§10.26.1Lectis tuis litteris, quibus declarabas aut omittendos Narbonensis aut cum periculo dimicandum, illud magis timui; quod vitatum non moleste fero.
Having read your letter, in which you declared that either Narbonese Gaul must be abandoned or fought for with danger, I feared the latter more; that this has been avoided, I do not take badly.
quod de Planci et Bruti concordia scribis, in eo vel maximam spem pono victoriae.
As for what you write about the harmony of Plancus and Brutus, in that I place even the greatest hope of victory.
de Gallorum studio nos aliquando cognoscemus, ut scribis, cuius id opera maxime excitatum sit; sed iam, mihi crede, cognovimus.
Concerning the zeal of the Gauls, we shall some day find out, as you write, by whose effort it was chiefly excited; but now, believe me, we already know.
itaque iucundissimis tuis litteris stomachatus sum in extremo; scribis enim, si in Sextilem comitia, cito te, sin iam confecta, citius, ne diutius cum periculo fatuus sis.
And so, in your otherwise most pleasant letter, I was vexed at the very end; for you write that if the comitia are in August, you will come quickly, but if they are already over, even more quickly, lest you be a fool in danger any longer.
§10.26.2O mi Furni, quam tu tuam causam non nosti, qui alienas tam facile discas! tu nunc candidatum te putas et id cogitas, ut aut ad comitia curras aut, si iam confecta, domi tuae sis, ne cum maximo periculo, ut scribis, stultissimus sis? non arbitror te ita sentire; omnis enim tuos ad laudem impetus novi.
O my Furnius, how little you know your own case, though you learn those of others so easily! Do you now think of yourself as a candidate and contemplate this: either to run to the comitia, or, if they are already over, to stay at your home, lest, as you write, you be most foolish with the greatest danger? I do not believe you feel this way; for I know all your impulses toward praise.
quod si ut scribis ita sentis, non magis te quam de te iudicium reprehendo meum.
But if you feel as you write, I do not blame you more than I blame my own judgment concerning you.
te adipiscendi magistratus levissimi et divulgatissimi, si ita adipiscare ut plerique, praepropera festinatio abducet a tantis laudibus, quibus te omnes in caelum iure et vere ferunt? scilicet id agitur utrum hac petitione an proxima praetor fias, non ut ita de re p. mereare, omni honore ut dignissimus iudicere.
Shall a too headlong haste to acquire a most trifling and commonplace magistracy—if you should acquire it as most do—withdraw you from such great honors, for which everyone justly and truly praises you to the skies? To be sure, is the question this, whether you become praetor in this candidacy or the next, and not rather that you should so deserve of the republic that you be judged most worthy of every honor?
§10.26.3utrum nescis quam alte ascenderis, an pro nihilo id putas? si nescis, tibi ignosco, nos in culpa sumus; sin intellegis, ulla tibi est praetura vel officio, quod pauci, vel gloria, quam omnes sequuntur, dulcior? hac de re et ego et Calvisius, homo magni iudici tuique amantissimus, te accusamus cotidie.
Do you not know how high you have climbed, or do you consider it as nothing? If you do not know, I forgive you—we are in fault; but if you understand, is any praetorship sweeter to you than either duty, which few follow, or glory, which all pursue? On this matter both I and Calvisius, a man of great judgment and most affectionate toward you, accuse you daily.
comitia tamen, quoniam ex iis pendes, quantum facere possumus, quod multis de causis rei p. arbitramur conducere, in Ianuarium mensem protrudimus.
Nevertheless, the comitia, since you depend on them, we are pushing off to the month of January as far as we can do so, which we judge to be of advantage to the republic for many reasons.
vince igitur et vale.
Conquer, therefore, and farewell.