[89]
and ἐνέργεια, or vigour, a
near relative of all these qualities, which derives
its name from action and finds its peculiar function
in securing that nothing that we say is tame.
Bitterness, which is generally employed in abuse,
may be of service as in the following passage.
from Cassius: “What will you do when I invade
your special province, that is, when I show that,
as far as abuse is concerned, you are a mere
ignoramus?”1 Pungency also may be employed,
as in the following remark of Crassus: “Shall
I regard you as a consul, when you refuse to
regard me as a senator?” But the real power of
oratory lies in enhancing or attenuating the force
[p. 263]
of words. Each of these departments has the same
number of methods; I shall touch on the more important; those omitted will be of a like character,
while all are concerned either with words or things.
I have, however,
1 Cassius Severus was famous for his powers of abuse. His opponent was abusive. Cassius says that he will take a leaf out of his book and show him what real abuse is.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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