§12.15.1S. v. l. v. v. b. e. v.
If you and your children are well, it is well; I am well.
scelere Dolabellae oppressa Asia in proximam provinciam Macedoniam praesidiaque rei p. quae M. Brutus, v. c. , tenebat me contuli et id egi ut, per quos celerrime possent, Asia provincia vectigaliaque in vestram potestatem redigerentur.
When Asia was oppressed by the crime of Dolabella, I betook myself to the neighboring province of Macedonia and to the garrisons of the republic which Marcus Brutus, a man of distinguished character, was holding, and I made it my object that, through those who could do so most quickly, the province of Asia and its revenues should be restored to your power.
quod cum pertimuisset Dolabella vastata provincia, correptis vectigalibus, praecipue civibus Romanis omnibus crudelissime denudatis ac divenditis celeriusque Asia excessisset quam eo praesidium adduci potuisset, diutius morari aut exspectare praesidium non necesse habui et quam primum ad meum officium revertendum mihi esse existimavi, ut et reliqua vectigalia exigerem et quam deposui pecuniam conligerem, quicquid ex ea correptum esset aut quorum id culpa accidisset cognoscerem quam primum et vos de omni re facerem certiores.
When Dolabella had become thoroughly terrified of this, after plundering the province, seizing the revenues, and especially stripping and selling off all Roman citizens in the most cruel manner, and had departed from Asia more quickly than a garrison could be brought there, I did not think it necessary to delay longer or to wait for a garrison, and I judged that I must return to my duty as soon as possible, in order to exact the remaining revenues, collect the money I had deposited, ascertain as soon as possible whatever of it had been seized or by whose fault this had happened, and make you informed about the whole matter.
§12.15.2interim cum per insulas in Asiam naviganti mihi nuntiatum esset classem Dolabellae in Lycia esse Rhodiosque navis compluris instructas et paratas in aqua habere, cum Hs navibus quas aut mecum adduxeram aut comparaverat Patiscus proq. , homo mihi cum familiaritate tum etiam sensibus in re p. coniunctissimus, Rhodum deverti confisus auctoritate vestra senatusque consulto quo hostem Dolabellam iudicaratis, foedere quoque quod cum iis M. Marcello, Ser. Sulpicio coss. renovatum erat, quo iuraverant Rhodii eosdem hostis se habituros quos senatus populusque R. quae res nos vehementer fefellit;
Meanwhile, as I was sailing to Asia through the islands, when it was reported to me that Dolabella's fleet was in Lycia and that the Rhodians had several ships equipped and ready in the water, I turned aside to Rhodes with these ships which I had either brought with me or which Patiscus the proquaestor—a man most closely joined to me both in friendship and in political sentiments—had procured, trusting in your authority and in the decree of the senate by which you had judged Dolabella an enemy, and also in the treaty which had been renewed with them in the consulship of Marcus Marcellus and Servius Sulpicius, by which the Rhodians had sworn that they would hold the same enemies as the senate and Roman people.
tantum enim afuit ut illorum praesidio nostram firmaremus classem, ut etiam a Rhodiis urbe, portu, statione quae extra urbem est, commeatu, aqua denique prohiberentur nostri milites, nos vix ipsi singulis cum navigiolis reciperemur.
This expectation, however, vehemently deceived us; for so far were we from strengthening our fleet by their assistance, that our soldiers were even excluded by the Rhodians from the city, the harbor, the station outside the city, provisions, and finally even water, while we ourselves were scarcely received with our single small vessels.
quam indignitatem deminutionemque t maiestatis non solum iuris nostri sed etiam imperi populique Romani idcirco tulimus quod interceptis litteris cognoramus Dolabellam, si desperasset de Syria Aegyptoque, quod necesse erat fieri, in navis cum omnibus suis latronibus atque omni pecunia conscendere esse paratum Italiamque petere; idcirco etiam navis onerarias, quarum minor nulla erat duum milium amphorum, contractas in Lycia a classe eius obsideri.
This indignity and diminution of the majesty, not only of our right but also of the empire of the Roman people, we bore for this reason: because from intercepted letters we had learned that Dolabella, if he should despair of Syria and Egypt (as was bound to happen), was prepared to embark on ships with all his bandits and all his money and head for Italy; and that for this reason even merchant ships, none of which was smaller than two thousand amphorae, had been collected in Lycia and were being blockaded by his fleet.
§12.15.3huius rei timore, p. c. , percitus iniurias perpeti et cum contumelia etiam nostra omnia prius experiri malui.
Stirred by the fear of this matter, conscript fathers, I preferred to endure injustices and, even with insult, to try all our means first.
itaque ad illorum voluntatem introductus in urbem et in senatum eorum quam diligentissime potui causam rei p. egi periculumque omne quod instaret si ille latro cum suis omnibus navis conscendisset exposui.
Therefore, introduced into their city and into their senate according to their will, I pleaded the cause of the republic as diligently as I could, and set forth all the danger that would threaten if that bandit should embark on ships with all his men.
Rhodios autem tanta in pravitate animadverti ut omnis firmiores putarent quam bonos, ut hanc concordiam et conspirationem omnium ordinum ad defendendam libertatem propense non crederent esse factam, ut patientiam senatus et optimi cuiusque manere etiam nunc confiderent nec potuisse audere quemquam Dolabellam hostem iudicare, ut denique omnia quae improbi fingebant magis vera existimarent quam quae vere facta erant et a nobis docebantur.
However, I observed the Rhodians to be in such great perversity that they thought all the wicked to be stronger than the good, and did not believe that this harmony and conspiracy of all classes to defend liberty had been made with enthusiasm; they trusted that the patience of the senate and of all the best men remained even now, and that no one had been able to dare to judge Dolabella an enemy; and finally, they considered all that the wicked invented to be more true than what had actually been done and was being explained by us.