A DIALOGUE CONCERNING ORATORY, OR THE CAUSES OF CORRUPT ELOQUENCE.
[I]. General introduction, with the reasons for writing an account of the following discourse.
[II]. The persons engaged in the dialogue; at first, Curiatius Maternus, Julius Secundus, and Marcus Aper.
[III]. Secundus endeavours to dissuade Maternus from thinking any more of dramatic composition.
[IV]. Maternus gives his reasons for persisting.
[V]. Aper condemns his resolution, and, in point of utility, real happiness, fame and dignity, contends that the oratorical profession is preferable to the poetical.
[VIII]. He cites the example of Eprius Marcellus and Crispus Vibius, who raised themselves by their eloquence to the highest honours.
[IX]. Poetical fame brings with it no advantage.
[X]. He exhorts Maternus to relinquish the muses, and devote his whole to eloquence and the business of the bar.
[XI]. Maternus defends his favourite studies; the pleasures arising from poetry are in their nature innocent and sublime; the fame is extensive and immortal. The poet enjoys the most delightful intercourse with his friends, whereas the life of the public orator is a state of warfare and anxiety.