Marc Fabius Quintilian (35 - c. 100 AD) is known to everyone who has at least once encountered rhetoric and oratory. He was the first Roman theoretician to receive a salary for his achievements, and subsequently won fame as a great orator.
Short biography
Starting at the school organized by Emperor Titus Flavius Vespassian, the outstanding orator Marcus Fabius Quintilian became a respected professor and voice of high Roman society. According to historians, he was an ardent admirer of Cicero's work, but at the same time he was able to completely change the literary style of his time.
Poets are born, speakers are made
This is the essence of his teachings. The main rule of the speaker is to take the path of rules and instructions. Here it is not enough to be born with the gift of eloquence, one must be able to manage it. The speaker creates rules for choosing words, arranges them logically in sentences, discards irrelevant details, and conveys the true meaning to his listeners.
"Who? What? Where?When? How? How? Why?" - this is how the model created by the rhetorician looks like. And until now, his recommendations on how to build sentences correctly are used in many professions at the present time.
According to Quintilian, an orator is a wise man who brings the truth to the people. And for truth, it is not enough to have the necessary natural data. With ethics, moderation and logic, they combine to give the same result.
Quintilian's Rhetoric
After studying a huge number of ancient Greek and some Roman works, Mark Fabius Quintilian divided rhetoric into 5 postulates. He divides the types of speech into commendable and condemnatory, judicial speeches and reasoning.
One of the most important points of speech, in his opinion, is intonation, which can direct speech to flow in the right direction. The same goes for gestures and the ability to stop in time. These qualities will help to evoke laughter, horror, regret, sympathy - the whole spectrum of human emotions that can win the sympathy of the public or convince the judges when the speaker pleases.
Marc Fabius Quintilian on the upbringing of an orator
There are no incompetent children, but it is necessary to take into account the personal qualities and abilities of each of them. It was this approach that Quintilian used when teaching his students. He followed three main steps, saying that children should first be taught to imitate and the necessary rules, and then only be given the opportunity to practice.
He did not recognize individual training. In his opinion, it is being in societyallows a person to take control of himself. In friendly relations there is no place for material conviction, therefore, one can achieve one's goal only in word and deed.
Corporal punishment must be abandoned. The most important thing for a child is to find his "I" as early as possible. A good relationship between student and teacher is the key to hard work. Studying grammar and reading the right books will help in mental development and moral education. Do not neglect the calligraphy. Education should begin as early as possible, no matter that at first children can learn a little, but year after year, collecting bit by bit of knowledge, they will reach the desired heights. By nature, all children have talent, but without proper education it cannot be revealed.
Artworks
The writings of Marcus Fabius Quintilian "Instructions to the Orator" included twelve books, each of which is devoted to a separate issue within the framework of the entire topic. Thus, the first volume deals with the upbringing of a child (boy) by parents. The second reveals the essence of education in the rhetorical school. From the third to the ninth, Quintilian talks about the theory of oratory. The tenth analyzes works useful for the future speaker. The eleventh contains oratory techniques, and the twelfth book sums up the whole work, constituting the image of an ideal speaker - a person of high morality and morality with a broad outlook and a flexible mind.
He created this cycle of books thanks to persuasiontheir students and comrades. Referring to the fact that before him enough works had been created on this topic, Marcus Fabius did not want to take up the work for a long time, but in the end he decided that no one except him could collect, systematize and describe all the necessary points that are important for learning. And so a great work was created, based on the importance of the unity of impeccable style and content.
Basic rules
Speech should fully reveal the meaning and carry the truth, but not be long beyond measure. It should contain words that will revive it, but not overload it. The speaker should have a glib and bold word, but not offensively bold. The speaker needs to set three goals that will determine the direction of speech: persuasion, delight, passion. You can not talk about what you have no idea about, because then the word will become far from reality.
No rules and instructions can exist without talent. The reverse is also true. Speech is a material given to a person by nature, but without a person's ability to master it, it turns into an empty sound that is not worthy of attention.
Theory and practice are closely related. There is no point in learning something without being able to apply your knowledge. Practice without theory can exist, since the necessary material is acquired as experience is gained, but the greatest effect is achieved only with their proper combination.
Imitation should become a speaker's tool in improving hisskills, but by no means be the target. By studying the statements of ancient thinkers, one can learn the correct, noble style of presenting thoughts. Although the art of public speaking and writing are distinct, quoting significant works can show the depth of the speaker's knowledge, which will attract attention and help convince listeners much more, but only it is worth using. Borrowing thoughts and uncontrolled imitation will completely deprive the speaker of his personality.
The complete collection of all twelve books of Marcus Fabius Quintilian has survived to this day, which cannot be said about his first work, from which only the title remains.
Conclusion
"Instructions to the Speaker" is a fundamental work in rhetoric. The quotes of Mark Fabius Quintilian are widely used both in pedagogy and journalism and fully reveal the content of the essence of oratory, starting from early childhood and ending with the transformation into a master of his craft. Having reached the present time, exercises, tips and rules for constructing speech find their application in many areas of modern life. This is how the great wordsmith continues to train young speakers to this day.
