§9.21.1ain tandem? insanire tibi videris, quod imitere verborum meorum, ut scribis, 'fulmina'? tum insanires, si consequi non posses; cum vero etiam vincas; me prius inrideas quam te oportet.
Is that so, indeed? Do you seem to yourself to be mad because, as you write, you imitate the 'thunderbolts' of my words? You would indeed be mad then, if you could not achieve it; but since you even surpass me, you ought to laugh at me before yourself.
qua re nihil tibi opus est illud a Trabea, sed potius a)po/teugma meum.
Wherefore you have no need of that saying from Trabea, but rather my 'apoteugma' (failure).
verum tamen quid tibi ego videor in epistulis? nonne plebeio sermone agere tecum? nec enim semper eodem modo.
But yet, how do I seem to you in my letters? Do I not converse with you in everyday speech? For we do not always speak in the same manner.
quid enim simile habet epistula aut iudicio aut contioni? quin ipsa iudicia non solemus omnia tractare uno modo.
For what similarity does a letter have either to a trial or to a public assembly? Indeed, we are not accustomed to treat even trials themselves all in one way.
privatas causas et eas tenuis agimus subtilius, capitis aut famae scilicet ornatius; epistulas vero cotidianis verbis texere solemus.
Private cases, and those of minor importance, we plead more plainly; those of life or of reputation, obviously, more ornately; but letters we are accustomed to weave with everyday words.
§9.21.2sed tamen, mi Paete, qui tibi venit in mentem negare Papirium quemquam umquam nisi plebeium fuisse? fuerunt enim patricii minorum gentium, quorum princeps L. Papirius Mugillanus, qui censor cum L. Sempronio Atratino fuit, cum ante consui cum eodem fuisset, annis post R. c. cccxii; sed tum Papisii dicebamini.
But yet, my Paetus, how did it come into your mind to deny that any Papirius was ever anything but a plebeian? For there were patricians of the lesser clans, of whom the chief was L. Papirius Mugillanus, who was censor with L. Sempronius Atratino, after he had previously been consul with the same man, 312 years after the founding of Rome; but at that time you were called Papisii.
post hunc xiii fuerunt sella curuli ante L. Papirium Crassum, qui primum Papisius est vocari desitus.
After him, there were thirteen who held the curule chair before L. Papirius Crassum, who was the first to cease to be called Papisius.
is dictator cum L. Papirio Cursore magistro equitum factus est annis post Romam conditam ccccxv et quadriennio post consui cum K. Duilio.
He was made dictator with L. Papirius Cursor as master of the horse 415 years after the founding of Rome, and four years later consul with Keso Duilius.
hunc secutus est Cursor, homo valde honoratus; deinde L. Masso aedilicius; inde multi Massones.
Him followed Cursor, a man highly honored; then L. Masso, of aedile rank; then many Massones.
quorum quidem tu omnium patriciorum imagines habeas volo.
I wish that you have the portrait-masks of all these patricians.
deinde Carbones et Turdi insequuntur.
Then follow the Carbones and the Turdi.
§9.21.3hi plebeii fuerunt; quos contemnas censeo; nam praeter hunc C. Carbonem, quem Damasippus occidit, civis e re p. Carbonum nemo fuit.
These were plebeians, whom I think you should despise; for except for this Gaius Carbo, whom Damasippus killed, no one of the Carbones was a citizen of advantage to the republic.
cognovimus Cn. Carbonem et eius fratrem scurram; quid iis improbius? de hoc amico meo, Rubriae filio, nihil dico.
We knew Gnaeus Carbo and his brother, the buffoon; what could be more wicked than them? Of this friend of mine, the son of Rubria, I say nothing.
tres illi fratres fuerunt, C., Cn. , M. Carbones.
Those three brothers were Gaius, Gnaeus, and Marcus Carbo.
Marcus P. Flacco accusante condemnatus, fur magnus, ex Sicilia; Gaius accusante L. Crasso cantharidas sumpsisse dicitur.
Marcus, condemned on the accusation of Publius Flaccus, was a great thief from Sicily; Gaius, on the accusation of Lucius Crassus, is said to have taken Spanish fly.
is et tr. pl. seditiosus et P. Africano vim attulisse existimatus est.
He was both a seditious tribune of the plebs and was thought to have brought violence upon Publius Africanus.
hoc vero, qui Lilybaei a Pompeio nostro est interfectus, improbior nemo meo iudicio fuit.
But than this one, who was killed at Lilybaeum by our Pompey, in my judgment no one was more wicked.
iam pater eius accusatus a M. Antonio sutorio atramento absolutus putatur.
Furthermore, his father, accused by Marcus Antonius, is thought to have been acquitted by means of shoemaker's black.
qua re ad patres censeo revertare; plebeii quam fuerint importum vides.
Therefore, I think you should return to your ancestors; you see how troublesome the plebeians were.