Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (Latin: [kʷiːntɪliˈaːnʊs]; c. 35 – c. 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilian ( kwin-TIL-ee-ən), although the alternate spellings of Quintillian and Quinctilian are occasionally seen, the latter in older texts.
Life Quintilian was born c. 35 AD in Calagurris (Calahorra, La Rioja) in Hispania. His father, a well-educated man, sent him to Rome to study rhetoric early in the reign of Nero. While there, he cultivated a relationship with Domitius Afer, who died in 59. "It had always been the custom … for young men with ambitions in public life to fix upon some older model of their ambition … and regard him as a mentor". Quintilian evidently adopted Afer as his model and listened to him speak and plead cases in the law courts. Afer has been characterized as a more austere, classical, Ciceronian speaker than those common at the time of Seneca the Younger, and he may have inspired Quintilian's love of Cicero. Sometime after Afer's death, Quintilian returned to Hispania, possibly to practice law in the courts of his own province. However, in 68, he returned to Rome as part of the retinue of Emperor Galba, Nero's short-lived successor. Quintilian does not appear to have been a close advisor of the emperor, which probably ensured his survival after the assassination of Galba in 69. After Galba's death, and during the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors which followed, Quintilian opened a public school of rhetoric. Among his students were Pliny the Younger, and perhaps Tacitus. The Emperor Vespasian made him a consul. The emperor "in general was not especially interested in the arts, but … was interested in education as a means of creating an intelligent and responsible ruling class". This subsidy enabled Quintilian to devote more time to the school. In addition, he appeared in the courts of law, arguing on behalf of clients. Of his personal life, little is known. In the Institutio Oratoria, he mentions a wife who died young, as well as two sons who predeceased him. Quintilian retired from teaching and pleading in 88 AD, during the reign of Domitian. His retirement may have been prompted by his achievement of financial security and his desire to become a gentleman of leisure. Quintilian survived several emperors; the reigns of Vespasian and Titus were relatively peaceful, but that of Domitian was reputed to be difficult. Domitian's cruelty and paranoia may have prompted the rhetorician to distance himself quietly. The emperor does not appear to have taken offence as he made Quintilian tutor of his two grand-nephews in 90 AD. He is believed to have died sometime around 100 AD, not having long survived Domitian, who was assassinated in 96.
Works The only extant work of Quintilian is a twelve-volume textbook on rhetoric entitled Institutio Oratoria (generally referred to in English as the Institutes of Oratory), written around 95 AD. This work deals not only with the theory and practice of rhetoric, but also with the foundational education and development of the orator, providing advice that ran from the cradle to the grave. An earlier text, De Causis Corruptae Eloquentiae ("On the Causes of Corrupted Eloquence") has been lost, but is believed to have been "a preliminary exposition of some of the views later set forth in [Institutio Oratoria]". In addition, there are two sets of declamations, Declamationes Maiores and Declamationes Minores, which have been attributed to Quintilian. However, there is some dispute over the real writer of these texts: "Some modern scholars believe that the declamations circulated in his name represent the lecture notes of a scholar either using Quintilian's system or actually trained by him".
Institutio Oratoria
Institutio Oratoria (English: Institutes of Oratory) is Quintilian's twelve-volume textbook on the theory and practice of rhetoric. It was written around year 95 AD. The work deals also with the foundational education and development of orators. In this work, Quintilian establishes that the perfect orator is first a good man, and after that he is a good speaker. He also believed that a speech should stay genuine to a message that is "just and honorable". This came to be known as his good man theory, embracing the message that if one cannot be genuinely good, then one cannot be a good speaker for the people. This theory also revolves around being of service to the people. He asserts that a good man is one who works for the good of the people and the prosperity of society. Quintilian wrote Institutio Oratoria in the last years of Domitian's rule of the Roman Empire. He had worked alongside Domitian, but as he began to write more and ease away from Emperor Domitian's complete power, the emperor did not seem to mind. The emperor was so impressed with Quintilian's devotion to education that he hired him to be a tutor for his family. Domitian was in the harshest period of his rule at that time and almost no one had the courage to speak any idea that was unlike his, but Quintilian did. He spoke as an orator in the tradition of Cicero, such as had not been seen since the beginning of the reign of Augustus. Rather than pleading cases, as an orator of his era might have been expected to do, he concentrated on speaking in more general terms about how sound rhetoric influences the education of the people.
Placement of Quintilian's rhetoric
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