§11.16.1permagni interest quo tibi haec tempore epistula reddita sit, utrum cum sollicitudinis aliquid haberes an cum ab omni molestia vacuus esses.
It is of very great importance at what time this letter is delivered to you, whether when you have some anxiety or when you are free from all trouble.
itaque ei praecepi, quem ad te misi, ut tempus observaret epistulae tibi reddendae.
Therefore I charged him whom I sent to you to watch for the proper time for delivering the letter to you.
nam quem ad modum coram qui ad nos intempestive adeunt molesti saepe sunt, sic epistulae offendunt non loco redditae.
For just as those who approach us in person at an importune time are often annoying, so letters delivered out of season cause offense.
si autem, ut spero, nihil te perturbat, nihil impedit, et ille cui mandavi satis scite et commode tempus ad te cepit adeundi, confido me quod velim facile a te impetraturum.
But if, as I hope, nothing is disturbing you, nothing hindering you, and he to whom I gave the commission has chosen the time of approaching you wisely and conveniently enough, I trust that I shall easily obtain from you what I wish.
§11.16.2L. Lamia praeturam petit.
L. Lamia is seeking the praetorship.
hoc ego utor uno omnium plurimum; magna vetustas, magna consuetudo intercedit, quodque plurimum valet, nihil mihi eius est familiaritate iucundius.
I am more intimate with this one man than with anyone else; a long-standing friendship and great intimacy lie between us, and, what is of the greatest weight, nothing is more pleasant to me than his friendship.
Magno praeterea beneficio eius magnoque merito sum obligatus.
Moreover, I am bound by a great favor and great service of his.
nam Clodianis temporibus, cum equestris ordinis princeps esset proque mea salute acerrime propugnaret, a Gabinio consule relegatus est, quod ante id tempus civi Romano Romae contigit nemini.
For in the times of Clodius, when he was the leader of the equestrian order and fought most fiercely for my safety, he was banished by the consul Gabinius, a thing which before that time had happened to no Roman citizen in Rome.
hoc cum populus Romanus meminit, me ipsum non meminisse turpissimum est.
While the Roman people remember this, it would be most shameful for me myself not to remember it.
quapropter persuade tibi, mi Brute, me petere praeturam.
Therefore, my dear Brutus, convince yourself that I am seeking the praetorship.
§11.16.3quamquam enim Lamia summo splendore, summa gratia est magnificentissimo munere aedilicio, tamen, quasi ea ita non essent, ego suscepi totum negotium.
For although Lamia is of the highest distinction, of the highest popularity, and has given a most magnificent aedilian games, yet, just as if those things were not so, I have undertaken the whole business myself.
nunc si me tanti facis quanti certe facis, quoniam equitum centurias tenes, in quis regnas, mitte ad Lupum nostrum ut is nobis eas centurias conficiat.
Now, if you value me as much as you certainly do, since you hold the centuries of the knights, in which you reign supreme, send word to our friend Lupus so that he may secure those centuries for us.
non tenebo te pluribus; ponam in extremo quod sentio: nihil est, Brute, cum omnia a te exspectem, quod mihi gratius facere possis.
I will not detain you with more words; I will put at the end what I feel: there is nothing, Brutus, although I expect everything from you, that you could do more pleasing to me.