Book 4
pr.47
And I would never carry my desire for brevity so far as to refuse admission to details which may contribute to the plausibility of our narrative. Simplify and curtail your statement of facts in every direction and you will turn it into something more like a confession. Moreover, the circumstances of the case will often necessitate a long statement of facts, in which case, as I have already enjoined, the judge should be prepared for it at the conclusion of the exordium. Next we must put forth all our art either to shorten it or to render it less tedious.
pr.48
We must do what we can to make it less long by postponing some points, taking care however to mention what it is that we propose to postpone. Take the following as an example. As regards his motives for killing him, his accomplices and the manner in which he disposed his ambush, I will speak when I come to the proof. Some things indeed may be omitted altogether from our marshalling of the facts, witness the following example from Cicero, pro Caec. iv. 11. Fulcinius died; there are many circumstances which attended that event, but as they have little bearing on this case, I shall pass them by. Division of our statement into its various heads is another method of avoiding tedium: for example, I will tell you first what preceded this affair, then what occurred in its actual development, and finally you shall hear its sequel.
