For,
by that assiduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning to
wealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators,
though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities.
by that assiduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning to
wealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators,
though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities.
Tacitus
It is but justice to add, that his
sentiments, when free from _antithesis_ and the _Ovidian_ manner, are
not excelled by any poet of antiquity. From him, as well as from
Virgil and Horace, the orator is required to cull such passages as
will help to enrich his discourse; and the practice is recommended by
Quintilian, who observes, that Cicero, Asinius Pollio, and others,
frequently cited verses from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius, and Terence, in
order to grace their speeches with polite literature, and enliven the
imagination of their hearers. By those poetic insertions, the ear is
relieved from the harsh monotony of the forum; and the poets, cited
occasionally, serve by their authority to establish the proposition
advanced by the speaker. _Nam præcipue quidem apud Ciceronem,
frequenter tamen apud Asinium etiam, et cæteros, qui sunt proximi,
vidimus ENNII, ACCII, PACUVII, TERENTII et aliorum inseri versus,
summâ non eruditionis modò gratiâ, sed etiam jucunditatis; cum
poeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirent, quibus
accedit non mediocris utilitas, cum sententiis eorum, velut quibusdam
testimoniis, quæ proposuere confirmant. _ Quintil. lib. i. cap. 8.
Section XXI.
[a] There is in this place a blunder of the copyists, which almost
makes the sentence unintelligible. The translator, without entering
into minute controversies, has, upon all such occasions, adopted what
appeared, from the context, to be the most probable sense. It remains,
therefore, to enquire, who were the several orators here enumerated.
CANUTIUS may be the person mentioned by Suetonius _De Claris
Rhetoribus_. Cicero says of ARRIUS, that he was a striking proof of
what consequence it was at Rome to be useful to others, and always
ready to be subservient to their honour, or to ward off danger.
For,
by that assiduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning to
wealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators,
though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities. _Loco
infimo natus, et honores, et pecuniam, et gratiam consecutus, etiam in
patronorum, sine doctrinâ, sine ingenio, aliquem numerum pervenerat.
De Claris Orat. _ s. 243. FURNIUS may be supposed, not without
probability, to be the person with whom Cicero corresponded. _Epist.
ad Familiares_, lib. x. ep. 25, 26. With regard to Terrianus we are
left in the dark. The commentators offer various conjectures; but
conjecture is often a specious amusement; the ingenious folly of men,
who take pains to bewilder themselves, and reason only to shew their
useless learning.
[b] The puny orators are said to be in an infirmary, like sickly men,
who were nothing but skin and bone. These, says Cicero, were admirers
of the Attic manner; but it were to be wished that they had the
wholesome blood, not merely the bones, of their favourite declaimers.
_Attico genere dicendi se gaudere dicunt; atqui utinam imitarentur nec
ossa solum, sed etiam et sanguinem.
sentiments, when free from _antithesis_ and the _Ovidian_ manner, are
not excelled by any poet of antiquity. From him, as well as from
Virgil and Horace, the orator is required to cull such passages as
will help to enrich his discourse; and the practice is recommended by
Quintilian, who observes, that Cicero, Asinius Pollio, and others,
frequently cited verses from Ennius, Accius, Pacuvius, and Terence, in
order to grace their speeches with polite literature, and enliven the
imagination of their hearers. By those poetic insertions, the ear is
relieved from the harsh monotony of the forum; and the poets, cited
occasionally, serve by their authority to establish the proposition
advanced by the speaker. _Nam præcipue quidem apud Ciceronem,
frequenter tamen apud Asinium etiam, et cæteros, qui sunt proximi,
vidimus ENNII, ACCII, PACUVII, TERENTII et aliorum inseri versus,
summâ non eruditionis modò gratiâ, sed etiam jucunditatis; cum
poeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirent, quibus
accedit non mediocris utilitas, cum sententiis eorum, velut quibusdam
testimoniis, quæ proposuere confirmant. _ Quintil. lib. i. cap. 8.
Section XXI.
[a] There is in this place a blunder of the copyists, which almost
makes the sentence unintelligible. The translator, without entering
into minute controversies, has, upon all such occasions, adopted what
appeared, from the context, to be the most probable sense. It remains,
therefore, to enquire, who were the several orators here enumerated.
CANUTIUS may be the person mentioned by Suetonius _De Claris
Rhetoribus_. Cicero says of ARRIUS, that he was a striking proof of
what consequence it was at Rome to be useful to others, and always
ready to be subservient to their honour, or to ward off danger.
For,
by that assiduity, Arrius raised himself from a low beginning to
wealth and honours, and was even ranked in the number of orators,
though void of learning, and without genius, or abilities. _Loco
infimo natus, et honores, et pecuniam, et gratiam consecutus, etiam in
patronorum, sine doctrinâ, sine ingenio, aliquem numerum pervenerat.
De Claris Orat. _ s. 243. FURNIUS may be supposed, not without
probability, to be the person with whom Cicero corresponded. _Epist.
ad Familiares_, lib. x. ep. 25, 26. With regard to Terrianus we are
left in the dark. The commentators offer various conjectures; but
conjecture is often a specious amusement; the ingenious folly of men,
who take pains to bewilder themselves, and reason only to shew their
useless learning.
[b] The puny orators are said to be in an infirmary, like sickly men,
who were nothing but skin and bone. These, says Cicero, were admirers
of the Attic manner; but it were to be wished that they had the
wholesome blood, not merely the bones, of their favourite declaimers.
_Attico genere dicendi se gaudere dicunt; atqui utinam imitarentur nec
ossa solum, sed etiam et sanguinem.
