danger of losing them. For nothing is so pitiable as a man who has
become miserable after having been happy. And this is enough to move
us greatly, if any one falls from good fortune; and if he loses all
his friends; and if we have it briefly explained to us what great
happiness he is losing or has lost, and by what evils he is
overwhelmed, or is about to be overwhelmed. For tears soon dry,
especially at another's misfortunes. Nor is there anything which it is
less wise to exhaust than amplification. For all diligence attends to
minutiae; but this topic requires only what is on a large scale. Here
again is a matter for a man's judgment, what kind of amplification we
should employ in each cause. For in those causes which are embellished
for the sake of pleasing the hearers, those topics must be dealt
with, which can excite expectation, admiration, or pleasure. But in
exhortations the enumerations of instances of good and bad fortune,
and instances and precedents, are arguments of great weight. In trials
those topics are the most suitable for an accuser which tend to excite
anger; those are usually the most desirable for a person on his trial
which relate to raising pity. But some times the accuser ought to seek
to excite pity, and the advocate for the defence may aim at rousing
indignation.

Enumeration remains; a topic sometimes necessary to a panegyrist, not
often to one who is endeavouring to persuade; and more frequently to
a prosecutor than to a defendant. It has two turns, if you either
distrust the recollection of those men before whom you are pleading,
either on account of the length of time that has elapsed since the
circumstances of which you are speaking, or because of the length of
your speech; in this case your cause will have the more strength if
you bring up numberless corroborative arguments to strengthen your
speech, and explain them with brevity. And the defendant will have
less frequent occasion to use them, because he has to lay down
propositions which are contrary to them: and his defence will come out
best if it is brief, and full of pungent stings. But in enumeration,
it will be necessary to avoid letting it have the air of a childish
display of memory; and he will best avoid that fault who does not
recapitulate every trifle, but who touches on each particular briefly,
and dwells only on the more weighty and important points.

XVIII. _C. F._ Since you have now discussed the orator himself and his