§4.2.122funestis ominibus omnium.
with fatal omens for all.
quod cum sit factum iis quoque temporibus, quibus omnis ad utilitatem potius quam ad ostentationem componebatur oratio, et erant adhuc severiora iudicia, quanto nunc faciendum magis, cum in ipsa capitis aut fortunarum pericula inrupit voluptas? cui hominum desiderio quantum dari debeat alio loco dicam.
Since this was done even in those times when every speech was composed for utility rather than for display, and judgments were still more severe, how much more must it be done now, when pleasure has broken into the very dangers of life or fortunes?
interim aliquid indulgendum esse confiteor.
How much should be granted to this desire of men, I will say in another place; meanwhile, I confess that some indulgence must be made.
§4.2.123multum confert adiecta veris credibilis rerum imago, quae velut in rem praesentem perdicere audientes videtur, qualis est illa M. Caelii in Antonium descriptio: namque ipsum offendunt temulento sopore profligatum, totis praecordiis stertentem, ructuosos spiritus geminare, praeclarasque contubernales ab omnibus spondis transversas incubare et reliquas circumiacere passim. §4.2.124quae tamen exanimatae terrore, hostium adventu percepto, excitare Antonium conabantur, nomen inclamabant, frustra a ceruicibus tollebant, blandius alia ad aurem invocabat, uehementius etiam nonnulla feriebat; quarum cum omnium vocem tactumque noscitaret, proximae cuiusque collum amplexu petebat, neque dormire excitatus neque vigilare ebrius poterat, sed semisomno sopore inter manus centurionum concubinarumque iactabatur. nihil his neque credibilius fingi neque vehementius exprobrari neque manifestius ostendi potest.
The addition of a credible image of things to the truth contributes much, which seems to lead the listeners as it were into the actual presence of the event, such as that description of Marcus Caelius against Antonius: "For they find him himself overcome by a drunken sleep, snoring with his whole lungs, redoubling belching breaths, and his distinguished female companions lying across from all the couches and the rest lying around everywhere." "Yet they, half-dead with terror, having perceived the arrival of the enemy, tried to rouse Antonius, called out his name, in vain lifted him by his neck, one called in his ear more sweetly, some even struck him more violently; when he recognized the voice and touch of them all, he sought the neck of whoever was nearest with an embrace, and once awakened, he could neither sleep nor, being drunk, stay awake, but in a half-asleep slumber was tossed between the hands of centurions and concubines." Nothing can be feigned more credibly than this, nor reproached more vehemently, nor shown more clearly.
§4.2.125neque illud quidem praeteribo, quantam adferat fidem expositioni narrantis auctoritas; quam mereri debemus ante omnia quidem vita, sed et ipso genere orationis, quod quo fuerit gravius ac sanctius, hoc plus habeat necesse est in adfirmando ponderis.
Nor indeed will I pass over this, how much credit the authority of the narrator brings to the statement of facts; which we ought to deserve above all indeed by our life, but also by the very style of speaking, which, the more grave and holy it is, the more weight it must of necessity have in asserting.
§4.2.126effugienda igitur in hac praecipue parte omnis calliditatis suspicio, neque enim se usquam custodit magis iudex; nihil videatur fictum, nihil sollicitum; omnia potius a causa quam ab oratore profecta credantur.
Therefore, in this part especially, all suspicion of cunning must be avoided, for nowhere does the judge guard himself more; let nothing seem feigned, nothing anxious; let everything rather be believed to have proceeded from the cause than from the orator.
§4.2.127at hoc pati non possumus et perire artem putamus, nisi apparent, cum desinat ars esse, si apparet.
But we cannot bear this, and we think our art is lost unless it is apparent, whereas art ceases to be art if it is apparent.
pendemus ex laude atque hanc laboris nostri ducimus summam.
We depend on praise and regard this as the summit of our labor.
ita, quae circumstantibus ostentare volumus, iudicibus prodimus.
Thus, what we wish to show off to the bystanders, we betray to the judges.
§4.2.128est quaedam etiam repetita narratio, quae ἐπιδιήγησις dicitur, sane res declamatoria magis quam forensis, ideo autem reperta, ut, quia narratio brevis esse debet, fusius et ornatius res possit exponi; quod fit vel invidiae gratia vel miserationis.
There is also a certain repeated statement of facts, which is called epidiegesis, indeed a matter more declamatory than forensic, but invented for this purpose, so that, because the statement ought to be brief, the matter can be set forth more fully and ornately; which is done either for the sake of odium or of pity.
id et raro faciendum iudico neque sic unquam, ut totus ordo repetatur; licet enim per partes idem consequi.
I judge that this should be done rarely, and never in such a way that the whole order is repeated; for it is permitted to achieve the same through parts.
ceterum, qui uti ἐπιδιηγήσει volet, narrationis loco rem stringat et contentus indicare, quod factum sit, quo sit modo factum plenius se loco suo expositurum esse promittat.
But he who wishes to use epidiegesis should compress the matter in the place of the statement of facts, and, content to indicate what has been done, promise that he will set forth how it was done more fully in his own place.
§4.2.129initium narrationis quidam utique faciendum a persona putant, eamque, si nostra sit, ornandam, si aliena, infamandam statim.
Some think that the beginning of the statement of facts must by all means be made from the person, and that, if it is our own, it should be adorned, if another's, defamed immediately.
hoc sane frequentissimum est, quia personae sunt inter quas litigatur.
This indeed is very frequent, because the persons are those between whom there is litigation.
§4.2.130sed hae quoque interim cum suis accidentibus ponendae, cum id profuturum est: ut A. Cluentius Habitus fuit pater huiusce, iudices, homo non solum municipii Larinatis, ex quo erat, sed regionis illius et uicinitatis virtute, existimatione, nobilitate princeps; §4.2.131interim sine his ut Q. enim Ligarius cum esset; frequenter vero et a re, sicut pro Tullio Cicero fundum habet in agro Thurino M. Tullius paternum; Demosthenes pro Ctesiphonte τοῦ γὰρ Φωκικο͂ν συστάντος πολέμου.
But these also must sometimes be placed with their circumstances, when it is going to be beneficial: as "Aulus Cluentius Habitus was the father of this man, judges, a man not only of the municipality of Larinum, from which he was, but also the chief man of that region and neighborhood in virtue, reputation, and nobility;" sometimes without these, as: "For when Quintus Ligarius was"; but frequently also from the subject, as Cicero in defense of Tullius: "Marcus Tullius has an ancestral estate in the district of Thurii"; Demosthenes in defense of Ctesiphon: "For when the Phocian war broke out".
§4.2.132de fine narrationis cum iis contentio est, qui perduci expositionem volunt eo, unde quaestio oritur: his rebus ita gestis, P. Dolabella praetor interdixit, ut est consuetudo, de vi, hominibus armatis, sine ulla exceptione, tantum ut unde deiecisset restitueret; deinde restituisse se dixit.
Concerning the end of the statement of facts, there is a dispute with those who wish the exposition to be brought down to the point from which the question arises: "These things having been so done, Publius Dolabella the praetor issued an interdict, as is the custom, concerning violence and armed men, without any exception, only that he should restore him to the place from which he had cast him out; then he said that he had restored him.
sponsio facta est; hac de sponsione vobis iudicandum est. id a petitore semper fieri potest, a defensore non semper.
A wager was made; concerning this wager you must judge." This can always be done by the plaintiff, but not always by the defendant.