Orator Passage 51

atque in primis duabus dicendi partibus qualis esset summatim breviterque descripsimus. Sed, ut ante dictum est, in his partibus, etsi graves atque magnae sunt, minus et artis est et laboris; cum autem et quid et quo loco dicat invenerit, illud est longe maximum, videre quonam modo; scitum est enim, quod Carneades noster dicere solebat, Clitomachum eadem dicere, Charmadam autem eodem etiam modo dicere. Quod si in philosophia tantum interest quem ad modum dicas, ubi res spectatur, non verba penduntur, quid tandem in causis existimandum est quibus totis moderatur oratio?

We have briefly and summarily described what he should be like in the first two divisions of speaking. But, as was said before, although these divisions are important and considerable, they involve less art and labor. Once he has discovered what to say and where to say it, by far the greatest task is to see how to say it. Carneades, our teacher, used to make the acute observation that Clitomachus said the same things, while Charmadas also said them in the same manner. If in philosophy, where the subject is considered and words are not weighed, it matters so much how one speaks, what must we suppose in lawsuits, which are governed entirely by speech?

Nous avons décrit sommairement et brièvement ce que l’orateur devait être dans les deux premières parties de son art. Mais, comme nous l’avons dit plus haut, si importantes et considérables qu’elles soient, elles demandent moins d’art et de travail. Lorsqu’il a trouvé ce qu’il dira et à quelle place, le point de beaucoup le plus important consiste à voir comment il le dira. Carnéade, notre maître, faisait cette remarque spirituelle: Clitomaque disait les mêmes choses que Charmadas, mais Charmadas les disait aussi de la même manière. Si la manière de parler importe tant en philosophie, où l’on considère les choses sans peser les mots, que faut-il donc penser des causes, qui sont entièrement gouvernées par le discours?