§12.4.1in primis vero abundare debet orator exemplorum copia cum veterum, tum etiam novorum, adeo ut non ea modo, quae conscripta sunt historiis aut sermonibus velut per manus tradita, quaeque cotidie aguntur, debeat nosse, verum ne ea quidem, quae sunt a clarioribus poetis ficta, negligere.
Indeed, in the first place, the orator ought to abound in a wealth of examples, both old and new, so much so that he must not only know those things which are written down in histories or handed down as if by hand in conversations, and those things which are done daily, but also must not neglect even those things which are invented by the more illustrious poets.
§12.4.2nam illa quidem priora aut testimoniorum aut etiam iudicatorum obtinent locum, sed haec quoque aut vetustatis fide tuta sunt aut ab hominibus magnis praeceptorum loco ficta creduntur.
For those former things indeed obtain the place of testimonies or even of judgments, but these latter things also are either protected by the credit of antiquity or are believed to have been invented by great men in place of precepts.
sciat ergo quam plurima; unde etiam senibus auctoritas maior est, quod plura nosse et vidisse creduntur, quod Homerus frequentissime testatur.
Let him, therefore, know as many things as possible; whence also older men have greater authority, because they are believed to have known and seen more things, which Homer very frequently testifies.
sed non est exspectanda ultima aetas, cum studia praestent ut, quantum ad cognitionem pertinet rerum, etiam praeteritis saeculis vixisse videamur.
But the last stage of life is not to be waited for, since studies bring it about that, as far as pertains to the knowledge of things, we seem to have lived even in past ages.