Section 24
Original Latin
quam multos scriptores rerum suarum magnus ille Alexander secum habuisse dicitur! atque is tamen, cum in Sigeo ad Achillis tumulum astitisset: “o fortunate,” inquit, “adulescens, qui tuae virtutis Homerum praeconem inveneris!” et vere. nam, nisi Ilias illa exstitisset, idem tumulus qui corpus eius contexerat nomen etiam obruisset. quid? noster hic Magnus qui cum virtute fortunam adaequavit, nonne Theophanem Mytilenaeum, scriptorem rerum suarum, in contione militum civitate donavit, et nostri illi fortes viri, sed rustici ac milites, dulcedine quadam gloriae commoti quasi participes eiusdem laudis magno illud clamore approbaverunt?
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.
How many chroniclers of his deeds Alexander the Great is said to have kept with him! And yet, when he stood beside Achilles’ tomb at Sigeum, he said, “Fortunate young man, to have found Homer as the herald of your valor!” And rightly so. For had that Iliad never existed, the same mound that covered his body would also have buried his name.
And what of our own Pompey the Great, who has matched his fortune with his valor? Did he not grant citizenship to Theophanes of Mytilene, the historian of his deeds, before an assembly of his soldiers? And did not those brave men of ours, rustic soldiers though they were, stirred by the sweetness of glory, approve the act with a mighty shout, as though they shared in that same praise?
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.
They say Alexander the Great kept so many writers with him to record what he did! Still, at Sigeum, standing by Achilles’ tomb, he exclaimed, “Lucky young man! You found Homer to proclaim your courage!”
And he was right. If the Iliad had never existed, the same tomb that covered Achilles’ body would also have buried his name.
What about our own Pompey the Great, whose good fortune matched his courage? At an assembly of soldiers, did he not make Theophanes of Mytilene a citizen—the man who wrote about his deeds? And those brave men of ours, countrymen and soldiers though they were, felt the attraction of glory. They cheered his action loudly, as though they shared in that same praise.
About this section
Section 24 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 24 of 32 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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