§37"Qvo ea pecvnia pervenerit"
non suis propriis iudiciis in reum facti condemnari solent.
Those who are drawn into the trial of "To whom that money came" are not accustomed to be condemned in their own proper trials as defendants.
itaque si aut praedes dedisset Gabinius aut tantum ex eius bonis quanta summa litium fuisset populus recepisset, quamvis magna ad Postumum ab eo pecunia pervenisset, non redigeretur; ut intellegi facile possit, quod ex ea pecunia quae ad aliquem reum qui damnatus est venisset, pervenisse ad aliquem in illo primo iudicio planum factum sit, id hoc genere iudici redigi solere.
Therefore, if Gabinius had either given sureties, or if the people had recovered from his property as much money as the estimated value of the suit, then, however large the sum of money that had come from him to Postumus, it would not be recovered; so that it can easily be understood that what is accustomed to be recovered in this kind of trial is that which was made plain in that first trial to have come to someone out of that money which had come to some defendant who was condemned.
nunc vero quid agitur? ubi terrarum sumus? quid tam perversum, tam praeposterum dici aut excogitari potest?
But now, what is being done? Where on earth are we? What can be said or devised so perverse, so preposterous?
§38accusatur is qui non abstulit a rege, sicut Gabinius iudicatus est, sed qui maximam regi pecuniam credidit.
This man is accused, who did not take money away from the king, as Gabinius was judged to have done, but who lent a very large sum of money to the king.
ergo is Gabinio dedit qui non huic reddidit.
Therefore, he gave to Gabinius who did not restore it to this man.
itane? age, cedo, cum is qui pecuniam Postumo debuit non huic, sed Gabinio dederit, condemnato Gabinio utrum illi quo ea pecunia pervenerit an huic dicenda causa est? at habet et celat. sunt enim qui ita loquantur.
Is it so? Come, tell me, when he who owed money to Postumus gave it not to him, but to Gabinius, now that Gabinius has been condemned, must those to whom that money came plead their cause, or must this man? "But," you say, "he has it and is hiding it." For there are some who speak thus.
quod genus tandem est istud ostentationis et gloriae? si nihil habuisset umquam, tamen, si quaesisset, cur se dissimularet habere causa non esset.
What kind of ostentation and vanity, pray, is that of yours? If he had never had anything, yet, if he had acquired any, there would be no reason why he should pretend not to have it.
qui vero duo lauta et copiosa patrimonia accepisset remque praeterea bonis et honestis rationibus auxisset, quid esset tandem causae cur existimari vellet nihil habere?
But for one who had received two splendid and ample patrimonies, and had besides increased his property by good and honorable means, what reason, pray, could there be why he should wish to be thought to have nothing?
§39an, cum credebat inductus usuris, id agebat ut haberet quam plurimum; postea quam exegit quod crediderat, ut existimaretur egere? novum genus hoc gloriae concupiscit.
Or, while he was lending, induced by high interest, was he acting so as to have as much as possible, but after he recovered what he had lent, so as to be thought to be in want? He covets this new kind of glory.
dominatus est enim,
inquit,
Alexandreae. immo vero in superbissimo dominatu fuit; pertulit ipse custodiam, vidit in vinclis familiaris suos, mors ob oculos saepe versata est, nudus atque egens ad extremum fugit e regno.
"For," says the prosecutor, "he ruled in Alexandria." On the contrary, he was under a most arrogant tyranny; he himself endured imprisonment, he saw his close friends in chains, death was often before his eyes, and at last, naked and destitute, he fled from the kingdom.
§40at permutata aliquando pecunia est, delatae naves Postumi Puteolos sunt, auditae visaeque merces. fallaces quidem et fucosae e chartis et linteis et vitro; quibus cum multae naves refertae fuissent, naulum non potuit parari.
"But," you say, "money was once transferred, the ships of Postumus were brought to Puteoli, merchandise was heard of and seen." Yes, deceptive and showy goods, of papyrus, linen, and glass; with which, though many ships were crammed, the freight could not be paid.
cataplus ille Puteolanus, sermo illius temporis, vectorumque cursus atque ostentatio, tum subinvisum apud malivolos Postumi nomen propter opinionem pecuniae nescio quam aestatem unam, non pluris, auris refersit istis sermonibus.
That famous arrival at Puteoli, the talk of that time, the running about and show of the passengers, and then the name of Postumus, somewhat hated among malicious people on account of some rumor of money, filled your ears with those talks for one summer, and no longer.
§41verum autem, iudices, si scire voltis, nisi C. Caesaris summa in omnis, incredibilis in hunc eadem liberalitas exstitisset, nos hunc Postumum iam pridem in foro non haberemus.
But the truth, judges, if you wish to know it, is that if the supreme generosity of Gaius Caesar toward all, and his incredible generosity likewise toward this man, had not existed, we would not have had this Postumus in the forum long ago.
ille onera multorum huius amicorum excepit unus, quaeque multi homines necessarii secundis Postumi rebus discripta sustinuerunt, nunc eius adflictis fortunis universa sustinet.
He alone took upon himself the burdens of many of this man's friends; and all those things which many close friends sustained in a distributed manner during Postumus's prosperity, he now sustains as a whole in his ruined fortunes.
Vmbram equitis Romani et imaginem videtis, iudices, unius amici conservatam auxilio et fide.
You see, judges, the shadow and image of a Roman knight, preserved by the help and fidelity of one friend.
nihil huic eripi potest praeter hoc simulacrum pristinae dignitatis quod Caesar solus tuetur et sustinet; quae quidem in miserrimis rebus huic tamen tribuenda maxima est; nisi vero hoc mediocri virtute effici potest ut tantus ille vir tanti ducat hunc, et adflictum praesertim et absentem, et in tanta fortuna sua ut alienam respicere magnum sit, et in tanta occupatione maximarum rerum quas gerit atque gessit ut vel oblivisci aliorum non sit mirum vel, si meminerit, oblitum esse se facile possit probare.
Nothing can be snatched from this man except this phantom of his former dignity, which Caesar alone protects and sustains; which indeed, in his most wretched circumstances, must nevertheless be granted to him in the highest degree; unless indeed it can be accomplished by ordinary virtue that so great a man should hold this man of such high value, especially when ruined and absent, and in his own so great fortune where to look back upon another's is a great thing, and in his so great occupation with the most important affairs which he conducts and has conducted, that even to forget others would not be surprising, or, if he remembered, he could easily prove that he had forgotten.
§42multas equidem C. Caesaris virtutes magnas incredibilisque cognovi, sed sunt ceterae maioribus quasi theatris propositae et paene populares.
Indeed, I have known many great and incredible virtues of Gaius Caesar, but the rest are exhibited on greater, as it were, theaters, and are almost popular.
castris locum capere, exercitum instruere, expugnare urbis, aciem hostium profligare, hanc vim frigorum hiemumque quam nos vix huius urbis tectis sustinemus excipere, eis ipsis diebus hostem persequi cum etiam ferae latibulis se tegant atque omnia bella iure gentium conquiescant— sunt ea quidem magna;
To choose a site for a camp, to draw up an army, to storm cities, to rout the enemy's line, to endure this force of cold and winter which we can scarcely sustain under the roofs of this city, to pursue the enemy on those very days when even wild beasts cover themselves in their lairs and all wars rest by the law of nations—these are indeed great things; who denies it?
quis negat? sed magnis excitata sunt praemiis ac memoria hominum sempiterna.
But they have been excited by great rewards and the everlasting memory of mankind.
quo minus admirandum est eum facere illa qui immortalitatem concupiverit.
Therefore, it is less to be wondered at that he does those things, who has coveted immortality.