Beginning of the sample of Learn Latin with Cicero On Duties 1 available at

https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Latin-Cicero-Duties-1-ebook/dp/B01LZ6CAHM/ref=sr_1_1

Learn Latin with Cicero On Duties 1

De Officiis

An Acceleration Reader
With Pari Passu Translation

---- 2016 Claude Pavur: This acceleration reader format, edition, presentation, and translation.

-----

Prefatory Note
This book is a pedagogical device that attempts to give something not readily available elsewhere: a special type
of presentation that helps learners to absorb the Latin language in small, bite-sized pieces and to make notable
strides towards fluency.
One can easily find translations and commentaries elsewhere. The point is not so much translation, however, but
speedily making the right acts of comprehension that allows one to read the Latin text bit by bit in the order it was
written. The acceleration reader format facilitates this process by typographically isolating chunks or units of
meaning. Learners will thus more easily register and establish the patterns and the contents, the building blocks
out of which longer utterances are made. A convenient ereader version such as this can serve as an inexpensive,
easily portable textbook for college courses; it also offers all those interested in Latin access to authentic classical
material from Cicero, the master of Latin prose.

An English translation appears in alternation with the original text pari passu (bit by bit). Students save the time
they do not have to spend on consulting dictionaries: they get a sense of the meanings of words on the spot to the
extent that they need to, learning words in context. Even ordinary bilingual presentations (such as in the Loeb
editions) can tend to make readers lose a bit of time as they have to look over to the facing page and locate the
corresponding phrase or passage in a solid block of text. Be aware that not every Latin particle is translated here
into English, as the Latin usage relies on certain ones far more than we ever would in normal prose: autem (often
taken as however); enim (for as in the explanatory conjunction); vero (but) are some examples of words
that are often left unparalleled in the translation.
As with similar AR (acceleration reader) editions for ebooks, the translation given here, though sometimes
idiomatic rather than exactly literal, is not intended to offer the most elegant renditions. The English is rather a
simple, straightforward and serviceable parallel that might help students get the meaning and see how the Latin
works. It does not proceed word-by-word, but certainly idea by idea. Because of the provisional nature of the
translation, teachers can use this text as a basis for teaching English prose stylistics: they can invite students to
propose alternative or better ways of saying the same idea.
Written in the fall of 44 BCE, not long after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Ciceros On Duties, De Officiis,
written to Ciceros son Marcus studying in Athens, encapsulates some of the best ethical and political thought of
classical antiquity. It has earned a place as an essential of the Western/World tradition, playing a part even in
the development of courtly culture in the Middle Ages. This book might well be included in all humanistic
curricula, along with such works as Platos Republic, Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics, Augustines Confessions,
Marcus Aureliuss Meditations.
Other acceleration readers with pari-passu translations are available for Ciceros Pro Archia, Sallusts Catilines
War, and some of Senecas Letters. Students might also profit from the use of phrasebooks (like Particularly
Good Latin or Selectissimae:Latin Phrases for Mastery) and maxim collections (like Sundial Latin or Smart
Latin: Maxims for Mastery).

Claude Pavur
Boston, Massachusetts
September 17, 2016

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Introductory Note for Beginners: Acceleration Readers

We learn to master short sentences before we gain a ready ability to understand and produce long ones. You
should at first take some satisfaction in understanding of any of the phrases of this Acceleration Reader, whether
or not the entire meaning of the context is clear to you. Let the larger sense emerge as you try to extend your
understanding to the adjoining phrases. Then, once you have understood the parts, you should rehearse the act of
getting the meaning of the full sentences in a smooth way.
All sentences are words that hang together. Long sentences have many sub-groups that are meaningful as
phrases or as clues for the larger structure of meaning. This Acceleration Reader format offers a device by which
the subgroups can be highlighted and then integrated in your mind as you connect the phrases together.
Think of this old joke:
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
What is going on in this witticism? Unless you mentally register the first two words of the second sentence as the
subject of the sentence, you tend to be tricked into misunderstanding it on the model of the first sentence, in
which only the first word must be registered as the subject. When the proper subject is registered, you can more
easily also register the third word like as a preposition (first sentence) or as a verb (second sentence). This process
of ongoing, self-correcting registration of meanings and functions is essential in learning to understand
communications.

In an Acceleration Reader, many times, but not always, the subject, or direct object, or indirect object, or verb, or
conjunction is set off on a line by itself. The point in this kind of division is to facilitate your practicing that
essential process of registering the word as something that has its own special function in the sentence. But there
are also larger patterns that should be practiced, so you will find various other structures sectioned off on
individual lines as well, e. g. , consulem invenrunt is an example of the syntactic pattern [direct object - verb].
The vertical arrangement here may seem unusual at first, but it is not very far from the very popular columnar
layouts in magazines and newspapers. Your task in reading is to integrate the larger idea of each sentence as you
register the meanings and functions of the individual words and phrases. Latin case-endings are the major clues
that help you to register the functions (or syntax) of the nouns and pronouns of sentences. They also give you
clues about which adjectives and adjectival phrases hook onto which nouns and pronouns.
Of course, the sentences could have been divided up differently than shown here. I have not tried for perfect
consistency, but rather for shorter rather than longer units of meaning, in order to make things easier for
beginners. Sometimes, however, three or more short lines will have to be understood as a unit. The parts
nevertheless remain fragments for which some registering of meaning should be practiced. For example, if there
is a very long genitive expression like of those preparing to face their enemy near the river, then it is important
to learn to perceive and understand this collocation of words whether or not the reader yet has the noun to which
the genitive phrase belongs. In Latin, that noun may or may not be immediately attached. Keep in mind:
Only if readers learn to register the meanings and functions of the parts of a sentence bitby-bit in its unfolding will they have the satisfactions that accompany the act of smooth and
fluent reading.
***

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Learn Latin with Cicero On Duties 1

[1]
I. Quamquam te, Marce fili,
annum iam audientem Cratippum
idque Athenis
abundare oportet praeceptis institutisque philosophiae
*
[1] I. Even though you, my son Marcus, attending Cratippuss lectures for a year now, and that in Athens, must be
overflowing with the instructions and the prescriptions of philosophy

-----

propter summam et doctoris auctoritatem et urbis,

quorum
alter te scientia augere potest,
altera exemplis,
*
on account of the supreme authority both of the teacher and of the city, one of which can help you grow by his
knowledge, and the other by its good examples,

-----

tamen, ut ipse ad meam utilitatem

semper cum Graecis Latina coniunxi
neque id in philosophia solum,
sed etiam in dicendi exercitatione feci,
*

still, as I myself for my own good use always joined Latin works with Greek onesand that not in philosophy
alone, but also in the practice of speaking

-----

idem tibi censeo faciendum,

ut par sis in utriusque orationis facultate.
*
I think you ought to do the same thing so that you may have an equal fluency in both languages.

-----

Quam quidem ad rem

nos, ut videmur, magnum attulimus adiumentum
hominibus nostris,
*
And actually, with regard to this matter, it seems to me that I have provided great help to our countrymen,

-----

ut non modo Graecarum litterarum rudes, sed etiam docti

aliquantum se arbitrentur adeptos
et ad dicendum et ad iudicandum.
*
so that not just those who are ignorant of of Greek letters but even the educated might judge themselves somewhat
competent both in speaking and in making judgments.

-----

[2]
Quam ob rem
disces tu quidem
a principe huius aetatis philosophorum
et disces quam diu voles;
*
[2] For this reason you will learn from the leader of this ages philosophers, and you will learn as long as you are
willing.

-----

tam diu autem velle debebis,

quoad te quantum proficias non paenitebit.
*
But you ought to be willing to learn as long as you will not be disappointed about how much you are progressing.

-----

Sed tamen nostra legens

non multum a Peripateticis dissidentia,
quoniam utrique Socratici et Platonici volumus esse,
de rebus ipsis utere tuo iudicio
nihil enim impedio
*
But still, reading our own writings, not far different from the Peripatetics, since I want to be both Socratic and
Platonic, employ your own judgment about those mattersI am not standing in your way

-----

orationem autem Latinam

efficies profecto legendis nostris pleniorem.
*
but you will certainly make your Latin speaking fuller by reading what we have written.

-----

Nec vero
hoc arroganter dictum
existimari velim.
*
Yet I do not want this considered to be something said arrogantly.

-----

Nam philosophandi scientiam concedens multis,

quod est oratoris proprium,
apte, distincte, ornate dicere,
quoniam in eo studio aetatem consumpsi,
si id mihi assumo,
videor id meo iure quodam modo vindicare.
*
For conceding to many the knowledge of practicing philosophy, if I lay claim to what is proper to the orator, since
I have spent my life in that pursuit, (namely) appropriate and clear and elegant speaking, I seem to be in certain
way making that claim with every right.

-----

[3]
Quam ob rem
magnopere te hortor, mi Cicero,
ut non solum orationes meas,
sed hos etiam de philosophia libros,
*
[3] For this reason, I seriously entreat you, my [son] Cicero, that not only my speeches, but also these books on
philosophy

-----

qui iam illis fere se aequarunt,

studiose legas,
vis enim maior in illis dicendi,
sed hoc quoque colendum est
aequabile et temperatum orationis genus.
*
which have almost already equalled those others, you study attentivelyfor there is greater oratorical power in
those [speeches]but this even and temperate type of speech should also be cultivated.

-----

Et id quidem
nemini video Graecorum adhuc contigisse,

ut idem
utroque in genere
elaboraret sequereturque
et illud forense dicendi
et hoc quietum disputandi genus,
*
And in fact I see that it has not yet happened with any of the Greeks that the same person in both types has
worked on and followed out both that forensic oratory and this quiet type of discussion,

-----

nisi forte Demetrius Phalereus

in hoc numero haberi potest,
disputator subtilis,
orator parum vehemens,
dulcis tamen,
ut Theophrasti discipulum possis agnoscere.
*
unless perhaps Demetrius Phalereus could be considered in this group, a keen disputant, and not too forceful a
speaker but still appealing, so that you would be able to recognize him as a disciple of Theophrastus.

-----

Nos autem quantum in utroque profecerimus,

aliorum sit iudicium,
utrumque certe secuti sumus.
*

But how far we have advanced in both categories, let that be the judgment of others; certainly we have pursued
both.

-----

[4]
Equidem et Platonem existimo
si genus forense dicendi tractare voluisset,
gravissime et copiosissime potuisse dicere
*
[4] And indeed I think both that Plato, if he had wanted to take up forensic oratory, would have been able to speak
impressively and abundantly,

-----

et Demosthenem
si illa, quae a Platone didicerat, tenuisset
et pronuntiare voluisset,
ornate splendideque facere potuisse;
*
and that Demosthenes, if he would have held to those things that he had learned from Plato wanted to declaim
them would have have been able to do it stylishly and magnificently.

-----

eodemque modo
de Aristotele et Isocrate iudico,

quorum uterque
suo studio delectatus
contempsit alterum.
*
And I make the same kind of judgment about Aristotle and Isocrates: each of which, delighting in his own
interest, scorned the other.

-----

II. Sed cum statuissem scribere ad te

aliquid hoc tempore, multa posthac,
ab eo ordiri maxime volui,
quod et aetati tuae esset aptissimum
et auctoritati meae.
*
II. But when I had decided to write to you something at this time [and] many things later, I wanted especially to
take my start from that which is especially fit for your time of life and for my authority.

-----

Nam cum multa sint in philosophia

et gravia et utilia
accurate copioseque a philosophis disputata,
latissime patere videntur
ea quae de officiis tradita ab illis
et praecepta sunt.
*

For while there are many things in philosophy that are both important and useful, discussed carefully and
abundantly by philosophers, those things that have been handed down by them and taught about duties seem to
have the broadest reach.

-----

Nulla enim vitae pars

neque publicis neque privatis
neque forensibus neque domesticis in rebus,
neque si tecum agas quid,
neque si cum altero contrahas,
vacare officio potest
*
For no part of life, neither in public nor in private, neither in forensic nor in domestic matters, not if you are doing
something on your own nor if you are engaged with another in a joint venture, can be devoid of duty,

-----

in eoque et colendo
sita vitae est honestas omnis
et neglegendo
turpitudo.
*
and all moral goodness [or honor] in life is situated in its cultivation and all disgrace in its neglect.

----[5]
Atque haec quidem quaestio
communis est omnium philosophorum.
*
[5] And this question is in fact common to all philosophers.

-----

Quis est enim, qui

nullis officii praeceptis tradendis
philosophum se
audeat dicere?
*
For who is there who would dare call himself a philosopher with no precepts on duties to pass on?

-----

Sed sunt non nullae disciplinae,

quae propositis bonorum et malorum finibus
officium omne pervertant.
*
But there are some disciplines that distort every duty when they propose the ends of goods and evils.

-----

Nam qui summum bonum sic instituit,

ut nihil habeat cum virtute coniunctum,
idque suis commodis, non honestate metitur,
*
For the one who so establishes the supreme good that it has no connection with virtue, and who measures it by his
own advantages, not by moral goodness,

-----

hic, si sibi ipse consentiat

et non interdum naturae bonitate vincatur,
neque amicitiam colere possit
nec iustitiam nec liberalitatem;
*
this person, if he is consistent and not overcome occasionally by a natural goodness, would be able to cultivate
neither friendship nor justice nor generosity.

-----

fortis vero
dolorem summum malum iudicans
aut temperans
voluptatem summum bonum statuens
esse certe nullo modo potest.
*
But a brave individual who judges pain to be the supreme evil, or a temperate one who has decided that pleasure
is the supreme goodcertainly in no way can [such a person] exist.

----[6]
Quae quamquam ita sint in promptu,
ut res disputatione non egeat,
tamen sunt a nobis alio loco disputata.
*
[6] Although these things are so evident that the topic requires no discussion, we have nevertheless dealt with
them elsewhere.

-----

Hae disciplinae igitur

si sibi consentaneae velint esse,
de officio nihil queant dicere,
neque ulla officii praecepta
firma, stabilia, coniuncta naturae
tradi possunt,
*
Therefore these schools of thought, if they intend to be consistent, can say nothing about duty, nor can any
directives about duty be taught that are firm, stable, and joined with nature,

-----

nisi aut ab iis, qui solam,

aut ab iis, qui maxime

honestatem
propter se dicant expetendam.
*
except by those who say that moral goodness is the one thing to be sought or by those who say it is to be sought
especially on its own merits.
-----

Ita propria est ea praeceptio

Stoicorum, Academicorum, Peripateticorum,
quoniam Aristonis, Pyrrhonis, Erilli
iam pridem explosa sententia est,
*
So this teaching really appropriately belongs to the Stoics, Academics, and Peripatetics, since long ago the
teaching of Aristo, Pyrrho, and Erillus has been hooted off the stage;

-----

qui tamen haberent

ius suum disputandi de officio,
si rerum aliquem dilectum reliquissent,
ut ad officii inventionem aditus esset.
*
and yet these would have their own right to debate about duty if they had left any option so that there was a way
to discover duty.

-----

Sequemur igitur

hoc quidem tempore et hac in quaestione

potissimum Stoicos, non ut interpretes,
*
Therefore at this time and in this question we will follow the Stoics above all, not as interpreters (of their works),

-----

sed, ut solemus,
e fontibus eorum
iudicio arbitrioque nostro
quantum quoque modo videbitur,
hauriemus.
*
but as we usually do, we will drink from their springs at our judgment and discretion as much as and in the
manner that it will seem good (to do so).

----[7]
Placet igitur,
quoniam omnis disputatio de officio futura est,
ante definire, quid sit officium,
quod a Panaetio praetermissum esse
miror.
*
[7] Therefore it pleases (us), since the whole discussion is going to be about duty, to define what duty is first,
something which I am surprised was omitted by Panaetius.

-----

Omnis enim,
quae a ratione suscipitur de aliqua re
institutio,
debet a definitione proficisci,
ut intellegatur, quid sit id de quo disputetur.
*
For every major teaching that is taken up by reason about any thing ought to start out from a definition so that
people might realize what is the issue about which there may be a discussion.

-----

III. Omnis de officio duplex est quaestio.

Unum genus est,
quod pertinet ad finem bonorum,
*
III. Every systematic inquiry about duty is twofold. One part is that which pertains to the end of goods,

-----

alterum,
quod positum est in praeceptis,
quibus
in omnes partes
usus vitae
conformari possit.

*
and the second is that which concerns the precepts by which the way life is lived can be shaped in every respect.

-----

Superioris generis huiusmodi sunt exempla,

omniane officia perfecta sint,
num quod officium aliud alio maius sit
et quae sunt generis eiusdem.
*
Of the former part such are examples: whether all duties are complete in themselves, whether some particular duty
is greater than another, and which belong to the same category.

-----

Quorum autem officiorum praecepta traduntur,

ea quamquam pertinent
ad finem bonorum,
*
But the precepts of these duties are taught, even though they pertain to the final purpose of good things,

-----

tamen minus id apparet,

quia magis ad institutionem vitae communis
spectare videntur;
de quibus
est nobis his libris explicandum.

*
still it is not so clear, because they seem to bear more on the instruction for a common way of life; it is our task to
explain these in these books.

-----

End of the sample of

Learn Latin with Cicero On Duties 1 available at
https://www.amazon.com/Learn-Latin-Cicero-Duties-1-ebook/dp/B01LZ6CAHM/ref=sr_1_1

Other Pari Passu Acceleration Readers

Beginning:
* Epitome of Sacred History (Epitome Historiae Sacrae) by Charles LHomond (a phrasal interlinear for
beginners)

Intermediate:
* Notable Romans: De Viris Illustribus : Part I by Charles LHomond
* Notable Romans: De Viris Illustribus : Part II by Charles LHomond

Advanced:
* Catilines War (Sallust)
* Ciceros Pro Archia
* Learn Latin with Seneca (Letters of Seneca)

*****