Quintilian’s method is based on the interrelationship between speaking, reading, and writing. Murphy lists and defines the main elements that appear in theInstitutio oratorio.Each of these elements—Precept, Imitation, Composition Exercises, Declamation, and Sequencing—is further subdivided according to goals and exercises.

 

The first two books of theInstitutio oratorioconcern the early education of the orator, with the focus on the interplay between seen-language and heard-language. Book Ten is an adult’s commentary on the instruction of rhetoric. It involves itself primarily withfacilitas,the readiness to use language in any situation.