Tlic K/ictorica of Philodeinus. 367 



The post-Aristotelian schools diii^ered somewhat in their atti- 

 tude toward rhetoric. The Peripatetics followed the lead of 

 Aristotle until Critolaus broke with the tradition of the school, 

 and ranged himself with the Academics who had remained true 

 to the Platonic position. The Epicureans consistently opposed 

 rhetoric, with a slight inclination to favor the epideictic branch 

 with the honor of being' an art. The Stoics from the very begin- 

 ning" regarded rhetoric as an art. but with a Stoic reservation 

 which nullified much of their concession. The hundred and fifty 

 years following' the death of Aristotle were, however, not pro- 

 ductive of much controversy on this point. The most influential 

 of the philosophical schools had included rhetoric as a part of 

 their philosophical system ; men were more interested in the 

 novel tenets of new philosophical sects than in the rehearsal of 

 old controversies. But a more important reason for the lack of 

 conflict was the decline of the rhetorical schools. The efifort of 

 Isocrates to maintain rhetoric on a par with philosophy had been 

 in vain, and the rhetoricians sank into mere declaimers, scarcely 

 deserving an attack. It is not until rhetoric begins to assume 

 once more its old vitality that the controversy begins again, this 

 time conducted with even more subtlety and much greater ani- 

 mosity. The period is the second century before our era ; the 

 Rhetoric of Hermagoras is only one, though perhaps the most 

 influential one of many works which placed rhetoric once more 

 in a position to be considered a worthy successor of the "phi- 

 losophy" of Isocrates. As soon as rhetoric raised its head once 

 more, the philosophical schools opened fire. The old arguments 

 are furbished up, and the Platonic method of definition is pressed 

 to its limit. The dispute turns largely on the old question 

 whether rhetoric is to be regarded as an art. The addition which 

 two centuries of philosophy have made is that the definitions 

 of art are much more precise, and that the debate is very largely 

 a series of quibbles. Verbi enim controversia iam diu torquet 

 Graeculos homines contentionis cupidiores quam veritatis. 



The history of this later stage must be gained by piecing 

 together notices in many later authorities, of which there are 

 four of prime importance : the rhetorical fragments of Philo- 

 demus, particularly the first and second books ; Cicero's De 

 Oratore, Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria, and Sextus Empiricus 

 IIpos pr/Topas. The material here presented was discussed some 



