Cicero in his earlier treatises disapproved of these questions being discussed by the orator; he wished to leave them to the philosopher; but as he grew in experience he changed his mind. "A cause is defined by Valgius, after Apollodorus, as _negotium omnibus suis partibus spectans ad quaestionem_, or as _negotium cuius finis est controversia_. The _negotium_ (or business in hand) is thus defined, _congregatio personarum locorum temporum causarum modorum casuum factorum instrumentorum sermonum scriptorum et non scriptorum_. The cause, therefore, corresponds to the Greek _upostasis_ (subject), the _negotium_ to _peristasis_ (surroundings). These are of course closely connected; and many have defined the cause as though it were identical with its surroundings or conditions. "In every discussion three things are the objects of inquiry, _an sit_, Is it so? _quid sit_, If so, what is it? _quale sit_, of what kind is it? For first, there must _be_ something, about which the discussion has arisen. Till this is made clear no discussion as to what it is can arise; far less can we determine what its qualities are, until this second point is ascertained. These three objects of inquiry are exhaustive; on them every question, whether definite or indefinite, depends. The accuser will try to establish, first, the occurrence of the act in dispute, then its character; and, lastly, its criminality. The advocate will, if possible, deny the fact; if he cannot do that he will prove that it is not what the accuser states it to be; or, thirdly, he may contend--and this is the most honourable kind of defence--that it was rightly done. As a fourth alternative, he may take exception to the legality of the prosecution. All these, and every other conceivable division of questions, come under the two general heads (_status_) of _rational_ and _legal_. The rational is simple enough, depending only on the contemplation of nature; thus it is content with exhibiting conjecture, definition, and quality. The legal is extremely complex, laws being infinite in number and character. Sometimes the letter is to be observed, sometimes the spirit. Sometimes we get at its meaning by comparison, or induction; sometimes its meaning is open to the most contradictory interpretations. Hence there is room for a far greater display of diverse kinds of excellence in the _legal_ than in the _rational_ department. Thus the declamatory exercises called _suasoriae_, which are confined to _rational_ considerations, are fittest for young students whose reasoning powers are acute, but who have not the knowledge of law necessary for enabling them to treat _controversiae_ which hinge on legal questions. These last are intended as a preparation for the pleading of actual causes in court, and should be regularly practised even by the most accomplished pleader during the spare moments that his profession allows him." BOOK III.