Fronto, Epistulae ad M. Caesarem 3.1
[Fronto addresses Marcus Aurelius on the subject of imperial eloquence.]
“A speech, unless it be ennobled by the gravity of its words, becomes plainly impudent and shameless. Then, likewise, when something was to be said in the senate or an assembly, you used no overly recondite language, no obscure or baffling figure of speech. Indeed, you spoke as one who knows that the eloquence of Caesar should be similar to a trumpet and not the pipes which, though they are more difficult, produce less of a sound.”
