This article attempts to discuss the act of translation within the general framework of the ‘rhetorica recepta’ and within the particular framework of ‘partes artis’ or ‘oratoris officia’. This is done through an overview of Latin debates and of the practice of translation in ancient Rome. The main point of analysis is translation as considered from rhetoric (translation seen as an exercise in composition) and from grammar (translation seen as textual analysis or practical criticism –‘poetarum enarratio’ or ‘enarratio auctorum’-), focusing as well on the relationships between both of these perspectives.