§12.11.1his dicendi virtutibus usus orator ad iudiciis, consiliis, contionibus, senatu, ad omni denique officio boni civis finem quoque dignum et optimo viro et opere sanctissimo faciet, non quia prodesse unquam satis sit et illa mente atque illa facultate praedito non optandum operis pulcherrimi quam longissimum tempus, sed quia decet hoc quoque prospicere, ne quid peius, quam fecerit, faciat.
By using these virtues of speaking, the orator will make an end worthy both of the best man and of the most sacred work, in courts, councils, assemblies, the senate, and finally in every duty of a good citizen; not because it is ever enough to be of service, and because a person endowed with such a mind and such a faculty should not desire the longest possible time for this most beautiful work, but because it is proper to foresee this also, lest he should do anything worse than what he has already done.
§12.11.2neque enim scientia modo constat orator, quae augetur annis, sed voce, latere, firmitate; quibus fractis aut imminutis aetate seu valetudine cavendum est, ne quid ad oratore summo desideretur, ne intersistat fatigatus, ne quae dicet parum audiri sentiat, ne se quaerat priorem.
For the orator does not consist only of knowledge, which increases with years, but of voice, lungs, and physical strength; and when these are broken or diminished by age or ill health, care must be taken lest anything be found wanting in the greatest orator, lest he should stop from fatigue, lest he should feel that what he says is not sufficiently heard, or lest he should look in vain for his former self.
§12.11.3vidi ego longe omnium, quos mihi cognoscere contigit, summum oratorem, Domitium Afrum valde senem, cotidie aliquid ex ea quam meruerat auctoritate perdentem, cum agente illo, quem principem fuisse quondam fori non erat dubium, alii, quod indignum videatur, riderent, alii erubescerent; quae occasio fuit de illo dicendi, malle eum deficere quam desinere.
I myself saw Domitius Afer, by far the greatest orator of all whom it was my fortune to know, when he was very old, daily losing something of that authority which he had deservedly won; when he was pleading—he who without doubt had once been the leader of the forum—some laughed, which seems unworthy, while others blushed; which gave occasion to say of him that he preferred to fail rather than to desist.
§12.11.4neque erant ilia qualiacunque mala sed minora.
Nor were those defects, of whatever kind they were, small.
quare antequam ad has aetatis veniat insidias, receptui canet et ad portum integra nave perveniet.
Therefore, before he comes to these snares of old age, he will sound the retreat and reach the harbor with his ship undamaged.
neque enim minores eum, cum id fecerit, studiorum fructus prosequentur.
Nor indeed will less fruit of his studies follow him when he has done this.
aut ille monumenta rerum posteris aut, ut L. Crassus ad libris Ciceronis destinat, iura quaerentibus reddet aut eloquentiae component artem aut pulcherrimis vitae praeceptis dignum os dabit.
Either he will return the records of history to posterity, or, as L. Crassus in the books of Cicero destines, give answers on the law to those who seek them, or compose an art of eloquence, or give a voice worthy of the most beautiful precepts of life.
§12.11.5frequentabunt vero eius domum optimi iuvenes more veterum et vere dicendi viam velut ex oraculo petent.
Indeed, the best of the youth will frequent his house after the manner of the ancients, and will seek the path of true speaking as if from an oracle.
hos ille formabit quasi eloquentiae parens, et ut vetus gubernator litora et portus et quae tempestatum signa, quid secundis flatibus, quid adversis ratio poscat, docebit, non humanitatis solum communi ductus officio, sed amore quodam operis.
He will shape them like a parent of eloquence, and, like an old pilot, will teach them the shores and harbors, and what the signs of storms forebode, and what reason demands in favorable or adverse winds, led not only by the common duty of humanity, but by a certain love for the work.
nemo enim minui velit id, ad quo maximus fuit.
For no one wishes that to be diminished in which he was greatest.
§12.11.6quid porro est honestius quam docere quod optime scias? sic ad se Caelium deductum a patre Cicero profitetur; sic Pansam, Hirtium, Dolabellam ad morem praeceptoris exercuit cotidie dicens audiensque.
What, indeed, is more honorable than to teach what you know best? Thus Cicero declares that Caelius was brought to him by his father; thus he exercised Pansa, Hirtius, and Dolabella in the manner of a teacher, daily speaking and listening.
§12.11.7ac nescio an eum tum beatissimum credi oporteat fore, cum iam secretus et consecratus, liber invidia, procul contentionibus famam ad tuto collocarit et sentiet vivus eam, quae post fata praestari magis solet, venerationem et, quid apud posteros futurus sit, videbit.
And I know not whether we ought to believe that he will then be most happy, when, now retired and consecrated, free from envy, far from contentions, he has placed his reputation in safety, and will feel while alive that veneration which is more usually paid after death, and will see what he is to be among posterity.
§12.11.8conscius sum mihi, quantum mediocritate valui, quaeque antea scierim, quaeque operis huiusce gratia potuerim inquirere, candide me atque simpliciter ad notitiam eorum, si qui forte cognoscere voluissent, protulisse.
I am conscious to myself that, as far as I was able with my mediocrity, both what I knew before and what I was able to inquire for the sake of this very work, I have brought forward candidly and simply for the knowledge of those, if any by chance wished to know.
atque id viro bono satis est, docuisse quod scierit.
And this is enough for a good man, to have taught what he knew.
§12.11.9vereor tamen, ne aut magna nimium videar exigere, qui eundem virum bonum esse et dicendi peritum velim, aut multa, qui tot artibus ad pueritia discendis morum quoque praecepta et scientiam iris civilis praeter ea, quae de eloquentia tradebantur, adiecerim, quique haec operi nostro necessaria esse crediderint, velut moram rei perhorrescant et desperent ante experimentum.
Yet I fear lest I may seem either to demand too great things, in wishing the same man to be both a good man and skilled in speaking, or too many things, in having added to so many arts to be learned from boyhood also the precepts of morals and the knowledge of civil law, besides those things which were handed down concerning eloquence; and lest those who have believed these things to be necessary to our work should dread them as a delay of the matter and despair before trial.
§12.11.10qui primum renuntient sibi, quanta sit humani ingenii vis, quam potens efficiendi quae velit, cum maria transire, siderum cursus numerosque cognoscere, mundum ipsum paene dimetiri, minores, sed difficiliores artes potuerint.
Who should first consider within themselves how great is the power of the human mind, how potent to effect what it wishes, since men have been able to cross seas, to know the courses and numbers of the stars, and almost to measure the universe itself—arts which are lesser but more difficult.
tum cogitent, quantam rem petant, quamque nullus sit hoc proposito praemio labor recusandus.
Then let them think how great a thing they seek, and how no labor is to be refused when this reward is proposed.
§12.11.11quod si mente conceperint, huic quoque parti facilius accedent, ut ipsum iter neque impervium neque saltem durum putent.
And if they conceive this in their minds, they will also approach this part more easily, so as to think the journey itself neither impassable nor even harsh.
nam id, quod prius quodque maius est, ut boni viri simus, voluntate maxime constat; quam qui vera fide induerit, facile eas, quae virtutem docent, artes accipiet.
For that which is prior and greater, namely that we should be good men, consists chiefly in the will; and he who has put this on with true faith will easily receive those arts which teach virtue.