§14.17A.1etsi contentus eram, mi Dolabella, tua gloria satisque ex ea magnam laetitiam voluptatemque capiebam, tamen non possum non confiteri cumulari me maximo gaudio quod vulgo hominum opinio socium me ascribat tuis laudibus.
Although I was content, my dear Dolabella, with your glory and derived sufficient great joy and pleasure from it, yet I cannot help confessing that I am filled with the greatest joy because the opinion of the common people ascribes me as a partner to your praises.
neminem conveni (convenio autem cotidie plurimos. sunt enim permulti optimi viri qui valetudinis causa in haec loca veniant; praeterea ex municipiis frequentes necessarii mei) quin omnes;
I have met no one (and I meet very many every day; for there are very many excellent men who come to these places for the sake of their health, besides numerous close friends of mine from the municipia) but that they all, when they have extolled you to the heavens with the highest praises, immediately return the greatest thanks to me.
cum te summis laudibus ad caelum extulerunt, mihi continuo maximas gratias agant. negant enim se dubitare quin tu meis praeceptis et consiliis obtemperans praestantissimum te civem et singularem consulem praebeas.
For they say they do not doubt but that you, complying with my precepts and counsels, are showing yourself a most excellent citizen and an extraordinary consul.
§14.17A.2quibus ego quamquam verissime possum respondere te quae facias tuo iudicio et tua sponte facere nec cuiusquam egere consilio, tamen neque plane adsentior, ne imminuam tuam laudem si omnis a meis consiliis profecta videatur, neque valde nego.
Although I can answer them with the utmost truth that what you do, you do by your own judgment and of your own accord, and do not need anyone's counsel, yet I do not altogether agree—lest I should diminish your praise if it all seemed to have proceeded from my counsels—nor do I strongly deny it.
sum enim avidior etiam quam satis est gloriae.
For I am even more greedy for glory than is sufficient.
et tamen non alienum est dignitate tua, quod ipsi Agamemnoni regum regi fuit honestum, habere aliquem in consiliis capiendis Nestorem, mihi vero gloriosum te iuvenem consulem florere laudibus quasi alumnum disciplinae meae.
And yet it is not foreign to your dignity, as it was honorable for Agamemnon himself, the king of kings, to have some Nestor in making plans; and for me indeed it is glorious that you, a young consul, should flourish with praises as if a pupil of my training.
§14.17A.3L. quidem Caesar, cum ad eum aegrotum Neapolim venissem, quamquam erat oppressus totius corporis doloribus, tamen ante quam me plane salutavit,
"o mi Cicero"
inquit
"gratulor tibi cum tantum vales apud Dolabellam quantum si ego apud sororis filium valerem, iam salvi esse possemus.
Lucius Caesar indeed, when I had come to him while he was ill at Naples, although he was oppressed with pains in his whole body, yet before he fully greeted me, "O my Cicero," he said, "I congratulate you since you have as much influence with Dolabella as, if I had the same with my sister's son, we might now be safe.
Dolabellae vero tuo et gratulor et gratias ago, quem quidem post te consulem solum possumus vere consulem dicere. "
deinde multa de facto ac de re gesta tua; nihil magnificentius, nihil praeclarius actum umquam, nihil rei publicae salutarius.
To your Dolabella indeed I both congratulate and return thanks, whom indeed, after you, we can truly call the only consul." Then he said many things about your deed and achievement; that nothing more magnificent, nothing more illustrious had ever been done, nothing more salutary for the republic.
atque haec una vox omnium est.
And this is the single voice of all.
§14.17A.4a te autem peto ut me hanc quasi falsam hereditatem alienae gloriae sinas cernere meque aliqua ex parte in societatem tuarum laudum venire patiare.
But I ask of you that you allow me to accept this, as it were, false inheritance of another's glory, and permit me to enter to some extent into the partnership of your praises.
quamquam, mi Dolabella (haec enim iocatus sum), libentius omnis meas, si modo sunt aliquae meae laudes ad te transfuderim quam aliquam partem exhauserim ex tuis.
Although, my dear Dolabella (for I said this in jest), I would more gladly transfer all my own praises, if only there are any of mine, to you than exhaust any part of yours.
nam cum te semper tantum dilexerim quantum tu intellegere potuisti, tum his tuis factis sic incensus sum ut nihil umquam in amore fuerit ardentius.
For while I have always loved you as much as you could understand, yet by these deeds of yours I have been so inflamed that nothing was ever more ardent in love.
nihil est enim, mihi crede, virtute formosius, nihil pulchrius, nihil amabilius.
For there is nothing, believe me, more beautiful than virtue, nothing more lovely, nothing more amiable.
§14.17A.5semper amavi, ut scis, M. Brutum propter eius summum ingenium, suavissimos mores, singularem probitatem atque constantiam; tamen Idibus Martiis tantum accessit ad amorem ut mirarer locum fuisse augendi in eo quod mihi iam pridem cumulatum etiam videbatur.
I have always loved Marcus Brutus, as you know, because of his supreme talent, his sweetest manners, and his singular integrity and constancy; yet on the Ides of March so much was added to my love that I wondered there was room for increase in that which already seemed to me even filled to the brim.
quis erat qui putaret ad eum amorem quem erga te habebam posse aliquid accedere? tantum accessit ut mihi nunc denique amare videar, antea dilexisse.
Who was there who would think anything could be added to that love which I had toward you? So much has been added that I now seem to myself to love at last, whereas before I merely liked.
§14.17A.6qua re quid est quod ego te horter ut dignitati et gloriae servias? proponam tibi claros viros, quod facere solent qui hortantur? neminem habeo clariorem quam te ipsum.
Therefore, why is there any reason for me to exhort you to serve your dignity and glory? Shall I propose to you illustrious men, as those who exhort are accustomed to do? I have no one more illustrious than yourself.
te imitere oportet, tecum ipse certes.
You ought to imitate yourself, you must compete with yourself.
§14.17A.7ne licet quidem tibi iam tantis rebus gestis non tui similem esse.
It is not even permitted to you now, after such great achievements, not to be like yourself.
quod cum ita sit, hortatio non est necessaria, gratulatione magis utendum est.
Since this is so, exhortation is not necessary; congratulation must rather be used.
contigit enim tibi, quod haud scio an nemini, ut summa severitas animadversionis non modo non invidiosa sed etiam popularis esset et cum bonis omnibus tum infimo cuique gratissima.
For it has happened to you, which I do not know if to anyone else, that the utmost severity of punishment was not only not unpopular but even pleasing to the public, and most welcome both to all good men and to the very lowest.
hoc si tibi fortuna quadam contigisset, gratularer felicitati tuae, sed contigit magnitudine quom animi tum etiam ingeni atque consili.
If this had happened to you by some fortune, I would congratulate your good luck, but it happened by the greatness of your soul, and also of your talent and counsel.
legi enim contionem tuam.
For I read your speech to the assembly.
nihil illa sapientius.
Nothing was wiser than that.
ita pedetemptim et gradatim tum accessus a te ad causam facti, tum recessus, ut res ipsa maturitatem tibi animadvertendi omnium concessu daret.
Your approach to the cause of the deed and then your withdrawal from it were so gradual and step-by-step that the matter itself, by the consent of all, gave you the ripe opportunity for punishing.
§14.17A.8liberasti igitur et urbem periculo et civitatem metu neque solum ad tempus maximam utilitatem attulisti sed etiam ad exemplum.
You have therefore freed both the city from danger and the citizenry from fear, and you have brought not only a very great benefit for the present but also an example.
quo facto intellegere debes in te positam esse rem publicam tibique non modo tuendos sed etiam ornandos illos viros a quibus initium libertatis profectum est.
By this deed you ought to understand that the republic is placed in you, and that those men from whom the beginning of liberty proceeded must not only be protected but also honored by you.
sed his de rebus coram plura prope diem, ut spero.
But on these matters, more in person soon, as I hope.
tu quoniam rem publicam nosque conservas, fac ut diligentissime te ipsum, mi Dolabella, custodias.
Since you preserve the republic and us, make sure, my dear Dolabella, that you guard yourself most diligently.