1That you have been consul twice, like the men of old, that you were proconsul of Asia such as scarcely one or two have been before you or after you — for your modesty does not allow me to say 'no one' — that in integrity, in authority and in age as well you are the first man of the state, is indeed venerable and splendid; 1yet I admire you even more in your hours of relaxation. 2For to season that austerity of yours with equal charm, and to join so much affability to the greatest gravity, is no less difficult than it is great. 2This you achieve both with a remarkable sweetness in conversation and above all with your pen.
3For when you speak, that honey of Homer's old man seems to flow from you, and what you write seems to be filled with flowers and woven together by bees. 3That at any rate is how I felt myself when I recently read your Greek epigrams and your mimiambi. 4How much refinement and grace there is in them, how sweet they are, how loving, how witty, how correct! 4I thought I was holding Callimachus or Herodas, or anything better than these, if there is such; 4and yet neither of them either perfected or even attempted both forms. 5That a Roman should speak such Greek! 5I swear I would not call Athens itself so Attic.
5Why say more? 5I envy the Greeks because you have preferred to write in their language. 5For there is no need of guesswork as to what you could express in your native tongue, since you have produced such splendid works in this grafted and imported one. 5Farewell.