§5.9.1omnis igitur probatio artificialis constat aut signis aut argumentis aut exemplis.
Therefore, all artificial proof consists either of signs, or of arguments, or of examples.
nec ignoro plerisque videri signa partem argumentorum.
Nor am I ignorant that to most people signs seem to be a part of arguments.
quae mihi separandi ratio haec fuit prima, quod sunt paene ex illis inartificialibus; cruenta enim vestis et clamor et livor et talia sunt instrumenta, qualia tabulae, rumores, testes; nec inveniuntur ab oratore, sed ad eum cum ipsa causa deferuntur; §5.9.2altera, quod signa, sive indubitata sunt, non sunt argumenta, quia, ubi ilia sunt, quaestio non est, argumento autem nisi in re controversa locus esse non potest; sive dubia, non sunt argumenta sed ipsa argumentis egent.
My first reason for separating them was this, that they are almost of the class of those inartificial proofs; for a blood-stained garment, a shriek, a bruise, and such things are instruments of the same kind as documents, rumors, and witnesses; and they are not invented by the orator, but are brought to him with the cause itself; the second is, that signs, if they are indubitable, are not arguments, because, where they are present, there is no question, whereas an argument can have no place except in a matter of controversy; or if they are doubtful, they are not arguments, but themselves stand in need of arguments.
§5.9.3dividuntur autem in has duas primas species, quod eorum alia sunt, ut dixi, quae necessaria sunt, alia quae non necessaria.
But they are divided into these first two classes, that some of them, as I have said, are necessary, others not necessary.
Priora illa sunt quae aliter habere se non possunt, quae Graeci vocant τεκμήρια, quia sunt ἄλυτα σημεῖα, quae mihi vix pertinere ad praecepta artis videntur; nam ubi est signum insolubile, ibi ne lis quidem est.
The former are those which cannot be otherwise, which the Greeks call tekmēria, because they are insoluble signs, which seem to me scarcely to belong to the rules of art; for where there is an insoluble sign, there is not even a lawsuit.
§5.9.4id autem accidit, cum quid aut necesse est fieri factumve esse aut omnino non potest fieri vel esse factum; quo in causis posito non est lis facti.
But this happens when anything must either necessarily be done or have been done, or cannot possibly be done or have been done; which being established in causes, there is no question of fact.
hoc genus per omnia tempora perpendi solet.
This class is accustomed to be weighed through all times.
§5.9.5nam et coisse eam cum viro, quae peperit, quod est praeteriti, et fluctus esse, cum magna vis venti in mare incubuit, quod coniuncti, et eum mori, cuius cor est vulneratum, quod futuri, necesse est.
For it is necessary both that she who has given birth has united with a man, which belongs to the past, and that there are waves when a great force of wind has fallen upon the sea, which belongs to the connected time, and that he whose heart has been wounded will die, which belongs to the future.
nec fieri potest, ut ibi messis sit, ubi satum non est, ut quis Romae sit, cum est Athenis, ut sit ferro vulneratus, qui sine cicatrice est.
Nor can it happen that there is a harvest where there has been no sowing, that anyone is at Rome when he is at Athens, or that he is wounded with iron who is without a scar.
§5.9.6sed quaedam et retrorsum idem valent, ut vivere hominem qui spirat, et spirare qui vivit.
But some things have the same force even in reverse, as that a man who breathes lives, and he who lives breathes.
quaedam in contrarium non recurrent; nec enim, quia movetur qui ingreditur, etiam ingreditur qui movetur.
Some things will not recur in the contrary direction; for it does not follow that, because he who walks moves, he also who moves walks.
§5.9.7quare potest et coisse cum viro, quae non peperit, et non esse ventus in mari, cum est fluctus, neque utique cor eius vulneratum esse, qui perit.
Therefore, it is possible both that she who has not given birth has united with a man, and that there is no wind on the sea when there is a wave, and by no means must his heart have been wounded who dies.
ac similiter satum fuisse potest, ubi non fuit messis, nec fuisse Romae, qui non fuit Athenis, nec fuisse ferro vulneratus, qui habet cicatricem.
And similarly, sowing may have occurred where there was no harvest, nor does it follow that he who was not at Athens was not at Rome, nor that he who has a scar was wounded with iron.
§5.9.8alia sunt signa non necessaria, quae εἰκότα Graeci vocant; quae etiamsi ad tollendam dubitationem sola non sufficiunt, tamen adiuncta ceteris plurimum valent.
Other signs are not necessary, which the Greeks call eikota; which, even if they are not sufficient by themselves to remove doubt, yet when joined to others have very great weight.
§5.9.9signum vocatur, ut dixi, σημεῖον quamquam id quidam indicium quidam vestigium nominaverunt, per quod alia res intellegitur, ut per sanguinem caedes.
A sign is called, as I said, sēmeion (although some have named it an indication, others a trace), through which another thing is understood, as a murder is understood through blood.
at sanguis vel ex hostia respersisse uestem potest vel e naribus profluxisse: non utique, qui vestem cruentam habuerit, homicidium fecerit.
But blood may have splattered a garment from a victim, or have flowed from the nose: it does not follow that whoever has a blood-stained garment has committed a homicide.
§5.9.10sed ut per se non sufficit, ita ceteris adiunctum testimonii loco ducitur, si inimicus, si minatus ante, si eodem in loco fuit; quibus signum cum accessit, efficit ut, quae suspecta erant, certa videantur.
But though it is not sufficient by itself, yet when joined to other circumstances it is held in the place of testimony, as if he was an enemy, if he had threatened him beforehand, if he was in the same place; and when the sign is added to these, it makes those things which were suspected seem certain.
§5.9.11alioqui sunt quaedam signa utrique parti communia, ut livores, tumores (nam videri possunt et veneficii et cruditatis) et vulnus in pectore sua manu et aliena perisse dicentibus, in quo est.
Otherwise, there are certain signs common to both sides, as bruises and swellings (for they may seem to be the result of either poison or indigestion), and a wound in the breast is common to those who say the person perished by his own hand and to those who say he perished by another's.
haec proinde firma habentur atque extrinsecus adiuvantur.
These, accordingly, are held to be strong in proportion as they are supported by external aid.
§5.9.12eorum autem, quae signa sunt quidem, sed non necessaria, genus Hermagoras putat, non esse virginem Atalantam, quia cum iuvenibus per silvas vagetur.
But of those which are indeed signs, but not necessary, Hermagoras thinks one kind is that Atalanta is not a virgin, because she wanders through the woods with young men.
quod si receperimus, vereor, ne omnia quae ex facto ducuntur signa faciamus.
But if we admit this, I fear lest we make everything that is derived from a fact a sign.
eadem tamen ratione qua signa tractantur.
Nevertheless, they are treated on the same principle as signs.
§5.9.13nec mihi videntur Areopagitae, cum damnaverint puerum coturnicum oculos eruentem, aliud iudicasse quam id signum esse perniciosissimae mentis multisque malo futurae, si adolevisset.
Nor do the Areopagites, when they condemned a boy for plucking out the eyes of quails, seem to me to have judged anything else than that this was a sign of a most pernicious mind, and one that would be a source of evil to many if he had grown up.
unde Spurii Maelii Marcique Manlii popularitas signum adfectati regni est existimatum.
Hence the popularity of Spurius Maelius and Marcus Manlius was estimated as a sign of aiming at kingly power.
§5.9.14sed vereor, ne longe nimium nos ducat haec via.
But I fear lest this path lead us too far.
nam si est signum adulterae lavari cum viris, erit et convivere cum adolescentibus, deinde etiam familiariter alicuius amicitia uti; fortasse corpus vulsum, fractum incessum, vestem muliebrem dixerit mollis et parum viri signa, si cui (cum signum id proprie sit, quod ex eo, de quo quaeritur, natum sub oculos venit) ut sanguis e caede, ita illa ex impudicitia fluere videantur.
For if it is a sign of an adulteress to bathe with men, it will also be a sign to banquet with young men, and then even to enjoy anyone's friendship familiarly; perhaps someone might call a plucked body, an effeminate gait, and female attire signs of an effeminate and unmanly person, if to anyone (since a sign is properly that which, arising from that which is in question, comes under our eyes) just as blood from a murder, so those things seem to flow from unchastity.
§5.9.15ea quoque quae, quia plerumque observata sunt, vulgo signa creduntur, ut prognostica.
Those things also which, because they have been generally observed, are commonly believed to be signs, such as weather forecasts.
vento rubet aurea Phoebe et cornix plena pluviam vocat improba voce, si causas ex qualitate caeli trahunt, sane ita appellentur.
"With wind golden Phoebe reddens, and the wicked crow calls for rain with full voice," if they derive their causes from the quality of the sky, they may indeed be so called.
§5.9.16nam si vento rubet luna, signum venti est rubor.
For if the moon reddens by wind, the redness is a sign of wind.
et si, ut idem poeta colligit, densatus et laxatus aer facit, ut sit inde ille avium concentus, idem sentiemus.
And if, as the same poet infers, the condensed and rarified air causes that concert of birds, we shall think the same.
sunt autem signa etiam parva magnorum, ut vel haec ipsa cornix; nam maiora minorum esse, nemo miratur.
But even small things are signs of great things, as this very crow; for that greater things are signs of smaller, no one wonders.