Book 9
2.21
Or we may admit the judges to our deliberations, a device which is frequently called into play. We may say, What do you advise? or, I ask you, or, What, then, should have been done? Cato, for example, says, Come now, if you had been in his place, what else would you have done? And in another passage, Imagine this to be a matter which concerns us all, and assume you have been placed in charge of the whole affair.
2.22
Sometimes, however, in such forms of communication we may add something unexpected, a device which is in itself a figure, as Cicero does in the Verrines: What then? What think you? Perhaps you expect to hear of some theft or plunder. v. 5. 10. Then, after keeping the minds of the judges in suspense for a considerable time, he adds something much worse. This figure is termed suspension by Celsus. It has two forms.
2.23
For we may adopt exactly the opposite procedure to that just mentioned, and after raising expectation of a sequel of the most serious nature, we may drop to something which is of a trivial character, and may even imply no offence at all. But since this does not necessarily involve any form of communication, some have given it the name of paradox or surprise.
