§12.6.1agendi autem initium sine dubio secundum vires cuiusque sumendum est.
But the beginning of pleading must, without doubt, be taken according to the strength of each.
neque ego annos definiam, cum Demosthenen puerum admodum actiones pupillares habuisse manifestum sit, Calvus, Caesar, Pollio multum ante quaestoriam omnes aetatem gravissima iudicia susceperint, praetextatos egisse quosdam sit traditum, Caesar Augustus duodecim natus annos aviam pro rostris laudaverit.
Nor would I define the years, since it is clear that Demosthenes, when quite a boy, had actions against his guardians, and Calvus, Caesar, and Pollio all undertook very grave trials long before the age for the quaestorship, and it is handed down that some pleaded while still wearing the toga praetexta, and Caesar Augustus, at twelve years of age, praised his grandmother from the rostra.
§12.6.2modus mihi videtur quidam tenendus, ut neque praepropere destringatur immatura frons et, quidquid est illud adhuc acerbum, proferatur; nam inde et contemptus operis innascitur et fundamenta iaciuntur impudentiae et, quod est ubicunque perniciosissimum, praevenit vires fiducia.
A certain moderation seems to me to be held, so that neither an immature front is laid bare too prematurely, and whatever is still sour in it is brought forward; for thence both contempt for the task is born, and the foundations of impudence are laid, and, what is everywhere most ruinous, confidence outruns strength.
§12.6.3nec rursus differendum est tirocinium in senectutem; nam cotidie metus crescit, maiusque fit semper quod ausuri sumus et, dum deliberamus quando incipiendum sit, incipere iam serum est.
Nor, on the other hand, should the entrance into the forum be deferred to old age; for daily fear grows, and what we are about to dare always becomes greater, and while we deliberate when we ought to begin, it is already too late to begin.
quare fructum studiorum viridem et adhuc dulcem promi decet, dum et veniae spes est et paratus favor et audere non dedecet et, si quid desit operi, supplet aetas, et, si qua sunt dicta iuveniliter, pro indole accipiuntur:
Therefore, it is fitting that the fruit of studies, green and still sweet, be brought forward, while there is both hope of indulgence and ready favor, and to dare is not unbecoming, and if anything is lacking to the performance, age supplies it, and if any things are spoken in a youthful manner, they are accepted as signs of natural disposition.
§12.6.4ut totus ille Ciceronis pro Sexto Roscio locus: quid enim tam commune quam spiritus vivis, terra mortuis, mare fluctuantibus, litus eiectis? quae cum sex et viginti natus annos summis audientium clamoribus dixerit, defervisse tempore et annis liquata iam senior idem fatetur.
Just as that whole passage of Cicero's in defense of Sextus Roscius: "For what is so common as breath to the living, earth to the dead, the sea to those tossed by waves, the shore to those cast out?" Which things when he had spoken at twenty-six years of age, to the greatest applause of the audience, the same man, now older, confesses that they boiled over in time and were clarified by years.
et hercule quantumlibet secreta studia contulerint, est tamen proprius quidam fori profectus, alia lux, alia veri discriminis facies, plusque, si separes, usus sine doctrina quam citra usum doctrina valet.
And by Hercules, however much retired studies may contribute, there is nevertheless a certain progress proper to the forum, another light, another face of real danger, and, if you separate them, practice without learning is of more avail than learning without practice.
§12.6.5ideoque nonnulli senes in schola facti stupent novitate, cum in iudicia venerunt, et omnia suis exercitationibus similia desiderant.
And therefore, some who have grown old in the school are stunned by novelty when they have come into the courts, and desire all things to be similar to their own exercises.
at illic et iudex tacet et adversarius obstrepit et nihil temere dictum perit et, si quid tibi ipse sumas, probandum est, et laboratam congestamque dierum ac noctium studio actionem aqua deficit, et omisso magna semper flandi tumore in quibusdam causis loquendum est; quod illi diserti minime sciunt.
But there, both the judge is silent and the adversary clamors, and nothing said rashly is lost, and if you assume anything to yourself, it must be proved, and the speech, labored and amassed by the study of days and nights, runs out of water, and, having omitted the great swelling of boasting, one must speak in some cases in common language; which those eloquent men least of all know.
§12.6.6itaque nonnullos reperias, qui sibi eloquentiores videantur, quam ut causas agant.
And so you may find some who seem to themselves too eloquent to plead causes.
ceterum illum, quem iuvenem tenerisque adhuc viribus nitentem in forum deduximus, et incipere quam maxime facili ac favorabili causa velim, ferarum ut catuli molliore praeda saginantur, et non utique ab hoc initio continuare operam et ingenio adhuc alendo callum inducere, sed iam scientem, quid sit pugna, et in quam rem studendum sit, refici atque renovari.
But as for him whom we have led down into the forum while still a youth and striving with yet tender strength, I would wish him both to begin with a cause as easy and favorable as possible, just as the cubs of wild beasts are nourished on softer prey, and not by all means to continue his labor from this beginning and bring a callus over his talent which is still to be nourished, but, already knowing what a battle is and for what purpose he must study, to be refreshed and renewed.
§12.6.7sic et tirocinii metum, dum facilius est audere, transient, nec audendi facilitate usque ad contemptum operis adduxerit.
Thus he will both pass over the fear of his first trial while it is easier to dare, nor will he, through the facility of daring, be led even to contempt of the task.
usus est hac ratione M. Tullius, et cum iam clarum meruisset inter patronos, qui tum erant, nomen, in Asiam navigavit seque et aliis sine dubio eloquentiae ac sapientiae magistris, sed praecipue tamen Apollonio Moloni, quem Romae quoque audierat, Rhodi rursus formandum ac velut recoquendum dedit.
M. Tullius used this method, and when he had already earned a famous name among the advocates who then existed, he sailed to Asia, and gave himself to be formed and, as it were, recast again at Rhodes, to other masters of eloquence and wisdom indeed without doubt, but especially to Apollonius Molo, whom he had also heard at Rome.
tum dignum operae pretium venit, cum inter se congruunt praecepta et experimenta.
Then comes a worthy reward of labor, when precepts and experience agree with each other.