§4.1.69quo usque tandem abutere? ac, ne quis apostrophen miretur, idem Cicero pro Scauro ambitus reo, quae causa est in commentariis (nam bis eundem defendit), prosopopoeia loquentis pro reo utitur, pro Rabirio vero Postumo eodemque Scauro reo repetundarum etiam exemplis, pro Cluentio (ut modo ostendi) partitione.
"How long, indeed, will you abuse...?" And, lest anyone should wonder at the apostrophe, the same Cicero, in his defense of Scaurus on the charge of bribery—which case is in his notebooks (for he defended the same man twice)—uses a prosopopoeia of a speaker on behalf of the defendant; while in defense of Rabirius Postumus and the same Scaurus, when accused of extortion, he uses examples; and in defense of Cluentius (as I have just shown), he uses partition.
§4.1.70non tamen haec, quia possunt bene aliquando fieri, passim facienda sunt, sed quotiens praeceptum vicerit ratio; quomodo et similitudine, dum brevi, et translatione atque aliis tropis (quae omnia cauti illi ac diligentes prohibent) utemur interim, nisi cui divina ilia pro Ligario ironia, de qua paulo ante dixeram, displicet.
Yet these things are not to be done everywhere just because they can sometimes be done well, but only as often as reason overcomes the precept; just as we shall occasionally use similes (provided they are brief), metaphors, and other tropes (all of which those cautious and diligent writers forbid), unless indeed someone is displeased by that divine irony in the speech for Ligarius, of which I spoke a little earlier.
§4.1.71alia exordiorum vitia verius tradiderunt.
Other faults of introductions they have delivered more correctly.
quod in plures causas accommodari potest, vulgare dicitur; id minus favorabile aliquando tamen non inutiliter adsumimus, magnis saepe oratoribus non evitatum.
That which can be adapted to many cases is called "commonplace"; we sometimes adopt it, though it is less favorable, not uselessly, and it was not avoided by great orators.
quo et adversarius uti potest, commune appellatur; quod adversarius in suam utilitatem deflectere potest, commutabile; quod causae non cohaeret, separatum; quod aliunde trahitur, tralatum; praeterea quod longum, quod contra praecepta est; quorum pleraque non principii modo sunt vitia sed totius orationis.
That which the adversary also can use is called "common"; that which the adversary can turn to his own advantage, "interchangeable"; that which does not cohere with the case, "detached"; that which is drawn from elsewhere, "transferred"; besides, that which is long, and that which is contrary to the rules; most of which are faults not only of the introduction but of the entire speech.
haec de prooemio, §4.1.72quotiens erit eius usus, non semper autem est; nam et supervacuum aliquando est, si sit praeparatus satis etiam sine hoc iudex, aut si res praeparatione non egeat.
So much for the introduction, as often as there shall be use for it, though it is not always; for it is sometimes superfluous, if the judge is sufficiently prepared even without this, or if the case does not need preparation.
Aristoteles quidem in totum id necessarium apud bonos iudices negat.
Indeed, Aristotle denies that it is at all necessary before good judges.
aliquando tamen uti nec si velimus eo licet, cum index occupatus, cum angusta sunt tempora, cum maior potestas ab ipsa re cogit incipere.
Sometimes, however, we are not allowed to use it even if we wish, when the judge is occupied, when time is short, or when a higher power forces us to begin with the case itself.
§4.1.73contraque est interim prooemii vis etiam non exordio.
On the contrary, the force of an introduction is sometimes found even outside the exordium.
nam indices et in narratione nonnunquam et in argumentis ut attendant et ut faveant rogamus, quo Prodicus velut dormitantes eos excitari putabat, quale est: §4.1.74tum C. Varenus, is qui a familia Anchariana occisus est — hoc, quaeso, iudices, diligenter attendite. utique si multiplex causa est, sua quibusque partibus danda praefatio est, ut audite nunc reliqua, et transeo nunc illuc. §4.1.75sed in ipsis etiam probationibus multa funguntur prooemii vice, ut facit Cicero pro Cluentio dicturus contra censores, pro Murena, cum se Servio excusat.
For we sometimes ask the judges to attend and to favor us both in the statement of facts and in the arguments, by which Prodicus thought they were aroused as if from sleep, such as this: "Then Gaius Varenus, he who was killed by the slaves of Ancharius—this, I entreat you, judges, attend to diligently." At all events, if the case is manifold, a preface of its own must be given to each of its parts, such as: "Hear now what remains," and "I pass now to that point." But even in the proofs themselves, many things perform the office of an introduction, as Cicero does when about to speak against the censors in defense of Cluentius, and in defense of Murena when he excuses himself to Servius.
verum id frequentius est, quam ut exemplis confirmandum sit.
Indeed, this is too frequent to be confirmed by examples.
§4.1.76quotiens autem prooemio fuerimus usi, tum sive ad expositionem transibimus sive protinus ad probationem, id debebit in principio postremum esse, cui commodissime iungi initium sequentium poterit.
But as often as we shall have used an introduction, then, whether we pass to the statement of facts or directly to the proof, that which is last in the beginning ought to be of such a kind that the commencement of what follows can be most conveniently joined to it.
§4.1.77illa vero frigida et puerilis est in scholis adfectatio, ut ipse transitus efficiat aliquam utique sententiam et huius velut praestigiae plausum petat, ut Ovidius lascivire in Metamorphosesin solet, quem tamen excusare necessitas potest res diversissimas in speciem unius corporis colligentem.
But that affectation in the schools is indeed flat and childish, that the transition itself should by all means produce some sententia and seek applause for this sort of sleight of hand, as Ovid is wont to play in the Metamorphoses; whom, however, necessity can excuse, as he is collecting the most diverse things into the appearance of a single body.
§4.1.78oratori vero quid est necesse surripere hanc transgressionem et iudicem fallere, qui, ut ordini rerum animum intendat, etiam commonendus est? peribit enim prima pars expositionis, si iudex narrari nondum sciet.
But what necessity is there for an orator to steal this transition and deceive the judge, who, on the contrary, ought to be reminded to direct his mind to the order of things? For the first part of the statement of facts will be lost if the judge does not yet know that the story is being told.
§4.1.79quapropter, ut non abrupte cadere in narrationem, ita non obscure transcendere est optimum.
Wherefore, as it is best not to fall abruptly into the statement of facts, so it is best not to transition obscurely.
si vero longior sequetur ac perplexa magis expositio, ad eam ipsam praeparandus erit iudex, ut Cicero saepius, sed et hoc loco fecit: paulo longius exordium rei demonstrandae repetam, quod, quaeso, iudices, ne moleste patiamini; principiis enim cognitis multo facilius extrema intelligetis. haec fere sunt mihi de exordio comperta.
But if a longer and more complex statement of facts is to follow, the judge must be prepared for that very thing, as Cicero did quite often, and also in this passage: "I shall trace back the introduction of the matter to be shown from a little further off, which I entreat you, judges, not to take amiss; for when the beginnings are known, you will understand the ends much more easily." These are about all the things I have found concerning the introduction.