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The recent history of scholarship on Quintilian makes for intriguing and sometimes contradictory reading. While some modern assessments of Quintilian are ambivalent about his abilities as a rhetorician as revealed in the Institutio Oratoria, there has been a marked shift during the last part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century towards a more positive appraisal of his achievements. One reflection of this changed perception is the tendency by recent scholars to steer away from some of the disparaging criticism made by previous generations of scholars of Quintilian’s supposed shortcomings as a rhetorical theoretician, especially as a rhetor who is steeped in the faults of his age. Another indication of a more positive approach to Quintilian is the increased scholarly focus on seemingly almost every aspect of his rhetorical treatise. This growing interest in Quintilian is reflected in the over 600 publications that were published in 1980–2016, which is far more in number than for any period of similar length in the past. The discussion is intended to serve primarily as a statement about current worldwide opinions concerning Quintilian, with scholarly assessment of his significant role in Imperial rhetoric being the general focus. This chapter features the following main sections: topics of academic investigation; general praise of Quintilian; originality of Quintilian; modern relevance and utility of Quintilian; Quintilian, education, and law; Quintilian, literary criticism, and stylistic issues; general criticism of Quintilian; antiquated attitudes and speculative criticism; pseudo-academic scholarship: Wikipedia; and journalism and popular writing.
The recent history of scholarship on Quintilian makes for intriguing and sometimes contradictory reading. While some modern assessments of Quintilian are ambivalent about his abilities as a rhetorician as revealed in the Institutio Oratoria, there has been a marked shift during the last part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century towards a more positive appraisal of his achievements. One reflection of this changed perception is the tendency by recent scholars to steer away from some of the disparaging criticism made by previous generations of scholars of Quintilian’s supposed shortcomings as a rhetorical theoretician, especially as a rhetor who is steeped in the faults of his age. Another indication of a more positive approach to Quintilian is the increased scholarly focus on seemingly almost every aspect of his rhetorical treatise. This growing interest in Quintilian is reflected in the over 600 publications that were published in 1980–2016, which is far more in number than for any period of similar length in the past. The discussion is intended to serve primarily as a statement about current worldwide opinions concerning Quintilian, with scholarly assessment of his significant role in Imperial rhetoric being the general focus. This chapter features the following main sections: topics of academic investigation; general praise of Quintilian; originality of Quintilian; modern relevance and utility of Quintilian; Quintilian, education, and law; Quintilian, literary criticism, and stylistic issues; general criticism of Quintilian; antiquated attitudes and speculative criticism; pseudo-academic scholarship: Wikipedia; and journalism and popular writing.
Building on scholarship on Horace’s attribution of weakness to himself in the Epodes , this article finds a parallel for that practice, and for modern scholars’ analyses of it, in Quintilian’s theory of invective, which allows that mollitia , infirmitas , and lack of nervi may be advantageous for the orator. This comparison allows us to recognize Horace as a rhetorical innovator who, in response to the political upheaval of the civil wars, transforms not only poetic but also oratorical traditions of invective. It also deepens our understanding of the function of poetic models in Quintilian’s treatise.
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