§5.13.10at si extra causam sit adductum et tantum coniunctum, malim quidem dicere, nihil id ad quaestionem nec esse in iis morandum et minus esse quam adversarius dicat; tamen velut huic simulationi oblivionis ignoscam.
But if it has been brought in from outside the cause and is only connected to it, I should indeed prefer to say that it is nothing to the question, and that we must not dwell on such matters, and that it is of less importance than the opponent says; yet I will, as it were, pardon this pretense of forgetting.
debet enim bonus advocatus pro rei salute brevem negligentiae reprehensionem non pertimescere.
For a good advocate, for the safety of his client, ought not to dread a brief censure of negligence.
videndum etiam, §5.13.11simul nobis plura aggredienda sint an amolienda singula.
We must also consider whether we should attack many things at once or remove them one by one.
plura simul invadimus, si aut tam infirma sunt, ut pariter impelli possint, aut tam molesta, ut pedem conferre cum singulis non expediat; tum enim toto corpore obnitendum et, ut sic dixerim, directa fronte pugnandum est.
We attack many at once if they are either so weak that they can be overthrown together, or so troublesome that it is not expedient to engage with them individually; for then we must resist with the whole body and, so to speak, fight with a straight front.
interim, §5.13.12si resolvere ex parte diversa dicta difficilius erit, nostra argumenta cum adversariorum argumentis conferemus, si modo haec ut valentiora videantur effici poterit.
Sometimes, if it is more difficult to dissect what has been said by the opposing side, we shall compare our arguments with those of our opponents, provided only it can be managed that ours appear the stronger.
quae vero turba ualebunt, diducenda erunt, ut, quod paulo ante dixi: heres eras et pauper et magna pecunia appellabaris a creditoribus et offenderas et mutaturum tabulas testamenti sciebas. §5.13.13urgent universa; at si singula quaeque dissolveris, iam illa flamma, quae magna congerie convaluerat, diductis quibus alebatur, concidet, ut, si vel maxima flumina in rivos diducantur, qualibet transitum praebent.
But those which have strength as a crowd must be separated, as in what I said a little before: "You were the heir, and poor, and were being dunned for a large sum of money by your creditors, and you had offended him, and you knew he was going to change his will." Collectively they press hard; but if you dissolve each one individually, now that flame, which had grown strong from a great heap, will collapse when the things by which it was fed are separated, just as even the largest rivers, if they are divided into streams, afford a crossing anywhere.
itaque propositio quoque secundum hanc utilitatem accommodabitur, ut ea nunc singula ostendamus, nunc complectamur universa.
Therefore, the proposition also will be adapted according to this utility, so that we sometimes show them individually, sometimes embrace them as a whole.
§5.13.14nam interim quod pluribus collegit adversarius, sat est semel proponere; ut, si multas causas faciendi, quod arguit, reo dicet accusator fuisse, nos, non enumeratis singulis, semel hoc in totum negemus, quia non, quisquis causam faciendi sceleris habuit, et fecerit.
For sometimes it is enough to state once what the opponent has gathered from several points; as, if the accuser says that the defendant had many motives for doing what he charges him with, we, without enumerating them individually, may deny this once and for all, because it does not follow that whoever had a motive for committing a crime actually did it.
§5.13.15saepius tamen accusatori congerere argumenta, reo dissolvere expediet.
More often, however, it will be expedient for the accuser to heap up arguments, and for the defendant to dissolve them.
id autem, quod erit ab aduersario dictum, quomodo refutari debeat, intuendum est.
Moreover, we must observe how that which has been said by the opponent ought to be refuted.
nam si erit palam falsum, negare satis est, ut pro Cluentio Cicero eum, quem dixerat accusator epoto poculo concidisse, negat eodem die mortuum.
For if it is patently false, it is enough to deny it, as Cicero, in *Pro Cluentio*, denies that the man, of whom the accuser had said that he collapsed after drinking the cup, died on that same day.
§5.13.16palam etiam contraria et supervacua et stulta reprehendere nullius est artis, ideoque nec rationes eorum nec exempla tradere necesse est.
To censure things that are patently contradictory, superfluous, or foolish requires no art, and therefore it is not necessary to hand down either rules or examples of them.
id quoque (quod obscurum vocant), quod secreto et sine teste aut argumento dicitur factum, satis natura sua infirmum est; sufficit enim, quod adversarius non probat; item si ad causam non pertinet.
That also (which they call "obscure"), which is said to have been done in secret and without a witness or proof, is by its own nature weak enough; for it is sufficient that the opponent does not prove it; likewise if it does not belong to the cause.
§5.13.17est tamen interim oratoris efficere, ut quid aut contrarium esse aut a causa diversum aut incredibile aut supervacuum aut nostrae potius causae videatur esse coniunctum.
Yet it is sometimes the task of the orator to make it appear that something is either contradictory, or foreign to the cause, or incredible, or superfluous, or rather connected with our own cause.
obiicitur Oppio, quod de militum cibariis detraxerit; asperum crimen, sed id contrarium ostendit Cicero, quia iidem accusatores obiecerint Oppio, quod is voluerit exercitum largiendo corrumpere.
It is charged against Oppius that he embezzled from the provisions of the soldiers; a harsh charge, but Cicero showed it to be contradictory, because the same accusers had charged Oppius with wanting to corrupt the army by bribery.
§5.13.18testes in Cornelium accusator lecti a tribuno codicis pollicetur; facit hoc Cicero supervacuum, quia ipse fateatur.
The accuser promises witnesses against Cornelius regarding the reading of the law-book by the tribune; Cicero makes this superfluous, because Cornelius himself confesses it.
petit accusationem in Verrem Q. Caecilius, quod fuerat quaestor eius; ipsum Cicero ut pro se videretur effecit.
Quintus Caecilius seeks the prosecution against Verres because he had been his quaestor; Cicero made this very fact appear to be in his own favor.
§5.13.19cetera, quae proponuntur, communis locus habet. aut enim coniectura excutiuntur, an vera sint; aut finitione, an propria; aut qualitate, an inhonesta, iniqua, improba, inhumana, crudelia et cetera, quae ei generi accident.
The other things that are proposed are contained in common places; for they are either examined by conjecture, whether they are true; or by definition, whether they are proper; or by quality, whether they are dishonorable, unjust, wicked, inhumane, cruel, and other things which fall under that genus.
§5.13.20eaque non modo in propositionibus et rationibus sed in toto genere actionis intuenda: an sit crudelis, ut Labieni in Rabirium lege perduellionis; inhumana, ut Tuberonis Ligarium exulem accusantis atque id agentis ne ei Caesar ignoscat;
And these things must be observed not only in propositions and reasons, but in the whole character of the pleading: whether it be cruel, like that of Labienus against Rabirius under the law of high treason; or inhumane, like that of Tubero accusing the exile Ligarius and taking steps to prevent Caesar from pardoning him;