Quintilian and Declamation

Abstract

This chapter explores Quintilian’s views on declamation, which are rather more nuanced than it is sometimes assumed, against various backgrounds. After an introduction which presents the essential features of suasoriae and especially controversiae to the reader, it zooms in on the conflicting theories with which our ancient sources present us on the origins of declamation. It then offers an extensive tour of Sophistopolis, the fictitious Graeco-Roman city-state in which declamatory conflicts unfold. After a survey of what ancient critics wrote about declamation, the chapter assesses Quintilian’s position among them. What exactly are we to make of the phrase, so often quoted without further comment, that ‘so long as they are adapted to real life and resemble real speeches they are very useful’ (10.5.14)? It will turn out that Quintilian appears to take contradicting positions about this throughout his Institutio, and that this does not harm his teaching but rather enriches it. The chapter concludes with a brief survey of the four extant collections of Roman declamations.