I begin with the later of the two extended Roman discussions on memory, because Quintilian presents a more understandable description of how the system of loci or ‘‘places’’ (topoi in Greek) works. He says:
Loca deligunt quam maxime spatiosa, multa varietate signata, domum forte magnam et in multos diductam recessus. in ea quidquid notabile est animo diligenter adfigunt, ut sine cunctatione ac mora partis eius omnis cogitatio possit percurrere... sit autem signum navigationis ut ancora, militiae ut aliquid ex armis. haec ita digerunt. primum sensum vestibulo quasi adsignant, secundum, puta, atrio, tum inpluvia circumeunt, nec cubiculis modo aut exedris, sed statuis etiam similibusque per ordinem committunt. hoc facto, cum est repetenda memoria, incipiunt ab initio loca haec recensere, et quod cuique crediderunt reposcunt, ut eorum imagine admonentur... quod de domo dixi, et in operibus publicis et in itinere longo et urbium ambitu et picturis fieri potest. etiam fingere sibi has imagines licet. (Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 11.2.18-21; tr. H. Butler 1920 adapted)
Some place is chosen of the largest possible extent and characterized by the utmost possible variety, such as a spacious house divided into a number of rooms. Everything of note therein is carefully committed to the memory, in order that the thought may be enabled to run through all the details without let or hindrance. . . let us suppose that the symbol is drawn from navigation, as, for example, an anchor or from warfare, as, for example, some weapon. These symbols are then arranged as follows. The first image is placed, as it were, in the entrance; the second, let us say, in the atrium; the remainder are placed in due order all round the impluvium and entrusted not merely to bedrooms and bays, but even to the care of statues and the like. This done, as soon as the memory of the facts requires to be revived, all these places are visited in turn and the various deposits are demanded from their custodians, as the sight of each recalls the respective details.... What I have spoken of as being done in a house, can equally well be done in connection with public buildings, a long journey, the ramparts of a city, or even pictures. Or we may even imagine such places to ourselves.
Quintilian stresses the need for an appropriate scale, clear images, and sequential order, which he describes with the lovely phrase offiunt singula conexa quodam choro (‘‘linked one to the other like dancers hand in hand,’’ Inst. 11.2.20; tr. H. Butler 1920). He recommends a single, but relatively complex path that would be taken naturally, as you would, for example, go from room to room in a house. This house should be quam maxime spatiosa (‘‘of the largest possible extent’’) as long as it does not violate the physical constraints of our visual system and has a sufficient number of distinguishable nooks and crannies in which to ‘‘deposit’’ the various things to remember. You do not want to be in the situation of having too many things to remember and not enough places to put them. You are not supposed to tack on another house when you run out of room in the first one, but are to choose one from the start that will suit your needs. In a way, it is like the planning needed before buying a real house: it should have enough space to hold all of your possessions so that you will not have to store your towels at a neighbor’s.
World History
