ABSTRACT
In the preface to his Institutio Oratoria, or Oratorical Training, a textbook on oratory written in the last decades of the first century Ce, Quintilian summarizes the aims of elite Roman pedagogy in these words: “We strive, then, for the perfect orator, who cannot be so unless he is a good man; consequently, we demand of him not merely the possession of exceptional gifts of speech, but of all the virtues of character as well” (IO 1 pref. 9). 1 Each of the Institution's twelve books makes an attempt to put this statement into practice, to forge a seamless connection between oratorical training and ethical instruction. At the basis of its pedagogical theory lies the popular ancient notion that inner character manifests itself most clearly in self-presentation, and specifically in speech: “as a man lives, so he speaks,” Quintilian says (ut vivat, quemque etiam dicere, IO 11.1.30). Train a youth in the techniques of speechmaking with sufficient care, the rhetorician believes, and he will evolve into a virtuous man, eager and able to “meet the demands of both public and private business, guide a state by counsel, give it a firm basis in legislation and improve it in the courts” (IO 1 pref. 10).
