§4.18.1* * * †nunc ut opinionem habeas rerum†, ferendum est.
* * * †nunc ut opinionem habeas rerum†, ferendum is.
quaeris ego me ut gesserim.
You ask how I behaved myself.
constanter et libere.
With firmness and freedom.
"quid? ille"
inquies
"ut ferebat?"
humaniter meaeque dignitatis quoad mihi satis factum esset habendam sibi rationem putabat.
"What? How did he," you will say, "bear it?" Courteously; and he thought he ought to have regard to my dignity as far as satisfaction should be made to me.
quo modo ergo absolutus? omnino †πορπαπυμνα†.
How then was he acquitted? Entirely †πορπαπυμνα†.
accusatorum incredibilis infantia, id est L. Lentuli L. f.
The incredible incompetence of the accusers, that is, of L.
, quem fremunt omnes praevaricatum, deinde Pompei mira contentio, iudicum sordes.
Lentulus, son of Lucius, whom everyone mutters to have colluded, then the remarkable exertion of Pompey, the corruption of the judges.
ac tamen xxxii condemnarunt xxxviii absolverunt.
And yet thirty-two condemned, thirty-eight acquitted.
iudicia reliqua impendent.
The remaining trials are hanging over.
§4.18.2nondum est plane expeditus.
He is not yet completely out of trouble.
dices
"tu ergo haec quo modo fers?"
belle me hercule et in eo me valde amo.
You will say, "How then do you bear these things?" Very well, by Hercules, and in that I love myself exceedingly.
amisimus, mi Pomponi, omnem non modo sucum ac sanguinem sed etiam colorem et speciem pristinam civitatis.
We have lost, my Pomponius, not only all the sap and blood but even the former color and appearance of our state.
nulla est res publica quae delectet, in qua acquiescam.
There is no republic that can delight me, in which I may find rest.
"idne igitur"
inquies
"facile fers?"
id ipsum; recordor enim quam bella paulisper nobis gubernantibus civitas fuerit, quae mihi gratia relata sit.
"Do you then," you will say, "bear that easily?" That very thing; for I remember how beautiful the state was for a little while when we were at the helm, and what gratitude was returned to me.
nullus dolor me angit unum omnia posse; dirumpuntur ii qui me aliquid posse doluerunt.
No pain vexes me that one man can do all things; those are bursting who were pained that I could do anything.
multa mihi dant solacia, nec tamen ego de meo statu demigro, quaeque vita maxime est ad naturam ad eam me refero, ad litteras et studia nostra.
Many things give me consolation, and yet I do not depart from my own standing, and to that life which is most according to nature I refer myself, to our letters and studies.
dicendi laborem delectatione oratoria consolor; domus me et rura nostra delectant; non recordor unde ceciderim sed unde surrexerim.
I console the labor of speaking with oratorical delight; my house and our country seats delight me; I do not remember whence I fell but whence I rose.
fratrem mecum et te si habebo, per me isti pedibus trahantur; vobis ἐμφιλοσοφῆσαι possum.
If I have my brother with me and you, as far as I am concerned, let those fellows be dragged by the feet; I can philosophize (ἐμφιλοσοφῆσαι) with you.
locus ille animi nostri stomachus ubi habitabat olim concalluit; privata modo et domestica nos delectant.
That place of our mind where anger used to dwell has grown hard; only private and domestic things delight us.
miram securitatem videbis; cuius plurimae me hercule partes sunt in tuo reditu; nemo enim in terris est mihi tam consentientibus sensibus.
You will see an amazing security; of which by Hercules the largest part lies in your return; for there is no one on earth whose feelings are in such harmony with mine.
§4.18.3sed accipe alia.
But receive other news.
res fluit ad interregnum, et est non nullus odor dictaturae, sermo quidem multus; qui etiam Gabinium apud timidos iudices adiuvit.
Things are drifting toward an interregnum, and there is some scent of a dictatorship, indeed much talk; which even helped Gabinius before the timid judges.
candidati consulares omnes rei ambitus.
The consular candidates are all on trial for bribery.
accedit etiam Gabinius;
Gabinius also is added; whom P.
quem P. Sulla non dubitans quin foris esset postularat contra dicente et nihil obtinente Torquato.
Sulla, not doubting that he would be found guilty, had prosecuted, while Torquatus spoke against it and obtained nothing.
sed omnes absolventur nec posthac quisquam damnabitur nisi qui hominem occiderit.
But all will be acquitted, nor will anyone hereafter be condemned except for murder.
hoc tamen agitur severius, itaque iudicia calent.
This, however, is prosecuted more severely, and so the courts are hot.
M. Fulvius Nobilior condemnatus est;
M.
multi alii urbani ne respondent quidem.
Fulvius Nobilior has been condemned; many other citizens do not even answer to their names.
§4.18.4quid aliud novi? etiam.
What else is new? Oh yes.
absoluto Gabinio stomachantes alii iudices hora post Antiochum Gabinium nescio quem e Sopolidis pictoribus libertum, accensum Gabini, lege Papia condemnarunt.
When Gabinius was acquitted, other judges, being annoyed, an hour later condemned under the Papian law a certain Antiochus Gabinius, a freedman of Sopolis the painter, an attendant of Gabinius.
itaque dixit statim †resp. lege maiestatis ουσοιμρισαμαφιηι†.
Therefore, he immediately said †resp. lege maiestatis ουσοιμρισαμαφιηι†.
Pomptinus vult a. d. iiii Non. Novembr. triumphare.
Pomptinus wishes to triumph on the 4th day before the Nones of November.
huic obviam Cato et Servilius praetores ad portam et Q. Mucius tribunus.
Cato and Servilius, the praetors, meet him at the gate, and Q. Mucius, the tribune.
negant enim latum de imperio, et est latum hercule insulse.
For they deny that the law concerning his command was passed, and indeed, by Hercules, it was proposed foolishly.
sed erit cum Pomptino Appius consul.
But the consul Appius will be with Pomptinus.
Cato tamen adfirmat se vivo illum non triumphaturum.
Cato, however, declares that while he lives, that man shall not triumph.
id ego puto ut multa eiusdem ad nihilum recasurum.
I think this, like many of his sayings, will come to nothing.
Appius sine lege suo sumptu in Ciliciam cogitat.
Appius is planning to go to Cilicia without any law and at his own expense.
§4.18.5a Quinto fratre et a Caesare accepi a. d. viiii Kal. Nov. xvii litteras datas a litoribus Britanniae proximis a. d. vi Kal. Octobr.
From my brother Quintus and from Caesar, I received on the 9th day before the Kalends of November, seventeen letters (or a letter on the 17th day) dispatched from the nearest shores of Britain on the 6th day before the Kalends of October.
confecta Britannia, obsidibus acceptis, nulla praeda, imperata tamen pecunia exercitum ex Britannia reportabant.
Britain having been subdued, hostages received, and no booty, though money was imposed, they were bringing back the army from Britain.
Q. Pilius erat iam ad Caesarem profectus.
Q. Pilius had already set out to Caesar.
tu, si aut amor in te est nostri ac tuorum aut ulla veritas aut etiam si sapis ac frui tuis commodis cogitas, adventare et prope adesse iam debes.
You, if there is in you any love for us and yours, or any truth, or even if you are wise and think to enjoy your advantages, ought to be arriving and almost here by now.
non me hercule aequo animo te careo; te autem quid mirum, qui Dionysium tanto opere desiderem? quem quidem abs te cum dies venerit et ego et Cicero meus flagitabit.
By Hercules, I do not bear your absence with an easy mind; and what wonder, when I miss Dionysius so much? Whom indeed both I and my Cicero will demand of you when the day comes.
abs te proximas litteras habebam Epheso a. d. v Idus Sextil. datas.
My last letter from you was dated at Ephesus on the 5th day before the Ides of August.