Institutio Oratoria

There are, however, examples of the same thing in Latin authors.

It was the energy of Africanus that gave him his peculiar excellence, his excellence that gave him glory, his glory that gave him rivals.

Consequently this means the abolition

v7-9 p.479

of trials for treason no less than for extortion, for offences covered by the Plautian law no less than for treason, for bribery no less than for those offences, and for all breaches of every law no less than for bribery,

It is also to be found in poets, as in the passage in Homer [*](Il. ii. 101. ) describing the sceptre which he traces from the hands of Jupiter down to those of Agamemnon, and in the following from one of our own tragedians: [*](Unknown.)

1. From Jove, so runs the tale, was Tantalus sprung,
2. From Tantalus Pelops, and of Pelops' seed
3. Sprang Atreus, who is sire of all our line.

As regards the figures produced by omission, they rely for their charm in the main on conciseness and novelty. There is one of these which I mentioned in the last book [*](VII. vi. 21.) with reference to synecdoche, and postponed discussing until such time as I came to deal with figures: it occurs when the word omitted may be clearly gathered from the context: an example may be found in Caelius' denunciation of Antony: stupere gaudio Graecus: [*](The Greek was struck dumb with joy.) for we must clearly supply coepit. Or take the following passage from a letter of Cicero [*]( Lost. No talk except of you. What better? Then Fla virus says, 'Couriers to-morrow,' and I scribbled these lines at his house during dinner. ) to Brutus: Serno nullus scilicet nisi de te: quid enim potius? turn Flavius, cras, inquit, tabellarii, et ego ibidem has inter cenum exaravi.

Of a similar kind, at any rate in my opinion, are those passages in which words are decently omitted to spare our modesty.

1. You—while the goats looked goatish-we know who,
2. And in what chapel—(but the kind Nymphs laughed).

Ecl. iii. 8.