Ep. 9.26.1Dīxī dē quōdam ōrātōre saeculī nostrī rēctō quidem et sānō, sed parum grandī et ōrnātō, ut opīnor, aptē: "Nihil peccat, nisi quod nihil peccat."I said of a certain orator of our time, correct indeed and sound, but not grand or ornate enough, aptly, I think: 'His only fault is that he has no faults.' Ep. 9.26.2Dēbet enim ōrātor ērigī attollī, interdum etiam effervēscere ecferrī, ac saepe accēdere ad praeceps;For an orator ought to rise and soar, sometimes even to boil over and be carried away, and often to approach the edge of the precipice; Ep. 9.26.2nam plērumque altīs et excelsīs adiacent abrupta.for as a rule sheer drops lie next to high and lofty places. Ep. 9.26.2Tūtius per plāna sed humilius et dēpressius iter;The road across the plain is safer, but lower and more sunken; Ep. 9.26.2frequentior currentibus quam rēptantibus lāpsus, sed hīs nōn lābentibus nūlla, illīs nōn nūlla laus etiamsī lābantur.falls are more frequent for those who run than for those who crawl, but the latter win no praise for not falling, while the former win some even if they fall.
Ep. 9.26.3Nam ut quāsdam artēs ita ēloquentiam nihil magis quam ancipitia commendant.For as with certain arts, so nothing commends eloquence more than its risks. Ep. 9.26.3Vidēs quī per fūnem in summa nītuntur, quantōs soleant excitāre clamōrēs, cum iam iamque cāsūrī videntur.You see those who climb up to the heights along a rope, what loud shouts they usually raise, when they seem at every moment about to fall. Ep. 9.26.4Sunt enim maximē mīrābilia quae maximē īnspērāta, maximē perīculōsa utque Graecī magis exprimunt, παράβολα.For the things most to be marvelled at are those most unexpected, most dangerous, or, as the Greeks express it better, 'recklessly venturesome'. Ep. 9.26.4Ideō nēquāquam pār gubernātōris est virtūs, cum placidō et cum turbātō marī vehitur: tunc admīrante nūllō, illaudātus inglōrius subit portum, at cum strīdunt fūnēs curvātur arbor gubernācula gemunt, tunc ille clārus et dīs maris proximus.So a helmsman's merit is by no means equal when he sails on a calm sea and on a stormy one: in the first case, with no one admiring him, he enters harbour unpraised and inglorious, but when the ropes creak, the mast bends and the rudder groans, then he is famous and next to the gods of the sea.
Ep. 9.26.5Cūr haec?Why do I say this? Ep. 9.26.5Quia vīsus es mihi in scrīptīs meīs adnotāsse quaedam ut tumida quae ego sublīmia, ut improba quae ego audentia, ut nimia quae ego plēna arbitrābar.Because you seemed to me to have marked in my writings certain things as bombastic which I thought sublime, as reckless which I thought daring, as excessive which I thought full. Ep. 9.26.5Plūrimum autem rēfert, reprehendenda adnotēs an īnsignia.But it makes a great difference whether you mark passages for blame or for distinction. Ep. 9.26.6Omnis enim advertit, quod ēminet et exstat;For everyone notices what stands out and projects; Ep. 9.26.6sed ācrī intentiōne dīiūdicandum est, immodicum sit an grande, altum an ēnorme.but it must be decided with keen attention whether it is immoderate or grand, lofty or monstrous. Ep. 9.26.6Atque ut Homērum potissimum attingam, quem tandem alterutram in partem potest fugere ἀμφὶ δὲ σάλπιγξεν μέγας οὐρανός ...And to touch on Homer above all, whom, pray, can it escape, in one direction or the other, 'and all around the great heaven trumpeted' ... Ep. 9.26.6et tōtum illud ἐκεκλιτο et totum illud οὔτε θαλάσσης κῦμα τόσον βοάᾳ?'and his spear leaned upon the air', and that whole passage 'not so loud does the wave of the sea roar'?
Ep. 9.26.7Sed opus est exāmine et lībrā, incrēdibile sint haec et inānia an magnifica caelestia.But there is need of weighing and of scales, to decide whether these are incredible and empty or magnificent and heavenly. Ep. 9.26.7Nec nunc ego mē hīs similia aut dīxisse aut posse dīcere putō - nōn ita īnsāniō -, sed hoc intellegī volō, laxandōs esse ēloquentiae frēnōs, nec angustissimō gȳrō ingeniōrum impetūs refringendōs.Nor do I think now that I have said, or could say, anything like these — I am not so mad — but I want this to be understood: that the reins of eloquence should be slackened, and the onrush of talent not broken in the narrowest of rings. Ep. 9.26.8"At enim alia condiciō ōrātōrum, alia poētārum.'But the situation of orators is one thing, that of poets another.' Ep. 9.26.8Quasi vērō M. Tullius minus audeat!As if Marcus Tullius were any less daring! Ep. 9.26.8Quamquam hunc omittō;However, I pass him over; Ep. 9.26.8neque enim ambigī putō.for I do not think there is any doubt about him. Ep. 9.26.8Sed Dēmosthenēs ipse, ille norma ōrātōris et rēgula, num sē cohibet et comprimit, cum dīcit illa notissima: et rūrsus et statim et alibī et rursus οὐ λίθοις ἐτείχισα τὴν πόλιν οὐδὲ πλίνθοις ἐγω et statim οὐκ ἐκ μὲν θαλάττης τὴνεὔβοιαν προβαλέσθαι πρὸ τῆςἈττικῆς et alibi: ἐγὼ δὲ οἶμαι μέν, ὦ ἄνδρεςἈθηναῖοι, νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς ἐκεῖνον μεθύειν τῷ μεγέθει τῶν πεπραγμένων?But does Demosthenes himself, that very standard and rule of the orator, restrain and check himself when he says those most famous words: 'foul men, flatterers and avenging fiends', and again 'I did not wall the city with stones or with bricks', and straight after 'did I not set Euboea on the side of the sea as a bulwark before Attica?', and elsewhere: 'for my part I think, men of Athens, by the gods, that he is drunk with the greatness of his achievements'?
Ep. 9.26.9Iam quid audentius illō pulcherrimō ac longissimō excessū: νόσημα γάρ?Then what could be more daring than that most beautiful and very long digression: 'for a disease'? Ep. 9.26.9Quid haec breviōra superiōribus, sed audāciā paria: τότε ἐγὼ μὲν τῷπύθωνι θρασυνομένῳ καὶ πολλῷ ῥέοντι καθʼ ὑμῶν?What of these, shorter than the earlier ones but equal in daring: 'then I, when Python was blustering and pouring over you in full flood'? Ep. 9.26.9Ex eādem notā ὅταν δὲ ἐκ πλεονεξίας καὶ πονηρίας τις ὥσπερ οὗτος ἰσχύσῂ, ἡ πρώτη πρόφασις καὶ μικρὸν πταῖσμα ἅπαντα ἀνεχαίτισε καὶ διέλυσε.Of the same stamp: 'but when someone, like this man, has grown strong through greed and wickedness, the first pretext and a small stumble throws everything off and breaks it up.' Ep. 9.26.9Simile hīs et ibīdem τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει δικαίοις et ibidem σὺ τὸν εἰς ταῦτα ἔλεον προδέδωκας,Ἀριστόγειτον, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀνῄρηκας ὅλως.Similar to these: 'roped off from all the rights in the city', and in the same speech: 'you have betrayed the pity due in these matters, Aristogeiton, or rather destroyed it utterly.' Ep. 9.26.9Et dīxerat: τούτῳ δʼ οὐδένα ὁρῶ τ͂ν τόπων τούτων βάσιμον ὄντα, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἀπόκρημνα, φάραγγας, βάραθρα.And he had said: 'but for this man I see none of these places that can be walked on, but all of them precipices, ravines, chasms.' Ep. 9.26.9Et deinceps nec, satis ad hoc et mīlle tālia ut praeteream quae ab Aeschine nōn vocantur, nec satis: οὐδὲ γὰρ τοὺς προγόνους ὑπολαμβάνω τὰ δικαστήρια ταῦτα ὑμῖν οἰκοδομῆσαι, ἵνα τοὺς τοιούτους ἐν αὐτοῖς μοσχεύητε, ad hoc: εἰ δὲ κάπηλός ἐστι πονηρίας καὶ παλιγκάπηλος καὶ μεταβολεύς et mille talia, ut praeteream quae ab Aeschine θαύματα, non ῥήματα vocantur.And next: 'I fear lest you seem to some to be training up whoever in the city wishes to be wicked', and that is not enough: 'for I do not suppose that your ancestors built these courts for you so that you might nurture such men in them', and besides: 'but if he is a huckster of wickedness, a retailer and a dealer in it', and a thousand such things, to pass over those which Aeschines calls 'monstrosities, not words'.
Ep. 9.26.10In contrārium incidī: dīcēs hunc quoque ob ista culpārī.I have stumbled on an argument against myself: you will say that he too is criticised for these things. Ep. 9.26.10Sed vidē, quantō maior sit, quī reprehenditur, ipsō reprehendente et maior ob haec quoque;But see how much greater is the man who is criticised than the man who criticises him, and greater precisely because of these things too; Ep. 9.26.10in aliīs enim vīs, in hīs granditās eius ēlūcet.for in other passages his force shines out, in these his grandeur. Ep. 9.26.11Num autem Aeschinēs ipse eīs, quae in Dēmosthene carpēbat, abstinuit?But did Aeschines himself refrain from the things he carped at in Demosthenes? Ep. 9.26.11Aliō locō: Iterum aliō περὶ πάντων ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι Iterum alio: ἀλλʼ ἐγκαθήμενοι καὶ ἐνεδρεύοντες ἐν τῇ ἀκροάσει εἰσελαύνετε αὐτὸν εἰς τοὺς παρανόμους λόγους.In another place: 'then he is revealed on every point in the decree.' Again in another: 'but sitting in ambush and lying in wait during the hearing, you drive him into unlawful arguments.' Ep. 9.26.12Quod adeō probāvit, ut repetat: ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς ἱπποδρομίαις ἐς τὸν τοῦ πράγματος αὐτὸν δρόμον εἰσελαύνετε.He liked this so much that he repeats it: 'but as in the horse races, drive him into the very course of the matter.' Ep. 9.26.12Iam illa custōdītius pressiusque: σὺ δὲ ἑλκοποιεῖς ...Then are these more guarded and restrained: 'but you cause wounds' ...
Ep. 9.26.13Exspectō, ut quaedam ex hāc epistulā ut illud "gubernācula gemunt" et "dīs maris proximus" īsdem notīs quibus ea, dē quibus scrībō, cōnfodiās;I expect that you will stab certain things in this letter, such as 'the rudder groans' and 'next to the gods of the sea', with the same marks as the passages I am writing about; Ep. 9.26.13intellegō enim mē, dum veniam priōribus petō, in illa ipsa quae adnotāverās incidisse.for I realise that, while asking pardon for the earlier ones, I have fallen into the very things you had marked. Ep. 9.26.13Sed cōnfodiās licet, dum modo iam nunc dēstinēs diem, quō et dē illīs et dē hīs cōram exigere possīmus.But stab them by all means, provided that you now fix a day on which we can discuss both those passages and these face to face. Ep. 9.26.13Aut enim tū mē timidum aut ego tē temerārium faciam.For either you will make me timid or I shall make you rash. Ep. 9.26.13Valē.Farewell.