§45.39.1triumphatum nuper de Philippo, patre huius, et de Antiocho est; ambo regnabant, cum de iis triumphatum est.
A triumph was recently celebrated over Philip, the father of this man, and over Antiochus; both were reigning when the triumph was celebrated over them.
de Perseo capto, in urbem cum liberis adducto non triumphabitur?
Shall there be no triumph over the captured Perseus, who has been brought into the city with his children?
§45.39.2quodsi in curru scandentis Capitolium, auratos purpuratosque, ex inferiore loco L. Paulus in turba togatorum unus privatus interroget “L. Anici, Cn. Octavi, utrum vos digniores triumpho esse an me censetis?” curru ei cessuri et prae pudore videntur insignia ipsi sua tradituri.
But if, from a lower position, Lucius Paulus, as a single private citizen in the crowd of togati, should ask those ascending the Capitol in their chariots, adorned with gold and purple, "Lucius Anicius, Gnaeus Octavius, do you judge yourselves or me to be more worthy of a triumph?", they would, it seems, yield their chariots to him and hand over their own insignia to him out of shame.
§45.39.3et vos Gentium quam Persea duci in triumpho mavoltis, Quirites, et de accessione potius belli quam de bello triumphari?
And do you, Romans, prefer that Gentius rather than Perseus be led in triumph, and that a triumph be celebrated for an addition to the war rather than for the war itself?
§45.39.4et legiones ex Illyrico laureatae urbem inibunt et navales socii: Macedonicae legiones suo abrogato triumphos alienos spectabunt? quid deinde tam opima praeda, tam opulentae victoriae spoliis fiet?
And shall the legions from Illyricum enter the city wearing laurel, as well as the naval allies, while the Macedonian legions, having their own triumph taken away, look on at the triumphs of others? What then will become of such rich booty, the spoils of so opulent a victory?
§45.39.5quonam abdentur illa tot milia armorum detracta corporibus hostium? an in Macedoniam remittentur? quo signa aurea, marmorea, eburnea, tabulae pictae, textilia, tantum argenti caelati, tantum auri, tanta pecunia regia?
Where indeed will those so many thousands of arms stripped from the bodies of the enemies be hidden? Or will they be sent back to Macedonia? Whither will go the gold, marble, and ivory statues, the paintings, the textiles, so much chased silver, so much gold, so much royal money?
§45.39.6an noctu tamquam furtiva in aerarium deportabuntur? quid? illud spectaculum maximum, nobilissimus opulentissimusque rex captus, ubi victori populo ostendetur?
Or will they be carried into the treasury by night, as if they were stolen goods? What of that greatest spectacle, the captured king, most noble and most opulent—where will he be shown to the victorious people?
§45.39.7quos Syphax rex captus, accessio Punici belli, concursus fecerit, plerique meminimus.
Most of us remember what crowds the captured king Syphax, an addition to the Punic War, drew together.
Perseus rex captus, Philippus et Alexander, filii regis, tanta nomina, subtrahentur civitatis oculis?
Shall the captured king Perseus, and Philip and Alexander, the king's sons, names so great, be withdrawn from the eyes of the citizens?
§45.39.8ipsum L. Paulum, bis consulem, domitorem Graeciae, omnium oculi conspicere urbem curru ingredientem avent; ad hoc fecimus consulem, ut bellum per quadriennium ingenti etiam pudore nostro tractum perficeret.
Everyone's eyes long to behold Lucius Paulus himself, twice consul, the conqueror of Greece, entering the city in his chariot; for this purpose we made him consul, that he might bring to completion a war which, to our great shame, had been dragged on for four years.
§45.39.9cui sortito provinciam, cui proficiscenti praesagientibus animis victoriam triumphumque destinavimus, ei victori triumphum negaturi sumus? et quidem non tantum eum, sed deos etiam suo honore fraudaturi?
Shall we deny a triumph to him as victor, for whom, when his province was allotted and when he departed, we destined victory and a triumph with presaging minds? And indeed, shall we defraud not only him, but even the gods of their proper honor?
§45.39.10dis quoque enim, non solum hominibus, debetur triumphus.
For a triumph is due to the gods also, not only to men.
maiores vestri omnium magnarum rerum et principia exorsi a dis sunt et finem statuerunt.
Your ancestors began the undertakings of all great matters with the gods, and established their end with them.
§45.39.11consul proficiscens praetorve paludatis lictoribus in provinciam et ad bellum vota in Capitolio nuncupat: victor perpetrato bello eodem in Capitolium triumphans ad eosdem deos, quibus vota nuncupavit, merita dona portans redit.
A consul or praetor, departing with lictors in military cloaks for his province and to war, pronounces his vows on the Capitol; as victor, the war being completed, he returns in triumph to the same Capitol, bringing deserved gifts to the same gods to whom he pronounced his vows.
§45.39.12pars non minima triumphi est victimae praecedentes, ut appareat dis grates agentem imperatorem ob rem publicam bene gestam redire.
A by no means small part of the triumph consists of the victims marching in front, so that it may appear that the commander returns offering thanks to the gods for the successful conduct of the state's affairs.
§45.39.13omnis illas victimas, quas † traducendo in triumpho vindicavit, † alias alios dente mactati.
Will you allow all those victims, which he claimed for the procession in the triumph, to be slaughtered in another place by the blades of others?
quid? illae epulae senatus, quae nec privato loco nec publico profano, sed in Capitolio eduntur, utrum hominum voluptatis causa an deorum hominumque auctore Servio Galba turbaturi estis? L. Pauli triumpho portae claudentur?
What of those banquets of the senate, which are held neither in a private place nor in a public profane one, but on the Capitol—are you going to disrupt them, at the instigation of Servius Galba, as if they were for the pleasure of men, rather than of gods and men? Will the gates be closed against the triumph of Lucius Paulus?
§45.39.14rex Macedonum Perseus cum liberis et turba alia captivorum, spolia Macedonum, in circo Flaminio relinquentur? L. Paulus privatus tamquam rure rediens a porta domum ibit?
Will Perseus, the king of the Macedonians, with his children and the other crowd of captives, and the spoils of the Macedonians, be left in the Flaminian Circus? Will Lucius Paulus, as a private citizen, go home from the gate as if returning from the countryside?
§45.39.15† et tu, centurio, miles, quibus ab imperatore Paulo donatus decrevit potius quam Servius Galba fabulentur audis et hoc dicere me potius quam illum audi. §45.39.16ille nihil praeterquam loqui, et id ipsum maledice ac maligne, didicit: ego ter et viciens cum hoste ex provocatione pugnavi; ex omnibus, cum quibus manum conserui, spolia rettuli; insigne corpus honestis cicatricibus, omnibus adverso corpore exceptis, habeo. ”
And you, centurion, you, soldier, who were presented with decorations by the commander Paulus—if you value them more than the tales of Servius Galba—hear me saying this rather than him talking. He has learned nothing except to speak, and that itself slanderously and maliciously; I have fought twenty-three times in response to a challenge from the enemy; from all those with whom I crossed hands, I brought back spoils; I have a body distinguished by honorable scars, all of them received on the front of my body.
§45.39.17nudasse deinde se dicitur et, quo quaeque bello volnera accepta essent, rettulisse.
He is said then to have uncovered himself and to have related in which war each wound had been received.
quae dum ostentat, adapertis forte, quae velanda erant, tumor inguinum proximis risum movit.
While he was displaying these, those parts which ought to be covered happening to be exposed, a swelling of his groin moved those nearby to laughter.
§45.39.18tum “hoc quoque, quod ridetis,” inquit “in equo dies noctesque persedendo habeo, nec magis me eius quam cicatricum harum pudet paenitetque, quando numquam mihi impedimento ad rem publicam bene gerendam domi militiaeque fuit.
Then he said, "This also, which you laugh at, I have from sitting on a horse day and night, nor am I any more ashamed or regretful of it than of these scars, since it has never been a hindrance to me in successfully conducting the affairs of the state at home or in the field.
§45.39.19ego hoc ferro saepe vexatum corpus vetus miles adulescentibus militibus ostendi: §45.39.20Galba nitens et integrum denudet.
I, an old soldier, have shown this body, so often harassed by iron, to young soldiers; let Galba strip his sleek and uninjured body.
revocate, si videtur, tribuni, ad suffragium tribus; ego ad vos, milites,”
Call back the tribes to the vote, tribunes, if it seems good; I turn to you, soldiers,"