§1.2.78cultaque Oresteae Taurica terra deae, §1.2.79quaeque aliae gentes, ubi frigore constitit Hister, §1.2.80dura meant celeri terga per amnis equo.
and the Tauric land of the goddess whom Orestes served, and those other nations which, when the Hister has frozen with cold, cross the hard back of the river on swift horses.
The greatest part of the men care nothing for you, most beautiful Rome, nor do they fear the weapons of the Ausonian soldier.
§1.2.83dant illis animos arcus plenaeque pharetrae §1.2.84quamque libet longis cursibus aptus equus, §1.2.85quodque sitim didicere diu tolerare famemque, §1.2.86quodque sequens nullas hostis habebit aquas.
Bows and full quivers give them courage, and a horse fit for courses as long as you please, and that they have learned to tolerate thirst and hunger for a long time, and that a pursuing enemy will have no waters.
The anger of that mild man would not have sent me to this land, if this ground had been sufficiently known to him.
He does not rejoice that I, nor any Roman, should be captured by the enemy, and less so that I, to whom he himself was giving life, should be taken.
§1.2.91noluit, ut poterat, minimo me perdere nutu.
He did not wish, as he was able, to destroy me with the slightest nod.
§1.2.92nil opus est ullis in mea fata Getis, §1.2.93sed neque, cur morerer, quicquam mihi comperit actum, §1.2.94et minus infestus, quam fuit, esse potest.
There is no need of any Getae for my destruction, but neither did he find anything done by me for which I should die, and he can be less hostile than he was.
§1.2.95tunc quoque nil fecit nisi quod facere ipse coegi: §1.2.96paene etiam merito parcior ira meo est.
Even then, he did nothing except what I myself forced him to do; his anger is almost too sparing for my desert.
§1.2.97di faciant igitur, quorum iustissimus ipse est, §1.2.98alma nihil maius Caesare terra ferat, §1.2.99utque fuit sub eo, sic sit sub Caesare terra, §1.2.100perque manus huius tradita gentis eat.
May the gods grant, therefore, of whom he himself is the most just, that the nurturing earth may bear nothing greater than Caesar, and as the earth was under him, so may it be under Caesar, and let it go handed down through the hands of this house.
§1.2.101at tu tam placido, quam nos quoque sensimus illum §1.2.102iudice pro lacrimis ora resolve meis.
But do you, as a judge as gentle as we also felt him to be, open your mouth in place of my tears.
§1.2.103non petito ut bene sit, sed uti male tutius, utque §1.2.104exilium saevo distet ab hoste meum, §1.2.105quamque dedere mihi praesentia numina vitam, §1.2.106non adimat stricto squalidus ense Getes:
Do not ask that it be well, but that it be badly more safely, and that my exile may be distant from the cruel enemy, and that the life which present divinities gave to me, the squalid Geta with drawn sword may not snatch away.
§1.2.107denique, si moriar, subeam pacatius arvum, §1.2.108ossa nec a Scythica nostra premantur humo, §1.2.109nec male compositos, ut scilicet exule dignum, §1.2.110Bistonii cineres ungula pulset equi, §1.2.111et ne, si superest aliquis post funera sensus, §1.2.112terreat et Manes Sarmatis umbra meos.
Finally, if I should die, let me enter a more peaceful field, and let our bones not be weighed down by Scythian soil, nor let the hoof of the Bistonian horse trample my ill-buried ashes, as indeed is worthy of an exile, and lest, if any feeling remains after death, the Sarmatian shadow should also terrify my ghost.
These things, when heard, were able to move the mind of Caesar, Maximus, if they had moved yours first.
§1.2.115vox, precor, Augustas pro me tua molliat aures, §1.2.116auxilio trepidis quae solet esse reis, §1.2.117adsuetaque tibi doctae dulcedine linguae §1.2.118aequandi superis pectora flecte viri.
I pray that your voice, which is wont to be of help to trembling defendants, may soften the August ears for me, and with the accustomed sweetness of your learned tongue, bend the breast of the man who is to be equaled to the gods above.
§1.2.119non tibi Theromedon crudusque rogabitur Atreus, §1.2.120quique suis homines pabula fecit equis, §1.2.121sed piger ad poenas princeps, ad praemia velox, §1.2.122quique dolet, quotiens cogitur esse ferox, §1.2.123qui vicit semper, victis ut parcere posset, §1.2.124clausit et aeterna civica bella sera, §1.2.125multa metu poenae, poena qui pauca coercet, §1.2.126et iacit invita fulmina rara manu.
It is not Theromedon or cruel Atreus who will be petitioned by you, nor him who made men food for his horses, but a prince slow to punishment, swift to rewards, and who grieves as often as he is forced to be fierce, who conquered always in order to be able to spare the conquered, and closed civil wars with an eternal bolt, who restrains many things by the fear of punishment, few by punishment itself, and hurls rare thunderbolts with an unwilling hand.
Therefore, as an orator sent to such gentle ears, ask that our exile may be closer to our country.
§1.2.129ille ego sum, qui te colui, quem festa solebat §1.2.130inter convivas mensa videre tuos: §1.2.131ille ego, qui duxi vestros Hymenaeon ad ignes, §1.2.132et cecini fausto carmina digna toro, §1.2.133cuius te solitum memini laudare libellos, §1.2.134exceptis domino qui nocuere suo, §1.2.135cui tua nonnumquam miranti scripta legebas: §1.2.136ille ego de vestra cui data nupta domo est.
I am that man who revered you, whom the festive table was wont to see among your guests; I am he who led Hymenaeus to your wedding fires, and sang songs worthy of the auspicious bridal bed, of whose little books I remember you were accustomed to praise, except those which harmed their owner, to whom sometimes you read your own writings while I admired them; I am that man to whom a bride was given from your house.
§1.2.137hanc probat et primo dilectam semper ab aevo §1.2.138est inter comites Marcia censa suas, §1.2.139inque suis habuit matertera Caesaris ante: §1.2.140quarum iudicio siqua probata, proba est.
Marcia approves of her, and she has always been reckoned among her companions, beloved from her earliest age, and the aunt of Caesar held her among her own before: she who is approved by their judgment is indeed approved.
Claudia herself, better than her reputation, with those women praising her, would not have needed divine help.
§1.2.143nos quoque praeteritos sine labe peregimus annos: §1.2.144proxima pars vitae transilienda meae.
We too have passed past years without a stain; the most recent part of my life must be skipped.
§1.2.145sed de me ut sileam, coniunx mea sarcina vestra est: §1.2.146non potes hanc salva dissimulare fide,
But to be silent about myself, my wife is your burden; you cannot ignore her with your loyalty preserved.
§1.2.147confugit haec ad vos, vestras amplectitur aras §1.2.148—iure venit cultos ad sibi quisque deos— §1.2.149flensque rogat, precibus lenito Caesare vestris, §1.2.150busta sui fiant ut propiora viri.
She flees to you, she embraces your altars —by right everyone comes to the gods they worship— and weeping she asks, Caesar having been softened by your prayers, that the tomb of her husband may be made closer.