Quintilian and Cicero

Quintilian believed that in order to be a good orator, the individual must be a moral, honest, and knowledgeable member of the society in which he or she lives. According to Quintilian, this individual:

Can duly sustain his character as a citizen, who is qualified for the management of public and private affairs, and who can govern communities by his counsels, settle them by means of laws, and improve them by judicial enactments”

The individual is knowledgeable when he or she can speak of justice, equity, and goodness, as Quintilian questions, “For what person (if he be not an utterly corrupt character) does not sometimes speak of justice, equity, and goodness?” but the individual becomes an orator when he or she professes these topics with eloquence and meaning.

            With Cicero, there is also the belief that the orator must be knowledgeable in various areas, or causes. The intention of the orator is to inform, persuade, and even argue his or her ideas to the audience. To Cicero, the orators are the ones who help with the continuance of a society’s history and spark the intellectual livelihood of the society’s citizens. If the orator is ignorant about the causes, then the orator answers Cicero’s question about human worth, “For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?” To illustrate the importance of knowledge even further, Cicero uses an analogy of how the ugly roots of the tree are essential in obtaining the tall, beautiful trees. The orator must have knowledge about the facts in order to sustain his or her ideas. There can be no ideas if the orator does not know the facts.

The recommendations of both Quintilian and Cicero surprised me in a happy way because they call for orators who are going to mean what they say and present with realness while speaking. Both Quintilian and Cicero emphasized the point that the individual does not become an orator until he or she speaks from true knowledge and acts within the moral realm of their society. An individual cannot become an orator if he or she has little knowledge or corrupt motives.

In Cicero’s On Duties, he claims, “Trust is basic to justice. By trust I mean stability and truth in promises and in agreements.” Therefore, a person can be called just if he follows through on promises and agreements that he may be involved in. Also a just person is one who will voluntarily look out for the wellbeing of others. However, Cicero goes on to say that there are not many just men because many have abandoned the idea of protecting the weak:

As for protection of the weak, several causes may be mentioned why men overlook and abandon this duty. Perhaps they wish to avoid unpopularity, or hard work, or expense. Or indifference, laziness, or weariness, or some private concerns and preoccupations hamper them so much that they allow people whom they ought to shelter remain unprotected.

The just people are the ones who are not pulled down by greed or the desire for power.