§6.1.4esset victoria.
...victory would be assured.
qua re, si id evenit, quod ingredientibus nobis in causam propositum fuit accidere posse, non debemus ita cadere animis, quasi aliquid evenerit, quod fieri posse numquam putarimus.
Therefore, if that has happened which, when we were entering upon our cause, was proposed as possible to occur, we ought not to lose heart in such a way as if something had happened which we never thought could occur.
simus igitur ea mente, quam ratio et veritas praescribit, ut nihil in vita nobis praestandum praeter culpam putemus, eaque cum careamus, omnia humana placate et moderate feramus.
Let us therefore be of that mind which reason and truth prescribe, so that we think we have to answer for nothing in life except guilt; and since we are free from this, let us bear all human events calmly and with moderation.
atque haec eo pertinet oratio, ut perditis rebus omnibus tamen ipsa virtus se sustentare posse videatur.
And the purpose of this discourse is that, even when all things are ruined, virtue itself may still appear able to sustain itself.
sed, si est spes aliqua rebus communibus, ea tu, quicumque status est futurus, carere non debes. §6.1.5atque haec mihi scribenti veniebat in mentem me esse eum, cuius tu desperationem accusare solitus esses quemque auctoritate tua cunctantem et diffidentem excitare.
But, if there is any hope for our common affairs, you ought not to be without it, whatever the future state may be.\n And as I was writing these things, it came to my mind that I was the very one whose despair you were accustomed to accuse, and whom you used to rouse by your authority when I was hesitating and distrustful.
quo quidem tempore non ego causam nostram sed consilium improbabam.
Indeed, at that time, I was not disapproving of our cause, but of our plan.
sero enim nos iis armis adversari videbam, quae multo ante confirmata per nosmet ipsos erant, dolebamque pilis et gladiis, non consiliis neque auctoritatibus nostris de iure publico disceptari.
For I saw that we were opposing, too late, those arms which had been strengthened long before by ourselves, and I grieved that the public right was being debated with javelins and swords, not with our counsels and authority.
neque ego, ea, quae facta sunt, fore cum dicebam, divinabam futura, sed, quod et fieri posse et exitiosum fore, si evenisset, videbam, id ne accideret timebam, praesertim cum, si mihi alterum utrum de eventu atque exitu rerum promittendum esset, id futurum, quod evenit, exploratius possem promittere.
Nor, when I said that those things which have been done would happen, was I divining the future; but because I saw both that it was possible to happen and that it would be ruinous if it did, I feared lest it should happen—especially since, if I had had to promise one or the other concerning the event and issue of things, I could have promised more assuredly that which has happened.
Iis enim rebus praestabamus, quae non prodeunt in aciem, usu autem armorum et militum robore inferiores eramus.
For we were superior in those things which do not go out into the battle-line, but we were inferior in the use of arms and the strength of soldiers.
sed tu illum animum nunc adhibe, quaeso, quo me tum esse oportere censebas. §6.1.6haec eo scripsi, quod mihi Philargyrus tuus omnia de te requirenti fidelissimo animo, ut mihi quidem visus est, narravit te interdum sollicitum solere esse vehementius.
But pray, apply now that mind which you then thought I ought to have.\n I have written these things because your Philargyrus, when I was asking him everything about you, told me with a most faithful mind, as indeed he seemed to me, that you are sometimes accustomed to be too violently anxious.
quod facere non debes nec dubitare quin aut aliqua re p. sis is futurus, qui esse debes, aut perdita non adflictiore condicione quam ceteri.
You ought not to do this, nor to doubt that either in some republic you will be the man you ought to be, or, if it is ruined, in a condition no more afflicted than the rest.
hoc vero tempus, quo exanimati omnes et suspensi sumus, hoc moderatiore animo ferre debes, quod et in urbe ea es, ubi nata et alta est ratio ac moderatio vitae, et habes Ser. Sulpicium, quem semper unice dilexisti; qui te profecto et benevolentia et sapientia consolatur.
Indeed, you ought to bear this time, in which we are all breathless and suspended, with a more moderate mind, because you are in that city where the reason and moderation of life were born and nurtured, and you have Servius Sulpicius, whom you have always uniquely loved; who surely consoles you with both his goodwill and his wisdom.
cuius si essemus et auctoritatem et consilium secuti, togati potius potentiam quam armati victoriam subissemus. §6.1.7sed haec longiora fortasse fuerunt quam necesse fuit; illa, quae maiora sunt, brevius exponam.
If we had followed both his authority and his counsel, we would have submitted to the power of the togaed rather than the victory of the armed.\n But these things have perhaps been longer than was necessary; I will set forth more briefly those which are greater.
ego habeo, cui quam tibi debeam, neminem; quibus tantum debebam, quantum tu intellegis, eos huius mihi belli casus eripuit; qui sim autem hoc tempore intellego; sed, quia nemo est tam adflictus quin, si nihil aliud studeat nisi id, quod agit, possit navare aliquid et efficere, omne meum consilium, operam, studium certe velim existimes tibi tuisque liberis esse debitum.
I have no one to whom I owe more than to you; those to whom I owed as much as you understand, the accidents of this war have snatched away from me; and I understand who I am at this time; but, because no one is so afflicted that, if he studies nothing else except that which he is doing, he cannot perform and effect something, I would certainly wish you to think that all my counsel, labor, and zeal are owed to you and your children.