Physiognomic roots in the rhetoric of Cicero and Quintilian: The application and transformation of traditional physiognomics

Overview & Synopsis

Physiognomics is an art, a technique, a previous stage of knowledge, which has its roots in very remote times and cultures. According to physiognomics, an individual's inner nature could be revealed and judged, and even his future forecast, on the basis of the analysis of his physical features. It relies on the idea that the visible is a faithful reflection of the invisible, and that the inner nature and the outer appearance are closely linked together, as soul with body. Physiognomics focuses on fixed, permanent, static signs, whereas pathognomics, etymologically and basically a 'gnomê' of 'pathos', namely the study and knowledge of the changing human passions and their effects, relies on ephemeral, mutable and time-varying signs. The history of physiognomics and pathognomics are connected and intertwined: they are not completely separated before Lavater's work in the 19th century of our era. In ancient times, elements of pathognomics are mostly related to physiognomic developments, as shown by the physiognomic roots of Roman rhetoric. To some extent, Graeco-Roman rhetoric supplies a focal point for oversight regarding the application and transformation of traditional physiognomics, which has been little studied from this point of view. In this chapter, I intend to shed light on the process of incorporation of both physiognomic and pathognomic elements in rhetoric. Their connections are particularly intense and fertile in Cicero's and Quintilian's rhetorical writings, which are the inheritors of three main traditions: physiognomics, rhetoric, and the problem of passions in line with Aristotle's work. Drawing on a historical and philosophical approach, I will highlight the long-term process and the main evolutions that lead to Roman rhetoric, with an emphasis on continuities rather than disruptions. I will focus especially on chronological and logical connections. Thus, I will deal with the body of knowledge of ancient traditional physiognomics broadly, including the writings before and contemporary with Pseudo-Aristotle's Physiognomonica, and on the other hand the main references of rhetoric until Cicero and Quintilian so as to provide key interpretations of their rhetorical works. Cicero's rhetorical work consists of the following dialogues: De inventione, De oratore, Brutus, Orator. Quintilian's rhetorical theory is primarily found in his Institutio oratoria, the most extensive treatise that survives from antiquity following Cicero. Moreover, the application and transformation of traditional physiognomics into rhetoric goes hand in hand with a debate on the status of signs, the passions, and body language. Within this setting, 'actio', namely the delivery of speech, is a key element to reveal the difference and proximity between