§12.10.10in oratione vero si species intueri velis, totidem paene reperias ingeniorum quot corporum formas.
But in oratory, if you should wish to look at its species, you would find almost as many forms of genius as of bodies.
sed fuere quaedam genera dicendi condicione temporum horridiora, alioqui magnam iam ingenii vim prae se ferentia.
Yet there were certain genres of speaking that were rather rough owing to the circumstances of their times, though otherwise already displaying a great force of genius.
hinc sint Laelii, Africani, Catones etiam Gracchique, quos tu licet Polygnotos vel Callonas appelles.
Hence let there be the Laelii, the Africani, the Catos, and also the Gracchi, whom you may call Polygnotuses or Callons.
mediam illam formam teneant L. Crassus, Q. Hortensius.
Let L. Crassus and Q. Hortensius hold that middle form.
§12.10.11tum deinde efflorescat non multum inter se distantium tempore oratorum ingens proventus.
Then after that, let a huge harvest of orators bloom, not far distant from one another in time.
hic vim Caesaris, indolem Caelii, subtilitatem Calidii, diligentiam Pollionis, dignitatem Messalae, sanctitatem Calvi, gravitatem Bruti, acumen Sulpicii, acerbitatem Cassii reperiemus; in iis etiam, quos ipsi vidimus, copiam Senecae, vires Africani, maturitatem Afri, iucunditatem Crispi, sonum Trachali, elegantiam Secundi.
Here we shall find the force of Caesar, the natural disposition of Caelius, the subtlety of Calidius, the diligence of Pollio, the dignity of Messala, the purity of Calvus, the gravity of Brutus, the sharpness of Sulpicius, the bitterness of Cassius; and also among those whom we ourselves have seen, the abundance of Seneca, the strength of Africanus, the maturity of Afer, the pleasantness of Crispus, the resonance of Trachalus, the elegance of Secundus.
§12.10.12at M. Tullium non illum habemus Euphranorem circa plures artium species praestantem, sed in omnibus, quae in quoque laudantur, eminentissimum.
But in M. Tullius, we have not an Euphranor, outstanding in respect of several species of arts, but one who is most eminent in all things that are praised in each.
quem tamen et suorum homines temporum incessere audebant ut tumidiorem et Asianum et redundantem et in repetitionibus nimium et in salibus aliquando frigidum et in compositione fractum, exultantem ac paene, quod procul absit, viro molliorem; §12.10.13postea vero quam triumvirali proscriptione consumptus est, passim qui oderant, qui invidebant qui aemulabantur, adulatores etiam praesentis potentiae non responsurum inuaserunt.
Yet even the men of his own times dared to attack him as rather tumid, Asian, redundant, excessive in repetitions, sometimes cold in his wit, and broken in his composition, exultant, and almost—may such a thing be far from him—softer than is fitting for a man; But after he was destroyed by the proscription of the triumvirs, those who hated him, who envied him, who rivaled him, and even the flatterers of the power of the day, attacked him from all sides when he could not reply.
ille tamen, qui ieiunus a quibusdam et aridus habetur, non aliter ab ipsis inimicis male audire quam nimiis floribus et ingenii affluentia potuit.
Yet he, who is held by some to be jejune and dry, could not be ill spoken of by his enemies themselves in any other way than for his excessive flowers and abundance of genius.
falsum utrumque, sed tamen ilia mentiendi propior occasio.
Both charges are false, but yet the latter was a closer occasion for lying.
§12.10.14praecipue vero presserunt eum, qui videri Atticorum imitatores concupierant.
But especially those who had desired to be seen as imitators of the Attics pressed him.
haec manus quasi quibusdam sacris initiata ut alienigenam et parum superstitiosum devinctumque illis legibus insequebatur; unde nunc quoque aridi et exsuci et exangues.
This band, initiated as it were into certain sacred rites, pursued him as an alien and as one who was insufficiently superstitious and bound to those laws; whence even now we have the dry, the sapless, and the bloodless.
§12.10.15hi sunt enim, qui suae imbecillitati sanitatis appellationem, quae est maxime contraria, obtendant; qui, quia clariorem vim eloquentiae velut solem ferre non possunt, umbra magni nominis delitescunt.
For these are they who pretend the name of health—which is most contrary to it—for their own weakness; who, because they cannot bear the brighter force of eloquence as if it were the sun, hide in the shadow of a great name.
quibus quia multa et pluribus locis Cicero ipse respondit, tutior mihi de hoc disserendi brevitas erit.
Since Cicero himself answered them on many points and in many places, brevity in discussing this will be safer for me.
§12.10.16et antiqua quidem illa divisio inter Atticos atque Asianos fuit, cum hi pressi et integri, contra inflati illi et inanes haberentur, in his nihil superflueret, illis iudicium maxime ac modus deesset.
And indeed that ancient division between the Attics and the Asians was established, since the former were held to be concise and sound, while on the contrary the latter were considered inflated and empty, and in the former nothing was superfluous, while in the latter judgment and measure were especially lacking.
quod quidam, quorum et Santra est, hoc putant accidisse, quod, paulatim sermone Graeco in proximas Asiae civitates influente, nondum satis periti loquendi facundiam concupierint, ideoque ea, quae proprie signari poterant, circuitu coeperint enuntiare ac deinde in eo perseverarint.
Some, among whom is Santra, think this happened because, as the Greek language gradually flowed into the neighboring cities of Asia, those who were not yet sufficiently skilled in speaking desired eloquence, and therefore began to express through circumlocution those things which could have been designated properly, and then persevered in doing so.
§12.10.17mihi autem orationis differentiam fecisse et dicentium et audientium naturae videntur, quod Attici limati quidam et emuncti nihil inane aut redundans ferebant, Asiana gens tumidior alioqui atque iactantior vaniore etiam dicendi gloria inflate est.
But to me, the natures of both the speakers and the hearers seem to have created the difference in oratory, because the Attics, being refined and discerning, tolerated nothing empty or redundant, while the Asian race, being otherwise rather tumid and boastful, was inflated with a vainer glory of speaking.
§12.10.18tertium mox, qui haec dividebant, adiecerunt genus Rhodium, quod velut medium esse atque ex utroque mixtum volunt; neque enim Attice pressi neque Asiane sunt abundantes, ut aliquid habere videantur gentis, aliquid auctoris.
Soon after, those who divided these added a third genre, the Rhodian, which they want to be as it were middle and mixed from both; for they are neither concise in the Attic manner nor abundant in the Asian manner, so that they seem to have something of the nation and something of their founder.
§12.10.19Aeschines enim, qui hunc exilio delegerat locum, intulit eo studia Athenarum, quae, velut sata quaedam caelo terraque degenerant, saporem illum Atticum peregrino miscuerunt.
For Aeschines, who had chosen this place for his exile, introduced thither the studies of Athens, which, just as certain crops degenerate because of the climate and soil, mixed that Attic flavor with a foreign one.
lenti ergo quidam ac remissi, non sine pondere tamen neque fontibus puris neque torrentibus turbidis, sed lenibus stagnis similes habentur.
Therefore they are held to be somewhat slow and relaxed, yet not without weight, resembling neither pure springs nor turbid torrents, but gentle pools.
§12.10.20nemo igitur dubitaverit, longe esse optimum genus Atticorum.
Therefore no one will doubt that the genre of the Attics is by far the best.
in quo ut est aliquid inter ipsos commune, id est indicium acre tersumque, ita ingeniorum plurimae formae.
In which, just as there is something common among them, that is, a sharp and polished judgment, so there are very many forms of genius.