[5]
Consequently I do
not wish my orator to be helpless, if it so chance
that he puts in an appearance for the preliminary
proceedings to which the hour before the commencement of the trial1 is allotted, or to be unskilful in
the preparation and production of evidence. For
who, sooner than himself, should prepare the points
which he wishes to be brought out when he is
pleading? You might as well suppose that the
qualifications of a successful general consist merely
in courage and energy in the field of battle and skill
in meeting all the demands of actual conflict, while
suffering him to be ignorant of the methods of levying troops, mustering and equipping his forces,
arranging for supplies or selecting a suitable position
for his camp, despite the fact that preparation for
war is an essential preliminary for its successful
conduct.
1 Ad horam constare appears to be a technical term for “apperance at the preliminary hour.” the purpose of which is indicated in the paraphrase given above.
Quintilian. With An English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1922.
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