§2.1.7quin etiam si mihi nemo invideret, si omnes, ut erat aequum, faverent, tamen non minus esset probanda medicina quae sanaret vitiosas partis rei publicae quam quae exsecaret.
Nay, even if no one envied me, if all, as was fair, favored me, yet a medicine which heals the diseased parts of the republic would be no less to be approved than one which cuts them out.
nunc vero, quom equitatus ille quem ego in clivo Capitolino te signifero ac principe conlocaram senatum deseruerit, nostri autem principes digito se caelum putent attingere si mulli barbati in piscinis sint qui ad manum accedant, alia autem neglegant, nonne tibi satis prodesse videor si perficio ut nolint obesse qui possunt?
But as it is, since that equestrian order which I had stationed on the Capitoline hill, with you as standard-bearer and leader, has deserted the senate, and our leading men think they touch heaven with their finger if there are bearded mullets in their fishponds that come to their hand, while they neglect other things, do I not seem to you to do enough good if I bring it about that those who are able to do harm do not wish to?
§2.1.8nam Catonem nostrum non tu amas plus quam ego; sed tamen ille optimo animo utens et summa fide nocet interdum rei publicae; dicit enim tamquam in Platonis πολιτείᾳ, non tamquam in Romuli faece sententiam.
For you do not love our Cato more than I do; but yet, though possessing the best intentions and the highest integrity, he sometimes harms the republic; for he speaks his opinion as if he were in Plato's Republic, not as if in the dregs of Romulus.
quid verius quam in iudicium venire qui ob rem iudicandam pecuniam acceperit? censuit hoc Cato, adsensit senatus; equites curiae bellum, non mihi; nam ego dissensi.
What is more just than that he who has received money for giving a verdict should be brought to trial? Cato proposed this, the senate agreed; the knights declared war on the senate-house, not on me; for I disagreed.
quid impudentius publicanis renuntiantibus? fuit tamen retinendi ordinis causa facienda iactura.
What is more shameless than the tax-farmers repudiating their contract? Yet, for the sake of retaining that order, the sacrifice ought to have been made.
restitit et pervicit Cato.
Cato resisted and prevailed.
itaque nunc consule in carcere incluso, saepe item seditione commota, aspiravit nemo eorum quorum ego concursu itemque ii consules qui post me fuerunt rem publicam defendere solebant.
And so now, though the consul has been shut up in prison, and mutiny has likewise often been stirred up, not one of those has shown any interest, by whose rallying I and those consuls who succeeded me were accustomed to defend the republic.
"quid ergo? istos"
inquies
"mercede conductos habebimus?"
quid faciemus, si aliter non possumus? an libertinis atque etiam servis serviamus? sed, ut tu ais, ἅλισ σπουδῆσ.
"What then? Shall we keep them," you will say, "as mercenaries?" What shall we do, if we cannot do otherwise? Should we be slaves to freedmen and even to slaves? But, as you say, enough of seriousness.
§2.1.9Favonius meam tribum tulit honestius quam suam, Luccei perdidit.
Favonius won my tribe more respectably than his own; he lost that of Lucceius.
accusavit Nasicam inhoneste ac modeste tamen; dixit ita ut Rhodi videretur molis potius quam Moloni operam dedisse.
He prosecuted Nasica discreditably, yet with moderation; he spoke in such a way that he seemed to have applied himself at Rhodes to mills rather than to Molo.
mihi quod defendissem leviter suscensuit.
He was slightly angry with me because I had defended him.
nunc tamen petit iterum rei publicae causa.
Now, however, he is standing again for office for the sake of the republic.
Lucceius quid agat scribam ad te cum Caesarem videro, qui aderit biduo.
What Lucceius is doing, I will write to you when I see Caesar, who will be here in two days.
§2.1.10quod Sicyonii te laedunt, Catoni et eius aemulatori attribuis Servilio.
As to the Sicyonians doing you harm, you attribute it to Cato and to his imitator, Servilius.
quid? ea plaga nonne ad multos bonos viros pertinet? sed si ita placuit, laudemus, deinde in dissensionibus soli relinquamur?
What? Does not that blow affect many good men? But if it has pleased them so, let us praise it; and then, in our disagreements, shall we be left alone?
§2.1.11Amalthea mea te exspectat et indiget tui.
My Amalthea expects you and is in need of you.
Tusculanum et Pompeianum valde me delectant, nisi quod me, illum ipsum vindicem aeris alieni, aere non Corinthio sed hoc circumforaneo obruerunt.
My Tusculan and Pompeian estates delight me greatly, except that they have overwhelmed me—the very champion of debt—not with Corinthian bronze, but with this common market-debt.
in Gallia speramus esse otium.
In Gaul we hope there is peace.
Prognostica mea cum oratiunculis prope diem exspecta et tamen quid cogites de adventu tuo scribe ad nos.
Expect my "Prognostica" with some short speeches very soon, and yet write to us what you think about your arrival.
nam mihi Pomponia nuntiari iussit te mense Quintili Romae fore.
For Pomponia ordered me to be informed that you would be in Rome in the month of July.
id a tuis litteris quas ad me de censu tuo miseras discrepabat.
That differed from your letter which you had sent to me about your census.
§2.1.12Paetus, ut antea ad te scripsi, omnis libros quos frater suus reliquisset mihi donavit.
Paetus, as I wrote to you before, has given me all the books which his brother had left.
hoc illius munus in tua diligentia positum est.
This gift of his depends on your diligence.
si me amas, cura ut conserventur et ad me perferantur; hoc mihi nihil potest esse gratius.
If you love me, take care that they are preserved and brought to me; nothing can be more pleasing to me than this.
et cum Graecos tum vero diligenter Latinos ut conserves velim.
I would like you to preserve both the Greek and, most diligently indeed, the Latin ones.
tuum esse hoc munusculum putabo.
I shall consider this little gift to be yours.
ad Octavium dedi litteras; cum ipso nihil eram locutus; neque enim ista tua negotia provincialia esse putabam neque te in tocullionibus habebam.
I sent a letter to Octavius; I had not spoken with the man himself; for I did not think those provincial businesses of yours were of that nature, nor did I reckon you among the petty usurers.
sed scripsi, ut debui, diligenter.
But I wrote, as I ought, diligently.