Institutio Oratoria

Quintilian

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

Figures may also be commended by their antiquity, for which Virgil had such a special passion. Compare his

  1. vel cum se pavidum contra mea iurgia iactat
Aen. xi. 400. [*]( The figure consists in the use of vel cum to introduce an independent sentence. Even when he claims, to tremble at my taunts. )
or
  1. progeniem sed enim Troiano a sanguine duci
  2. audierat.
An. i. 19. [*](But she had heard that even now a raceWas springing from the blood of fallen Troy. Quintilian refers to the archaic sed enim. )
Numerous instances of the same kind might be cited from the old tragic and comic poets.

One word of this type has remained in common use, namely enimvero. I might further quote from the same author

  1. nam quis te iuvenum confidentissime,
Georg. iv. 445. [*](For who bade thee, of youths most bold.) The figure consists in the opening of a speech with nam, or perhaps rather in saying nam quis for quisnam.
words which form the beginning of a speech: or
  1. tam magis illa tremens et tristibus etffra flammis,
  2. quam magis effuso crudescunt sanguine pugnae.
Aen. vii. 787.
  1. The more the strife with bloodshed rages wild,
  2. The more it quivers and with baleful fire
  3. Glows fiercer.
There the sentence inverts the natural order which may be illustrated by quam magis aerumna urgent, tam magis ad malefaciendumn viget. [*]( The source of the quotation is unknown. The more calamity oppresses him, the greater his vigour for evil doing. )

Old writers are full of such usages. At the

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beginning of the Eunuchus [*](Eun. I. i. 1. What shall I do then? ) of Terence we have quid igitur faciam, while another comic poet says ain tandem leno? [*]( The poet is unknown. Do you agree then, you pimp? The figure in this and the preceding instance lies in the idiomatic use of igitur and tandem. ) Catullus in his Epithalamium writes:
  1. dum innupta manet, dum cara suis est,
Cat. lxii. 45. [*](While she remains unwed, so long is she dear to her own. Such is Quintilian's interpretation. The line, however, runs sic virgo, dum intacta (MSS. of Catullus), etc., and is most naturally interpreted: Even so ( i.e. like to a perfect blossom) is the maiden, while she remains unblemished and dear to her own. )
where the first dum means while, and the second means so long.

Sallust, on the other hand, borrows a number of idioms from the Greek, such as vulgus amat fieri: [*](Such things as the people love to see done. Not found in Sallust's extant works. But cp. Jug. 34: ira amat fieri. ) the same is true of Horace, who strongly approves of the practice. Compare his

  1. nec ciceris net longae invidit avenae.
Sat. II. vi. 83. [*](Nor grudged him vetches nor the long-eared oat.) The gen. of respect is regarded as a Graecism.
Virgil [*](Aen. i. 67. He sails the Tyrrhene deep. The internal ace. after the intrans. navigat is treated as a Graecism, as is ace. of part concerned after saucius. ) does the same in phrases such as
  1. Tyrrhenum navigat aequor
or saucius pectus (
wounded at heart
), an idiom which has now become familiar in the public gazette.

Under the same class of figure falls that of addition, which, although the words added may be strictly superfluous, may still be far from inelegant. Take, for example,

  1. nam neque Parnasi vobis iuga, nam neque Pindi,
Ecl. x. 11: [*](For neither did Parnassus slope, nor yet/ The slopes of Pindus make delay for you.)
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where the second nam might be omitted. And we find in Horace, [*]( Hor. Od. I. xii. 40. And Fabricius, him and Cato with locks unshorn. )
  1. Fabriciumcque,
  2. hunc et intonsis Curium capillis.
Similarly, words are omitted, a device which may be either a blemish or a figure, according to the context. The following is an example:
  1. accede ad ignen, iam calesces plus satis;
Ter. Eun. I. ii. 5. [*](Draw near the fire and you shall be more than warm enough.)
for the full phrase would be plus quam satis. There is, however, another form of omission which requires treatment at greater length. [*]( The sense is obscure. The words are either an interpolation or illustrative matter has been lost. )

We frequently use the comparative for the positive, as, for example, when a man speaks of himself as being infirmior (rather indisposed). Sometimes we join two comparatives, as in the following passage [*](Cat. I. ii. 5. If I were to give orders that you should he apprehended and put to death, I think I should have reason to fear that all good citizens would regard my action as too tardy rather than that anyone would assert that it was too cruel. ) : si te, Catilina, comprehend, si interfici iussero, credo erit verendum mihi, ne non potius hoc ones boni serius a me qam quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat.

There are also figures like the following, which, though far from being solecisms, alter the number and are also usually included among tropes. We may speak of a single thing in the plural, as in the following instance [*](Georg. ii. 541. ) :

  1. But we have travelled o'er a boundless space;
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Or we may speak of the plural in the singular, as in the following case [*](Georg. iii. 346. ) :
  1. Like the fierce Roman in his country's arms.

There are others which belong to a diflfrent species, but the same genus, such as

  1. Nor let thy vineyards slope toward the west,
Georg. ii. 298.
or
  1. In that hour
  2. Be it not mine beneath the open sky
  3. To court soft sleep nor on the forest ridge
  4. Amid the grass to lie.
Georg. iii. 435.
For in the first of these passages he is not advising some other person, nor exhorting himself in the second, his advice in both passages being meant for all. Sometimes, again, we speak of ourselves as though we were referring to others, as in phrases like,
Servius asserts, Tullius denies it.
[*](i. e. I, Cicero, deny it. Halm suggests that the passage comes from an unpublished portion of his speech in defence of Murena. cp. Pro Mur. xxvii. 57. )

At other times we speak in the first person instead of in another, or substitute one person for another. Both devices are employed together in the pro Caecina, where Cicero, addressing Piso, the counsel for the prosecution, says,

You asserted that you reinstated me: I deny that you did so in accordance with the praetor's edict.
[*](pro Caec. xxix. 82. ) The actual truth is that it was Aebutius who asserted that he had reinstated the defendant, and Caecina who denied that he had been restored in accordance with the praetor's edict. We may note also a further figure of speech in the contracted dixti, which has dropped one of its syllables.

The following also may be

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regarded as belonging to the same genus. The first is called interpositio or interclusio by us, and parenthesis or paremptosis by the Greeks, and consists in the interruption of the continuous flow of our language by the insertion of some remark. The following is an example: ego cum te (mecum enim saepissime loquilur ) patriae reddidissem. [*](pro Mil. xxxiv. 94. When I had restored you—for he often enters into conversation with me—to your country. )

To this they add hyperbaton, [*](See VIII. vi. 67.) which they refuse to include among tropes. A second figure of this kind is one closely resembling the figure of thought known as apostrophe, [*](See IX. ii. 38.) but differing in this respect, that it changes the form of the language and not the sense. The following will illustrate my meaning:

  1. The Decii too,
  2. The Marii and Camilli, names of might,
  3. The Scipios, stubborn warriors, aye, and thee,
  4. Great Caesar.
Georg. ii. 169. (Rhoades' translation).

There is a still more striking example in the passage describing the death of Polydorus [*](Aen. iii. 55. ) :

  1. All faith he brake and Polydorus slew
  2. Seizing his gold by force. Curst greed of gold,
  3. To what wilt thou not drive the hearts of men?
'Those terminologists who delight in subtle distinctions call the last figure μετάβασις (transition), and hold that it may be employed in yet another way, as in Dido's
  1. What do I say? Where am I?
Aen. iv. 595.

Virgil has combined apostrollphe and parenthesis in the well-known passage: [*](Aen. viii. 642. )

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  1. Next Mettus the swift cars asunder tore,
  2. (Better, false Alban, hadst thou kept thy troth!)
  3. And Tullus dragged the traitors' mangled limbs. . .
These figures and the like, which consist in change,

addition, omission, and the order of words, serve to attract the attention of the audience and do not allow it to flag, rousing it from time to time by some specially striking figure, while they derive something of their charm from their very resemblance to blemishes, just as a trace of bitterness in food will sometimes tickle the palate. But this result will only be obtained if figures are not excessive in number nor all of the same type or combined or closely packed, since economy in their use, no less than variety, will prevent the hearer being surfeited.

There is a more striking class of figure, which does not merely depend on the form of the language for its effect, but lends both charm and force to the thought as well. The first figure of this class which calls for notice is that which is produced by addition. Of this there are various kinds. Words, for instance, may be doubled with a view to amplification, as in

I have slain, I have slain, not Spurius Maelius
[*](Cic. pro Mil. xxvii. 72. ) (where the first I have slain states what has been done, while the second emphasises it), or to excite pity, as in
  1. Ah! Corydon, Corydon.
Ecl. ii. 69.

The same figure may also sometimes be employed ironically, with a view to disparagement. Similar to such doubling of words is repetition following a parenthesis, but the effect is stronger.

I have seen the property alas! (for though all my tears are shed,
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my grief still clings to me deep-rooted in my heart), the property, I say, of Gnaeus Pompeius put up for sale by the cruel voice of the public crier.
[*](Phil. II. xxvi. 64. )
You still live, and live not to abate your audacity, but to increase it.
[*]( Cat. I. ii. 4. )

Again, a number of clauses may begin with the same word for the sake of force and emphasis.

Were you unmoved by the guard set each night upon the Palatine, unmoved by the patrolling of the city, unmoved by the terror of the people, unmoved by the unanimity of all good citizens, unmoved by the choice of so strongly fortified a spot for the assembly of the senate, unmoved by the looks and faces of those here present to-day?
[*]( Cic. Cat. I. i. 1. ) Or they may end with the same words.
Who demanded them? Appius. Who produced them? Appius.
[*](pro. Mil. xxii. 59. )

This last instance, however, comes under the head of another figure as well, where both opening and concluding words are identical, since the sentences open with

who
and end with
Appius.
Here is another example.
Who are they who have so often broken treaties? The Carthaginians. Who are they who have waged war with such atrocious cruelty? The Carthaginians. Who are they who have laid Italy waste? The Carthaginians. Who are they who pray for pardon? The Carthaginians.
[*]( Auct. ad Herenn., iv. 14. )

Again, in antitheses and comparisons the first words of alternate phrases are frequently repeated to produce correspondence, which was my reason for saying a little while back [*]( IX. ii. 100. The passage is from pro Murena, ix. 22. ) that this device came under the present topic rather than that which I was then discussing.

You pass wakeful nights that you may be able to reply to your clients; he that he and his army may arrive betimes at their destination. You are roused by
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cockcrow, he by the bugle's reveillé. You draw up your legal pleas, he sets the battle in array. You are on the watch that your clients be not taken at a disadvantage, he that cities or camps be not so taken.

But the orator is not content with producing this effect, but proceeds to reverse the figure.

He knows and understands how to keep off the forces of the enemy, you how to keep off the rainwater; he is skilled to extend boundaries, you to delimit them.