§11.1.54quo fugerit interim dolor ille? ubi lacrimae substiterint? unde se in medium tam secura observatio artium miserit? non ab exordio usque ad ultimam vocem continues quidam gemitus et idem tristitiae vultus servabitur, si quidem volet dolorem suum etiam in audientes transfundere? quem si usquam remiserit, in animum iudicantium non reducet.
Whither will that sorrow have fled in the meantime? Where will the tears have stopped? Whence has so carefree an observation of rules obtruded itself into our midst? Will not a certain continuous groaning and the same countenance of sadness be preserved from the exordium to the very last word, if indeed he wishes to transfer his own pain to the audience? If he relaxes it at any point, he will not bring it back into the minds of those judging.
§11.1.55quod praecipue declamantibus (neque enim me paenitet ad hoc quoque opus meum et curam susceptorum semel adolescentium respicere) custodiendum est, quo plures in schola finguntur adfectus, quos non ut advocati, sed ut passi subimus.
This must be observed especially by those declaiming (for I do not regret referring back also to this task of mine and to my care for the young men once undertaken), because the more emotions are feigned in school, which we undergo not as advocates but as sufferers.
§11.1.56cum etiam hoc genus simulari litium soleat, cum ius mortis a senatu quidam ob aliquam magnam infelicitatem vel etiam paenitentiam petunt, in quibus non solum cantare, quod vitium pervasit, aut lascivire, sed ne argumentari quidem nisi mixtis, et quidem ita ut ipsa probatione magis emineant, adfectibus decet.
Since even this kind of lawsuit is accustomed to be simulated, when some petition the senate for the right of death because of some great misfortune or even repentance; in which cases it is not only unbecoming to sing—a vice which has spread everywhere—or to sport, but not even to argue at all except with mixed emotions, and indeed in such a way that they stand out more than the proof itself.
nam qui intermittere in agendo dolorem potest, videtur posse etiam deponere.
For he who can interrupt his sorrow in pleading seems to be able also to lay it down.
§11.1.57nescio tamen an huius, de quo loquimur, decoris custodia maxime circa eos, contra quos dicimus, examinanda sit.
I wonder, however, whether the preservation of this propriety of which we speak should be examined most of all in regard to those against whom we speak.
nam sine dubio in omnibus statim accusationibus hoc agendum est, ne ad eas libenter descendisse videamur.
For without doubt, in all accusations, this must be done immediately: lest we should seem to have descended to them willingly.
ideoque mihi illud Cassii Severi non mediocriter displicet: di boni, vico; et, quo me vivere iuvet, Asprenatem reum video. non enim iusta ex causa vel necessaria videri potest postulasse eum, sed quadam accusandi voluptate.
Therefore, that saying of Cassius Severus displeases me in no small degree: "Good gods, I live; and, that it may delight me to live, I see Asprenas a defendant." For he cannot seem to have demanded his prosecution from a just or necessary cause, but from a certain pleasure of accusing.
§11.1.58praeter hoc tamen, quod est commune, propriam moderationem quaedam causae desiderant.
Besides this, however, which is common, certain cases require their own moderation.
quapropter et, qui curationem bonorum patris postulabit, doleat eius valetudinem; et quamlibet gravia filio pater obiecturus miserrimam sibi ostendat esse hanc ipsam necessitatem, nec hoc paucis modo verbis, sed toto colore actionis, ut id eum non dicere modo, sed etiam vere dicere appareat.
Wherefore, he who petitions for the guardianship of his father's property should grieve for his ill health; and a father who is about to object however grave charges against his son should show that this very necessity is most wretched to him, and this not only in a few words, but in the whole color of the pleading, so that he may appear not only to say it, but also to say it truly.
§11.1.59nec causanti pupillo sic tutor irascatur unquam, ut non remaneant amoris vestigia et sacra quaedam patris eius memoria.
Nor should a tutor ever be so angry with a ward who brings a suit against him that no traces of love and a certain sacred memory of his father remain.
iam quomodo contra abdicantem patrem, querentem uxorem, agi causam oporteret, in libro, ut arbitror, septimo dixi.
Now, how a case ought to be conducted against a disinheriting father or a complaining wife, I have stated, as I think, in the seventh book.
quando etiam ipsos loqui, quando advocati voce uti deceat, quartus liber, in quo prooemii praecepta sunt, continet.
When it is becoming for themselves to speak, and when to use the voice of an advocate, the fourth book, in which are the precepts of the proem, contains.
§11.1.60esse et in verbis quod deceat aut turpe sit, nemini dubium est.
That there is what becomes and what is disgraceful even in words, is doubtful to no one.
unum iam igitur huic loco, quod est sane summae difficultatis, adiciendum videtur, quibus modis ea, quae sunt natura parum speciosa quaeque non dicere, si utrumlibet esset liberum, maluissemus, non tamen sint indecora dicentibus.
One point, therefore, which is indeed of the greatest difficulty, seems now necessary to be added to this place: in what ways those things which are by nature little attractive, and which we should have preferred not to say if either option had been free, may nevertheless not be unbecoming to those who speak them.
§11.1.61quid asperiorem habere frontem potest aut quid aures hominum magis respuunt, quam cum est filio filiive advocatis in matrem perorandum? aliquando tamen necesse est, ut in causa Cluentii Habiti.
What can have a harsher brow, or what do the ears of men more reject, than when a son or the advocates of a son must plead against his mother? Sometimes, however, it is necessary, as in the case of Cluentius Habitus.
sed non semper illa via, qua contra Sasiam Cicero usus est; non quia non ille optime, sed quia plurimum refert, qua in re et quo modo laedat.
But not always by that path which Cicero used against Sasia; not because he did not do it excellently, but because it matters very much in what matter and in what manner he inflicts the wound.
§11.1.62itaque illa, cum filii caput palam impugnaret, fortiter fuit repellenda.
Therefore, she, since she openly attacked the life of her son, had to be vigorously repelled.
duo tamen, quae sola supererant, divine Cicero servavit, primum, ne oblivisceretur reverentiae, quae parentibus debetur; deinde ut, repetitis altius causis, diligentissime ostenderet, quam id, quod erat in matrem dicturus, non oporteret modo fieri, sed etiam necesse esset.
Two things, however, which alone remained, Cicero preserved divinely: first, that he should not forget the reverence which is owed to parents; secondly, that, having traced the causes deeper, he should show most diligently how that which he was about to say against the mother was not only proper to be done, but even necessary.
§11.1.63primaque haec expositio fuit, quanquam ad praesentem quaestionem nihil pertinebat.
And this exposition was the first, although it pertained nothing to the present question.
adeo in causa difficili atque perplexa nihil prius intuendum credidit quam quid deceret.
So much in a difficult and perplexed case did he believe that nothing should be looked at before what was becoming.
fecit itaque nomen parentis non filio invidiosum, sed ipsi in quam dicebatur.
Thus he made the name of parent not invidious to the son, but to her herself against whom it was spoken.