§13.19.1commodum discesserat Hilarus librarius iv Kal. , cui dederam litteras ad te, quom venit tabellarius cum tuis litteris pridie datis; in quibus illud mihi gratissimum fuit quod Attica nostra rogat te ne tristis sis, quodque tu ἀκίνδυνα esse scribis.
The copyist Hilarus had just departed on the fourth day before the Kalends, to whom I had given a letter for you, when a courier arrived with your letter dated the day before; in which it was most pleasing to me that our Attica asks you not to be sad, and that you write that things are ἀκίνδυνα.
§13.19.2Ligarianam, ut video, praeclare auctoritas tua commendavit.
As for the speech on behalf of Ligarius, I see that your authority has splendidly recommended it.
scripsit enim ad me Balbus et Oppius mirifice se probare ob eamque causam ad Caesarem eam se oratiunculam misisse.
For Balbus and Oppius wrote to me that they wonderfully approve of it, and for that reason they have sent that little speech to Caesar.
hoc igitur idem tu mihi antea scripseras.
This same thing, therefore, you had written to me before.
§13.19.3in Varrone ista causa me non moveret ne viderer φιλένδοξοσ (sic enim constitueram neminem includere in dialogos eorum qui viverent); sed quia scribis et desiderari a Varrone et magni illum aestimare, eos confeci et absolvi nescio quam bene, sed ita accurate ut nihil posset supra, Academicam omnem quaestionem libris quattuor.
In the case of Varro, that reason of yours would not have moved me to fear that I might seem φιλένδοξοσ (for I had resolved to include no one in my dialogues among those who were living); but because you write both that it is desired by Varro and that he values it highly, I have finished and completed—I know not how well, but with such precision that nothing could exceed it—the whole Academic question in four books.
in eis quae erant contra ἀκαταληψίαν praeclare conlecta ab Antiocho, Varroni dedi.
In these, I have given to Varro the arguments against ἀκαταληψίαν, which had been splendidly collected by Antiochus.
ad ea ipse respondeo; tu es tertius in sermone nostro.
To these I reply myself; you are the third person in our conversation.
si Cottam et Varronem fecissem inter se disputantis, ut a te proximis litteris admoneor, meum κωφὸν πρόσωπον esset.
If I had made Cotta and Varro dispute with each other, as I am advised by you in your recent letter, my character would have been a κωφὸν πρόσωπον.
§13.19.4hoc in antiquis personis suaviter fit, ut et Heraclides in multis et nos in vi
"de re publica"
libris fecimus.
This is done pleasantly with ancient characters, as Heraclides did in many works and we ourselves in the six books "de re publica" did.
sunt etiam
"de oratore"
nostri tres mihi vehementer probati.
There are also our three books "de oratore", which are highly approved of by me.
in eis quoque eae personae sunt ut mihi tacendum fuerit.
In these too, the characters are such that I had to remain silent.
Crassus enim loquitur, Antonius, Catulus senex, C. Iulius frater Catuli, Cotta, Sulpicius.
For Crassus speaks, Antonius, the elder Catulus, C. Julius the brother of Catulus, Cotta, Sulpicius.
puero me hic sermo inducitur, ut nullae esse possent partes meae.
This conversation is introduced when I was a boy, so that there could be no part for me.
quae autem his temporibus scripsi Ἀριστοτέλειον morem habent in quo ita sermo inducitur ceterorum ut penes ipsum sit principatus.
But what I have written in these times has the Ἀριστοτέλειον style, in which the speech of the others is so introduced that the leadership remains in the hands of the author himself.
ita confeci quinque libros περὶ ut Epicurea L. Torquato, Stoica M. Catoni, Περιπατητικὰ M. Pisoni darem.
Thus I have finished five books περὶ so as to assign the Epicurean views to L. Torquatus, the Stoic to M. Cato, and the Peripatetic to M. Piso.
ἀζηλοτύπητον id fore putaram quod omnes illi decesserant.
I had thought that this would be ἀζηλοτύπητον because all of them had deceased.
haec
"Academica,"
ut scis, cum Catulo, Lucullo, Hortensio contuleram.
This "Academica," as you know, I had assigned to Catulus, Lucullus, and Hortensius.
sane in personas non cadebant; erant enim λογικώτερα quam ut illi de iis somniasse umquam viderentur.
Truly, they did not fit the characters; for they were too λογικώτερα for them to seem ever to have dreamed of such things.
itaque ut legi tuas de Varrone, tamquam ἕρμαιον adripui.
Therefore, when I read your letter concerning Varro, I seized upon it as a ἕρμαιον.
aptius esse nihil potuit ad id philosophiae genus quo ille maxime mihi delectari videtur, †easque† partis ut non sim consecutus ut superior mea causa videatur.
Nothing could have been more suitable to that branch of philosophy in which he seems to me to take the greatest pleasure; and I have so managed those parts that I have not failed to make my own cause appear superior.
sunt enim vehementer πιθανὰ Antiochia; quae diligenter a me expressa acumen habent Antiochi, nitorem orationis nostrum si modo is est aliquis in nobis.
For the teachings of Antiochus are vehemently πιθανὰ; which, diligently expressed by me, have the sharpness of Antiochus, and the brilliance of our own style, if only there is any in us.
sed tu dandosne putes hos libros Varroni etiam atque etiam videbis.
But you will see again and again whether you think these books should be given to Varro.
mihi quaedam occurrunt; sed ea coram.
Certain things occur to me; but those in person.