Section 17
Original Latin
quod si ipsi haec neque attingere neque sensu nostro gustare possemus, tamen ea mirari deberemus, etiam cum in aliis videremus.
Chapter 8
quis nostrum tam animo agresti ac duro fuit ut Rosci morte nuper non commoveretur? qui cum esset senex mortuus, tamen propter excellentem artem ac venustatem videbatur omnino mori non debuisse. ergo ille corporis motu tantum amorem sibi conciliarat a nobis omnibus; nos animorum incredibilis motus celeritatemque ingeniorum neglegemus?
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from the Latin in Clark’s 1911 edition; source-language model review recorded. Perseus transcription: CC BY-SA 4.0, credited to the Perseus Project, Tufts University.
But even if we ourselves could neither pursue these studies nor taste their pleasures, we should still admire them when we saw them in others.
Chapter 8
Which of us was ever so coarse and hard of heart that he was not moved by Roscius’s recent death? Though he died an old man, such were his consummate art and grace that it seemed he should never have died at all. Did he, then, win such love from all of us through the movements of his body, while we are to disregard the astonishing movements of the mind and the swiftness of the intellect?
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the Latin, not from the Musean edition; source-language model review recorded. Perseus transcription: CC BY-SA 4.0, credited to the Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Even if we could not take part in these studies ourselves or get a firsthand taste of them, we should still admire them when we see them in others.
Chapter 8
Which of us was so rough and hardhearted that he was not moved by Roscius’s recent death? He died an old man. Yet his outstanding skill and charm made us feel that he should never have died at all. His bodily movements won so much love from all of us. Are we to ignore the amazing movements of the mind and the speed of human talent?
About this section
Section 17 is part of For Archias the Poet by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is part 17 of 32 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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