§1.7sive enim Zenonem sequare, magnum est efficere ut quis intellegat quid sit illud verum et simplex bonum quod non possit ab honestate seiungi (quod bonum quale sit negat omnino Epicurus se sine voluptatibus sensum moventibus ne suspicari quidem); si vero Academiam veterem persequemur, quam nos ut scis probamus, quam erit illa acute explicanda nobis, quam argute quam obscure etiam contra Stoicos disserendum.
For whether you follow Zeno, it is a great task to make someone understand what that true and simple good is which cannot be separated from moral virtue (which good Epicurus completely denies that he can even suspect what kind of thing it is without pleasures that stir the senses); but if we follow the Old Academy, which as you know we approve of, how sharply we must explain it, and how subtly and even obscurely we must debate against the Stoics.
Totum igitur illud philosophiae studium mihi quidem ipse sumo et ad vitae constantiam quantum possum et ad delectationem animi, nec ullum arbitror, ut apud Platonem est, maius aut melius a diis datum munus homini;
Therefore, I take upon myself that whole study of philosophy, both for the consistency of life as much as I can, and for the delight of the mind; nor do I think, as is written in Plato, that any greater or better gift has been given by the gods to man.
§1.8sed meos amicos in quibus est studium in Graeciam mitto id est ad Graecos ire iubeo, ut ex [a] fontibus potius hauriant quam rivulos consectentur.
But my friends in whom there is enthusiasm I send to Greece—that is, I order them to go to the Greeks, so that they may draw from the springs rather than pursue rivulets.
quae autem nemo adhuc docuerat nec erat unde studiosi scire possent, ea quantum potui (nihil enim magnopere meorum miror) feci ut essent nota nostris; a Graecis enim peti non poterant ac post L. Aelii nostri occasum ne a Latinis quidem.
On the other hand, those matters which no one had yet taught, nor was there any source from which eager students could learn them, I have done my best to make known to our people (for I do not greatly admire my own works); for they could not be sought from the Greeks, and after the death of our friend Lucius Aelius, not even from the Latins.
et tamen in illis veteribus nostris, quae Menippum imitati non interpretati quadam hilaritate conspersimus, multa admixta ex intima philosophia, multa dicta dialectice, quae quo facilius minus docti intellegerent, iucunditate quadam ad legendum invitati; in laudationibus, in his ipsis antiquitatum prooemiis philosophiae more scribere voluimus, si modo consecuti sumus. ' §1.9Tum ego
"Sunt"
inquam “ista Varro.
And yet, in those old writings of ours, which we sprinkled with a certain playfulness, imitating Menippus rather than translating him, many things from deep philosophy have been mixed in, and many things stated dialectically, so that the less learned might understand them more easily, being invited to read by a certain pleasure; and in panegyrics, and in these very prefaces of the Antiquities, we wished to write in the manner of philosophy, if only we have succeeded." Then I said, "Those things are as you say, Varro.
nam nos in nostra urbe peregrinantis errantisque tamquam hospites tui libri quasi domum deduxerunt, ut possemus aliquando qui et ubi essemus agnoscere.
For your books escorted us, who were wandering and straying like strangers in our own city, back as if to our home, so that we could at last recognize who and where we were.
tu aetatem patriae tu descriptiones temporum, tu sacrorum iura tu sacerdotum, tu domesticam tu bellicam disciplinam, tu sedum regionum locorum tu omnium divinarum humanarumque rerum nomina genera officia causas aperuisti; plurimum quidem poetis nostris omninoque Latinis et litteris luminis et verbis attulisti atque ipse varium et elegans omni fere numero poema fecisti, philosophiamque multis locis inchoasti, ad impellendum satis, ad edocendum parum.
You have disclosed the age of our country, the divisions of time, the laws of sacred rites, those of the priests, domestic and military discipline, the sites of dwellings, regions, and places, and the names, kinds, functions, and causes of all things divine and human; you have indeed brought a great deal of light both to our poets and generally to Latin literature and words, and you yourself have composed a varied and elegant poem in almost every metre, and you have begun philosophy in many places, sufficient to urge us on, but insufficient to fully instruct us.
§1.10Causam autem probabilem tu quidem affers: aut enim Graeca legere malent qui erunt eruditi, aut ne haec quidem qui illa nescient.
Indeed, you offer a plausible reason: for either those who are learned will prefer to read Greek, or those who do not know Greek will not care even for these Latin works.
sed eam mihi non sane probas; immo vero et haec qui illa non poterunt, et qui Graeca poterunt non contemnent sua.
But you do not really convince me of this; on the contrary, those who cannot read Greek will seek these works, and those who can read Greek will not despise their own.
quid enim causae est cur poetas Latinos Graecis litteris eruditi legant, philosophos non legant? an quia delectat Ennius Pacuvius Accius multi alii, qui non verba sed vim Graecorum expresserunt poetarum—quanto magis philosophi delectabunt, si ut illi Aeschylum Sophoclem Euripidem sic hi Platonem imitentur Aristotelem Theophrastum.
For what reason is there why those learned in Greek literature should read Latin poets but not philosophers? Is it because Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius, and many others delight us, who expressed not the words but the force of the Greek poets?—how much more will philosophers delight us, if, just as those poets imitated Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, these philosophers should imitate Plato, Aristotle, and Theophrastus.
oratores quidem laudari video si qui e nostris Hyperidem sint aut Demosthenem imitati.
Indeed, I see that our orators are praised if any of them have imitated Hyperides or Demosthenes.
§1.11Ego autem Varro (dicam enim ut res est), dum me ambitio dum honores dum causae, dum rei publicae non solum cura sed quaedam etiam procuratio multis officiis implicatum et constrictum tenebat, animo haec inclusa habebam et ne obsolescerent renovabam cum licebat legendo; nunc vero et fortunae gravissimo percussus vulnere et administratione rei publicae liberatus doloris medicinam a philosophia peto et otii oblectationem hanc honestissimam iudico.
But as for me, Varro (for I will speak as the matter stands), while ambition, public honors, legal cases, and not only the care but also a certain administration of the state held me entangled and bound by many duties, I kept these thoughts shut up in my mind, and renewed them by reading when it was permitted, so they would not grow obsolete; but now, having been struck by a most heavy blow of fortune and freed from the administration of the state, I seek the medicine for my grief from philosophy, and I judge this amusement of leisure to be the most honorable.
aut enim huic aetati hoc maxime aptum est, aut his rebus si quas dignas laude gessimus hoc in primis consentaneum, aut etiam ad nostros cives erudiendos nihil utilius, aut si haec ita non sunt nihil aliud video quod agere possimus.
For either this is especially suited to this age of mine, or it is most consistent with those deeds of ours, if we have done any worthy of praise, or there is nothing more useful for instructing our citizens, or, if these things are not so, I see nothing else that we can do."