Pro Archia 3

Arch. 3.1Nam ut prīmum ex puerīs excessit Archiās atque ab eīs artibus quibus aetās puerīlis ad hūmānitātem īnfōrmārī solet, sē ad scrībendī studium contulit, prīmum Antiochīae— nam ibi nātus est locō nōbilī— celebrī quondam urbe et cōpiōsā atque ērudītissimīs hominibus līberālissimīsque studiīs adfluentī, celeriter antecellere omnibus ingenī glōriā coepit.

For as soon as Archias left boyhood behind, and the studies by which childhood is usually shaped towards culture, he gave himself to the pursuit of writing; first at Antioch (for he was born there, of a good family), once a famous and wealthy city and rich in learned men and liberal studies, he quickly began to surpass everyone in the glory of his talent.

Note. Antiochīae: locative, 'at Antioch', the great city of Syria. The dashes mark a parenthesis. celebrī quondam urbe et cōpiōsā: ablative in apposition to the locative. adfluentī: present participle, 'abounding in'. ingenī glōriā: ablative of respect.

Arch. 3.1Post in cēterīs Asiae partibus cūnctāque Graeciā sīc eius adventūs celebrābantur ut fāmam ingenī exspectātiō hominis, exspectātiōnem ipsīus adventūs admīrātiōque superāret.

Afterwards, in the other parts of Asia and in all Greece, his arrivals were celebrated in such a way that the expectation of the man outran his reputation, and his arrival, and the admiration it brought, outran the expectation.

Note. A neat chain: the expectation (exspectātiō) exceeded his fame, and his actual arrival exceeded the expectation. adventūs … celebrābantur: plural, 'his arrivals', since he visited many cities.

Arch. 3.5Erat Ītalia tum plēna Graecārum artium ac disciplīnārum, studiaque haec et in Latiō vehementius tum colēbantur quam nunc īsdem in oppidīs, et hīc Rōmae propter tranquillitātem reī pūblicae nōn neglegēbantur.

Italy was then full of Greek arts and learning, and these studies were then pursued more keenly in Latium than they are now in the same towns, and here at Rome, because of the peace the state enjoyed, they were not neglected.

Note. Latium: the region round Rome. hīc Rōmae: 'here at Rome' (locative). Cicero places Archias' youth in the 90s B.C., before the Social War disturbed Italy.

Arch. 3.5Itaque hunc et Tarentīnī et Locrēnsēs et Rēgīnī et Neāpolītānī cīvitāte cēterīsque praemiīs dōnārunt, et omnēs quī aliquid dē ingeniīs poterant iūdicāre cognitiōne atque hospitiō dignum exīstimārunt.

So the people of Tarentum, Locri, Regium and Naples presented him with citizenship and other rewards, and everyone who could judge talent thought him worth knowing and entertaining.

Note. Tarentum, Locri, Regium and Naples were Greek cities in southern Italy. dōnārunt: syncopated perfect for dōnāvērunt; also exīstimārunt. cognitiōne atque hospitiō dignum: 'worthy of acquaintance and hospitality', dignus with the ablative.

Arch. 3.5Hāc tantā celebritāte fāmae cum esset iam absentibus nōtus, Rōmam vēnit Mariō cōnsule et Catulō.

Since, with such a celebrated reputation, he was already known to people who had never met him, he came to Rome in the consulship of Marius and Catulus.

Note. Mariō cōnsule et Catulō: ablative absolute giving the date, 102 B.C., when Marius and Q. Lutatius Catulus were consuls; they defeated the Cimbri the following year. absentibus: dative with nōtus, 'known to people who were not there'.

Arch. 3.5Nactus est prīmum cōnsulēs eōs quōrum alter rēs ad scrībendum maximās, alter cum rēs gestās tum etiam studium atque aurīs adhibēre posset.

He found, to begin with, consuls of whom one could supply deeds of the greatest kind to write about, the other both deeds of his own and also a taste for letters and a listening ear.

Note. quōrum alter … alter: 'of whom the one … the other'. Marius could supply great deeds (rēs ad scrībendum maximās); Catulus both deeds and an educated ear (aurīs, accusative plural in -īs). cum … tum: 'both … and especially'.

Arch. 3.5Statim Lūcullī, cum praetextātus etiam tum Archiās esset, eum domum suam recēpērunt.

At once the Luculli took him into their home, though Archias was then still a boy wearing the bordered toga.

Note. The Luculli were the brothers Lucius and Marcus Licinius Lucullus, Archias' lifelong patrons, from whom he took his Roman name Licinius. praetextātus: wearing the toga praetexta, i.e. still a boy (Archias was about seventeen).

Arch. 3.5Dedit etiam hoc nōn sōlum lūmen ingenī ac litterārum vērum etiam nātūrae atque virtūtis ut domus, quae huius adulēscentiae prīma fāvit, eadem esset familiārissima senectūtī.

And it was a mark not only of his talent and learning but also of his character and goodness that the house which was the first to favour his youth was also the closest to him in his old age.

Note. Dedit … hoc … ut: 'it granted this, that …'; the subject is lūmen. huius adulēscentiae: 'his youth', huius = of this man.

Arch. 3.6Erat temporibus illīs iūcundus Q. Metellō illī Numidicō et eius Piō fīliō, audiēbātur ā M. Aemiliō, vīvēbat cum Q. Catulō et patre et fīliō, ā L. Crassō colēbātur, Lūcullōs vērō et Drūsum et Octāviōs et Catōnem et tōtam Hortēnsiōrum domum dēvīnctam cōnsuētūdine cum tenēret, adficiēbātur summō honōre, quod eum nōn sōlum colēbant quī aliquid percipere atque audīre studēbant vērum etiam sī quī forte simulābant.

In those days he was dear to the famous Quintus Metellus Numidicus and to his son Pius; Marcus Aemilius listened to him; he lived on close terms with Quintus Catulus, both father and son; Lucius Crassus cultivated him; and since he held the Luculli, Drusus, the Octavii, Cato and the whole house of the Hortensii bound to him by friendship, he was treated with the greatest honour, because he was courted not only by those who were eager to learn and to hear something, but even by any who happened to pretend to be.

Note. A roll-call of Rome's leading families: Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus (named for his war in Numidia) and his son Metellus Pius; M. Aemilius Scaurus; the two Catuli; L. Licinius Crassus, the great orator; M. Livius Drusus; the Octavii; Cato; the Hortensii. cum tenēret: causal cum. sī quī: 'any who', indefinite after sī.