Ep. 2.19.1Hortāris ut ōrātiōnem amīcīs plūribus recitem.You urge me to recite my speech to a larger group of friends. Ep. 2.19.1Faciam quia hortāris, quamvīs vehementer addubitem.I shall do so because you urge it, although I have strong doubts. Ep. 2.19.2Neque enim mē praeterit āctiōnēs, quae recitantur, impetum omnem calōremque ac prope nōmen suum perdere, ut quās soleant commendāre simul et accendere iūdicum cōnsessus, celebritās advocātōrum, exspectātiō ēventūs, fāma nōn ūnīus āctōris, dīductumque in partēs audientium studium, ad hoc dīcentis gestus incessus, discursus etiam omnibusque mōtibus animī cōnsentāneus vigor corporis.For it does not escape me that speeches, when they are recited, lose all their force and warmth, and almost their very name, since what usually commends and at the same time kindles them is the bench of judges, the crowd of advocates, the suspense about the outcome, the reputation of more than one speaker, and the partisanship of the audience divided between the sides, besides the speaker's gestures, his stride, his moving about too, and a vigour of the body matching every emotion of the mind.
Ep. 2.19.3Unde accidit ut iī quī sedentēs agunt, quamvīs illīs maximā ex parte supersint eadem illa quae stantibus, tamen hōc quod sedent quasi dēbilitentur et dēprimantur.Hence it happens that those who plead seated, although they keep for the most part all the same advantages as those who stand, are nevertheless weakened, as it were, and depressed by the very fact that they sit. Ep. 2.19.4Recitantium vērō praecipua prōnūntiātiōnis adiūmenta, oculī manūs, praepediuntur.And those who recite are hampered in the chief aids of delivery, the eyes and the hands. Ep. 2.19.4Quō minus mīrum est, sī audītōrum intentiō relanguēscit, nūllīs extrīnsecus aut blandīmentīs capta aut aculeīs excitāta.So it is less surprising if the attention of listeners flags, when it is neither captured by any charms nor roused by any stings from outside. Ep. 2.19.5Accēdit hīs quod ōrātiō dē quā loquor pugnāx et quasi contentiōsa est.Add to this that the speech of which I am speaking is combative and, as it were, contentious. Ep. 2.19.5Porrō ita nātūrā comparātum est, ut ea quae scrīpsimus cum labōre, cum labōre etiam audīrī putēmus.Moreover, nature has so arranged it that we think what we have written with labour will also be listened to with labour.
Ep. 2.19.6Et sānē quotus quisque tam rēctus audītor, quem nōn potius dulcia haec et sonantia quam austēra et pressa dēlectent?And indeed how few listeners are so upright that they are not delighted rather by these sweet and sonorous things than by what is austere and compressed? Ep. 2.19.6Est quidem omnīnō turpis ista discordia, est tamen, quia plērumque ēvenit ut aliud audītōrēs aliud iūdicēs exigant, cum aliōquī iīs praecipuē audītor afficī dēbeat, quibus īdem sī foret iūdex, maximē permovērētur.This discord is altogether shameful, but it exists, since it generally happens that listeners demand one thing and judges another, although otherwise a listener ought to be affected most by those things by which, if he were a judge, he would be most moved. Ep. 2.19.7Potest tamen fierī ut quamquam in hīs difficultātibus librō istī novitās lēnōcinētur, novitās apud nostrōs;It may happen, however, that in spite of these difficulties novelty may recommend this book – novelty among our countrymen; Ep. 2.19.7apud Graecōs enim est quiddam quamvīs ex dīversō, nōn tamen omnīnō dissimile.for among the Greeks there is something, though from a different direction, still not altogether unlike it. Ep. 2.19.8Nam ut illīs erat mōris, lēgēs quās ut contrāriās priōribus lēgibus arguēbant, aliārum collātiōne convincere, ita nōbīs īnesse repetundārum lēgī quod postulārēmus, cum hāc ipsā lēge tum aliīs colligendum fuit;For just as it was their custom to refute laws, which they charged as contrary to earlier laws, by comparison with others, so I had to establish that what we were demanding was contained in the law on extortion, both from that law itself and from others; Ep. 2.19.8quod nēquāquam blandum auribus imperītōrum, tantō maiōrem apud doctōs habēre grātiam dēbet, quantō minōrem apud indoctōs habet.and this, though not at all pleasing to the ears of the unskilled, ought to find all the more favour among the learned, the less it finds among the unlearned.
Ep. 2.19.9Nōs autem sī placuerit recitāre adhibitūrī sumus ērudītissimum quemque.If I decide to recite, I shall invite all the most learned people. Ep. 2.19.9Sed plānē adhūc an sit recitandum exāminā tēcum, omnēsque quōs ego mōvī in utrāque parte calculōs pōne, idque ēlige in quō vīcerit ratiō.But examine carefully with yourself whether I should recite at all, and set out all the counters I have moved on either side, and choose the side on which reason has won. Ep. 2.19.9Ā tē enim ratiō exigētur, nōs excūsābit obsequium.For reason will be required of you; my compliance will excuse me. Ep. 2.19.9Valē.Farewell.