§7.4.1Dionysium flagrantem desiderio tui misi ad te nec me hercule aequo animo, sed fuit concedendum.
I have sent Dionysius to you, burning with desire for you; and, by Hercules, not with an easy mind, but I had to yield.
quem quidem cognovi quom doctum, quod mihi iam ante erat notum tum sane plenum offici, studiosum etiam meae laudis, frugi hominem ac, ne libertinum laudare videar, plane virum bonum.
Indeed, I have found him to be not only learned (which was already known to me before) but also truly full of duty, zealous even for my praise, a frugal man, and—lest I seem to praise a freedman—plainly an honorable man.
Pompeium vidi iiii Idus Decembris.
I saw Pompey on the 10th of December (four days before the Ides of December).
§7.4.2fuimus una horas duas fortasse.
We were together for perhaps two hours.
magna laetitia mihi visus est adfici meo adventu; de triumpho hortari, suscipere partis suas, monere ne ante in senatum accederem quam rem confecissem, ne dicendis sententiis aliquem tribunum alienarem.
He seemed to me to be affected with great joy at my arrival; he encouraged me concerning my triumph, undertook his own part, and advised me not to go into the senate before I had settled the matter, lest by delivering my opinions I should alienate some tribune.
quid quaeris? in hoc officio sermonis nihil potuit esse prolixius.
What more do you want? In this kindness of conversation nothing could have been more obliging.
de re publica autem ita mecum locutus est quasi non dubium bellum haberemus, nihil ad spem concordiae.
Concerning the republic, however, he spoke with me as if we had an indubitable war upon us, with nothing pointing to hope of harmony.
plane illum a se alienatum cum ante intellegeret, tum vero proxime iudicasse.
He said that while he had understood before that Caesar was alienated from him, he had indeed judged so most recently.
venisse Hirtium a Caesare qui esset illi familiarissimus, ad se non accessisse et, cum ille a. d. viii Idus Decembr. vesperi venisset, Balbus de tota re constituisset a. d. vii ad Scipionem ante lucem venire, multa de nocte eum profectum esse ad Caesarem.
He said that Hirtius, who was most intimate with Caesar, had come from him but had not visited him, and although he had arrived on the evening of the 6th of December (eight days before the Ides of December), and Balbus had arranged to come to Scipio before daybreak on the 7th (seven days before the Ides of December) concerning the whole matter, Hirtius had set out for Caesar in the dead of night.
hoc illi τεκμηριῶδεσ videbatur esse alienationis.
This seemed to him to be a clear proof of alienation.
§7.4.3quid multa? nihil me aliud consolatur nisi quod illum, quoi etiam inimici alterum consulatum, fortuna summam potentiam dederit, non arbitror fore tam amentem ut haec in discrimen adducat.
Why say more? Nothing else consoles me except that I do not think that he, to whom even his enemies have granted a second consulship and fortune has given the greatest power, will be so mad as to bring all this into danger.
quod si ruere coeperit, ne ego multa timeo, quae non audeo scribere.
But if he begins to rush headlong, indeed I fear many things which I do not dare to write.
sed ut nunc est, a. d. iii Nonas Ian. ad urbem cogito.
But as things are now, I intend to be near the city on the 3rd of January (three days before the Nones of January).