§3.10.9vicerim? quod si id est maxime astuti, omnia ad suam utilitatem referre, quid mihi tandem erat utilius, quid commodis meis aptius quam hominis nobilissimi atque honoratissimi coniunctio, cuius opes, ingenium, liberi, adfines, propinqui mihi magno vel ornamento vel praesidio esse possent? quae tamen ego omnia in expetenda amicitia tua non astutia quadam, sed aliqua potius sapientia secutus sum.
exceeded? But if it is the characteristic of the most cunning man to refer everything to his own utility, what, I ask, was more useful to me, what more suited to my interests, than a connection with a most noble and honored man, whose wealth, talent, children, relations, and kinsmen could be a great honor or protection to me? All of which, however, I pursued in seeking your friendship, not by some cunning, but rather by some wisdom.
quid? illa vincula, quibus quidem libentissime astringor, quanta sunt, studiorum similitudo, suavitas consuetudinis, delectatio vitae atque victus, sermonis societas, litterae interiores! atque haec domestica;
What? How great are those bonds by which indeed I am most willingly bound—similarity of studies, sweetness of intercourse, delight of life and living, sharing of conversation, intimate letters!
quid illa tandem popularia, reditus inlustris in gratiam, in quo ne per imprudentiam quidem errari potest sine suspicione perfidiae, amplissimi sacerdota collegium, in quo non modo amicitiam violari apud maiores nostros fas non erat, sed ne coptari quidem sacerdotem licebat, qui cuiquam ex collegio esset inimicus?
And these are domestic; what, I ask, of those public matters, the illustrious return to favor, in which one cannot err even through imprudence without suspicion of perfidy, the college of the most ample priesthood, in which among our ancestors it was not only impious for friendship to be violated, but it was not even allowed for a priest to be co-opted who was hostile to anyone in the college?
§3.10.10quae ut omittam tam multa atque tanta, quis umquam tanti quemquam fecit aut facere potuit aut debuit quanti ego Cn.
To omit these things, so many and so great, who ever valued anyone as much as I valued Gnaeus Pompey, the father-in-law of your daughter?
Pompeium, socerum tuae filiae? etenim si merita valent, patriam, liberos, salutem, dignitatem, memet ipsum mihi per illum restitutum puto, si consuetudinis iucunditas, quae fuit umquam amicitia consularium in nostra civitate coniunctior?.
For if merits have weight, I think my country, children, safety, dignity, and my very self were restored to me through him; if the pleasantness of intercourse, what friendship of consulars was ever more closely joined in our state?
si illa amoris atque offici signa, quid mihi ille non commisit, quid non mecum communicavit, quid de se in senatu, cum ipse abesset, per quemquam agi maluit, quibus ille me rebus non ornatissimum voluit amplissime, qua denique ille facilitate, qua humanitate tulit contentionem meam pro Milone adversantem interdum actionibus suis, quo studio providit, ne quae me illius temporis invidia attingeret, cum me consilio, cum auctoritate, cum armis denique texit suis? quibus quidem temporibus haec in eo gravitas, haec animi altitudo fuit, non modo ut Phrygi alicui aut Lycaoni, quod tu in legatis fecisti, sed ne summorum quidem hominum malevolis de me sermonibus crederet.
If those signs of love and duty, what did he not commit to me, what did he not communicate with me, what did he prefer to be done concerning himself in the senate, when he himself was absent, through anyone rather than me, in what matters did he not wish me to be most amply adorned, and finally, with what ease, with what humanity did he bear my contention for Milo, sometimes opposing his own actions, and with what zeal did he provide that none of the ill-will of that time should touch me, when he protected me with his counsel, with his authority, and finally with his arms? In which times indeed, there was such gravity in him, such loftiness of mind, that he did not believe the malicious speeches about me from even the highest men, much less from some Phrygian or Lycaonian, as you did in the case of the ambassadors.
huius igitur filius cum sit gener tuus, cumque, praeter hanc coniunctionem adfinitatis quam sis Cn.
Since therefore his son is your son-in-law, and since I understand, besides this connection of affinity, how dear and pleasant you are to Gnaeus Pompey, in what mind, I ask, ought I to be toward you?
Pompeio carus quamque iucundus, intellegam, quo tandem animo in te esse debeo? cum praesertim eas ad me litteras is miserit, quibus, etiam si tibi, cui sum amicissimus, hostis essem, placarer tamen totumque me ad eius viri ita de me meriti voluntatem nutumque converterem.
Especially since he sent such a letter to me, by which, even if I were an enemy to you, to whom I am most friendly, I would yet be appeased and would turn myself entirely to the will and nod of that man who has so merited of me.
§3.10.11sed haec hactenus; pluribus enim etiam fortasse verbis, quam necesse fuit, scripta sunt.
But so much for these things; for they have been written with even more words, perhaps, than was necessary.
nunc ea, quae a me profecta quaeque instituta sunt cognosce atque haec agimus et agemus magis pro dignitate quam pro periculo tuo.
Now learn those things which have proceeded and have been instituted by me; and we do and will do these things more for your dignity than for your danger.
te enim, ut spero, propediem censorem audiemus, cuius magistratus officia, quae sunt maximi animi summique consili, tibi diligentius et accuratius quam haec, quae nos de te agimus, cogitanda esse censeo.
For we shall hear of you, as I hope, as censor very shortly, the duties of which magistracy, which are of the greatest mind and highest counsel, I think ought to be considered by you more diligently and accurately than these things which we are doing concerning you.