§1.9.19nam de Appio quod scribis sicuti de Caesare te non reprehendere, gaudeo tibi consilium probari meum.
For as to what you write about Appius, that you do not blame me, just as about Caesar, I am glad that my plan is approved by you.
de Vatinio autem primum reditus intercesserat in gratiam per Pompeium, statim ut ille praetor est factus, cum quidem ego eius petitionem gravissimis in senatu sententiis oppugnassem, neque tam illius laedendi causa quam defendendi atque ornandi Catonis; post autem Caesaris, ut illum defenderem, mira contentio est consecuta.
Concerning Vatinius, however, first a reconciliation had been brought about through Pompey immediately after he was made praetor, although I had indeed opposed his candidacy in the senate with very severe opinions, and that not so much for the sake of injuring him as for defending and adorning Cato; but afterwards, a remarkable exertion on the part of Caesar followed, that I should defend him.
cur autem laudarim, peto a te, ut id a me neve in hoc reo neve in aliis requiras, ne tibi ego idem reponam, cum veneris.
Why I praised him, however, I ask of you that you do not require this of me, either in the case of this defendant or in others, lest I return the same to you when you come.
tametsi possum vel absenti: recordare enim, quibus laudationem ex ultimis terris miseris; nec hoc pertimueris, nam a me ipso laudantur et laudabuntur idem.
Although I can do so even to you in your absence; for recall to whom you sent a panegyric from the furthest lands; and do not fear this, for those same people are praised and will be praised by me myself.
sed tamen defendendi Vatini fuit etiam ille stimulus, de quo in iudicio, quom illum defenderem, dixi me facere quiddam, quod in Eunucho parasitus suaderet militi:
"
Ubi nóminabit Phaédriam, tu Pámphilam
contínuo; si quando ílla dicet "Phaédriam
intrómittamus cómissatum," Pámphilam
cantátum provocémus; si laudábit haec
illíus formam, tu húius contra dénique
par pró pari reférto, quod eam mórdeat.
But nevertheless, there was also this stimulus for defending Vatinius, of which I said in court, when I was defending him, that I was doing something which the parasite in the "Eunuch" advised the soldier: "When she names Phaedria, you Pamphila immediately; if ever she says "Let us let Phaedria in to join our revels," let us propose "Pamphila to sing"; if she praises that man's beauty, you on the contrary yours, in short, return like for like, so that it may bite her.
"
sic petivi a iudicibus, ut, quoniam quidam nobiles homines et de me optime meriti nimis amarent inimicum meum meque inspectante saepe eum in senatu modo severe seducerent, modo familiariter atque hilare amplexarentur, quoniamque illi haberent suum Publium, darent mihi ipsi alium Publium, in quo possem illorum animos mediocriter lacessitus leviter repungere; neque solum dixi, sed etiam saepe facio deis hominibusque adprobantibus.
"Thus I asked the judges that, since certain noblemen, who also deserved very well of me, loved my enemy too much, and in my presence often in the senate would now draw him aside seriously, now embrace him familiarly and cheerfully, and since they had their own Publius, they should give to me myself another Publius, in whom I might, when moderately provoked, lightly sting back their feelings; and I not only said this, but I also often do so, with gods and men approving.
§1.9.20habes de Vatinio; cognosce de Crasso.
You have the matter of Vatinius; now hear about Crassus.
ego, cum mihi cum illo magna iam gratia esset, quod eius omnis gravissimas iniurias communis concordiae causa voluntaria quadam oblivione contrieram, repentinam eius defensionem Gabini, quem proximis superioribus diebus acerrime oppugnasset, tamen, si sine ulla mea contumelia suscepisset, tulissem; sed, cum me disputantem, non lacessentem laesisset, exarsi non solum praesenti, credo, iracundia (nam ea tam vehemens fortasse non fuisset), sed, cum inclusum illud odium multarum eius in me iniuriarum, quod ego effudisse me omne arbitrabar, residuum tamen insciente me fuisset, omne repente apparuit.
Although a great friendship already existed between myself and him, because for the sake of the common harmony I had worn away all his very serious injuries by a certain voluntary oblivion, nevertheless, if he had undertaken his sudden defense of Gabinius—whom he had most fiercely attacked in the immediately preceding days—without any insult to me, I would have borne it; but when he injured me as I was debating and not provoking him, I flared up, not only, I believe, with present resentment (for that would perhaps not have been so vehement), but when that enclosed hatred of his many injuries against me, all of which I thought I had poured out, had nevertheless remained without my knowing it, it all suddenly appeared.
quo quidem tempore ipso quidam homines et eidem illi, quos saepe significo neque appello, cum se maximum fructum cepisse dicerent ex libertate mea meque tum denique sibi esse visum rei publicae, qualis fuissem, restitutum, cumque ea contentio mihi magnum etiam foris fructum tulisset, gaudere se dicebant mihi et illum inimicum et eos, qui in eadem causa essent, numquam amicos futuros.
At which very time indeed, certain men, the very same whom I often point to and do not name, while saying that they had reaped the greatest fruit from my freedom of speech and that I then at last seemed to them restored to the republic as I had been, and when that dispute had brought me great fruit even outdoors, said that they rejoiced that both that enemy and those who were in the same cause would never be friends to me.
quorum iniqui sermones cum ad me per homines honestissimos perferrentur, cumque Pompeius ita contendisset ut nihil umquam magis, ut cum Crasso redirem in gratiam, Caesarque per litteras maxima se molestia ex illa contentione adfectum ostenderet, habui non temporum solum rationem meorum, sed etiam naturae, Crassusque, ut quasi testata populo Romano esset nostra gratia, paene a meis laribus in provinciam est profectus; nam, cum mihi condixisset, cenavit apud me in mei generi Crassipedis hortis.
When their unjust talk was brought to me through most honorable men, and when Pompey exerted himself like nothing ever more that I should return to friendship with Crassus, and Caesar showed by letters that he was affected with the greatest distress by that dispute, I took into account not only my times but also my nature; and Crassus, so that our friendship might be as if witnessed to the Roman people, departed for his province almost from my own hearth; for, having made an agreement with me, he dined at my house in the gardens of my son-in-law Crassipes.
quam ob rem eius causam, quod te scribis audisse, magna illius commendatione susceptam defendi in senatu, sicut mea fides postulabat.
For which reason, I defended his cause in the senate, which you write you heard of, undertaken upon his great recommendation, just as my fidelity demanded.