§5.12.1Coram me tecum eadem haec agere saepe conantem deterruit pudor quidam paene subrusticus, quae nunc expromam absens audacius; epistula enim non erubescit.
A certain almost rustic shame deterred me, when I often attempted to discuss these very same things with you in person, from what I now express more boldly in your absence; for a letter does not blush.
ardeo cupiditate incredibili neque, ut ego arbitror, reprehendenda, nomen ut nostrum scriptis inlustretur et celebretur tuis.
I burn with an incredible desire, and one which I think is not to be blamed, that our name should be illustrated and celebrated by your writings.
quod etsi mihi saepe ostendisti te esse facturum, tamen ignoscas velim huic festinationi meae.
Although you have often shown me that you would do this, nevertheless I would like you to forgive this haste of mine.
genus enim scriptorum tuorum etsi erat semper a me vehementer exspectatum, tamen vicit opinionem meam meque ita vel cepit vel incendit, ut cuperem quam celerrime res nostras monumentis commendari tuis.
For although the style of your writings was always eagerly expected by me, yet it has surpassed my expectation and has so captured or inflamed me that I desire our deeds to be committed to your monuments as quickly as possible.
neque enim me solum commemoratio posteritatis ad spem quandam immortalitatis rapit, sed etiam illa cupiditas, ut vel auctoritate testimoni tui vel indicio benevolentiae vel suavitate ingeni vivi perfruamur.
For not only does the remembrance of posterity snatch me toward a certain hope of immortality, but also that desire that we may enjoy while still alive either the authority of your testimony, or the proof of your goodwill, or the sweetness of your genius.
§5.12.2neque tamen, haec cum scribebam, eram nescius quantis oneribus premerere susceptarum rerum et iam institutarum sed, quia videbam Italici belli et civilis historiam iam a te paene esse perfectam, dixeras autem mihi te reliquas res ordiri, desse mihi nolui quin te admonerem, ut cogitares, coniunctene malles cum reliquis rebus nostra contexere an, ut multi Graeci fecerunt, Callisthenes Phocicum bellum, Timaeus Pyrrhi, Polybius Numantinum, qui omnes a perpetuis suis historiis ea, quae dixi, bella separaverunt, tu quoque item civilem coniurationem ab hostilibus externisque bellis seiungeres.
And yet, when I was writing this, I was not unaware of how great burdens you were pressed by in the undertakings you have assumed and already begun. But because I saw that the history of the Italian war and of the civil war was already almost completed by you, and you had told me that you were beginning the remaining affairs, I did not wish to fail myself by not advising you to consider whether you would prefer to weave our affairs together with the rest, or, as many Greeks did—Callisthenes with the Phocian war, Timaeus with that of Pyrrhus, Polybius with the Numantine war, all of whom separated the wars I have mentioned from their continuous histories—you also likewise should separate the civil conspiracy from hostile and foreign wars.
equidem ad nostram laudem non multum video interesse, sed ad properationem meam quiddam interest non te exspectare, dum ad locum venias, ac statim causam illam totam et tempus arripere; et simul, si uno in argumento unaque in persona mens tua tota versabitur, cerno iam animo, quanto omnia uberiora atque ornatiora futura sint.
For my part, I do not see that it matters much for our praise, but for my haste it does matter somewhat that you do not wait until you come to that place, but immediately seize that whole cause and time; and at the same time, if your whole mind is engaged in one subject and one person, I already perceive in my mind how much richer and more ornate everything will be.
neque tamen ignoro quam impudenter faciam, qui primum tibi tantum oneris imponam (potest enim mihi denegare occupatio tua), deinde etiam ut ornes me postulem.
Nor yet am I ignorant of how shamelessly I act, who first impose so much burden on you (for your busy-ness can refuse me), and then even demand that you adorn me.
quid si illa tibi non tanto opere videntur ornanda?
What if those things do not seem to you so worthy of being adorned?
§5.12.3sed tamen, qui semei verecundiae finis transierit, eum bene et naviter oportet esse impudentem.
But yet, he who has once crossed the boundaries of modesty must be thoroughly and actively impudent.
itaque te plane etiam atque etiam rogo, ut et ornes ea vehementius etiam quam fortasse sentis, et in eo leges historiae neglegas gratiamque illam, de qua suavissime quodam in prooemio scripsisti, a qua te deflecti non magis potuisse demonstras quam Herculem Xenophontium illum a voluptate, eam, si me tibi vehementius commendabit, ne aspernere amorique nostro plusculum etiam, quam concedet veritas, largiare.
Therefore, I plainly ask you again and again that you both adorn those things even more vehemently than perhaps you feel, and in this neglect the laws of history, and that favor of which you wrote most sweetly in a certain preface, showing that you could no more be deflected from it than Xenophon's famous Hercules from pleasure—do not reject it, if it commends me to you more vehemently, and grant to our love a little bit more even than the truth will allow.
quod si te adducemus ut hoc suscipias, erit, ut mihi persuadeo, materies digna facultate et copia tua.
If we induce you to undertake this, it will be, as I persuade myself, a material worthy of your ability and abundance.
§5.12.4A principio enim coniurationis usque ad reditum nostrum videtur mihi modicum quoddam corpus confici posse, in quo et illa poteris uti civilium commutationum scientia vel in explicandis causis rerum novarum vel in remediis incommodorum, cum et reprehendes ea, quae vituperanda duces, et quae placebunt exponendis rationibus comprobabis et, si liberius, ut consuesti, agendum putabis, multorum in nos perfidiam, insidias, proditionem notabis.
For from the beginning of the conspiracy up to our return, it seems to me that a moderate body of work can be completed, in which you will also be able to use that knowledge of civil changes, either in explaining the causes of revolutions or in the remedies of misfortunes, when you will both censure those things which you think worthy of blame and approve those which please by explaining the reasons, and, if you think you should act more freely, as you are accustomed, you will mark the perfidy, plots, and betrayal of many against us.
multam etiam casus nostri varietatem tibi in scribendo suppeditabunt plenam cuiusdam voluptatis, quae vehementer animos hominum in legendo te scriptore tenere possit.
Our misfortunes also will supply you with great variety in writing, full of a certain pleasure, which can strongly hold the minds of men in reading, with you as the writer.
nihil est enim aptius ad delectationem lectoris quam temporum varietates fortunaeque vicissitudines.
For nothing is more fit for the delight of the reader than the varieties of times and the vicissitudes of fortune.
quae etsi nobis optabiles in experiendo non fuerunt, in legendo tamen erunt iucundae; habet enim praeteriti doloris secura recordatio delectationem; §5.12.5ceteris vero nulla perfunctis propria molestia, casus autem alienos sine ullo dolore intuentibus etiam ipsa misericordia est iucunda.
Which, although they were not desirable for us in experiencing, yet in reading will be pleasant; for the safe recollection of past pain has delight; but for others who have experienced no trouble of their own, but look upon the misfortunes of others without any pain, even pity itself is pleasant.
quem enim nostrum ille moriens apud Mantineam Epaminondas non cum quadam miseratione delectat? qui tum denique sibi evelli iubet spiculum, postea quam ei percontanti dictum est clipeum esse salvum, ut etiam in vulneris dolore aequo animo cum laude moreretur.
For whom of us does that Epaminondas, dying at Mantinea, not delight with a certain compassion? Who then finally orders the spear to be pulled out of him, after it was said to him when inquiring that his shield was safe, so that even in the pain of his wound he might die with an equal mind and with praise.
cuius studium in legendo non erectum Themistocli fuga redituque retinetur? etenim ordo ipse annalium mediocriter nos retinet quasi enumeratione fastorum at viri saepe excellentis ancipites variique casus habent admirationem, exspectationem, laetitiam, molestiam, spem, timorem; si vero exitu notabili concluduntur, expletur animus iucundissima lectionis voluptate.
Whose interest in reading is not held, aroused, by the flight and return of Themistocles? For indeed the very order of annals holds us only moderately, as if by an enumeration of calendars; but the doubtful and varied fortunes of an often excellent man produce admiration, expectation, joy, trouble, hope, and fear; and if they are concluded by a notable end, the mind is filled with the most pleasant pleasure of reading.