§5.13.21superba, ut in Oppium ex epistola Cottae reum factum.
arrogant, as in the case of Oppius made a defendant by the letter of Cotta.
perinde praecipites, insidiosae, impotentes deprehenduntur.
In the same way, headlong, treacherous, and impotent pleadings are detected.
ex quibus tamen fortissime invaseris, quod est aut omnibus periculosum, ut dicit Cicero pro Tullio: quis hoc statuit unquam, aut cui concedi sine summo omnium periculo potest, ut eum iure potuerit occidere, a quo metuisse se dicat, ne ipse posterius occideretur? aut ipsis iudicibus, ut pro Oppio monet pluribus, ne illud actionis genus in equestrem ordinem admittant. §5.13.22nonnunquam tamen quaedam bene et contemnuntur vel tanquam levia vel tanquam nihil ad causam pertinentia.
But of these, you will attack most strongly what is dangerous either to all, as Cicero says in *Pro Tullio*: "Who ever established this, or to whom can it be granted without the greatest danger to all, that he could lawfully kill someone of whom he says he was afraid, lest he himself should be killed later?" or to the judges themselves, as he warns in many words in *Pro Oppio*, lest they admit that kind of pleading against the equestrian order. Sometimes, however, certain things are well despised either as trivial or as having nothing to do with the cause.
multis hoc locis fecit Cicero; et haec simulatio interim huc usque procedit, ut, quae dicendo refutare non possumus, quasi fastidiendo calcemus. §5.13.23quoniam vero maxima pars eorum similibus constat, rimandum erit diligentissime, quid sit in quoque, quod adsumitur, dissimile.
Cicero did this in many places; and this pretense sometimes goes so far that we tread upon, as if in disdain, what we cannot refute by speaking. But since the greatest part of these consists of similarities, we must search most diligently what is dissimilar in each thing that is introduced.
in iure facile deprehenditur. est enim scriptum de rebus utique diversis, tantoque magis ipsarum rerum differentia potest esse manifesta.
In law this is easily detected; for the law is written about indeed diverse matters, and so much the more can the difference of the things themselves be manifest.
illas vero similitudines, quae ducuntur ex mutis animalibus aut inanimis, facile est eludere. §5.13.24exempla rerum varie tractanda sunt, si nocebunt; quae si vetera erunt, fabulosa dicere licebit; si indubia, maxime quidem dissimilia.
But those similarities which are drawn from mute animals or inanimate things are easy to elude. Examples of history must be treated variously if they are harmful; if they are old, it will be permitted to call them fabulous; if they are indubitable, we must show them to be especially dissimilar.
neque enim fieri potest, ut paria sint per omnia, ut si Nasica post occisum Gracchum defendatur exemplo Ahalae, a quo Maelius est interfectus, Maelium regni adfectatorem fuisse, a Graccho leges modo latas esse populares, Ahalam magistrum equitum fuisse, Nasicam privatum esse dicatur.
For it cannot happen that they are equal in all things, as if, when Nasica after the killing of Gracchus is defended by the example of Ahala, by whom Maelius was slain, it should be said that Maelius was an aspirant to kingship, but by Gracchus only popular laws were proposed, and that Ahala was master of the horse, while Nasica was a private citizen.
si defecerint omnia, videndum erit, an obtineri possit, ne illud quidem recte factum. quod de exemplis, idem etiam de iudicatis observandum.
If all else fails, we must see whether it can be maintained that not even that act was rightly done.
§5.13.25quod autem posui, referre, quo quidque accusator modo dixerit, huc pertinet, ut, si est minus efficaciter elocutus, ipsa eius verba ponantur; si acri et vehementi fuerit usus oratione, eandem rem nostris verbis mitioribus proferamus, ut Cicero de Cornelio, codicem attigit; §5.13.26et protinus cum quadam defensione, ut, si pro luxurioso dicendum sit, obiecta est paulo liberalior vita. sic et pro sordido parcum, pro maledico liberum dicere licebit. §5.13.27utique committendum nunquam est, ut adversariorum dicta cum sua confirmation reteramus, aut etiam loci alicuius exsecutione adiuvemus, nisi cum eludenda erunt: apud exercitum mihi fueris, inquit; tot annis forum non attigeris, ab fueris tamdiu et, cum tam longo intervallo veneris, cum his, qui in foro habitarunt, §5.13.28de dignitate contendas Praeterea in contradictione interim totum crimen exponitur, ut Cicero pro Scauro circa Bostarem facit veluti orationem diversae partis imitatus, aut pluribus propositionibus iunctis, ut pro Vareno, cum iter per agros et loca sola faceret cum Pompuleno, in familiam Ancharianam incidisse dixerunt, deinde Pompulenum occisum esse, illico eo fieri vellet.
What is said of examples must also be observed of decided cases. But what I have laid down, that it matters in what manner the accuser has said each thing, pertains to this: that if he has spoken less effectively, his own words should be quoted; if he has used a sharp and vehement speech, we should produce the same thing in our own milder words, as Cicero says of Cornelius, "he touched the law-book"; and immediately with some defense, as, if we must speak for a luxurious man, "a somewhat too liberal life has been charged." Thus we may call a sordid man "frugal," and a slanderous man "free-spoken." At all events, we must never commit the error of repeating the statements of our opponents with their own confirmation, or even helping them by the execution of some common place, unless they are to be eluded: "You were with me in the army," he says; "for so many years you did not touch the forum, you were away so long, and when you returned after so long an interval, with those who have lived in the forum," "you contend for dignity." Moreover, in refutation, the whole charge is sometimes exposed, as Cicero does in *Pro Scauro* concerning Bostar, as if imitating the speech of the opposite party, or with several propositions joined together, as in *Pro Vareno*, when they said that, while he was making a journey through the fields and solitary places with Pompulenus, they fell in with the Ancharian family, then that Pompulenus was killed, and that he wished the same to be done to himself immediately.
quod est utile, si erit incredibilis rei ordo et ipsa expositione fidem perditurus.
This is useful if the order of the matter is incredible and likely to lose credit by the exposition itself.
interim per partes dissolvitur, quod contextu nocet; et plerumque id est tutius.
Sometimes it is dissolved by parts, what is harmful in the context; and mostly that is safer.
quaedam contradictiones natura sunt singulae; id exemplis non eget. §5.13.29communia bene apprehenduntur non tantum, quia utriusque sunt partis, sed quia plus prosunt respondenti.
Some refutations are by nature single; this needs no examples. Common places are well apprehended not only because they belong to both parties, but because they are more useful to the respondent.
neque enim pigebit, quod saepe monui, referre; commune qui prior dicit, contrarium facit.
For I shall not be reluctant to repeat what I have often advised: he who speaks first of a common place makes it adverse to himself.
est enim contrarium, quo adversarius bene uti potest:
For that is adverse which the opponent can use well: