Amic. 1.1Q. Mūcius augur multa narrāre dē C. Laeliō socerō suō memoriter et iūcundē solēbat nec dubitāre illum in omnī sermōne appellāre sapientem.Quintus Mucius the augur used to tell many stories about Gaius Laelius, his father-in-law, recalling them accurately and with charm, and he did not hesitate in any conversation to call him 'the Wise'. Amic. 1.1Ego autem ā patre ita eram dēductus ad Scaevolam sūmptā virīlī togā, ut, quoad possem et licēret, ā senis latere numquam discēderem.I, for my part, had been brought by my father to Scaevola when I assumed the toga of manhood, on the understanding that, as far as I could and was permitted, I should never leave the old man's side. Amic. 1.1Itaque multa ab eō prūdenter disputāta, multa etiam breviter et commodē dicta memoriae mandābam, fierīque studēbam eius prūdentiā doctior.And so I committed to memory many things he discussed wisely, and many too that he said briefly and aptly, and I was eager to become more learned through his wisdom. Amic. 1.1Quō mortuō mē ad pontificem Scaevolam contulī, quem ūnum nostrae cīvitātis et ingeniō et iūstitiā praestantissimum audeō dīcere.When he died, I betook myself to Scaevola the pontiff, whom I venture to call the one man of our state most outstanding both in talent and in justice.
Amic. 1.1Sed dē hōc aliās, nunc redeō ad augurem.But of him another time; now I return to the augur. Amic. 1.2Cum saepe multa, tum meminī domī in hēmicycliō sedentem, ut solēbat, cum et ego essem ūnā et paucī admodum familiārēs, in eum sermōnem illum incidere, quī tum ferē multīs erat in ōre.Among many other occasions, I remember in particular that he was sitting at home in his semicircular alcove, as was his habit, when I was with him and only a very few close friends, and that he fell upon a topic of conversation which was then on almost everyone's lips. Amic. 1.2Meministī enim profectō, Attice, et eō magis, quod P. Sulpiciō ūtēbāre multum, cum is tribūnus plēbis capitālī odiō ā Q. Pompeiō, quī tum erat cōnsul, dissidēret, quōcum coniūnctissimē et amantissimē vīxerat, quanta esset hominum vel admīrātiō vel querella.For you certainly remember, Atticus, and all the more because you were very intimate with Publius Sulpicius, how great was people's astonishment or complaint when he, as tribune of the plebs, was at deadly enmity with Quintus Pompeius, who was then consul, and with whom he had lived on the closest and most affectionate terms.
Amic. 1.3Itaque tum Scaevola, cum in eam ipsam mentiōnem incidisset, exposuit nōbīs sermōnem Laelī dē amīcitiā habitum ab illō sēcum et cum alterō generō C. Fanniō, Mārcī fīliō, paucīs diēbus post mortem Āfricānī.So then Scaevola, having happened upon that very mention, set out for us a conversation on friendship which Laelius had held with him and with his other son-in-law, Gaius Fannius, son of Marcus, a few days after the death of Africanus. Amic. 1.3Eius disputātiōnis sententiās memoriae mandāvī, quās hōc librō exposuī arbitrātū meō;The substance of that discussion I committed to memory, and I have set it out in this book in my own way; Amic. 1.3quasi enim ipsōs indūxī loquentīs, nē "inquam" et "inquit" saepius interpōnerētur atque ut tamquam ā praesentibus cōram habērī sermō vidērētur.for I have brought the speakers themselves on stage, as it were, so that 'I said' and 'he said' should not be inserted too often, and so that the conversation might seem to be held face to face, as though by people present. Amic. 1.4Cum enim saepe mēcum agerēs, ut dē amīcitiā scrīberem aliquid, digna mihi rēs cum omnium cognitiōne tum nostrā familiāritāte vīsa est;For since you often pressed me to write something on friendship, the subject seemed to me worthy both of everyone's attention and of our close friendship; Amic. 1.4itaque fēcī nōn invītus ut prōdessem multīs rogātū tuō.and so it was not unwillingly that, at your request, I set about being of use to many.
Amic. 1.4Sed ut in Catōne maiōre, quī est scrīptus ad tē dē senectūte, Catōnem indūxī senem disputantem, quia nūlla vidēbātur aptior persōna quae dē illā aetāte loquerētur, quam eius, quī et diūtissimē senex fuisset et in ipsā senectūte praeter cēterōs flōruisset;But just as in the Cato Maior, which was written to you on old age, I brought in Cato as an old man discussing it, because no character seemed more fitting to speak of that time of life than his, a man who had been old for a very long time and who in old age itself had flourished beyond all others; Amic. 1.4sīc, cum accēpissēmus ā patribus maximē memorābilem C. Laelī et P. Scīpiōnis familiāritātem fuisse, idōnea mihi Laelī persōna vīsa est quae dē amīcitiā ea ipsa dissereret, quae disputāta ab eō meminisset Scaevola.so, since we had learned from our fathers that the friendship of Gaius Laelius and Publius Scipio was especially memorable, the character of Laelius seemed to me suitable to expound on friendship those very things which Scaevola remembered had been discussed by him. Amic. 1.4Genus autem hoc sermōnum positum in hominum veterum auctōritāte et eōrum illūstrium plūs nesciō quō pactō vidētur habēre gravitātis: itaque ipse mea legēns sīc afficior interdum, ut Catōnem, nōn mē, loquī exīstimem.Besides, this kind of dialogue, resting on the authority of men of old, and famous men at that, seems somehow to carry more weight: and so, reading my own work, I am sometimes so affected that I think it is Cato speaking, not I.
Amic. 1.5Sed ut tum ad senem senex dē senectūte, sīc hōc librō ad amīcum amīcissimus scrīpsī dē amīcitiā.But just as then I wrote as an old man to an old man on old age, so in this book I have written as the most devoted of friends to a friend on friendship. Amic. 1.5Tum est Catō locūtus, quō erat nēmō ferē senior temporibus illīs, nēmō prūdentior;Then it was Cato who spoke, than whom hardly anyone in those days was older, no one wiser; Amic. 1.5nunc Laelius et sapiēns, sīc enim est habitus, et amīcitiae glōriā excellēns dē amīcitiā loquētur.now Laelius, both wise (for so he was held to be) and pre-eminent in the glory of friendship, will speak on friendship. Amic. 1.5Tū velim ā mē animum parumper āvertās, Laelium loquī ipsum putēs.I would have you turn your mind away from me for a little and think that Laelius himself is speaking. Amic. 1.5C. Fannius et Q. Mūcius ad socerum veniunt post mortem Āfricānī;Gaius Fannius and Quintus Mucius come to their father-in-law after the death of Africanus; Amic. 1.5ab hīs sermō orītur, respondet Laelius, cuius tōta disputātiō est dē amīcitiā, quam legēns tē ipse cognōscēsthe conversation is begun by them, and Laelius replies; his whole discourse is on friendship, and as you read it you will recognise yourself in it.