such as is seen in that god-like man, whom our fathers saw in their time,
 Africanus; and in Caius Laelius and Lucius Furius, most virtuous and moderate men; and in that
 most excellent man, the most learned man of his time, Marcus Cato the elder; and all these men,
 if they had been to derive no assistance from literature in the cultivation and practice of
 virtue, would never have applied themselves to the study of it. Though, even if there were no
 such great advantage to be reaped from it, and if it were only pleasure that is sought from
 these studies, still I imagine you would consider it a most reasonable and liberal employment of
 the mind: for other occupations are not suited to every time, nor to every age or place; but
 these studies are the food of youth, the delight of old age; the ornament of prosperity, the
 refuge and comfort of adversity; a delight at home, and no hindrance abroad; they are companions
 by night, and in travel, and in the country. And if we ourselves were not able to arrive at these advantages, nor even taste them with our
 senses, still we ought to admire them, even when we saw them in others. Who of us was of so
 ignorant and brutal a disposition as not lately to be grieved at the death of Roscius? who,
 though he was an old man when he died, yet on account of the excellence and beauty of his art,
 appeared to be one who on every account ought not to have died. Therefore, had he by the
 gestures of his body gained so much of our affections, and shall we disregard the incredible
 movements of the mind, and the rapid operations of genius? How often have I seen this man.
 Archias, O judges,—(for I will take advantage of your kindness, since you listen to me so
 attentively while speaking in this unusual manner,)—how often have I seen him, when he had not
 written a single word, repeat extempore a great number of admirable verses on the very events
 which were passing at the moment! How often have I seen him
 go back, and describe the same thing over again with an entire change of language and ideas! And
 what he wrote with care and with much thought that I have seen admired to such a degree, as to
 equal the credit of even the writings of the ancients. Should not I, then, love this man? should
 I not admire him? should not I think it my duty to defend him in every possible way? And,
 indeed, we have constantly heard from men of the greatest eminence and learning, that the study
 of other sciences was made up of learning, and rules, and regular method; but that a poet was
 such by the unassisted work of nature, and was moved by the vigour of his own mind, and was
 inspired, as it were, by some divine wrath. Wherefore rightly does our own great Ennius call
 poets holy; because they seem to be recommended to us by some especial gift, as it were, and
 liberality of the gods. Let then, judges, this name of poet,
 this name which no barbarians even have ever disregarded, be holy in your eyes, men of
 cultivated minds as you all are. Rocks and deserts reply to the poet's voice; savage beasts are
 often moved and arrested by song; and shall we, who have been trained in the pursuit of the most
 virtuous acts, refuse to be swayed by the voice of poets? The Colophonians say that Homer was
 their citizen; the Chians claim him as theirs; the Salaminians assert their right to him; but
 the men of Smyrna loudly assert him to be a citizen of Smyrna, and they have even raised a
 temple to him in their city. Many other places also fight with one another for the honour of
 being his birth-place. 
 They, then, claim a stranger, even after his death, because he was a poet; shall we reject
 this man while he is alive, a man who by his own inclination and by our laws does actually
 belong to us? especially when Archias has employed all his genius with the utmost zeal in
 celebrating the glory and renown of the Roman people? For when a young man, he touched on our
 wars against the Cimbri, and gained the favour even of Caius Marius himself, a man who was
 tolerably proof against this sort of study. For there was no
 one so disinclined to the Muses as not willingly to endure that the praise of his
 labours should be made immortal by means of verse. They say that the great Themistocles, the
 greatest man that Athens produced, said, when some one asked him what sound or whose voice he
 took the greatest delight in hearing, “The voice of that by whom his own exploits were best
 celebrated.” Therefore, the great Marius was also exceedingly attached to Lucius Plotius,
 because he thought that the achievement which he had performed could be celebrated by his
 genius.