I have been content to give a brief outline of my views concerning these
points, and have put them forward in such a way as to show as clearly as
was in
This seems to me unnecessary, since it is as a rule obvious what should be said against the injurious conduct or avarice of our opponents, or against a hostile witness or powerful friends; to say everything on all these subjects is an endless task, as endless in fact as if I were to attempt to lay down rules for dealing with every dispute that can ever occur and all the questions, arguments and opinions thereby involved.
I do not venture to suppose that I have pointed out all the circumstances that may give rise to arguments, but I think that I have done so in the majority of cases. This was a task which required all the more careful handling because the declamations, which we used to employ as foils wherewith to practise for the duels of the forum, have long since departed from the true form of pleading and, owing to the fact that they are composed solely with the design of giving pleasure, have become flaccid and nerveless: indeed, declaimers are guilty of exactly the same offence as slave-dealers who castrate boys in order to increase tile attractions of their beauty.
For just as the slave-dealer regards strength and muscle, and above all,
the beard and other natural characteristics of manhood as blemishes, and
softens down all that would be sturdy if allowed to grow, on the ground
that it is harsh and hard, even so we conceal the manly form of
eloquence and power of speaking closely and forcibly by giving it a
delicate complexion of style and, so long as what we say is smooth and
But I take Nature for my guide and regard any man whatsoever as fairer to view than a eunuch, nor can I believe that Providence is ever so indifferent to what itself has created as to allow weakness to be an excellence, nor again can I think that the knife can render beautiful that which, if produced in the natural course of birth, would be regarded as a monster. A false resemblance to the female sex may in itself delight lust, if it will, but depravity of morals will never acquire such ascendancy as to succeed in giving real value to that to which it has succeeded in giving a high price.
Consequently, although this debauched eloquence (for I intend to speak with the utmost frankness) may please modern audiences by its effeminate and voluptuous charms, I absolutely refuse to regard it as eloquence at all: for it retains not the slightest trace of purity and virility in itself, not to say of these qualities in the speaker.
When the masters of sculpture and painting desired to carve or paint
forms of ideal beauty, they never fell into the error of taking some
Bagoas or Megabyzus
Consequently, let the youth whom we are training devote himself, as far
as in him lies, to the imitation of truth and, in view of the fact that
the battles of the forum that await him are not few, let him strive for
victory in the schools and learn
At the present time the misfortune is that teachers more often than not
pass over what is necessary in silence, and utility is not accounted one
of the good qualities of eloquence. But I have dealt with these points
in another work, de causis corruptae eloquentiae.
Refitation may be understood in two senses. For the duty of the defence
consists wholly in refutation, while whatever is said by our opponents
must be rebutted, whether we are speaking for the defence or the
prosecution. It is in this sense that refutation is assigned the fourth
place
As a rule no strong appeal to the emotions is made in refutation. It is
not, however, without reason that, as Cicero so often testifies, translatio is possible.
Literally it means transference of the charge
: it
would seem to cover cases where the charge was brought in the wrong
court or by the wrong person. It is used generally to indicate a
plea made by defendant in bar of plaintiff's action.
Moreover the prosecutor generally produces a speech which he has prepared at home, while the counsel for the defence has frequently to deal with quite unexpected points. The prosecutor brings forward his witnesses, while counsel for the defence has to refute the charge by arguments drawn from the case itself. The prosecutor draws his material from the odium excited by the charges, even though it have no justification, denouncing parricide, sacrilege, or treason, whereas counsel for the defence can only deny them. Consequently quite moderate speakers have proved adequate in prosecution, while no one can be a good counsel for the defence unless he possesses real eloquence. In a word, it is just so much easier to accuse than to defend as it is easier to inflict than to heal a wound.
The nature of the arguments put forward by our opponent and the manner
in which he produces them will, however, make an enormous difference to
our task. We must therefore first consider what it is to which we have
to reply, whether it is part and parcel of the actual case or has been
introduced from circumstances lying outside the case. For in the former
case we must deny or justify the facts or raise the question of
competence: for these are practically the sole methods of defence
available in the courts. Pleas for mercy,
which are not in any sense a method of actual defence, can rarely be
used, and e. g. in the emperor's court as opposed
to the quaestiones perpetuae or civil
actions. pro Ligario and pro
Deiotaro pleaded in Caesar's house. It is not known what
cases were tried before the (2nd) triumvirate. pro
Lig. iv. 10 What was our object, Tubero,
save that we might have the power that Caesar has now
But
if,
when pleading before the emperor or any other person who has power either to acquit or condemn, it is incumbent on us to urge that, while our client has committed an offence that deserves the death penalty, it is still the duty of a merciful judge to spare him despite his sins, it must be noted in the first place that we have to deal, not with our adversary, but with the judge, and secondly that we shall have to employ the deliberative rather than the forensic style. For we shall urge the judge to fix his desire rather on the glory that is won by clemency than on the pleasure that is given by vengeance.