§2.4.21hinc illa quoque exercitatio subit comparationis, uter melior uterve deterior;
From this also arises that exercise of comparison, which of the two is better or which is worse; which, although it is employed in a similar principle, yet both doubles the material and treats not only of the nature of virtues and vices, but also of their degree.
quae quanquam versatur in ratione simili, tamen et duplicat materiam et virtutum vitiorumque non tantum naturam, sed etiam modum tractat. verum de ordine laudis contraque, quoniam tertia haec rhetorices pars est, praecipiemus suo tempore.
But concerning the order of praise and the contrary, since this is the third part of rhetoric, we shall give instructions in its own proper time.
§2.4.22communes loci (de iis loquor, quibus citra personas in ipsa vitia moris est perorare, ut in adulterum, aleatorem, petulantem) ex mediis sunt iudiciis et, si reum adiicias, accusationes; quanquam hi quoque ab illo generali tractatu ad quasdam deduci species solent, ut si ponatur adulter caecus, aleator pauper, petulans senex.
Commonplaces (I speak of those in which it is the custom to declaim against vices themselves without reference to persons, as against an adulterer, a gambler, a petulant person) are from the very core of judicial trials and, if you add a defendant, they become accusations; although these also are wont to be brought down from that general treatment to certain species, as if it should be proposed that the adulterer is blind, the gambler poor, the petulant person old.
habent autem nonnunquam etiam defensionem.
However, they sometimes admit also of a defense.
§2.4.23nam et pro luxuria et pro amore dicimus, et leno interim parasitusque defenditur sic, ut non homini patrocinemur, sed crimini.
For we speak both in behalf of luxury and in behalf of love, and a pander and a parasite are sometimes defended in such a way that we do not patronize the person, but the crime.
§2.4.24theses autem, quae sumuntur ex rerum comparatione, ut rusticane vita an urbana potior, iurisperiti an militaris viri laus maior, mire sunt ad exercitationem dicendi speciosae atque uberes, quae vel ad suadendi officium vel etiam ad iudiciorum disceptationem iuvant plurimum.
Theses, on the other hand, which are taken from the comparison of things, as whether a rustic or an urban life is preferable, whether the praise of a lawyer or of a military man is greater, are wonderfully attractive and rich for the exercise of speaking, which help very much either for the office of persuading or even for the dispute of trials.
nam posterior ex praedictis locus in causa Murenae copiosissime a Cicerone tractatur.
For the latter of the aforesaid topics is treated most copiously by Cicero in his defense of Murena.
§2.4.25sunt et illae paene totae ad deliberativum pertinentes genus, ducendane uxor, petendine sint magistratus.
There are also those which belong almost entirely to the deliberative kind, as whether a wife should be married, whether public offices should be sought.
namque et hae personis modo adiectis suasoriae erunt.
For these also, with only persons added, will be suasoriae.
§2.4.26solebant praeceptores mei neque inutili et nobis etiam iucundo genere exercitationis praeparare nos coniecturalibus causis, cum quaerere atque exsequi iuberent, cur armata apud Lacedaemonios Venus, et quid ita crederetur Cupido puer atque volucer et sagittis ac face armatus, et similia, in quibus scrutabamur voluntatem, cuius in controversiis frequens quaestio est, quod genus chriae videri potest.
My teachers were accustomed to prepare us for conjectural causes by a not useless and to us also pleasant kind of exercise, when they ordered us to inquire and discuss why Venus was armed among the Lacedaemonians, and why Cupid was believed to be a boy and winged and armed with arrows and a torch, and similar things, in which we searched into the intention, a frequent question in controversies, which kind of exercise can be seen as a species of chria.
§2.4.27nam locos quidem, quales sunt de testibus, semperne his credendum, et de argumentis, an habenda etiam parvis fides, adeo manifestum est ad forenses actiones pertinere, ut quidam neque ignobiles in officiis civilibus scriptos eos memoriaeque diligentissime mandatos in promptu habuerint, ut quotiens esset occasio, extemporales eorum dictiones his velut emblematis exornarentur.
For as to commonplaces, such as those concerning witnesses, whether they are always to be believed, and concerning arguments, whether trust should be placed even in small ones, it is so manifest that they belong to forensic actions, that some, and those not ignoble in civil offices, have kept them written down and most diligently committed to memory in readiness, so that as often as there was an occasion, their extemporaneous speeches might be adorned with these as if with inlaid ornaments.
§2.4.28quo quidem (neque enim eius rei iudicium differre sustineo) summam videbantur mihi infirmitatem de se confiteri.
By this indeed (for I cannot bear to defer my judgment on that matter) they seemed to me to confess their utmost weakness concerning themselves.
nam quid ii possint in causis, quarum varia et nova semper est facies, proprium invenire? quomodo propositis ex parte adversa respondere, altercationibus velociter occurrere, testem rogare? qui etiam in iis, quae sunt communia et in plurimis causis tractantur, vulgatissimos sensus verbis nisi tanto ante praeparatis prosequi nequeant.
For what can they find of their own in causes, of which the face is always varied and new? How can they reply to what is proposed from the opposite side, meet altercations quickly, or question a witness? They who, even in things which are common and treated in most causes, cannot pursue the most vulgar thoughts without words prepared so long beforehand.
§2.4.29necesse vero iis, cum eadem iudiciis pluribus dicunt, aut fastidium moveant velut frigidi et repositi cibi, aut pudorem deprehensa totiens audientium memoria infelix supellex, quae sicut apud pauperes ambitiosos pluribus et diversis officiis conteratur:
Indeed, it is necessary for them, when they speak the same things in several trials, either to excite disgust like cold and twice-served food, or to bring shame when detected by the memory of the audience who have heard them so often. This wretched furniture is like that which, among ambitious poor people, is worn out by being used for many and various services.
§2.4.30cum eo quidem quod vix ullus est tam communis locus, qui possit cohaerere cum causa nisi aliquo propriae quaestionis vinculo copulatus; appareat alioqui non tam insertum quam adplicitum, §2.4.31vel quod dissimilis est ceteris vel quod plerumque adsumi etiam parum apte solet, non quia desideratur sed quia paratus est: ut quidam sententiarum gratia verbosissimos locos arcessunt, cum ex locis debeat nasci sententia.
To this indeed is added the fact that there is scarcely any commonplace so general that it can cohere with a cause, unless it is bound by some link of the specific question itself; otherwise, it would appear not so much inserted as tacked on, either because it is unlike the rest, or because for the most part it is wont to be assumed even inappropriately, not because it is needed, but because it is ready: as some, for the sake of sententious remarks, fetch in most wordy commonplaces, whereas the sententious remark ought to be born from the commonplaces.