§91.7Nihil privatim, nihil publice stabile est; tam hominum quam urbium fata volvuntur.
Nothing is stable, whether privately or publicly; the fates of men, as of cities, are in rotation.
Inter placidissima terror existit nihilque extra tumultuantibus causis mala, unde minime exspectabantur, erumpunt Quae domesticis bellis steterant regna, quae externis, inpellente nullo ruunt.
Terror arises in the midst of the greatest peace, and, though there are absolutely no causes creating trouble from without, evils break out from whence they were least expected. Kingdoms which had withstood domestic wars, and those which had withstood foreign ones, collapse with no one pushing them.
Quota quaeque felicitatem civitas pertulit?
Cogitanda ergo sunt omnia et animus adversus ea, quae possunt evenire, firmandus.
How few are the cities that have carried their prosperity through to the end? Therefore, everything must be reflected upon, and the mind must be strengthened against those things which can happen.
§91.8Exilia, tormenta morbi, bella, naufragia meditare.
Meditate upon banishment, tortures, diseases, wars, shipwrecks.
Potest te patriae, potest patriam tibi casus eripere, potest te in solitudines abigere, potest hoc ipsum, in quo turba suffocatur, fieri solitudo.
Chance can snatch you from your homeland, or your homeland from you; it can drive you into solitudes, and this very place in which the crowd is stifled can become a solitude.
Tota ante oculos sortis humanae condicio ponatur, nec quantum frequenter evenit, sed quantum plurimum potest evenire, praesumamus animo, si nolumus opprimi nec illis inusitatis velut novis obstupefieri; in plenum cogitanda fortuna est.
Let the whole condition of human lot be placed before our eyes, and let us anticipate in our minds not merely how much frequently happens, but how much at the very most can happen, if we do not wish to be crushed nor to be stupefied by those unusual things as if they were new; fortune must be contemplated in its fullness.
§91.9Quotiens Asiae, quotiens Achaiae urbes uno tremore ceciderunt? Quot oppida in Syria, quot in Macedonia devorata sunt? Cypron quotiens vastavit haec clades? Quotiens in se Paphus corruit? Frequenter nobis nuntiati sunt totarum urbium interitus, et nos inter quos ista frequenter nuntiantur, quota pars omnium sumus?
Consurgamus itaque adversus fortuita et quicquid inciderit, sciamus non esse tam magnum quam rumore iactetur.
How often have the cities of Asia, how often the cities of Achaia, fallen by a single tremor? How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have been swallowed up? How often has this disaster devastated Cyprus? How often has Paphos collapsed into itself? Frequently has the destruction of entire cities been reported to us, and we, among whom these things are frequently reported, what a small fraction of the whole are we? Therefore let us rise up against fortuitous events, and whatever happens, let us know that it is not as great as it is reported by rumor.
§91.10Civitas arsit opulenta ornamentumque provinciarum, quibus et inserta erat et excepta, uni tamen inposita et huic non latissimo monti;
An opulent city has burned, the ornament of the provinces, in which it was both inserted and excepted, yet placed upon a single and not very broad mountain.
omnium istarum civitatium, quas nunc magnificas ac nobiles audis, vestigia quoque tempus eradet.
Of all those cities which you now hear of as magnificent and noble, time will erase even the traces.
Non vides, quemadmodum in Achaia clarissimarum urbium iam fundamenta consumpta sint nec quicquam extet, ex quo appareat illas saltim fuisse?
Do you not see how in Achaia the very foundations of the most famous cities have already been consumed, and nothing remains from which it might appear that they had at least existed?
§91.11Non tantum manu facta labuntur, nec tantum humana arte atque industria posita vertit dies; iuga montium diffluunt, totae desedere regiones, operta sunt fluctibus quae procul a conspectu maris stabant.
Not only do man-made things fall, nor does time overturn only what has been established by human art and industry; the ridges of mountains melt away, entire regions have subsided, and places which used to stand far from the sight of the sea have been covered with waves.
Vasta vis ignium colles, per quos relucebat, erosit et quondam altissimos vertices, solacia navigandum ac speculas, ad humile deduxit.
A vast force of fires has eroded the hills through which it used to shine, and has brought down to a low level those once highest peaks, which were consolations for those sailing and watchtowers.
Ipsius naturae opera vexantur et ideo aequo animo ferre debemus urbium excidia.
The works of nature itself are harassed, and therefore we ought to bear the destruction of cities with an equal mind.
§91.12Casurae stant.
They stand, destined to fall.
Omnes hic exitus manet, sive interna vis flatusque praeclusa via violenti pondus, sub quo tenentur, excusserint, sive torrentium impetus in abdito vastior obstantia effregerit, sive flammarum violentia conpaginem soli ruperit, sive vetustas, a qua nihil tutum est, expugnaverit minutatim, sive gravitas caeli egesserit populos et situs deserta corruperit.
This end awaits all things, whether an internal force and violent blasts, their exit blocked, shake off the weight under which they are held, or whether a vaster rush of torrents in hidden places breaks through what opposes them, or the violence of flames ruptures the frame of the earth, or old age, from which nothing is safe, subdues them little by little, or an oppressive climate drives out populations and neglect ruins abandoned places.
Enumerare omnes fatorum vias longum est.
To enumerate all the paths of fate is a long task.
Hoc unum scio: omnia mortalium opera mortalitate damnata sunt, inter peritura vivimus.
This one thing I know: all the works of mortals are condemned to mortality; we live among things destined to perish.
§91.13Haec ergo atque eiusmodi solacia admoveo Liberali nostro incredibili quodam patriae suae amore flagranti, quae fortasse consumpta est, ut in melius excitaretur.
These, therefore, and consolations of this kind I offer to our Liberalis, who burns with an incredible love for his homeland, which has perhaps been consumed so that it might be raised up to something better.
Saepe maiori fortunae locum fecit iniuria.
Often has injury made room for a greater fortune.
Multa ceciderunt, ut altius surgerent.
Many things have fallen so that they might rise higher.
Timagenes felicitati urbis inimicus aiebat Romae sibi incendia ob hoc unum dolori esse, quod sciret meliora surrectura quam arsissent.
Timagenes, an enemy to the prosperity of the city, used to say that fires in Rome were a grief to him for this one reason: because he knew that better buildings would rise than those which had burned.
§91.14In hac quoque urbe veri simile est certaturos omnes, ut maiora certioraque quam amisere restituantur.
In this city also, it is likely that everyone will strive to restore things greater and more secure than those which they lost.
Sint utinam diuturna et melioribus auspiciis in aevum longius condita! Nam huic coloniae ab origine sua centensimus annus est, aetas ne homini quidem extrema.
May they be long-lasting and, under better auspices, established for a longer age! For this colony is in its hundredth year from its origin, an age not even extreme for a man.
A Planco deducta in hanc frequentiam loci opportunitate convaluit, quot tamen gravissimos casus intra spatium humanae senectutis tulit.
Established by Plancus, it grew strong into this populousness through the convenience of its location; yet how many most grievous disasters has it borne within the span of a human old age!