Institutio Oratoria

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.