Institutio Oratoria (Quintilian)

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	Institutio Oratoria Author: Quintilian	Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
3269	Illud etiam in iocis monui , quam turpis esset fortunae insectatio , et ne in totos ordines aut gentes aut populos petulantia incurreret . Sed interim fides patrocinii cogit quaedam de universo genere aliquorum hominum dicere , libertinorum vel militum vel publicanorum vel similiter aliorum .	I have already pointed out, in dealing with the subject of jests, how unseemly it is to take the position in life of individuals as the target for our gibes, and also have urged that we should refrain from insulting whole classes, races or communities. But at times our duty toward our client will force us to say something on the general character of a whole class of people, such as freedmen, soldiers, tax farmers or the like.
3270	In quibus omnibus commune remedium est , ut ea , quae laedunt , non libenter tractare videaris nec in omnia impetum facias , sed in id quod expugnandum est , et reprehendens alia laude compenses :	In all these cases the usual remedy is to create the impression that it is with reluctance that we introduce topics which must give pain, while further we shall avoid attacking everything, and even while using the language of reproof with regard to the essential point of attack, shall make up for our censure by praising our victims in some other connexion.
3271	si cupidos milites dicas , sed non mirum , quod periculorum ac sanguinis maiora sibi deberi praemia putent ; eosdem petulantes , sed hoc fieri , quod bellis magis quam paci consuerint . Libertinis detrahenda est auctoritas ; licet iis testimonium reddere industriae , per quam exierint de servitute .	For example, if we charge soldiers with rapacity, we shall qualify our statement by saying that the fact is not surprising, as they think that they are entitled to some special reward for the perils they have faced and the wounds they have sustained. Or, if we censure them for insolence, we shall add that this quality is due to the fact that they are more accustomed to war than to peace. In the case of freedmen we should disparage their influence: but we may also give them credit for the industry which secured their emancipation.
3272	Quod ad nationes exteras pertinet , Cicero varie : detracturus Graecis testibus fidem , doctrinam iis concedit ac litteras , seque eius gentis amatorem esse profitetur , Sardos contemnit , Allobrogas ut hostes insectatur ; quorum nihil tunc , cum diceretur , parum aptum aut remotum cura decoris fuit .	With regard to foreign nations, Cicero's practice varies. When he intends to disparage the credibility of Greek witnesses he admits their distinction in learning and literature and professes his admiration for their nation. On the other hand, he has nothing but contempt for the Sardinians and attacks the Allobroges as the enemies of Rome. In all these cases none of his remarks, at the time they were made, were inconsistent with or adverse to the claims of decorum.
3273	Verborum etiam moderatione detrahi solet , si qua est rei invidia : si asperum dicas nimium severum , iniustum persuasione labi , pertinacem ultra modum tenacem esse propositi ; plerumque velut ipsos coneris ratione vincere , quod est mollissimum .	If there be anything offensive in the subject on which we have to speak, it may be toned down by a studied moderation in our language; for example, we may describe a brutal character as being unduly severe, an unjust man as led astray by prejudice, an obstinate man as unreasonably tenacious of his opinion. And there are a large number of cases where we should attempt to defeat our opponents by reasoning, which forms the gentlest of all methods of attack.
3274	Indecorum est super haec omne nimium , ideoque etiam quod natura rei satis aptum est , nisi modo quoque temperatur , gratiam perdit . Cuius rei observatio iudicio magis quodam sentiri quam praeceptis tradi potest , quantum satis sit et quantum recipiant aures . Non habet res mensuram et quasi pondus , quia ut in cibis alia aliis magis complent .	To these remarks I would add that all extravagance of any kind is indecorous, and consequently statements which are in sufficient harmony with the facts will none the less lose all their grace unless they are modified by a certain restraint. It is hard to give rules as to the exact method in which this precept should be observed, but the problem will easily be solved by following the dictates of our own judgement, which will tell us what it is sufficient to say and how much the ears of our audience will tolerate. We cannot weigh or measure our words by fixed standards: they are like foods, some of which are more satisfying than others.
3275	Adiiciendum etiam breviter videtur , quod fit ut dicendi virtutes diversissimae non solum suos amatores habeant , sed ab eisdem saepe laudentur . Nam Cicero quodam loco scribit , id esse optimum , quod , cum te facile credideris consequi imitatione , non possis . Alio vero , non id egisse , ut ita diceret , quomodo se quilibet posse confideret , sed quomodo nemo .	I think I should also add a few brief words to the effect that not only very different rhetorical virtues have their special admirers, but that they are often praised by the same persons. For instance, there is one passage in Cicero where he writes that the best style is that which we think we can easily acquire by imitation, but which we find is really beyond our powers. But in another passage he says that his aim was not to speak in such a manner that everyone should be confident that he could do the same, but rather in a style that should be the despair of all.
3276	Quod potest pugnare inter se videri . Verum utrumque ac merito laudatur ; causarum enim modo distat , quia simplicitas illa et velut securitas inadfectatae orationis mire tenues causas decet , maioribus illud admirabile dicendi genus magis convenit . In utroque eminet Cicero ; ex quibus alterum imperiti se posse consequi credent , neutrum , qui intelligunt .	These two statements may seem to be inconsistent, but as a matter of fact both alike deserve the praise which they receive. The difference is due to the fact that cases differ in character. Those of minor importance are admirably suited by the simplicity and negligence of unaffected language, whereas cases of greater moment are best suited by the grand style. Cicero is pre-eminent in both. Now while eminence in one of these styles may seem to the inexperienced to be within their grasp, those who understand know that they are capable of eminence in neither.
3277	Memoriam quidam naturae modo esse munus existimaverunt , estque in ea non dubie plurimum , sed ipsa excolendo sicut alia omnia augetur ; et totus , de quo diximus adhuc , inanis est labor , nisi ceterae partes hoc velut spiritu continentur . Nam et omnis disciplina memoria constat , frustraque docemur , si quidquid audimus praeterfluat ; et exemplorum , legum , responsorum , dictorum denique factorumque velut quasdam copias , quibus abundare quasque in promptu semper habere debet orator , eadem illa vis praesentat . Neque immerito thesaurus hic eloquentiae dicitur .	II. Some regard memory as being no more than one of nature's gifts; and this view is no doubt true to a great extent; but, like everything else, memory may be improved by cultivation. And all the labour of which I have so far spoken will be in vain unless all the other departments be co-ordinated by the animating principle of memory. For our whole education depends upon memory, and we shall receive instruction all in vain if all we hear slips from us, while it is the power of memory alone that brings before us all the store of precedents, laws, rulings, sayings and facts which the orator must possess in abundance and which he must always hold ready for immediate use. Indeed it is not without good reason that memory has been called the treasure-house of eloquence.
3278	Sed non firme tantum continere , verum etiam cito percipere multa acturos oportet , nec quae scripseris modo iterata lectione complecti , sed in cogitatis quoque rerum ac verborum contextum sequi , et quae sint ab adversa parte dicta meminisse , nec utique ea , quo dicta sunt ordine , refutare , sed opportunis locis ponere .	But pleaders need not only to be able to retain a number of facts in their minds, but also to be quick to take them in; it is not enough to learn what you have written by dint of repeated reading; it is just as necessary to follow the order both of matter and words when you have merely thought out what you are going to say, while you must also remember what has been said by your opponents, and must not be content merely with refuting their arguments in the order in which they were advanced, but must be in a position to deal with each in its appropriate place.
3279	Quid ? extemporalis oratio non alio mihi videtur mentis vigore constare . Nam dum alia dicimus , quae dicturi sumus intuenda sunt . Ita , cum semper cogitatio ultra eat , id quod est longius quaerit , quidquid autem repperit quodam modo apud memoriam deponit ; quod illa quasi media quaedam manus acceptum ab inventione tradit elocutioni .	Nay, even extempore eloquence, in my opinion, depends on no mental activity so much as memory. For while we are saying one thing, we must be considering something else that we are going to say: consequently, since the mind is always looking ahead, it is continually in search of something which is more remote: on the other hand, whatever it discovers, it deposits by some mysterious process in the safe-keeping of memory, which acts as a transmitting agent and hands on to the delivery what it has received from the imagination.
3280	Non arbitror autem mihi in hoc immorandum , quid sit quod memoriam faciat , quanquam plerique imprimi quaedam vestigia animo , velut in ceris anulorum signa serventur , existimant . Neque ero tam credulus , ut , qui habitu tardiorem firmioremque memoriam fieri videam , ei artem quoque audeam impertire .	I do not conceive, however, that I need dwell upon the question of the precise function of memory, although many hold the view that certain impressions are made upon the mind, analogous to those which a signet-ring makes on wax. Nor, again, shall I be so credulous, in view of the fact that the retentiveness or slowness of the memory depends upon our physical condition, as to venture to allot a special art to memory.
3281	Magis admirari naturam subit , tot res vetustas tanto ex intervallo repetitas reddere se et offerre , nec tantum requirentibus sed etiam sponte interim , nec vigilantibus sed etiam quiete compositis :	My inclination is rather to marvel at its powers of reproducing and presenting a number of remote facts after so long an interval, and, what is more, of so doing not merely when we seek for such facts, but even at times of its own accord, and not only in our waking moments, but even when we are sunk in sleep.
3282	eo magis , quod illa quoque animalia , quae carere intellectu videntur , meminerunt et agnoscunt et quamlibet longo itinere deducta ad adsuetas sibi sedes revertuntur . Quid ? non haec varietas mira est , excidere proxima , vetera inhaerere ? hesternorum immemores acta pueritiae recordari ?	And my wonder is increased by the fact that even beasts, which seem to be devoid of reason, yet remember and recognise things, and will return to their old home, however far they have been taken from it. Again, is it not an extraordinary inconsistency that we forget recent and remember distant events, that we cannot recall what happened yesterday and yet retain a vivid impression of the acts of our childhood?
3283	Quid quod quaedam requisita se occultant et eadem forte succurrunt ? nec manet semper memoria , sed aliquando etiam redit ? Nesciretur tamen , quanta vis esset eius , quanta divinitas illa , nisi in hoc lumen vim orandi extulisset . Non	And what, again, shall we say of the fact that the things we search for frequently refuse to present themselves and then occur to us by chance, or that memory does not always remain with us, but will even sometimes return to us after it has been lost? But we should never have realised the fullness of its power nor its supernatural capacities, but for the fact that it is memory which has brought oratory to its present position of glory.
3284	enim rerum modo sed etiam verborum ordinem praestat , nec ea pauca contexit , sed durat prope in infinitum , et in longissimis actionibus prius audiendi patientia quam memoriae fides deficit .	For it provides the orator not merely with the order of his thoughts, but even of his words, nor is its power limited to stringing merely a few words together; its capacity for endurance is inexhaustible, and even in the longest pleadings the patience of the audience flags long before the memory of the speaker.
3285	Quod et ipsum argumentum est subesse artem aliquam iuvarique ratione naturae , cum idem docti facere illud , indocti inexercitatique non possimus . Quanquam invenio apud Platonem obstare memoriae usum litterarum , videlicet quoniam illa , quae scriptis reposuimus ,	This fact may even be advanced as an argument that there must be some art of memory and that the natural gift can be helped by reason, since training enables us to do things which we cannot do before we have had any training or practice. On the other hand, I find that Plato asserts that the use of written characters is a hindrance to memory, on the ground, that is, that once we have committed a thing to writing, we cease to guard it in our memory and lose it out of sheer carelessness.
3286	velut custodire desinimus et ipsa securitate dimittimus . Nec dubium est quin plurimum in hac parte valeat mentis intentio et velut acies luminum a prospectu rerum , quas intuetur , non aversa . Unde accidit , ut quae per plures dies scribimus ediscendi causa , cogitatione ipsa contineamus .	And there can be no doubt that concentration of mind is of the utmost importance in this connexion; it is, in fact, like the eyesight, which turns to, and not away from, the objects which it contemplates. Thus it results that after writing for several days with a view to acquiring by heart what we have written, we find that our mental effort has of itself imprinted it on our memory.
3287	Artem autem memoriae primus ostendisse dicitur Simonides . Cuius vulgata fabula est : cum pugili coronato carmen , quale componi victoribus solet , mercede pacta scripsisset , abnegatam ei pecuniae partem , quod more poetis frequentissimo digressus in laudes Castoris ac Pollucis exierat . Quapropter partem ab iis petere , quorum facta celebrasset , iubebatur .	The first person to discover an art of memory is said to have been Simonides, of whom the following well-known story is told. He had written an ode of the kind usually composed in honour of victorious athletes, to celebrate the achievement of one who had gained the crown for boxing. Part of the sum for which he had contracted was refused him on the ground that, following the common practice of poets, he had introduced a digression in praise of Castor and Pollux, and he was told that, in view of what he had done, he had best ask for the rest of the sum due from those whose deeds he had extolled. And according to the story they paid their debt.
3288	Et persolverunt , ut traditum est . Nam cum esset grande convivium in honorem eiusdem victoriae atque adhibitus ei cenae Simonides , nuntio est excitus , quod eum duo iuvenes equis advecti desiderare maiorem in modum dicebantur . Et illos quidem non invenit , fuisse tamen gratos erga se deos exitu comperit .	For when a great banquet was given in honour of the boxer's success, Simonides was summoned forth from the feast, to which he had been invited, by a message to the effect that two youths who had ridden to the door urgently desired his presence. He found no trace of them, but what followed proved to him that the gods had shown their gratitude.
3289	Nam vix eo ultra limen egresso , triclinium illud supra convivas corruit atque ita confudit , ut non ora modo oppressorum , sed membra etiam omnia requirentes ad sepulturam propinqui nulla nota possent discernere . Tum Simonides dicitur memor ordinis , quo quisque discubuerat , corpora suis reddidisse .	For he had scarcely crossed the threshold on his way out, when the banqueting hall fell in upon the heads of the guests and wrought such havoc among them that the relatives of the dead who came to seek the bodies for burial were unable to distinguish not merely the faces but even the limbs of the dead. Then it is said, Simonides, who remembered the order in which the guests had been sitting, succeeded in restoring to each man his own dead.
3290	Est autem magna inter auctores dissensio , Glaucone Carystio an Leocrati an Agatharcho an Scopae scriptum sit id carmen ; et Pharsali fuerit haec domus , ut ipse quodam loco significare Simonides videtur utque Apollodorus et Eratosthenes et Euphorion et Larissaeus Eurypylus tradiderunt , an Crannone , ut Apollas Callimachus , quam secutus Cicero hanc famam latius fudit .	There is, however, great disagreement among our authorities as to whether this ode was written in honour of Glaucus of Carystus, Leocrates, Agatharcus or Scopas, and whether the house was at Pharsalus, as Simonides himself seems to indicate in a certain passage, and as is recorded by Apollodorus, Eratosthenes, Euphorion and Eurypylus of Larissa, or at Crannon, as is stated by Apollas Callimachus, who is followed by Cicero, to whom the wide circulation of this story is due.
3291	Scopam nobilem Thessalum periisse in eo convivio constat ; adiicitur sororis eius filius ; putant et ortos plerosque ab alio Scopa , qui maior aetate fuerit .	It is agreed that Scopas, a Thessalian noble, perished at this banquet, and it is also said that his sister's son perished with him, while it is thought that a number of descendants of an elder Scopas met their death at the same time.
3292	Quanquam mihi totum de Tyndaridis fabulosum videtur , neque omnino huius rei meminit usquam poeta ipse , profecto non taciturus de tanta sua gloria .	For my own part, however, I regard the portion of the story which concerns Castor and Pollux as being purely fictitious, since the poet himself has nowhere mentioned the occurrence; and he would scarcely have kept silence on an affair which was so much to his credit.
3293	Ex hoc Simonidis facto notatum videtur , iuvari memoriam signatis animo sedibus , idque credere suo quisque experimento potest . Nam cum in loca aliqua post tempus reversi sumus , non ipsa agnoscimus tantum , sed etiam , quae in his fecerimus , reminiscimur personaeque subeunt , nonnunquam tacitae quoque cogitationes in mentem revertuntur . Nata est igitur , ut in plerisque , ars ab experimento . Loca deligunt quam maxime spatiosa ,	This achievement of Simonides appears to have given rise to the observation that it is an assistance to the memory if localities are sharply impressed upon the mind, a view the truth of which everyone may realise by practical experiment. For when we return to a place after considerable absence, we not merely recognise the place itself, but remember things that we did there, and recall the persons whom we met and even the unuttered thoughts which passed through our minds when we were there before.
3294	multa varietate signata , domum forte magnam et in multos diductam recessus . In ea quidquid notabile est , animo diligenter adfigunt , ut sine cunctatione ac mora partes eius omnes cogitatio possit percurrere . Et primus hic labor est non haerere in occursu ; plus enim quam firma debet esse memoria , quae aliam memoriam adiuvet .	Thus, as in most cases, art originates in experiment. Some place is chosen of the largest possible extent and characterised by the utmost possible variety, such as a spacious house divided into a number of rooms. Everything of note therein is carefully committed to the memory, in order that the thought may be enabled to run through all the details without let or hindrance. And undoubtedly the first task is to secure that there shall be no delay in finding any single detail, since an idea which is to lead by association to some other idea requires to be fixed in the mind with more than ordinary certitude.
3295	Tum , quae scripserunt vel cogitatione complexi sunt , aliquo signo , quo moneantur , notant ; quod esse vel ex re tota potest , ut de navigatione , militia , vel ex verbo aliquo ; nam etiam excidentes unius admonitione verbi in memoriam reponuntur . Sit autem signum navigationis ut ancora , militiae ut aliquid ex armis .	The next step is to distinguish something which has been written down or merely thought of by some particular symbol which will serve to jog the memory; this symbol may have reference to the subject as a whole, it may, for example, be drawn from navigation, warfare, etc., or it may, on the other hand, be found in some particular word. (For even in cases of forgetfulness one single word will serve to restore the memory.) However, let us suppose that the symbol is drawn from navigation, as, for instance, an anchor; or from warfare, as, for example, some weapon. These symbols are then arranged as follows.
3296	Haec ita digerunt . Primum sensum vestibulo quasi adsignant , secundum , puta , atrio , tum impluvia circumeunt , nec cubiculis modo aut exedris , sed statuis etiam similibusque per ordinem committunt . Hoc facto , cum est repetenda memoria , incipiunt ab initio loca haec recensere , et quod cuique crediderunt reposcunt , ut eorum imagine admonentur . Ita , quamlibet multa sint , quorum meminisse oporteat , fiunt singula conexa quodam choro , nec errant coniungentes prioribus consequentia solo ediscendi labore .	The first though is placed, as it were, in the forecourt; the second, let us say, in the living-room; the remainder are placed in due order all round the impluvium and entrusted not merely to bedrooms and parlours, but even to the care of statues and the like. This done, as soon as the memory of the facts requires to be revived, all these places are visited in turn and the various deposits are demanded from their custodians, as the sight of each recalls the respective details. Consequently, however large the number of these which it is required to remember, all are linked one to the other like dancers hand in hand, and there can be no mistake since they join what precedes to what follows, no trouble being required except the preliminary labour of committing the various points to memory.
3297	Quod de domo dixi , et in operibus publicis et in itinere longo et urbium ambitu et picturis fieri potest . Etiam fingere sibi has imagines licet . Opus est ergo locis , quae vel finguntur vel sumuntur , et imaginibus vel simulacris , quae utique fingenda sunt . Imagines voces sunt , quibus ea quae ediscenda sunt notamus , ut , quomodo Cicero dicit , locis pro cera , simulacris pro litteris utamur .	What I have spoken of as being done in a house, can equally well be done in connexion with public buildings, a long journey, the ramparts of a city, or even pictures. Or we may even imagine such places to ourselves. We require, therefore, places, real or imaginary, and images or symbols, which we must, of course, invent for ourselves. By images I mean the words by which we distinguish the things which we have to learn by heart: in fact, as Cicero says, we use "places like wax tablets and symbols in lieu of letters."
3298	Illud quoque ad verbum ponere optimum fuerit : Locis est utendum multis , inlustribus , explicatis , modicis intervallis , imaginibus autem agentibus , acribus , insignitis , quae occurrere celeriterque percutere animum possint . Quo magis miror , quomodo Metrodorus in XII signis , per quae sol meat , trecenos et sexagenos invenerit locos . Vanitas nimirum fuit atque iactatio circa memoriam sua potius arte quam natura gloriantis .	It will be best to give his words verbatim: " We must for this purpose employ a number of remarkable places, clearly envisaged and separated by short intervals: the images which we use must be active, sharply-cut and distinctive, such as may occur to the mind and strike it with rapidity. " This makes me wonder all the more, how Metrodorus should have found three hundred and sixty different localities in the twelve signs of the Zodiac through which the sun passes. It was doubtless due to the vanity and boastfulness of a man who was inclined to vaunt his memory as being the result of art rather than of natural gifts.
3299	Equidem haec ad quaedam prodesse non negaverim , ut si rerum nomina multa per ordinem audita reddenda sint . Namque in iis quae didicerunt locis ponunt res illas : mensam , ut hoc utar , in vestibulo et pulpitum in atrio et sic cetera , deinde relegentes inveniunt , ubi posuerunt .	I am far from denying that those devices may be useful for certain purposes, as, for example, if we have to reproduce a number of names in the order in which we heard them. For those who use such aids place the things which have to be remembered in localities which they have previously fixed in the memory; they put a table, for instance, in the forecourt, a platform in the hall and so on with the rest, and then, when they retrace their steps, they find the objects where they had placed them.
3300	Et forsitan hoc sunt adiuti qui , auctione dimissa , quid cuique vendidissent testibus argentariorum tabulis reddiderunt ; quod praestitisse Hortensium dicunt . Minus idem proderit in ediscendis , quae orationis perpetuae erunt . Nam et sensus non eandem imaginem quam res habent , cum alterum fingendum sit , et horum tamen utcunque commonet locus , sicut sermonis alicuius habiti . At verborum contextus eadem arte quomodo comprehendetur ?	Such a practice may perhaps have been of use to those who, after an auction, have succeeded in stating what object they had sold to each buyer, their statements being checked by the books of the money takers; a feat which it is alleged was performed by Hortensius. It will, however, be of less service in learning the various parts of a set speech. For thoughts do not call up the same images as material things, and a symbol requires to be specially invented for them, although even here a particular place may serve to remind us, as, for example, of some conversation that may have been held there. But how can such a method grasp a whole series of connected words?
3301	Mitto quod quaedam nullis simulacris significari possunt , ut certe coniunctiones . Habeamus enim sane , ut qui notis scribunt , certas imagines omnium et loca scilicet infinita , per quae verba , quot sunt in quinque contra Verrem secundae actionis libris , explicentur , meminerimus etiam omnium quasi depositorum : nonne impediri quoque dicendi cursum necesse est duplici memoriae cura ?	I pass by the fact that there are certain things which it is impossible to represent by symbols, as, for example, conjunctions. We may, it is true, like shorthand writers, have definite symbols for everything, and may select an infinite number of places to recall all the words contained in the five books of the second pleading against Verres, and we may even remember them all as if they were deposits placed in safe-keeping. But will not the flow of our speech inevitably be impeded by the double task imposed upon our memory?
3302	Nam quomodo poterunt copulata fluere , si propter singula verba ad singulas formas respiciendum erit ? Quare et Charmadas et Scepsius , de quo modo dixi , Metrodorus , quos Cicero dicit usos hac exercitatione , sibi habeant sua ; nos simpliciora tradamus .	For how can our words be expected to flow in connected speech, if we have to look back at separate symbols for each individual word? Therefore the experts mentioned by Cicero as having trained their memory by methods of this kind, namely Charmadas, and Metrodorus of Scepsis, to whom I have just referred, may keep their systems for their own use. My precepts on the subject shall be of a simpler kind.
3303	Si longior complectenda memoria fuerit oratio , proderit per partes ediscere ; laborat enim maxime onere ; et hae partes non sint perexiguae , alioqui rursus multae erunt et eam distinguent atque concident . Nec utique certum imperaverim modum , sed maxime ut quisque finietur locus , ni forte tam numerosus , ut ipse quoque dividi debeat .	If a speech of some length has to be committed to memory, it will be well to learn it piecemeal, since there is nothing so bad for the memory as being overburdened. But the sections into which we divide it for this purpose should not be very short: otherwise they will be too many in number, and will break up and distract the memory. I am not, however, prepared to recommend any definite length; it will depend on the natural limits of the passage concerned, unless, indeed, it be so long as itself to require subdivision.
3304	Dandi sunt certi quidam termini , ut contextum verborum , qui est difficillimus , continua et crebra meditatio , partes deinceps ipsas repetitus ordo coniungat . Non est inutile , iis quae difficillimus haereant aliquas apponere notas , quarum recordatio commoneat et quasi excitet memoriam ;	But some limits must be fixed to enable us, by dint of frequent and continuous practice, to connect the words in their proper order, which is a task of no small difficulty, and subsequently to unite the various sections into a whole when we go over them in order. If certain portions prove especially difficult to remember, it will be found advantageous to indicate them by certain marks, the remembrance of which will refresh and stimulate the memory.
3305	nemo etiam fere tam infelix , ut , quod cuique loco signum destinaverit , nesciat . At , si tardus ad hoc , eo quoque adhuc remedio utetur ut ipsae notae ( hoc enim est ex illa arte non inutile ) aptentur ad eos qui excidunt sensus : ancora ut supra pro posui , si de nave dicendum est , spiculum , si de proelio .	For there can be but few whose memory is so barren that they will fail to recognise the symbols with which they have marked different passages. But if anyone is slow to recognise his own signs, he should employ the following additional remedy, which, though drawn from the mnemonic system discussed above, is not without its uses: he will adapt his symbols to the nature of the thoughts which tend to slip from his memory, using an anchor, as I suggested above, if he has to speak of a ship, or a spear, if he has to speak of a battle.
3306	Multum enim signa faciunt , et ex alia memoria venit alia : ut cum translatus anulus vel alligatus commoneat nos , cur id fecerimus . Haec magis adhuc adstringunt , qui memoriam ab aliquo simili transferunt ad id quod continendum est : ut in nominibus , si Fabius forte sit tenendus , referamus ad illum Cunctatorem , qui excidere non potest , aut ad aliquem amicum , qui idem vocetur .	For symbols are highly efficacious, and one idea suggests another: for example, if we change a ring from one finger to another or tie a thread round it, it will serve to remind us of our reason for so doing. Specially effective are those devices which lead the memory from one thing to another similar thing which we have got to remember; for example, in the case of names, if we desire to remember the name Fabius, we should think of the famous Cunctator, whom we are certain not to forget, or of some friend bearing the same name.