§1.7.8quod eo liberius ad te scribo, quia non solum temporibus his, quae per te sum adeptus, sed iam olim nascenti prope nostrae laudi dignitatique favisti, simulque quod video non, ut antehac putabam, novitati esse invisum meae in te enim, homine omnium nobilissimo, similia invidorum vitia perspexi, quem tamen illi esse in principibus facile sunt passi, evolare altius certe noluerunt.
I write to you the more freely on this account, because you have favored my renown and dignity, not only in these times of crisis which I have obtained through your help, but already long ago when it was almost just beginning to rise; and at the same time because I see that my newness is not, as I previously used to think, hated by people. For in you, the most noble of all men, I have observed similar vices of envious people; though they easily allowed you to be among the chief men, they certainly did not want you to fly higher.
gaudeo tuam dissimilem fuisse fortunam; multum enim interest, utrum laus imminuatur an salus deseratur;
I rejoice that your fortune was different; for it makes a great difference whether one's renown is diminished or one's safety is abandoned.
me meae tamen ne nimis paeniteret, tua virtute perfectum est; curasti enim, ut plus additum ad memoriam nominis nostri quam demptum de fortuna videretur.
However, it was brought about by your virtue that I did not regret my own fortune too much; for you took care that more seemed to have been added to the memory of our name than taken away from our fortune.
§1.7.9te vero emoneo cum beneficiis tuis tum amore incitatus meo, ut omnem gloriam, ad quam a pueritia inflammatus fuisti, omni cura atque industria consequare magnitudinemque animi tui, quam ego semper sum admiratus semperque amavi, ne umquam inflectas cuiusquam iniuria.
Indeed, prompted both by your benefits and by my own love, I strongly urge you to pursue with all care and industry all the glory for which you have been inflamed from boyhood, and never to bend the greatness of your mind, which I have always admired and always loved, because of anyone's injury.
Magna est hominum opinio de te, magna commendatio liberalitatis, magna memoria consulatus tui.
Great is people's opinion of you, great the commendation of your generosity, great the memory of your consulship.
haec profecto vides quanto expressiora quantoque inlustriora futura sint, cum aliquantum ex provincia atque ex imperio laudis accesserit;
You surely see how much more distinct and how much more illustrious these things will be when a significant amount of renown from your province and from your military command is added.
quamquam te ita gerere volo quae per exercitum atque imperium gerenda sunt, ut haec multo ante meditere, huc te pares, haec cogites, ad haec te exerceas sentiasque (id quod quia semper sperasti, non dubito quin adeptus intellegas), te facillime posse obtinere summum atque altissimum gradum civitatis.
However, I want you to conduct those things which must be done through your army and command in such a way that you meditate on these things long beforehand, prepare yourself for this, think of these, exercise yourself for these, and realize—which, because you have always hoped for it, I do not doubt you understand now that you have achieved it—that you can most easily obtain the highest and most elevated rank in the state.
quae quidem mea cohortatio ne tibi inanis aut sine causa suscepta videatur, illa me ratio movit, ut te ex nostris eventis communibus admonendum putarem, ut considerares, in omni reliqua vita quibus crederes, quos caveres.
And lest this exhortation of mine seem to you empty or undertaken without cause, that consideration moved me, that I thought you should be warned from our common experiences, so that you might consider, in all the rest of your life, whom you should trust and whom you should guard against.
§1.7.10quod scribis te velle scire, qui sit rei publicae status, summa dissensio est, sed contentio dispar;
As for your writing that you want to know what the state of the republic is: there is the greatest disagreement, but the struggle is unequal.
nam, qui plus opibus, armis, potentia valent, perfecisse tamen mihi videntur stultitia et inconstantia adversariorum, ut etiam auctoritate iam plus valerent.
For those who are more powerful in wealth, arms, and influence, seem to me nevertheless, through the folly and inconsistency of their adversaries, to have succeeded in now being more powerful in authority as well.
itaque perpaucis adversantibus omnia, quae ne per populum quidem sine seditione se adsequi arbitrabantur, per senatum consecuti sunt; nam et stipendium Caesari decretum est et decem legati, et, ne lege Sempronia succederetur, facile perfectum est.
And so, with very few opposing, they have achieved through the senate all the things which they did not think they could obtain even through the people without a riot; for both a pay has been decreed for Caesar and ten legates, and it was easily accomplished that he should not be succeeded under the Sempronian law.
quod ego ad te brevius scribo, quia me status hic rei publicae non delectat; scribo tamen, ut te admoneam, quod ipse litteris omnibus a pueritia deditus experiendo tamen magis quam discendo cognovi, tu tuis rebus integris discas, neque salutis nostrae rationem habendam nobis esse sine dignitate neque dignitatis sine salute.
I write this to you rather briefly, because this state of the republic does not please me; I write, however, to warn you, so that you may learn while your affairs are still intact, what I myself, devoted to all literature from boyhood, nevertheless learned more by experience than by study: that we must not consider our safety without dignity, nor our dignity without safety.
§1.7.11quod mihi de filia et de Crassipede gratularis, agnosco humanitatem tuam speroque et opto nobis hanc coniunctionem voluptati fore.
As for your congratulating me about my daughter and about Crassipes, I acknowledge your kindness, and I hope and pray that this union will be a pleasure to us.
Lentulum nostrum, eximia spe summae virtutis adulescentem, cum ceteris artibus, quibus studuisti semper ipse, tum in primis imitatione tui fac erudias; nulla enim erit hac praestantior disciplina.
See to it that you instruct our Lentulus, a young man of extraordinary promise of the highest virtue, not only in the other arts which you yourself have always studied, but especially in the imitation of yourself; for no training will be more outstanding than this.
quem nos, et quia tuus et quia te dignus est filius et quia nos diligit semperque dilexit, in primis amamus carumque habemus.
We especially love and hold him dear, both because he is yours and because he is a son worthy of you, and because he loves us and has always loved us.