Ep. 8.12.1Hunc sōlum diem excūsō: recitātūrus est Titinius Capitō, quem ego audīre nesciō magis dēbeam an cupiam.This one day I ask to be excused: Titinius Capito is going to give a reading, whom I do not know whether I am more bound or more eager to hear. Ep. 8.12.1Vir est optimus et inter praecipua saeculī ōrnāmenta numerandus.He is an excellent man and to be counted among the chief ornaments of our age. Ep. 8.12.1Colit studia, studiōsōs amat fovet prōvehit, multōrum quī aliqua compōnunt portus sinus gremium, omnium exemplum, ipsārum dēnique litterārum iam senēscentium reductor ac refōrmātor.He cultivates literature, he loves, cherishes and advances literary men, he is the harbour, the refuge and the bosom of many who write something, an example to all, and in short the restorer and reformer of literature itself, which was already growing old. Ep. 8.12.2Domum suam recitantibus praebet, audītōria nōn apud sē tantum benignitāte mīrā frequentat;He offers his house to those giving readings, and attends lecture halls, not only at his own home, with wonderful kindness; Ep. 8.12.2mihi certē, sī modo in urbe, dēfuit numquam.to me, at least, he has never failed to come, if only he was in the city.
Ep. 8.12.2Porrō tantō turpius grātiam nōn referre, quantō honestior causa referendae.Moreover it is all the more shameful not to return a favour, the more honourable the reason for returning it. Ep. 8.12.3An sī lītibus tererer, obstrictum esse mē crēderem obeuntī vadimōnia mea, nunc, quia mihi omne negōtium omnis in studiīs cūra, minus obligor tantā sēdulitāte celebrantī, in quō obligārī ego, nē dīcam sōlō, certē maximē possum?Or if I were worn down with lawsuits, should I believe myself bound to one who attended my court appearances, and now, because my whole business and my whole care lies in literature, should I be less obliged to one who attends me with such great assiduity, in the very matter in which I can be obliged, if I do not say only, certainly most of all? Ep. 8.12.4Quod sī illī nūllam vicem nūlla quasi mūtua officia dēbērem, sollicitārer tamen vel ingeniō hominis pulcherrimō et maximē et in summā sevēritāte dulcissimō, vel honestāte māteriae.But even if I owed him no return, no mutual services as it were, I should still be drawn either by the man's genius, which is most beautiful and most powerful and, amid the greatest severity, most charming, or by the nobility of his subject.
Ep. 8.12.4Scrībit exitūs illūstrium virōrum, in hīs quōrundam mihi cārissimōrum.He is writing about the deaths of famous men, among them some very dear to me. Ep. 8.12.5Videor ergō fungī piō mūnere, quōrumque exsequiās celebrāre nōn licuit, hōrum quasi fūnebribus laudātiōnibus sērīs quidem sed tantō magis vērīs interesse.So I seem to be performing a dutiful office, and to be present at what are, as it were, funeral eulogies of those whose funerals I was not allowed to attend, late, it is true, but all the more true for that. Ep. 8.12.5Valē.Farewell.