers. [*]( There was a separate symbol for each number, depending on the hand used and the position of the fingers. See Class. Review, 1911, p. 72 ) Again linear geometry is frequently required in cases, as in lawsuits about boundaries and measurements.