Letter 700.3

To Antoninus Augustus, from Fronto. 1. What if someone were to inquire by what skill and on what principles [...] the Vestal virgins are chosen? For this reason it is not lawful that a virgin who lisps be chosen, nor one who stammers [...] unless such [...] [...] all [...] [...]. The voice of those who stammer is signified by roughly these words: an impeded voice, a fettered voice, a difficult voice, a maimed voice, an imperfect voice, a discordant voice. I hold it certain that, as you sought their contraries, these came to your aid: a surpassing voice, a finished voice, an easy voice, a whole voice, a smooth voice. Your voice is lovely, then [...] smooth [...] and it can be said, Antoninus, that of all these [...] [...] there be a survey of the terms by which those who stammer are called. 2. But lovers of measured utterance are said to have first listened to the native birds singing together in a shady grove. The murmurs of the birds seemed exceedingly sweet to hear: just as [...] [...] more would not wish to be moved. Afterward shepherds, having lately discovered the pipe, delighted themselves and their flock by playing upon it: the pipes seemed far more tuneful than the birds. 3. You seemed to me to be declaring with a laugh what Plautus more truly proclaims thus: "[...] indeed to fill with clearer notes [...] [...] where [...]." But [...] those ambushes [...] sought what was necessary [...] than before; with practiced care to sound the signal for the undertaking [...] lovers overcome by drunkenness [...] are made complete, or favoring [...] by little tales, that they might teach the way thence [...] [...] high [...] [...] mouths [...] afterward [...] given [...] left, and [...] [...] make the ears feel sick [...] the inmost [...] [...] so it may entice to its pleasures or its torches [...]. 4. Likewise you say that Sallust unfolded very many things in his oration in this manner, and you used this example: "Many take delight in the little notes of murmurers in the grove, in the grove of eloquence." Then they endure Ennius and Accius and Lucretius, resounding now with a fuller bellow. But when the trumpet of Cato and Sallust and Tullius [Cicero] is heard, they tremble and are afraid and plot flight in vain. For there too, in the disciplines of philosophy, where they reckon they have a safe refuge for themselves, the very words of Plato will have to be heard. 5. This fable fits those who, endowed with no natural gift, despairing of eloquence, take flight from it. But to you, Caesar, as to no one more, a sublime and lofty and ample genius has been given by the gods; for your first perceptions and the cradle of your studies are known to me. Even then the nobility of your mind shone forth, and the dignity of your judgments, to which almost the one thing lacking was the light of words; that too we were furnishing by various exercises. There you seemed to me, wearied by the delay of time and the tedium of labor, to have abandoned the pursuit of eloquence and to have turned aside to philosophy, where no exordium need be cultivated with care, no narrative arranged briefly and clearly and shrewdly, no questions divided, no arguments sought, nothing amplified or made ambiguous; truly up to this point it is most correct. 6. Or to you often [...] you, a wise man, [...] often seem [...] about matters [...] yet if it remained, if you had sometimes spoken about [...] [...] [...] you would have consulted well enough [...] [...] that one without waters above, or in what has been said [...] [...] [...] while he provides [...] [...] measure. 7. But indeed often a wise man, such as your father, does not know in a plainly polished manner; yet if circumstances so demanded it, that even from a well [...] that well there would be less sordid [...], if circumstances so demanded it is rightly [...] [...] [...] his own to me [...] [...] [...] lest under the judgment which is at hand [...] [...] [...] [...] under [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] but with genius [...] [...] [...] [...] thoughts unforeseen, then obtained by others. So much the greater peril is there in thoughts, unless they are tempered with moderate figurings. Perhaps I shall signify this more openly in Greek words: the new and paradoxical among enthymemes, images [reflections] in themselves fashioned [...] to speak plausible things [...] [...] some [...] of others [...] [...] not the [...] [...] and [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]. This I [...] [...] that no orations of his came to his aid [...] free and his own to god [...] and resources mingled to the ages so that [...] [...] rare; know therefore that in this one thing alone your surpassing eloquence falls short. 8. I warn my Marcus, therefore, again and again, and I beseech him to remember: as often as you have conceived in your mind a more paradoxical enthymeme [an unexpected thought], turn it over with yourself, work it through and temper it with diverse and various figurings, and adorn it with splendid words. For as to things that are new and unforeseen to the hearers, there is danger, unless they are ornamented and figured, lest they seem absurd. 9. Everything else in eloquence is for you polished and proven: you know how to seek out words, you know how to set rightly in place what you have found, you know how to paint on the genuine color of antiquity; and you abound in the weightiest of thoughts. [four pages are missing] 10. <...> is the first condition; once they have been laid open, being easily recognized, they are neglected. In short, you may see the rhetorician despised and held in no honor; but the dialecticians observed and cultivated with every service, because in their reasonings there is always something obscure and tortuous, and from this it comes about that the disciple always clings to his master and serves him, bound fast and held by certain perpetual chains. 11. Someone will say: "You then, no doubt beyond the rest, use beautiful and remarkable words?" I rather use common and outworn ones. What then is the point? If I did not at least know that much, I should use worse ones.

to Antoninus Augustus. 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Neither a virgin that lisps may be chosen as a Vestal nor one that speaks indistinctly . . . . Words descriptive of stammerers to be variously employed . . . . the utterance of stammerers is generally described as follows: an impeded utterance, a tied utterance, a laboured, a defective, an imperfect, a discordant utterance. The contraries of these have, I doubt not, already rewarded your search: a free utterance, a distinct, an easy, a perfect, a smooth utterance. Your utterance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A survey of all the terms applied to indistinct speakers . . . . 2. The lovers of melodious utterance are said to have listened first to the birds in a shady covert. Next shepherds delighted themselves and their flocks with the newly-invented pipes. Pipes seemed far more melodious than birds . . . . they take delight by way of eloquence in the soft notes of mutterers. Anon they nevertheless put up with Ennius and Accius and Lucretius, resonant now with a fuller bass. But when the trumpet of Cato and Sallust and Tullius is heard upon the air, they are excited and affrighted and bethink them of flight, vainly, for even there in the teachings of Philosophy, where they think they have a safe refuge, the resonant periods of Plato will have to be heard. 3. This little story applies to those who having no aptitude for it, shun eloquence in despair. But to you, O Caesar, if ever to man, has been given by the Gods a sublime and lofty and splendid genius; for your earliest thoughts and the infancy of your studies came under my ken. From the very first there was no hiding your nobility of mind and the dignity of your thoughts: they wanted then but one thing, the illumination of words: that too, we were providing by a varied course of study. 4. At this point, in the manner of the young and from a dislike of drudgery, you seem to have deserted the pursuit of eloquence, and to have turned aside after philosophy, in which there is no exordium to be carefully elaborated, no marshalling of facts concisely and clearly and skilfully, no dividing of a subject into heads, no arguments to be hunted for, no amplification . . . . . . . . to complete what is imperfect, to fill up gaps with padding . . . . this age requires a friend for counsel rather than for help . . . . to complete what is imperfect, to fill up a hiatus, to make rough places smooth . . . . 5. Were you not eager for all the resources of orators, their adroitness in refuting, their talent for amplifying, their charm in evasion, and I know not what kind of downright power and potency, that lies in speaking, of moving and delighting, of deterring and provoking, of exhorting, of conciliating, of inflaming, of calming the minds of hearers or alluring them? Then if on occasion hindered by perpetual business you had no time to compose a speech, did you not fortify yourself with certain hurried yet valuable recreations in the way of study, by collecting synonyms, at times by searching out remarkable words? so as to turn the periods of old writers and their clauses by the system of synonyms ; to render refined what was vulgar, and fresh what was soiled, fit in some image, throw in a figure, embellish with a good old word, add a patina of age. If you despise all this only because you have learnt it, you will also despise philosophy in the learning. 6. But these are not things which you could despise: dislike them of course you might. As in old days a morose Crassus hated laughter, as in our time here a Crassus hid from the daylight, and again in our time a man of consular rank had a horror of plains, and traversed the Pomptine plain and many other places with his litter closed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . But often even the wisest of men does not know how to speak in a style obviously new. But circumstances have so . . . . . . . . a well there would sound less vulgar . . . . thoughts unexpected, to others indeed new and previously unused. So much greater peril is there in thoughts if they are not qualified with figures of speech sparingly used. I can perhaps express my meaning more clearly in Greek words: τὰ καινὰ καὶ παράδοξα τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the book which you sent a scarce one. Know then that in this one point your eloquence limps, splendid as it is. 7. I warn you, therefore, again and again, my Marcus, and beseech you to remember, as often as you conceive in your mind a startling thought, think over it with yourself and turn and try it with various figures of speech and dress it out in splendid words. For there is a danger that what is new to the hearers and unexpected may seem ridiculous unless it be embellished and made figurative. 8. All else in eloquence are for you smoothed and made clear. You know how to search out words, you know how to arrange them correctly when found, you know how to invest them with the genuine patina of antiquity, and you have an abundance of the weightiest and noblest thoughts . . . . is the first essential; as soon as they have been exposed they are easily known and disregarded. In a word, you could see that the rhetorician is despised and of no account, while the dialecticians are courted and treated with every respect, because in their ratiocinations there is always something obscure and intricate, and hence it results that the disciple always hangs upon his master and is his slave, held fast bound with a kind of everlasting fetter. Someone will say You then, of course, beyond all others use choice and striking words . Nay, I use common and old ones. What then? If I knew not that much, I should use words still worse.

ad Anton. de eloqu. 4 [146 Hout; 2.72 Haines] Antonino Augusto Fronto. 1 Quid si quis scrutetur qua sollertia et quibus raionibus . . . Vestales virgines captae sint? Propterea neque balbam virginem capi neque sirbenam . . . . fas est r . mn . . . . t . . . . . nisi tal . . . . . cubi . . . . omnis . . . mnevis . . . . . quis neutalenisandes verba ins . lum . . . us balbuttientium vox his ferme verbis significatur: Vox impedita, vox vincta, vox difficilis, vox trunca, vox inperfecta, vox absona. His contraria quaerenti tibi subvenisse certum habeo: Vox eximia, vox absoluta, vox facilis, vox integra, vox lenis. Tua vox amabilis tum . . . . lenis tale . erd . . . . . . . . ull . uac . . b . . . . . . . . non . . nern . . . . a . . . . . . i et potest dic, Antonine, his omnibus . . . i . . . liiseno . . . . m . . . . . s . m sirabaennd . lauuim, quibus vocabulis appellentur sirbeni, percensio sit. 2 At vocis modulatae amatores primas audisse feruntur vernas aves luco opaco concinentes. Visa sunt perdulcia audiri avium murmura: Prosus uti disce . . . . . proded . . . . . aud . . . . plures nollent affecti. Post pastores suis modulati recens repertis fistulis se atque pecus oblectabant: Visae fistulae longe avibus modulatorioes. 3 Videbaris mihi ridenter declarare, quae verius proclamat ita Plautus: “E . . . bt . . . turis liquidioribus sane implere s . l . . . . . . . . . . . . . isa ubi . . . nessi . . . . . . . ” Sed . . . . . . . . ea insidi . . . . . . . . . . necessaria peteret . . suastanob quam antea, perita cura signum inceptui canere i . i . l . m . . . . . . . . crapula affecti amatores vi . ae . . . n . . . . . d . . . ia sunt perfecti aut faventes pro . . . . . e fabellis ut docerent via inde . . . . neomicel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ros alti . . . . . . . . . . . nto . . . . . . . . usi ora . . . post . . . setu det au . relicti atmqu . . ere fore . . . rent fa . e aures nausiant . . uli intima . . . . . m suabest . . . . a . . ita ad lubitos aut funalia alliciat . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Item pleraque sic explicasse oratione Sallustium ais et hoc exemplo usus: “Multi murmurantium voculis in luco in luco eloquentiae oblectantur”. Ennium deinde et Accium et Lucretium ampliore jam mugitu personantis tamen tolerant. At ubi Catonis et Sallustii et Tulli tuba exaudita est, trepidant et pavent et fugam frustra meditantur. Nam illic quoque in philosophiae disciplinis, ubi tutum sibi perfugium outant, Platonis ἴδια ῥήματα erunt audienda. 5 Haec in eos fabula competit, qui nulla indole praediti eloquentiam desperantes fugitant. Tibi, Caesar, ut cui maxime, sublime et excelsum et amplificum ingenium ab dis datum est; nam primi tui sensus et incunabula studiorum tuorum mihi cognita sunt. Elucebat jam tunc nobilitas mentis et dignitas sententiarum quibus sola fere deerant verborum lumina; ea quoque variis exercitationibus instruebamus. Ibi tu mihi videre mora temporali et laboris taedio defessus eloquentiae studium reliquisse, ad philosophiam devertisse, ubi nullum prohoemium cum cura excolendum, nulla narratio breviter et dilucide et callide collocanda, nullae quaestiones partiendae, nulla argumenta quaerenda, nihil exaggerendum aut ambiguendum; vere adhoc rectissimum est. 6 An tibi sae . . . . . . . . a tu sapiens inter . . . . . de rebus saepe videtur . se supersit tamen si dixisses nonnumquam de . . . . mosstos . . e . . ne . . . satis consuluisses . . . . . . . . m . . . . . . . . . . . . iste sine aquis supra aut in dicto quid gt . . sid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dum providet rent . . . modum. 7 Verum etiam saepe vir sapiens sicut pater tuus nescit elegato plane modo, sed si ita res tilerunt, ut de puteo quoque . . . . . puteus istic minus sorderet . . . . . s, si ita res tulit recte est . . . . . . . . . . . ver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . suum mihi v . . . udis rent . . . . . . . . . . . ne sub sententia quae adest . . bse . . . . . . id . . . . . . . . n . . . . . . . . . . sub se . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . so . . . . . . . . . r . . . . . . p . . . ei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . erb . . . . et . . . . . . . . . . . . ae . . . . tu . . . . . . . ser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tium . . . . . . . . . . . . ob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ingenio autem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sententias inopinatas aliis exin partas. Tanto majus periculum sententieis inest, nisi figurationibus moderatis temperantur. Graecis verbis fortasse apertius significabo: τὰ καινὰ παράδοξα τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων εἴδωλα εἰς αὐτὰ πλάσματα . . . . πεηι πιθανὰ λέγειν ποιιδετοιερ . . . . . ποτανασιν τι . . . ακ ἄλλων χαι . . . . . non τὰ ηκ . ι φοτι και . . . . . . φ . . . . . . . πειπτεσιιhρ . . . . . . . . hoc ego anima . . eanna nullis orationibus suis subvenisse liber et sua deo esse et copias misti ad aetates ut . . . . . . rarus; scias igitur in hoc uno eximiam eloquentiam tuam claudere. 8 Moneo igitur Marcum meum etiam atque etiam et, ut meminerit, obsecro: Quotienscumque ἀδοξότερον ἐνθύμημα animo conceperis, volvas illud tumet, diversis et variis figurationibus verses temperesque et verbis splendidis excolas, Nam quae nova et inopinata audientibus sunt, periculum est, nisi ornentur et figurentur, ne videantur absurda. 9 Cetera omnia tibi in eloquentia expolita et explorata sunt: Scis verba quaerere, scis reperta recte collocare, scis colorem sincerem vetustatis appingere; sententiis autem gravissimis abundas [quattuor paginae desunt] 10 <...> prima conditio est; ubi semel patefactae sunt, facile cognitae negleguntur. Contemni denique et nullo honore esse rhetora videas; observari autem et omnibus officiis coli dialecticos, quod in eorum rationibus semper obscuri aliquid et tortuosi sit, eoque fit, ut magistro discipulus haereat semper et inserviat, vinctus perpetuis quibusdam vinculeis attineatur. 11 Dicet aliquis: “Tu igitur praeter ceteros nimirum verbis pulchris et insignibus uteris?” Ego immo volgaribus et obsoletis. Quid igitur est? Nisi istud saltem scirem, deterioribus uterer.