3. Style.
The style of Quintilian is modelled on that of Cicero, whom he is never tired of praising, and is intended to be a return to the usages of the best period. In spite of some faults characteristic of the Silver Age (e.g. his excessive use of antithesis) ‘for ordinary use it would be difficult to name a manner that combines so well the Ciceronian dignity with the rich colour and high finish added to Latin prose by the writers of the earlier empire.’—Mackail.
For the death of his son, aged ten, a boy of great promise, for whose instruction he wrote the work, see Preface to Book VI.
Quintiliane, vagae moderator summe iuventae,
Gloria Romanae, Quintiliane, togae.
Mart. II. xc. 1-2.
Nihil in studiis parvum est.
Cito scribendo non fit ut bene scribatur, bene scribendo fit ut cito.
Quintilian.