1. My dear son Marcus, you have now been studying 1 a full year under Cratippus, and that too in
Athens, and you should be fully equipped with the
practical precepts and the principles of philosophy; so
much at least one might expect from the pre-eminence not only of your teacher but also of the city;
the former is able to enrich you with learning, the
latter to supply you with models. Nevertheless, just
as I for my own improvement have always combined
Greek and Latin studies—and I have done this not
only in the study of philosophy but also in the practice of oratory—so I recommend that you should do
the same, so that you may have equal command of
both languages. And it is in this very direction that
I have, if I mistake not, rendered a great service
to our countrymen, so that not only those who are
unacquainted with Greek literature but even the
cultured consider that they have gained much both
in oratorical power and in mental training.
1 Introduction: the importance of combining Greek and Latin studies.
M. Tullius Cicero. De Officiis. With An English Translation. Walter Miller. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1913.
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