Institutio Oratoria
Quintilian
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.
Again, the same remark will seem freedom of speech in one's mouth, madness in another's, and arrogance in a third. We laugh at the words used by Thersites [*](Il. ii. 225. ) to Agamemnon; but put them in the mouth of Diomede or some other of his peers, and they will seem the expression of a great spirit.
Shall I regard you as consul,said Lucius Crassus [*](De Or. iii. 1. ) to Phililppus,
when you refuse toThat was honourable freedom of speech, and yet we should not tolerate such words from everybody's lips.v10-12 p.177regard me as a senator?
One of the poets [*](Cat. 93.) says that he does not care whether Caesar be white or black. That is madness. But reverse the case. Suppose that Caesar said it of the poet? That would be arrogance. The tragic and comic poets pay special attention to character, since they introduce a great number and variety of persons. Those who wrote speeches [*](Cp. II. xv. 30; viii. 51. ) for others paid a like attention to these points, and so do the declaimers; for we do not always speak as advocates, but frequently as actual parties to the suit.
But even in these cases in which we appear as advocates, differences of character require careful observation. For we introduce fictitious personages and speak through other's lips, and we must therefore allot the appropriate character to those to whom we lend a voice. For example, Publius Clodius will be represented in one way, Appius Caecus [*]( Clodius, the unscrupulous enemy of Cicero. Appins Caccus, his ancestor, the great senator, who secured the rejection of the terms of Pyrrhus. ) in another, while Caecilius [*](SeePro Cael. xvi. ) makes the father in his comedy speak in quite a different manner from the father in the comedy of Terence.
What can be more brutal than the words of Verres' lictor,
To see him you will pay so much? [*](I.e. to visit a relative in prison, Verr. v. xlv. 118; cp. Quint. IX. iv. 71. ) or braver than those of the man from whom the scourge could wring but one cry,
I am a Roman citizen Again, read the words which Cicero places in the mouth of Milo in his peroration: are they not worthy of the man who to save the state had so oft repressed a seditious citizen, and had triumphed by his valour over the ambush that was laid for him? [*](Cp. ii. 25; VI. v. 10. )
Further, it is not merely true that the variety required in impersonation will be in
The same points have to be observed with respect to those for whom we plead: for our tone will vary with the character of our client, according as he is distinguished, or of humble position, popular or the reverse, while we must also take into account the differences in their principles and their past life. As regards the orator himself, the qualities which will most commend him are courtesy, kindliness, moderation and benevolence. But, on the other hand, the opposite of these qualities will sometimes be becoming to a good man. He may hate the bad, be moved to passion in the public interest, seek to avenge crime and wrong, and, in fine, as I said at the beginning, [*](See § 14.) may follow the promptings of every honourable emotion.
The character of the speaker and of the person on whose behalf he speaks are, however, not the only points which it is important to take into account: the character of those before whom we have to speak calls for serious consideration. Their power and rank will make no small difference; we shall employ different methods according as we are speaking before the emperor, a magistrate, a senator, a private citizen, or merely a free man, while a different tone is demanded by trials in the public courts, and in cases submitted to arbitration.
For while a display of care and anxiety, and the employment of every device available for the amplification of our style are becoming when we are