§104.28Novissima damnatio est sub gravissimis nominibus impleta: obiecta est et religionum violatio et iuventutis corruptela, quam inmittere in deos, in patres, in rem publicam dictus est.
His final condemnation was fulfilled under the gravest charges: both the violation of religions and the corruption of youth were charged against him, whom he was said to egg on against the gods, against the fathers, and against the republic.
Post haec carcer et venenum.
After these things, prison and poison.
Haec usque eo animum Socratis non moverant, ut ne vultum quidem moverent.
These had so little moved the mind of Socrates that they did not even move his countenance.
O illam mirabilem laudem et singularem! Usque ad extremum nec hilariorem quisquam nec tristiorem Socraten vidit.
Oh, that wonderful and singular praise! Up to the very end, no one saw Socrates either more cheerful or more sad.
Aequalis fuit in tanta inaequalitate fortunae.
He was equal in so great an inequality of fortune.
vis alterum exemplum?
Do you wish for another example?
§104.29Accipe hunc M. Catonem recentiorem, cum quo et infestius fortuna egit et pertinacius.
Take this Marcus Cato of more recent times, with whom fortune dealt both more hostilely and more persistently.
Cui cum omnibus locis obstitisset, novissime et in morte, ostendit tamen virum fortem posse invita fortuna vivere, invita mori.
When she had opposed him in all places, and finally even in death, he nevertheless showed that a brave man can live against the will of fortune, and die against her will.
Tota illi aetas aut in armis est exacta civilibus aut in toga concipiente iam civile bellum.
All his life was spent either in civil arms or in the toga already conceiving civil war.
Et hunc licet dicas non minus quam Socraten in servis se libertati addixisse, nisi forte Cn. Pompeium et Caesarem et Crassum putas libertatis socios fuisse.
And of him you may say, no less than of Socrates, that he dedicated himself to liberty among slaves, unless perchance you think that Gnaeus Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus were allies of liberty.
§104.30Nemo mutatum Catonem totiens mutata re publica vidit: eundem se in omni statu praestitit, in praetura, in repulsa, in accusatione, in provincia, in contione, in exercitu, in morte.
No one saw Cato changed, though the republic was changed so many times: he showed himself the same in every condition, in his praetorship, in his defeat, in his accusation, in his province, in the assembly, in the army, in death.
Denique in illa rei publicae trepidatione, cum illinc Caesar esset decem legionibus pugnacissimis subnixus, totis exterarum gentium praesidiis, hinc Cn. Pompeius, satis unus adversus omnia, cum alii ad Caesarem inclinarent, alii ad Pompeium, solus Cato fecit aliquas et rei publicae partes.
Finally, in that trepidation of the republic, when on one side was Caesar, supported by ten most warlike legions and all the forces of foreign nations, and on the other Gnaeus Pompey, sufficient by himself against all things, while some inclined to Caesar, others to Pompey, Cato alone made some party even for the republic.
§104.31Si animo complecti volueris illius imaginem temporis, videbis illinc plebem et omne erectum ad res novas vulgum, hinc optumates et equestrem ordinem, quicquid erat in civitate sancti et electi, duos in medio relictos, rem publicam et Catonem.
If you wish to grasp in mind the image of that time, you will see on one side the plebeians and all the populace excited for revolution, on the other the optimates and the equestrian order, whatever was holy and select in the state, and two left in the middle, the republic and Cato.
Miraberis, inquam, cum animadverteris
"
Atriden Priamumque et saevom ambobus Achillen.
You will wonder, I say, when you observe: "The son of Atreus, and Priam, and Achilles fierce to both.
" §104.32Utrumque enim improbat, utrumque exarmat.
"For he disapproves of both, he disarms both.
Hanc fert de utroque sententiam: ait se, si Caesar vicerit, moriturum, si Pompeius, exulaturum.
He pronounces this judgment on both: he says that if Caesar wins, he will die; if Pompey, he will go into exile.
Quid habebat, quod timeret, qui ipse sibi et victo et victori constituerat, quae constituta esse ab hostibus iratissimis poterant? Periit itaque ex decreto suo.
What did he have to fear, who had himself decreed for himself, both as vanquished and as victor, what could have been decreed by his angriest enemies? Therefore he perished according to his own decree.
vides posse homines laborem pati: §104.33per medias Africae solitudines pedes duxit exercitum, vides posse tolerari sitim: in collibus arentibus sine ullis inpedimentis victi exercitus reliquias trahens inopiam umoris loricatus tulit et, quotiens aquae fuerat occasio, novissimus bibit, vides honorem et notam posse contemni: eodem quo repulsus est die in comitio pila lusit, vides posse non timeri potentiam superiorum: et Pompeium et Caesarem, quorum nemo alterum offendere audebat nisi ut alterum demereretur, simul provocavit, vides tam mortem posse contemni quam exilium: et exilium sibi indixit et mortem et interim bellum.
You see that men can endure labor: he led his army on foot through the midst of the deserts of Africa. You see that thirst can be tolerated: on dry hills, without any baggage, dragging the remnants of a defeated army, he endured the lack of moisture while clad in mail and, as often as there was an opportunity for water, he drank last. You see that honor and disgrace can be despised: on the very day he was defeated in election, he played ball in the comitium. You see that the power of superiors can be unfeared: both Pompey and Caesar, of whom no one dared to offend one except to win the favor of the other, he provoked at the same time. You see that death can be as much despised as exile: he declared both exile and death upon himself, and in the meantime, war.
§104.34Possumus itaque adversus ista tantum habere animi, libeat modo subducere iugo collum.
We can, therefore, have so much courage against these things, if only it pleases us to withdraw our neck from the yoke.
In primis autem respuendae voluptates; enervant et effeminant et multum petunt, multum autem a fortuna petendum est.
But first of all, pleasures must be rejected; they enervate and effeminate, and demand much, and much must be demanded of fortune.
Deinde spernendae opes: auctoramenta sunt servitutum.
Next, riches must be despised: they are the contract-money of slaveries.
Aurum et argentum et quicquid aliud felices domos onerat, relinquatur; non potest gratis constare libertas.
Let gold and silver, and whatever else burdens happy homes, be left behind; liberty cannot stand without cost.
Hanc si magno aestimas, omnia parvo aestimanda sunt.
If you value this highly, all things must be valued at a low price.
VALE.
FAREWELL.