§83.11Huic autem neminem commissurum arcana, quae per vinum eloqui possit. Quod est falsum.
"To this man, however, no one will commit secrets, which he might blab out through wine." This is false.
Prima enim illa interrogatio conplectitur eum, qui est ebrius, non eum, qui futurus est.
For that first syllogism includes him who is drunk, not him who is going to be.
Plurimum enim interesse concedes et inter ebrium et ebriosum.
For you will grant that there is a very great difference between a drunk man and a drunkard.
Potest et qui ebrius est, tunc primum esse nec habere hoc vitium, et qui ebriosus est, saepe extra ebrietatem esse.
It can be both that he who is drunk is so then for the first time and does not have this vice, and that he who is a drunkard is often free from drunkenness.
Itaque id intellego, quod significari verbo isto solet, praesertim cum ab homine diligentiam professo ponatur et verba examinante.
Therefore, I understand that which is accustomed to be signified by that word, especially since it is set down by a man who professes precision and examines words.
Adice nunc quod, si hoc intellexit Zenon et nos intellegere voluit, ambiguitate verbi quaesiit locum fraudi, quod faciendum non est, ubi veritas quaeritur.
Add to this that, if Zeno meant this and wanted us to understand it, he sought room for deception by the ambiguity of the word, which ought not to be done where truth is sought.
§83.12Sed sane hoc senserit; quod sequitur, falsum est, ei qui soleat ebrius fieri, non committi sermonem secretum.
But indeed, let him have meant this; what follows is false, that to one who is accustomed to get drunk, a secret conversation is not committed.
Cogita enim, quam multis militibus non semper sobriis et imperator et tribunus et centurio tacenda mandaverint.
For consider to how many soldiers, not always sober, both general and tribune and centurion have entrusted things to be kept silent.
De illa C. Caesaris caede, illius dico, qui superata Pompeio rem publicam tenuit, tam creditum est Tillio Cimbro quam C Cassio.
Concerning that murder of Gaius Caesar—I mean him who held the republic after defeating Pompey—Tillius Cimber was trusted as much as Gaius Cassius.
Cassius tota vita aquam bibit, Tillius Cimber et nimius erat in vino et scordalus.
Cassius drank water all his life; Tillius Cimber was both excessive in wine and a brawler.
In hanc rem locutus est ipse: "ego," inquit, "quemquam feram, qui vinum ferre non possum?" §83.13Sibi quisque nunc nominet eos, quibus scit et vinum male credi et sermonem bene, unum tamen exemplum, quod occurrit mihi, referam, ne intercedat Instruenda est enim vita exemplis inlustribus.
On this matter he himself spoke: "Shall I," he said, "bear anyone, I who cannot bear wine?" Now let each name for himself those to whom he knows both wine is badly entrusted and speech is well; yet I will relate one example that occurs to me, lest it be lost. For life must be equipped with illustrious examples.
Non semper confugiamus ad vetera.
Let us not always flee to ancient ones.
§83.14L. Piso, urbis custos, ebrius ex quo semel factus est, fuit.
Lucius Piso, the guardian of the city, was drunk from the moment he first became so.
Maiorem noctis partem in convivio exigebat; usque in horam fere sextam dormiebat; hoc eius erat matutinum.
He spent the greater part of the night in banquet; he slept until almost the sixth hour; this was his morning.
Officium tamen suum, quo tutela urbis continebatur, diligentissime administravit.
Yet he administered his duty, in which the protection of the city was contained, most diligently.
Huic et divus Augustus dedit secreta mandata, cum illum praeponeret Thraciae, quam perdomuit, et Tiberius proficiscens in Campaniam, cum multa in urbe et suspecta relinqueret et invisa.
To him both the deified Augustus gave secret commands, when he put him in charge of Thrace, which he thoroughly subdued, and Tiberius when setting out for Campania, when he left many things in the city that were both suspected and hated.
§83.15Puto, quia illi bene cesserat Pisonis ebrietas, postea Cossum fecit urbis praefectum, virum gravem, moderatum, sed mersum et vino madentem, adeo ut ex senatu aliquando, in quem e convivio venerat, obpressus inexcitabili somno tolleretur.
I think, because Piso's drunkenness had turned out well for him, he afterwards made Cossus prefect of the city, a man serious, moderate, but drowned and soaked in wine, so much so that sometimes he was carried out from the senate, into which he had come from a banquet, overcome by an sleep from which he could not be awakened.
Huic tamen Tiberius multa sua manu scripsit, quae committenda ne ministris quidem suis iudicabat.
To him, however, Tiberius wrote many things with his own hand, which he did not judge should be committed even to his own ministers.
Nullum Cosso aut privatum secretum aut publicum elapsum est.
No secret, either private or public, slipped from Cossus.
§83.16Itaque declamationes istas de medio removeamus: "Non est animus in sua potestate ebrietate devinctus.
Therefore, let us remove those declamations from our midst: "The mind, bound by drunkenness, is not in its own power.
Quemadmodum musto dolia ipsa rumpuntur et omne, quod in imo iacet, in summam partem vis caloris eiectat; sic vino exaestuante, quicquid in imo iacet abditum, effertur et prodit in medium.
Just as jars themselves are burst by must, and the force of heat ejects to the top whatever lies at the bottom; so when wine boils up, whatever lies hidden at the bottom is brought up and comes out into the open.
Onerati mero quemadmodum non continent cibum vino redundante, ita ne secretum quidem.
Those loaded with unmixed wine, just as they do not retain food when wine overflows, so not even a secret.
Quod suum alienumque est, pariter effundunt. " §83.17Sed quamvis hoc soleat accidere, ita et illud solet, ut cum iis, quos sciamus libentius bibere, de rebus necessariis deliberemus.
They pour out equally what is their own and what is another's." But although this is accustomed to happen, so also is that accustomed to happen, namely, that we deliberate on necessary matters with those whom we know drink quite willingly.
Falsum ergo est hoc, quod patrocinii loco ponitur, ei qui soleat ebrius fieri, non dari tacitum.
Therefore, this is false, which is put forward by way of defense, that to him who is accustomed to get drunk, a secret is not given.
Quanto satius est aperte accusare ebrietatem et vitia eius exponere, quae etiam tolerabilis homo vitaverit, nedum perfectus ac sapiens, cui satis est sitim extinguere, qui, etiam si quando hortata est hilaritas aliena causa producta longius, tamen citra ebrietatem resistit.
How much better is it openly to accuse drunkenness and expose its vices, which even a tolerable man would avoid, let alone a perfect and wise man, for whom it is enough to quench his thirst, who, even if sometimes a cheerfulness produced for another's sake and prolonged further has encouraged him, nevertheless stops short of drunkenness.
§83.18Nam de illo videbimus, an sapientis animus nimio vino turbetur et faciat ebriis solita; interim, si hoc colligere vis virum bonum non debere ebrium fieri, cur syllogismis agis? Dic, quam turpe sit plus sibi ingerere quam capiat et stomachi sui non nosse mensuram, quam multa ebrii faciant, quibus sobrii erubescant, nihil aliud esse ebrietatem quam voluntariam insaniam.
For about that other matter we shall see, whether the mind of a wise man is disturbed by too much wine and does things customary for drunkards; in the meantime, if you want to conclude this, that a good man ought not to get drunk, why do you act with syllogisms? Say how shameful it is to pour into oneself more than one can hold and not to know the measure of one's own stomach, how many things drunk men do, at which sober men would blush, and that drunkenness is nothing other than voluntary madness.
Extende in plures dies illum ebrii habitum; numquid de furore dubitabis?
Extend that state of a drunk man to several days; will you have any doubt about madness?