Institutio Oratoria

Slapping the thigh, which Clean is said to have been the first to introduce at Athens, is in general use and is becoming as a mark of indignation, while it also excites the audience. Cicero [*](Brut. lax. 278. ) regrets its absence in Calidius,

There was no striking of the forehead,

nor of the thigh.

it is only on rare occasions, too, that it is becoming to touch the breast with the finger-tips of the hollowed hand, when, for example, we address ourselves or speak words of exhortation, reproach or commiseration. But if ever we do employ this gesture, it will not be unbecoming to pull back the toga at the same time. As regards the feet, we need to be careful about our gait and the attitudes

At times we may rest our weight on the right foot, but without any corresponding inclination of the chest, while, in any case, the gesture is better suited to the comic actor than to the orator. It is also a mistake, when resting on the left foot, to lift the right or poise it on tiptoe. To straddle the feet is ugly if we are standing still, and almost indecent if we are actually moving. To start forward may be effective, provided that we move but a short distance and do so but rarely and without violence.

It will also at times be found convenient to walk to and fro, owing to the extravagant pauses imposed by the plaudits of the audience; Cicero, [*](Orat. xviii. 59. ) however, says that this should be done only on rare occasions, and that we should take not more than a few steps. On the other hand, to run up and down, which, in the ease of Manlius Sure, [*](See VI. iii. 54.) Domitius Afer called overdoing it, is sheer folly, and there was no little wit in the question put by Virginias Flatus to a rival professor, when he asked how many miles he had declaimed.

I know, too, that some authorities warn us not to walk with our backs turned to the judges, but to move diagonally and keep our eyes fixed on the panel. This cannot be done in private trials, but in such cases the space available is small and the time during which our backs are turned is of the briefest. [*]( The normal arrangement was for the president of the court and judges to sit on a tribunal or dais. The advocates and parties to the suit were on the ground in front. When pleading before a large jury the orator could walk diagonally, half-facing the jury, without at any rate turning his back on too many at a time. When, however, there was but a single judge, as in a private trial, the feat would he more difficult, But apparently the court took up less room in such cases, and the orator's peregrinations would be but small. See § 134 note. ) On the other hand, we are permitted at times to walk backwards gradually. Some even jump backwards, which is merely ludicrous.