Quintilian implies, like many after him, that gesture is some
kind of universal natural language. It was a language, however,
that needed to be cultivated and practiced. Since gesture
represented thoughts, or, as Cicero said, “the motions of the
soul,” orators had to learn how to marshal their gestures to put
their thoughts in the best light. Quintilian laid out specific
dos and don’ts. He tells us, for example, that when “the middle
finger is drawn in toward the thumb, the other three fingers
being open,” this is an appropriate gesture to use during the
introduction to a speech, provided it is “moderately exerted and
with a gentle movement of the hand in either direction.” It can
add confirmation when stating the facts if the movement is
“somewhat more decided,” but “in invective and refutation, it
must be spirited and impressive.” It should never, however, be
aimed sideways so that the middle finger points toward the left
shoulder. For centuries, discussion of gesture was couched in
terms of what was proper