§3.1.1quoniam in libro secundo quaesitum est, quid esset rhetorice et quis finis eius, artem quoque esse eam et utilem et virtutem, ut vires nostrae tulerunt, ostendimus, materiamque ei res omnes, de quibus dicere oporteret, subiecimus: iam hinc, unde coeperit, quibus constet, quo quaeque in ea modo invenienda atque tractanda sint, exsequar; intra quem modum plerique scriptores artium constiterunt, adeo ut Apollodorus contentus solis iudicialibus fuerit.
Since in the second book inquiry was made as to what rhetoric is and what its end is, and we have shown, as far as our strength allowed, that it is both an art, useful, and a virtue, and have subjected to it as material all things about which it is necessary to speak, I shall now from this point set forth where it begins, of what it consists, and in what manner each thing in it is to be found and treated; within which limit most writers of arts have remained, so much so that Apollodorus was content with judicial cases alone.
§3.1.2nec sum ignarus, hoc a me praecipue, quod hic liber inchoat, opus studiosos eius desiderasse, ut inquisitione opinionum, quae diversissimae fuerunt, longe difficillimum, ita nescio an minimae legentibus futurum voluptati, quippe quod prope nudam praeceptorum traditionem desideret.
Nor am I unaware that this work, which this book begins, has been especially desired by its students, which, as it is by far the most difficult due to the investigation of opinions that have been extremely diverse, so I suspect it will bring the least pleasure to readers, inasmuch as it requires a nearly bare transmission of precepts.
§3.1.3in ceteris enim admiscere temptauimus aliquid nitoris, non iactandi ingenii gratia (namque in id eligi materia poterat uberior), sed ut hoc ipso adliceremus magis iuventutem ad cognitionem eorum, quae necessaria studiis arbitrabamur, si ducti iucunditate aliqua lectionis libentius discerent ea, quorum ne ieiuna atque arida traditio averteret animos et aures praesertim tam delicatas raderet uerebamur.
For in other parts we have attempted to mix in something of splendor, not for the sake of boasting our talent (for a richer material could have been chosen for that purpose), but so that by this very means we might more attract young people to the knowledge of those things which we judged necessary for their studies, if, led by some pleasure of reading, they might more willingly learn those things, of which we feared lest a dry and barren transmission might turn away their minds and especially grate upon ears so delicate.
§3.1.4qua ratione se Lucretius dicit praecepta philosophiae carmine esse complexum; namque hac, ut est notum, similitudine utitur:
"
ac veluti pueris absinthia taetra medentes
cum dare conantur, prius oras pocula circum
aspirant mellis dulci flauoque liquore,
"
et quae sequuntur.
For which reason Lucretius says that he embraced the precepts of philosophy in song; for, as is well known, he uses this simile: "And just as physicians, when they attempt to give bitter wormwood to children, first touch the rims around the cups with the sweet and yellow liquid of honey, "and what follows.
§3.1.5sed nos ueremur, ne parum hic liber mellis et absinthi multum habere videatur, sitque salubrior studiis quam dulcior.
But we fear lest this book may seem to have too little honey and much wormwood, and be more wholesome for studies than sweet.
quin etiam hoc timeo, ne ex eo minorem gratiam ineat, quod pleraque non inventa per me sed ab aliis tradita continebit, habeat etiam quosdam, qui contra sentiant et adversentur, propterea quod plurimi auctores, quamvis eodem tenderent, diversas tamen vias muniverunt atque in suam quisque induxit sequentes.
Moreover, I also fear this, lest it may win less favor from the fact that it will contain most things not discovered by me but handed down by others, and may also have some who feel otherwise and oppose it, because very many authors, although they were heading in the same direction, nevertheless opened up different paths and each led his followers into his own.
§3.1.6illi autem probant qualecunque ingressi sunt iter, nec facile inculcatas pueris persuasiones mutaveris, quia nemo non didicisse mavult quam discere.
And they approve of whatever path they have entered, nor would you easily change beliefs instilled in them as boys, because there is no one who does not prefer to have learned rather than to learn.
§3.1.7est autem, ut procedente libro patebit, infinita dissensio auctorum, primo ad ea, quae rudia atque inperfecta adhuc erant, adiicientibus quod inuenissent scriptoribus, mox, ut aliquid sui viderentur adferre, etiam recta mutantibus.
There is, however, as will become clear as the book proceeds, an infinite disagreement among authors; first, because writers added what they had found to those things which were still rough and imperfect, and later, so that they might seem to bring something of their own, even changing what was correct.
§3.1.8nam primus post eos, quos poetae tradiderunt, movisse aliqua circa rhetoricen Empedocles dicitur.
For Empedocles is said to have been the first, after those whom the poets have handed down, to have moved some things concerning rhetoric.
artium autem scriptores antiquissimi Corax et Tisias Siculi, quos insecutus est vir eiusdem insulae Gorgias Leontinus, Empedoclis, ut traditur, discipulus.
But the oldest writers of arts were the Sicilians Corax and Tisias, whom a man of the same island followed, Gorgias of Leontini, a disciple of Empedocles, as is handed down.
§3.1.9is beneficio longissimae aetatis (nam centum et novem vixit annos) cum multis simul floruit, ideoque et illorum, de quibus supra dixi, fuit aemulus et ultra Socraten usque duravit.
He, by the benefit of a very long life (for he lived a hundred and nine years), flourished at the same time with many, and for that reason was both a rival of those whom I mentioned above and survived even beyond Socrates.
§3.1.10Thrasymachus Chalcedonius cum hoc et Prodicus Cius et Abderites Protagoras, a quo decem milibus denariorum didicisse artem, quam edidit, Euathlus dicitur, et Hippias Elius et, quem Palameden Plato appellat, Alcidamas Elaïtes.
Thrasymachus of Chalcedon flourished with him, and Prodicus of Ceos, and Protagoras of Abdera, from whom Euathlus is said to have learned for ten thousand denarii the art which he published, and Hippias of Elis, and Alcidamas of Elaea, whom Plato calls Palamedes.
§3.1.11Antiphon quoque et orationem primus omnium scripsit et nihilo minus et artem ipse composuit et pro se dixisse optime est creditus, etiam Polycrates, a quo scriptam in Socraten diximus orationem, et Theodorus Byzantius ex iis et ipse, quos Plato appellat λογοδαιδάλους
Antiphon also both was the first of all to write a speech, and nonetheless composed an art himself, and was believed to have spoken excellently for himself; also Polycrates, by whom we have said a speech against Socrates was written, and Theodorus of Byzantium, himself also one of those whom Plato calls logodaedali.