§10.1.120Iulio Secundo, si longior contigisset aetas, clarissimum profecto nomen oratoris apud posteros foret.
If a longer life had been granted to Julius Secundus, he would surely have had a most illustrious name as an orator among posterity.
adiecisset enim atque adiiciebat ceteris virtutibus suis quod desiderari potest; id est autem, ut esset multo magis pugnax et saepius ad curam rerum ab elocutione respiceret.
For he would have added, and indeed was adding, to his other virtues what can be found wanting; that is, that he should be much more combative, and should more often look back from style to the care of content.
§10.1.121ceterum interceptus quoque magnum sibi vindicat locum; ea est facundia, tanta in explicando quod velit gratia, tam candidum et leve et speciosum dicendi genus, tanta verborum etiam quae adsumpta sunt proprietas, tanta in quibusdam ex periculo petitis significantia.
But even cut off as he was, he claims a great place for himself; such is his eloquence, so great his grace in explaining what he wishes, so clear and smooth and beautiful his style of speaking, so great the propriety of even the words that are adopted, so great the expressiveness in certain expressions sought from danger.
§10.1.122habebunt, qui post nos de oratoribus scribent, magnam eos, qui nunc vigent, materiam vere laudandi.
Those who write about orators after us will have great material for truly praising those who flourish now.
sunt enim summa hodie, quibus illustratur forum, ingenia.
For there are today the highest geniuses by whom the forum is adorned.
namque et consummati iam patroni veteribus aemulantur et eos iuvenum ad optima tendentium imitatur ac sequitur industria.
For both already accomplished advocates rival the ancients, and the industry of the young men striving towards the best imitates and follows them.
§10.1.123supersunt qui de philosophia scripserint, quo in genere paucissimos adhuc eloquentes litterae Romanae tulerunt.
There remain those who have written about philosophy, in which genre Roman literature has produced very few eloquent writers so far.
idem igitur M. Tullius, qui ubique, etiam in hoc opere Platonis aemulus exstitit.
Therefore, that same Marcus Tullius, as everywhere, stood out as a rival of Plato in this work as well.
egregius vero multoque quam in orationibus praestantior Brutus suffecit ponderi rerum; scias eum sentire quae dicit.
But Brutus, indeed distinguished and much more outstanding than in his speeches, sufficed for the weight of the matter; you would know that he feels what he says.
§10.1.124scripsit non parum multa Cornelius Celsus, Sextios secutus, non sine cultu ac nitore.
Cornelius Celsus, following the Sextii, wrote a considerable number of works, not without refinement and elegance.
Plautus in Stoicis rerum cognitioni utilis.
Plautus among the Stoics is useful for the knowledge of matters.
in Epicureis levis quidem, sed non iniucundus tamen auctor est Catius.
Among the Epicureans, Catius is a writer who is indeed light, but yet not unpleasant.
§10.1.125ex industria Senecam in omni genere eloquentiae distuli propter vulgatam falso de me opinionem, qua damnare eum et invisum quoque habere sum creditus.
I have deliberately deferred Seneca in every genre of eloquence on account of a falsely spread opinion about me, by which I was believed to condemn him and even to hold him in hatred.
quod accidit mihi, dum corruptum et omnibus vitiis fractum dicendi genus revocare ad severiora iudicia contendo.
This happened to me while I was striving to recall a style of speaking that was corrupt and broken by all vices to more severe judgments.
§10.1.126tum autem solus hic fere in manibus adolescentium fuit.
At that time, moreover, he was almost the only one in the hands of the young men.
quem non equidem omnino conabar excutere, sed potioribus praeferri non sinebam, quos ille non destiterat incessere, cum diversi sibi conscius generis placere se in dicendo posse iis, quibus illi placent, diffideret.
Whom indeed I was not trying to discard entirely, but I did not allow him to be preferred to better authors, whom he had not ceased to attack, since, conscious of his different style, he distrusted that he could please in speaking those whom those authors please.
Amabant autem eum magis quam imitabantur, tantumque ab eo defluebant, quantum ille ab antiquis descenderat.
But they loved him more than they imitated him, and they fell away from him as much as he had degenerated from the ancients.
§10.1.127foret enim optandum pares ac saltem proximos illi viro fieri.
For it would have been to be wished that they became equal, or at least closest, to that man.
sed placebat propter sola vitia et ad ea se quisque dirigebat effingenda quae poterat; deinde cum se iactaret eodem modo dicere, Senecam infamabat.
But he was pleasing only on account of his faults, and everyone directed himself to copying those which he could; then, when they boasted that they spoke in the same way, they defamed Seneca.
§10.1.128cuius e multae alioqui et magnae virtutes fuerunt, ingenium facile et copiosum, plurimum studii, multa rerum cognitio; in qua tamen aliquando ab his, quibus inquirenda quaedam mandabat, deceptus est.
Otherwise, his virtues were many and great, his genius easy and copious, the greatest zeal, and much knowledge of things; in which, however, he was sometimes deceived by those to whom he delegated certain things to be investigated.
§10.1.129tractavit etiam omnem fere studiorum materiam.
He treated also almost all subject matter of studies.
nam et orationes eius et poemata et epistolae et dialogi feruntur.
For both his speeches and poems and letters and dialogues are in circulation.
in philosophia parum diligens, egregius tamen vitiorum insectator fuit.
In philosophy too little diligent, yet he was an outstanding persecutor of vices.
multae in eo claraeque sententiae, multa etiam morum gratia legenda; sed in eloquendo corrupta pleraque atque eo perniciosissima, quod abundant dulcibus vitiis.
There are many and distinguished thoughts in him, and many things to be read for the sake of morals; but in expression, most things are corrupt and for that reason most pernicious, because they abound in sweet faults.
§10.1.130velles eum suo ingenio dixisse, alieno iudicio.
You would have wished that he had spoken with his own genius, but with another's judgment.
nam si oblique contempsisset, si parum recta non concupisset, si non omnia sua amasset, si rerum pondera minutissimis sententiis non fregisset, consensus potius eruditorum quam puerorum amore comprobaretur.
For if he had not indirectly despised, if he had not coveted things that were not quite right, if he had not loved all his own things, if he had not broken the weight of matters with very minute thoughts, he would be approved by the consensus of the learned rather than by the love of boys.
§10.1.131verum sic quoque iam robustis et severiore genere satis firmatis legendus vel ideo quod exercere potest utrinque iudicium.
But even so, he ought to be read by those who are already robust and sufficiently strengthened by a more severe style, even for this very reason, that he can exercise judgment on both sides.
multa enim, ut dixi, probanda in eo, multa etiam admiranda sunt, eligere modo curae sit; quod utinam ipse fecisset.
For there are, as I said, many things to be approved in him, many also to be admired, if only care is taken to choose; would that he himself had done this!
digna enim fuit illa natura, quae meliora vellet; quod voluit effecit.
For that nature was worthy of wishing for better things; what he wished, he accomplished.