§11.12.1tris uno die a te accepi epistulas, unam brevem quam Flacco Volumnio dederas, duas pleniores, quarum alteram tabellarius T. Vibi attulit, alteram ad me misit Lupus.
I received three letters from you in one day: one short one which you had given to Flaccus Volumnio, and two longer ones, of which the bearer of T. Vibius brought one, and Lupus sent the other to me.
ex tuis litteris et ex Graecei oratione non modo non restinctum bellum sed etiam inflammatum videtur.
From your letters and from the speech of Graeceius, the war seems not only not to have been extinguished, but even to have been inflamed.
non dubito autem pro tua,singulari prudentia quin perspicias, si aliquid firmitatis nactus sit Antonius, omnia tua illa praeclara in rem p. merita ad nihilum esse ventura.
But, in accordance with your singular wisdom, I do not doubt that you perceive that, if Antony has gained any strength, all those glorious merits of yours towards the republic will come to nothing.
ita enim Romam erat nuntiatum, ita persuasum omnibus, cum paucis inermis, perterritis metu, fracto animo fugisse Antonium.
For it had been so reported to Rome, and everyone was so persuaded, that Antony had fled with a few unarmed men, terrified by fear and broken in spirit.
§11.12.2qui si ita se habet ut, quem ad modum audiebam de Graeceio, confligi cum eo sine periculo non possit, non ille mihi fugisse a Mutina videtur sed locum belli gerendi mutasse.
And if his condition is such that, as I was hearing from Graeceius, he cannot be fought with without danger, he does not seem to me to have fled from Mutina, but to have changed the seat of war.
itaque homines alii facti sunt; non nulli etiam queruntur, quod persecuti non sitis; opprimi potuisse, si celeritas adhibita esset, existimant.
Therefore men have changed; some even complain that you did not pursue; they think that he could have been crushed if speed had been employed.
omnino est hoc populi maximeque nostri, in eo potissimum abuti libertate per quem eam consecutus sit; sed tamen providendum est ne quae iusta querela esse possit.
Generally, this is a characteristic of the people, and especially of ours, to abuse their liberty chiefly against the very person through whom they obtained it; but yet care must be taken that there can be no just complaint.
res se sic habet: is bellum confecerit, qui Antonium oppresserit.
The matter stands thus: he will have finished the war who has crushed Antony.
hoc quam vim habeat te existimare malo quam me apertius scribere.
What weight this carries, I prefer that you judge for yourself, rather than that I write it more openly.