Pro Archia 6

Arch. 6.1Quaere argūmenta, sī quae potes;

Look for arguments, if you can find any;

Note. Quaere: imperative. sī quae: 'if any', indefinite after sī.

Arch. 6.1numquam enim hic neque suō neque amīcōrum iūdiciō revincētur.

for he will never be refuted by his own judgement or by that of his friends.

Arch. 6.12Quaerēs ā nōbīs, Grattī, cūr tantō opere hōc homine dēlectēmur.

You will ask us, Grattius, why we take such great delight in this man.

Note. Here the speech turns from the legal case to its famous second part, the praise of literature. tantō opere: 'so greatly'.

Arch. 6.12Quia suppeditat nōbīs ubi et animus ex hōc forēnsī strepitū reficiātur et aurēs convīciō dēfessae conquiēscant.

Because he supplies us with the means by which our mind can be refreshed after this noise of the forum, and our ears, worn out by wrangling, can rest.

Note. Quia: 'because', answering the question cur. suppeditat … ubi: 'he supplies (the place) where', i.e. the means by which. forēnsī strepitū: the noise of the law courts.

Arch. 6.12An tū exīstimās aut suppetere nōbīs posse quod cōtīdiē dīcāmus in tantā varietāte rērum, nisi animōs nostrōs doctrīnā excolāmus, aut ferre animōs tantam posse contentiōnem, nisi eōs doctrīnā eādem relaxēmus?

Or do you think that we could have enough to say every day on so great a variety of subjects unless we cultivated our minds with learning, or that our minds could bear such great strain unless we relaxed them with the same learning?

Note. An tu exīstimās: 'Or do you think…?' expecting the answer 'no'. quod … dīcāmus: relative clause of characteristic, 'something to say'. The two nisi-clauses balance each other: excolāmus … relaxēmus.

Arch. 6.12Ego vērō fateor mē hīs studiīs esse dēditum.

I for my part admit that I am devoted to these studies.

Note. Ego vērō: 'I for my part'. dēditum: 'devoted', with the dative his studiīs.

Arch. 6.12Cēterōs pudeat, sī quī ita sē litterīs abdidērunt ut nihil possint ex eīs neque ad commūnem adferre frūctum neque in aspectum lūcemque prōferre;

Let others be ashamed, if any have so buried themselves in books that they can bring nothing out of them for the common good or into the light of day;

Note. Cēterōs pudeat: jussive subjunctive of the impersonal pudet, 'let others be ashamed'. sī quī: 'if any'. in aspectum lūcemque: 'into sight and light', i.e. into public view.

Arch. 6.12mē autem quid pudeat quī tot annōs ita vīvō, iūdicēs, ut ā nūllīus umquam mē tempore aut commodō aut ōtium meum abstrāxerit aut voluptās āvocārit aut dēnique somnus retardārit?

but why should I be ashamed, gentlemen, who have lived so many years in such a way that my own leisure has never kept me from anyone's time of need or advantage, nor pleasure called me away, nor even sleep held me back?

Note. mē autem quid pudeat: deliberative question, 'but why should I be ashamed?'. ā nūllīus … tempore aut commodō: 'from anyone's time of need or advantage'. abstrāxerit, āvocārit, retardārit: perfect subjunctives in a result clause; āvocārit and retardārit are contracted forms.

Arch. 6.13Quā rē quis tandem mē reprehendat, aut quis mihi iūre suscēnseat, sī, quantum cēterīs ad suās rēs obeundās, quantum ad fēstōs diēs lūdōrum celebrandōs, quantum ad aliās voluptātēs et ad ipsam requiem animī et corporis concēditur temporum, quantum aliī tribuunt tempestīvīs convīviīs, quantum dēnique alveolō, quantum pilae, tantum mihi egomet ad haec studia recolenda sūmpserō?

So who, pray, could blame me, or who could rightly be angry with me, if the amount of time that others are allowed for attending to their own affairs, for celebrating the festival days of the games, for other pleasures and for the very rest of mind and body, the amount others give to early dinner parties, or indeed to the gaming board or to ball games, I take for myself to return to these studies?

Note. Qua rē: 'therefore'. The long sī-clause piles up six quantum-phrases ('as much time as…'), answered by tantum ('so much') near the end. tempestīvīs convīviīs: early dinner parties, which began before the normal hour and were thought self-indulgent. alveolō, pilae: the gaming board and the ball game. egomet: emphatic ego. sūmpserō: future perfect.

Arch. 6.13Atque id eō mihi concēdendum est magis quod ex hīs studiīs haec quoque crēscit ōrātiō et facultās quae, quantacumque est in mē, numquam amīcōrum perīculīs dēfuit.

And this ought to be allowed me all the more because from these studies also grows this power of speaking, which, however great it is in me, has never failed my friends in their dangers.

Note. eō … magis quod: 'all the more because'. concēdendum est: passive periphrastic, 'it must be allowed'. quantacumque est in mē: 'however great it is in me', a typical touch of modesty.

Arch. 6.13Quae sī cui levior vidētur, illa quidem certē quae summa sunt ex quō fonte hauriam sentiō.

And if to anyone this seems too slight a thing, I at least know from what spring I draw those things which are of the highest worth.

Note. illa … quae summa sunt: 'those things which are highest', the object of hauriam. ex quō fonte hauriam: indirect question, 'from what spring I draw'.

Arch. 6.14Nam nisi multōrum praeceptīs multīsque litterīs mihi ab adulēscentiā suāsissem nihil esse in vītā magnō opere expetendum nisi laudem atque honestātem, in eā autem persequendā omnīs cruciātūs corporis, omnia perīcula mortis atque exsilī parvī esse dūcenda, numquam mē prō salūte vestrā in tot ac tantās dīmicātiōnēs atque in hōs prōflīgātōrum hominum cōtīdiānōs impetūs obiēcissem.

For had I not persuaded myself from my youth, through the teaching of many and through much reading, that nothing in life is greatly to be sought except praise and honour, and that in pursuing them all tortures of the body and all dangers of death and exile must be counted of little worth, I would never have thrown myself, for your safety, into so many and such great struggles and into these daily attacks of abandoned men.

Note. A past contrary-to-fact condition: nisi … suāsissem (pluperfect subjunctive), numquam … obiēcissem. The indirect statement after suāsissem has two parts: nihil esse … expetendum and omnīs cruciātūs … parvī esse dūcenda (genitive of value, 'to be counted of little worth'). Cicero alludes to his consulship in 63 B.C. and his struggle against Catiline (prōflīgātōrum hominum).

Arch. 6.14Sed plēnī omnēs sunt librī, plēnae sapientium vōcēs, plēna exemplōrum vetustās;

But all books are full of it, the voices of the wise are full of it, the past is full of examples;

Note. Asyndeton and anaphora: plēnī … plēnae … plēna. The pronoun quae in the next sentence picks up everything these books contain.

Arch. 6.14quae iacērent in tenebrīs omnia, nisi litterārum lūmen accēderet.

all of which would lie in darkness, did not the light of letters fall upon them.

Note. Present contrary-to-fact condition with imperfect subjunctives: iacērent … nisi … accēderet.

Arch. 6.14Quam multās nōbīs imāginēs nōn sōlum ad intuendum vērum etiam ad imitandum fortissimōrum virōrum expressās scrīptōrēs et Graecī et Latīnī relīquērunt!

How many portraits of the bravest men, drawn not only to be looked at but also to be imitated, have the writers of Greece and Rome left to us!

Note. imāginēs: portraits in words. ad intuendum … ad imitandum: gerunds of purpose. et Graecī et Latīnī: 'both Greek and Latin'.

Arch. 6.14Quās ego mihi semper in administrandā rē pūblicā prōpōnēns animum et mentem meam ipsā cōgitātiōne hominum excellentium cōnfōrmābam.

And I, always setting these before me in my public life, used to shape my heart and mind by the very thought of outstanding men.

Note. in administrandā rē pūblicā: gerundive, 'in managing the state'. cōnfōrmābam: imperfect of habitual action, 'I used to shape'.