Ep. 1.16.1Amābam Pompeium Sāturnīnum - hunc dīcō nostrum - laudābamque eius ingenium, etiam antequam scīrem, quam varium quam flexibile quam multiplex esset;I used to love Pompeius Saturninus (I mean our friend) and to praise his talent, even before I knew how varied, how versatile, how manifold it was; Ep. 1.16.1nunc vērō tōtum mē tenet habet possidet.but now he holds me, has me, possesses me entirely. Ep. 1.16.2Audīvī causās agentem ācriter et ardenter, nec minus polītē et ōrnātē, sīve meditāta sīve subita prōferret.I have heard him pleading cases keenly and passionately, but with no less polish and elegance, whether what he delivered was prepared or impromptu. Ep. 1.16.2Adsunt aptae crēbraeque sententiae, gravis et decōra cōnstrūctiō, sonantia verba et antīqua.There are apt and frequent epigrams, a weighty and graceful structure, words that are sonorous and old-fashioned. Ep. 1.16.2Omnia haec mīrē placent cum impetū quōdam et flūmine pervehuntur, placent sī retractentur.All these things please wonderfully when they are carried along with a kind of rush and flood, and they please if they are read again. Ep. 1.16.3Sentiēs quod ego, cum ōrātiōnēs eius in manūs sūmpserīs, quās facile cuilibet veterum, quōrum est aemulus, comparābis.You will feel as I do when you take his speeches in hand, which you will easily compare with any of the ancients, whose rival he is.
Ep. 1.16.4Īdem tamen in historiā magis satisfaciet vel brevitāte vel lūce vel suāvitāte vel splendōre etiam et sublīmitāte narrandī.Yet he will satisfy you still more in history, by the brevity, or the clarity, or the charm, or even the splendour and loftiness of his narrative. Ep. 1.16.4Nam in contiōnibus eadem quae in ōrātiōnibus vīs est, pressior tantum et circumscrīptior et adductior.For in the set speeches of his history there is the same force as in his speeches, only more compressed, more concise and more tightly drawn. Ep. 1.16.5Praetereā facit versus, quālēs Catullus meus aut Calvus, rē vērā quālēs Catullus aut Calvus.Besides, he writes verses such as my Catullus or Calvus wrote, truly such as Catullus or Calvus wrote. Ep. 1.16.5Quantum illīs lepōris dulcēdinis amāritūdinis amōris!How much wit, sweetness, bitterness and love there is in them! Ep. 1.16.5Īnserit sānē, sed datā operā, mollibus levibusque dūriusculōs quōsdam;He inserts, it is true, but deliberately, some rather rough lines among the soft and smooth ones; Ep. 1.16.5et hoc quasi Catullus aut Calvus.and this too like Catullus or Calvus. Ep. 1.16.6Lēgit mihi nūper epistulās;He recently read me some letters; Ep. 1.16.6uxōris esse dīcēbat.he said they were his wife's.
Ep. 1.16.6Plautum vel Terentium metrō solūtum legī crēdidī.I thought I was hearing Plautus or Terence turned into prose. Ep. 1.16.6Quae sīve uxōris sunt ut affirmat, sīve ipsīus ut negat, parī glōriā dignus, quī aut illa compōnat, aut uxōrem quam virginem accēpit, tam doctam polītamque reddiderit.Whether they are his wife's, as he asserts, or his own, as he denies, he deserves equal glory, either for composing them or for making his wife, whom he married as a girl, so learned and refined. Ep. 1.16.7Est ergō mēcum per diem tōtum;So he is with me all day long; Ep. 1.16.7eundem antequam scrībam, eundem cum scrīpsī, eundem etiam cum remittor, nōn tamquam eundem legō.I read the same man before I write, the same when I have written, the same even when I relax, and never as though he were the same. Ep. 1.16.8Quod tē quoque ut faciās et hortor et moneō;I both urge and advise you to do this too; Ep. 1.16.8neque enim dēbet operibus eius obesse quod vīvit.for the fact that he is alive should not count against his works. Ep. 1.16.8An sī inter eōs quōs numquam vīdimus flōruisset, nōn sōlum librōs eius vērum etiam imāginēs conquīrerēmus, eiusdem nunc honor praesentis et grātiā quasi satietāte languēscit?If he had flourished among those whom we have never seen, we would be seeking out not only his books but even his portraits; is the honour and favour of the same man now to languish, as if from surfeit, because he is among us?
Ep. 1.16.9At hoc prāvum malignumque est, nōn admīrārī hominem admīrātiōne dignissimum, quia vidēre alloquī audīre complectī, nec laudāre tantum vērum etiam amāre contingit.But it is perverse and spiteful not to admire a man most worthy of admiration because we have the chance to see, speak to, hear and embrace him, and not only to praise him but even to love him. Ep. 1.16.9Valē.Farewell.