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the rubble of bat
The… Attic orator… is restrained and plain, imitating common usage, though he really differs more from the untrained than it seems… At first sight the plainness of style seems easy to imitate, but once you have tried it you know that nothing is less so… In his speech he should be free from the fetters of rhythm… these should be used in other styles of speech but should here be quite abandoned. It should be loose, but not rambling, to move freely but not wander about. He should also avoid, so to speak, cementing his words together too smoothly, for the hiatus and the clash of vowels has something agreeable about it and shows the not unwelcome negligence of a man who cares more for the subject than for the words… however, there is such a thing as a careful negligence.
Cicero, on the Attic style
