Were any one asked who in his opinion were the main representatives of Latin Prose style, there can I suppose be little doubt that he would mention Cicero, Livy, and Tacitus. These three names, in fact, mark three definite stages in the development of classical Latin Prose. To speak more accurately, there are two stages, each of which marks the extreme point of a line of tendency. These stages are represented respectively by the styles of Cicero and of Tacitus, between whom Livy, who has a manner peculiar to himself, occupies the middle place.

The elements of a good style are two, luminousness and beauty. By luminousness I mean its power of representing thought and passion. To express thought it must be lucid, to represent thought and passion it must be simple and strong. By beauty I mean such a choice of words, and such an arrangement of them, as satisfies the requirements of the ear.

In a masterly style these two elements are combined in a manner which is felt to defy dissection, and to require none. The impression produced is one and indivisible, and we do not care to analyze it. Such a passage as the conclusion of Cicero's second Philippic speaks home to us with a living impression of unity and directness which we acknowledge without question. We admire and ask for nothing more.