Of ornament of style; fondness for it in orators, § 1-4. It is however of service in gaining the attention of an audience, 5, 6. What sort of ornament should be studied; some faults border on excellences, 7-10. Ornament must be varied according to the nature of the subject, 11-14. Ornament from the choice of words, 15-18. Some words are used rather from necessity than because they are approved, 19, 20. Common words sometimes most effective, 21-23. Of the use of old words, 24-29. The moderns cautious in forming new words, 30-37. Unbecoming expressions to be avoided, 38, 39. The grace of a speaker's style depends partly on the language he uses, and partly on his mode of delivery, 40, 41. Suitableness of style, 42, 43. Various faults of style; τὸ κακέμφατον (cacemphaton), 44-47. Meanness, 48, 49. Dimunition, tautology, uniformity, verbosity, superfluity of polish, 50-55. Affectation, ungraceful arrangement of words or matter, inelegant use of figures, injudicious mixture of different styles, 56-60. Excellence of clear and vivid description, 61-70. To attain it nature must be studied and imitated, 71. Assisted by similes, 72. But care must be taken that the similes themselves be lucid, 73. Further observations on similes, 74-81. Representation, 82. Emphasis, 83-86. Various modes of adorning and giving effect to language, 87-90. 1. I come now to the subject of embellishment, in which doubtless, more than in any other department of oratory, the speaker is apt to give play to his fancy. For the praise of such as speak merely with correctness and perspicuity is but small; since they are thought rather to have avoided faults than to have attained any great excellence. 2. Invention of matter is often common to the orator and to the illiterate alike; arrangement may be considered to require but moderate learning; and whatever higher arts are used, are generally concealed, or they would cease to deserve the name of art; and all these qualities are directed to the support of causes alone. But by polish and embellishment of style the orator recommends himself to his auditors in his proper character; in his other efforts he courts the approbation of the learned, in this the applause of the multitude. 3. Cicero, in pleading the cause of Cornelius, fought with arms that were not only stout, but dazzling; nor would he, merely by instructing the judge, or by speaking to the purpose and in pure Latin and with perspicuity, have caused the Roman people to testify their admiration of him not only by acclamations, but even tumults of applause. It was the sublimity, magnificence, splendour, and dignity of his eloquence, that drew forth that thunder of approbation. 4. No such extraordinary commendation would have attended on the speaker, if his speech had been of an every-day character, and similar to ordinary speeches. I even believe that his audience were insensible of what they were doing, and that they gave their applause neither voluntarily nor with any exercise of judgment, but that, being carried away by enthusiasm, and unconscious of the place in which they stood, they burst forth instinctively into such transports of delight. 5. But this grace of style may contribute in no small degree to the success of a cause; for those who listen with pleasure are both more attentive and more ready, to believe; they are very frequently captivated with pleasure, and sometimes hurried away in admiration. Thus the glitter of a sword strikes something of terror into the eyes, and thunderstorms themselves would not alarm us so much as they do if it were their force only, and not also their flame, that was dreaded. 6. Cicero, accordingly, in one of his letters to Brutus, makes with good reason the following remark: "That eloquence which excites no admiration, I account as nothing." Aristotle, also, thinks that to excite admiration should be one of our greatest objects. But let the embellishment of our style (for I will repeat what I said) be manly, noble, and chaste; let it not affect effeminate delicacy, or a complexion counterfeited by paint but let it glow with genuine health and vigor. 7. Such is the justice of this rule, that though, in ornament, vices closely border on virtues, yet those who adopt what is vicious, disguise it with the name of some virtue. Let no one of those, therefore, who indulge in a vicious style, say that I am an enemy to those who speak with good taste. I do not deny that judicious embellishment is an excellence, but I do not allow that excellence to them. 8. Should I think a piece of land better cultivated, in which the owner should show me lilies, and violets, and anemones, and fountains playing, than one in which there is a plentiful harvest, or vines laden with grapes? Should I prefer barren plane-trees, or clipped myrtles, to elms embraced with vines, and fruitful olive-trees? The rich may have such unproductive gratifications; but what would they be, if they had nothing else? 9. Shall not beauty, then, it may be asked, be regarded in the planting of fruit-trees? Undoubtedly; I should arrange my trees in a certain order, and observe regular intervals between them. What is more beautiful than the well-known quin-cunx, which, in whatever direction you view it, presents straight lines? But a regular arrangment of trees is of advantage to their growth, as each of them then attracts an equal portion of the juices of the soil. 10. The tops of my olive, that rise too high, I shall lop off with my knife; it will spread itself more gracefully in a round form, and will at the same time produce fruit from more branches. The horse that has thin flanks is thought handsomer than one of a different shape, and is also more swift. The athlete, whose muscles have been developed by exercise, is pleasing to the sight, and is so much the better prepared for the combat. 11. True beauty is never separate from utility. But to perceive this requires but a moderate portion of sagacity. What is of more importance to be observed, is, that the graceful dress of our thoughts is still more becoming when varied with the nature of the subject. Recurring to our first division, we may remark that the same kind of embellishment will not be alike suitable for demonstrative, deliberative, and judicial topics. The first of these three kinds, adapted only for display, has no object but the pleasure of the audience; and it accordingly discloses all the resources of art, and all the pomp of language; it is not intended to steal into the mind, or to secure a victory, but strives only to gain applause and honor. 12. Whatever, therefore, may be attractive in conception, elegant in expression, pleasing in figures, rich in metaphor, or polished in composition, the orator, like a dealer, as it were, in eloquence, will lay before his audience for them to inspect, and almost to handle; for his success entirely concerns his reputation, and not his cause. 13. But when a serious affair is in question, and there is a contest in real earnest, anxiety for mere applause should be an orator's last concern. Indeed no speaker, where important interests are involved, should be very solicitous about his words. I do not mean to say that no ornaments of dress should be bestowed on such subjects, but that they should be as it were more closefitting and severe, and thus display themselves less; and they should be, above all, well adapted to the subject. 14. In deliberations the senate expects something more elevated, the people something more spirited; and, in judicial pleadings, public and capital causes require a more exact style than ordinary; but as for private causes, and disputes about small sums, which are of frequent occurrence, simple language, the very reverse of that which is studied, will be far more suitable for them. Would not a speaker be ashamed to seek the recovery of a petty loan in elaborate periods? Or to display violent feeling in speaking of a gutter? Or to perspire over a suit about taking back a slave? 15. But let us pursue our subject; and, as the embellishment, as well as the perspicuity of language, depends either on the choice of single words, or on the combination of several together, let us consider what care they require separately, and what in conjunction. Though it has been justly said that perspicuity is better promoted by proper words, and embellishment by such as are metaphorical, we should feel certain, at the same time, that whatever is improper cannot embellish. 16. But as several words often signify the same thing, (and are called synonymous,) some of those words will be more becoming, or sublime, or elegant, or pleasing, or of better sound, than others; for as syllables formed of the better sounding letters are clearer, so words formed of such syllables are more melodious; and the fuller the sound of a word, the more agreeable it is to the ear; and what the junction of syllables effects, the junction of words effects also, proving that some words sound better in combination than others. 17. But words are to be variously used. To subjects of a repulsive character words that are harsh in sound are the more suitable. In general, however, the best words, considered singly, are such as have the fullest or most agreeable sound. Elegant, too, are always to be preferred to coarse words; and for mean ones there is no place in polished style. 18. Such as are of a striking or elevated character are to be estimated according to their suitableness to our subject. That which appears sublime on one occasion, may seem tumid on another; and what appears mean when applied to a lofty subject, may adapt itself excellently to one of an inferior nature. In an elevated style a low word is remarkable, and, as it were, a blemish; and in like manner a grand or splendid word is unsuited to a plain style, and is in bad taste, as being like a tumor on a smooth surface. 19. Some words are to be estimated, not so much by reason, as by taste; as in the phrase, Caesa jungebant foedera porca, which the invention of a word has rendered elegant; for if porco had been used, it would have been mean. In others the reason for their use is plain. We lately laughed, and with justice, at a poet who said Praetextam in cista mures rosere camilli, 20. but we admire the expression of Virgil, Saepe exiguus mus, for the epithet exiguus, happily applied, causes us not to expect too much; the singular number, also, is preferable to the plural; and the monosyllabic termination, which is uncommon, gives additional beauty. Horace has accordingly imitated Virgil in both these points: Nascetur ridiculus mus, 21. Our language indeed is not always to be elevated, but sometimes to be depressed. Humility in our words sometimes gives of itself greater force to what we say. When Cicero, in speaking against Piso, exclaims "When your whole family is drawn in a tumbril," does he not seem to have purposely adopted a mean word, and to have thrown, by the use of it, increased contempt on the man whom he wished to humble? And in another place he says, "You present your head to your adversary, butting with him." 22. From such sources come jokes that please the illiterate; as these in Cicero, "The little boy, that slept with his elder sister;" "Cneius Flavius, who put out the eyes of the crows;" and, in the speech for Milo, "Ho! you, Ruscio," and in that for Varenus, Erutius Antoniaster, "Erutius a puny Antony," Such humiliation of style is however still more remarkable in our school declamations, and, when I was a boy, such expressions as "Give your father bread," and, in reference to the same person, "You keep even a dog," used to be extolled. 23. But the practice, though frequently the cause of laughter is dangerous, especially in the schools, and more than ever at the present time, when the exercise of declamation, being greatly at variance with reality, suffers from a ridiculous fastidiousness about words, and has excluded from its language a great portion of the Latin tongue. 24. Words are proper, newly coined, or metaphorical. To proper words antiquity adds dignity; for old words, such as every writer would not think of using, render language more majestic and venerable; and of this kind of ornament Virgil, an author of extremely fine taste, has pre-eminently availed himself. 25. The words olli, and quianam, and mis, and pone, strike the reader of his poetry, and throw over it that authority of antiquity, which is so highly pleasing in pictures, and is unattainable by art. But we must use such words with moderation, and not extract them from the remotest darkness of past ages. Satis is old enough; what necessity is there, I would ask, for substituting oppido, of which preceding writers, even in our own day, made use occasionally? I suspect that nobody would now allow us to use it; antigerio assuredly, of which the signification is the same, no writer would use, unless he wished to make himself remarkable. 26. What need is there for aerumnae, as if to say labor was not sufficient? Reor is repulsive; autumo just endurable; prolem ducendam fit only for tragedy; universam ejus prosapiam tasteless. In short, almost all our language has undergone change. 27. Some old words, however, still appear more pleasing from their antiquity; some are at times adopted from necessity, as nuncupare and fari; and many others may be introduced with a little venturesomeness, provided that no affectation be apparent in the use of them; a fault which Virgil ridicules with wonderful effect in the following epigram: 28. Corinthiorum amator iste verborum, 29. The person on whom it was made was Cimber, by whom it was signified in the words of Cicero, Germanum Cimber occidit, that his brother was killed. Sallust is also attacked in an epigram, equally well known: Et verba antiqui multum furate Catonis, 30. It is an offensive kind of affectation; it is easy to any one; and it is so much the worse, as he who indulges in it will not suit his words to his matter, but will seek extraneous matter to which his obsolete words may be applied. To invent words, as I observed in the first book, has been more largely allowed to the Greeks, who have not hesitated to form words significant of certain sounds and impressions on the senses, using a liberty like that with which the earliest inhabitants of the earth gave appellations to things. 31. But our countrymen, though they have made some few attempts in composition and derivation, have scarcely attained full success in their efforts. I remember that when I was very young, it was a subject of discussion between Pomponius and Seneca even in their prefaces, whether gradus eliminat, "advances his steps over the threshold," was a proper expression. But our forefathers did not hesitate to say expectorat; and exanimat is certainly of the same stamp. 32. Of derivation and formation there are such examples as beatitas and beatitudo in Cicero, which he himself indeed considers harsh, but thinks that they may grow less repulsive by use. Certain derivatives have been formed, too, not only from common words, but from proper names, as Sullaturit by Cicero, and Fimbriatum and Figulatum by Asinius Pollio. 33. Many new words have also been formed from the Greek, and a great portion of them by Sergius Flavius, of which some seem rather harsh, as ens and essentia; yet why we should so much dislike them, I do not see, except that we are disposed to be unjust judges in our own case, and suffer in consequence from poverty of language. 34. Some words of this kind, however, keep their ground; for those which are now old were once new; and some have but recently come into use, since Messala first used reatus, "the condition of a person under accusation," and Augustus Caesar munerarius, "belonging to presents or shows of gladiators." My teachers were still in doubt whether piratica, "piracy," musica, "music," and fabrica, "the art of construction," could properly be used. 35. Favor, "favor," and urbanus, "in the sense of "witty," Cicero thought new; for, in a letter to Brutus, he says, Eum amorem, et eum (ut hoc verbo utar) fuvorem; in consilium advocabo, and in a letter to Appius Pulcher, Te hominem, non solum sapientem, verum etiam (ut nunc loquimur) urbanum. Cicero also thinks that obsequium, "compliance," was first used by Terence; and Caecilius says that the expression albenti caelo, "the heaven growing clear," originated with Sisenna. Hortensius appears to have first used cervix in the singular; for the ancients have it in the plural. We may, therefore, make attempts; for I do not agree with Celsus, who does not admit that words may be invented by the orator. 36. Since—when some words, as Cicero says, are primitive, that is, used in their original sense, and others derived, or formed from the primitive—though it may not be allowable for us to coin new words, different from those which the first men, however barbarous, invented, yet at what time did it cease to be allowable to derive, vary, and compound words, a privilege which was surely granted to the immediate successors of the first men? 37. If we ever think, moreover, that we are coining a word too venturously, we may defend it with some apologetical phrase, as "that I may so express myself; if I may be allowed so to speak; in some way; permit me to use the word;" a mode of excuse that may be serviceable when we use expressions which are too daringly metaphorical, and which can hardly be hazarded with safety; for it will thus be evident, from our very caution, that our judgment is not at fault. In regard to this point there is a very elegant Greek saying, in which we are directed προεπιπλήσσειν τῇ ὑπερβολῇ (proepiplēssein te hyperbolē), "to be the first to blame our own hyperbole." 38. A metaphorical use of words cannot be commended except in the contexture of discourse. Enough, then, has been said of words considered singly, which, as I showed in another place, have no beauty in themselves; yet they are not inelegant unless when they are below the dignity of the subject on which we have to speak; always excepting the expression of obscenities by their exact terms. 39. Let those attend to this remark, who think that obscene expressions need not be avoided, because there is no word indecent in itself, and because, as they say, whatever indecency there is in any act, the idea of it is still conveyed to the intellect under whatever other phraseology it may be veiled. For my own part, satisfied with the observance of Roman modesty, I shall, as I have already replied to such reasoners, vindicate decorum by silence. 40. Let us then proceed to consider the nature of connected discourse, the embellishment of which requires, above all, attention to two points; what language we conceive in our minds, and how we express it. In the first place, we must settle what we would wish to amplify or extenuate; what we would express vehemently or calmly, floridly or austerely, verbosely or concisely, roughly or mildly, grandly or simply, impressively or attractively. 41. We must also consider with what kind of metaphors or other figures, with what thoughts, in what style, and with what arrangement of matter, we may be likely to effect the object which we wish to accomplish. But in attempting to show by what means a style may be rendered elegant, I shall first touch on the faults which are opposed to elegance; for the beginning of excellence is to be free from error. 42. We must first of all, then, not expect that a style will be elegant which is not appropriate. What Cicero calls appropriate is that kind of style which is neither more nor less in any respect than is becoming; not that it should not be neat and polished, (for that is a part of elegance,) but because wherever there is excess there is faultiness. 43. He would accordingly have authority in the words, and thoughts that are either impressive in themselves, or suited to the opinions and manners of the audience. For if these particulars be observed, we may adopt those forms of expression by which he considers that style is rendered ornate, select terms, metaphorical and hyperbolical phrases, epithets, repetitions, synonymes, and all such phraseology as is not unsuitable to the subject of our speech, or to the representation of things. 44. But since I have undertaken first to point out fault, let me observe that one sort of fault is that which is called κακέμφατον (cacemphaton): whether the words which we use have by bad custom been distorted to an obscene meaning, as ductare exercitus and patrare bellum have been, by those who laugh, please the gods, at phrases which Sallust used in their pure and antique sense; (and I consider that the blame lies, therefore, not with writers but with readers; 45. yet such expressions are to be avoided, inasmuch as we have perverted pure words through corruption of morals, and we must yield even to prevailing vices; or whether the junction of two words suggests by its sound something obscene, as, for instance, it we say cum hominibus notis loqui, unless the word hominibus be placed between cum and notis, we appear to fall into that which requires some prefatory excuse; for the last letter of the preceding syllable cum, which cannot be pronounced without the lips meeting together either obliges us to pause most unbecomingly, or, if it be united with the following letter n, partakes of the objectionable sound of it. 46. There are other junctions of words that produce a similar effect, but it would be tedious to specify them, and, in doing so, I should dwell upon the fault which I say should be avoided. Let me observe however, that the division of a word sometimes gives the same offense to modesty; as in the use of the nominative case of intercapedinis. 47. Nor is such misrepresentation made of what is written only, for many readers will try, unless we are very cautious, to intimate that something of an obscene nature is suggested, (like him in Ovid, Quaeque latent, meliora putat, and to extract from words which are as free from indecency as possible, some reason for a charge of indecency. Thus Celsus finds the cacemphaton in the words of Virgil, Incipiunt agitata tumescere, but if we allow this to be the case, it is not safe to say anything. 48. The next fault to unseemliness of expression is that of meanness, which the Greeks call ταπείνωσις (tapeinōsis), and by which the greatness or dignity of a thing is depreciated, as Saxea est verruca in summo montis vertice, "It is a stone wart on the top of the mountain's head." To this fault the opposite in nature but equal in departure from judgment, is to apply to little things terms of extravagant meaning, unless to excite laughter be our object in doing so. We should not therefore, call a parricide a vicious man, nor a man attached to a harlot, a villain; for the former appellation expresses too little, and the latter too much. 49. From such errors in judgment composition is rendered dull or mean, or dry, or flat, or disagreeable, or slovenly; faults which are easily understood by reflecting on the opposite excellences; for the first is opposed to the spirited, the second to the elegant, the third to the rich, and the others to the cheerful, attractive, and correct. 50. We must also avoid the fault called μείωσις (meiōsis), "diminution," when something is wanting to an expression, so that it is not sufficiently full; though this indeed is rather a fault of obscurity than of neglect of ornament in style. But when diminution is adopted by writers designedly, it is called a figure, as is the case with ταυτολογία (tautologia), "tautology," that is, the repetition of the same word or phrase. 51. The latter, though not wholly avoided even by the best authors, may yet be considered a fault; but it is one into which Cicero himself often falls, through inattention to such petty carefulness; as in the words, Non solum illud judicium judicii simile, judices, non fuit, "Not only that judgment, judges, was not like a judgment." Sometimes it is called by another name, ἐπανάληψις (epanalēpsis) and is also numbered among the figures, of which I shall give examples in that part of my work where the beauties of style are to be noticed. 52. A worse fault than this is ὁμοιολογια (homoiologia), "sameness of style," which relieves the weariness of the reader with no gratification from variety, but is all of one complexion, by which it is fully proved to be deficient in oratorical art; and, from the tameness of its thoughts and figures of speech, as well as from the monotony of its phraseology, it is most disagreeable not only to the mind but also to the ear. 53. We must beware too of μακρολογια (macrologia), that is, the use of more words than is necessary, as in Livy, Legati, non impetratâ pace, retro domum, unde venerant, abierunt. "The ambassadors, not having obtained peace, returned back home, from whence they had come." But periphrasis, which is akin to macrology, is thought a beauty. Another fault is πλεονασμός (pleonasmos), "pleonasm," when a sentence is burdened with superfluous words, as "I saw with my eyes," for "I saw" is sufficient. 54. Cicero humorously corrected a fault of this kind in Hirtius, who having said, in a declamation against Pansa, that a son had been borne ten months by his mother in her womb, "What," exclaimed Cicero, "do other women bear their children in their cloaks?" Sometimes, however, that kind of pleonasm, of which I gave an example just before, is used for the purpose of affirming more strongly, as, Vocumque his auribus hausi, 55. But such addition will be a fault whenever it is useless and redundant, not when it is intended. There is also a fault called περιεργία (periergia), superfluous operoseness, if I may so express myself, differing from judicious care, just as a fidgetty man differs from an industrious one, or as superstition from religion; and, to make an end of my remarks on this point, every word that contributes neither to the sense nor to the embellishment of what we write, may be called vicious. 56. Κακόζηλον (Cacozēlon), injudicious affectation, is a fault in every kind of style; for whatever is tumid, or jejune, or luscious, or redundant, or far-fetched, or unequal, may come under this term; all, indeed, that goes beyond excellence, all that is produced when imagination is not guided by judgment, and is misled by the appearance of some fancied beauty, may be characterized as affected; a fault which is the worst of all faults in oratory; for other faults are merely not avoided, but this is pursued. But it lies wholly in language. 57. Faults in matter are, that it is void of sense, or common, or contradictory, or redundant; corruption of style arises chiefly from the use or words that are improper, superfluous, or obscure in meaning, or from feebleness in composition, or puerile seeking for similar or equivocal expressions. 58. But all affectation is something false, though everything false is not affectation. To be affected in style is to speak otherwise than nature directs, or than is proper, or to use more words than are sufficient. Language is corrupted in as many ways as it is improved. But on this head I have spoken more fully in another work; it is noticed also frequently in this, and will be noticed occasionally hereafter; for, in speaking of ornament, I shall speak from time to time of such faults as border on excellences, and are to be avoided. 59. The following blemishes also spoil the beauty of composition: Want of proper arrangement, which the Greeks call άνοικονόμητον (anoikonomēton); unskilful use of figures, which they call άσχήματον (aschēmaton); inelegant junction of words or phrases, which they term κακοσύνθετον (kakosyntheton). Of arrangement, however, I have already treated; of figures and composition I shall treat hereafter. Another kind of fault which the Greeks notice is κοινισμός (koinismos), the compounding of a style from different dialects; as, for example, if a writer should mix Doric, Ionic, and aeolic words with Attic. 60. A fault similar to this in our writers, is to mix grand words with mean, old with new, such as are poetical with such as are common. This produces such a monstrosity as Horace imagines at the commencement of his book on the Art of Poetry, Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam and to add other parts from different animals. 61. Ornament is something superadded to perspicuity and propriety. The first two steps towards it consist in a vigorous conception and expression of what we wish to say; the third requisite is, to render what we have conceived and expressed more attractive, and this is what we properly call embellishment. Let us, therefore, number ἐνάργεια (enargeia), which I noticed in my directions respecting narration, among the ornaments of style, because distinctness, or, as some call it, representation, is something more than mere perspicuity; for while perspicuity merely lets itself be seen, enargeia forces itself on the reader's notice. 62. It is a great merit to set forth the objects of which we speak in lively colours, and so that they may as it were be seen; for our language is not sufficiently effective, and has not that absolute power which it ought to have, if it impresses only the ears, and if the judge feels that the particulars, on which he has to give a decision, are merely stated to him, and not described graphically, or displayed to the eyes of his mind. 63. But as this art of depiction is contemplated by writers under several heads, I shall divide it, not indeed into all the parts which they specify, and of which the number is ambitiously augmented by some of them, but into the principal, on each of which I shall say something. There is, then, one kind, by which the whole figure of an object is painted as it were in words:
with the other particulars described, which set before us the appearance of the contending champions with such exactness, that it could not have been plainer even to the spectators themselves. 64. In this quality of style, as in all others, Cicero displays the highest excellence. Is any one so incapable of conceiving images of objects, that, when he reads the description in the oration against Verres, "The praetor of the Roman people, with sandals, with a purple cloak after the Greek fashion, and a tunic reaching to his feet, stood upon the shore leaning on a courtezan," he does not seem to behold the very aspect and dress of the man, and even to imagine for himself many particulars that are not expressed? 65. I, for my part, seen to myself to see his countenance, the look of his eyes, the repulsive dalliance of him and his mistress, and the tacit disgust, and shrinking modesty, of those who witnessed the scene. 66. Sometimes the picture, which we endeavor to exhibit, is made to consist of several particulars, as is seen in the same orator (for he alone affords examples of every excellence in embellishment) in the description of a luxurious banquet: "I seemed to myself to see some entering, others going out, some tottering from the effects of wine, some yawning from yesterday's carousal. The ground was polluted, muddy with spilt wine, and covered with faded garlands and fish-bones." What more could a person who had entered the place have seen? 67. It is thus that commiseration for captured cities is excited; for though he who says that a city is captured, doubtless comprehends under that expression all the circumstances with which such a calamity is attended, yet this short kind of announcement makes no impression on the feelings. 68. If you expand, however, what was intimated in the single word, there will be seen flames spreading over houses and temples; there will be heard the crash of falling edifices, and a confused noise of various outcries; there will be seen some fleeing, and others clinging in the last embrace of their relatives; there will be the lamentations of women and children, and old men preserved by an unhappy fate to see that day; 69. there will be the pillaging of profane and sacred treasures; the hurrying of soldiers carrying off their booty and seeking for more; prisoners driven in chains before their captors; mothers struggling to retain their infants; and battles among the conquerors wherever the plunder is most inviting. For though, as I said, the idea of the city being taken includes all these circumstances, yet it is less impressive to tell the whole at once than to specify the different particulars; and the particulars we shall succeed in making vivid if we but give them a resemblance to truth. 70. We may also invent some circumstances, such as are likely to occur on such occasions. A similar vividness will be given to description by the mention of adjuncts or consequences; as, Mihi frigidus horror 71. To the attainment of this excellence, (an excellence, in my opinion, of the highest order,) the way is very easy. We must look to nature, and follow her. All eloquence relates to the transactions of human life; every man refers what he hears to himself; and the mind easily admits what it recognizes as true to nature. 72. To throw light upon descriptions similes have been very happily invented; some of which, as they strengthen proof, are numbered among arguments; others are adapted to give a lively representation of things; and it is this sort that is applicable to the present head of our subject: Inde lupi ceu and Avi similis, quae circum litora, circum 73. In the use of this kind of illustration we must take the greatest care that what we introduce by way of similitude may not be obscure or unknown; for that which is offered as an illustration of something else, ought to be plainer than that which it is meant to illustrate. Similes of the following kind we may accordingly leave to the poets: Qualis ubi hybernam Lyciam, Xanthique fluenta 74. It would not become an orator to demonstrate something plain by a reference to something obscure. But that kind of simile also, of which I spoke in treating of arguments contributes to the ornament of style, and helps to render it sublime, or florid, or attractive, or striking. The more distant, indeed, is the subject from which any illustration is drawn, the more novelty it has, and the more surprise it causes. 75. Such as the following may seem common, adapted only to aid in enforcing conviction: "As ground is made better and more fertile by culture, so is the mind by learning: and, As surgeons amputate limbs rendered useless by disease, so base and mischievous persons, though intimately allied to us by blood, must be cut off from our society." This from the speech for Archias is more sublime: "Stones and deserts reply to the voice; fierce wild beasts are often moved, and stand still, at the song of the poet," etc. 76. This kind of simile is often greatly abused by the licentiousness of declaimers; for they adopt such as are false; and they do not apply them fairly to the things to which they wish them to seem applicable. An example of both faults is afforded in some that were everywhere repeated when I was a young man: Of great rivers the sources are navigable; and, The generous tree bears fruit as soon as it springs up. 77. In every comparison, either the simile precedes and the subject of it follows, or the subject precedes and the simile follows. But sometimes the simile stands by itself and is unconnected; sometimes, as is preferable, it is joined with the object of which it is the representation, resemblances in the one answering to resemblances in the other; an effect which what we call redditio contraria, and the Greeks ἀνταπόδοσις (antapodosis), produces. 78. The simile which I mentioned just above, precedes the subject: Inde lupi ceu that in the first book of the Georgics, after the long complaint concerning civil and foreign wars, follows its subject: Ut quum carceribus sese effedere quadrigae, But this simile is without any antapodosis. 79. Such mutual correspondence, however, brings under the eye as it were both objects of comparison, and displays them together. I find many noble examples of it in Virgil; but I must take them from the orators in preference. Cicero, in his speech for Muraena, says, "As they say that those, among the Greek musicians, who cannot become players on the lyre, may become players on the flute, so we see that those who cannot become orators betake themselves to the study of the law." 80. There is another example in the same speech, animated with a spirit almost of poetry, and with an antapodosis, which renders it more effective as an embellishment: "For as tempests are oftentimes excited by the influence of some particular sign in the heavens, and oftentimes arise suddenly, without any assignable cause, and from some undiscoverable origin, so in regard to such a tempest of the people at the comitia, though we may often understand by what influence it has been raised, yet its origin is, often so obscure, that it seems to have arisen without any cause at all." 81. There are also short similes of this kind, as, "Wandering through the woods after the manner of wild beasts"; and that of Cicero in reference to Clodius, "From which trial he escaped naked, as from a house on fire." But similes like these will occur to the recollection of every one, from everyday conversation. With this kind of simile is connected the power of setting a thing before the eve, not only with plainness, but concisely and quickly. 82. Brevity, indeed, to which nothing is wanting, is justly extolled, but that kind of brevity which says nothing more than is necessary, (the Greeks call it βραχυλογία (brachylogia) , and it shall be noticed among the figures of speech,) is less deserving of commendation. Yet it is very happy when it comprises much in few words, as in the phrase of Sallust, Mithridates corpore ingenti, perinde armatus, "Mithridates, of vast stature, and suitably armed." But obscurity attends on those who attempt such conciseness injudiciously. 83. A beauty akin to the preceding, but of higher merit, is emphasis, which intimates a deeper meaning than the words used actually express. There are, however, two kinds of it; one which signifies more than is said; the other which signifies something that is not said. 84. Of the former kind there is a specimen in Homer, where Menelaus says, that the Greeks descended into the horse; for by that one word he shows the vastness of the horse; and there is a similar specimen in Virgil, Demissum lapsi per funem, for thus also the height-of the horse is signified. Virgil, too, when he says that the Cyclops lay stretched through the cave, measures the prodigious bulk of his body by the space of ground that it occupied. 85. The latter kind consists either in the entire suppression of a word in what we say, or in the omission of it at the close. As to the suppression of a word or thought, Cicero has given an instance of it in his speech for Ligarius. But if, Caesar, in your present height of power you had not so much clemency in your own disposition as you have; in your own disposition, I say; I know how I am expressing myself; for he suppresses that which we nevertheless understand that there were not wanting men to incite him to cruelty. An omission at the close is by ἀποσιώπησις (aposiopesis), which, as it is a figure, will be noticed in its proper place. There is emphasis also in many common expressions; as, "You must be a man," and, "He is but a mortal," and, "We must live." So like is nature in general to art. It is not enough, however, for eloquence to set forth the subjects of discussion clearly and vividly; but there are many and various modes of embellishing language. 87. The ἀφέλεια (apheleia) of the Greeks, "simplicity" pure and unaffected, carries with it a certain chaste ornament, such as is so much liked in women; and there is a certain pleasing delicacy of style that arises from a nicety of care about the propriety and significancy of words. Of copiousness there is one kind that is rich in thought, and another that abounds with flowers. 88. Of force; there is more than one species; for whatever is complete in its kind, has its proper force. Its chief manifestation, however, is δεινωσις (deinōsis) "vehemence" in exaggerating an indignity; in regard to other subjects depth; in conceiving images of things, φαντασία (phantasia); in fulfilling as it were a proposed work, ἐξεργασία (exergasia): to which is added ἐπεξεργασία (epexergasia), a repetition of thesame proof, or superabundant accumulation of argument. 89. Allied to these qualities is ἐνέργεια (energeia), which has its name from action, and of which the chief virtue is to prevent what is said from being ineffective. There is also a kind of bitter force, which is commonly employed in invective, as in the question of Cassius, "What will you say when I shall invade your domain, that is, when I shall teach you that you do not know how to revile?" A sort of sharp force, also, as in the saying of Crassus, "Should I consider you a consul, when you do not consider me a senator?" But the chief power of an orator lies in exaggeration and extenuation. Each has the same number of expedients, on a few of which I shall touch; those which I omit will be of a similar character. 90. But they all have their sources in matter or in words. Of the invention and arrangement of matter, however, I have already treated; my present business is to show how expression may contribute to elevate or depress a subject.
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