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A colon, on the other
hand, is the expression of a thought which is
rhythmically complete, but is meaningless if detached from the whole body of the sentence. For
example O callidos homines1 is complete in itself, but
is useless if removed from the rest of the sentence,
as the hand, foot or head if separated from the
body. He goes on, O rein excogitatam. At what
point do the members begin to form a body? Only
when the conclusion is added: quem, quaeso, nostrum
fefellit, id vos ita esse facturos? a sentence which Cicero
regards as unusually concise. Thus as a rule commata
and cola are fragmentary and require a conclusion.
1 From the lost pro Cornelio. “O the cunning of those men! O what careful forethought! I ask you did one of us fail to note that such would be your action?”
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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