§Phil.12neque mihi satis consili est, metum an ignaviam an dementiam eam appellem, qui videmini tanta mala quasi fulmen optare se quisque ne attingat, sed prohibere ne conari quidem.
Nor do I have enough wisdom, whether I should call it fear, or cowardice, or madness, you who seem to wish, as if for a thunderbolt, that so great evils may not touch each of you, but not even to try to prevent them.
§Phil.13et quaeso considerate, quam convorsa rerum natura sit.
And please consider how inverted the nature of things is.
antea malum publicum occulte, auxilia palam instruebantur, et eo boni malos facile anteibant; nunc pax et concordia disturbantur palam, defenduntur occulte.
Formerly, public evil was prepared in secret, aids openly, and thereby the good easily surpassed the bad; now peace and harmony are disturbed openly, defended in secret.
quibus illa placent, in armis sunt, vos in metu.
Those whom those things please are in arms, you in fear.
§Phil.14quid expectatis? nisi forte pudet aut piget recte facere.
What are you waiting for? Unless perchance you are ashamed or reluctant to act rightly.
an Lepidi mandata animos movere? qui placere ait sua quoique reddi et aliena tenet; belli iura rescindi, quom ipse armis cogat; civitatem confirmari, quibus ademptam negat; concordiae gratia tribuniciam potestatem restitui, ex qua omnes discordiae accensae.
Or do the demands of Lepidus move your minds? He who says it is pleasing that his own things be restored to each, yet holds the things of others; that the laws of war are rescinded, while he himself compels with arms; that citizenship is confirmed for those from whom he denies it has been taken; that for the sake of harmony the tribunician power is restored, from which all discords were kindled.
§Phil.15pessume omnium atque inpudentissume, tibine egestas civium et luctus curae sunt? quoi nihil est domi nisi armis partum aut per iniuriam.
O worst and most impudent of all, is the poverty and grief of the citizens of concern to you? To whom there is nothing at home except what is acquired by arms or through injustice.
alterum consulatum petis, quasi primum reddideris, bello concordiam quaeris, quo parta disturbatur, nostri proditor, istis infidus, hostis omnium bonorum.
You seek a second consulship, as if you had returned the first; you seek harmony by war, by which the harmony that was acquired is disturbed, traitor of us, unfaithful to those, enemy of all good men.
ut te neque hominum neque deorum pudet, quos per fidem aut periurio violasti! qui quando talis es, §Phil.16maneas in sententia et retineas arma, te hortor, neu prolatandis seditionibus, inquies ipse, nos in sollicitudine attineas.
How are you ashamed of neither men nor gods, whom you have violated by faith or by perjury! Since you are such a man, I urge you to remain in your opinion and retain your arms, and not, by prolonging rebellions, restless yourself, to keep us in anxiety.
neque te provinciae neque leges neque di penates civem patiuntur.
Neither the provinces, nor the laws, nor the household gods suffer you as a citizen.
perge qua coeptas, ut quam maturrume merita invenias.
Go on where you have begun, so that as early as possible you may find your deserts.
§Phil.17Vos autem, patres conscripti, quo usque cunctando rem publicam intutam patiemini et verbis arma temptabitis? dilectus advorsum vos habiti, pecuniae publice et privatim extortae, praesidia deducta atque inposita: ex lubidine leges imperantur, quom interim vos legatos et decreta paratis.
But you, enrolled fathers, how long by delaying will you suffer the republic to be unsafe and attempt arms with words? Levies have been held against you, monies extorted publicly and privately, garrisons withdrawn and imposed; laws are commanded according to lust, while meanwhile you prepare embassies and decrees.
quanto mehercule avidius pacem petieritis, tanto bellum acrius erit, quom intelleget se metu magis quam aequo et bono sustentatum.
By Hercule, the more eagerly you seek peace, the more fierce the war will be, when he understands that he is supported by fear rather than by what is fair and good.
§Phil.18nam qui turbas et caedem civium odisse ait et ob id armato Lepido vos inermos retinet, quae victis toleranda sunt, ea quom facere possitis, patiamini potius censet.
For he who says he hates disturbances and the slaughter of citizens, and for that reason keeps you unarmed while Lepidus is armed, deems that, although you could do those things which must be endured by the conquered, you should rather suffer them.
ita illi a vobis pacem, vobis ab illo bellum suadet.
Thus he persuades peace for him from you, and war for you from him.
§Phil.19haec si placent, si tanta torpedo animos oppressit, ut obliti scelerum Cinnae, quoius in urbem reditu decus ordinis huius interiit, nihilo minus vos atque coniuges et liberos Lepido permissuri sitis, quid opus decretis, quid auxilio Catuli? quin is et alii boni rem publicam frustra curant.
If these things please you, if so great a torpor has oppressed your minds, that, having forgotten the crimes of Cinna, by whose return into the city the honor of this order perished, you are nevertheless about to surrender yourselves and your wives and children to Lepidus, what need is there of decrees, what of the aid of Catulus? Indeed, he and other good men care for the republic in vain.
§Phil.20agite ut lubet, parate vobis Cethegi atque alia proditorum patrocinia, qui rapinas et incendia instaurare cupiunt et rursus advorsum deos penatis manus armare.
Act as you please, prepare for yourselves the patronages of Cethegus and other traitors, who desire to renew robberies and burnings and again to arm hands against the household gods.
sin libertas et vera magis placent, decernite digna nomine et augete ingenium viris fortibus.
But if liberty and true things please you more, decree things worthy of your name and increase the courage in brave men.
§Phil.21adest novos exercitus, ad hoc coloniae veterum militum, nobilitas omnis, duces optumi: fortuna meliores sequitur.
A new army is at hand, moreover colonies of veteran soldiers, all the nobility, the best leaders; fortune follows the better.
iam illa, quae socordia nostra conlecta sunt, dilabentur.
Already those things which have been gathered by our sluggishness will slip away.
§Phil.22Quare ita censeo, quoniam M. Lepidus exercitum privato consilio paratum cum pessumis et hostibus rei publicae contra huius ordinis auctoritatem ad urbem ducit, uti Ap.
Therefore I vote thus, since M. Lepidus is leading an army prepared by private counsel with the worst men and enemies of the republic against the authority of this order toward the city, that Ap.
Claudius interrex cum Q. Catulo pro consule et ceteris, quibus imperium est, urbi praesidio sint operamque dent, ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat. '
Claudius the interrex, with Q. Catulus the proconsul and others who have command, protect the city and take care that the republic receive no harm.