6 phasize sense, even in jingles like O. 32. 3, 12, commendationem esse compellationem; lædat an laudet; cf. 25. 32. Repetition and Antithesis (as in O. 31. 11 improborum exemplis improbi judicio liberabuntur) add force. Cf. O. 25. 30-35. Asyndeton' suggests energy, excitement, sharpness, as in 0. 6. 25; 17 (a), (b); Pleonasm, overflow of emotion 0. 41. 4 &c. Where possible, the rhythm of the sentence is and should be an echo of the sense. Notice in 0. 36. 7 how the irregular chiasmus (fugit aliquis &c.) expresses the abrupt scampering end of the play, as in 10. 4 the chiasmus suggests suddenness and surprise; how similarly the hesitation and suspense of the sentence 0.1.9-13, non...possimus, suggests intentionally the hesitation and confusion of fear; how in 0. 7. 11-13 the short sharp asyndeton of the clauses suggests the short sharp work that Clodius was prepared for, and how the cumbrous and involved order of the clauses following, and the 'polysyndeton' figure suggest the cumbersome and lazy and indolent disorder of Milo and his retinue; how in O. 9. 11 the short clauses suggest bargaining; how in O. 36. 31; 44. 15 the rhythm and letters suggest effeminacy; and how those in O. 18. 20 suggest vigorous firm manly effort (as contrasted with the supple and subtle ingenuity of opponents expressed in the previous lines), the very collision of conflict being portrayed by the colliding of the vowel sounds, and the final crash by the short impetuous fall of the clause. N.B. Special attention should be also given to $$ 5, 21, and 29-36, of the General Hints. The main divisions of a speech were, and are still, Exordium, Narration, Argument, Refutation, Peroration. The following table refers to instances of these and also of some of the more elaborate figuræ sententiarum. For Index of the first words see end of the Extracts, p. 64. 13. Verres-On Reforms-On Rowan......... 14-21. Argumentatio. 22. Quintius-Queen Caroline 23. Plancius-Hardy 24. Sulla, Cicero .Cicero, Curran. Cicero, Sheil. ..Cicero, Burke. ..Cicero, Burke. .Cicero, Brougham. .Cicero, Lord Chatham. ..Cicero, Curran. .Cicero, Erskine. .Cicero, Burke. ..Cicero, Burke. .Cicero, Sheridan. ..Cicero, Sheridan. Cicero, Eliot, Curran. .Cicero, Burke. .Cicero, Burke. .Cicero, Erskine. Cicero, Erskine. Cicero, Plunket. Cicero, Brougham. .Cicero, Erskine. Cicero, Brougham. Cicero, Erskine. (a) Against an impeachment... Earl of Strafford. (b) Lord George Gordon .Erskine. 25. Milo-O'Connell.... ...Cicero, Sheil. HISTORICAL PROSE. N.B.-The references in brackets are to the number and line of the English Extracts, the others to the Latin. O. Oratorical. H. Historical. P. Philosophical. I. Latin Oratorical Prose was governed by the needs of spoken oratory: that is to say, it had to be regular and rhythmical, both to please the ear and to aid the memory; emphatic and antithetical to arrest or fix attention; clear, simple, and not too condensed, for the sake of a hearing and not always quick-witted audience; and it had to be expressed in sentences and clauses neither too long for the breath of the speaker, nor for the intelligence of the hearer. Latin Historical Prose was for readers, though oftener recited than ours is. Longer sentences could be grasped by the eye than by the ear. Hence the period' was commoner. Harder words and more elaborate and even poetical diction creep in: for readers would be better educated and would welcome variety of language to make up for loss of variety of tone. At the same time the effect of the general oratorical training at Rome is apparent, as well as the custom of recitation: hence the clauses are more antithetical, more balanced and of a more varied and more manageable length than in most English Prose. Early Latin Historians like Cato, Cælius, &c. (cf. Cic. Orat. II. 12. 51) were mere annalists-narratores non exornatores rerum. Later on History became so elaborate that its style is condemned as too poetical for the orator. Cf. Quint. x. 1. 31 Est enim proxima poetis et quodam modo carmen solutum...et verbis remotionibus et liberioribus figuris narrandi tædium evitat. Cicero (Orator xx. 61) says of it neque nervos neque oculeos oratorios et forenses habet, and compares it to the style of sophists-Huic generi historia finitima est, in qua et narratur ornate et regio sæpe aut pugna describitur; interponuntur etiam conciones et hortationes: sed in his tracta quædam et fluens expetitur, non hæc contorta et acris oratio. Cf. Pliny's Contrast, Orat. Ext. p. 1. The chief general points then to notice are that Latin Historical style is generally (A) more poetical than ours in its choice of words and constructions and in the variety of the latter; (B) more emphatic and antithetical in order than ours, and also generally more rhetorical in its use of certain figures; (C) more periodic and elaborate in the grouping of clauses. As will be seen from the Extracts our best extant models, Cæsar, Livy, and Tacitus (or Sallust), differ considerably from one another in these characteristics. Speaking generally, they should be studied and imitated in the above order. The majority of the Latin Extracts are from Sallust and Tacitus, as their style requires more especial study, and the selection was made mainly as a supplement to Parallel Extracts, Part I.; but the English can be translated in any of the three styles; the Tacitean style indeed should not be attempted by younger students,--except occasionally, in order to realize its real characteristics and difficulties -for Tacitus' curtness of language without his condensation of thought is not pleasing. Cæsar no doubt is the best as a model for young boys: but without a large infusion of Ciceronianism his style would not be very attractive now-a-days. Cicero would undoubtedly have preferred the style of Livy. Most young students prefer that of Tacitus. But it must not be supposed that these Authors themselves are uniform in their style. Cæsar's style is more bald and simple in the earlier than in the later books of the De Bello Gallico. Cf. H. 27. 28 with H. 41. That of Livy's first decade is much more immature and variable than in the later books: and Tacitus, beginning with Ciceronianism in the Dialogue, only gradually develops his peculiar characteristics in the Agricola, Histories, and Annals successively. Cf. H. 45; 29; 30; 24, and 18. |