M. Tullius Cicero, Pro Archia Poeta, ed. Albert Curtis Clark, 5

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[5] erat Italia tum¹ plena Graecarum artium ac disciplinarum, studiaque haec et in Latio vehementius tum colebantur quam nunc isdem in oppidis, et hic Romae propter tranquillitatem rei publicae² non neglegebantur. itaque hunc³ et Tarentini et Locrenses⁴ et Regini et Neapolitani civitate ceterisque praemiis donarunt, et omnes qui aliquid de ingeniis poterant iudicare cognitione atque hospitio dignum existimarunt. hac tanta celebritate famae cum esset iam absentibus notus, Romam venit Mario consule et Catulo. nactus est primum consules eos quorum alter res ad scribendum maximas, alter cum res gestas tum etiam studium atque auris adhibere posset. statim Luculli, cum praetextatus etiam tum Archias esset, eum domum⁵ suam receperunt. dedit etiam hoc⁶ non solum lumen⁷ ingeni ac litterarum verum etiam naturae atque virtutis ut domus, quae huius adulescentiae prima favit⁸, eadem esset familiarissima senectuti.

Pro Archia Poeta. M. Tullius Cicero. ed. Albert Curtis Clark. Oxford. 1911.

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Current edition Perseus

Pro Archia Poeta (Latin) (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 6. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.)

Translations (1)

For A.L. Archias Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 2. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1856.) — 5 focus

[5] Italy was at that time full of Greek science and of Greek systems, and these studies were at that time cultivated in Latium with greater zeal than they now are in the same towns; and here too at Rome, on account of the tranquil state of the republic at that time, they were far from neglected. Therefore, the people of Tarentum, and Rhegium, and Neapolis, presented him with the freedom of the city and with other gifts; and all men who were capable of judging of genius thought him deserving of their acquaintance and hospitality. When, from this great celebrity of his, he had become known to us though absent, he came to Rome, in the consulship of Marius and Catulus. It was his lot to have those men as his first consuls, the one of whom could supply him with the most illustrious achievements to write about, the other could give him, not only exploits to celebrate, but his ears and judicious attention. Immediately the Luculli, though Archias was as yet but a youth,¹ received him in their house. But it was not only to his genius and his learning, but also to his natural disposition and virtue, that it must be attributed that the house which was the first to be opened to him in his youth, is also the one in which he lives most familiarly in his old age.

Notes on the current edition

Pro Archia Poeta

1. tum GEeb1g: tunc cett.

2. rei p. b2, ed. R: populi R. cett.

3. hunc unum Schol.

4. et Locrenses suppl. Luterbacher e § 10 ( om. Schol.)

5. domum Geab2: in domum cett.

6. dedit etiam hoc scripsi: sed etiam (est b2, et ς) hoc codd.: est iam hoc Garatoni: specimen etiam hoc Madvig

7. lumen ( i. e. lum~) supplevi

8. favit Madvig: fuerit (fuit ςb1gp ς) codd.: faverit Weiske

Commentary

Commentary on Oration For Archias (Select Orations of Cicero (Allen and Greenough's Edition). Greenough, James Bradstreet; Kittredge, George Lyman, editors. Boston, London: Ginn & Company, 1897.) focus

tunc , at that time. This was the long period of comparative quiet between the Gracchan disturbances ( B.C. 133-121) and the tribunate of Drusus ( B.C. 91), which was followed by the Social War and the civil wars of Marius and Sulla.

Latio : not the geographical Latium merely, but all towns which at that time possessed Latin citizenship; that is, the Latin colonies, such as Venusia, the birthplace of the poet Horace.

de ingeniis , i.e. could form some opinion about the talents of literary men.

absentibus , people at a distance.

Mario et Catulo (coss. B.C. 102); of these, Marius was renowned for his exploits, while Catulus was a good officer, and also a man of culture.

nactus est , etc., he happened to find holding the consulship.

eos, quorum alter , men of such a kind that one of them, etc. This would not only furnish him with themes for his poetry but insure appreciation of his genius.

Luculli : Lucius, the one who fought against Mithridates, and his brother Marcus; both of them belonged to the highest ranks of the aristocracy, and were men of distinguished taste and culture.

ingeni , pred. gen. after an understood erat: this was [a proof] not only of his genius, etc.

ut . . . esset , result clause in app. with

hoc (l.29).

M. Tullius Cicero Pro Archia Poeta 5

ed. Albert Curtis Clark

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