§6.3.102itaque haec, ne omisisse viderer, attigi; illa autem, quae de usu ipso et modo iocandi complexus sum, audeo confirmare esse plane necessaria.
Therefore, I have touched upon these matters lest I should seem to have omitted them; but as for those which I have comprised concerning the actual use and manner of jesting, I dare to assert that they are clearly necessary.
his adiicit Domitius Marsus, qui de urbanitate diligentissime scripsit, quaedam non ridicula, sed cuilibet severissimae orationi convenientia eleganter dicta et proprio quodam lepore iucunda; quae sunt quidem urbana sed risum tamen non habent.
To these, Domitius Marsus, who wrote most carefully about urbanity, adds certain sayings that are not ridiculous, but elegantly expressed and suited to any speech, however serious, and pleasant with a certain peculiar charm; these are indeed urbane, yet they do not produce laughter.
§6.3.103neque enim ei de risu sed de urbanitate est opus institutum, quam propriam esse nostrae civitatis et sero sic intelligi coeptam, postquam Urbis appellatione, etiamsi nomen proprium non adiiceretur, Romam tamen accipi sit receptum.
For his work was designed not concerning laughter but concerning urbanity, which he says is peculiar to our city and began to be understood as such only late, after it became accepted that Rome was meant by the designation "the City", even if no proper name was added.
§6.3.104eamque sic finit: urbanitas est virtus quaedam in breve dictum coacta et apta ad delectandos mouendosque homines in omnem adfectum animi, maxime idonea ad resistendum vel lacessendum, prout quaeque res aut persona desiderat. cui si brevitatis exceptionem detraxeris, omnes orationis virtutes complexa sit.
And he defines it thus: "Urbanity is a certain virtue compressed into a brief saying, fit for delighting and moving people into every emotion of the mind, and especially suitable for resisting or attacking, as each matter or person requires." If you remove the limitation of brevity from this, it would encompass all the virtues of speech.
nam si constat rebus et personis, quod in utrisque oporteat dicere perfectae eloquentiae est.
For if speech consists of matters and persons, to say what is appropriate in both belongs to perfect eloquence.
cur autem brevem esse eam voluerit, nescio, cum idem atque in eodem libro dicat fuisse in multis narrandi urbanitatem.
Why indeed he wished it to be brief, I do not know, since the same writer in the same book says that there was urbanity of narrative in many people.
paulo post ita finit, Catonis (ut ait) opinionem secutus, urbanus homo erit, cuius multa bene dicta responsaque erunt, et qui in sermonibus, circulis, conviviis, item in contionibus, omni denique loco ridicule commodeque dicet.
A little later he concludes thus, having followed (as he says) the opinion of Cato: "An urbane man will be one whose many sayings and replies are excellent, and who speaks ridiculously and appropriately in conversations, social circles, banquets, likewise in public assemblies, and in short in every place.
risus erunt, quicunque haec faciet orator. §6.3.106quas si recipimus finitiones, quidquid bene dicetur, et urbane dicti nomen accipiet.
Whoever does this as an orator will produce laughter." If we accept these definitions, whatever is well said will also receive the name of an urbane saying.
ceterum illi, qui hoc proposuerat, consentanea fuit illa divisio, ut dictorum urbanorum alia seria, alia iocosa, alia media faceret.
But for him who had proposed this, that division was consistent, so that of urbane sayings he made some serious, some humorous, and others intermediate.
nam est eadem omnium bene dictorum.
For it is the same division as that of all well-said things.
verum mihi etiam iocosa quaedam videntur posse in non satis urbana referri.
But to me, even some humorous things seem to be capable of being referred to the not sufficiently urbane.
§6.3.107nam meo quidem indicio illa est urbanitas, in qua nihil absonum, nihil agreste, nihil inconditum, nihil peregrinum neque sensu neque verbis neque ore gestuve possit deprehendi; ut non tam sit in singulis dictis quam in toto colore dicendi, qualis apud Graecos ἀττικισμὸς ille reddens Athenarum proprium saporem.
For indeed, in my judgment, that is urbanity in which nothing discordant, nothing rustic, nothing unpolished, nothing foreign can be detected, whether in sense, or words, or voice, or gesture; so that it is not so much in individual sayings as in the entire tone of speaking, just as that famous Atticism among the Greeks, which reproduces the characteristic flavor of Athens.
§6.3.108ne tamen iudicium Marsi, hominis eruditissimi, subtraham, seria partitur in tria genera, honorificum, contumeliosum, medium.
Yet, lest I should withhold the judgment of Marsus, a most learned man, he divides serious sayings into three kinds: the honorific, the insulting, and the intermediate.
et honorifici ponit exemplum Ciceronis pro Ligario apud Caesarem, qui nihil soles oblivisci nisi iniurias; §6.3.109et contumeliosi, quod Attico scripsit de Pompeio et Caesare, habeo, quem fugiam; quem sequar, non habeo; et medii, quod ἀποφθεγματικόν vocat et est ita, cum dixerit, nec grave mortem accidere viro forti posse nec inmaturam consulari neque miseram sapienti. quae omnia sunt optime dicta; sed cur proprie nomen urbanitatis accipiant, non video.
And of the honorific he gives the example of Cicero's speech for Ligarius before Caesar: "You are accustomed to forget nothing except injuries"; and of the insulting, what Cicero wrote to Atticus concerning Pompey and Caesar: "I have whom to flee, but whom to follow I have not"; and of the intermediate, which he calls "apophthegmatic", such as when Cicero said, "Death can neither happen grievously to a brave man, nor prematurely to a consular, nor miserably to a wise man." All of these are excellently said; but why they should properly receive the name of urbanity, I do not see.
§6.3.110quod si non totius, ut mihi videtur, orationis color meretur, sed etiam singulis dictis tribuendum est, illa potius urbana dixerim, quae sunt generis eiusdem, quo ridicula dicuntur et tamen ridicula non sunt, ut de Pollione Asinio seriis iocisque pariter accommodato dictum est esse eum omnium horarum; §6.3.111et de actore facile dicente ex tempore, ingenium eum in numerato habere; etiam Pompeii, quod refert Marsus, in Ciceronem diffidentem partibus, transi ad Caesarem, me timebis. erat enim, si de re minore aut alio animo aut denique non ab ipso dictum fuisset, quod posset inter ridicula numerari.
But if this quality, as it seems to me, belongs not only to the tone of the entire speech, but must also be attributed to individual sayings, I would rather call those sayings urbane which are of the same kind as those called ridiculous, and yet are not ridiculous, as was said of Asinius Pollio, who was equally adapted to serious and jocular matters, that "he was a man of all hours"; and of an advocate who spoke easily offhand, that "he had his talent in ready cash"; also that saying of Pompey to Cicero, who was distrustful of his party, which Marsus records: "Go over to Caesar, you will fear me." For this was something that, if it had been said about a minor matter, or with a different mind, or in short not by Pompey himself, could have been numbered among ridiculous sayings.
§6.3.112etiam illud, quod Cicero Caerelliae scripsit reddens rationem, cur illa C. Caesaris tempora tam patienter toleraret, haec aut animo Catonis ferenda sunt aut Ciceronis stomacho; stomachus enim ille habet aliquid ioco simile.
Also that which Cicero wrote to Caerellia, giving the reason why he tolerated those times of Gaius Caesar so patiently: "These things must be borne either with the mind of Cato or with the stomach of Cicero"; for that "stomach" has something similar to a jest.
haec, quae movebant, dissimulanda mihi non fuerunt; in quibus ut erraverim, legentes tamen non decepi, indicata et diverse opinione, quam sequi magis probantibus liberum est.
I felt I should not conceal these matters which raised doubts; even if I have erred in them, I have not deceived my readers, since I have also indicated the different opinion, which those who prefer it are free to follow.