§7.2.1coniectura omnis aut de re aut de animo est.
All conjecture is either about a fact or about intention.
utriusque tria tempora, praeteritum, praesens, futurum.
There are three times for both: past, present, and future.
de re et generales quaestiones sunt et definitae, id est, et quae non continentur personis et quae continentur.
Concerning a fact, there are both general and definite questions, that is, those which are not limited to persons and those which are.
§7.2.2de animo quaeri non potest, nisi ubi persona est et de facto constat.
Concerning intention, inquiry cannot be made except where there is a person and the fact is established.
ergo cum de re agitur, aut quid factum sit in dubium venit aut quid fiat aut quid sit futurum, ut in generalibus, an atomorum concursu mundus sit effectus, an providentia regatur, an sit aliquando casurus;
Therefore, when it is a question of fact, either what has been done comes into doubt, or what is being done, or what will be done; as in general questions, whether the universe was formed by the clash of atoms, or is ruled by providence, or is destined to perish at some time; in definite questions, whether Roscius committed parricide, whether Manlius is aiming at royal power, whether Q.
in definitis: an parricidium commiserit Roscius, an regnum adfectet Manlius, an recte Verrem sit accusaturus Q. Caecilius.
Caecilius will rightly accuse Verres.
§7.2.3in iudiciis praeteritum tempus maxime valet; nemo enim accusat, nisi quae facta sunt.
In trials, the past time is of the greatest importance; for no one accuses except of things that have been done.
nam quae fiant et quae futura sint ex praeteritis colliguntur.
For what is being done and what will be done are inferred from the past.
quaeritur et unde quid ortum? ut pestilentia ira deum an intemperie caeli an corruptis aquis an noxio terrae halitu. et quae causa facti? ut, quare ad Troiam quinquaginta reges navigaverint iure iurando adacti an exemplo moti an gratificantes Atridis.
It is also inquired from where something arose; as whether a plague arose from the anger of the gods, or from the inclemency of the weather, or from polluted waters, or from noxious vapors of the earth; and what was the cause of an action, as why fifty kings sailed to Troy, whether bound by an oath, or moved by example, or to gratify the sons of Atreus.
quae duo genera non multum inter se distant.
These two classes do not differ much from each other.
§7.2.4ea vero, quae sunt praesentis temporis, si non argumentis, quae necesse est praecessisse, sed oculis deprehendenda sunt, non egent coniectura, ut si apud Lacedaemonios quaeratur, an Athenis muri fiant.
But those things which belong to the present time, if they are to be apprehended not by arguments (which must have preceded) but by the eyes, do not need conjecture; as if it should be inquired among the Lacedaemonians whether walls are being built at Athens.
sed et illud, quod potest videri extra haec positum, coniecturae genus, cum de aliquo homine quaeritur, qui sit; ut est quaesitum contra Urbiniae heredes, is qui tanquam filius petebat bona, Figulus esset an Sosipater.
But there is also that class of conjecture, which may seem to be placed outside of these, when it is inquired concerning some man, who he is; as was inquired against the heirs of Urbinia, whether he who claimed the property as her son was Figulus or Sosipater.
§7.2.5nam et substantia eius sub oculos venit, ut non possit quaeri, an sit, quomodo an ultra oceanum;
For his substantial existence indeed comes under our eyes, so that it cannot be inquired whether he exists, as it might be of something beyond the ocean; nor what he is, nor of what quality, but who he is?
nec quid sit nec quale sit, sed quis sit? verum hoc quoque genus litis ex praeterito pendet, an hic sit ex Urbinia natus Clusinius Figulus.
Yet this class of dispute also depends on the past, whether this man was born of Urbinia as Clusinius Figulus.
fuerunt autem tales nostris etiam temporibus controversiae, atque aliquae in meum quoque patrocinium inciderunt.
Moreover, there have been such controversies even in our times, and some fell under my own advocacy.
§7.2.6animi coniectura non dubie in omnia tempora cadit, qua mente Ligarius in Africa fuerit, qua mente Pyrrhus foedus petat, quomodo laturus sit Caesar, si Ptolemaeus Pompeium occiderit.
Conjecture of intention undoubtedly falls into all times: with what mind Ligarius was in Africa, with what mind Pyrrhus seeks a treaty, how Caesar will bear it if Ptolemy kills Pompey.
quaeritur per coniecturam et qualitas circa modum, speciem, numerum, an sol maior quam terra, luna globosa an plana an acuta, unus mundus an plures.
By conjecture, quality is also inquired into concerning measure, form, and number: whether the sun is greater than the earth, whether the moon is spherical or flat or sharp, whether there is one universe or many.
itemque extra naturales quaestiones, §7.2.7maius bellum Troianum an Peloponnesium, qualis clipeus Achillis, an unus Hercules.
And likewise outside of natural questions, whether the Trojan or the Peloponnesian war was greater, of what kind was the shield of Achilles, whether there was only one Hercules.
in iis autem, quae accusatione ac defensione constant, unum est genus, in quo quaeritur et de facto et de auctore; quod interim coniunctam quaestionem habet, cum utrumque pariter negatur, interim separatam, cum et factum sit necne, et si de facto constet, a quo factum sit ambigitur.
But in those matters which consist of accusation and defense, there is one class in which inquiry is made both about the fact and about the author; which sometimes has a conjoined question, when both are equally denied, and sometimes a separate one, when it is disputed both whether the fact occurred or not, and, if the fact is established, by whom it was done.
§7.2.8ipsum quoque factum aliquando simplicem quaestionem habet, an homo perierit, aliquando duplicem, veneno an cruditate perierit.
The fact itself also sometimes has a simple question, whether a man has perished; sometimes a double one, whether he perished by poison or by indigestion.
alterum est genus de facto tantum, cum, si id certum sit, non potest de auctore dubitari; tertium de auctore tantum, cum factum constat, sed a quo sit factum in controversiam venit.
The second class is concerning the fact only, when, if that is certain, there can be no doubt about the author; the third is concerning the author only, when the fact is established, but it comes into controversy by whom it was done.
et hoc, quod tertio loco posui, non est simplex.
And this, which I have placed in the third position, is not simple.
§7.2.9aut enim reus fecisse tantummodo se negat aut alium fecisse dicit.
For either the accused merely denies that he himself did it, or he says that someone else did it.
sed ne in alterum quidem transferendi criminis una forma est.
But even of transferring the charge to another, there is not only one form.
Interdum enim substituitur mutua accusatio, quam Graeci ἀντικατηγορίαν vocant, nostrorum quidam concertativam. Interdum in aliquam personam, quae extra discrimen iudicii est, transfertur, et alias certam, alias incertam;
For sometimes a mutual accusation is substituted, which the Greeks call ἀντικατηγορία, and some of our writers "concertative." Sometimes it is transferred to some person who is outside the danger of the trial, sometimes certain, sometimes uncertain;