Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian)

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	Institutio Oratoria Author: Quintilian	Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
647	Et his adiiciunt exempla Graecorum Romanorumque et enumerant , qui perniciosa non singulis tantum sed rebus etiam publicis usi eloquentia turbaverint civitatium status vel everterint , eoque et Lacedaemoniorum civitate expulsam et Athenis quoque , ubi actor movere adfectus vetabatur , velut recisam orandi potestatem .	And to these they add further examples drawn from the history of Rome and Greece, enumerating all those who used their pernicious eloquence not merely against individuals but against whole states and threw an ordered commonwealth into a state of turmoil or even brought it to utter ruin; and they point out that for this very reason rhetoric was banished from Sparta, while its powers were cut down at Athens itself by the fact that an orator was forbidden to stir the passions of his audience.
648	Quo quidem modo nec duces erunt utiles nec magistratus nec medicina nec denique ipsa sapientia . Nam et dux Flaminius et Gracchi , Saturnini , Glauciae magistratus , et in medicis venena et in his , qui philosophorum nomine male utuntur , gravissima nonnunquam flagitia deprehensa sunt .	On the showing of these critics not only orators but generals, magistrates, medicine and philosophy itself will all be useless. For Flaminius was a general, while men such as the Gracchi, Saturninus and Glaucia were magistrates. Doctors have been caught using poisons, and those who falsely assume the name of philosopher have occasionally been detected in the gravest crimes.
649	Cibos aspernemur ; attulerunt saepe valetudinis causas . Nunquam tecta subeamus ; super habitantes aliquando procumbunt . Non fabricetur militi gladius ; potest uti eodem ferro latro . Quis nescit , ignes , aquas , sine quibus nulla sit vita , et ( ne terrenis immorer ) solem lunamque , praecipua siderum , aliquando et nocere ?	Let us give up eating, it often makes us ill; let us never go inside houses, for sometimes they collapse on their occupants; let never a sword be forged for a soldier, since it might be used by a robber. And who does not realise that fire and water, both necessities of life, and, to leave mere earthly things, even the sun and moon, the greatest of the heavenly bodies, are occasionally capable of doing harm.
650	Num igitur negabitur deformem Pyrrhi pacem caecus ille Appius dicendi viribus diremisse ? aut non divina M . Tulli eloquentia et contra leges agrarias popularis fuit et Catilinae fregit audaciam et supplicationes , qui maximus honor victoribus bello ducibus datur , in toga meruit ?	On the other hand will it be denied that it was by his gift of speech that Appius the Blind broke off the dishonourable peace which was on the point of being concluded with Pyrrhus? Did not the divine eloquence of Cicero win popular applause even when he denounced the Agrarian laws, did it not crush the audacious plots of Catiline and win, while he still wore the garb of civil life, the highest honour that can be conferred on a victorious general, a public thanksgiving to heaven?
651	Nonne perterritos militum animos frequenter a metu revocat oratio et tot pugnandi pericula ineuntibus laudem vita potiorem esse persuadet ? Neque vero me Lacedaemonii atque Athenienses magis moverint quam populus Romanus , apud quem summa semper oratoribus dignitas fuit .	Has not oratory often revived the courage of a panic-stricken army and persuaded the soldier faced by all the perils of war that glory is a fairer thing than life itself? Nor shall the history of Sparta and Athens move me more than that of the Roman people, who have always held the orator in highest honour.
652	Equidem nec urbium conditores reor aliter effecturos fuisse ut vaga ilia multitudo coiret in populos , nisi docta voce commota ; nec legum repertores sine summa vi orandi consecutos , ut se ipsi homines ad servitutem iuris astringerent .	Never in my opinion would the founders of cities have induced their unsettled multitudes to form communities had they not moved them by the magic of their eloquence: never without the highest gifts of oratory would the great legislators have constrained mankind to submit themselves to the yoke of law.
653	Quin ipsa vitae praecepta , etiamsi natura sunt honesta , plus tamen ad formandas mentes valent , quotiens pulchritudinem rerum claritas orationis illuminat . Quare , etiamsi in utramque partem valent arma facundiae , non est tamen aequum id haberi malum , quo bene uti licet .	Nay, even the principles which should guide our life, however fair they may be by nature, yet have greater power to mould the mind to virtue, when the beauty of things is illumined by the splendour of eloquence. Wherefore, although the weapons of oratory may be used either for good or ill, it is unfair to regard that as an evil which can be employed for good.
654	Verum haec apud eos forsitan quaerantur , qui summam rhetorices ad persuadendi vim rettulerunt . Si vero est bene dicendi scientia , quem nos finem sequimur , ut sit orator in primis vir bonus , utilem certe esse eam confitendum est .	These problems, however, may be left to those who hold that rhetoric is the power to persuade. If our definition of rhetoric as the science of speaking well implies that an orator must be a good man, there can be no doubt about its usefulness.
655	Et hercule deus ille princeps , parens rerum fabricatorque mundi , nullo magis hominem separavit a ceteris , quae quidem mortalia essent , animalibus , quam dicendi facultate .	And in truth that god, who was in the beginning, the father of all things and the architect of the universe, distinguished man from all other living creatures that are subject to death, by nothing more than this, that he gave him the gift of speech.
656	Nam corpora quidem magnitudine , viribus , firmitate , patientia , velocitate praestantiora in illis mutis videmus , eadem minus egere adquisitae extrinsecus opis . Nam et ingredi citius et pasci et tranare aquas citra docentem natura ipsa sciunt .	For as regards physical bulk, strength, robustness, endurance or speed, man is surpassed in certain cases by dumb beasts, who also are far more independent of external assistance. They know by instinct without need of any teacher how to move rapidly, to feed themselves and swim.
657	Et pleraque contra frigus ex suo corpore vestiuntur , et arma iis ingenita quaedam et ex obvio fere victus , circa quae omnia multus hominibus labor est . Rationem igitur nobis praecipuam dedit eiusque nos socios esse cum dis immortalibus voluit .	Many too have their bodies clothed against cold, possess natural weapons and have not to search for their food, whereas in all these respects man's life is full of toil. Reason then was the greatest gift of the Almighty, who willed that we should share its possession with the immortal gods.
658	Sed ipsa ratio neque tam nos iuvaret neque tam esset in nobis manifesta , nisi , quae concepissemus mente , promere etiam loquendo possemus , quod magis deesse ceteris animalibus quam intellectum et cogitationem quandam videmus .	But reason by itself would help us but little and would be far less evident in us, had we not the power to express our thoughts in speech; for it is the lack of this power rather than thought and understanding, which they do to a certain extent possess, that is the great defect in other living things.
659	Nam et mollire cubilia et nidos texere et educare fetus et excludere , quin etiam reponere in hiemem alimenta , opera quaedam nobis inimitabilia ( qualia sunt cerarum ac mellis ) efficere , nonnullius fortasse rationis est ; sed quia carent sermone , quae id faciunt , muta atque irrationalia vocantur .	The construction of a soft lair, the weaving of nests, the hatching and rearing of their young, and even the storing up of food for the coming winter, together with certain other achievements which we cannot imitate, such as the making of honey and wax, all these perhaps indicate the possession of a certain degree of reason; but since the creatures that do these things lack the gift of speech they are called dumb and unreasoning beasts.
660	Denique homines , quibus negata vox est , quantulum adiuvat animus ille caelestis ? Quare si nihil a dis oratione melius accepimus , quid tam dignum cultu ac labore ducamus , aut in quo malimus praestare hominibus , quam quo ipsi homines ceteris animalibus praestant ,	Finally, how little the heavenly boon of reason avails those who are born dumb. If therefore we have received no fairer gift from heaven than speech, what shall we regard as so worthy of laborious cultivation, or in what should we sooner desire to excel our fellow-men, than that in which mankind excels all other living things?
661	eo quidem magis , quod nulla in arte plenius labor gratiam refert ? Id adeo manifestum erit , si cogitaverimus , unde et quo usque iam provecta sit orandi facultas ; et adhuc augeri potest .	And we should be all the more eager to do so, since there is no art which yields a more grateful recompense for the labour bestowed upon it. This will be abundantly clear if we consider the origins of oratory and the progress it has made; and it is capable of advancing still further.
662	Nam ut omittam , defendere amicos , regere consiliis senatum , populum , exercitum in quae velit ducere , quam sit utile conveniatque bono viro , nonne pulchrum vel hoc ipsum est , ex communi intellectu verbisque , quibus utuntur omnes , tantum adsequi laudis et gloriae , ut non loqui et orare sed , quod Pericli contigit , fulgurare ac tonare videaris ?	I will not stop to point out how useful and how becoming a task it is for a good man to defend his friends, to guide the senate by his counsels, and to lead peoples or armies to follow his bidding; I merely ask, is it not a noble thing, by employing the understanding which is common to mankind and the words that are used by all, to win such honour and glory that you seem not to speak or plead, but rather, as was said of Pericles, to thunder and lighten?
663	Finis non erit , si exspatiari in parte hac et indulgere voluptati velim . Transeamus igitur ad eam quaestionem , quae sequitur , an rhetorice ars sit .	However, if I were to indulge my own inclinations in expatiating on this subject, I should go on for ever. Let us therefore pass to the next question and consider whether rhetoric is an art.
664	Quod quidem adeo ex iis , qui praecepta dicendi tradiderunt , nemo dubitavit , ut etiam ipsis librorum titulis testatum sit , scriptos eos de arte rhetorica ; Cicero vero eam , quae rhetorice vocetur , esse artificiosam eloquentiam dicat . Quod non oratores tantum vindicarunt , ut studiis aliquid suis praestitisse videantur , sed cum iis philosophi et Stoici et Peripatetici plerique consentiunt .	No one of those who have laid down rules for oratory has ever doubted that it is an art. It is clear even from the titles of their books that their theme is the art of rhetoric, while Cicero defines rhetoric as artistic eloquence. And it is not merely the orators who have claimed this distinction for their studies with a view to giving them an additional title to respect, but the Stoic and Peripatetic philosophers for the most part agree with them.
665	Ac me dubitasse confiteor , an hanc partem quaestionis tractandam putarem ; nam quis est adeo non ab eruditione modo sed a sensu remotus hominis , ut fabricandi quidem et texendi et e luto vasa ducendi artem putet , rhetoricen autem , maximum ac pulcherrimum , ut supra diximus , opus , in tam sublime fastigium existimet sine arte venisse ?	Indeed I will confess that I had doubts as to whether I should discuss this portion of my inquiry, for there is no one, I will not say so unlearned, but so devoid of ordinary sense, as to hold that building, weaving or moulding vessels from clay are arts, and at the same time to consider that rhetoric, which, as I have already said, is the noblest and most sublime of tasks, has reached such a lofty eminence without the assistance of art.
666	Equidem illos , qui contra disputaverunt , non tam id sensisse quod dicerent , quam exercere ingenia materiae difficultate credo voluisse , sicut Polycraten , cum Busirim laudaret et Clytaemnestram ; quanquam is , quod his dissimile non est , composuisse orationem , quae est habita contra Socraten , dicitur .	For my own part I think that those who have argued against this view did not realise what they were saying, but merely desired to exercise their wits by the selection of a difficult theme, like Polycrates, when he praised Busiris and Clytemnestra; I may add that he is credited with a not dissimilar performance, namely the composition of a speech which was delivered against Socrates.
667	Quidam naturalem esse rhetoricen volunt et tamen adiuvari exercitatione non diffitentur , ut in libris Ciceronis de Oratore dicit Antonius , observationem quandam esse non artem .	Some would have it that rhetoric is a natural gift though they admit that it can be developed by practice. So Antonius in the de Oralore of Cicero styles it a knack derived from experience, but denies that it is an art:
668	Quod non ideo , ut pro vero accipiamus , est positum , sed ut Antoni persona servetur , qui dissimulator artis fuit . Hanc autem opinionem habuisse Lysias videtur . Cuius sententiae talis defensio est , quod indocti et barbari et servi , pro se cum loquuntur , aliquid dicant simile principio , narrent , probent , refutent , et ( quod vim habeat epilogi ) deprecentur .	this statement is however not intended to be accepted by us as the actual truth, but is inserted to make Antonius speak in character, since he was in the habit of concealing his art. Still Lysias is said to have maintained this same view, which is defended on the ground that uneducated persons, barbarians and slaves, when speaking on their own behalf, say something that resembles an exordiam, state the facts of the case, prove, refute and plead for mercy just as an orator does in his peroration.
669	Deinde adiiciunt illas verborum cavillationes , nihil , quod ex arte fiat , ante artem fuisse ; atqui dixisse homines pro se et in alios semper , doctores artis sero et circa Tisian et Coraca primum repertos , orationem igitur ante artem fuisse eoque artem non esse .	To this is added the quibble that nothing that is based on art can have existed before the art in question, whereas men have always from time immemorial spoken in their own defence or in denunciation of others: the teaching of rhetoric as an art was, they say, a later invention dating from about the time of Tisias and Corax: oratory therefore existed before art and consequently cannot be an art.
670	Nos porro , quando coeperit huius rei doctrina , non laboramus exquirere , quanquam apud Homerum et praeceptorem Phoenicem cum agendi tum etiam loquendi et oratores plures et omne in tribus ducibus orationis genus et certamina quoque proposita eloquentiae inter iuvenes invenimus , quin in caelatura clipei Achillis et lites sunt et actores .	For my part I am not concerned with the date when oratory began to be taught. Even in Homer we find Phoenix as an instructor not only of conduct but of speaking, while a number of orators are mentioned, the various styles are represented by the speeches of three of the chiefs and the young men are set to contend among themselves in contests of eloquence: moreover lawsuits and pleaders are represented in the engravings on the shield of Achilles.
671	Illud enim admonere satis est , omnia , quae ars consummaverit , a natura initia duxisse . Aut tollatur medicina , quae ex observatione salubrium atque iis contrariorum reperta est , et , ut quibusdam placet , tota constat experimentis ; nam et vulnus deligavit aliquis , antequam haec ars esset , et febrem quiete et abstinentia , non quia rationem videbat , sed quia id valetudo ipsa cogebat , mitigavit .	It is sufficient to call attention to the fact that everything which art has brought to perfection originated in nature. Otherwise we might deny the title of art to medicine, which was discovered from the observation of sickness and health, and according to some is entirely based upon experiment: wounds were bound up long before medicine developed into an art, and fevers were reduced by rest and abstention from food, long before the reason for such treatment was known, simply because the state of the patient's health left no choice.
672	Nec fabrica sit ars ; casas enim primi illi sine arte fecerunt ; nec musica ; cantatur ac saltatur per omnes gentes aliquo modo . Ita si rhetorice vocari debet sermo quicunque , fuisse eam ,	So too building should not be styled an art; for primitive man built himself a hut without the assistance of art. Music by the same reasoning is not an art; for every race indulges in some kind of singing and dancing. If therefore any kind of speech is to be called eloquence, I will admit that it existed before it was an art.
673	antequam esset ars , confitebor ; si vero non quisquis loquitur , orator est , et tum non tanquam oratores loquebantur , necesse est , oratorem factum arte nec ante artem fuisse fateantur . Quo illud quoque excluditur , quod dicunt , non esse artis id , quod faciat qui non didicerit , dicere autem homines et qui non didicerint .	If on the other hand not every man that speaks is an orator and primitive man did not speak like an orator, my opponents must needs acknowledge that oratory is the product of art and did not exist before it. This conclusion also rules out their argument that men speak who have never learnt how to speak, and that which a man does untaught can have no connexion with art.
674	Ad cuius rei confirmationem adferunt , Demaden remigem , et Aeschinen hypocriten oratores fuisse . Falso ; nam neque orator esse , qui non didicit , potest , et hos sero potius quam nunquam didicisse quis dixerit , quanquam Aeschines ab initio sit versatus in litteris , quas pater eius etiam docebat , Demaden neque non didicisse certum sit , et continua dicendi exercitatio potuerit tantum , quantuscunque postea fuit , fecisse ; nam id potentissimum discendi genus est .	In support of this contention they adduce the fact that Demades was a waterman and Aeschines an actor, but both were orators. Their reasoning is false. For no man can be an orator untaught and it would be truer to say that these orators learned oratory late in life than that they never learned at all; although as a matter of fact Aeschines had an acquaintance with literature from childhood since his father was a teacher of literature, while as regards Demades, it is quite uncertain that he never studied rhetoric and in any case continuous practice in speaking was sufficient to bring him to such proficiency as he attained: for experience is the best of all schools.
675	Sed et praestantiorem , si didicisset , futurum fuisse dicere licet ; neque enim orationes scribere est ausus , ut eum multum valuisse in dicendo sciamus .	On the other hand it may fairly be asserted that he would have achieved greater distinction, if he had received instruction: for although he delivered his speeches with great effect, he never ventured to write them for others.
676	Aristoteles , ut solet , quaerendi gratia quaedam subtilitatis suae argumenta excogitavit in Gryllo ; sed idem et de arte rhetorica tris libros scripsit , et in eorum primo non artem solum eam fatetur , sed ei particulam civilitatis sicut dialectices adsignat .	Aristotle, it is true, in his Gryllus produces some tentative arguments to the contrary, which are marked by characteristic ingenuity. On the other hand he also wrote three books on the art of rhetoric, in the first of which he not merely admits that rhetoric is an art, but treats it as a department of politics and also of logic.
677	Multa Critolaus contra , multa Rhodius Athenodorus . Agnon quidem detraxit sibi inscriptione ipsa fidem , qua rhetorices accusationem professus est . Nam de Epicuro , qui disciplinas omnes fugit , nihil miror .	Critolaus and Athenodorus of Rhodes have produced many arguments against this view, while Agnon renders himself suspect by the very title of his book in which he proclaims that he is going to indict rhetoric. As to the statements of Epicurus on this subject, they cause me no surprise, for he is the foe of all systematic training.
678	Hi complura dicunt sed ex paucis locis ducta ; itaque potentissimis eorum breviter occurram , ne in infinitum quaestio evadat .	These gentlemen talk a great deal, but the arguments on which they base their statements are few. I will therefore select the most important of them and will deal with them briefly, to prevent the discussion lasting to all eternity.
679	Prima iis argumentatio ex materia est . Omnes enim artes aiunt habere materiam , quod est verum ; rhetorices nullam esse propriam , quod esse falsum in sequentibus probabo .	Their first contention is based on the subject-matter; for they assert that all arts have their own subject-matter (which is true) and go on to say that rhetoric has none, which I shall show in what follows to be false.
680	Altera est calumnia nullam artem falsis assentiri opinionibus , quia constitui sine perceptione non possit , quae semper vera sit ; rhetoricen assentiri falsis , non esse igitur artem .	Another slander is to the effect that no art will acquiesce in false opinions: since an art must be based on direct perception, which is always true: now, say they, rhetoric does give its assent to false conclusions and is therefore not an art.
681	Ego rhetoricen nonnunquam dicere falsa pro veris confitebor , sed non ideo in falsa quoque esse opinione concedam , quia longe diversum est , ipsi quid videri et , ut alii videatur , efficere . Nam et imperator falsis utitur saepe , ut Hannibal , cum inclusus a Fabio , sarmentis circum cornua boum deligatis incensisque , per noctem in adversos montes agens armenta speciem hosti abeuntis exercitus dedit , sed illum fefellit , ipse , quid verum esset , non ignoravit .	I will admit that rhetoric sometimes substitutes falsehood for truth, but I will not allow that it does so because its opinions are false, since there is all the difference between holding a certain opinion oneself and persuading someone else to adopt an opinion. For instance a general frequently makes use of falsehood: Hannibal when hemmed in by Fabius persuaded his enemy that he was in retreat by tying brushwood to the horns of oxen, setting fire to them by night and driving the herds across the mountains opposite. But though he deceived Fabius, he himself was fully aware of the truth.
682	Nec vero Theopompus Lacedaemonius , cum permutato cum uxore habitu e custodia ut mulier evasit , falsam de se opinionem habuit , sed custodibus praebuit . Item orator , cum falso utitur pro vero , scit esse falsum eoque se pro vero uti ; non ergo falsam habet ipse opinionem , sed fallit alium .	Again when the Spartan Theopompus changed clothes with his wife and escaped from custody disguised as a woman, he deceived his guards, but was not for a moment deceived as to his own identity. Similarly an orator, when he substitutes falsehood for the truth, is aware of the falsehood and of the fact that he is substituting it for the truth.
683	Nec Cicero , cum se tenebras offudisse iudicibus in causa Cluenti gloriatus est , nihil ipse vidit . Et pictor , cum vi artis suae efficit , ut quaedam eminere in opere , quaedam recessisse credamus , ipse ea plana esse non nescit .	He therefore deceives others, but not himself. When Cicero boasted that he had thrown dust in the eyes of the jury in the case of Cluentius, he was far from being blinded himself. And when a painter by his artistic skill makes us believe that certain objects project from the picture, while others are withdrawn into the background, he knows perfectly well that they are really all in the same plane.
684	Aiunt etiam omnes artes habere finem aliquem propositum , ad quem tendant ; hunc modo nullum esse in rhetorice , modo non praestari eum , qui promittatur . Mentiuntur ; nos enim esse finem iam ostendimus , et quis esset diximus .	My opponents further assert that every art has some definite goal towards which it directs its efforts, but that rhetoric as a rule has no such goal, while at other times it professes to have an aim, but fails to perform its promise. They lie: I have already shown that rhetoric has a definite purpose and have explained what it is.