Brutus, or On Eminent Orators Passage 162

erit , inquit [M.] Brutus , aut iam est iste quem exspectas? Nescio, inquam. Sed est etiam L. Crassi in consulatu pro Q. Caepione† defensione iuncta† non brevis ut laudatio, ut oratio autem brevis; postrema censoris oratio, qua anno duodequinquagesimo usus est. In his omnibus inest quidam sine ullo fuco veritatis color; quin etiam comprehensio et ambitus ille verborum, si sic περίοδον appellari placet, erat apud illum contractus et brevis, et in membra quaedam, quae κῶλα Graeci vocant, dispertiebat orationem libentius.

"Will the man you await ever appear," said [Marcus] Brutus, "or has he appeared already?" "I do not know," I replied. "There is also a speech of Lucius Crassus from his consulship, in defence of Quintus Caepio, †joined†; it is not brief as an encomium, though brief as a speech. His last speech was delivered as censor in his forty-eighth year. In all these works there is a certain hue of truth without any artificial colouring. Indeed, his combination and circuit of words, if we agree to call it περίοδος, was compressed and brief, and he preferred to divide his speech into certain members, which the Greeks call κῶλα."

«Celui que tu attends viendra-t-il, demanda [Marcus] Brutus, ou existe-t-il déjà?» «Je l’ignore, répondis-je. Mais il existe encore un discours de Lucius Crassus prononcé pendant son consulat pour Quintus Caepio, †joint à une défense†, qui n’est pas bref comme éloge, mais l’est comme discours; puis son dernier discours de censeur, prononcé dans sa quarante-huitième année. Dans tous ces textes se trouve une certaine couleur de vérité, sans aucun fard. Même l’enchaînement et le circuit des mots, si l’on veut ainsi traduire περίοδος, étaient chez lui ramassés et brefs; il préférait diviser son discours en certains membres que les Grecs nomment κῶλα.»