§9.3.82cui commodissime subiungitur et ea species, quam distinctionem diximus: odit populus Romanus privatam luxuriam, publicam magnificentiam diligit; et, quae sunt simili casu, dissimili sententia in ultimo locata: ut quod in tempore mali fuit, nihil obsit, quod in causa boni fuit, prosit. §9.3.83nec semper contrapositum subiungitur, ut in hoc, est igitur, haec iudices, non scripta sed nata lex, verum, sicut Cicero dicit, de singulis rebus propositis refertur ad singula, ut in eo quod sequitur, quam non didicimus, accepimus, legimus, verum ex natura ipsa arripuimus, hausimus, expressimus. §9.3.84nec semper, quod adversum est, contra ponitur, quale est apud Rutilium, nobis primis dii immortales fruges dederunt; nos, quod soli accepimus, in omnes terras distribuimus. §9.3.85fit etiam adsumpta illa figura, qua verba declinata repetuntur, quod ἀντιμεταβολή dicitur: non, ut edam, vivo, sed, ut vivam, edo. et quod apud Ciceronem conversum ita est, ut, cum mutationem casus habeat, etiam similiter desinat: ut et sine invidia culpa plectatur et sine culpa invidia ponatur. §9.3.86et eodem cluditur verbo: ut quod dicit de se. Roscio, etenim, cum artifex eiusmodi est, ut solus videatur dignus qui in scena, spectetur, tum vir eiusmodi est, ut solus dignus esse videatur, qui eo non accedat. est et in nominibus ex diverso collocatis sua gratia: si consul Antonius, Brutus hostis; si conservator rei publicae Brutus, hostis Antonius. §9.3.87olim plura de figuris quam necesse erat, et adhuc erunt, qui putent esse figuram: incredibile est, (quod dico, sed verum; ἀνθυποφοράν vocant; et aliquis hoc semel tulit, nemo bis, ego ter, διέξοδον et longius evectus sum sed redeo ad propositum, ἄφοδον.
To this is most conveniently joined also that species which we called distinction: "the Roman people hates private luxury, but loves public magnificence;" and those which, being in a similar case but with a dissimilar meaning, are placed at the very end: as "so that what was bad in the circumstance may not hinder, and what was good in the cause may benefit." Nor is the contraposed always joined immediately, as in this: "There is therefore, judges, this law not written but born..." but, as Cicero says, from each individual thing proposed reference is made to each individual thing, as in that which follows: "which we have not learned, received, read, but from nature itself have snatched, drawn, expressed." Nor is that which is contrary always placed in opposition, as it is in Rutilius: "The immortal gods gave fruits to us first; we, what we alone received, have distributed into all lands." It is also done by assuming that figure in which declined words are repeated, which is called antimetabole: "I do not live that I may eat, but I eat that I may live." And that which in Cicero is inverted in such a way that, while it has a change of case, it also ends similarly: "so that both without envy the fault may be punished, and without fault the envy may be laid aside." And it is closed with the same word, as what he says of Roscius: "For indeed, while he is an artist of such a kind that he alone seems worthy to be looked at on the stage, yet he is a man of such a kind that he alone seems to be worthy not to go there." There is also its own grace in names placed contrariwise: "If Antonius is consul, Brutus is an enemy; if Brutus is a preserver of the state, Antonius is an enemy." Formerly I spoke more about figures than was necessary, and there will still be those who think it is a figure: "It is incredible (what I say, but true);" they call this anthypophora; and "Someone bore this once, no one twice, I three times," they call diexodos; and "I have been carried further away, but I return to the purpose," they call aphodos.
§9.3.88quaedam verborum figurae paulum figuris sententiarum declinantur, ut dubitatio.
Certain figures of words decline slightly from the figures of thought, such as hesitation.
nam cum est in re, priori parti adsignanda est, cum in verbo, sequenti; sive me malitiam sive stultitiam dicere oportet. §9.3.89item correctionis eadem ratio est; nam quod illic dubitat, hic emendat.
For when it is in the matter, it must be assigned to the former part; when in the word, to the latter: "whether it behooves me to say malice or foolishness." Likewise the ratio of correction is the same; for what hesitates there, corrects here.
etiam in personae fictione accidere quidam idem putaverunt, ut in verbis esset haec figura: crudelitatis mater est avaritia, et apud Sallustium in Ciceronem O Romule Arpinas, et apud Menandrum Oedipus Thriasius. haec omnia copiosius sunt exsecuti, qui non ut partem operis transcurrerunt, sed proprie libros huic operi dedicaverunt, sicut Caecilius, Dionysius, Rutilius, Cornificius, Visellius aliique non pauci; sed non minor erit eorum, qui vivunt, gloria.
Some have thought that the same thing happens even in the personification of a character, so that this figure was in the words: "avarice is the mother of cruelty," and in Sallust against Cicero: "O Romulus of Arpinum," and in Menander: "Oedipus of Thria." All these have been pursued more copiously by those who did not run through them as a part of their work, but specifically dedicated books to this work, such as Caecilius, Dionysius, Rutilius, Cornificius, Visellius, and not a few others; but the glory of those who are living will not be less.
§9.3.90ut fateor autem verborum quoque figuras posse plures reperiri a quibusdam, ita iis, quae ab auctoribus claris traduntur, meliores non adsentior.
But though I admit that more figures of words also can be found by some, yet I do not agree that there are better ones than those handed down by illustrious authors.
nam in primis M. Tullius multas in tertio De Oratore libro posuit, quas in Oratore postea scripto transeundo videtur ipse damnasse; quarum pars est, quae sententiarum potius quam uerborum sit: ut imminutio, improvisum, imago, sibi ipsi responsio, digressio, permissio, contrarium (hoc enim puto, quod dicitur ἐναντιότης), sumpta ex adverso probatio.
For in the first place, M. Tullius placed many in the third book of De Oratore, which he himself seems to have condemned afterwards by passing them over in the Orator; a part of which is of a kind that belongs to thoughts rather than words: as understatement, the unexpected, likeness, reply to oneself, digression, permission, the contrary (for this I think is what is called enantiotes), proof taken from the opposite.
§9.3.91quaedam omnino non sunt figurae, sicut ordo, dinumeratio, circumscriptio, sive hoc nomine significatur comprehensa breviter sententia sive finitio; nam et hoc Cornificius atque Rutilius schema λέξεως putant.
Certain things are not figures at all, such as order, enumeration, circumscription (whether by this name is signified a briefly comprehended thought, or definition); for even this Cornificius and Rutilius think to be a schema of expression.
verborum autem concinna transgressio, id est hyperbaton, quod Caecilius quoque putat schema, a nobis est inter tropos posita.
But the elegant transposition of words, that is, hyperbaton, which Caecilius also thinks is a schema, is placed by us among the tropes.