§16ita me nudum a propinquis, nulla cognatione munitum, consules, praetores, tribuni plebis, senatus, Italia cuncta semper a vobis deprecata est, denique omnes qui vestris maximis beneficiis honoribusque sunt ornati, producti ad vos ab eodem, non solum ad me conservandum vos cohortati sunt, sed etiam rerum mearum gestarum auctores testes laudatores fuerunt.
Thus did the consuls, praetors, tribunes of the plebs, the senate, and all Italy always entreat you on behalf of me, stripped of my relatives and protected by no family connection; finally, all those who have been adorned with your greatest benefits and honors, being brought before you by him, not only exhorted you to preserve me, but were also the authors, witnesses, and praisers of my deeds.
quorum princeps ad cohortandos vos et ad rogandos fuit Cn.
The leader among them in exhorting you and in entreating you was Cn.
Pompeius, vir omnium qui sunt, fuerunt, erunt, virtute sapientia gloria princeps: qui mihi unus uni privato amico eadem omnia dedit quae universae rei publicae, salutem, otium, dignitatem.
Pompeius, a man who is the chief in virtue, wisdom, and glory among all who are, have been, and will be; who, as one man, gave to me, a single private friend, all the same things that he gave to the entire republic: safety, leisure, and dignity.
cuius oratio fuit, quem ad modum accepi, tripertita; primum vos docuit meis consiliis rem publicam esse servatam, causamque meam cum communi salute coniunxit, hortatusque est ut auctoritatem senatus, statum civitatis, fortunas civis bene meriti defenderetis; tum me in perorando posuit vos rogari a senatu, rogari ab equitibus Romanis, rogari ab Italia cuncta, deinde ipse ad extremum pro mea vos salute non rogavit solum verum etiam obsecravit.
His speech, as I have received it, was threefold: first, he showed you that the republic had been saved by my counsels, and he joined my cause with the common safety, and exhorted you to defend the authority of the senate, the state of the city, and the fortunes of a well-deserving citizen; then, in his peroration, he represented me as being entreated for by the senate, entreated for by the Roman knights, and entreated for by all Italy; and finally, at the end, he himself did not only entreat but even implored you for my safety.
§17huic ego homini, Quirites, tantum debeo quantum hominem homini debere vix fas est.
To this man, Quirites, I owe as much as it is scarcely lawful for a man to owe to a man.
huius consilia, P. Lentuli sententiam, senatus auctoritatem vos secuti me in eo loco, in quo vestris beneficiis fueram, isdem centuriis quibus conlocaratis reposuistis.
Following his counsels, the opinion of P. Lentulus, and the authority of the senate, you restored me to that place in which I had been by your benefits, by the same centuries in which you had placed me.
eodem tempore audistis eodem ex loco summos viros, ornatissimos atque amplissimos homines, principes civitatis, omnis consularis, omnis praetorios eadem dicere, ut omnium testimonio per me unum rem publicam conservatam esse constaret.
At the same time, you heard from the same place the highest men, the most honored and distinguished individuals, the leaders of the state, all the consulars, and all the praetorians say the same things, so that by the testimony of all it was established that the republic had been preserved through me alone.
itaque cum P. Servilius, gravissimus vir et ornatissimus civis, dixisset opera mea rem publicam incolumem magistratibus deinceps traditam, dixerunt in eandem sententiam ceteri.
And so, when P. Servilius, a most grave man and most honored citizen, had said that by my labor the republic had been handed over unharmed to the succeeding magistrates, the others spoke to the same effect.
sed audistis eo tempore clarissimi viri non solum auctoritatem, sed etiam testimonium, L. Gelli: qui quia suam classem adtemptatam magno cum suo periculo paene sensit, dixit in contione vestrum, si ego consul cum fui non fuissem, rem publicam funditus interituram fuisse.
But you heard at that time not only the authority but also the testimony of L. Gellius, a most illustrious man; who, because he had almost felt his own fleet attacked with great danger to himself, said in your assembly that if I had not been consul when I was, the republic would have utterly perished.
§18en ego tot testimoniis, Quirites, hac auctoritate senatus, tanta consensione Italiae, tanto studio bonorum omnium, causam agente P. Lentulo, consentientibus ceteris magistratibus, deprecante Cn. Pompeio, omnibus hominibus faventibus, dis denique immortalibus frugum ubertate copia vilitate reditum meum comprobantibus, mihi meis rei publicae restitutus, tantum vobis quantum facere possum, Quirites, pollicebor: primum, qua sanctissimi homines pietate erga deos immortalis esse soleant, eadem me erga populum Romanum semper fore, numenque vestrum aeque mihi grave et sanctum ac deorum immortalium in omni vita futurum: deinde, quoniam me in civitatem res publica ipsa reduxit, nullo me loco rei publicae defuturum.
Behold, Quirites, restored to myself, to my loved ones, and to the republic by so many testimonies, by this authority of the senate, by such agreement of Italy, by such zeal of all good citizens, with P. Lentulus pleading the cause, the other magistrates agreeing, Cn. Pompeius entreating, all men favoring, and finally the immortal gods approving my return by the abundance, plenty, and cheapness of crops, I will promise to you, Quirites, as much as I can perform: first, that with the same piety with which the most holy men are accustomed to be toward the immortal gods, I will always be toward the Roman people, and your divinity will be as grave and sacred to me as that of the immortal gods throughout my whole life; second, that since the republic itself has brought me back into the state, I will fail the republic in no place.
§19quod si quis existimat me aut voluntate esse mutata aut debilitata virtute aut animo fracto, vehementer errat.
But if anyone thinks that my will has been changed, or my virtue weakened, or my spirit broken, he errs greatly.
mihi quod potuit vis et iniuria et sceleratorum hominum furor detrahere, eripuit, abstulit, dissipavit: quod viro forti adimi non potest, id omne manet et permanebit.
What violence, injustice, and the madness of wicked men could snatch from me, they have plundered, taken away, and scattered; but what cannot be taken from a brave man, all that remains and will remain.
vidi ego fortissimum virum, municipem meum, C. Marium,—quoniam nobis quasi aliqua fatali necessitate non solum cum iis qui haec delere voluissent, sed etiam cum fortuna belligerandum fuit,—eum tamen vidi, cum esset summa senectute, non modo non infracto animo propter magnitudinem calamitatis, sed confirmato atque renovato.
I saw that most brave man, my fellow-citizen, C. Marius—since we had to wage war, as if by some fatal necessity, not only with those who wished to destroy these things, but also with fortune—I saw him, however, when he was in extreme old age, not only with a spirit unbroken by the magnitude of his calamity, but even strengthened and renewed.