§1si quis est, iudices, qui C. Rabirium, quod fortunas suas, fundatas praesertim atque optime constitutas opes, potestati regiae libidinique commiserit, reprehendendum putet, ascribat ad iudicium suum non modo meam sed huius etiam ipsius qui commisit sententiam; nec enim cuiquam eius consilium vehementius quam ipsi displicet.
If there is anyone, judges, who thinks that Gaius Rabirius is to be censured because he entrusted his fortunes—his well-established and most excellently constituted wealth—to royal power and caprice, let him attribute to his own judgment not only my opinion but also that of this very man who entrusted them; for his own plan displeases no one more vehemently than it does himself.
quamquam hoc plerumque facimus ut consilia eventis ponderemus et, cui bene quid processerit, multum illum providisse, cui secus, nihil sensisse dicamus.
And yet we generally do this: we weigh plans by their outcomes, and we say that the one for whom something turned out well has shown great foresight, but the one for whom it turned out otherwise has understood nothing.
si exstitisset in rege fides, nihil sapientius Postumo, quia fefellit rex, nihil hoc amentius dicitur, ut iam nihil esse videatur nisi divinare sapientis.
If good faith had existed in the king, nothing would be said to have been wiser than Postumus; because the king deceived him, nothing is said to have been more foolish than this, so that now it seems that to be wise is nothing other than to divine.
§2sed tamen, si quis est, iudices, qui illam Postumi sive inanem spem sive inconsultam rationem sive, ut gravissimo verbo utar, temeritatem vituperandam putet, ego eius opinioni non repugno; illud tamen deprecor ut, cum ab ipsa fortuna crudelissime videat huius consilia esse multata, ne quid ad eas ruinas quibus hic oppressus est addendum acerbitatis putet.
But yet, if there is anyone, judges, who thinks that that hope of Postumus, whether empty, or his unadvised plan, or, to use the gravest word, his rashness, is to be blamed, I do not oppose his opinion; yet I beg this, that when he sees this man's plans to have been most cruelly punished by fortune herself, he may not think that any bitterness should be added to those ruins by which this man has been crushed.
satis est homines imprudentia lapsos non erigere, urgere vero iacentis aut praecipitantis impellere certe est inhumanum, praesertim, iudices, cum sit hoc generi hominum prope natura datum ut, si qua in familia laus aliqua forte floruerit, hanc fere qui sint eius stirpis, quod sermone hominum ac memoria patrum virtutes celebrantur, cupidissime persequantur, si quidem non modo in gloria rei militaris Paulum Scipio ac maximus filii, sed etiam in devotione vitae et in ipso genere mortis imitatus est P. Decium filius.
It is enough not to raise up men who have slipped through imprudence; but to press upon one who lies prostrate, or to push one who is falling headlong, is certainly inhuman, especially, judges, since this is almost given by nature to the human race, that if any praise should happen to flourish in any family, those who are of its stock, because the virtues are celebrated by the speech of men and the memory of fathers, pursue this most eagerly, if indeed not only Scipio and his sons, the greatest of men, imitated Paulus in the glory of military affairs, but also the son imitated Publius Decius in the devotion of his life and in the very manner of his death.
sint igitur similia, iudices, parva magnis.
Let small things, therefore, judges, be similar to great things.
§3fuit enim pueris nobis huius pater, C. Curtius, princeps ordinis equestris, fortissimus et maximus publicanus, cuius in negotiis gerendis magnitudinem animi non tam homines probassent, nisi in eodem benignitas incredibilis fuisset, ut in augenda re non avaritiae praedam, sed instrumentum bonitati quaerere videretur.
For when we were boys, his father, Gaius Curtius, was the leader of the equestrian order, a most brave and greatest publican, whose greatness of soul in conducting affairs men would not have approved so much, had there not been in him an incredible kindness, so that in increasing his property he seemed to seek not the prey of avarice, but an instrument for goodness.
§4hoc ille natus, quamquam patrem suum numquam viderat, tamen et natura ipsa duce, quae plurimum valet, et adsiduis domesticorum sermonibus in paternae disciplinae similitudinem deductus est.
Born of this man, although he had never seen his father, yet under the guidance of nature itself, which has the greatest power, and by the constant conversations of his household, he was led into the likeness of his father's discipline.
multa gessit, multa contraxit, magnas partis habuit publicorum; credidit populis; in pluribus provinciis eius versata res est; dedit se etiam regibus; huic ipsi Alexandrino grandem iam antea pecuniam credidit; nec interea locupletare amicos umquam suos destitit, mittere in negotium, dare partis, augere re, fide sustentare.
He conducted many affairs, contracted many business relationships, held large shares in the public revenues; he lent money to peoples; his business was active in several provinces; he even devoted himself to kings; to this very king of Alexandria he had already lent a large sum of money beforehand; and meanwhile he never ceased to enrich his friends, to send them into business, to give them shares, to increase their wealth, to support them with his credit.
quid multa? cum magnitudine animi, tum liberalitate vitam patris et consuetudinem expresserat.
Why say more? Both by his greatness of soul and by his liberality, he had expressed the life and custom of his father.
pulsus interea regno Ptolomaeus dolosis consiliis, ut dixit Sibylla, sensit Postumus, Romam venit.
Meanwhile, Ptolemy, driven from his kingdom by deceitful counsels, as the Sibyl said, Postumus sensing it, came to Rome.
cui egenti et roganti hic infelix pecuniam credidit, nec tum primum; nam regnanti crediderat absens; nec temere se credere putabat, quod erat nemini dubium quin is in regnum restitueretur a senatu populoque Romano.
To him, in his need and supplication, this unhappy man lent money, and not then for the first time; for he had lent to him while he was reigning, though he himself was absent; nor did he think he was lending rashly, because there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would be restored to his kingdom by the senate and the Roman people.
§5in dando autem et credendo processit longius nec suam solum pecuniam credidit sed etiam amicorum, stulte; quis negat, aut quis iam audebit, quod male cecidit, bene consultum putare? sed est difficile, quod cum spe magna sis ingressus, id non exsequi usque ad extremum.
But in giving and lending he went further, and lent not only his own money but also that of his friends, foolishly; who denies it, or who will now dare, because it turned out badly, to think it was well advised? But it is difficult, when you have entered upon something with great hope, not to carry it out to the very end.
supplex erat rex, multa rogabat, omnia pollicebatur, ut iam metuere Postumus cogeretur ne quod crediderat perderet, si credendi constituisset modum.
The king was a suppliant, asked for many things, promised everything, so that now Postumus was forced to fear lest he should lose what he had lent, if he had set a limit to his lending.
nihil autem erat illo blandius, nihil hoc benignius, ut magis paeniteret coepisse quam liceret desistere.
But nothing was more flattering than that man, nothing more kind than this man, so that he repented of having begun more than he was permitted to desist.