Nepos: LIBER DE LATINIS HISTORICIS

[1] Titus Pomponius Atticus, born from the most recent branch of the Roman stock, continuously held the equestrian dignity handed down from his ancestors.

2 Patre usus est diligente et, ut tum erant tempora, diti in primisque studioso litterarum. Hic, prout ipse amabat litteras, omnibus doctrinis, quibus puerilis aetas impertiri debet, filium erudivit.

2 He had a careful father, and, as the times then were, a rich man and above all a lover of letters. This man, insofar as he himself loved literature, instructed his son in all the doctrines which boyhood ought to be imparted.

3 Erat autem in puero praeter docilitatem ingenii summa suavitas oris atque vocis, ut non solum celeriter acciperet, quae tradebantur, sed etiam excellenter pronuntiaret. Qua ex re in pueritia nobilis inter aequales ferebatur clariusque exsplendescebat, quam generosi condiscipuli animo aequo ferre possent.

3 Moreover, in the boy, besides a docility of genius, there was a supreme suavity of mouth and voice, so that he not only quickly received what was imparted, but also pronounced it excellently. From this fact in boyhood he was regarded as noble among his equals and shone forth more clearly than his genteel classmates could bear with equanimity.

4 Itaque incitabat omnes studio suo. Quo in numero fuerunt L. Torquatus, C. Marius filius, M. Cicero; quos consuetudine sua sic devinxit, ut nemo his perpetuo fuerit carior.

4 And so he stirred all by his zeal. Among these were L. Torquatus, C. Marius the son, M. Cicero; whom by his familiar companionship he so bound to himself that none was ever more dear to him than they.

[2] Pater mature decessit. Ipse adulescentulus propter affinitatem P. Sulpicii, qui tribunus plebi interfectus est, non expers fuit illius periculi. Namque Anicia, Pomponii consobrina, nupserat Servio, fratri Sulpicii.

[2] The father died early. He himself, a mere youth, because of his affinity with P. Sulpicius, who was slain while tribune of the plebs, was not free from that danger. For Anicia, Pomponius’s cousin, had married Servius, brother of Sulpicius.

2 Itaque interfecto Sulpicio, posteaquam vidit Cinnano tumultu civitatem esse perturbatam neque sibi dari facultatem pro dignitate vivendi, quin alterutram partem offenderet, dissociatis animis civium, cum alii Sullanis, alii Cinnanis faverent partibus, idoneum tempus ratus studiis obsequendi suis, Athenas se contulit. Neque eo setius adulescentem Marium hostem iudicatum iuvit opibus suis, cuius fugam pecunia sublevavit.

2 Therefore, after Sulpicius was slain, when he saw that the state was shaken by Cinna’s tumult and that no opportunity was granted him to live according to his dignity without offending one party or the other, the minds of the citizens being divided — some favoring the Sullan faction, others the Cinnan — he judged it a fitting time to devote himself to his studies and withdrew to Athens. Nor, notwithstanding this, did he fail to aid the young Marius, adjudged an enemy, with his resources, whose flight he supported with money.

3 Ac ne illa peregrinatio detrimentum aliquod afferret rei familiari, eodem magnam partem fortunarum traiecit suarum. Hic ita vixit, ut universis Atheniensibus merito esset carissimus.

3 And lest that peregrination bring any detriment to the household estate, he transferred a great part of his fortunes to the same place. He lived here so that he was by right most dear to all the Athenians.

4 Nam praeter gratiam, quae iam in adulescentulo magna erat, saepe suis opibus inopiam eorum publicam levavit. Cum enim versuram facere publice necesse esset neque eius condicionem aequam haberent, semper se interposuit atque ita, ut neque usuram umquam ab iis acceperit neque longius, quam dictum esset, debere passus sit.

4 For besides the favor which already was great in the young man, he often with his own resources eased their public want. For when it was necessary to make a loan publicly and they did not have an equal standing, he always interposed himself and so, that he neither ever received interest from them nor allowed them to owe for longer than had been agreed.

5 Quod utrumque erat iis salutare. Nam neque indulgendo inveterascere eorum aes alienum patiebatur neque multiplicandis usuris crescere.

5 Both were salutary for them. For by indulging he did not allow their aes alienum (debt) to become inveterate, nor, by multiplying usuries, to grow.

6 Auxit hoc officium alia quoque liberalitate. Nam universos frumento donavit, ita ut singulis sex modii tritici darentur; qui modus mensurae medimnus Athenis appellatur.

6 He augmented this officium by another liberality. For he bestowed grain upon all, so that to each six modii of wheat were given; this mode of measure, the medimnus, is called at Athens.

[3] Hic autem sic se gerebat, ut communis infimis, par principibus videretur. Quo factum est, ut huic omnes honores, quos possent, publice haberent civemque facere studerent; quo beneficio ille uti noluit, quod nonnulli ita interpretantur, amitti civitatem Romanam alia ascita.

[3] But he comported himself so that he seemed common to the low-born, equal to the princes. From this it came about that all publicly bestowed on him whatever honours they could and strove to make him a citizen; of this benefit he would not make use, which some so interpret — that Roman citizenship would be lost by being admitted to another.

2 Quamdiu adfuit, ne qua sibi statua poneretur, restitit; absens prohibere non potuit. Itaque aliquot ipsi et Phidiae locis sanctissimis posuerunt: hunc enim in omni procuratione rei publicae actorem auctoremque habebant.

2 While he was present he resisted that any statue be set up for him; absent he could not forbid it. Therefore some themselves even placed them in the most sacred sites of Phidias: for they regarded him as the actor and author in the whole administration of the republic.

3 Igitur primum illud munus fortunae, quod in ea potissimum urbe natus est, in qua domicilium orbis terrarum esset imperii, ut eandem et patriam haberet et domum; hoc specimen prudentiae, quod, cum in eam se civitatem contulisset, quae antiquitate, humanitate doctrinaque praestaret omnes, ** unus ei fuerit carissimus.

3 Therefore the first gift of fortuna, which most of all was born in that urbs where the dwelling of the orbis terrarum was the seat of imperium, that he should have both patria and domus; this a specimen of prudentia, that, when he had transferred himself into that civitas, which excelled all in antiquity, humanitate and doctrina, one man alone was most dear to him.

[4] Huc ex Asia Sulla decedens cum venisset, quamdiu ibi fuit, secum habuit Pomponium, captus adulescentis et humanitate et doctrina. Sic enim Graece loquebatur, ut Athenis natus videretur; tanta autem suavitas erat sermonis Latini, ut appareret in eo nativum quendam leporem esse, non ascitum. Item poemata pronuntiabat et Graece et Latine sic, ut supra nihil posset addi.

[4] When Sulla, departing from Asia, had come here, while he remained there he kept Pomponius with him, taken with the youth both by his humanitas and by his doctrina. For he spoke Greek so well that he seemed to have been born at Athens; and there was such sweetness in his Latin speech that it appeared to be a certain native lepor, not an ascitum one. Likewise he pronounced poems both in Greek and in Latin so that nothing could be added above them.

2 Quibus rebus factum est ut Sulla nusquam eum ab se dimitteret cuperetque secum deducere. Qui cum persuadere temptaret, `Noli, oro te', inquit Pomponius `adversum eos me velle ducere, cum quibus ne contra te arma ferrem, Italiam reliqui.' At Sulla adulescentis officio collaudato omnia munera ei, quae Athenis acceperat, proficiscens iussit deferri.

2 By these circumstances it came about that Sulla nowhere wished to dismiss him from his side and desired to take him along. When he tried to persuade him, Pomponius said, "Do not, I beg you, attempt to lead me against those with whom I, when I left Italy, would not even bear arms against you." But Sulla, having praised the youth's dutifulness, ordered all the presents that he had received at Athens to be conveyed as he set out.

3 Hic complures annos moratus, cum et rei familiari tantum operae daret, quantum non indiligens deberet pater familias, et omnia reliqua tempora aut litteris aut Atheniensium rei publicae tribueret, nihilo minus amicis urbana officia praestitit.

3 He remained here several years, and, giving to the household affairs only as much labor as a not-neglectful pater familias ought, and allotting all his remaining time either to letters or to the republic of the Athenians, nevertheless he rendered urbane services to his friends.

4 Nam et ad comitia eorum ventitavit, et si qua res maior acta est, non defuit. Sicut Ciceroni in omnibus eius periculis singularem fidem praebuit; cui ex patria fugienti HS ducenta et quinquaginta milia donavit.

4 For he frequented their comitia, and was not absent whenever any more important matter was acted; just as he showed singular fidelity to Cicero in all his perils; to whom, fleeing from his country, he gave HS 250,000.

5 Tranquillatis autem rebus Romanis remigravit Romam, ut opinor, L. Cotta et L. Torquato consulibus. Quem discedentem sic universa civitas Atheniensium prosecuta est, ut lacrimis desiderii futuri dolorem indicaret.

5 When affairs at Rome had been made tranquil, he returned to Rome, as I think, in the consulship of L. Cotta and L. Torquatus. As he departed, the whole body of the Athenians escorted him in such wise that with tears they showed the grief of longing for what was to come.

[5] Habebat avunculum Q. Caecilium, equitem Romanum, familiarem L. Luculli, divitem, difficillima natura. Cuius sic asperitatem veritus est, ut, quem nemo ferre posset, huius sine offensione ad summam senectutem retinuerit benevolentiam. Quo facto tulit pietatis fructum.

[5] He had an uncle, Q. Caecilius, a Roman equestrian, a familiar of L. Lucullus, wealthy, of most difficult temper. So fearing his harshness that, whom no one could bear, he yet, without giving offense, preserved that man's benevolence to the utmost old age. By this deed he reaped the fruit of pietas.

2 Caecilius enim moriens testamento adoptavit eum heredemque fecit ex dodrante; ex qua hereditate accepit circiter centies sestertium.

2 For Caecilius, dying, by will adopted him and made him heir from a dodrans; from that inheritance he received about one hundred million sesterces.

3 Erat nupta soror Attici Q. Tullio Ciceroni, easque nuptias M. Cicero conciliarat, cum quo a condiscipulatu vivebat coniunctissime, multo etiam familiarius quam cum Quinto, ut iudicari possit plus in amicitia valere similitudinem morum quam affinitatem.

3 He had his sister married to Q. Tullius Cicero, and M. Cicero had brought about that marriage; with him he lived most closely from their fellowship as fellow-students, much more familiarly even than with Quintus, so that it may be judged that similarity of morals avails more in friendship than does affinity.

4 Utebatur autem intime Q. Hortensio, qui his temporibus principatum eloquentiae tenebat, ut intellegi non posset, uter eum plus diligeret, Cicero an Hortensius, et, id quod erat difficillimum, efficiebat, ut, inter quos tantae laudis esset aemulatio, nulla intercederet obtrectatio essetque talium virorum copula.

4 He was moreover intimate with Q. Hortensius, who in those times held the principate of eloquence, so that it could not be understood whom he preferred more, Cicero or Hortensius; and, which was most difficult, he brought it about that, between whom there was so great a rivalry of praise, no detracting intervened and there was a union of such men.

[6] In re publica ita est versatus, ut semper optimarum partium et esset et existimaretur, neque tamen se civilibus fluctibus committeret, quod non magis eos in sua potestate existimabat esse, qui se his dedissent, quam qui maritimis iactarentur.

[6] In public affairs he was so occupied that he was always, and was thought to be, of the best parties, yet he would not commit himself to civil disturbances, for he did not reckon those who had given themselves over to them to be more within his power than those who were tossed by maritime waves.

2 Honores non petiit, cum ei paterent propter vel gratiam vel dignitatem, quod neque peti more maiorum neque capi possent conservatis legibus in tam effusi ambitus largitionibus neque geri e re publica sine periculo corruptis civitatis moribus.

2 He did not seek honors, since they lay open to him either by favor or by dignity; and, with the laws preserved, they could neither be sought in the manner of the ancestors nor be obtained amidst such profuse ambitus-largesses, nor be held in the res publica without danger, the morals of the state having been corrupted.

3 Ad hastam publicam numquam accessit. Nullius rei neque praes neque manceps factus est. Neminem neque suo nomine neque subscribens accusavit; in ius de sua re numquam iit: iudicium nullum habuit.

3 He never approached the public auction-post. He was made neither praes nor manceps of any thing. He accused no one, neither in his own name nor by subscribing; he never went to law over his property: he had no lawsuit.

4 Multorum consulum praetorumque praefecturas delatas sic accepit, ut neminem in provinciam sit secutus, honore fuerit contentus, rei familiaris despexerit fructum; qui ne cum Q. quidem Cicerone voluerit ire in Asiam, cum apud eum legati locum obtinere posset. Non enim decere se arbitrabatur, cum praeturam gerere noluisset, asseclam esse praetoris.

4 He accepted the prefectures conferred by many consuls and praetors in such a way that he followed no one into a province, was content with the honour, and despised the fruit of his private estate; who would not even wish to go to Asia with Q. Cicero, although he could have obtained the post of legate with him. For he judged it unbecoming to be the praetor’s attendant, since he had not wished to hold the praetorship.

5 Qua in re non solum dignitati serviebat, sed etiam tranquillitati, cum suspiciones quoque vitaret criminum. Quo fiebat, ut eius observantia omnibus esset carior, cum eam officio, non timori neque spei tribui viderent.

5 In this matter it served not only his dignity but also his tranquillity, since he avoided even the suspicions of crimes. Whence it came about that his observance was dearer to all, for they saw it as allotted to duty, not to fear nor to hope.

[7] Incidit Caesarianum civile bellum, cum haberet annos circiter sexaginta. Usus est aetatis vacatione neque se quoquam movit ex urbe. Quae amicis suis opus fuerant ad Pompeium proficiscentibus, omnia ex sua re familiari dedit.

[7] The Caesarian civil war fell upon him when he had about sixty years. He made use of the vacation of age and did not remove himself anywhere from the city. The things which had been necessary to his friends setting out to Pompey, he gave all from his private estate.

Ipsum Pompeium coniunctum non offendit.

Pompey himself, being allied, was not harmed.

2 Nullum ab eo habebat ornamentum, ut ceteri, qui per eum aut honores aut divitias ceperant; quorum partim invitissimi castra sunt secuti, partim summa cum eius offensione domi remanserunt.

2 He had no ornament from him, as the others did, who through him had taken either honors or riches; of whom some, most unwilling, followed the camp, and others, with the greatest offence against him, remained at home.

3 Attici autem quies tantopere Caesari fuit grata, ut victor, cum privatis pecunias per epistulas imperaret, huic non solum molestus non fuerit, sed etiam sororis filium et Q. Ciceronem ex Pompeii castris concesserit. Sic vetere instituto vitae effugit nova pericula.

3 But Atticus’s quietude was so pleasing to Caesar that the victor, when he was directing sums of money to private persons by letters, was not only not troublesome to him, but even granted the sister’s son and Q. Cicero leave from Pompeius’s camp. Thus, by an old-established habit of life, he escaped new dangers.

[8] Secutum est illud tempus occiso Caesare, cum res publica penes Brutos videretur esse et Cassium ac tota civitas se ad eos convertisse videretur.

[8] That time followed after Caesar was slain, when the res publica seemed to be in the hands of Brutus and Cassius, and the whole civitas seemed to have turned itself to them.

2 Sic M. Bruto usus est, ut nullo ille adulescens aequali familiarius quam hoc sene neque solum eum principem consilii haberet, sed etiam in convictu.

2 Thus M. Brutus behaved, that as a youth he was more familiar with no equal than with this old man, and not only had him as the chief of counsel, but also in companionship and daily converse.

3 Excogitatum est a quibusdam, ut privatum aerarium Caesaris interfectoribus ab equitibus Romanis constitueretur. Id facile effici posse arbitrati sunt, si principes eius ordinis pecunias contulissent. Itaque appellatus est a C. Flavio, Bruti familiari, Atticus, ut eius rei princeps esse vellet.

3 It was devised by some that the private aerarium (treasury) of Caesar be constituted for the murderers by the Roman equites. They judged that this could easily be brought about if the chiefs of that order contributed funds. Therefore Atticus was summoned by C. Flavius, Brutus’s familiar, so that he might consent to be the princeps (leader) of that affair.

4 At ille, qui officia amicis praestanda sine factione existimaret semperque a talibus se consiliis removisset, respondit: si quid Brutus de suis facultatibus uti voluisset, usurum, quantum hae paterentur: sed neque cum quoquam de ea re collocuturum neque coiturum. Sic ille consensionis globus huius unius dissensione disiectus est.

4 But he, who thought that duties to friends should be rendered without faction and had always withdrawn himself from such counsels, answered: if Brutus had wished to use anything of his own means, he would use as much as these would permit; but he would neither confer with anyone about that matter nor join in it. Thus that globe of consensus was, by the dissent of this one man, dispersed.

5 Neque multo post superior esse coepit Antonius, ita ut Brutus et Cassius destituta tutela provinciarum, quae iis dicis causa datae erant a consule, desperatis rebus in exsilium proficiscerentur; neque eo magis potenti adulatus est Antonio neque desperatos reliquit.

5 Not much later Antony began to be superior, so that Brutus and Cassius, their guardianship of the provinces having been abandoned — the provinces which had been given to them by the consul for that purpose — with affairs desperate set out into exile; nor did he flatter Antony the more because he was powerful, nor did he leave them in despair.

6 Atticus, qui pecuniam simul cum ceteris conferre noluerat florenti illi parti, abiecto Bruto Italiaque cedenti HS centum milia muneri misit, eidem in Epiro absens trecenta iussit dari.

6 Atticus, who had refused to contribute money with the others to that flourishing faction, sent to that distinguished man, Brutus cast off and Italy withdrawing, HS 100,000 as a gift, and ordered that 300 be given to the same man, absent in Epirus.

[9] Secutum est bellum gestum apud Mutinam. In quo si tantum eum prudentem dicam, minus, quam debeam, praedicem, cum ille potius divinus fuerit, si divinatio appellanda est perpetua naturalis bonitas, quae nullis casibus agitur neque minuitur.

[9] A war followed, waged at Mutina. In which, if I say only that he was prudent, I shall praise him less than I ought, since he was rather divine, if that perpetual natural goodness is to be called divination, which is moved by no chances nor diminished.

2 Hostis Antonius iudicatus Italia cesserat; spes restituendi nulla erat. Non solum inimici, qui tum erant potentissimi et plurimi, sed etiam, qui adversariis eius se dabant et in eo laedendo aliquam consecuturos sperabant commoditatem, Antonii familiares insequebantur, uxorem Fulviam omnibus rebus spoliare cupiebant, liberos etiam exstinguere parabant.

2 Antonius, having been adjudged an enemy, had withdrawn from Italy; there was no hope of restoration. Not only did enemies, who at that time were very powerful and numerous, pursue Antonius’ familiars, but also those who attached themselves to his adversaries and hoped thereby to obtain some advantage by harming him; they desired to despoil his wife Fulvia of all her possessions, and even prepared to extinguish his children.

3 Atticus cum Ciceronis intima familiaritate uteretur, amicissimus esset Bruto, non modo nihil his indulsit ad Antonium violandum, sed e contrario familiares eius ex urbe profugientes, quantum potuit, texit, quibus rebus indiguerunt, adiuvit.

3 Atticus, though he enjoyed Cicero’s most intimate friendship and was very dear to Brutus, not only granted these men nothing for the purpose of violating Antonius, but on the contrary sheltered, as far as he could, his household followers (familiares) fleeing from the city, and supplied them with the things for which they were in need.

4 P. vero Volumnio ea tribuit, ut plura a parente proficisci non potuerint. Ipsi autem Fulviae, cum litibus distineretur magnisque terroribus vexaretur, tanta diligentia officium suum praestitit, ut nullum illa stiterit vadimonium sine Attico, sponsor omnium rerum fuerit.

4 P. however ascribed this to Volumnius, namely that no more could have been set forth by the parent. But he himself toward Fulvia, while she was drawn into lawsuits and harassed by great terrors, discharged his duty with such diligence that she did not enter into any recognizance without Atticus; he was sponsor (surety) for all matters.

5 Quin etiam, cum illa fundum secunda fortuna emisset in diem neque post calamitatem versuram facere potuisset, ille se interposuit pecuniamque sine faenore sineque ulla stipulatione credidit, maximum existimans quaestum memorem gratumque cognosci simulque aperiens se non fortunae, sed hominibus solere esse amicum.

5 Indeed moreover, when she had bought the estate on a deferred day by favorable fortune and afterwards could not make the repayment after the calamity, he interposed himself and lent the money without interest and without any stipulation, thinking it the greatest profit to be remembered and pleasing to be known, and at the same time revealing that he was wont to be a friend not of Fortune but of men.

6 Quae cum faciebat, nemo eum temporis causa facere poterat existimare. Nemini enim in opinionem veniebat Antonium rerum potiturum.

6 While he was doing this, no one could suppose that he acted for reasons of the moment. For it did not enter anyone’s mind that Antonius would come to possess affairs.

7 Sed sensim is a nonnullis optimatibus reprehendebatur, quod parum odisse malos cives videretur. Ille autem, sui iudicii, potius, quid se facere par esset, intuebatur, quam quid alii laudaturi forent.

7 But gradually he was reproved by some of the optimates, because he seemed to hate bad citizens too little. He, however, guided by his own judgment, was considering rather what would be fitting for him to do than what others would be likely to praise.

[10] Conversa subito fortuna est. Ut Antonius rediit in Italiam, nemo non magno in periculo Atticam putarat propter intimam familiaritatem Ciceronis et Bruti.

[10] Fortune was suddenly reversed. When Antonius returned to Italy, no one did not think Attica to be in great peril because of the intimate familiarity of Cicero and Brutus.

2 Itaque ad adventum imperatorum de foro decesserat, timens proscriptionem, latebatque apud P. Volumnium, cui, ut ostendimus, paulo ante opem tulerat - tanta varietas his temporibus fuit fortunae, ut modo hi, modo illi in summo essent aut fastigio aut periculo -, habebatque secum Q. Gellium Canum, aequalem simillimumque sui.

2 Therefore he had withdrawn from the forum at the arrival of the emperors, fearing proscription, and was hiding at the house of P. Volumnius, to whom, as we have shown, he had a little before given aid — so great was the variability of fortune in those times, that now these, now those were at the summit either of exaltation or of peril — and he had with him Q. Gellius Canus, an equal and most like himself.

3 Hoc quoque sit Attici bonitatis exemplum, quod cum eo, quem puerum in ludo cognorat, adeo coniuncte vixit, ut ad extremam aetatem amicitia eorum creverit.

3 Let this also stand as an example of Atticus’s goodness: that he lived so closely with him, whom he had known as a boy in the school, that their friendship grew into the very extremity of old age.

4 Antonius autem etsi tanto odio ferebatur in Ciceronem, ut non solum ei, sed etiam omnibus eius amicis esset inimicus eosque vellet proscribere, multis hortantibus tamen Attici memor fuit officii et ei, cum requisisset, ubinam esset, sua manu scripsit, ne timeret statimque ad se veniret: se eum et illius causa Canum de proscriptorum numero exemisse. Ac ne quod periculum incideret, quod noctu fiebat, praesidium ei misit.

4 Antonius, however, although he bore such hatred toward Cicero that he was hostile not only to him but to all his friends and wished to proscribe them, yet with many urging him he remembered Atticus’ officium and, when he inquired where he was, wrote with his own hand that he should not fear and should come to him at once: that he had exempted him and Canus for his sake from the number of the proscribed. And lest any danger arise — which happened by night — he sent a praesidium to him.

5 Sic Atticus in summo timore non solum sibi, sed etiam ei, quem carissimum habebat, praesidio fuit [. Neque enim suae solum a quoquam auxilium petiit salutis, sed coniuncti], ut appareret nullam seiunctam sibi ab eo velle fortunam.

5 Thus Atticus, in the utmost fear, was a protection not only for himself but also for him whom he held most dear. [. For he sought aid of salvation not only for his own, but for his companion’s,] so that it might appear that he wished no fortune to be separated from him.

6 Quod si gubernator praecipua laude fertur, qui navem ex hieme marique scopuloso servat, cur non singularis eius existimetur prudentia, qui ex tot tamque gravibus procellis civilibus ad incolumitatem pervenit?

6 But if a pilot is held in especial praise who preserves a ship from a wintry and rock-strewn sea, why should not his prudence be reckoned singular, who from so many and so grievous civil storms has come through to safety?

[11] Quibus ex malis ut se emersit, nihil aliud egit, quam ut quam plurimis, quibus rebus posset, esset auxilio. Cum proscriptos praemiis imperatorum vulgus conquireret, nemo in Epirum venit, cui res ulla defuerit, nemini non ibi perpetuo manendi potestas facta est:

[11] When he emerged from those misfortunes, he did nothing else than to be of help to as many as possible, by whatever means he could. Since the rabble sought the proscribed with the emperors’ rewards, no one came into Epirus to whom any resource was lacking, and everyone was granted the power to remain there permanently.

2 qui etiam post proelium Philippense interitumque C. Cassii et M. Bruti L. Iulium Mocillam praetorium et filium eius Aulumque Torquatum ceterosque pari fortuna perculsos instituerit tueri atque ex Epiro iis omnia Samothraciam supportari iusserit.

2 who also, after the battle of Philippi and the death of C. Cassius and M. Brutus, appointed L. Iulius Mocilla to the praetorship and decreed that his son and Aulus Torquatus and the others struck by the same fortune be protected, and ordered that all things be conveyed to Samothrace from Epirus for them.

3 Difficile est omnia persequi et non necessarium. Illud unum intellegi volumus, illius liberalitatem neque temporariam neque callidam fuisse.

3 It is difficult to pursue everything and not necessary. We wish that one thing be understood: that his liberality was neither temporary nor crafty.

4 Id ex ipsis rebus ac temporibus iudicari potest, quod non florentibus se venditavit, sed afflictis semper succurrit; qui quidem Serviliam, Bruti matrem, non minus post mortem eius quam florentem coluerit.

4 That can be judged from the very deeds and times, namely that he did not sell himself to the flourishing, but always comes to the succor of the afflicted; who indeed honoured Servilia, Brutus’s mother, no less after her death than when she was flourishing.

5 Sic liberalitate utens nullas inimicitias gessit, quod neque laedebat quemquam neque, si quam iniuriam acceperat, non malebat oblivisci quam ulcisci. Idem immortali memoria percepta retinebat beneficia; quae autem ipse tribuerat, tamdiu meminerat, quoad ille gratus erat, qui acceperat.

5 Thus, using his liberality he bore no enmities, for he neither harmed anyone nor, if he had suffered any injury, preferred avenging it to forgetting it. He likewise kept in immortal memory the benefits he had received; but those which he himself had bestowed he remembered so long as the one who had received them remained grateful.

6 Itaque hic fecit, ut vere dictum videatur

6 Therefore he did this, so that the saying might appear true

Sui cuique mores fingunt fortunam hominibus.

To each man his own morals fashion his fortune.

Neque tamen ille prius fortunam quam se ipse finxit, qui cavit, ne qua in re iure plecteretur.

Nor yet was he one who first fashioned his fortune himself; he took care that in no matter he should be punished by law.

[12] His igitur rebus effecit, ut M. Vipsanius Agrippa, intima familiaritate coniunctus adulescenti Caesari, cum propter suam gratiam et Caesaris potentiam nullius condicionis non haberet potestatem, potissimum eius deligeret affinitatem praeoptaretque equitis Romani filiam generosarum nuptiis.

[12] By these affairs he brought it about that M. Vipsanius Agrippa, joined in closest intimacy to the young Caesar, since by his own grace and Caesar’s potency he had no power over any condition, would above all prefer an affinity with him and chose the daughter of a Roman eques for a marriage into distinguished families.

2 Atque harum nuptiarum conciliator fuit - non est enim celandum - M. Antonius, triumvirum rei publicae constituendae. Cuius gratia cum augere possessiones posset suas, tantum afuit a cupiditate pecuniae, ut nulla in re usus sit ea nisi in deprecandis amicorum aut periculis aut incommodis.

2 And the conciliator of these marriages was — it must not be concealed — M. Antonius, a triumvir for constituting the republic. By whose favour, since he could augment his possessions, he was so far removed from a cupidity for money that he used them in nothing except to entreat for friends in their dangers or misfortunes.

3 Quod quidem sub ipsa proscriptione perillustre fuit. Nam cum L. Saufeii, equitis Romani, aequalis sui, qui complures annos studio ductus philosophiae Athenis habitabat habebatque in Italia pretiosas possessiones, triumviri bona vendidissent consuetudine ea, qua tum res gerebantur, Attici labore atque industria factum est, ut eodem nuntio Saufeius fieret certior se patrimonium amisisse et recuperasse.

3 This indeed was most remarkable under the very proscription. For when L. Saufeius, a Roman eques, his contemporary, who for several years, led by a zeal for philosophy, lived at Athens and possessed valuable possessions in Italy, the triumvirs had sold his goods according to that custom by which matters were then conducted, by the labor and industry of Atticus it came about that by the same dispatch Saufeius was made certain that he had both lost and recovered his patrimony.

4 Idem L. Iulium Calidum, quem post Lucretii Catullique mortem multo elegantissimum poetam nostram tulisse aetatem vere videor posse contendere, neque minus virum bonum optimisque artibus eruditum, quem post proscriptionem equitum propter magnas eius Africanas possessiones in proscriptorum numerum a P. Volumnio, praefecto fabrum Antonii, absentem relatum expedivit.

4 The same man caused L. Iulius Calidus to be proscribed, whom, after the deaths of Lucretius and Catullus, I truly think one could claim made our age much more elegant as a poet, and who was no less a good man and learned in the most excellent arts; after the proscription of the equites, on account of his great African possessions, P. Volumnius, prefect of Antony’s engineers, had him reported absent and thus entered among the proscribed.

5 Quod in praesenti utrum ei laboriosius an gloriosius fuerit, difficile est iudicare, quod in eorum periculis non secus absentes quam praesentes amicos Attico esse curae cognitum est.

5 Whether in the present this was more laborious or more glorious for him is difficult to judge, since it was known that Atticus's care for his friends in their dangers was no less for those absent than for those present.

[13] Neque vero ille vir minus bonus pater familias habitus est quam civis. Nam cum esset pecuniosus, nemo illo minus fuit emax, minus aedificator. Neque tamen non in primis bene habitavit omnibusque optimis rebus usus est.

[13] Nor indeed was that man esteemed less a good pater familias than a citizen. For although he was pecuniosus, no one was less an emax, less an aedificator. Yet he lived especially well and enjoyed all the best things.

2 Nam domum habuit in colle Quirinali Tamphilianam, ab avunculo hereditate relictam; cuius amoenitas non aedificio, sed silva constabat. Ipsum enim tectum antiquitus constitutum plus salis quam sumptus habebat; in quo nihil commutavit, nisi si quid vetustate coactus est.

2 For he had a house on the Quirinal Hill, the Tamphiliana, left to him by his uncle as an inheritance; whose pleasantness lay not in the building but in the wood. For the dwelling itself, established in ancient times, had more salt (that is, charm) than expense; in it he changed nothing, save what he was forced to by old age.

3 Usus est familia, si utilitate iudicandum est, optima; si forma, vix mediocri. Namque in ea erant pueri litteratissimi, anagnostae optimi et plurimi librarii, ut ne pedisequus quidem quisquam esset, qui non utrumque horum pulchre facere posset, pari modo artifices ceteri, quos cultus domesticus desiderat, apprime boni.

3 His was the household, judged by usefulness, excellent; in appearance, scarcely more than middling. For there were in it boys most learned, anagnostae excellent and very many librarii, so that not even any pedisequus existed who could not do both of these handsomely; and likewise the other artificers, whom domestic cultivation desires, were exceedingly good.

4 Neque tamen horum quemquam nisi domi natum domique factum habuit; quod est signum non solum continentiae, sed etiam diligentiae. Nam et non intemperanter concupiscere, quod a plurimis videas, continentis debet duci, et potius diligentia quam pretio parare non mediocris est industriae.

4 Nor, however, did he have any of these except born at home and made at home; which is a sign not only of continence but also of diligence. For both to desire not intemperately, which you see in many, ought to be ascribed to the continent person, and to procure by diligence rather than by price is no small industry.

5 Elegans, non magnificus; splendidus, non sumptuosus: omnique diligentia munditiam, non affluentiam affectabat. Supellex modica, non multa, ut in neutram partem conspici posset.

5 Elegant, not magnificent; splendid, not sumptuous: and with every diligence he sought neatness, not affluence. Furnishings modest, not many, so as to be conspicuous in neither direction.

6 Nec praeteribo, quamquam nonnullis leve visum iri putem: cum in primis lautus esset eques Romanus et non parum liberaliter domum suam omnium ordinum homines invitaret, scimus non amplius quam terna milia peraeque in singulos menses ex ephemeride eum expensum sumptui ferre solitum.

6 Nor will I omit this, though I think it will seem slight to some: since above all he was a refined Roman eques and invited to his house men of all orders with no little liberality, we know that he used to carry from his ephemeris to his expenses no more than three thousand, and about the same in each month.

7 Atque hoc non auditum, sed cognitum praedicamus: saepe enim propter familiaritatem domesticis rebus interfuimus.

7 And this we proclaim not as heard but as known: for we often took part in household affairs on account of our familiarity.

[14] Nemo in convivio eius aliud acroama audivit quam anagnosten; quod nos quidem iucundissimum arbitramur: neque umquam sine aliqua lectione apud eum cenatum est, ut non minus animo quam ventre convivae delectarentur.

[14] No one at his banquet heard any other acroama than an anagnostes (reader); which we indeed reckon most delightful: nor was there ever a dinner at his without some reading, so that the guests were pleased no less in mind than in belly.

2 Namque eos vocabat, quorum mores a suis non abhorrerent. Cum tanta pecuniae facta esset accessio, nihil de cotidiano cultu mutavit, nihil de vitae consuetudine, tantaque usus est moderatione, ut neque in sestertio vicies, quod a patre acceperat, parum se splendide gesserit neque in sestertio centies affluentius vixerit, quam instituerat, parique fastigio steterit in utraque fortuna.

2 For he called those whose mores did not differ from his own. And although there was so great an accession of money, he changed nothing of his quotidian dress, nothing of his life’s custom, and employed such moderation that neither when his sesterces were twentyfold of what he had received from his father did he comport himself less splendidly, nor when they were a hundredfold more did he live more affluently than he had ordained, but he stood at an equal summit in either fortune.

3 Nullos habuit hortos, nullam suburbanam aut maritimam sumptuosam villam, neque in Italia, praeter Arretinum et Nomentanum, rusticum praedium, omnisque eius pecuniae reditus constabat in Epiroticis et urbanis possessionibus. Ex quo cognosci potest usum eum pecuniae non magnitudine, sed ratione metiri solitum.

3 He had no gardens, no sumptuous suburban or maritime villa, nor in Italy, except the Arretine and the Nomentan, a rustic estate; and all the yields of his money consisted in Epirotic and urban possessions. From which it can be known that he used his wealth to be measured not by magnitude but by reasoned calculation.

[15] Mendacium neque dicebat neque pati poterat. Itaque eius comitas non sine severitate erat neque gravitas sine facilitate, ut difficile esset intellectu, utrum eum amici magis vererentur an amarent. Quidquid rogabatur, religiose promittebat, quod non liberalis, sed levis arbitrabatur polliceri, quod praestare non posset.

[15] He neither told falsehoods nor could he endure them. Thus his affability was not without severity, nor his gravity without ease, so that it was difficult to discern whether his friends respected him more or loved him. Whatever was asked he promised religiously; he judged it not generous but frivolous to promise what he could not perform.

2 Idem in nitendo, quod semel annuisset, tanta erat cura, ut non mandatam, sed suam rem videretur agere. Numquam suscepti negotii eum pertaesum est: suam enim existimationem in ea re agi putabat; qua nihil habebat carius.

2 The same zeal in striving for what he had once assented to was so great that he seemed to be managing not a thing entrusted to him but his own affair. He never grew weary of an undertaking: for he thought his reputation was being advanced in that matter; for nothing was dearer to him than that.

3 Quo fiebat, ut omnia Ciceronum, Catonis Marci, Q. Hortensii, Auli Torquati, multorum praeterea equitum Romanorum negotia procuraret. Ex quo iudicari poterat non inertia, sed iudicio fugisse rei publicae procurationem.

3 By this it came about that he managed all the affairs of the Cicerones, of Marcus Cato, of Q. Hortensius, of Aulus Torquatus, and of many other Roman equites besides. From this it could be judged that he had shunned the procuration of the res publica not from inertia but from judgment.

[16] Humanitatis vero nullum afferre maius testimonium possum, quam quod adulescens idem seni Sullae fuit iucundissimus, senex adulescenti M. Bruto, cum aequalibus autem suis, Q. Hortensio et M. Cicerone, sic vixit, ut iudicare difficile sit, cui aetati fuerit aptissimus.

[16] Of his humanity indeed I can bring no greater testimony than that as a young man he was most pleasant to the old Sulla, as an old man to the young M. Brutus; and with his contemporaries, Q. Hortensius and M. Cicero, he lived so that it is difficult to judge to which age he was most suited.

2 Quamquam eum praecipue dilexit Cicero, ut ne frater quidem ei Quintus carior fuerit aut familiarior.

2 Although Cicero loved him above all, so that not even his brother Quintus was dearer or more familiar to him.

3 Ei rei sunt indicio praeter eos libros, in quibus de eo facit mentionem, qui in vulgus sunt editi, undecim volumina epistularum ab consulatu eius usque ad extremum tempus ad Atticum missarum; quae qui legat, non multum desideret historiam contextam eorum temporum.

3 An indication of this matter, besides those books in which mention is made of him that have been published to the public, are the eleven volumes of letters sent to Atticus from his consulship up to his last days; whoever reads them will not much desire a history woven of those times.

4 Sic enim omnia de studiis principum, vitiis ducum, mutationibus rei publicae perscripta sunt, ut nihil in his non appareat et facile existimari possit prudentiam quodam modo esse divinationem. Non enim Cicero ea solum, quae vivo se acciderunt, futura praedixit, sed etiam, quae nunc usu veniunt, cecinit ut vates.

4 Thus indeed all things concerning the studies of princes, the vices of leaders, the changes of the republic have been written down, so that nothing in these matters is not apparent and prudence may easily be judged, in a certain way, to be divination. For Cicero did not only foretell as future those things which befell in his lifetime, but also sang, like a vates, those which are now coming into practice.

[17] De pietate autem Attici quid plura commemorem? Cum hoc ipsum vere gloriantem audierim in funere matris suae, quam extulit annorum XC, cum esset VII et LX, se numquam cum matre in gratiam redisse, numquam cum sorore fuisse in simultate, quam prope aequalem habebat.

[17] But what more shall I recount concerning the pietas of Atticus? For I heard him truly boasting this at his mother’s funeral — whom he had raised to the age of 90, when he was 67 — that he had never been reconciled with his mother, never been in rivalry with his sister, whom he held almost as his equal.

2 Quod est signum aut nullam umquam inter eos querimoniam intercessisse aut hunc ea fuisse in suos indulgentia, ut, quos amare deberet, irasci eis nefas duceret.

2 Which is a sign either that no complaint ever arose between them, or that this indulgence toward his own made him regard it as wrong to be angry with those whom he ought to love.

3 Neque id fecit natura solum, quamquam omnes ei paremus, sed etiam doctrina. Nam principum philosophorum ita percepta habuit praecepta, ut his ad vitam agendam, non ad ostentationem uteretur.

3 Nor did nature alone do this, although we all obey her, but also doctrine. For he had so taken to heart the precepts of the foremost philosophers that he used them for the conduct of life, not for ostentation.

[18] Moris etiam maiorum summus imitator fuit antiquitatisque amator; quam adeo diligenter habuit cognitam, ut eam totam in eo volumine exposuerit, quo magistratus ordinavit.

[18] He was moreover the supreme imitator of ancestral custom and a lover of antiquity; he knew it so diligently that he set it all forth in the volume in which he ordained the magistracies.

2 Nulla enim lex neque pax neque bellum neque res illustris est populi Romani, quae non in eo suo tempore sit notata, et, quod difficillimum fuit, sic familiarum originem subtexuit, ut ex eo clarorum virorum propagines possimus cognoscere.

2 For no lex, nor pax, nor bellum, nor illustrious res of the Roman people exists which was not noted in its own time, and, what was most difficult, he so wove the originem of families that from it we may recognize the propagines of clarissimi virorum.

3 Fecit hoc idem separatim in aliis libris, ut M. Bruti rogatu Iuniam familiam a stirpe ad hanc aetatem ordine enumeraverit, notans, qui a quoque ortus quos honores quibusque temporibus cepisset;

3 He did the same separately in other books, so that at the request of M. Brutus he enumerated the Junian family from its stock down to this age in order, noting who from whom sprang and what honors they had assumed in which times;

4 pari modo Marcelli Claudii de Marcellorum, Scipionis Cornelii et Fabii Maximi Fabiorum et Aemiliorum. Quibus libris nihil potest esse dulcius iis, qui aliquam cupiditatem habent notitiae clarorum virorum.

4 in like manner he composed on the Marcelli the Claudii concerning the Marcelli, on Scipio Cornelius, and on Fabius Maximus the Fabii and the Aemilii. To those who have any desire for knowledge of illustrious men, nothing can be sweeter than those books.

5 Attigit quoque poeticen, credimus, ne eius expers esset suavitatis. Namque versibus, qui honore rerumque gestarum amplitudine ceteros Romani populi praestiterunt,

5 He also touched, poetically, we believe, lest he be devoid of suavity. For in verses, which by the honor and amplitude of their deeds outshone the rest of the Roman people,

6 exposuit ita, ut sub singulorum imaginibus facta magistratusque eorum non amplius quaternis quinisque versibus descripserit: quod vix credendum sit, tantas res tam breviter potuisse declarari. Est etiam unus liber Graece confectus, de consulatu Ciceronis.

6 he set forth so that beneath the little portraits of each he described their deeds and their magistracies in no more than four or five verses: which is scarcely credible, that so great matters could be declared so briefly. There is also one book composed in Greek, concerning the consulship of Cicero.

[19] Hactenus Attico vivo edita a nobis sunt. Nunc, quoniam fortuna nos superstites ei esse voluit, reliqua persequemur et, quantum potuerimus, rerum exemplis lectores docebimus, sicut supra significavimus, suos cuique mores plerumque conciliare fortunam.

[19] Hitherto those things have been published by us in Atticus’s lifetime. Now, since fortune has willed that we survive him, we will follow up the rest and, as far as we can, will teach readers by examples of events, as we signified above, that fortune for the most part reconciles herself to each one’s manners.

2 Namque hic contentus ordine equestri, quo erat ortus, in affinitatem pervenit imperatoris, divi filii; cum iam ante familiaritatem eius esset consecutus nulla alia re quam elegantia vitae qua ceteros ceperat principes civitatis dignitate pari, fortuna humiliores.

2 For he, content with the equestrian order from which he had arisen, attained to the intimacy of the emperor, the divine's son; since already before he had gained that familiarity by no other thing than the elegance of his life, by which he had overtaken the other leading men of the state in equal dignity, though lower in fortune.

3 Tanta enim prosperitas Caesarem est consecuta, ut nihil ei non tribuerit fortuna, quod cuiquam ante detulerit, et conciliarit, quod nemo adhuc civis Romanus quivit consequi.

3 For so great a prosperity has attended Caesar that fortune has denied him nothing that it has ever bestowed upon any before, and has brought about what no Roman citizen hitherto was able to achieve.

4 Nata est autem Attico neptis ex Agrippa, cui virginem filiam collocarat. Hanc Caesar vix anniculam Ti. Claudio Neroni, Drusilla nato, privigno suo, despondit; quae coniunctio necessitudinem eorum sanxit, familiaritatem reddidit frequentiorem.

4 Moreover, a granddaughter was born to Atticus by Agrippa, to whom he had given in marriage his virgin daughter. Caesar betrothed this girl, scarcely a year old, to T. Claudius Nero, Drusilla‑born, his stepson; this union ratified their kinship and rendered their familiarity the more frequent.

[20] Quamvis ante haec sponsalia non solum, cum ab urbe abesset, numquam ad suorum quemquam litteras misit, quin Attico mitteret, quid ageret, in primis, quid legeret quibusque in locis et quamdiu esset moraturus,

[20] Although before these betrothals he not only, when absent from the city, never sent letters to any of his own without sending to Atticus what he was doing — in particular what he was reading, in which places, and how long he intended to stay,

2 sed etiam, cum esset in urbe et propter infinitas suas occupationes minus saepe quam vellet, Attico frueretur, nullus dies temere intercessit, quo non ad eum scriberet, cum modo aliquid de antiquitate ab eo requireret, modo aliquam quaestionem poeticam ei proponeret, interdum iocans eius verbosiores eliceret epistulas.

2 but also, when she was in the city and, on account of her infinite occupations, enjoyed Atticus less often than she wished, not a single day passed rashly in which she did not write to him; now she asked him something concerning antiquity, now she proposed some poetic question to him, at times jokingly drawing forth from him more verbose letters.

3 Ex quo accidit, cum aedis Iovis Feretrii in Capitolio, ab Romulo constituta, vetustate atque incuria detecta prolaberetur, ut Attici admonitu Caesar eam reficiendam curaret.

3 From which it came about that, when the temple of Jupiter Feretrius on the Capitol, founded by Romulus, was discovered to be collapsing from antiquity and neglect, at Atticus’s admonition Caesar took care that it be rebuilt.

4 Neque vero a M. Antonio minus absens litteris colebatur, adeo ut accurate ille ex ultumis terris, quid ageret, curae sibi haberet certiorem facere Atticum.

4 Nor indeed was he less cherished in absence by M. Antonius through letters, so much so that he, even from the remotest lands, took care to make Atticus more certain of what he was doing.

5 Hoc quale sit, facilius existimabit is, qui iudicare poterit, quantae sit sapientiae eorum retinere usum benevolentiamque, inter quos maximarum rerum non solum aemulatio, sed obtrectatio tanta intercedebat, quantam fuit [incidere] necesse inter Caesarem atque Antonium, cum se uterque principem non solum urbis Romae, sed orbis terrarum esse cuperet.

5 What sort this was, he who will be able to judge will more easily reckon: how great was the wisdom of those to retain practice and goodwill among whom, in matters of the greatest consequence, not only emulation but so great a detraction intervened as was bound to arise between Caesar and Antonius, when each desired to be prince not only of the city of Rome but of the whole orb of lands.

[21] Tali modo cum VII et LXX annos complesset atque ad extremam senectutem non minus dignitate quam gratia fortunaque crevisset - multas enim hereditates nulla alia re quam bonitate consecutus est - tantaque prosperitate usus esset valetudinis, ut annis XXX medicina non indiguisset,

[21] In such a manner, when he had completed 77 years and had grown into extreme old age no less in dignity than in grace and fortune — for he had acquired many inheritances by nothing other than goodness — and had enjoyed so great a prosperity of health that for 30 years he had not needed medicine,

2 nactus est morbum, quem: initio et ipse et medici contempserunt. Nam putarunt esse tenesmon, cui remedia celeria faciliaque proponebantur.

2 he contracted a disease, which at first both he himself and the physicians scorned. For they thought it to be tenesmus, for which swift and facile remedies were proposed.

3 In hoc cum tres menses sine ullis doloribus, praeterquam quos ex curatione capiebat, consumpsisset, subito tanta vis morbi in imum intestinum prorupit, ut extremo tempore per lumbos fistulae puris eruperint.

3 When he had spent three months in this state without any pains, except those which he took from the treatment, suddenly so great a force of the disease burst down into the lowest intestine that, at the last moment, fistulae broke forth through the loins with a pure discharge.

4 Atque hoc priusquam ei accideret, postquam in dies dolores accrescere febresque accessisse sensit, Agrippam generum ad se accersi iussit et cum eo L. Cornelium Balbum Sextumque Peducaeum.

4 And before this befell him, after he perceived that the pains were increasing day by day and fevers had set in, he ordered Agrippa, his son‑in‑law, to be summoned to his side, and with him L. Cornelius Balbus and Sextus Peducaeus.

5 Hos ut venisse vidit, in cubitum innixus `Quantam' inquit `curam diligentiamque in valetudine mea tuenda hoc tempore adhibuerim, cum vos testes habeam, nihil necesse est pluribus verbis commemorare. Quibus quoniam, ut spero, satisfeci, me nihil reliqui fecisse, quod ad sanandam me pertineret, reliquum est, ut egomet mihi consulam.

5 When he saw that these men had come, leaning on his couch he said, `How great a care and diligence I have at this time employed in preserving my health, since I have you as witnesses, it is not necessary to relate it in many words. Since, as I hope, I have satisfied you with these things, nothing remains that I have failed to do which pertains to my healing, except that I myself should take counsel for myself.'

6 Id vos ignorare nolui. Nam mihi stat alere morbum desinere. Namque his diebus quidquid cibi sumpsi, ita produxi vitam, ut auxerim dolores sine spe salutis.

6 I did not wish you to be ignorant of that. For it is fixed for me to nourish the disease, to cease. For in these days whatever food I have taken, I have so prolonged life that I have increased my pains without hope of recovery.

Quare a vobis peto, primum, ut consilium probetis meum, deinde, ne frustra dehortando impedire conemini'.

Wherefore I ask of you, first, that you approve my plan, and secondly, that you not, by discouraging, attempt to hinder me in vain.

[22] Hac oratione habita tanta constantia vocis atque vultus, ut non ex vita, sed ex domo in domum videretur migrare,

[22] With this speech delivered there was such steadiness of voice and of countenance, that he seemed to be moving not out of life, but from house to house,

2 cum quidem Agrippa eum flens atque osculans oraret atque obsecraret, ne id, quod natura cogeret, ipse quoque sibi acceleraret, et quoniam tum quoque posset temporibus superesse, se sibi suisque reservaret, preces eius taciturna sua obstinatione depressit.

2 when Agrippa, weeping and kissing him, begged and entreated that he not hasten upon himself that which nature would compel, and, since even then it might outlast the seasons, that he would reserve himself for himself and for his own, he quelled his prayers by his taciturn obstinacy.

3 Sic cum biduum cibo se abstinuisset, subito febris decessit leviorque morbus esse coepit. Tamen propositum nihilo setius peregit. Itaque die quinto, postquam id consilium inierat, pridie Kalendas Aprilis Cn. Domitio C. Sosio consulibus, decessit.

3 Thus, when he had abstained from food for two days, the fever suddenly departed and the sickness began to be milder. Nevertheless he carried out his purpose none the less. And so on the fifth day, after he had entered on that design, on the day before the Kalends of April, with Cn. Domitius and C. Sosius consuls, he died.

4 Elatus est in lecticula, ut ipse praescripserat, sine ulla pompa funeris, comitantibus omnibus bonis, maxima vulgi frequentia. Sepultus est iuxta viam Appiam ad quintum lapidem in monumento Q. Caecilii, avunculi sui.

4 He was borne on a little litter, as he himself had prescribed, without any funeral pomp, with all his good men accompanying him, and with the greatest throng of the populace. He was buried beside the Appian Way at the fifth milestone in the monument of Q. Caecilius, his uncle.