§39.40.1his comitiis prudentia et virtute senatus sublatis, alia maioris certaminis, quo et maiore de re et inter plures potentioresque viros, sunt exorta.
These comitia having been removed by the wisdom and virtue of the senate, another dispute of greater conflict arose, in which the struggle was both concerning a greater matter and among more and more powerful men.
§39.40.2censuram summa contentione petebant L. Valerius Flaccus P. et L. Scipiones Cn. Manlius Vulso L. Furius Purpurio patricii, §39.40.3plebeii autem M. Porcius Cato M. Fulvius Nobilior Ti. et M. Sempronii, Longus et Tuditanus.
Seeking the censorship with the greatest rivalry were Lucius Valerius Flaccus, Publius and Lucius Scipio, Gnaeus Manlius Vulso, and Lucius Furius Purpurio, patricians; of the plebeians, moreover, Marcus Porcius Cato, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, and Tiberius and Marcus Sempronius, Longus and Tuditanus.
sed omnes patricios plebeiosque nobilissimarum familiarum M. Porcius longe anteibat.
But Marcus Porcius far surpassed all the patricians and plebeians of the most noble families.
§39.40.4in hoc viro tanta vis animi ingeniique fuit, ut quocumque loco natus esset, fortunam sibi ipse facturus fuisse videretur.
In this man there was such great force of mind and character that, in whatever station he had been born, he seemed likely to have made his own fortune.
nulla ars neque privatae neque publicae rei gerendae ei defuit; urbanas rusticasque res pariter callebat.
No skill for conducting either private or public business was lacking to him; he was equally well-versed in urban and rustic affairs.
§39.40.5ad summos honores alios scientia iuris, alios eloquentia, alios gloria militaris provexit: huic versatile ingenium sic pariter ad omnia fuit, ut natum ad id unum diceres, quodcumque ageret:
To the highest offices some were advanced by knowledge of the law, others by eloquence, others by military glory; but in his case, a versatile genius was so equally adapted to all things that you would say he was born for that one thing alone, whatever he was doing.
§39.40.6in bello manu fortissimus multisque insignibus clarus pugnis, idem postquam ad magnos honores pervenit, summus imperator, idem in pace, si ius consuleres, peritissimus, si causa oranda esset, §39.40.7eloquentissimus, nec is tantum, cuius lingua vivo eo viguerit, monumentum eloquentiae nullum exstet: vivit immo vigetque eloquentia eius sacrata scriptis omnis generis.
In war most brave of hand and famous for many distinguished battles, the same man, after he arrived at great offices, was a supreme commander; the same man in peace, if you consulted him on law, was most skilled, if a cause was to be pleaded, most eloquent; nor was he one of those whose tongue flourished only while they lived, with no monument of eloquence remaining; on the contrary, his eloquence lives and even flourishes, consecrated by writings of every kind.
§39.40.8orationes et pro se multae et pro aliis et in alios: nam non solum accusando sed etiam causam dicendo fatigavit inimicos.
His speeches are many, both for himself and for others and against others; for he exhausted his enemies not only by accusing but also by pleading his own cause.
simultates nimio plures §39.40.9et exercuerunt eum et ipse exercuit eas; nec facile dixeris, utrum magis presserit eum nobilitas, an ille agitaverit nobilitatem.
Far too many feuds both occupied him and he himself pursued them; nor could you easily say whether the nobility pressed him more, or he harassed the nobility.
§39.40.10asperi procul dubio animi et linguae acerbae et immodice liberae fuit, sed invicti a cupiditatibus animi, rigidae innocentiae, contemptor gratiae, divitiarum.
He was, without doubt, of a harsh temper and of a bitter and immoderately free tongue, but of a mind unconquered by desires, of rigid integrity, a despiser of influence and riches.
§39.40.11in parsimonia, in patientia laboris periculique ferrei prope corporis animique, quem ne senectus quidem, quae solvit omnia, §39.40.12fregerit, qui sextum et octogesimum annum agens causam dixerit, ipse pro se oraverit scripseritque, nonagesimo anno Ser. Galbam ad populi adduxerit iudicium.
In parsimony, in endurance of labor and danger, he was of an almost iron body and mind, which not even old age, which dissolves all things, could break; who, passing his eighty-sixth year, pleaded a cause, spoke and wrote for himself, and in his ninetieth year brought Servius Galba to the judgment of the people.