§1.19.1non modo si mihi tantum esset oti quantum est tibi, verum etiam si tam brevis epistulas vellem mittere quam tu soles, facile te superarem et in scribendo multo essem crebrior quam tu.
Not only if I had as much leisure as you have, but even if I were willing to send such brief letters as you usually do, I should easily surpass you and be much more frequent than you in writing.
sed ad summas atque incredibilis occupationes meas accedit quod nullam a me volo epistulam ad te absque argumento ac sententia pervenire.
But to my supreme and incredible occupations is added the fact that I wish no letter from me to reach you without a subject and solid thought.
et primum tibi, ut aequum est civi amanti patriam, quae sint in re publica exponam; deinde quoniam tibi amore nos proximi sumus, scribemus etiam de nobis ea quae scire te non nolle arbitramur.
And first I will explain to you, as is fitting for a citizen who loves his country, what is going on in the republic; then, since we are nearest to you in affection, we shall write also about ourselves those things which we think you would not be unwilling to know.
§1.19.2atque in re publica nunc quidem maxime Gallici belli versatur metus.
And in the republic now, indeed, the fear of a Gallic war is chiefly occupying minds.
nam Haedui fratres nostri pugnam nuper malam pugnarunt et Helvetii sine dubio sunt in armis excursionesque in provinciam faciunt.
For the Haedui, our brothers, recently fought an unsuccessful battle, and the Helvetii are undoubtedly in arms and making incursions into the province.
senatus decrevit ut consules duas Gallias sortirentur, dilectus haberetur, vacationes ne valerent, legati cum auctoritate mitterentur qui adirent Galliae civitates darentque operam ne eae se cum Helvetiis coniungerent.
The senate decreed that the consuls should draw lots for the two Gauls, a levy should be held, exemptions should not be valid, and ambassadors with authority should be sent to go to the states of Gaul and take care that they should not join themselves with the Helvetii.
legati sunt Q. Metellus Creticus et L. Flaccus et, τὸ, Lentulus Clodiani filius.
The ambassadors are Q. Metellus Creticus, L. Flaccus, and—to wit—Lentulus, the son of Clodianus.
§1.19.3atque hoc loco illud non queo praeterire, quod cum de consularibus mea prima sors exisset, una voce senatus frequens retinendum me in urbe censuit.
And at this point I cannot pass over the fact that, when my lot had come out first among the consulars, a crowded senate with one voice voted that I should be retained in the city.
hoc idem post me Pompeio accidit, ut nos duo quasi pignora rei publicae retineri videremur.
This same thing happened to Pompey after me, so that we two seemed to be retained as if they were pledges of the republic.
quid enim ego aliorum in me ἐπιφωνήματα exspectem cum haec domi nascantur?
For why should I expect the acclamations of others toward me when these are produced at home?
§1.19.4urbanae autem res sic se habent.
But domestic affairs are in this state.
agraria lex a Flavio tribuno pl. vehementer agitabatur auctore Pompeio; quae nihil populare habebat praeter auctorem.
An agrarian law was being vigorously pushed by the tribune of the plebs Flavius, with Pompey as its promoter; which had nothing popular about it except its promoter.
ex hac ego lege secunda contionis voluntate omnia illa tollebam quae ad privatorum incommodum pertinebant, liberabam agrum eum qui P. Mucio, L. Calpurnio consulibus publicus fuisset, Sullanorum hominum possessiones confirmabam, Volaterranos et Arretinos, quorum agrum Sulla publicarat neque diviserat, in sua possessione retinebam; unam rationem non reiciebam, ut ager hac adventicia pecunia emeretur, quae ex novis vectigalibus per quinquennium reciperetur.
From this law, with the favorable goodwill of the public assembly, I removed all those things which pertained to the disadvantage of private citizens; I freed that land which had been public land in the consulship of P. Mucius and L. Calpurnius; I confirmed the possessions of Sulla's men; I retained in their possession the people of Volaterrae and Arretium, whose land Sulla had confiscated but had not distributed; I did not reject one scheme, namely, that land should be bought with this external money which was to be received from the new taxes over five years.
huic toti rationi agrariae senatus adversabatur suspicans Pompeio novam quandam potentiam quaeri; Pompeius vero ad voluntatem perferendae legis incubuerat.
The senate opposed this whole agrarian scheme, suspecting that some new power was being sought for Pompey; Pompey, however, had bent his efforts towards the desire of passing the law.
ego autem magna cum agrariorum gratia confirmabam omnium privatorum possessiones; is enim est noster exercitus hominum, ut tute scis, locupletium; populo autem et Pompeio (nam id quoque volebam) satis faciebam emptione, qua constituta diligenter et sentinam urbis exhauriri et Italiae solitudinem frequentari posse arbitrabar.
But I, to the great gratitude of the landholders, was confirming the possessions of all private individuals; for that is our army of rich men, as you yourself know; on the other hand, I was satisfying the people and Pompey (for I wished that too) by the purchase, by which, if carefully established, I thought both the dregs of the city could be drained off and the desolation of Italy could be populated.
sed haec tota res interpellata bello refrixerat.
But this entire matter, interrupted by the war, had grown cold.
Metellus est consul sane bonus et nos admodum diligit; ille alter nihil ita est ut plane quid emerit nesciat.
Metellus is indeed a good consul and loves us quite a bit; that other one is so completely nothing that he clearly does not know what he has bought.
§1.19.5haec sunt in re publica, nisi etiam illud ad rem publicam putas pertinere, Herennium quendam tribunum pl. , tribulem tuum sane hominem nequam atque egentem, saepe iam de P. Clodio ad plebem traducendo agere coepisse.
These are the things in the republic, unless indeed you think that this also pertains to the republic, that a certain Herennius, a tribune of the plebs, your fellow tribesman, indeed a worthless and needy fellow, has already often begun to bring up the matter of transferring P. Clodius to the plebs.
huic frequenter interceditur.
He is frequently vetoed.
haec sunt, ut opinor, in re publica.
These, I think, are the things in the republic.
§1.19.6ego autem, ut semel Nonarum illarum Decembrium iunctam invidia ac multorum inimicitiis eximiam quandam atque immortalem gloriam consecutus sum, non destiti eadem animi magnitudine in re publica versari et illam institutam ac susceptam dignitatem tueri, sed postea quam primum Clodi absolutione levitatem infirmitatemque iudiciorum perspexi, deinde vidi nostros publicanos facile a senatu diiungi, quamquam a me ipso non divellerentur, tum autem beatos homines, hos piscinarios dico amicos tuos, non obscure nobis invidere, putavi mihi maiores quasdam opes et firmiora praesidia esse quaerenda.
But I, ever since I once attained that extraordinary and immortal glory of those Nones of December, which was joined with envy and the hostility of many, have not ceased to act in the republic with the same greatness of soul and to maintain that dignity which I had established and undertaken; but after I first perceived the levity and weakness of the courts by the acquittal of Clodius, then saw that our tax-farmers were easily alienated from the senate, though they were not torn away from me myself, and then that those wealthy men—I mean those fishpond-owners, your friends—envied us not obscurely, I thought that I must seek some greater resources and firmer protections.