Institutio Oratoria

Quintilian

Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria, Volume 1-4. Butler, Harold Edgeworth, translator. Cambridge, Mass; London: Harvard University Press, William Heinemann Ltd., 1920-1922.

Gaius Varenus, he who was killed by the slaves of Ancharius—I beg you, gentlemen, to give me your best attention at this point.

Further if the case involves a number of different matters, each section must be prefaced with a short introduction, such as

Listen now to what follows,

I now pass to the next point.

Even in the proof there are many passages which perform the same function as an exordium, such as the passage in the pro Cluentio [*](xlii. 117.) where Cicero introduces an attack on the censors and in the pro Murena [*](iii. 7.) when he apologises to Servius. But the practice is too common to need illustration.

However on all occasions when we have employed the exordium, whether we intend to pass to the statement of facts or direct to the proof, our intention should be mentioned at the conclusion of the introduction, with the result that the transition to what follows will be smooth and easy.

There is indeed a pedantic and childish affectation in vogue in the schools of

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marking the transition by some epigram and seeking to win applause by this feat of legerdemain. Ovid is given to this form of affectation in his Metamorphoses, but there is some excuse for him owing to the fact that he is compelled to weld together subjects of the most diverse nature so as to form a continuous whole.