orationis ratio. leeman, a. d. (amstrerdam, 1963) - kennedy, g. a. (1966)

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  • 8/10/2019 Orationis Ratio. Leeman, A. D. (Amstrerdam, 1963) - KENNEDY, G. a. (1966)

    1/6

    Orationis Ratio: The Stylistic Theories and Practice of the Roman Orators, Historians, and

    Philosophers by A. D. LeemanReview by: George KennedyThe American Journal of Philology, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Apr., 1966), pp. 237-241Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/292711.

    Accessed: 02/09/2014 04:14

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  • 8/10/2019 Orationis Ratio. Leeman, A. D. (Amstrerdam, 1963) - KENNEDY, G. a. (1966)

    2/6

    REVIEWS.EVIEWS.

    Phaedra did: Life in

    reality

    is

    quite

    different

    (p.

    81). Euripides'

    opposition,

    he

    adds,

    is

    directed as well

    against

    the

    sophists

    (p.

    82).

    Now it is true that

    frag.

    205 offers

    pointed

    praise

    of

    ignorance

    in

    an

    age

    when

    praise

    of

    knowledge

    had achieved

    a

    new

    intensity

    and

    variety.

    But to

    characterize the

    fragment

    as

    evidence

    of

    opposition

    to

    Socrates

    or

    others

    is

    to

    turn

    an

    epigram

    into

    a

    form

    of

    academic

    disputation.

    Moreover,

    if we delve

    beneath the flash

    of

    paradox,

    Euripides'

    supposed

    argument

    falls

    flat, simply

    because

    the

    knowledge

    which

    Antiope

    finds irksome

    and

    useless has

    nothing

    to

    do

    with

    the Socratic

    or

    sophistic

    knowledge

    of how to

    achieve

    one's ends. The

    second scene

    discussed is

    the

    debate between

    Am-

    phion

    and

    Zethus,

    and

    here Snell's

    long

    and learned discussion

    pro-

    vides us with a valuable commentary. He does not hesitate to state,

    however,

    that

    it cannot

    be

    denied

    that

    Antiope

    fell into two

    very

    different

    parts,

    one rather

    sophisticated

    [the

    debate],

    the

    other

    an

    exciting

    action

    of

    primitive

    coups

    de

    theatre

    (p.

    98).

    This

    judg-

    ment,

    which

    far

    outruns the

    sparse evidence,

    betrays

    a

    fundamental

    assumption

    about

    Euripides

    that not all of

    us

    can

    share.

    Only

    if

    we

    assume,

    as Snell

    does,

    that

    Euripides

    was

    always

    ready

    to forsake

    drama

    for

    personal

    disquisition

    need we

    believe

    that in

    his

    plays

    he

    engages

    in

    discussions and

    disputes

    (pp.

    63, 67).

    In

    the

    last two

    chapters

    Snell

    turns to

    quite

    a

    different

    subject,

    the

    fragments

    of

    Python's

    Agen, performed

    in

    the

    320's,

    of which

    eighteen lines survive in Athenaeus. This little satyr-play, as

    Athenaeus

    describes

    it,

    concerns

    the

    relations of

    Harpalus,

    one

    of

    the

    most

    powerful

    officials

    in

    Alexander's

    realm,

    with

    two

    courtesans,

    each

    of whom

    Harpalus

    visited

    with

    extravagant

    honors. The

    Agen

    touches

    the

    lighter

    side of

    a

    serious

    issue,

    viz. What

    were

    the

    honors

    and

    prerogatives

    proper

    to the

    divine

    humanity

    of

    Alexander

    himself

    (p.

    135)

    ?

    This

    was

    to

    be a

    special

    Hellenistic form

    of the

    old

    question

    which

    earlier

    Greeks had

    pondered

    too,

    the

    relation-

    ship

    of

    man

    to

    the

    gods

    (p.

    138),

    and

    so it

    finds a

    place

    in

    this

    set

    of

    lectures.

    This is a

    varied,

    learned,

    and

    interesting

    book

    by

    a

    man

    who

    in

    the past has taught us much about the Greek mind and whose views

    still

    rightly

    command

    our

    attention,

    even when

    we

    must

    disagree.

    MICHAEL

    J.

    O'BRIEN.

    YALE

    UNIVERSITY.

    A.

    D.

    LEEMAN.

    Orationis Ratio:

    The

    Stylistic

    Theories

    and

    Practice

    of

    the

    Roman

    Orators,

    Historians,

    and

    Philosophers.

    2

    vols.

    Amsterdam,

    Adolf

    M. Hakkert, 1963. Pp. 558. Fl. 58.

    In an

    impressive

    looking

    two-volume work

    Leeman,

    Professor of

    Latin

    at the

    University

    of

    Amsterdam,

    has

    undertaken an

    historical

    study

    of

    Latin

    prose

    style,

    both

    practice

    and

    theory,

    from

    the

    mid

    second

    century

    B.

    C.

    to

    the mid

    second

    century

    A.

    D.

    Volume

    one

    is

    divided

    into

    four main

    parts:

    The

    Archaic

    Period;

    The

    Classical

    Period;

    The

    Early

    Empire;

    The

    Classicist and

    Archaist

    Periods.

    Each

    of

    these

    parts

    is

    further

    divided

    into

    from

    three

    to

    five

    chap-

    Phaedra did: Life in

    reality

    is

    quite

    different

    (p.

    81). Euripides'

    opposition,

    he

    adds,

    is

    directed as well

    against

    the

    sophists

    (p.

    82).

    Now it is true that

    frag.

    205 offers

    pointed

    praise

    of

    ignorance

    in

    an

    age

    when

    praise

    of

    knowledge

    had achieved

    a

    new

    intensity

    and

    variety.

    But to

    characterize the

    fragment

    as

    evidence

    of

    opposition

    to

    Socrates

    or

    others

    is

    to

    turn

    an

    epigram

    into

    a

    form

    of

    academic

    disputation.

    Moreover,

    if we delve

    beneath the flash

    of

    paradox,

    Euripides'

    supposed

    argument

    falls

    flat, simply

    because

    the

    knowledge

    which

    Antiope

    finds irksome

    and

    useless has

    nothing

    to

    do

    with

    the Socratic

    or

    sophistic

    knowledge

    of how to

    achieve

    one's ends. The

    second scene

    discussed is

    the

    debate between

    Am-

    phion

    and

    Zethus,

    and

    here Snell's

    long

    and learned discussion

    pro-

    vides us with a valuable commentary. He does not hesitate to state,

    however,

    that

    it cannot

    be

    denied

    that

    Antiope

    fell into two

    very

    different

    parts,

    one rather

    sophisticated

    [the

    debate],

    the

    other

    an

    exciting

    action

    of

    primitive

    coups

    de

    theatre

    (p.

    98).

    This

    judg-

    ment,

    which

    far

    outruns the

    sparse evidence,

    betrays

    a

    fundamental

    assumption

    about

    Euripides

    that not all of

    us

    can

    share.

    Only

    if

    we

    assume,

    as Snell

    does,

    that

    Euripides

    was

    always

    ready

    to forsake

    drama

    for

    personal

    disquisition

    need we

    believe

    that in

    his

    plays

    he

    engages

    in

    discussions and

    disputes

    (pp.

    63, 67).

    In

    the

    last two

    chapters

    Snell

    turns to

    quite

    a

    different

    subject,

    the

    fragments

    of

    Python's

    Agen, performed

    in

    the

    320's,

    of which

    eighteen lines survive in Athenaeus. This little satyr-play, as

    Athenaeus

    describes

    it,

    concerns

    the

    relations of

    Harpalus,

    one

    of

    the

    most

    powerful

    officials

    in

    Alexander's

    realm,

    with

    two

    courtesans,

    each

    of whom

    Harpalus

    visited

    with

    extravagant

    honors. The

    Agen

    touches

    the

    lighter

    side of

    a

    serious

    issue,

    viz. What

    were

    the

    honors

    and

    prerogatives

    proper

    to the

    divine

    humanity

    of

    Alexander

    himself

    (p.

    135)

    ?

    This

    was

    to

    be a

    special

    Hellenistic form

    of the

    old

    question

    which

    earlier

    Greeks had

    pondered

    too,

    the

    relation-

    ship

    of

    man

    to

    the

    gods

    (p.

    138),

    and

    so it

    finds a

    place

    in

    this

    set

    of

    lectures.

    This is a

    varied,

    learned,

    and

    interesting

    book

    by

    a

    man

    who

    in

    the past has taught us much about the Greek mind and whose views

    still

    rightly

    command

    our

    attention,

    even when

    we

    must

    disagree.

    MICHAEL

    J.

    O'BRIEN.

    YALE

    UNIVERSITY.

    A.

    D.

    LEEMAN.

    Orationis Ratio:

    The

    Stylistic

    Theories

    and

    Practice

    of

    the

    Roman

    Orators,

    Historians,

    and

    Philosophers.

    2

    vols.

    Amsterdam,

    Adolf

    M. Hakkert, 1963. Pp. 558. Fl. 58.

    In an

    impressive

    looking

    two-volume work

    Leeman,

    Professor of

    Latin

    at the

    University

    of

    Amsterdam,

    has

    undertaken an

    historical

    study

    of

    Latin

    prose

    style,

    both

    practice

    and

    theory,

    from

    the

    mid

    second

    century

    B.

    C.

    to

    the mid

    second

    century

    A.

    D.

    Volume

    one

    is

    divided

    into

    four main

    parts:

    The

    Archaic

    Period;

    The

    Classical

    Period;

    The

    Early

    Empire;

    The

    Classicist and

    Archaist

    Periods.

    Each

    of

    these

    parts

    is

    further

    divided

    into

    from

    three

    to

    five

    chap-

    23737

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  • 8/10/2019 Orationis Ratio. Leeman, A. D. (Amstrerdam, 1963) - KENNEDY, G. a. (1966)

    3/6

    AMERICAN

    JOURNAL

    OF PHILOLOGY.

    ters.

    Ordinarily

    in

    each

    part

    there

    is attention to

    the

    theory

    and

    criticism of

    style,

    to

    oratory,

    to

    historiography,

    and to

    philosophy.

    The principal authors discussed are

    Cato,

    Auctor ad

    Herennium,

    Cicero,

    Caesar,

    Sallust,

    Livy,

    Seneca

    the

    elder

    and

    younger,

    Quin-

    tilian,

    Tacitus,

    Pliny,

    Fronto, Gellius,

    and

    Apuleius,

    but

    there

    is

    considerable

    attention

    to

    the

    style

    of

    fragmentary orators,

    historians,

    and

    philosophers.

    The novel and

    technical

    treatises

    (except

    Cato's)

    are

    passed

    over

    as

    sub-literary by

    Roman

    standards;

    there

    is

    no

    discussion of the

    relationship

    between

    prose

    and

    poetry:

    Atticism as

    it

    applies

    to

    poetry,

    for

    example,

    or

    the

    discussions

    of

    style

    in

    Horace

    as

    they

    apply

    to

    prose,

    or

    the

    relation of

    Ovid

    or

    Lucan to

    contemporary

    rhetoric

    are

    ignored;

    nor

    is

    there

    very

    much

    on the

    relation

    between

    style

    and

    the work

    of Roman

    grammarians.

    Both

    fragments

    and

    portions

    of extant

    works

    are

    extensively

    quoted

    in

    Latin

    in

    the

    text,

    while an

    English

    translation,

    often from

    the

    Loeb

    Classical

    Library,

    is

    supplied

    in

    notes which are

    conveniently

    avail-

    able

    in

    the

    smaller

    second volume. The

    notes

    consist

    solely

    of these

    translations

    and

    of

    references to ancient

    authorities.

    The

    second

    volume

    also

    includes

    a

    brief selective

    bibliography,

    an index

    nomi-

    num,

    an

    index

    rerum et

    verborum ad

    litteras

    pertinentium

    (Latin,

    English,

    and

    Greek with a

    number

    of omissions and

    mistakes)

    and

    an

    index

    locorum

    potiorum.

    The

    obvious

    standard

    against

    which

    Leeman's

    work

    might

    be com-

    pared is that of Eduard Norden's Die Antike Kunstprosa, as he

    acknowledges

    himself in

    the

    introduction. Leeman

    criticizes

    Norden

    for

    over-estimation

    of

    the

    role of

    rhetoric

    and for

    too

    ready

    sim-

    plification.

    In

    contrast

    his

    own

    aims,

    he

    says,

    are a more

    limited

    historical

    coverage,

    fuller

    interpretation

    of relevant

    passages,

    and

    a

    more

    didactic

    exposition

    of the

    material

    by

    means

    of

    extensive

    quotation.

    All

    of

    this

    he

    certainly

    attains.

    The

    great

    virtue of

    the

    book

    is

    its

    impressive

    collection

    of

    significant

    Latin

    texts on

    prose

    style,

    quoted

    in

    full,

    often

    compared

    and

    contrasted

    with

    other

    texts,

    and often

    accompanied

    by

    perceptive

    comments.

    Leeman

    is

    apologetic

    on

    two

    scores,

    for

    his

    English

    and

    for his

    selectivity. His English he describes as a lingua franca. We may

    be

    grateful

    for it: it

    is

    generally quite

    idiomatic and

    adequate,

    though

    there

    are

    small

    misprints

    which

    an

    English

    proof-reader

    might

    have

    noticed.

    Leeman's second

    doubt,

    however,

    leads to a real

    problem

    in

    the

    work. It

    is not

    the

    selectivity

    which

    is

    at

    fault;

    naturally

    Leeman

    had

    to

    be

    selective.

    It is the

    lack of

    balance in

    the

    selection

    between

    theory

    and

    practice

    and

    to

    some

    extent the

    tendency

    to

    treat

    either

    very

    broad

    questions

    of

    the

    philosophy

    of

    rhetoric or

    very

    specific

    details

    of

    stylistic

    practice

    and

    nothing

    in

    between.

    The

    book

    furnishes a

    good

    historical account within the

    limits

    it

    defines

    of

    the

    theory

    of

    Latin

    prose

    style.

    The

    sub-title,

    however,

    claims to

    furnish a history of Latin prose in practice, and the table of con-

    tents raises

    hopes

    of a

    comprehensive

    account.

    These

    hopes

    are

    disappointed.

    There

    is

    a

    good

    deal

    on

    the

    practice

    of

    writers known

    only

    from

    fragments;

    there is not an

    adequate

    account

    of

    the

    stylistic practice

    of

    major

    extant

    Roman

    authors

    or

    of

    the

    applica-

    tion

    of

    theory

    to

    practice.

    This is

    especially

    true

    in the

    case

    of

    Cicero. In

    a

    sense

    a

    similar

    objection

    could

    be

    made

    against

    Norden's

    discussion of

    Cicero.

    Nor-

    den was aware

    of

    it and

    pleaded

    lack of

    secondary

    materials

    on

    238

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  • 8/10/2019 Orationis Ratio. Leeman, A. D. (Amstrerdam, 1963) - KENNEDY, G. a. (1966)

    4/6

    REVIEWS.

    which to

    draw. He outlined

    five different

    areas

    in which

    Cicero's

    stylistic theory, practice,

    and

    development

    should

    be

    studied.

    It

    would

    have

    been valuable if

    Leeman

    had taken

    up

    these

    five

    points

    and

    in

    an

    orderly

    way

    shown what

    progress

    has

    been

    made

    by

    classical

    philology

    in

    the last

    sixty-five

    years.

    This is

    not

    what he

    chooses

    to

    do,

    however.

    He

    comments on

    a

    number

    of relevant

    matters

    in

    the

    course of

    his

    own

    discussion,

    but his account

    of

    Cicero's

    style

    treats

    only

    one

    period

    of

    its

    development.

    There

    is

    a

    chapter

    entitled

    Cicero and

    Asianism which

    contains

    a rather detailed

    discussion

    of

    Cicero's

    oratorical

    style

    in

    his

    early

    years

    with

    some mention

    of

    the

    speeches

    down

    to 63

    B.

    C.,

    though

    the

    great

    set

    of

    Verrine

    ora-

    tions

    is

    shabbily

    treated.

    The next

    chapter,

    however,

    turns to

    a

    survey of Cicero's oratorical theory, quite an adequate survey, and

    Leeman

    never

    returns to

    discuss

    the

    subsequent

    stages

    of

    Cicero's

    development.

    The

    account

    is

    thus

    frustrating

    in

    terms of the

    an-

    nounced

    objective

    of

    the

    book

    or the

    picture

    of

    the

    history

    of

    Latin

    style

    which

    one

    would

    like

    students

    to

    get.

    There

    is no

    analysis

    of

    the

    greatest

    speeches

    of the

    greatest

    Latin

    stylist.

    What

    is needed

    is

    not

    thorough

    coverage

    but

    balanced

    selectivity,

    here for

    example

    stylistic

    analysis

    of at

    least

    one

    middle

    and one

    later

    oration

    to

    match

    what

    is done for

    Cicero's earlier

    oratory.

    Furthermore,

    these

    analyses

    should if

    possible

    bring

    out

    the

    variations

    in

    style

    within

    a

    speech.

    There

    is

    throughout

    the

    discussion

    of

    Cicero what

    seems

    to be a lack of imagination, a failure to recognize the excitement

    of

    oratory

    to

    Cicero,

    a

    rather

    Romantic

    suspicion

    of

    artificiality,

    and

    a

    tendency

    to

    look

    at

    Cicero's

    works

    in

    a

    narrow

    way

    without

    considering

    the

    relation

    of

    their

    style

    to

    their

    structure,

    subject,

    or

    specific

    occasion.

    Cicero

    is after

    all the

    overwhelming

    central

    figure

    in

    the

    history

    of

    Latin

    style,

    both

    as

    theorist

    and

    practitioner.

    Lee-

    man

    verbally

    acknowledges

    his

    importance,

    but

    seems to

    resent

    him:

    he

    offers

    (p.

    219)

    to

    trade ten

    of his

    orations for

    one

    of

    Hortensius

    and

    ten

    more for

    one

    of

    Pollio.

    He

    claims

    (pp.

    123

    and

    206)-

    falsely

    I

    think-that

    Cicero

    did

    not

    understand

    the

    quarrel

    between

    rhetoric and

    philosophy,

    more

    justly

    perhaps

    that he

    misrepresents

    the influences upon himself (p. 110) and the attitudes of the Atti-

    cists

    (p.

    165),

    though

    earlier

    (p.

    44)

    Leeman

    admired

    Cicero's

    insight

    into

    the

    nature

    of the

    Atticist

    movement.

    Even

    Cicero's

    contribution

    to

    philosophical

    Latin

    is

    grudgingly

    treated

    (p.

    211).

    These

    criticisms

    bring

    out

    a

    central

    feature

    of the

    work,

    that

    it

    is

    not,

    despite

    some

    appearances,

    a

    systematic

    or

    comprehensive

    history.

    It

    is a

    series

    of

    texts

    with

    observations

    thereon,

    very

    much

    as

    might

    be

    delivered

    in

    the

    lecture

    room.

    The

    tone

    is

    that

    of

    the

    lecturer

    rather

    than

    that of

    the

    essayist

    or

    historian.

    Problems

    are

    rarely

    stated

    and

    defined,

    but are

    elicited

    from

    discussion.

    Thus

    Atticism

    and

    Asianism

    are

    repeatedly

    referred

    to

    before

    they

    are

    explained.

    The decision to omit secondary sources except for the short

    selective

    bibliography

    is

    part

    of

    the

    same

    tendency.

    No

    doubt it

    made

    writing

    the

    book

    easier;

    it

    equally

    makes the

    book

    less

    useful. Given

    the

    nature

    of

    the

    subject,

    which

    involves a

    great

    deal

    of

    attention

    to

    small

    details

    and

    thus

    needs

    the

    support

    of

    specialized

    studies,

    the

    decision

    was

    regrettable.

    It

    is

    furthermore

    carried

    out

    in

    a

    singu-

    larly

    annoying

    way

    with

    phrases

    like

    it

    has even

    been

    argued

    that

    (p.

    11)

    cropping

    up

    from

    time

    to

    time

    without

    any

    further

    identification.

    239

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    AMERICAN JOURNAL

    OF

    PHILOLOGY.

    Leeman's

    lack of

    sympathy

    for Cicero is counterbalanced

    by

    a

    greater

    feeling

    for

    some other writers. There is

    a

    good

    discussion

    of

    Thucydidean

    Atticism at

    Rome,

    centering

    around Pollio and

    Sallust.

    The

    latter's

    prologues

    are

    approached

    (p.

    185)

    with

    sym-

    pathy

    as

    attempts

    to

    define

    historiography

    within

    the

    categories

    of

    Roman

    virtus. His

    style,

    it is claimed

    (p.

    184),

    sounded much more

    poetic

    to the Romans

    than it

    does

    to

    us,

    chiefly

    because

    of

    its

    archaism,

    which links it with Roman

    epic

    and

    tragedy.

    The

    chapter

    on

    the

    orators

    and

    rhetoricians

    in

    the

    early

    empire

    contains some

    small confusions.

    The

    first

    note

    (p.

    219)

    is

    lacking;

    there is no

    evidence

    that Seneca

    the

    elder

    spent sixty

    years

    in Rome

    (p.

    224),

    though

    his

    visits there

    spanned

    sixty

    years;

    Seneca

    does not

    claim

    to have

    heard 170

    declaimers

    (p. 227)

    :

    I

    count

    108,

    but it

    is difficult

    to be

    exact

    and

    110

    (misread

    as

    170?)

    is

    a

    good

    round number.

    Somehow

    the

    200

    orators

    referred to on

    page

    43

    seem

    to have

    been

    reduced

    to

    170 on

    page

    227

    to match

    the

    non-existent

    170

    declaimers.

    The

    account of Theodoreanism

    (p.

    238)

    is not accurate

    (cf.

    G.

    M.

    A.

    Grube

    in

    this

    Journal,

    LXXX

    [1959], pp.

    337

    ff.).

    The

    main dis-

    cussion of

    Livy

    in

    chapter

    seven is rather

    brief, though

    something

    had

    already

    been said about his

    style

    in

    chapter

    three in

    comparison

    with

    earlier

    historiography.

    Leeman

    plausibly argues (p.

    195),

    fol-

    lowing Lundstr6m,

    that

    Livy

    is

    rather a

    loyal

    admirer than a

    part

    and

    product

    of Roman

    history. Except

    in

    speeches

    he never

    uses

    nostri to mean the Romans and in fact may have spent very little

    time

    in

    Rome.

    Personally

    I

    rather

    like the

    passage

    from

    Velleius

    Paterculus

    which Leemnan

    quotes (p.

    250)

    as

    an

    example

    of

    abomi-

    nable Asianistic

    deviation,

    but

    which

    he

    says

    he will

    leave to

    the

    reader to

    analyze.

    A

    student

    of

    Roman

    rhetoric should

    not be

    offended

    at

    an

    apostrophe

    to Mark

    Antony

    on the

    death

    of

    Cicero,

    he

    ought

    to

    relax

    and

    enjoy

    the

    game.

    The

    treatment

    of

    Seneca

    deals

    principally

    with

    his theories of

    philosophical

    style

    and with the

    in-

    fluences

    upon

    his

    style,

    which

    Leeman

    thinks

    (p. 283)

    are

    principally

    those

    of

    rhetoricians.

    Quintilian's

    criticisms

    of

    Seneca

    are

    quoted

    and

    carefully

    explained,

    and

    Quintilian

    himself is

    praised

    as

    the

    first person fully to realize the differences between Latin and Greek

    (p.

    296)

    and as a

    Ciceronian who had at the

    same time

    a wide

    ranging appreciation

    of

    what had

    been

    achieved

    up

    to his own

    day

    (p.

    320).

    There is

    very

    little

    discussion

    of

    the

    style

    in which

    these

    writers

    write;

    Tacitus'

    style

    is however

    given

    some attention

    as are

    his

    literary

    attitudes.

    Leeman's

    general position

    on Tacitus

    is

    not

    unlike

    that

    of

    Syme

    and other modern

    critics.

    He

    claims

    (pp.

    321

    and

    346)

    that

    Maternus

    in

    the

    Dialogus

    is

    Tacitus

    himself;

    just

    as

    Maternus

    has

    given

    up oratory

    for

    tragedy,

    so in

    the

    period

    between

    100

    and

    105

    A.

    D.

    when

    Leeman thinks

    the

    Dialogus

    was written

    Tacitus

    is

    giving up oratory

    for

    what

    Leeman

    calls

    tragic

    his-

    tory. The revival of classical ideals by Quintilian and others in the

    late first

    century

    made

    men

    painfully

    aware that

    they lived

    and

    worked

    in

    a

    different

    sphere

    of

    life

    in

    which

    the

    role

    of

    the indi-

    vidual

    was confined to

    a

    narrow

    range

    of

    possibilities

    (p.

    323).

    That

    this

    is an

    overstatement

    is

    clear from

    Leeman's

    admission that

    Quintilian

    and

    Pliny

    did

    not see

    it

    this

    way,

    and also

    from

    the

    fact

    that the

    locus

    communis on

    the

    decline of

    oratory

    had

    been

    developed

    earlier. Leeman thinks

    that

    Tacitus

    always

    hated

    to be

    specific,

    that

    he

    found in

    obscura

    brevitas a mask for

    his

    real

    personality (p.

    240

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  • 8/10/2019 Orationis Ratio. Leeman, A. D. (Amstrerdam, 1963) - KENNEDY, G. a. (1966)

    6/6

    REVIEWS.EVIEWS.

    337),

    and

    finally

    that

    this use of a character

    as

    a

    spokesman

    for

    the

    author,

    seen also

    in

    Cicero's

    De

    oratore,

    though

    derived

    from

    the Greek

    dialogue,

    is a characteristic feature of Roman literature.

    He

    calls

    it allusionism

    (p. 346).

    Despite

    the

    title

    of

    the work

    Leeman has

    not

    produced

    an

    authori-

    tative

    history

    of

    the

    theory

    and

    practice

    of

    Latin

    prose

    style.

    He

    has assembled

    an

    impressive

    collection

    of texts

    and

    published

    a

    series

    of

    interesting

    and

    informative

    observations

    on

    them.

    GEORGE

    KENNEDY.

    UNIVERSITYOF

    PITTSBURGH.

    FRANCESCO

    AOLO

    izzo,

    S. J.

    Le

    fonti

    per

    la

    storia

    della

    conquista

    pompeiana

    della

    Siria.

    Palermo,

    Fond.

    Mormino,

    1963.

    Pp.

    101.

    (Supplementi

    a

    'Kokalos,

    II.)

    The

    history

    of

    Pompey's conquest

    of

    Syria

    consists of

    scraps

    of

    information

    drawn

    from

    writers

    of

    the

    Imperial

    period.

    From

    what

    primary

    sources

    did

    this scattered

    information come?

    To

    that

    ques-

    tion Father

    Rizzo

    addresses himself

    in

    the

    present monograph.

    Ancient

    references

    to

    the

    conquest

    itself

    are so

    meager

    that

    any

    analysis of them must widen its focus to include the general history

    of

    Lucullus'

    and

    Pompey's

    campaigns

    against

    Mithridates

    and

    Tigranes.

    Rizzo

    begins

    his

    study

    by

    summarizing

    Cicero's

    De

    imperio

    Cn.

    Pompei.

    He

    remarks

    that the

    oration

    was

    not

    especially

    offen-

    sive to the

    optimate

    party,

    and

    eventually

    helped

    to

    inspire

    the

    favorable

    picture

    of

    Pompey

    painted by

    Livy

    and

    others

    who ideal-

    ized

    the

    Republic.

    Chapter

    II

    lists

    the

    Latin

    historians

    (Sallust

    excepted)

    of

    the

    Late

    Republic

    who

    dealt,

    or

    may

    have

    dealt,

    with

    Pompey's

    Syrian

    campaign.

    A

    score

    of

    names,

    but

    few

    solid

    facts

    emerge: if,

    for

    example,

    Saufeius the

    historian

    is the

    same

    as

    L.

    Saufeius, eques,

    his

    history,

    if

    it

    touched on

    these

    matters,

    must

    have

    presented Pompey's eastern achievements in a favorable light. Turn-

    ing

    to

    Sallust,

    we

    are

    reminded

    that

    his

    Histories,

    which

    did

    not

    come

    down

    beyond

    67 or

    66 B.

    C.,

    praised

    Lucullus at

    the

    expense

    of

    Pompey,

    and

    were

    used

    by

    Plutarch

    in

    his

    biography

    of

    Lucullus.

    Two

    Greek

    writers

    of

    the

    same

    period

    receive

    attention

    in

    Chapter

    IV. The

    epic poem

    of

    Archias

    of

    Antioch

    glorified

    non

    modum

    L.

    Lucullum

    ...

    verum

    etiam

    populi

    Romani

    nomen.

    Rizzo

    finds

    it

    significant

    that,

    so

    far

    as we

    know, Archias made

    no

    mention

    of

    Lucullus'

    arrangements

    for

    Syrian

    independence

    and

    a

    restora-

    tion

    of

    the

    Seleucid

    dynasty.

    As

    Lucullus had

    his

    Archias,

    so Pom-

    pey

    had

    his

    Theophanes

    of

    Mytilene,

    whose

    biography

    of

    Pompey

    scholars have detected behind the accounts of several later historians.

    A

    survey

    of

    proven

    and

    possible

    primary

    sources

    is

    useful,

    but

    little

    in

    these

    chapters

    is

    new.

    The

    worth

    of

    this

    monograph

    must

    be

    established

    on

    the basis

    of

    what

    follows.

    And

    here,

    in an

    attempt

    to

    find

    links between

    the

    primary

    sources

    and

    the later

    authors,

    Rizzo

    offers

    little

    more than a

    number of

    questionable,

    if

    imaginative,

    hypotheses.

    Chapter

    V

    deals

    with

    the

    Livian

    tradition,

    VI

    with

    Justin's fortieth

    book,

    VII

    with

    Plutarch

    and the

    Strabonian

    tra-

    dition,

    and

    VIII with

    Appian's

    Syriake.

    337),

    and

    finally

    that

    this use of a character

    as

    a

    spokesman

    for

    the

    author,

    seen also

    in

    Cicero's

    De

    oratore,

    though

    derived

    from

    the Greek

    dialogue,

    is a characteristic feature of Roman literature.

    He

    calls

    it allusionism

    (p. 346).

    Despite

    the

    title

    of

    the work

    Leeman has

    not

    produced

    an

    authori-

    tative

    history

    of

    the

    theory

    and

    practice

    of

    Latin

    prose

    style.

    He

    has assembled

    an

    impressive

    collection

    of texts

    and

    published

    a

    series

    of

    interesting

    and

    informative

    observations

    on

    them.

    GEORGE

    KENNEDY.

    UNIVERSITYOF

    PITTSBURGH.

    FRANCESCO

    AOLO

    izzo,

    S. J.

    Le

    fonti

    per

    la

    storia

    della

    conquista

    pompeiana

    della

    Siria.

    Palermo,

    Fond.

    Mormino,

    1963.

    Pp.

    101.

    (Supplementi

    a

    'Kokalos,

    II.)

    The

    history

    of

    Pompey's conquest

    of

    Syria

    consists of

    scraps

    of

    information

    drawn

    from

    writers

    of

    the

    Imperial

    period.

    From

    what

    primary

    sources

    did

    this scattered

    information come?

    To

    that

    ques-

    tion Father

    Rizzo

    addresses himself

    in

    the

    present monograph.

    Ancient

    references

    to

    the

    conquest

    itself

    are so

    meager

    that

    any

    analysis of them must widen its focus to include the general history

    of

    Lucullus'

    and

    Pompey's

    campaigns

    against

    Mithridates

    and

    Tigranes.

    Rizzo

    begins

    his

    study

    by

    summarizing

    Cicero's

    De

    imperio

    Cn.

    Pompei.

    He

    remarks

    that the

    oration

    was

    not

    especially

    offen-

    sive to the

    optimate

    party,

    and

    eventually

    helped

    to

    inspire

    the

    favorable

    picture

    of

    Pompey

    painted by

    Livy

    and

    others

    who ideal-

    ized

    the

    Republic.

    Chapter

    II

    lists

    the

    Latin

    historians

    (Sallust

    excepted)

    of

    the

    Late

    Republic

    who

    dealt,

    or

    may

    have

    dealt,

    with

    Pompey's

    Syrian

    campaign.

    A

    score

    of

    names,

    but

    few

    solid

    facts

    emerge: if,

    for

    example,

    Saufeius the

    historian

    is the

    same

    as

    L.

    Saufeius, eques,

    his

    history,

    if

    it

    touched on

    these

    matters,

    must

    have

    presented Pompey's eastern achievements in a favorable light. Turn-

    ing

    to

    Sallust,

    we

    are

    reminded

    that

    his

    Histories,

    which

    did

    not

    come

    down

    beyond

    67 or

    66 B.

    C.,

    praised

    Lucullus at

    the

    expense

    of

    Pompey,

    and

    were

    used

    by

    Plutarch

    in

    his

    biography

    of

    Lucullus.

    Two

    Greek

    writers

    of

    the

    same

    period

    receive

    attention

    in

    Chapter

    IV. The

    epic poem

    of

    Archias

    of

    Antioch

    glorified

    non

    modum

    L.

    Lucullum

    ...

    verum

    etiam

    populi

    Romani

    nomen.

    Rizzo

    finds

    it

    significant

    that,

    so

    far

    as we

    know, Archias made

    no

    mention

    of

    Lucullus'

    arrangements

    for

    Syrian

    independence

    and

    a

    restora-

    tion

    of

    the

    Seleucid

    dynasty.

    As

    Lucullus had

    his

    Archias,

    so Pom-

    pey

    had

    his

    Theophanes

    of

    Mytilene,

    whose

    biography

    of

    Pompey

    scholars have detected behind the accounts of several later historians.

    A

    survey

    of

    proven

    and

    possible

    primary

    sources

    is

    useful,

    but

    little

    in

    these

    chapters

    is

    new.

    The

    worth

    of

    this

    monograph

    must

    be

    established

    on

    the basis

    of

    what

    follows.

    And

    here,

    in an

    attempt

    to

    find

    links between

    the

    primary

    sources

    and

    the later

    authors,

    Rizzo

    offers

    little

    more than a

    number of

    questionable,

    if

    imaginative,

    hypotheses.

    Chapter

    V

    deals

    with

    the

    Livian

    tradition,

    VI

    with

    Justin's fortieth

    book,

    VII

    with

    Plutarch

    and the

    Strabonian

    tra-

    dition,

    and

    VIII with

    Appian's

    Syriake.

    24141

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