§1.14.1vereor ne putidum sit scribere ad te quam sim occupatus, sed tamen ita distinebar ut huic vix tantulae epistulae tempus habuerim atque id ereptum e summis occupationibus.
I fear it may be offensive to write to you how busy I am, but yet I was so distracted that I have had scarcely any time for this so small a letter, and even that was snatched from my utmost occupations.
prima contio Pompei qualis fuisset scripsi ad te antea, non iucunda miseris, inanis improbis, beatis non grata, bonis non gravis; itaque frigebat.
What Pompey's first public speech was like, I wrote to you before: not pleasing to the poor, empty to the wicked, not acceptable to the rich, not grave to the good; and therefore it fell flat.
tum Pisonis consulis impulsu levissimus tribunus pl. Fufius in contionem producit Pompeium.
Then, at the instigation of the consul Piso, the most trifling tribune of the plebs, Fufius, brought Pompey forward to a public meeting.
res agebatur in circo Flaminio et erat in eo ipso loco illo die nundinarum πανήγυρισ.
The matter was conducted in the Circus Flaminius, and on that very day, in that very place, there was a market-day assembly.
quaesivit ex eo placeretne ei iudices a praetore legi, quo consilio idem praetor uteretur.
He asked him whether he approved of the judges being chosen by the praetor, which counsel the same praetor would use.
id autem erat de Clodiana religione ab senatu constitutum.
Now this was what had been decided by the Senate regarding the Clodian sacrilege.
§1.14.2tum Pompeius μάλ' ἀριστοκρατικῶσ locutus est senatusque auctoritatem sibi omnibus in rebus maximam videri semperque visam esse respondit et id multis verbis.
Then Pompey spoke in a highly aristocratic manner and replied, and that in many words, that the authority of the Senate seemed to him of the greatest weight in all things and had always seemed so.
postea Messalla consul in senatu de Pompeio quaesivit quid de religione et de promulgata rogatione sentiret.
Afterwards, the consul Messalla asked Pompey in the Senate what he thought about the sacrilege and about the promulgated bill.
locutus ita est in senatu ut omnia illius ordinis consulta γενικῶσ laudaret mihique, ut adsedit, dixit se putare satis ab se etiam
"de istis rebus"
esse responsum. §1.14.3Crassus, postea quam vidit illum excepisse laudem ex eo quod †hi† suspicarentur homines ei consulatum meum placere, surrexit ornatissimeque de meo consulatu locutus est, ut ita diceret, se quod esset senator, quod civis, quod liber, quod viveret, mihi acceptum referre; quotiens coniugem, quotiens domum, quotiens patriam videret, totiens se beneficium meum videre.
He spoke in the Senate in such a way that he praised all the decrees of that order in general terms, and as he sat down next to me, he told me that he thought he had answered sufficiently, even "concerning those matters of yours." Crassus, after he saw that Pompey had received praise from the fact that people suspected that he was pleased with my consulship, stood up and spoke of my consulship in the most ornate manner, so that he said that he owed it to me that he was a senator, that he was a citizen, that he was free, and that he lived; as often as he saw his wife, as often as his home, as often as his country, so often did he see my benefit.
quid multa? totum hunc locum quem ego varie meis orationibus, quarum tu Aristarchus es, soleo pingere, de flamma, de ferro (nosti illas ληκύθουσ), valde graviter pertexuit.
To be brief? This whole locus, which I am accustomed to paint in various ways in my speeches, of which you are the Aristarchus, concerning the flame, concerning the sword (you know those paint-pots of mine), he wove together very gravely.
proximus Pompeium sedebam.
I was sitting next to Pompey.
intellexi hominem moveri Crassum inire eam gratiam quam ipse praetermisisset, an esse tantas res nostras quae tam libenti senatu laudarentur, ab eo praesertim qui mihi laudem illam eo minus deberet quod meis omnibus litteris in Pompeiana laude perstrictus esset.
I understood that the man was moved that Crassus was entering into that favor which he himself had neglected, or that our deeds were so great that they were praised by so willing a Senate, especially by one who owed me that praise so much the less because he had been criticized in all my letters during the praise of Pompey.
§1.14.4hic dies me valde Crasso adiunxit, et tamen ab illo aperte tecte quicquid est datum, libenter accepi.
This day closely attached me to Crassus, and yet I gladly accepted whatever was given by him, whether openly or covertly.
ego autem ipse, di boni! quo modo ἐνεπερπερευσάμην novo auditori Pompeio! si umquam mihi περίοδοι, si καμπαὶ, ἐνθυμήματα, si κατασκευαὶ suppeditaverunt, illo tempore.
But as for myself, good gods! how I showed off before Pompey, my new auditor! If ever periods, if turns, if enthymemes, if constructions supplied me, it was at that time.
quid multa? clamores.
To be brief? Loud applause.
etenim haec erat ὑπόθεσισ, de gravitate ordinis, de equestri concordia, de consensione Italiae, de intermortuis reliquiis coniurationis, de vilitate, de otio.
For indeed this was the theme: concerning the gravity of the order, the equestrian concord, the unanimity of Italy, the dying embers of the conspiracy, the cheapness of provisions, and peace.
nosti iam in hac materia sonitus nostros.
You already know my thunders on this material.
tanti fuerunt ut ego eo brevior sim quod eos usque istinc exauditos putem.
They were so great that I am the briefer because I think they were heard all the way from where you are.