quaestio

More from de partitione oratoria.

Cicero sees questions falling into two types (Id, at 4):

• One type of question is "unlimited" ("infinita") and is called a "discussion" ("consultatio").
• The other type is "limited" ("definita") and is called a "cause" ("causa").

oratio

More from de partitione oratoria.

The speech "oratio" has four parts (Id, at 4). Two establish the case: "the statement of facts" ("narratio"); and "the proof" ("confirmatio"). Two serve "to influence the mind of the audience": "the exordium" ("principium"); and "the peroration" ("peroratio").

vis oratoris

More from de partitione oratoria.

The first part of the broad theory of rhetoric is the "speaker's personal resources" ("vis oratoris"). A speaker's personal resources consist "in matter and in language" ("in rebus et verbis") (Id, at 3).

The term "invention" ("invenire", lit, "to invent") applies to matter: "delivery" ("eloqui", lit, "to utter") applies to language. "Arrangement" ("collocare", "to arrange") applies to invention. Delivery includes voice, gestures etc.

Into how many parts do you divide the theory of rhetoric?

I'm dipping into Cicero's "de partitione oratoria" ("The Classification of Oratory") at the moment (Rackham's translation in the Loeb Classical Library).

He says that the theory of rhetoric ("doctrina dicendi", lit. "the teaching of speaking") should be divided into three parts (de partione oratoria 3):

• The speaker's personal resources (lit. "strength") ("vis oratoris").
• The speech ("oratio").
• The question ("quaestio").