Marcus Cornelius Fronto→Marcus Aurelius|c. 162 AD|Marcus Cornelius Fronto|From Rome (career hub)|To Rome (career hub)|AI-assisted
Fronto to Antoninus Augustus [Marcus Aurelius].
1. [...] then by the transferred sense, say [...] when the matter has so prompted [...] proverbs that have been transferred [metaphorically] [...] you may prove them to be present. [...] to warn [...] you [...] turned [...] he will use [...] the one a proper term, "companion" (comes), the other a transferred [metaphorical] term, "craftsman" (opifex); and there is between these words neither any common ground nor any kinship. It therefore offends the ears, and as it forces its way in it betrays its own incongruity [...] what has been said [...] words spoken in the manner of [...] Sallust says: "With his hand, his belly, his lust he had squandered the five good things of his patrimony." You see how greatly, by the resemblance in the forms of the words, he has contrived that the last word, though scarcely decent, should not seem unbecoming-precisely because these words that resemble it precede it. But if he had instead put these words the other way around: "who with his lust, his hand, his belly had squandered the good things of his patrimony," an unheard-of obscenity would here appear [...] to excuse [...] which in the third place [...] with these two words, "hand" and "belly," set beside it [...] the ears [...] and in the third place [...]
[one page cannot be read, and two pages are missing]
2. [...] in a field worn smooth before by the foot of no one save Gaius Sallustius alone, you have brought forth, in the most beautiful attire and the most honorable adornment, a meaning dangerous to utter and almost in need of a midwife's aid. You have gladdened me, you have gladdened me beyond measure-fare well for my sake! [In Greek in the original: euphranas, hypereuphranas, sozeo moi.]
3. As for this letter's being written by my secretary's hand, I have spared from heavy labor my fingers, which are by now under suspicion [i.e., failing him through illness or age].
to Antoninus Augustus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in a field previously trod by the foot of no one save Gaius Sallustius alone, you brought to light in a most choice dress and a most becoming setting a meaning hard to express and needing almost a midwife's aid. You have given me joy, you have overjoyed me, may you be preserved to me. In having this letter written by my secretary I have saved my fingers from a heavy task, as they are not at present to be trusted.
ad Anton. de eloqu. 3 [146 Hout; 2.70 Haines]
<Antonino Augusto Fronto.>
1 <...> tralata tum notione dic . . res ita impulerit . . . proverbia tralata . . . . vincas inesse. Testitra . . . . . . aterrid . . . . . . monere . . . . . . . . . . . . . te . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . versum es . . . . . . . . . . . duis utetur coni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ent alterum proprium, ‘comes’, alterum translatum, ‘opifex’ neque ulla verbis istis inter se communio inest neque propinquitas. Offendit igitur aures et ingruens diversitatem suam notat sti sapere quid est dictum . . . . . . . . . . . . sapere aure . . . trum more dicta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . atenem . . . . r . . Sallustius ait: “Quinque manu, ventre, pene bona patria laceraverat.” Vides quantum similitudine verborum formae adsecutus sit ut postremum verbum, quamquam parum pudicum, non indecorum esse videatur, ideo scilicet quod haec verba similia praecedant. Quodsi ita haec verba contra dixisset: “Quique pene, manu, ventre bona patria laceraverat”, inaudita obscenitas hic appareret . . . . . . . . . . excusare ssiros . duisesethat quibus tertio que . . . . . . . . . . duobus his verbis manu ventre adposita . . . . . . . . . . aures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tertioque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[una pagina legi nequit et duae paginae desunt]
2 <...> nullius ante nisi unius Gaji Sallusti trita solo, sensum dictu periculosum et paene obstetricium pulcherrimo cultu et honestissimo ornatu protulisti. εὔφρανας, ὑπερεύφρανας, σώζεο μοι.
3 Quod librari manu epistula scripta est, a labore gravi digitis consului, quei sunt jam in suspicione.
◆
Fronto to Antoninus Augustus [Marcus Aurelius].
1. [...] then by the transferred sense, say [...] when the matter has so prompted [...] proverbs that have been transferred [metaphorically][...] you may prove them to be present. [...] to warn [...] you [...] turned [...] he will use [...] the one a proper term, "companion" (comes), the other a transferred [metaphorical] term, "craftsman" (opifex); and there is between these words neither any common ground nor any kinship. It therefore offends the ears, and as it forces its way in it betrays its own incongruity [...] what has been said [...] words spoken in the manner of [...] Sallust says: "With his hand, his belly, his lust he had squandered the five good things of his patrimony." You see how greatly, by the resemblance in the forms of the words, he has contrived that the last word, though scarcely decent, should not seem unbecoming-precisely because these words that resemble it precede it. But if he had instead put these words the other way around: "who with his lust, his hand, his belly had squandered the good things of his patrimony," an unheard-of obscenity would here appear [...] to excuse [...] which in the third place [...] with these two words, "hand" and "belly," set beside it [...] the ears [...] and in the third place [...]
[one page cannot be read, and two pages are missing]
2. [...] in a field worn smooth before by the foot of no one save Gaius Sallustius alone, you have brought forth, in the most beautiful attire and the most honorable adornment, a meaning dangerous to utter and almost in need of a midwife's aid. You have gladdened me, you have gladdened me beyond measure-fare well for my sake! [In Greek in the original: euphranas, hypereuphranas, sozeo moi.]
3. As for this letter's being written by my secretary's hand, I have spared from heavy labor my fingers, which are by now under suspicion [i.e., failing him through illness or age].
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ad Anton. de eloqu. 3 [146 Hout; 2.70 Haines] <Antonino Augusto Fronto.> 1 <...> tralata tum notione dic . . res ita impulerit . . . proverbia tralata . . . . vincas inesse. Testitra . . . . . . aterrid . . . . . . monere . . . . . . . . . . . . . te . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . versum es . . . . . . . . . . . duis utetur coni . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ent alterum proprium, ‘comes’, alterum translatum, ‘opifex’ neque ulla verbis istis inter se communio inest neque propinquitas. Offendit igitur aures et ingruens diversitatem suam notat sti sapere quid est dictum . . . . . . . . . . . . sapere aure . . . trum more dicta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . atenem . . . . r . . Sallustius ait: “Quinque manu, ventre, pene bona patria laceraverat.” Vides quantum similitudine verborum formae adsecutus sit ut postremum verbum, quamquam parum pudicum, non indecorum esse videatur, ideo scilicet quod haec verba similia praecedant. Quodsi ita haec verba contra dixisset: “Quique pene, manu, ventre bona patria laceraverat”, inaudita obscenitas hic appareret . . . . . . . . . . excusare ssiros . duisesethat quibus tertio que . . . . . . . . . . duobus his verbis manu ventre adposita . . . . . . . . . . aures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tertioque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [una pagina legi nequit et duae paginae desunt] 2 <...> nullius ante nisi unius Gaji Sallusti trita solo, sensum dictu periculosum et paene obstetricium pulcherrimo cultu et honestissimo ornatu protulisti. εὔφρανας, ὑπερεύφρανας, σώζεο μοι. 3 Quod librari manu epistula scripta est, a labore gravi digitis consului, quei sunt jam in suspicione.