§7.3.1sequitur coniecturam finitio.
Definition follows conjecture.
nam, qui non potest dicere nihil fecisse, proximum habebit, ut dicat, non id fecisse, quod obiiciatur.
For he who cannot say that he did nothing will have as his next resort to say that he did not do that which is charged.
itaque pluribus legibus rei iisdem quibus coniectura versatur, defensionis tantum genere mutato, ut rei furtis, depositis, adulteriis.
Therefore, in many laws concerning the accused, which deal with the same matters as conjecture, only the genre of defense is changed, as in cases of theft, deposit, and adultery.
nam, quemadmodum dicimus, non feci furtum, non accepi depositum, non commisi adulterium, ita, non est hoc furtum, non est hoc depositum, non est hoc adulterium. §7.3.2interim a qualitate ad finitionem descenditur, ut rei actionibus dementiae, malae tractationis, rei publicae laesae;
For, just as we say, "I did not commit theft," "I did not receive the deposit," "I did not commit adultery," so in definition we say, "This is not theft," "This is not a deposit," "This is not adultery." Sometimes we descend from quality to definition, as in actions concerning the accused for madness, ill-treatment, or injury to the state.
rei quibus si recte facta esse, quae obiiciuntur, dici non potest, illud succurrit, non est male tractare uxorem verbis laedere. finitio igitur est rei propositae propria et dilucida et breviter comprehensa verbis enuntiatio.
In these, if it cannot be said that what is charged was done rightly, this remedy helps: "To hurt one's wife with words is not ill-treatment." Definition, therefore, is an explanation in words of the matter proposed, which is proper, clear, and briefly comprehended.
constat maxime, §7.3.3sicut est dictum, genere, specie, differentibus, propriis: ut si finias equum, (noto enim maxime utar exemplo) genus est animal, species mortale, differentia irrationale, (nam et homo mortale erat) proprium hinniens.
It consists chiefly, as has been said, of genus, species, difference, and property: as if you were to define a horse (for I shall use a most well-known example), the genus is animal, the species mortal, the difference irrational (for man also was mortal), and the property neighing.
haec adhibetur orationi pluribus causis.
This is applied to a speech for several reasons.
§7.3.4nam tum est certum de nomine, sed quaeritur quae res ei subiicienda sit, tum res est manifesta, sed de nomine non constat.
For sometimes the name is certain, but it is asked what matter is to be placed under it; at other times the matter is manifest, but there is no agreement on the name.
cum de nomine constat, de re dubium est, interim coniectura est: ut si quaeratur, quid sit deus.
When there is agreement on the name, but doubt about the matter, it is sometimes conjecture: as if it were asked, what is God.
§7.3.5nam qui neget deum esse spiritum omnibus partibus immixtum, non hoc dicat falsam esse divinae illius naturae appellationem, sicut Epicurus, qui humanam ei formam locumque inter mundos dedit? nomine uterque uno utitur; §7.3.6utrum sit rei re, coniectat.
For would he who denies that God is a spirit diffused through all parts not say that this appellation of that divine nature is false, like Epicurus, who gave Him human form and a place between the worlds? Both use the one name; but they conjecture which of the two is the real thing.
interim qualitas tractatur, ut quid sit rhetorice, vis persuadendi an bene dicendi scientia.
Sometimes quality is treated, as what rhetoric is, whether the power of persuading or the science of speaking well.
quod genus est rei iudiciis frequentissimum.
This class of matter is most frequent in trials.
sic enim quaeritur, an deprehensus rei lupanari cum aliena uxore adulter sit: quia non de appellatione, sed de vi facti eius ambigitur, an omnino peccaverit.
For thus it is asked whether he who is caught as the accused in a brothel with another's wife is an adulterer: because the dispute is not about the name, but about the force of his deed, whether he sinned at all.
nam si peccavit, non potest esse aliud quam adulter.
For if he sinned, he cannot be anything other than an adulterer.
§7.3.7diversum est genus, cum controversia consistit rei nomine, quod pendet ex scripto, nec versatur rei iudiciis nisi propter verba quae litem faciunt: an, qui se interficit, homicida sit; an, qui tyrannum rei mortem compulit, tyrannicida; an carmina magorum veneficium.
It is a different class when the controversy consists in the name of the accused, which depends on what is written, and is not dealt with in trials except because of the words which make the lawsuit: whether he who kills himself is a homicide; whether he who compelled a tyrant to his death is a tyrannicide; whether the incantations of magi are poisoning.
res enim manifesta est, sciturque non idem esse occidere se quod alium, non idem occidere tyrannum quod compellere ad mortem, non idem carmina ac mortiferam potionem; quaeritur tamen, an eodem nomine appellanda sint.
For the matter is manifest, and it is known that to kill oneself is not the same as to kill another, that to kill a tyrant is not the same as to compel him to death, and that incantations are not the same as a deadly potion; yet it is asked whether they are to be called by the same name.
§7.3.8quanquam autem dissentire vix audeo a Cicerone, qui multos secutus auctores dicit, finitionem esse de eodem et de altero, semper enim neganti aliquod esse nomen dicendum quod sit potius: tamen equidem tris habeo velut species.
And though I hardly dare to differ from Cicero, who, following many authors, says that definition is about "the same and the other" (for he who denies some name must always say what is rather to be used), yet I myself have three, as it were, species.
§7.3.9nam interim convenit solum quaerere, an hoc sit, ut an adulterium rei lupanari.
For sometimes it is appropriate only to ask whether this is so, as whether it is adultery in a brothel.
cum hoc negamus, non necesse est dicere quid id vocetur, quia totum crimen infitiamur.
When we deny this, it is not necessary to say what it should be called, because we deny the whole charge.
interim quaeritur, hoc an hoc; furtum an sacrilegium.
At other times it is asked, whether this or that; theft or sacrilege.
non quin sufficiat non esse sacrilegium, sed quia necesse sit dicere quid sit aliud; quo rei loco utrumque finiendum est.
Not because it is not enough that it is not sacrilege, but because it is necessary to say what else it is; in which place of the matter both must be defined.