equidem, particle
I, for my part; often used by writers in contrasting their own opinions with those of other authorities, or by speakers in answer to questions or remarks about themselves or in replies to requests.

socrus, -us f.
mother-in-law; Laelia's daughter was the wife of the speaker, L. Licinius Crassus, the leading orator of his day.

Laelia, -ae f. Wife of Q. Marcus Scaevola. Quintilian tells us that she was the daughter of Gaius Laelius Sapiens, whose elegance of language she had acquired: Laelia C[aii] filia reddidisse in loquendo paternam elegantiam dicitur (Institutio Oratoria 1.1.6; see WRW, pp. 32-33).

facilior, facilius, comparative form of facilis, -e
easy; well-suited; ready, quick.

antiquitas, -tatis f.
the practice of ancient times; here the reference is to an earlier style of speaking.

expers, -tis (+ genitive)
having no share in, devoid of, free from, without; modifies mulieres.

ea: neuter plural, antecedant of quae.

disco, discere, didici, --

sic, adverb
thus; in such a manner; followed by ut in a result clause with the subjunctive (videar). See the parallel contruction below with ita: ut...videatur, where sic is repeated for emphasis.

Plautus, Titus Maccius (c. 254-184 BCE.), the first Roman playwright whose comedies survive. Quintilian tells us that the earliest Roman philologist, Aelius Stilo (144-70 BCE), considered Plautus's Latin so superb that, he claimed, if the Muses spoke Latin they would speak in the language of Plautus: licet Varro Musas, Aelii Stilonis sententia, Plautino dicat sermone locuturas fuisse, si Latine loqui vellent (Institutio Oratoria10.1.99).

Naevius, Gnaeus (c. 270-c.199 BCE), an early Roman poet and author of tragedies, comedies, and an epic in Saturnian verse. He is regarded as one of the founders of Roman satire.

sonus, -i m.
sound; ablative of quality.

rectus, -a, -um
straight-forward, direct.

simplex, -icis

ostentatio, -onis f.
display, showing off; together with imitationis, a partitive genitive following nihil.

ad/affero, -ferre, attuli, adlatum
bring, contribute, use.

iudico (1)
declare; judge; decide; followed by indirect statement (locutum esse).

aspere adverb
with a harsh sound, in an unrefined manner, coarsely, roughly.

ille = Lucius Aurelius Cotta, who was criticized earlier in the dialogue by Cicero for his heavy tone and rustic pronunciation (gravitate linguae sonoque vocis agresti, 3.11.42; see similarly 2.22.91 and Cicero, Brutus 259).

vaste, adverb
without refinement, broadly, coarsely.This and the following five adverbs are here defined with regard to pronunciation.

rustice, adverb
sounding like a countryman, in a provincial fashion.

hiulce, adverb
disconnectedly, disjointedly; note how anaphora and asyndeton (non vaste, non rustice, non hiulce) emphasize the stylistic flaws and imitate the harshness of such pronunciation, faults that Laelia's father and the ancestors lacked, as Cicero goes on to illustrate.

presse, adverb
in a concise or restrained style.

aequabiliter, adverb
regularly, smoothly.

leniter, adverb
with a smooth sound, so as not to jar on the ear; the polysyndeton (sed presse et aequabiliter et leniter) lends rhythm to Crassus's words and models the stylistic virtues under discussion.

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