§95.65Posidonius non tantum praeceptionem, nihil enim nos hoc verbo uti prohibet, sed etiam suasionem et consolationem et exhortationem necessariam iudicat.
Posidonius judges that not only precept—for nothing prevents us from using this word—but also persuasion, consolation, and exhortation are necessary.
His adicit causarum inquisitionem, aetiologian quam quare nos dicere non audeamus, cum grammatici, custodes Latini sermonis, suo iure ita appellent, non video.
To these he adds the investigation of causes, aetiology; and why we should not dare to say this, when the grammarians, the guardians of the Latin language, call it so by their own right, I do not see.
Ait utilem futuram et descriptionem cuiusque virtutis; hanc Posidonius ethologian vocat, quidam characterismon appellant, signa cuiusque virtutis ac vitii et notas reddentem, quibus inter se similia discriminentur.
He says that the description of each virtue will also be useful; Posidonius calls this ethology, while some call it characterismus, rendering the signs and marks of each virtue and vice, by which similar things may be distinguished from one another.
§95.66Haec res eandem vim habet quam praecipere.
This matter has the same power as prescribing.
Nam qui praecipit, dicit: "illa facies, si voles temperans esse. "Qui describit, ait: "temperans est, qui illa facit, qui illis abstinet. "Quaeris, quid intersit? Alter praecepta virtutis dat, alter exemplar.
For he who prescribes says: "you will do those things if you wish to be temperate." He who describes says: "he is temperate who does those things, who abstains from those things." You ask, what is the difference? The one gives the precepts of virtue, the other an exemplar.
Descriptiones has et, ut publicanorum utar verbo, iconismos ex usu esse confiteor; proponamus laudanda, invenietur imitator.
I confess that these descriptions and—to use the word of the tax-gatherers— iconisms, are of use; let us propose what is to be praised, and an imitator will be found.
§95.67Putas utile dari tibi argumenta, per quae intellegas nobilem equum, ne fallaris empturus, ne operam perdas in ignavo? Quanto hoc utilius est, excellentis animi notas nosse, quas ex alio in se transferre permittitur.
Do you think it useful that clues are given to you by which you may recognize a noble horse, so that you are not deceived when about to buy, and do not waste your labor on a lazy one? How much more useful is it to know the marks of an excellent mind, which one is permitted to transfer from another into oneself!
§95.68"
Continuo pecoris generosi pullus in arvis
Altius ingreditur et mollia crura reponit; Primus et ire viam et fluvios temptare minantis
Audet et ignoto sese committere ponti,
Nec vanos horret strepitus.
"Straightway the colt of a noble breed in the fields steps higher and sets down his supple legs; he is the first to dare to go the way and to try the threatening rivers, and to commit himself to an unknown bridge, nor does he shudder at empty noises.
Illi ardua cervix
Argutumque caput, brevis alvus obesaque terga,
Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus
Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dederunt,
Stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus
Conlectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem. "
His neck is steep, his head sleek, his belly short, and his back plump, and his spirited breast is rich with muscles. Then, if any arms have clashed afar, he knows not how to stand still, his ears prick, his limbs tremble, and pressing back the gathered fire, he rolls it beneath his nostrils.
§95.69Dum aliud agit, vergilius noster descripsit virum fortem; ego certe non aliam imaginem magno viro dederim.
"While doing something else, our Virgil described a brave man; I certainly would have given no other image to a great man.
Si mihi M. Cato exprimendus sit, inter fragores bellorum civilium inpavidus et primus incessens admotos iam exercitus Alpibus civilique se bello ferens obvium, non alium illi adsignaverim vultum, non alium habitum.
If I had to depict Marcus Cato, undaunted amid the crashes of civil wars, marching foremost against armies already brought near to the Alps, and throwing himself in the way of the civil war, I would have assigned to him no other countenance, no other bearing.
§95.70Altius certe nemo ingredi potuit quam qui simul contra Caesarem Pompeiumque se sustulit et aliis Caesareanas opes, aliis Pompeianas foventibus utrumque provocavit ostenditque aliquas esse et rei publicae partes.
Certainly no one could have stepped higher than he who raised himself at once against Caesar and Pompey, and, while some favored the Caesarian power and others the Pompeian, challenged both, showing that there were also some parties of the republic.
Nam parum est in Catone dicere: "nec vanos horret strepitus.
For it is too little to say of Cato: "nor does he shudder at empty noises." Why not?
"Quidni? Cum veros vicinosque non horreat, cum contra decem legiones et Gallica auxilia et mixta barbarica arma civilibus vocem liberam mittat et rem publicam hortetur, ne pro libertate decidat, sed omnia experiatur, honestius in servitutem casura quam itura.
Since he did not shudder at real and neighboring ones, when against ten legions, Gallic auxiliaries, and mixed barbarian arms he sent forth a free citizen's voice and exhorted the republic not to compromise for liberty, but to try all things, as she was going to fall into slavery more honorably than walk into it.
§95.71Quantum in illo vigoris ac spiritus, quantum in publica trepidatione fiducia est! Scit se unum esse, de cuius statu non agatur;
How much vigor and spirit was in him, how much confidence in the public trepidation!
non enim quaeri, an liber Cato, sed an inter liberos sit; inde periculorum gladiorumque contemptus.
He knew that he was the only one whose status was not at stake; for the question was not whether Cato should be free, but whether he should be among the free; hence came his contempt of dangers and swords.
Libet admirantem invictam constantiam viri inter publicas ruinas non labantis dicere:
"
luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. "
It pleases me, admiring the unconquered constancy of the man who did not waver amid the public ruins, to say: "and his spirited breast is rich with muscles.
§95.72Proderit non tantum quales esse soleant boni viri dicere formamque eorum et lineamenta deducere, sed quales fuerint narrare et exponere, Catonis illud ultimum ac fortissimum vulnus, per quod libertas emisit animam, Laeli sapientiam et cum suo Scipione concordiam, alterius Catonis domi forisque egregia facta, Tuberonis ligneos lectos, cum in publicum sternerent, haedinasque pro stragulis pelles et ante ipsius Iovis cellam adposita conviviis vasa fictilia Quid aliud paupertatem in Capitolio consecrare? Ut nullum aliud factum eius habeam, quo illum Catonibus inseram, hoc parum credimus? Censura fuit illa, non cena.
"It will be beneficial not only to say what kind of men good men are accustomed to be, and to draw their form and lineaments, but to relate and set forth what kind of men they were: that last and bravest wound of Cato, through which liberty poured out her breath; the wisdom of Laelius and his concord with his Scipio; the egregious deeds of the other Cato at home and abroad; the wooden couches of Tubero, when they were spread for a public feast, and goat-skins for covers, and earthen vessels placed for the banquet before the chamber of Jupiter himself. What else is this than to consecrate poverty in the Capitol? Even if I have no other deed of his by which to insert him among the Catos, do we believe this is too little? That was a censorship, not a dinner.
§95.73O quam ignorant homines cupidi gloriae, quid illa sit aut quemadmodum petenda! Illo die populus Romanus multorum supellectilem spectavit, unius miratus est.
O how ignorant are men who are desirous of glory, of what it is or how it is to be sought! On that day, the Roman people looked at the furniture of many, but admired that of one.
Omnium illorum aurum argentumque fractum est et milliens conflatum, at omnibus saeculis Tuberonis fictilia durabunt.
The gold and silver of all those men has been broken up and melted a thousand times, but the earthen vessels of Tubero will endure through all ages.
Vale.
Farewell.