§3.8.47hac illi opus est occasione, ne eum talium precum pudeat.
He has need of this opportunity, so that he may not be ashamed of such entreaties.
et C. Caesari suadentes regnum adfirmabimus stare iam rempublicam nisi uno regente non posse.
And when advising C. Caesar of royal power, we shall assert that the republic can no longer stand except with one ruler.
nam qui de re nefaria deliberat, id solum quaerit, quomodo quam minimum peccare videatur.
For he who deliberates on a wicked matter seeks only this, how he may seem to sin as little as possible.
§3.8.48multum refert etiam, quae sit persona suadentis; quia anteacta vita si illustris fuit aut clarius genus aut aetas aut fortuna adfert expectationem, providendum est, ne quae dicuntur ab eo qui dicit dissentiant.
It also matters much what the character of the adviser is; because if his past life was illustrious, or if his more noble birth, or age, or fortune brings expectation, care must be taken lest the things which are said disagree with the one who says them.
at his contraria summissiorem quendam modum postulant.
But things contrary to these demand a certain more humble manner.
nam quae in aliis libertas est, in aliis licentia vocatur, et quibusdam sufficit auctoritas, quosdam ratio ipsa aegre tuetur.
For what in some is freedom is in others called license, and for some authority is sufficient, while some, reason itself protects with difficulty.
§3.8.49ideoque longe mihi difficillimae videntur prosopopoeiae, in quibus ad reliquum suasoriae laborem accedit etiam personae difficultas.
And therefore prosopopoeiae seem to me by far the most difficult, in which to the remaining labor of the deliberative speech there is added also the difficulty of the character.
namque idem illud aliter Caesar, aliter Cicero, aliter Cato suadere debebit.
For indeed Caesar will have to advise that same thing in one way, Cicero in another, Cato in another.
utilissima vero haec exercitatio, vel quod duplicis est operis, vel quod poetis quoque aut historiarum futuris scriptoribus plurimum confert.
But this exercise is most useful, either because it involves a double task, or because it contributes very much to poets also or to future writers of histories.
verum et oratoribus necessaria.
But it is also necessary for orators.
§3.8.50nam sunt multae a Graecis Latinisque compositae orationes, quibus alii uterentur, ad quorum condicionem vitamque aptanda quae dicebantur fuerunt.
For there are many speeches composed by the Greeks and Latins which others were to use, to whose condition and life the things that were spoken had to be adapted.
an eodem modo cogitavit aut eandem personam induit Cicero, cum scriberet Cn.
Did Cicero think in the same way or put on the same character when he wrote for Cn.
Pompeio et cum T. Ampio ceterisve;
Pompey and when for T.
ac non uniuscuiusque eorum fortunam, dignitatem, res gestas intuitus omnium, quibus vocem dabat, etiam imagine expressit? ut melius quidem sed tamen ipsi dicere viderentur.
Ampius and the others; and did he not, having considered the fortune, dignity, and achievements of each of them, express the character of all those to whom he gave a voice even in their image? So that they seemed to speak themselves, though indeed better.
§3.8.51neque enim minus vitiosa est oratio, si ab homine quam si ab re, cui accommodari debuit, dissidet; ideoque Lysias optime videtur in iis, quae scribebat indoctis, servasse veritatis fidem.
For an speech is no less faulty if it differs from the person than if it differs from the matter to which it ought to have been adapted; and therefore Lysias seems best to have preserved the credit of truth in those speeches which he wrote for the unlearned.
enimvero praecipue declamatoribus considerandum est, quid cuique personae conveniat, qui paucissimas controversias ita dicunt ut advocati, plerumque filii, parentes, divites, senes, asperi, lenes, avari, denique superstitiosi, timidi, derisores fiunt; ut vix comoediarum actoribus plures habitus in pronuntiando concipiendi sint quam his in dicendo.
Indeed, it must be considered especially by declaimers what is suitable for each character, who speak very few controversies as advocates, but for the most part become sons, parents, rich men, old men, harsh, mild, covetous, and finally superstitious, timid, mockers; so that hardly to actors of comedies must more attitudes in delivery be conceived than to these in speaking.
§3.8.52quae omnia possunt videri prosopopoeiae, quam ego suasoriis subieci, quia nullo alio ab iis quam persona distat.
All of these can be seen as prosopopoeiae, which I have subordinated to deliberative speeches, because it differs from them by nothing else than the character.
quanquam haec aliquando etiam in controversias ducitur, quae ex historiis compositae certis agentium nominibus continentur.
And yet this is sometimes drawn also into controversies which, composed from histories, are contained by definite names of the actors.
§3.8.53neque ignoro plerumnque exercitationis gratia poni et poeticas et historicas, ut Priami verba apud Achillem aut Sullae dictaturam deponentis in contione.
Nor am I ignorant that both poetic and historical themes are generally proposed for the sake of exercise, such as the words of Priam to Achilles or Sulla resigning his dictatorship in an assembly.
sed haec in partem cedent trium generum, in quae causas divisimus.
But these will fall into a part of the three genres into which we have divided causes.
nam et rogare, indicare, rationem reddere et alia, de quibus supra dictum est, varie atque ut res tulit in materia iudiciali, deliberativa, demonstrativa, solemus.
For indeed we are accustomed to entreat, to indicate, to render reason, and other things of which it has been spoken above, variously and as the matter required, in judicial, deliberative, and demonstrative material.
§3.8.54frequentissime vero in iis utimur ficta personarum, quas ipsi substituimus, oratione, ut apud Ciceronem pro Caelio Clodiam et Caecus Appius et Clodius frater, ille in castigationem, hic in exhortationem vitiorum compositus, alloquitur.
Indeed, very frequently in these we use the feigned speech of characters whom we ourselves substitute, as in Cicero's speech for Caelius, both blind Appius and her brother Clodius address Clodia, the former composed for chastisement, the latter for the exhortation of vices.
§3.8.55solent in scholis fingi materiae ad deliberandum similiores controversiis et ex utroque genere commixtae, ut cum apud C. Caesarem consultatio de poena Theodoti ponitur.
In schools, themes are usually devised for deliberating which are more similar to controversies and mixed from both genres, as when the consultation about the punishment of Theodotus before C. Caesar is proposed.
constat enim accusatione et defensione causa eius, quod est iudicialium proprium.
For his cause consists of accusation and defense, which is proper to judicial cases.
§3.8.56permixta tamen est et utilitatis ratio, an pro Caesare fuerit occidi Pompeium, an timendum a rege bellum, si Theodotus sit occisus, an id minime opportunum hoc tempore et periculosum et certe longum sit futurum.
Nevertheless, the consideration of utility is also mixed in, whether it was for the benefit of Caesar that Pompey was killed, or whether war is to be feared from the king if Theodotus should be put to death, or whether this would be highly inopportune at this time, and dangerous, and certainly long-lasting.
§3.8.57quaeritur et de honesto, deceatne Caesarem ultio Pompeii, an sit verendum, ne peiorem faciat suarum partium causam, si Pompeium indignum morte fateatur.
It is asked also concerning the honorable, whether the avenging of Pompey is becoming to Caesar, or whether it is to be feared lest he make the cause of his own party worse if he should confess Pompey to be unworthy of death.