Cicero and Quintilian on the Formation of an Orator. INSTITUTION Southern Connecticut State Coll., New Haven
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 075 872 CS 500 240 AUTHOR Golden, James L. TITLE Cicero and Quintilian on the Formation of an Orator. INSTITUTION Southern Connecticut State Coll., New Haven. Dept. of Speech. PUB DATE 69 NOTE 6p. JOURNAL CIT Speech Journal; n6 p29-34 1969 EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 DESCRIPTORS Communication (Thought Transfer); *Composition Skills (Literary); *Discourse Analysis; Information Theory; Literary Analysis; *Persuasive Discourse; Public Speaking; *Rhetoric; *Rhetorical Criticism; Textual Criticism IDENTIFIERS Cicero; Quintilian ABSTRACT The contributions of Cicero and Quintilian, the two leading Roman rhetoricians, were based on their acceptance of the prior philosophical theories of Isocrates, which emphasized a cultural approach to rhetoric. Cicero and Quintilian, drawing from Isocrates sought prospective orators who had a natural talent for eloquence and who could adopt a cultural approach to rhetoric that emphasized the worth of reading and writing as important to forming the abilities of the model speaker. Their particular contributions were their emphases on the relationships between writing and speaking ability and their construction of systems ofrhetoric which viewed the orator as the prime motivator of a group of listeners on a specific occasion. Their writer-speaker centered rhetoric anticipated the tradition of rhetoric and letters that flourished in later centuries, with special relevance for mid-twentieth century students of communication theory. (Author/RN) Speech Journal, n6, 1969 Published by Dept. of Speech, Southern Connecticut State College. cicero and quintilian on the formation of an orator by James L. Golden The theory of culture approach to rhetoric of scholarship which could serve as a frame- has long been identified with the name of work for producing rhetorical works that Isocrates. For decades: in his highly success- have artistic form. In his Tusculan Disputa- ful school ‘vhich attracted potential orators. tions, written a few weeks'before the Ides historians. and• political leaders, he taught of March in 44 B.C., Cicero observed that an that rhetoric "ought to be a work of art as author who publiAes his thoughts expressed complete and as substantive us the•utterance in faulty content, arrangement. and style Of poety . .'." In doing so he demonstrated is guilty' of "an unpardonable abuse of let- faith in prose rhythm as a literary form ters and retiremen t." A few months later, and recommended its use as a means of pre- following the murder of Caesar, Cicero paring the student of communication to take .sought to protect the scholarly reputation part in political affairs. SS well as the physical safety of his friend Isocrates, who described his system as Brutus. In a letter to Atticus he noted: philosophical. built his concept of oratory "Brutus has sent me his speech that he de- around four major characteristics. To 'be livered before the Assembly on the Capitol. effective, he argued a speaker or writer Ile wants me to' correct it frankly' before must have a broad view of nature and so- he publisfies it." Cicero then added : "1 ciety; he must root his ideas in an elevated should like to read the speech...andto moral tone; he must adhere to a thorough let me know what you think of it:"' The in- and well structured method of practice and terest which both Brutus and Cicero ex- . scholarship; and he. should strive to•create 'pressed on this occasion concerning the need world that would have permanent rather for careful Fcrntiny of speeches designed to than ephemeral value; The communicator be nulilished doubtless epitomizes the pre- who hoped to achieve these ends would, of vailing fear which gripped the real andtsuk- necessity, have a firm grasp of the humani- peeled opponents of Caesar. But more im- ties and social sciences, project a strong portantly it reveals the high status of Latin moral dimension, and reveal a commitment scholarship during the generation of Cicero to scholarship. He would, in short, have an and the immediately subsequent Augustan appreciation for culture. Age. As a man of letters who was, accord.- ing to Chester Starr, "the most important This cultural, and pragmatic emphasis in single cultural leader in the thousand years rhetorical instruction held a special appeal of Roman development,'". Cicero conducted for Cicero. and Quintilian. "The brilliancy a lifelong campaign to create a philosophical of Isocrates" which, observes Jebb, came vocabulary in Latin and to establish stand- "to Cicero through the school o'f Rhodes" ards for a concise, varied, vivid, and infor- contributed significantly to the development mal style which would appeal to the literati. of Cicero's rhetorical theory and practice; But he also set for himself the task of en- and this, in turn, helped shape the philosophy riching his native tongue so that it could of Quintilian. With Isocrates the two leading become suitable as a spoken language.' ills Roman rh&oricians saw the relationship of conscious attempt to mobilize the Latin lan- art, nature, reading, and practice in produc- guage led Cicero to write numerous letters, ing the orator. To sketch this correlation essays, dialogues, poems, and speeches that and to show some of its implications is the were filed for publication. Moreover it burden of this essay. prompted him to see strong similarities be- An important.tirst step in tinders:tamling tween a speaker's devotion to careful schol- Cicero's method of formitrg an orator is to arship and his ability to exprelss ideas orally note his interest in constructing a philosophy and in writing. This Isocratic tendency to view rhetoric of merit." said Cicero. "who has not attained and other prose forms as an artistic produc- a knowledge of all important subjects and tion which should win the approval of men arts. For it is from knowledge thatoratory of culture not only influenced Cicero's De must derive its beauty and fullness, and un- Oratore but constitutes a major thrusi in. less there is such knowledge, well-grasped Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria. But the ideal and comprehended by the speaker. there orator both men sought to create must meet must be something empty and almost child- three additional requirements. lie should ish in the litterance."• As the seat ch for the have an inherent ability to speak a compre- perfect orator unfolds in the subsequent hensivereading knowledge of philosophy.and pages of De Oratore, Cicero strives mightily other liberal arts. and intense practice in to show that learning And eloquence must writing. So closely related are these forms go together. of communication, Quintilian held, that if In formulating; a pragmatic educational one were separated the others would lose view of rhetoric based on a theory of eul- their power. lie observed in his Institutio hire which stressed the value of nature and Oratoria: knowledge, Cicero and Quintilian, standing They are so intimately aml inseparably squarely in the tradition of Isocrates, said connected, that it' any one of them be ne- little that was new. As they turned to the glected, we shall but waste the labor which function and importance of writing as a tool we' have devoted to the others. For elo- for developing an orator they were refresh- quence will never attain to its full devel- ingly innovative and influential. in the early opment or robust healtIL'unless it acquires stages of an orator's preparation, Quintilian strength by frequent practice in writing, held that an endowed speaking talent is first while such practice without the models in importance, while •reading ranks second. supplied by reading will be like a ship As the student of rhetoric progresses, how- drifting aimlessly without a steersman. ever..the relative value of these points will Again, he who knows what he ought to say shift. With the maturing of the educational and how he should say it, will be like a process, writing assumes a steadily sig- miser brooding over his hoarded treasure, • nificant role. in his De Oralore and Brutus, unless he has the weapons of his eloquence Cicero asserted that writing is not only an ready for battle and prepared to deal with "eminent . teacher of eloquence,"" but every emergency." the most impressive single influence on Largely because of the high standards in- speaking practices." herent in a cultural view of rhetoric, Cicero Cicero and Quintilian were not content to and Quintilian, like their Greek predecessors. give testimonials concerning the general concluded that nature was a more influential value of writing in relation to speech.. They force than nurture in shaping an orator. For proceeded to ekamine the specific contribu- it is nature which gives to the speaker his tion of the pen as an implement of oratory. inventive ability, his talent to arrange and This was especially evident in the area of adapt arguments in a judicious manner, his extemporaneous speech. Some Roman speak- potential power in language control, and his et•s frequently wrote out their addresses in basic vocal and physical mechanism. With- complete manuscript form, then committed out these innate essentials one cannot appre- the language to memory. But they attempted date the role of culture in rhetoric, nor can to deliver the oration in such an off-hand he develop a facility in the arts of reading manner that even the judge could•not detect and writing which form the essence of the amount of labor which went into the oratory. construction of the work. Such a practice, But if nature is needed to provide the raw however, failed to fortify the speaker against materials for effective rhetorical perform- unpredictable emergencies. Moreover, par- ance it is nurture that takes the materials ticularly in forensic speaking, it was often and moulds them into a meaningful pattern. too time consuming to be useful, Cicero and One of the fruits of nurture is to open the other successful pleaders before the bar, doors of knowledge through a thorough and therefore, usually wrote certain portions of steady program of reading and study.