§3.1.12horum primi communes locos tractasse dicuntur Protagoras, Gorgias, adfectus Prodicus et Hippias et idem Protagoras et Thrasymachus.
Of these, Protagoras and Gorgias are said to have been the first to treat commonplaces, and Prodicus, Hippias, the same Protagoras, and Thrasymachus to have treated the emotions.
Cicero in Bruto negat ante Periclea scriptum quidquam, quod ornatum oratorium habeat; eius aliqua ferri.
Cicero in his Brutus denies that anything written before Pericles possesses oratorical ornament; he says that some pieces attributed to him are in circulation.
equidem non reperio quidquam tanta eloquentiae fama dignum; ideoque minus miror esse, qui nihil ab eo scriptum patent, haec autem, quae feruntur, ab alis esse composite.
For my part, I find nothing worthy of so great a reputation for eloquence; and therefore I am less surprised that there are those who believe nothing was written by him, but that these pieces which are circulated were composed by others.
§3.1.13his successere multi, sed clarissimus Gorgiae auditorum Isocrates, quanquam de praeceptore eius inter auctores non convenit; nos autem Aristoteli credimus.
To these succeeded many, but the most famous of Gorgias's pupils was Isocrates, although authors do not agree about his teacher; but we believe Aristotle.
hinc velut diversae secari coeperunt viae.
From this point, different paths began to split, as it were.
§3.1.14nam et Isocratis praestantissimi discipuli fuerunt in omni studiorum genere, eoque iam seniore (octavum enim et nonagesimum implevit annum) postmeridianis scholis Aristoteles praecipere artem oratoriam coepit, noto quidem illo (ut traditur) versu ex Philocteta frequenter usus: turpe esse tacere et Isocraten pati dicere. ars est utriusque, sed pluribus eam libris Aristoteles complexus est.
For Isocrates also had most excellent disciples in every kind of study, and when he was already elderly (for he had completed his ninety-eighth year), Aristotle began to teach the oratorical art in afternoon lectures, frequently using (as is handed down) that famous verse from the Philoctetes: "that it is shameful to be silent and to allow Isocrates to speak." There is an art of both, but Aristotle embraced it in more books.
eodem tempore Theodectes fuit, de cuius opere supra dictum est.
At the same time was Theodectes, of whose work mention has been made above.
§3.1.15Theophrastus quoque Aristotelis discipulus de rhetorice diligenter scripsit, atque hinc vel studiosius philosophi quam rhetores praecipueque Stoicorum ac Peripateticorum principes.
Theophrastus also, the disciple of Aristotle, wrote diligently on rhetoric, and from this point the philosophers, especially the leaders of the Stoics and Peripatetics, treated it even more zealously than the rhetoricians.
§3.1.16fecit deinde velut propriam Hermagoras viam, quam plurimi sunt secuti; cui maxime par atque aemulus videtur Athenaeus fuisse.
Thereupon Hermagoras made a path that was, as it were, his own, which very many followed; Athenaeus seems to have been his greatest equal and rival.
multa post Apollonius Molon, multa Areus, multa Caecilius et Halicarnasseus Dionysius.
After them Apollonius Molon wrote much, Areus much, Caecilius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus much.
§3.1.17praecipue tamen in se converterunt studia Apollodorus Pergamenus, qui praeceptor Apolloniae Caesaris Augusti fuit, et Theodorus Gadareus, qui se dici maluit Rhodium, quem studiose audisse, cum in eam insulam secessisset, dicitur Tiberius Caesar.
But especially Apollodorus of Pergamum, who was the teacher of Augustus Caesar at Apollonia, and Theodorus of Gadara, who preferred to be called a Rhodian, and whom Tiberius Caesar is said to have diligently heard when he had retired to that island, turned studies toward themselves.
§3.1.18hi diversas opiniones tradiderunt, appellatique inde Apollodorei ac Theodorei ad morem certas in philosophia sectas sequendi.
These handed down different opinions, and were hence called Apollodoreans and Theodoreans, after the manner of following certain sects in philosophy.
sed Apollodori praecepta magis ex discipulis cognoscas, quorum diligentissimus in tradendo fuit Latine Gaius Valgius, Graece Atticus.
But you may learn the precepts of Apollodorus rather from his disciples, of whom the most diligent in transmitting them was Gaius Valgius in Latin, and Atticus in Greek.
nam ipsius sola videtur Ars edita ad Matium, quia ceteras missa ad Domitium epistula non agnoscit.
For his own only "Art" seems to be that published to Matius, because in a letter sent to Domitius he does not acknowledge the others.
plura scripsit Theodorus, cuius auditorem Hermagoran sunt qui viderint.
Theodorus wrote more, and there are some who have seen his pupil Hermagoras.
§3.1.19Romanorum primus (quantum ego quidem sciam) condidit aliqua in hanc materiam M. Cato ille censorius, post M. Antonius inchoavit; nam hoc solum opus eius atque id ipsum imperfectum manet.
The first of the Romans (as far as I know) to compose something on this subject was the famous Censor Marcus Cato, after whom Marcus Antonius made a beginning; for this is his only work, and even that remains unfinished.
secuti minus celebres; quorum memoriam, si quo loco res poscet, non omittam.
Less celebrated writers followed, whose memory I shall not omit if the occasion demands in any place.
§3.1.20praecipuum vero lumen sicut eloquentiae ita praeceptis quoque eius dedit, unicum apud nos specimen orandi docendique oratorias artes, M. Tullius; post quem tacere modestissimum foret, nisi et rhetoricos suos ipse adulescenti sibi elapsos diceret, et in oratoriis haec minora, quae plerumque desiderantur, sciens omisisset.
But Marcus Tullius gave the chief light as to eloquence, so also to its precepts, being our unique model of speaking and of teaching the oratorical arts; after whom it would be most modest to remain silent, were it not both that he himself says that his rhetorical books escaped from him in his youth, and that in his oratorical works he knowingly omitted these minor details which are generally required.
§3.1.21scripsit de eadem materia non pauca Cornificius, aliqua Stertinius, nonnihil paler (Gallio; accuratius vero priores Gallione Celsus et Laenas et aetatis nostrae Verginius, Plinius, Tutilius.
Cornificius wrote not a little on the same subject, Stertinius some, the elder Gallio a certain amount; but Celsus and Laenas, who were prior to Gallio, and Verginius, Plinius, and Tutilius of our own age, wrote more accurately.
sunt et hodie clari eiusdem operis auctores, qui si omnia complexi forent, consuluissent labori meo; sed parco nominibus viventium; ueniet eorum laudi suum tempus, ad posteros enim virtus durabit, non perveniet invidia.
There are also today illustrious authors of the same work, who, if they had embraced everything, would have spared my labor; but I spare the names of the living; the time for their praise will come, for virtue will endure to posterity, and envy will not reach them.
§3.1.22non tamen post tot ac tantos auctores pigebit meam quibusdam locis posuisse sententiam.
Yet, after so many and so great authors, I shall not be reluctant to have set down my own opinion in certain places.
neque enim me cuiusquam sectae velut quadam superstitione imbutus addixi, et electuris quae volent facienda copia fuit, sicut ipse plurium in unum confero inventa, ubicunque ingenio non erit locus, curae testimonium meruisse contentus.
For I have not bound myself to any sect, imbued as it were with some superstition, and those who are to choose what they wish have been given full freedom, just as I myself bring together the discoveries of many into one, content, wherever there is no room for my own talent, to have deserved the credit of diligent care.