§7Sed ea tempestate coepere se quisque magis extollere magisque ingenium in promptu habere.
But at that time, everyone began to exalt themselves more and to display their talent more readily.
nam regibus boni quam mali suspectiores sunt, semperque iis aliena virtus formidulosa est.
For to kings, the good are more suspect than the bad, and to them another’s virtue is always a source of fear.
sed civitas incredibile memoratu est adepta libertate quantum brevi creverit: tanta cupido gloriae incesserat.
But once liberty was obtained, it is incredible to relate how much the state grew in a short time: so great a desire for glory had come upon them.
iam primum iuventus, simul ac belli patiens erat, in castris per laborem usum militiae discebat, magisque in decoris armis et militaribus equis quam in scortis atque conviviis lubidinem habebant.
Now first of all, the youth, as soon as they were capable of enduring war, learned the practice of military service through labor in the camp, and they took their pleasure more in beautiful arms and military horses than in harlots and banquets.
igitur talibus viris non labor insolitus, non locus ullus asper aut arduos erat, non armatus hostis formidulosus: virtus omnia domuerat.
Therefore, to such men, no labor was unusual, no place rough or steep, no armed enemy fearsome: valour had conquered all.
sed gloriae maxumum certamen inter ipsos erat: se quisque hostem ferire, murum ascendere, conspici, dum tale facinus faceret, properabat.
But the greatest contest of glory was among themselves: each one hastened to strike the enemy, to scale the wall, to be seen while performing such a deed.
eas divitias, eam bonam famam magnamque nobilitatem putabant.
They considered this to be wealth, this to be a good reputation and great nobility.
laudis avidi, pecuniae liberales erant; gloriam ingentem, divitias honestas volebant.
They were greedy for praise, liberal with money; they wanted immense glory, honorable wealth.
memorare possum, quibus in locis maxumas hostium copias populus Romanus parva manu fuderit, quas urbis natura munitas pugnando ceperit, ni ea res longius nos ab incepto traheret.
I could relate in what places the Roman people routed the greatest forces of the enemy with a small band, and what cities fortified by nature they took by fighting, did not this matter drag us too far from our undertaking.
§8Sed profecto fortuna in omni re dominatur; ea res cunctas ex lubidine magis quam ex vero celebrat obscuratque.
But surely fortune rules in everything; she makes famous and obscures all things according to her whim rather than according to truth.
Atheniensium res gestae, sicuti ego aestumo, satis amplae magnificaeque fuere, verum aliquanto minores tamen quam fama feruntur.
The achievements of the Athenians, as I estimate, were indeed sufficiently great and magnificent, but yet somewhat less than they are reported by fame.
sed quia provenere ibi scriptorum magna ingenia, per terrarum orbem Atheniensium facta pro maxumis celebrantur.
But because great talents of writers arose there, the deeds of the Athenians are celebrated throughout the world as the greatest.
ita eorum qui fecere virtus tanta habetur, quantum eam verbis potuere extollere praeclara ingenia.
Thus the virtue of those who performed them is held to be as great as illustrious talents were able to extol it in words.
at populo Romano numquam ea copia fuit, quia prudentissumus quisque maxume negotiosus erat, ingenium nemo sine corpore exercebat, optumus quisque facere quam dicere, sua ab aliis bene facta laudari quam ipse aliorum narrare malebat.
But the Roman people never had that abundance, because the most prudent was always the most busy, no one exercised his mind without his body, and all the best men preferred to act rather than to speak, and preferred that their own good deeds be praised by others rather than that they themselves relate those of others.
§9Igitur domi militiaeque boni mores colebantur; concordia maxuma, minuma avaritia erat; ius bonumque apud eos non legibus magis quam natura valebat.
Therefore, good morals were cultivated at home and in war; there was the greatest concord, the least avarice; justice and goodness prevailed among them not more by laws than by nature.
iurgia discordias simultates cum hostibus exercebant, cives cum civibus de virtute certabant.
They exercised quarrels, discords, and enmities with enemies; citizens competed with citizens concerning virtue.
in suppliciis deorum magnifici, domi parci, in amicos fideles erant.
They were magnificent in the worship of the gods, frugal at home, faithful to friends.
duabus his artibus, audacia in bello, ubi pax evenerat aequitate, seque remque publicam curabant.
By these two arts—boldness in war, and equity when peace had come—they cared for themselves and the republic.
quarum rerum ego maxuma documenta haec habeo, quod in bello saepius vindicatum est in eos, qui contra imperium in hostem pugnaverant quique tardius revocati proelio excesserant, quam qui signa relinquere aut pulsi loco cedere ausi erant; in pace vero quod beneficiis magis quam metu imperium agitabant et accepta iniuria ignoscere quam persequi malebant.
Of which things I have these greatest proofs: that in war punishment was more often inflicted on those who had fought against the enemy contrary to orders and who, when recalled, had withdrawn too slowly from battle, than on those who had dared to abandon the standards or, when repulsed, to yield their ground; and in peace, indeed, that they managed their rule by benefits more than by fear, and when an injury was received, they preferred to forgive rather than to avenge.
§10Sed ubi labore atque iustitia res publica crevit, reges magni bello domiti, nationes ferae et populi ingentes vi subacti, Carthago aemula imperi Romani ab stirpe interiit, cuncta maria terraeque patebant, saevire fortuna ac miscere omnia coepit.
But when the republic had grown through labor and justice, great kings were subdued in war, fierce nations and immense peoples were subjugated by force, Carthage, the rival of the Roman empire, perished from its roots, and all seas and lands lay open, fortune began to grow cruel and to throw everything into confusion.
qui labores, pericula, dubias atque asperas res facile toleraverant, iis otium divitiaeque, optanda alias, oneri miseriaeque fuere.
To those who had easily tolerated labors, dangers, and doubtful and harsh circumstances, leisure and wealth, things to be desired at other times, were a burden and a misery.
igitur primo pecuniae, deinde imperi cupido crevit: ea quasi materies omnium malorum fuere. namque avaritia fidem probitatem ceterasque artis bonas subvortit;
Therefore, first the desire for money, then for power grew; these were, as it were, the material of all evils.
pro his superbiam, crudelitatem, deos neglegere, omnia venalia habere edocuit.
For avarice subverted faith, honesty, and all other good arts; in place of these, it taught pride, cruelty, to neglect the gods, and to hold all things venal.
ambitio multos mortalis falsos fieri subegit, aliud clausum in pectore aliud in lingua promptum habere, amicitias inimicitiasque non ex re sed ex commodo aestumare, magisque voltum quam ingenium bonum habere.
Ambition compelled many mortals to become false, to have one thing shut up in their breast and another ready on their tongue, to value friendships and enmities not from the facts but from convenience, and to have a good face rather than a good character.
haec primo paulatim crescere, interdum vindicari; post ubi contagio quasi pestilentia invasit, civitas inmutata, imperium ex iustissumo atque optumo crudele intolerandumque factum.
These things at first grew gradually and were sometimes punished; afterward, when the contagion invaded like a pestilence, the state was changed, and the empire, from the most just and best, became cruel and intolerable.