§Phil.1'Maxume vellem, patres conscripti, rem publicam quietam esse aut in periculis a promptissumo quoque defendi, denique prava incepta consultoribus noxae esse.
'I should most of all have wished, enrolled fathers, that the republic were at peace, or in dangers were defended by each most ready citizen, and finally that evil undertakings were a source of ruin to their advisers.
sed contra seditionibus omnia turbata sunt et ab iis, quos prohibere magis decebat; postremo, quae pessumi et stultissumi decrevere, ea bonis et sapientibus faciunda sunt.
But on the contrary, all things have been thrown into confusion by rebellions, and by those whom it more befitted to prevent them; lastly, what the worst and most foolish men have decreed must be carried out by the good and wise.
§Phil.2nam bellum atque arma, quamquam vobis invisa, tamen, quia Lepido placent, sumunda sunt; nisi forte quoi pacem praestare et bellum pati consilium est.
For war and arms, though hateful to you, must nevertheless be taken up, because they please Lepidus; unless perchance there is someone whose plan is to offer peace and endure war.
§Phil.3pro di boni, qui hanc urbem omissa cura adhuc tegitis, M. Aemilius, omnium flagitiosorum postremus, qui peior an ignavior sit deliberari non potest, exercitum opprimundae libertatis habet et se e contempto metuendum effecit; vos mussantes et retractantes verbis et vatum carminibus pacem optatis magis quam defenditis, neque intellegitis mollitia decretorum vobis dignitatem, illi metum detrahi.
O good gods, you who still protect this city though having cast off your care for it! M. Aemilius, the last of all scandalous men, of whom it cannot be decided whether he is more wicked or more cowardly, holds an army for crushing liberty and has made himself feared instead of despised; you, muttering and hesitating, wish for peace with words and vatic verses rather than defend it, nor do you understand that by the softness of your decrees dignity is taken from you, and fear from him.
§Phil.4atque id iure, quoniam ex rapinis consulatum, ob seditionem provinciam cum exercitu adeptus est.
And that indeed with justice, since he acquired the consulship from robberies, and because of sedition, a province with an army.
quid ille ob bene facta cepisset, quoius sceleribus tanta praemia tribuistis?
What would he have received for good deeds, to whose crimes you have distributed such great rewards?
§Phil.5at scilicet eos, qui ad postremum usque legatos pacem concordiam et alia huiusce modi decreverunt, gratiam ab eo peperisse.
But to be sure, those who up to the very last decreed embassies, peace, harmony, and other things of this kind, won favor from him.
immo despecti et indigni re publica habiti praedae loco aestumantur, quippe metu pacem repetentes, quo habitam amiserant.
On the contrary, despised and held unworthy of the republic, they are esteemed in the place of spoil, as they seek peace again from the very fear by which they had lost it when they held it.
§Phil.6Equidem a principio, quom Etruriam coniurare, proscriptos accersi, largitionibus rem publicam lacerari videbam, maturandum putabam et Catuli consilia cum paucis secutus sum.
For my part, from the beginning, when I saw Etruria conspiring, the proscribed being recalled, and the republic torn apart by briberies, I thought we must make haste and, with a few, followed the counsels of Catulus.
ceterum illi, qui gentis Aemiliae bene facta extollebant et ignoscundo populi Romani magnitudinem auxisse, nusquam etiam tum Lepidum progressum aiebant, quom privata arma opprimundae libertatis cepisset, sibi quisque opes aut patrocinia quaerundo consilium publicum corruperunt.
But those men, who extolled the good deeds of the Aemilian family and said that by pardoning the greatness of the Roman people had increased, asserted that Lepidus had not yet advanced anywhere, even when he had taken up private arms for crushing liberty; and each by seeking wealth or patronages for himself, they ruined the public counsel.
§Phil.7at tum erat Lepidus latro cum calonibus et paucis sicariis, quorum nemo diurna mercede vitam mutaverit; nunc est pro consule cum imperio, non empto sed dato a vobis, cum legatis adhuc iure parentibus, et ad eum concurrere homines omnium ordinum corruptissumi, flagrantes inopia et cupidinibus, scelerum conscientia exagitati, quibus quies in seditionibus, in pace turbae sunt.
But then Lepidus was a robber with camp-followers and a few assassins, none of whom would have exchanged his life for daily pay; now he is a proconsul with supreme power, not bought but given by you, with legates still obeying him by law, and to him run together the most corrupt men of all ranks, burning with want and lusts, harassed by the consciousness of their crimes, for whom quiet is in rebellions, and in peace there are disturbances.
hi tumultum ex tumultu, bellum ex bello serunt, Saturnini olim, post Sulpici, dein Mari Damasippique, nunc Lepidi satellites.
These men sow tumult after tumult, war after war, formerly satellites of Saturninus, then of Sulpicius, next of Marius and Damasippus, and now of Lepidus.
§Phil.8praeterea Etruria atque omnes reliquiae belli adrectae, Hispaniae armis sollicitae, Mithridates in latere vectigalium nostrorum, quibus adhuc sustentamur, diem bello circumspicit; quin praeter idoneum ducem nihil abest ad subvortundum imperium.
Moreover, Etruria and all the remnants of the war have been aroused, the Spains are agitated with arms, Mithridates on the flank of our revenues, by which we are still supported, is looking around for a day for war; indeed, except for a suitable leader, nothing is lacking for overturning the empire.
§Phil.9quod ego vos oro atque obsecro, patres conscripti, ut animadvortatis neu patiamini licentiam scelerum quasi rabiem ad integros contactu procedere.
Which thing I pray and beseech you, enrolled fathers, to attend to, and not to permit the license of crimes to proceed by contact, like madness, to those who are healthy.
nam ubi malos praemia sequontur, haud facile quisquam gratuito bonis est.
For where rewards follow the wicked, not easily is anyone good for nothing.
§Phil.10An expectatis, dum exercitu rursus admoto ferro atque flamma urbem invadat? quod multo propius est ab eo quo agitat statu, quam ex pace et concordia ad arma civilia.
Or are you waiting until, with his army again moved near, he invades the city with fire and sword? Which is much nearer from the state in which he is acting than from peace and harmony to civil arms.
quae ille advorsum divina et humana omnia cepit, non pro sua aut quorum simulat iniuria, sed legum ac libertatis subvortundae.
These arms he has taken up against all things divine and human, not for his own injury or that of those whom he pretends, but for overturning the laws and liberty.
§Phil.11agitur enim ac laceratur animi cupidine et noxarum metu, expers consili, inquies, haec atque illa temptans; metuit otium, odit bellum; luxu atque licentia carendum videt atque interim abutitur vostra socordia.
For he is driven and torn by the desire of his mind and the fear of his crimes, devoid of counsel, restless, trying this and that; he fears leisure, hates war; he sees that he must do without luxury and license, and meanwhile abuses your sluggishness.'