The crimes of
turbulent
citizens supply the orator with his best materials.
Tacitus
8. Licinius Largus taught the advocates of his time the disgraceful art of hiring applauders by profession. This was the bane of all true oratory, and, for that reason, Maternus was right in renouncing the forum altogether.
10. Maternus acknowledges that he was disgusted by the shameful practices that prevailed at the bar, and therefore resolved to devote the rest of his time to poetry and the muses.
11. An apology for the rhetoricians. The praise of Quintilian. True eloquence died with Cicero.
13. The loss of liberty was the ruin of genuine oratory. Demosthenes flourished under a free government. The original goes on from this place to the end of the dialogue.
XXXVI. Eloquence flourishes most in times of public tumult.
The crimes of turbulent citizens supply the orator with his best materials.
XXXVII. In the time of the republic, oratorical talents were necessary qualifications, and without them no man was deemed worthy of being advanced to the magistracy.
XXXVIII. The Roman orators were not confined in point of time; they might extend their speeches to what length they thought proper, and could even adjourn. Pompey abridged the liberty of speech, and limited the time.
XXXIX. The very dress of the advocates under the emperors was prejudicial to eloquence.
XL. True eloquence springs from the vices of men, and never was known to exist under a calm and settled government.
XLI. Eloquence changes with the times. Every age has its own peculiar advantages, and invidious comparisons are unnecessary.
XLII. Conclusion of the dialogue.
TACITUS
THE HISTORIES
Translated With Introduction And Notes By W.
