§11.1.83quin eo minus id faciendum filio fuisse, ne renovaret domus pudorem et exprobraret patri nuptias, matri prioris vitae necessitatem, ne denique legem quandam suis quoque rursum liberis daret.
Indeed, it was so much the less to be done by the son, lest he should renew the shame of the house and reproach his father with his marriage, and his mother with the necessity of her former life, and lest, finally, he should give a certain law in turn to his own children.
credibilis erit etiam propria quaedam in illa meretrice turpitudo, quam nunc hic pater ferre non possit.
There will also be believable a certain peculiar baseness in that harlot, which now this father cannot bear.
alia praetereo; neque enim nunc declamamus, sed ostendimus nonnunquam posse dicentem ipsis incommodis bene uti.
Other things I pass over; for we are not now declaiming, but showing that a speaker can sometimes make good use of his very disadvantages.
§11.1.84illic maior aestus, ubi quis pudenda queritur, ut stuprum, praecipue in maribus, aut os profanatum.
There is greater agitation there, where one complains of shameful things, such as sexual outrage, especially in males, or a polluted mouth.
non dico, si loquatur ipse; nam quid aliud ei quam gemitus ac fletus et exsecratio vitae conveniat, ut iudex intelligat potius dolorem illum quam audiat? sed patrono quoque per similes adfectus eundum erit, quia hoc iniuriae genus verecundius est fateri passis quam ausis.
I do not say if he himself speaks; for what else would befit him than groans and tears and the execration of his life, so that the judge may rather understand that pain than hear it? But the advocate also must go through similar emotions, since this kind of injury is more shameful to confess for those who suffered it than for those who dared it.
§11.1.85mollienda est in plerisque alio colore asperitas orationis, ut Cicero de proscriptorum liberis fecit.
In most cases, the harshness of the speech must be softened by some other color, as Cicero did concerning the children of the proscribed.
quid enim crudelius quam homines honestis parentibus ac maioribus natos a re publica summoveri? itaque durum id esse summus ille tractandorum animorum artifex confitetur, sed ita legibus Sullae cohaerere statum civitatis adfirmat, ut iis solutis stare ipsa non possit.
For what is more cruel than that men born of respectable parents and ancestors should be excluded from the state? And so that supreme artist of handling minds confesses that this is hard, but affirms that the state of the commonwealth so coheres with Sulla's laws that if they are dissolved, the state itself cannot stand.
adsecutus itaque est, ut aliquid eorum quoque causa videretur facere contra quos diceret.
Thus he achieved that he seemed to be doing something also for the sake of those against whom he was speaking.
§11.1.86illud etiam in iocis monui, quam turpis esset fortunae insectatio, et ne in totos ordines aut gentes aut populos petulantia incurreret.
I also advised in the section on jests how shameful is the attack on fortune, and that petulance should not run against entire classes, or races, or peoples.
sed interim fides patrocinii cogit quaedam de universo genere aliquorum hominum dicere, libertinorum vel militum vel publicanorum vel similiter aliorum.
But sometimes the duty of patronage compels us to say certain things about the whole class of some men, of freedmen, or soldiers, or tax-gatherers, or others likewise.
§11.1.87in quibus omnibus commune remedium est, ut ea, quae laedunt, non libenter tractare videaris nec in omnia impetum facias, sed in id quod expugnandum est, et reprehendens alia laude compenses: §11.1.88si cupidos milites dicas, sed non mirum, quod periculorum ac sanguinis maiora sibi deberi praemia putent; eosdem petulantes, sed hoc fieri, quod bellis magis quam paci consuerint.
In all of which the common remedy is that you should seem to handle those things that offend unwillingly, and not make an onset against everything, but against that which must be conquered, and compensate for censuring some things by praising others: if you should call soldiers greedy, but say it is no wonder, because they think greater rewards are due to them for dangers and blood; if you call the same petulant, but say that this happens because they are more accustomed to wars than to peace.
libertinis detrahenda est auctoritas; licet iis testimonium reddere industriae, per quam exierint de servitute.
The authority of freedmen must be detracted; but it is permitted to render testimony to their industry, through which they escaped from servitude.
§11.1.89quod ad nationes exteras pertinet, Cicero varie: detracturus Graecis testibus fidem, doctrinam iis concedit ac litteras, seque eius gentis amatorem esse profitetur, Sardos contemnit, Allobrogas ut hostes insectatur; quorum nihil tunc, cum diceretur, parum aptum aut remotum cura decoris fuit.
As for foreign nations, Cicero acts variously: when about to detract faith from Greek witnesses, he grants them learning and literature, and professes himself a lover of that nation; he despises the Sardinians, and attacks the Allobroges as enemies; none of which, at the time it was said, was lacking in fitness or far removed from the care of decorum.
§11.1.90verborum etiam moderatione detrahi solet, si qua est rei invidia: si asperum dicas nimium severum, iniustum persuasione labi, pertinacem ultra modum tenacem esse propositi; plerumque velut ipsos coneris ratione vincere, quod est mollissimum.
It is also accustomed to be detracted by moderation of words if there is any odium of a matter: if you call a harsh man too severe, an unjust man sliding by conviction, a stubborn man tenacious of his purpose beyond measure; mostly, you should try, as it were, to conquer them by reason, which is the softest way.
§11.1.91indecorum est super haec omne nimium, ideoque etiam quod natura rei satis aptum est, nisi modo quoque temperatur, gratiam perdit.
Unbecoming above all these is every excess, and therefore even what is sufficiently fit by the nature of the matter, unless it is tempered also by measure, loses its grace.
cuius rei observatio iudicio magis quodam sentiri quam praeceptis tradi potest, quantum satis sit et quantum recipiant aures.
The observation of which matter can be felt more by a certain judgment than delivered by rules, as to what is enough and how much the ears will receive.
non habet res mensuram et quasi pondus, quia ut in cibis alia aliis magis complent.
The matter has no measure and as it were weight, because, as in food, some things fill more than others.
§11.1.92adiiciendum etiam breviter videtur, quod fit ut dicendi virtutes diversissimae non solum suos amatores habeant, sed ab eisdem saepe laudentur.
It seems also necessary to add briefly, because it happens that the most diverse virtues of speaking not only have their own lovers, but are often praised by the same persons.
nam Cicero quodam loco scribit, id esse optimum, quod, cum te facile credideris consequi imitatione, non possis.
For Cicero in a certain place writes that to be the best which, when you easily believe you can attain by imitation, you cannot.
alio vero, non id egisse, ut ita diceret, quomodo se quilibet posse confideret, sed quomodo nemo.
In another, indeed, that he did not aim to speak in such a way as anyone would trust he could, but as no one could.
§11.1.93quod potest pugnare inter se videri.
Which can seem to fight among themselves.
verum utrumque ac merito laudatur; causarum enim modo distat, quia simplicitas illa et velut securitas inadfectatae orationis mire tenues causas decet, maioribus illud admirabile dicendi genus magis convenit.
But both are praised, and deservedly; for it differs in the mode of cases, since that simplicity and, as it were, security of unaffected speech wonderfully befits slight cases, while that admirable kind of speaking more suits greater ones.
in utroque eminet Cicero; ex quibus alterum imperiti se posse consequi credent, neutrum, qui intelligunt.
In both Cicero is eminent; of which the unskilful will believe they can attain the one, but those who understand will believe they can attain neither.