§15.11.1Antium veni a. d. vi Idus.
\nI arrived at Antium on the sixth day before the Ides (June 8).
Bruto iucundus noster adventus.
Our arrival was pleasing to Brutus.
deinde multis audientibus, Servilia, Tertulla, Porcia, quaerere quid placeret.
Then, with many people listening, Servilia, Tertulla, and Porcia asked what should be done.
aderat etiam Favonius.
Favonius was also present.
ego quod eram meditatus in via suadere ut uteretur Asiatica curatione frumenti; nihil esse iam reliqui quod ageremus nisi ut salvus esset; in eo etiam ipsi rei publicae esse praesidium.
I advised him to accept the Asian commission for grain, which is what I had thought over on the road; (saying that) there was nothing left for us to do now except to keep him safe, and that in this lay the protection of the republic itself.
quam orationem cum ingressus essem, Cassius intervenit.
When I had entered upon this speech, Cassius arrived.
ego eadem illa repetivi.
I repeated those same points.
hoc loco fortibus sane oculis Cassius (Martem spirare diceres) se in Siciliam non iturum.
At this point Cassius, with truly fierce eyes (you would have said he was breathing Mars), said that he would not go to Sicily.
"egone ut beneficium accepissem contumeliam?"
"quid ergo agis?"
inquam.
"Was I to have accepted an insult as a favor?" "What are you going to do then?" I asked.
at ille in Achaiam se iturum.
But he said he would go to Achaea.
"quid tu"
inquam
"Brute?"
"Romam,"
inquit
"si tibi videtur.
"What about you, Brutus?" I asked.
"
"mihi vero minime; tuto enim non eris. "
"quid? si possem esse, placeretne?"
"atque ut omnino neque nunc neque ex praetura in provinciam ires;
"To Rome," he said, "if it seems good to you." "To me indeed by no means; for you will not be safe." "What?
sed auctor non sum ut te urbi committas. "
dicebam ea quae tibi profecto in mentem veniunt cur non esset tuto futurus.
If I could be safe, would you approve?" "And indeed that you should not go to a province at all, either now or after your praetorship; but I am not the one to advise you to trust yourself to the city." I was telling him those reasons which surely occur to your mind why he would not be safe.\n\nFrom there, in a long conversation, they complained, and Cassius especially, and they heavily accused Decimus and the lost opportunities.
§15.11.2multo inde sermone querebantur atque id quidem Cassius maxime, amissas occasiones Decimumque graviter accusabant. ego negabam oportere praeterita, adsentiebar tamen.
I said we ought not to dwell on the past, yet I agreed with them.
quomque ingressus essem dicere quid oportuisset, nec vero quicquam novi sed ea quae cotidie omnes, nec tamen illum locum attingerem, quemquam praeterea oportuisse tangi, sed senatum vocari, populum ardentem studio vehementius incitari, totam suscipi rem publicam, exclamat tua familiaris,
"hoc vero neminem umquam audivi!"
ego repressi.
And when I had begun to say what ought to have been done (not indeed anything new, but what everyone says every day), yet without touching on that topic, that anyone else ought to have been struck down, but rather that the Senate should have been convoked, the people burning with zeal more vehemently incited, and the whole state taken in hand, your friend (Servilia) exclaimed: "This indeed I have never heard anyone say!" I checked myself.
sed et Cassius mihi videbatur iturus (etenim Servilia pollicebatur se curaturam ut illa frumenti curatio de senatus consulto tolleretur), et noster cito deiectus est de illo inani sermone †velle esse† dixerat.
But both Cassius seemed to me about to go (for Servilia was promising that she would see to it that that grain-commission was removed from the decree of the Senate), and our friend (Brutus) was quickly broken off from that futile talk of "wanting to be [in Rome]" which he had expressed.
constituit igitur ut ludi absente se fierent suo nomine.
Therefore, he decided that the games should be held in his name during his absence.
proficisci autem mihi in Asiam videbatur ab Antio velle. §15.11.3ne multa, nihil me in illo a itinere praeter conscientiam meam delectavit.
Moreover, he seemed to me to want to set out for Asia from Antium.\n\nTo be brief, nothing delighted me on that journey except my own conscience.
non enim fuit committendum ut ille ex Italia prius quam a me conventus esset discederet.
For it was not to be allowed that he should depart from Italy before being met by me.
hoc dempto munere amoris atque offici sequebatur, ut mecum ipse,
"ἡ δεῦρ' ὁδόσ σοι τί δύναται νῦν, θεοπρόπε; "
prorsus dissolutum offendi navigium vel potius dissipatum.
This duty of love and obligation being removed, what followed was that I said to myself: "What does this journey hither avail thee now, prophet?" I found a ship utterly dissolved, or rather, scattered.
nihil consilio, nihil ratione, nihil ordine.
Nothing of plan, nothing of reason, nothing of order.
itaque etsi ne antea quidem dubitavi, tamen nunc eo minus evolare hinc idque quam primum,
"ubi nec Pelopidarum facta neque famam audiam. "
And so, although I did not doubt even before, yet now I am even less hesitant to fly away from here, and that as soon as possible, "where I shall hear neither of the deeds nor of the fame of the Pelopidae."\n\nAnd hey there!
§15.11.4et heus tu! ne forte sis nescius, Dolabella me sibi legavit a. d. iii Nonas.
Lest by chance you should be ignorant of it, Dolabella made me his legate on the third day before the Nones (June 3).
id mihi heri vesperi nuntiatum est.
This was announced to me yesterday evening.
votiva ne tibi quidem placebat; etenim erat absurdum, quae si stetisset res publica vovissem, ea me eversa illa vota dissolvere.
A votive legation did not please even you; for it was absurd that, when the republic was overturned, I should discharge those vows which I would have made if the republic had stood.
et habent, opinor, liberae legationes definitum tempus lege Iulia nec facile addi potest.
And, I think, free legations have a limited time by the Julian law, nor can it easily be extended.
aveo genus legationis ut, cum velis, introire exire liceat; quod nunc mihi additum est.
I desire a kind of legation where one is allowed to enter and leave whenever one wishes; which has now been granted to me.
bella est autem huius iuris quinquenni licentia.
Moreover, the freedom of this five-year right is beautiful.
quamquam quid de quinquennio cogitem? contrahi mihi negotium videtur.
Although why should I think about five years? My business seems to be contracting.
sed βλάσφημα mittamus.
But let us dismiss ill-omened words.