§9.2.12est aliqua etiam in respondendo figura, cum aliud interroganti ad aliud, quia sic utilius sit, occurritur, tum augendi criminis gratia, ut testis in reum rogatus, an ab reo fustibus vapulasset, et innocens, inquit; tum declinandi, quod est frequentissimum: quaero, an occideris hominem; respondetur, latronem; An fundum occupaveris; respondetur, meum. §9.2.13ut confessionem praecedat defensio, ut apud Vergilium in Bucolicis dicenti,
"
non ego te vidi Damonis, pessime, caprum
excipere insidiis?
"
occurritur:
"
an mihi cantando victus non redderet ille?
"
Cui est confinis dissimulatio, §9.2.14non alibi quam in risu posita ideoque tractata suo loco.
There is some figure also in replying, when one counters a questioner with one thing instead of another because it is more useful to do so; sometimes for the sake of amplifying the charge, as when a witness, asked in a case against a defendant whether he had been beaten with clubs by the defendant, said, "and though I was innocent"; sometimes for the sake of deflecting, which is very common: "I ask whether you killed the man"; the reply is, "a robber"; "Whether you occupied the estate"; the reply is, "my own." So that defense may precede confession, as in Virgil's Bucolics, the one who says, "Did I not see you, scoundrel, catching Damon's goat with a snare? "is countered with: "Was he not, having been defeated in singing, to pay it to me? "To which dissimulation is close, placed nowhere else than in laughter and therefore treated in its own place.
nam serio si fiat, pro confessione est.
For if it is done in earnest, it is equivalent to a confession.
ceterum et interrogandi se ipsum et respondendi sibi solent esse non ingratae vices, ut Cicero pro Ligario, apud quem igitur hoc dico? nempe apud eum, qui, cum hoc sciret, tamen me, antequam vidit, rei publicae reddidit. §9.2.15aliter pro Caelio ficta interrogatione: dicet aliquis, Haec igitur est tua disciplina? sic tu instituis adulescentis? et totus locus.
Moreover, the exchanges of questioning oneself and replying to oneself are accustomed to be not unpleasing, as Cicero in Pro Ligario: "Before whom, therefore, do I say this? Surely before him who, although he knew this, nevertheless, before he saw me, restored me to the republic." Otherwise in Pro Caelio, with a feigned questioning: "Someone will say: Is this then your discipline? Is this how you train young men? and the whole passage.
deinde: ego, si quis, iudices, hoc robore animi atque hac indole virtutis ac continentiae fuit, et cetera. cui diversum est, cum alium rogaveris, non exspectare responsum sed statim subiicere: domus tibi deerat? at habebas;
Then: I, if there was anyone, judges, of such strength of mind and of such a character of virtue and continence, etc." To which the opposite is, when you have asked another, not to wait for the answer but immediately to add: "Did you lack a house? But you had one.
pecunia superabat? at egebas. quod schema quidam per suggestionem vocant.
Did money abound? But you were in need." Which schema some call suggestion.
§9.2.16fit et comparatione: uter igitur facilius suae sententiae rationem redderet? et aliis modis tum brevius, tum latius, tum de una re, tum de pluribus.
It is done also by comparison: "Which, therefore, would more easily render a reason for his opinion?" and in other ways, sometimes more briefly, sometimes more extensively, sometimes concerning one thing, sometimes concerning several.
mire vero in causis valet praesumptio, quae πρόλημψις dicitur, cum id quod obiici potest occupamus.
Indeed, anticipation, which is called prolepsis, has wonderful power in cases, when we pre-occupy that which can be objected.
id neque in aliis partibus rarum est et praecipue prooemio convenit.
This is not rare in other parts as well, and is particularly suited to the prooemium.
§9.2.17sed, quanquam generis unius, diversas species habet.
But, although of one genus, it has diverse species.
est enim quaedam praemunitio, qualis Ciceronis contra Q. Caecilium, quod ad accusandum descendat qui semper defenderit; quaedam confessio, ut pro Rabirio Postumo, quem sua quoque sententia reprehendendum fatetur, quod pecuniam regi crediderit; quaedam praedictio, ut dicam enim non augendi criminis gratia; quaedam emendatio, ut rogo, ignoscatis mihi, si longius sum evectus; frequentissima praeparatio, cum pluribus verbis, vel quare facturi quid simus vel quare fecerimus, dici solet.
For there is a certain pre-fortification, such as Cicero's against Q. Caecilius, because he who had always defended descends to accusing; a certain confession, as in Pro Rabirio Postumo, whom he admits should be blamed even in his own opinion because he lent money to the king; a certain prediction, as "for I shall speak, not for the sake of amplifying the charge"; a certain correction, as "I ask that you forgive me if I have been carried too far"; and the most frequent preparation, when we are accustomed to say, with many words, either why we are about to do something or why we did it.
§9.2.18verborum quoque vis ac proprietas confirmatur vel praesumptione: quanquam illa non poena, sed prohibitio sceleris fuit; aut reprehensione: cives, inquam, si hoc eos nomine appellari fas est. adfert aliquam fidem veritatis et dubitatio,
The force and propriety of words are also confirmed either by anticipation: "although that was not a punishment, but a prevention of crime"; or by correction: "citizens, I say, if it is lawful for them to be called by this name." Hesitation also brings some credibility of truth, when we feign to ask where we should begin, where we should end, what we should say in preference, or whether we should speak at all.
§9.2.19cum simulamus quaerere nos, unde incipiendum, ubi desinendum, quid potissimum dicendum, an omnino dicendum sit? cuiusmodi exemplis plena sunt omnia, sed unum interim sufficit: equidem, quod ad me attinet, quo me vertam nescio.
All things are full of examples of this kind, but one in the meantime suffices: "Indeed, as far as concerns me, I do not know where to turn.
negem fuisse infamiam iudicii corrupti? et cetera. §9.2.20hoc etiam in praeteritum valet; nam et dubitasse nos fingimus.
Should I deny that there was the infamy of a corrupted judgment? etc." This is valid also in regard to the past; for we also feign to have hesitated.
A quo schemate non procul abest illa, quae dicitur communicatio, cum aut ipsos adversarios consulimus, ut Domitius Afer pro Cloatilla: nescit trepida, quid liceat feminae, quid coniugem deceat; forte vos in illa solitudine obvios casus miserae mulieri obtulit; tu, frater, vos, paterni amici, quod consilium datis?
From which schema that which is called communication is not far distant, when we either consult our adversaries themselves, as Domitius Afer in Pro Cloatilla: "Trembling, she does not know what is permitted to a woman, what is fitting for a wife; perhaps, in that solitude, chance offered you to meet the wretched woman; you, brother, you, friends of her father, what advice do you give?" Or when we deliberate, as it were, with the judges, which is very common: "What do you advise?
§9.2.21aut cum iudicibus quasi deliberamus, quod est frequentissimum: quid suadetis? et vos interrogo, et quid tandem fieri oportuit? et Cato, cedo, si vos in eo loco essetis, quid aliud fecissetis? et alibi: communem rem agi putatote ac vos huic rei praepositos esse.
And I ask you, and what indeed ought to have been done?" and Cato: "Tell me, if you were in that place, what else would you have done?" and elsewhere: "Think that a common matter is being treated and that you have been set over this matter."