Pro Archia 9

Arch. 9.1Ergō illī aliēnum, quia poēta fuit, post mortem etiam expetunt;

So they seek out even after his death a man who was a foreigner, because he was a poet;

Note. illī: the Greek cities just named. aliēnum: 'a foreigner' (Homer was not their citizen, or not certainly). The contrast with the next sentence is sharp: they claim a dead foreigner, shall we reject a living citizen?

Arch. 9.1nōs hunc vīvum quī et voluntāte et lēgibus noster est repudiāmus, praesertim cum omne ōlim studium atque omne ingenium contulerit Archiās ad populī Rōmānī glōriam laudemque celebrandam?

shall we reject this living man, who is ours both by his own wish and by law, especially since Archias long ago devoted all his effort and all his talent to celebrating the glory and praise of the Roman people?

Note. repudiāmus: the indicative in an indignant question. praesertim cum … contulerit: causal cum, 'especially since he has devoted'. ad … celebrandam: gerundive of purpose, 'to celebrating'.

Arch. 9.1Nam et Cimbricās rēs adulēscēns attigit et ipsī illī C. Mariō quī dūrior ad haec studia vidēbātur iūcundus fuit.

For as a young man he took up the war with the Cimbri, and was welcome even to the great Gaius Marius, who seemed rather hard towards these studies.

Note. Cimbricās rēs: the war against the Cimbri and Teutones, won by Marius in 102-101 B.C. Archias wrote a poem on it as a young man. dūrior ad haec studia: 'rather unsympathetic to these studies': Marius was proud of having no Greek education.

Arch. 9.20Neque enim quisquam est tam āversus ā Mūsīs quī nōn mandārī versibus aeternum suōrum labōrum praecōnium facile patiātur.

For no one is so averse to the Muses that he would not gladly let an everlasting celebration of his labours be entrusted to verse.

Note. quī nōn … patiātur: a relative clause of characteristic after tam āversus, 'so averse that he would not allow'. praecōnium: 'proclamation, praise' (a praecō was a herald).

Arch. 9.20Themistoclem illum, summum Athēnīs virum, dīxisse aiunt, cum ex eō quaererētur quod acroāma aut cuius vōcem libentissimē audīret: "eius ā quō sua virtūs optimē praedicārētur."

They say that the famous Themistocles, the greatest man at Athens, when he was asked what performance or whose voice he liked best to hear, said: "His by whom my own valour is best proclaimed."

Note. Themistocles: the Athenian who won at Salamis (480 B.C.). quod acroāma … audīret: indirect question; an acroāma was a performance (or performer) at a dinner. eius ā quō …: the answer, 'that of the man by whom …'. praedicārētur: from praedicō, -āre, 'proclaim', not praedīcō 'foretell'.

Arch. 9.20Itaque ille Marius item eximiē L. Plōtium dīlēxit, cuius ingeniō putābat ea quae gesserat posse celebrārī.

So too that Marius had a special fondness for Lucius Plotius, by whose talent he thought his own deeds could be celebrated.

Note. L. Plotius Gallus: a teacher of rhetoric and a poet. eximiē: 'especially'. ea quae gesserat: 'the deeds he had done'.

Arch. 9.21Mithridāticum vērō bellum magnum atque difficile et in multā varietāte terrā marīque versātum tōtum ab hōc expressum est;

The Mithridatic war, a great and difficult one, waged with many turns of fortune on land and sea, has been set out in full by this man;

Note. The Third Mithridatic War (74-63 B.C.), against Mithridates VI of Pontus, in which L. Licinius Lucullus commanded until 67. Archias went with Lucullus and wrote a poem on the war. ab hōc: 'by this man', Archias. expressum est: 'has been depicted'.

Arch. 9.21quī librī nōn modo L. Lūcullum, fortissimum et clārissimum virum, vērum etiam populī Rōmānī nōmen inlūstrant.

and these books make famous not only Lucius Lucullus, a very brave and very distinguished man, but also the name of the Roman people.

Note. quī librī: connecting relative, 'and these books'. nōn modo … vērum etiam: 'not only … but also'. Cicero turns praise of Lucullus into praise of the whole Roman people.

Arch. 9.21Populus enim Rōmānus aperuit Lūcullō imperante Pontum et rēgiīs quondam opibus et ipsā nātūrā et regiōne vallātum, populī Rōmānī exercitus eōdem duce nōn maximā manū innumerābilīs Armeniōrum cōpiās fūdit, populī Rōmānī laus est urbem amīcissimam Cyzicēnōrum eiusdem cōnsiliō ex omnī impetū rēgiō atque tōtīus bellī ōre ac faucibus ēreptam esse atque servātam;

For it was the Roman people that, under Lucullus' command, opened up Pontus, fortified as it once was by royal wealth and by its very nature and position; it was an army of the Roman people that, under the same commander and with no very great force, routed the countless forces of the Armenians; it is the glory of the Roman people that the most friendly city of the Cyzicenes was snatched and saved, by the same man's planning, from every royal attack and from the very mouth and jaws of the whole war;

Note. A long sentence built on the repeated phrase populus Rōmānus / populī Rōmānī (anaphora): every success is credited to Rome. Lūcullō imperante: ablative absolute, 'under Lucullus' command'. The Armenians: Tigranes, Mithridates' son-in-law, beaten at Tigranocerta in 69 B.C. Cyzicus was relieved by Lucullus in 73 B.C. ōre ac faucibus: 'mouth and jaws', a vivid metaphor.

Arch. 9.21nostra semper ferētur et praedicābitur L. Lūcullō dīmicante, cum interfectīs ducibus dēpressa hostium classis est, incrēdibilis apud Tenedum pugna illa nāvālis, nostra sunt tropaea, nostra monumenta, nostrī triumphī.

ours will always be spoken of and proclaimed, that incredible sea fight off Tenedos, when Lucius Lucullus was fighting, the enemy's commanders were killed and their fleet was sunk; ours are the trophies, ours the monuments, ours the triumphs.

Note. nostra … pugna: the subject (with incrēdibilis … nāvālis) comes first and last. Tenedos: island off the coast of Troy, where Lucullus won a sea battle. Lūcullō dīmicante: ablative absolute. The triple nostra … nostra … nostrī closes the period.

Arch. 9.21Quae quōrum ingeniīs efferuntur, ab eīs populī Rōmānī fāma celebrātur.

And those whose talents celebrate these things spread the fame of the Roman people.

Note. Quae quōrum ingeniīs efferuntur: 'those by whose talents these things are celebrated'; the antecedent comes after, in ab eīs.

Arch. 9.22Cārus fuit Āfricānō superiōrī noster Ennius, itaque etiam in sepulcrō Scīpiōnum putātur is esse cōnstitūtus ex marmore.

Our Ennius was dear to the elder Africanus, and so he is even thought to have been set up in marble in the tomb of the Scipios.

Note. Africānō superiōrī: Scipio Africanus the Elder, who defeated Hannibal (to be distinguished from Aemilianus in sentence 6). A marble statue of Ennius was said to stand in the tomb of the Scipios on the Appian Way.

Arch. 9.22At eīs laudibus certē nōn sōlum ipse quī laudātur sed etiam populī Rōmānī nōmen ōrnātur.

But by these praises surely not only the man who is praised but also the name of the Roman people is honoured.

Arch. 9.22In caelum huius proavus Catō tollitur;

Cato, this man's great-grandfather, is raised to the skies;

Note. huius proavus Catō: 'Cato, this man's great-grandfather': Cicero points to the younger M. Porcius Cato, probably present in court. The elder Cato brought Ennius to Rome and was praised in his poem.

Arch. 9.22magnus honōs populī Rōmānī rēbus adiungitur.

great honour is added to the affairs of the Roman people.

Note. honōs: older form of honor.

Arch. 9.22Omnēs dēnique illī Maximī, Mārcellī, Fulviī nōn sine commūnī omnium nostrum laude decorantur.

In short, all those Maximi, Marcelli and Fulvii are honoured with praise that all of us share.

Note. The plural names mean 'men like the Maximi …', the great families praised in Ennius' Annales: Fabius Maximus, Marcellus, Fulvius Nobilior. omnium nostrum: genitive of nōs, 'of all of us'.