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II. Narratio (§§ 4-6).

[4] Earlier career of Archias. His celebrity in Asia and elsewhere. His removal to Rome and his distinguished patrons there. He becomes a citizen of Heraclia.

p156_l3

cum : causal, but best translated when.

p156_l4

esset : for tense, see § 589 , b, I (337, b, I); B. 268, 4; G. 597, R.4; H. 647(527, iii); H.-B. 581, b, N.

p156_l5

asciscendum fuisse : in the direct, asciscendus erat; § 517 , d (308,d); B. 304,3, b; G. 597,R.3,a; H. 582(511,2); H-B. 581,a; cf. note on Pompey's Military Command, sect. 50 ( p. 88, l. 32 ), erat deligendus.

p156_l9

urbe : § 282 ,d(184,c); G. 411, R.3; H. 393,7(363,4 2); H-B. 452, a. .

p156_l12

contigit , sc. ei, i.e. Archias.

post , afterwards.

p156_l15

[5] 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.

p156_l16

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.

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

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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.

p156_l25

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.

p156_l27

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.

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

p156_l30

ut . . . esset , result clause in app. with hoc (l.29).

p157_l1

[6] jucundus , etc.: ever since the introduction of Greek culture at Rome, it had been customary for cultivated Romans of high rank to entertain Greek men of letters in their houses, partly as tutors and partly as companions. Such associates frequently accompanied their patrons on their journeys and even on their campaigns.

Metello Numidico : the most distinguished member of this family. He was predecessor of Marius in the war against Jugurtha, and from this service in Numidia received his agnomen.

p157_l2

Aemilio , i.e. M. Aemilius Scaurus (cos. B.C. 115), for many years princeps senatus.

p157_l3

Catulo : see note on p. 156, l. 23 .

L. Crasso : the most distinguished orator of his time, a man of genius and culture (see Introd., ch. ii, p. xxxiv ); he died B.C. 91.

p157_l4

Drusum (M. Livius), tribune B.C. 91, a distinguished orator and statesman, who lost his life in a vain attempt to reconcile the aristocratic and democratic factions in the republic.

Octavios : see Cat. 3, sect. 24 .

Catonem : probably the father of the famous Cato of Utica is meant.

p157_l5

Hortensiorum : the most eminent of these was Q. Hortensius, the rival of Cicero and his opponent in the case of Verres.

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si qui forte , those (if there were any) who, etc.

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Heracliam : an important Greek city on the southern coast of Lucania. In the war with Pyrrhus it had fought on the side of the Romans, and B.C. 278 it entered into an alliance of the closest and most favorable character ( aequissimo jure ac foedere ).

Commentary on Oration For Archias. James Bradstreet Greenough. ed. James Bradstreet Greenough, ed. George Lyman Kittredge. Boston. 1897.

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Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Pro Archia Poeta Perseus (Cicero. M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, Volume 6. Clark, Albert Curtis, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.) — 4 focus

[4] quod si mihi¹ a vobis tribui concedique sentiam, perficiam profecto ut hunc A. Licinium non modo non segregandum, cum sit civis, a numero civium verum etiam, si non esset, putetis asciscendum fuisse.

3 nam ut primum ex pueris excessit Archias atque ab eis² artibus quibus aetas puerilis ad humanitatem informari solet, se ad scribendi studium contulit, primum Antiochiae— nam ibi natus est loco nobili—celebri quondam urbe³ et copiosa atque eruditissimis hominibus liberalissimisque studiis adfluenti, celeriter antecellere omnibus ingeni gloria coepit⁴. post in ceteris Asiae partibus cunctaque Graecia⁵ sic eius adventus celebrabantur⁶ ut famam ingeni exspectatio hominis, exspectationem ipsius adventus admiratioque⁷ superaret.

[5] erat Italia tum⁸ plena Graecarum artium ac disciplinarum, studiaque haec et in Latio vehementius tum colebantur quam nunc isdem in oppidis, et hic Romae propter tranquillitatem rei publicae⁹ non neglegebantur. itaque hunc¹⁰ et Tarentini et Locrenses¹¹ 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 domum¹² suam receperunt. dedit etiam hoc¹³ non solum lumen¹⁴ ingeni ac litterarum verum etiam naturae atque virtutis ut domus, quae huius adulescentiae prima favit¹⁵, eadem esset familiarissima senectuti.

[6] erat temporibus illis iucundus Q. Metello illi Numidico et eius Pio¹⁶ filio, audiebatur a M. Aemilio, vivebat cum Q. Catulo et patre et filio, a L. Crasso colebatur, Lucullos vero et Drusum et Octavios et Catonem et totam Hortensiorum domum devinctam consuetudine cum teneret, adficiebatur summo honore, quod eum non solum colebant qui aliquid percipere atque audire studebant verum etiam si qui forte simulabant. 4 interim satis longo¹⁷ intervallo, cum esset cum M. Lucullo¹⁸ in Siciliam profectus et cum¹⁹ ex ea provincia cum eodem Lucullo decederet, venit Heracleam. quae cum esset civitas aequissimo iure ac foedere, ascribi se in eam civitatem voluit idque, cum ipse per se dignus putaretur, tum auctoritate et gratia Luculli ab Heracliensibus impetravit.

Translations (1)

For A.L. Archias Perseus (Cicero. The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Volume 2. Yonge, Charles Duke, translator. London: Bell, 1856.) — 4 focus

[4] And if I feel that that indulgence is given and allowed me by you, I will soon cause you to think that this Aulus Licinius is a man who not only, now that he is a citizen, does not deserve to be expunged from the list of citizens, but that he is worthy, even if he were not one, of being now made a citizen. 3
For when first Archias grew out of childhood, and out of the studies of those arts by which young boys are gradually trained and refined, he devoted himself to the study of writing. First of all at Antioch, (for he was born there, and was of high rank there,) formerly an illustrious and wealthy city, and the seat of learned men and of liberal sciences; and there it was his lot speedily to show himself superior to all in ability and credit. Afterwards, in the other parts of Asia, and over all Greece, his arrival was so talked of wherever he came, that the anxiety with which he was expected was even greater than the fame of his genius;—but the admiration which he excited when he had arrived, exceeded even the anxiety with which he was expected.

[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.

[6] He at that time gained the affection of Quintus Metellus, that great man who was the conqueror of Numidia, and his son Pius. He was eagerly listened to by Marcus Aemilius; he associated with Quintus Catulus,—both with the father and the sons. He was highly respected by Lucius Crassus; and as for the Luculli, and Drusus, and the Octavii, and Cato, and the whole family of the Hortensii, he was on terms of the greatest possible intimacy with all of them, and was held by them in the greatest honour. For, not only did every one cultivate his acquaintance who wished to learn or to hear anything, but even every one pretended to have such a desire. 4
In the meantime, after a sufficiently long interval, having gone with Lucius Lucullus into Sicily, and having afterwards departed from that province in the company of the same Lucullus, he came to Heraclea. And as that city was one which enjoyed all the rights of a confederate city to their full extent, he became desirous of being enrolled as a citizen of it. And, being thought deserving of such a favour for his own sake, when aided by the influence and authority of Lucullus, he easily obtained it from the Heracleans.

James Bradstreet Greenough Commentary on Oration For Archias II

ed. James Bradstreet Greenough, ed. George Lyman Kittredge

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II. Narratio (§§ 4-6).

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