We have his notes on these two Cornelian orations and some others, especially on that of Pro Milone.

There are also commentaries on some of the Verrine orations--not by Asconius, but from the pen of some writer now called Pseudo-Asconius, having been long supposed to have come from Asconius.

They, too, go far to elucidate much which would otherwise be dark to us.
[146] Quint., lib.viii., 3.

The critic is explaining the effect of ornament in oratory--of that beauty of language which with the people has more effect than argument--and he breaks forth himself into perhaps the most eloquent passage in the whole Institute: "Cicero, in pleading for Cornelius, fought with arms which were as splendid as they were strong.

It was not simply by putting the facts before the judges, by talking usefully, in good language and clearly, that he succeeded in forcing the Roman people to acknowledge by their voices and by their hands their admiration; it was the grandeur of his words, their magnificence, their beauty, their dignity, which produced that outburst." [147] Orator., lxvii.