§21Mithridaticum vero bellum magnum atque difficile et in multa varietate terra marique versatum totum ab hoc expressum est;
But the Mithridatic war, great and difficult and waged with much variety on land and sea, has been entirely expressed by this man; and those books illustrate not only L.
qui libri non modo L. Lucullum, fortissimum et clarissimum virum, verum etiam populi Romani nomen inlustrant.
Lucullus, a most brave and illustrious man, but also the name of the Roman people.
populus enim Romanus aperuit Lucullo imperante Pontum et regiis quondam opibus et ipsa natura et regione vallatum, populi Romani exercitus eodem duce non maxima manu innumerabilis Armeniorum copias fudit, populi Romani laus est urbem amicissimam Cyzicenorum eiusdem consilio ex omni impetu regio atque totius belli ore ac faucibus ereptam esse atque servatam;
For the Roman people, under the command of Lucullus, opened Pontus, once fortified both by royal resources and by nature and region itself; the army of the Roman people, under the same leader, with no very large force, routed the countless troops of the Armenians; it is the praise of the Roman people that the most friendly city of the Cyzicenes, by the counsel of the same man, was snatched and preserved from all royal attack and from the very mouth and jaws of the whole war; that incredible naval battle near Tenedos, when the enemy's fleet was sunk after their leaders were slain while L.
nostra semper feretur et praedicabitur L. Lucullo dimicante, cum interfectis ducibus depressa hostium classis est, incredibilis apud Tenedum pugna illa navalis, nostra sunt tropaea, nostra monumenta, nostri triumphi.
Lucullus was fighting, will always be talked of and praised as ours; ours are the trophies, ours the monuments, ours the triumphs.
quae quorum ingeniis efferuntur, ab eis populi Romani fama celebratur.
By whomsoever's talents these things are extolled, by them the fame of the Roman people is celebrated.
§22carus fuit Africano superiori noster Ennius, itaque etiam in sepulcro Scipionum putatur is esse constitutus ex marmore.
Our own Ennius was dear to the elder Africanus, and therefore he is thought to have been set up in marble even in the tomb of the Scipios.
at eis laudibus certe non solum ipse qui laudatur sed etiam populi Romani nomen ornatur.
But by those praises certainly not only he himself who is praised, but also the name of the Roman people is adorned.
in caelum huius proavus Cato tollitur; magnus honos populi Romani rebus adiungitur.
The great-grandfather of this man, Cato, is extolled to heaven; great honor is added to the deeds of the Roman people.
omnes denique illi maximi, Marcelli, Fulvii non sine communi omnium nostrum laude decorantur.
Finally, all those greatest men, the Marcelli, the Fulvii, are decorated not without the common praise of us all.
ergo illum qui haec fecerat, Rudinum hominem, maiores nostri in civitatem receperunt; nos hunc Heracliensem multis civitatibus expetitum, in hac autem legibus constitutum de nostra civitate eiciamus?
Therefore, our ancestors received that man who had done these things, a man of Rudiae, into citizenship; shall we cast out from our citizenship this man of Heraclea, sought after by many cities, but established in this one by our laws?
§23nam si quis minorem gloriae fructum putat ex Graecis versibus percipi quam ex Latinis, vehementer errat, propterea quod Graeca leguntur in omnibus fere gentibus, Latina suis finibus exiguis sane continentur.
For if anyone thinks that a lesser fruit of glory is gathered from Greek verses than from Latin ones, he errs greatly, because Greek writings are read in almost all nations, while Latin ones are confined indeed within their own narrow boundaries.
qua re, si res eae quas gessimus orbis terrae regionibus definiuntur, cupere debemus, quo hominum nostrorum tela pervenerint, eodem gloriam famamque penetrare, quod cum ipsis populis de quorum rebus scribitur haec ampla sunt, tum eis certe qui de vita gloriae causa dimicant hoc maximum et periculorum incitamentum est et laborum.
Wherefore, if those deeds which we have performed are bounded only by the regions of the earth, we ought to desire that, wherever the weapons of our men have reached, there also glory and fame should penetrate; because, as these things are honorable to the peoples themselves of whose deeds they write, so certainly to those who fight for life for the sake of glory, this is the greatest encouragement both of dangers and of labors.
§24quam multos scriptores rerum suarum magnus ille Alexander secum habuisse dicitur! atque is tamen, cum in Sigeo ad Achillis tumulum astitisset: 'o fortunate,' inquit, 'adulescens, qui tuae virtutis Homerum praeconem inveneris!' et vere.
How many writers of his own deeds is that great Alexander said to have had with him! And yet he, when he had stood at the tomb of Achilles at Sigeum, said: "O fortunate youth, who found Homer as the herald of your virtue!" And truly.
nam, nisi Ilias illa exstitisset, idem tumulus qui corpus eius contexerat nomen etiam obruisset.
For, if that famous Iliad had not existed, the same tomb which had covered his body would also have buried his name.
quid? noster hic Magnus qui cum virtute fortunam adaequavit, nonne Theophanem Mytilenaeum, scriptorem rerum suarum, in contione militum civitate donavit, et nostri illi fortes viri, sed rustici ac milites, dulcedine quadam gloriae commoti quasi participes eiusdem laudis magno illud clamore approbaverunt?
What? Did not our famous Magnus here, who equaled his fortune with his virtue, present Theophanes of Mytilene, the writer of his deeds, with citizenship in an assembly of the soldiers? And did not those brave men of ours, though rustic and soldiers, moved by a certain sweetness of glory, approve that with a great shout as if they were partakers of the same praise?
§25itaque, credo, si civis Romanus Archias legibus non esset, ut ab aliquo imperatore civitate donaretur perficere non potuit.
Therefore, I suppose, if Archias were not a Roman citizen by the laws, he could not have managed to be presented with citizenship by some general.
Sulla cum Hispanos et Gallos donaret, credo, hunc petentem repudiasset;
Sulla, when he was granting citizenship to Spaniards and Gauls, I suppose, would have rejected this man if he petitioned?
quem nos vidimus, cum ei libellum malus poeta de populo subiecisset, quod epigramma in eum fecisset tantum modo alternis versibus longiusculis, statim ex eis rebus quas tum vendebat iubere ei praemium tribui, sed ea condicione ne quid postea scriberet.
We saw this Sulla, when a bad poet from among the people had handed up a booklet to him, because he had made an epigram upon him in only alternating and rather longish verses, immediately order a reward to be given to him from those things which he was then selling, but on this condition, that he should write nothing thereafter.
qui sedulitatem mali poetae duxerit aliquo tamen praemio dignam, huius ingenium et virtutem in scribendo et copiam non expetisset?
Would he, who judged the diligence of a bad poet to be worthy of some reward nevertheless, not have sought after this man's genius and ability in writing and copiousness?
§26quid? a Q. Metello Pio, familiarissimo suo, qui civitate multos donavit, neque per se neque per Lucullos impetravisset? qui praesertim usque eo de suis rebus scribi cuperet ut etiam Cordubae natis poetis pingue quiddam sonantibus atque peregrinum tamen auris suas dederet.
What? Would he not have obtained it from Q. Metellus Pius, his very close friend, who presented many with citizenship, either through himself or through the Luculli? He especially, who desired to have his deeds written about to such an extent that he gave his ears even to poets born at Corduba, though they sounded somewhat thick and foreign.
neque enim est hoc dissimulandum quod obscurari non potest, sed prae nobis ferendum: trahimur omnes studio laudis, et optimus quisque maxime gloria ducitur.
For indeed this must not be concealed, which cannot be hidden, but must be openly acknowledged by us: we are all drawn by the desire for praise, and the best person is especially led by glory.
ipsi illi philosophi etiam in eis libellis quos de contemnenda gloria scribunt nomen suum inscribunt; in eo ipso in quo praedicationem nobilitatemque despiciunt praedicari de se ac se nominari volunt.
Those philosophers themselves, even in those booklets which they write about despising glory, write their own names; in that very thing in which they despise praise and nobility, they wish to be praised and to be named.