§4.5.10festinat enim iudex ad id quod potentissimum est.
For the judge hastens to that which is most powerful.
et velut obligatum promisso patronum, si est patientior, tacitus appellat; si vel occupatus vel in aliqua potestate vel etiam si moribus incompositus, cum convicio efflagitat.
And as if the advocate were bound by a promise, if he is more patient, he silently calls upon him; if he is either occupied, or in some power, or even if of uncomposed manners, he demands it with clamor.
§4.5.11itaque non defuerunt, qui Ciceronis illam pro Cluentio partitionem improbarent, qua se dicturum esse promisit primum, neminem maioribus criminibus, gravioribus testibus, in iudicium vocatum quam Oppianicum; deinde praeiudicia esse facta ab ipsis iudicibus, a quibus condemnatus sit; postremo, iudicium pecunia temptatum non a Cluentio, sed contra Cluentium; quia, si probari posset, quod est tertium, §4.5.12nihil necesse fuerit dicere priora.
Therefore there have not been wanting those who disapproved of that partition of Cicero's in his speech for Cluentius, in which he promised that he would speak, first, that no one was called into judgment with greater crimes or heavier witnesses than Oppianicus; secondly, that prejudices had been made by those very judges by whom he was condemned; lastly, that the trial was tempted with money not by Cluentius, but against Cluentius; because, if that which is third could be proved, there would have been no necessity to say the former ones.
rursus nemo tam erit iniustus aut stultus, quin eum fateatur optime pro Murena esse partitum: intelligo, indices, tris totius accusationis fuisse partis, et earum unam in reprehensione vitae, alteram in contentione dignitatis, tertiam in criminibus ambitus esse versatam. nam sic et ostendit lucidissime causam et nihil fecit altero supervacuum.
On the other hand, no one will be so unjust or foolish as not to confess that he partitioned excellently in his speech for Murena: "I understand, judges, that there were three parts of the whole accusation, and that one of them was employed in the reprehension of his life, another in the contention of dignity, and the third in the crimes of bribery." For thus he both showed the cause most clearly and made nothing superfluous by another.
§4.5.13de illo quoque genere defensionis plerique dubitant: si occidi, recte feci; sed non occidi; quo enim prius pertinere, si sequens firmum sit? haec invicem obstare, et utroque utentibus in neutro haberi fidem.
Most also doubt about that kind of defense: "If I killed, I did rightfully; but I did not kill"; for to what does the former pertain, if the subsequent is firm? These, they say, block each other, and no credit is had in either to those who use both.
quod sane in parte verum est, et illo sequenti, si modo indubitabile est, §4.5.14sit solo utendum.
Which indeed is true in part; and if only that subsequent point is indubitable, it should be used alone.
at si quid in eo, quod est fortius, timebimus, utraque probatione nitemur.
But if we fear anything in that which is stronger, we shall rely on both proofs.
alius enim alio moveri solet, et qui factum putavit, iustum credere potest; qui tanquam iusto non movebitur, factum fortasse non credet.
For one is accustomed to be moved by one thing, another by another; and he who thought it was done may believe it just; and he who will not be moved by it as if just will perhaps not believe it was done.
ut certa manus uno telo possit esse contenta, incerta plura spargenda sunt, §4.5.15ut sit et fortunate locus.
As a certain hand can be content with one weapon, an uncertain one must scatter several, so that there may be a place for fortune as well.
egregie vero Cicero pro Milone insidiatorem primum Clodium ostendit, tum addidit ex abundanti, etiamsi id non fuisset, talem tamen civem cum summa virtute interfectoris et gloria necari potuisse.
Remarkably indeed, Cicero in his speech for Milo showed first that Clodius was the layer of ambushes, then added from abundance that, even if that had not been so, yet such a citizen could have been slain with the highest virtue and glory of the killer.
§4.5.16neque illum tamen ordinem, de quo prius dixi, damnaverim; quia quaedam, etiamsi ipsa sunt dura, in id tamen valent, ut ea molliant quae sequuntur.
Yet I should not condemn that order of which I spoke before; because some things, although they are harsh in themselves, yet avail to soften those which follow.
nec omnino sine ratione est quod vulgo dicitur: iniquum petendum, ut aequum feras. §4.5.17quod tamen nemo sic accipiat ut omnia credat audenda.
Nor is it entirely without reason what is commonly said: "that you must demand what is unjust, so that you may carry away what is just." Which, however, let no one so take as to believe that all things are to be dared.
recte enim Graeci praecipiunt, non temptanda, quae effici omnino non possint.
For the Greeks rightly teach that those things are not to be attempted which cannot be effected at all.
sed quotiens hac, de qua loquor, duplici defensione utemur, id laborandum est, ut in illam partem sequentem fides ex priore ducatur.
But as often as we use this double defense of which I speak, we must labor for this, that trust may be drawn to that subsequent part from the prior one.
potest enim videri, qui tuto etiam confessurus fuit, mentiendi causam in negando non habere.
For he who was going to confess even safely may seem to have no cause for lying in denying.
§4.5.18et illud utique faciendum est, ut, quotiens suspicabimur a iudice aliam probationem desiderari quam de qua loquimur, promittamus nos plene et statim de eo satis esse facturos, praecipueque si de pudore agetur.
And that indeed must be done, that as often as we suspect another proof is desired by the judge than that of which we speak, we promise that we will satisfy him on that matter fully and immediately, especially if it concerns honor.