Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian)

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	Institutio Oratoria Author: Quintilian	Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
2699	quod inter tropos esse noluerunt ; alterum , quod est ei figurae sententiarum , quae ἀποστροφή dicitur , simile , sed non sensum mutat , verum formam eloquendi : " Decios , Marios magnosque Camillos , Scipiadas duros bello et te , maxime Caesar . "	To this they add hyperbaton, which they refuse to include among tropes. A second figure of this kind is one closely resembling the figure of thought known as apostrophe, but differing in this respect, that it changes the form of the language and not the sense. The following will illustrate my meaning: "The Decii too, The Marii and Camilli, names of might, The Scipios, stubborn warriors, aye, and thee, Great Caesar."
2700	acutius adhuc in Polydoro , " Fas omne abrumpit , Polydorum obtruncat et auro Vi potitur . Quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames ? " hoc , qui tam parva momenta nominibus discreverunt , μετάβασιν vocant , quam et aliter fieri putant : " Quid loquor ? aut ubi sum ? "	There is a still more striking example in the passage describing the death of Polydorus : "All faith he brake and Polydorus slew Seizing his gold by force. Curst greed of gold, 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 "What do I say? Where am I?"
2701	Coniunxit autem παρένθεσιν et ἀποστροφήν Vergilius illo loco , " Haud procul inde citae Mettum in diversa quadrigae Distulerant , ( at tu dictis Albane maneres ! ) Raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus . " Haec schemata aut his similia ,	Virgil has combined apostrollphe and parenthesis in the well-known passage: "Next Mettus the swift cars asunder tore, (Better, false Alban, hadst thou kept thy troth!) And Tullus dragged the traitors' mangled limbs. . ." These figures and the like, which consist in change,
2702	quae erunt per mutationem , adiectionem , detractionem , ordinem , et convertunt in se auditorem nec languere patiuntur subinde aliqua notabili figura excitatum , et habent quandam ex illa vitii similitudine gratiam , ut in cibis interim acor ipse iucundus est . Quod continget , si neque supra modum multae fuerint nec eiusdem generis aut iunctae aut frequentes , quia satietatem ut varietas earum , ita raritas effugit .	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.
2703	Illud est acrius genus , quod non tantum in ratione positum est loquendi , sed ipsis sensibus cum gratiam tum etiam vires accommodat . E quibus primum sit , quod fit adiectione . Plura sunt genera ; nam et verba geminantur , vel amplificandi gratia , ut Occidi , occidi , non Sp . Maelium ; alterum est enim quod indicat , alterum quod adfirmat ; vel miserandi , ut " A Corydon , Corydon . "	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" (where the first I have slain states what has been done, while the second emphasises it), or to excite pity, as in "Ah! Corydon, Corydon."
2704	Quae eadem figura nonnunquam per ironiam ad elevandum convertitur . Similis geminationis post aliquam interiectionem repetitio est , sed paulo etiam vehementior : Bona , miserum me ! ( consumptis enim lacrimis tamen infixus haeret animo dolor ) bona , inquam , Cn . Pompeii acerbissimae voci subiecta praeconis . — Vivis et vivis non ad deponendam , sed ad confirmandam audaciam .	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, 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. "You still live, and live not to abate your audacity, but to increase it."
2705	Sed ab iisdem verbis plura acriter et instanter incipiunt : Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palatii , nihil urbis vigiliae , nihil timor populi , nihil consensus bonorum omnium , nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus , nihil horum ora uultusque mouerunt ? et in iisdem desinunt : Quis eos postulavit ? Appius . Quis produxit ? Appius .	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? " Or they may end with the same words. "Who demanded them? Appius. Who produced them? Appius."
2706	Quanquam hoc exemplum ad aliud quoque schema pertinet , cuius et initia inter se et fines iidem sunt , quis et quis , Appius et Appius . Quale est : Qui sunt , qui foedera saepe ruperunt ? Carthaginienses . qui sunt , qui crudelissime bellum gesserunt ? Carthaginienses . qui sunt , qui Italiam deformarunt ? Carthaginienses . qui sunt , qui sibi ignosci postulant ? Carthaginienses .	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. "
2707	Etiam in contrapositis vel comparativis solet respondere primorum verborum alterna repetitio , quod modo huius esse loci potius dixi : Vigilas tu de node , ut tuis consultatoribus respondeas ; ille , ut eo quo intendit mature cum exercitu perveniat . Te gallorum , illum buccinarum cantus exsuscitat . Tu actionem instituis ; ille aciem instruit . Tu caves , ne consultores tui , ille , ne urbes aut castra capiantur .	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 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 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. "
2708	Sed hac gratia non fuit contentus orator , vertit in contrarium eandem figuram : Ille tenet et scit , ut hostium copiae , tu , ut aquae pluviae arceantur . Ille exercitatus in propagandis finibus , tu in regendis .	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. "
2709	Possunt media quoque respondere vel primis , ut " Te nemus Angitiae , vitrea te Fucinus unda ; " vel ultimis ut Haec navis onusta praeda Siciliensi , cum et ipsa esset ex praeda . Nec quisquam dubitabit . idem fieri posse iteratis utrinque mediis . Respondent primis et ultima : Multi et graves dolores inventi parentibus et propinquis multi .	A similar correspondence may be produced between the middle and the opening of a sentence, as in the line: "te nemus Angitiae, vitrea te Fucinus unda." Or the middle may correspond to the end, as in the following sentence: "This ship, laden with the spoil of Sicily, while it was itself a portion of the spoil." Nor will it be questioned that a like effect may be produced by the repetition of the middle of both clauses. Again, the end may correspond with the beginning. "Many grievous afflictions were devised for parents and for kinsfolk many."
2710	Est et illud repetendi genus , quod simul proposita iterat et dividit : " Iphitus et Pelias mecum , quorum Iphitus aevo iam gravior , Pelias et vulnere tardus Ulixi . " Ἐπάνοδος dicitur Graece , nostri regressionem vocant . Nec solum in eodem sensu ,	There is also another form of repetition which simultaneously reiterates things that have already been said, and draws distinctions between them. "Iphitus too with me and Pelias came, Iphitus bowed with age and Pelias Slow-limping with the wound Ulysses gave." This is styled ἐπάνοδος by the Greeks and regression by Roman writers.
2711	sed etiam in diverso eadem verba contra sumuntur : Principum dignitas erat paene par , non par fortasse eorum qui sequebantur . Interim variatur casibus haec et generibus retractatio : Magnus est dicendi labor , magna res et cetera ; et apud Rutilium longa περιόδῳ sed haec initia sententiarum sunt : Pater hic tuus ? patrem nunc appellas ? patris tui filius es ?	Nor are words only repeated to reaffirm the same meaning, but the repetition may serve to mark a contrast, as in the following sentence. " The reputation of the leaders was approximately equal, but that of their followers perhaps not so equal. " At times the cases and genders of the words repeated may be varied, as in "Great is the toil of speaking, and great the task, etc." ; a similar instance is found in Rutilius, but in a long period. I therefore merely cite the beginnings of the clauses. Pater hic tuus? patrem nunc appellas? patris tui filius es?
2712	Fit casibus modo hoc schema , quod πολύπτωτον vocant . Constat aliis etiam modis , ut pro Cluentio : Quod autem tempus veneni dandi ? illo die ? illa frequentia ? Per quem porro datum ? unde sumptum ? quae porro interceptio poculi ?	This figure may also be effected solely by change of cases, a proceeding which the Greeks call πολύπτωτον It may also be produced in other ways, as in the pro Cluentio: Quod autem tempus veneni dandi? illo die? illa frequentia? per quem porro datum? unde sumptum? quae porro interceptio poculi? cur non de integro autem datum?
2713	cur non de integro autem datum ? Hanc rerum , coniunctam diversitatem Caecilius μεταβολήν vocat , qualis est pro Cluentio locus in Oppianicum : Illum tabulas publicas Larini censorias corrupisse decuriones universi iudicaverunt , cum illo nemo orationem , nemo rem ullam contrahebat , nemo illum ex tam multis cognatis et adfinibus tutorem unquam liberis suis scripsit , et deinceps adhuc multa .	The combination of different details is called μεταβολὴν by Caecilius, and may be exemplified by the following passage directed against Oppianicus in the pro Cluentio: " The local senate were unanimously of opinion that he had falsified the public registers at Larinum; no one would have any business dealings or make any contract with him, no one out of all his numerous relations and kinsfolk ever appointed him as guardian to his children, " with much more to the same effect.
2714	Ut haec in unum congeruntur , ita contra ilia dispersa sunt , quae a Cicerone dissipata dici puto : " Hic segetes , illic ueniunt felicius uuae , Arborei fetus alibi , " et deinceps .	In this case the details are massed together, but they may equally be distributed or dissipated, as I think Cicero says. For example: " Here corn, there grapes, elsewhere the growth of trees More freely rises," with the remainder of the passage.
2715	Ilia vero apud Ciceronem mira figurarum mixtura deprehenditur , in qua et primum verbum longo post intervallo redditum est ultimum et media primis et mediis ultima congruunt : Vestrum iam hic factum reprehenditur , patres conscripti , non meum ; ac pulcherrimum quidem factum , verum , ut dixi , non meum , sed vestrum .	A wonderful mixture of figures may be found in Cicero in the following passage, where the first word is repeated last after a long interval, while the middle corresponds with the beginning, and the concluding words with the middle. " Yours is the work which we find here, conscript fathers, not mine, a fine piece of work too, but, as I have said, not mine, but yours. " This frequent repetition, which,
2716	Hanc frequentiorem repetitionem πλοκήν vocant , quae fit ex permixtis figuris , ut supra dixi , utque se habet epistola ad Brutum , Ego cum in gratiam redierim cum Appio Claudio , et redierim per Cn .	as I have said, is produced by a mixture of figures, is called πλοκὴ by the Greeks: a letter of Cicero to Brutus will provide a further example. " When I had made my peace with Appius Claudius and made it through the agency of Gnaeus Pompeius, when then I had made my peace, " etc.
2717	Pompeium , ego ergo cum redierim . Sed in iisdem sententiis crebrioribus mutata declinationibus iteratione verborum : ut apud Persium , " Usque adeone Scire tuum nihil est , nisi te scire hoc sciat alter ? " Sed apud Ciceronem , Neque enim poterant iudicio et hi damnari , qui iudicabant .	The like effect may be produced in the same sentence by repeating the same words in different forms, as in Persius: "Is then to know in thee Nothing unless another know thou knowest?" and in Cicero, where he says, "For it was impossible for the judges as well to be condemned by their own judgement."
2718	Sed sensus quoque toti , quemadmodum coeperunt , desinunt : Venit ex Asia . Hoc ipsum quam novum ! Tribunus plebis venit ex Asia . * eadem tamen periodo et verbum primum ultimum refertur , tertium iam sermone , adiectum est enim verumtamen venit . Interim sententia quidem repetitur , sed non eodem verborum ordine : Quid Cleomenes facere potuit ? Non enim possum quemquam insimulare falso . Quid , inquam , magno opere potuit Cleomenes facere ?	Whole sentences again end with the phrase with which they began. Take an example. "He came from Asia. What a strange thing. A tribune of the people came from Asia." Nay, the first word of this same period is actually repeated at its close, thus making its third appearance: for to the words just quoted the orator adds, "Still for all that he came." Sometimes a whole clause is repeated, although the order of the words is altered, as, for example, Quid Cleomenes facere potuit non enin possum quemquam insimulare falso, quid, inquam, magno opere potuit Cleomenes facere?
2719	Prioris etiam sententiae verbum ultimum ac sequentis primum frequenter est idem , quo quidem schemate utuntur poetae saepius : " Pierides , vos haec facietis maxima Gallo , Gallo , cuius amor tantum mihi crescit in horas . " Sed ne oratores quidem raro : Hic tamen vivit ; vivit ? immo vero etiam in senatum venit .	The first word of one clause is also frequently the same as the last of the preceding, a figure common in poetry. "And ye, Pierian Muses, shall enhance their worth For Gallus; Gallus, he for whom each hour My love burns stronger." But it is not uncommon even in the orators. For example: "Yet this man lives. Lives? Why he even came into the senate house."
2720	Aliquando , sicut in geminatione verborum diximus , initia quoque et clausulae sententiarum alis , sed non alio tendentibus verbis inter se consonant . Initia hoc modo : Dediderim periculis omnibus , obtulerim insidiis , obiecerim invidiae . Rursus clausulae ibidem statim , Vos enim statuistis , vos sententiam dixistis , vos iudicavistis . Hoc alii συνωνυμίαν alii disiunctionem vocant , utrumque , etiamsi est diversum , recte ; nam est nominum idem significantium separatio . Congregantur quoque verba idem significantia . Quae cum ita sint , Catilina , perge quo coepisti ; egredere aliquando ex urbe , patent portae , proficiscere .	Sometimes, as I remarked in connexion with the doubling of words, the beginnings and the conclusions of sentences are made to correspond by the use of other words with the same meaning. Here is an example of correspondence between the beginnings: " I would have faced every kind of danger; I would have exposed myself to treacherous attacks; I would have delivered myself over to public hatred. " An example of the correspondence of conclusions is provided by another passage in the same speech which follows close on that just cited: "For you have decided; you have passed sentence; you have given judgment." Some call this synonzmy, others disjunction: both terms, despite their difference, are correct. For the words are differentiated, but their meaning is identical. Sometimes, again, words of the same meaning are grouped together. For instance, " Since this is so, Catiline, proceed on the path which you have entered; depart from the city, it is high time. The gates are open, get you forth. "
2721	Et in eundem alio libro : Abiit , excessit , erupit , evasit . Hoc Caecilio πλεονασμός videtur , id est , abundans super necessitatem oratio , sicut illa Vidi oculos ante ipse meos . in illo enim vidi inest ipse . Verum id , ut alio quoque loco dixi , cum supervacua oneratur adiectione , vitium est , cum auget aut manifestat sententiam sicut hic , virtus . Fidi , ipse , ante oculos , totidem sunt adfectus . Cur tamen haec proprie nomine tali notarit ,	Or take this example from another book of the orations against Catiline, " He departed, he went hence; he burst forth, he was gone. " This is regarded as a case of pleonasm by Caecilius, that is to say, as language fuller than is absolutely required, like the phrase: "Myself before my very eyes I saw:" for "myself" is already implied by "I saw." But when such language is over weighted by some purely superfluous addition, it is, as I have also pointed out elsewhere, a fault; whereas when, as in this case, it serves to make the sense stronger and more obvious, it is a merit. "I saw, "myself, "before my very eyes," are so many appeals to the emotion.
2722	non video . Nam et geminatio et repetitio et qualiscunque adiectio πλεονασμός videri potest . Nec verba modo , sed sensus quoque idem facientes acervantur : Perturbatio istum mentis et quaedam scelerum offusa caligo et ardentes furiarum faces excitarunt .	I cannot therefore see why Caecilius should have stigmatised these words by such a name, since the doubling and repetition of words and all forms of addition may likewise be regarded as pleonasms. And it is not merely words that are thus grouped together. The same device may be applied to thoughts of similar content. " The wild confusion of his thoughts, the thick darkness shed upon his soul by his crimes and the burning torches of the furies all drove him on. "
2723	Congeruntur et diversa : Mulier , tyranni saeva crudelitas , patris amor , ira praeceps , temeritatis dementia . Sed apud Ovidium : " Sed grave Nereidum numen , sed corniger Ammon , Sed quae visceribus veniebat belua ponti Exsaturanda meis . " Inveni , qui et hoc πλοκήν vocaret :	Words of different meaning may likewise be grouped together, as for instance, " The woman, the savage cruelty of the tyrant, love for his father, anger beyond control, the madness of blind daring " ; or again, as in the following passage from Ovid, "But the dread Nereids' power, But horned Ammon, but that wild sea-beast To feed upon my vitals that must come."
2724	cui non adsentior , cum sit unius figurae , mixta quoque et idem et diversum significantia , quod et ipsum διαλλαγὴν vocant . Quaero ab inimicis , sintne haec investigate , comperta , patefacta , sublata , deleta , exstincta per me . Investigata , comperta , patefacta aliud ostendunt ; sublata , deleta , extincta sunt inter se similia , sed non etiam prioribus .	I have found some who call this also by the name of πλοκή: but I do not agree, as only one figure is involved. We may also find a mixture of words, some identical and others different in meaning; of this figure, which the Greeks style διαλλαγή, the following will provide an example: " I ask my enemies whether these plots were investigated, discovered and laid bare, overthrown, crushed and destroyed by me. " In this sentence "investigated, "discovered" and "laid bare" are different in meaning, while "overthrown, "crushed" and "destroyed" are similar in meaning to each other, but different from the three previous.
2725	Sed hoc autem exemplum et superius aliam quoque efficiunt figuram , quae , quia coniunctionibus caret , dissolutio vocatur , apta , cum quid instantius dicimus ; nam et singula inculcantur et quasi plura fiunt . Ideoque utimur hac figura non in singulis modo verbis , sed sententiis etiam , ut Cicero dicit contra contionem Metelli : Qui indicabantur , eos vocari , custodiri , ad senatum adduci iussi ; in senatum sunt introducti , et totus hic locus talis est . Hoc genus et βραχυλογίαν vocant , quae potest esse copulata dissolutio . Contrarium illud est schema , quod coniunctionibus abundat . Illud ἀσύνδετον , hoc πολυσύνδετον dicitur .	But both the last example and the last but one involve a different figure as well, which, owing to the absence of connecting particles, is called dissolution ( asyndeton ), and is useful when we are speaking with special vigour: for it at once impresses the details on the mind and makes them seem more numerous than they really are. Consequently, we apply this figure not merely to single words, but to whole sentences, as, for instance, is done by Cicero in his reply to the speech which Metellus made to the public assembly: " I ordered those against whom information was laid, to be summoned, guarded, brought before the senate: they were led into the senate, " while the rest of the passage is constructed on similar lines. This kind of figure is also called brachylogy, which may be regarded as detachment without loss of connexion. The opposite of this figure of asyndeton is polyxyndeton, which is characterised by the number of connecting particles employed.
2726	Sed hoc est vel iisdem saepius repetitis , ut " Tectumque laremque Armaque Amyclaeumque canem Cressamque pharetram ; " vel diversis :	In this figure we may repeat the same connecting particle a number of times, as in the following instance: "His house and home and arms And Amyclean hound and Cretan quiver;" or they may be different,
2727	Arma virumque — Multum ille et terris — Multa quoque .	as in the case of arma virumque followed by multum ille et terris and multa quoque.
2728	Adverbia quoque et pronomina variantur , Hic illum vidi iuvenem , — Bis senos cui nostra dies , — Hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti . Sed utrumque horum acervatio est , tantum iuncta aut dissoluta .	Adverbs and pronouns also may be varied, as in the following instance: lic ilium vidi iunvenem followed by bis senos cui nostra dies and hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti. But both these cases involve the massing together of words and phrases either in asyndeton or polysyndeton.
2729	Omnibus scriptores sua nomina dederunt , sed varia et ut cuique fingenti placuit . Fons quidem unus , quia acriora facit et instantiora quae dicimus et vim quandam prae se ferentia velut saepius erumpentis adfectus . Gradatio , quae dicitur κλῖμαξ apertiorem habet artem et magis adfectatam ideoque esse rarior debet .	Writers have given special names to all the different forms, but the names vary with the caprice of the inventor. The origin of these figures is one and the same, namely that they make our utterances more vigorous and emphatic and produce animpression of vehemence such as might spring from repeated outbursts of emotion. Gradation, which the Greeks call climax, necessitates a more obvious and less natural application of art and should therefore be more sparingly employed. Moreover, it involves addition,
2730	Est autem ipsa quoque adiectionis ; repetit enim quae dicta sunt et , priusquam ad aliud descendat , in prioribus resistit . Eius exemplum ex Graeco notissimo transferatur : Non enim dixi quidem sed non scripsi , nec scripsi quidem sed non obii legationem , nec obii quidem legationem sed non persuasi Thebanis .	since it repeats what has already been said and, before passing to a new point, dwells on those which precede. I will translate a very famous instance from the Greek. " I did not say this, without making a formal proposal to that effect, I did not make that proposal without undertaking the embassy, nor undertake the embassy without persuading the Thebans. "
2731	Sint tamen tradita et Latina : Africano virtutem industria , virtus gloriam , gloria aemulos comparavit . Et Calvi : Non ergo magis pecuniarum repetundarum quam maiestatis , neque maiestatis magis quam Plautiae legis , neque Plautiae legis magis quam ambitus , neque ambitus magis quam omnium legum iudicia perierunt .	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. " Calvus again writes, " Consequently this means the abolition 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, " etc.
2732	Invenitur apud poetas quoque , ut apud Homerum de sceptro , quod a Iove ad Agamemnonem usque deducit , et apud nostrum etiam tragicum : " Iove propagatus est , ut perhibent , Tantalus , Ex Tantalo ortus Pelops , ex Pelope autem satus Atreus , qui nostrum porro propagat genus . "	It is also to be found in poets, as in the passage in Homer 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: "From Jove, so runs the tale, was Tantalus sprung, From Tantalus Pelops, and of Pelops' seed Sprang Atreus, who is sire of all our line."
2733	At quae per detractionem fiunt figurae , brevitatis novitatisque maxime gratiam petunt ; quarum una est ea , quam libro proximo in figuras ex συνεκδοχῇ distuli , cum subtractum verbum aliquod satis ex ceteris intelligitur : ut Caelius in Antonium , Stupere gaudio Graecus : simul enim auditur coepit . Cicero ad Brutum : Sermo nullus scilicet nisi de te ; quid enim potius ? Tum Flavius , Cras , inquit , tabellarii , et ego ibidem has inter cenam exaravi .	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 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: for we must clearly supply coepit. Or take the following passage from a letter of Cicero to Brutus: Serno nullus scilicet nisi de te: quid enim potius? turn Flavius, cras, inquit, tabellarii, et ego ibidem has inter cenum exaravi.
2734	Cui similia sunt illa meo quidem iudicio , in quibus verba decenter pudoris gratia subtrahuntur : " Nouimus et qui te , transversa tuentibus hircis , Sed quo , sed faciles Nymphae risere , sacello . " Hanc quidam aposiopesin putant , frustra .	Of a similar kind, at any rate in my opinion, are those passages in which words are decently omitted to spare our modesty. " You—while the goats looked goatish-we know who, And in what chapel—(but the kind Nymphs laughed). " Some regard this as an aposiopesis, but wrongly.
2735	Nam illa quid taceat incertum est aut certe longiore sermone explicandum , hic unum verbum et manifestum quidem desideratur ; quod si aposiopesis est , nihil non , in quo deest aliquid , idem appellabitur . Ego ne illud quidem aposiopesin semper voco ,	For in aposiopesis it is either uncertain or at least requires an explanation of some length to show what is suppressed, whereas in the present case only one word, and that of an obvious character, is missing. If this, then, is an aposiopesis, all omissions will have a claim to the title.
2736	in quo res quaecunque relinquitur intelligenda , ut ea quae in epistolis Cicero : Data Lupercalibus , quo die Antonius Caesari ; non enim obticuit sed lusit , quia nihil aliud intelligi poterat quam hoc , diadema imposuit .	I would not even allow the name of aposiopesis to all cases where what is omitted is left to be understood, as for example the following phrase from Cicero's letters, Data Lupercalibus quo die Antonius Caesari: for there, there is no real suppression: the omission is merely playful, for there is but one way of completing the sentence, namely with the words diadema imposuit.