y so declares, and Quintilian specifies that the "_lex
gestus ... ab illis temporibus heroicis orta est_." Plato classed its
practice among civil virtues, and Chrysippus gave it place among the
proper education of freemen. Athenaeus tells that gestures were even
reduced to distinct classification with appropriate terminology. The
class suited to comedy was called Cordax, that to tragedy Eumelia, and
that for satire Sicinnis, from the inventor Sicinnus. Bathyllus from
these formed a fourth class, adapted to pantomime. This system appears
to have been particularly applicable to theatrical performances.
Quintilian, later, gave most elaborate rules for gestures in oratory,
which are specially noticeable from the importance attached to the
manner of disposing the fingers. He attributed to each particular
disposition a significance or suitableness which are not now obvious.
Some of them are retained by modern orators, but without the same, or
indeed any, intentional meaning, and others are wholly disused.

[Illustration: Fig. 61.]

The value of these digital arrangements is, however, shown by their
use among the modern Italians, to whom they have directly descended.
From many illustrations of this fact the following is selected. Fig.
61 is copied from Austin's _Chironomia_ as his graphic execution of
the gesture described by Quintilian: "The fore finger of the right
hand joining the middle of its nail to the extremity of its own thumb,
and moderately extending the rest of the fingers, is graceful in
_approving_." Fig. 62 is taken from De Jorio's plates and descriptions
of the gestures among modern Neapolitans, with the same idea of
approbation--"good." Both of these may be compared with Fig. 63, a
common sign among the North American Indians to express affirmation
and approbation. With the knowledge of these details it is possible to
believe the story of Macrobius that Cicero used to vie with Roscius,
the celebrated actor, as to which of them could express a sentiment
in the greater variety of ways, the one by gesture and the other by
speech, with the apparent result of victory to the actor who was so
satisfied with the superiority of his art that he wrote a book on the
subject.

[Illustration: Fig. 62.]

Gestures were treated of with still more distinction as connected
with pantomimic dances and representations. Aeschylus appears to
have brought theatrical gesture to a high degree of perfection, but
Telestes, a dancer e