§7.2.5redeo ad rem.
I return to the subject.
quo modo exspectabam epistulam quam Philoxeno dedisses! scripseras enim in ea esse de sermone Pompei Neapolitano.
How I was looking forward to the letter you had given to Philoxenus! For you had written that in it there was an account of Pompey's conversation at Neapolis.
eam mihi Patron Brundisi reddidit; Corcyrae, ut opinor, acceperat.
Patron delivered it to me at Brundisium; he had received it, I think, at Corcyra.
nihil potuit esse iucundius.
Nothing could have been more delightful.
erat enim de re publica, de opinione quam is vir haberet integritatis meae, de benevolentia quam ostendit eo sermone quem habuit de triumpho.
For it was about the republic, about the opinion that man held of my integrity, and about the goodwill he showed in that speech which he made concerning my triumph.
sed tamen hoc iucundissimum quod intellexi te ad eum venisse ut eius animum erga me perspiceres.
But yet this was the most delightful thing, that I understood you had gone to him in order to perceive his feelings toward me.
hoc mihi, inquam, accidit iucundissimum.
This, I say, happened to be most delightful to me.
§7.2.6de triumpho autem nulla me cupiditas umquam tenuit ante Bibuli impudentissimas litteras quas amplissime supplicatio consecuta est.
As for the triumph, however, no desire ever possessed me before Bibulus's most shameless letter, which was followed by a most ample thanksgiving.
a quo si ea gesta essent quae scripsit, gauderem et honori faverem; nunc illum qui pedem porta quoad hostis cis Euphratem fuit non extulerit honore augeri, me in cuius exercitu spem illius exercitus habuit idem non adsequi dedecus est nostrum, nostrum, inquam, te coniungens.
If those things had been achieved by him which he wrote, I should rejoice and favor his honor; as it is, that he who did not set foot out of the gate as long as the enemy was on this side of the Euphrates should be increased with honor, while I, in whose army that same man had the hope of his own army, should not attain it, is a disgrace to us—to us, I say, joining you with myself.
itaque omnia experiar et, ut spero, adsequar.
Therefore, I will try everything and, as I hope, I will attain it.
quod si tu valeres, iam mihi quaedam explorata essent; sed, ut spero, valebis.
But if you were well, some things would already have been ascertained by me; but, as I hope, you will be well.
§7.2.7de raudusculo Numeriano multum te amo.
As to the small debt of Numerianus, I am very grateful to you.
Hortensius quid egerit aveo scire, Cato quid agat; qui quidem in me turpiter fuit malevolus.
I am eager to know what Hortensius has done, and what Cato is doing; who indeed was shamefully malevolent toward me.
dedit integritatis, iustitiae, clementiae, fidei mihi testimonium quod non quaerebam; quod postulabam id negavit.
He gave me a testimony of integrity, justice, clemency, and fidelity which I was not seeking; what I was demanding, he denied.
itaque Caesar iis litteris quibus mihi gratulatur et omnia pollicetur quo modo exsultat Catonis in me ingratissimi iniuria! at hic idem Bibulo dierum xx.
Therefore, how Caesar, in that letter in which he congratulates me and promises everything, exults in the injury done to me by Cato, the most ungrateful of men! Yet this same man granted Bibulus twenty days of thanksgiving.
ignosce mihi; non possum haec ferre nec feram.
Forgive me; I cannot bear these things, nor will I bear them.
§7.2.8cupio ad omnis tuas epistulas, sed nihil necesse est; iam enim te videbo.
I desire to reply to all your letters, but there is no need; for I shall see you soon.
illud tamen de Chrysippo— nam de altero illo minus sum admiratus, operario homine; sed tamen ne illo quidem quicquam improbius.
However, regarding that matter of Chrysippus—for I was less surprised about that other one, a mere laborer; yet even than him nothing is more wicked.
Chrysippum vero quem ego propter litterularum nescio quid libenter vidi, in honore habui discedere a puero insciente me! mitto alia quae audio multa, mitto furta; fugam non fero qua mihi nihil visum est sceleratius.
But that Chrysippus, whom I gladly saw and held in honor because of some slight literary capability, should depart from my boy without my knowledge! I pass over many other things I hear, I pass over thefts; his flight I cannot bear, than which nothing has seemed to me more criminal.
itaque usurpavi vetus illud Drusi, ut ferunt, praetoris in eo qui eadem liber non iuraret, me istos liberos non addixisse, praesertim cum adesset nemo a quo recte vindicarentur.
Therefore, I made use of that old saying of the praetor Drusus, as they say, regarding a man who, when free, would not swear to the same terms: that I did not adjudge those men to be free (or my children), especially since there was no one present by whom they could be properly claimed.
id tu, ut videbitur, ita accipies; ego tibi adsentiar.
You will take this as it seems good to you; I shall agree with you.
uni tuae disertissimae epistulae non rescripsi in qua est de periculis rei publicae.
I did not reply to that one most eloquent letter of yours in which you wrote of the dangers of the republic.
quid rescriberem? valde eram perturbatus.
What was I to reply? I was greatly disturbed.
sed ut nihil magno opere metuam Parthi faciunt qui repente Bibulum semivivum reliquerunt.
But the Parthians make me fear nothing very much, who suddenly left Bibulus half-dead.