nsummate perfection by study, by diligent
application, and his thorough knowledge of all polite literature.
_Illum omnium fere oratorum Latine loqui elegantissime: ut esset
perfecta illa bene loquendi laus, multis litteris, et iis quidem
reconditis et exquisitis, summoque studio et diligentia est
consecutus._ _De Claris Orat._ s. 252.

[f] Caesar's speech for Decius the Samnite, and all his other
productions (except the Commentaries), are totally lost.

[g] This speech of Brutus is also lost with his other works. Cicero
says, he heard him plead the cause of Dejotarus with great elegance,
and a flow of harmonious periods. _Causam Dejotari, fidelissimi atque
optimi regis, ornatissime et copiosissime a Bruto me audisse defensam.
De Claris Orat._ s. 21. He tells us in another place, that Caesar
observed of Brutus, that whatever he desired, he desired with ardour;
and therefore, in the cause of Dejotarus, he exerted himself with
warmth, with vehemence, and great freedom of language. _Quidquid vult,
valde vult; ideoque, cum pro rege Dejotaro dixerit, valde vehementer
eum visum, et libere dicere. Ad Attic._ lib. xiv. ep. 1. The same
Dejotarus was afterwards defended by Cicero before Caesar himself. See
the Oration _pro Rege Dejotaro_.

[h] See what is said of Asinius Pollio, s. xii. note [e].

[i] Pliny the younger has the same metaphorical allusions, which we
here find in the Dialogue. Speaking of the difference between the
oratorial and historical style; the latter, he says, may be content
with the bones, the muscles, and the nerves; the former must have the
prominence of the flesh, the brawny vigour, and the flowing mane.
_Habent quidem oratio et historia multa communia, sed plura diversa in
his ipsis, quae communia videntur. Narrat sane illa, narrat haec, sed
aliter. Huic pleraque humilia, et sordida, et ex medio petita: illi
omnia recondita, splendida, excelsa conveniunt. Hanc saepius ossa,
musculi, nervi; illam tori quidam, et quasi jubae decent._ Lib. v. ep.
8.

[k] Messala Corvinus has been often mentioned. See for him s. xii.
note [e].

Section XXII.

[a] The words _sententia_ and _sensus_ were technical terms with the
critics of antiquity. Quintilian gives the distinct meaning of each,
with his usual precision. According to the established usage, the
word _sensus_ signified our ideas or conceptions, as they rise in the
mind: by _sententia_ was intended, a proposition, in the close of a
period, so expresse