§11.1.32in iuvenibus etiam uberiora paulo et paene periclitantia feruntur.
In young men even a somewhat richer style, which almost runs risks, is tolerated.
at in iisdem siccum et sollicitum et contractum dicendi propositum plerumque adfectatione ipsa severitatis invisum est, quando etiam morum senilis auctoritas immatura in adolescentibus creditur.
But in the same persons, a dry, anxious, and restricted style of speaking is generally disliked for the very affectation of severity, since even a senile authority of character is believed to be premature in adolescents.
simpliciora militares decent.
Simpler styles suit military men.
§11.1.33philosophiam ex professo, ut quidam faciunt, ostentantibus parum decori sunt plerique orationis ornatus maximeque ex adfectibus, quos illi vitia dicunt.
For those who make an open profession of philosophy, as some do, most of the ornaments of speech are hardly appropriate, especially those derived from the emotions, which they call vices.
verba quoque exquisitiora et compositio numerosa tali proposito diversa.
More exquisite words, too, and a rhythmic composition are foreign to such a purpose.
§11.1.34non enim sola illa laetiora, qualia a Cicerone dicuntur, saxa atque solitudines voci respondent; sed etiam illa, quanquam plena sanguinis, vos enim iam, Albani tumuli atque luci, vos, inquam, imploro atque testor, mosque, Albanorum obrutae arae, sacrorum populi Romani sociae et aequales, non conveniant barbae illi atque tristitiae.
For not only those more cheerful passages, such as are spoken by Cicero: "rocks and solitudes reply to the voice"; but even those other words, although full of vigor: "For you, O Alban hills and groves, you, I say, I implore and call to witness, and you, destroyed altars of the Albans, companions and equals of the sacred rites of the Roman people"—even these would not suit that beard and solemnity.
§11.1.35at vir civilis vereque sapiens, qui se non otiosis disputationibus, sed administrationi rei publicae dediderit, a qua longissime isti, qui philosophi vocantur, recesserunt, omnia, quae ad efficiendum oratione quod proposuerit valent, libenter adhibebit, cum prius quid honestum sit efficere in animo suo constituerit.
But a statesman and a truly wise man, who has devoted himself not to idle disputations, but to the administration of the commonwealth (from which those who are called philosophers have withdrawn themselves as far as possible), will gladly employ everything that is effective for accomplishing by speech what he has proposed, once he has first determined in his mind what is honorable to achieve.
§11.1.36est quod principes deceat, aliis non concesseris.
There is that which becomes leaders, which you would not concede to others.
imperatorum ac triumphalium separata est aliqua ex parte ratio eloquentiae, sicut Pompeius abunde disertus rerum suarum narrator, et hic, qui bello civili se interfecit, Cato eloquens senator fuit.
The standard of eloquence for generals and those who have enjoyed triumphs is to some extent distinct, just as Pompeius was an abundantly eloquent narrator of his own achievements, and this Cato, who killed himself in the civil war, was an eloquent senator.
§11.1.37idem dictum saepe in alio liberum, in alio furiosum, in alio superbum est.
The same saying is often frank in one person, mad in another, and arrogant in a third.
verba adversus Agamemnonem a Thersite habita ridentur; da illa Diomedi aliive cui pari: magnum animum ferre prae se videbuntur.
The words spoken by Thersites against Agamemnon are laughed at; give them to Diomedes or some other equal to him: they will seem to display a great mind.
ego te consulem putem, inquit L. Crassus Philippo, cum tu me non putes senatorem? uox honestissimae libertatis; non tamen ferres quemcumque dicentem.
"Should I think you a consul," said L. Crassus to Philippus, "when you do not think me a senator?" A voice of most honorable freedom; yet you would not tolerate anyone saying it.
§11.1.38negat se magni facere aliquis poetarum, utrum Caesar ater an albus homo sit, insania; verte, ut idem Caesar de illo dixerit, arrogantia est.
One of the poets says that he does not care whether Caesar is a black or a white man: that is madness; reverse it, so that the same Caesar should have said it of him, and it is arrogance.
maior in personis observatio est apud tragicos comicosque, multis enim utuntur et variis.
There is a greater observation of characters among tragic and comic writers, for they employ many and various ones.
eadem et eorum, qui orationes aliis scribebant, fuit ratio et declamantium est; non enim semper ut advocati sed plerumque ut litigatores dicimus.
The same was the rule of those who wrote speeches for others, and is that of declaimers; for we do not always speak as advocates, but most often as litigants.
§11.1.39verum etiam in iis causis, quibus advocamur, eadem differentia diligenter est custodienda.
But even in those cases in which we are called in as advocates, the same distinction must be diligently observed.
utimur enim fictione personarum et velut ore alieno loquimur, dandique sunt iis, quibus vocem accommodamus, sui mores.
For we employ the fiction of persons and speak, as it were, through another's mouth, and their own characters must be given to those to whom we lend our voice.
aliter enim P. Clodius, aliter Appius Caecus, aliter Caecilianus ille, aliter Terentianus pater fingitur.
For P. Clodius is represented in one way, Appius Caecus in another, the father in Caecilius in another, and the father in Terence in another.
quid asperius lictore Verris: ut adeas, tantum dabis?
What could be harsher than Verres' lictor: "To approach him, you will give so much"?
§11.1.40quid fortius illo, cuius inter ipsa verberum supplicia una vox audiebatur: ciuis Romanus sum? quam dignae Milonis in peroratione ipsa voces eo viro, qui pro re publica seditiosum civem totiens compescuisset quique insidias virtute superasset?
What is braver than that man whose single voice was heard in the midst of the punishments of the lash: "I am a Roman citizen"? How worthy of that man were the words of Milo in the peroration itself—a man who had so often suppressed a seditious citizen for the sake of the commonwealth, and had by his virtue overcome the ambush!
§11.1.41denique non modo quot in causa totidem in prosopopoeia sunt varietates, sed hoc etiam plures, quod in his puerorum, feminarum, populorum, mutarum etiam rerum assimulamus adfectus, quibus omnibus debetur suus decor.
In short, there are not only as many varieties in impersonation as there are in cases, but even more for this reason, that in these we imitate the feelings of children, women, nations, and even of mute things, to all of which their own decorum is due.
§11.1.42eadem in iis, pro quibus agemus, observanda sunt; aliter enim pro alio saepe dicendum est, ut quisque honestus, humilis, invidiosus, favorabilis erit, adiecta propositorum quoque et anteactae vitae differentia.
The same things must be observed in those for whom we plead; for we must often speak in different ways for different persons, according as each is honorable, humble, unpopular, or popular, with the difference of their aims and past lives also taken into account.
iucundissima vero in oratore humanitas, facilitas, moderatio, benivolentia.
Most pleasing indeed in an orator are humanity, affability, moderation, and goodwill.
sed illa quoque diversa bonum virum decent: malos odisse, publica vice commoveri, ultum ire scelera et iniurias, et omnia, ut initio dixi, honesta.
But those other contrary qualities also become a good man: to hate the wicked, to be moved by the public lot, to go to avenge crimes and injuries, and, as I said in the beginning, all things that are honorable.