§9.4.127membratim plerumque narrabimus, aut ipsas periodos maioribus intervallis et velut laxioribus nodis resolvemus, exceptis quae non docendi gratia, sed ornandi narrantur, ut ut Verrem Proserpinae raptus.
We shall write our narrative mostly in clauses, or we shall dissolve the periods themselves with longer intervals and, as it were, looser knots, except for those parts which are narrated not for the sake of instruction, but for ornament, as is the rape of Proserpina in the speech against Verres.
haec enim lenis et fluens contextus decet.
For a smooth and flowing texture suits these.
§9.4.128periodos apta prooemiis maiorum causarum, ubi sollicitudine, commendatione, miseratione res eget, item communibus locis et ut omni amplificatione; sed poscitur tum austera, si accuses, tum fusa, si laudes.
The period is suitable for the introductions of great cases, where the matter requires anxiety, recommendation, or pity, and likewise for common topics and indeed for all amplification; but it demands a severe style if you accuse, and a flowing one if you praise.
multum et ut epilogis pollet.
It also has great power in epilogues.
§9.4.129totum autem hoc adhibendum est, quod sit amplius compositionis genus, cum iudex non solum rem tenet, sed etiam captus est oratione et se credit actori et voluptate iam ducitur.
But all this must be applied, as it is a more abundant kind of composition, when the judge not only grasps the matter, but is also captivated by the speech and entrusts himself to the advocate and is already led by pleasure.
historia non tam finitos numeros quam orbem quendam contextumque desiderat.
History requires not so much finished rhythms as a certain circle and continuous texture.
namque omnia eius membra connexa sunt et, quoniam lubrica est, hac atque illac fluit, ut homines, qui manibus invicem apprehensis gradum firmant, continent et continentur.
For all its clauses are connected and, because it is slippery, it flows this way and that, like men who, holding each other's hands, steady their steps, supporting and being supported.
§9.4.130demonstrativum genus omne fusiores habet liberioresque numeros; iudiciale et contionale, ut materia varium est, sic etiam ipsa collocatione verborum.
The demonstrative genre as a whole has more flowing and freer rhythms; the judicial and deliberative, as they are varied in material, so also are they varied in the very arrangement of words.
ubi iam nobis pars ex duabus, quas modo fecimus, secunda tractanda est.
Here we must now treat the second of the two parts we just made.
nam quis dubitat alia lenius, alia concitatius, alia sublimius, alia pugnacius, alia ornatius, alia gracilius esse dicenda; §9.4.131gravibus, sublimibus, ornatis longas magis syllabas convenire? ita ut lenia spatium, sublimia et ornata claritatem quoque vocalium poscant;
For who doubts that some things must be spoken more smoothly, others more excitedly, others more sublimely, others more pugnaciously, others more ornately, and others more simply; and that long syllables are more suited to grave, sublime, and ornate passages?
his contraria magis gaudere brevibus, argumenta, partitiones, iocos et quidquid est sermoni magis simile.
So that smooth passages require length of time, while sublime and ornate ones require also the clarity of vowels; and that their opposites rejoice more in short syllables, such as arguments, partitions, jokes, and whatever is more similar to conversation.
§9.4.132itaque componemus prooemium varie atque ut sensus eius postulabit.
Therefore we shall compose the introduction in varied ways and as its sense demands.
neque enim accesserim Celso, qui unam quandam huic parti formam dedit, et optimam compositionem esse prooemii, ut est apud Asinium, dixit, si, Caesar, ex omnibus mortalibus, qui sunt ac fuerunt, posset huic causae disceptator legi, non quisquam te potius optandus nobis fuit. §9.4.133non quia negem hoc bene esse compositum, sed quia legem hanc esse componendi ut omnibus principiis recusem.
For I would not agree with Celsus, who gave a single form to this part, and said that the best composition of an introduction is as it is in Asinius: "If, Caesar, from all the mortals who are and have been, an arbitrator could be chosen for this case, no one rather than you ought to have been desired by us." Not because I would deny that this is well composed, but because I refuse to accept this as the law of composing for all introductions.
nam iudicis animus varie praeparatur: tum miserabiles esse volumus, tum modesti tum acres, tum graves, tum blandi, tum flectere, tum ad diligentiam hortari.
For the mind of the judge is prepared in various ways: sometimes we wish to be pitiful, sometimes modest, sometimes sharp, sometimes grave, sometimes flattering, sometimes to bend them, sometimes to exhort them to diligence.
haec ut sunt diversa natura, ita dissimilem componendi quoque rationem desiderant.
Just as these are different in nature, so they require a different method of composition.
an similibus Cicero usus est numeris ut exordio pro Milone, pro Cluentio, pro Ligario?
Did Cicero use similar rhythms in the exordium of Pro Milone, Pro Cluentio, and Pro Ligario?
§9.4.134narratio fere tardiores atque, ut sic dixerim, modestiores desiderat pedes ex omnibus maxime mixtos.
Narrative generally requires slower and, so to speak, more modest feet, and of all, the most mixed.
nam et verbis, ut saepius pressa est, ita interim insurgit; sed docere et infigere animis res semper cupit, quod minime festinantium opus est.
For as it is more often restrained in words, so it sometimes rises; but it always desires to teach and to imprint things on minds, which is by no means the work of those who are in a hurry.
ac mihi videtur tota narratio constare longioribus membris, brevioribus periodis.
And it seems to me that the whole narrative consists of longer clauses and shorter periods.
§9.4.135argumenta acria et citata pedibus quoque ad hanc naturam commodatis utentur, non tamen ita ut trochaeis quoque celeria quidem, sed sine viribus sint, verum iis, qui sint brevibus longisque mixti, non tamen plures longas quam breves habent.
Sharp and rapid arguments will also use feet adapted to this nature, yet not in such a way as to be swift but without strength by using trochees, but rather by using those which are mixed with short and long syllables, yet do not have more long syllables than short.
§9.4.136illa sublimia spatiosas clarasque voces habentia amant amplitudinem dactyli quoque ac paeanis, etiamsi maiore ex parte syllabis brevibus, temporibus tamen satis pleni.
Those sublime passages which have spacious and clear sounds love the amplitude of the dactyl also and the paean, even if for the most part they consist of short syllables, yet are sufficiently full in time.
aspera contra iambis maxime concitantur, non solum quod sunt e duabus modo syllabis eoque frequentiorem quasi pulsum habent, quae res lenitati contraria est, sed etiam quod omnibus pedibus insurgunt et e brevibus ut longas nituntur et crescunt, ideoque meliores choreis, qui ab longis ut breves cadunt.
Rough passages, on the contrary, are most excited by iambs, not only because they consist of only two syllables and therefore have a more frequent pulse, which is contrary to smoothness, but also because they rise in all feet and strive from short to long syllables and grow, and therefore they are better than chorei, which fall from long to short.