§3.8.13valet autem in consiliis auctoritas plurimum.
But in consultations, authority has the greatest weight.
nam et prudentissimus esse haberique et optimus debet, qui sententiae suae de utilibus atque honestis credere omnes velit.
For he who wishes everyone to trust his opinion on useful and honorable things must both be and be regarded as most wise and best.
in iudiciis enim vulgo fas habetur indulgere aliquid studio suo; consilia nemo est qui neget secundum mores dari.
For in trials, it is commonly held allowable to indulge one's enthusiasm to some extent; but there is no one who denies that consultations are given according to character.
Graecorum quidem plurimi omne hoc officium contionale esse iudicaverunt et in sola reipublicae administratione posuerunt. §3.8.14quin et Cicero in hac maxime parte versatur.
Most of the Greeks indeed judged all this duty to be of public assemblies and placed it solely in the administration of the commonwealth. Nay, even Cicero is chiefly occupied in this part.
ideoque suasuris de pace, bello, copiis, operibus, vectigalibus haec duo esse praecipue nota voluit, vires civitatis et mores, ut ex natura cum ipsarum rerum tum audientium ratio suadendi duceretur. §3.8.15nobis maior in re videtur varietas, nam et consultantium et consiliorum plurima sunt genera.
And therefore, for those who are to advise on peace, war, troops, public works, and revenues, he wished these two things to be especially known: the resources of the state and its customs, so that the method of advising might be drawn from the nature both of the things themselves and of the audience. To us, a greater variety seems to exist in the matter, for there are very many kinds both of those who consult and of consultations.
quare in suadendo et dissuadendo tria primum spectanda erunt, quid sit de quo deliberetur, qui sint qui deliberent, qui sit qui suadeat. §3.8.16rem, de qua deliberatur, aut certum est posse fieri aut incertum.
Therefore, in advising and dissuading, three things must first be looked at: what it is that is being deliberated, who they are who deliberate, and who it is that advises. The thing about which deliberation is held is either certain to be possible or uncertain.
si incertum, haec erit quaestio sola aut potentissima; saepe enim accidet, ut prius dicamus, ne si possit quidem fieri, esse faciendum, deinde fieri non posse.
If uncertain, this will be the sole or most powerful question; for it will often happen that we say first that even if it could be done, it ought not to be done, and then that it cannot be done.
cum autem de hoc quaeritur, coniectura est, an Isthmos intercidi, an siccari palus Pomptina, an portus fieri Ostiae possit, an Alexander terras ultra Oceanum sit inventurus. §3.8.17sed in iis quoque quae constabit posse fieri, coniectura aliquando erit, si quaeretur, an utique futurum sit, ut Carthaginem superent Romani; ut redeat Hannibal, si Scipio exercitum in Africam transtulerit; ut servent fidem Samnites, si Romani arma deposuerint.
But when there is a question about this, it is conjecture, such as whether the Isthmus can be cut through, whether the Pomptine marsh can be drained, whether a harbor can be made at Ostia, or whether Alexander is going to find lands beyond the Ocean. But even in those things which are established as possible to be done, there will sometimes be conjecture, if it is asked whether it will certainly come to pass that the Romans conquer Carthage; or whether Hannibal will return if Scipio transfers his army to Africa; or whether the Samnites will keep faith if the Romans lay down their arms.
quaedam et fieri posse et futura esse credibile est, sed aut alio tempore aut alio loco aut alio modo. §3.8.18ubi coniecturae non erit locus, alia sunt intuenda.
Some things are credible both to be possible and to happen, but either at another time, or in another place, or in another manner. Where there is no room for conjecture, other things must be looked at.
et primum aut propter ipsam rem, de qua sententiae rogantur, consultabitur aut propter alias intervenientes extrinsecus causas.
And first, consultation will be held either because of the thing itself about which opinions are asked, or because of other causes intervening from the outside.
propter ipsam deliberant Patres conscripti, an stipendium militi constituant? §3.8.19haec materia simplex erit.
Because of the thing itself, the Conscript Fathers deliberate whether to establish pay for the soldier. This material will be simple.
accedunt causae aut faciendi, ut deliberant patres conscripti, an Fabios dedant Gallis bellum minitantibus; aut non faciendi, ut deliberat C. Caesar, an perseveret in Germaniam ire, cum milites passim testamenta facerent. §3.8.20hae suasoriae duplices sunt.
There are added causes either of doing, as when the Conscript Fathers deliberate whether to surrender the Fabii to the Gauls who are threatening war; or of not doing, as when Gaius Caesar deliberates whether to persist in going into Germany, when the soldiers were everywhere making their wills. These suasory speeches are double.
nam et illic causa deliberandi est, quod bellum Galli minitentur; esse tamen potest quaestio, dedendine fuerint etiam citra hanc denuntiationem, qui contra fas, cum legati missi essent, proelium inierint, regemque, ad quem mandata acceperant, trucidarint. §3.8.21et hic nihil Caesar sine dubio deliberaret nisi propter hanc militum perturbationem; est tamen locus quaerendi, an citra hunc quoque casum penetrandum in Germaniam fuerit.
For there also the cause of deliberating is that the Gauls threaten war; yet there can be a question whether they ought to have been surrendered even without this demand, who, contrary to divine law, when they had been sent as ambassadors, entered into battle and slaughtered the king to whom they had received instructions. And here, Caesar would undoubtedly deliberate nothing but for this disturbance of the soldiers; yet there is room for asking whether, even without this occurrence, Germany ought to have been penetrated.
semper autem de eo prius loquemur, de quo deliberari etiam detractis sequentibus possit. §3.8.22partes suadendi quidam putaverunt honestum, utile, necessarium.
But we shall always speak first of that about which deliberation can be held even if the subsequent things are removed. Some have thought the parts of advising to be the honorable, the useful, and the necessary.
ego non invenio huic tertiae locum.
I do not find room for this third one.
quantalibet enim vis ingruat, aliquid fortasse pati necesse sit, nihil facere; de faciendo autem deliberatur. §3.8.23quodsi hanc vocant necessitatem, in quam homines graviorum metu coguntur, utilitatis erit quaestio; ut si obsessi et impares et aqua ciboque defecti de facienda ad hostem deditione deliberent et dicatur, necesse est; nempe sequitur, ut hoc subiiciatur, alioqui pereundum est: ita propter id ipsum non est necesse, quia perire potius licet.
For however great a force may rush in, it may perhaps be necessary to suffer something, but to do nothing; and it is about doing that deliberation is held. But if they call this necessity, into which men are compelled by fear of worse things, it will be a question of utility; as if those besieged and unequal and destitute of water and food should deliberate on making a surrender to the enemy, and it is said, 'it is necessary'; surely it follows that this is added, 'otherwise we must perish': thus because of that very thing it is not necessary, because it is permitted rather to perish.