§2.18.1officium meum erga Rhodonem ceteraque mea studia, quae tibi ac tuis praestiti, tibi, homini gratissimo, grata esse vehementer gaudeo, mihique scito in dies maiori curae esse dignitatem tuam; quae quidem a te ipso integritate et clementia tua sic amplificata est, ut nihil addi posse videatur.
I am exceedingly glad that my service toward Rhodon and my other efforts which I have shown to you and yours are very pleasing to you, a most grateful man, and know that your dignity is day by day a matter of greater concern to me; which indeed has been so enhanced by yourself through your integrity and clemency that nothing seems able to be added to it.
§2.18.2sed mihi magis magisque cotidie de rationibus tuis cogitanti placet illud meum consilium, quod initio Aristoni nostro, ut ad me venit, ostendi, gravis te suscepturum inimicitias, si adulescens potens et nobilis a te ignominia adfectus esset.
But to me, thinking more and more every day about your plans, that advice of mine is pleasing, which at the beginning I showed to our friend Ariston when he came to me, namely, that you would incur heavy enmities if a powerful and noble young man should be treated with insult by you.
et hercule sine dubio erit ignominia; habes enim neminem honoris gradu superiorem; ille autem, ut omittam nobilitatem, hoc ipso vincit viros optimos hominesque innocentissimos, legatos tuos, quod et quaestor est et quaestor tuus.
And, by Hercules, it will without doubt be an insult; for you have no one superior to him in the grade of honor; moreover, to say nothing of his nobility, he surpasses those excellent and most innocent men, your legates, by this very fact, that he is both a quaestor and your quaestor.
nocere tibi iratum neminem posse perspicio, sed tamen tris fratres summo loco natos, promptos, non indisertos, te nolo habere iratos, iure praesertim; quos video deinceps tribunos pl. per triennium fore.
I perceive that no one who is angry can harm you, but nevertheless, I do not wish you to have three brothers born of the highest rank, active, and not uneloquent, angry with you, especially with justice; whom I see will be tribunes of the plebs successively for three years.
§2.18.3tempora autem rei publicae qualia futura sint, quis scit? mihi quidem turbulenta videntur fore.
But what the future times of the republic will be, who knows? To me indeed they seem likely to be turbulent.
cur ego te velim incidere in terrores tribunicios, praesertim cum sine cuiusquam reprehensione quaestoriis legatis quaestorem possis anteferre? qui si dignum se maioribus suis praebuerit, ut spero et opto, tua laus ex aliqua parte fuerit; sin quid offenderit, sibi totum, nihil tibi offenderit.
Why should I wish you to fall into tribunician terrors, especially since you can, without anyone's censure, prefer a quaestor to legates who are of quaestorian rank? Who, if he shows himself worthy of his ancestors, as I hope and pray, the credit will be yours in some part; but if he fails in anything, he will have failed entirely for himself, and not at all for you.
quae mihi veniebant in mentem, quae ad te pertinere arbitrabar, quod in Ciliciam proficiscebar, existimavi me ad te oportere scribere; tu quod egeris, id velim di adprobent; sed, si me audies, vitabis inimicitias et posteritatis otio consules.
What came into my mind, and what I thought pertained to you, since I was setting out for Cilicia, I judged that I ought to write to you; whatever you do, I hope the gods may approve; but, if you listen to me, you will avoid enmities and consult for the peace of your posterity.