§17.quin ipsum Isocratem, quem divinus auctor Plato suum fere aequalem admirabiliter in Phaedro laudari fecit ab Socrate quemque omnes docti summum oratorem esse dixerunt, tamen hunc in numerum non repono.
Yet even Isocrates, whom that divine author Plato made to be wonderfully praised by Socrates in the Phaedrus as almost his contemporary, and whom all learned men have called the greatest orator—even him I do not restore to this number.
Non enim in acie versatur nec ferro, sed quasi rudibus eius eludit oratio.
For he does not engage in the battle-line nor with iron, but his oratory plays as if with wooden foils.
A me autem, ut cum maximis minima conferam, gladiatorum par nobilissimum inducitur, Aeschines, tamquam Aeserninus, ut ait Lucilius, non spurcus homo, sed acer et doctus
"
cum Pacideiano hic componitur,—optimus longe
post homines natos—. "
Nihil enim illo oratore arbitror cogitari posse divinius.
On my part, however (to compare the smallest with the greatest), a most noble pair of gladiators is introduced: Aeschines, as if Aeserninus, as Lucilius says, not a low fellow, but sharp and learned, "who is matched here with Pacideianus—by far the best since the birth of men." For I think nothing more divine can be conceived than that orator.
§18.Huic labori nostro duo genera reprehensionum opponuntur.
Against this labor of ours, two kinds of reprehension are opposed.
Vnum hoc: 'Verum melius Graeci. ' A quo quaeratur ecquid possint ipsi melius Latine? Alterum: 'Quid istas potius legam quam Graecas?' Idem Andriam et Synephebos nec minus Andromacham aut Antiopam aut Epigonos Latinos recipiunt.
One is this: 'But the Greeks wrote better.' To whom let it be asked: can they themselves write anything better in Latin? The other is: 'Why should I read those translations rather than the Greek originals?' These same people accept the Latin Andria and Synephebi, and no less the Latin Andromacha or Antiopa or Epigoni.
Quod igitur est eorum in orationibus e Graeco conversis fastidium, nullum cum sit in versibus?
What, then, is their aversion in regard to speeches translated from the Greek, when there is none in regard to verses?
§19.Sed adgrediamur iam quod suscepimus, si prius exposue rimus quae causa in iudicium deducta sit.
But let us now approach what we have undertaken, provided we first explain what cause was brought into judgment.
Cum esset lex Athenis, NE. QVIS POPVLI SCITVM FACERET, VT QVISQVAM CORONA DONARETVR IN MAGISTRATV PRIVS QVAM RATIONES RETTVLISSET; et altera lex, EOS, QVI A POPVLO DONARENTVR, IN CONTIONE DONARI DEBERE; QVI A SENATV, IN SENATV, Demosthenes curator muris reficiendis fuit eosque refecit pecunia sua;
Since there was a law at Athens, 'THAT NO ONE SHOULD PROPOSE A DECREE OF THE PEOPLE, THAT ANYONE SHOULD BE PRESENTED WITH A CROWN WHILE IN OFFICE BEFORE HE HAD RENDERED HIS ACCOUNTS'; and another law, 'THAT THOSE WHO WERE PRESENTED WITH A CROWN BY THE PEOPLE OUGHT TO BE PRESENTED IN THE ASSEMBLY; THOSE BY THE SENATE, IN THE SENATE,' Demosthenes was a commissioner for repairing the walls, and repaired them with his own money.
de hoc igitur Ctesiphon scitum fecit nullis ab illo rationibus relatis, ut corona aurea donaretur eaque donatio fieret in theatro populo convocato, qui locus non est contionis legitimae, atque ita praedicaretur, EVM DONARI VIRTVTIS ERGO BENEVOLENTIAEQVE QVAM IS ERGA POPVLVM ATHENIENSEM HABERET.
Concerning this, therefore, Ctesiphon proposed a decree, although no accounts had been rendered by him, that he should be presented with a golden crown, and that this presentation should take place in the theater, the people having been convoked, which is not the place for a lawful assembly, and that it should be proclaimed thus: 'THAT HE IS PRESENTED ON ACCOUNT OF HIS VIRTUE AND BENEVOLENCE WHICH HE CONSTANTLY HAS TOWARD THE ATHENIAN PEOPLE.'
§20.hunc igitur Ctesiphontem in iudicium adduxit Aeschines, quod contra leges scripsisset, ut et rationibus non relatis corona donaretur et ut in theatro, et quod de virtute eius et benevolentia falsa scripsisset, cum Demosthenes nec vir bonus esset nec bene meritus de civitate.
Therefore, Aeschines brought this Ctesiphon to trial, because he had written contrary to the laws, so that both a crown should be presented when accounts had not been rendered, and that in the theater, and because he had written falsely concerning his virtue and benevolence, since Demosthenes was neither a good man nor had deserved well of the city.
Causa ipsa abhorret illa quidem a formula consuetudinis nostrae, sed est magna.
The cause itself is indeed far removed from the formula of our own custom, but it is great.
Habet enim et legum interpretationem satis acutam in utramque partem et meritorum in rem publicam contentionem sane gravem.
For it has both a sufficiently acute interpretation of the laws on both sides, and a truly grave contest of deserts toward the commonwealth.
§21.itaque causa fuit Aeschini, cum ipse a Demo sthene esset capitis accusatus, quod legationem ementitus esset, ut ulciscendi inimici causa nomine Ctesiphontis iudicium fieret de factis famaque Demosthenis.
Thus, the cause of Aeschines was, since he himself had been accused of a capital crime by Demosthenes on the ground that he had lied in his embassy, that for the sake of avenging his enemy under the name of Ctesiphon, a judgment should be made concerning the deeds and reputation of Demosthenes.
Non enim tam multa dixit de rationibus non relatis, quam de eo quod civis improbus ut optimus laudatus esset.
For he did not speak so much about the unrendered accounts as about the fact that a wicked citizen had been praised as the best.
§22.hanc multam Aeschines a Ctesiphonte petivit quadriennio ante Philippi Macedonis mortem; sed iudicium factum est aliquot annis post Alexandro iam Asiam tenente; ad quod iudicium concursus dicitur e tota Graecia factus esse.
Aeschines sought this fine from Ctesiphon four years before the death of Philip of Macedon; but the trial took place some years later when Alexander was already holding Asia; to which trial a gathering is said to have been made from all Greece.
Quid enim tam aut visendum aut audiendum fuit quam summorum oratorum in gravissima causa accurata et inimicitiis incensa contentio?
For what was there so worthy either to be seen or heard as the elaborate and hostile contest of the greatest orators in a most grave cause?
§23.quorum ego orationes si, ut spero, ita expres sero virtutibus utens illorum omnibus, id est sententiis et earum figuris et rerum ordine, verba persequens eatenus, ut ea non abhorreant a more nostro—quae si e Graecis omnia conversa non erunt, tamen ut generis eiusdem sint, elaboravimus—, erit regula, ad quam eorum dirigantur orationes qui Attice volent dicere.
If I express their speeches in such a manner, as I hope, using all their virtues—that is, their thoughts and their figures and the order of things—following the words only so far as they do not run counter to our usage (and if all things are not translated from the Greek, we have nevertheless labored that they should be of the same kind), it will be a rule to which the speeches of those who wish to speak in the Attic manner may be directed.
Sed de nobis satis.
But enough of ourselves.
Aliquando enim Aeschinem ipsum Latine dicentem audiamus.
Let us now at last hear Aeschines himself speaking in Latin.