Institutio Oratoria |
Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
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| 2357 |
Plurimum in hoc genere sicut in ceteris eminet Cicero . An quisquam tam procul a concipiendis imaginibus rerum abest , ut non , cum illa in Verrem legit , Stetit soleatus praetor populi Romani cum pallio purpureo tunicaque talari muliercula nixus in litore , non solum ipsos intueri videatur et locum et habitum , sed quaedam etiam ex iis , quae dicta non sunt , sibi ipse adstruat ?
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Cicero is supreme in this department, as in others. Is there anybody so incapable of forming a mental picture of a scene that, when he reads the following passage from the Verrines, he does not seem not merely to see the actors in the scene, the place itself and their very dress, but even to imagine to himself other details that the orator does not describe? " There on the shore stood the praetor, the representative of the Roman people, with slippered feet, robed in a purple cloak, a tunic streaming to his heels, and leaning on the arm of this worthless woman. " |
| 2358 |
Ego certe mihi cernere videor et vultum et oculos et deformes utriusque blanditias et eorum qui aderant tacitam aversationem ac timidam verecundiam .
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For my own part, I seem to see before my eyes his face, his eyes, the unseemly blandishments of himself and his paramour, the silent loathing and frightened shame of those who viewed the scene. |
| 2359 |
Interim ex pluribus efficitur illa quam conamur exprimere facies , ut est apud eundem ( namque ad omnium ornandi virtutum exemplum vel unus sufficit ) in descriptione convivii luxuriosi : Videbar videre alios intrantes , alios autem exeuntes , quosdam ex vino vacillantes , quosdam hesterna ex potatione oscitantes . Humus erat immunda , lutulenta vino , coronis languidulis et spinis cooperta piscium .
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At times, again, the picture which we endeavour to present is fuller in detail, as, for example, in the following description of a luxurious banquet, which is also from Cicero, since he by himself is capable of supplying admirable examples of every kind of oratorical ornament: " I seemed to see some entering, some leaving the room, some reeling under the influence of the wine, others yawning with yesterday's potations. The floor was foul with wine-smears, covered with wreaths half-withered and littered with fishbones. " |
| 2360 |
Quid plus videret qui intrasset ? Sic et urbium captarum crescit miseratio . Sine dubio enim , qui dicit expugnatam esse civitatem , complectitur omnia quaecunque talis fortuna recipit , sed in adfectus minus penetrat brevis hic velut nuntius .
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What more would any man have seen who had actually entered the room? So, too, we may move our hearers to tears by the picture of a captured town. For the mere statement that the town was stormed, while no doubt it embraces all that such a calamity involves, has all the curtness of a dispatch, and fails to penetrate to the emotions of the hearer. |
| 2361 |
At si aperias haec , quae verbo uno inclusa erant , apparebunt effusae per domus ac templa flammae et ruentium tectorum fragor et ex diversis clamoribus unus quidam sonus , aliorum fuga incerta , alii extremo complexu suorum cohaerentes et infantium feminarumque ploratus et male usque in illum diem servati fato senes ;
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But if we expand all that the one word "stormed" includes, we shall see the flames pouring from house and temple, and hear the crash of falling roofs and one confused clamour blent of many cries: we shall behold some in doubt whither to fly, others clinging to their nearest and dearest in one last embrace, while the wailing of women and children and the laments of old men that the cruelty of fate should have spared them to see that day will strike upon our ears. |
| 2362 |
tum illa profanorum sacrorumque direptio , efferentium praedas repetentiumque discursus et acti ante suum quisque praedonem catenati et conata retinere infantem suum mater et , sicubi maius lucrum est , pugna inter victores . Licet enim haec omnia ,
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Then will come the pillage of treasure sacred and profane, the hurrying to and fro of the plunderers as they carry off their booty or return to seek for more, the prisoners driven each before his own inhuman captor, the mother struggling to keep her child, and the victors fighting over the richest of the spoil. For though, as I have already said, the sack of a city includes all these things, it is less effective to tell the whole news at once than to recount it detail by detail. |
| 2363 |
ut dixi , complectatur eversio , minus est tamen totum dicere quam omnia . Consequemur autem , ut manifesta sint , si fuerint veri similia ; et licebit etiam falso adfingere quidquid fieri solet . Continget eadem claritas etiam ex accidentibus : " Mihi frigidus horror Membra quatit , gelidusque coit formidine sanguis . " Et " Et trepidae mares pressere ad pectora natos . " Atque huius summae , iudicio quidem meo ,
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And we shall secure the vividness we seek, if only our descriptions give the impression of truth, nay, we may even add fictitious incidents of the type which commonly occur. The same vivid impression may be produced also by the mention of the accidents of each situation: "Chill shudderings shake my limbs And all my blood is curdled cold with fear;" or "And trembling mothers clasped Their children to their breast." Though the attainment of such effects is, |
| 2364 |
virtutis facillima est via . Naturam intueamur , hanc sequamur . Omnis eloquentia circa opera vitae est , ad se refert quisque quae audit , et id facillime accipiunt animi , quod agnoscunt .
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in my opinion, the highest of all oratorical gifts, it is far from difficult of attainment. Fix your eyes on nature and follow her. All eloquence is concerned with the activities of life, while every man applies to himself what he hears from others, and the mind is always readiest to accept what it recognises to be true to nature. |
| 2365 |
Praeclare vero ad inferendam rebus lucem repertae sunt similitudines ; quarum aliae sunt , quae probationis gratia inter argumenta ponuntur , aliae ad exprimendam rerum imaginem compositae , quod est huius loci proprium : " Inde lupi ceu Raptores atra in nebula . " Et " Avi similis , quae circum litora , circum Piscosos scopulos humilis volat aequora iuxta . " Quo in genere id est praecipue custodiendum ,
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The invention of similes has also provided an admirable means of illuminating our descriptions. Some of these are designed for insertion among our arguments to help our proof, while others are devised to make our pictures yet more vivid; it is with this latter class of simile that I am now specially concerned. The following are good examples:— "Thence like fierce wolves beneath the cloud of night," or "Like the bird that flies Around the shore and the fish-haunted reef, Skimming the deep." |
| 2366 |
ne id , quod similitudinis gratia adscivimus , aut obscurum sit aut ignotum . Debet enim , quod illustrandae alterius rei gratia assumitur , ipsum esse clarius eo quod illuminat . Quare poetis quidem permittamus sane eiusmodi exempla : " Qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta Deserit aut Delum maternam invisit Apollo . " Non idem oratorem decebit , ut occultis aperta demonstret .
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In employing this form of ornament we must be especially careful that the subject chosen for our simile is neither obscure nor unfamiliar: for anything that is selected for the purpose of illuminating something else must itself be clearer than that which it is designed to illustrate. Therefore while we may permit poets to employ such similes as:— "As when Apollo wintry Lycia leaves, And Xanthus' streams, or visits Delos' isle, His mother's home," it would be quite unsuitable for an orator to illustrate something quite plain by such obscure allusions. |
| 2367 |
Sed illud quoque , de quo in argumentis diximus , similitudinis genus ornat orationem facitque sublimem , floridam , iucundam , mirabilem . Nam quo quaeque longius petita est , hoc plus adfert novitatis atque inexspectata magis est .
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But even the type of simile which I discussed in connexion with arguments is an ornament to oratory, and serves to make it sublime, rich, attractive or striking, as the case may be. For the more remote the simile is from the subject to which it is applied, the greater will be the impression of novelty and the unexpected which it produces. |
| 2368 |
Illa vulgaria videntur et utilia tantum ad conciliandam fidem : Ut terram cultu , sic animum disciplinis meliorem uberioremque fieri , et Vt medici abalienata morbis membra praecidant , ita turpes ac perniciosos , etiamsi nobis sanguine cohaereant , amputandos . Iam sublimius illud pro Archia ; Saxa atque solitudines voci respondent , bestiae saepe immanes cantu flectuntur atque consistunt et cetera .
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The following type may be regarded as commonplace and useful only as helping to create an impression of sincerity: " As the soil is improved and rendered more fertile by culture, so is the mind by education, " or " As physicians amputate mortified limbs, so must we lop away foul and dangerous criminals, even though they be bound to us by ties of blood. " Far finer is the following from Cicero's defence of Archias: " Rock and deserts reply to the voice of man, savage beasts are oft-times tamed by the power of music and stay their onslaught, " and the rest. |
| 2369 |
Quod quidem genus a quibusdam declamatoria maxime licentia corruptum est . Nam et falsis utuntur nec illa iis , quibus similia videri volunt , applicant . Quorum utrumque in his est , quae me iuvene ubique cantari solebant , Magnorum fluminum navigabiles fontes sunt , et Generosioris arboris statim planta cum fructu est .
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This type of simile has, however, sadly degenerated in the hands of some of our declaimers owing to the license of the schools. For they adopt false comparisons, and even then do not apply them as they should to the subjects to which they wish them to provide a parallel. Both these faults are exemplified in two similes which were on the lips of everyone when I was a young man, "Even the sources of mighty rivers are navigable," and "The generous tree bears fruit while it is yet a sapling." |
| 2370 |
At omni autem parabole aut praecedit similitudo , res sequitur , aut praecedit res et similitudo sequitur . Sed interim libera et separata est ; interim , quod longe optimum est , cum re , cuius est imago , connectitur , collatione invicem respondente , quod facit redditio contraria , quae ἀνταπόδοσις dicitur .
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In every comparison the simile either precedes or follows the subject which it illustrates. But sometimes it is free and detached, and sometimes, a far better arrangement, is attached to the subject which it illustrates, the correspondence between the resemblances being exact, an effect produced by reciprocal representation, which the Greeks style ἀνταπόδοσις. For example, the simile already quoted, |
| 2371 |
Praecedit similitudo illa , cuius modo feci mentionem : " Inde lupi ceu Raptores atra in nebula . " Sequitur in primo Georgicon post longam de bellis civilibus atque externis conquestionem : " Ut , cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae , Addunt in spatia ; et frustra retinacula tendens Fertur equis auriga , neque audit currus habenas . " Sed hae sunt sine antapodosi .
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" Thence like fierce wolves beneath the cloud of night, " precedes its subject. On the other hand, an example of the simile following its subject is to be found in the first Georgic, where, after the long lamentation over the wars civil and foreign that have afflicted Rome, there come the lines: "As when, their barriers down, the chariots speed Lap after lap; in vain the charioteer Tightens the curb: his steeds ungovernable Sweep him away nor heeds the car the rein." There is, however, no antapodosis in these similes. |
| 2372 |
Redditio autem illa rem utramque , quam comparat , velut subiicit oculis et pariter ostendit . Cuius praeclara apud Vergilium multa reperio exempla , sed oratoriis potius utendum est . Dicit Cicero pro Murena , Ut aiunt in Graecis artificibus eos auloedos esse , qui citharoedi fieri non potuerint , sic apud nos videmus , qui oratores evadere non potuerint , eos ad iuris studium devenire .
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Such reciprocal representation places both subjects of comparison before our very eyes, displaying them side by side. Virgil provides many remarkable examples, but it will be better for me to quote from oratory. In the pro Murena Cicero says, " As among Greek musicians (for so they say), only those turn flute-players that cannot play the lyre, so here at Rome we see that those who cannot acquire the art of oratory betake themselves to the study of the law. " |
| 2373 |
Illud pro eodem iam paene poetico spiritu , sed tamen cum sua redditione , quod est ad ornatum accommodatius : Nam ut tempestates saepe certo aliquo caeli signo commoventur , saepe improvisae nulla ex certa ratione obscura aliqua ex causa concitantur , sic in hac comitiorum tempestate populari saepe intelligas , quo signo commota sit , saepe ita obscura est , ut sine causa excitata videatur . Sunt et illae breves ,
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There is also another simile in the same speech, which is almost worthy of a poet, but in virtue of its reciprocal representation is better adapted for ornament: " For as tempests are generally preceded by some premonitory signs in the heaven, but often, on the other hand, break forth for some obscure reason without any warning whatsoever, so in the tempests which sway the people at our Roman elections we are not seldom in a position to discern their origin, and yet, on the other hand, it is frequently so obscure that the storm seems to have burst without any apparent cause. " |
| 2374 |
Vagi per siluas ritu ferarum , et illud Ciceronis in Clodium , Quo ex iudicio velut ex incendio nudus effugit . Quibus similia possunt cuicunque etiam ex cotidiano sermone succurrere . Huic subiacet virtus non solum aperte ponendi rem ante oculos , sed circumcise atque velociter .
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We find also shorter similes, such as "Wandering like wild beasts through the woods," or the passage from Cicero's speech against Clodius: "He fled from the court like a man escaping naked from a fire." Similar examples from everyday speech will occur to everyone. Such comparisons reveal the gift not merely of placing a thing vividly before the eye, but of doing so with rapidity and without waste of detail. |
| 2375 |
Ac merito laudatur brevitas integra ; sed ea minus praestat , quotiens nihil dicit , nisi quod necesse est ( βραχυλογίαν vocant , quae reddetur inter schemata ) , est vero pulcherrima , cum plura paucis complectimur , quale Sallustii est , Mithridates corpore ingenti , perinde armatus . Hoc male imitantes sequitur obscuritas .
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The praise awarded to perfect brevity is well-deserved; but, on the other hand, brachylogy, which I shall deal with when I come to speak of figures, that is to say, the brevity that says nothing more than what is absolutely necessary, is less effective, although it may be employed with admirable results when it expresses a great deal in a very few words, as in Sallust's description of Mithridates as "huge of stature, and armed to match." But unsuccessful attempts to imitate this form of terseness result merely in obscurity. |
| 2376 |
Vicina praedictae sed amplior virtus est ἔμφασις , altiorem praebens intellectum quam quem verba per se ipsa declarant . Eius duae sunt species , altera , quae plus significat quam dicit , altera , quae etiam id quod non dicit .
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A virtue which closely resembles the last, but is on a grander scale, is emphasis, which succeeds in revealing a deeper meaning than is actually expressed by the words. There are two kinds of emphasis: the one means more than it says, the other often means something which it does not actually say. |
| 2377 |
Prior est et apud Homerum , cum Menelaus Graios in equum descendisse ait ( nam verbo uno magnitudinem eius ostendit ) , et apud Vergilium , Demissum lapsi per funem ; nam sic quoque altitudo demonstrata est . Idem , Cyclopa cum iacuisse dixit per antrum , prodigiosum illud corpus spatio loci mensus est .
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An example of the former is found in Homer, where he makes Menelaus say that the Greeks descended into the Wooden Horse, indicating its size by a single verb. Or again, there is the following example by Virgil: "Descending by a rope let down," a phrase which in a similar manner indicates the height of the horse. The same poet, when he says that the Cyclops lay stretched "throughout the cave," by taking the room occupied as the standard of measure, gives an impression of the giant's immense bulk. |
| 2378 |
Sequens positum in voce aut omnino suppressa aut etiam abscisa . Supprimitur vox , ut fecit pro Ligario Cicero : Quodsi in hac tanta fortuna bonitas tanta non esset , quam tu per te , per te inquam , obtines : intelligo , quid loquar . Tacuit enim illud , quod nihilominus accipimus , non deesse homines , qui ad crudelitatem eum impellant . Absciditur per ἀποσιώπησιν quae , quoniam est figura , reddetur suo loco .
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The second kind of emphasis consists either in the complete suppression of a word or in the deliberate omission to utter it. As an example of complete suppression I may quote the following passage from the pro Ligario, 4 where Cicero says: " But if your exalted position were not matched by your goodness of heart, a quality which is all your own, your very own—I know well enough what I am saying—— " Here he suppresses the fact, which is none the less clear enough to us, that he does not lack counsellors who would incite him to cruelty. The omission of a word is produced by aposiopesis, which, however, being a figure, shall be dealt with in its proper place. |
| 2379 |
Est in vulgaribus quoque verbis emphasis : Virum esse oportet , et Homo est ille , et Vivendum est . Adeo similis est arti plerumque natura . Non tamen satis eloquentiae est , ea , de quibus dicat , clare atque evidenter ostendere ; sed sunt multi ac varii excolendae orationis modi .
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Emphasis is also found in the phrases of every day, such as "Be a man!" or "He is but mortal," or "We must live!" So like, as a rule, is nature to art. It is not, however, sufficient for eloquence to set forth its theme in brilliant and vivid language: there are many different ways of embellishing our style. |
| 2380 |
Nam ipsa illa ἀφέλεια simplex et inadfectata habet quendam purum , qualis etiam in feminis amatur , ornatum , et sunt quaedam velut e tenui diligentia circa proprietatem significationemque munditiae . Alia copia locuples , alia floribus laeta .
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For even that absolute and unaffected simplicity which the Greeks call ἀφέλεια has in it a certain chaste ornateness such as we admire also in women, while a minute accuracy in securing propriety and precision in our words likewise produces an impression of neatness and delicacy. Again copiousness may consist either in wealth of thought or luxuriance of language. |
| 2381 |
Virium non unum genus ; nam , quidquid in suo genere satis effectum est , valet . Praecipua tamen eius opera δείνωσις in exaggeranda indignitate et in ceteris altitudo quaedam , φαντασία in concipiendis visionibus , ἐξεργασία in efficiendo velut opere proposito , cui adiicitur ἐπεξεργασία repetitio probationis eiusdem et cumulus ex abundanti ,
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Force, too, may be shown in different ways; for there will always be force in anything that is in its own way effective. Its most important exhibitions are to be found in the following: δείνωσις or a certain sublimity in the exaggerated denunciation of unworthy conduct, to mention no other topics; φαντασία or imagination, which assists us to form mental pictures of things; ἐξεργασία or finish, which produces completeness of effect; ἐπεξεργασία an intensified form of the preceding, which reasserts our proofs and clinches the argument by repetition; |
| 2382 |
ἐνέργεια confinis his ( est enim ab agendo dicta ) et cuius propria sit virtus non esse , quae dicuntur , otiosa . Est et amarum quiddam , quod fere in contumelia est positum , quale Cassii : Quid facies , cum in bona tua inuasero , hoc est , cum te docuero nescire maledicere ? Et acre , ut illud Crassi , Ego te consulem putem , cum tu me non putes senatorem ? Sed vis oratoris omnis in augendo minuendoque consistit . Vtrique parti totidem modi , ex quibus praecipuos attingemus ; reliqui similes erunt ; sunt autem positi in rebus et verbis .
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and ἐνέργεια, or vigour, a near relative of all these qualities, which derives its name from action and finds its peculiar function in securing that nothing that we say is tame. Bitterness, which is generally employed in abuse, may be of service as in the following passage. from Cassius: " What will you do when I invade your special province, that is, when I show that, as far as abuse is concerned, you are a mere ignoramus? " Pungency also may be employed, as in the following remark of Crassus: "Shall I regard you as a consul, when you refuse to regard me as a senator?" But the real power of oratory lies in enhancing or attenuating the force of words. Each of these departments has the same number of methods; I shall touch on the more important; those omitted will be of a like character, while all are concerned either with words or things. I have, however, |
| 2383 |
Sed , quae sit rerum inventio ac ratio , tractavimus ; nunc , quid elocutio attollat aut deprimat , dicendum .
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already dealt with the methods of invention and arrangement, and shall therefore now concern myself with the way in which style may elevate or depress the subject in hand. |
| 2384 |
Prima est igitur amplificandi vel minuendi species in ipso rei nomine : ut cum eum , qui sit caesus , occisum , eum , qui sit improbus , latronem , contraque eum , qui pulsavit , attigisse , qui vulneravit , laesisse dicimus . Utriusque pariter exemplum est pro M . Caelio : Si vidua libere , proterva petulanter , dives effuse , libidinosa meretricio more viveret , adulterum ego putarem , si qui hanc paulo liberius salutasset ?
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IV. The first method of amplification or attenuation is to be found in the actual word employed to describe a thing. For example, we may say that a man who was beaten was murdered, or that a dishonest fellow is a robber, or, on the other hand, we may say that one who struck another merely touched him, and that one who wounded another merely hurt him. The following passage from the pro Caelio, provides examples of both: " If a widow lives freely, if being by nature bold she throws restraint to the winds, makes wealth an excuse for luxury, and strong passions for playing the harlot, would this be a reason for my regarding a man who was somewhat free in his method of saluting her to be an adulterer? " |
| 2385 |
Nam et impudicam meretricem vocavit , et eum , cui longus cum illa fuerat usus , liberius salutasset .Hoc genus increscit ac fit manifestius , si ampliora verba cum ipsis nominibus , pro quibus ea posituri sumus , conferantur : ut Cicero in Verrem , Non enim furem sed ereptorem , non adulterum sed expugnatorem pudicitiae , non sacrilegum sed hostem sacrorum religionumque , non sicarium sed crudelissimum carnificem civium sociorumque in vestrum iudicium adduximus .
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For here he calls an immodest woman a harlot, and says that one who had long been her lover saluted her with a certain freedom. This sort of amplification may be strengthened and made more striking by pointing the comparison between words of stronger meaning and those for which we propose to substitute them, as Cicero does in denouncing Verres : " I have brought before you, judges, not a thief, but a plunderer; not an adulterer, but a ravisher; not a mere committer of sacrilege, but the enemy of all religious observance and all holy things; not an assassin, but a bloodthirsty butcher who has slain our fellowcitizens and our allies. " |
| 2386 |
Illo enim modo ut sit multum , hoc etiam plus ut sit efficitur . Quattuor tamen maxime generibus video constare amplificationem , incremento , comparatione , ratiocinatione , congerie . Incrementum est potentissimum , cum magna videntur etiam quae inferiora sunt . Id aut uno gradu fit aut pluribus et pervenit non modo ad summum sed interim quodammodo supra summum . Omnibus his sufficit vel unum Ciceronis exemplum :
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In this passage the first epithets are bad enough, but are rendered still worse by those which follow. I consider, However, that there are four principal methods of implication: augmentation, comparison, reasoning and accumulation. Of these, augmentation is most impressive when it ends grandeur even to comparative insignificance. This may be effected either by one step or by everal, and may be carried not merely to the highest degree, but sometimes even beyond it. |
| 2387 |
Facinus est vincire civem Romanum , scelus verberare , prope parricidium necare : quid dicam in crucem tollere ? Nam et , si tantum verberatus esset , uno gradu increverat , ponendo etiam id esse facinus , quod erat inferius ;
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A single example from Cicero will suffice to llustrate all these points. " It is a sin to bind a Roman citizen, a crime to scourge him, little short if the most unnatural murder to put him to death; chat then shall I call his crucifixion? " If he had merely been scourged, we should have had but one tep, indicated by the description even of the lesser offence as a sin, while if he had merely been killed, |
| 2388 |
et , si tantum occisus esset , per plures gradus ascenderat ; cum vero dixerit , prope parricidium necare , supra quod nihil est , adiecit quid dicam in crucem tollere ?Ita , cum id , quod maximum est , occupasset , necesse erat in eo , quod ultra est , verba deficere .
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we should have had several more steps; but after saying that it was "little short of the most unatural murder to put him to death," and mentioning the worst of crimes, he adds, "What then shall call his crucifixion?" Consequently, since he had ready exhausted his vocabulary of crime, words must necessarily fail him to describe something still orse. |
| 2389 |
Fit et aliter supra summum adiectio , ut apud Vergilium de Lauso : " quo pulchrior alter Non fuit , excepto Laurentis corpore Turni . " Summum est enim , quo pulchrior alter non fuit ; huic deinde aliquid superpositum .
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There is a second method of passing beond the highest degree, exemplified in Virgil's description of Lausus: "Than whom there was not one more fair Saving Laurentian Turnus." or here the words " than whom there was not one more fair " give us the superlative, on which the poet proceeds to superimpose a still higher degree. |
| 2390 |
Tertius quoque est modus , ad quem non per gradus itur et quod non est plus maximo , sed quo nihil maius est ; Matrem tuam cecidisti . Quid dicam amplius ? Matrem tuam cecidisti .Nam et hoc augendi genus est tantum aliquid efficere , ut non possit augeri .
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There is also a third sort, which is not attained by gradation, a height which is not a degree beyond the superlative, but such that nothing greater can be conceived. "You beat your mother. What more need I say? You beat your mother." For to make a thing so great as to be incapable of augmentation is in itself a kind of augmentation. |
| 2391 |
Crescit orati minus aperte , sed nescio an hoc ipso efficacius , cum citra distinctionem in contextu et cursu semper aliquid priore maius insequitur : ut de vomitu in Antonium Cicero , In coetu vero populi Romani , negotium publicum gerens , magister equitum . Singula incrementum habent . Per se deforme vel non in coetu vomere , in coetu etiam non populi , populi etiam non Romani vel si nullum negotium ageret , vel si non publicum vel si non magister equitum .
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It is also possible to heighten our style less obviously, but perhaps yet more effectively, by introducing a continuous and unbroken series in which each word is stronger than the last, as Cicero does when he describes how Antony vomited " before an assembly of the Roman people, while performing a public duty, while Master of the Horse. " Each phrase is more forcible than that which went before. Vomiting is an ugly thing in itself, even when there is no assembly to witness it; it is ugly when there is such an assembly, even though it be not an assembly of the people; ugly even though it be an assembly of the people and not the Roman people; ugly even though he were engaged on no business at the time, even if his business were not public business, even if lie were not Master of the Horse. |
| 2392 |
Sed alius divideret haec et circa singulos gradus moraretur ; hic in sublime etiam cucurrit et ad summum non pervenit nisu , sed impetu . Verum ut haec amplificatio in superiora tendit , ita , quae fit per comparationem , incrementum ex minoribus petit . Augendo enim , quod est infra necesse est extollat id quod supra positum est : ut idem atque in eodem loco ,
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Another might have broken up the series and lingered over each step in the ascending scale, but Cicero hastens to his climax and reaches the height not by laborious effort, but by the impetus of his speed. Just as this form of amplification rises to a climax, so, too, the form which depends on comparison seeks to rise from the less to the greater, since by raising what is below it must necessarily exalt that which is above, as, for example: in the following passage: |
| 2393 |
Si hoc tibi inter cenam et in illis immanibus poculis tuis accidisset , quis non turpe duceret ? In coetu vero populi Romani —. Et in Catilinam : Servi mehercules mei si me isto pacto metuerent , ut te metuunt omnes cives tui , domum meam relinquendam putarem .
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" If this had befallen you at the dinner-table in the midst of your amazing potations, who would not have thought it unseemly? But it occurred at an assembly of the Roman people. " Or take this passage from the speech against Catiline: " In truth, if my slaves feared me as all your fellowcitizens fear you, I should think it wise to leave my house. " |
| 2394 |
Interim proposito velut simili exemplo efficiendum est , ut sit maius id quod a nobis exaggerandum est : ut idem pro Cluentio , cum exposuisset , Milesiam quandam a secundis heredibus pro abortu pecuniam accepisse , Quanto est , inquit , Oppianicus in eadem iniuria maiore supplicio dignus ? Siquidem ilia , cum suo corpori vim attulisset , se ipsa cruciavit ; hic autem idem illud effecit per alieni corporis vim atque cruciatum .
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At times, again, we may advance a parallel to make something which we desire to exaggerate seem greater than ever, as Cicero does in the pro Cluentio, where, after telling a story of a woman of Miletus who took a bribe from the reversionary heirs to prevent the birth of her expected child, lie cries, " How much greater is the punishment deserved by Oppianicus for the same offence! For that woman, by doing violence to her own body did but torture herself, whereas he procured the same result by applying violence and torture to the body of another. " |