§2.7.1sera gratulatio reprehendi non solet, praesertim si nulla neglegentia praetermissa est; longe enim absum, audio sero; sed tibi et gratulor et, ut sempiternae laudi tibi sit iste tribunatus, exopto teque hortor, ut omnia gubernes et moderere prudentia tua, ne te auferant aliorum consilia.
Delayed congratulations are not usually blamed, especially if they were not omitted through any negligence; for I am far away, and I hear the news late; but I both congratulate you and pray that that tribuneship of yours may be a source of eternal praise for you, and I exhort you to guide and govern everything with your prudence, lest the counsels of others carry you away.
nemo est qui tibi sapientius suadere possit te ipso; numquam labere, si te audies.
There is no one who can advise you more wisely than yourself; you will never err, if you listen to yourself.
non scribo hoc temere; cui scribam, video; novi animum, novi consilium tuum; non vereor ne quid timide, ne quid stulte facias, si ea defendes, quae ipse recta esse senties.
I do not write this rashly; I see to whom I am writing; I know your mind, I know your resolve; I do not fear lest you should do anything timidly or anything foolishly, if you defend those things which you yourself feel to be right.
§2.7.2quod in rei publicae tempus non incideris, sed veneris (iudicio enim tuo, non casu in ipsum discrimen rerum contulisti tribunatum tuum), profecto vides; quanta vis in re publica temporum sit, quanta varietas rerum, quam incerti exitus, quam flexibiles hominum voluntates, quid insidiarum, quid vanitatis in vita, non dubito quin cogites.
Into what sort of political situation you have not merely stumbled but entered (for by your own judgment, not by chance, you brought your tribuneship into the very crisis of affairs), surely you see; how great is the power of circumstances in the state, how great is the variety of affairs, how uncertain are the outcomes, how changeable are the wills of men, how much of treachery, how much of emptiness there is in life, I do not doubt but that you reflect.
sed, amabo te, cura et cogita, Curio,—nihil novi, sed illud idem, quod initio scripsi: tecum o loquere, te adhibe in consilium, te audi, tibi obtempera.
But, please, take care and think, Curio,—nothing new, but that same thing which I wrote at the beginning: speak with yourself, summon yourself to counsel, listen to yourself, obey yourself.
alteri qui melius consilium dare possit quam tu, non facile. inveniri potest; tibi vero ipsi certe nemo melius dabit.
Someone who can give better counsel to another than you cannot easily be found; but indeed to yourself, certainly no one will give better.
Dii immortales! cur ego absum vel spectator laudum tuarum vel particeps vel socius vel minister consiliorum? tametsi hoc minime. tibi deest; sed tamen efficeret magnitudo et vis amoris mei, consilio te ut possem luvare.
Immortal gods! why am I absent either as a spectator of your praises, or as a participant, or ally, or servant of your counsels? although this is by no means lacking to you; but yet the magnitude and force of my love would bring it about, that I might be able to help you with my counsel.
§2.7.3scribam ad te plura alias; paucis enim diebus eram missurus domesticos tabellarios, ut, quoniam sane feliciter et ex mea sententia rem publicam gessimus, unis litteris totius aestatis res gestas ad senatum perscriberem.
I will write more to you at another time; for within a few days I am about to send my own couriers, in order that, since we have indeed administered public affairs successfully and according to my wish, I may write out in full the achievements of the whole summer to the senate in a single letter.
de sacerdotio tuo quantam curam adhibuerim quamque difficili in re atque causa, cognosces ex iis litteris, quas Thrasoni, liberto tuo, dedi.
Concerning your priesthood, how much care I applied and in how difficult a matter and cause, you will learn from that letter which I gave to Thraso, your freedman.
§2.7.4te, mi Curio, pro tua incredibili in me benevolentia meaque item in te singulari rogo atque oro, ne patiare quicquam mihi ad hanc provincialem molestiam temporis prorogari.
My Curio, by your incredible goodwill toward me and likewise mine outstanding toward you, I ask and pray you not to allow any extension of time to be made for me to this provincial trouble.
praesens tecum egi, cum te tr. pl. isto anno fore non putarem, itemque petivi saepe per litteras, sed tum quasi a †senatuore, nobilissimo tamen adulescente et gratiosissimo, nunc a tr. pl. et a Curione tribuno, non ut decernatur aliquid novi, quod solet esse difficilius, sed ut ne quid novi decernatur, ut et senati consultum et leges defendas, eaque mihi condicio maneat, qua profectus sum.
I pleaded with you in person, when I did not think you would be tribune of the plebs in this year, and likewise I have often requested through letters, but then as if from a senator, yet a most noble and highly popular young man, but now from a tribune of the plebs and from Curio the tribune, not that any new thing should be decreed, which is accustomed to be more difficult, but that no new thing should be decreed, so that you may defend both the decree of the senate and the laws, and that that condition may remain for me under which I set out.
hoc te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo.
This I ask of you earnestly again and again.