Institutio Oratoria |
Translator: Harold Edgeworth Butler
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| 1711 |
Liber VI haec , Marcelle Victori , ex tua voluntate maxime ingressus , tum si qua ex nobis ad iuvenes bonos pervenire posset utilitas , novissime paene etiam necessitate quadam officii delegati mihi sedulo laborabam ; respiciens tamen illam curam meae voluptatis , quod filio , cuius eminens ingenium sollicitam quoque parentis diligentiam merebatur , hanc optimam partem relicturus hereditatis videbar ut , si me , quod aequum et optabile fuit , fata intercepissent , praeceptore tamen patre uteretur .
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Book VI I undertook my present task, Marcellus Victorius, mainly to gratify your request, but also with a view to assist the more earnest of our young men as far as lay in my power, while latterly the energy with which I have devoted myself to my labours has been inspired by the almost imperative necessity imposed by the office conferred on me, though all the while I have had an eye to my own personal pleasure. For I thought that this work would be the most precious part of the inheritance that would fall to my son, whose ability was so remarkable that it called for the most anxious cultivation on the part of his father. Thus if, as would have been but just and devoutly to be wished, the fates had torn me from his side, he would still have been able to enjoy the benefit of his father's instruction. |
| 1712 |
At me fortuna id agentem diebus ac noctibus festinantemque metu meae mortalitatis ita subito prostravit , ut laboris mei fructus ad neminem minus quam ad me pertineret . Illum enim , de quo summa conceperam et in quo spem unicam senectutis reponebam , repetito vulnere orbitatis amisi .
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Night and day I pursued this design, and strove to hasten its completion in the fear that death might cut me off with my task unfinished, when misfortune overwhelmed me with such suddenness, that the success of my labours now interests no one less than myself. A second bereavement has fallen upon me, and I have lost him of whom I had formed the highest expectations, and in whom I reposed all the hopes that should solace my old age. What is there left for me to do? |
| 1713 |
Quid nunc agam ? aut quem ultra esse usum mei , diis repugnantibus , credam ? Nam ita forte accidit , ut eum quoque librum , quem de causis corruptae eloquentiae emisi , iam scribere aggressus ictu simili ferirer . Nonne igitur optimum fuit , infaustum opus et quidquid hoc est in me infelicium litterarum super immaturum funus consumpturis viscera mea flammis iniicere neque hanc impiam vivacitatem novis insuper curis fatigare ?
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Or what further use can I hope to be on earth, when heaven thus frowns upon me? For it so chances that just at the moment when I began my book on the causes of the decline of eloquence, I was stricken by a like affliction. Better had I thrown that illomened work and all my ill-starred learning upon the flames of that untimely pyre that was to consume the darling of my heart, and had not sought to burden my unnatural persistence in this wicked world with the fatigue of fresh labours! |
| 1714 |
Quis enim mihi bonus parens ignoscat , si studere amplius possum , ac non oderit hanc animi mei firmitatem , si quis in me alius usus vocis , quam ut incusem deos superstes omnium meorum , nullam in terras despicere providentiam tester , si non meo casu , cui tamen nihil obiici , nisi quod vivam , potest , at illorum certe , quos utique immeritos mors acerba damnavit , erepta prius mihi matre eorundem , quae nondum expleto aetatis undevicesimo anno duos enixa filios , quamvis acerbissimis rapta fatis , non infelix decessit ?
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For what father with a spark of proper feeling would pardon me for having the heart to pursue my researches further, and would not hate me for my insensibility, had I other use for my voice than to rail against high heaven for having suffered me to outlive all my nearest and dearest, and to testify that providence deigns not at all to watch over this earth of ours? If this is not proved by my own misfortune (and yet my only fault is that I still live), it is most surely manifest in theirs, who were cut off thus untimely; their mother was taken from me earlier still, she had borne me two sons ere the completion of her nineteenth year; but for her, though she too died most untimely, death was a blessing. |
| 1715 |
Ego vel hoc uno malo sic eram adflictus , ut me iam nulla fortuna posset efficere felicem . Nam cum omni virtute , quae in feminas cadit , functa insanabilem attulit marito dolorem , tum aetate tam puellari , praesertim meae comparata , potest et ipsa numerari inter vulnera orbitatis .
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Yet for me her death alone was such a blow that thereafter no good fortune could bring me true happiness. For she had every virtue that is given to woman to possess, and left her husband a prey to irremediable grief; nay, so young was she when death took her, that if her age be compared with mine, her decease was like the loss not merely of a wife, but of a daughter. Still her children survived her, and I, too, |
| 1716 |
Liberis tamen superstitibus et , quod nefas erat , sed optabat ipsa , me salvo maximos cruciatus praecipiti via effugit . Mihi filius minor quintum egressus annum prior alterum ex duobus eruit lumen .
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lived on by some unnatural ordinance of fate, which for all its perversity was what she herself desired; and thus by her swift departure from this life she escaped tile worst of tortures. My youngest boy was barely five, when he was the first to leave me, robbing me as it were of one of my two eyes. |
| 1717 |
Non sum ambitiosus in malis nec augere lacrimarum causas volo , utinamque esset ratio minuendi . Sed dissimulare qui possum , quid ille gratiae in vultu , quid iucunditatis in sermone , quos ingenii igniculos , quam substantiam placidae et ( quod scio vix posse credi ) iam tum altae mentis ostenderit ; qualis amorem quicunque alienus infans mereretur .
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I have no desire to flaunt my woes in the public gaze, nor to exaggerate the cause I have for tears; would that I had some means to make it less! But how can I forget the charm of his face, the sweetness of his speech, his first flashes of promise, and his actual possession of a calm and, incredible though it may seem, a powerful mind. Such a child would have captivated my affections, even had he been another's. |
| 1718 |
Illud vero insidiantis , quo me validius cruciaret , fortunae fuit , ut ille mihi blandissimus me suis nutricibus , me aviae educanti , me omnibus , qui sollicitare illas aetates solent , anteferret .
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Nor was this all; to enhance my agony the malignity of designing fortune had willed that he should devote all his love to me, preferring me to his nurses, to his grandmother who brought him up, and all those who, as a rule, win the special affection of infancy. |
| 1719 |
Quapropter illi dolori , quem ex matre optima atque omnem laudem supergressa paucos ante menses ceperam , gratulor . Minus enim est , quod flendum meo nomine quam quod illius gaudendum est .
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I am, therefore, grateful to the grief that came to me some few months before his loss in the death of his mother, the best of women, whose virtues were beyond all praise. For I have less reason to weep my own fate than to rejoice at hers. After these calamities all my hopes, all my delight were centred on my little Quintilian, and he might have sufficed to console me. |
| 1720 |
Una post haec Quintiliani mei spe ac voluptate nitebar , et poterat sufficere solacio . Non enim flosculos , sicut prior , sed iam decimum aetatis ingressus annum , certos ac deformatos fructus ostenderat . Iuro per mala mea , per infelicem conscientiam , per illos manes , numina mei doloris , eas me in illo vidisse virtutes ingenii , non modo ad percipiendas disciplinas , quo nihil praestantius cognovi plurima expertus , studiique iam tum non coacti ( sciunt praeceptores ) , sed probitatis , pietatis , humanitatis , liberalitatis , ut prorsus posset hinc esse tanti fulminis metus , quod observatum fere est celerius occidere festinatam maturitatem et esse nescio quam , quae spes tantas decerpat , invidiam , ne videlicet ultra quam homini datum est nostra provehantur .
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For his gifts were not merely in the bud like those of his brother: as early as his ninth birthday he had put forth sure and well-formed fruit. By my own sorrows, by the testimony of my own sad heart, by his departed spirit, the deity at whose shrine my grief does worship, I swear that I discerned in him such talent, not merely in receiving instruction, although in all my wide experience I have never seen his like, nor in his power of spontaneous application, to which his teachers can bear witness, but such upright, pious, humane and generous feelings, as alone might have sufficed to fill me with the dread of the fearful thunder-stroke that has smitten me down: for it is a matter of common observation that those who ripen early die young, and that there is some malign influence that delights in cutting short the greatest promise and refusing to permit our joys to pass beyond the bound allotted to mortal man. |
| 1721 |
Etiam illa fortuita aderant omnia , vocis iucunditas claritasque , oris suavitas et in utracunque lingua , tanquam ad eam demum natus esset , expressa proprietas omnium litterarum . Sed hae spes adhuc ; illa maiora , constantia , gravitas , contra dolores etiam ac metus robur . Nam quo ille animo , qua medicorum admiratione mensium octo valetudinem tulit ! ut me in supremis consolatus est ! quam etiam deficiens iamque non noster ipsum ilium alienatae mentis errorem circa scholas ac litteras habuit !
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He possessed every incidental advantage as well, a pleasing and resonant voice, a sweetness of speech, and a perfect correctness in pronouncing every letter both in Greek and Latin, as though either were his native tongue. But all these were but the promise of greater things. He had finer qualities, courage and dignity, and the strength to resist both fear and pain. What fortitude he showed during an illness of eight months, till all his physicians marvelled at him! How he consoled me during his last moments. How even in the wanderings of delirium did his thoughts recur to his lessons and his literary studies, even when his strength was sinking and he was no longer ours to claim! |
| 1722 |
Tuosne ego , o meae spes inanes , labentes oculos , tuum fugientem spiritum vidi ? Tuum corpus frigidum exsangue complexus animam recipere auramque communem haurire amplius potui , dignus his cruciatibus , quos fero ,
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Child of my vain hopes, did I see your eyes fading in death and your breath take its last flight? Had I the heart to receive your fleeting spirit, as I embraced your cold pale body, and to live on breathing the common air. Justly do I endure the agony that now is mine, and the thoughts that torment me. |
| 1723 |
dignus his cogitationibus ? Tene consulari nuper adoptione ad omnium spes honorum prius admotum , te avunculo praetori generum destinatum , te avitae eloquentiae candidatum , superstes parens tantum ad poenas , amisi ? Et si non cupido lucis , certe patientia vindicet te reliqua mea aetate . Nam frustra mala omnia ad crimen fortunate relegamus .
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Have I lost you at the moment when adoption by a consular had given hope that you would rise to all the high offices of state, when you were destined to be the son-in-law of your uncle the praetor, and gave promise of rivalling the eloquence of your grandsire? and do I your father survive only to weep? May my endurance (not my will to live, for that is gone from me) prove me worthy of you through all my remaining years. For it is in vain that we impute all our ills to fortune. No man grieves long save through his own fault. |
| 1724 |
Nemo nisi sua culpa diu dolet . Sed vivimus , et aliqua vivendi ratio quaerenda est , credendumque doctissimis hominibus , qui unicum adversorum solacium litteras putaverunt . Si quando tamen ita resederit praesens impetus , ut aliqua tot luctibus alia cogitatio inseri possit , non iniuste petierim morae veniam . Quis enim dilata studia miretur , quae potius non abrupta esse mirandum est ? Tum , si qua fuerint minus effecta iis ,
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But I still live, and must find something to make life tolerable, and must needs put faith in the verdict of the wise, who held that literature alone can provide true solace in adversity. Yet, if ever the violence of my present grief subside and admit the intrusion of some other thought on so many sorrowful reflexions, I may with good cause ask pardon for the delay in bringing my work to completion. Who can wonder that my studies have been interrupted, when the real marvel is that they have not been broken off altogether? |
| 1725 |
quae levius adhuc adflicti coeperamus , imperitanti fortunae remittantur , quae , si quid mediocrium alioqui in nostro ingenio virium fuit , ut non exstinxerit , debilitavit tamen . Sed vel propter hoc nos contumacius erigamus , quod illam ut perferre nobis difficile est , ita facile contemnere . Nihil enim sibi adversus me reliquit et infelicem quidem , sed certissimam tamen attulit mihi ex his malis securitatem .
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Should certain portions therefore betray a lack of finish compared with what was begun in the days when my affliction was less profound, I would ask that the imperfections should be regarded with indulgence, as being due to the cruel tyranny of fortune, which, if it has not utterly extinguished, has at any rate weakened such poor powers of intellect as I once possessed. But for this very reason I must rouse myself to face my task with greater spirit, since it is easy to despise fortune, though it may be hard to bear her blows. For there is nothing left that she can do to me, since out of my calamities she has wrought for me a security which, full of sorrow though it be, is such that nothing can shake it. |
| 1726 |
Boni autem consulere nostrum laborem vel propter hoc aequum est , quod in nullum iam proprium usum perseveramus , sed omnis haec cura alienas utilitates ( si modo quid utile scribimus ) spectat . Nos miseri sicut facultates patrimonii nostri , ita hoc opus aliis praeparabamus , aliis relinquemus .
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And the very fact that I have no personal interest in persevering with my present work, but am moved solely by the desire to serve others, if indeed anything that I write can be of such service, is a reason for regarding my labours with an indulgent eye. Alas! I shall bequeath it, like my patrimony, for others than those to whom it was my design to leave it. |
| 1727 |
Peroratio sequebatur , quam cumulum quidam , conclusionem alii vocant . Eius duplex ratio est posita aut ira rebus aut ira adfectibus . Rerum repetitio et congregatio , quae Graece dicitur ἀνακεφαλαίωσις a quibusdam Latinorum enumeratio , et memoriam iudicis reficit et totam simul causam ponit ante oculos et , etiamsi per singula minus moverat , turba valet .
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The next subject which I was going to discuss was the peroration which some call the completion and others the conclusion. There are two kinds of peroration, for it may deal either with facts or with the emotional aspect of the case. The repetition and grouping of the facts, which the Greeks call ἀνακεφαλαίωσις and some of our own writers call the enumeration, serves both to refresh the memory of the judge and to place the whole of the case before his eyes, and, even although the facts may have made little impression on him in detail, their cumulative effect is considerable. |
| 1728 |
In hac , quae repetemus , quam brevissime dicenda sunt et , quod Graeco verbo patet , decurrendum per capita . Nam , si morabimur , non iam enumeratio sed quasi altera fiet oratio . Quae autem enumeranda videntur , cum pondere aliquo dicenda sunt et aptis excitanda sententiis et figuris utique varianda ; alioqui nihil est odiosius recta illa repetitione velut memoriae iudicum diffidentis .
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This final recapitulation must be as brief as possible and, as the Greek term indicates, we must summarise the facts under the appropriate heads. For if we devote too much time thereto, the peroration will cease to be an enumeration and will constitute something very like a second speech. On the other hand the points selected for enumeration must be treated with weight and dignity, enlivened by apt reflexions and diversified by suitable figures; for there is nothing more tiresome than a dry repetition of facts, which merely suggests a lack of confidence in the judges' memory. |
| 1729 |
Sunt autem innumerabiles species , optimeque ira Verrem Cicero : Si pater ipse iudicaret , quid diceret , cum haec probarentur ? et deinde subiecit enumerationem ; aut cum idem ira eundem per invocationem deorum spoliata a praetore templa dinumerat . Licet et dubitare , num quid nos fugerit , et quid responsurus sit adversarius his et his , aut quam spem accusator habeat omnibus ita defensis .
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There are however innumerable ways in which this may be done. The finest example is provided by Cicero's prosecution of Verres. " If your own father were among your judges, what would he say when these facts were proved against you? " Then follows the enumeration. Another admirable example may be found in the same speech where the enumeration of the temples which the praetor had despoiled takes the form of invoking the various deities concerned. We may also at times pretend to be in doubt whether we have not omitted something and to wonder what the accused will say in reply to certain points or what hope tile accuser can have after the manner in which we have refuted all the charges brought against us. |
| 1730 |
Illa vero iucundissima , si contingat aliquod ex adversario ducere argumentum , ut si dicas : reliquit hanc partem causae , aut inuidia premere maluit , aut ad preces confugit merito , cum sciret haec et haec .
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But the most attractive form of peroration is that which we may use when we have an opportunity of drawing some argument from our opponent's speech, as for instance when we say "He omitted to deal with this portion of tile case," or "He preferred to crush us by exciting odium against us," or "He had good reason for resorting to entreaty, since lie knew certain facts." |
| 1731 |
Sed non sunt singulae species persequendae , ne sola videantur , quae forte nunc dixero , cum occasiones et ex causis et ex dictis adversariorum et ex quibusdam fortuitis quoque oriantur . Nec referenda modo nostra , sed postulandum etiam ab adversariis , ut ad quaedam respondeant .
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But I must refrain from dealing with the various methods individually, for fear that the instances that I produce should be regarded as exhaustive, whereas our opportunities spring from the nature of the particular case, from the statements of our opponents and also from fortuitous circumstances. Nor must we restrict ourselves to recapitulating the points of our own speech, but must call upon our opponent to reply to certain questions. |
| 1732 |
Id autem , si et actioni supererit locus et ea proposuerimus , quae refelli non possint . Nam provocare quae inde sint fortia , non arguentis est ,
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This however is only possible if there is time for him to do so and if the arguments which we have put forward are such as not to admit of refutation. For to challenge points which tell in our opponent's favour is not to argue against him, but to play the part of prompter to him. |
| 1733 |
sed monentis . Id unum epilogi genus visum est plerisque Atticorum et philosophis fere omnibus , qui de arte oratoria scriptum aliquid reliquerunt . Id sensisse Atticos credo , quia Athenis adfectus movere etiam per praeconem prohibebatur orator . Philosophos minus miror , apud quos vitii loco est adfici ; nec bono moris videntur , sic a vero iudicem averti , nec convenire bono viro vitiis uti . Necessarios tamen adfectus fatebuntur , si aliter obtineri vera et iusta et ira commune profutura non possint .
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The majority of Athenians and almost all philosophers who have left anything in writing on the art of oratory have held that the recapitulation is the sole form of peroration. I imagine that the reason why the Athenians did so was that appeals to the emotions were forbidden to Athenian orators, a proclamation to this effect being actually made by the court-usher. I am less surprised at the philosophers taking this view, for they regard susceptibility to emotion as a vice, and think it immoral that the judge should be distracted from the truth by an appeal to his emotions and that it is unbecoming for a good man to make use of vicious procedure to serve his ends. None the less they must admit that appeals to emotion are necessary if there are no other means for securing the victory of truth, justice and the public interest. |
| 1734 |
Ceterum illud constitit inter omnes , etiam ira aliis partibus actionis , si multiplex causa sit et pluribus argumentis defensa , utiliter ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν fieri solere , sicut nemo dubitaverit multas esse causas , ira quibus nullo loco sit necessaria , si breves et simplices fuerint . Haec pars perorationis accusatori patronoque ex aequo communis est . Adfectibus quoque iisdem fere utuntur ,
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It is however admitted by all that recapitulation may be profitably employed in other portions of the speech as well, if the case is complicated and a number of different arguments have been employed in the defence; though no one will doubt but that there are many cases, in which no recapitulation at all is necessary at any point, assuming, that is, that the cases are both brief and simple. This part of the peroration is common both to the prosecution and the defence. |
| 1735 |
sed aliis hic , aliis ille saepius ac magis , nam huic concitare iudices , illi flectere convenit . Verum et accusator habet interim lacrimas ex miseratione eius rei quam ulciscitur ; et reus de indignitate calumniae aut conspirationis vehementius interim queritur . Dividere igitur haec officia commodissimum , quae plerumque sunt , ut dixi , ira prooemio similia , sed hic liberiora plenioraque .
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Both parties as a general rule may likewise employ the appeal to the emotions, but they will appeal to different emotions and the defender will employ such appeals with greater frequency and fulness. For the accuser has to rouse the judge, while the defender has to soften him. Still even the accuser will sometimes make his audience weep by the pity excited for the man whose wrongs he seeks to avenge, while the defendant will at times develop no small vehemence when he complains of the injustice of the calumny or conspiracy of which he is the victim. It will therefore be best to treat these duties separately: as I have already said, they are much the same in the peroration as in the exordium, but are freer and wider in scope in the former. |
| 1736 |
Inclinatio enim iudicum ad nos petitur initio parcius , cum admitti satis est et oratio tota superest ; ira epilogo vero est , qualem animum iudex ira consilium ferat , et iam nihil amplius dicturi sumus nec restat quo reservemus .
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For our attempts to sway the judges are made more sparingly at the commencement of the speech, when it is enough that such an attempt should gain admittance and we have the whole speech before us. On the other hand in the peroration we have to consider what the feelings of the judge will be when he retires to consider his verdict, for we shall have no further opportunity to say anything and cannot any longer reserve arguments to be produced later. |
| 1737 |
Est igitur utrisque commune , conciliare sibi , avertere ab adversario iudicem , concitare adfectus et componere . Et brevissimum quidem hoc praeceptum dari utrique parti potest , ut totas causae suae vires orator ponat ante oculos ; et cum viderit , quid invidiosum , favorabile , invisum , miserabile aut sit ira rebus aut videri possit , ea dicat , quibus , si iudex esset , ipse maxime moveretur . Sed certius est ire per singula .
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It is therefore the duty of both parties to seek to win the judge's goodwill and to divert it from their opponent, as also to excite or assuage his emotions. And the following brief rule may be laid down for the observation of both parties, that the orator should display the full strength of his case before the eyes of the judge, and, when he has made up his mind what points in his case actually deserve or may seem to deserve to excite envy, goodwill, dislike or pity, should dwell on those points by which he himself would be most moved were he trying the case. |
| 1738 |
Et quae concilient quidem accusatorem , ira praeceptis exordii iam diximus . Quaedam tamen , quae illic ostendere sat est , ira peroratione implenda sunt magis , si contra impotentem , invisum , perniciosum suscepta causa est , si iudicibus ipsis aut gloriae damnatio rei aut deformitati futura absolutio .
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But it will be safer to discuss these considerations in detail. The points likely to commend the accuser to the judge have already been stated in my remarks on the exordium. There are however certain things which require fuller treatment in the peroration than in the exordium, where it is sufficient merely to outline them. This fuller treatment is specially required if the accused be a man of violent, unpopular or dangerous character or if the condemnation of the accused is likely to cover the judges with glory or his acquittal with disgrace. |
| 1739 |
Nam egregie ira Vatinium Calvus , Factum , inquit , ambitum scitis omnes et hoc vos scire omnes sciunt . Cicero quidem ira Verrem etiam emendari posse infamiam iudiciorum damnato reo dicit ; quod est unum ex supra dictis . Metus etiam , si est adhibendus , ut faciat idem , hunc habet locum fortiorem quam ira prooemio . Qua de re quid sentirem , alio iam libro exposui .
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Calvus for example in his speech against Vatinius makes an admirable remark: " You know, gentlemen, that bribery has been committed and everybody knows that you know it. " Cicero again in the Verrines says that the ill-name acquired by the courts may be effaced by the condemnation of Verres, a statement that comes under the head of the conciliatory methods mentioned above. The appeal to tear also, if it is necessary to employ it to produce a like effect, occupies a more prominent place in the peroration than in the exordium, but I have expressed my views on this subject in an earlier book. |
| 1740 |
Concitare quoque invidiam , odium , iram , liberius ira peroratione contingit ; quorum invidiam gratia , odium turpitudo , iram offensio iudici facit , si contumax , arrogans , securus sit , quae non ex facto modo dictove aliquo sed vultu , habitu , aspectu moveri solet . Egregieque nobis adolescentibus dixisse accusator Cossutiani Capitonis videbatur , Graece quidem , sed ira hunc sensum , Erubescis Caesarem timere .
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The peroration also provides freer opportunities for exciting the passions of jealousy, hatred or anger. As regards the circumstances likely to excite such feelings in the judge, jealousy will be produced by the influence of the accused, hatred by the disgraceful nature of his conduct, and anger by his disrespectful attitude to the court, if, for instance, he be contumacious, arrogant or studiously indifferent: such anger may be aroused not merely by specific acts or words, but by his looks, bearing and manner. In this connexion the remark made by the accuser of Cossutianus Capito in my young days was regarded with great approval: the words used were Greek, but may be translated thus:— "You blush to fear even Caesar." |
| 1741 |
Summa tamen concitandi adfectus accusatori ira hoc est , ut id , quod obiecit , aut quam atrocissimum aut etiam , si fieri potest , quam maxime miserabile esse videatur . Atrocitas crescit ex his , quid factum sit , a quo , ira quem , quo animo , quo tempore , quo loco , quo modo ; quae omnia infinitos tractatus habent .
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The best way however for the accuser to excite the feelings of the judge is to make the charge which he brings against the accused seem as atrocious or, if feasible, as deplorable as possible. Its atrocity may be enhanced by considerations of the nature of the act, the position of its author or the victim, the purpose, time, place and manner of the act: all of which may be treated with infinite variety. |
| 1742 |
Pulsatum querimur : de re primum ipsa dicendum ; tum si senex , si puer , si magistratus , si probus , si bene de re publica meritus ; etiam si percussus sit a vili aliquo contemptoque vel ex contrario a potente nimium vel ab eo , quo minime oportuit , et si die forte sollemni aut iis temporibus , cum indicia eius rei maxime exercerentur , aut ira sollicito civitatis statu ; item ira theatro , ira templo , ira contione ,
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Suppose that we are complaining that our client has been beaten. We must first speak of the act itself; we shall then proceed to point out that the victim was an old man, a child, a magistrate, an honest man or a benefactor to the state; we shall also point out that the assailant was a worthless and contemptible fellow, or (to take the opposite case) was in a position of excessive power or was the last man who should have given the blow, or again that the occasion was a solemn festival, or that the act was committed at a time when such crimes were punished with special severity by the courts or when public order was at a dangerously low ebb. Again the hatred excited by the act will be enhanced if it was committed in the theatre, in a temple, or at a public assembly, |
| 1743 |
crescit invidia ; et si non errore nec ira vel etiam , si forte ira , sed iniqua , quod patri adfuisset , quod respondisset , quod honores contra peteret , et si plus etiam videri potest voluisse quam fecit . Plurimum tamen adfert atrocitatis modus , si graviter , si contumeliose : ut Demosthenes ex parte percussi corporis , ex vultu ferientis , ex habitu invidiam Midiae quaerit .
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and if the blow was given not in mistake or in a moment of passion or, if it was the result of passion which was quite unjustifiable, being due to the fact that the victim had gone to the assistance of his father or had made some reply or was a candidate for the same office as his assailant; or finally we may hint that he wished to inflict more serious injury than he succeeded in inflicting. But it is the manner of the act that contributes most to the impression of its atrocity, if, for example, the blow was violent or insulting: thus Demosthenes seeks to excite hatred against Midias by emphasising the position of the blow, the attitude of the assailant and the expression of his face. |
| 1744 |
Occisus utrum ferro an igne an veneno , uno vulnere an pluribus , subito an exspectatione tortus , ad hanc partem maxime pertinet . Utitur frequenter accusator et miseratione , cum aut eius casum , quem ulciscitur , aut liberorum ac parentium solitudinem conqueritur .
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It is in this connexion that we shall have to consider whether a man was killed by sword or fire or poison, by one wound or several, and whether he was slain on the spot or tortured by being kept in suspense. The accuser will also frequently attempt to excite pity by complaining of the fate of the man whom he is seeking to avenge or of the desolation which has fallen upon his children or parents. |
| 1745 |
Etiam futuri temporis imagine iudices movet , quae maneant eos , qui de vi et iniuria questi sunt , nisi vindicentur ; fugiendum de civitate , cedendum bonis aut omnia , quaecunque inimicus fecerit , perterenda .
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The judges may also be moved by drawing a picture of the future, of the fate which awaits those who have complained of violence and wrong, if they fail to secure justice. They must go into exile, give up their property or endure to the end whatever their enemy may choose to inflict upon them. |
| 1746 |
Sed saepius id est accusatoris , avertere iudicem a miseratione , qua reus sit usurus , atque ad fortiter iudicandum concitare . Cuius loci est etiam occupare , quae dicturum facturumve adversarium putes . Nam et cautiores ad custodiam suae religionis iudices facit et gratiam responsuris aufert , cum ea quae dicta sunt ab accusatore iam , si pro reo repetentur , non sint nova : ut Servium Sulpicium Messala contra Aufidiam , ne signatorum , ne ipsius discrimen obiiciatur sibi , praemonet . Nec non ab Aeschine , quali sit usurus Demosthenes actione , praedictum est . Docendi quoque interim iudices , quid rogantibus respondere debeant ; quod est unum repetitionis genus .
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But it will more frequently be the duty of the accuser to divert the judge from all the temptations to pity which the accused will place before him, and to incite him to give a strong and dispassionate verdict. It will also be his duty in this connexion to forestall the arguments and actions to which his opponent seems likely to have recourse. For it makes the judge more cautious in observing the sanctity of his oath and destroys the influence of those who are going to reply to us when the arguments used by the defence have already been dealt with by the prosecution, since they lose their novelty. An instance of this will be found in the speech of Messala against Aufidia, where he warns Servius Sulpicius not to talk about the peril which threatens the signatories to the document and the defendant herself. Again Aesehines foretells the line of defence which Demosthenes will pursue. There are also occasions when the judges should be told what answer they should make to requests on behalf of the accused, a proceeding which is a form of recapitulation. |
| 1747 |
Periclitantem vero commendat dignitas et studia fortia et susceptae bello cicatrices et nobilitas et merita maiorum . Hoc , quod proxime dixi , Cicero atque Asinius certatim sunt usi , pro Scauro patre hic ille pro filio .
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If we turn to the defendant, we must note that his worth, nis manly pursuits, the scars from wounds received in battle, his rank and the services rendered by his ancestors, will all commend him to the goodwill of the judges. Cicero, as I have already pointed out, and Asinius both make use of this form of appeal: indeed they may almost be regarded as rivals in this respect, since Cicero employed it when defending the elder Scaurus, Asinius when defending the son. Again, |
| 1748 |
Commendat et causa periculi , si suscepisse inimicitias ob aliquod factum honestum videtur ; praecipue bonitas , humanitas , misericordia . iustius enim tum petere ea quisque videtur a iudice , quae aliis ipse praestiterit . Referenda pars haec quoque ad utilitatem rei publicae , ad iudicum gloriam , ad exemplum ,
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the cause which has brought the accused into peril may serve to produce the same effect, if, for example, it appears that he has incurred enmity on account of some honourable action: above all his goodness, humanity or pity may be emphasised with this end in view. For it adds to the apparent justice of his claim, if all that he asks of the judge is that he should grant to him what he himself has granted to others. We may also in this connexion lay stress on the interests of the state, the glory which will accrue to the judges, the importance of the precedent which their verdict will set and the place it will hold in the memory of after generations. |