DE O RA TO R E

BO O" 1

T R A N S L A T E D I N TO E N G L I H S

W I TH A N I N T R O D U C T IO N BY

E N. . P. M OOR , M A . .

A S S ISTA N T M A S TER A T

C LIF T O N C O L L EG E

fila mj u m a nti

1 8 B U R Y S TR EET, WC . .

L O N DO N

1 892
 IN T R O D U C T I O N

H E t h re e b o o k s De Ora
T
to re seem to have been
written by Cicero in th e year B C . . 55 . I t was
a time when owi n g ,
to th e i n crea s ing power of th e
Triumvirs there was little room fo r any political activity
,

on the part of Cicero . On his recall from exile in the

preceding year he had conceived som e hopes of again
taking a leading part in political life but owing partly
to the lukewarmness of s ome and the downright faith
lessness of others of his old supporters which made it ,

impossible for him to resume his old place at th e head

of the optimates and partly to the clo s er union
, pro
du ced between Po m pei a s and Caesar by the conference
at Luca he thought it more advi s abl e to withdraw
,

fro m public life and con s ole himself ,

a s was his i nv a ri
1
able custom with literary work
, . The w ork to w hich
he devoted himself w a s the present treati s e De , Ora t o re

it is dedicated to h is brother Quintus and as we are , ,

told in the introductory chapters his choice was d eter ,

F o r Cice r o p o sit i o n fe e l ing s

th i s t im e s e e his fa m o u s
’
1
s a nd a t

l e tt er t o Le nt u l u s (A d F a m i a nd a m o s t i nt e r e s t i ng e s s a y
. .

o n C i ce r o a nd t h e Triu m v ira t e in t he In tr o d u c t i o n t o v o l ii o f . .

t he C o r res p o nd e nce o f C i ce r o by P ro fess o r Ty rre l l

, .

b
 I N TROD U CTI O N
’

mined by a request of his brother s that he woul d

supplement his earlier work on the same subj ect th e ,

De Invent io ne by something more worthy of his maturer

,

age and riper experiences as the leading orator of

Ro m e .
The treati s e is thrown into the form of a
dialogue which Cicero represent s as
,
h is so m ewhat
imperfect reminiscence of a conversatio n which had
taken place at the Tusculan villa o f L Licinius Crassus .
,

and had been reported to him by C Aureliu s Cotta .

,

o ne o f the interlocutors . That some such conversation

did t ake place we must ,
of course believe but it is
s carcely credible that what Cicero give s us in thes e
three books is anything but a fancy account of W hat he
thinks o u ght to have been s aid ,
or what he would have
l iked to have been said ,
on the occasion . H e calls it
himself a no n s a ne s a tis ex
p lica ta m e m o r ia ,
a fairly vague
expres s ion w hich may perhaps be intended to imply
that he will feel at perfect liberty to d raw upon his
o wn imaginatio n in order to supply the mis s ing details
,

o f the convers ation . However this may be we have ,

a long dialogue extending through three books and it ,

must be confe s s ed that as we re ad it we are apt to , ,

forget in man y places that it is a dialogue at all . No

doubt at time s there is a good deal of dramatic play ,

a n d a lively interchange of humorous and charming

remarks " but the subj ect of conversation at such
moments is not a s a ru l e the question of oratory but ,

something extraneous to the main theme . The con

 I NTROD U CTI O N

versation does not as a rule contribute to the argu

, ,

ment of the dialogue b ut only relieves the somewhat

,

long winded discourse s

- of the chief exponents of

of
’
Cicero s theory oratory . It has been said that the
De Ora t o re is the most finished perhaps of Cicero s
’
‘
, ,

compositions . An air of grandeur and magnificence

reigns throughout . The characters of the aged
S enators are fi n ely conceived and the whole company ,

’
1
is invested with an almost religious maj esty . This
’
‘
air o f grandeur and magnificence and al most religious ‘

m
’
aj esty may be what we are finding fault with and ,

the fault may really lie with the reader who cannot
attune himself to so high a strain but we can not help
feeling that any of the listeners might fairly have
administered to C rassus at all events if not to th e ,

other speakers the well-known rebuke which Lamb

,

administered to Coleridge .
“
Crassus does unmistakeably
preach and not talk and it is a certain relief
, , Wh e n u

we reach the l e s s po m po u s
v
and comparatively every
day deliverance o f Antonius .

The scene of the dialogue is laid at the Tusculan

villa of L Licinius Crassus
. . To this country residence
he is represented as retiring fo r the brief holiday of
th e Lu di R om a ni, in th e year B C. .
91 . I t was at a
moment when political excite m ent wa s running very
high . Tw o burning questions were before the Roman
1
Jhn H enry N ewm a n
o , q u o t ed by Dr S a ndy s in his Intro du c
.

t io n t o t he O ra t o r p xl ix
, . .
 I N T ROD U CTI ON

public —the reform of the j u dicia and the extension of

,

the c ivit a s to all the Italian yeomen . .

The champion
of the party of reform was M Livius Dru s us and he .
,

was supported by the most enlightened members of

the nobilit y ,
his chief opponent being L . Marcius
Philippus the Consul ,
. Cra s sus therefore acco m panied
, ,

by so m e of his clo s e s t political friends took the ,

o
ppo r
Lu dz Ro m a
’

t u n it y of the i n terval afforded by the ni to

retire for a few days rest and refreshment ’
in
“

the
country . His companions were his father - in - law,

Q M u c i u s S caevola the Augur " Marcus Antonius th e

.
, ,

gran d father o f the triumvir " and two younger mem

bers of the party P S ulpici u s Rufus and C Aurelius
, . .

Cotta attached more immediately the former to Cras

, ,

s u s, and the la t ter to Antonius . The visit extended

over three day s . On the first day the political situation ,

e ngaged all their attention and was made the subj ect ,

of an a n imated discu s s ion . On the second day all the ,

morni n g up to the hour fo r the s ie s ta was s pent in a

di s cu s s ion on oratory which was opened by Crassu s
, ,

and in which he took the leadi n g part Antonius only ,

briefly replyi n g and suggesti n g s ome limitation s to the

very extensive clai m s m ade by Cra s sus fo r the perfect
orator . At the end of the second day S caevola retired
,

to his o wn villa , but on the morning of the third day

h is place wa s supplied by the unexpected arrival of

two other friends Q Lu t a t i u s ,

. Ca t u l u s , the conqueror
o f the Cimbri at the battle o f Ve rc e l l a e, and C Julius .
 I NT ROD U CTI ON

Caesar S trabo V o pi s cu s, a half brother -

of Ca t u l u s, who
in the second book takes some part in the dialogue as
the exponent of the true theory o f wit and its p l ace
,

and function in oratory . On the third day the dis

c u ss i o n was maintained till the evening . Antoniu s
discoursed throughout the m orning with a brief
,

interval for Caesar s deliver a nce on wit " and after the
siesta Crassus again took up the tale and with but a
, ,

very few interruptions from the others monopolised th e

afternoon .

S uch is a very meagre skeleton of the contents of th e

thre e books " each o f which it s hould be added
, ,
ha s

a few introductory sections . H ere in the first book

, ,

Cicero states his reasons and motives for writing the

treatise and gives in brief his
, o wn notions on th e
'

requir ements of the orator " in the second ,

he reminds
his brother o f the false impression there was that Crassus
a n d Antonius were unlearned and ignorant m e n, and
expl ains how that impres s ion arose " in the third he ,

deplores the untimely deaths of Crassus and Antonius ,

and the horrors o f the M arian proscription .

I t is not necessary here to give a deta iled account of

the dra m a tis p ers o na e the detail s of their careers may

be read in the Biographical Dictionary ,
or in the intro
the De
’

d u c t io n s to s uch editions of Ora t o re as Piderit s ,

S o ro f Dr Wilkin s I t will be noticed that

’ ’

s, or . .

S caevola ret ires after the first day 5 and Cicero himself ,

in a letter to Atticus ( A d A l t iv . . 1 6, tells u s why

 I NTROD U CTI ON

this is so . There s eem to have been t wo reasons

the one s uggested by the Repu blic of Plato where the ,

aged Cephalus similarly retires early in the dialogue it ,

not being s uitable that a man of h is years should sit

out so long a conversation " the other because the
second and third books of the De Ora to re contain th e
’
v of the subj ect and such a sportive old man
Te
xv
y La ,

as S caevola (j ocu la l o rem s enem illu m ) would have been

an inconvenient listener to a technical discourse This .

pas s age shows us one thing at all events —that Cicero s

’

treatment of the conversation suppo s ing it to have ,

been historical in its origin is ,

so free that very littl e
of the historical element remains . In fact ,
o ne o f th e
chief motives fo r putting the treati s e in the form of a
historical dialogue s ee m s to be the desire to throw th e
halo of the authority of such name s as Cras sus and
’

An toni us over Cicero s o wn theory o f oratory " and it

is am using to fi nd in the course of t he dialogue that
both Cra s sus 79) and Antonius 9 5) venture on a
prophecy that even a greater orator than Crassus will
some day be heard in Rome . I t is impossible not to

believe that Cicero in these passages is thinking of his

own achievements . I t is noticeable also that in several ,

points there is so strange an ide ntity between what

Crassus is m ade to tell us about him s elf a n d what we
kno w of Cicero from other works of his that we are
.

inclined to regard the De Ora to re as largely auto

biographical . Crassus for instance tells us in
, , 121
 I NT ROD U CTI O N

of his extreme nervo u sness whenever he began to

speak " and in his speech , Pro Cl u ent io 5 1) Cicero

tells us exactly th e same thing about himself . The
two passages are well worth comparing the language ,

in them being very similar . Again Crassus in ,

1 5 4,

155 s peaks of the literary exercises which he practised

in his youth in th e way of the reproduction and
retranslation of passages from classical authors Latin ,

and Greek and in the B ru tu s 3 1 0) we hear exactly

the same about Cicero . Again in , 1 90 Crassus tell s
us that he has a schem e for reducing the civil la w to a
system though h e is afraid he
,
m a
y not be able to

carry it out and A G e l l iu s speak s o f a book of Cicero s ’

.

u i ins cri tu s es t de u re c ivili in a rt em redi endo 1

q p j g . Crassus ,

then may be regarded as the exponent of Cicero s

,
’

views but not exclu s ively

,
so " for though Antoniu s
in the first book attempts to put limitations to the
province of the orator as defined by Crassus yet in the ,

second book he claims no less unlimited powers for

’

him ,
so that Crassus exclaims :
‘
A night s rest ha s

polished and humanised you Antoniu s we are glad to , ,

sa
y" for in our conversation yesterday you described
the orator to us as a sort of dull monotonous galley
,

slave quite destitute

,
of any culture or polite learn
ing ’
and Antonius replies that yesterday he was only
arguing for the sake of argui n g but now he feel s ,

bound to give his real opinions . Thus we may infer ,

1
S ee es p ecia lly on th i s p o int Dr . Wilk ins ’
t
no e o n 1 90 .
 I NTROD U CTI ON

I think that the modifications suggested by Antonius

,

in the fir s t book are accepted by Cicero though n o ,

longer a s modifications but as additions to the require

ments of the perfect orator " or are at all events incor
, ,

p o ra t ed in so m e way in the general theory .

What then is Cicero s theory

, ,
’
of oratory ? and what ,

according t o him are the necessary qualifications

,
of the
perfect orator ? The briefest po s sible ans wer to this
que s tion w ould b e —if we may be allowed to s a y so
without disrespect to the me m ory o f Cicero Let W M , "

a man do exactly a s I Cicero have done and he will

, , ,
-

thus a nd thus only achieve the desired result It is

’

, , .

i m pos s ible not to feel Ci cero s perhaps pardonable vanity

’

througho u t the treati s e — his proud co n sciousness that

he was the greatest of Ro m an orators . He admits
unreservedly the m erits of his predecessors but at ,

the same time plainly gives us to understand that

s o m ething has been added in the s e later days . This ,

s urely ,
is the mea n ing of the regrets put into the
mouth of Crassus that he had not been able to prepare
him s elf as much as he could have wished for the career
o f an orator " o f his depreciatory remarks about his own
a chievements and success " and of his confident antici
patiou o f th e advent of some o ne who will approach
n earer than he has done to his i d eal l Th e whole gist .

o f the matter lies in the point d is puted as we lear n

,

from the introduction between Ci c e ro a nd h is

brother " the former maintaining that the profounde s t
 I NT ROD U CTI ON xiii

learning was essential to eloquence the latter that ,

ESQii en c é depend ed solely on natural gift s s upple

m e nt e d by special training . I f the v ie w of Q u i n tus
w
“

ere the true o ne , it would be impo s sible Cicero ,

seems to argue to account for the extreme rarity

, of

fi rs t -rate orators " the history of the world furnishing

only v ery few instances of m e n who have distin gui s hed
themselves in oratory and this in s pite of much atten
,

tion having been given to the art and many having ,

aspired to win fame in this direction . The fact must

be that eloquence demands a combination of attain
ments such as are each of them s ingly hard to be
acquired . The d i fficulty of the subj ect ha s not been
as yet fully realised " and the ordinary text -book s on

rhetoric and the rules

,
a n d precepts there given are ,

quite in a de quate for the purpose fo r which they are

”

design ed Cicero therefore proposes to give the true

.
, ,

theory of oratory as h eld and set forth not by,

m ere
professors of rhetoric but by two of the most approved
,

and accomplished orators that had ever addressed a

Roman audience . I t is as though he would impre s s
upon his readers his own belief that eloquence is no t

merely a matter of certain definite principle s and rules

which may be learned from text books and treatises -

of
’
on rhetoric but is far rather a life s work the result
, ,

much study and much hard work ,

of much knowledge
and much experience . This is the view which Crassus
and Antonius together impress upon the two young
 I NT ROD U CTION

asp irants to oratorical fame ,

S ulpicius and Cotta "
Crassus e m phasising rather the necessity of ear nest
study and universal knowledge Antonius the necessity ,

of much practice and actual experience of public life ,

while both of them in s i s t on the antecedent necessity

of certain phy s ical gifts of voice , appearance ,
and
carriage . The true orator is defined by Crassus 64)
as the m a n who whatever may be the subj ect he is
,

call ed on to elucidate by language will speak , on it

with j udgm ent in harmonious language in perfect
, ,

sty le and with accurate knowledge all combined with

, ,

a certain dignity of delivery " and though he is willi ng

’
to concede that for practical purpo s e s the orator s pro
vince may be limited to the two sphere s of deliberative
and forensic eloquence (i) o vju fl o vk evn xfi and i j Sa xa vrxvj) ,

yet he insists more than once that ideally the activity

of the orator extends to all subj ects of hu m an thought
and knowledge . We m a
y therefore conclude that in
’

Cicero s opinion the orator is the man who not only

knows everything there is to be known but can al s o ,

speak on every such subj ect with power to persuade

and to convince . This is a large claim to make for the
orator but it
,
m a
y be said that Cicero ,
fo r his age and
time s fully s atisfied it
, .

The definition of the orator thus given by Crassus

include s five q u alification s which the orator m ust
posse ss —invenijo digi q tio ,
'

, e /o cu t z o , m em oria ,
i
a ct o the
corresponding verbs a n d adverbs being exco
gita re and
 I NTRO D U CTI O N

p ru de n
t er, disponere and co m
p o s it e
,
o m a re and o r na te ,

m em iniss e and m em o rit er, a

g ere and cu m q u a da m i
a ct o nis

dignita t e . This divi s ion o f the activity of the orator is

not peculiar to Crassus but is taken from the accepted
,

text books on rhetoric

-
and the advance mad e here by
Cra s sus appears chiefly to lie in the contents he gives
to invent io . I n the ordinary treatises inventio appears to
h ave been lim ited to c ertain technical points common
to a ll subj ects whereas in the theory o f Crassus it would
,

is u s ed in the widest sen s e— that

' '

seem that znvent zo o f

’

fi nding ou t all there is to be said on the s ubj ect in

hand and thus the way is opened for that de m an d fo r

un
iversal knowledge on the part of the orator which
strikes us as so extraordinary in the De Ora to re . There
are two main subj ects of knowledge which are postu

rie
fo ir
p

and a knowle dge of l aw . The '

r is indispensable
to all oratory becau s e , ,
a s the orator must speak t o
persuade he must be familiar with all the motives
,
of

human action and be able to rouse ,

or soothe at will
the emotions of his auditors " he must know what
e ffect di fferent situations are likely to have upon the
feelings of an audience and b e able to produce that
,

e ffect if and when he de s ires . All this is well put by

Antonius in 87 . The latter a k nowledge of ,
l a w, is
insisted on at great le ngth by Crassus 1 66

partly perhaps to add to the dramatic e ffect

, ,
of the
dialogue by way of compliment to S caevola who was a
, ,
 I NTROD U CTI ON

di s tinguished member of a great legal family partly ,

as a natural result of social life in Rome ,

in which the
law courts and trials both public and private formed
-
, ,
so

large an element . In other matter s it is conceded that

the orator may get th e knowledge necessary for his
purpo s e second hand —that h e may be primed for the
-

o ccasion " but this is only a reluctant concession to

human weakne s s and indolence and it is a s serted again ,

and again that if the orator would be perfect he i nust

, , ,

to use the expression of Par s on Adams in his discourse

on Ho m er ,
comprehend all perfections for though
such universal knowledge may not be i m mediately
needful on every occa s ion and in every s peech yet it ,

is desirable th at the orator should produce in his

audience the impression o f having a large reserve o f

po w er upon which h e can draw of being a man ,

of

wide discourse enj oyin g a large freedo m and perfect

,

m astery of his craft .

Another direction in which the traditional notions of

the function of th e orator are enlarged is seen in the

treatment of the que s tion whether there is an art o f
’

rhetoric . In 9 0, 9 2 Antonius tells the co m pany how

C h a rm a d a s, the Acade m ic denied there was any such
,

an art of rhetoric because an art implies ,

subj ect matter known and thoroughly unders tood

-
,

relative to a definite end and invariabl e " and there fore ,

it would follow that as the subj ect m atter ,

- of oratory
is as variable as human nature rhetoric ,
is purely em s
 I NT ROD U CTI O N xvii

piri c a l —the view taken of it by Plato in the Go rgia s ,

to which referenc e has already been made by Cras s us

In 1 08 Crassus admits this contention of

according to his definition of art but goes

’

C ha rm a da s

on to sub s titute a less rigorous definition whereby the ,

art o f rhetoric is made to con s ist of a system of rules

derived by intelligent observation from the practice of

\
speakers and classified
,
fo r ordinary use . In this way
the liberal arts”
rh etoric is reinstated in the circl e of

and at the same time delivered from the bondage o f a

set o f hard and fast rul es which admit o f no variation ,

scope being left for the ingenuity and initiative o f t h e é

individual speaker— a solution of the di ffi culty which"
is warmly welcomed by Antonius .

Two other point s which Crassus emphasises remain

to be mentioned in order to complete our account
, of

Cicero s theory of oratory The first of these to which

’
.
,

reference ha s already been m ade is the necessity

, of

c ertain natural gifts . To these so m u

ch in
p r n
i o t a nce

is a ttached that we are almost forced

,
t conclude that
o

in the bottom of his heart Cicero b el i e v e d t ha t the

orator like his next
,
-o f- kin the poet ,
na sc it u r no n
fi t .

These physical qualifications are mobility of tongue ,

tone of voice power ,

of lung good physique and a
, ,

certain conformation o f feature and general pos e of

limb . Defects in these respects may be partially

obviated or removed —as for instance Demosthenes , ,

cured his stammer and there h a ve been men who have

,
 xvii i I NTROD U CTI O N

made some mark as speakers in Spite of such de fects

but for the perfection o f oratory these physical a dva n
tage s are neces s ary and all the m ore s o becau s e
, ,

though in th e kindred pro fes s ion of the actor we can

tolerate some deficiency in these respect s ,
s ince there
are other things to engage ou r interest a nd fix ou r

atten tion yet in oratory where

, ,
ou r attention is con
c e n t ra t ed on the s peaker alone anythi n g in him that
,

j ars on us or o ffends ou r taste has a prej udicial e ffect on

his whole performan ce . Thi s is c o rnb a t ed by Antonius

in his reply and it would s ee m with reason and common
,

s ense on his side . The second of the s e points is the

l/ n e ce s s it y o f careful preliminary trainin g the devotion ,

of a lover to one s art . Thi s train ing must cons i s t in

the critical study o f the be s t authors Greek and ,

Ro m an in declamation exerci s es both , ex t emp o re and

prepared in physical exerci s es fo r the management of
the voice and the li m bs " and above all in m uch written , ,

co m position . The importance attached to the use of

the pe n is rather interesting " showing as it does what , ,

mu s t have been t he actual practic e of Cicero . Accord

in g to h im , not only does a constant habit of wri tin g
d
’
give ease a n fl uency to th e orator s s tyle but the ,

i mere proces s of writing is actually provocative o f

thought . So m uch stress is laid on this that we may ,

I think conclude that Cicero was in th e habit

, of writ
ing ou t his speeches in full be fore th ey were delivered .

Another advantage of the habit also is stated to be

, ,
 I NTROD U CTI ON

at the end of the lecture . Hence I have freely

adopted in the translatio n anything that seemed of
value in the labours o f others ,
a s my aim wa s not to be
,

origin al but to give my pupils a model that might be

,

worthy in some measure of their imitation . One book

’

in particular I have freely used and that is Dr Wilkins ,

.

edition of this treatise " and I hope that if he should ,

think this book of mine worthy of his notice he will ,

on this account pardon such borrowings as I hav e made

from him . S ince I have been persuaded to publish my
version I have in s ome case s tried to alter
,
W hat I had
taken fro m his notes " but I have found mysel f in the
same di ffi culty as Cras s us was with regard to the writ
i n gs o f Ennius and Gracchus — the words which are
most suitable have been already appropriate d by Dr .

Wilkin s and I have been unable to make alterations

,

without lo s s . The other edition of the De Ora to re I

’

have used is ( Berlin S o ro f s

and I have adopted ,

his text throughout except in one place The ta s k I

, .

set before my s elf was to tran s late the original as liter

ally as it wa s pos s ible so to do , a n d yet produce a readable
English version I endeavoured though I fear it may ,

s ound a s omewhat vai n a m bition to l et my Engli s h ,

retain s omething of the Ciceronian style . No o ne

knows better than myself h o w fa r short of my aim the

performance has fallen but I have deliberat ely all
through the work allo w ed the Latin to form my styl e
so fa r as seemed consistent with English idiom . It
 I NT ROD U CTI O N

would have been wi s er perhap s to have taken Addison, ,

or some other Englis h clas s ic as a model and to have -

,

written the tran s lation in his style . But to say nothing

,

of my inability to do thi s such was not my obj ect , "

my obj ect wa s, if po s sible to let Cicero dominate

, m y
expression , so that my English version might retain
s ome suggestion of h is sustained periods . Above all
things I would emphasise the fact that the translation
, ,

such as it is was made for teaching purposes

, . I believe
at the ti m e it had some use as helping my pupils to get
s ome notion o f Ciceronian Latin and if others should
find it helpful in a similar way I s hould feel th at the ,

publication o f it was in so m e degree j ustified I publish .

it I m ust confess reluctantly and only at the repeated

, , ,

request of m y friend Mr H F Fox

, . . . . I do not view
with much pleasure the multiplication of tran s lations
of the Greek and Latin cla s sics but I was unwilling ,

to appear ungracious to so old a friend and I was the

more easily persuaded to consent ,
because the De
Ora to re is no t a book that is read much and if read it , , ,

should be read rapidly and in large pieces at a time .

I t also s eemed to me that such a translation a s the

pres en t might perhaps be u seful for th e purpose of

le a rn ing Latin Prose Composition especially in the ,

c ase o f those who have no o ne to guide them and

correct their exercises .

I cannot concl ude this introduction without a word

of hearty thanks to my friend and past colleague Mr ,
.

6
x xii I NT RO D U CTI ON

H G Da k y ns who has
. .
,
m ost generously read through
all the proof—
sheet s of the tra n slation ,
s uggested many
improvements ,
a nd s aved me from many errors no o ne

could have taken more trouble over his o wn work than

he has over m ine .

E . P MO O R
. .

C L I F TO N j a
,
n u a ry 1 89 2 .
 ERRA TA .

The rea d e r is r e q u es t e d to m a ke t he fo ll owing co rre ct io ns

Pa ge I l a s t l ine fo r t ra nq u i l l i ty r e a d t r a nqu il l ity
, ,

Pa ge 1 9 l ine 2 3 fo r w a s r ea d w a s
, , ,

Pa g e 3 1 l ine 3 fo r t a i nt re a d t /z i nk ?
, , ,

Pa ge 4 1 line 8 fo r R om e r e a d R om e
, , ,

P a g e 5 1 l ine 1 0 fo r a t t a i n ed a nd
, , q u est ion
, etc .
,
rea d
a t t a in ed " one q u est io n o nly e t c .

P a ge 59 , l ine 8, fo r a nd o ver r ea d a ga in a nd
 C IC ER O D E O R A TO R E

BO O " I
.

H EN EV ER my thought s a n d re m ini
s c e n c e s take me back to the o l d days
,

my dear brother I am always struck

,

with the extreme felicity of those who ,

in the best days o f our country s history were distin ,

u ish e d both b y o fficial position and by their brilliant

g
s ervi ces to the state and yet were able to maintain a
,

life of such e v en tenor that they could as they pleased

enj oy political activity without dan ger o r retire m ent
,

without loss of honour, There was a time indeed when, ,

I th ought that I too should be able to claim with ,

the almost universal consent of my fellow — countrymen ,

mo m e n t for retiring and for turning my attention

’

once more to those higher studies to which we are

both of u s devoted if only s ome pause shoul d come
,

in the endless labours of public life and the engrossing

occupations of a candidate for election when my ,

o fficial career was closed and the prime o f my life

was past . This hope which w a s present in all my
,

thoughts and purposes was disappointed by a com

,

bination of disastrous pol itical events and various

domestic misfortunes " for where I expected to find a
most ampl e haven of rest and tranquillity I was ,
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[L 2

confronted by an overwhelming flood o f vexation and

a tempe s tuous stor m of troubl e and as a matter o f
,

fact much as I have wished and d esired it I hav e

, ,

never been vouchsafed any enj oyment o f leisure in

which to pro s ecute and renew with you those studie s
to which from o u r boyhood we have been devoted .

Thus my early years j ust coincided with the first

collapse o f o l d political principles my consul s hip
,

brought m e into the ve ry centre and heat o f the

political struggle and all my energies between my
,

cons u lship and the present ti m e I have devo ted to

stem ming the waves which were by my policy dive rted
from overwhelming the count ry only to recoil upon
,

me and mine H owever even in spite o f present hin

.
,

drances whether political di ffi culties o r limitations of

,

ti m e I will indulge the tastes which we share together

, ,

and what leisure is allowed me either by the evil

design s o f political enemies o r the calls o f friend s hip
and public duty I shall devot e exclusively to literary
,

work Certai n ly to your command o r your request

.
,

my dear brother I cannot be indi fferent " for there is

,

no o n e whose authority o r wi s hes can have more

weight with me than yours .

M U S T therefore now t ry to recall to mind a s tory

I heard some time ago I have not a very distinct
.

reme m brance o f it but it will be su fficie n t I think fo r

, , ,

your purpose and it will show you what h a s been the

,

opinion o f the greatest and most famous orators on the

general theory o f oratory Yo u have often expressed
.

to me a wish that since the rude and imperfect work

 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ IL 8

able by their wi s dom a n d counsel to direct and

guide th e s tate we have known many within our
,

o wn me m ory " s till more were known within the

me m ory o f o u r fathers and even in the ages before
them " whereas fo r many centuries we find no good
orators barely indeed o ne tolerabl e representative
,

o f the art for each generation It may indeed

.
, ,

occur to an obj ector that oratory ought to b e com

pared with other p u rsuits such as deal with more
abstruse subj ects and i m ply a wide acquaintance with
literature rather than with the excellence o f a general
,

or the practical wisdo m of the good statesman " but

let him only turn to such other branche s of study ,

and observe h o w numerous are the distinguis hed

names in each a n d he will very easily realis e what
,

paucity o f orators there is and always has,

OU are no doubt well aware that o f all the liberal

arts in high repute philosophy is con s idered
by the learned to be the mother and the great ,
‘

’
original if I may borrow th e expres s ion " yet in
,

philosophy it is di fficult to e n u m erate how many m e n

there have been of the greate s t knowledge o f many ,

sided interests and rich endowments who have not ,

only done good work as specialists in so m e one depart

ment but have covered the whole range o f knowl e dge
,

possibl e to them either in their direct search after

,

truth o r in their dialectical discussions

,
We all .

know what obscure subj ects are handled in mathe

maties how abstruse a science it is h o w complicated
, , ,
1 11 . 12 ] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .

how exact and yet so m any have attained to pe rfe c

,

tion in it that no o ne we may almost s a y h a s given , ,

h i s serious a ttention to this s cience and n o t achieved

success Is there an in s tanc e of any o n e devoting
.

himsel f to mu s ic o r the now fas hionable study of

,

l anguage pro fessed by the grammarians as they are ,

called and failing to acquire a thorough knowledge

,

of the almost unli m ited ra and subj ect matter o f -

tho s e branches o f think I may truly sa y

that of the whole number of ose who have e n gaged
in the pursuit and acquire m e nt o f the liberal arts the ,

s malle s t continge nt is that o f fi rs t —

rate poets and
1
orators and further within this small co n ti n gent in
,

which insta n ce s o f real excellence are very rare y o u ,

will find by a care ful selection o f examples for com

parison fro m the hi s tory both o f Rome and Greece ,

that there ha v e been far fewer good orators than good

poets And this must strike u s as all the more sur
.

prising becau s e the s ubj ects o f all t h e o t h e r arts are

, .

drawn as a rule fro m remot e and ab struse s ource s ,

wherea s the w hole province o f oratory is within reach

"

of every o n e and finds it s s ubj ect matter in the pra c t i

,
-

cally universal experience o f men and their ordinary

manners a n d conver s ation so that while in the other
arts the highest excellence is found where there is the
furthest remove fro m the intelligence and a ppre cia
tion o f the unlearned in the orator o n the contrary it
, , ,

1
H ere h a ve d e s e rt e d S o ro f s t ext fo r t he sim pl e r ea s o n th a t
I
’
,

I c a n ge t no s a t i s fa c t o ry m e a n ing o u t o f i t wi th o u t s u pp o s i ng
,

C i ce r o g u i lty o f a l o o se ne s s o f expr e s si o n wh ic h seem s inco nce iv

a bl e in s o c a r e fu l a p i e ce o f wr it i ng a s th is .
6 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ 1 11 . 12

is a fault of the very gravest character to be o u t o f

harmony with the language o f every day life and the -
,

accepted usage o f men of ordinary taste and int el l i

ND we cannot either (in explanation of this)

maintain with a ny truth that more devote them
'

selves to the other arts o r that tho s e w ho do s o are

,

encouraged to m a ster thei" s ubj ect by the great er

pleasure o f the work o r by higher hopes o f s uccess
, ,

or by m ore s p le ndid prizes In fact to s a y nothing

.
,

of Greece which h a s alway" claimed to be first i n

‘

eloquence and o f that mother o f all the arts the city

, ,

of Athens where the art o f rhetoric was invented and

,

attained its highest development in our o w n country , ,

even no study surely h as ever had a more vigorous

,

life than the study o f oratory For lwh e n after the "

establish m e n t o f our world wide empire a lengthened

-

peace s ecured to u s the enj oy m ent o f leisure th e re ,

w as hardly a young man o f any ambition w h o did not

think that he ought to put forth all his energy to
make hi m self an orator At firs t indeed o u r c ountry
.
, ,
’

m e n in total ignorance o f the theory a n d believing ,

neither in the virtue of training nor in the existence ,

of any particular rule o f art attai n ed to what s uccess

,

they could by th e help o f native wit and invention "

sub s equently after they had heard the Greek orators
, ,

studied Greek literature and cal le d in the aid o f

,

Greek teachers they were fired with a really m arvel

,

lou s zeal for learning the art They were e n couraged

.

by the importance the variety a n d t h e num ber o f

, ,
‘
 v . 17 ] CI CE RO DE O RATORE I .
7

causes of every descriptio n to supplement the learn ,

ing which they had severally gain ed from private

,

study by constant practice and found this better than

, ,

"
th e instructions o f all the pro fe s so rs J Further t o ,

this pursuit then a s n o w the highest prizes were

, ,

o ffered whether in the way o f popularity or influence , ,

o r position Finally in respect of abil ity a s many

.
, ,
.

indications lead u s to conclude o u r countrym en have ,

always be en far superi or to any other nation in the

“

these e ra t i o n s may surely j ustify

some surpris e at t h e history o f all

ages periods a n d
, ,
presents us with s o
s mall a number e truth o f the matter
i s that this ac
,
s something greater
than it is g enerally supposed to be and is the com
(
,

b in e d result of many a rts and many studies .

O R when we consider the very large num ber of V

learners the rich supply of teachers the e xde p

, ,

abilities o f th e persons engaged th e infinite

t io na l ,

variety o f causes the splendour of t h eprize s which

,

eloquence n where els e can we look fo r the ,

explanation Of fact" except i n the really incredible

/

greatness and di ffi c ul t y o f the subj ect ? Eloquence ,

1 7
J im fact requires many thing : a wide
, s
very many subj ects ( verbal fluency without this being
worthles s and even ridiculous ) a style t o o carefully , , ,

formed not merely by selection but by arrangement ,

o f word s and a thorough fa m iliarity with all the

,

feelings which nature h a s given to man because the ,

whole force and art of th e orator must be put forth in

 s CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ v .

allaying o r exciting the emotions o f his audience "

Further than th is it requires a certain pl ay o f humour
and wit a liberal culture a readi ne s s and b revity in
, ,

reply and attack combi n ed with a nice d elicacy a n d

,

1 8 refi n ement o f manner I t requires also an acquaint

.

ance with all hiétgg , and a store o f instances nor can ,

it dispens e with a knowledge o f the statute books and -

all civi l law

. I need hardly add I presume any , ,

remarks o n mere delivery This must be combined

.

wit h appropriate movement o f the E ddy gest ures , ,

looks and modulation and variety of tone

,
H ow .

important this is in it s elf may be seen from th e

insignificant art of the actor and th e procedure o f th e
stage for though all a c t o rs pa y great attention to the
‘

due manage m ent o f their features voice and ge s tures , , ,

it is a matter o f common noto rie ty how few ther e are ,

or have been whom we can watch without discomfort

, .

One word I must add o n me m ory the treasure house ,

-

o f all k nowl edge . U nless th e orator calls in the aid

o f memory to retain the matter and the words with

which thought and study have furnished h im all hi s ,

other merits however brilliant we know will lose their

, ,

1 9 e ffect
. We m a y there fore well cease to wonder why
f it is that real orators are s o few seei ng that eloquence
"
,

depends o n a combi n ation of accomplish m ents in each ,

one o f which it is no slight matter to achieve success

let us rather urge o u r children and all others whose ,

fame and reputation is dear to us to realise the great ,

ness o f the ta sk and to believe that though they

,

cannot attain to the goal o f their a mbition by the

help o f t ho s e rules or t eachers o r exercises which are
, ,
VI . 22 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
9

in general u s e there are certain others which will

,

enable them t o do so .

Y private O pinion is that no o n e can be a l V I

o wn ,

real orator in the full sense o f the word unless 2 0

h e first acquires a knowledge o f all the great subj ects of
human s tudy " for a wide knowledge is needed t o give
a luxuriance a nd richness to language which unless ,

the speaker has thoroughly m astered his s ubj ect ,

su ffers from what I may perhaps call a puerile v a pidi t y J

of expression S till I would not lay s o great a burden 2 1
.

o n the orator e s pecially in o u r o w n coun t ry a m id the

,

urgent calls o f the city life o f t o day as to think that

- -
,

there is noth ing o f which they may e nj oy the privilege

o f ignorance alth o u gh the v e ry m e a ning o f the word
orator and the mere professio n o f eloquence seems
’

, ,

to imply a promise and undertaking t o speak in good

style and with full knowledge o n a ny s u bj ect which
, ,

may be proposed Thi s I am very sure most men 2 2

.

would consider a task o f incalculabl e and infinite

di fficulty The Greeks a l s o I k n ow rich as they were
.
, ,

not only in native wit and acquired learning but also ,

in lei s ure and enthusiasm for study made a certain ,

d iV 1 5 1 o n o f the arts and did not devote their e fforts

,

individually to even o ne depart m ent as a w hole but ,

separated from the other provinces o f s peech that

particular subdivision which is co n cerned with the
'

public discussions of the law court s and deliberative -

a ss emblies and a s mgn e d this only to the orator For

,
.

these rea s ons I shall not in this present treatise

includ e more than what has been after careful inquiry ,
10 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ V ] . 22

and much discussion allotted to this division of the art

,

by the all but unanimous j udg m ent o f the highest

authorities " and I shall not go back to the beggarly
elements o f the o l d— fashioned teaching which we
received in o u r boyhood for any definite system of
rules but I will repeat to you th e substance o f a
,

conversation which I have been told took place o n a

certain occasion between some of the greatest orators
and leading statesmen o f our o w n country Pray do
.

not i m agine that I would rej ect the rules which the
Greek professors o f rhetoric have left to us but as ,

they are public property and within the reach o f

,

e v ery o n e and cannot in any tran s lation o f mine b e

, ,

either s e t forth with better grace or expressed in

clearer language than they are you will I dare s ay my
, ,

dear brother forgive m e if I prefer to any Greek

,

pro fessor the authority of those to whom the highest

place o n the roll o f orators has been conceded by the
Ro m an world .

E must go back to the time when the Consul

Philippus w a s making a fierce attack o n the
policy o f the leading nobility and when the tribunician
,

power o f Drusus whose obj ect was to mai ntain the

,

authority o f the senate w a s beginning to all appear

ance to lose i t s influence and stability At this
.

j uncture L Crassus I remember bei n g told retired

.
, ,

in the week o f the Roman Games to his villa at

Tusculum to recruit his forces " he was j oined there ,

I was told by his late wife s father Quintu s Muci ns

,
’

, ,

and by Marcus Antonius who was connected with

,
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
( m . as

Why not do as S ocrates does Crassu s in the Ph aedrus , ,

o f Plato ? The thought is suggested to me by your

plane tre e here which with its s preading branches
-
, , ,

make s 1 less perfect shade for this spot than the

1 1

tree wh o s e s hade S ocrates sought which see m s to me ,

to have owed its luxuriant gro w th no t s o much to the

’

rivulet described in the dialog u e as to Plato s pen " ,

and s u rely w hat S ocrates with h is horny feet did ,

thre w hi m self that is o n the grass and s o delivered

, , ,
f

tho s e di v ine utterance s which the ph il o s o ph e rs a t t ri

bute to him this I with my so fter feet may more
,

’
fairly b e allowed to do Crassus rej oined . Nay ,
‘
,

’
let us do so with an added comfort and called for ,

some cushions and then they all s a t down o n th e

,

benche s beneath the plane tree -

.

H ILE they sat there as Cotta u s ed to tell the ,

story in order to refresh the mi n ds o f the

,

company after the convers ation of the previous day ,

Crassu s started a discu ss ion o n oratory H e began by .

say ing that S ulpicius and Cotta did not as it seemed s o , ,

much need encourageme n t from him as deserve his

hearty co m m endation in that they had already attained
,

to such proficie n cy that they not o n ly outstripped their

conte m poraries but challenge d comparison with their
,

’
s enior s " and believe m e he continued nothi n g seem s
‘ ‘
, , ,

to me a nobler ambition than to be able to hold by

your eloquence the m inds o f m e n to captivate their ,

wills to move them to and fro in whatever direction

,

y o u please . Thi s art o f all others has ever found its

fullest development in every free com m unity and more ,
vm . 33 ] CI C ERO DE O RATO RE 1 . 13

especially in states enj oying peace and tranquillity ,

and has ever ex ercised a dominant influe n ce What .

indeed is s o truly wonderful as that o u t o f an infinite

n umber o f men o n e m a n should stand forth able alone ,

o r with few others to use with e ffect what is rea l ly

,

’
nature s gift to all ? What pleasure i s greater to mind
o r ear than a speech adorned with wise s entiments

and weighty words and in perfect style ? Can we

imagine a more i m posing display o f individual power
tha n that the pa ss ions of a p eopl e the co n sciences o f ,

a j ury the gra v e d eliberatio n s o f a senate should b e

, ,

swayed by o n e man s utterance ? What again is s o , , 32

royal an exerci s e of liberality and m u ni fi c e n c e as to
bring help to the distres s ed to rai s e the a fflicted to
, ,

protect the rights o f our fellow citizen s to free them -

,

from danger and save them from exile

,
What more ,

over is s o practically useful as always to have in your

,

grasp a weapon with which y o u can s ecure your own

safety attack the enemies o f the state o r avenge
, ,

y ourself whe n provoked by them ? Or once m ore not ,

to be always thinking o f the forum its courts o f ,

j ustice public meetings and senate what greater

, , ,

enj oyment can there be in times o f leis u re what ,

greater intellectual treat than t h e brilliant discours e

l
’

o f a perfect scholar ? I t i s in fact this one c h a ra c:

t e ris t ic that gi v es us our chief superiority over the

brute creation the habit I mean o f conversing with

, , ,

one another and the power o f expressing o u r feelings

,

in words This power then every one may well

.
, , 33
admire and may well think that his best energies
,

must be exerted to make himself superior to his

 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ W i n 33

fellow men in that special gift which gives them

-

their chief superiority over brute beasts Finally .

,

to come to what are the main advantages of speech ,

what other power could have gathered the scattered

members of the human race into o n e place or weaned ,

them from a wild and s avage life to the humane and

civilised life o f c itizens o r when their various com
, ,

m u n it i e s were once e s tablished could have defined,

fo r them their laws their j udicial procedure and

, ,

their rights ? Its further advantages which are well ,

nigh innumerable I will not follow o u t in detail

, ,

but will co m prise them in o n e brief sentence — m y

deliberate opi n ion i s that the controlling influe nce
,

and wisdom of the consummate orator is the main

security not merely for h is o w n personal reputa
,

tion b fi t for the safety o f countless in diw du a l s

,
‘

and the welfare of the country at large Fo r .

the s e reasons my young friends continue your pre

, ,

s ent e fforts and devote yourselve s to the pursuit

,

which no w engages you that so you may be enabled

,

to win distinction fo r yourselves to benefit your ,

friends and to promote the best interests o f your

, .

J
country .

HEN S cae vo la with his habitual courtesy said

, ,

In everything else I quite agree with Crassus

‘
,

having no desire to depreciate either the accomplish

ments o r the reputation o f m y father in— law C L aelius -
.
,

o r of my o wn so n i n l a w but there are two statements

- -

o f yours Crassus which I fear I cannot admit

, , the o ne ,

that orators were originally the founders and often the

1 x . 38 ] CI CE RO DE ORATO RE 1 . 15

M of states the
EQ orator without ,

limiti n g him to the v arious department s of public life ,

has attained perfect i on in every subj ect of disco u rse

and polite learning In the first place who can agree
.
,

with y o u either that originally mankind when dis ,

e rs e d over the mountains and forests were n o t forced

p ,

by the wise action o f far seeing spirit s but rather won

-
,

by the persuasive words o f the eloquent t o fence the m

selves round in walled towns ? Or again that other ,

useful dispositio n s wheth er in th e way o f establishing

,

o r maintaining civilised communities o w ed their origin ,

to the eloquence o f men of clever speech rather than ,

to the wisdom o f men o f resolute action ? Yo u surely

cannot think that Romulus either collected his shep
herds and refugees o r established inter marriage with
,
-

the S abines or checked the violence o f neighbouri n g

,

tribes by the power o f eloquence and n o t by the ,

extraordinary wi s dom o f his policy Look again at .

the history o f Numa Pompilius or S ervius Tullius and , ,

the other ki ngs who notably did much towards the

consolidation of the state is it their eloquence o f which
we see the e ffects ? Then again after t he expul sion ,

of the kings — the actual expul s ion o f course was plainly

the work o f the brain and n o t th e tongue of Brutus "
,

but the i m m ediate sequel doe s it not present a series

-

of wi s e action s with a complete absence of mere words ?

Indeed if I cared t o quote from the history o f o u r o w n
,

country and o thers I could instance more cases o f

,

loss inflicted upon communitie s by the agency o f men

o f the greatest eloquence than o f advantages owed to

them " but omitting all others I fancy the most ,

16 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ i x. 38

loquent men I have ever heard with the exception ,

of o u a n d A n tonius were the two Gracchi Tiberiu s

y , ,

and Caius whose father a m a n o f sound s ense and

, ,

sterling character but by no mean s eloquent often

, ,

did good service to h is country and especially in his ,

censorship " he y o u know by no flood o f elaborate

, ,

eloqu ence but by the mere expression o f his will

, ,

tran sferred all freedmen i n to th e city tribes and but ,

for this m ea s ure o f his what little o f the o l d c o n st it u

,
h

tion s till survives would long have ceased t o e xist .

But tho s e eloquent sons o f h is ready speakers as they ,

were with all their advantages whether o f nature o r

,

learni n g born citizens o f a country to which their

,

’ ’
father s policy and their grandfather s arms had brought
great prosperity squandered the resources o f the state
,

by the help o f what according to you is so excellent

, ,

a d irector o f the communities of men — the po w er o f

eloquence .

O N S IDER again o u r ancient laws and traditional

usages o u r auspices over which I no les s than you
, , ,

Crassus preside fo r the pre s ervation o f o u r country "

,

o u r religious O bservances and ceremonie s th e body

o f civil law which h a s for generations been domesticated

in my family though none o f us has ever been

,

fam ous as an orator " do the s e o w e anything in respect

o f origin interpretation o r even general treatment to
, ,

the representatives of oratory ? Indeed if my memory ,

serves me S ervius Galba a very gifted s peaker M

, , ,
.

JEm il iu s Porcina and o u r friend Caius Carbo the victim

, ,

o f your youthfu l e f forts knew nothing of statute law

, ,
x . 43 ] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I . 17

boggled over traditional usage and had little a c ,

quaintance with civil law " and with the exception o f ,

you my friend who o w e to your o w n enthusiasm more

, ,

than t o any special gift peculiar to the orator the

knowledge o f civil la w which y o u have learnt from
me o u r o w n age is ignorant o f law to an extent that
,

sometimes makes o n e blush for it A s t o the a ssu m p5 .

tion which you made at th e end o f your remarks with ,

all the assurance of an unquestioned title that the ,

orator can be perfectly at home and is never at a

loss in a discussion upon any topic I should have ,

scouted it at once were you n o t here lord o f all

,

o u survey and I s hould have instructed a host o f

y ,

litigants who would either contest your claim s by a

’
pr a etor s inj unction o r challenge you to prove your
title by proces s of law a s having committed a rash and
,

violent s eizure of the domains of others F o r first o f . 42

all the Pythagoreans would go to law with you and ,

the Dem o crit e a n s and a l l the other physicists would

appear in court to assert their claims all o f them ,

accomplished and weighty speakers against whom ,

y o u could not pos s ibly make o u t a tenable case .

A nother heavy attack would come from the schools o f

the moral philosophers beginni ng with S ocrates their

, ,

first founder proving that you had learnt nothing

, ,

made no inquiries and knew nothing about the good

,

and evil in human affairs the emotions and the habits

,

o f men o r the true theory o f life

,
Then after they .
,

had made a combined attack upon you each school ,

would bring it s separate action against you The .

43
Academy would be upon you forcing you to contradi ct ,

B
18 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[x . 43 .

with your own lip s anything and everything you said

o u r friends the S toics would hopelessly entrap y o u in
the subtleties o f their arguments and interrogations "
while the Peripatetics would prove trium phantly that
you must go to them fo r those very things which you
believe to be the special requirement s and ornaments
o f the orator and would demon s trate that Ari s totl e
,

and Theophra s tu s had written m uch better and m uch ,

more too 0 11 these subj ect s than all the professed

,

teachers o f rhetoric I s a y nothing o f the m a t h e m a

.

t i c ia n s grammarians and musicians with whose arts

, ,

your oratorical faculty has not even the most distant

connection For these rea s ons Crassus my opinion is
.
, ,

that the large a n d comprehe n sive clai m s you make

are quite beyo n d the m ark Y o u mu s t content you r
.

self with this —and it is no slight thing —that y o u can

guarantee that in the law courts any case in which you
-

plead will see m the s tronger and more plausibl e that ,

in the national a s s e m bly and in the s enate a s peech

from you will have mo s t power to persuade " that y o u ,

in short will produce an impre s sion in professional

,

men o f the ability in laymen o f the truth o f your

, ,

contention If you succeed in doing more than this

.
,

the success I shall attribute not to the orator but to ,

some s pecial gift attaching to the personality o f the

’
speaker .

C
RA SS US I a m fully aware S c ae vola that such are
‘
, ,

the assertions made and the argum ents habitually

used by the Greeks " for I attended the lectures o f
their chief men when I stayed at Athens o n my re
 20 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xi . 48

other qualifications which we must allow h im " for h e

can not deal even with such matters with due j udgm ent
a n d skill without close application to public affairs ,

without a k n owledge o f statutes customs and law o r

, , ,

w ithout much insight into the nature and characters

o f men .Without these qualifications no one in any
question he is dealing with can be quite safe even 0 11
the minor points o f j udgment and s kill and with ,

them s urely he cannot be wanting in knowledg e o n

, ,

the mo s t important subj ects If you will not allow any

.

fun ction to the orator save that o f expres s ing hi m self

,

adequately in point of arrangement style and matter

, , ,

then I ask how can he achieve even that without the

further knowledge which you with others do not allo w
him ? For the true virtue of rhetoric cannot have full
play unless the speaker has mastered the subj ect o n
,

4 9 which he intends to speak Thus if the famous

.

physicist Democritus expressed himself in ad m irabl e

style ( and o n this point my o wn opinion coincides
with the accepted tradition ) while the subj ect matter
,
-

o f his discourses is that o f the physical philosopher ,

the style and language o f them we must believe is

, ,

that o f th e orator " and if Plato discoursed in most

perfect language o n subj ects most remote from ordinary
political que s tions if likewise Aristotle Theophrast u s , ,

r and Carneades in their lectures proved themselve s

men o f eloquence with all the charm o f a polished
style the subj ects of which they treat I readily admit
be l ong to other branches o f lear ning b u t their lan,

guage falls entirely within the one province which we

5 0 are now discussing and investigati ng
,
Indeed we s ee
.
xn . 52 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .

that certain philosophers have treated of the same

subj ects in a meagre and j ej une style as for instance , , ,

Chrysippus who is spoken o f for his extraordinary

,
'

acuteness " but he did no t therefore fail to satisfy the

requirements of the philosopher because h e did not,

possess the gift o f expression which is the outcome o f

,

an entirely di fferent branch of study .

H AT is it then that makes the di fference and ,

how are we to distinguish the rich and copious

diction o f the philo s ophers I have named from the
meagre diction of those w h o have not the same variety
and grace o f language at their command ? S urely the
o n e di fferentia o f these more eloquent philosophers we

shall find to be that they bring to their work a style at

once harmonious and eloquent and di s tinguished by a
,

certain note o f artis tic finish " and such a style if not ,

supported by a thorough knowledge o f his subj ect on

the part o f the speaker must either be con s picuous
,

by its absence o r else provok e general derision F o r

,
.

nothing surely can be so idiotic a s a m ere j ingle o f

, ,

words be they as choice and perfect as y o u will if there

, ,

is no meaning or knowledge underlying them What .

ever then his subj ect m a y be to whatever science it

,

may b elong and o f whatever ki nd the orator if he , ,

has studied it as he would a brief will s peak on it ,

with more skill and in better l an guage than even

the man who h a s made some origi n al di s covery o r
has technical skill in that special li n e If I am .

m e t by the obj ection that there are certain trai n s

o f thought and questions appropriate to the orator ,

 CI CERO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ xi 1 . 52

and a kn owledge o f certain subj ects clearly defined

by the limits o f public life I am quite ready to admit
,

that it is w ith such subj ects our profession as speakers

is mo s t constantly employed but at the sam e time
, ,

even in connection with the s e there i s very m uch

,

that does n o t fall within the teaching o r apprehension

of the ordinary professors o f rhetoric Thus as every.
,
'

o n e kno w s the virtue o f oratory is most e fl e c t i v e l y

,

displayed in arou s ing the anger disgust o r i ndign ation

, ,

o f an audience ,
o r in turning them from s uch excite

ment of feeling to mercy and pity " and here no one

but a m a n w ho has made hi m self thoroughly fa m iliar
with the characters o f men and the whole range o f
,
.

human feeli n g and the motives whereby men s minds

,

are excited o r calmed will ever be able to produce by

,

his words the e ffect which he desire s This whole

.

topic is o f cours e generally considered to be the special

provi n ce o f the philosopher nor will the orator with
,

my s anction at all dem ur to this but conceding t o the

philo s ophers the mere k nowledge of such subj ects ,

becau s e they have chosen to concentrate all their

e fforts in that direction h e will further make hi m self
,

responsible for the oratorical treatment o f the m for ,

w hich a knowledge o f them is absolutely indispen s able

for the special province o f the orator is a s I have said
,
‘

already more than once to express him s elf in a style

,

at once i m pres s ive a n d artistic and conformable with

the thoughts and feeli ngs of human nature .
F

HAT Ari s totle and Theophrastus have written o n

this subj ect I admit " but does not this S c aevola
, , ,
x rn . 5 8] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 23

entirely confir m my co n tention For where they and

the orator are o n co m m on ground I do n o t borrow ,

from them " whereas they admit that their discourses

o n this subj ect belong to oratory a n d therefore whil e , ,

they give to their other treatises the title proper to

“ ”
their own profe s sion these they entitle rhetorical
, ,

and refer to the m u n der that name XTh u s when as .

,

very often happens occasion arises in the cours e o f a

,

speech for the ordinary commonplaces when th e ,

speaker has to enlarge upo n th e im m ortal gods natural ,

a ffection kindly feelin g friend s hip the co m m on rights

, , ,

o f hu m a n ity j ustice temperance magnani m ity and all

, , , ,

the other virtues the cry will be rai s ed I s uppose by

, , ,

all the philo s ophical school s and sects that all this is
their special province in which the orator has neither
part nor parcel but fo r my part while I am ready to ,

co ncede to the m the right o f di s cus s ing these subj ects

in the study by way o f pa s time I shall still assign and,

allot to the orator the power o f enlarging with all the ,

charm o f i m pressive eloquence o n the same themes ,

which they debate in the meagre and lifele s s language

o f the parlour This was the line o f argu m e n t I
. 57
adopted with the philosophers at Athens being urged ,

to do s o by o u r friend Marcus Marcellus who is now ,

curule a e dile and would I am sure be here to take

, , ,

part in o u r present discussion if it were not for his ,

o fficial dutie s at the Games indeed eve n the n though , ,

a mere youth h e was an enthusia s tic student o f

,

rhetoric Again when que s tion arises about laws and

.
,
58
contracts about war and peace about allies and tribu
, ,

taries about the right s o f th e citizens distinguished

, ,
 C I C E RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ m m 5 8

according to their di fferent classes and ages the Greeks ,

are quite welco m e to s a y if they like that Lycurgus

, ,

and S olon ( tho u gh by the way I a m of O pinion that

, ,

they ought to be reckoned among the representatives

o f eloquence ) had better knowledge than H y pe ri de s

o r De m osthenes two quite consummate masters o f the

,

most polished eloquence o r the Roman i s welcome in

this matter to prefer the decemvirs who drew up t h e
,

X I I Tables and must therefore have been sagacious

statesmen to S ervius Galba and your father-in law
,
-

Cai u s L a elius who it is generally admitted were the

,

leading orators o f their day for while I have no wish

to deny that there are certain departments o f the art
special to those who have concentrated a l l th eir energies
o n the investigation and exposition o f those depart

ments I do maintain that the complete and perfe cf

,

g
orator is he who can speak o n a l l subj ects with fluency
and variety .

X IV U RELY, it often happens that in case s which are

ad m ittedly the proper province o f th e orator ,

some topic arises for which the speaker has to draw .

n o t o n his practical experience o f political life which ,

is all that y o u allow to the orator but 0 11 the resources

,

o f some less familiar science and he has to borrow from

,

60 it For instance can a speech I a s k either against o r

.
, , ,

on behalf of a general be made without some

,

familiarity with military a ffairs o r often without some

, , ,

geographical knowledge o f localities ? Can a speech

be made before the assembly either against o r in
support o f a proposed law or in the senate o n any
,
x1 v . 63 ] C I CERO DE O RATO RE I .

ge n eral question o f state administration without c o n ,

s i d e ra b l e knowledge both theoretical and practical o f

state a ffairs Can the power of language be applied to

the exciting or even allaying of the emotions and feel
ings of an audience which i s a thing of pri m ary import
,

ance in an orator without a most careful study o f all

,

thos e theorie s which are put forth by philosophy o n

the di fferent natures and characters of men ? Lastly , 61
though I very much doubt whether I shall make my
contention good to your satisfaction I will not hesitate ,

to asser t my sincere belief that while questions of ,

physics a n d mathe m atics and all those others wh ich

,

y o u j ust n o w laid down as special to the other branches

o f science fall within the knowledge o f those who
,

mak e such studies their business yet if a ny one wishe s ,

to elucidate such subj ects rhetorically he must apply ,

for aid to the oratorical faculty For though it i s an . 62

admitted fact that the famous architect Philo who ,

built the arsenal at Athens explained h is design to the ,

assembly in a very able speech we must not therefore ,

suppose that the virtue o f h is s peech was due to h is

skill as an architect rather than to h is skill a s an
orator N o r again if our friend Antonius here had had
.
, ,

to speak for H e rm o do ru s on the design of h is dockyard ,

would h e with previous instr u ctions fro m H e rm o d o ru s

, ,

have failed to speak in admirable styl e a n d with

adequate knowledge o n another s handiwork N o r ’
.
,

again did Asclepiades whom we knew not only as a

, ,

doctor but as a friend in s o far as he u sed to speak

, ,

in admirabl e style represent the medical s o much a s

,

the oratorical faculty Indeed what S ocrates used to

.
63
26 C I CERO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[x 1 v 68
.

is more tenable though not true that every

'

sa o ne
y , ,

can be su fficiently eloquent o n a subj ect which he

knows " the real truth being that no o n e can ,

be eloquent Ona subject h e does not know or speak

’ ’
'

well o n any particular subj ect h e does know even if ,

h e has perfect knowledge o f it but has no skill in the , ,

artistic composition o f speeches .

H EREF O RE if what ,
is desired is a comprehensive
definition o f the special faculty o f the orator as
a whole the true orator in my opinion the man really
, , ,

worthy of this grand name will be h e who whatever , ,

subj ect may arise for elucidation by language will spea k ,

o n this with j udg m ent in harmonious language in per ,

,

fe c t style and with accuracy all combined with a

, ,

certain d ignity o f delivery If the term I have used . ,

”
on any subj ect whatever seems to a n y o n e too extra ,

vagant he b r any o n e e l se is welcome to trim and prune

’

my definit i on i n th is direction a s much a s t h e y l ike " '

but this I will hold to that even if the orat or has no

,

knowledge o f those matters which lie within the ra nge

o f the other arts and branches o f study but only nu ,

d e rs t a n d s those which come withi n the debates and

di s cussions o f public life still if he has to speak o n ,

such extraneous subj ects the orator after instructions, ,

on the particular points involved in each case from those

who do understand them will speak far better than ,

th ose who have Special knowledge o f them Thus if .

'

S ulpicius should have occasion to speak o n a military

que s tion h e will make inquiries of our connection
, ,

Caius Marius and when he has received h is answer

, ,
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ 1 69
xv .

O R if the learned world is agreed that Aratus ,

though quite ignorant o f astronomy has com ,

posed a most eloquent and arti s tic poem o n the

heavens and the stars and that N i ca nd e r of Colophon
, ,

though he never had anything to do with agri

culture has written a noble poem o n country life
,

by virtue o f his poetical faculty a n d n o t from a ny

knowledge o f rustic lore why should not th e orator
,

be able to speak with the eloquence o f a mas ter o n

v x su b je c t s which he has only studied for a particular cas e
[
7 0 and occasion ? F o r the poet is very near akin to the
orator being somewhat more restricted in his rhythms
, ,

though freer in h is choic e o f words but in m any o f h is

,

methods o f ornament his fello w and al m ost his equal ,

in thi s re s pect at all events nearly the same in s o far

, , ,

as he recognises no limitations to h i s full and perfect

right o f expatiating in whatever field h e pleases with
7 1 the same mastery and freedom as the orator For a s
.

to your assertion that were I not here lord o f all I

,

survey you would at once have scouted my re m ark

,

that the orator ought to be a perfect master in every

subj ect o f discourse and every department o f human
culture I assure you S c ae vol a I s hould never have
, , ,

thought fo r a moment of making the remark if I

7 2 imagined that I had realised my own ideal But I do
.

feel what Caius Lu ciliu s used often to s a y — a man who

was not o n the best ter m s with you and for that very
,

reason not s o intimate with me as he wished to be but ,

for all that we must admit his learn ing and great
culture — that no o n e ought to be con s idered an orator
who i s not well trained in all those branche s o f learning
xv u . 7 5] CI CERO D E O RATO RE I . 29

which ought to b e included in a liberal education and

though we m ake no im m ediate u s e o f such subj ects in
a s peech s till it beco m es quite evident wh ether we
,

are totally ignorant o f them o r have studied them .

Ju s t as with thos e who play at ball though in their ,

actual play th ey have no occasion for the exact

dexterity o f the gy m nasium still we may infer from
,

their mere movements whether they have practi s ed

gymnastics o r not " and similarly with sculptors ,

although at the moment they have no occasion for

painting still it i s quite evident whether they know
,

h o w to paint o r not " s o in our speeches delivered in

the courts or to the people o r in the senate even
, , ,

though no direct use is made o f the other arts it is ,

nevertheless plainly apparent whether the speaker has

figure d m erely in the workshop o f the ranter or has ,

prepared hi m self fo r his task by an education in all

’
the liberal arts .

CE VO LA
5
then replied with a smile : I will not X V I I
conte s t the point further with y o u Crassus fo r 7 4
,

by some trick you have made good the particular point

which you stated against me first conceding to me
,

that the orator doe s not possess certain qualifications

which I held that h e did not and then by some ,

legerde m ain givi n g another colour to thes e q u a l i fi ca

tions and allowing the orator a peculiar title to them
,
.

I remember that w hen o n my visit to Rhodes a s 7 5

,

Governor o f Asia I compared the lessons I had re

,

c e i v e d from Pa n ae t i u s with the teachings of Apollonius ,

the famous professor of rhetoric in that city he in his , ,

 CICE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xe 75

usual way expressed m uch scorn and conte m pt fo r

,

philo s ophy but h i s re m arks though witty were not

,

very impre s s i v e The tone o f your remarks ho w ever

.
, ,

has been very di fferent " you have expressed n o c o n

tempt for a n y art o r branch o f learning but s poken o f ,

them all as the attendants and hand m aids o f oratory .

N o w if any o n e man could m aster all the art s a n d at ,

the same time combine with them your gi ft o f c o n

sum m ate eloquence I cannot but say that h e would
,

be a very re m arkabl e and truly admirable spe c nn e n o f

human ity but such a man —i f there were o r ever had ,

been o r ever could be such a man— would b e you and

,

no o n e else o f that I am sure who not only i n m y

, , ,
‘

opinion but in the opinion o f every o n e have m onopo

, ,

l i s e d —i f my frie n ds here will pardon the expre s s ion

th e whole field o f oratorical glory But if there is .

no subj ect connected with civil and political life o f

which y o u lack the knowledge and yet you have not ,

m astered that further and co m prehen s ive knowledge

which you expect o f the orator it occur s to me that .

we may b e attributing to h im m ore than the actual

facts o f the case would warrant Cra ss u s : Ah y o u
’
‘
.
,

must re m e m ber I was not speaking o f m y own attain

ments but o f tho s e o f the ideal orator Why what
, .
,

have I learnt o r what could I know my early i n tro

, ,

duction to active li fe havi n g precluded all pos s ibility

o f study ? I was exhausted by my exertions in the
foru m i n elections in politics in the cau s e s of m y
, , ,

friend s before I could form a ny idea o f such high

,

subj ects Bu t i f you are plea s ed to find s o m uch

.
,

merit in o n e who tho u gh n o t specially wan ting as

, ,
xvm . 82 ] C I CER O DE O RATO RE I .

you think in natural ability h a s been certainly want

, ,

in
g i n l earning and leis u re and I must admit t o o , ,

in that keen desire to learn what do y o u think " s u p ,

posing some o n e with even greater natural ability

were to combine those qualifications which have been
beyond my reach to what perfection of oratory might
,
’
not he attain "

ERE A nto niu s took up the argument I quite XV I I I .

‘

’
agree he said with what you are sayin g 8 0
, ,
‘
,

Crassus and I have no doubt that if the orator under

,

stood the nature and theory o f all arts and subj ects
o f art h i s speeche s would gain greatly i n richness o f
,

style B ut in the first place such knowledge is d iffi

.

cult o f attainment especially amid s t the many engage

,

ments of o u r modern life " and in the second place , ,

there is a real danger l est we should be tempted to

give up the constant practice o f speaking in the
popular as s embly and the law courts F o r it seems to - .

me that we find quite a distinct kind o f oratory in

those men of whom you spoke j ust now although I ,

admit they express themselves with grace and dignity ,

whether their subj ect be the pheno m ena o f nature o r

ethics We find a character o f elegance and l u xu ri
.

ance in th eir language redolent rather o f the po ,

o f the schools than suited to th e active excitement o f

o u r public life I myself I must tell y o u though I 8 2

.
, ,

had but a recent and superficial acquaintance with

Greek literature o n arriving at Athens o n my way to
, ,

Cilicia as proconsul made a stay o f several days there

, ,

really becaus e the weather was n o t favourabl e for

 CI CERO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ xa 82

s ailing " but as I was daily in the co m pany o f the

l eading philosophers the same speaking roughly as
, , ,

y o u have j ust mentioned and as somehow o r other

,

it had become known among them that I like your ,

self was constantly engaged in the most i m portant

,

causes they each o f the m favoured me with such

,

ideas as they could give m e o n the function and

procedure o f the orator Among others your friend
.

Mn e s a rc h u s also maintained that those whom w e

call orators were nothing but a s e t o f j ourneymen
speakers with ready and practised t ongues " but that
”
a real orator no o n e could be save the philosopher ,

and eloquence itself inasmuch as it was the know

,

ledge o f good speaking was o n e o f the virtues and ]

, ,

he who had o ne virtue had all virtues and all the ,

virtues were like and equal t o o n e another " and

therefore the eloquent man had a l l the virtue s and ,

was in fact the philosopher But the style o f oratory

, ,
.

he a ffected was crabbed a nd meagre and very a b ,

horrent to Roman taste Ch a rm a da s however ex

.
, ,

pres s ed himself with far more ease and fluency o n the

sam e subj ect not by way o f setting forth his o wn
,

opinions fo r the traditional custom of the Academy

,

was always to oppose all comers in a dis c u ssi o nl —but

o n this particular occasion what he gave us to under

stand was that those who were called professors o f

,

rhetoric and gave lessons in the art of speaking knew

, ,

absolutely nothing and that no o n e could possibly

,

acquire the power of speaking except the man who ,

had mastered the discoveries o f philosophy .

x1x . 87] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I
. 33

H E disputants o n the other side were able X I X

speakers citizens o f Athens who were con 8 5
, ,

versant with politic s and the law courts Among them - .

was M e n e d e m u s who was at Rome the other day a s

,

my gue s t " and when he argued that there was a

Special kind of wisdom which dealt with the in vesti
ga t io n into th e princip l es o f th e con s titution and
administration o f s tates Ch a rm a da s w a s up in arms ,

in a mo m ent being a s h e was a ready man with all

,

’
learni n g a t his fi n gers end s and every variety o f ,

subj ect at his command to a degree q uite in c o n c e iv

able H e proceeded to prove that we must go to
.

philosophy for all the constituent elements o f that

special kind of w isdom nor were the regulations ,

usually made in states about the wors hip o f the gods ,

the education o f youth j u s tice endurance temper , , ,

ance modera t ion and all such oth ers without wh ich
, , ,

communitie s could not either exi s t o r be in a sound

condition anywhere to be found in the treatises of the
,

rhetoricians I f these great teachers o f rhetoric in 86

.

cluded in their course this formidable array o f really

important s ubj ects why was it he asked that their , , ,

text books were full to overflowing with directio n s

-

about exordiu m s perorations and rubbish o f this kind

—for s o he dubbed them —whereas about the right
, ,

ordering of states and the drawing u p o f laws about , ,

equity j ustice and integrity about the control o f the

, , ,

passions and the training o f the characters o f men

,

no t a single s yllable could be found in all their

writing s The actual directions they gave he would 8 7
.

cover with ridicule showing that they were not only ,

 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ x 1x . 87

quite innocent o f the particular wi s dom which they

claimed for themselves but did n o t even unders tand
,

the scientific theory o f oratory which they professed .

The essence he s uppo s ed o f oratory was that o n th e

,

o n e hand the speaker should appear to his audience

in the character which h e wished to assume " and this

was a matter o f personal ethics o n which these pro
,

fe s s o rs o f rhetoric had given no guidance in their

in s truction s " and o n the other han d the audience
—
should be a ffected as the speaker m eant they s houl d
be " and this again coul d not possibly be the case
unless the speaker had learnt in how many ways and ,

by w hat means and by what style o f oratory the

,
’

feelings o f men can be moved in o n e direction o r

another All such knowledge was among the s ecrets
.

of the m o s t abstruse and m ost profound philosophy ,

which these rhetoricians had not touched eve n with

the tips of their tongues All this M e n e de m u s tri e d
.

to m eet by quoting examples rather tha n by argu

ments " with his ready me m ory he quoted many
s plendid pa ss ages from the speeche s o f Demo s thenes

by way o f proving that in swayi ng the feeling s o f

j udges o r people as he would by the po w er o f his
words he showed no ignorance o f the m ean s by which
,

he could e ffect those obj ects which Ch a rm a da s main

t a in e d no o n e could master without a knowledge o f

philo s ophy .

H A RM A DA S replied that he did not deny

Demost h enes was a man o f wonderful sagacity ,

and had a wonderful gift o f speaking but whether

,
 36 CICE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xx .
91

as an orator To the former of these two statements

.
,

that I had not studied at all I made no demur but , ,

in the latter I suppose d he was either making fun o f

,

me or was himself m i s taken But art h e said there

,
.
, ,

could be none except where the subj ect matter was

,
-

1 known and thoroughly understood had reference to ,

,

o n e definite end and was never uncertain " whereas

,

all the subj ects dealt with by the orator were con
tingent and uncertain since o n the o n e hand sp eeches
o n them were made by thos e who did not fully under

stand them all a n d listened to by those in whom the

,

speaker had to produce not scientific knowledge but ,

only a false o r at all events an indistinct O pinion f o r

,

the tim e being Need I s a y more

.
?
By such argu
ments he seemed to me to prove that neither is there
any syste m atic art o f rhetoric nor can any o ne except
, ,

a man who has mastered the t eachings of the pro

foundest philo s ophy be either an artistic or powerful
,

Speaker And while o n this subj ect Ch a rm a d a s u s e d

.
, ,

to express a warm admiration for your abilitie s ,

Crassus " he had found me he said a very good

, ,

listener and you a very formidable debater

,
.

T was with this belief that I was tempted to s a y

in a littl e book which escaped from my de s k
without my knowledge and consent and fell into th e ,

hands of th e public that I had known s everal good

,

Speakers but up t o that date not a single real orator

, ,

and I laid it down there that a fgo o d speaker was o n e

who could speak with adequate acuteness and pe rs pi
c e city before an ordinary audience from the point of
 '

xxn .
9 6] CICERO DE O RATO RE 1 . 37

view o f what may be called the average intelligence ,

jbut a real orator was o n e who could add a charm and

glamour o f magnificence to the them e o f h is choice ,

and held within the compass of his o w n mind and

me m ory all the springs o f knowledge on all subj ects
which had any bearing on oratory Granting that
‘ .

such attainment is di ffi cult for us because we are over

whelmed by the calls o f conteste d electio n s and
public life before we have begun to learn let u s ,

however assum e it to be within the possibilities o f

the subj ect In deed if I may venture o n a prophecy 9 5
.
, ,

and j udging from what I kno w o f the abilities o f o u r

fellow countrymen I have good hope that w e shall ),
-
,

some day s e e some Roman who with a keener e n ,

t hu s i a s m than w e n o w have o r ever have had with ,

more leisure and riper faculties for study and with ,

greater power of work and industry will after steady ,

devotion to hearing reading and writing prove the

, , ,

ideal o f wh ich we are now in s earch and be qualified ,

to claim the title not merely of a good speaker but

, ,

o f a real orator " though after all I am inclined to

, ,

thi n k that the man is here before us in the person o f

Crassus o r if it may be he is to be o ne o f e qual
, , ,

ability who has heard and read and written so m e

, , ,

what more than o u r friend it will not b e much tha t ,

’
he will add to his achievement .

T this point S u lpiciu s excl aimed I t has been an XX I I ,

‘

unexpected though by no means an unwelcome 9 6

,

pleasure to Cotta and my s elf that your conversation , ,

Crassus should have taken the turn it h a s In coming

, .
38 CI C E RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxm 96

here we thought it quite pleasure enough to look

forward to if we should have th e chance of taking
,

away with u s something worth remembering from

your conversation supposing it had been o n oth er
,

s ubj ects but that you should fall into this di s cussion
o f all others which has penetrated almost into the
,

arcana of this pursuit o r art or faculty whichever it

, , ,

is seemed to us a thing almo s t too good to hope for

, .

For though from my e arliest m anhood I have been

possessed with a warm admiration for both of y o u ,

with an a ffection indeed I may s a y fo r Cra s s us which

, , ,

never allowed me to leave his side I have never been ,

able to dra w a word fro m him o n th e virtue a nd

method o f oratory though I have appealed to him
,

again and again both personally a n d through th e

mediation o f Drusus A n d in this matter you "
.

Antonius I will frankly admit ha v e never refused

, ,

to answer my questions o r solve m y di ffi culties and ,

have very often told m e the rules w hich it was your

habit to obser v e i n practice On this occasion now
.
,

that you have both o f you given u s a glim pse i n to

, ,

the secret o f attaining to the exact obj ect of our

search Crassus himself hav ing begun the conversation
, ,

pray do us the ki n dness o f following o u t your theories

o n the whole question o f rhetoric in precise detail .

If we can only prevail o n you to do this I sh all owe ,

a deep debt o f gratitude to your s chool and villa of

Tus culum and shall give a fa r higher place i n my
,

estimation to your suburban lecture roo m than to -

the great Acade m y and Lyceum Cra s s u s My dear .

’

S ulpicius let u s a sk Antonius who not only can do

, ,
xxn . 1 02 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 39

what y o u want but has b een in th e habit of doing it

, ,

as you told us j ust now For myself I admit that I

.
,

have al ways fought s hy o f all such talk and have ,

again and again turned a deaf ear to your most urgent

appeals as you remarked a few moments ago
,
I did .

s o n o t from a ny pride o r want of courtesy nor because ,

I was unwilli n g to satisfy your very proper and most

laudable curiosity especially as I s a w that nature had
,

endowed you with quite exceptional and extraordinary

qualifications for an orator " but I was deterred I do ,

assure you by wan t o f familiarit y with such dis

,

e ussions and want o f Skill in deali n g with the tradi

,

t i o n a l rules o f the s o —
’
called art of rhetoric Co tta : .
I OO

S ince we have succeeded in what we thought was th e

m ain di fficulty getting you to speak at all o n this s u b
,

j e c,
t Cra s s u s for what remains it will now be entirely
,

o u r o w n fault if we let you go be fore

y o u have fully
’
answered all o u r questions Cra ssu s : Only I s uppose
.
, ,

o n those points on which to employ the formula used

,

“
in the taking up o f i n heritances I shall have th e
,

knowledge and the Co tta : Why do you ‘

,

think either o f u s is s o conceited a s to expect to have

knowledge o r power where you have neither the o n e
’

nor the other ? Cra s s u s : Come then o n these con ,

“
d t i n s provided I am at liberty to s a y
i o , I cannot ,

where I cannot and I do not know where I do n o t

, , ,

S u lpiciu s : Nay
’
you may catechise me a s you will .
‘
,

the only question we want to a sk is what do you think ,

about the s t a tement Antonius has j ust made ? do you

think that there is an art of rhetoric Cra ss u s : W
to be sure —do you take me now for one of your lazy
 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xe 1 02

talkative Greek friends a learned man perhaps and

,

well read and therefore put be fore me some trifling

-
,

question o n which I am to hold forth at pleasure ?

When do y o u suppose I have given any thought o r a t
ten tion to such questions ? H ave I not always rather
l aughed at the co n ceit o f those perso n s who o n taking , ,

their s eat i n a lecture-room invite any member of a ,

crowded audience to speak if he has a question to a sk ?

This practice was started we are told by Gorg ia s o f , ,

Le o nt in i and h e was thought to be undertaking

,

an immense re s ponsibility in giving notice that h e

was ready to speak o n all subj ects o n which any o n e
wished to be instructed A fterwards however th e .
, ,

custom becam e general and is s o at th e present day

, ,

there being no subj ect however i m portant however

, ,

unexpected however no v el on which these people do

, ,

not profe s s that they will sa y everything that can

be said . I f I had thought that y o u Cotta o r you , , ,

S ulpicius desired to receive instruction o n this subj ect

, ,

I would have brought here with me some Greek pro

fe s s o r to amuse us with such discourse indeed it is n o t ,

impo s sible to do s o n o w for my young friend Marcus

,

Piso who is a devoted student of rhetoric and a man

, ,

o f striking ability a n d a great admirer o f mine

,
ha s ,

staying with him a Peripatetic o f the name o f S t a s e a s ,

a gentleman with whom I am o n the best of terms ,

and who I s ee i s recognised by all who know as the

’

, , , ,

leader o f that particular school .

’

CE VOLA What is this nonsense about S t a s e a s ,

a n d the Peripatetics Yo u must hu m our our

xxm . 1 08 ] C I CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 41

young friends Crass us who do not want to hear t h e

, ,
‘

everyday loquacity o f some Greek theorist nor th e ,

s tale prattle of the lecture -room but are anxious to ,

learn the opinions o f a man in whose footsteps they

desire to tread the wisest and most eloquent orator o f
,

the day who has proved his pre eminence too in

,
-
, ,

wisdom and debate not in rh etorical treatises but

, ,

in the most important causes and in Rome , the seat ,

o f empire and the home o f glory F o r my part .

,

though I have always seen in y o u my ideal o f an

orator yet I have never given you greater cre dit
,

fo r eloquence than for courtesy " a courtesy which

now more than at any time it becomes you to exercise ,

and not Shirk a discussion to which you are invited by

’
two young men o f excellent parts Cra ss u s : Well .
‘
,

well I am very anxious to oblige your friends and I

, ,

will not refuse to state briefly a s I a l w a y s do what i s ,

.
,

my opinion o n each point that has been raised First .

o f a l l —sin c e I feel I should n o t be j ustifi ed in slighting

m

your claims upon my respect S c a evol a —m y answer is ,

that I am of opinion that there is of rhetoric no art at .

all o r only a skeleton o f one the fact being t hat the

, ,

whole controversy amo n g the learned turns upon a

ve rb al ambiguity If we define an art according to
.

the Sta tein e n

’ ’ ’

t j ust made by Antoniu s as dealing only

with subj ect matter which i s exactly known and
-

thoroughly understood removed from the sphere o f ,

mere arbitrary opinion and grasped only by the ,

scientific understanding it seems to me there is no ,

art o f oratory " fo r all public speaking in its di fferent

branches deals with a variabl e subj ect -matter and ,
 42 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxm . 1 08

takes it s colour from the ordinary opinions and feel

ings o f mankind . If however the rules fivhich have
, ,

as a matter o f fact and practice been followed by

s pe a k e rt a v e been ob s erved and noted down by men

o f skill and experience with a technical nomenclature

,

and a scientific distribution into classes and s u b

divisions —a thing which I s e e may very possibly have
been done —I perceive no reason why we should no t
admit an a rt o f rhetoric using the term that is not
, , _ ,

according to its strict definition but in its ordinary ,

acceptation/ S till wh ether there is an art o f rhetoric

,

o r only the semb l ance o f one we cannot o f course ,

a fford to despise it " though it must be understood

that there are other and more important requirements
’
for th e attainment of el oquence .

E RE A ntoniu s said that he heartily agreed with

Crass u s so far as he did not admit an art of
,

rhetoric in the full sense u sual with those who made

oratory wholly and solely a question o f art nor o n the ,

other hand entirely repudiate such an art as most o f

’
the philosophers did But he continued I believe
.
, ,

that an exposition from you o f those req u irements

which you consider more helpful to oratory than any
’

III art will be very welcome to o u r friends Cra ss u s : .

‘
Well I will s a y m y s a y a s I have begun and will
, ,

o nly beg o f you n o t to let the public know o f any

indiscretions I may let fall However I shall keep .
,

a strict watch o n myself and avoiding a l l the airs o f

,

the master o r professor and speaking only as a sim ple

,

Roman citizen who has had some experience o f public

 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxv . 1 14

can be sharpened and stimulated by art but that ,

they Should be put into us and given by art is quite

i m possible being as they all are gifts o f nature —what
, , ,

are we to sa y about those qualifications which are

’
obviously part o f a man s natural endowments mobility ,

of tongue tone o f voice power of lung phy s ique a

, , , ,

c ertain conformation o f feature and general pose o f

li m b ? I do not of course mean to imply that art can
n o t give a finish in some c a ses for I know w ell enough
,

that good natural gifts can be improved by teaching ,

and those which are not of the best may still in some
manner be furbished up and corrected b ut there are
people so halting of s peech o r with such u nmusical
,

voices o r so uncouth and awkward in look and carriage

, ,

that in spite o f great abilities and skill they can never

rank a s orators whereas some again are so gifted in
these respects s o rich in natural endowments that
, ,

they seem not merely born orators but to h ave been

created for that end by the Divine artist A great
.

burden of respon s ibility it is surely for a man to tak e

, ,

upon himself to pro fe s s that he and he alone is to b e

,

heard amid s t u n iversal silence on questions o f the last

i m port ance in a great concourse o f h is fellow men " -

for there is no o n e in such an audience who has not a

keener and sharper ear to det e ct a fault in a speaker
than a merit " and thus whatever there is that gives
o ffence overshadows what calls for prai s e Now I do
.

not say this with the intention o f deterring young men

altogether from the study o f oratory if they happen to
,

lack s ome natural gift fo r a s we are all aware my con

, , ,

te m porary Caius Ca el i u s w o n great distinction though ,

xxv i . 1 19 ] CI C E RO DE O RATO RE I .

quite n e w to political life by such moderate success as

,

a Speaker as he was able to achieve Take another .

instance Quintus V a ri u s who is more your c o n

, ,

te m porary " you all know that he though a man o f ,

uncouth and repul sive exterior has gai n ed consider ,

able influence in the state by the same sort o f ability .

UT we are searching fo r the ideal orator we XXV I

a s ,

must u s e o u r powers o f oratory to portray a 1 1 8

speaker fre e from all po s sibl e fault s and endowed with
every po s sible merit F o r though it is undeniable that
.

the large nu m ber o f lawsuits the great variety o f public

,

questions the illiterate masse s who make the audience

,
’

o f o u r public speakers O fl e r a field to even the most

,

defecti v e orators we will not fo r that rea s on despair

,

o f finding what we want 0 11 the same principle in

.

tho s e arts w ho s e aim is not s ome i m m ediately practical

utility but some l ess restricted intellectual enj oyment
, ,

how critically with what a nice fastidiousness do w e

,

pa s s j udg m ent " There are no lawsuits o r poi n ts o f

contention which force u s to tolerate bad actors on
the stage in the sa m e way as we tolerate indi fferent
speakers in the court s The real orator therefore 1 1 9
.
, ,

must u s e all care and diligence not merely to satisfy ,

those whom he is bound to sati s fy but also to win the ,

admiration o f those who are in a position to j udge im

partially And if y o u want to know as we are all
.
,

friends together I will frankly t ell y o u what I feel

,

—a s ecret I have hitherto always kept to mysel f

My belief is that even the b e st f
’

0 11 principle .
,

speakers even those who have the best language

,
 46 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ 1
xxv . 1 19

always at their comman d u nless they rise to speak

,

with some mi s givings and feel some nervousness

in the exordium o f their speech are wanting if I ,
7
1 20 may say so in proper modesty
,
I am assuming o f.

/
c o urse an impossibl e case for the better the speaker
‘
,

the more painfully is he conscious o f the di ffi culty o f

speaking o f th e uncertainty of the e ffect o f his speech
, ,

and o f th e expectation s o f an audience A speaker on .

the other hand who can deliver nothing worthy of th e

occasion worthy o f his profession worthy of the a tten
, ,

tion o f his fello w men he however nervous h e may be

-
, ,

while speaking also seems to me wanting in modesty

, .

F o r it is not by feeling ashamed of ourselve s but by ,

refusing to do what is unseemly that we ought to ,

1 2 1 avoid the reproach o f immodesty Any one who under .

such circumstances feels no shame —and such cases

I s e e are very common — not only deserves blam e I ,

think but ought to be liable to so m e penalty

,
For .

my part as I ob s erve is the cas e with y o u s o in my

, ,

o w n case I constantly experience this feeli n g " I turn

pale at the begin ning o f a s peech my bram whirl s , ,

s
'
u a n d I tremble in every limb indeed once in my early
manh ood when opening the case for the prosecution I
, ,

was s o overcome that I o w ed a deep debt of gratitude

to Quintus Maximus fo r adj ourning the case the
moment he s a w that my alarm had quite un n erved
’
and unmanned me .

1 22 At this point all the company showed their assent

by significant looks at one another and began to con
verse for no o ne could deny that there was in Crassus
a quite indescribable modesty which ho w ever so far , , ,
xxvn . 1 25 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .

from being any drawback to his eloquence was really

a hel p to it as being a testimony to his sincerity
, .

HEN A ntoniu s resumed the conversation Often XXV I I

as you s a y Crassus I have observed that you
, ,

as well as a l l other fi rs t rate speakers though none h a s

-
,

ever in my opinion been equal to you are somewhat ,

uneasy at the beginning o f a speech " and when I 1 2 3 ‘

tried to di s cover the reason o f this—why it was that

the more able a speaker was the m ore nervous h e was , ,

I found the causes to be two On e was becaus e those .

who had learn t from nature and experience were well

aware that sometimes even with the best speakers th e
result o f a s peech did not turn o u t in full accordance
with their wishes " therefore whenever they delivered
a speech they not unnaturally were afraid that what
might occasionally happen would happen then Th e .

other cause is this and the unfairness o f it often

,

annoys me In all the other professions if tried an d 1 2 4

.
,

acknowledged exponents have o n any occasion failed

to give the complete satisfaction they generally do they ,

are supposed to have been o u t o f the humour o r to ,

have been prevented by ill health from doing their -

“
best Roscius for instance we s a y was n o t in th e
.
, ,

“
humour for acting to day o r h e was su ffering from
-
,

indigestion whereas in a speaker any fau l t that

, ,

has been observed is attributed to stupidity and 1 2 5 ,

stupidity admits of no excuse because no o n e can ,

be supposed to have been stupid either because he

was dyspeptic o r from deliberate choice Thus we .

speakers have to face a more unsparing criticism fo r ,

48 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[
xxv1 1 . 1 25

w henever we deliver a speech o u r reputation is on ,

trial and whereas one mistake in acting does n o t at

,

once expose the actor to a suspicion that he does not

know his bu s iness in a speaker any fault that h a s pro
,

v o k e d criticis m creates an indelible o r at all events a

,

very lasting impression o f incapacity

, .

H EN again what y o u said about there being

,

very many qualifications which an orator must

have from nature o r else he would not get m u Eh help
from any master I heartily agree with " and in this
,

respect more than in anything else I much admired

Apollonius o f A l a b a n da Though he charged a fee
.

for his lectures he would not allow those who he

,

thought could not become orators to waste their time ,

with him but would dismiss them and urge the m to

,

devote themselves to that pro fession for which he

thought them severally fitted F o r in the acquire .

ment o f the other arts it i s su fficient to have merely

ordinary abilitie s and to be able to understand and
remember th e l es s ons given o r enforced perhaps if , , ,

th e pupil happens to be somewhat dull There is .

no need for ease o f utterance for readiness o f Speech , ,

o r in short fo r those gifts which cannot be acquired by

training gifts o f feature expre s sion and voice In

"

.
, , ,

the orator however we require the subtlety o f the

, ,

logician the thoughts o f the philosopher the language

, ,

almost o f the poet the memory o f the lawyer the

, ,

voice of the tragedian the gestures I may add of the

,

consummate actor This is the reason why nothing in

l
.

the world is s o rare as a perfect orator " for merits ,

xxv m . 1 30 ] C I C E RO DE O RATO RE I . 49

which win applause if found singly even in a moderate ,

degree in the professors of the several arts cannot c o m

, ,

mand approval for the orator u nless they are all present
,

’
in the highest perfection Cra ss u s Quite s o and yet
.
,

observe how much more care is taken in what is but a

trivial and insignificant profession than in ours which
all admit to be of the greatest importance Indeed I .

have often heard Roscius s a y that he has never yet

been able to discover any pupil whom he could u n
reservedly commend " not that certain o f them did
not deserve commendation but because if there was , ,

any fault at all in them it was absolutely intolerable

,

to him for nothing we know strikes us so forcibly o r

, ,

makes such an indelible impression on the me m ory a s

that which s omehow o ffends our ta s te Thus to take .
,

our comparison with this actor as the standard o f

oratorical excellence let me remind you how every
,

thing that he doe s is done in perfect style everything ,

with consummate grace everything with unerring ta s te

,

and in a way to touch and delight the hearts o f all .

The con s equence i s he has long been in this proud

position that any o n e who excels in any particular
,

art is 0 2111 4 pm fe ss m To
3 ,

require in the orator such absolute perfection from ,

wh i c h l a m very far myself i s a somewhat shameless

,

proceeding o n my part " for while I am anxious t o have

allowance made for myself I make none fo r others , .

Indeed any o n e who h a s not the ability whose ,

performance is short o f perfection any one in fact , , ,

whom it does not become he I think according , , ,

to the recommendation o f Apollonius ought to be ,

D
 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxv 1 11 . 1 30

summarily dismissed to do that for which he ha s

’

the ability .

ULPIC IUS Would you then recommend Cotta

:
‘

or myself to s tudy law or military science For

who can po s sibly attain to that complete and ab s olute
’
perfection o n which you insist ? Cra s su s : Nay it is ‘
,

j us t because I have observed in you quite rare and ex

c e t i o n a l oratorical gifts that I have said what I have "
p ,

and I have chosen m y language no less with a vi ew to

encouraging you who have the ability than to deterring
those who have not In both o f you indeed I have
.
, ,

perceived great natural gifts and m uch enthusiasm ,

but those qualifications which depend 0 11 external s On ,

which I h a ve perhaps laid more s tress than we are

familiar w ith in the Greek professors are present in ,

you S ulpicius in a quite extraordinary measure For

, ,
.

no o ne I thi nk have I ever listened to who s e gestures

, , ,

or m ere manner and bearing were more appropriate o r ,

whose voice was richer or more attractive " and those

who have s uch natural gifts in a less degree may yet
attain s uch m easure of success as to use what gifts
they have with propriety and skill and to keep clear ,

o f all violations of taste For this is the fault which

.

must be most carefully avoided and on this especially

,

it is by no means ea sy to give any guidance not only ,

for me who am speaking on this s ubj ect as a layman ,

but even for so great an artist a s Roscius whom I have ,

n heard sa y that taste w a s the main thing in art

‘
,

taste w a s the o n e thing o n which no rules of art

be given Bu t now let u s change the
.
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ x xx 1 35

oratory in the abstract but o n m y o w n poor achieve

,

ments as an orator I will explain to y o u my method

, ,

though there is nothing in it very recondite o r very ,

di fficult o r very grand and imposing—th e method

,

which in e a rly days I was in the habit o f using w hen

it was my privilege as a young man to devote myself
S u lpiciu s
’

to the pursuit you h ave adopted O Cotta

.
,

what a happy moment i s this for us " For what no

prayers o f mine n o watching nor waiting h a s ever su c
,

c e e d e d in gai n ing for me the privilege that is I wi ll not

, , ,

say of s eeing with my o w n eyes wh a t Crassus did by way

of practice and preparation fo r s pe a k ing b u t o f surmising ,

it only from Diph il u s his reader and s ecretary I hope

, ,

we have now S ecured a n d that we shall now learn a l l

,

’
we have long wanted to know from his own lips , .

RA SS US Ay, but when you have heard all ,

S ulpiciu s you will n o t I expect s o much admire

, , ,

what I have told you as think there was n o t much

reason for your original anxiety to hear me on this
s ubj ect for there will be nothin g recondite in what I
Shall tell you nothing that will co m e up to your ex
,

e c t a t i o ns nothing that you have not hea r d before or

p ,

that is new to you First and foremo s t a s would become

.
,

any ho n e s t and well-bred gent leman I will frankly ad ,

mit that I learnt all the common and hackneyed rules

which are familiar t o y o u <F irst that it is the orator s
’

.
,

duty to Speak in a way adapted to win the assent o f

his audience " secondly that every Speech must be either
,

o n some general abstract question without reference to

special persons or circumstances or on some subj ect ,

x xx i . 1 43 ] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .

with a definite setting o f special persons and circum

stances but that in either ca s e whatever be the point at 1 39 ,

issue the question usually arising in connection with it

,

i s either a s to the fact o r if the fact be ad m itted what , ,

is the nature o f the act or may be what name i s to be, , ,

given to it o r as some a dd w hether it i s j ustifiable or

, , ,

not " fu rther that di s putes arise out o f the interpretation 1 4 0

,

o f a document in which there i s some ambiguity o f

,

s tatement or so m e contradiction or which is s o worded ,

that the strict letter of it is at variance with its spirit

and that to all these varietie s there are attached appro
pria t e method s o f pro o f > O f questions again which are 1 4 1
.
, ,

d istinct from any general thesis s o m e are j uridical , ,

some deliberative " there is al s o a third class as I was ,

taught which deals with pan egyric and invective a n d

,

there are certain topic s to b e made use o f in the law

cour ts where j ustice is the obj ect of our e fforts others
in deliberative Speeches which are in all cases modified
by the intere s ts o f those to whom o u r advice is given "
others agai n in pan egyrics in which everything
, ,

d epends upon the personal dignity o f the subj ect .

I lear ned also that the whole activity and faculty o f I 4 2

the orator falls u nder five heads —
”
that he mu s t first "
think o f what he i s to s a y secondly n o t only tabulate ,

h i s thoughts but m arshal and arrange them in order

,

w ith due regard to their relative weight and im

portan ce thirdly clothe them in artistic language,

fourthly fi x them firm ly in h is memory " fi ft h l y and

, ,

lastly deliver them with grace and dignity o f gesture

,
.

I w a s fu rther made to understand that before we 1 4 3 ,

\J
speak o n the point at issue we must begin b y ,
 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxm . 1 43

winning the favourable attention of our audience "

then we must state the facts of the case the n deter ,

mine the point at issue then e s tablish the charge ,

we are bri ngin g then refute the arguments o f o u r

,

opponent " and finally in o u r peroration amplify and

emphasise a l l that can be said on our s ide of the
case and weaken and invalidate the points w hich
,

tell for th e opposite side .

XXX I I H AD heard lectures also o n the t raditional rule s

1 44 for the embellishment of style in connection
t r el
11
with which the 6 1 st requirement Rg 1
u a n d good
L
dl e s n ess and lu c i di t y
.
11,

1 the second the third

3313 151
1 1 , , ,
M
a rtistic finish the fourth s u it d
44 .

, b il i t y to the dignity o f
,
Cl\ ( l 9 )

the subj ect and a c e 1 tam ele ganc e of form I had als o
' 1
A
.

1 45 learnt special rules under each head Besi d es this I .

had been made to understand that even those gi ft g f

.

pra y e d On deli v ery fo r instance and the m emory

.
, , ,

I had been initiated into certain rule s which though ,

short enough involve much practice For it is to the

, .

exposition of such rule s as the s e that all the learning

of o u r friends the professors is directed and if I were ,

to say that all thi s learn ing was o f no use I should s a y ,

what is not true " for it is of some s ervice if only to ,

remind the orator what Should be his standard in e ach

case and what he mu s t keep before him so as not to
wander from the purpose which he may have s e t him
1 46 self Bu t the real value of these rules I take to be
.

this not that orators by following them have atta ined

,

to eloquence but that certain people have noted down

,
xxxm . 1 50 ] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I . 55

and collected the habitual and instincti v e methods o f]

the masters of eloquence " and thus W m

W Meven s o as I have
7
S till ,
‘

already said I would not rej ect the art entirely fof
, ,

though it may not b e necessary for good speaking ,

3
.

fi di ma fi A certain course also o f practice i s desir

nn. 1 47
able fo r you — tho u gh to be sure y o u ha v e long been
o n the right road —o r at all events fo r those who are

entering o n their career and c a n even at this early

s tage learn and practise beforehand on a mimic
arena what they will have to do o n the real battle-fi el d
of the forum S u lpiciu s : It is j ust this course o f 48
’
‘
. 1

practice we wish t o know about " and yet we also

wish to hear about th e rules of the art which you have
j ust briefly run over though of course thes e are not ,

unfami l iar to u s They however can wait " now we

.
, ,

would a sk what is your opinion on this matter of

’
practice .

Q
R A S S US Well for my part I quite approve of XXX I
‘
,

what you are in the habit of doing—o f imagining 1 49

some case similar to those which are brought into the
court s and speaking o n it in the manner a s far a s
possibl e o f real life " but most students in s o doing
exerci s e their voice only and that not scientifically , ,

and their strength and a ffect rapidity o f utterance and

, ,

delight in a great flow o f words But in this they are .

misled because they have heard W

,
M
mgk g thg rns e l y es speakers For indee d there is a s a y
w 5
1 0 , , ,
56 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxx 11 1 . 1 50

ing equally true that by Speakin g badly men very ea s ily

acquire a bad style o f s pe a king Fo r this reason in the .
,

matter o f these exercis es though the cons ta nt practice

,

o f Speaking o n th e s pur o f the mo m ent h a s its u s es ,

it is even more useful to take time fo r reflection and

/
to s peak after preparation and careful study Th e
main thing ho w e ver which to t ell the truth we very
, , ,
.

]
rarely do ( for it involve s co n iderabl e troubl e and that
s

most of us avoid ) is to write as m uch a s pos s ible

, .

well m a y be fo r i f a sudden ,

far infe rior to the product

of p repar at i on and reflection thi s latter again must
‘ ’

cert ainly yield the palm to diligent and careful writing 1 .

F o r all the topics suggested w hether by art o r the

,

natural wit and sagacity o f th e speaker which are in ,

herent in th e subj ect o f o u r discours e naturally a n d ,

s pontaneously occur to us a s we ponder and con s ider

,

our subj ect with the uni mpeded power s o f the mind "
and all the thought s a n d word s which in their proper ,

places add mo s t brilliance to s tyle neces s arily s u ggest ,

themselves as we write and flow to the point o f o u r

,

pen The mere order m oreo v er and arrange m ent o f

.
, ,

w ords is in the process o f writi n g brought to perfection

in a rhythm and cadence which m a y be c a l l e dh m t o n ea l u

as di s t m c t fro m po e t rca l
f w It is the s e qualities w hich
.

w in fo r great orators s hout s o f adm i rat i on and applause

and these no o n e can hope to acquire unle s s he has
w ritten long and written much no matter h o w
, ,

ardently h e may have exer cised himself in those

unprepared deliveries to which I have referred And .
x xx rv 1
. 54] CI C E RO DE O RATO RE I .

the man who comes to Speaking after a lo n g practice

of wr iting bring s to the ta s k this further advantage ,

that even if he speaks o n the spur o f the moment still ,

hi s utterance s have all the e ffect of a written s peech "

and more than this if o n any occasion in the course of
,

a speech he introduces some written matter when he ,

lay s a s ide h is papers the s peech continues wi t hout

,

any perceptibl e break Ju s t a s w hen a boat is well

.

under w ay if the crew s top rowi n g fo r a m o m ent the

, ,

boat still retains its motion and way e v en though the

beat and strok e o f the o ars i s interrupted s o in a con ,

t in u o u s speech w hen w ritten note s fail the speech still

, ,

maintain s an even tenor from i t s s i m ilarity to what

w a s writte n and the m omentum thereby acquired .

N my o w n daily exerci s es when a young man I XXX I V ,

1 54
use d to set m ysel f by pre ference th e same ta s k
which I knew that my o l d rival Caiu s Carbo had bee n
in the habit o f perform i n g I used to set my s elf some.

piece of poetry the most i m pressive I could fi n d o r ,

read s o m e speech as much o f it a s I could retain in

,

my memo ry and then deliver a speech o n the same

,

subj ect choosing as far a s I could other words

,
.

A fte rwards I ca m e to s e e that the practice had this

defect " the words w hich were best suited to th e
subj e ct in each case were most eloquent in fact the
, , ,

best had been already appropriated either by En n ius

, ,

if it was o n his vers e s I was exerci s i n g m ysel f o r by ,

Gracchu s if I happened to s elect a s peech o f h is a s

,

m y task I f therefore I u s ed the same words I

.
, , ,

gained nothi n g " if others I even lost si n ce I got into

, ,
 58 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxx 1v . 15

the habit o f using inadequate language After this .

"

hit upon and employed in later years the following

plan I u s ed to make a free translation o f speeches
.

by the leadi ng orators of Greece and by selecting ,

them I gained this advantage " by translating into

Latin what I had read in Greek I not only used ,

the best though fam il iar w ords but I al s o coined ,

others on the model of the Greek which would ,

1
b e new to our language provided al w ay s no ex ,

c e t io n could be taken to the m The manage m ent "

p .

again o f the voice and the breath o f the li m bs ,

’

and th e to ngue and the d ifl e re nt exercises connecte d

,

with it are a matter not so much of art a s o f physica l

labour " and in this matter it is a very i m portant
consideration w hom we should take a s our model ,

whom we would wish to resemble We must watch :

not only Speakers but actors also that we may not ,

from defective training get into some ungainly or

awkward mannerism The memory too we must
.
, ,

exercise by learning by rote as man y pas s age s as we

can both o f o u r own authors and others " and by
way of doi n g so I s e e no obj ection to the use if such ,

has been your habit o f that sy s tem of places and

,

symbols 1 which i s traditional in the schools of rhetoric .

T h i s r e fe r s t o a m em o rz a t ee/ mi ca sa i d t o h a v e b e e n i nv ent e d
'
1

by S im o nid es o f C e o s (de Ora t 1 1 lxxxvi 352

. . . S co pa s a ,

we a lthy pr inc e o f Gra nno m, in T h ess a ly , r e fu se d t o gi v e S i m o nid e s

t he fu ll pri ce pr o m ise d fo r a p o e m in his h o no u r s a y ing tha t ,

h e m u s t ge t t he b a l a nce fr o m t h e T y nd a r id ae wh o m t he p o e t ,

ha d e q u a lly p r a is e d in t h e s a m e p o em T h e r e u p o n by so m e
.

m y s t e r i o u s m e ss a g e S im o nid es wa s ca ll e d o u t o f t h e r o o m a nd in
, ,

h is a b sence t h e r o o m fe ll in c r u s h i ng S c o p a s a nd a l l h is fa m i ly
,

b e ne a th t he r ui ns s o th a t wh en th ei r friend s wish e d t o b u xy th e ir
,
60 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxx 1v . 1 59

I daresay would have been gi v en to your questions by

any ordinary citizen you had pitched upon at any
s ocial gathering
’
.

FTER these remarks from Crassus silence fell o n ,

the party " but though all present were quite

sati s fied that he had said enough for the purpose in
hand yet they all felt that h e had co m e t o the end o f
,

hi s remarks far s ooner than they coul d have wished .

At last S ca evo la asked What i s it Cotta ? Why are

‘
,

y ou and your friend silent ? Does nothing occur to

you o n which y o u would like a little more enlighten
ment from Crassus Co tt a : Well to tell you the
‘
,

truth t hat is j ust what I am ponderi n g " for s o great

,

w a s the speed o f h is word s a n d s o rapid th e flight o f

,

his eloquence that though I was fully a w are o f its

,
‘

vigour and force I could scarcely follo w it s track and

, ,

I felt as if I had been brought into th e richly furn ished

mansion o f so m e millionaire where the h a ngi ngs were
,

not un folded nor the plate s e t o u t nor the pictures

, ,

and statues arran ged w here they could be seen but ,

all these numerous and co s tly treasure s were huddled

up together and put away S o j u s t now while
.

Crassus w a s speaking I was aware o f the riches and

,

beauties o f his mind through curtain s a n d coverings ,

s o to spe a k " but t h o u gh I de s ired to examine them

~

closely I scarcely h a d a chance o f s eei n g them Thus

,
.

I can n either s a y that I am in complete ig n orance of

the extent o f his posse s s ion s no r that I real ly know
and have actually s een them S ca evo l a :
. Well then ,

w hy n o t do a s y o u would if you h a d b e e n brought _

xxxv . 1 64 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 61
’

into some t o w n o r country mansion full of treas ures of

art ? I f the thing s were as you sa y a l l stowed away
, , ,

bei ng as y o u would be very anxious to s e e them you

, , ,

would not hesitate to ask the owner to have them

brought o u t for your inspection especially if you were
,

a pers onal friend o f his I n the same way n o w y o u

.

will beg Crassus to bring out into the light all his
wealth o f treasures of which we have had j ust a hasty
and passing gli m ps e as at the wares in a shop window
,
-
,

all piled together in o ne place and you will ask him ,

’
to put everything in its proper light Co tta : Nay I .
,

must ask you to do that S c a evola for modesty forbids

, ,

my friend and me to bother th e most serious o f men ,

who has alway s thought scorn o f such discussions with ,

questions which to him perhaps seem but the firs t

les s o n s of childhood Pray do us this kindness
.
,

S c aevola " prevail o n Crass us to a m plify and explain fo r

our benefit what he h a s compressed into s o small and
’

narrow a co m pass in the remarks he h a s j ust made .

S cwvo l a : To tell y o u the truth at first it was more

‘
,

for your s ake than my own that I wished Cras s us would

do what y o u a sk " fo r th e desire I had to hear a discourse
of this kind from Crassus is not equal to the pleasur e I
derive from h is forensic speeches But no w Crassus .
, ,

on my o w n behalf also I a s k you s ince we have a few

, ,

hours of leisure such as it has not been o u r good fo r

tune t o enjoy fo r a long time not to refu s e to finish the
,

good work you have begun " fo r the whole question I ,

perceive is taking a wider and more interesting scope

,

than I expected and I am very glad it is

,
.
 62 CI CERO DE O RATO RE 65

XXXV I BA SS US Well well it pas s es my c o m pre h e n

‘
, ,

1 65 sion S c a evola that even y o u s hould require o f

, ,

me a di s cus s ion o n a s ubj ect which I do not understand

s o well a s the pro fe s sed teachers o f it and which i s not .

o f s uch a kind that even if I under s tood it ever s o

,

well it wo u ld be worthy o f the atte n tion o f a philo

,

sopher like y o u S caevo l a :

. What i s that you are ‘

s aying ? S uppo s ing you do thi nk that the co m mon

\
and hackney ed rule s y o u have referred to are barely
worthy of the attention o f a m a n o f m y y e a fs can ,
2
we a fford to despise those subj ect s which you said
’
the orator must study human character moral s the , , ,

di fferent m ethods of stirring and soothing the minds

o f men history tradition state ad m inistration and
‘
, , , , ,

lastly my o w n s pecial subj ect of civil law ? For t hat a

,

all thi s wealth o f k n owledge was pos s essed by a

state sman like yourself I already knew but I had ,

not realised that s uch splendid ware s forme d part o f

the stock—
’

1 66 in trade o f th e orator
- Cra s su s : Can you .
‘

then if y o u will allow me to omit m any other most

,

important considerations and come at once to your

specialty of civil law can you regard as orators those
,

gentleme n wh o for many hours detained Publius

,

S c a evola when he was anxiou s to be o ff to the Campus

M a rt ins half a m used and half angry while H y ps a eu s
, , ,

at the top o f his voice and at great length was urging

,
‘

Marc u s Cras s us the prze t o r to allow his client to lose

hi s case a n d o n the other side Cn e iu s Octavius an
, ,

ex consul (who ought to have known better ) at equal

-

length was prote s t ing against his O pponent lo s ing his

case and his own client being relieved by the folly
,
xxxvn . 1 69 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .

of his opponent from a degrading verdict o f fraudulent

guardianship and from all further annoyance ? S caevo la 1 6 7 ’

‘
Nay such men — a n d I remember hearing the s tory
,

fro m M u c iu s —I cannot thin k fit to plead in the

’
courts m uch less to have the name o f orators
,
.

Cra s s u s : A n d yet they did not lack eloquence as

‘

advocates nor did they fail from w ant o f theory o r

,

ability in s peaking What they lacked was know

.

ledge o f civil law The o n e claimed more in a

.

s tatutable action than was allowed by the law of the ,

X II Table s —a claim which if it had been allowed

, ,

w oul d lose h im his case " the other thought it unfair

that he Should b e proceeded agai n s t fo r more than
he was legally liable a n d did not perceive that if
,

the procedure were allowed his opponent would be ,

sure to lose his suit .

A"E a n other instance — within the las t few days XXX ,

when I w a s sitting o n the bench with my 1 6 8

friend Quintu s Po m pe iu s the city prae tor did we
, ,

not have an advocate who is recko n ed an able Speaker ,

urging in favour o f a client from whom a debt was

,

claim ed the o l d and familiar s aving—

,
clause for which ‘

money payment is already due which he did n o t s e e ,

w a s devi s ed fo r the benefit of the claimant " thus

saving the claim ant in case the debtor who repudiated
,

the obligation had proved to the j udge that payment

was demanded before it had begun to be due from ,

being non suited in the event Of a second action by

-

the ple a o f previous litigation ? Can there b e anything 1 6 9

more discreditable said o r done than that a man who ,
64 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxxv 11 . 1 69

has taken upo n hi m self the role o f defending the

causes and interests o f h is friend s of helping their ,

'

di ffi cultie s relieving their s u fl e ri ngs and removing

, ,

their oppressions s hould prove such a broken reed

,

even in the merest trivialities o f the l a w as to pro ,

voke in tho s e who hear h im feelings o f mingled pity

and contempt ? Let me refer to an instance in my
o w n family Publius Cra s su s Dives 1 was a m a n of
.

many gifts and acco m plish m ents but I think his chief ,

title to praise and com m endation is thi s — he used

constantly to s a y to his brother Publius S cae vola , ,

that as S c aevola could not in civil law make his

performance worthy o f h is profession unl ess he com
b in e d with it a command of language ( as o u r frie n d ,

2
h is s o n my colleague in the co sulship has actually
,
n ,

done ) so he h1 m s e l f had not begun to conduct

,

and plead th e cau s es o f his friends until he had

mastered civil l a w Or to take another instance .
,

that o f Marcu s Cato Wa s not he at onc e the .

greatest master of eloquence that could possibly

have been produced in Rome at that date and

1
T h is Pu bl iu s C r a ssu s Di v e s wa s t h e Pu bl iu s M u ciu s so n o f

S ca ev o l a , co nsu l
in B C 1 75 H e w a s h o we v e r a d o pt e d by
. . .
, ,

P u bl iu s Liciniu s C ra s su s Dives so n o f P u bl iu s Li ciniu s C r a s su s ,

Div es who wa s t he fi r s t o f t h e fa m i ly wh o b o r e t he a gno m en

,

Di ve s a nd wa s c o ns u l B C 2 0 5 H e th u s b eca m e a m em b e r o f
,
. . .

t h e fa m i ly o f t he C r a ss i a nd a co nne c t io n o f L u ci u s Li c i ni u s
,

C r a ssu s t he s p e a k e r h e r e
,
C r a ss u s t he tri u m v i r wa s his gr ea t
.

ne ph ew H e i s m e n t io ne d a g a in
. 2 39 tuf f , .

2
T h i s is Q M u ciu s P F S c aev o l a w ho wa s c o nsu l wi th
. . .
,

L C ra ssu s in 9 5 B C
. H e wa s fi r s t c o u sin o nce r e m o v e d o f
. .

S caevo l a t he A u g u r o ne o f t he i nt e rl o cu t o rs in th i s d i a l o gu e
,
He .

is m ent io ne d a g a in in v e ry c o m pl im ent a ry t e rm s 1 80 t uf f , .
xxxv m . 1 73 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .

in those times and also the most learned lawyer

,

of his day ? I t is with some d iffi d e n c e that I have

been speaking all this time o n such a subj ect in the
presence o f o n e who holds the first rank as a speaker ,

the o ne orator who co m m ands my s pecial admiration ,

though it is tru e that he ha s always de s pised this

subj ect o f civil l a w But since y o u have expre s sed
.

a wish to have my thoughts and opinions com m uni

c a t e d to you I will make no reservations but
, s o far , ,

as my ability s erves I will lay before you my s enti

,

ments in full detail .

N TO N IU Sowes it I think to h is really wonder X

, , X X V
ful and almost u n rivalled and superhuman I 73

power of intellect that even though he is not fortified

, ,

by a knowledge o f civil law he can ea s ily hold his ,

own and defe nd his position with the other weapons

o f sound practical sense For this reason we may .

regard him as an e xception " all others however I , ,

shall not hesitate to pronounce guilty o f indolence in

the first place and o f impudence in the second F o r
, .

to bustle about from court to court to hang about ,

the bench and tribunal o f the pra etors to undertake ,

private suits involving important issues in which it ,

often happens that the vital qu estion is not one o f

fact but o f law and equity to display great activity
, ,

in the court of the centumviri which deals with rights

of prescription guardianship kinship by clan o r pa
, ,

ternal descent alluvial l ands islands formed in rivers

, , ,

pledges conveyances rights with re s pect to party walls

, , ,

lights and rain-drippings the v alidity and invalidity ,

66 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[xxxvu L l 7 3
o fwills and innumerable other matters and all this
, ,

whe n a man i s absolutely ignorant of what constitutes

private property o r o f the di s tinction between a
,

citizen and a foreigner a slave o r a freeman i s a

, ,

proof of extraordinary impudence Ri di cule surely .

is th e fitting reward of the conceit which confesses

a want o f skill with smaller craft but professes to ,

know how to steer quinqueremes o r even larger

vessels Yo u who are bamboozled by the mere
.
,

promise of an opponent in a private interview and ,

’
put the seal to a deed of your client s in which deed ,

there i s a clause prej udicial to him can I suppose ,

that you are fit to be truste d in any case o f import

ance ? S ooner in good sooth could a man who has
, ,
'

overset a pair oar sk ifl in harbour steer th e ship o f

-
,

th e Argonauts in t he waters o f the Euxine Further .

,

if they are not always trivial cases either but frequently ,

cases o f great importance which turn o n a question

,

o f civil law what e ffrontery must the advocate have

,

who ventures to undertake such cases without any

knowledge of the law ? What case for instance can , ,

be of greater importance than the famous o n e of the

soldier a fal s e report o f whos e death reached home
,

from the camp which his father believed and in con

, ,

sequence changed his will and made the person of ,

h is choice h is h eir and subsequently die d ?

,
Then
when the soldier came home and a s a s o n disin , ,

h e rit e d by will instituted an action at law for th e

,

recove ry o f his paternal inheritance the case came ,

fo r trial before the centumviri S urely in this case .

the point at issue was o ne of civil law whether that , ,

 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xxxm 1 79

and has no di sl ike fo r the study of the law somehow ,

or other lately m ade a blunder under sim ilar circum

stances When selling a house to Lucius F u fi u s in th e
.
,

act o f conveyance h e made a reservation as to all exist

ing lights but F u fi u s a s soon as some building began ,

in s ome quarter o f the city which could j u s t be seen ,

from the house at once proceeded against Bu c u l e iu s

, ,

becau s e as he thought h is rights were interfered with

, , ,

whatever portion of the outlook was blocked no matter ,

how distant 1 Once more look at that very famous

.
,

lawsuit between Manius Cu riu s and Marcus Co po n i u s b e

fore th e centumviri How crow d ed the court was how .
,

keen the intere s t taken in the pleadings On the o n e

side Quintus S ca a v o l a m y contemporary and colleague
, , ,

the mo s t learned authority o f his day o n o u r system

of civil law a man of the keenest intellec t and
,

j udg m ent a master of the most refined and nervou s

,

eloque n ce who in fact as I often s a y is the best

, , ,

orator o f all o u r lawyers and the best lawyer o f a l l ,

o u r orators argued the rights o f the case according

,

to the letter of the will maintaining that unless a po s t ,

humous s o n had been born and had also died before

1
Th e abigu i ty is h e re int ent io na l Bu cu l e iu s b e ing pr o u d o f
m .
,

his l e g a l k no wl e dg e a c t e d a s his o wn l a wy er a nd i nse rt e d in t he

,

d ee d o f s a l e a v a g u e ly wo rd e d c l a u s e a b o u t a ncie nt l ight s wis h ,

’

ing t o pr eserv e t h e ri ght s o f t h e nei ghb o u r ing h o u se s a s a g a ins t

th o se o f t he h o u se so ld t o F u fi u s F u fi u s h o we v e r ch o se t o t a k e
.
, ,

t h e c l a u s e a s g u a r a n t ee i ng t h e r ight s o f his h o u s e a s t h e d o m i na nt
pro p e rty a nd in th a t b e l ie f pr o secu t e d t h e v end o r wh en his l ight s
,

we re bl o ck e d The d iffi cu lty o f t h e p a s s a g e is i ncr ea se d by t he

.

v e ry i m p e rfec t r ec o rd w e h a v e o f t he c ircu m s t a nce s a nd s e ve ra l ,

o th e r expl a na t i o ns h a v e b e e n g i ve n o f i t Th e pr ese nt o ne is d u e.

t o Dr Ro by (j o u rna l of Phi l o l ogy X V pp 6 7 -7

. .
, . .
X L . 1 82 ] CI C ERO DE O RATO RE I . 69

he attained h i s maj ority the inheritance co u l d not go

,

to a man who had been named heir in the second

place in the event of the birth and decease o f a post
,

humous child On the other side I argued that the

.
,

intention o f the te s tator had been that if there were ,

no so n to attain his maj ority Manius Cu riu s should

,

inherit A n d did e ither of us cease for a moment in

.

the course o f the cas e to deal with O pinions prece ,

dents testamentary technicalities in other words with

, , ,

fundamental questions of civil law ?

MI GHT quot e several other instances o f very

important ca s es o f which there is an endless
,

number " indeed our civic status even may often be

i nvolved in ca s e s which turn o n a point o f law .

Take th e ins tance o f Caius Ma nc in u s a man of the ,

highest rank and o f blameless character who had ,

held the consulship The state en v oy according

.
,

to the resol ution o f the senate surrendered him up ,

to the people of Numantia a s the author o f the nu

popular treaty with that state but o n the refusal of ,

th e Numantines to accept th e surrender M a n cinu s ,

returned to Rome and without hesitation took his

seat in the senate Thereupon Publius Ru t il i u s so n of
.
,

Marcus the tribun e o f the peopl e ordered him to be

, ,

removed alleging that h e was n o t a Ro m an citizen

, ,

because it w a s the received tradition that any man who

had been sold by his own father or by the nation o r su r
, ,

rendered by a state envoy had no right of recovery o f

,

c itize n ship I f this wa s possible where can we find

.
,

amid all the transactions o f civi l life a case involving a

70 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xn 1 82

more important issue than o n e which concerned the

rank the c itizenship the freedom the whole political
, , ,

existence of a m a n who had held the highest o ffice in

t h e state and that o n e which turned not on so m e cri m i
, ,

n a l charge to which he might have pleaded not guilty ,

but W W W And under si m ilar

circumstances in the case o f a person o f i nfe rio 1 rank
, ,

if a me m ber o f an allied co m m u nity having been a ,

slave in Rome had bought h i s freedom and then re

,

turned to his native town it was a m oot question w ith ,

our ancestors whether he by law o f p os tlim iniu m had

reverted to his o w n people and lost his Ro m an citizen
ship Again may not a case o f disputed freedo m
.
, ,

the most important issue that can po s sibly come up

fo r d e ci s io n hang on a point o f law ? th e question for
, ,
‘

instance whether a slave who has been entered in the

,
’

censor s roll wit h the consent and will o f h is master

is a fre e man at once o r not till th e close o f the l u s
,

trum ? O n ce again take a cas e that actually happened

,

w ithin the me m ory of o u r fathers The head o f a .

household returning from S pain to Rome left in the

province a wife who w as with child a nd m arried a ,

second wi fe at Rome without s ending a bill o f divorce

to the former o ne " he subsequently died i n testate ,

each wife having given birth to a son H ere surely .

a so m ewhat i m portant i s sue w a s rai s ed the decision ,

involving the political status o f two citizens that o f the ,

boy born o f the second wife and that of h is m other , ,

who if the verdict were that a divorce fro m a former

,

wife i s only e ffected by a set form o f words and not ,

by the mere fact o f a second marriage would be in the ,

xu . 1 86 ] CI C E RO DE O RATO RE I . 71

position of a wo m an taken into concubinage Well then .

,

that a man who knows nothing o f thes e and similar

questions of the law o f his o w n country should with ,

a proud carriage and head erect with a keen and ,

eager look o n his face turning his eyes this way

,

and that pervade the law court s with a crowd at his

,

heels tendering and o ffering his protection to clients

, ,

h is assistance to friends and the l ight o f his genius

,

and advice to society generally this surely we cannot

,

but regard as a piece o f scandalous impertinence .

OW that I have Spoken o f the impertinence of X LI

IS
such conduct let me rebuke the indolence and
,
5
laziness o f men " for even supposing the study of the
l a w were di fficult still its great utility ought to be
,

s u ffi cient to induce men to undergo the labour o f

le a rning But take my word fo r it and I should not
.
,

venture to s a y this before S c aevola were he not in

the habit o f making the re m ark himself there is no ,

branch o f study which presents s o l ittle di fficulty .

Most people I k n o w think otherwise and fo r well 1 8 6

, ,
, ,

defined reasons I n the firs t place th e old ma s ters o f

.
,

legal science with a view to maintain and increa s e their

,

influence refused to divulge the secrets o f their craft

,

and afterwards when the law was published and the

di fferent forms o f procedure expo s ed by Cn e iu s Fl a v i u s ,

there was no o n e capable o f arranging them method

i c a l l y and scientifically under di ffere nt head s Nothing .

of cours e can be reduced to a scientific sy s tem u nless

he w h o i s master o f the particulars o f which h e desires
to establish an art has the further knowledge necessary
,
 72 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[
X LL 1 86

to enable him to systematise materials which have

1 87 not yet been systematised I am afraid that in my .

anxiety to state this briefly I have expressed myself ,

somewhat obscurely I will try if I can make my

.

mean ing somewhat plainer .

X LI I LL subj ects which have n o w been brought under

scientific treatment were once in a disconnected
and chaotic condition " m usic for instance presented , ,

a chaos of rhythms sounds and tunes " geometry o f

, , ,

lines figures dimensions and magnitudes " in astronomy

, , ,

there was the revolution o f the heavens the ri s ings , ,

setti ngs and movements of th e heavenly bodies " in

,

letters the treatment o f poetry the study o f history

, , ,

the interpretation of w ords their emphasis and accent

,
“

in rhetoric finally with which we are immedi a tely

, ,

interested in vention expression arrangement me m ory

, , , , ,

and d elivery were at one tim e considered by every one

,

to be quite separate and wholly unconnected w ith o ne

another Thus th e application o f a certain science
.

borrowed from quite a di fferent sphere o f knowledge ,

which the philosophers regard a s their special province ,

was necessary to consolidate the separate and dis

connected material a n d unite it in a systematic whole
,
.

To apply this principle then to civil l a w let us define ,

its obj ect thus — the ma i n

.t e na n e gift eq rit y a ru j g
c i s f u - “ fi m i n ~

1 89
(
git ia e n a nd c it iz e n
We must
. then distinguish between
the di fferent classes o f case and reduce them to a d e fi
,

nite number the smallest possible Now a cla ss is

, .

that which incl udes at least two s u b -divisions which

 X LI I ] . 19 1 ] C I C ERO DE O RATO RE I .

have a certain common qualification but di ffer from ,

o ne another in species Species are those divisions

.

which are included under the classes from which they

are derived " and all nam es of classes o r species must
be accompanied with definitions to expre s s their
meaning A definition you know is a concise and
.
, ,

strictly exact statement o f the qualities proper to that

thing which we wish to de fi ne > I would quote in 1 9 0 .

stan ces to show what I mean were I not fully alive to ,

th e n ature of the a udience I a m addre s sing A s it .

is I will state in o n e sentence the obj ect I have in

,

view I f I am allo w ed to carry out a long ch e rish e d l

z
-
.

purpose or if so m e one el s e forestalls m e owing to my

,

many engagements or completes the work in event o f

,

my death —if I mean he makes a digest first of all o f

, , , ,

Q h e civil law according to the di fferent classes o f cas e

( which are really very few ) then di s ti n guishe s

,
the
di fferent organic divi s ions s o to s peak o f these classes
, , ,

adding finally the definition significant of the exact

, ,

n ature o f each class o r division then you will have a ,

compl ete system of civil la w whose di ffi c ulty a nd ,

obscurity will be nothing co m pared with the magni

>
tude and wealth o f it s utility And mean while until 1 9 1 ,

a ll this scattered material is brought together the ,

student may after all by expatiating freely and

, , ,

collectin g information from every possible s ource fi l l ,

his mind with a very fair knowledge o f civil law .

ERE i s an in s tance in point Caius Aculeo who X L I I I .

still lives with m e as he always h a s a member ,

of the e q uestrian order a man of singularly acute

,
 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ xu m 19 1

intellect though with little general c u lture h a s such

, ,

a mastery of civil l a w that with the exception o f o u r

friend here none o f our most expert lawyers can be
,

named before him F o r really the whole subj ect lie s

.

at our very doors is closely connected with o u r daily

,

experience a n d o u r intercourse with our fellow men in -

public l ife I t i s not wrapped up in a great body o f

.

literature or in po n derous tomes for th e firs t publica

t ion s though by several authors were really the same
, , ,

and the s e with a few verbal changes have be en re

written again and again even by the same authors .

Be s ides thi s to add to the facility o f understanding

,

and mastering the s ubj ect the study itself though , ,

mo s t people little think it has a really wo n der ful ,

charm and interest For if a man is an admirer o f the

.

pursuits which J El iu s 1 has brought into fa s hion he will ,

find everywhere in the civil law i n the books o f the ,

ponti ffs and in the X I I Table s a complete picture o f

, ,

antiquity in s o far a s the original form s o f words m a y

,

be studied there a n d certain kinds of procedure

,

illustrate th e life and manners o f o u r ancestors If he .

is a student o f political science which S c a e v ola thinks ,

is not the province of the orator but o f some o n e

belongi n g to another class in the world of learni n g all ,

such science he will find comprised in the X I I Tables ,

with a description o f all the di fferent provi s ion s and

departments o f s tate admini s tration If he i s a .

follower o f great and glorious philosophy I will even ,

1
The r e fe re nce h e r e is t o L [ El iu s S t i l o
.
, wh o g a v e l e c t u re s
o n L a t in l i t e r a t u r e a nd l a ng u a ge H e wa s . o ne o f t h e l e a d i ng

(C f
' '

g ra m m a t z cz . 1 0 s u pra )
. .
76 CI CE RO D E O RATO RE I .
[x1 1 v
. . 1 96

lieve that the wisdom which framed i t s laws w a s a s

pro found as that which h a s e stablished its imperial
greatness From the study o f law al s o y o u will reap
.

a nother pleas u re a n d delight You will then realise

.

more easily how va s tly superior in states m an s hip our

ancestors were to the politicians o f th e other nations
o f the world if you will compare the laws of Rome
,

with the legislation o f Lycurgu s Draco and S olon in , ,

Greece . Indeed y o u would scarcely believe h o w

crude how absurd I m a y sa y all civil law i s compared
, , ,

with the Roman system This is a favourite topic

.

o f mine in ordinary conversation when I am i nsisting

o n the superiority o f the statesmen of Rome over thos e .

o f other nations and Greece especially

,
The s e are th e .

reasons S cae vola why I said that for any who wished
, ,

to m a ke themselves perfect orators a knowle dge of ,

civil law was absolutely indispensable .

X
ET me pass n o w to another point H o w much .

honour influence and dignity this knowledge

,

brings to those who are its leading representatives no ,

o n e needs to be reminded Con s equently whereas in

.
,

Greece men o f the lowest rank fo r a miserabl e fee act

as assistants to the speakers in the courts Wpa y pa n k o f ,

( attorn eys ) as they are called in o u r country on the ,

other hand the service is performed by th e most dis

t ingu i sh e d and honourable men such as he w a s for , ,

instance who because of his knowledge of this subj ect

,

“
w a s styled by o u r greatest poet a man ful rich e o f
excellence J El iu s S extus war and wy s
, and many ,

others who having won respect by title of the ir ability

, ,
v r
. 20 1 ] CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .

exercised an authority by title of their position as

ju risg qgstgl t g w hi ch w a s even more commanding than
their ability With a view moreover to relieving the
. 1 99
solitude and dulness o f o l d age what more honourable
,

resource can there b e than the interpretation o f the

law ? For my o w n part from my first entran ce into
manhood I have been careful to secure myself this
support not merely fo r the practical needs o f the law
,

courts but al s o as a grace and ornament for my declin

,

ing years that when my strength begins to fail me a

, ,

time which is now coming o n apace I may be spared the ,

otherwise inevitabl e solitude o f my home life For .

surely it is a signal distinction fo r an o l d man who has

served his country in the high o ffi ces o f state to b e able ,

and fully entitled to s a y with the Pythian Apollo in

,

the poem o f Ennius that he is the source whence his

,

o w n countrymen at all events if n o t nations and

, ,

kings s eek coun s el fo r the m selves

, ,

U n c e rt ai n of ir weal wh om b y m y ai d
t he
A ss ur e d a n d rich i n r e d e I s e nd a wa y
,

N o t bl i nd l y n o w t o tr y a t rou bl ou s t ask

for we may without fear o f contradiction describe the z oo

house o f th e j urisconsult as the oracular s hrine o f the

whole city Witne s s the door and entrance court of
.

our friend here Quintus Muci ns which in spite of his

, ,

enfeebled health and advanced age i s daily crowded

with a va s t concours e of citizens including men of the
,

highest rank and distinction .

T does n o t need many more words to sho w why I X LV I

20 1
consider that the orator ought to be quite fa iliar
m

with public law also which specially concerns the state

,
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ x 1 . vr . 201

in its imperial capacity as well as with the records ,

of history and me m orials of antiquity Fo r a s in cases .

,

and trials where private interests are concerned th e ,

orator must often draw upon the civil law fo r his

matter and therefore as I have already said a know
, , ,

ledge o f this branch o f law is indispensabl e to him s o ,

in public causes whether in the courts o f j ustice the

, ,

national assembly o r the senate all t h e s e rec o rdt -of

, ,
'

a n t i qu it y,
t he pre c e d gnt s gfi t h e pu b l i a m
,
the
w a w ,

principles a nd science ought to be at

the command o f the political speaker as material to
202 draw upon For the character we are endeavouring to
.

portray in our present discussion i s not some bawling

ranter of an attorney but the man who in the first place
, , ,

is high priest of an art for which we have by nature

-

many qualifications though the gift itself has been

,

vouchsafed a s we believe by Providence alone in

, , ,

order that a power which is peculiar to man as m a n ,

might be regarded not a s the acquisition of our o w n

skill but M e r ggsu l t o fldi re ct inspiration " who in the
. ,

s econd place can move with safety even among the

,

weapon s of the enemy by virt ue not of his o fficial ,

wand but o f the simple name of orator " thirdly who ,

can by h is eloquence expose the crimes and wicked

ness o f the guilty to the hatred o f their fellow country -

men and bring them within th e toils o f punishment ,

who can by the buckler o f his talents save innocence

from the penalties o f the law who can rouse an in ,

di fferent and mistak en nation to a sense of honour o r

turn them from the path o f error who can kindle their ,

indignation against treason o r calm them when provoked

 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ x 1 v1 1
. . 205

Yes we are very grateful to you Crassus for what you

, , ,

have s aid and have bee n deeply interested But we still

, .

desire a little more information from you and e s pecially ,

on those points which y o u touched upon s o very briefly

in connection with the special art of rhetoric tho u gh you ,

admitted that y o u attached some importance to such

rul es and in fact had studied them yoursel f I f y o u
,
.

will only speak a little more fully o n these y o u will ,

completely sati s fy the desire which w e have s o long

and so eagerly entertained As it is we have been .
,

told what we ought to aim at which in itself is after , ,

all no slight thing " but we still desire to know the

,

’
system and methods of the study Cra ss u s : S upposing .

then s ince I have already in order to k eep you with

, ,

me con s ulted rather your wishes than my o w n habits

,

and natural incli n ations we ask Antonius to un fold to

,

us the secrets which h e keeps to himself and has not

yet given to the world of which h e co m plained a while
,

ago that one little pamphlet had already slipped o u t

o f his posses s ion and to reveal to us the mysteries of
,

S u lpiciu s : Just as you please " for

’
th e orator s craft
’
.
‘

even if Antoniu s is the speaker we shall still perceive ,

’
what you thi n k o f the matter Cra ssu s : Well then .
‘
,

since the burden is laid o n o u r o l d shoulders Antonius , ,

by these enthusiastic young m e n I ask you to tell us ,

what you think o n this subj ect on which you s e e they

’

look to you for information .

LV I I I N TON I US It
is painfully evident to me that
‘

I am caught in a trap not only because I am ,

expected to speak o n a subj ect on which I have neither

x 1. v m .
]
210 CI C ERO DE O RATO RE I . 81

knowledge n o r experience but because o u r friends do

,

n o t permit me to avoid o n this occasion what I always

fight very shy o f in the law courts speaking that i s -

, , ,

im m ediately a fter you Crassus I will however a t

, .
, , 20 8
te m pt the task yo u lay upon me with the more con ,

fi d e n c e because I hope m y experience will be the same

in this debate as it always i s in public speaking " no -

o ne ,
that is will expect any flowers of rhetoric from
,

me F o r I have no i n tention o f speaking about the

.

art which I have never studied but only about m y

, ,

o w n practice And indeed thos e hint s w hich I j otted

.

do wn in m y pa m phlet I may de s cribe not as the o u t

,

come o f any theoretical teaching but as having been ,

tested by actual practice in the courts I f my remarks .

do not co m m and the approval o f your excellent learn

ing you must throw the blame o n your o w n i m por
,

t u n i t y who have asked me for a deliverance o n a subj ect

o f which I have no knowledge while you m ust com ,

mend my good nature for having graciously answered

-

y our questions against my own better j udg m ent and to

hu m our your Cra ss u s : Pra y proceed Antonius " ,
20 9
for there is no danger of your speaking otherwise than
with such wisdom that none o f u s will feel any regret
’
at havi n g urged you to discourse o n this subj ect .

A nto niu s : Well I will begin with th at which I hold

,

ought to co m e fir s t in all discussions a cl ea r statem en t , fi

.

Mg f a v ha t i a t he s u b je c t of the dis cussion that there m a y

.
,

be no necessity fo r a speaker to digress and wander from

his subj ect as there must be if the di s putants have n o t
,

formed the same conception o f the point at i s sue b e

tween them If we had happened to be discussing
.
2 1 0
 82 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ X La 210

the art of generalship I should h ave thought it

,

necessary first of all to define the term genera l " and

having define d the general as the man who i s re
sponsible for the management of a war we should ,

then have proceede d to speak about forces camps , ,

m arches,
engagements and siege s about the c o m
, ,

m is s a ria t about a m buscades how they are to be laid

, ,

and how avoided and everything else which form s an

,

integral part of the conduct o f a war Thos e who in .

all these departm ents have the master s m in d and

’

knowledg e I should have said were generals a n d I ,

should have referred to instances of men like Africanus

or Maximus naming also Epaminondas and H a nnib a lJ
,

and o t h e ra o f th e same type I f again we had been

/

discussing the character o f the man who devotes all

his experience knowledge a n d e ffort to the guidance
, ,

o f the state ,
I should have defined him as o n e who ,

’
understandin g the means by which a country s interests
are served a n d advanced and employing these mean s
, ,

is worthy o f being regarded as the hel m s m an o f the

state and the initiator o f the natio n al policy " and I
should ha ve cited as instances Publius Lentulus the ,

famous Princeps S enatus Tiberius Gracchus the elder

, , ,

Quintus Metellus Publius Africanus Caius L a elius and

, , ,

very man y others not only from Ro m an history but

, ,

2 1 2 from that o f other countries I f again the question .

had been who w a s to be rightly called a j urisconsult ,

I should have said th e m a n who 1 3 learned in the laws

and unwritten usages observed by private citizens in
their social relations who can give an opinion to a
,

client instruct him in the conduct of a case and

, ,
 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ x 1 1x
. . 214

strange to me that y o u S c a evola should acquiesce in

, , ,

such a claim s eeing that over and over again the senate
,

has taken your advice o n questio n s o f the ut m ost i m

portance though you have spoken but briefly and quite
,

si m ply If that great expert in state a ffairs Marcus

.
,

S c a u ru s who is i n the neighbourhood I a m told at

, , ,

his country re s idence were to hear that t h e i n fluence

,

due only to a m a n o f his high character and profound

wisdo m i s clai m ed by you Crassus ( as is im plied in
,

your statement that this is th e s pecial province o f the

orator) he would come here I expect at once and
, , , ,

w ould terrify o u r loquacity into silence by a m ere look

of his eye fo r though he is by no mean s contemptibl e
a s a speaker he relies more o n his sagacity in high
,

m atters o f state than o n a n y oratorical s kill And then .

agai n give n that a man has ability in bot h directions

, ,

it does n o t follo w either that the leader in the councils

of the natio n a n d the good senator is si m ply fo r that
reason a n orator " o r that the able and eloquent orator ,

if he is also a n authority o n s tate admini s tration has -

,

acquired that knowl edge by his ability as a speaker .

There is really little in common between these two

faculties " indeed they are quite di s tinct and separate
o n e from the other nor did Marcus Cato P u blius Afri ,

c a n u s Qui n tus Metellus and Caius L a e lius w h o were a l l

, , ,

real orators employ the sam e means to i m prove their

,

o w n eloquence and to exalt the honour o f their country .

H E RE is nothing you know either in the nature

, ,

o f things o r in any law o r traditio n to prevent

, ,

any individual mastering more than o n e branch of

L . 2 1 8] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .

knowledge And for this reas on it doe s not follow

.

because Pericle s was the greatest orator of his time at

Athens and at the same time the guiding Spirit in
,

the councils o f the nation for many years that we ,

ought therefore to consider both these faculties to be

characteri s tic o f the same individual and the same
branch o f knowledge Nor again because Publius .
, ,

Crassus was at once an orator and learned in the l aw ,

doe s it follow that a faculty o f speaking impl ies also a

knowledge o f civil law For if a co m binatio n in any .
,

one m a n o f excellence in some special branch o f know

,

ledge o r faculty with skill in some other branch i s to ,

force u s to the conclu s ion that the additional aecom

l i s h m e n t i s an essential element in that in which he
p
shows h is excellence then we may o n that principle
,

assert that t o play well at ball o r backgammon is o n e

o f the characteristics o f the lawyer s ince Publius ,

Muci a s w a s an excellent hand at both thes e games .

And by parity o f reasoning we may s a y that those

philosophers whom the Greek s call phy s ici s ts w ere
also poets since Empedocle s the phy s icist was the
,

author o f a n obl e poem Why not even the moral .

,

philo s ophers who claim not only their special subj ect
, ,

but all others as their o w n by titl e o f possession go s o

, ,

far as to assert that geo m etry o r music is part o f the

e quipment of the philosopher becau s e o f the univers al
admissio n that Plato had exceptional attain m ents in
both And surely if we are s till determined to credit
.
, ,

the orator with all accompli s hments it i s less o b je c ,

t i o n a b l e to limit o u r state m ent of his merits thus

since the faculty o f speaking shoul d not be arid or u n

 86 CI CERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ L . 218

adorned but flavoured or relieved by a certain charm o f

,
[

variety and diversity the ideal orator may be expected

,

to have heard much and to have seen much to have

, ,

expatiated freely in the region o f thought and re fl e c

tion and in the field of literature though m u m h a xe
, .

W W M X Q LM S For I quite
.

admit that in his profession he must show himself a

W i n no subj ect a mere novice o r a fool "

he must have made exc ursions into all subj ects and
b e a stranger in none .

O R agai n a m I much disconcerted by what you

, ,
.

said j ust now with a moving air of pas s ion such ,

a s we are familiar with in the philosophers that no ,

speaker can possibly excite the feelings of his audience

o r allay their excitement
( this being the sphere in
which t h e real force and greatne s s o f the orator is
most truly seen ) except one who ha s a thorough under
,

stan ding o f all the laws o f nature the character a nd

,

motives of men and that this i m plies that a knowledge

,

of philosophy is absolutely indi s pensable to the orator

a purs uit in which we know that men even of the
highest abilities and most abundant leis ure have s pent
their whole l ives Now I have no wi s h to m ake little
.

of the wide learning of these men o r to depreciate the

,

greatness of the subj ect " o n the contrary I have an ,

immense admiration for both But for us who take an

.

active part in the politics o f this great nation it is ,

enough to have such knowledge and u s e s uch language

about the emotions as is not inconsistent with the
 C I CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 2 22

mental or physical good whether it is to be defined in

terms o f virtue o r o f pleasure o r whether it may not con
,

sist in an u nion and combination o f the t w o " or whether ,

again as some have held nothing can b e known with

, ,

certainty nothing be absolutely understood and a ppre

,

hended On all such questio n s I admit great and

.
, ,

2 2 varied learning h a s been expended and there i s a large ,

number o f conflicting and interesting theories " but it

is something else something very di fferent Crassus
, , ,

of which we are in search What we want is a man o f

.

clear intelligence o f good parts both natural and

,

acquired able to detect with unerring sagacity what

,

are the thoughts feelings opinions and expectations o f

, , ,

his o w n fellow citizens o r any audience of m e n whom

-
,

he wishes to m rn mce h y i h e non et nf his words

i s .

E ust have his finger on the pulse o f every

m

class age and rank and must divine the

, , ,

thoughts and fe elings o f those before whom he i s

going to speak o r is likely to have to do so But the
,
.

writings o f the philosophers let h im reserve for his

delight again s t such a time o f quiet retire m ent a s we
are n o w enj oying at Tusculu m that he may not be ,

tempted to borro w from Plato if at any time he has to ,

Speak o n j u s tice and honesty For Plato when he felt

.
,

called upon to give expression to his theories on thes e

subj ects portrayed in his pages a quite imagin ary state
,

s o utterly at variance with ordinary life and social

m anners was his conception o f what ought to be said

on the question of j ustice Why if his theories held

.
,

mong nations and communities who would have ,

 226 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 89

allowed a citizen o f the highest repute and distinction ,

a leading statesmen like y o u Crassus to s a y what you

, ,

did at a mas s meeting o f your fellow country m en -

D eliver us from o u r m iseries " deliver us from the

j aws of thos e whose cruelty can be satiated only w ith
o u r blood " su ffer us not to be the slaves o f any save ,

o f you who form the nation whose slaves we may and

,

“
ought to be I s a y nothing about the m i series in
.

which according to the philosophers the true man

, ,

“
cannot b e involved " I s a y nothing about the j aw s
from which you d esire to be delivered that your
blood may no t be sucked o u t o f you by an u nj ust
sentence which they s a y cannot b e pas s ed upon the
,

philo s opher but sla v es —that not only you but the
”
, ,

whole s enate whose cause you were t h en pleading

, ,

were slaves how durst you s a y that ? Can virtue be a

,

slave Crassus if we are to believe tho s e whos e teach

, ,

ings you include in the province of the orator—m ug

which al ga e and always is free and which even
, , ,

though o u r bodies were taken prisoners in war or

fettered in chains must even s o maintain its rights a n d
,

i t s complete and untram m elled liberty o f action P Your

last words however that the sen a te not only may

, ,

but ought to be the slaves o f the nation is there any ,

philosophy however ea s y—
'

,
going and i ndi fl e re nt how ,

ever sensuous and hedonistic that could possibly ,

'

sanction the senti m ent o f th e senate being the slaves o f

the nation — the senat e t o which the nation itself has
intrusted the reins o f government fo r its own better
guidan c e and control
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ L I I L 22 7

O N S EQ U EN TLY, though I myself thought your

speech was most admirabl e Publius Ru t il i u s
,

Rufus who i s a most devoted student of philosophy

, ,

used to s a y it was not merely inj udicious but absolutely

,

and scandalously immoral H e also used to find very

.

grave fault with S ervius Galba (whom h e said he could

very well remember ) for having appealed to the feelings
o f the populace when Lucius S c ri b o n i u s was moving fo r

a criminal inquiry into his conduct and Marcus Cato , ,

his ste m a n d i m placabl e rival had Spoken o f him

,

in harsh and Violent lan guage before the national

a s sembly The actual s pe ech Cato published after
.

2 28 wards i n his Origines Well Ru t il i u s found fault with

.
,

Galba because he all but lifted o n to his shoulders h is

,

ward Quintus the s o n of his kinsman Caiu s S u lpicius

,

Gallus that the sight o f h im might move the populace

,

to tears by awakening their re collections o f the boy s ’

illustrious father and commended his o w n two little

,

sons t o the protection of the nation and then as if h e

, ,

were m aking his will on the eve o f battle without the

due formalities o f l a w declared that he named the
,

Ro m an people a s the guardians o f their orphanhood .

Thus though Galba was at the time labo u ring under a

,

cloud o f unpopularity and universal hatred he won a ,

verdict o f acquittal Ru t il iu s used to a ss ert by these

, ,

’
moving tricks o f tragedy " and I find it stated in Cato s
“
book in s o ma n y words that he woul d have been
,

brought to j ustic e if it had not been for the children

and the tears . S uch proceedings Ru t il i u s s everely
censured " and exile o r death h e used to s a y was
, ,

2 2 9 preferable to such abj ect humiliation Nor did he

.
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ 1. 1 v . 23 1

E RE in a past consul of Rome we have repeated

, ,

the o l d story o f S ocrates who being the , ,

wisest of men and having l ed a perfectly blam eless

,

life adopted such a line o f defe n ce when o n trial for

,

his life that h e might well have been th e instructor or

,

master o f his j udges instead o f a prisoner at the bar ,

dependent o n their mercy Besides this whe n that

.
,

most accomplished orator Lysias brought him a written

, ,

speech to learn by heart if he thought well and, ,

deliver in his defence in court he read it with some ,

pleasure and pronounced it a skilful compositio n add

, ,

“
ing however Just as if you had brought me a pa ir o f
l

, ,

S icyonian shoes I should not wear the m however com

, ,

fo rt a b l e they might be or ho w ever good a fit becaus e

, ,

they would b e unmanly s o this speech of yours seems

to me able enough and worthy of your art but not ,

manly and courageous Thus he too was condemned

.

and that not only at the first voting when the court
merely decided on the que s tio n o f guilty o r not guilty ,

but also at the s econd votin g which was required by

,

law At Athens y o u know on the prisoner being

.
, ,

found guilty if the charge was n o t a capital o n e there

, ,

followed a sort o f assessment o f the penalty " and when

the j udges were called upon t o give their decision the ,

prisoner was asked what penalty at most h e admitted

that he deserved When the question w a s put to
.

S ocrates he answered that h e deserved to receive the

,

highest ho nours and rewards and to have daily main,

t e n a n c e given h im in the Prytaneum at the charges

o f the state a distinctio n which the Greeks think i s

,

t h e greatest that can be conferred This answer s o

.
 '

LV . 2 35 ] CICERO DE O RATO RE I .
93

exasperated his j udges that they conde m ned the most

innocent o f men to death I f indeed he had been.
, ,

acquitte d (which though the matter does not concern

,

u s I heartily wi s h had been the ca s e because of the

,

marvellous genius o f the man ) we sho u ld have found ,

the arrogance of the philosophers quite unbearabl e fo r , ,

even a s it is in Spite o f his condemnation for no other

,

fault of his o w n e xcept his deficient skill in speaki n g ,

they persi s t in saying that we must come to philosophy

to learn the rules o f oratory I will not di s pute with
.

them which o f th e two pursuits is the superior o r the

more genuine " all I s a y is that philosophy is o n e ,

thing and oratory another and that perfection in ,

the latter can be attained without the aid of the

former .

OW I see what was your obj ect Crassus in m a k

, , ,

ing so m uch o f the study o f civil law " in fact I

s a w it at the time I n th e firs t place it was by way o f
.
,

a complim ent to S c a evola whom we are al l bound to

,

love as he most richly deserves fo r his singular k in dl i

,

ne s s you saw his muse was undowered and unador ned ,

and y o u e n riched a n d embelli s hed her with the dowry

o f your eloquence S econdly a s y o u had spent a dis
.
,

proportionate amount o f labour and industry on the

subj ect havin g alway s had a ma s ter at your elbow to
,

encourage you in the study you were afraid you might

,

prove to have wa s ted your pains if y o u did not ,

magnify the science o f your choice by combining it

with eloquence For my part I have no quarrel with
.

this branch o f knowledge any more than with

9 4. CI CE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ m 2 35

philosophy . Let it have all the value you would

give to it " for indeed it is beyo n d all question o f
, ,

great importance has a wide range a ffects numerous

, ,

interests has always been highly thought o f and the

, ,

most distinguished men of our day as at other ti m es , ,

are at the head o f the legal profession But are you .

not in d anger Crassus o f robbing and denuding the

, ,

science o f its o w n admitted and traditional distinctio n ,

in your anxiety to trick i t out in a hitherto unhe a rd o f -

and alien dress I f your assertion had been that the

j u risco ns u l t was an orator and Similarly that the orator
,

was also a j urisconsult that would have been a re c o gni

,

tion of two noble professions parallel to one anoth er

,

and eq u al ly honourable A s it i s you admit that

.
,

there can be and indeed have been nu m erous j uris

, ,

consults without that ideal eloquence which we are

now discussing " but an orator you as s ert no o n e can
, ,

be unless he has also mastered the s cience of the law

, .

Thus in your eyes the j urisconsult pure and simple is

nothing b u t a sharp and wary attorney a mere clerk ,

of procedure a man who has certain cant formul a e o n

,

h is tongue a master o f verbal traps but because the

,

orator often appeals to the law in the exercise o f his

profession y o u have therefore attached a knowledge of
,

civil law to him as a sort o f hand m aid or lackey

H EN you expressed astoni s hment at the im

pertinence o f those advocates who either in
Spite o f their ignorance o n small points of law made
great professions o r ventured to deal in court with the
,

most important questions o f civil law although they ,

96 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ LV L 2 39

the o ffi ce o f consul was accompanying him on his

,

canvass (b ecause a marriage had been arranged b e

t w een his son Caius and the daughter o f Crassus ) ,

a farmer in need of legal advice accosted Crassus ,

and having taken him aside and laid his di fficulty

before h i m received an answer from him very
, ,

correct no d oubt but not equally favourable for his

,

purpose . Galba seeing the man w a s disappointed

, ,

addressed him by nam e and aske d h im what was the

,

di fficulty he had put to Crassus When the man told .

him his trouble with evident signs o f distress he ,

exclai m ed ,
Oh " I s e e Cra s sus has answered you
absently with h i s mind full o f other thing s H e then .

l aid his hand o n Cra ssu s s shoulder and said to h i m ,

My dear fri en d w h a t possessed you to give the man

,
‘

”
thi s answer ? Crassu s with all the confidence o f th e
,

practised lawyer a fli rm e d that the case was as he had

,

advised and there could n o t be two opinions about it

, .

Galba however playfully quoted with much variety

, , ,

of illu s tration many analogous cases a n d enlarged on

, ,

the matter W W W
tri until at last Crassus we a re told , ,

being no m atch for his friend in argument— although

h e w a s admittedly an able speaker but by no means 0 11 ,

the same level with Galba— took ref uge in authorities ,

substantiating his opinio n by quotations from th e work

o f h is brother Quintus Mucins and the com m entary
, ,

of J El iu s S extus " in the end however he ad m itted , ,

’
that Galba s contention seemed to him plausible and
possibly correct .
I N“. 2 43 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
97

ND aft er all case s which are o f such a nature

,

that there can b e no doubt about the legal

aspect o f them are n o t as a rule brought i n to court
, , .

Who fo r instance ever clai m ed a property under a

, ,

will made by the head of a fam ily before a s o n w a s born

t o him No o n e of course fo r it goes w ithout saying
,

that a will is cancelled by the s ub s equent birth o f a

s o n and heir " consequently there are no suits i nv o l v

ing a l egal issue o f this kind The orator therefore .

, ,

m a y safely ignore all this field o f uncontested la w ,

w hich beyond all question form s the large s t portion o f

, ,

the subj ect But when the la w is a matter o f dispute

.

among the greatest authoritie s it i s v ery easy fo r the ,

orator to find o n e o f them in favour o f the line o f

argu m ent he may decide to adopt " and when he h as
got all his bolts in proper tri m from him he will be ,

able to hurl them at his advers ary with all th e force

and e n ergy of the orator U nless o f c o u rs e a n d I hope
.
,
m

m y very good frie n d here will n o t be o ffended b

y the
re m a rk i t was by help o f the t reatise s of S c a evola o r
u -
,

th e maxims o f your father in law that y o u pleaded the

- -
,

cau s e of Maniu s C a rius and did n o t rather s eize the

,

opportun ity of striking a blow for equity and upholding ,

th e sa nctity o f wills and th e l ast wishes o f the dead .

Indeed in my opinion — and I often cam e into court to

,

listen— you won the great maj ority o f th e votes by the

polished brilliancy o f your wit and by your Sparkling
humour maki ng fun o f your oppone n t s exce s s ive
,
’

ingenuity and speaking with bated breath o f th e clever

ness o f S c a evola who had discovered that birth was
,

a necessary preliminary to th e grave and producing ,

G
98 CI CERO DE O RATO RE l .
[LVIL 243

instance after instance from laws resolutions o f the ,

senate t h e ordinary conversation o f society selected n o t

, ,

only with skill but with much humour and sense o f the
,

ridiculous where things would come to a deadlock if w e

,

insisted on the letter to the neglect o f the plain meaning .

The consequence was the court was a scen e of delight,

and amusement " and what good all your training in

civil law did you I fail to perceive —what won y o u
,

th e cas e w a s a com b ination o f striking eloquenc e w ith

excellent pleasantry and charm o f manner Why even .
,

Muci ns himself as the champion o f the legal profession

, ,

a position to which he has succeeded as his father s s o n ,

— did he as counsel fo r the opposite party in that cas e

, ,

urge any plea derived from th e enact m ents of the civil

law ? Did he quote a singl e statute ? did he in the
course of his speech explain anything that had hitherto
been a mystery to the lay mind H is whole speech ,

surely was b ased on the contention that the letter o f

,

a document ought to be o f paramount weight But .

it is j ust questions o f thi s kind that form the staple o f

o u r school exercises i n which the pupils are taught in
, ,

similar cases sometimes to plead for the letter of the

,

law at others for the equitable interpretation of it I n

,
.

th e case too of the soldier I suppose if y o u had been

, , , ,

counsel either fo r the heir or the s oldier you would ,

have trusted to the Forms o f Legal Procedure by Hos

t il i u s and not to your o w n wit s and oratorical ability
,
.

I am s ure if you had appeared fo r the party clai m ing

,

by the will you would have s o handled the case as to

,

make us believe that the sacred rights of all wills

whatsoever were involved in that particular suit I f .
 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ 1 v1 1 1
. . 247

the S ale o f S a l e a b l e s Another rea s on you give is that

.
’

motives o f patrioti s m ought to induc e u s to make o u r

sel v es acquaint ed with the creations o f o u r forefathers
but do y o u not s e e that our o l d laws either h ave become
obsolete by s heer antiquity o r have been remo v ed by
more recent legi s lation ? A s to your fancy that men
are m ade good by the civil law because by its enact ,
~

ments reward s are a s signed to v irtue and penalties to

vice I used to suppose that m e n were taught virtue
,

chm o f-a vo id i ng
i n nil
for myself the o n e man
. As ,

whom you admit t o be capable of d oing j ustice t o a

case without a knowledge of law m y an s wer t o y o u o n ,

this point Crassus is that it i s tr u e I never s tudied the

, , ,

subj ect but then I never felt the wan t o f s uch kno w
,

ledge even in those causes which I found m yself able

,

to plead be fore the prae tor for it i s o n e thing to be a

master in some special bra n ch o f knowledge and quite ,

another to be wan ting neither in appreciation nor i n ex

e ri e n c e of the general usage of men in their ordinary
p
life Which of us for in s tance has much O pportunity
.
, ,

o f v isiting his estates o r i nspecting h is farm s whether ,

for business purposes o r fo r pleasure ? Yet none of

us goes through life without u si n g h is eyes and wits
enough to know something about seed — time and
h arve s t the pruning o f vines a n d other trees the
, ,

proper seasons o f the year for doing the s e thi ngs and ,

the proper methods S upposing a man then h a s to

.
, ,
L 111 . 2 5 0] CI C E RO DE O RATO RE 1 .

inspect his estate or give so m e instruction to h is

,

agent o r orders to h is steward on th e farming o f his

,

land must he learn by heart the works o f Mago t h e

,

Carthaginian ? May we not rather content ourselve s

with such common sense a s we all have o n s uch -

matters ? Why then may we n o t al s o in this matte r

, ,

o f civil law especially considering the wear and t e a rf

,

o f o u r profession and the occupations o f public life b e ,

content w ith s uch equip m ent as will at any rate secure

’

u s from seeming to have merely a foreigner s acquaint

ance with o u r own country ?

And i f after all o u r 2 50
, , ,

s ervices should be required fo r some unusual ly knotty

case it would not be very di fficult I imagine to com
, , ,

m u n i ca t e with o u r friend S c a evola here —though the ,

parties concerned you mu s t remember put us in , ,

possession o f all the legal opinion s and the di fficultie s

o f their ca s e Granted that the necessities of o u r
.

profession compel us to master intricate and often

di fficult problems a question o f evidence perhaps o r
, , ,

o f boun da ries when we are e ngaged in a case o f

disputed ownership or o f mercantile accounts and ,

receipts i s there really a n y danger that if we have t o

, ,

make ourselves acquainted w ith the laws o r pro fe s

s i o n a l opi n ions we shall n o t b e able to do so unless
, ,

we have studied civil law from our youth ?

then a knowledge o f law o f no s ervice to t h e

S, , LIX
orator ? I would not venture t o s a y that any
branch o f knowledge is of no service e s pecially to one ,

whose eloquence ought to be e quipped wi t h a wealth

o f matter " but the accomplishments indispensable for
1 02 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ L1 x . 2 50

the orator are s o many s o great and s o d ifli cu l t that

, , ,

I am no advocate for dissipating his energies o n more

subj ects than are necess ary No o n e would for a
.

moment de n y that in the matter o f oratorical action

and deportment the orator ought to have the gestures
a n d grace of a Roscius Yet no o n e would advise
.

a young aspirant to oratorical fame to devote the

pains that actors do to the study o f action Another .

absolute necessity for an orator is a good voice But . _

n o student o f oratory will on my recommendation give

, ,

the same servile attention to his voice as the tragic

actors of Greec e who not o n ly practise sedenta ry
,

declamation fo r s everal y ear s but as a daily exerci s e

be fore playing in public lie o n a sofa and gradually
,

rai s e the pitch o f their voice and the n a fter the , ,

performance is over s it down and drop their voice

, ,

a gain from the highest to the lowest note by way

o f recruiting it . If we took it into o u r head s t o do

this o u r client s would be condemned before we could
,

recite our P a e a n o r our hymn the prescribed number

, ,

o f times . Well then if we are n o t in a position to

, ,

devote special attention to action which i s o f great ,

a s s istance to an orator and to the voice which is the

, ,

o n e thing above all others that sets o ff and s upports

’

a s peaker s eloquence b u t can only attai n to a succe s s

,

in each commensurate with the leisure that i s give n

u s a m id the ro u n d o f our daily avocations how much ,

les s s hould we be j u s tified in diverting o u r energies

to th e task o f learning civil law ? O f thi s we can
get a general notion without any s pecial study a n d ,

it also di ffers from the other th i ngs I ha v e mentioned

 CICE RO DE O RATO RE 1 .
[ Lx . 255

alter them entirely ? Yo u Crassus must be well aware

, ,

how many di fferent s tyles o f oratory there are — I ,

may perhaps venture to sa y that you h a ve set us the

example in this m atter as you have for some time
,

adopted a much calmer and less vehement style o f

s peaking than
y o u used to employ nor does your pre
sent quiet a n d convers ational though very impressive
, ,

mann er find le s s favour than your former vehemenc e

and energy There have be en many great speakers
.
,

such a s we are told were S cipio and L a elius who

, , ,

delivered all their s peeches in a tone only a littl e

raised above that o f ordinary conversation and never ,

with a l l that power of lung and s train o f voice which \

w a s characteri s tic of S ervius Galba But supposin g .

you co m e s ome day to have neither the power nor

inclination even for as much exertion as this is there ,

any dan ger after all your services as a man and a

,

citizen o f your house being deserted by the rest o f

,

the world if it ceases to be the resort o f the litigious

,

members of society ? F o r my part s o far a m I from ,

sharing in your feelings that I no t o nl y do not think

,

that we must look to the number o f those who w ill

apply to us for legal ad v ic e as the s olace o f o u r
o l d age but I even look forward to the solitude which
,

you dread as a haven o f refuge m y belief being ,

that for o u r declinin g years no relief is s o delight ful

a s rest
. F o r the other aid s to the orator as I ad m it ,

them to b e — history I mean a knowledge o f public

, , ,

law the record s of antiquity a m astery of precedents

, , ,

I shall if I have occa s ion fo r them apply to m y good

, ,

friend Co ngu s w ho has an encyclop aedic knowledge o f

,
 2 59 ] CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I . 1 05

such things But I would not dissuade o u r friends

.

from taking your advice and reading and hearing

all they can and maki n g them s elves fa m iliar with
,

e v ery recogni s ed subj ect o f liberal culture " though ,

to speak the plain truth I do not think they will have

,

s o very m uch time for doi n g s o if that is they mean

, , ,

to carry o u t in practice all your reco m m endations .

Indeed it seemed to m e that the condition s you

i m posed upon their young endeavour s were almo s t
too s evere though no doub t al m ost necessary if they
, ,

are to attain th e goal of their ambition F o r the .

extempore di s s ertations o n s e t subj ects the careful ,

a n d studied essays and the diligent use o f the pen

,

which y o u very truly s aid i s the one artist and teacher

of eloquence all invo l ve much hard work " and the c o m
,
’
parison o f one s o w n e ffort s w ith the writings of others ,

and the extempore criticism o f the work of othe r

authors W hether by way of praise o r censure o f con ,

fi rm a t io n o r refu tation require s no ordinary exertion

,

either o f memory to retain o r o f skill to imitate .

OUR next demand w as literally appalling and I ,

am m uch afraid it m a y act more powerfully a s a

deterrent than a s an incentive You expected each one
.

of us to make him s elf a Ro s cius in his o wn profession ,

and you stated that the approval won by the m erits o f

a Speech was not co m parable with the permanent
disgust created by it s defects wherea s my o wn belief
is that o u r audience s are not nearly as fa s tidious a s
thos e of the actor Thu s we I know are often li s te n ed
.
, ,

to with the utmost attention even when we are hoarse

, ,
1 06 CI CE RO DE O RATO RE I .
[ 1. x1 . 2 59

fo r the interest o f the case is su fficient to hold the

audience whereas £ 5 3 5 if he is a little o u t o f
,
33 ,

voice is hissed For where we look fo r nothing but

,
.

the plea s ure of the ear we take o ffence the moment

,

anything interferes with that pleasure but in a great

speaker there is a variety o f qualities to ho l d o u r atten
tion and if they are not all displayed in the highe st
,

though m ost of them in a high degree o f perfection ,

\
those which are s o displayed cannot fail o f commanding
our admiration In conclusion then to return to t he
.
, ,

po int from which we s tarted let us regard the orator , ,

according to the definition given by Crassus a si bfi m a n ,

m m
but let him limit himself to the ordinary
social and public life o f civilised communities and ,

putting all other s ubj ects o n o n e side however exalted ,

and noble they may be let him devote laborious nights

,
fl

and days al m ost exclusively to t his o ne pu rsu 1 t/ Let

him follow the example of that great man who is u n
hesitatingly acknowledged by all to be the chief o f
orators the Athe n ian Demosthenes whose e n thus ia s m
, ,

and perseverance we are told were s o great that he first

, ,

o f all overcame his n atural impediments by careful and

unremitting diligence and though h e had such a lisp

,

that he could n o t pronounce the first letter of th e very

art w hich he was studying succeeded by practice in ,

winning the rep u tation o f being the most distinct o f

speakers Moreover th ough he su ffered much fro m
.
,

shortness o f breath he e ffected such a n improve m ent

,

by holding in his breath while s peaking that in a Singl e ,

rhetorical period as can be seen in his extant Speeches

, ,
 CI C ERO DE O RATO RE I .
[ m L 2 64

merely to describe the possible attainment s o f the man

who spend s his day s in the courts and never expatiate s ,

b eyond the necessary limits o f the cause he undertake s .

I contemplated a nobler ideal when I gave it a s my ,

opinion that the orator especially in such a s tate as,

ours ought to lack nothing that can adorn his art

,
.

You however a s you have circumscribed the whole

, ,

duty o f the orator w ithin strict and narrow li m its w il l ,

fi n d it all the more ea s y to answer the question s that

have been asked you on the functions o f the orato r and
t h e rules he must observ e But we will leave that I .
,

thin k fo r to —
,
morro w we have talked quite enough for
to day For the pre s ent as S c a evola h a s determ ined to
- .
,

go to his o w n villa h ere he m u s t rest a little till t he

,

heat o f the d a y is overpast " and we too considering ,

the hour may well consider our health

,
To this all .
’

agreed and then S c a evola said

,
I only wish I had n o t
made an appointment with L ] Blins to meet h im at my .

v illa to day I should much like t o hear what Antonius

-

has to s a y " for ( he added with a smile as he rose ) he

did not s o much annoy m e by his strictures o n my
favou rite subj ect as amu s e me by the frank confessio n
,

o f his ign orance o f it

’

Print e d b y T . a nd A C O N S T A B LE, Prin

. t e rs to H e r M a jest y .
a t t he Edinb u rgh U ni ve rs it y Pre ss .

1
( 7A