3.12. Consequently the orator, like the hawker who displays his wares, will set forth before his audience for their inspection, nay, almost for their handling, all his most attractive reflexions, all the brilliance that language and the charm that figures can supply, together with all the magnificence of metaphor and the elaborate art of composition that is at his disposal. For his success concerns himself, and not his cause.
3.12. , quidquid erit sententiis populare, verbis nitidum, figuris iucundum, translationibus magnificum, compositione elaboratum, velut institor quidam eloquentiae intuendum et paene pertractandum dabit. eventus ad ipsum, non ad causam refertur.
3.13. But when it is a question of facts, and he is confronted by the hard realities of battle, his last thought will be for his personal glory. Nay, it is even unseemly to trouble overmuch about words when the greatest interests are at stake. I would not assert that such themes afford no scope for ornament, but such ornament as is employed must be of a more severe, restrained and less obvious character; above all, it must be adapted to the matter in hand.
3.13. ubi res agitur et vera dimicatio est, ultimus sit famae locus. ne decet quidem, ubi maxima rerum momenta versantur, de verbis esse sollicitum. Neque hoc eo pertinet, ut in his nullus sit ornatus, sed uti pressior et severior et minus confessus, praecipue materiae accommodatus.
3.14. For whereas in deliberative oratory the senate demand a certain loftiness and the people a certain impetuosity of eloquence, the public cases of the courts and those involving capital punishment demand a more exact style. On the other hand, in private deliberations and lawsuits about trifling sums of money (and there are not a few of these) it is more appropriate to employ simple and apparently unstudied language. For we should be ashamed to demand the repayment of a loan in rolling periods, or to display poignant emotion in a case concerned with water-droppings, or to work ourselves into a perspiration over the return of a slave to the vendor. But I am wandering from the point.
3.14. et in suadendo sublimius aliquid senatus, concitatius populus, et in iudiciis publicae capitalesque causae poscunt accuratius dicendi genus. privatum consilium causasque paucorum, ut frequenter accidit, calculorum purus sermo et dissimilis curae magis decuerit. non pudeat certam creditam periodis postulare aut circa stillicidia adfici aut in mancipii redhibitione sudare?
3.15. Since rhetorical ornament, like clearness, may reside either in individual words or groups of words, we must consider the requirements of both cases. For although tile canon, that clearness mainly requires propriety of language and ornament the skilful use of metaphor, is perfectly sound, it is desirable that we should realise that without propriety ornament is impossible.
3.15. ad propositum. quoniam orationis tam ornatus quam perspicuitas aut in singulis verbis est aut in pluribus positus, quid separata, quid iuncta exigant, consideremus. enim rectissime traditum est, perspicuitatem propriis, ornatum translatis verbis magis egere, sciamus nihil ornatum esse quod sit improprium.
3.16. But as several words may often have the same meaning (they are called synonyms), some will be more distinguished, sublime, brilliant, attractive or euphonious than others. For as those syllables are the most pleasing to the ear which are composed of the more euphonious letters, thus words composed of such syllables will sound better than others, and the more vowel sounds they contain the more attractive they will be to hear. The same principle governs the linking of word with word; some arrangements will sound better than others.
3.16. cum idem frequentissime plura significent (quod συνωνυμία vocatur), iam sunt aliis alia honestiora, sublimiora, nitidiora, iucundiora, vocaliora. ut syllabae e litteris melius sonantibus clariores sunt, ita verba e syllabis magis vocalia et, quo plus quodque spiritus habet, auditu pulchrius. Et quod facit syllabarum, idem verborum quoque inter se copulatio, ut aliud alii iunctum melius sonet. tamen usus.
3.17. But words require to be used in different ways. For example, horrible things are best described by words that are actually harsh to the ear. But as a general rule it may be laid down that the best words, considered individually, are those which are fullest or most agreeable in sound. Again, elegant words are always to be preferred to those which are coarse, and there is no room for low words in the speech of a cultivated man.
3.17. rebus atrocibus verba etiam ipso auditu aspera magis convenient. universum quidem optima simplicium creduntur, quae aut maxime exclamant aut sono sunt iucundissima. honesta quidem turpibus potiora semper nec sordidis unquam in oratione erudita locus.
3.18. The choice of striking or sublime words will be determined by the matter in hand; for a word that in one context is magnificent may be turgid in another, and words which are all too mean to describe great things may be suitable enough when applied to subjects of less importance. And just as a mean word embedded in a brilliant passage attracts special attention, like a spot on a bright surface, so if our style be of a plain character, sublime and brilliant words will seem incongruous and tasteless excrescences on a flat surface.
3.18. illa atque sublimia plerumque materiae modo discernenda sunt. alibi magnificum, tumidum alibi, et quae humilia circa res magnas, apta circa minores videntur. autem in oratione nitida notabile humilius verbum et velut macula, ita a sermone tenui sublime nitidumque discordat fitque corruptum, quia in plano tumet.
3.19. In some cases instinct, and not reason, must supply the touchstone, as, for example, in the line:A sow was slain to ratify their pacts.Here the poet, by inventing the word porca, succeeded in producing an elegant impression, whereas if lie had used the masculine porcuis, the very reverse would have been the case. In some cases, however, the incongruity is obvious enough. It was only the other day that we laughed with good reason at the poet who wrote:The youngling mice had gnawedWithin its chest the purple-bordered gown.
3.19. non tam ratione quam sensu iudicantur, ut illud,iungebant foedera porca,fecit elegans fictio nominis, quod si fuisset porco, vile erat. quibusdam ratio manifesta est., et merito nuper poetam, qui dixeratin cista mures rosere camilli.At Vergilii miramur illud, exiguus mus.
3.20. On the other hand, we admire Virgil when he says:“Oft hath the tiny mouse,” etc.For here the epithet is appropriate and prevents our expecting too much, while the use of the singular instead of the plural, and the unusual monosyllabic conclusion of the line, both add to the pleasing effect. Horace accordingly imitated Virgil in both these points, when he wrote,The fruit shall be a paltry mouse.
3.20. Nam epitheton proprium effecit, ne plus exspectaremus, et casus singularis magis decuit, et clausula ipsa unius syllabae non usitata addidit gratiam. est itaque utrumque Horatius,ridiculus mus.
3.21. Again, our style need not always dwell on the heights: at times it is desirable that it should sink. For there are occasions when the very meanness of the words employed adds force to what we say. When Cicero, in his denunciation of Piso, says, “When your whole family rolls up in a dray,” do you think that his use of the word dray was accidental, and was not designedly used to increase his audience's contempt for the man he wished to bring to ruin? The same is true when he says elsewhere, “You put down your head and butt him.”
3.21. augenda semper oratio sed summittenda nonnunquam est. rebus aliquando verborum ipsa humilitas adfert., cum dicet in Pisonem Cicero, tibi tota cognatio serraco advehatur, incidisse videtur in sordidum nomen, non eo contemptum hominis, quem destructum volebat, auxisse? alibi, opponis, cum eo coruscans.
3.22. This device may also serve to carry off a jest, as in the passage of Cicero where he talks of the “little sprat of a boy who slept with his elder sister,” or where he speaks of “Flavius, who put out the eyes of crows,” or, again, in the pro Milone, cries, “Hi, there! Rufio!” and talks of “Erucius Antoniaster.” On the other hand, this practice becomes more obtrusive when employed in the schools, like the phrase that was so much praised in my boyhood, “Give your father bread,” or in the same declamation, “You feed even your dog.” But such tricks do not always come off, especially in the schools, and often turn the laugh against the speaker, particularly in the present day, when declamation has become so far removed from reality and labours under such an extravagant fastidiousness in the choice of words that it has excluded a good half of the language from its vocabulary.
3.22. interim gratus fit iocis decor, qualis est ille apud M. Tullium, qui cum maiore sorore cubitabat, et, Flavius, qui cornicum oculos confixit, et pro Milone illud Heus tu Rufio, et Erucius Antoniaster. tamen in declamatoribus est notabilius laudarique me puero solebat, patri panem; et in eodem, canem pascis. quidem praecipue in scholis anceps et frequenter causa risus, nunc utique, cum haec exercitatio procul a veritate seiuncta laboret incredibili verborum fastidio ac sibi magnam partem sermonis absciderit.
3.24. Words are proper, newly-coined or metaphorical. In the case of proper words there is a special dignity conferred by antiquity, since old words, which not everyone would think of using, give our style a venerable and majestic air: this is a form of ornament of which Virgil, with his perfect taste, has made unique use.
3.24. sint autem verba propria, ficta, translata, propriis dignitatem dat antiquitas. et sanctiorem et magis admirabilem faciunt orationem, quibus non quilibet fuerit usurus, eoque ornamento acerrimi iudicii P. Vergilius unice est usus.
3.25. For his employment of words such as olli, quianam, moerus, pone and pellacia gives his work that impressive air of antiquity which is so attractive in pictures, but which no art of man can counterfeit. But we must not overdo it, and such words must not be dragged out from the deepest darkness of the past. Quaeso is old enough: what need for us to say quaiso? Oppido was still used by my older contemporaries, but I fear that no one would tolerate it now. At any rate, antegerio, which means the same, would certainly never be used by anyone who was not possessed with a passion for notoriety.
3.25. enim et quianam et moerus et pone et pellacia aspergunt illam, quae etiam in picturis est gratissima, vetustatis inimitabilem arti auctoritatem. utendum modo, nec ex ultimis teneris repetenda. est vetus quaeso; quid necesse est quaiso dicere? oppido quidem usi sunt paulum tempore nostro superiores, vereor, ut iam nos ferat quisquam; certe antegerio, cuius eadem significatio est, nemo nisi ambitiosus utetur.
3.26. What need have we of acrumnosum? It is surely enough to call a thing horridum. Reor may be tolerated, autumo smacks of tragedy, proles has become a rarity, while prosapia stamps the man who uses it as lacking taste. Need I say more Almost the whole language has changed.
3.26. quid opus est? tanquam parum sit, si dicatur quid horridum. tolerabile, autumo tragicum, prolem dicere inusitatum est, prosapiam insulsum. multa? totus prope mutatus est sermo.
3.27. But there are still some old words that are endeared to us by their antique sheen, while there are others that we cannot avoid using occasionally, such, for example, as nuncupare and fari: there are yet others which it requires some daring to use, but which may still be employed so long as we avoid all appearance of that affectation which Virgil has derided so cleverly:Britain's Thucydides, whose mad Attic brainLoved word-amalgams like Corinthian bronze,First made a horrid blend of words from Gaul,Tau, al, min, sil and God knows how much else,Then mixed them in a potion for his brother!This was a certain Cimber who killed his brother, a fact which Cicero recorded in the words, “Cimber has killed his brother German.”
3.27. tamen adhuc vetera vetustate ipsa gratius nitent, quaedam et necessario interim sumuntur, ut nuncupare et fari; multa alia etiam audentius inseri possunt sed ita demum, si non appareat adfectatio, in quam mirifice Vergilius:Corinthiorum amator iste verborum,Thucydides Britannus, Atticae febris,Gallicum, al, min, et sil ut male elisit;omnia ista verba miscuit fratri.Cimber hic fuit, a quo fratrem necatum hoc Ciceronis dicto notatum est, Cimber occidit.
3.29. The epigram against Sallust is scarcely less well known:Crispus, you, too, Jugurtha's fall who told,And filched such store of words from Cato old.
3.29. minus noto Sallustius epigrammate incessitur:verba antiqui multum furate CatonisCrispe, Iugurthinae conditor historiae.
3.30. It is a tiresome kind of affectation; any one can practise it, and it is made all the worse by the fact that the man who catches the infection will not choose his words to suit his facts, but will drag in irrelevant facts to provide an opportunity for the use of such words. The coining of new words is, as I stated in the first book, more permissible in Greek, for the Greeks did not hesitate to coin nouns to represent certain sounds and emotions, and in truth they were taking no greater liberty than was taken by the first men when they gave names to things.
3.30. odiosa cura; nam et cuilibet facilis et hoc pessima, quod eius studiosus non verba rebus aptabit, sed res extrinsecus arcesset, quibus haec verba conveniant., ut primo libro dixi, Graecis magis concessum est, qui sonis etiam quibusdam et adfectibus non dubitaverunt nomina aptare, non alia libertate quam qua illi primi homines rebus appellationes dederunt.
3.31. Our own writers have ventured on a few attempts at composition and derivation, but have not met with much success. I remember in my young days there was a dispute between Pomponius and Seneca which even found its way into the prefaces of their works, as to whether gradus eliminate was a phrase which ought to have been allowed in tragedy. But the ancients had no hesitation about using even expectorate and, after all, it presents exactly the same formation as exanimat.
3.31. autem in iungendo aut in derivando paulum aliquid ausi vix in hoc satis recipiuntur. memini iuvenis admodum inter Pomponium ac Senecam etiam praefationibus esse tractatum, an gradus eliminat in tragoedia dici oportuisset. veteres ne expectorat quidem timuerunt; et sane eiusdem notae est exanimat.
3.32. Of the coining of words by expansion and inflexion we have examples, such as the Ciceronian beatitas and beatitudo, forms which he feels to be somewhat harsh, though he thinks they may be softened by use. Derivatives may even be fashioned from proper names, quite apart from ordinary words, witness Sullaturit in Cicero and Fimbriatus and Figulatus in Asinius.
3.32. tractu et declinatione talia sunt, qualia apud Ciceronem beatitas et beatitudo; quae dura quidem sentit esse, verumtamen usu putat posse molliri. a verbis modo, sed a nominibus quoque derivata sunt quaedam, ut a Cicerone ab Asinio et.
3.33. Many new words have been coined in imitation of the Greeks, more especially by Verginius Flavus, some of which, such as queens and essentia, are regarded as unduly harsh. But I see no reason why we should treat them with such contempt, except, perhaps, that we are highly self-critical and suffer in consequence from the poverty of our language. Some new formations do, however, succeed in establishing themselves.
3.33. ex Graeco format nova ac plurima a Verginio Flavo, quorum dura quaedam admodum videntur, ut queens et essentia; quae cur tantopere aspernemur nihil video, nisi quod iniqui iudices adversus nos sumus ideoque paupertate sermonis laboramus. tamen perdurant.
3.34. For words which now are old, once were new, and there are some words in use which are of quite recent origin, such as reatus, invented by Messala, and munerarius, invented by Augustus. So, too, my own teachers still persisted in banning the use of words, such as piratica, musica and fabrica, while Cicero regards favor and urbanus as but newly introduced into the language. For in a letter to Brutus he says, eum amorer et eum, ut hoc verbo utar, favored in consilium advocabo, while to Appius Pulcher he writes, le hominem non solum sapientem, verum etiam, ut nunc loquimur, urbanum.
3.34. et quae vetera nunc sunt, fuerunt olim nova, et quaedam sunt in usu perquam recentia, ut Messala primus reatum, munerarium Augustus primus dixerunt. quoque ut musicam et fabricam dici adhuc vetabant mei praeceptores. et urbanum Cicero nova credit. et in epistola ad Brutum, inquit, amorem et eum, ut hoc verbo utar, fauorem in consilium advocabo.
3.35. He also thinks that Terence was the first to use the word obsequium, while Caecilius asserts that Sisenna was the first to use the phrase albente caelo. Hortensius seems to have been the first to use cervix in the singular, since the ancients confined themselves to the plural. We must not then be cowards, for I cannot agree with Celsus when he forbids orators to coin new words. For some words, as Cicero says, are native, that is to say, are used in their original meaning, while others are derivative, that is to say, formed from the native. Granted then that we are not justified in coining entirely new words having no resemblance to the words invented by primitive man, I must still ask at what date we were first forbidden to form derivatives and to modify and compound words, processes which were undoubtedly permitted to later generations of mankind. If, however, one of our inventions seems a little risky, we must take certain measures in advance to save it from censure, prefacing it by phrases such as “so to speak,” “if I may say so,” “in a certain sense,” or “if you will allow me to make use of such a word.”
3.35. ad Appium Pulchrum,, hominem non solum sapientem verum etiam, ut nunc loquimur, urbanum. putat a Terentio primum dictum esse obsequium, Caecilius a Sisenna albente caelo. videtur Hortensius primus dixisse, nam veteres pluraliter appellabant. itaque; neque enim accedo Celso, qui ab oratore verba fingi vetat., cum sint eorum alia (ut dicit Cicero) nativa, id est, quae significata sunt primo sensu, alia reperta, quae ex his facta sunt, ut iam nobis ponere alia, quam quae illi rudes homines primique fecerunt, fas non sit, at derivare, flectere, coniungere, quod natis postea concessum est,
3.37. The same practice may be followed in the case of bold metaphors, and it is not too much to say that almost anything can be said with safety provided we show by the very fact of our anxiety that the word or phrase in question is not due to an error of judgment. The Greeks have a neat saying on this subject, advising us to be the first to blame our own hyperbole.
3.37. quando desiit licere?, si quid periculosius finxisse videbimur, quibusdam remediis praemuniendum O. est: ita dicam, Si licet dicere, Quodam modo, Permittite mihi sic uti. idem etiam in iis, quae licentius translata erunt, proderit, nihilque non tuto dici potest, in quo non falli iudicium nostrum sollicitudine ipsa manifestum erit. de re Graecum illud elegantissimum est, quo praecipitur προεπιπλήσσειν τῇ ὑπερβολῇ.
3.38. The metaphorical use of words cannot be recommended except in connected discourse. Enough has now been said on the subject of single words, which, as I have pointed out elsewhere, have no intrinsic value of their own. On the other hand, there is no word which is intrinsically ugly unless it be beneath the dignity of the subject on which we have to speak, excepting always such words as are nakedly obscene.
3.38. probari nisi in contextu sermonis non possunt. de singulis verbis satis dictum, quae, ut alio loco ostendi, per se nullam virtutem habent. ne inornata sunt quidem, nisi cum sunt infra rei, de qua loquendum est, dignitatem, excepto si obscena nudis nominibus enuntientur.
3.39. I would commend this remark to those who do not think it necessary to avoid obscenity on the ground that no word is indecent in itself and that, if a thing is revolting, its unpleasantness will be realised clearly enough by whatever name it is called. Accordingly, I shall content myself with following the good old rules of Roman modesty and, as I have already replied to such persons, shall vindicate the cause of decency by saying no more on this unpleasant subject.
3.39. viderint, qui non putant esse vitanda, quia nec sit vox ulla natura turpis et, si qua est rei deformitas, alia quoque appellatione quacunque ad intellectum eundem nihilominus perveniat. Romani pudoris more contentus, ut iam respondi talibus, verecundiam silentio vindicabo.
3.40. Let us now pass to consider connected discourse. Its adornment may be effected, primarily, in two ways; that is to say, we must consider first our ideal of style, and secondly how we shall express this ideal in actual words. The first essential is to realise clearly what we wish to enhance or attenuate, to express with vigour or calm, in luxuriant or austere language, at length or with conciseness, with gentleness or asperity, magnificence or subtlety, gravity or wit.
3.40. hinc igitur ad rationem sermonis coniuncti transeamus. ornatus in haec duo prima dividitur, quam concipiamus elocutionem, quo modo efferamus. primum est, ut liqueat, augere quid velimus an minuere, concitate dicere an moderate, laete an severe, abundanter an presse, aspere an leniter, magnifice an subtiliter, graviter an urbane., quo translationum genere, quibus figuris, qualibus sententiis, quo modo, qua postremo collocatione id, quod intendimus, efficere possimus.
3.41. The next essential is to decide by what kind of metaphor, figures, reflexions, methods and arrangement we may best produce the effect which we desire. But, before I discuss ornament, I must first touch upon its opposite, since the first of all virtues is the avoidance of faults.
3.41. dicturus, quibus ornetur oratio, prius ea, quae sunt huic contraria laudi, attingam; nam prima virtus est vitio carere.
3.42. Therefore we must not expect any speech to be ornate that is not, in the first place, acceptable. An acceptable style is defined by Cicero as one which is not over-elegant: not that our style does not require elegance and polish, which are essential parts of ornament, but that excess is always a vice.
3.42. ante omnia ne speremus ornatam orationem fore, quae probabilis non erit. Probabile autem Cicero id genus dicit, quod non nimis est comptum. Non quia comi expolirique non debeat (nam et haec ornatus pars est) sed quia vitium est ubique quod nimium est.
3.43. He desires, therefore, that our words should have a certain weight about them, and that our thoughts should be of a serious cast or, at any rate, adapted to the opinions and character of mankind. These points once secured, we may proceed to employ those expressions which he regards as conferring distinction on style, that is to say, specially selected words and phrases, metaphor, hyperbole, appropriate epithets, repetitions, synonyms and all such language as may suit our case and provide an adequate representation of the facts.
3.43. vult esse auctoritatem in verbis, sententias vel graves vel aptas opinionibus hominum ac moribus. enim salvis, licet assumere ea quibus illustrem fieri orationem putat, delecta, translata, superlata, ad nomen adiuncta, duplicata et idem significantia atque ab ipsa actione atque ab imitatione rerum non abhorrentia.
3.44. But since my first task is to point out the faults to be avoided, I will begin by calling attention to the fault known as κακέμφατον, a term applied to the employment of language to which perverted usage has given an obscene meaning: take, for example, phrases such as ductare exercitus and patrare bellum, which were employed by Sallust in their old and irreproachable sense, but, I regret to say, cause amusement in certain quarters to-day. This, however, is not, in my opinion, the fault of the writer, but of his readers; still it is one to be avoided, for we have perverted the purity of language by our own corruption, and there is no course left to us but to give ground before the victorious advance of vice. The same term is also applied in the cases where an unfortunate collocation of words produces an obscene suggestion. For example, in the phrase cum hominibus notis loqui, unless hominibus is placed between cum and notis, we shall commit ourselves to a phrase which will require some apology, since the final letter of the first syllable, which cannot be pronounced without closing the lips, will force us either to pause in a most unbecoming manner, or by assimilation to the n which follows will produce a most objectionable suggestion.
3.44. quoniam vitia prius demonstrare aggressi sumus, ab hoc initium sit, quod κακέμφατον vocatur, sive mala consuetudine in obscenum intellectum sermo detortus est (ut ductare exercitus et patrare bella, apud Sallustium dicta sancte et antique ridentibus, si dis placet; quam culpam non scribentium quidem iudico sed legentium, tamen vitandam, quatenus verba honesta moribus perdidimus, et vincentibus iam vitiis cedendum est) sive iunctura deformiter sonat, ut, si cum hominibus notis loqui nos dicimus, nisi hoc ipsum hominibus medium sit, in praefanda videmur incidere, quia ultima prioris syllabae littera, quae exprimi nisi labris coeuntibus non potest, aut intersistere nos indecentissime cogit aut continuata cum insequente in naturam eius corrumpitur.
3.46. I might quote other collocations of words which are liable to the same objection, but to discuss them in detail would be to fall into that very fault which I have just said should be avoided. A similar offence against modesty may be caused by the division of words, as, for example, by the use of the nominative of intercapedinis.
3.46. coniunctiones aliquid simile faciunt, quas persequi libenter est in eo vitio, quod vitandum dicimus, commorantis. divisio quoque adfert eandem iniuriam pudori, ut si intercapedinis nominativo casu quis utatur.
3.47. And it is not merely in writing that this may occur, but you will find, unless you exercise the greatest care, that there are a number of persons who take pleasure in putting an indecent interpretation on words, thinking, as Ovid says:that whatsoe'er is hid is best of all.Nay, an obscene meaning may be extracted even from words which are as far removed from indecency as possible. Celsus, for example, detects an instance of κακέμφατον in the Virgilian phrase:incipiunt agitata tumescere;but if this point of view be accepted, it will be risky to say anything at all.
3.47. scripto modo id accidit, sed etiam sensu plerique obscene intelligere, nisi caveris, cupiunt (ut apud Ovidium latent meliora putat ) et ex verbis, quae longissime ab obscenitate absunt, occasionem turpitudinis rapere. Celsus κακέμφατον apud Vergilium putat:agitata tumescere.Quod si recipias, nihil loqui tutum est.
3.48. Next to indecency of expression comes meanness, styled ταπείνωσις, when the grandeur or dignity of anything is diminished by the words used, as in the line:“There is a rocky wart upon the mountain's brow.”The opposite fault, which is no less serious, consists in calling small things by extravagant names, though such a practice is permissible when deliberately designed to raise a laugh. Consequently we must not call a parricide a scamp, nor a man who keeps a harlot a villain, since the first epithet is too weak and the second too strong.
3.48. proximum est humilitatis vitium, ταπείνωσιν vocant, qua rei magnitudo vel dignitas minuitur: ut est verruca in summo montis vertice. natura contrarium, sed errore par est, parvis dare excedentia modum nomina, nisi cum ex industria risus inde captatur. nec parricidam nequam dixeris hominem nec deditum forte meretrici nefarium; quia alterum parum, alterum nimium est. quaedam hebes, sordida, ieiuna, tristis, ingrata, vilis oratio est;
3.49. This fault will result in making our language dull, or coarse, jejune, heavy, unpleasing or slovenly, all of which faults are best realised by reference to the virtues which are their opposites, that is, point, polish, richness, liveliness, charm, and finish.
3.49. quae vitia facillime fient manifesta contrariis virtutibus. primum acuto, secundum nitido, tertium copioso, deinceps hilari, iucundo, accurato diversum est.
3.50. We must also avoid μείωσις a term applied to meagreness and inadequacy of expression, although it is a fault which characterises an obscure style rather than one which lacks ornament. But meiosis may be deliberately employed, and is then called a figure, as also is tautology, which means the repetition of a word or phrase. The latter, though not avoided with special care even by the best authors, may sometimes be regarded as a fault: it is, in fact, a blemish into which Cicero not infrequently falls through indifference to such minor details: take, for example, the following passage, “Judges, this judgment was not merely unlike a judgment.” It is sometimes given another name, ἐπανάληψις, under which appellation it is ranked among figures, of which I shall give examples when I come to the discussion of stylistic virtues.
3.50. debet et μείωσις, cum sermoni deest aliquid, quo minus plenus sit; quanquam id obscurae potius quam inornatae orationis est vitium. hoc quoque, cum a prudentibus fit, schema dici solet, sicut ταυτολογία id est eiusdem verbi aut sermonis iteratio. enim, quanquam non magnopere a summis auctoribus vitata, interim vitium videri potest, in quod saepe incidit etiam Cicero securus tam parvae observationis, sicut hoc loco, solum igitur illud iudicium iudicii simile, iudices, non fuit. mutato nomine ἐπανάλημψις dicitur, atque est et ipsum inter schemata; quorum exempla illo loco quaerenda, quo virtutes erunt.
3.52. A worse fault is ὁμοείδεια, or sameness, a term applied to a style which has no variety to relieve its tedium, and which presents a uniform monotony of hue. This is one of the surest signs of lack of art, and produces a uniquely unpleasing effect, not merely on the mind, but on the ear, on account of its sameness of thought, the uniformity of its figures, and the monotony of its structure.
3.52. hac ὁμοείδεια, quae nulla varietatis gratia levat taedium atque est tota coloris unius, qua maxime deprehenditur carens arte oratio; eaque et in sententiis et in figuris et in compositione longe non animis solum sed etiam auribus est ingratissima. etiam μακρολογία, id est longior quam oportet sermo: ut apud T.
3.53. We must also avoid macrology, that is, the employment of more words than are necessary, as, for instance, in the sentence of Livy, “The ambassadors, having failed to obtain peace, went back home, whence they had come.” On the other hand, periphrasis, which is akin to this blemish, is regarded as a virtue. Another fault is pleonasm, when we overload our style with a superfluity of words, as in the phrase, “I saw it with my eyes,” where “I saw it” would have been sufficient.
3.53. Livium, non impetrata pace retro domum, unde venerant, abierunt. huic vicina periphrasis virtus habetur. et πλεονασμὸς vitium, cum supervacuis verbis oratio oneratur: oculis meis vidi; sat est enim vidi.
3.54. Cicero passed a witty comment on a fault of this kind in a declamation of Hirtius when he said that a child had been carried for ten months in his mother's womb. “Oh,” he said, “I suppose other women carry them in their bags.” Sometimes, however, the form of pleonasm, of which I have just given an example, may have a pleasing effect when employed for the sake of emphasis, as in the Virgilian phrase:With mine own ears his voice I heard.But whenever the addition is not deliberate, but merely tame and redundant, it must be regarded as a fault.
3.54. hoc etiam urbane in Hirtio Cicero, cui sapasim cum declamans filium a matre decem mensibus in utero latum esse dixisset,? aliae, inquit, in perula solent ferre? tamen illud genus, cuius exemplum priore loco posui, adfirmationis gratia adhibetur:his auribus hausi.
3.55. There is also a fault entitled περιεργία, which I may perhaps translate by superfluous elaboration, which differs from its corresponding virtue much as fussiness differs from industry, and superstition from religion. Finally, every word which neither helps the sense nor the style may be regarded as faulty.
3.55. vitium erit, quotiens otiosum fuerit et supererit, non cum adiicietur. etiam, quae περιεργία vocatur, supervacua, ut sic dixerim, operositas, ut a diligenti curiosus et a religion superstitio distat., ut semel finiam, verbum omne, quod neque intellectum adiuvat neque ornatum, vitiosum dici potest.
3.56. Cacozelia, or perverse affectation, is a fault in every kind of style: for it includes all that is turgid, trivial, luscious, redundant, far-fetched or extravagant, while the same name is also applied to virtues carried to excess, when the mind loses its critical sense and is misled by the false appearance of beauty, the worst of all offences against style, since other faults are due to carelessness, but this is deliberate.
3.56. κακόζηλον id est mala adfectatio, per omne dicendi genus peccat. et tumida et pusilla et praedulcia et abundantia et arcessita et exultantia sub idem nomen cadunt. κακόζηλον vocatur, quidquid est ultra virtutem, quotiens ingenium iudicio caret et specie boni fallitur, omnium in eloquentia vitiorum pessimum. cetera parum vitantur, hoc petitur.
3.57. This form of affectation, however, affects style alone. For the employment of arguments which might equally well be advanced by the other side, or are foolish, inconsistent or superfluous, are all faults of matter, whereas corruption of style is revealed in the employment of improper or redundant words, in obscurity of meaning, effeminacy of rhythm, or in the childish search for similar or ambiguous expressions.
3.57. autem totum in elocutione. rerum vitia sunt stultum, commune, contrarium, supervacuum; corrupta oratio in verbis maxime impropriis, redundantibus, comprehensione obscura compositione fracta, vocum similium aut ambiguarum puerili captatione consistit.
3.58. Further, it always involves insincerity, even though all insincerity does not imply affectation. For it consists in saying something in an unnatural or unbecoming or superfluous manner. Style may, however, be corrupted in precisely the same number of ways that it may be adorned. But I have discussed this subject at greater length in another work, and have frequently called attention to it in this, while I shall have occasion to mention it continually in the remaining books. For in dealing with ornament, I shall occasionally speak of faults which have to be avoided, but which are hard to distinguish from virtues.
3.58. autem omne κακόζηλον utique falsum, etiamsi non omne falsum κακόζηλον est enim quod dicitur aliter, quam se natura habet et quam oportet et quam sat est. autem generibus corrumpitur oratio quot ornatur. de hac parte et in alio nobis opere plenius dictum est et in hoc saepe tractatur et adhuc spargetur omnibus locis. enim de ornatu subinde, quae sint vitanda similia virtutibus vitia, dicemus.
3.59. To these blemishes may be added faulty arrangement or ἀνοικονόμητον, the faulty use of figures or ἀσχημάτιστον, and the faulty collocation of words or κακοσύνθετον. But, as I have already discussed arrangement, I will confine myself to the consideration of figures and structure. There is also a fault known as Σαρδισμὸς, which consists in the indiscriminate use of several different dialects, as, for instance, would result from mixing Doric, Ionic, and even Aeolic words with Attic.
3.59. inornata et haec: quod male dispositum est, id ἀνοικονόμητον, quod male figuratum, id ἀσχημάτιστον quod male collocatum, id κακοσύνθετον vocant. de dispositione diximus; de figuris et compositione dicemus. Σαρδισμὸς quoque appellatur quaedam mixta ex varia ratione linguarum oratio, ut si Atticis Dorica, Ionica, Aeolica etiam dicta confundas. Cui simile vitium est apud nos, si quis sublimia humilibus, vetera novis, poetica vulgaribus misceat.
3.60. A similar fault is found amongst ourselves, consisting in the indiscriminate mixture of grand words with mean, old with new, and poetic with colloquial, the result being a monstrous medley like that described by Horace in the opening portion of his Ars poetica,If a painter chooseTo place a man's head on a horse's neck,and, be proceeds to say, should add other limbs from different animals.
3.60. enim tale monstrum, quale Horatius in prima parte libri de arte poetica fingit:capiti cervicem pictor equinamiungere si velit,et cetera ex diversis naturis subiiciat.
3.61. The ornate is something that goes beyond what is merely lucid and acceptable. It consists firstly in forming a clear conception of what we wish to say, secondly in giving this adequate expression, and thirdly in lending it additional brilliance, a process which may correctly be termed embellishment. Consequently we must place among ornaments that ἐνάργεια which I mentioned in the rules which I laid down for the statement of facts, because vivid illustration, or, as some prefer to call it, representation, is something more than mere clearness, since the latter merely lets itself be seen, whereas the former thrusts itself upon our notice.
3.61. est, quod perspicuo ac probabili plus est. primi sunt gradus in eo quod velis concipiendo et exprimendo, tertius, qui haec nitidiora faciat, quod proprie dixeris cultum. ἐνάργειαν cuius in praeceptis narrationis feci mentionem, quia plus est evidentia vel, ut alii dicunt, repraesentatio quam perspicuitas, et illud patet, hoc se quodam modo ostendit, inter ornamenta ponamus.
3.62. It is a great gift to be able to set forth the facts on which we are speaking clearly and vividly. For oratory fails of its full effect, and does not assert itself as it should, if its appeal is merely to the hearing, and if the judge merely feels that the facts on which he has to give his decision are being narrated to him, and not displayed in their living truth to the eyes of the mind.
3.62. virtus est res de quibus loquimur dare atque, ut cerni videantur, enuntiare. enim satis efficit neque, ut debet, plene dominatur oratio, si usque ad aures valet atque ea sibi iudex, de quibus cognoscit, narrari credit, non exprimi et oculis mentis ostendi.
3.63. But since different views have been held with regard to this art of representation, I shall not attempt to divide it into all its different departments, whose number is ostentatiously multiplied by certain writers, but shall content myself with touching on those which appear to me to be absolutely necessary. There is, then, to begin with, one form of vividness which consists in giving an actual word-picture of a scene, as in the passage beginning,Forthwith each hero tiptoe stood erect.Other details follow which give us such a picture of the two boxers confronting each other for the fight, that it could not have been clearer had we been actual spectators.
3.63. quoniam pluribus modis accipi solet non equidem in omnes eam particulas secabo, quarum ambitiose a quibusdam numerus augetur, sed maxime necessarias attingam. igitur unum genus, quo tota rerum imago quodammodo verbis depingitur:in digitos extemplo arrectus uterqueet cetera, quae nobis illam pugilum congredientium faciem ita ostendunt, ut non clarior futura fuerit spectantibus.
3.64. Cicero is supreme in this department, as in others. Is there anybody so incapable of forming a mental picture of a scene that, when he reads the following passage from the Verrines, he does not seem not merely to see the actors in the scene, the place itself and their very dress, but even to imagine to himself other details that the orator does not describe? “There on the shore stood the praetor, the representative of the Roman people, with slippered feet, robed in a purple cloak, a tunic streaming to his heels, and leaning on the arm of this worthless woman.”
3.64. in hoc genere sicut in ceteris eminet Cicero. quisquam tam procul a concipiendis imaginibus rerum abest, ut non, cum illa in Verrem legit, soleatus praetor populi Romani cum pallio purpureo tunicaque talari muliercula nixus in litore, non solum ipsos intueri videatur et locum et habitum, sed quaedam etiam ex iis, quae dicta non sunt, sibi ipse adstruat?
3.65. For my own part, I seem to see before my eyes his face, his eyes, the unseemly blandishments of himself and his paramour, the silent loathing and frightened shame of those who viewed the scene.
3.65. certe mihi cernere videor et vultum et oculos et deformes utriusque blanditias et eorum qui aderant tacitam aversationem ac timidam verecundiam.
3.66. At times, again, the picture which we endeavour to present is fuller in detail, as, for example, in the following description of a luxurious banquet, which is also from Cicero, since he by himself is capable of supplying admirable examples of every kind of oratorical ornament: “I seemed to see some entering, some leaving the room, some reeling under the influence of the wine, others yawning with yesterday's potations. The floor was foul with wine-smears, covered with wreaths half-withered and littered with fishbones.”
3.66. ex pluribus efficitur illa quam conamur exprimere facies, ut est apud eundem (namque ad omnium ornandi virtutum exemplum vel unus sufficit) in descriptione convivii luxuriosi: videre alios intrantes, alios autem exeuntes, quosdam ex vino vacillantes, quosdam hesterna ex potatione oscitantes. erat immunda, lutulenta vino, coronis languidulis et spinis cooperta piscium.
3.67. What more would any man have seen who had actually entered the room? So, too, we may move our hearers to tears by the picture of a captured town. For the mere statement that the town was stormed, while no doubt it embraces all that such a calamity involves, has all the curtness of a dispatch, and fails to penetrate to the emotions of the hearer.
3.67. plus videret qui intrasset? et urbium captarum crescit miseratio. dubio enim, qui dicit expugnatam esse civitatem, complectitur omnia quaecunque talis fortuna recipit, sed in adfectus minus penetrat brevis hic velut nuntius.
3.68. But if we expand all that the one word “stormed” includes, we shall see the flames pouring from house and temple, and hear the crash of falling roofs and one confused clamour blent of many cries: we shall behold some in doubt whither to fly, others clinging to their nearest and dearest in one last embrace, while the wailing of women and children and the laments of old men that the cruelty of fate should have spared them to see that day will strike upon our ears.
3.68. si aperias haec, quae verbo uno inclusa erant, apparebunt effusae per domus ac templa flammae et ruentium tectorum fragor et ex diversis clamoribus unus quidam sonus, aliorum fuga incerta, alii extremo complexu suorum cohaerentes et infantium feminarumque ploratus et male usque in illum diem servati fato senes;
3.69. Then will come the pillage of treasure sacred and profane, the hurrying to and fro of the plunderers as they carry off their booty or return to seek for more, the prisoners driven each before his own inhuman captor, the mother struggling to keep her child, and the victors fighting over the richest of the spoil. For though, as I have already said, the sack of a city includes all these things, it is less effective to tell the whole news at once than to recount it detail by detail.
3.69. tum illa profanorum sacrorumque direptio, efferentium praedas repetentiumque discursus et acti ante suum quisque praedonem catenati et conata retinere infantem suum mater et, sicubi maius lucrum est, pugna inter victores. enim haec omnia, ut dixi, complectatur eversio, minus est tamen totum dicere quam omnia.
3.70. And we shall secure the vividness we seek, if only our descriptions give the impression of truth, nay, we may even add fictitious incidents of the type which commonly occur. The same vivid impression may be produced also by the mention of the accidents of each situation:Chill shudderings shake my limbsAnd all my blood is curdled cold with fear;orAnd trembling mothers claspedTheir children to their breast.Though the attainment of such effects is, in my opinion, the highest of all oratorical gifts, it is far from difficult of attainment.
3.70. autem, ut manifesta sint, si fuerint veri similia; et licebit etiam falso adfingere quidquid fieri solet. eadem claritas etiam ex accidentibus:frigidus horrorquatit, gelidusque coit formidine sanguis.trepidae mares pressere ad pectora natos.Atque huius summae, iudicio quidem meo, virtutis facillima est via.
3.71. Fix your eyes on nature and follow her. All eloquence is concerned with the activities of life, while every man applies to himself what he hears from others, and the mind is always readiest to accept what it recognises to be true to nature.
3.71. intueamur, hanc sequamur. eloquentia circa opera vitae est, ad se refert quisque quae audit, et id facillime accipiunt animi, quod agnoscunt.
3.72. The invention of similes has also provided an admirable means of illuminating our descriptions. Some of these are designed for insertion among our arguments to help our proof, while others are devised to make our pictures yet more vivid; it is with this latter class of simile that I am now specially concerned. The following are good examples:—Thence like fierce wolves beneath the cloud of night,orLike the bird that fliesAround the shore and the fish-haunted reef,Skimming the deep.
3.72. vero ad inferendam rebus lucem repertae sunt similitudines; quarum aliae sunt, quae probationis gratia inter argumenta ponuntur, aliae ad exprimendam rerum imaginem compositae, quod est huius loci proprium:lupi ceuatra in nebula.similis, quae circum litora, circumscopulos humilis volat aequora iuxta.Quo in genere id est praecipue custodiendum, ne id, quod similitudinis gratia adscivimus, aut obscurum sit aut ignotum.
3.73. In employing this form of ornament we must be especially careful that the subject chosen for our simile is neither obscure nor unfamiliar: for anything that is selected for the purpose of illuminating something else must itself be clearer than that which it is designed to illustrate. Therefore while we may permit poets to employ such similes as:—As when Apollo wintry Lycia leaves,And Xanthus' streams, or visits Delos' isle,His mother's home,it would be quite unsuitable for an orator to illustrate something quite plain by such obscure allusions.
3.73. enim, quod illustrandae alterius rei gratia assumitur, ipsum esse clarius eo quod illuminat. poetis quidem permittamus sane eiusmodi exempla:ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluentaaut Delum maternam invisit Apollo.Non idem oratorem decebit, ut occultis aperta demonstret.
3.74. But even the type of simile which I discussed in connexion with arguments is an ornament to oratory, and serves to make it sublime, rich, attractive or striking, as the case may be. For the more remote the simile is from the subject to which it is applied, the greater will be the impression of novelty and the unexpected which it produces.
3.74. illud quoque, de quo in argumentis diximus, similitudinis genus ornat orationem facitque sublimem, floridam, iucundam, mirabilem. quo quaeque longius petita est, hoc plus adfert novitatis atque inexspectata magis est.
3.75. The following type may be regarded as commonplace and useful only as helping to create an impression of sincerity: “As the soil is improved and rendered more fertile by culture, so is the mind by education,” or “As physicians amputate mortified limbs, so must we lop away foul and dangerous criminals, even though they be bound to us by ties of blood.” Far finer is the following from Cicero's defence of Archias: “Rock and deserts reply to the voice of man, savage beasts are oft-times tamed by the power of music and stay their onslaught,” and the rest.
3.75. vulgaria videntur et utilia tantum ad conciliandam fidem: terram cultu, sic animum disciplinis meliorem uberioremque fieri, et Vt medici abalienata morbis membra praecidant, ita turpes ac perniciosos, etiamsi nobis sanguine cohaereant, amputandos. sublimius illud pro Archia; atque solitudines voci respondent, bestiae saepe immanes cantu flectuntur atque consistunt et cetera.
3.76. This type of simile has, however, sadly degenerated in the hands of some of our declaimers owing to the license of the schools. For they adopt false comparisons, and even then do not apply them as they should to the subjects to which they wish them to provide a parallel. Both these faults are exemplified in two similes which were on the lips of everyone when I was a young man, “Even the sources of mighty rivers are navigable,” and “The generous tree bears fruit while it is yet a sapling.”
3.76. quidem genus a quibusdam declamatoria maxime licentia corruptum est. et falsis utuntur nec illa iis, quibus similia videri volunt, applicant. utrumque in his est, quae me iuvene ubique cantari solebant, fluminum navigabiles fontes sunt, et arboris statim planta cum fructu est.
3.77. In every comparison the simile either precedes or follows the subject which it illustrates. But sometimes it is free and detached, and sometimes, a far better arrangement, is attached to the subject which it illustrates, the correspondence between the resemblances being exact, an effect produced by reciprocal representation, which the Greeks style ἀνταπόδοσις. For example, the simile already quoted, Thence like fierce wolves beneath the cloud of night,precedes its subject.
3.77. omni autem parabole aut praecedit similitudo, res sequitur, aut praecedit res et similitudo sequitur. interim libera et separata est; interim, quod longe optimum est, cum re, cuius est imago, connectitur, collatione invicem respondente, quod facit redditio contraria, quae ἀνταπόδοσις dicitur.
3.78. On the other hand, an example of the simile following its subject is to be found in the first Georgic, where, after the long lamentation over the wars civil and foreign that have afflicted Rome, there come the lines:As when, their barriers down, the chariots speedLap after lap; in vain the charioteerTightens the curb: his steeds ungovernableSweep him away nor heeds the car the rein.There is, however, no antapodosis in these similes.
3.78. similitudo illa, cuius modo feci mentionem:lupi ceuatra in nebula.Sequitur in primo Georgicon post longam de bellis civilibus atque externis conquestionem:, cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae,in spatia; et frustra retinacula tendensequis auriga, neque audit currus habenas.Sed hae sunt sine antapodosi.
3.79. Such reciprocal representation places both subjects of comparison before our very eyes, displaying them side by side. Virgil provides many remarkable examples, but it will be better for me to quote from oratory. In the pro Murena Cicero says, “As among Greek musicians (for so they say), only those turn flute-players that cannot play the lyre, so here at Rome we see that those who cannot acquire the art of oratory betake themselves to the study of the law.”
3.79. autem illa rem utramque, quam comparat, velut subiicit oculis et pariter ostendit. praeclara apud Vergilium multa reperio exempla, sed oratoriis potius utendum est. Cicero pro Murena, aiunt in Graecis artificibus eos auloedos esse, qui citharoedi fieri non potuerint, sic apud nos videmus, qui oratores evadere non potuerint, eos ad iuris studium devenire.
3.80. There is also another simile in the same speech, which is almost worthy of a poet, but in virtue of its reciprocal representation is better adapted for ornament: “For as tempests are generally preceded by some premonitory signs in the heaven, but often, on the other hand, break forth for some obscure reason without any warning whatsoever, so in the tempests which sway the people at our Roman elections we are not seldom in a position to discern their origin, and yet, on the other hand, it is frequently so obscure that the storm seems to have burst without any apparent cause.”
3.80. pro eodem iam paene poetico spiritu, sed tamen cum sua redditione, quod est ad ornatum accommodatius: ut tempestates saepe certo aliquo caeli signo commoventur, saepe improvisae nulla ex certa ratione obscura aliqua ex causa concitantur, sic in hac comitiorum tempestate populari saepe intelligas, quo signo commota sit, saepe ita obscura est, ut sine causa excitata videatur. et illae breves, per siluas ritu ferarum, et illud Ciceronis in Clodium, ex iudicio velut ex incendio nudus effugit.
3.81. We find also shorter similes, such as “Wandering like wild beasts through the woods,” or the passage from Cicero's speech against Clodius: “He fled from the court like a man escaping naked from a fire.” Similar examples from everyday speech will occur to everyone. Such comparisons reveal the gift not merely of placing a thing vividly before the eye, but of doing so with rapidity and without waste of detail.
3.81. similia possunt cuicunque etiam ex cotidiano sermone succurrere. subiacet virtus non solum aperte ponendi rem ante oculos, sed circumcise atque velociter.
3.82. The praise awarded to perfect brevity is well-deserved; but, on the other hand, brachylogy, which I shall deal with when I come to speak of figures, that is to say, the brevity that says nothing more than what is absolutely necessary, is less effective, although it may be employed with admirable results when it expresses a great deal in a very few words, as in Sallust's description of Mithridates as “huge of stature, and armed to match.” But unsuccessful attempts to imitate this form of terseness result merely in obscurity.
3.82. merito laudatur brevitas integra; sed ea minus praestat, quotiens nihil dicit, nisi quod necesse est ( βραχυλογίαν vocant, quae reddetur inter schemata), est vero pulcherrima, cum plura paucis complectimur, quale Sallustii est, Mithridates corpore ingenti, perinde armatus. male imitantes sequitur obscuritas.
3.83. A virtue which closely resembles the last, but is on a grander scale, is emphasis, which succeeds in revealing a deeper meaning than is actually expressed by the words. There are two kinds of emphasis: the one means more than it says, the other often means something which it does not actually say.
3.83. praedictae sed amplior virtus est ἔμφασις, altiorem praebens intellectum quam quem verba per se ipsa declarant. duae sunt species, altera, quae plus significat quam dicit, altera, quae etiam id quod non dicit.