Section 19
Original Latin
sit igitur, iudices, sanctum apud vos, humanissimos homines, hoc poetae nomen quod nulla umquam barbaria violavit. Saxa atque solitudines voci respondent, bestiae saepe immanes cantu flectuntur atque consistunt; nos instituti rebus optimis non poetarum voce moveamur? Homerum Colophonii civem esse dicunt suum, Chii suum vindicant, Salaminii repetunt, Smyrnaei vero suum esse confirmant itaque etiam delubrum eius in oppido dedicaverunt, permulti alii praeterea pugnant inter se atque contendunt.
Chapter 9
ergo illi alienum, quia poeta fuit, post mortem etiam expetunt; nos hunc vivum qui et voluntate et legibus noster est repudiamus, praesertim cum omne olim studium atque omne ingenium contulerit Archias ad populi Romani gloriam laudemque celebrandam? nam et Cimbricas res adulescens attigit et ipsi illi C. Mario qui durior ad haec studia videbatur iucundus fuit.
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.
Let this name of poet, then, which no barbarous people has ever profaned, be sacred in your eyes, gentlemen, with all your refinement. Rocks and solitary places answer the voice; savage beasts are often swayed by song and stop to listen. Are we, nurtured on the finest learning, to remain unmoved by the voice of poets? The people of Colophon say that Homer is their citizen; the Chians claim him as their own; the people of Salamis demand him back; the Smyrnaeans insist that he belongs to them and have even dedicated a shrine to him in their city. Many others besides dispute and contend with one another over him.
Chapter 9
Do they, then, seek a stranger even after his death because he was a poet, while we reject this living man, who is ours both by choice and by law—especially when Archias long ago devoted all his energies and all his talent to celebrating the glory and renown of the Roman people? As a young man he treated the war against the Cimbri, and he won the affection even of Gaius Marius himself, who seemed rather unresponsive to such pursuits.
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.
Judges, you are deeply cultured men. So let the title of poet be sacred to you. No uncivilized people has ever violated it. Rocks and deserted places answer the human voice. Savage beasts are often calmed by song and stop in their tracks. We have been trained in the finest subjects. Should we not be moved by the voices of poets?
The people of Colophon say Homer was their citizen. The people of Chios claim him as their own. The people of Salamis also claim him. The people of Smyrna insist that he belongs to them, and they have even dedicated a shrine to him in their town. Many others also dispute and compete with one another over him.
Chapter 9
So they seek to claim a foreigner even after his death because he was a poet. Are we to turn away a man who is still alive, who has chosen to belong to us and is legally one of us? Especially since Archias committed all his energy and talent long ago to making the Roman people’s glory and fame known?
As a young man, he wrote about the war against the Cimbri. He even pleased Gaius Marius himself, a man who seemed rather unreceptive to these studies.
About this section
Section 19 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 section 19 of 32 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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