Orator Passage 32

nec vero, si historiam non scripsisset, nomen eius exstaret, cum praesertim fuisset honoratus et nobilis. Huius tamen nemo neque verborum neque sententiarum gravitatem imitatur, sed cum mutila quaedam et hiantia locuti sunt, quae vel sine magistro facere potuerunt, germanos se putant esse Thucydidas. Nactus sum etiam qui Xenophontis similem esse se cuperet, cuius sermo est ille quidem melle dulcior, sed a forensi strepitu remotissimus.

Indeed, if he had not written history, his name would not survive, especially though he was honored and of noble birth. Yet no one imitates either his weight of language or of thought. Instead, when people have uttered some mutilated and gaping phrases, which they could have produced even without a teacher, they imagine themselves genuine Thucydideses. I have even encountered a man who wished to resemble Xenophon, whose discourse is indeed sweeter than honey, but utterly remote from the din of the forum.

Et s’il n’avait pas écrit l’histoire, son nom ne subsisterait pas, malgré les honneurs et la noblesse dont il jouissait. Pourtant personne n’imite la gravité de ses mots ni de ses pensées. Mais certains, après avoir prononcé des phrases mutilées et béantes, ce qu’ils auraient pu faire sans maître, se croient d’authentiques Thucydides. J’ai même rencontré un homme qui désirait ressembler à Xénophon, dont le langage est certes plus doux que le miel, mais aussi éloigné que possible du tumulte du forum.