Quintilian: INSTITUTIONES

EPISTVLAI. M. FABIVS QVINTILIANVS TRYPHONI SVO SALVTEM. Efflagitasti cotidiano convicio ut libros quos ad Marcellum meum de institutione oratoria scripseram iam emittere inciperem. Nam ipse eos nondum opinabar satis maturuisse, quibus componendis, ut scis, paulo plus quam biennium tot alioqui negotiis districtus inpendi: quod tempus non tam stilo quam inquisitioni operis prope infiniti et legendis auctoribus, qui sunt innumerabiles, datum est.

EPISTLE1. M. FABIUS QUINTILIANUS TO HIS TRYPHON, GREETING. You have exacted by quotidian invective that I should already begin to issue the books which I had written to my Marcellus on the institution of oratory. For I myself did not yet suppose that they had sufficiently matured, upon the composing of which, as you know, I have expended a little more than a biennium, distracted as I was by so many other occupations: which time was given not so much to the stylus as to the inquisition of a work well-nigh infinite and to the reading of authors, who are innumerable.

II. Vsus deinde Horati consilio, qui in arte poetica suadet ne praecipitetur editio "nonumque prematur in annum", dabam his otium, ut refrigerato inventionis amore diligentius repetitos tamquam lector perpenderem. III. Sed si tantopere efflagitantur quam tu adfirmas, permittamus vela ventis et oram solventibus bene precemur.

2. Availing myself then of Horace’s counsel, who in the Poetic Art advises that publication not be precipitated, “and be pressed to the ninth year,” I was granting these writings leisure, so that, with the love of invention cooled, I might weigh them more diligently, gone over again as if a reader. 3. But if they are clamored for so greatly as you assert, let us permit the sails to the winds, and, as we loose from the shore, let us pray for good fortune.

Multum autem in tua quoque fide ac diligentia positum est, ut in manus hominum quam emendatissimi veniant. Vale.

Much, moreover, is also placed on your fidelity and diligence, that they may come into the hands of men as emended as possible. Farewell.

PROHOEMIVMI. Post impetratam studiis meis quietem, quae per viginti annos erudiendis iuvenibus inpenderam, cum a me quidam familiariter postularent ut aliquid de ratione dicendi componerem, diu sum equidem reluctatus, quod auctores utriusque linguae clarissimos non ignorabam multa quae ad hoc opus pertinerent diligentissime scripta posteris reliquisse. II. Sed qua ego ex causa faciliorem mihi veniam meae deprecationis arbitrabar fore, hac accendebantur illi magis, quod inter diversas opiniones priorum et quasdam etiam inter se contrarias difficilis esset electio, ut mihi si non inveniendi nova, at certe iudicandi de veteribus iniungere laborem non iniuste viderentur. III.

PROEM1. After leisure for my studies had been obtained, which for twenty years I had expended on educating youths, when certain persons were familiarly requesting of me that I compose something about the rationale of speaking, I indeed long resisted, because I was not unaware that the most illustrious authors of both languages had left to posterity many things most diligently written which pertained to this work. 2. But by the very reason from which I thought an easier indulgence for my deprecation would be in store for me, by this they were the more kindled, because among the diverse opinions of the former writers, and certain even mutually contrary, the choice would be difficult, so that to impose upon me, if not the task of discovering new things, yet certainly of judging the old, did not seem unjust. 3.

Quamvis autem non tam me vinceret praestandi quod exigebatur fiducia quam negandi verecundia, latius se tamen aperiente materia plus quam imponebatur oneris sponte suscepi, simul ut pleniore obsequio demererer amantissimos mei, simul ne vulgarem viam ingressus alienis demum vestigiis insisterem. IV. Nam ceteri fere qui artem orandi litteris tradiderunt ita sunt exorsi quasi perfectis omni alio genere doctrinae summam (in eloquentiae) manum imponerent, sive contemnentes tamquam parva quae prius discimus studia, sive non ad suum pertinere officium opinati, quando divisae professionum vices essent, seu, quod proximum vero, nullam ingenii sperantes gratiam circa res etiamsi necessarias, procul tamen ab ostentatione positas, ut operum fastigia spectantur, latent fundamenta. V. Ego cum existimem nihil arti oratoriae alienum sine quo fieri non posse oratorem fatendum est, nec ad ullius rei summam nisi praecedentibus initiis perveniri, ad minora illa, sed quae si neglegas non sit maioribus locus, demittere me non recusabo, nec aliter quam si mihi tradatur educandus orator studia eius formare ab infantia incipiam.

Although I was overcome not so much by a confidence of furnishing what was demanded as by a modesty of refusing, yet as the material opened itself out more broadly I of my own accord undertook more burden than was imposed, at once that by fuller compliance I might win over those most loving toward me, and at once lest, having entered the common way, I should finally plant my steps in others’ footprints. 4. For almost all the rest who have handed down the art of speaking in letters have so begun as though, everything in every other kind of learning having been perfected, they were setting the finishing hand (in eloquence), either despising as small the studies which we first learn, or thinking that it did not pertain to their own office, since the functions of the professions were divided, or else—what is nearest to the truth—hoping for no grace of genius in matters, though necessary, yet placed far from ostentation; as the pinnacles of works are gazed at, the foundations lie hidden. 5. I, since I consider nothing alien to the orator’s art without which it must be confessed that an orator cannot be made, and that the sum of no thing is reached except by preceding beginnings, will not refuse to descend to those lesser matters, but such that, if you neglect them, there is no place for greater things; nor otherwise than as if an orator to be educated were entrusted to me shall I begin to shape his studies from infancy.

VI. Quod opus, Marcelle Vitori, tibi dicamus, quem cum amicissimum nobis tum eximio litterarum amore flagrantem non propter haec modo, quamquam sint magna, dignissimum hoc mutuae inter nos caritatis pignore iudicabamus, sed quod erudiendo Getae tuo, cuius prima aetas manifestum iam ingenii lumen ostendit, non inutiles fore libri videbantur quos ab ipsis dicendi velut incunabulis per omnes quae modo aliquid oratori futuro conferant artis ad summam eius operis perducere festinabimus, VII. atque eo magis quod duo iam sub nomine meo libri ferebantur artis rhetoricae neque editi a me neque in hoc comparati. Namque alterum sermonem per biduum habitum pueri quibus id praestabatur exceperant, alterum pluribus sane diebus, quantum notando consequi potuerant, interceptum boni iuvenes sed nimium amantes mei temerario editionis honore vulgaverant.

6. This work, Marcellus Vitorius, we dedicate to you, whom, as being most friendly to us and also blazing with an exceptional love of letters, we judged most worthy of this pledge of mutual charity between us not only on these accounts—though they are great—but because, in educating your Geta, whose earliest age already shows a manifest light of talent, these books seemed likely not to be useless: which, from the very cradles as it were of speaking, through all the arts which for the moment contribute something to a future orator, we shall hasten to lead up to the sum of that work; 7. and all the more because two books of rhetorical art were already being circulated under my name, neither published by me nor composed for this purpose. For boys, to whom that privilege was granted, had taken down one discourse delivered over two days; the other, caught over indeed several days, as much as they had been able to follow by noting, good young men—but too fond of me—had divulged with the temerarious honor of an edition.

VIII. Quare in his quoque libris erunt eadem aliqua, multa mutata, plurima adiecta, omnia vero compositiora et quantum nos poterimus elaborata. IX. Oratorem autem instituimus illum perfectum, qui esse nisi vir bonus non potest, ideoque non dicendi modo eximiam in eo facultatem sed omnis animi virtutes exigimus.

8. Wherefore in these books too there will be some of the same things, many changed, very many added, but all, in truth, more composed and, as far as we shall be able, elaborated. 9. Moreover, we train the orator—that perfect one—who cannot be except a good man; and for that reason we demand in him not only an eminent faculty of speaking, but all the virtues of the mind.

X. Neque enim hoc concesserim, rationem rectae honestaeque vitae, ut quidam putaverunt, ad philosophos relegandam, cum vir ille vere civilis et publicarum privatarumque rerum administrationi accommodatus, qui regere consiliis urbes, fundare legibus, emendare iudiciis possit, non alius sit profecto quam orator. XI. Quare, tametsi me fateor usurum quibusdam quae philosophorum libris continentur, tamen ea iure vereque contenderim esse operis nostri proprieque ad artem oratoriam pertinere. XII.

10. For I would not concede this, that the rationale of a straight and honorable life, as some have thought, is to be relegated to the philosophers, since that man truly civil and accommodated to the administration of public and private affairs, who can rule cities by counsels, found them by laws, and amend them by judgments, is assuredly none other than the orator. 11. Wherefore, although I confess that I shall use certain things which are contained in the books of the philosophers, yet I would with right and truly contend that these belong to our work and properly pertain to the oratorical art. 12.

An, si frequentissime de iustitia fortitudine temperantia ceterisque similibus disserendum est, adeo ut vix ulla possit causa reperiri in quam non aliqua ex his incidat quaestio, eaque omnia inventione atque elocutione sunt explicanda, dubitabitur, ubicumque vis ingenii et copia dicendi postulatur, ibi partes oratoris esse praecipuas? XIII. fueruntque haec, ut Cicero apertissime colligit, quemadmodum iuncta natura, sic officio quoque copulata, ut idem sapientes atque eloquentes haberentur.

Or, if one must very frequently discourse about justice, fortitude, temperance, and other similar things, to such a degree that scarcely any case can be found into which some question from these does not fall, and all these must be explained by invention and elocution, will there be doubt that, wherever the force of genius and the copiousness of speaking are demanded, there the parts of the orator are principal? 13. And these, as Cicero most openly concludes, were, just as joined by nature, so also coupled by office, so that the same men were held to be wise and eloquent.

Scidit deinde se studium, atque inertia factum est ut artes esse plures viderentur. Nam ut primum lingua esse coepit in quaestu institutumque eloquentiae bonis male uti, curam morum qui diserti habebantur reliquerunt: XIV. ea vero destituta infirmioribus ingeniis velut praedae fuit.

Then study split itself, and inertia brought it about that the arts seemed to be more numerous. For as soon as the tongue began to be in gainful trade, and it was instituted to use the goods of eloquence ill, they who were held as eloquent abandoned the care of morals: 14. and that indeed, left deserted, was, as it were, a prey to the feebler talents.

Inde quidam contempto bene dicendi labore ad formandos animos statuendasque vitae leges regressi partem quidem potiorem, si dividi posset, retinuerunt, nomen tamen sibi insolentissimum adrogaverunt, ut soli studiosi sapientiae vocarentur; quod neque summi imperatores neque in consiliis rerum maximarum ac totius administratione rei publicae clarissime versati sibi umquam vindicare sunt ausi: facere enim optima quam promittere maluerunt. XV. Ac veterum quidem sapientiae professorum multos et honesta praecepisse et, ut praeceperint, etiam vixisse facile concesserim: nostris vero temporibus sub hoc nomine maxima in plerisque vitia latuerunt. Non enim virtute ac studiis ut haberentur philosophi laborabant, sed vultum et tristitiam et dissentientem a ceteris habitum pessimis moribus praetendebant.

Thence certain men, with the labor of speaking well contemned, returned to the shaping of minds and the establishing of the laws of life; they retained indeed the better part, if it could be divided, yet they arrogated to themselves a most insolent name, that they alone should be called devotees of wisdom—a thing which neither the greatest commanders nor those most famously engaged in the counsels of the greatest affairs and in the entire administration of the commonwealth ever dared to claim for themselves: for they preferred to do the best things rather than to promise. 15. And indeed, as to the professors of wisdom among the ancients, I would readily concede that many both prescribed honorable things and, as they prescribed, also lived; but in our times under this name the greatest vices have lurked in the majority. For they did not labor by virtue and studies to be held as philosophers, but with the worst morals they pretended a visage and sadness and a habit dissenting from the rest.

XVI. Haec autem quae velut propria philosophiae adseruntur, passim tractamus omnes. Quis enim non de iusto, aequo ac bono, modo non et vir pessimus, loquitur?

16. But these matters, which are asserted as if proper to philosophy, we all treat everywhere. For who does not speak about the just, the equitable, and the good—even the very worst man?

Quis non etiam rusticorum aliqua de causis naturalibus quaerit? Nam verborum proprietas ac differentia omnibus qui sermonem curae habent debet esse communis. XVII.

Who, even among the rustics, does not inquire something about natural causes? For the propriety and difference of words ought to be common to all who have care for speech. 17.

Sed ea et sciet optime et eloquetur orator: qui si fuisset aliquando perfectus non a philosophorum scholis virtutis praecepta peterentur. Nunc necesse est ad eos [aliquando] auctores recurrere, qui desertam, ut dixi, partem oratoriae artis, meliorem praesertim occupaverunt, et velut nostrum reposcere, non ut illorum nos utamur inventis, sed ut illos alienis usos esse doceamus. XVIII.

But these things both the orator will know best and will utter eloquently: who, if he had ever been perfected, the precepts of virtue would not be sought from the schools of the philosophers. Now it is necessary to have recourse to those [at times] authors who, as I said, have occupied the deserted part of the oratorical art, especially the better part, and, as it were, to demand back what is ours—not that we should use their discoveries, but that we should teach that they have used things alien to them. 18.

Sit igitur orator vir talis qualis vere sapiens appellari possit, nec moribus modo perfectus (nam id mea quidem opinione, quamquam sunt qui dissentiant, satis non est), sed etiam scientia et omni facultate dicendi; qualis fortasse nemo adhuc fuerit, XIX. sed non ideo minus nobis ad summa tendendum est: quod fecerunt plerique veterum, qui, etsi nondum quemquam sapientem repertum putabant, praecepta tamen sapientiae tradiderunt. XX. Nam est certe aliquid consummata eloquentia neque ad eam pervenire natura humani ingenii prohibet.

Let the orator, therefore, be a man such as can truly be called a sage, not perfect in morals only (for that, in my opinion indeed, although there are those who disagree, is not enough), but also in knowledge and in every faculty of speaking; such a one perhaps as no one has yet been, 19. but not on that account is it the less necessary for us to strive toward the highest: which most of the ancients did, who, although they thought that as yet no sage had been found, nevertheless handed down the precepts of sapience. 20. For there is assuredly something in consummate eloquence, nor does the nature of human genius prevent arriving at it.

Quod si non contingat, altius tamen ibunt qui ad summa nitentur quam qui praesumpta desperatione quo velint evadendi protinus circa ima substiterint. XXI. Quo magis impetranda erit venia si ne minora quidem illa, verum operi quod instituimus necessaria, praeteribo.

But if this does not occur, yet they will go higher who strive toward the summits than those who, with despair presumed, in seeking to succeed wherever they wish, have immediately halted around the lowest. 21. All the more, therefore, indulgence will have to be obtained if I do not pass over even those lesser matters, but rather such as are necessary to the work we have instituted.

Nam liber primus ea quae sunt ante officium rhetoris continebit. Secundo prima apud rhetorem elementa et quae de ipsa rhetorices substantia quaeruntur tractabimus. XXII.

For the first book will contain those things which are before the office of the rhetor. In the second, we shall treat the first elements with the rhetor and the things which are inquired about the very substance of rhetoric. 22.

Quinque deinceps inventioni (nam huic et dispositio subiungitur), quattuor elocutioni, in cuius partem memoria ac pronuntiatio veniunt, dabuntur. Vnus accedet in quo nobis orator ipse informandus est: ubi qui mores eius, quae in suscipiendis discendis agendis causis ratio, quod eloquentiae genus, quis agendi debeat esse finis, quae post finem studia, quantum nostra valebit infirmitas disseremus. XXIII.

Five in succession will be given to invention (for to this disposition also is subjoined), four to elocution, into whose part memory and delivery come. One will be added in which the orator himself is to be formed by us: wherein we shall discuss what his character is to be, what method in undertaking, learning, and conducting causes, what genus of eloquence, what ought to be the end of pleading, what studies after the end, to the extent that our weakness will avail. 23.

His omnibus admiscebitur, ut quisque locus postulabit, docendi ratio quae non eorum modo scientia quibus solis quidam nomen artis dederunt studiosos instruat et, ut sic dixerim, ius ipsum rhetorices interpretetur, sed alere facundiam, vires augere eloquentiae possit. XXIV. Nam plerumque nudae illae artes nimiae subtilitatis adfectatione frangunt atque concidunt quidquid est in oratione generosius, et omnem sucum ingenii bibunt et ossa detegunt, quae ut esse et adstringi nervis suis debent, sic corpore operienda sunt.

To all these there will be commingled, as each place shall demand, a method of teaching which may instruct the studious not only in the knowledge of those matters to which some have given the name of “art” alone, and, so to speak, interpret the very law of rhetoric, but may be able to nourish facundity and to increase the forces of eloquence. 24. For very often those bare arts, by an affectation of excessive subtlety, break and cut down whatever in oration is more generous, and they drink up all the sap of talent and lay bare the bones, which, just as they ought to exist and be braced by their own sinews, so also ought to be covered with body.

XXV. Ideoque nos non particulam illam, sicuti plerique, sed quidquid utile ad instituendum oratorem putabamus in hos duodecim libros contulimus, breviter omnia demonstraturi: nam si quantum de quaque re dici potest persequamur, finis operis non reperietur. XXVI.

25. And so we, not that small particle, as most do, but whatever we judged useful for training the orator, have brought together into these twelve books, intending to set forth all things briefly: for if we were to pursue as much as can be said about each matter, no end of the work would be found. 26.

Illud tamen in primis testandum est, nihil praecepta atque artes valere nisi adiuvante natura. Quapropter ei cui deerit ingenium non magis haec scripta sint quam de agrorum cultu sterilibus terris. XXVII.

That, however, must be attested first of all: precepts and arts avail nothing unless nature is assisting. Wherefore, for him to whom ingenium is lacking, these writings are no more to the purpose than treatises on the cultivation of fields are to sterile soils. 27.

Sunt et alia ingenita cuique adiumenta, vox, latus patiens laboris, valetudo, constantia, decor, quae si modica optigerunt, possunt ratione ampliari, sed nonnumquam ita desunt ut bona etiam ingenii studiique corrumpant: sicut haec ipsa sine doctore perito, studio pertinaci, scribendi legendi dicendi multa et continua exercitatione per se nihil prosunt.

There are also other innate aids for each person—voice, a chest patient of toil, health, constancy, comeliness—which, if they have fallen in moderate measure, can be amplified by method; but sometimes they are so lacking that they even corrupt the goods of talent and of study: just as these very things, without a skilled teacher, pertinacious study, and much and continual exercise in writing, reading, and speaking, are by themselves of no use.

[1] I. Igitur nato filio pater spem de illo primum quam optimam capiat: ita diligentior a principiis fiet. Falsa enim est querela, paucissimis hominibus vim percipiendi quae tradantur esse concessam, plerosque vero laborem ac tempora tarditate ingenii perdere. Nam contra plures reperias et faciles in excogitando et ad discendum promptos.

[1] 1. Therefore, when a son is born, let the father first conceive the best possible hope concerning him: thus he will become more diligent from the very beginnings. For the complaint is false that to very few men is the power of perceiving what is handed down granted, while most lose labor and time through the tardity of their ingenium. For, on the contrary, you will find many both facile in excogitating and prompt for learning.

Quippe id est homini naturale, ac sicut aves ad volatum, equi ad cursum, ad saevitiam ferae gignuntur, ita nobis propria est mentis agitatio atque sollertia: unde origo animi caelestis creditur. II. Hebetes vero et indociles non magis secundum naturam hominis eduntur quam prodigiosa corpora et monstris insignia, sed hi pauci admodum fuerunt. Argumentum, quod in pueris elucet spes plurimorum: quae cum emoritur aetate, manifestum est non naturam defecisse sed curam.

For indeed this is natural to man, and just as birds are born for flight, horses for running, beasts for savagery, so to us is proper the agitation of mind and ingenuity: whence the origin of the soul is believed to be celestial. 2. Dull and unteachable persons are no more brought forth in accordance with the nature of man than prodigious bodies and those marked by monstrosities; but these have been very few. The argument is that in children the hope of very many shines out: which, when it dies away with age, it is manifest that it was not nature that failed, but care.

"Praestat tamen ingenio alius alium." III. Concedo; sed plus efficiet aut minus: nemo reperitur qui sit studio nihil consecutus. Hoc qui perviderit, protinus ut erit parens factus, acrem quam maxime datur curam spei futuri oratoris inpendat.

"Yet one surpasses another in ingenuity." 3. I concede; but he will accomplish more or less: no one is found who has achieved nothing by study. He who has perceived this, immediately upon becoming a parent, should expend the keenest care possible upon the hope of a future orator.

IV. Ante omnia ne sit vitiosus sermo nutricibus: quas, si fieri posset, sapientes Chrysippus optavit, certe quantum res pateretur optimas eligi voluit. Et morum quidem in his haud dubie prior ratio est, recte tamen etiam loquantur. V. Has primum audiet puer, harum verba effingere imitando conabitur, et natura tenacissimi sumus eorum quae rudibus animis percepimus: ut sapor quo nova inbuas durat, nec lanarum colores quibus simplex ille candor mutatus est elui possunt.

4. Before all else let there not be a faulty speech in the nurses: whom, if it could be brought about, Chrysippus desired to be wise; at any rate, so far as the matter would allow, he wished the best to be chosen. And in these, indeed, the consideration of morals is without doubt prior; nevertheless, let them also speak correctly. 5. These the boy will hear first, he will try to fashion their words by imitating, and by nature we are most tenacious of those things which we have taken into our raw minds: as the savor with which you imbue what is new endures, nor can the colors of wools, by which that simple whiteness has been altered, be washed out.

Et haec ipsa magis pertinaciter haerent quae deteriora sunt. Nam bona facile mutantur in peius: quando in bonum verteris vitia? Non adsuescat ergo, ne dum infans quidem est, sermoni qui dediscendus sit.

And those very things which are worse cling the more pertinaciously. For good things are easily changed into worse: when will you ever turn vices into good? Therefore let him not grow accustomed, not even while he is an infant, to a speech that must be unlearned.

VI. In parentibus vero quam plurimum esse eruditionis optaverim. Nec de patribus tantum loquor: nam Gracchorum eloquentiae multum contulisse accepimus Corneliam matrem, cuius doctissimus sermo in posteros quoque est epistulis traditus, et Laelia C. filia reddidisse in loquendo paternam elegantiam dicitur, et Hortensiae Q. filiae oratio apud triumviros habita legitur non tantum in sexus honorem. VII.

6. In parents indeed I would wish there to be as much erudition as possible. Nor do I speak only of fathers: for we have received that Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, contributed much to their eloquence, whose most learned discourse has also been handed down to posterity in epistles; and Laelia, C.’s daughter, is said in speaking to have rendered her father’s elegance; and the oration of Hortensia, Q.’s daughter, delivered before the triumvirs, is read not only to the honor of her sex. 7.

Nec tamen ii quibus discere ipsis non contigit minorem curam docendi liberos habeant, sed sint propter hoc ipsum ad cetera magis diligentes. VIII. De pueris inter quos educabitur ille huic spei destinatus idem quod de nutricibus dictum sit.

Nor yet let those to whom it did not befall to learn themselves have a lesser care of teaching their children, but for this very reason let them be more diligent in the other things. 8. About the boys among whom the one destined for this hope will be brought up, let the same be said as was said about the nurses.

De paedagogis hoc amplius, ut aut sint eruditi plane, quam primam esse curam velim, aut se non esse eruditos sciant. Nihil est peius iis qui paulum aliquid ultra primas litteras progressi falsam sibi scientiae persuasionem induerunt. Nam et cedere praecipiendi partibus indignantur et velut iure quodam potestatis, quo fere hoc hominum genus intumescit, imperiosi atque interim saevientes stultitiam suam perdocent.

On pedagogues this further: that either they be plainly erudite—which I would wish to be the first care—or know that they are not erudite. Nothing is worse than those who, having advanced a little beyond the first letters, have put upon themselves a false persuasion of science. For they both disdain to yield place in the office of giving instruction, and, as if by a certain right of power with which this kind of men is commonly puffed up, being imperious and at times raging, they thoroughly teach their own stupidity.

IX. Nec minus error eorum nocet moribus, si quidem Leonides Alexandri paedagogus, ut a Babylonio Diogene traditur, quibusdam eum vitiis inbuit quae robustum quoque et iam maximum regem ab illa institutione puerili sunt persecuta. X. Si cui multa videor exigere, cogitet oratorem institui, rem arduam etiam cum ei formando nihil defuerit, praeterea plura ac difficiliora superesse: nam et studio perpetuo et praestantissimis praeceptoribus et plurimis disciplinis opus est. XI. Quapropter praecipienda sunt optima: quae si quis gravabitur, non rationi defuerint sed homini.

9. No less does the error of such men harm morals, since indeed Leonidas, Alexander’s pedagogue, as it is handed down by Diogenes the Babylonian, imbued him with certain vices which, from that childish instruction, pursued the king even when robust and by now very great. 10. If to anyone I seem to demand many things, let him consider that an orator is being formed, an arduous enterprise even when nothing has been lacking for his shaping, and that, besides, more and more difficult things remain: for there is need of perpetual study, of most excellent preceptors, and of very many disciplines. 11. Wherefore the best things must be prescribed: which, if anyone will take offense at them, it will not be reason that has failed, but the man.

Si tamen non continget quales maxime velim nutrices pueros paedagogos habere, at unus certe sit adsiduus loquendi non imperitus, qui, si qua erunt ab iis praesenti alumno dicta vitiose, corrigat protinus nec insidere illi sinat, dum tamen intellegatur id quod prius dixi bonum esse, hoc remedium. XII. A sermone Graeco puerum incipere malo, quia Latinum, qui pluribus in usu est, vel nobis nolentibus perbibet, simul quia disciplinis quoque Graecis prius instituendus est, unde et nostrae fluxerunt.

If, however, it does not befall that boys have nurses and pedagogues of the sort I most wish, then at least let there be one person assiduous in speaking, not inexpert, who, if anything shall have been said amiss by them to the present pupil, may correct it at once and not allow it to settle upon him—provided, however, it be understood that what I said earlier is the good, this the remedy. 12. I would rather the boy begin with Greek speech, because Latin, which is in use among more people, he will thoroughly imbibe even if we are unwilling, and at the same time because he must be first instituted in Greek disciplines too, whence even our own have flowed.

XIII. Non tamen hoc adeo superstitiose fieri velim ut diu tantum Graece loquatur aut discat, sicut plerisque moris est. Hoc enim accidunt et oris plurima vitia in peregrinum sonum corrupti et sermonis, cui cum Graecae figurae adsidua consuetudine haeserunt, in diversa quoque loquendi ratione pertinacissime durant.

13. Yet I would not wish this to be done so superstitiously that he speak or learn only in Greek for a long time, as is the custom with many. For from this there arise very many faults both of the mouth—corrupted into a foreign sound—and of speech; and once Greek figures, by assiduous habit, have stuck to it, they persist most pertinaciously even under a different mode of speaking.

XIV. Non longe itaque Latina subsequi debent et cito pariter ire. Ita fiet ut, cum aequali cura linguam utramque tueri coeperimus, neutra alteri officiat.

14. Therefore the Latin ought not to follow far behind, and quickly to go side by side. Thus it will come about that, when we shall have begun to guard both languages with equal care, neither will hinder the other.

XV. Quidam litteris instituendos qui minores septem annis essent non putaverunt, quod illa primum aetas et intellectum disciplinarum capere et laborem pati posset. In qua sententia Hesiodum esse plurimi tradunt qui ante grammaticum Aristophanen fuerunt (nam is primus hypothekas, in quo libro scriptum hoc invenitur, negavit esse huius poetae); XVI. sed alii quoque auctores, inter quos Eratosthenes, idem praeceperunt.

15. Certain people did not think that those who were less than seven years should be instructed in letters, because that first age could both grasp the intellect of disciplines and endure labor. In which opinion very many who were before the grammarian Aristophanes declare Hesiod to have been (for he first denied the Hypotheses—in which book this writing is found—to be of this poet); 16. but other authors also, among whom Eratosthenes, prescribed the same.

Melius autem qui nullum tempus vacare cura volunt, ut Chrysippus. Nam is, quamvis nutricibus triennium dederit, tamen ab illis quoque iam formandam quam optimis institutis mentem infantium iudicat. XVII.

Better, however, are those who wish no time to be vacant of care, like Chrysippus. For he, although he has granted a triennium to nurses, nevertheless judges that even by them already the minds of infants should be shaped by the best instruction. 17.

cur autem non pertineat ad litteras aetas quae ad mores iam pertinet? Neque ignoro toto illo de quo loquor tempore vix tantum effici quantum conferre unus postea possit annus; sed tamen mihi qui id senserunt videntur non tam discentibus in hac parte quam docentibus pepercisse. XVIII.

But why should the age which already pertains to morals not pertain to letters as well? Nor do I ignore that in all that period of which I speak scarcely so much can be effected as one year afterwards could confer; yet to me those who felt this seem to have spared not so much the learners in this part as the teachers. 18.

Quid melius alioqui facient ex quo loqui poterunt (faciant enim aliquid necesse est)? aut cur hoc quantulumcumque est usque ad septem annos lucrum fastidiamus? Nam certe quamlibet parvum sit quod contulerit aetas prior, maiora tamen aliqua discet puer ipso illo anno quo minora didicisset. XIX.

What better, otherwise, will they do from the time when they will be able to speak (for it is necessary that they do something)? or why should we disdain this profit, however small it is, up to seven years? For certainly, however small be what the earlier age has contributed, yet the boy will learn some greater things in that very year in which he would have learned lesser things. 19.

Hoc per singulos prorogatum in summam proficit, et quantum in infantia praesumptum est temporis adulescentiae adquiritur. Idem etiam de sequentibus annis praeceptum sit, ne quod cuique discendum est sero discere incipiat. Non ergo perdamus primum statim tempus, atque eo minus quod initia litterarum sola memoria constant, quae non modo iam est in parvis, sed tum etiam tenacissima est.

This, prolonged by single steps, accrues to the sum, and as much time as has been pre-assumed in infancy is acquired for adolescence. Let the same precept be laid down also for the following years, lest one begin to learn late what each must learn. Therefore let us not waste the very earliest time, and all the less since the beginnings of letters consist solely in memory, which not only already exists in little ones, but then is even most tenacious.

XX. Nec sum adeo aetatium inprudens ut instandum protinus teneris acerbe putem exigendamque plane operam. Nam id in primis cavere oportebit, ne studia qui amare nondum potest oderit et amaritudinem semel perceptam etiam ultra rudes annos reformidet. Lusus hic sit, et rogetur et laudetur et numquam non fecisse se gaudeat, aliquando ipso nolente doceatur alius cui invideat, contendat interim et saepius vincere se putet: praemiis etiam, quae capit illa aetas, evocetur.

20. Nor am I so imprudent about ages that I think pressure should at once be applied to the tender, and effort plainly exacted. For this above all must be guarded against: lest one who cannot yet love studies should hate them, and, once having tasted bitterness, should dread it even beyond his rude years. Let this be play: let him be asked and praised, and let him never fail to rejoice that he has done it; sometimes, when he himself is unwilling, let another be taught, whom he may envy; let him contend meanwhile and more often suppose that he is the victor; let him even be summoned by rewards, such as that age can take in.

XXI. parva docemus oratorem instituendum professi, sed est sua etiam studiis infantia, et ut corporum mox fortissimorum educatio a lacte cunisque initium ducit, ita futurus eloquentissimus edidit aliquando vagitum et loqui primum incerta voce temptavit et haesit circa formas litterarum: nec, si quid discere satis non est, ideo nec necesse est. XXII.

21. we teach small things, though we have professed to train an orator; but studies too have their own infancy, and just as the education of bodies soon to be very strong takes its beginning from milk and cradles, so the one destined to be most eloquent once uttered a wail and first tried to speak with an uncertain voice and stuck fast around the forms of letters: nor, if something is not sufficient to learn, is it on that account unnecessary. 22.

Quodsi nemo reprehendit patrem qui haec non neglegenda in suo filio putet, cur improbetur si quis ea quae domi suae recte faceret in publicum promit? Atque eo magis quod minora etiam facilius minores percipiunt, et ut corpora ad quosdam membrorum flexus formari nisi tenera non possunt, sic animos quoque ad pleraque duriores robur ipsum facit. XXIII.

But if no one reprehends a father who deems these things not to be neglected in his own son, why should it be disapproved if someone brings into the public what he would rightly do in his own house? And all the more because the younger more easily take in smaller matters, and just as bodies cannot be shaped to certain flexions of the limbs unless they are tender, so too, for most things, robustness itself makes minds harder. 23.

An Philippus Macedonum rex Alexandro filio suo prima litterarum elementa tradi ab Aristotele summo eius aetatis philosopho voluisset, aut ille suscepisset hoc officium, si non studiorum initia et a perfectissimo quoque optime tractari et pertinere ad summam credidisset? XXIV. Fingamus igitur Alexandrum dari nobis, impositum gremio dignum tanta cura infantem (quamquam suus cuique dignus est): pudeatne me in ipsis statim elementis etiam brevia docendi monstrare compendia?

Would Philip, king of the Macedonians, have wished the first elements of letters to be handed over to his son Alexander by Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of that age, or would he have undertaken this office, if he had not believed that the beginnings of studies both are best handled even by the most perfect and pertain to the sum total? 24. Let us imagine, then, that Alexander is given to us, the infant set upon the lap, worthy of so great care (though each one’s own is worthy): should I be ashamed, straightway in the very elements, to point out even brief compendia of teaching?

Neque enim mihi illud saltem placet, quod fieri in plurimis video, ut litterarum nomina et contextum prius quam formas parvoli discant. XXV. Obstat hoc agnitioni earum, non intendentibus mox animum ad ipsos ductus dum antecedentem memoriam secuntur.

Nor indeed does even this please me, which I see to be done in very many cases: that the very little ones learn the names of the letters and the context before the forms. 25. This stands in the way of their recognition, as they do not soon direct their mind to the very strokes while they follow antecedent memory.

Quae causa est praecipientibus ut, etiam cum satis adfixisse eas pueris recto illo quo primum scribi solent contextu videntur, retro agant rursus et varia permutatione turbent, donec litteras qui instituuntur facie norint, non ordine: quapropter optime sicut hominum pariter et habitus et nomina edocebuntur. XXVI. Sed quod in litteris obest in syllabis non nocebit.

What is the reason with preceptors that, even when they seem to have sufficiently affixed them to boys in that straight context in which they are first wont to be written, they drive back again and, by varied permutation, throw things into confusion, until those who are being instructed may know the letters by face, not by order: wherefore it will be best that, as with men, both the appearance and the names alike be taught. 26. But what hinders in letters will not harm in syllables.

Non excludo autem id quod est notum irritandae ad discendum infantiae gratia, eburneas etiam litterarum formas in lusum offerre, vel si quid aliud quo magis illa aetas gaudeat inveniri potest quod tractare intueri nominare iucundum sit. XXVII. cum vero iam ductus sequi coeperit, non inutile erit eos tabellae quam optime insculpi, ut per illos velut sulcos ducatur stilus.

I do not exclude, however, that practice which is known, for the sake of stimulating infancy to learning: to offer even ivory forms of letters for play, or, if anything else can be found with which that age may rejoice more, something which it is pleasant to handle, to gaze upon, and to name. 27. when indeed he has already begun to follow the strokes, it will not be unprofitable for them to be incised on a tablet as well as possible, so that the stylus may be led along through them as though through furrows.

Nam neque errabit quemadmodum in ceris (continebitur enim utrimque marginibus neque extra praescriptum egredi poterit) et celerius ac saepius sequendo certa vestigia firmabit articulos neque egebit adiutorio manum suam manu super imposita regentis. XXVIII. Non est aliena res, quae fere ab honestis neglegi solet, cura bene ac velociter scribendi.

For he will not go astray as on wax-tablets (for he will be contained on both sides by the margins and will not be able to go beyond what is prescribed), and, more quickly and more often by following the fixed tracks, he will strengthen the joints (articulations), nor will he need the assistance of one guiding, with a hand placed over his own hand. 28. The care of writing well and swiftly is not an alien matter—though it is generally neglected by respectable men.

Nam cum sit in studiis praecipuum, quoque solo verus ille profectus et altis radicibus nixus paretur, scribere ipsum, tardior stilus cogitationem moratur, rudis et confusus intellectu caret: unde sequitur alter dictandi quae transferenda sunt labor. XXIX. Quare cum semper et ubique, tum praecipue in epistulis secretis et familiaribus delectabit ne hoc quidem neglectum reliquisse.

For since in studies the chief thing, and that by which alone that true progress, leaning upon deep roots, is prepared, is the writing itself, a slower stylus hinders cogitation, while a rough and confused one lacks intellect; whence there follows another labor, that of dictating the things that are to be transcribed. 29. Wherefore, since always and everywhere, then especially in secret and familiar letters, it will be a delight not to have left even this neglected.

XXX. Syllabis nullum compendium est: perdiscendae omnes nec, ut fit plerumque, difficillima quaeque earum differenda, ut in nominibus scribendis deprehendantur. XXXI.

30. There is no shortcut in syllables: all must be thoroughly learned, nor, as for the most part happens, are the most difficult of them to be deferred, only to be detected while writing names. 31.

Quin immo ne primae quidem memoriae temere credendum: repetere et diu inculcare fuerit utilius et in lectione quoque non properare ad continuandam eam vel adcelerandam, nisi cum inoffensa atque indubitata litterarum inter se coniunctio suppeditare sine illa cogitandi saltem mora poterit. tunc ipsis syllabis verba complecti et his sermonem conectere incipiat: XXXII. incredibile est quantum morae lectioni festinatione adiciatur.

Nay rather, one must not trust even the first recollection rashly: it will be more useful to repeat and to inculcate it for a long time, and also in reading not to hurry to continue it or to accelerate it, unless when the unhindered and indubitable conjunction of the letters among themselves can be forthcoming without that pause for thinking at least. then let him begin to grasp words with the syllables themselves, and with these to connect speech: 32. it is incredible how much delay is added to reading by hastening.

Hinc enim accidit dubitatio intermissio repetitio plus quam possunt audentibus, deinde cum errarunt etiam iis quae iam sciunt diffidentibus. XXXIII. Certa sit ergo in primis lectio, deinde coniuncta, et diu lentior, donec exercitatione contingat emendata velocitas.

Hence indeed there ensues hesitation, intermission, repetition to those venturing more than they can; then, after they have erred, they grow diffident even about the things they already know. 33. Let reading therefore be first certain, then conjoined, and for a long time slower, until by exercise an emended speed is attained.

XXXIV. Nam prospicere in dextrum, quod omnes praecipiunt, et providere non rationis modo sed usus quoque est, quoniam sequentia intuenti priora dicenda sunt, et, quod difficillimum est, dividenda intentio animi, ut aliud voce aliud oculis agatur. Illud non paenitebit curasse, cum scribere nomina puer, quemadmodum moris est, coeperit, ne hanc operam in vocabulis vulgaribus et forte occurrentibus perdat.

34. For to look ahead to the right, which all prescribe, and to foresee is a matter not only of reason but also of use, since for one looking at the things that follow the earlier things must be spoken; and—what is most difficult—the attention of the mind must be divided, so that one thing is conducted by the voice, another by the eyes. One will not regret having taken care of this, when the boy has begun to write names, as is the custom, lest he waste this effort on vulgar and chance-occurring words.

XXXV. Protinus enim potest interpretationem linguae secretioris, id est quas Graeci glossas vocant, dum aliud agitur ediscere, et inter prima elementa consequi rem postea proprium tempus desideraturam. Et quoniam circa res adhuc tenues moramur, ii quoque versus qui ad imitationem scribendi proponentur non otiosas velim sententias habeant, sed honestum aliquid monentis.

35. For straightway he can learn by heart an interpretation of a more secret tongue—that is, what the Greeks call glosses—while something else is being done, and, among the first elements, obtain a thing that will later demand its own proper time. And since we are still lingering over slight matters, I would wish that those verses too which are proposed for the imitation of writing not have idle sentences, but something admonishing toward the honorable.

XXXVI. Prosequitur haec memoria in senectutem et inpressa animo rudi usque ad mores proficiet. Etiam dicta clarorum virorum et electos ex poetis maxime (namque eorum cognitio parvis gratior est) locos ediscere inter lusum licet.

36. This memory follows on into old age, and, impressed upon an untutored mind, will make progress even into morals. Also the sayings of famous men and, especially, selected passages from the poets (for acquaintance with these is more pleasing to the little ones) may be learned by heart even amid play.

Nam et maxime necessaria est oratori, sicut suo loco dicam, memoria; et ea praecipue firmatur atque alitur exercitatione et in his de quibus nunc loquimur aetatibus, quae nihildum ipsae generare ex se queunt, prope sola est quae iuvari cura docentium possit. XXXVII. Non alienum fuerit exigere ab his aetatibus, quo sit absolutius os et expressior sermo, ut nomina quaedam versusque adfectatae difficultatis ex pluribus et asperrime coeuntibus inter se syllabis catenatos et veluti confragosos quam citatissime volvant (chalinoi Graece vocantur): res modica dictu, qua tamen omissa multa linguae vitia, nisi primis eximuntur annis, inemendabili in posterum pravitate durantur.

For memory is most necessary to the orator, as I shall say in its proper place; and it is especially strengthened and nourished by exercise, and in those ages of which we now speak, which as yet are able to generate nothing from themselves, it is almost the only thing that can be aided by the care of teachers. 37. It will not be out of place to require from these ages, in order that the mouth be more absolute and the speech more express, that they roll as swiftly as possible certain names and verses of affected difficulty, chained together from many syllables most harshly coalescing with one another and, as it were, rugged (they are called chalinoi in Greek): a modest thing to say, by the omission of which, however, many vices of the tongue, unless they are removed in the first years, endure thereafter in incorrigible pravity.

[2] I. Sed nobis iam paulatim adcrescere puer et exire de gremio et discere serio incipiat. Hoc igitur potissimum loco tractanda quaestio est, utiliusne sit domi atque intra privatos parietes studentem continere, an frequentiae scholarum et velut publicatis praeceptoribus tradere. II. Quod quidem cum iis a quibus clarissimarum civitatium mores sunt instituti, tum eminentissimis auctoribus video placuisse.

[2] 1. But now let the boy by degrees grow up and go forth from the lap and begin to learn in earnest. Therefore at this point most especially the question is to be handled, whether it is more useful to keep the student at home and within private walls, or to hand him over to the throng of schools and, as it were, to public instructors. 2. Which indeed I see has approved itself both to those by whom the customs of the most illustrious states have been instituted, and to the most eminent authors.

Non est tamen dissimulandum esse nonnullos qui ab hoc prope publico more privata quadam persuasione dissentiant. Hi duas praecipue rationes sequi videntur: unam, quod moribus magis consulant fugiendo turbam hominum eius aetatis quae sit ad vitia maxime prona, unde causas turpium factorum saepe extitisse utinam falso iactaretur: alteram, quod, quisquis futurus est ille praeceptor, liberalius tempora sua inpensurus uni videtur quam si eadem in pluris partiatur. III.

Nevertheless, it is not to be dissimulated that there are some who, by a certain private persuasion, dissent from this almost public custom. These seem to follow chiefly two reasons: one, that they consult morals the more by fleeing the crowd of men of that age which is most prone to vices, whence it is often bandied about that the causes of shameful deeds have arisen—would that this were alleged falsely; the other, that, whoever that teacher is going to be, he seems about to expend his time more liberally upon one than if he were to divide the same into several. 3.

Prior causa prorsus gravis: nam si studiis quidem scholas prodesse, moribus autem nocere constaret, potior mihi ratio vivendi honeste quam vel optime dicendi videretur. Sed mea quidem sententia iuncta ista atque indiscreta sunt: neque enim esse oratorem nisi bonum virum iudico et fieri, etiam si potest, nolo. De hac igitur prius.

The former cause is altogether grave: for if it were established that schools indeed profit studies but harm morals, the rationale of living honorably would seem to me preferable to that of speaking even most excellently. But in my judgment, at least, those things are conjoined and not to be separated: for I do not judge that anyone is an orator unless he is a good man, and, even if it can be otherwise, I do not wish it to be. Concerning this, therefore, first.

IV. Corrumpi mores in scholis putant: nam et corrumpuntur interim, sed domi quoque, et sunt multa eius rei exempla, tam hercule quam conservatae sanctissime utrubique opinionis. Natura cuiusque totum curaque distat. Da mentem ad peiora facilem, da neglegentiam formandi custodiendique in aetate prima pudoris, non minorem flagitiis occasionem secreta praebuerint.

4. They think morals are corrupted in the schools: for they are corrupted at times, but at home as well, and there are many examples of this matter, as, by Hercules, there are also of a repute most scrupulously conserved in both places. The nature of each person and the care make all the difference. Grant a mind easy toward worse things, grant negligence in forming and guarding, in the earliest age, the sense of modesty, and seclusion will have furnished no less an occasion for flagitious deeds.

Nam et potest turpis esse domesticus ille praeceptor, nec tutior inter servos malos quam ingenuos parum modestos conversatio est. V. At si bona ipsius indoles, si non caeca ac sopita parentium socordia est, et praeceptorem eligere sanctissimum quemque, cuius rei praecipua prudentibus cura est, et disciplinam quae maxime severa fuerit licet, et nihilo minus amicum gravem virum aut fidelem libertum lateri filii sui adiungere, cuius adsiduus comitatus etiam illos meliores faciat qui timebantur. VI. Facile erat huius metus remedium.

For that household preceptor too can be base, nor is companionship among bad slaves any safer than among freeborn who are too little modest. 5. But if his own natural disposition is good, if the parents’ sloth is not blind and benumbed, then both to choose as preceptor one most sacrosanct—of which matter the chief care belongs to the prudent—and to adopt the discipline which is most severe is permitted; and nonetheless to join to the side of his son a weighty friend or a faithful freedman, whose assiduous attendance may even make better those who were feared. 6. The remedy for this fear was easy.

Vtinam liberorum nostrorum mores non ipsi perderemus! Infantiam statim deliciis solvimus. Mollis illa educatio, quam indulgentiam vocamus, nervos omnis mentis et corporis frangit.

Would that we did not ourselves destroy the morals of our children! We at once loosen infancy with delights. That soft education, which we call indulgence, breaks all the sinews of mind and body.

Quid non adultus concupiscet qui in purpuris repit? Nondum prima verba exprimit, iam coccum intellegit, iam conchylium poscit. VII.

What will an adult not covet who crawls in purple? He does not yet express his first words, already he understands scarlet, already he demands Tyrian purple. 7.

Ante palatum eorum quam os instituimus. In lecticis crescunt: si terram attigerunt, e manibus utrimque sustinentium pendent. Gaudemus si quid licentius dixerint: verba ne Alexandrinis quidem permittenda deliciis risu et osculo excipimus.

We train their palate before we instruct their mouth. They grow up in litters: if they touch the ground, they hang from the hands of those supporting them on both sides. We rejoice if they have said anything a bit more licentious: we receive with laughter and a kiss words not to be permitted even amid Alexandrian deliciae.

Nec mirum: nos docuimus, ex nobis audierunt; VIII. nostras amicas, nostros concubinos vident; omne convivium obscenis canticis strepit, pudenda dictu spectantur. Fit ex his consuetudo, inde natura.

Nor is it a wonder: we have taught; from us they have heard; 8. they see our mistresses, our concubines; every banquet resounds with obscene songs, things shameful to say are looked upon. From these a custom is formed, thence a nature.

Discunt haec miseri antequam sciant vitia esse: inde soluti ac fluentes non accipiunt ex scholis mala ista, sed in scholas adferunt. IX. "Verum in studiis magis vacabit unus uni." Ante omnia nihil prohibet esse illum nescio quem unum etiam cum eo qui in scholis eruditur. Sed etiamsi iungi utrumque non posset, lumen tamen illud conventus honestissimi tenebris ac solitudini praetulissem: nam optimus quisque praeceptor frequentia gaudet ac maiore se theatro dignum putat.

They learn these things, poor wretches, before they know them to be vices: thence, unbound and lax, they do not receive those evils from the schools, but bring them into the schools. 9. "But in studies one will be more at leisure, one for one." Before all, nothing forbids that there be that I‑know‑not‑what single tutor even along with him who is educated in the schools. But even if the two could not be joined, nevertheless I would have preferred that light of a most honorable assembly to darkness and solitude: for every best preceptor rejoices in a throng and deems himself worthy of a greater theater.

X. At fere minores ex conscientia suae infirmitatis haerere singulis et officio fungi quodam modo paedagogorum non indignantur. XI. Sed praestet alicui vel gratia vel pecunia vel amicitia ut doctissimum atque incomparabilem magistrum domi habeat, num tamen ille totum in uno diem consumpturus est aut potest esse ulla tam perpetua discentis intentio quae non ut visus oculorum optutu continuo fatigetur, cum praesertim multo plus secreti temporis studia desiderent? XII.

10. But generally the juniors, from a conscience of their own infirmity, do not disdain to cling to individuals and to discharge in some manner the office of pedagogues. 11. But even if favor or money or friendship should provide someone to have the most learned and incomparable teacher at home, will that man nevertheless be going to consume the whole day on one person, or can there be any so perpetual an attention of the learner as not, like the sight of the eyes by a continuous gaze, to be fatigued—especially since studies demand much more time of secrecy? 12.

Neque enim scribenti ediscenti cogitanti praeceptor adsistit: quorum aliquid agentibus cuiuscumque interventus impedimento est. Lectio quoque non omnis nec semper praeeunte vel interpretante eget: quando enim tot auctorum notitia contingeret? XIII.

For a teacher does not stand by someone writing, memorizing, or thinking: for those engaged in any of these, anyone’s intervention is a hindrance. Reading too does not, in every case nor always, need someone going before or interpreting: for when would acquaintance with so many authors be attained? 13.

Modicum ergo tempus est quo in totum diem velut opus ordinetur,ideoque per plures ire possunt etiam quae singulis tradenda sunt. Pleraque vero hanc condicionem habent, ut eadem voce ad omnis simul perferantur. Taceo de partitionibus et declamationibus rhetorum, quibus certe quantuscumque numerus adhibeatur, tamen unusquisque totum feret XIV.

Therefore the time is modest in which the whole day is, as it were, ordered like a work, and therefore even the things that are to be handed down to individuals can go through to many. Very many, indeed, have this condition: that by the same voice they are conveyed to all at once. I am silent about the partitions and declamations of the rhetors, in which, certainly, however great a number be admitted, nevertheless each person will carry off the whole 14.

(non enim vox illa praeceptoris ut cena minus pluribus sufficit, sed ut sol universis idem lucis calorisque largitur): grammaticus quoque si de loquendi ratione disserat, si quaestiones explicet, historias exponat, poemata enarret, tot illa discent quot audient. XV. "At enim emendationi praelectionique numerus obstat." Sit incommodum (nam quid fere undique placet?): mox illud comparabimus commodis. "Nec ego tamen eo mitti puerum volo ubi neglegatur." Sed neque praeceptor bonus maiore se turba quam ut sustinere eam possit oneraverit, et in primis ea habenda cura est ut is omni modo fiat nobis familiariter amicus, nec officium in docendo spectet sed adfectum.

(for that voice of the teacher is not, like a dinner, less sufficient for more people, but, like the sun, it bestows upon all alike the same light and warmth): the grammarian also, if he should discourse on the manner of speaking, if he should explain questions, set forth histories, narrate poems, just as many will learn those things as will hear. 15. "But indeed number stands in the way of emendation and prelection." Let it be an inconvenience (for what almost everywhere meets with approval?): soon we shall compare that with the conveniences. "Nor yet do I wish a boy to be sent there where he is neglected." But neither will a good preceptor burden himself with a crowd greater than he can sustain, and first of all this care must be had, that he become to us in every way a familiar friend, and that he look not to office in teaching but to affection.

Ita numquam erimus in turba. XVI. Nec sane quisquam litteris saltem leviter inbutus eum in quo studium ingeniumque perspexerit non in suam quoque gloriam peculiariter fovebit.

Thus we shall never be in a crowd. 16. Nor indeed will anyone at least lightly imbued with letters, who has perceived study and ingenuity in someone, fail to cherish him particularly, to his own glory as well.

Et ut fugiendae sint magnae scholae (cui ne ipsi quidem rei adsentior, si ad aliquem merito concurritur), non tamen hoc eo valet ut fugiendae sint omnino scholae. Aliud. est enim vitare eas, aliud eligere.

And granted that great schools are to be avoided (a point to which I do not assent, not even in itself, if there is a resort to someone with due merit), nevertheless this does not therefore mean that schools are to be avoided altogether. Another thing. For it is one thing to shun them, another to elect them.

XVII. Et si refutavimus quae contra dicuntur, iam explicemus quid ipsi sequamur. XVIII.

17. And if we have refuted the things that are said in opposition, now let us explain what we ourselves follow. 18.

Ante omnia futurus orator, cui in maxima celebritate et in media rei publicae luce vivendum est, adsuescat iam a tenero non reformidare homines neque illa solitaria et velut umbratica vita pavescere. Excitanda mens et attollenda semper est, quae in eius modi secretis aut languescit et quendam velut in opaco situm ducit, aut contra tumescit inani persuasione: necesse est enim nimium tribuat sibi qui se nemini comparat. XIX.

Before all, the future orator, to whom it must be to live in the greatest publicity and in the very light of the republic, should grow accustomed already from tender age not to dread men nor to be frightened by that solitary and, as it were, umbratic life. The mind must be aroused and always lifted up, which in seclusions of that sort either languishes and leads to a certain condition as if set in the shade, or, conversely, swells with empty persuasion: for it is necessary that he allot too much to himself who compares himself with no one. 19.

Deinde cum proferenda sunt studia, caligat in sole et omnia nova offendit, ut qui solus didicerit quod inter multos faciendum est. XX. Mitto amicitias, quae ad senectutem usque firmissime durant religiosa quadam necessitudine inbutae: neque enim est sanctius sacris isdem quam studiis initiari. Sensum ipsum, qui communis dicitur, ubi discet, cum se a congressu, qui non hominibus solum sed mutis quoque animalibus naturalis est, segregarit?

Then, when his studies must be brought forth, he is dazzled in the sun and finds all things new and runs afoul of them, as one who has learned alone that which must be done among many. 20. I pass over friendships, which endure most firmly even to old age, imbued with a certain religious obligation: for there is nothing more sacred than to be initiated into studies, as into the same sacred rites. The very sense itself, which is called common, where will he learn it, when he has segregated himself from intercourse, which is natural not only to human beings but also to mute animals?

XXI. Adde quod domi ea sola discere potest quae ipsi praecipientur, in schola etiam quae aliis. Audiet multa cotidie probari, multa corrigi, proderit alicuius obiurgata desidia, proderit laudata industria, XXII.

21. Add that at home he can learn only those things which are prescribed to himself; in school, even those which are prescribed to others. He will hear many things each day approved, many corrected; someone’s rebuked sloth will be of benefit; praised industry will be of benefit, 22.

excitabitur laude aemulatio, turpe ducet cedere pari, pulchrum superasse maiores. Accendunt omnia haec animos, et licet ipsa vitium sit ambitio, frequenter tamen causa virtutum est. XXIII.

emulation will be stirred by praise, he will deem it shameful to yield to an equal, fair to have surpassed his elders. All these things ignite minds, and although ambition itself is a vice, yet frequently it is a cause of virtues. 23.

Non inutilem scio servatum esse a praeceptoribus meis morem, qui, cum pueros in classis distribuerant, ordinem dicendi secundum vires ingenii dabant, et ita superiore loco quisque declamabat ut praecedere profectu videbatur: huius rei iudicia praebebantur. XXIV. Ea nobis ingens palma, ducere vero classem multo pulcherrimum.

I know that a custom kept by my teachers was not useless: when they had distributed the boys into classes, they assigned the order of speaking according to the powers of talent, and thus each declaimed in a higher place in proportion as he seemed to be ahead in progress; judgments of this matter were provided. 24. This was to us a great palm, but to lead the class was by far the most beautiful.

Nec de hoc semel decretum erat: tricesimus dies reddebat victo certaminis potestatem. Ita nec superior successu curam remittebat et dolor victum ad deponendam ignominiam concitabat. XXV.

Nor was this decreed only once: the thirtieth day used to restore to the defeated the power of the contest. Thus neither did the superior relax care because of success, and pain stirred the vanquished to lay down the ignominy. 25.

Id nobis acriores ad studia dicendi faces subdidisse quam exhortationem docentium, paedagogorum custodiam, vota parentium, quantum animi mei coniectura colligere possum, contenderim. XXVI. Sed sicut firmiores in litteris profectus alit aemulatio, ita incipientibus atque adhuc teneris condiscipulorum quam praeceptoris iucundior hoc ipso quod facilior imitatio est.

That, as far as I can gather by a conjecture of my mind, I would contend has kindled for us keener torches toward the studies of speaking than the exhortation of the teachers, the custody of the pedagogues, the vows of the parents. 26. But just as emulation nourishes sturdier advances in letters, so for beginners and those still tender the emulation of fellow-students is more pleasant than that of the preceptor, for this very reason that imitation is easier.

Vix enim se prima elementa ad spem tollere effingendae quam summam putant eloquentiae audebunt: proxima amplectentur magis, ut vites arboribus adplicita e inferiores prius adprendendo ramos in cacumina evadunt. XXVII. Quod adeo verum est ut ipsius etiam magistri, si tamen ambitiosis utilia praeferet, hoc opus sit, cum adhuc rudia tractabit ingenia, non statim onerare infirmitatem discentium, sed temperare vires suas et ad intellectum audientis descendere.

For scarcely will the first elements dare to lift themselves to the hope of fashioning what they deem the summit of eloquence: they will rather embrace what is next at hand, as vines, attached to trees, by first seizing the lower branches, climb to the tops. 27. Which is so true that even the master himself—if indeed he will prefer the useful to the ambitious—must do this, when he handles talents still raw: not straightway to load down the weakness of learners, but to temper his own forces and to descend to the understanding of the hearer.

XXVIII. Nam ut vascula oris angusti superfusam umoris copiam respuunt, sensim autem influentibus vel etiam instillatis complentur, sic animi puerorum quantum excipere possint videndum est: nam maiora intellectu velut parum apertos ad percipiendum animos non subibunt. XXIX.

28. For just as little vessels of narrow mouth reject a superpoured abundance of liquid, yet are filled little by little by what flows in or even by things instilled, so with the minds of boys one must see how much they can receive: for greater matters will not enter the intellect, as though minds not sufficiently open for perceiving. 29.

Vtile igitur habere quos imitari primum, mox vincere velis: ita paulatim et superiorum spes erit. His adicio praeceptores ipsos non idem mentis ac spiritus in dicendo posse concipere singulis tantum praesentibus quod illa celebritate audientium instinctos. XXX.

It is useful, therefore, to have those whom you would first imitate and soon wish to vanquish: thus gradually there will be hope even of higher things. To these I add that the teachers themselves cannot conceive the same measure of mind and spirit in speaking with only individuals present as when they are instigated by that celebrity of hearers. 30.

Maxima enim pars eloquentiae constat animo: hunc adfici, hunc concipere imagines rerum et transformari quodam modo ad naturam eorum de quibus loquitur necesse est. Is porro quo generosior celsiorque est, hoc maioribus velut organis commovetur, ideoque et laude crescit et impetu augetur et aliquid magnum agere gaudet. XXXI.

For the greatest part of eloquence consists in the mind: this must be affected, must conceive the images of things, and be transformed in a certain manner to the nature of those about which it speaks. Moreover, the more generous and loftier it is, by so much the more it is stirred by, as it were, greater organs (instruments); and therefore it both grows with praise and is augmented by impetus and rejoices to do something great. 31.

Est quaedam tacita dedignatio vim dicendi tantis comparatam laboribus ad unum auditorem demittere: pudet supra modum sermonis attolli. Et sane concipiat quis mente vel declamantis habitum vel orantis vocem incessum pronuntiationem, illum denique animi et corporis motum, sudorem, ut alia praeteream, et fatigationem audiente uno: nonne quiddam pati furori simile videatur? Non esset in rebus humanis eloquentia si tantum cum singulis loqueremur.

There is a certain tacit disdain to let down the force of speaking, matched with such great labors, to a single auditor: one is ashamed that discourse should be raised beyond measure. And indeed, let one conceive in mind either the bearing of the declaimer or, for the pleader, the voice, gait, delivery, finally that movement of mind and body, the sweat (to pass over other things), and the fatigue, with one person listening: would he not seem to be undergoing something similar to frenzy? Eloquence would not exist in human affairs if we spoke only with individuals.

[3] I. Tradito sibi puero docendi peritus ingenium eius in primis naturamque perspiciet. Ingenii signum in parvis praecipuum memoria est: eius duplex virtus, facile percipere et fideliter continere. Proximum imitatio: nam id quoque est docilis naturae, sic tamen ut ea quae discit effingat, non habitum forte et ingressum et si quid in peius notabile est.

[3] 1. With a boy entrusted to him, one skilled in teaching will, first of all, discern his talent and his nature. The chief sign of talent in the little ones is memory: its twofold virtue is to perceive easily and to contain faithfully. Next comes imitation: for that too is of a docile nature, yet so that he should model the things he learns, not the habit and the gait, perhaps, and whatever is notable for the worse.

II. Non dabit mihi spem bonae indolis qui hoc imitandi studio petet, ut rideatur; nam probus quoque in primis erit ille vere ingeniosus. Alioqui non peius duxerim tardi esse ingeni quam mali: probus autem ab illo segni et iacente plurimum aberit. III.

2. He will not give me hope of good natural disposition who seeks, by this zeal for imitation, to be laughed at; for that truly ingenious man will be upright first and foremost. Otherwise I would not deem a slow wit worse than a bad one: but the upright man will be very far removed from that sluggish and inert person. 3.

Hic meus quae tradentur non difficulter accipiet, quaedam etiam interrogabit: sequetur tamen magis quam praecurret. Illud ingeniorum velut praecox genus non temere umquam pervenit ad frugem. IV. Hi sunt qui parva facile faciunt et audacia provecti quidquid illud possunt statim ostendunt, possunt autem id demum quod in proximo est: verba continuant, haec vultu interrito, nulla tardati verecundia proferunt: non multum praestant, sed cito; V. non subest vera vis nec penitus immissis radicibus nititur, ut quae summo solo sparsa sunt semina celerius se effundunt et imitatae spicas herbulae inanibus aristis ante messem flavescunt.

This pupil of mine will not with difficulty receive what shall be imparted, he will even ask certain things: yet he will follow rather than run ahead. That, as it were, precocious kind of talents hardly ever comes to fruition. 4. These are they who do small things easily, and, carried forward by audacity, show at once whatever it is they can; yet they can only what is just at hand: they string words together, and with an unafraid countenance, delayed by no modesty, they bring these forth: they do not accomplish much, but quickly; 5. there is no true force underlying, nor does it rely on roots sent deep within, just as seeds scattered upon the topsoil pour themselves out more quickly and little plants imitating ears of grain, with empty awns, grow golden before the harvest.

Placent haec annis comparata; deinde stat profectus, admiratio decrescit. VI. Haec cum animadverterit, perspiciat deinceps quonam modo tractandus sit discentis animus. sunt quidam, nisi institeris, remissi, quidam imperia indignantur, quosdam continet metus, quosdam debilitat, alios continuatio extundit, in aliis plus impetus facit.

These things are pleasing when measured against their years; thereafter progress stands still, admiration decreases. 6. When he has observed these things, let him next discern in what way the mind of the learner is to be handled. There are some who, unless you press them, are remiss; some resent commands; some fear keeps in check, some it debilitates; others continuous application hammers out, in others impetus does more.

Mihi ille detur puer quem laus excitet, quem gloria iuvet, qui victus fleat. VII. Hic erit alendus ambitu, hunc mordebit obiurgatio, hunc honor excitabit, in hoc desidiam numquam verebor.

Let that boy be given to me, whom praise excites, whom glory delights, who weeps when conquered. VII. This one will have to be nourished by ambition; objurgation will bite him; honor will rouse him; in him I shall never fear sloth.

VIII. Danda est tamen omnibus aliqua remissio, non solum quia nulla res est quae perferre possit continuum laborem, atque ea quoque quae sensu et anima carent ut servare vim suam possint velut quiete alterna retenduntur, sed quod studium discendi voluntate, quae cogi non potest, constat. IX. Itaque et virium plus adferunt ad discendum renovati ac recentes et acriorem animum, qui fere necessitatibus repugnat.

8. Nevertheless some relaxation must be granted to all, not only because there is nothing that can endure continuous labor, and even those things which lack sense and soul are, as it were, slackened by alternate rest so that they may preserve their vigor, but because the zeal for learning consists in will, which cannot be compelled. 9. And so, when renewed and fresh, they bring more strength to learning and a keener spirit, which for the most part resists compulsions.

X. Nec me offenderit lusus in pueris (est et hoc signum alacritatis), neque illum tristem semperque demissum sperare possim erectae circa studia mentis fore, cum in hoc quoque maxime naturali aetatibus illis impetu iaceat. XI. Modus tamen sit remissionibus, ne aut odium studiorum faciant negatae aut otii consuetudinem nimiae. sunt etiam nonnulli acuendis puerorum ingeniis non inutiles lusus, cum positis invicem cuiusque generis quaestiunculis aemulantur.

10. Let not play in boys offend me (this too is a sign of alacrity), nor can I hope that one who is gloomy and always downcast will have an uplifted mind toward studies, since even in this, where those ages have their most natural impulse, he droops. 11. Nevertheless, there should be a measure in relaxations, lest either the denied produce a hatred of studies or the excessive a habit of idleness. there are also certain games not useless for sharpening boys’ wits, when, little questions of every kind being put to one another in turn, they vie with each other.

XII. Mores quoque se inter ludendum simplicius detegunt: modo nulla videatur aetas tam infirma quae non protinus quid rectum pravumque sit discat, tum vel maxime formanda cum simulandi nescia est et praecipientibus facillime cedit; frangas enim citius quam corrigas quae in pravum induruerunt. XIII.

12. Their manners too reveal themselves more simply while playing: only let no age seem so weak as not at once to learn what is right and crooked, then most of all is it to be formed when it is unknowing of dissimulation and most readily yields to preceptors; for you will more quickly break than correct things that have hardened into the crooked. 13.

Protinus ergo ne quid cupide, ne quid improbe, ne quid inpotenter faciat monendus est puer, habendumque in animo semper illud Vergilianum: "adeo in teneris consuescere multum est". XIV. Caedi vero discentis, quamlibet id receptum sit et Chrysippus non improbet, minime velim, primum quia deforme atque servile est et certe (quod convenit si aetatem mutes) iniuria: deinde quod, si cui tam est mens inliberalis ut obiurgatione non corrigatur, is etiam ad plagas ut pessima quaeque mancipia durabitur: postremo quod ne opus erit quidem hac castigatione si adsiduus studiorum exactor adstiterit. XV. Nunc fere neglegentia paedagogorum sic emendari videtur ut pueri non facere quae recta sunt cogantur, sed cur non fecerint puniantur.

At once, therefore, the boy must be admonished to do nothing greedily, nothing improperly, nothing with lack of self-control, and that Vergilian line must always be held in mind: "to such a degree, in tender years, to become accustomed is of great moment." 14. As for the beating of a learner, although it is a received practice and Chrysippus does not disapprove it, I would by no means wish it: first, because it is disgraceful and servile and assuredly (as is agreed, if you change the age) an injury; next, because if anyone’s mind is so illiberal that he is not corrected by objurgation, he will even be hardened to blows like the worst bond-slaves; finally, because there will not even be need of this chastisement if an assiduous exactor of studies stands by. 15. Nowadays, through the negligence of pedagogues, correction seems to be managed thus: the boys are not compelled to do what is right, but are punished for not having done it.

Denique cum parvolum verberibus coegeris, quid iuveni facias, cui nec adhiberi potest hic metus et maiora discenda sunt? XVI. Adde quod multa vapulantibus dictu deformia et mox verecundiae futura saepe dolore vel metu acciderunt, qui pudor frangit animum et abicit atque ipsius lucis fugam et taedium dictat.

Finally, when you have compelled a very small child by beatings, what will you do with a youth, for whom neither can this fear be applied and greater things are to be learned? 16. Add that many things unseemly to speak of, and soon to be matters of shame, have often happened to those being flogged through pain or fear, a shame which breaks the spirit and casts it down and dictates a flight from the very light itself and a tedium of it.

XVII. Iam si minor in eligendis custodum et praeceptorum moribus fuit cura, pudet dicere in quae probra nefandi homines isto caedendi iure abutantur, quam det aliis quoque nonnumquam occasionem hic miserorum metus. Non morabor in parte hac: nimium est quod intellegitur.

17. Now, if there was lesser care in choosing the morals of custodians and preceptors, I am ashamed to say into what disgraces nefarious men abuse that right of beating, how this fear of the wretched also sometimes gives occasion to others. I shall not linger on this part: what is understood is too much.

Quare hoc dixisse satis est: in aetatem infirmam et iniuriae obnoxiam nemini debet nimium licere. XVIII. Nunc quibus instituendus sit artibus qui sic formabitur ut fieri possit orator, et quae in quaque aetate inchoanda, dicere ingrediar.

Wherefore it is enough to have said this: toward an age weak and subject to injury, no one ought to be allowed too much license. 18. Now with what arts he ought to be instructed who will be thus formed so that he may be able to become an orator, and what things in each age are to be begun, I shall enter upon saying.

[4] I. Primus in eo qui scribendi legendique adeptus erit facultatem grammaticis est locus. Nec refert de Graeco an de Latino loquar, quamquam Graecum esse priorem placet: utrique eadem via est. II. Haec igitur professio, cum brevissime in duas partis dividatur, recte loquendi scientiam et poetarum enarrationem, plus habet in recessu quam fronte promittit.

[4] 1. First, for him who shall have acquired the faculty of writing and reading, the place is with the grammaticians. Nor does it matter whether I speak of Greek or of Latin, although it pleases me that Greek be prior: for each the way is the same. 2. This profession, therefore, since, most briefly, it is divided into two parts—the science of speaking correctly and the explication of poets—has more in the recess than it promises on the front.

III. Nam et scribendi ratio coniuncta cum loquendo est et enarrationem praecedit emendata lectio et mixtum his omnibus iudicium est: quo quidem ita severe sunt usi veteres grammatici ut non versus modo censoria quadam virgula notare et libros qui falso viderentur inscripti tamquam subditos summovere familia permiserint sibi, sed auctores alios in ordinem redegerint, alios omnino exemerint numero. IV. Nec poetas legisse satis est: excutiendum omne scriptorum genus, non propter historias modo, sed verba, quae frequenter ius ab auctoribus sumunt.

3. For the method of writing is conjoined with speaking, and emended reading precedes explication, and with all these judgment is mingled: in the use of which indeed the ancient grammarians were so severe that they allowed themselves not only to mark verses with a kind of censorial little rod, and to remove from the household, as substituted, books which seemed to be falsely inscribed, but to reduce some authors to order, and others to remove altogether from the number. 4. Nor is it enough to have read the poets: every kind of writings must be sifted, not for histories only, but for the words, which frequently take their right from the authors.

tum neque citra musicen grammatice potest esse perfecta, cum ei de metris rhythmisque dicendum sit, nec si rationem siderum ignoret poetas intellegat, qui, ut alia mittam, totiens ortu occasuque signorum in declarandis temporibus utuntur, nec ignara philosophiae, cum propter plurimos in omnibus fere carminibus locos ex intima naturalium quaestionum subtilitate repetitos, tum vel propter Empedoclea in Graecis, Varronem ac Lucretium in Latinis, V. qui praecepta sapientiae versibus tradiderunt: eloquentia quoque non mediocri est opus, ut de unaquaque earum quas demonstravimus rerum dicat proprie et copiose. Quo minus sunt ferendi qui hanc artem ut tenuem atque ieiunam cavillantur. Quae nisi oratoris futuri fundamenta fideliter iecit, quidquid superstruxeris corruet: necessaria pueris, iucunda senibus, dulcis secretorum comes, et quae vel sola in omni studiorum genere plus habeat operis quam ostentationis.

then neither can grammar be perfect without music, since it must speak about metres and rhythms; nor, if it be ignorant of the reckoning of the stars, will it understand the poets, who, to omit other things, so often use the rising and setting of constellations in indicating times; nor can it be ignorant of philosophy, both because of the very many passages in almost all poems drawn from the inmost subtlety of inquiries into nature, and indeed because of the Empedoclean poems among the Greeks, Varro and Lucretius among the Latins, 5. who handed down the precepts of wisdom in verses: there is need also of no mediocre eloquence, that it may speak of each of those matters which we have pointed out properly and copiously. So much the less are those to be endured who cavillate at this art as thin and jejune. If it has not faithfully laid the foundations of the future orator, whatever you build upon will collapse: necessary for boys, pleasant to old men, a sweet companion of retirements, and that which, even alone, in every kind of studies has more of work than of ostentation.

VI. Ne quis igitur tamquam parva fastidiat grammatices elementa, non quia magnae sit operae consonantes a vocalibus discernere ipsasque eas in semivocalium numerum mutarumque partiri, sed quia interiora velut sacri huius adeuntibus apparebit multa rerum subtilitas, quae non modo acuere ingenia puerilia, sed exercere altissimam quoque eruditionem ac scientiam possit. VII. An cuiuslibet auris est exigere litterarum sonos?

6. Therefore let no one disdain the elements of grammar as small, not because it is a great labor to distinguish consonants from vowels and to divide these themselves into the number of semivowels and of mutes, but because, to those approaching the inner parts, as it were, of this sacred thing, much subtlety of matters will appear, which can not only sharpen youthful wits, but also exercise the most lofty erudition and knowledge. 7. Or is it the ear of just anyone to gauge the sounds of letters?

Non hercule magis quam nervorum. Aut grammatici saltem omnes in hanc descendent rerum tenuitatem, desintne aliquae nobis necessariae litterae, non cum Graeca scribimus (tum enim ab isdem duas mutuamur), sed proprie in Latinis: ut in his "servus" et "vulgus" VIII. Aeolicum digammon desideratur, et medius est quidam u et i litterae sonus (non enim sic "optimum" dicimus ut "opimum"), et in "here" neque e plane neque i auditur; IX. an rursus aliae redundent, praeter illam adspirationis, quae si necessaria est, etiam contrariam sibi poscit, et k, quae et ipsa quorundam nominum nota est, et q, cuius similis effectu specieque, nisi quod paulum a nostris obliquatur, coppa apud Graecos nunc tantum in numero manet, et nostrarum ultima, qua tam carere potuimus quam psi non quaerimus?

No, by Hercules, any more than of strings. Or let at least all grammarians descend into this tenuity of matters: whether some necessary letters are lacking to us, not when we write Greek (for then we borrow two from the same), but properly in Latin: as in these “servus” and “vulgus” 8. the Aeolic digamma is lacking, and there is a certain middle sound between the letters u and i (for we do not say “optimum” as “opimum”), and in “here” neither e plainly nor i is heard; 9. or, on the contrary, are others redundant, besides that of aspiration, which, if it is necessary, even demands one contrary to itself, and k, which is itself a mark of certain names, and q, for which a similar character in effect and appearance—coppa among the Greeks, except that it is bent a little away from ours—now remains only in numeration, and the last of ours, which we could as well have done without as we do not seek psi?

X. Atque etiam in ipsis vocalibus grammatici est videre an aliquas pro consonantibus usus acceperit, quia "iam" sicut "etiam" scribitur et "uos" ut "tuos". At quae ut vocales iunguntur aut unam longam faciunt, ut veteres scripserunt, qui geminatione earum velut apice utebantur, aut duas: nisi quis putat etiam ex tribus vocalibus syllabam fieri si non aliquae officio consonantium fungantur. XI. Quaeret hoc etiam, quo modo duabus demum vocalibus in se ipsas coeundi natura sit, cum consonantium nulla nisi alteram frangat: atqui littera i sibi insidit ("conicit" enim est ab illo "iacit") et u, quo modo nunc scribitur "vulgus" et "servus". Sciat etiam Ciceroni placuisse "aiio" "Maiiam"que geminata i scribere: quod si est, etiam iungetur ut consonans. XII.

10. And moreover in the vowels themselves it is for the grammarian to see whether usage has accepted some as consonants, because “iam” is written just as “etiam” and “uos” as “tuos.” But those which are joined as vowels either make one long (as the ancients wrote, who used the gemination of them as a sort of apex) or two; unless someone thinks that even from three vowels a syllable is made, if some do not perform the office of consonants. 11. He will inquire this also: in what way there is by nature a coalescing for two vowels only into themselves, since as for consonants, none does so unless it break the other; and yet the letter i sets itself in the place (“conicit” in fact is from that “iacit”), and u likewise, in the way “vulgus” and “servus” are now written. Let him also know that it pleased Cicero to write “aiio” and “Maiiam” with a doubled i; which, if it is so, will also be joined as a consonant. 12.

Quare discat puer quid in litteris proprium, quid commune, quae cum quibus cognatio: nec miretur cur ex "scamno" fiat "scabillum" aut a "pinno", quod est acutum, securis utrimque habens aciem "bipennis", ne illorum sequatur errorem qui, quia a pennis duabus hoc esse nomen existimant, pennas avium dici volunt. XIII. Neque has modo noverit mutationes, quas adferunt declinatio aut praepositio, ut "secat secuit", "cadit excidit", "caedit excidit", "calcat exculcat" (et fit a "lavando" "lotus" et inde rursus "inlutus", et mille alia), sed et quae rectis quoque casibus aetate transierunt.

Wherefore let the boy learn what in letters is proper, what common, what cognation there is of which with which: nor let him marvel why from "scamno" there is made "scabillum," or from "pinno," which means sharp, an axe having an edge on both sides is "bipennis," lest he follow the error of those who, because they suppose this name to be from two "pennae," want it to be said of the feathers of birds. 13. Nor let him know only these mutations which declension or preposition brings, as "secat secuit," "cadit excidit," "caedit excidit," "calcat exculcat" (and from "lavando" there is made "lotus" and from there again "inlutus," and a thousand others), but also those which even in the straight cases have passed over with time.

Nam ut "Valesii" "Fusii" in "Valerios" "Furios"que venerunt, ita "arbos", "labos", "vapos" etiam et "clamos" ac "lases" fuerunt: XIV. atque haec ipsa s littera ab his nominibus exclusa in quibusdam ipsa alteri successit: nam "mertare" atque "pultare" dicebant, quin "fordeum" "faedos"que pro adspiratione velut simili littera utentes: nam contra Graeci adspirare ei solent, ut pro fundanio Cicero testem qui primam eius litteram dicere non possit inridet. XV. Sed b quoque in locum aliarum dedimus aliquando, unde "Burrus" et "Bruges" et "balaena". Nec non eadem fecit ex "duello" "benum", unde "Duellios" quidam dicere "Bellios" ausi: quid "stlocum" "stlites"que?

For just as "Valesii" and "Fusii" came into "Valerios" and "Furios," so too there were "arbos," "labos," "vapos" as well, and "clamos" and "lases": 14. and this very letter s, excluded from those nouns, in some cases itself succeeded another: for they used to say "mertare" and "pultare," indeed "fordeum" and "faedos," using, in place of aspiration, as it were a similar letter; for on the contrary the Greeks are wont to aspirate it, so that, with regard to "fundanio," Cicero mocks a witness who cannot pronounce its first letter. 15. But we also at times have put b in the place of other letters, whence "Burrus" and "Bruges" and "balaena." And likewise the same has made from "duello" "benum," whence some have dared to say "Bellios" for "Duellios": what of "stlocum" and "stlites"?

XVI. Quid t litterae cum d quaedam cognatio? Quare minus mirum si in vetustis operibus urbis nostrae et celebribus templis legantur "Alexanter" et "Cassantra". Quid o atque u permutata invicem?

16. What kinship has the letter t with d? Wherefore it is less a marvel if in the ancient works of our city and in celebrated temples there are read “Alexanter” and “Cassantra.” What of o and u permuted in turn?

ut "Hecoba" et "nutrix culchidis" et "Pulixena" scriberentur, ac, ne in Graecis id tantum notetur, "dederont" et "probaveront". Sic "odysseus, quem" olissea fecerant Aeolis, ad "Vlixem" deductus est. XVII. Quid?

that "Hecoba" and "nurse of Colchis" and "Pulixena" should be written, and, lest this be noted only in Greek, "dederont" and "probaveront". Thus "odysseus," whom the Aeolians had made "olissea," was deduced to "Vlixem". 17. What?

non e quoque i loco fuit: "Menerva" et "leber" et "magester" et "Diiove Victore", non "Diiovi Victori"? Sed mihi locum signare satis est: non enim doceo, sed admoneo docturos. Inde in syllabas cura transibit, de quibus in orthographia pauca adnotabo. tum videbit, ad quem hoc pertinet, quot et quae partes orationis, quamquam de numero parum convenit.

Was not e also in the place of i: "Menerva" and "leber" and "magester" and "Diiove Victore," not "Diiovi Victori"? But for me it is enough to mark the place: for I do not teach, but admonish those who are going to teach. Thence the care will pass to syllables, about which in orthography I shall note a few things. Then he to whom this pertains will see how many and which parts of speech there are, although about the number there is little agreement.

XVIII. Veteres enim, quorum fuerunt Aristoteles quoque atque Theodectes, verba modo et nomina et convinctiones tradiderunt, videlicet quod in verbis vim sermonis, in nominibus materiam (quia alterum est quod loquimur, alterum de quo loquimur), in convinctionibus autem complexum eorum esse iudicaverunt: quas coniunctiones a plerisque dici scio, sed haec videtur ex syndesmo magis propria tralatio. XIX.

18. For the ancients, among whom were Aristotle as well and Theodectes, handed down only words, and names, and connections, namely because they judged that in verbs is the force of discourse, in names the matter (since the one is what we speak, the other that about which we speak), but in connections the complex of them: which I know are called “conjunctions” by most, but this seems the more proper translation from syndesmos. 19.

Paulatim a philosophis ac maxime Stoicis auctus est numerus, ac primum convinctionibus articuli adiecti, post praepositiones: nominibus appellatio, deinde pronomen, deinde mixtum verbo participium, ipsis verbis adverbia. Noster sermo articulos non desiderat ideoque in alias partes orationis sparguntur, sed accedit superioribus interiectio. XX. Alii tamen ex idoneis dumtaxat auctoribus octo partes secuti sunt, ut Aristarchus et aetate nostra Palaemon, qui vocabulum sive appellationem nomini subiecerunt tamquam speciem eius, at ii qui aliud nomen, aliud vocabulum faciunt, novem.

Little by little the number was increased by the philosophers and especially the Stoics, and first to the connections articles were added, afterward prepositions; to nouns appellation, then the pronoun, then the participle mixed with the verb, to the verbs themselves adverbs. Our language does not require articles and therefore they are scattered into other parts of speech, but in addition to the foregoing the interjection is added. 20. Others, however, following only competent authors, have kept to eight parts, as Aristarchus and in our own age Palaemon, who subjected the vocable or appellation to the noun as its species; but those who make the noun one thing and the vocable another, nine.

Nihilominus fuerunt qui ipsum adhuc vocabulum ab appellatione diducerent, ut esset vocabulum corpus visu tactuque manifestum: "domus" "lectus", appellatio cui vel alterum deesset vel utrumque: "ventus" "caelum" "deus" "virtus". Adiciebant et adseverationem, ut "eheu", et tractionem, ut "fasciatim": quae mihi non adprobantur. XXI. Vocabulum an appellatio dicenda sit prosegoria et subicienda nomini necne, quia parvi refert, liberum opinaturis relinquo.

Nonetheless, there were those who would still draw the vocable apart from the appellation, so that the vocable would be a body manifest to sight and touch: "house" "bed"; the appellation, to which either one or both were lacking: "wind" "sky" "god" "virtue". They also added an adseveration, as "alas", and a traction, as "in bundles": which are not approved by me. 21. Whether "prosegoria" should be called a vocable or an appellation and be subordinated to the noun or not, since it matters little, I leave free to those who are minded to opine.

XXII. Nomina declinare et verba in primis pueri sciant: neque enim aliter pervenire ad intellectum sequentium possunt. Quod etiam monere supervacuum erat nisi ambitiosa festinatione plerique a posterioribus inciperent, et dum ostentare discipulos circa speciosiora malunt, compendio morarentur.

22. Let boys know, first of all, how to decline nouns and conjugate verbs: for otherwise they cannot arrive at an understanding of the things that follow. Even to warn of this would have been superfluous, if most, in ambitious hastening, did not begin from the posterior matters; and, while they prefer to display their pupils about the more specious things, they are delayed by the shortcut.

XXIII. Atqui si quis et didicerit satis et (quod non minus deesse interim solet) voluerit docere quae didicit, non erit contentus tradere in nominibus tria genera et quae sunt duobus omnibusve communia. XXIV.

23. And yet, if anyone has both learned enough and (which no less is wont meanwhile to be lacking) is willing to teach what he has learned, he will not be content to hand down in nouns the three genders and those which are common to two or to all. 24.

Nec statim diligentem putabo qui promiscua, quae epicoena dicuntur, ostenderit, in quibus sexus uterque per alterum apparet, aut quae feminina positione mares aut neutrali feminas significant, qualia sunt "Murena" et "Glycerium". XXV. Scrutabitur ille praeceptor acer atque subtilis origines nominum: quae ex habitu corporis "Rufos" "Longos"que fecerunt (ubi erit aliquid secretius: "Sullae" "Burri" "Galbae" "Plauti" "Pansae" "Scauri" taliaque) et ex casu nascentium (hic Agrippa et Opiter et Cordus et Postumus erunt) et ex iis quae post natos eveniunt, unde "Vopiscus". Iam "Cottae" "Scipiones" "Laenates" "Serani" sunt ex variis causis. XXVI.

Nor shall I straightway think him diligent who has displayed the “common,” which are called epicene, in which each sex appears through the other, or those which by feminine position denote males, or by neuter denote females, such as “Murena” and “Glycerium”. 25. That keen and subtle preceptor will scrutinize the origins of names: those which from bodily habit made “Rufos” and “Longos” (where there will be something more recondite: “Sullae” “Burri” “Galbae” “Plauti” “Pansae” “Scauri” and the like), and from the accident of birth (here there will be an Agrippa and an Opiter and a Cordus and a Postumus), and from those things which befall after they are born, whence “Vopiscus.” Furthermore, “Cottae” “Scipiones” “Laenates” “Serani” are from various causes. 26.

Gentes quoque ac loca et alia multa reperias inter nominum causas. In servis iam intercidit illud genus quod ducebatur a domino, unde "Marcipores" "Publipores" - que. Quaerat etiam sitne apud Graecos vis quaedam sexti casus et apud nos quoque septimi.

You may also find peoples and places and many other things among the causes of names. Among slaves now that kind has died out which was derived from the master, whence "Marcipores" "Publipores" - and the like. Let him also inquire whether there is among the Greeks a certain force of the sixth case, and among us too of the seventh.

Nam cum dico "hasta percussi", non utor ablativi natura, nec si idem Graece dicam, dativi. XXVII. Sed in verbis quoque quis est adeo imperitus ut ignoret genera et qualitates et personas et numeros?

For when I say "I was struck with a spear," I do not use the nature of the ablative, nor, if I say the same in Greek, that of the dative. 27. But in verbs too, who is so unskilled as to be ignorant of kinds and qualities and persons and numbers?

Litterarii paene ista sunt ludi et trivialis scientiae. Iam quosdam illa turbabunt quae declinationibus non teruntur. Nam et quaedam participia an [verba an] appellationes sint dubitari potest, quia aliud alio loco valent, ut "tectum" et "sapiens": XXVIII.

These are almost literary games and of trivial science. Now these things will unsettle certain people which are not treated by declensions. For indeed it can be doubted whether certain participles are [verbs or] appellations (nouns), because they have one force in one place and another in another, as “tectum” and “sapiens”: 28.

quaedam verba appellationibus similia, ut "fraudator" "nutritor". Iam "itur in antiquam silvam" nonne propriae cuiusdam rationis est? Nam quod initium eius invenias? cui simile "fletur". Accipimus aliter ut, "panditur interea domus omnipotentis Olympi", aliter ut "totis usque adeo turbatur agris". Est etiam quidam tertius modus, ut "urbs habitatur", unde et "campus curritur" et "mare navigatur". XXIX.

certain verbs similar to appellations, as "fraudator" "nutritor". Now "itur in antiquam silvam" is it not of some proper rationale? For what beginning of it would you find? to which "fletur" is similar. We take otherwise thus, "panditur interea domus omnipotentis Olympi", otherwise thus "totis usque adeo turbatur agris". There is also a certain third mode, as "urbs habitatur", whence also "campus curritur" and "mare navigatur". 29.

"Pransus" quoque ac "potus" diversum valet quam indicat. Quid quod multa verba non totum declinationis ordinem ferunt? Quaedam etiam mutantur, ut "fero" in praeterito, quaedam tertiae demum personae figura dicuntur, ut "licet" "piget". Quaedam simile quiddam patiuntur vocabulis in adverbium transeuntibus.

"Pransus" too and "potus" have a different force than they indicate. What of the fact that many verbs do not carry the whole order of declination? Some are even altered, as "fero" in the preterite, some are said only in the figure of the third person, as "licet" "piget". Some undergo something similar to terms passing into an adverb.

Nam ut "noctu" et "diu", ita "dictu" "factu"; sunt enim haec quoque verba, participalia quidem, non tamen qualia "dicto" "facto"que.

For as "noctu" and "diu", so "dictu" "factu"; for these too are words, participial indeed, yet not of the kind such as "dicto" and "facto" as well.

[5] I. Iam cum oratio tris habeat virtutes, ut emendata, ut dilucida, ut ornata sit (quia dicere apte, quod est praecipuum, plerique ornatui subiciunt), totidem vitia, quae sunt supra dictis contraria: emendate loquendi regulam, quae grammatices prior pars est, examine. II. Haec exigitur verbis aut singulis aut pluribus. Verba nunc generaliter accipi volo: nam duplex eorum intellectus est, alter qui omnia per quae sermo nectitur significat, ut apud Horatium: "verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur"; alter in quo est una pars orationis: "lego" "scribo"; quam vitantes ambiguitatem quidam dicere maluerunt voces, locutiones, dictiones.

[5] 1. Now since oration has three virtues—that it be emended, that it be lucid, that it be ornate (because to speak aptly, which is the principal thing, many subordinate to ornament)—just so many vices, which are contrary to the aforesaid: examine the rule of speaking correctly, which is the prior part of grammar. 2. This is required of words either singly or in more than one. I wish words to be taken now in a general sense: for there is a twofold understanding of them, one which signifies everything by which speech is knit together, as in Horace: "and words, not unwilling, will follow the thing foreseen"; the other in which it is one part of speech: "I read" "I write"; avoiding which ambiguity some have preferred to say "voices, locutions, dictions".

III. Singula sunt aut nostra aut peregrina, aut simplicia aut composita, aut propria aut tralata, aut usitata aut ficta. Vni verbo vitium saepius quam virtus inest.

III. Individual words are either ours or foreign, either simple or composite, either proper or transferred, either customary or fictive. In a single word, a fault more often than a virtue is present.

Licet enim dicamus aliquod proprium, speciosum, sublime, nihil tamen horum nisi in complexu loquendi serieque contingit: laudamus enim verba rebus bene accommodata. IV. Sola est quae notari possit velut vocalitas, quae euphonia dicitur: cuius in eo dilectus est ut inter duo quae idem significant ac tantundem valent quod melius sonet malis. V. Prima barbarismi ac soloecismi foeditas absit.

For although we may call something proper, comely, sublime, nevertheless none of these occurs except in the complex and series of speaking: for we praise words well accommodated to things. 4. The only thing that can be noted is, as it were, vocality, which is called euphony: whose selection lies in this, that between two which signify the same and are of equal value, you choose what sounds better. 5. First, let the foulness of barbarism and solecism be absent.

Sed quia interim excusantur haec vitia aut consuetudine aut auctoritate aut vetustate aut denique vicinitate virtutum (nam saepe a figuris ea separare difficile est): ne qua tam lubrica observatio fallat, acriter se in illud tenue discrimen grammaticus intendat, de quo nos latius ibi loquemur ubi de figuris orationis tractandum erit. VI. Interim vitium quod fit in singulis verbis sit barbarismus. Occurrat mihi forsan aliquis: quid hic promisso tanti operis dignum?

But because in the meantime these faults are excused either by custom or by authority or by antiquity or, finally, by the vicinity of virtues (for often it is difficult to separate them from figures), lest any observation so slippery should deceive, let the grammarian keenly apply himself to that subtle discrimination, about which we shall speak more broadly there where it will be necessary to treat of the figures of speech. 6. Meanwhile, let the fault which is committed in single words be barbarism. Perhaps someone will meet me: what here is worthy of the promise of so great a work?

aut quis hoc nescit, alios barbarismos scribendo fieri, alios loquendo (quia quod male scribitur male etiam dici necesse est, quae vitiose dixeris non utique et scripto peccant), illud prius adiectione detractione inmutatione transmutatione, hoc secundum divisione complexione adspiratione sono contineri? VII. Sed ut parva sint haec, pueri docentur adhuc et grammaticos officii sui commonemus.

or who does not know this, that some barbarisms come about by writing, others by speaking (for what is badly written must also be badly said; the things which you have said amiss do not necessarily also sin in writing), the former being contained under addition, subtraction, alteration, transmutation, the latter under division, complexion, aspiration, sound? 7. But let these be small matters: boys are still being taught, and we admonish grammarians of their own office.

Ex quibus si quis erit plane inpolitus et vestibulum modo artis huius ingressus, intra haec, quae profitentium commentariolis vulgata sunt, consistet; doctiores multa adicient: vel hoc primum, quod barbarum pluribus modis accipimus. VIII. Vnum gente, quale sit si quis Afrum vel Hispanum Latinae orationi nomen inserat: ut ferrum quo rotae vinciuntur dici solet "cantus", quamquam eo tamquam recepto utitur Persius, sicut Catullus "ploxenum" circa Padum invenit, et in oratione Labieni (sive illa Corneli Galli est) in Pollionem "casamo" +adsectator+ e Gallia ductum est: nam "mastrucam", quod est Sardum, inridens Cicero ex industria dixit.

Of whom, if anyone shall be plainly unpolished and only the vestibule of this art just entered, he will remain within those things which have been made common in the little commentaries of those professing; the more learned will add many things: even this first, that we take “barbarous” in several ways. 8. One by nation, such as if someone were to insert an African or a Hispanic word into Latin speech: as the iron by which wheels are bound is wont to be called “cantus,” although Persius uses it as if accepted, just as Catullus found “ploxenum” around the Po, and in a speech of Labienus (or if that is of Cornelius Gallus) against Pollio, “casamo” +adsectator+ was brought in from Gaul: for “mastrucam,” which is Sardinian, Cicero said in mockery on purpose.

IX. Alterum genus barbari accipimus quod fit animi natura, ut is a quo insolenter quid aut minaciter aut crudeliter dictum sit barbare locutus existimatur. X. Tertium est illud vitium barbarismi, cuius exempla vulgo sunt plurima, sibi etiam quisque fingere potest, ut verbo cui libebit adiciat litteram syllabamve vel detrahat aut aliam pro alia aut eandem alio quam rectum est loco ponat. XI. Sed quidam fere in iactationem eruditionis sumere illa ex poetis solent, et auctores quos praelegunt criminantur.

9. We accept a second kind of barbarism, which arises from the nature of the mind, such that he by whom something has been said insolently or menacingly or cruelly is deemed to have spoken barbarously. 10. The third is that vice of barbarism, of which there are very many examples in common usage; each person can even fashion them for himself: for instance, to whatever word he pleases he may add a letter or a syllable, or detract one, or put another in place of another, or set the same in a place other than what is right. 11. But some, almost for an ostentation of erudition, are wont to take those from the poets, and they accuse the authors whom they prelect.

Scire autem debet puer haec apud scriptores carminum aut venia digna aut etiam laude duci, potiusque illa docendi erunt minus vulgata. XII. Nam duos in uno nomine faciebat barbarismos Tinga Placentinus, si reprehendenti Hortensio credimus, "preculam" pro "pergula" dicens , et inmutatione, cum c pro g uteretur, et transmutatione, cum r praeponeret antecedenti.

Moreover, the boy ought to know that these, among the writers of poems, are to be held either worthy of indulgence or even of praise, and rather those less common things will have to be taught. 12. For Tinga the Placentine was making two barbarisms in one word, if we believe Hortensius the reprover, saying "preculam" for "pergula", both by mutation, when he used c in place of g, and by transmutation, when he prefixed r to what preceded.

At in eadem vitii geminatione "Mettoeo fufetioeo" dicens Ennius poetico iure defenditur. XIII. Sed in prorsa quoque est quaedam iam recepta inmutatio (nam Cicero "Canopitarum exercitum" dicit, ipsi Canobon vocant), et "Trasumennum" pro "Tarsumenno" multi auctores, etiamsi est in eo transmutatio, vindicaverunt.

But in the same duplication of the fault, Ennius, saying "Mettoeo fufetioeo," is defended by poetic right. 13. But in prose too there is a certain alteration now received (for Cicero says "the army of the Canopitans," they themselves call it "Canobon"), and many authors have vindicated "Trasumennum" in place of "Tarsumenno," although there is in it a transmutation.

similiter alia: nam sive est "adsentior", Sisenna dixit "adsentio" multique et hunc et analogian secuti, sive illud verum est, haec quoque pars consensu defenditur: XIV. at ille pexus pinguisque doctor aut illic detractionem aut hic adiectionem putabit. Quid quod quaedam, quae singula procul dubio vitiosa sunt, iuncta sine reprehensione dicuntur?

similarly others: for whether it is "adsentior", Sisenna said "adsentio" and many, following both this and analogy; or if that is true, this side too is defended by consensus: 14. but that combed and plump doctor will think either there a detraction or here an addition. What of the fact that certain things, which singly are without doubt faulty, when joined are spoken without reprehension?

XV. Nam et "dua" et "tre" [pondo] diversorum generum sunt barbarismi, at "dua pondo" et "tre pondo" usque ad nostram aetatem ab omnibus dictum est, et recte dici Messala confirmat. XVI. Absurdum forsitan videatur dicere barbarismum, quod est unius verbi vitium, fieri per numeros aut genera sicut soloecismum: "scala" tamen et "scopa" contraque "hordea" et "mulsa", licet litterarum mutationem detractionem adiectionem habeant, non alio vitiosa sunt quam quod pluralia singulariter et singularia pluraliter efferuntur: et "gladia" qui dixerunt genere exciderunt.

15. For both "dua" and "tre" [pondo] are barbarisms of different kinds, yet "dua pondo" and "tre pondo" have been said by everyone down to our own age, and Messala affirms that it is said correctly. 16. Perhaps it may seem absurd to say that a barbarism, which is a fault of a single word, is produced through number or genders just as a solecism is: nevertheless "scala" and "scopa" and conversely "hordea" and "mulsa," although they have mutation, detraction, and addition of letters, are not faulty for any other reason than that plurals are uttered in the singular and singulars in the plural: and they who said "gladia" have fallen out of the gender.

XVII. Sed hoc quoque notare contentus sum, ne arti culpa quorundam pervicacium perplexae videar et ipse quaestionem addidisse. Plus exigunt subtilitatis quae accidunt in dicendo vitia, quia exempla eorum tradi scripto non possunt, nisi cum in versus inciderunt, ut divisio "Europai" "Asiai", et ei contrarium vitium, XVIII.

17. But I have been content to note this too, lest I myself seem to have added a question to an art perplexed by the fault of certain pervicacious men. The faults which happen in speaking demand more subtlety, because their examples cannot be handed down in writing, unless when they have fallen into verse, as the division "Europai" "Asiai", and the contrary fault to it, 18.

quod synairesis et episynaliphen Graeci vocant, nos complexionem dicimus, qualis est apud P. Varronem: "tum te flagranti deiectum fulmine Phaethon." Nam si esset prorsa oratio, easdem litteras enuntiare veris syllabis licebat. Praeterea quae fiunt spatio, sive cum syllaba correpta producitur, ut "Italiam fato profugus", seu longa corripitur, ut "unius ob noxam et furias", extra carmen non deprendas, sed nec in carmine vitia dicenda sunt. XIX.

which the Greeks call synairesis and episynaliphen, we call complexion, such as is found in P. Varro: "tum te flagranti deiectum fulmine Phaethon." For if it were prose speech, it would be permitted to pronounce the same letters in true syllables. Furthermore, the things that are done by position, whether when a shortened syllable is lengthened, as "Italiam fato profugus," or when a long is clipped, as "unius ob noxam et furias," you would not detect outside of verse; but neither in verse are they to be called faults. 19.

Illa vero non nisi aure exiguntur quae fiunt per sonos: quamquam per adspirationem, sive adicitur vitiose sive detrahitur, apud nos potest quaeri an in scripto sit vitium, si h littera est, non nota. cuius quidem ratio mutata cum temporibus est saepius. XX. Parcissime ea veteres usi etiam in vocalibus, cum "aedos" "ircos"que dicebant.

But those things which are effected through sounds are tested by nothing but the ear: although, in the matter of aspiration, whether it is improperly added or taken away, among us it can be asked whether it is a fault in writing, since h is a letter, not a mark. And indeed its rule has been changed with the times rather often. 20. Very sparingly did the ancients use it even with vowels, when they said “aedos” and “ircos” as well.

Diu deinde servatum ne consonantibus adspirarent, ut in "Graccis" et "triumpis". Erupit brevi tempore nimius usus, ut "choronae" "chenturiones" "praechones" adhuc quibusdam inscriptionibus maneant, qua de re Catulli nobile epigramma est. XXI. Inde durat ad nos usque "vehementer" et "comprehendere" et "mihi": nam "mehe" quoque pro "me" apud antiquos tragoediarum praecipue scriptores in veteribus libris invenimus.

For a long time thereafter it was observed not to aspirate consonants, as in "Graccis" and "triumpis". In a short time, however, an excessive use erupted, so that "choronae" "chenturiones" "praechones" still remain on certain inscriptions, on which matter there is a noble epigram of Catullus. 21. Thence there endures down to us "vehementer" and "comprehendere" and "mihi": for "mehe" also for "me" we find in the ancients, especially the writers of tragedies, in old books.

XXII. Adhuc difficilior observatio est per tenores (quos quidem ab antiquis dictos tonores comperi, videlicet declinato a Graecis verbo, qui tonons dicunt) vel adcentus, quas Graeci prosoidias vocant, cum acuta et gravis alia pro alia ponuntur, ut in hoc "Camillus", si acuitur prima, aut gravis pro flexa, ut "Cethegus" XXIII. (et hic prima acuta; nam sic media mutatur), aut flexa pro gravi, ut +apice+ circumducta sequenti, quam ex duabus syllabis in unam cogentes et deinde flectentes dupliciter peccant.

22. A still more difficult observance is with regard to tones (which indeed I have found were called tonores by the ancients, evidently declined from the Greek word, who say tonos) or accents, which the Greeks call prosodies, when the acute and the grave are set one for another, as in this "Camillus," if the first is made acute; or the grave for the circumflex, as "Cethegus" 23. (and here the first is acute; for thus the middle is changed); or the circumflex for the grave, with the +apex+ carried round to the following, in which, forcing two syllables into one and then bending, they err in a double way.

XXIV. Sed id saepius in Graecis nominibus accidit, ut "Atreus", quem nobis iuvenibus doctissimi senes acuta prima dicere solebant, ut necessario secunda gravis esset, item "Nerei" "Terei"que. XXV.

24. But this more often happens in Greek names, as “Atreus,” which, when we were youths, the most learned elders were accustomed to pronounce with the first syllable acute, so that of necessity the second would be grave, likewise “Nerei” and “Terei” as well. 25.

Haec de accentibus tradita. Ceterum scio iam quosdam eruditos, nonnullos etiam grammaticos sic docere ac loqui ut propter quaedam vocum discrimina verbum interim acuto sono finiant, ut in illis "quae circum litora, circum piscosos scopulos", ne, si gravem posuerint secundam, XXVI. "circus" dici videatur, non "circumitus": itemque cum "quale" interrogantes gravi, comparantes acuto tenore concludunt; quod tamen in adverbiis fere solis ac pronominibus vindicant, in ceteris veterem legem secuntur.

These things about accents have been handed down. Moreover, I know that now certain erudite men, some even grammarians, so teach and speak that, on account of certain distinctions of sounds, they for the moment finish a word with an acute sound, as in those words “quae circum litora, circum piscosos scopulos,” lest, if they have placed a grave on the second, 26. “circus” seem to be said, not “circumitus”: likewise, with “quale,” when asking a question they conclude with a grave, when comparing with an acute tenor; which, however, they vindicate almost only in adverbs and pronouns, in the rest they follow the ancient law.

XXVII. Mihi videtur condicionem mutare quod his locis verba coniungimus. Nam cum dico "circum litora", tamquam unum enuntio dissimulata distinctione, itaque tamquam in una voce una est acuta: quod idem accidit in illo "Troiae qui primus ab oris". XXVIII.

27. It seems to me that the condition changes because in these places we conjoin the words. For when I say "circum litora", I utter it as though it were one, the distinction being concealed, and so, as though in one word, there is one acute accent: the same thing happens in that "Troiae qui primus ab oris". 28.

Evenit ut metri quoque condicio mutet accentum: "pecudes pictaeque volucres". Nam "volucres" media acuta legam, quia, etsi natura brevis, tamen positione longa est, ne faciat iambum, quem non recipit versus herous. XXIX. Separata vero haec a praecepto nostro non recedent, aut si consuetudo vicerit vetus lex sermonis abolebitur.

It happens that the condition of the meter too changes the accent: "pecudes pictaeque volucres". For "volucres" I read with the middle syllable acute, because, although by nature short, yet by position it is long, lest it make an iamb, which the heroic verse does not receive. 29. However, taken separately, these will not depart from our precept; or, if custom shall have prevailed, the old law of speech will be abolished.

cuius difficilior apud Graecos observatio est, quia plura illis loquendi genera, quas dialectus vocant, et quod alias vitiosum, interim alias rectum est. Apud nos vero brevissima ratio: XXX. namque in omni voce acuta intra numerum trium syllabarum continetur, sive eae sunt in verbo solae sive ultimae, et in iis aut proxima extremae aut ab ea tertia.

the observation of which is more difficult among the Greeks, because they have more genera of speaking, which they call dialects, and what is at one time faulty is at another time right. Among us, however, the rule is very brief: 30. for in every word the acute accent is contained within the number of three syllables, whether these are alone in the word or the last ones, and among them it is either the one next to the last or the third from it.

Trium porro de quibus loquor media longa aut acuta aut flexa erit, eodem loco brevis utique gravem habebit sonum ideoque positam ante se, id est ab ultima tertiam, acuet. XXXI. Est autem in omni voce utique acuta, sed numquam plus una nec umquam ultima, ideoque in disyllabis prior.

Of the three, moreover, of which I speak, the middle will be either long, or acute, or circumflex; in the same position, if short, it will of course have a grave sound, and therefore it will make acute that which is placed before it, that is, the third from the end. 31. Now in every word there is of course an acute, but never more than one nor ever on the last, and therefore in disyllables it is the first.

Praeterea numquam in eadem flexa et acuta, +qui in eadem flexa et acuta+; itaque neutra cludet vocem Latinam. Ea vero quae sunt syllabae unius erunt acuta aut flexa, ne sit aliqua vox sine acuta. XXXII.

Furthermore, the circumflex and the acute are never on the same [syllable], +who in the same are circumflex and acute+; and so neither will close the Latin word. But those which are of one syllable will be acute or circumflex, lest there be any word without an acute. 32.

Et illa per sonos accidunt, quae demonstrari scripto non possunt, vitia oris et linguae: iotacismus et labdacismus et ischnotetas et plateasmus feliciores fingendis nominibus Graeci vocant, sicut coelostomian, cum vox quasi in recessu oris auditur. XXXIII. sunt etiam proprii quidam et inenarrabiles soni, quibus nonnumquam nationes deprehendimus.

And those things happen in the sounds, which cannot be shown by writing, the vices of mouth and tongue: iotacism and lambdacism and ischnotetas and plateasmus the Greeks, happier at coining names, call, just as “coelostomian,” when the voice is heard as if in a recess of the mouth. 33. there are also certain peculiar and indescribable sounds, by which we sometimes detect nations.

Remotis igitur omnibus de quibus supra diximus vitiis erit illa quae vocatur orthoepeia, id est emendata cum suavitate vocum explanatio: nam sic accipi potest recta. XXXIV. Cetera vitia omnia ex pluribus vocibus sunt, quorum est soloecismus.

With all the faults about which we have spoken above removed, there will be that which is called orthoepy, that is, an emended explication of voices with suavity: for thus it can be understood as “right.” 34. All the other faults arise from several words, among which is solecism.

Quamquam circa hoc quoque disputatum est; nam etiam qui complexu orationis accidere eum confitentur, quia tamen unius emendatione verbi corrigi possit, in verbo esse vitium, XXXV. non in sermone contendunt, cum, sive "amarae corticis" seu "medio cortice" per genus facit soloecismum (quorum neutrum quidem reprehendo, cum sit utriusque Vergilius auctor: sed fingamus utrumlibet non recte dictum), mutatio vocis alterius, in qua vitium erat, rectam loquendi rationem sit redditura, ut "amari corticis" fiat vel "media cortice". Quod manifestae calumniae est: neutrum enim vitiosum est separatum, sed compositione peccatur, quae iam sermonis est. XXXVI.

Although about this too there has been dispute; for even those who confess that it occurs in the embrace of discourse, because nevertheless it can be corrected by the emendation of a single word, contend that the fault is in the word, 35. not in discourse, since, whether "amarae corticis" or "medio cortice" makes a solecism in gender (neither of which, indeed, do I censure, since Virgil is the authority for both; but let us suppose either to have been not rightly said), a change of the other word, in which the fault was, will restore the right ratio of speaking, so that it becomes "amari corticis" or "media cortice." Which is a manifest calumny: for neither is faulty taken separately, but the sinning is in the composition, which already belongs to discourse. 36.

Illud eruditius quaeritur, an in singulis quoque verbis possit fieri soloecismus, ut si unum quis ad se vocans dicat "venite", aut si pluris a se dimittens ita loquatur: "abi" aut "discede". Nec non cum responsum ab interrogante dissentit, ut si dicenti "quem video?" ita occurras: "ego". In gestu etiam nonnulli putant idem vitium inesse, cum aliud voce, aliud nutu vel manu demonstratur. XXXVII. huic opinioni neque omnino accedo neque plane dissentio; nam id fateor accidere voce una, non tamen aliter quam si sit aliquid, quod vim alterius vocis optineat, ad quod vox illa referatur: ut soloecismus ex complexu fiat eorum quibus res significantur et voluntas ostenditur.

That is inquired more eruditely, whether a solecism can also occur in single words: as if someone, calling one person to himself, should say "come (you all)," or if, dismissing several from himself, he should speak thus: "go away (thou)" or "depart (thou)." Likewise when the answer disagrees with the questioner, as if to one saying "whom do I see?" you should reply thus: "I." In gesture too some think the same fault is present, when one thing is indicated by the voice, another by a nod or by the hand. 37. to this opinion I neither altogether accede nor plainly dissent; for I confess that this can happen with a single word, yet not otherwise than if there is something that holds the force of another word, to which that word is referred: so that a solecism arises from the complex of those things by which things are signified and will is shown.

XXXVIII. Atque ut omnem effugiam cavillationem, sit aliquando in uno verbo, numquam in solo verbo. Per quot autem et quas accidat species, non satis convenit.

38. And that I may escape every cavillation, let it be sometimes in one word, never in the word alone. But as to by how many species and of what kinds it occurs, there is not sufficient agreement.

Qui plenissime, quadripertitam volunt esse rationem nec aliam quam barbarismi, ut fiat adiectione "nam enim", "de susum", "in Alexandriam", detractione "ambulo viam", XXXIX. "Aegypto venio", "ne hoc fecit", transmutatione, qua ordo turbatur, "quoque ego", "enim hoc voluit", "autem non habuit": ex quo genere an sit "igitur" initio sermonis positum dubitari potest, quia maximos auctores in diversa fuisse opinione video, cum apud alios sit etiam frequens, apud alios numquam reperiatur. XL. Haec tria genera quidam diducunt a soloecismo, et adiectionis vitium pleonasmon, detractionis elleipsin, inversionis anastrophes vocant: quae si in speciem soloecismi cadat, hyperbaton quoque eodem appellari modo posse.

Those who most fully wish the rationale to be fourfold and no other than that of barbarism, so that it is made by addition "nam enim", "de susum", "in Alexandriam", by detraction "ambulo viam", 39. "Aegypto venio", "ne hoc fecit", by transmutation, whereby order is disturbed, "quoque ego", "enim hoc voluit", "autem non habuit": from which sort it can be doubted whether "igitur" placed at the beginning of discourse belongs, because I see the greatest authors to have been of differing opinion, since with some it is even frequent, with others it is never found. 40. Some separate these three kinds from soloecism, and call the fault of addition pleonasm, of detraction ellipsis, of inversion anastrophe: and if these fall into the species of soloecism, hyperbaton too can be called by the same name.

XLI. Inmutatio sine controversia est, cum aliud pro alio ponitur. Id per omnis orationis partis deprendimus, frequentissime in verbo, quia plurima huic accidunt, ideoque in eo fiunt soloecismi per genera tempora personas modos (sive cui "status" eos dici seu "qualitates" placet) vel sex vel ut alii volunt octo (nam totidem vitiorum erunt formae in quot species eorum quidque de quibus supra dictum est diviseris): praeterea numeros, XLII.

41. Alteration is, without controversy, when one thing is set in place of another. We detect this across all parts of speech, most frequently in the verb, because very many features befall it, and therefore in it solecisms occur through kinds, times (tenses), persons, modes (moods) (whether it pleases someone that these be called "statuses" or "qualities") either six, or, as others wish, eight (for there will be as many forms of faults as into however many species you divide each of those of which above it has been said): moreover, the numbers, 42.

in quibus nos singularem ac pluralem habemus, Graeci et dyikon. Quamquam fuerunt qui nobis quoque adicerent dualem "scripsere" "legere" (quod evitandae asperitatis gratia mollitum est, ut apud veteres pro "male mereris" "male merere"), ideoque quod vocant duale in illo solo genere consistit, cum apud Graecos et verbi tota fere ratione et in nominibus deprendatur (et sic quoque rarissimus sit eius usus), XLIII. apud nostrorum vero neminem haec observatio reperiatur, quin e contrario "devenere locos" et "conticuere omnes" et "consedere duces" aperte nos doceant nil horum ad duos pertinere, "dixere" quoque, quamquam id Antonius Rufus ex diverso ponit exemplum, de pluribus patronis praeco pronuntiet.

in which we have the singular and the plural, the Greeks also the dyikon. Although there were those who would add for us too a dual, "scripsere" and "legere" (which has been softened for the sake of avoiding asperity, as among the ancients in place of "male mereris" [you deserve ill] "male merere" [deserve ill]), and therefore what they call the dual consists in that one kind alone, whereas among the Greeks it is detected both almost throughout the whole system of the verb and in nouns (and even so its use is very rare), 43. among our own, however, this observance is found in no one; rather, on the contrary, "devenere locos" and "conticuere omnes" and "consedere duces" openly teach us that none of these pertain to two; "dixere" too—although Antonius Rufus sets that as an example on the opposite side—the herald would pronounce about several patrons.

XLIV. Quid? non Livius circa initia statim primi libri "tenuere" inquit "arcem Sabini" et mox: "in adversum Romani subiere"? Sed quem potius ego quam M. tullium sequar?

44. What? Does not Livy, right at the very beginning of the first book, say "the Sabines held the citadel," and soon after: "the Romans advanced against"? But whom should I follow rather than M. tullius?

Qui in Oratore "non reprendo" inquit "scripsere: scripserunt esse verius sentio". XLV. Similiter in vocabulis et nominibus fit soloecismus genere, numero, proprie autem casibus, quidquid horum alteri succedet. Huic parti subiungantur licet per comparationes et superlationes, itemque in quibus patrium pro possessivo dicitur vel contra.

He who in the Orator says "I do not censure" "scripsere: I feel 'scripserunt' to be truer". 45. Similarly, in vocables and nouns a solecism occurs in gender, in number, but more properly in cases, whenever any of these takes the place of another. To this part may be subjoined, if you like, those [things] involving comparisons and superlatives, and likewise those in which the patrial is said for the possessive, or the reverse.

XLVI. Nam vitium quod fit per quantitatem, ut "magnum peculiolum", erunt qui soloecismum putent, quia pro nomine integro positum sit deminutum: ego dubito an id inproprium potius appellem; significatione enim deerrat: soloecismi porro vitium non est in sensu, sed in complexu. XLVII.

46. For the fault that is made through quantity, as “a great little hoard,” there will be those who think it a solecism, because a diminutive has been set in place of an integral noun: I hesitate whether I would rather call that an impropriety; for it strays in signification: the fault of solecism, moreover, is not in sense, but in combination. 47.

In participio per genus et casum ut in vocabulo, per tempora ut in verbo, per numerum ut in utroque peccatur. Pronomen quoque genus numerum casus habet, quae omnia recipiunt huius modi errorem. XLVIII.

In the participle one errs in gender and case as in the noun, in tenses as in the verb, in number as in both. The pronoun too has gender, number, and cases, all of which admit an error of this kind. 48.

Fiunt soloecismi et quidem plurimi per partis orationis: sed id tradere satis non est, ne ita demum vitium esse credat puer si pro alia ponatur alia, ut verbum ubi nomen esse debuerit, vel adverbium ubi pronomen, ac similia. XLIX. Nam sunt quaedam cognata, ut dicunt, id est eiusdem generis, in quibus qui alia specie quam oportet utetur, non minus quam ipso genere permutato deliquerit.

Solecisms are made, and indeed very many, through the parts of speech: but to hand this down is not enough, lest the boy believe that it is a fault only then if one thing is put for another, as a verb where a noun ought to be, or an adverb where a pronoun, and the like. 49. For there are certain “cognate” things, as they say, that is, of the same genus, in which he who will use another species than is proper will have erred no less than if the genus itself had been exchanged.

L. Nam et "an" et "aut" coniunctiones sunt, male tamen interroges "hic aut ille sit"; et "ne" ac "non" adverbia: qui tamen dicat pro illo "ne feceris" "non feceris", in idem incidat vitium, quia alterum negandi est, alterum vetandi. Hoc amplius "intro" et "intus" loci adverbia, "eo" tamen "intus" et "intro sum" soloecismi sunt. LI. Eadem in diversitate pronominum interiectionum praepositionum accident.

50. For both "an" and "aut" are conjunctions, yet you ask wrongly, "whether this man or that be"; and "ne" and "non" are adverbs: yet whoever says "non feceris" in place of "ne feceris" falls into the same fault, because the one is of denying, the other of forbidding. Moreover, "intro" and "intus" are adverbs of place; yet "eo intus" and "intro sum" are solecisms. 51. The same will happen in the diversity of pronouns, interjections, prepositions.

Est enim soloecismus in oratione comprensionis unius sequentium ac priorum inter se inconveniens positio. LII. Quaedam tamen et faciem soloecismi habent et dici vitiosa non possunt, ut "tragoedia Thyestes", ut "ludi Floralia ac Megalesia" - quamquam haec sequentia tempore interciderunt numquam aliter a veteribus dicta.

For a solecism is, in speech, the incongruent placing of what follows and what precedes, within a single construction, in relation to each other. 52. Yet certain things both have the appearance of a solecism and cannot be called faulty, as "tragoedia Thyestes", as "ludi Floralia ac Megalesia" - although these following collocations, lapsed with time, were never otherwise said by the ancients.

Schemata igitur nominabuntur frequentiora quidem apud poetas, sed oratoribus quoque permissa. LIII. Verum schema fere habebit aliquam rationem, ut docebimus eo quem paulo ante promisimus loco, sed hic quoque quod schema vocatur, si ab aliquo per inprudentiam factum erit, soloecismi vitio non carebit.

Schemata, therefore, will be named—more frequent indeed among poets, but permitted to orators as well. 53. Yet a schema will generally have some rationale, as we shall teach in the place which we promised a little before; but here too, that which is called a schema, if it has been done by someone through imprudence, will not be free from the vice of solecism.

LIV. In eadem specie sunt, sed schemate carent, ut supra dixi, nomina feminina quibus mares utuntur, et neutralia quibus feminae. Hactenus de soloecismo: neque enim artem grammaticam componere adgressi sumus, sed cum in ordinem incurreret, inhonoratam transire noluimus.

54. In the same species are, but they lack a schema, as I said above, feminine nouns which males use, and neuters which females use. Thus far about solecism: for we have not undertaken to compose the art of grammar, but since it ran into our order, we did not wish to pass it by unhonored.

LV. Hoc amplius, ut institutum ordinem sequar, verba aut Latina aut peregrina sunt. Peregrina porro ex omnibus prope dixerim gentibus ut homines, ut instituta etiam multa venerunt. LVI.

55. This further, that I may follow the instituted order, words are either Latin or foreign. Foreign words moreover have come from almost all, I would almost say, nations, just as men, so also many institutions have come. 56.

Taceo de tuscis et Sabinis et Praenestinis quoque (nam ut eorum sermone utentem Vettium Lucilius insectatur, quem ad modum Pollio reprendit in Livio Patavinitatem): licet omnia Italica pro Romanis habeam. LVII. Plurima Gallica evaluerunt, ut "raeda" ac "petorritum", quorum altero tamen Cicero, altero Horatius utitur.

I pass over the Tuscans and the Sabines and the Praenestines as well (for just as Lucilius attacks Vettius for using their speech, in like manner Pollio reproves in Livy a “Patavinity”): it is permitted me to reckon all Italic things as Roman. 57. Very many Gallic terms have prevailed, such as "raeda" and "petorritum", of which, however, Cicero uses the one, Horace the other.

Et "mappam" circo quoque usitatum nomen Poeni sibi vindicant, et "gurdos", quos pro stolidis accipit vulgus, ex Hispania duxisse originem audivi. LVIII. Sed haec divisio mea ad Graecum sermonem praecipue pertinet; nam et maxima ex parte Romanus inde conversus est, et confessis quoque Graecis utimur verbis ubi nostra desunt, sicut illi a nobis nonnumquam mutuantur.

And the Punics claim for themselves the name "mappam," also customary in the circus, and "gurdos," whom the crowd takes for stolid, I have heard to have drawn their origin from Spain. 58. But this division of mine pertains chiefly to the Greek speech; for the Roman [tongue] for the greatest part has been converted from there, and we also use avowed Greek words where our own are lacking, just as they sometimes borrow from us.

Inde illa quaestio exoritur, an eadem ratione per casus duci externa qua nostra conveniat. LIX. Ac si reperias grammaticum veterum amatorem, neget quicquam ex Latina ratione mutandum, quia, cum sit apud nos casus ablativus, quem illi non habent, parum conveniat uno casu nostro, quinque Graecis uti: LX. quin etiam laudet virtutem eorum qui potentiorem facere linguam Latinam studebant nec alienis egere institutis fatebantur: inde "Castorem" media syllaba producta pronuntiarunt, quia hoc omnibus nostris nominibus accidebat quorum prima positio in easdem quas "Castor" litteras exit, et ut "Palaemo" ac "Telamo" et "Plato" (nam sic eum Cicero quoque appellat) dicerentur retinuerunt, quia Latinum quod o et n litteris finiretur non reperiebant.

From there that question arises, whether it is fitting that foreign words be led through the cases by the same method as our own. 59. And if you find a grammarian, a lover of the ancients, he says that nothing ought to be changed from the Latin method, because, since among us there is the ablative case, which they do not have, it accords little that, with our one case, we should use five Greek ones: 60. nay even he praises the virtue of those who were striving to make the Latin language more powerful and avowed that it did not need foreign institutions: thence they pronounced "Castorem" with the middle syllable lengthened, because this befell all our nouns whose first position ends in the same letters as "Castor," and they kept that "Palaemo" and "Telamo" and "Plato" (for thus Cicero also calls him) be said, because they did not find a Latin word that ended with the letters o and n.

LXI. Ne in a quidem atque s litteras exire temere masculina Graeca nomina recto casu patiebantur, ideoque et apud Caelium legimus "Pelia cincinnatus" et apud Messalam "bene fecit Euthia" et apud Ciceronem "Hermagora", ne miremur quod ab antiquorum plerisque "Aenea" ut "Anchisa" sit dictus. LXII.

61. They did not readily allow Greek masculine names in the nominative case to end in the letters a and s, and therefore we read in Caelius "Pelia cincinnatus" and in Messala "bene fecit Euthia" and in Cicero "Hermagora," that we may not wonder that by most of the ancients "Aenea" was said as "Anchisa." 62.

Nam si ut "Maecenas" "Sufenas" "Asprenas" dicerentur, genetivo casu non e littera sed tis syllaba terminarentur. Inde Olympo et tyranno acutam syllabam mediam dederunt, quia [duabus longis sequentibus] primam brevem acui noster sermo non patitur. LXIII.

For if, so that "Maecenas" "Sufenas" "Asprenas" might be said, in the genitive case they would be terminated not with the letter e but with the syllable -tis. Thence they gave to Olympo and tyranno an acute middle syllable, because [with two long ones following] our speech does not allow the first short to be made acute. 63.

Sic genetivus "Vlixi" et "Achilli" fecit, sic alia plurima. Nunc recentiores instituerunt Graecis nominibus Graecas declinationes potius dare, quod tamen ipsum non semper fieri potest. Mihi autem placet rationem Latinam sequi, quousque patitur decor.

Thus the genitive produced "Ulixi" and "Achilli," and thus very many others. Now the more recent have instituted to give to Greek names Greek declensions rather, which, however, cannot always be done. But it pleases me to follow the Latin rationale, so far as decor permits.

Neque enim iam "Calypsonem" dixerim ut "Iunonem", quamquam secutus antiquos C. Caesar utitur hac ratione declinandi; sed auctoritatem consuetudo superavit. LXIV. In ceteris quae poterunt utroque modo non indecenter efferri, qui Graecam figuram sequi malet non Latine quidem sed tamen citra reprehensionem loquetur.

Nor indeed would I now say "Calypsonem" as "Iunonem", although, following the ancients, C. Caesar uses this method of declining; but custom has overcome authority. 64. In the rest, which can be expressed in either way not indecently, he who prefers to follow the Greek figure will not indeed speak in Latin, yet he will speak without reprehension.

LXV. Simplices voces prima positione, id est natura sua, constant, compositae aut praepositionibus subiunguntur, ut "innocens" (dum ne pugnantibus inter se duabus, quale est "inperterritus": alioqui possunt aliquando continuari duae, ut "incompositus" "reconditus" et quo Cicero utitur "subabsurdum"), aut e duobus quasi corporibus coalescunt, ut "maleficus". LXVI. Nam ex tribus nostrae utique linguae non concesserim, quamvis "capsis" Cicero dicat compositum esse ex "cape si vis", et inveniantur qui "Lupercalia" aeque tris partes orationis esse contendant quasi "luere per caprum": LXVII.

65. Simple words stand in their first position, that is, by their own nature; compounds are either subjoined to prepositions, as "innocens" (provided that two are not at odds with each other, such as "inperterritus": otherwise two can sometimes be continued together, as "incompositus" "reconditus" and "subabsurdum," which Cicero uses), or they coalesce from, as it were, two bodies, as "maleficus". 66. For from three I would by no means concede [compounds] to our language, although Cicero says that "capsis" is composed from "cape si vis", and there are those to be found who contend that "Lupercalia" likewise is three parts of speech, as if "luere per caprum": 67.

nam "Solitaurilia" iam persuasum est esse "Suovetaurilia", et sane ita se habet sacrum, quale apud Homerum quoque est. Sed haec non tam ex tribus quam ex particulis trium coeunt. Ceterum etiam ex praepositione et duobus vocabulis dure videtur struxisse Pacuvius: "Nerei repandirostrum incurvicervicum pecus." LXVIII.

For "Solitaurilia" it is now accepted to be "Suovetaurilia", and indeed the sacred rite is thus, such as it is also in Homer. But these come together not so much from three as from particles of three. Moreover, Pacuvius even seems to have harshly constructed from a preposition and two vocables: "Nereus’s upturned-snout, crooked-necked herd." 68.

Iunguntur autem aut ex duobus Latinis integris, ut "superfui" "supterfugi", quamquam ex integris an composita sint quaeritur, aut ex integro et corrupto, ut "malevolus", aut ex corrupto et integro, ut "noctivagus", aut duobus corruptis, ut "pedisecus", aut ex nostro et peregrino, ut "biclinium", aut contra, ut "epitogium" et "Anticato", aliquando et ex duobus peregrinis, ut "epiraedium"; nam cum sit "epi" praepositio Graeca, "raeda" Gallicum (neque Graecus tamen neque Gallus utitur composito), Romani suum ex alieno utroque fecerunt. LXIX. Frequenter autem praepositiones quoque copulatio ista corrumpit: inde "abstulit" "aufugit" "amisit", cum praepositio sit "ab" sola, et "coit", cum sit praepositio "con". Sic "ignavi" et "erepublica" et similia.

They are joined either from two entire Latin [words], as "superfui" "supterfugi" (although the question is raised whether they are entire or compounded), or from an entire and a corrupted [form], as "malevolus", or from a corrupted and an entire [form], as "noctivagus", or from two corrupted [forms], as "pedisecus", or from our own and a foreign [word], as "biclinium", or the other way around, as "epitogium" and "Anticato", and sometimes even from two foreign [words], as "epiraedium"; for since "epi" is a Greek preposition, "raeda" Gallic (neither the Greek nor the Gaul, however, uses the compound), the Romans made their own out of both alien elements. 69. Frequently, moreover, this coupling also corrupts prepositions: hence "abstulit" "aufugit" "amisit", although the preposition is "ab" alone, and "coit", although the preposition is "con". Thus "ignavi" and "erepublica" and the like.

LXX. Sed res tota magis Graecos decet, nobis minus succedit: nec id fieri natura puto, sed alienis favemus, ideoque cum kyrtaykena mirati simus, "incurvicervicum" vix a risu defendimus. LXXI.

70. But the whole matter befits the Greeks more; it succeeds less for us: nor do I think that happens by nature, but we favor things foreign, and therefore, although we have admired kyrtaykena, we can scarcely keep from laughter at "incurvicervicum". 71.

Propria sunt verba cum id significant in quod primo denominata sunt, tralata cum alium natura intellectum, alium loco praebent. Vsitatis tutius utimur, nova non sine quodam periculo fingimus. Nam si recepta sunt, modicam laudem adferunt orationi, repudiata etiam in iocos exeunt.

Words are proper when they signify that for which they were first denominated; transferred when they offer one understanding by nature, another by place. We use what is usual more safely; we fashion new things not without a certain peril. For if they are received, they bring moderate praise to the oration; if repudiated, they even pass into jokes.

LXXII. Audendum tamen: namque, ut Cicero ait, etiam quae primo dura visa sunt, usu molliuntur. Sed minime nobis concessa est onomatopoiia.

72. We must dare, nevertheless: for, as Cicero says, even things that at first seemed hard are softened by use. But onomatopoeia is by no means granted to us.

Quis enim ferat si quid simile illis merito laudatis ligxe bios et si'ophthalmos fingere audeamus? Iam ne "balare" quidem aut "hinnire" fortiter diceremus nisi iudicio vetustatis niterentur.

For who would endure it, if we should dare to fashion something like those deservedly praised ligxe bios and si'ophthalmos? Now not even "balare" or "hinnire" would we say boldly, unless they relied on the judgment of antiquity.

[6] I. Est etiam sua loquentibus observatio, sua scribentibus. Sermo constat ratione vetustate auctoritate consuetudine. Rationem praestat praecipue analogia, nonnumquam etymologia.

[6] 1. There is likewise its own observance for those speaking, its own for those writing. Discourse consists in reason, antiquity, authority, and custom. Reason is furnished chiefly by analogy, sometimes by etymology.

Vetera maiestas quaedam et, ut sic dixerim, religio commendat. II. Auctoritas ab oratoribus vel historicis peti solet (nam poetas metri necessitas excusat, nisi si quando nihil impediente in utroque modulatione pedum alterum malunt, qualia sunt "imo de stirpe recisum" et "aeriae quo congessere palumbes" et "silice in nuda" et similia): cum summorum in eloquentia virorum iudicium pro ratione, et vel error honestus est magnos duces sequentibus. III.

The old commends by a certain majesty and, so to speak, a religious awe. 2. Authority is accustomed to be sought from orators or historians (for the necessity of meter excuses poets, unless at some time, with nothing hindering in the modulation of the feet on either side, they prefer the other, such as "cut off from the root below" and "whither the airy wood-pigeons have heaped [them]" and "on naked flint" and the like): since the judgment of the very highest men in eloquence stands in place of reason, and even an honorable error is creditable to those following great leaders. 3.

Consuetudo vero certissima loquendi magistra, utendumque plane sermone, ut nummo, cui publica forma est. Omnia tamen haec exigunt acre iudicium, analogia praecipue: IV. quam proxime ex Graeco transferentes in Latinum proportionem vocaverunt. Eius haec vis est, ut id quod dubium est ad aliquid simile de quo non quaeritur referat, et incerta certis probet.

Custom indeed is the most certain mistress of speaking, and we must plainly use speech as coin, which has a public stamp. Yet all these require keen judgment, analogy especially: 4. which, translating as nearly as possible from the Greek into Latin, they called proportion. Its force is this: that it refers what is doubtful to something similar about which no question is raised, and proves uncertain things by certain ones.

Quod efficitur duplici via: comparatione similium in extremis maxime syllabis, propter quod ea quae sunt e singulis negantur debere rationem, et deminutione. V. Comparatio in nominibus aut genus deprendit aut declinationem: genus, ut, si quaeratur "funis" masculinum sit an femininum, simile illi sit "panis": declinationem, ut, si veniat in dubium "hac domu" dicendum sit an "hac domo", et "domuum" an "domorum", similia sint "domus" "anus" "manus". VI. Deminutio genus modo detegit, ut, ne ab eodem exemplo recedam, "funem" masculinum esse "funiculus" ostendit. VII.

Which is achieved by a double way: by comparison of similars, chiefly in the final syllables, on account of which those that are single instances are denied to owe a rationale, and by diminution. 5. Comparison in nouns detects either the gender or the declension: the gender, for instance, if it is asked whether “funis” is masculine or feminine, “panis” is similar to it; the declension, for example, if it comes into doubt whether “hac domu” should be said or “hac domo,” and “domuum” or “domorum,” the similars are “domus,” “anus,” “manus.” 6. Diminution reveals only the gender, as, not to depart from the same example, “funiculus” shows “funem” to be masculine. 7.

Eadem in verbis quoque ratio comparationis, ut, si quis antiquos secutus "fervere" brevi media syllaba dicat, deprendatur vitiose loqui, quod omnia quae e et o litteris fatendi modo terminantur, eadem, si in infinitis e litteram media syllaba acceperunt, utique productam habent: "prandeo" pendeo "spondeo", "prandere" pendere "spondere", at quae o solam habent, VIII. dummodo per eandem litteram in infinito exeant, brevia fiunt: "lego" "dico" "curro", "legere" "dicere" "currere": etiamsi est apud Lucilium: "fervit aqua et fervet: fervit nunc, fervet ad annum".

The same principle of comparison holds also in verbs, so that, if someone, following the ancients, should say "fervere" with the middle syllable short, he would be detected as speaking amiss, because all those which in the manner of stating end with the letters e and o—these same, if in the infinitives they have received the letter e in the middle syllable—assuredly have it lengthened: "prandeo" pendeo "spondeo", "prandere" pendere "spondere"; but those which have o alone, 8. provided that they go out in the infinitive through the same letter, become short: "lego" "dico" "curro", "legere" "dicere" "currere": although there is in Lucilius: "fervit aqua et fervet: fervit nunc, fervet ad annum".

IX. Sed pace dicere hominis eruditissimi liceat: si "fervit" putat illi simile "currit" et "legit", "fervo" dicet ut "lego" et "curro", quod nobis inauditum est. Sed non est haec vera comparatio: nam "fervit" est illi simile "servit". Quam proportionem sequenti dicere necesse est "fervire" ut "servire". X. Prima quoque aliquando positio ex obliquis invenitur, ut memoria repeto convictos a me qui reprenderant quod hoc verbo usus essem: "pepigi"; nam id quidem dixisse summos auctores confitebantur, rationem tamen negabant permittere, quia prima positio "paciscor", cum haberet naturam patiendi, faceret tempore praeterito "pactus sum". XI. Nos praeter auctoritatem oratorum atque historicorum analogia quoque dictum tuebamur. Nam cum legeremus in XII tabulis "ni ita pagunt", inveniebamus simile huic "cadunt": inde prima positio, etiamsi vetustate exoleverat, apparebat "pago" ut "cado", unde non erat dubium sic "pepigi" nos dicere ut "cecidi". XII.

9. But let it be permitted, with the peace of a most erudite man, to say this: if he thinks “fervit” is similar to “currit” and “legit,” he will say “fervo” as “lego” and “curro,” which is unheard-of to us. But this is not a true comparison: for “fervit” is similar to “servit.” Following that proportion one must say “fervire” as “servire.” 10. The first position too is sometimes found from the oblique forms, as I recall having convicted those who had reproved me because I had used this word: “pepigi”; for they admitted indeed that the greatest authors had said it, yet they denied that reason permitted it, because the first position is “paciscor,” and, having the nature of a deponent (literally “of suffering”), it would make in the past tense “pactus sum.” 11. We, besides the authority of orators and historians, also defended the expression by analogy. For when we read in the 12 Tables “ni ita pagunt,” we found something similar to this in “cadunt”: from that, the first position, even if it had died out through age, appeared as “pago” like “cado,” whence it was not in doubt that we say “pepigi” just as “cecidi.” 12.

Sed meminerimus non per omnia duci analogiae posse rationem, cum et sibi ipsa plurimis in locis repugnet. Quaedam sine dubio conantur eruditi defendere, ut, cum deprensum est "lepus" et "lupus" similia positione quantum casibus numerisque dissentiant, ita respondent non esse paria quia "lepus" epicoenon sit, "lupus" masculinum, quamquam Varro in eo libro quo initia Romanae urbis enarrat lupum feminam dicit Ennium Pictoremque Fabium secutus. XIII.

But let us remember that the reasoning of analogy cannot be led through all things, since it also in very many places is repugnant to itself. Certain points, without doubt, the erudite try to defend: as, when it is detected that “lepus” and “lupus” are similar in position, although they dissent in cases and numbers, thus they respond that they are not equal because “lepus” is epicene, “lupus” masculine—although Varro, in that book in which he recounts the beginnings of the Roman city, calls the wolf female, following Ennius and Fabius Pictor. 13.

Illi autem idem, cum interrogantur cur "aper" "apri" et "pater" "patris" faciat, illud nomen positum, hoc ad aliquid esse contendunt. Praeterea quoniam utrumque a Graeco ductum sit, ad eam rationem recurrunt, ut patros "patris", kaprou "apri" faciat. XIV.

But those same men, when they are asked why “aper” makes “apri” and “pater” makes “patris,” contend that the former is a noun taken absolutely, the latter relative to something. Moreover, since both are derived from Greek, they resort to that rationale, namely that from patros one makes “patris,” from kaprou “apri.” 14.

Illa tamen quomodo effugient, ut non, quamvis feminina singulari nominativo us litteris finita numquam genetivo casu ris syllaba terminentur, faciat tamen "Venus" "Veneris"? Item, cum es litteris finita per varios exeant genetivos, numquam tamen eadem ris syllaba terminatos, "Ceres" cogat dici "Cereris"? XV. Quid vero quae tota positionis eiusdem in diversos flexus eunt, cum "Alba" faciat "Albanos" et "Albensis", "volo" "volui" et "volavi"? Nam praeterito quidem tempore varie formari verba prima persona o littera terminata ipsa analogia confitetur, si quidem facit "cado" "cecidi", "spondeo" spopondi", "pingo" "pinxi","lego" "legi", "pono" "posui", "frango" "fregi", "laudo laudavi". XVI. Non enim, cum primum fingerentur homines, Analogia demissa caelo formam loquendi dedit, sed inventa est postquam loquebantur, et notatum in sermone quid quoque modo caderet. Itaque non ratione nititur sed exemplo, nec lex est loquendi sed observatio, ut ipsam analogian nulla res alia fecerit quam consuetudo.

Yet how will they escape this, that, although feminine [nouns] finished with the letters us in the nominative singular never terminate in the genitive case with the syllable ris, nevertheless "Venus" makes "Veneris"? Likewise, since those finished with the letters es go out into various genitives, yet never the same terminated with the syllable ris, does "Ceres" compel "Cereris" to be said? 15. But what of those which, though wholly of the same position, go into diverse inflections, since "Alba" makes "Albanos" and "Albensis", "volo" "volui" and "volavi"? For in the past tense indeed analogy itself confesses that verbs whose first person is ended by the letter o are formed variously, since it makes "cado" "cecidi", "spondeo" spopondi", "pingo" "pinxi","lego" "legi", "pono" "posui", "frango" "fregi", "laudo laudavi". 16. For when men were first being fashioned, it was not Analogy lowered from heaven that gave the form of speaking, but it was discovered after they were speaking, and it was noted in speech what would fall in which way. And so it rests not on reason but on example, nor is it a law of speaking but an observation, such that nothing else made Analogy itself than custom.

XVII. Inhaerent tamen ei quidam molestissima diligentiae perversitate, ut "audaciter" potius dicant quam "audacter", licet omnes oratores aliud sequantur, et "emicavit", non "emicuit", et "conire", non "coire". His permittamus et "audivisse" et "scivisse" et "tribunale" et "faciliter" dicere; "frugalis" quoque sit apud illos, non "frugi": nam quo alio modo fiet "frugalitas"? XVIII. Idem "centum milia nummum" et "fidem deum" ostendant duplices quoque soloecismos esse, quando et casum mutant et numerum: nesciebamus enim ac non consuetudini et decori serviebamus, sicut in plurimis quae M. tullius in Oratore divine ut omnia exsequitur.

17. Yet some cling to it with a most troublesome perversity of diligence, so that they say "audaciter" rather than "audacter", although all the orators follow the other, and "emicavit", not "emicuit", and "conire", not "coire". To these let us also permit them to say "audivisse" and "scivisse" and "tribunale" and "faciliter"; let it be "frugalis" with them too, not "frugi": for in what other way will "frugalitas" be made? 18. Let the same people show that "centum milia nummum" and "fidem deum" are double solecisms as well, since they change both case and number: for we were ignorant, it seems, and did not defer to usage and decorum, as in very many points which M. tullius in the Orator sets forth divinely, as he does everything.

XIX. Sed Augustus quoque in epistulis ad C. Caesarem scriptis emendat quod is "calidum" dicere quam "caldum" malit, non quia id non sit Latinum, sed quia sit odiosum et, ut ipse Graeco verbo significavit, periergon. XX. Atqui hanc quidam orthoepeian solam putant, quam ego minime excludo.

19. But Augustus too, in letters written to C. Caesar, corrects the fact that he prefers to say "calidum" rather than "caldum," not because that is not Latin, but because it is odious and, as he himself signified by a Greek word, periergon. 20. Yet some consider this alone to be orthoepy, which I by no means exclude.

Quid enim tam necessarium quam recta locutio? Immo inhaerendum ei iudico, quoad licet, diu etiam mutantibus repugnandum: sed abolita atque abrogata retinere insolentiae cuiusdam est et frivolae in parvis iactantiae. XXI.

For what, indeed, is so necessary as correct speech? Nay rather, I judge that one must adhere to it, so far as it is permitted, and must even for a long time resist those who are changing; but to retain things abolished and abrogated is a kind of insolence and a frivolous vaunting in small matters. 21.

Multum enim litteratus qui sine adspiratione et producta secunda syllaba salutarit ("avere" est enim), et "calefacere" dixerit potius quam quod dicimus et "conservavisse", his adiciat "face" et "dice" et similia. XXII. Recta est haec via: quis negat?

For very literate is he who would greet without aspiration and with the second syllable lengthened ("avere" it is indeed), and would say "calefacere" rather than what we say, and "conservavisse"; to these let him add "face" and "dice" and the like. 22. This is the right way: who denies it?

Sed adiacet et mollior et magis trita. Ego tamen non alio magis angor quam quod obliquis casibus ducti etiam primas sibi positiones non invenire sed mutare permittunt, ut cum "ebur" et "robur", ita dicta ac scripta summis auctoribus, in o litteram secundae syllabae transferunt, quia sit "roboris" et "eboris", "sulpur" autem et "guttur" u litteram in genetivo servent: ideoque "iecur" etiam et "femur" controversiam fecerunt. XXIII.

But there lies adjacent also a softer and more well-trodden path. I, however, am vexed by nothing more than this: that, led by oblique cases, they allow themselves, even in the first positions, not to find but to alter them; so that although “ebur” and “robur,” thus spoken and written by the highest authorities, they transfer the second syllable into the letter o, because there is “roboris” and “eboris”; whereas “sulpur” and “guttur” keep the letter u in the genitive: and therefore “iecur” also and “femur” have made a controversy. 23.

Quod non minus est licentiosum quam si "sulpuri" et "gutturi" subicerent in genetivo litteram o mediam quia esset "eboris" et "roboris": sicut Antonius Gnipho, qui "robur" quidem et "ebur" atque etiam "marmur" fatetur esse, verum fieri vult ex his "ebura" "robura" "marmura". XXIV. Quodsi animadverterent litterarum adfinitatem, scirent sic ab eo quod est "robur" "roboris" fieri quo modo ab eo quod est "miles limes" "militis limitis", "iudex vindex" "iudicis vindicis", et quae supra iam attigi. XXV.

Which is no less licentious than if they were to insert in the genitive the middle letter o into "sulpuri" and "gutturi" because there is "eboris" and "roboris": just as Antonius Gnipho, who admits that "robur" indeed and "ebur" and even "marmur" exist, but wants "ebura" "robura" "marmura" to be made from these. 24. But if they were to take note of the affinity of letters, they would know that from that which is "robur" "roboris" it is formed in the same way as from that which is "miles limes" "militis limitis", "iudex vindex" "iudicis vindicis", and the things which I have already touched upon above. 25.

Quid vero quod, ut dicebam, similes positiones in longe diversas figuras per obliquos casus exeunt, ut "virgo Iuno," "fusus lusus", "cuspis puppis" et mille alia: cum illud etiam accidat, ut quaedam pluraliter non dicantur, quaedam contra singulari numero, quaedam casibus careant, quaedam a primis statim positionibus tota mutentur, ut "Iuppiter"? XXVI. Quod verbis etiam accidit, ut illi "fero", cuius praeteritum perfectum et ulterius non invenitur. Nec plurimum refert nulla haec an praedura sint.

But what of the fact that, as I was saying, similar positions pass into far different figures through the oblique cases, as “virgo Iuno,” “fusus lusus”, “cuspis puppis” and a thousand others: when this also happens, that some are not said in the plural, some conversely only in the singular number, some lack cases, some are changed wholly from their very first positions, as “Iuppiter”? 26. Which also befalls verbs, as with that “fero,” whose preterite perfect and further are not found. Nor does it matter much whether these things are trifling or very hard.

Nam quid "progenies" genetivo singulari, quid plurali "spes" faciet? Quo modo autem "quire" et "urgere" vel in praeterita patiendi modo vel in participia transibunt? XXVII.

For what will "progeny" do in the genitive singular, what will "spes" do in the plural? In what way, moreover, will "quire" and "urgere" pass either into past tenses in the passive or into participles? 27.

Quid de aliis dicam, cum "senatus senatui" "senati" an "senatus" faciat incertum sit? Quare mihi non invenuste dici videtur aliud esse Latine, aliud grammatice loqui. Ac de analogia nimium.

What shall I say of other matters, when it is uncertain whether “senatus senatui,” “senati,” or “senatus” it makes? Wherefore it seems to me not ineptly said that to speak Latin is one thing, to speak grammatically is another. And as to analogy, too much.

XXVIII. Etymologia, quae verborum originem inquirit, a Cicerone dicta est notatio, quia nomen eius apud Aristotelen invenitur symbolon, quod est "nota". Nam verbum ex verbo ductum, id est veriloquium, ipse Cicero qui finxit reformidat. sunt qui vim potius intuiti originationem vocent.

28. Etymology, which inquires into the origin of words, was called notation by Cicero, because its name is found with Aristotle as symbolon, which is "note." For at the word drawn from the word, that is veriloquy, Cicero himself—who coined it—recoils. There are those who, looking rather to the force, call it origination.

XXIX. Haec habet aliquando usum necessarium, quotiens interpretatione res de qua quaeritur eget, ut cum M. Caelius se esse hominem frugi vult probare, non quia abstinens sit (nam id ne mentiri quidem poterat), sed quia utilis multis, id est fructuosus, unde sit ducta frugalitas. Ideoque in definitionibus adsignatur etymologiae locus.

29. This sometimes has a necessary use, whenever the matter under inquiry needs interpretation, as when M. Caelius wishes to prove that he is a frugal man, not because he is abstinent (for that he could not even pretend), but because he is useful to many, that is, fruitful, whence frugality is derived. And therefore in definitions a place is assigned to etymology.

XXX. Nonnumquam etiam barbara ab emendatis conatur discernere, ut cum "Triquetram" dici Siciliam an "Triquedram", "meridiem" an "medidiem" oporteat quaeritur: aliquando consuetudini servit. XXXI.

30. Sometimes also it endeavors to discern barbarisms from emended forms, as when it is asked whether Sicily ought to be called "Triquetra" or "Triquedra", "meridiem" or "medidiem": sometimes it serves custom. 31.

Continet autem in se multam eruditionem, sive ex Graecis orta tractemus, quae sunt plurima praecipueque Aeolica ratione, cui est sermo noster simillimus, declinata, sive ex historiarum veterum notitia nomina hominum locorum gentium urbium requiramus: unde Bruti, publicolae, Pythici? cur Latium, Italia, Beneventum? quae Capitolium et collem Quirinalem et Argiletum appellandi ratio?

It contains within itself much erudition, whether we treat of things sprung from the Greeks—which are very many and especially declined according to the Aeolic manner, to which our speech is most similar—or whether we seek from the knowledge of ancient histories the names of men, places, peoples, cities: whence Bruti, publicolae, Pythici? why Latium, Italia, Beneventum? what is the rationale for calling the Capitolium and the Quirinal hill and the Argiletum?

XXXII. Iam illa minora in quibus maxime studiosi eius rei fatigantur, qui verba paulum declinata varie et multipliciter ad veritatem reducunt aut correptis aut porrectis aut adiectis aut detractis aut permutatis litteris syllabisve. Inde pravis ingeniis ad foedissima usque ludibria labuntur.

32. Now those lesser matters, in which most of all the devotees of that affair wear themselves out, who reduce words, slightly declined, variously and in manifold ways to the truth, either with letters or syllables shortened, lengthened, added, subtracted, or permuted. From this, with perverse wits, they slip down even to the foulest mockeries.

Sit enim "consul" a consulendo vel a iudicando: nam et hoc "consulere" veteres vocaverunt, unde adhuc remanet illud "rogat boni consulas", id est "bonum iudices": XXXIII. "senatui" dederit nomen aetas, nam idem patres sunt: et "rex" "rector" et alia plurima indubitata: nec abnuerim tegulae regulaeque et similium his rationem: iam sit et "classis" a calando et "lepus" "levipes" et "vulpes" "volipes": XXXIV. etiamne a contrariis aliqua sinemus trahi, ut "lucus" quia umbra opacus parum luceat, et "ludus" quia sit longissime a lusu, et "Ditis" quia minime dives?

Let "consul" be from consulting or from judging: for the ancients also called judging "to consult," whence there still remains that phrase "he asks that you consult the good," that is, "you judge the good": 33. "senate" has been given its name by age, for they are the same as fathers: and "king" [is] "rector," and very many other things are undoubted: nor would I refuse the rationale of "tile" and "rule" and things similar to these: now let "class" be from "calling," and "hare" "light-foot," and "fox" "fleet-foot": 34. shall we even allow some to be drawn from contraries, as "grove" because, shaded by shadow, it shines little, and "school" because it is farthest from "play," and "Dis" because least "rich"?

Etiamne "hominem" appellari quia sit humo natus (quasi vero non omnibus animalibus eadem origo, aut illi primi mortales ante nomen imposuerint terrae quam sibi), et "verba" ab aere verberato? XXXV. Pergamus: sic perveniemus eo usque ut "stella" luminis stilla credatur, cuius etymologiae auctorem clarum sane in litteris nominari in ea parte qua a me reprenditur inhumanum est.

Are we even to say that “man” is so called because he is born from humus (as though, forsooth, not all animals had the same origin, or those first mortals had imposed a name upon the earth before upon themselves), and that “words” are from air beaten? 35. Let us proceed: thus we will come even to the point that “star” is believed a droplet of light, whose etymology’s author—truly renowned in letters—it is inhumane to name in that place where he is reproved by me.

XXXVI. Qui vero talia libris complexi sunt, nomina sua ipsi inscripserunt, ingenioseque visus est Gavius "caelibes" dicere veluti "caelites", quod onere gravissimo vacent, idque Graeco argumento iuvit: eitheous enim eadem de causa dici adfirmat. Nec ei cedit Modestus inventione: nam, quia Caelo Saturnus genitalia absciderit, hoc nomine appellatos qui uxore careant ait; Aelius "pituitam" quia petat vitam.

36. But those who have encompassed such things in books have inscribed their own names upon them; and Gavius seemed ingenious to say “caelibes” as though “caelites,” because they are free from the most grievous burden, and he supported it with a Greek argument: for he affirms that eitheous is said for the same reason. Nor does Modestus yield to him in invention: for, because Saturn cut off the genitals of Caelus, he says that those who lack a wife are appellated by this name; Aelius [derives] “pituita” because it seeks life.

XXXVII. Sed cui non post Varronem sit venia? Qui "agrum" quia in eo agatur aliquid, et "gragulos" quia gregatim volent dictos voluit persuadere Ciceroni (ad eum enim scribit), cum alterum ex Graeco sit manifestum duci, alterum ex vocibus avium.

37. But who would not have pardon after Varro? He wanted to persuade Cicero (for he writes to him) that "agrum" is so called because something is done in it, and "gragulos" because they fly in a flock; whereas it is manifest that the one is derived from Greek, the other from the voices of birds.

XXXVIII. Sed hoc tanti fuit vertere, ut "merula", quia sola volat, quasi mera volans nominaretur. Quidam non dubitarunt etymologiae subicere omnem nominis causam, ut ex habitu, quem ad modum dixi, "Longos" et "Rufos", ex sono "stertere" "murmurare", etiam derivata, ut a "velocitate" dicitur "velox", et composita pleraque his similia, quae sine dubio aliunde originem ducunt, sed arte non egent, cuius in hoc opere non est usus nisi in dubiis.

38. But it was counted worth so much to twist this that "merula," because it flies alone, would be named as if "mere-flying." Certain people did not hesitate to subject to etymology every cause of a name: from habit (appearance), as I said, the "Longs" and the "Reds"; from sound, "stertere" and "murmurare"; even derivatives, as from "velocitas" one says "velox"; and most composites similar to these, which without doubt draw their origin from elsewhere, but have no need of art, of which in this work there is no use except in doubtful matters.

XXXIX. Verba a vetustate repetita non solum magnos adsertores habent, sed etiam adferunt orationi maiestatem aliquam non sine delectatione: nam et auctoritatem antiquitatis habent et, quia intermissa sunt, gratiam novitati similem parant. XL. Sed opus est modo, ut neque crebra sint haec nec manifesta, quia nihil est odiosius adfectatione, nec utique ab ultimis et iam oblitteratis repetita temporibus, qualia sunt "topper" et "antegerio" et "exanclare" et "prosapia" et Saliorum carmina vix sacerdotibus suis satis intellecta.

39. Words repeated from antiquity not only have great asserters, but also bring to the oration a certain majesty, not without delectation: for they have the authority of antiquity, and, because they have been intermitted, they provide a grace similar to novelty. 40. But there is need of measure, that these be neither frequent nor obvious, because nothing is more odious than affectation, nor assuredly fetched back from the farthest and now obliterated times, such as "topper" and "antegerio" and "exanclare" and "prosapia" and the songs of the Salii scarcely sufficiently understood by their own priests.

XLI. Sed illa mutari vetat religio et consecratis utendum est: oratio vero, cuius summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa si egeat interprete! Ergo ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova.

41. But religion forbids those things to be changed, and the consecrated must be used: speech, however, whose highest virtue is perspicuity, how faulty it is if it needs an interpreter! Therefore, just as of new things the best will be the most ancient, so of old things the most new.

XLII. Similis circa auctoritatem ratio. Nam etiamsi potest videri nihil peccare qui utitur iis verbis quae summi auctores tradiderunt, multum tamen refert non solum quid dixerint, sed etiam quid persuaserint.

42. A similar rationale obtains concerning authority. For even if he who uses those words which the highest authors have transmitted can seem to err in nothing, yet it matters much not only what they said, but also what they persuaded.

Neque enim "tuburchinabundum" et "lurchinabundum" iam in nobis quisquam ferat, licet Cato sit auctor, nec "bos lodices", quamquam id Pollioni placet, nec "gladiola", atqui Messala dixit, nec "parricidatum", quod in Caelio vix tolerabile videtur, nec "collos" mihi Calvus persuaserit: quae nec ipsi iam dicerent.

For indeed let no one now bear "tuburchinabundum" and "lurchinabundum" in us, though Cato be the author, nor "bos lodices," although that pleases Pollio, nor "gladiola," and yet Messalla said it, nor "parricidatum," which in Caelius seems scarcely tolerable, nor would Calvus persuade me to say "collos": things which not even they themselves would now say.

XLIII. superest igitur consuetudo: nam fuerit paene ridiculum malle sermonem quo locuti sint homines quam quo loquantur. Et sane quid est aliud vetus sermo quam vetus loquendi consuetudo?

43. custom therefore remains: for it would be almost ridiculous to prefer the speech in which men have spoken rather than that in which they speak. And indeed, what is old speech other than an old custom of speaking?

Sed huic ipsi necessarium est iudicium, constituendumque in primis id ipsum quid sit quod consuetudinem vocemus. XLIV. Quae si ex eo quod plures faciunt nomen accipiat, periculosissimum dabit praeceptum non orationi modo sed, quod maius est, vitae: unde enim tantum boni ut pluribus quae recta sunt placeant?

But for this very thing judgment is necessary, and first of all there must be determined what precisely that is which we call custom. 44. If this should take its name from what more people do, it will give a most perilous precept not only to speech but, what is greater, to life: for whence is there so much good that the things which are right should be pleasing to the majority?

Igitur ut velli et comam in gradus frangere et in balneis perpotare, quamlibet haec invaserint civitatem, non erit consuetudo, quia nihil borum caret reprensione (at lavamur et tondemur et convivimus ex consuetudine), sic in loquendo non si quid vitiose multis insederit pro regula sermonis accipiendum erit. XLV. Nam ut transeam quem ad modum vulgo imperiti loquantur, tota saepe theatra et omnem circi turbam exclamasse barbare scimus.

Therefore, just as to pluck out the hair and to break the hair into tiers, and to carouse to the full in the baths—however much these may have invaded the city—will not be custom, because none of these is without reprehension (but we wash and we are shorn and we feast together out of custom), so in speaking, if anything has settled among many in a faulty way, it is not to be accepted as the rule of speech. 45. For, to pass over how the unskilled speak commonly, we know that whole theaters and the entire crowd of the circus have often cried out barbarously.

Ergo consuetudinem sermonis vocabo consensum eruditorum, sicut vivendi consensum bonorum.

Therefore I will call the consuetude of speech the consensus of the erudite, just as I call the consuetude of living the consensus of the good.

[7] I. Nunc, quoniam diximus quae sit loquendi regula, dicendum quae scribentibus custodienda, quod Graeci orthographian vocant, nos recte scribendi scientiam nominemus. cuius ars non in hoc posita est, ut noverimus quibus quaeque syllaba litteris constet (nam id quidem infra grammatici officium est), sed totam, ut mea fert opinio, subtilitatem in dubiis habet: II. ut longis syllabis omnibus adponere apicem ineptissimum est, quia plurimae natura ipsa verbi quod scribitur patent, sed interim necessarium, cum eadem littera alium atque alium intellectum, prout correpta vel producta est, facit: III. ut "malus" arborem significet an hominem non bonum apice distinguitur, "palus" aliud priore syllaba longa, aliud sequenti significat, et cum eadem littera nominativo casu brevis, ablativo longa est, utrum sequamur plerumque hac nota monendi sumus.

[7] 1. Now, since we have said what the rule of speaking is, it must be said what things are to be kept by writers, which the Greeks call orthography; let us name it the science of writing correctly. The art of which is not set in this, that we should know with what letters each syllable is composed (for that indeed is beneath the grammarian’s office), but, as my opinion leads me, it has its whole subtlety in doubtful points: 2. that to add an apex to all long syllables is most inept, because very many are evident by the very nature of the word that is written, yet at times it is necessary, when the same letter, as it is shortened or lengthened, makes one sense or another: 3. that “malus” is distinguished by the apex whether it signify a tree or a not-good man, “palus” signifies one thing with the first syllable long, another with the second, and when with the same letter in the nominative case it is short, in the ablative long, we are for the most part to be warned by this mark which we should follow.

IV. Similiter putaverunt illa quoque servanda discrimina, ut "ex" praepositionem si verbum sequeretur "specto", adiecta secundae syllabae s littera, si "pecto", remota scriberemus. V. Illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut "ad", cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem coniunctio, t acciperet, itemque "cum", si tempus significaret, per quom, si comitem, per c ac duas sequentis scriberetur. VI. Frigidiora his alia, ut "quidquid" c quartam haberet ne interrogare bis videremur, et "quotidie" non "cotidie", ut sit quot diebus: verum haec iam etiam inter ipsas ineptias evanuerunt.

4. Similarly they thought those discriminations too should be observed, namely that the preposition "ex," if the verb following were "specto," we should write with the letter s added to the second syllable, but if "pecto," with it removed. 5. That difference too was preserved by many, that "ad," when it was a preposition, would receive the letter d, but when a conjunction, t; likewise "cum," if it signified time, would be written as "quom," if a companion, by c and the two following letters. 6. Colder than these are other things, as that "quidquid" should have a c as the fourth letter lest we seem to interrogate twice, and "quotidie," not "cotidie," so that it be “as many days” (quot diebus): but these have now even vanished among the ineptitudes themselves.

VII. Quaeri solet, in scribendo praepositiones sonum quem iunctae efficiunt an quem separatae observare conveniat, ut cum dico "optinuit" (secundam enim b litteram ratio poscit, aures magis audiunt p) VIII. et "immunis" (illud enim quod veritas exigit, sequentis syllabae sono victum, m gemina commutatur.) IX. Est et in dividendis verbis observatio, mediam litteram consonantem priori an sequenti syllabae adiungas.

7. It is wont to be asked, in writing, whether for prepositions it is fitting to observe the sound which they produce when joined, or that which when separate, as when I say "optinuit" (for reason demands a second letter b, but the ears rather hear p) 8. and "immunis" (for that which truth requires, overcome by the sound of the following syllable, is changed into a double m.) 9. There is also, in dividing words, a point to observe: whether you join the middle consonant letter to the prior or to the following syllable.

"Haruspex" enim, quia pars eius posterior a spectando est, s litteram tertiae dabit, "abstemius", quia ex abstinentia temeti composita vox est, primae relinquet. X. Nam k quidem in nullis verbis utendum puto nisi quae significat etiam ut sola ponatur. Hoc eo non omisi quod quidam eam quotiens a sequatur necessariam credunt, cum sit c littera, quae ad omnis vocalis vim suam perferat.

"Haruspex," indeed, because its latter part is from spectating, will give the letter s to the third syllable; "abstemius," because the word is composed from the abstinence of strong drink, will leave it to the first. 10. For the letter k I think should be used in no words, unless in those for which it signifies that it be set alone. I have not omitted this because some believe it necessary whenever an a follows, since there is the letter c, which carries its own force to all the vowels.

XI. Verum orthographia quoque consuetudini servit ideoque saepe mutata est. Nam illa vetustissima transeo tempora, quibus et pauciores litterae nec similes his nostris earum formae fuerunt et vis quoque diversa, sicut apud Graecos o litterae, quae interim longa ac brevis, ut apud nos, interim pro syllaba quam nomine suo exprimit posita est: XII. ut a Latinis veteribus d plurimis in verbis ultimam adiectam, quod manifestum est etiam ex columna rostrata, quae est duilio in foro posita, interim g quoque, ut in pulvinari Solis, qui colitur iuxta aedem Quirini, "vesperug", quod "vesperuginem" accipimus.

11. But orthography too serves custom and therefore has often been changed. For I pass over those most ancient times, in which both there were fewer letters and their forms were not similar to ours, and their force also different, just as among the Greeks the letter o, which sometimes is long and short, as among us, sometimes is set in place of the syllable which it expresses by its own name: 12. as that among the ancient Latins d was added as the final letter in very many words, which is evident also from the Rostrated Column, which is set up to Duilius in the Forum, sometimes g too, as in the pulvinar of Sol, which is worshiped next to the temple of Quirinus, “vesperug,” which we take as “vesperuginem.”

XIII. De mutatione etiam litterarum, de qua supra dixi, nihil repetere hic necesse est: fortasse enim sicut scribebant, etiam loquebantur. XIV.

13. On the mutation of letters also, about which I said above, it is not necessary to repeat anything here: perhaps indeed just as they used to write, so also they used to speak. 14.

Semivocalis geminare diu non fuit usitatissimi moris, atque e contrario usque ad Accium et ultra porrectas syllabas geminis, ut dixi, vocalibus scripserunt. XV. Diutius duravit ut e et i iungendis eadem ratione qua Graeci ei uterentur: ea casibus numerisque discreta est, ut Lucilius praecipit:"iam" "puerei venere": e postremum facito atque i, "ut pueri plures fiant" ac deinceps idem: "mendaci furique addes e, cum dare furi iusseris." XVI. Quod quidem cum supervacuum est quia i tam longae quam brevis naturam habet, tum incommodum aliquando; nam in iis quae proximam ab ultima litteram e habebunt et i longa terminabuntur, illam rationem sequentes utemur e gemina, qualia sunt haec "aurei" "argentei" et his similia: XVII.

To double the semivowel for a long time was not the most customary practice, and on the contrary, down to Accius and beyond, they wrote lengthened syllables with twin vowels, as I have said. 15. It lasted longer that, for joining e and i, they used ei in the same way as the Greeks: this is distinguished by cases and numbers, as Lucilius prescribes: "iam" "puerei venere": make the last letter e and i, "so that boys become plural," and thereafter likewise the same: "mendaci furique addes e, cum dare furi iusseris." 16. Which indeed is superfluous, since i has the nature both of long and of short, and at times it is inconvenient; for in those which will have e as the letter next to the last and will end with long i, if we follow that rule, we will use a double e, such as these "aurei" "argentei" and the like: 17.

idque iis praecipue qui ad lectionem instituentur etiam impedimento erit, sicut in Graecis accidit adiectione i litterae, quam non solum dativis casibus in parte ultima adscribunt, sed quibusdam etiam interponunt, ut in LEISTEI, quia etymologia ex divisione in tris syllabas facta desideret eam litteram. XVIII. Ae syllabam, cuius secundam nunc e litteram ponimus, varie per a et i efferebant, quidam semper ut Graeci, quidam singulariter tantum, cum in dativum vel genetivum casum incidissent, unde "pictai vestis" et "aquai" Vergilius amantissimus vetustatis carminibus inservit.

and this will be even an impediment especially for those who are to be trained for reading, just as happens among the Greeks by the addition of the letter i, which they not only append to dative cases at the final part, but also interpose in certain words, as in LEISTEI, because the etymology, from a division made into three syllables, requires that letter. 18. The syllable ae, whose second letter we now set as e, they uttered variously by a and i, some always as the Greeks, others only in particular when it had fallen into the dative or genitive case; whence “pictai vestis” and “aquai” Vergil, most loving of antiquity, employs in his songs.

XIX. In isdem plurali numero e utebantur: "hi sullae, Galbae". Est in hac quoque parte Lucili praeceptum, quod quia pluribus explicatur versibus, si quis parum credet apud ipsum in nono requirat. XX. Quid quod Ciceronis temporibus paulumque infra, fere quotiens s littera media vocalium longarum vel subiecta longis esset, geminabatur, ut "caussae" "cassus" "divissiones"? Quo modo et ipsum et Vergilium quoque scripsisse manus eorum docent.

19. In the same, in the plural number, they used e: "these Sullae, Galbae." There is in this part also a precept of Lucilius; which, because it is explained in several verses, if anyone credits it too little, let him seek it with him in the ninth. 20. What of the fact that, in the times of Cicero and a little below, almost whenever the letter s was in the middle of long vowels or set after longs, it was doubled, as "caussae" "cassus" "divissiones"? In this way their hands teach that both he himself and Vergil also wrote.

XXI. Atqui paulum superiores etiam illud quod nos gemina dicimus "iussi" una dixerunt. Iam "optimus" "maximus" ut mediam i litteram, quae veteribus u fuerat, acciperent c. primum Caesaris inscriptione traditur factum.

21. But those a little earlier also said as single that which we call doubled—"iussi." Further, as for "optimus" and "maximus," that they might take the medial letter i, which among the ancients had been u, it is handed down to have been done first on Caesar’s inscription.

XXII. "Here" nunc e littera terminamus: at veterum comicorum adhuc libris invenio "heri ad me venit": quod idem in epistulis Augusti, quas sua manu scripsit aut emendavit, deprenditur. Quid?

22. "Here" we now terminate with the letter e; but in the books of the ancient comic poets I still find "heri ad me venit": the same is detected in the epistles of Augustus, which he wrote or emended with his own hand. What?

XXIII. non Cato Censorius "dicam" et "faciam" "dicae" et "faciae" scripsit, eundemque in ceteris quae similiter cadunt modum tenuit? Quod et ex veteribus eius libris manifestum est et a Messala in libro de s littera positum.

23. did not Cato the Censor write “dicam” and “faciam” as “dicae” and “faciae,” and did he keep the same manner in the rest which fall similarly? Which both is manifest from his ancient books and is set down by Messala in the book on the letter s.

XXIV. "Sibe" et "quase" scriptum in multorum libris est, sed an hoc voluerint auctores nescio: T. Livium ita his usum ex Pediano comperi, qui et ipse eum sequebatur. Haec nos i littera finimus.

24. "Sibe" and "quase" are written in many books, but whether the authors intended this I do not know: I learned from Pedianus that T. Livy used these thus, who also himself was following him. We end these with the letter i.

XXV. Quid dicam "vortices" et "vorsus" ceteraque ad eundem modum, quae primus Scipio Africanus in e litteram secundam vertisse dicitur? XXVI.

25. What shall I say of "vortices" and "vorsus" and the rest on the same model, which the first Scipio Africanus is said to have turned into the second letter e? 26.

Nostri praeceptores "servum" "cervum"que u et o litteris scripserunt, quia subiecta sibi vocalis in unum sonum coalescere et confundi nequiret; nunc u gemina scribuntur ea ratione quam reddidi: neutro sane modo vox quam sentimus efficitur, nec inutiliter Claudius Aeolicam illam ad hos usus litteram adiecerat. XXVII. Illud nunc melius, quod "cui" tribus quas praeposui litteris enotamus, in quo pueris nobis ad pinguem sane sonum qu et oi utebantur, tantum ut ab illo "qui" distingueretur.

Our teachers wrote "servum" and "cervum" with the letters u and o, because a vowel placed after them could not coalesce and be confused into one sound; now double u’s are written for the reason which I have given: in truth, in neither way is the sound which we perceive produced, nor did Claudius add that Aeolic letter for these uses without utility. 27. This now is better, that we mark "cui" with the three letters which I have prefixed, in which, when we were boys, they used qu and oi for a truly broad sound, only so that it might be distinguished from that "qui".

XXVIII. Quid quae scribuntur aliter quam enuntiantur? Nam et "Gaius" C littera significatur, quae inversa mulierem declarat, quia tam Gaias esse vocitatas quam Gaios etiam ex nuptialibus sacris apparet: XXIX.

28. What of things that are written otherwise than they are enunciated? For even "Gaius" is signified by the letter C, which, inverted, denotes a woman, because it appears from nuptial sacred rites that both women have been called "Gaias" as well as men "Gaios": 29.

nec "Gnaeus" eam litteram in praenominis nota accipit qua sonat, et "columnam" et "consules" exempta n littera legimus, et "Subura", cum tribus litteris notatur, C tertiam ostendit. Multa sunt generis huius, sed haec quoque vereor ne modum tam parvae quaestionis excesserint.

nor does "Gnaeus" take, in the mark of the praenomen, the letter with which it sounds; and we read "column" and "consuls" with the letter n removed; and "Subura", when it is noted with three letters, shows C as the third. Many things are of this kind, but I also fear that these too have exceeded the measure of so small a question.

XXX. Iudicium autem suum grammaticus interponat his omnibus: nam hoc valere plurimum debet. Ego, nisi quod consuetudo optinuerit, sic scribendum quidque iudico quomodo sonat.

30. But let the grammarian interpose his own judgment in all these matters: for this ought to avail the most. I, unless where consuetude has prevailed, judge that each thing should be written just as it sounds.

XXXI. Hic enim est usus litterarum, ut custodiant voces et velut depositum reddant legentibus. Itaque id exprimere debent quod dicturi sumus.

31. For this is the use of letters: that they keep the voices and, as it were a deposit, render them back to readers. Therefore they ought to express what we are about to say.

XXXII. Hae fere sunt emendate loquendi scribendique partes: duas reliquas significanter ornateque dicendi non equidem grammaticis aufero, sed, cum mihi officia rhetoris supersint, maiori operi reservo.

32. These are, in general, the parts of speaking and writing emendedly (correctly): the remaining two, of speaking significantly and ornately, I do not indeed take away from grammarians, but, since the offices of the rhetor remain to me, I reserve them for the greater work.

XXXIII. Redit autem illa cogitatio, quosdam fore qui haec quae diximus parva nimium et impedimenta quoque maius aliquid agentibus putent: nec ipse ad extremam usque anxietatem et ineptas cavillationes descendendum atque his ingenia concidi et comminui credo. XXXIV.

33. But that thought returns, that there will be some who think these things which we have said too petty, and even impediments for those attempting something greater: nor do I myself believe that one must descend to the utmost anxiety and inept cavillations, and that by these the wits are cut to pieces and ground down. 34.

Sed nihil ex grammatice nocuerit nisi quod supervacuum est. An ideo minor est M. tullius orator quod idem artis huius diligentissimus fuit et in filio, ut epistulis apparet, recte loquendi asper quoque exactor? XXXV.

But nothing from grammar will harm except what is superfluous. Or is M. Tullius the less an orator because he was likewise most diligent in this art and, in the case of his son, as appears from the letters, also a harsh exactor of speaking correctly? 35.

Aut vim C. Caesaris fregerunt editi de analogia libri? Aut ideo minus Messala nitidus quia quosdam totos libellos non verbis modo singulis sed etiam litteris dedit? Non obstant hae disciplinae per illas euntibus, sed circa illas haerentibus.

Or did the published books On Analogy break the force of Gaius Caesar? Or is Messala therefore the less polished because he produced certain whole little booklets not only on single words but even on letters? These disciplines do not obstruct those who pass through them, but those who stick around them.

[8] I. superest lectio: in qua puer ut sciat ubi suspendere spiritum debeat, quo loco versum distinguere, ubi cludatur sensus, unde incipiat, quando attollenda vel summittenda sit vox, quid quoque flexu, quid lentius celerius concitatius lenius dicendum, demonstrari nisi in opere ipso non potest. II. Vnum est igitur quod in hac parte praecipiam, ut omnia ista facere possit: intellegat. Sit autem in primis lectio virilis et cum sanctitate quadam gravis, et non quidem prorsae similis, quia et carmen est et se poetae canere testantur, non tamen in canticum dissoluta nec plasmate, ut nunc a plerisque fit, effeminata: de quo genere optime C. Caesarem praetextatum adhuc accepimus dixisse: "si cantas, male cantas: Si legis, cantas". III.

[8] 1. Reading remains: in it the boy must learn where he ought to suspend his breath, at what place to distinguish the verse, where the sense is closed, whence he should begin, when the voice is to be raised or lowered, what should be said with which inflection, what more slowly, more swiftly, more excitedly, more gently—these things cannot be shown except in the work itself. 2. Therefore there is one thing that I will prescribe in this part, so that he may be able to do all these things: let him understand. And let the reading be, first and foremost, manly and, with a certain sanctity, grave; and not, to be sure, similar to prose, because it is verse and the poets attest that they sing, yet not dissolved into song nor effeminated by vocal “plasma” (embellishment), as now is done by many; about which kind we have most appropriately received that Gaius Caesar, still in the toga praetexta, said: "if you sing, you sing badly: If you read, you sing". 3.

Nec prosopopoeias, ut quibusdam placet, ad comicum morem pronuntiari velim, esse tamen flexum quendam quo distinguantur ab iis in quibus poeta persona sua utetur. IV. Cetera admonitione magna egent, in primis ut tenerae mentes tracturaeque altius quidquid rudibus et omnium ignaris insederit non modo quae diserta sed vel magis quae honesta sunt discant. V. Ideoque optime institutum est ut ab Homero atque Vergilio lectio inciperet, quamquam ad intellegendas eorum virtutes firmiore iudicio opus est: sed huic rei superest tempus, neque enim semel legentur.

Nor would I wish prosopopoeias, as it pleases some, to be pronounced after the comic manner; yet let there be a certain inflection by which they may be distinguished from those in which the poet will use his own persona. 4. The rest need great admonition, chiefly that tender minds, which will draw in more deeply whatever has once settled when they are raw and wholly ignorant, may learn not only the things that are eloquent, but even more the things that are honest. 5. And therefore it has been most excellently established that reading should begin from Homer and Vergil, although for understanding their virtues there is need of a firmer judgment; but time remains for this matter, for they will not be read only once.

Interim et sublimitate heroi carminis animus adsurgat et ex magnitudine rerum spiritum ducat et optimis inbuatur. VI. Vtiles tragoediae: alunt et lyrici, si tamen in iis non auctores modo sed etiam partes operis elegeris: nam et Graeci licenter multa et Horatium nolim in quibusdam interpretari. Elegia vero, utique qua amat, et hendecasyllabi, qui sunt commata sotadeorum (nam de sotadeis ne praecipiendum quidem est), amoveantur si fieri potest, si minus, certe ad firmius aetatis robur reserventur.

Meanwhile let the mind too rise with the sublimity of heroic song and draw breath from the magnitude of things and be imbued with the best. 6. Tragedies are useful: the lyric poets also nourish, if, however, in them you choose not only the authors but also parts of the work; for the Greeks too have many things rather licentious, and I would not wish Horace to be interpreted in certain passages. But elegy—especially that wherein it loves—and the hendecasyllables, which are the cola of the Sotadeans (for about Sotadeans there is not even need to give precepts), let them be removed if it can be done; if not, at least let them be reserved for the sturdier strength of a more settled age.

VII. Comoediae, quae plurimum conferre ad eloquentiam potest, cum per omnis et personas et adfectus eat, quem usum in pueris putem paulo post suo loco dicam: nam cum mores in tuto fuerint, inter praecipua legenda erit. VIII.

7. Comedy, which can contribute very much to eloquence, since it runs through both all persons and affections, the use of which for boys I think I will say a little later in its proper place: for when morals are secured, it will be among the chief things to be read. 8.

De Menandro loquor, nec tamen excluserim alios: nam Latini quoque auctores adferent utilitatis aliquid; sed pueris quae maxime ingenium alant atque animum augeant praelegenda: ceteris, quae ad eruditionem modo pertinent, longa aetas spatium dabit. Multum autem veteres etiam Latini conferunt, quamquam plerique plus ingenio quam arte valuerunt, in primis copiam verborum: quorum in tragoediis gravitas, in comoediis elegantia et quidam velut atticismos inveniri potest. IX. Oeconomia quoque in iis diligentior quam in plerisque novorum erit, qui omnium operum solam virtutem sententias putaverunt.

I speak of Menander, nor would I, however, exclude others: for Latin authors too will bring something of utility; but for boys those ought to be read beforehand which most nourish natural talent and enlarge the spirit; for the rest, which pertain only to erudition, long time will give space. Much moreover do the ancients, even the Latin ones, contribute, although most prevailed more by ingenium than by art, especially abundance of words: in whose tragedies gravity, in comedies elegance and a certain, as it were, Atticism can be found. 9. Oeconomy also in them will be more diligent than in most of the moderns, who have supposed the sole virtue of all works to be the sentences (maxims).

Sanctitas certe et, ut sic dicam, virilitas ab iis petenda est, quando nos in omnia deliciarum vitia dicendi quoque ratione defluximus. X. Denique credamus summis oratoribus, qui veterum poemata vel ad fidem causarum vel ad ornamentum eloquentiae adsumunt. XI. Nam praecipue quidem apud Ciceronem, frequenter tamen apud Asinium etiam et ceteros qui sunt proximi, videmus Enni Acci Pacuvi Lucili Terenti Caecili et aliorum inseri versus, summa non eruditionis modo gratia sed etiam iucunditatis, cum poeticis voluptatibus aures a forensi asperitate respirant.

Sanctity indeed, and, so to speak, virility, must be sought from them, since we have declined into every vice of luxury, even in our manner of speaking. 10. Finally, let us trust the greatest orators, who take up the poems of the ancients either for the credibility of cases or for the adornment of eloquence. 11. For especially indeed with Cicero, yet frequently also with Asinius and the others who are nearest, we see verses of Enni Acci Pacuvi Lucili Terenti Caecili and others inserted, with the highest grace not only of erudition but also of pleasantness, as by poetic delights the ears catch their breath from forensic harshness.

XII. Quibus accedit non mediocris utilitas, cum sententiis eorum velut quibusdam testimoniis quae proposuere confirment. Verum priora illa ad pueros magis, haec sequentia ad robustiores pertinebunt, cum grammatices amor et usus lectionis non scholarum temporibus sed vitae spatio terminentur.

12. To which there is added no mediocre utility, when by their sententiae, as by certain testimonies, they confirm the things they have set forth. But those former matters will pertain more to boys, these following to the more robust, since the love of grammar and the use of reading are bounded not by the times of the schools but by the span of life.

XIII. In praelegendo grammaticus et illa quidem minora praestare debebit, ut partes orationis reddi sibi soluto versu desideret et pedum proprietates, quae adeo debent esse notae in carminibus ut etiam in oratoria compositione desiderentur. XIV.

13. In prelection the grammarian ought also to furnish those indeed lesser matters: to require that the parts of speech be rendered to him in prose, and the properties of the feet, which ought to be so well known in poems that they are even desired in oratorical composition. 14.

Deprendat quae barbara, quae inpropria, quae contra legem loquendi sint posita, non ut ex his utique improbentur poetae (quibus, quia plerumque servire metro coguntur, adeo ignoscitur ut vitia ipsa aliis in carmine appellationibus nominentur: metaplasmus enim et schematismus et schemata, ut dixi, vocamus et laudem virtutis necessitati damus), sed ut commoneat artificialium et memoriam agitet. XV. Id quoque inter prima rudimenta non inutile demonstrare, quot quaeque verba modis intellegenda sint. Circa glossemata etiam, id est voces minus usitatas, non ultima eius professionis diligentia est.

Let him detect what things are barbarous, what improper, what have been set against the law of speaking—not in order that poets be thereby condemned (to whom, because they are for the most part compelled to serve the meter, such pardon is granted that the very faults are given other appellations in song: for we call, as I said, metaplasm and schematism and schemata, and we give to necessity the praise of virtue), but in order that he may remind of the technicalities and stir up memory. 15. It is also not unprofitable among the first rudiments to show in how many ways each word is to be understood. Concerning glosses as well—that is, less usual words—no small part of the diligence of that profession is involved.

XVI. Enimvero iam maiore cura doceat tropos omnes, quibus praecipue non poema modo sed etiam oratio ornatur, schemata utraque, id est figuras, quaeque lexeos quaeque dianoeas vocantur: quorum ego sicut troporum tractatum in eum locum differo quo mihi de ornatu orationis dicendum erit. XVII.

16. Indeed, now with greater care let him teach all the tropes, by which especially not a poem only but also speech is adorned, both kinds of schemata, that is, figures, those which are called of lexis and those of dianoia: the treatment of which, just like that of the tropes, I defer to that place where I must speak about the ornament of speech. 17.

Praecipue vero illa infigat animis, quae in oeconomia virtus, quae in decore rerum, quid personae cuique convenerit, quid in sensibus laudandum, quid in verbis, ubi copia probabilis, ubi modus.

Above all, however, let him imprint upon minds those points: what the virtue is in oeconomy, what in the decorum of things, what has suited each persona, what is to be praised in the senses, what in the words, where copiousness is commendable, where measure.

XVIII. His accedet enarratio historiarum, diligens quidem illa, non tamen usque ad supervacuum laborem occupata: nam receptas aut certe claris auctoribus memoratas exposuisse satis est. Persequi quidem quid quis umquam vel contemptissimorum hominum dixerit aut nimiae miseriae aut inanis iactantiae est, et detinet atque obruit ingenia melius aliis vacatura.

18. To these there will be added an enarration of histories, diligent indeed, yet not occupied all the way to superfluous labor: for it is enough to have expounded what is received, or at any rate commemorated by distinguished authors. To pursue, in fact, whatever anyone has ever said, even of the most contemptible of men, is either of excessive wretchedness or of empty vainglory, and it detains and overwhelms wits that would be better left free for other things.

XIX. Nam qui omnis etiam indignas lectione scidas excutit, anilibus quoque fabulis accommodare operam potest: atqui pleni sunt eius modi impedimentis grammaticorum commentarii, vix ipsis qui composuerunt satis noti. XX. Nam Didymo, quo nemo plura scripsit, accidisse compertum est ut, cum historiae cuidam tamquam vanae repugnaret, ipsius proferretur liber qui eam continebat.

19. For he who shakes out all the scraps even unworthy of reading can also apply his effort to old-wives’ fables: and yet the commentaries of the grammarians are full of impediments of this sort, scarcely sufficiently known even to those who composed them. 20. For it has been ascertained that it happened to Didymus, than whom no one wrote more, that, when he was opposing a certain history as vain, there was produced his own book which contained it.

XXI. Quod evenit praecipue in fabulosis usque ad deridicula quaedam, quaedam etiam pudenda, unde improbissimo cuique pleraque fingendi licentia est, adeo ut de libris totis et auctoribus, ut succurrit, mentiantur tuto, quia inveniri qui numquam fuere non possunt: nam in notioribus frequentissime deprenduntur a curiosis. Ex quo mihi inter virtutes grammatici habebitur aliqua nescire.

21. This happens especially in fabulous matters, down to certain ridiculous things, some even shameful, whence to every most unscrupulous person there is the broadest license of feigning, to such a degree that about whole books and authors, as it comes to mind, they lie safely, because those who never existed cannot be found; for in more well-known things they are very frequently caught by the curious. Whence, among the virtues of the grammarian, it will be held by me to be ignorant of some things.

[9] I. Et finitae quidem sunt partes duae quas haec professio pollicetur, id est ratio loquendi et enarratio auctorum, quarum illam methodicen, hanc historicen vocant. Adiciamus tamen eorum curae quaedam dicendi primordia quibus aetatis nondum rhetorem capientis instituant. II. Igitur Aesopi fabellas, quae fabulis nutricularum proxime succedunt, narrare sermone puro et nihil se supra modum extollente, deinde eandem gracilitatem stilo exigere condiscant: versus primo solvere, mox mutatis verbis interpretari, tum paraphrasi audacius vertere, qua et breviare quaedam et exornare salvo modo poetae sensu permittitur.

[9] I. And indeed the two parts which this profession promises have been finished, that is, the method of speaking and the enarration of authors, of which they call the former methodic, the latter historic. Let us, however, add to their charge certain rudiments of speaking, by which they may train one whose age does not yet admit a rhetor. II. Therefore let them learn to narrate Aesop’s little fables, which come next after nursemaids’ tales, in pure speech and not lifting itself beyond measure; then let them also learn to exact the same gracility in style: first to resolve verses, soon to render them with words changed, then to turn them more boldly by paraphrase, by which it is permitted both to shorten certain things and to embellish, the poet’s sense being preserved.

III. Quod opus, etiam consummatis professoribus difficile, qui commode tractaverit cuicumque discendo sufficiet. Sententiae quoque et chriae et aetiologiae subiectis dictorum rationibus apud grammaticos scribantur, quia initium ex lectione ducunt: quorum omnium similis est ratio, forma diversa, quia sententia universalis est vox, aetiologia personis continetur.

3. This work, difficult even for consummate professors, if handled suitably, will suffice for anyone’s learning. Let sentences and chriae and aetiologies, with the rationales of the sayings subjoined, be written among grammarians, because they take their beginning from reading: the rationale of all these is similar, the form different, since a sentence is a universal voice, while an aetiology is contained within persons.

IV. Chriarum plura genera traduntur: unum simile sententiae, quod est positum in voce simplici: "dixit ille" aut "dicere solebat"; alterum quod est in respondendo: "interrogatus ille", vel "cum hoc ei dictum esset, respondit"; tertium huic non dissimile: "cum quis dixisset aliquid" vel "fecisset". V. Etiam in ipsorum factis esse chrian putant, ut: "Crates, cum indoctum puerum vidisset, paedagogum eius percussit", et aliud paene par ei, quod tamen eodem nomine appellare non audent, sed dicunt chreiodes, ut: "Milo, quem vitulum adsueverat ferre, taurum ferebat". In his omnibus et declinatio per eosdem ducitur casus et tam factorum quam dictorum ratio est. VI. Narratiunculas a poetis celebratas notitiae causa, non eloquentiae tractandas puto. Cetera maioris operis ac spiritus Latini rhetores relinquendo necessaria grammaticis fecerunt: Graeci magis operum suorum et onera et modum norunt.

4. More kinds of chriae are handed down: one like a sententia, which is set in a simple utterance: "he said" or "he used to say"; another which is in responding: "having been asked," or "when this had been said to him, he replied"; a third not unlike this: "when someone had said something" or "had done [something]." 5. They also think that there is a chria in deeds themselves, as: "Crates, when he had seen an unlearned boy, struck his pedagogue," and another almost equal to it, which nevertheless they do not dare to call by the same name, but they call chreiodes, as: "Milo, who had been accustomed to carry a calf, was carrying a bull." In all these both the declension is conducted through the same cases and the rationale is of deeds as well as of sayings. 6. I think that little narratives celebrated by poets are to be handled for the sake of notitia, not eloquence. By leaving the rest—things of greater work and spirit—the Latin rhetors have made them the grammarians’ necessities: the Greeks know better both the burdens and the measure of their works.

[10] I. Haec de grammatice, quam brevissime potui, non ut omnia dicerem sectatus, quod infinitum erat, sed ut maxime necessaria. Nunc de ceteris artibus quibus instituendos priusquam rhetori tradantur pueros existimo strictim subiungam, ut efficiatur orbis ille doctrinae, quem Graeci encyclion paedian vocant. II. Nam isdem fere annis aliarum quoque disciplinarum studia ingredienda sunt: quae quia et ipsae artes sunt et esse perfectae sine orandi scientia possunt nec rursus ad efficiendum oratorem satis valent solae, an sint huic operi necessariae quaeritur.

[10] 1. On grammar, as briefly as I could, I have aimed not to say everything—which was infinite—but what was most necessary. Now concerning the other arts with which I think boys should be instructed before they are handed over to the rhetor, I will subjoin briefly, so that that circle of learning may be completed, which the Greeks call the encyclion paideia. 2. For in almost the same years the studies of other disciplines too must be entered upon: and since these likewise are arts and can be perfect without the science of speaking, yet in turn are not by themselves strong enough to produce an orator, the question is asked whether they are necessary for this work.

III. Nam quid, inquiunt, ad agendam causam dicendamve sententiam pertinet scire quem ad modum in data linea constitui triangula aequis lateribus possint? Aut quo melius vel defendet reum vel reget consilia qui citharae sonos nominibus et spatiis distinxerit?

3. For what, they say, does it pertain to the pleading of a case or the delivering of an opinion to know in what way equilateral triangles can be set up on a given line? Or how the better will he either defend the accused or govern counsels who has distinguished the sounds of the cithara by names and intervals?

IV. Enumerent etiam fortasse multos quamlibet utiles foro qui neque geometren audierint nec musicos nisi hac communi voluptate aurium intellegant. Quibus ego primum hoc respondeo, quod M. Cicero scripto ad Brutum libro frequentius testatur: non eum a nobis institui oratorem qui sit aut fuerit, sed imaginem quandam concepisse nos animo perfecti illius et nulla parte cessantis. V. Nam et sapientem formantes eum qui sit futurus consummatus undique et, ut dicunt, mortalis quidam deus non modo cognitione caelestium vel mortalium putant instruendum, sed per quaedam parva sane, si ipsa demum aestimes, ducunt, sicut exquisitas interim ambiguitates: non quia keratinai aut krokodilinai possint facere sapientem, sed quia illum ne in minimis quidem oporteat falli.

4. They may perhaps also enumerate many, however useful to the forum, who have neither ever heard a geometer nor understand musicians except by this common delight of the ears. To whom I first make this reply, which M. Cicero in the book written to Brutus repeatedly attests: that we are not training the orator who is or has been, but have conceived in mind a certain image of that perfect man, remiss in no part. 5. For even when shaping the wise man—him who is going to be consummate on all sides and, as they say, a certain mortal god—they think he must be equipped not only with knowledge of celestial and mortal things, but they also lead him through certain matters indeed small, if you estimate them by themselves, such as exquisite ambiguities for the moment: not because keratinai or krokodilinai can make a wise man, but because it is fitting that he be not deceived even in the least things.

VI. Similiter oratorem, qui debet esse sapiens, non geometres faciet aut musicus quaeque his alia subiungam, sed hae quoque artes ut sit consummatus iuvabunt: nisi forte antidotus quidem atque alia quae oculis aut vulneribus medentur ex multis atque interim contrariis quoque inter se effectibus componi videmus, quorum ex diversis fit una illa mixtura quae nulli earum similis est ex quibus constat, sed proprias vires ex omnibus sumit, VII. et muta animalia mellis illum inimitabilem humanae rationi saporem vario florum ac sucorum genere perficiunt: nos mirabimur si oratio, qua nihil praestantius homini dedit providentia, pluribus artibus egeat, quae, etiam cum se non ostendunt in dicendo nec proferunt, vim tamen occultam suggerunt et tacitae quoque sentiuntur. VIII.

VI. Similarly, the orator, who ought to be sapient, will not be made by a geometer or a musician—and whatever other things I might subjoin to these—but these arts too will help him to be consummate: unless perhaps we see that an antidote indeed and other things which heal the eyes or wounds are composed from many effects and at times even mutually contrary ones, wherefrom, out of diverse elements, that single mixture is made which is like to none of those of which it consists, but takes its proper powers from all; VII. and the mute animals perfect that inimitable to human reason flavor of honey by a varied kind of flowers and juices: shall we marvel if speech, than which Providence gave nothing more preeminent to man, should need more arts, which, even when they do not show themselves in speaking nor bring themselves forward, nevertheless supply a hidden force and, even silent, are perceived. VIII.

"Fuit aliquis sine iis disertus". Sed ego oratorem volo. "Non multum adiciunt". Sed aeque non erit totum cui vel parva deerunt; et optimum quidem hoc esse conveniet: cuius etiamsi in arduo spes est, nos tamen praecipiamus omnia, ut saltem plura fiant. Sed cur deficiat animus?

"There has been someone eloquent without these." But I want an orator. "They do not add much." But equally he will not be entire to whom even small things are lacking; and indeed it will be agreed that this is the best: even if the hope of it is arduous, yet let us prescribe everything, so that at least more may be achieved. But why should the spirit fail?

Natura enim perfectum oratorem esse non prohibet, turpiterque desperatur quidquid fieri potest. IX. Atque ego vel iudicio veterum poteram esse contentus. Nam quis ignorat musicen, ut de hac primum loquar, tantum iam illis antiquis temporibus non studii modo verum etiam venerationis habuisse ut idem musici et vates et sapientes iudicarentur, mittam alios, Orpheus et Linus: quorum utrumque dis genitum, alterum vero, quia rudes quoque atque agrestes animos admiratione mulceret, non feras modo sed saxa etiam silvasque duxisse posteritatis memoriae traditum est.

For nature does not prohibit a perfect orator to exist, and whatever can be done is disgracefully despaired of. 9. And I could be content even with the judgment of the ancients. For who does not know that music—so that I speak of this first—had in those antique times so much not only of study but even of veneration, that the same men were judged musicians and vates and wise men, to pass over others, Orpheus and Linus: both of whom were born of gods, and the one indeed, because he soothed even rude and rustic spirits by admiration, is handed down to the memory of posterity to have led not only wild beasts but even rocks and forests.

X. Itaque et Timagenes auctor est omnium in litteris studiorum antiquissimam musicen extitisse, et testimonio sunt clarissimi poetae, apud quos inter regalia convivia laudes heroum ac deorum ad citharam canebantur. Iopas vero ille Vergili nonne canit "errantem lunam solisque labores" et cetera? Quibus certe palam confirmat auctor eminentissimus musicen cum divinarum etiam rerum cognitione esse coniunctam.

10. And so Timagenes is an authority that, among all studies in letters, music was the most ancient to have existed, and the most renowned poets are testimony, among whom, at regal banquets, the praises of heroes and of gods were sung to the cithara. And that Iopas in Virgil—does he not sing "the wandering moon and the labors of the sun" and the rest? By which things the most eminent author plainly confirms that music is conjoined with the cognition even of divine matters.

XI. Quod si datur, erit etiam oratori necessaria, si quidem, ut diximus, haec quoque pars, quae ab oratoribus relicta a philosophis est occupata, nostri operis fuit ac sine omnium talium scientia non potest esse perfecta eloquentia. XII. Atqui claros nomine sapientiae viros nemo dubitaverit studiosos musices fuisse, cum Pythagoras atque eum secuti acceptam sine dubio antiquitus opinionem vulgaverint mundum ipsum ratione esse compositum, quam postea sit lyra imitata, nec illa modo contenti dissimilium concordia, quam vocant harmonian, sonum quoque his motibus dederint.

11. If this is granted, it will also be necessary for the orator, since, as we have said, this part too, which, left by orators, has been occupied by philosophers, belonged to our work, and without knowledge of all such things eloquence cannot be perfect. 12. And yet no one will doubt that men renowned in the name of wisdom were studious of music, since Pythagoras and those who followed him spread abroad an opinion, without doubt received from antiquity, that the world itself is composed by ratio, which the lyre afterwards imitated; and, not content with that concord of dissimilars, which they call harmonia, they even assigned sound to these motions.

XIII. Nam Plato cum in aliis quibusdam tum praecipue in Timaeo ne intellegi quidem nisi ab iis qui hanc quoque partem disciplinae diligenter perceperint potest. De philosophis loquor, quorum fons ipse Socrates iam senex institui lyra non erubescebat?

13. For Plato, both in certain other works and especially in the Timaeus, cannot even be understood except by those who have diligently perceived this part of discipline as well. I speak of the philosophers, whose very fount, Socrates himself, already an old man, did not blush to be instructed on the lyre?

XIV. duces maximos et fidibus et tibiis cecinisse traditum, exercitus Lacedaemoniorum musicis accensos modis. Quid autem aliud in nostris legionibus cornua ac tubae faciunt?

14. it has been handed down that the greatest leaders played both on strings and on pipes, and that the armies of the Lacedaemonians were kindled by musical modes. What else, moreover, do the horns and trumpets accomplish in our legions?

Quorum concentus quanto est vehementior, tantum Romana in bellis gloria ceteris praestat. XV. Non igitur frustra Plato civili viro, quem politikon vocat, necessariam musicen credidit, et eius sectae, quae aliis severissima, aliis asperrima videtur, principes in hac fuere sententia, ut existimarent sapientium aliquos nonnullam operam his studiis accommodaturos, et Lycurgus, durissimarum Lacedaemoniis legum auctor, musices disciplinam probavit. XVI.

Of whose concerted harmony, the more vehement it is, by so much does Roman glory in wars excel the others. 15. Not therefore in vain did Plato believe music necessary for the civil man, whom he calls politikon, and the leaders of that sect, which to some seems most severe, to others most harsh, were of this opinion: that they judged that certain of the wise would devote some effort to these studies; and Lycurgus, author to the Lacedaemonians of the hardest laws, approved the discipline of music. 16.

Atque eam natura ipsa videtur ad tolerandos facilius labores velut muneri nobis dedisse, si quidem et remigem cantus hortatur; nec solum in iis operibus in quibus plurium conatus praeeunte aliqua iucunda voce conspirat, sed etiam singulorum fatigatio quamlibet se rudi modulatione solatur. XVII. Laudem adhuc dicere artis pulcherrimae videor, nondum eam tamen oratori coniungere.

And nature itself seems to have given it to us as if as a gift for more easily enduring labors, since indeed even the rower is heartened by song; and not only in those works in which the efforts of many, with some pleasant voice leading the way, conspire, but even the weariness of individuals consoles itself with however rough a modulation. 17. I seem thus far to be speaking the praise of a most beautiful art, yet not as yet to be joining it to the orator.

Transeamus igitur id quoque, quod grammatice quondam ac musice iunctae fuerunt: si quidem Archytas atque Evenus etiam subiectam grammaticen musicae putaverunt, et eosdem utriusque rei praeceptores fuisse cum Sophron ostendit, mimorum quidem scriptor, sed quem Plato adeo probavit ut suppositos capiti libros eius cum moreretur habuisse credatur, XVIII. tum Eupolis, apud quem Prodamus et musicen et litteras docet et Maricas, qui est Hyperbolus, nihil se ex musice scire nisi litteras confitetur. Aristophanes quoque non uno libro sic institui pueros antiquitus solitos esse demonstrat, et apud Menandrum in Hypobolimaeo senex, qui reposcenti filium patri velut rationem inpendiorum quae in educationem contulerit exponens psaltis se et geometris multa dicit dedisse.

Let us pass over, then, this too: that grammar and music were once joined; since indeed Archytas and Evenus even thought that grammar was subjected to music, and that the same men were preceptors of both disciplines Sophron shows—indeed a writer of mimes, but whom Plato approved so greatly that he is believed, when he was dying, to have had his books placed at his head, 18. then Eupolis, in whom Prodamus teaches both music and letters, and Maricas, who is Hyperbolus, confesses that he knows nothing from music except letters. Aristophanes also, in not one book alone, demonstrates that boys were of old accustomed to be trained thus; and in Menander’s Hypobolimaeus an old man, setting forth to the father demanding back his son something like an account of the expenses which he has contributed to his education, says that he has given much to singing-masters and to geometricians.

XIX. Vnde etiam ille mos, ut in conviviis post cenam circumferretur lyra, cuius cum se imperitum Themistocles confessus esset, ut verbis Ciceronis utar, "est habitus indoctior". XX. Sed veterum quoque Romanorum epulis fides ac tibias adhibere moris fuit: versus quoque Saliorum habent carmen. Quae cum omnia sint a Numa rege instituta, faciunt manifestum ne illis quidem qui rudes ac bellicosi videntur curam musices, quantam illa recipiebat aetas, defuisse.

19. Whence also that custom, that at banquets after dinner a lyre would be carried around; and when Themistocles confessed himself unskilled in it, to use Cicero’s words, "he was held more unlearned." 20. But at the feasts of the ancient Romans too it was the custom to employ strings and pipes; the verses of the Salii also have a song. Since all these things were instituted by King Numa, they make it manifest that not even for those who seem rough and warlike was care for music, to the extent that that age received it, lacking.

XXI. Denique in proverbium usque Graecorum celebratum est indoctos a Musis atque a Gratiis abesse.

21. Finally, it has been celebrated even into a proverb among the Greeks that the unlearned are absent from the Muses and the Graces.

XXII. Verum quid ex ea proprie petat futurus orator disseramus. Numeros musice duplices habet, in vocibus et in corpore: utriusque enim rei aptus quidam modus desideratur.

22. But let us discuss what, specifically, the future orator should seek from it. Music has double numbers, in voices and in the body: for in each matter a certain apt mode is required.

Vocis rationem Aristoxenus musicus dividit in rhythmon et melos, quorum alterum modulatione, alterum canore ac sonis constat. Num igitur non haec omnia oratori necessaria? Quorum unum ad gestum, alterum ad conlocationem verborum, tertium ad flexus vocis, qui sunt in agendo quoque plurimi, pertinet: XXIII.

Aristoxenus the musician divides the account of voice into rhythmon and melos, of which the one consists in modulation, the other in canor and sounds. Are, then, not all these things necessary to the orator? Of which one pertains to gesture, another to the collocation of words, a third to the inflections of the voice, which also in delivery are very many: 23.

nisi forte in carminibus tantum et in canticis exigitur structura quaedam et inoffensa copulatio vocum, in agendo supervacua est, aut non compositio et sonus in oratione quoque varie pro rerum modo adhibetur sicut in musice. XXIV. Namque et voce et modulatione grandia elate, iucunda dulciter, moderata leniter canit totaque arte consentit cum eorum quae dicuntur adfectibus.

unless perhaps only in poems and in songs is a certain structure and an unoffending coupling of voices required, while in delivery it is superfluous; or is it not that composition and sound in speech too are employed variously according to the mode of the matters, just as in music. XXIV. For both with voice and with modulation he sings grand things loftily, pleasing things sweetly, tempered things gently, and with his whole art he is in accord with the affections of the things that are said.

XXV. Atqui in orando quoque intentio vocis, remissio, flexus pertinet ad movendos audientium adfectus, aliaque et conlocationis et vocis, ut eodem utar verbo, modulatione concitationem iudicis, alia misericordiam petimus, cum etiam organis, quibus sermo exprimi non potest, adfici animos in diversum habitum sentiamus. XXVI.

25. And yet in pleading too the tension of the voice, its relaxation, and its inflections pertain to moving the hearers’ affections; and by other kinds both of collocation and of the voice—so that I may use the same word—by modulation we seek the excitation of the judge, by others we seek mercy, since we perceive that even by instruments, by which speech cannot be expressed, minds are affected into a different disposition. 26.

Corporis quoque aptus et decens motus, qui dicitur eurythmia, et est necessarius nec aliunde peti potest: in quo pars actionis non minima consistit, qua de re sepositus nobis est locus. XXVII. Age, non habebit in primis curam vocis orator?

The fitting and becoming movement of the body as well, which is called eurythmy, and is necessary and cannot be sought from elsewhere: in which no small part of delivery consists, on which matter a place has been set aside for us. 27. Come, will not the orator have, in the first place, a care for the voice?

Quid tam musices proprium? Sed ne haec quidem praesumenda pars est: uno interim contenti simus exemplo C. Gracchi, praecipui suorum temporum oratoris, cui contionanti consistens post eum musicus fistula, quam tonarion vocant, modos quibus deberet intendi ministrabat. XXVIII.

What is more proper to music? Yet not even this part should be pre-empted: in the meantime let us be content with one example, that of C. Gracchus, the foremost orator of his times, for whom, while he was addressing the assembly, a musician standing behind him with a pipe, which they call a tonarion, supplied the modes by which his pitch ought to be regulated. 28.

haec ei cura inter turbidissimas actiones vel terrenti optimates vel iam timenti fuit. Libet propter quosdam imperitiores, etiam "crassiore", ut vocant, "Musa", dubitationem huius utilitatis eximere. XXIX.

This concern was his amid the most turbulent actions, whether as he was terrifying the Optimates or already in fear. It pleases me, on account of certain more unskilled persons, even with a "thicker," as they call it, "Muse," to remove the doubt of this utility. 29.

Nam poetas certe legendos oratori futuro concesserint: num igitur hi sine musice? Ac si quis tam caecus animi est ut de aliis dubitet, illos certe qui cannina ad lyram composuerunt. Haec diutius forent dicenda si hoc studium velut novum praeciperem.

For they would certainly grant that poets are to be read by the future orator: are these then without music? And if anyone is so blind of mind as to doubt about the others, at least those who composed songs to the lyre. These points would have to be said at greater length if I were prescribing this study as though new.

XXX. cum vero antiquitus usque a Chirone atque Achille ad nostra tempora apud omnis, qui modo legitimam disciplinam non sint perosi, duraverit, non est committendum ut illa dubia faciam defensionis sollicitudine. XXXI.

30. since indeed from ancient times, from Chiron and Achilles down to our own times, it has endured among all who are not, at least, loathing legitimate discipline, it must not be allowed that I make that matter dubious by the solicitude of a defense. 31.

Quamvis autem satis iam ex ipsis quibus sum modo usus exemplis credam esse manifestum quae mihi et quatenus musice placeat, apertius tamen profitendum puto non hanc a me praecipi quae nunc in scaenis effeminata et inpudicis modis fracta non ex parte minima si quid in nobis virilis roboris manebat excidit, sed qua laudes fortium canebantur quaque ipsi fortes canebant: nec psalteria et spadicas, etiam virginibus probis recusanda, sed cognitionem rationis, quae ad movendos leniendosque adfectus plurimum valet. XXXII. Nam et Pythagoran accepimus concitatos ad vim pudicae domui adferendam iuvenes iussa mutare in spondium modos tibicina composuisse, et Chrysippus etiam nutricum illi quae adhibetur infantibus adlectationi suum quoddam carmen adsignat.

Although, however, I already believe it to be sufficiently manifest from the very examples which I have just used, what and to what extent music pleases me, yet I think it must be more openly professed that it is not this kind which I prescribe—the sort which now on the stages, effeminate and broken by impudent modes, has, not by the least part, caused to fall away whatever manly vigor remained in us—but that by which the praises of the brave were sung and by which the brave themselves sang: not psalteries and castrati, things to be refused even by virtuous maidens, but a cognition of reason, which avails most for moving and soothing the affections. 32. For we have learned that Pythagoras, when youths were stirred up to bring violence to a modest household, ordered a flute-girl to change the modes into the spondee, and Chrysippus even assigns to that coaxing which nurses apply to infants a certain proper song.

Est etiam non inerudite ad declamandum ficta materia, in qua ponitur tibicen, qui sacrificanti Phrygium cecinerat, XXXIII. acto illo in insaniam et per praecipitia delato accusari quod causa mortis extiterit: quae si dici debet ab oratore nec dici citra scientiam musices potest, quomodo non hanc quoque artem necessariam esse operi nostro vel iniqui consentient?

There is also a not unlearned fabricated theme for declaiming, in which a piper is presented, who had played the Phrygian for one sacrificing, 33. with him driven into madness and carried headlong over precipices, he is accused of having been the cause of death: which, if it ought to be said by an orator and cannot be said without the science of music, how will not even the ill-disposed consent that this art too is necessary to our work?

XXXIV. In geometria partem fatentur esse utilem teneris aetatibus: agitari namque animos et acui ingenia et celeritatem percipiendi venire inde concedunt, sed prodesse eam non, ut ceteras artis, cum perceptae sint sed cum discatur existimant. XXXV.

34. In geometry they admit that there is a part useful to tender ages: for they grant that from it minds are stirred, wits are sharpened, and speed of apprehension comes; but they think that it profits not, as the other arts, when they have been mastered, but while it is being learned. 35.

Id vulgaris opinio est: nec sine causa summi viri etiam inpensam huic scientiae operam dederunt. Nam cum sit geometria divisa in numeros atque formas, numerorum quidem notitia non oratori modo sed cuicumque primis saltem litteris erudito necessaria est. In causis vero vel frequentissime versari solet: in quibus actor, non dico si circa summas trepidat, sed si digitorum saltem incerto aut indecoro gestu a computatione dissentit, iudicatur indoctus.

That is the common opinion; nor without cause have men of the highest rank even devoted costly effort to this science. For since geometry is divided into numbers and forms, the knowledge of numbers is necessary not only for the orator but for anyone at least educated in the first letters. In cases indeed it is most frequently employed: in which the advocate—not to say if he falters over the totals, but if at least by an uncertain or indecorous gesture of the fingers he is at odds with the computation—is judged unlearned.

XXXVI. Illa vero linearis ratio et ipsa quidem cadit frequenter in causas (nam de terminis mensurisque sunt lites), sed habet maiorem quandam aliam cum arte oratoria cognationem. XXXVII.

XXXVI. That linear method, indeed, also itself falls frequently into cases (for litigations are about boundaries and measures), but it has a certain other, greater cognation with the oratorical art. XXXVII.

Iam primum ordo est geometriae necessarius: nonne et eloquentiae? Ex prioribus geometria probat insequentia et certis incerta: nonne id in dicendo facimus? Quid?

Now, first of all, order is necessary to geometry: is it not also to eloquence? From priors geometry proves consequents and, from certain things, the uncertain: do we not do that in speaking? What?

illa propositarum quaestionum conclusio non fere tota constat syllogismis? Propter quod pluris invenias qui dialecticae similem quam qui rhetoricae fateantur hanc artem. Verum et orator, etiamsi raro, non tamen numquam probabit dialectice.

does not the conclusion of the proposed questions almost entirely consist of syllogisms? For which reason you will find more who acknowledge this art to be akin to dialectic than to rhetoric. Yet even the orator, although rarely, will nevertheless sometimes prove dialectically.

XXXVIII. Nam et syllogismis si res poscet utetur, et certe enthymemate, qui rhetoricus est syllogismus. Denique probationum quae sunt potentissimae grammicae apodixis vulgo dicuntur: quid autem magis oratio quam probationem petit?

38. For he too will use syllogisms, if the matter shall demand it, and certainly the enthymeme, which is the rhetorical syllogism. Finally, the proofs which are most powerful are commonly called grammatical apodeixes: but what does oration seek more than proof?

XXXIX. Falsa quoque veris similia geometria ratione deprendit. Fit hoc et in numeris per quasdam quas pseudographias vocant, quibus pueri ludere solebamus.

39. Geometry also by reasoning detects falsehoods similar to truths. This happens too in numbers, through certain things which they call pseudographies, with which we used to play as boys.

Sed alia maiora sunt. Nam quis non ita proponenti credat: "quorum locorum extremae lineae eandem mensuram colligunt, eorum spatium quoque quod iis lineis continetur par sit necesse est". XL. At id falsum est: nam plurimum refert cuius sit formae ille circumitus, reprehensique a geometris sunt historici qui magnitudinem insularum satis significari navigationis ambitu crediderunt. Nam ut quaeque forma perfectissima, ita capacissima est.

Sed alia maiora sunt. Nam quis non ita proponenti credat: "of those places whose extreme lines gather the same measure, the space too which is contained by those lines must be equal". 40. But that is false: for it matters very much of what form that circuit is, and historians have been reproved by geometers who believed that the magnitude of islands is sufficiently indicated by the circuit of navigation. For as a form is more most-perfect, so it is more capacious.

XLI. Ideoque illa circumcurrens linea, si efficiet orbem, quae forma est in planis maxime perfecta, amplius spatium complectetur quam si quadratum paribus oris efficiat, rursus quadrata triangulis, triangula ipsa plus aequis lateribus quam inaequalibus. XLII.

41. And therefore that encircling line, if it makes a circle—which form among plane figures is the most perfect—will encompass a greater space than if it makes a square with equal edges; in turn squares more than triangles, and triangles themselves more with equal sides than with unequal. 42.

Sed alia forsitan obscuriora: nos facillimum etiam imperitis sequamur experimentum. Iugeri mensuram ducentos et quadraginta longitudinis pedes esse dimidioque in latitudinem patere non fere quisquam est qui ignoret, et qui sit circumitus et quantum campi cludat colligere expeditum. XLIII.

But other things perhaps are more obscure: let us follow an experiment very easy even for the unskilled. The measure of a iugerum is 240 feet in length and it extends by a half in breadth—there is hardly anyone who is unaware of this—and it is easy to compute what the circuit is and how much field it encloses. 43.

At centeni et octogeni in quamque partem pedes idem spatium extremitatis sed multo amplius clusae quattuor lineis areae faciunt. Id si computare quem piget, brevioribus numeris idem discat. Nam deni in quadram pedes quadraginta per oram, intra centum erunt.

But 180 feet to each side make, with the same extent of extremity (perimeter), an area enclosed by four lines that is much larger. If anyone is loath to compute that, let him learn the same by briefer numbers. For with ten to a side in a square, there will be forty feet along the edge, and within there will be one hundred.

At si quini deni per latera, quini in fronte sint, ex illo quod amplectuntur quartam deducent eodem circumductu. XLIV. Si vero porrecti utrimque undeviceni singulis distent, non plures intus quadratos habebunt quam per quot longitudo ducetur: quae circumibit autem linea eiusdem spatii erit cuius ea quae centum continet.

But if there be fifteen along the sides, five at the front, from that which they encompass they will subtract a fourth with the same circuit. 44. But if, indeed, extended on both sides they stand apart by singles to nineteen each, they will not have more squares within than the number by which the length is drawn: the line, however, that goes around will be of the same space as that of the one which contains a hundred.

Ita quidquid formae quadrati detraxeris, amplitudini quoque peribit. XLV. Ergo etiam id fieri potest, ut maiore circumitu minor loci amplitudo cludatur.

Thus, whatever you subtract from the form of the square, the extent too will be lost. 45. Therefore this too can be done: that by a greater circuit a smaller area of the place is enclosed.

Haec in planis; nam in collibus vallibusque etiam imperito patet plus soli esse quam caeli. XLVI. Quid quod se eadem geometria tollit ad rationem usque mundi?

These things on the plains; for in hills and valleys even to the unskilled it is evident that there is more of soil than of sky. 46. What of the fact that this same geometry elevates itself up to the rationale of the universe?

In qua, cum siderum certos constitutosque cursus numeris docet, discimus nihil esse inordinatum atque fortuitum: quod ipsum nonnumquam pertinere ad oratorem potest. XLVII. An vero, cum Pericles Athenienses solis obscuratione territos redditis eius rei causis metu liberavit, aut cum Sulpicius ille Gallus in exercitu L. Pauli de lunae defectione disseruit, ne velut prodigio divinitus facto militum animi terrerentur, non videtur esse usus oratoris officio?

In which, when it teaches by numbers the certain and constituted courses of the stars, we learn that nothing is inordinate and fortuitous: which very thing can sometimes pertain to the orator. 47. Or truly, when Pericles freed the Athenians, frightened by an obscuration of the sun, from fear by rendering the causes of that matter, or when that Sulpicius Gallus in the army of L. Paulus discoursed about the moon’s defection (eclipse), lest the minds of the soldiers be terrified as if by a prodigy divinely done, does it not seem that the office of the orator was employed?

XLVIII. Quod si Nicias in Sicilia scisset, non eodem confusus metu pulcherrimum Atheniensium exercitum perdidisset: sicut Dion, cum ad destruendam Dionysi tyrannidem venit, non est tali casu deterritus. Sint extra licet usus bellici transeamusque quod Archimedes unus obsidionem Syracusarum in longius traxit, XLIX.

48. But if Nicias in Sicily had known it, he would not, confounded by the same fear, have lost the most splendid army of the Athenians: just as Dion, when he came to destroy the tyranny of Dionysius, was not deterred by such a chance. Granted, let the military uses lie outside, and let us pass over the fact that Archimedes alone protracted the siege of Syracuse to a greater length, 49.

illud utique iam proprium ad efficiendum quod intendimus, plurimas quaestiones, quibus difficilior alia ratione explicatio est, ut de ratione videndi, de sectione in infinitum, de celeritate augenda, linearibus illis probationibus solvi solere: ut, si est oratori, quod proximus demonstrabit liber, de omnibus rebus dicendum, nullo modo sine geometria esse possit orator.

that, assuredly, is now especially proper to effecting what we intend: that very many questions—whose explication is more difficult by another method—such as on the theory of seeing, on section into the infinite, on augmenting speed, are accustomed to be solved by those linear demonstrations; so that, if it is for the orator, as the next book will demonstrate, to speak on all matters, the orator can in no way be without geometry.

[11] I. Dandum aliquid comoedo quoque, dum eatenus qua pronuntiandi scientiam futurus orator desiderat. Non enim puerum quem in hoc instituimus aut femineae vocis exilitate frangi volo aut seniliter tremere. II. Nec vitia ebrietatis effingat nec servili vernilitate inbuatur nec amoris avaritiae metus discat adfectum: quae neque oratori sunt necessaria et mentem praecipue in aetate prima teneram adhuc et rudem inficiunt; nam frequens imitatio transit in mores.

[11] 1. Something is to be granted to the comic actor as well, in so far as the future orator desires the knowledge of delivery. For I do not wish the boy whom we train for this to be broken by the thinness of a feminine voice or to tremble in a senile way. 2. Nor let him imitate the vices of drunkenness, nor be imbued with servile vernility, nor learn the passion of love, of avarice, of fear: which things are not necessary for the orator and, especially in the first age, when the mind is still tender and raw, they taint it; for frequent imitation passes over into morals.

III. Ne gestus quidem omnis ac motus a comoedis petendus est. Quamquam enim utrumque eorum ad quendam modum praestare debet orator, plurimum tamen aberit a scaenico, nec vultu nec manu nec excursionibus nimius.

3. Not even all gesture and movement is to be sought from the comedians. For although the orator ought to exhibit both of these to a certain measure, yet he will be very far from the stage-actor, excessive neither in countenance nor in hand nor in excursions.

Nam si qua in his ars est dicentium, ea prima est ne ars esse videatur. IV. Quod est igitur huius doctoris officium? In primis vitia si qua sunt oris emendet, ut expressa sint verba, ut suis quaeque litterae sonis enuntientur.

For if there is any art in these things of speakers, the first is that the art not seem to be art. 4. What, then, is the office of this teacher? First of all, let him correct whatever faults of the mouth there are, so that the words be expressed, so that each letter be enunciated with its own sounds.

Quarundam enim vel exilitate vel pinguitudine nimia laboramus, quasdam velut acriores parum efficimus et aliis non dissimilibus sed quasi hebetioribus permutamus. V. Quippe et rho litterae, qua Demosthenes quoque laboravit, labda succedit, quarum vis est apud nos quoque, et cum c ac similiter g non evaluerunt, in t ac d molliuntur. VI. Ne illas quidem circa s litteram delicias hic magister feret, nec verba in faucibus patietur audiri nec oris inanitate resonare nec, quod minime sermoni puro conveniat, simplicem vocis naturam pleniore quodam sono circumliniri, quod Graeci catapeplasmenon dicunt VII.

For certain we suffer either from thinness or from excessive fatness; some, as if sharper, we produce too little, and we exchange them for others not dissimilar but, as it were, duller. 5. Indeed, to the letter rho, which Demosthenes too labored with, labda succeeds, the effect of which is among us as well; and when c and similarly g have not prevailed, they are softened into t and d. 6. Not even those indulgences around the letter s will this teacher tolerate, nor will he allow words to be heard in the throat, nor to resound with the emptiness of the mouth, nor—what least befits pure speech—that the simple nature of the voice be smeared round with a fuller kind of sound, which the Greeks call catapeplasmenon 7.

(sic appellatur cantus tibiarum quae, praeclusis quibus clarescunt foraminibus, recto modo exitu graviorem spiritum reddunt). VIII. curabit etiam ne extremae syllabae intercidant, ut par sibi sermo sit, ut quotiens exclamandum erit lateris conatus sit ille, non capitis,ut gestus ad vocem, vultus ad gestum accommodetur. IX. Observandum erit etiam ut recta sit facies dicentis, ne labra detorqueantur, ne inmodicus hiatus rictum distendat, ne supinus vultus, ne deiecti in terram oculi, ne inclinata utrolibet cervix.

(so is called the chant of pipes which, with the holes by which they grow clear closed off, in a straight mode at the outlet give back a heavier breath). 8. he will also take care that final syllables do not fall away, that speech be equal to itself, that whenever there will be need to exclaim the effort be that of the flank, not of the head,that the gesture be accommodated to the voice, the countenance to the gesture. 9. It will also have to be observed that the face of the speaker be straight, lest the lips be twisted, lest an immoderate gaping distend the mouth, lest the face be upturned, lest the eyes be cast down to the earth, lest the neck be inclined to either side.

X. Nam frons pluribus generibus peccat. Vidi multos quorum supercilia ad singulos vocis conatus adlevarentur, aliorum constricta, aliorum etiam dissidentia, cum alterum in verticem tenderent, altero paene oculus ipse premeretur. XI. Infinitum autem, ut mox dicemus, in his quoque rebus momentum est, et nihil potest placere quod non decet.

10. For the brow sins in several kinds. I have seen many whose eyebrows were lifted at each effort of the voice, others’ constricted, others even dissentient, when the one would be stretched toward the crown, while by the other the eye itself was almost pressed down. 11. Moreover, as we shall soon say, in these matters too the moment is immense, and nothing can please which does not befit.

XII. Debet etiam docere comoedus quomodo narrandum, qua sit auctoritate suadendum, qua concitatione consurgat ira, qui flexus deceat miserationem: quod ita optime faciet si certos ex comoediis elegerit locos et ad hoc maxime idoneos, id est actionibus similes. XIII.

12. The comic actor ought also to teach how narration is to be delivered, with what authority one should persuade, with what concitation ire should rise, what inflection befits compassion: which he will do best if he selects certain passages from comedies and most suitable for this, that is, similar to actions. 13.

Idem autem non ad pronuntiandum modo utilissimi, verum ad augendam quoque eloquentiam maxime accommodati erunt. XIV. Et haec dum infirma aetas maiora non capiet: ceterum cum legere orationes oportebit, cum virtutes earum iam sentiet, tum mihi diligens aliquis ac peritus adsistat, neque solum lectionem formet verum ediscere etiam electa ex iis cogat et ea dicere stantem clare et quem ad modum agere oportebit, ut protinus pronuntiationem vocem memoriam exerceat.

The same, moreover, will be most useful not only for pronuntiation, but also most apt for augmenting eloquence. 14. And these things, while a tender age will not grasp greater matters; but when it will be proper to read orations, when he will already perceive their virtues, then, I would have someone diligent and skilled stand by, and let him not only shape the reading but even compel (him) to learn by heart selections from them, and to speak them standing, clearly, and in the way it will be proper to act, so that straightway he may exercise pronuntiation, voice, and memory.

XV. Ne illos quidem reprehendendos puto qui paulum etiam palaestricis vacaverunt. Non de iis loquor quibus pars vitae in oleo, pars in vino consumitur, qui corporum cura mentem obruerunt (hos enim abesse ab eo quem instituimus quam longissime velim): XVI. sed nomen est idem iis a quibus gestus motusque formantur, ut recta sint bracchia, ne indoctae rusticae manus, ne status indecorus, ne qua in proferendis pedibus inscitia, ne caput oculique ab alia corporis inclinatione dissideant.

15. Nor do I think even those are to be reprehended who have devoted a little time also to palaestric exercises. I am not speaking of those for whom one part of life is consumed in oil and another in wine, who have overwhelmed the mind with care of the body (for these I would wish to be as far as possible away from the one whom we are training): 16. but the same name belongs to those by whom gesture and movement are formed—so that the arms may be straight, lest the hands be untaught and rustic, lest the stance be unseemly, lest there be any ignorance in the putting-forth of the feet, lest the head and eyes be at variance with the other inclination of the body.

XVII. Nam neque haec esse in parte pronuntiationis negaverit quisquam neque ipsam pronuntiationem ab oratore secernet: et certe quod facere oporteat non indignandum est discere, cum praesertim haec chironomia, quae est (ut nomine ipso declaratur) lex gestus, et ab illis temporibus heroicis orta sit et a summis Graeciae viris atque ipso etiam Socrate probata, a Platone quoque in parte civilium posita virtutum, et a Chrysippo in praeceptis de liberorum educatione compositis non omissa. XVIII.

17. For neither will anyone deny that these things are in the part of delivery (pronuntiation), nor will he sever delivery itself from the orator: and surely one ought not to disdain to learn what he ought to do, especially since this chironomy, which is (as the name itself declares) the law of gesture, both arose from those heroic times and was approved by the greatest men of Greece and even by Socrates himself, was also placed by Plato among the civic virtues, and was not omitted by Chrysippus in the precepts composed concerning the education of children. 18.

Nam Lacedaemonios quidem etiam saltationem quandam tamquam ad bella quoque utilem habuisse inter exercitationes accepimus. Neque id veteribus Romanis dedecori fuit: argumentum est sacerdotum nomine ac religione durans ad hoc tempus saltatio et illa in tertio Ciceronis de Oratore libro verba Crassi, quibus praecipit ut orator utatur "laterum inclinatione forti ac virili, non a scaena et histrionibus, sed ab armis aut etiam a palaestra". Cuius disciplinae usus in nostram usque aetatem sine reprehensione descendit. XIX.

For we have received that the Lacedaemonians even had, among their exercises, a certain saltation, as useful also for wars. Nor was this a disgrace to the ancient Romans: the argument is the saltation enduring to this time under the name and religion of the priests, and those words of Crassus in the third book of Cicero’s On the Orator, in which he instructs that the orator should employ “a strong and manly inclination of the sides, not from the stage and the actors, but from arms or even from the palaestra.” The use of this disciplina has descended down to our own age without censure. 19.

A me tamen nec ultra puerilis annos retinebitur nec in his ipsis diu. Neque enim gestum oratoris componi ad similitudinem saltationis volo, sed subesse aliquid ex hac exercitatione puerili, unde nos non id agentis furtim decor ille discentibus traditus prosequatur.

By me, however, it will neither be retained beyond the boyish years nor even long within these themselves. For I do not wish the orator’s gesture to be composed to the similitude of dancing, but that there be something underlying from this puerile exercise, whence, we not aiming at that, that grace, imparted to learners, may stealthily attend us.

[12] XII. Quaeri solet an, etiamsi discenda sint haec, eodem tempore tamen tradi omnia et percipi possint. Negant enim quidam, quia confundatur animus ac fatigetur tot disciplinis in diversum tendentibus, ad quas nec mens nec corpus nec dies ipse sufficiat, et, si maxime patiatur hoc aetas robustior, pueriles annos onerari non oportere.

[12] 12. It is usually asked whether, even if these things must be learned, nevertheless all can be handed on and perceived at the same time. For some deny this, because the mind is confounded and wearied by so many disciplines tending in diverse directions, for which neither the intellect nor the body nor the day itself is sufficient; and, even if a more robust age might especially endure this, the boyish years ought not to be burdened.

II. Sed non satis perspiciunt quantum natura humani ingenii valeat, quae ita est agilis ac velox, sic in omnem partem, ut ita dixerim, spectat, ut ne possit quidem aliquid agere tantum unum, in plura vero non eodem die modo sed eodem temporis momento vim suam intendat. III. An vero citharoedi non simul et memoriae et sono vocis et plurimis flexibus serviunt, cum interim alios nervos dextra percurrunt, alios laeva trahunt continent praebent, ne pes quidem otiosus certam legem temporum servat - et haec pariter omnia?

2. But they do not sufficiently perceive how much the nature of human ingenuity prevails, which is so agile and swift, so, as I may say, looks in every direction, that it cannot indeed do only one thing, but rather directs its force to several things not only on the same day but in the same moment of time. 3. Or do cithara-players not at once serve both memory and the sound of the voice and very many inflections, while meanwhile they run over some strings with the right hand, with the left they draw, hold, and present others, not even the foot idle as it observes the fixed law of time - and all these things simultaneously?

IV. Quid? nos agendi subita necessitate deprensi nonne alia dicimus alia providemus, cum pariter inventio rerum, electio verborum, compositio gestus pronuntiatio vultus motus desiderentur? Quae si velut sub uno conatu tam diversa parent simul, cur non pluribus curis horas partiamurcum praesertim reficiat animos ac reparet varietas ipsa, contraque sit aliquanto difficilius in labore uno perseverare?

IV. What? When we are caught by the sudden necessity of pleading, do we not say some things and foresee others, while at the same time invention of matters, election of words, composition, gesture, pronuntiation (delivery), and the movement of the countenance are required? If these, so diverse, yet obey as it were under a single effort simultaneously, why should we not divide our hours among more cares—especially since variety itself refreshes and repairs our spirits, and on the contrary it is somewhat more difficult to persevere in a single labor?

Ideo et stilus lectione requiescit et ipsius lectionis taedium vicibus levatur; V. quamlibet multa egerimus, quodam tamen modo recentes sumus ad id quod incipimus. Quis non optundi possit si per totum diem cuiuscumque artis unum magistrum ferat? Mutatione recreabitur sicut in cibis, quorum diversitate reficitur stomachus et pluribus minore fastidio alitur.

Therefore both the pen finds rest by reading, and the tedium of the reading itself is lightened by turns; 5. however many things we may have done, in a certain way we are nevertheless fresh for that which we begin. Who would not be dulled if for a whole day he must endure one teacher of whatever art? He will be refreshed by change, just as with foods, by whose diversity the stomach is restored and is nourished by more kinds with less distaste.

VI. Aut dicant isti mihi quae sit alia ratio discendi. Grammatico soli deserviamus, deinde geometrae tantum, omittamus interim quod didicimus? mox transeamus ad musicum, excidant priora?

6. Or let those men tell me what other method of learning there is. Shall we serve the grammarian alone, then only the geometer, and in the meantime omit what we have learned? soon pass over to the musician—shall the prior things fall away?

Et cum Latinis studebimus litteris, non respiciamus ad Graecas? Et, ut semel finiam, nihil faciamus nisi novissimum? VII.

And when we shall study Latin letters, shall we not look toward Greek? And, so that I may finish once for all, shall we do nothing except the newest? 7.

cur non idem suademus agricolis, ne arva simul et vineta et oleas et arbustum colant? ne pratis et pecoribus et hortis et alvearibus avibusque accommodent curam? cur ipsi aliquid forensibus negotiis, aliquid desideriis amicorum, aliquid rationibus domesticis, aliquid curae corporis, nonnihil voluptatibus cotidie damus?

Why do we not urge the same upon farmers, that they not cultivate fields and vineyards and olive-groves and the arboretum at the same time? that they not accommodate their care to meadows and herds and gardens and beehives and birds? Why do we ourselves each day allot something to forensic business, something to the requests of friends, something to domestic accounts, something to the care of the body, and not a little to pleasures?

Quarum nos una res quaelibet nihil intermittentis fatigaret: adeo facilius est multa facere quam diu.

Any one of which, with nothing intermitting, would fatigue us: so much easier it is to do many things than to do for a long time.

VIII. Illud quidem minime verendum est, ne laborem studiorum pueri difficilius tolerent; neque enim ulla aetas minus fatigatur. Mirum sit forsitan, sed experimentis deprehendas; nam et dociliora sunt ingenia priusquam obduruerunt IX. (id vel hoc argumento patet, quod intra biennium quam verba recte formare potuerunt quamvis nullo instante omnia fere locuntur: at noviciis nostris per quot annos sermo Latinus repugnat!

8. That indeed is by no means to be feared, lest boys should endure the labor of studies more difficultly; for no age is less fatigued. It may perhaps be a marvel, but you would discover it by experiments; for wits are also more docile before they have hardened 9. (this is evident even by this argument, that within 2 years from the time when they were able to form words rightly they speak almost everything, although no one urging them on: but to our novices, for how many years does Latin speech resist!

Magis scias si quem iam robustum instituere litteris coeperis non sine causa dici paidomatheis eos qui in sua quidque arte optime faciant) X. et patientior est laboris natura pueris quam iuvenibus. Videlicet ut corpora infantium nec casus, quo in terram totiens deferuntur, tam graviter adfligit nec illa per manus et genua reptatio nec post breve tempus continui lusus et totius diei discursus, quia pondus illis abest nec se ipsi gravant: sic animi quoque, credo quia minore conatu moventur nec suo nisu studiis insistunt sed formandos se tantummodo praestant, non similiter fatigantur. XI. Praeterea secundum aliam aetatis illius facilitatem velut simplicius docentis secuntur nec quae iam egerint metiuntur: abest illis adhuc etiam laboris iudicium.

You will know it more, if you should begin to institute someone already robust in letters, that those who in each one’s art do most excellently are not without cause called paidomatheis) 10. and the nature of boys is more patient of labor than of young men. Clearly, just as the bodies of infants neither does the falling, by which they are so often borne down to the ground, afflict so gravely, nor that crawling on hands and knees, nor, after a brief time, continuous play and the running-about of the whole day, because weight is absent to them and they do not make themselves heavy: so also their minds, I believe because they are moved with lesser effort and do not press upon studies by their own striving but only offer themselves to be formed, are not fatigued in like manner. 11. Moreover, according to another easiness of that age, they follow as if of one teaching more simply, and they do not measure the things they have already done: from them there is as yet even an appraisal of labor absent.

Porro, ut frequenter experti sumus, minus adficit sensus fatigatio quam cogitatio.

Moreover, as we have frequently experienced, fatigue affects the senses less than cogitation.

XII. Sed ne temporis quidem umquam plus erit, quia his aetatibus omnis in audiendo profectus est. cum ad stilum secedet, cum generabit ipse aliquid atque componet, tum inchoare haec studia vel non vacabit vel non libebit.

12. But there will never even be more time, because at these ages all progress is in listening. when he withdraws to the stylus, when he himself will generate something and compose, then to begin these studies he will either not have leisure or not have the inclination.

XIII. Ergo cum grammaticus totum diem occupare non possit, nec debeat ne discentis animum taedio avertat, quibus potius studiis haec temporum velut subsiciva donabimus? XIV.

13. Therefore, since the grammarian cannot occupy the whole day, nor should he, lest he avert the learner’s mind by tedium, to what studies rather shall we grant these, as it were, the spare leavings of time? 14.

Nam nec ego consumi studentem in his artibus volo: nec moduletur aut musicis notis cantica excipiat, nec utique ad minutissima usque geometriae opera descendat; non comoedum in pronuntiando nec saltatorem in gestu facio. Quae si omnia exigerem, suppeditabat tamen tempus; longa est enim quae discit aetas, et ego non de tardis ingeniis loquor. XV. Denique cur in his omnibus quae discenda oratori futuro puto eminuit Plato?

For I neither wish the student to be consumed in these arts: nor that he should modulate or take down songs in musical notes, nor, assuredly, that he should descend to the very minutiae of the works of geometry; I am not making him a comedian in delivery nor a dancer in gesture. If I were to require all these things, time would still be sufficient; for the age that learns is long, and I am not speaking of slow wits. 15. Finally, why did Plato excel in all these things which I think must be learned by a future orator?

Qui non contentus disciplinis quas praestare poterant Athenae, non Pythagoreorum, ad quos in Italiam navigaverat, Aegypti quoque sacerdotes adiit atque eorum arcana perdidicit.

who, not content with the disciplines which Athens could provide, nor with those of the Pythagoreans, to whom he had sailed into Italy, also approached the priests of Egypt and thoroughly learned their arcana.

XVI. Difficultatis patrocinia praeteximus segnitiae; neque enim nobis operis amor est, nec quia sit honesta ac rerum pulcherrima eloquentia petitur ipsa, sed ad vilem usum et sordidum lucrum accingimur. XVII.

16. We pretext the patronages of “difficulty” for sloth; for we have no love of work, nor is eloquence itself sought because it is honorable and the most beautiful of things, but we gird ourselves for vile use and sordid lucre. 17.

Dicant sine his in foro multi et adquirant, dum sit locupletior aliquis sordidae mercis negotiator et plus voci suae debeat praeco. Ne velim quidem lectorem dari mihi quid studia referant computaturum. XVIII.

Let many speak in the forum without these and acquire, provided that some negotiant of sordid merchandise be more opulent, and that the auctioneer owe more to his voice. I would not even wish to have a reader assigned to me who would compute what returns studies bring back. 18.

Qui vero imaginem ipsam eloquentiae divina quadam mente conceperit, quique illam, ut ait non ignobilis tragicus, "reginam rerum orationem" ponet ante oculos, fructumque non ex stipe advocationum sed ex animo suo et contemplatione ac scientia petet perpetuum illum nec fortunae subiectum, facile persuadebit sibi ut tempora, quae spectaculis campo tesseris, otiosis denique sermonibus, ne dicam somno et conviviorum mora conteruntur, geometrae potius ac musico inpendat, quanto plus delectationis habiturus quam ex illis ineruditis voluptatibus. Dedit enim hoc providentia hominibus munus, ut honesta magis iuvarent. XIX.

Whoever indeed shall have conceived the very image of eloquence with a certain divine mind, and whoever will set that, as a not ignoble tragedian says, “reginam rerum orationem,” before his eyes, and will seek his harvest not from the pittance of advocations but from his own spirit and from contemplation and science—that perpetual harvest not subject to fortune—will easily persuade himself to devote to the geometer and the musician the times which are worn away by spectacles, by the Campus, by dice, and finally by otiose conversations, not to say by sleep and the delay of banquets, having so much more delectation than from those unlearned pleasures. For Providence has given this gift to human beings: that honorable things should please more. 19.

Sed nos haec ipsa dulcedo longius duxit. Hactenus ergo de studiis quibus antequam maiora capiat puer instituendus est: proximus liber velut novum sumet exordium et ad rhetoris officia transibit.

But this very sweetness has led us farther. Thus far, then, about the studies by which a boy is to be instructed before he takes up greater things: the next book will, as it were, take a new exordium and will pass over to the offices of the rhetor.