§9.2A.1o rem difficilem planeque perditam! quam nihil praetermittis in consilio dando; quam nihil tamen quod tibi ipsi placeat explicas! non esse me una cum Pompeio gaudes ac proponis quam sit turpe me adesse cum quid de illo detrahatur; nefas esse approbare.
Oh, what a difficult and utterly desperate situation! How you omit nothing in giving advice; yet how you unfold nothing that can satisfy even yourself! You are glad that I am not together with Pompey, and you point out how disgraceful it would be for me to be present when any detraction is made of him, and that it would be a sin to countenance it.
certe;
Certainly.
contra igitur?
"di"
inquis
"averruncent!"
quid ergo fiet si in altero scelus est, in altero supplicium?
"impetrabis"
inquis
"a Caesare ut tibi abesse liceat et esse otioso. "
supplicandum igitur? miserum.
Should I then act against him? "May the gods," you say, "avert it!" What then will happen if on the one side there is crime, on the other punishment? "You will obtain permission," you say, "from Caesar to be absent and remain at leisure." Must I then play the suppliant? Miserable.
quid si non impetraro?
"et de triumpho erit"
inquis
"integrum. "
quid si hoc ipso premar? accipiam? quid foedius? negem? repudiari se totum, magis etiam quam olim in xxviratu, putabit.
What if I do not obtain it? "And regarding your triumph," you say, "the matter will remain open." What if I am hard-pressed by this very thing? Shall I accept? What could be more disgraceful? Shall I refuse? He will think himself utterly rejected, even more than formerly in the matter of the Board of Twenty.
ac solet, cum se purgat, in me conferre omnem illorum temporum culpam. ita me sibi fuisse inimicum ut ne honorem quidem a se accipere vellem.
And he is accustomed, when he clears himself, to throw all the blame of those times upon me: that I was so hostile to him that I would not even accept an honor from his hands.
quanto nunc hoc idem accipiet asperius! tanto scilicet quanto et honos hic illo est amplior et ipse robustior.
How much more bitterly will he take this same thing now! By so much more, of course, as this honor is grander than that one and he himself is more powerful.
§9.2A.2nam quod negas te dubitare quin magna in offensa sim apud Pompeium hoc tempore, non video causam cur ita sit hoc quidem tempore.
For as to your saying that you do not doubt but that I am in great disfavor with Pompey at this time, I do not see the reason why it should be so, at this time at least.
qui enim amisso Corfinio denique certiorem me sui consili fecit, is queretur Brundisium me non venisse cum inter me et Brundisium Caesar esset? deinde etiam scit ἀπαρρησίαστον esse in ea causa querelam suam.
For will he who only after the loss of Corfinium made me acquainted with his plan, complain that I did not come to Brundisium, when Caesar stood between me and Brundisium? Besides, he also knows that his complaint in that case is unjustifiable.
me putat de municipiorum imbecillitate, de dilectibus, de pace, de urbe, de pecunia, de Piceno occupando plus vidisse quam se.
He thinks that I saw further than himself regarding the weakness of the municipal towns, the levies, peace, the city, money, and the occupation of Picenum.
sin cum potuero non venero tum erit inimicus, quod ego non eo vereor ne mihi noceat (quid enim faciet?
"τίσ δ' ἐστὶ δοῦλοσ τοῦ θανεῖν ἄφροντισ ὤν; "
sed quia ingrati animi crimen horreo.
But if, when I am able, I do not go, then he will be my enemy; which I do not fear on the ground of his hurting me (for what will he do? "Who is a slave that is reckless of death?"); but because I shrink from the charge of an ungrateful mind.
confido igitur adventum nostrum illi, quoquo tempore fuerit, ut scribis, ἀσμενιστὸν fore.
I trust, therefore, that our arrival, at whatever time it may be, will be, as you write, acceptable to him.
nam quod ais, si hic temperatius egerit, consideratius consilium te daturum, qui hic potest se gerere non perdite? vetant vita, mores, ante facta, ratio suscepti negoti, socii, vires bonorum aut etiam constantia.
For as to your saying that, if Caesar acts with more moderation, you will give me more well-considered advice, how can Caesar behave himself otherwise than ruinously? His life, his character, his past deeds, the nature of the business he has undertaken, his associates, the strength of the loyalists, or even their constancy forbid it.
§9.2A.3vixdum epistulam tuam legeram cum ad me currens ad illum Postumus Curtius venit nihil nisi classis loquens et exercitus.
I had scarcely read your letter when Postumus Curtius, running on his way to Caesar, came to me speaking of nothing but fleets and armies.
eripiebat Hispanias, tenebat Asiam, Siciliam, Africam, Sardiniam, confestim in Graeciam persequebatur.
He was seizing the Spains, holding Asia, Sicily, Africa, Sardinia, and pursuing Pompey immediately into Greece.
eundum igitur est, nec tam ut belli quam ut fugae socii simus.
We must go, therefore, not so much to be partners in war as in flight.
nec enim ferre potero sermones istorum quicumque sunt; non sunt enim certe, ut appellantur, boni.
For I shall not be able to bear the talk of those people, whoever they are; for they are certainly not 'good men,' as they are called.
sed tamen id ipsum scire cupio quid loquantur idque ut exquiras meque certiorem facias te vehementer rogo.
But yet I desire to know this very thing, what they are saying, and I earnestly request you to inquire into it and let me know.
nos adhuc quid Brundisi actum esset plane nesciebamus.
As yet we are utterly ignorant of what has been done at Brundisium.
cum sciemus, tum ex re et ex tempore consilium capiemus sed utemur tuo.
When we know, we shall take counsel according to the circumstances and the time, but we shall make use of yours.