Quintilian in the United States of America

Abstract

Quintilian is alive and well in the United States of America. He has been a central figure in American rhetorical theory and/or practice since approximately 1730. With Aristotle and Cicero, Quintilian is one of the three figures comprising the ‘Classical School’ of rhetoric. His influence has sometimes been so foundational as to be easily overlooked. Often viewed as more of a synthesizer than an innovator in the history of rhetoric, Quintilian’s unique contribution to America is the comprehensive educational system laid out in his monumental Institutio Oratoria. This chapter traces Quintilian’s influence through the various periods of American education, showing it rising and falling with the particular needs of the times, but always remaining true to its emphasis on the holistic process of character development and its rejection of a rigid code of rules for writing and speaking. In the twenty-first century, Quintilian’s central idea in his Institutio holds true: that rhetorical training is a central aspect in the forming of minds for citizenship in a democracy such as the United States of America.