§16.1Humanitatis vero nullum afferre maius testimonium possum, quam quod adulescens idem seni Sullae fuit iucundissimus, senex adulescenti M. Bruto, cum aequalibus autem suis Q. Hortensio et M. Cicerone sic vixit, ut iudicare difficile sit, cui aetati fuerit aptissimus.
But indeed I can bring forward no greater proof of his humanity than that he himself, as a young man, was most agreeable to the elderly Sulla, and as an old man, to the young Marcus Brutus, while he lived with his equals, Quintus Hortensius and Marcus Cicero, in such a way that it is difficult to judge for which generation he was best suited.
§16.2quamquam eum praecipue dilexit Cicero, ut ne frater quidem ei Quintus carior fuerit aut familiarior.
And yet, Cicero loved him so particularly that not even his brother Quintus was dearer or more intimate to him.
§16.3ei rei sunt indicio praeter eos libros, in quibus de eo facit mentionem, qui in vulgus sunt editi, sedecim volumina epistularum, ab consulatu eius usque ad extremum tempus ad Atticum missarum: quae qui legat, non multum desideret historiam contextam eorum temporum.
To this fact, besides those books published for the general public in which he mentions him, sixteen volumes of letters serve as proof, which were sent to Atticus from his consulship down to his final days; and whoever reads them would not much miss a connected history of those times.
§16.4sic enim omnia de studiis principum, vitiis ducum, mutationibus rei publicae perscripta sunt, ut nihil in eis non appareat et facile existimari possit, prudentiam quodam modo esse divinationem.
For in them everything concerning the interests of leading men, the faults of commanders, and the changes of the state is so fully written down that there is nothing that does not appear in them, and it can easily be judged that foresight is in some way a kind of divination.
non enim Cicero ea solum, quae vivo se acciderunt, futura praedixit, sed etiam, quae nunc usu veniunt, cecinit ut vates.
For Cicero did not only predict the future events that happened while he was alive, but also sang like a prophet of those things which are now actually coming to pass.