[59]
We may, however, imitate our own
words and deeds in a similar fashion by relating some
[p. 411]
act or statement, though in such cases the speaker
more frequently does so to assert his point than for
the sake of banter, as, for example, in the following,1
“I said that they had Quintus Caecilius to conduct
the prosecution.” There are other devices also which
are agreeable in themselves and serve not a little
to commend our case both by the introduction of
variety and by their intrinsic naturalness, since by
giving our speech an appearance of simplicity and
spontaneity they make the judges more ready to
accept our statements without suspicion.
1 Div. in Caec. ii. 4. Cicero ironically suggested to the Sicilians that Caecilius should undertake their case. He was a bogus accuser put forward by Verres himself, whose quaest or he had been in Sicily.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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