23.01.27: Level 3+ (review); correlatives [2]

[1] Both Latin and English can extend the correlative beyond a simple pair:

nōn committendae eius modī perīculō, ut aut interīre aut aperīrī aut intercipī possint (Cicero)

• (Letters) of that kind should not be entrusted to danger, so that they might either be lost, or opened, or intercepted

ita multa vel īrācundē vel īnsolenter vel in omnī genere stultitiae īnsulsē adrogantur (Cicero)

• And so many things are arrogantly claimed in a tasteless way, either in anger, or insolently, or in every kind of foolishness

nec amantius nec honōrificentius nec cōpiōsius potuisse dīcī (Cicero)

• It could have been said neither more affectionately, nor more honourably, nor more fully.

Here, stylistically it sounds odd in English and so the sentence could equally be translated as:

• It could not have been said either more affectionately, or more honourably, or more fully.

[2] The highly emphatic Cicero …

As an orator Cicero was famous for his devastating legal and political speeches, a skill so formidable that it ultimately contributed to his own murder. He would use a number of devices in order to emphasise a point or to build anticipation – not unlike our contemporary politicians.

[i] In section [1] above you will note that the repetition of the correlative creates three statements that are grammatically similar or identical:

(1) nec amantius (2) nec honōrificentius (3) nec cōpiōsius potuisse dīcī

This is known as a tricolon, a very common feature of Cicero’s oratorical style although it is also used, as here, in his letters.

[ii] Likewise, in a letter to Atticus, the repetition of et extends beyond a mere correlative:

Tū autem, quī saepissimē cūram et angōrem animī meī sermōne et cōnsiliō levāstī tuō, quī mihi et in pūblicā rē socius et in prīvātīs omnibus cōnscius et omnium meōrum sermōnum et cōnsiliōrum particeps esse solēs, ubinam es?

• “But you — who have very often relieved the care and distress of my mind by your conversation and your advice, who are both my partner in public affairs and my confidant in all private matters, and are accustomed to share in all my conversations and my plans — where are you?”

This is an example of a crescendo: a lengthy accumulation of ideas showing how indispensable Atticus is to him, leading to a final dramatic statement.