§6.1.44illud praecipue monendum, ne quis nisi summis ingenii viribus ad movendas lacrimas aggredi audeat; nam ut est longe vehementissimus hic, cum invaluit, adfectus, ita, si nihil efficit, tepet; §6.1.45quem melius infirmus actor tacitis iudicum cogitationibus reliquisset.
This must be especially advised, that no one should dare to approach the moving of tears unless with the greatest powers of intellect; for just as this emotion is by far the most vehement when it has gained strength, so, if it accomplishes nothing, it becomes lukewarm; which an weak advocate had better have left to the silent thoughts of the judges.
nam et vultus et vox et ipsa illa excitati rei facies ludibrio etiam plerumque sunt hominibus, quos non permoverunt.
For both the countenance and the voice and the very face of the accused brought forward are generally a laughing-stock to people whom they have not deeply moved.
quare metiatur ac diligenter aestimet vires suas actor et quantum onus subiturus sit intelligat; nihil habet ista res medium, sed aut lacrimas meretur aut risum.
Therefore, let the advocate measure and carefully estimate his own powers and understand how great a burden he is about to undergo; this matter has no middle ground, but either deserves tears or laughter.
§6.1.46non autem commovere tantum miserationem sed etiam discutere epilogi est proprium cum oratione continua, quae motos lacrimis iudices ad iustitiam reducat, tum etiam quibusdam urbane dictis, quale est date puero panem, ne ploret;
It is, however, the property of a peroration not only to move pity but also to dispel it, both with a continuous speech, which may bring back to justice the judges who have been moved to tears, and also with certain witty remarks, such as: 'give the boy bread, so he won't cry'; and to a corpulent litigant, whose adversary, likewise a boy, was being carried around the judges by his advocate: 'What shall I do?
et corpulento litigatori, cuius adversarius, item puer, circa iudices erat ab advocato latus: quid faciam? ego te baiulare non possum. §6.1.47sed haec tamen non debent esse mimica Itaque nec illum probaverim, quanquam inter clarissimos sui temporis oratores fuit, qui pueris ira epilogum productis talos iecit ira medium, quos illi diripere coeperunt; namque haec ipsa discriminis sui ignorantia potuit esse miserabilis; §6.1.48neque illum, qui, cum esset cruentus gladius ab accusatore prolatus, quo is hominem probabat occisum, subito ex subselliis ut territus fugit et, capite ex parte velato cum ad agendum ex turba prospexisset, interrogavit, an iam ille cum gladio recessisset.
I cannot carry you on my back.' But these things, nevertheless, must not be like farces. Therefore, I should not approve him either, although he was among the most famous orators of his time, who, when boys had been brought forward for the peroration, threw knucklebones into the middle, which they began to scramble for; for this very ignorance of their own danger could have been pitiable; nor him who, when a bloody sword was produced by the accuser, by which he was proving that a man had been killed, suddenly fled from the benches as if terrified, and, with his head partly veiled, when he looked out from the crowd to plead, asked whether that man with the sword had already departed.
fecit enim risum, sed ridiculus fuit.
For he indeed caused laughter, but he was ridiculous.
§6.1.49discutiendae tamen oratione eiusmodi scenae, egregieque Cicero, qui contra imaginem Saturnini pro Rabirio graviter et contra iuvenem, cuius subinde vulnus ira iudicio resolvebatur, pro Vareno multa dixit urbane.
Nevertheless, such scenes must be dispelled by speech, and Cicero did so excellently, who spoke gravely against the image of Saturninus on behalf of Rabirius, and spoke many things wittily against the young man whose wound was repeatedly uncovered in court on behalf of Varenus.
§6.1.50sunt et illi leniores epilogi, quibus adversario satisfacimus, si forte sit eius persona talis, ut illi debeatur reverentia, aut cum amice aliquid commonemus et ad concordiam hortamur.
There are also those milder perorations in which we satisfy the adversary, if perchance his character is such that reverence is due to him, or when we advise something amicably and exhort to harmony.
quod est genus egregie tractatum a Passieno, cum Domitiae uxoris suae pecuniaria lite adversus fratrem eius Ahenobarbum ageret; nam, cum de necessitudine multa dixisset, de fortuna quoque, qua uterque abundabat, adiecit: nihil vobis minus deest, quam de quo contenditis. §6.1.51omnes autem hos adfectus, etiamsi quibusdam videntur ira prooemio atque ira epilogo sedem habere, ira quibus sane sint frequentissimi, tamen aliae quoque partes recipiunt, sed breviores, ut cum ex iis plurima sint reservanda.
This kind of peroration was excellently handled by Passienus, when he was pleading in a money dispute of his wife Domitia against her brother Ahenobarbus; for, when he had spoken much of their relationship, and also of their fortune, in which both abounded, he added: 'Nothing is less lacking to you than that for which you are contending.' But all these emotions, although they seem to some to have their seat in the proem and in the peroration, in which indeed they are most frequent, yet other parts also admit them, but shorter, as since most of them must be reserved.
At hic, si usquam, totos eloquentiae aperire fontes licet.
But here, if anywhere, it is permitted to open all the fountains of eloquence.
§6.1.52nam et, si bene diximus reliqua, possidebimus iam iudicum animos, et e confragosis atque asperis evecti tota pandere possumus vela, et, cum sit maxima pars epilogi amplificatio, verbis atque sententiis uti licet magnificis et ornatis.
For indeed, if we have spoken the rest well, we shall already possess the minds of the judges, and having sailed out from rough and harsh places, we can spread all our sails, and, since the greatest part of the peroration is amplification, we may use magnificent and ornate words and thoughts.
tum est commovendum theatrum. cum ventum est ad ipsum illud, quo veteres tragoediae comoediaeque cluduntur, plodite.
Then the theater must be moved, when we have come to that very thing with which ancient tragedies and comedies are closed, 'applaud'.
§6.1.53in aliis autem partibus tractandus erit adfectus, ut quisque nascetur, nam neque exponi sine hoc res atroces et miserabiles debent; cum de qualitate alicuius rei quaestio est, probationibus uniuscuiusque rei recte subiungitur.
But in other parts, emotion must be treated as each arises, for neither should atrocious and pitiable matters be set forth without this; when there is a question about the quality of some matter, it is rightly subjoined to the proofs of each matter.
§6.1.54ubi vero coniunctam ex pluribus causam agimus, etiam necesse erit uti pluribus quasi epilogis, ut ira Verrem Cicero fecit.
Where, however, we plead a case joined from several matters, it will also be necessary to use several, as it were, perorations, as Cicero did against Verres.
nam et Philodamo et nauarchis et cruci civis Romani et aliis plurimis suas lacrimas dedit.
For he gave his tears to Philodamus, to the captains, to the cross of the Roman citizen, and to many others.
§6.1.55sunt, qui hos μερικοὺς ἐπιλόγους vocent, quo partitam perorationem significant.
There are those who call these 'partial perorations', by which they mean a divided peroration.
mihi non tam partes eius quam species videntur, siquidem et epilogi et perorationis nomina ipsa aperte satis ostendunt, hanc esse consummationem orationis.
To me, they seem not so much parts of it as species, since indeed the very names of 'epilogue' and 'peroration' show clearly enough that this is the consummation of the speech.