§10.1.88Ennium sicut sacros vetustate lucos adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua robora iam non tantam habent speciem quantam religionem.
Let us adore Ennius like sacred groves with age, in which the huge and ancient oaks do not now have as much beauty as they do reverence.
propiores alii atque ad hoc, de quo loquimur, magis utiles.
Others are closer and more useful for this purpose of which we are speaking.
lascivus quidem in herois quoque Ovidius et nimium amator ingenii sui, laudandus tamen in partibus. §10.1.89Cornelius autem Severus, etiam si sit versificator quam poeta melior, si tamen, ut est dictum, ad exemplar primi libri bellum Siculum perscripsisset, vindicaret sibi iure secundum locum.
Ovid is indeed playful even in heroic verse, and too much a lover of his own genius, yet to be praised in parts. Cornelius Severus, moreover, even if he is a better versifier than poet, yet if, as is said, he had written the Sicilian War according to the model of the first book, he would by right claim the second place for himself.
Serranum consummari mors immatura non passa est; puerilia tamen eius opera et maximam indolem ostendunt et admirabilem praecipue in aetate illa recti generis voluntatem. §10.1.90multum in Valerio Flacco nuper amisimus.
An untimely death did not allow Serranus to be perfected; yet his boyish works show both a very great natural talent and an admirable desire, especially at that age, for the correct style. We have lately lost much in Valerius Flaccus.
vehemens et poeticum ingenium Saleii Bassi fuit, nec ipsum senectute maturuit.
The genius of Saleius Bassus was vehement and poetic, nor did it mature with old age.
Rabirius ac Pedo non indigni cognitione, si vacet.
Rabirius and Pedo are not unworthy of acquaintance, if there is leisure.
Lucanus ardens et concitatus et sententiis clarissimus et, ut dicam quod sentio, magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus. §10.1.91hos nominavimus, quia Germanicum Augustum ab institutis studiis deflexit cura terrarum, parumque dis visum est esse eum maximum poetarum.
Lucan is ardent and impetuous and most famous for his sententious sayings, and, to speak what I feel, more to be imitated by orators than by poets. We have named these because the care of the world deflected Germanicus Augustus from his planned studies, and it seemed to the gods too little that he should be the greatest of poets.
quid tamen his ipsis eius operibus, in quae donato imperio iuvenis secesserat, sublimius, doctius, omnibus denique numeris praestantius? quis enim caneret bella melius, quam qui sic gerit? quem praesidentes studiis deae propius audirent? cui magis suas artes aperiret familiare numen Minerva? §10.1.92dicent haec plenius futura saecula, nunc enim ceterarum fulgore virtutum laus ista praestringitur.
Yet what is more sublime, more learned, in short, more excellent in every point, than those very works of his into which, having been granted the empire, he had retired as a youth? For who would sing of wars better than he who so conducts them? Whom would the goddesses presiding over studies listen to more closely? To whom would Minerva, a familiar deity, open her arts more? Future ages will speak of these things more fully, for now that praise is obscured by the brightness of his other virtues.
nos tamen sacra litterarum colentes feres, Caesar, si non tacitum hoc praeterimus et Vergiliano certe versu testamur,
"
inter uictrices hederam tibi serpere laurus. " §10.1.93elegia quoque Graecos provocamus, cuius mihi tersus atque elegans maxime videtur auctor Tibullus.
Yet you will tolerate us, Caesar, who worship the sacred rites of literature, if we do not pass this over in silence, and at least testify with a Virgilian verse: 'that the ivy creeps for you among the victorious laurels.' In elegy also we challenge the Greeks, of which Tibullus seems to me the most terse and elegant author.
sunt qui Propertium malint.
There are some who prefer Propertius.
Ovidius utroque lascivior, sicut durior Gallus.
Ovid is more playful than both, just as Gallus is harsher.
satura quidem tota nostra est, in qua primus insignem laudem adeptus Lucilius quosdam ita deditos sibi adhuc habet amatores, ut eum non eiusdem modo operis auctoribus, sed omnibus poetis praeferre non dubitent. §10.1.94ego quantum ab illis tantum ab Horatio dissentio, qui Lucilium fluere lutulentum et esse aliquid, quod tollere possis, putat.
Satire indeed is entirely ours, in which Lucilius, having first obtained distinguished praise, still has some lovers so devoted to him that they do not hesitate to prefer him not only to authors of the same genre, but to all poets. I dissent as much from them as I do from Horace, who thinks that Lucilius flows muddy and that there is something you could take away.
nam eruditio in eo mira et libertas atque inde acerbitas et abunde salis.
For in him there is a wonderful learning and freedom of speech, and hence bitterness and abundant wit.
multum est tersior ac purus magis Horatius et, nisi labor eius amore, praecipuus.
Horace is much more terse and pure, and, unless I labor with love of him, the chief.
multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit.
Persius also merited much true glory, although with only one book.
sunt clari hodieque et qui olim nominabuntur. §10.1.95alterum illud etiam prius saturae genus, sed non sola carminum varietate mixtum condidit Terentius Varro, vir Romanorum eruditissimus.
There are famous men today also, and those who will be named hereafter. That other even older kind of satire, mixed not only with the variety of poems, was founded by Terentius Varro, the most learned of Romans.
plurimos hic libros et doctissimos composuit, peritissimus linguae Latinae et omnis antiquitatis et rerum Graecarum nostrarumque, plus tamen scientiae collaturus quam eloquentiae. §10.1.96iambus non sane a Romanis celebratus est ut proprium opus, sed aliis quibusdam interpositus; cuius acerbitas in Catullo, Bibaculo, Horatio, quanquam illi epodos interveniat, reperietur.
He composed very many and most learned books, being most skilled in the Latin language, in all antiquity, and in Greek and our own affairs, though destined to contribute more to knowledge than to eloquence. The iambic was indeed not celebrated by the Romans as their own proper work, but was interspersed in certain other things; its bitterness will be found in Catullus, Bibaculus, and Horace, although the epode intervenes in him.
at Lyricorum idem Horatius fere solus legi dignus.
But in Lyric, the same Horace is almost the only one worthy to be read.
nam et insurgit aliquando et plenus est iucunditatis et gratiae et varius figuris et verbis felicissime audax.
For he both rises sometimes and is full of sweetness and grace, and varied in figures, and most happily bold in words.
si quem adiicere velis, is erit Caesius Bassus, quem nuper vidimus; sed eum longe praecedunt ingenia viventium. §10.1.97tragoediae scriptores veterum Accius atque Pacuvius clarissimi gravitate sententiarum, verborum pondere, auctoritate personarum.
If you wish to add anyone, it will be Caesius Bassus, whom we have lately seen; but the geniuses of living men far precede him. The tragic writers among the ancients, Accius and Pacuvius, are most famous for the gravity of their thoughts, the weight of their words, and the authority of their characters.
ceterum nitor et summa in excolendis operibus manus magis videri potest temporibus quam ipsis defuisse.
Otherwise, polish and the finishing hand in perfecting works might seem to have been lacking rather to the times than to the men themselves.
virium tamen Accio plus tribuitur; Pacuvium videri doctiorem qui esse docti adfectant volunt.
Yet more strength is attributed to Accius; those who affect to be learned wish Pacuvius to seem more learned.