[p. 279] listen to Plato. “And this Demosthenes,” says he, “when he had left home and, as usual, was on his way to Plato, saw great throngs of people running to the same place; he inquired the reason of this, and learned that they were hurrying to hear Callistratus. This Callistratus was one of those orators in the Athenian republic that they call δημαγωγοί, or 'demagogues.' 1 Demosthenes thought it best to turn aside for a moment and find out whether the discourse justified such eager haste. He came,” says Hermippus, “and heard Callistratus delivering that famous speech of his, ἡ περὶ ᾿ωρωποῦ δίκη. 2 He was so moved, so charmed, so captivated, that he became a follower of Callistratus from that moment, deserting Plato and the Academy.”
XIV
[14arg] That whoever says dimidium librum legi, or dimidiam fabulam audivi, and uses other expressions of that kind, speaks incorrectly: and that Marcus Varro gives the explanation of that error: and that no early writer has used such phraseology.VARRO believes that dimidium librum legi (“I have read half the book” ), or dimidiam fabulam legi (“I have read half the play” ), or any other expression of that kind, is incorrect and faulty usage. “For,” says he, 3 one ought to say dimidiatum librum ('the halved book'), not dimidium, and dimidiatam fabulam, not dimidiam. But, on the contrary, if from a pint a half-pint has been poured, one should not say that 'a halved pint' has been poured, but a ' half-pint,' and when one has received
