§2.13.1nemo autem a me exigat id praeceptorum genus, quod est a plerisque scriptoribus artium traditum, ut quasi quasdam leges inmutabili necessitate constrictas studiosis dicendi feram: utique prooemium et id quale, proxima huic narratio, quae lex deinde narrandi, propositio post hanc vel, ut quibusdam placuit, excursio, tum certus ordo quaestionum ceteraque, quae, velut si aliter facere fas non sit, quidam tanquam iussi sequuntur.
But let no one demand of me that kind of rules which is delivered by most writers on the arts, as if I were to bring to students of speaking certain laws bound by unchangeable necessity: that there must be by all means a prooemium and of what kind, next to this the narration, and then what law of narrating, the proposition after this or, as some have preferred, the excursion, then a fixed order of questions and the other things which, as if it were not lawful to do otherwise, some follow as if commanded.
§2.13.2erat enim rhetorice res prorsus facilis ac parva, si uno et brevi praescripto contineretur; sed mutantur pleraque causis, temporibus, occasione, necessitate.
For rhetoric would be an altogether easy and small matter, if it were contained in one short prescription; but most things are changed by cases, times, opportunity, and necessity.
atque ideo res in oratore praecipua consilium est, quia varie et ad rerum momenta convertitur.
And therefore the principal thing in an orator is judgment, because it is directed variously and according to the moments of affairs.
§2.13.3quid si enim praecipias imperatori, quotiens aciem instruat, derigat frontem, cornua utrinque promoveat, equites pro cornibus locet? erit haec quidem rectissima fortasse ratio, quotiens licebit;
For what if you should instruct a general, as often as he draws up an army, to align the front, to advance the wings on both sides, and to place the cavalry before the wings?
sed mutabitur natura loci, si mons occurret, si flumen obstabit, collibus, silvis, asperitate alia prohibebitur; §2.13.4mutabit hostium genus, mutabit praesentis condicio discriminis; nunc acie directa nunc cuneis, Nunc auxiliis nunc legione pugnabitur, nonnunquam terga etiam dedisse simulata fuga proderit.
This will indeed be perhaps the most correct method, as often as it is permitted; but it will be changed by the nature of the place, if a mountain occurs, if a river obstructs, or if it is prevented by hills, woods, or other roughness; the kind of enemies will change, the condition of the present crisis will change; now they will fight with a straight line, now with wedges, now with auxiliaries, now with the legion, and sometimes it will be useful even to have turned their backs in simulated flight.
§2.13.5ita prooemium necessarium an supervacuum, breve an longius, ad iudicem omni sermone derecto an aliquando averso per aliquam figuram dicendum sit, constricta an latius fusa narratio, continua an divisa, recta an ordine permutato, causae docebunt.
Thus the cases will teach whether a prooemium is necessary or superfluous, short or long, whether the whole speech should be directed to the judge or sometimes turned away by some figure, whether the narration should be tight or more widely spread, continuous or divided, straight or with the order changed.
itemque de quaestionum ordine, cum in eadem controversia aliud alii parti prius quaeri frequenter expediat.
And likewise concerning the order of questions, since in the same controversy it is frequently expedient for one party to inquire into one thing first, and for another party to inquire into another.
§2.13.6neque enim rogationibus plebisve scitis sancta sunt ista praecepta, sed hoc quidquid est utilitas excogitavit.
For those rules are not sanctified by proposals or decrees of the plebeians, but utility has devised whatever this is.
§2.13.7non negabo autem sic utile esse plerumque, alioqui nec scriberem; verum, si eadem illa nobis aliud suadebit utilitas, hanc relictis magistrorum auctoritatibus sequemur.
But I will not deny that it is generally useful in this way, otherwise I would not write; but if that same utility suggests something else to us, we will follow it, leaving behind the authorities of the teachers.
§2.13.8equidem id maxime praecipiam ac repetens iterumque iterumque monebo: res duas in omni actu spectet orator, quid deceat et quid expediat.
Indeed, I will especially enjoin this and warn repeating it again and again: let the orator look to two things in every action, what is becoming and what is expedient.
expedit autem saepe mutare ex illo constituto traditoque ordine aliqua et interim decet, ut in statuis atque picturis videmus variari habitus, vultus, status.
But it is often expedient to change some things from that established and delivered order, and sometimes it is becoming, just as we see in statues and pictures that the dress, look, and posture are varied.
nam recti quidem corporis vel minima gratia est; §2.13.9nempe enim adversa sit facies et demissa brachia et iuncti pedes et a summis ad ima rigens opus.
For of a straight body indeed there is very little grace; for surely the face would be front-facing, the arms let down, the feet joined, and the work stiff from the top to the bottom.
flexus ille et, ut sic dixerim, motus dat actum quendam et adfectum.
That bending and, so to speak, movement gives a certain action and emotion.
ideo nec ad unum modum formatae manus et in vultu mille species.
Therefore, neither are the hands formed to one fashion, and in the face there are a thousand appearances.
§2.13.10cursum habent quaedam et impetum, sedent alia vel incumbunt; nuda haec, illa velata sunt, quaedam mixta ex utroque.
Some have running and impetus, others sit or lean; these are naked, those are covered, some are mixed of both.
quid tam distortum et elaboratum quam est ille discobolos Myronis? si quis tamen, ut parum rectum, improbet opus, nonne ab intellectu artis abfuerit, in qua vel praecipue laudabilis est ipsa illa novitas ac difficultas?
What is so distorted and elaborate as that discobolus of Myron? Yet if anyone, as not straight enough, should condemn the work, would he not be far from the understanding of the art, in which that very novelty and difficulty is especially praiseworthy?
§2.13.11quam quidem gratiam et delectationem adferunt figurae, quaeque in sensibus quaeque in verbis sunt; mutant enim aliquid a recto atque hanc prae se virtutem ferunt, quod a consuetudine vulgari recesserunt.
Which grace and delight indeed figures bring, both those which are in thoughts and those which are in words; for they change something from the straight, and display this virtue, that they have departed from common custom.
§2.13.12habet in pictura speciem tota facies; Apelles tamen imaginem Antigoni latere tantum altero ostendit, ut amissi oculi deformitas lateret.
In a picture, the whole face has beauty; yet Apelles showed the portrait of Antigonus only on one side, so that the deformity of the lost eye might be hidden.
quid? non in oratione operienda sunt quaedam, sive ostendi non debent sive exprimi pro dignitate non possunt?
What? Must not some things be covered in a speech, whether they ought not to be shown or cannot be expressed according to dignity?
§2.13.13ut fecit Timanthes, opinor, Cythnius in ea tabula, qua Coloten Teium vicit.
As did Timanthes, I believe, of Cythnus in that painting with which he defeated Colotes of Teos.
nam cum in Iphigeniae immolatione pinxisset tristem Calchantem, tristiorem Vlixem, addidisset Menelao, quem summum poterat ars efficere, maerorem, consumptis adfectibus, non reperiens, quo digne modo patris vultum posset exprimere, velavit eius caput et suo cuique animo dedit aestimandum.
For when in the sacrifice of Iphigenia he had painted Calchas sad, Ulysses sadder, and had added to Menelaus the greatest grief that art could produce, having exhausted the emotions, not finding in what worthy manner he could express the face of the father, he veiled his head and left it to be estimated by each one's own mind.
§2.13.14nonne huic simile est illud Sallustianum, nam de Carthagine tacere satius puto quam parum dicere? propter quae mihi semper moris fuit, quam minime alligare me ad praecepta, quae καθολικά vocitant, id est (ut dicamus quomodo possumus) universalia vel perpetualia.
Is not that Sallustian saying similar to this: 'For I think it better to be silent about Carthage than to say too little'? For which reasons it has always been my custom to bind myself as little as possible to the rules which they call 'katholika', that is (to speak as we can) universal or perpetual.
raro enim reperitur hoc genus, ut non labefactari parte aliqua et subrui possit.
For this kind is rarely found that cannot be shaken and subverted in some part.
§2.13.15sed de his plenius suo quidque loco tractabimus.
But we will treat of these more fully, each in its proper place.
interim nolo se iuvenes satis instructos, si quem ex his, qui breves plerumque circumferuntur, artis libellum edidicerint, et velut decretis technicorum tutos putent.
In the meantime, I do not wish young men to think themselves sufficiently instructed if they have thoroughly learned some textbook of the art, such as are mostly carried around in brief, and to think themselves safe as if by the decrees of the theorists.
multo labore, assiduo studio, varia exercitatione, plurimis experimentis, altissima prudentia, praesentissimo consilio constat ars dicendi.
The art of speaking consists of much labor, constant study, varied exercise, very many trials, deepest wisdom, and most ready judgment.
§2.13.16sed adiuvatur his quoque, si tamen rectam viam, non unam orbitam monstrent; a qua declinare qui crediderit nefas, patiatur necesse est illam per funes ingredientium tarditatem.
But it is also aided by these rules, provided however they show a straight path, not a single rut; from which he who believes it a sin to decline must of necessity suffer that slowness of those who walk on ropes.
itaque et stratum militari labore iter saepe deserimus compendio ducti; et, si rectum limitem rupti torrentibus pontes inciderint, circumire cogemur, et, si ianua tenebitur incendio, §2.13.17per parietem exibimus.
Therefore we also often desert the road paved by military labor, led by a shortcut; and if bridges broken by torrents cut off the straight path, we shall be forced to go around, and if the door is held by fire, we shall go out through the wall.
late fusum opus est et multiplex et prope cotidie novum, et de quo nunquam dicta erunt omnia.
The work is widely spread, manifold, and almost daily new, and of which all things will never have been said.
quae sint tamen tradita, quid ex his optimum, et si qua mutari, adiici, detrahi melius videbitur, dicere experiar.
Nevertheless, I will attempt to say what has been delivered, what of these is best, and if any things seem better to be changed, added, or detracted.