FRONTO, THE ORATOR AND THE MAN
by the treasuring up of old poems in the memory.[1] He explains that he has in mind the "inevitable" word, for which, if withdrawn, no substitute equally good could be found. Some old words would certainly have no modern equivalent, as for instance in English the word "hansel." "The best words in the best places" would be Fronto's definition of oratory, as it was Coleridge's of poetry.
It is a prevalent but mistaken idea that Fronto disparages or underrates Cicero. He may personally prefer Cato or Sallust, but he recognizes the pre-eminence of Cicero's genius. It is quite possible that if we had the works of the older writers, we also should prefer their simple dignity and natural vigour even to the incomparable finish and opulence of Tully. However that may be, Fronto credits Cicero with almost every conceivable excellence except the due search for the precise word.[2] He calls him the greatest mouthpiece of the Roman language, the head and source of Roman eloquence, master on all occasions of the most beautiful language, and deficient only in unlooked for words.[3] He candidly confesses his own inferiority.[4] Of his letters he says "nothing can be more perfect." He calls them tullianae and remissiores, and seems to envy their careless ease.[5] But in practice he disavows the structure of the Ciceronian sentence and the arrangement of its
- ↑ P. 7.
- ↑ P. 4.
- ↑ Ad Amicos, i. 14.
- ↑ When he bids Victorinus compare his Pro Bithynis with Cicero's Pro Sulla. Ad Amicos, i. 14.
- ↑ See p. 122.
