. ercised the greatest influence, not only uponthe development of public oratory at Athens,but upon the style of writers in his own amiin other countries. The language of Isocrates a a 9 452 ISSA ITALIA forms a great contrast with the natural simpli-city of Lysias. Among his characteristics arethe avoidance of declamatory language and thefrequent use of figures ; but the chief point toobserve is that Isocrates more than any otherGreek writer studied the rhythm of prose,careful in his choice of words, and aiming atsmoothness in long a
. ercised the greatest influence, not only uponthe development of public oratory at Athens,but upon the style of writers in his own amiin other countries. The language of Isocrates a a 9 452 ISSA ITALIA forms a great contrast with the natural simpli-city of Lysias. Among his characteristics arethe avoidance of declamatory language and thefrequent use of figures ; but the chief point toobserve is that Isocrates more than any otherGreek writer studied the rhythm of prose,careful in his choice of words, and aiming atsmoothness in long and finished he avoided hiatus. The style ofCicero was in great measure modelled upon thatof Isocrates; and, through Cicero, Isocrateshas had much to do with, the training of thegreatest masters of English prose; notablywith that of Milton. The carefully-roundedperiods, and the frequent application of figura-tive expressions, are features which remind usof the sophists. The immense care he bestowedupon the composition of his orations may be. Bust of Isocrates. (Villa Albani.) inferred from the statement that he was engagedfor ten years upon his Panegyric oration were in antiquity sixty orations whichwent under the name of Isocrates, but theywere not all recognised as genuine. Only 21have come down to us. Of these six werewritten for the courts; the others are chieflypolitical discourses, intended to be read by alarge public. The most celebrated is his Pane-gyric oration, in which he shows what servicesAthens had rendered to Greece in every periodof her history, and contends that she, and notSparta, deserves the supremacy in Greece. TheAreiopagiticus (355 ) argues for a restora-tion of the influence of the Areiopagus. Theorations are printed in the collections of theGreek orators. [Demosthenes.] The text isseparately edited by Blass, 1878; the Pane-gyricus by Sandys, 1868; the Panegyricus andAreiopagiticus by Rauchenstein, 1874; the AdPhilippwm,
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