What does "claim the benefit from me as his peculiar right" mean?

Question

This is a translation of Cicero's Speech "For Archias."

If there is any natural ability in me, O judges,—and I know how slight that is; or if I have any practice as a speaker,—and in that line I do not deny that I have some experience; or if I have any method in my oratory, drawn from my study of the liberal sciences, and from that careful training to which I admit that at no part of my life have I ever been disinclined; certainly, of all those qualities, this Aulus Licinius is entitled to be among the first to claim the benefit from me as his peculiar right.

I'm not quite sure what "claim the benefit from me as his peculiar right" means. Is Cicero saying that Aulus Licinius is the first person who can say that he is Cicero's "right-hand man"? Also, does "peculiar" here mean that Cicero deems himself to be peculiar?

BoldBen · Accepted Answer

Definition 2 of the Lexico entry for 'peculiar' is

Particular; special.

With the example

any attempt to explicate the theme is bound to run into peculiar difficulties

This is the sense in which 'peculiar' is used here
The second definition of 'right' as a noun in the same dictionary is

A moral or legal entitlement to have or do something.

With the example

she had every right to be angry

And, again, this is the sense in which 'right' is used in the passage
What the translator has rendered as 'peculiar right', therefore, is Cicero's statement that Aulus Licinius has the special privilege (granted by Cicero in this case) of being near the top of Cicero's list of people he will use his oratorial and other skills and talents. to help

What does "claim the benefit from me as his peculiar right" mean?

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