unde enim nobis illud loquendi tetricum genus ac perantiquum? unde illa verba saliaria vel Sibyllina vel Sabinis abusque Curibus accita, quae magistris plerumque reticentibus promptius fetialis aliquis aut flamen aut veternosus legalium quaestionum aenigmatista patefecerit? nos opuscula sermone condidimus arido exili, certe maxima ex parte vulgato, cuius hinc honor rarus, quod frequens usus, hinc difficilis gratia, quod facilis inventio est.
For where could I ever acquire the severe, archaic mode of expression? Where could I ever acquire those words employed by the Salii and the Sibylline oracles, or those brought all the way from Sabine Cures, words which our school-teachers generally pass over in silence and which some member of the College of Heralds would more readily expound, or some flamen, or some antiquated riddler of legal quiddities? For my part, I have composed my little works in arid bald language, which for the most part is quite ordinary speech such as is rarely esteemed because in common use, and such as wins favour with difficulty because too easily come by.
final_alignments\Sidonius_Letters_Book8.json