§8.0.1Coactus assiduis tuis vocibus, Balbe, cum cotidiana mea recusatio non difficultatis excusationem, sed inertiae videretur deprecationem habere, rem difficillimam suscepi.
Urged by your constant requests, Balbus, since my daily refusal seemed to carry not an excuse of difficulty, but a plea of laziness, I have undertaken a most difficult task.
§8.0.2Caesaris nostri commentarios rerum gestarum Galliae, non comparantibus superioribus atque insequentibus eius scriptis, contexui novissimumque imperfectum ab rebus gestis Alexandriae confeci usque ad exitum non quidem civilis dissensionis, cuius finem nullum videmus, sed vitae Caesaris.
I have woven together our Caesar's commentaries on the deeds in Gaul, as his previous and subsequent writings do not match, and I have completed the last, unfinished part from the deeds at Alexandria down to the end, not indeed of the civil dissension (of which we see no end), but of Caesar's life.
§8.0.3Quos utinam qui legent scire possint quam invitus susceperim scribendos, qua facilius caream stultitiae atque arrogantiae crimine, qui me mediis interposuerim Caesaris scriptis.
Would that those who read them could know how unwillingly I undertook to write them, so that I might more easily be free from the charge of folly and arrogance for having interposed myself in the midst of Caesar's writings.
§8.0.4Constat enim inter omnes nihil tam operose ab aliis esse perfectum, quod non horum elegantia commentariorum superetur:
For it is agreed among all that nothing has been completed by others with such great labor that is not surpassed by the elegance of these commentaries.
§8.0.5qui sunt editi, ne scientia tantarum rerum scriptoribus deesset, adeoque probantur omnium iudicio ut praerepta, non praebita, facultas scriptoribus videatur.
These were published so that knowledge of such great affairs should not be lacking to writers, and they are so approved by the judgment of all that the opportunity seems to have been snatched away from writers, rather than offered.
§8.0.6Cuius tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est admiratio: ceteri enim, quam bene atque emendate, nos etiam, quam facile atque celeriter eos perfecerit scimus.
Yet our admiration of this fact is greater than that of the rest; for others know how well and faultlessly, but we also know how easily and rapidly he completed them.
§8.0.7Erat autem in Caesare cum facultas atque elegantia summa scribendi, tum verissima scientia suorum consiliorum explicandorum.
For there was in Caesar not only the highest ability and elegance in writing, but also the truest knowledge of explaining his own plans.
§8.0.8Mihi ne illud quidem accidit, ut Alexandrino atque Africano bello interessem; quae bella quamquam ex parte nobis Caesaris sermone sunt nota, tamen aliter audimus ea, quae rerum novitate aut admiratione nos capiunt, aliter, quae pro testimonio sumus dicturi.
As for me, it did not even happen that I was present in the Alexandrian and African wars; and although these wars are known to us in part from Caesar's conversation, yet we listen in one way to those things which captivate us by their novelty or wonder, and in another way to those things which we are about to state as testimony.
§8.0.9Sed ego nimirum, dum omnes excusationis causas colligo ne cum Caesare conferar, hoc ipsum crimen arrogantiae subeo, quod me iudicio cuiusquam existimem posse cum Caesare comparari.
But indeed, while I collect all the reasons for excuse so that I may not be compared with Caesar, I incur this very charge of arrogance, because I think that in anyone's judgment I can be compared with Caesar.
Vale.
Farewell.