I’ve taken the opportunity presented by the D’Ooge study group to renew my Latin. After a few months I will probably start to supplement my studies by pushing myself with selections from more difficult texts.
Though I do not expect to be producing vast tracts of Latin prose, I still want to start paying attention to style early, particularly for some prose model. However, I do remember enough from Latin in college that I think Cicero is a gassy windbag. In no way do I intend to base my own prose style on his bloated histrionics. I want a clear and elegant style. Is Caesar acceptable? Is there any Latin author remotely comparable to Herodotus?
Tacitus springs to mind, but Wikipedia has this to say about his prose style:
Tacitus’s skill with written Latin is unsurpassed; no other author is considered his equal, except perhaps for Cicero. His style differs both from the prevalent style of the Silver Age and from that of the Golden Age; though it has a calculated grandeur and eloquence (largely thanks to Tacitus’s education in rhetoric), it is extremely concise, even epigrammatic—the sentences are rarely flowing or beautiful, but their point is always clear. The same style has been both derided as “harsh, unpleasant, and thorny” and praised as “grave, concise, and pithily eloquent”.
Caesar seems a good choice, but I base my judgement mainly on having read Caesar AFTER having read Cicero. It was a relief.
I think anyone is a relief after Cicero - he must have been the Roman cure for insomnia! J Caesar seems to be the best for a good, plain style. Tacitus is great, but perhaps not the best to start with.
I cannot bear to even read Cicero in translation. I sometimes believe that no way did he really utter those texts live in court. They seem so overwrought.
Caesar does seem another extreme to me: very simple, direct, even staccato. I am trying to think of someone in the middle.
Many insist that Sallustius used archaisms, but it seems more likely to me that he simply had an accent. Think of the English fossils that exsist in the Irish accent and dialect, and how they are both commonplace and litterary on the Emerald Isle.
And we still use them when quoting old proverbs or for an effect. Also if we quote a well-known Shakespearian or biblical phrase we don’t stop to explain to our readers as we assume they understand the meaning. As we have lost so much written material from Sallust’s era we can’t assume he isn’t sometimes quoting well-known old phrases.
I don’t know how I overlooked Sallust in the list of prose stylists - he is a good story-teller and I enjoyed the Catilina book.
Later edit - what about Suetonius? As I pointed out in an essay once, being in print almost continuously for 2000 years isn’t bad, you can still buy a translation of his works at most bookstores. The first celebrity gossip columnist!
You should try reading the moral epistles of Seneca. Not only are they clear (with some exceptions, naturally) and elegant, though some might call them arguments with himself, but they are quite helpful in life. If only I had listened to III. for example.
Am I the only one who enjoys Cicero? I recently finished reading the 3rd Catilinian oration - having read the 1st last fall, with the aid of a handy Loeb - and I must say that I found his rhetoric thrilling. Sure, it’s overblown, especially in an age where asyndeton is nearly just a sin. Perhaps I’m the sort of helpless bloke who gets blown over by anyone who knows how to top tripe with a trope to trick an audience. But… surely there’s a reason that Cicero has been considered the top dog of our dear dead language for two millennia?
Hear, hear, what is UP with the Cicero hate? I just started reading the Verrine 2.4, and I am blown away by its beauty and elegant structure. Cicero is also not very difficult, in my opinion, because of his balance. It’s just a matter of being accustomed to periods.
Now, his hyperbole is another matter. But surely one can imitate his structure without also imitating his manner.
You could also from time to time try some Petronius for his humour. His style is moreover very mature. There are yet Livius and Pliny the Younger. The former is an academic monument and the latter a brave young boy who shows you how well he has studied his rhetorics. And he was an eye-witness of the Pompei disaster.
