Brutus, or On Eminent Orators Passage 172

ego memini T. Tincam Placentinum hominem facetissimum cum familiari nostro Q. Granio praecone dicacitate certare. Eon’, inquit Brutus, de quo multa Lucilius? Isto ipso; sed Tincam non minus multa ridicule dicentem Granius obruebat nescio quo sapore vernaculo; ut ego iam non mirer illud Theophrasto accidisse, quod dicitur, cum percontaretur ex anicula quadam quanti aliquid venderet et respondisset illa atque addidisset hospes, non pote minoris, tulisse eum moleste se non effugere hospitis speciem, cum aetatem ageret Athenis optimeque loqueretur omnium. Sic, ut opinor , in nostris est quidam urbanorum, sicut illic Atticorum sonus. Sed domum redeamus, id est ad nostros revertamur .

I remember Titus Tinca of Placentia, a very witty man, competing in sharp sayings with our friend Quintus Granius the auctioneer. "Is that," asked Brutus, "the man about whom Lucilius says so much?" "The very same. But although Tinca said no fewer amusing things, Granius overwhelmed him with some indefinable native flavour. Thus I am no longer surprised by what is said to have happened to Theophrastus. When he asked an old woman how much she was selling something for, she answered and added, 'Stranger, it cannot be sold for less.' He took it badly that he could not escape the appearance of being a stranger, though he had spent his life at Athens and spoke better than anyone. So, I think, there is among our city-born people a certain sound, just as there was among the Attics. But let us return home, that is, return to our own men."

Je me souviens que Titus Tinca de Plaisance, homme extrêmement spirituel, rivalisait de raillerie avec notre ami Quintus Granius, le crieur public. «Est-ce celui, demanda Brutus, dont Lucilius parle souvent?» «Lui-même. Mais Granius écrasait Tinca, qui disait pourtant autant de choses plaisantes, par je ne sais quelle saveur indigène. Aussi ne suis-je plus surpris de ce qui, dit-on, arriva à Théophraste. Il demandait à une vieille femme combien elle vendait une chose; elle lui répondit, puis ajouta: “Étranger, je ne peux la vendre moins cher.” Il supporta mal de n’avoir pu éviter de passer pour un étranger, alors qu’il vivait à Athènes et parlait mieux que tous. De même, je pense qu’il existe chez nous un certain accent propre aux Romains de la ville, comme il existe là-bas un accent propre aux Attiques. Mais rentrons chez nous, c’est-à-dire revenons aux nôtres.»