§7.32.1quod sine praenomine familiariter, ut debebas, ad me epistulam misisti, primum addubitavi an a Volumnio senatore esset, quocum mihi est magnus usus; deinde eu)trapeli/a litterarum fecit ut intellegerem tuas esse.
As to your sending me a letter familiarly without a praenomen, as you ought to have done, at first I doubted whether it was from Volumnius the senator, with whom I have a great intimacy; but then the wit of the letter made me understand that it was yours.
quibus in litteris omnia mihi periucunda fuerunt praeter illud, quod parum diligenter possessio salinarum mearum a te procuratore defenditur.
In which letter everything was very pleasant to me except that point, that the possession of my salt-works is defended with too little diligence by you, their manager.
ais enim, ut ego discesserim, omnia omnium dicta, in his etiam Sestiana, in me conferri.
For you say that, since I departed, all the sayings of everyone, even including those of Sestius, are attributed to me.
quid? tu id pateris? non me defendis, non resistis? equidem sperabam ita notata me reliquisse genera dictorum meorum, ut cognosci sua sponte possent; §7.32.2sed quoniam tanta faex est in urbe ut nihil tam sit a)ku/qhron quod non alicui venustum esse videatur, pugna, si me amas, nisi acuta a)mfiboli/a, nisi elegans u(perbolh/, nisi para/gramma bellum, nisi ridiculum para\ prosdoki/an, nisi cetera, quae sunt a me in secundo libro 'de oratore' per Antoni personam disputata de ridiculis, e)/ntexna et arguta apparebunt, ut sacramento contendas mea non esse.
What? Do you allow this? Do you not defend me? Do you not resist? Indeed, I hoped that I had left the characteristics of my sayings so marked that they could be recognized of their own accord; but since there is such dregs in the city that nothing is so devoid of beauty that it does not seem attractive to someone, fight, if you love me, unless acute ambiguity, elegant hyperbole, clever play on words, a ridiculous surprise, and the other things which were discussed by me concerning the ridiculous in the second book "On the Orator" through the person of Antonius, shall appear artistic and witty, to contend by wager that they are not mine.
nam de iudiciis quod quereris, multo laboro minus.
For as to your complaint about the trials, I care much less.
Trabantur per me pedibus omnes rei, sit vel Selius tam eloquens ut possit probare se liberum; non laboro; urbanitatis possessionem, amabo, quibusvis interdictis defendamus; in qua te unum metuo, contemno ceteros.
For all I care, let all the accused be dragged by their feet, or let Selius be so eloquent as to prove himself a free man; I do not care; pray, let us defend the possession of our urbanity by any interdicts whatsoever; in which area I fear you alone, and despise the rest.
derideri te putas; nunc demum intellego te sapere.
You think you are being laughed at; only now do I understand that you are wise.
§7.32.3sed me hercules extra iocum: valde mihi tuae litterae facetae elegantesque visae sunt.
But by Hercules, joking aside: your letter seemed to me exceedingly witty and elegant.
illa quàmvis ridicula essent, sicut erant, mihi tamen risum non moverunt; cupio enim nostrum illum amicum in tribunatu quam plurimum habere gravitatis, id cum ipsius causa est mihi, ut scis, in amoribus tum me hercule etiam rei p. ; quam quidem, quamvis in me ingrata sit, amare non desinam.
Though those things were ridiculous, as indeed they were, yet they did not move me to laughter; for I desire that friend of ours to have as much dignity as possible in his tribuneship, and this not only for his own sake—for, as you know, I hold him in dear affection—but also, by Hercules, for the sake of the republic; which indeed, although it is ungrateful to me, I shall never cease to love.
tu, mi Volumni, quoniam et instituisti et mihi vides esse gratum, scribe ad me quam saepissime de rebus urbanis, de re p.
You, my Volumnius, since you have both begun it and see that it is pleasing to me, write to me as often as possible about urban affairs and about the republic.
iucundus est mihi sermo litterarum tuarum.
The discourse of your letter is pleasant to me.
praeterea Dolabellam, quem ego perspicio et iudico cupidissimum esse atque amantissimum mei, cohortare et confirma et redde plane meum, non me hercule quo quicquam desit; sed quàa valde ei cupio, non videor nimium laborare.
Furthermore, encourage and confirm Dolabella, whom I perceive and judge to be most eager and affectionate toward me, and make him completely mine, not, by Hercules, because anything is lacking; but because I am so eager for him, I do not seem to trouble myself too much.