Valerius Maximus: FACTORVM ET DICTORVM MEMORABILIVM LIBRI NOVEM

3.init. Adtingam quasi cunabula quaedam et elementa uirtutis, animique procedente tempore ad summum gloriae cumulum peruenturi certo cum indolis experimento datos gustus referam.

3.init. I shall touch, as it were, upon certain cradles and elements of virtue, and I shall relate the foretastes given, with a sure experiment of inborn disposition, of a spirit which, as time proceeds, is to arrive at the highest summit of glory.

3.1.1 Aemilius Lepidus puer etiam tum progressus in aciem hostem interemit, ciuem seruauit. cuius tam memorabilis operis index est in Capitolio statua bullata et incincta praetexta senatus consulto posita: iniquum enim putauit eum honori nondum tempestiuum uideri, qui iam uirtuti maturus fuisset. praecurrit igitur Lepidus aetatis stabilimentum fortiter faciendi celeritate duplicemque laudem e proelio retulit, cuius eum uix spectatorem anni esse patiebantur: arma enim infesta et destricti gladii et discursus telorum et aduentantis equitatus fragor et concurrentium exercituum impetus iuuenibus quoque aliquantum terroris incutit, inter quae gentis Aemiliae pueritia coronam mereri, spolia rapere ualuit.

3.1.1 Aemilius Lepidus, still a boy at that time, advanced into the battle-line, slew an enemy, saved a fellow citizen. The indicator of so memorable a deed is in the Capitoline: a statue, wearing the bulla and girt with the praetexta, set up by decree of the senate; for it judged it inequitable that he should seem not yet seasonable for honor who had already been mature for virtue. Therefore Lepidus outran the stabilizing of his age by the speed of doing bravely, and carried back from the battle a twofold praise, of which his years scarcely allowed him to be a mere spectator: for hostile arms and drawn swords and the whirling of missiles and the crash of oncoming cavalry and the clash of meeting armies instill no small terror even in young men, amid which the boyhood of the Aemilian clan was able to earn a crown and to snatch spoils.

3.1.2 Hic spiritus ne M. quidem Catonis pueritiae defuit: nam cum in domo M. Drusi auunculi sui educaretur, et ad eum tribunum pl. Latini de ciuitate inpetranda conuenissent, a Q. Poppedio Latii principe, Drusi autem hospite, rogatus ut socios apud auunculum adiuuaret, constanti uultu non facturum se respondit. iterum deinde ac saepius interpellatus in proposito perstitit. tunc Poppedius in excelsam aedium partem leuatum abiecturum inde se, nisi precibus obtemperaret, minatus est: nec hac re ab incepto moueri potuit.

3.1.2 This spirit was not lacking even to the boyhood of Marcus Cato: for when he was being brought up in the house of Marcus Drusus, his maternal uncle, and the Latins had come to him, the tribune of the plebs, about obtaining citizenship, having been asked by Quintus Poppaedius, a prince of Latium and guest-friend of Drusus, to assist the allies with his uncle, he replied with a steadfast countenance that he would not do it. Again then and more often importuned, he persisted in his purpose. Then Poppaedius threatened that, after lifting him into a lofty part of the house, he would cast him down from there, unless he obeyed the entreaties; nor by this means could he be moved from his undertaking.

expressa est itaque illa uox homini: 'gratulemur nobis, Latini et socii, hunc esse tam paruum, quo senatore ne sperare quidem nobis ciuitatem licuisset'. tenero ergo animo Cato totius curiae grauitatem percepit perseuerantiaque sua Latinos iura nostrae ciuitatis adprehendere cupientes reppulit. Idem, cum salutandi gratia praetextatus ad Sullam uenisset et capita proscriptorum in atrium adlata uidisset, atrocitate rei commotus paedagogum suum nomine <Sarpedonem> interrogauit quapropter nemo inueniretur, qui tam crudelem tyrannum occideret: cumque is non uoluntatem hominibus, sed facultatem deesse, quod salus eius magno praesidio militum custodiretur, respondisset, ut ferrum sibi daret obsecrauit, adfirmando perfacile se eum interfecturum, quod in lecto illius considere soleret. paedagogus et animum Catonis agnouit et propositum exhorruit eumque postea ad Sullam excussum semper adduxit.

And so that utterance was forced out before the man: “Let us congratulate ourselves, Latins and allies, that he is so small, with whom as a senator it would not even have been permitted us to hope for citizenship.” Thus, with a tender spirit, Cato apprehended the gravity of the whole curia, and by his perseverance he repelled the Latins, who were eager to apprehend the rights of our citizenship. The same youth, when, for the sake of paying respects, wearing the toga praetexta, he had come to Sulla and had seen the heads of the proscribed brought into the atrium, moved by the atrocity of the affair, asked his pedagogue by name <Sarpedonem> why no one was to be found to kill so cruel a tyrant; and when he replied that it was not the will that men lacked, but the faculty, because his safety was guarded by a great guard of soldiers, he begged him to give him the iron, affirming that he would very easily kill him, because he was accustomed to sit on his couch. The pedagogue both recognized Cato’s spirit and shuddered at the plan, and thereafter always brought him to Sulla after searching him.

nihil hoc admirabilius: puer in officina crudelitatis deprehensum uictorem non extimuit tum maxime consules, municipia, legiones, equestris ordinis maiorem partem trucidantem. ipsum Marium illo loci statuisses, celerius aliquid de sua fuga quam de Sullae nece cogitasset.

Nothing more admirable than this: the boy did not dread the victor, found in the workshop of cruelty, at the very time when he was slaughtering the consuls, the municipal towns, the legions, and the greater part of the equestrian order. Had you set Marius himself in that place, he would have thought more quickly about his own flight than about Sulla’s slaying.

3.1.3 Cuius filium Faustum C. Cassius condiscipulum suum in schola proscriptionem paternam laudantem ipsumque, cum per aetatem potuisset, idem facturum minitantem colapho percussit. dignam manum, quae publico parricidio se non contaminaret.

3.1.3 Whose son Faustus, C. Cassius, his fellow student, struck in the school with a cuff, as he was praising the paternal proscription and threatening that he himself, when of age, would do the same. A worthy hand, one that would not contaminate itself with public parricide.

3.1.ext. 1 Et ut a Graecis aliquid, Alcibiades ille, cuius nescio utrum bona an uitia patriae perniciosiora fuerint--illis enim ciues suos decepit, his adflixit--, cum adhuc puer ad Periclen auunculum suum uenisset eumque secreto tristem sedentem uidisset, interrogauit quid ita tantam in uultu confusionem gereret. at illo dicente mandatu se ciuitatis propylaea Mineruae, quae sunt ianuae arcis, aedificasse consumptaque in id opus ingenti pecunia non inuenire quo pacto ministerii rationem redderet atque ideo conflictari, 'ergo' inquit 'quaere potius quemadmodum rationem non reddas'. itaque uir amplissimus et prudentissimus suo consilio defectus puerili usus est atque id egit, ut Athenienses finitimo inplicati bello rationibus exigendis non uacarent.

3.1.ext. 1 And, to bring in something from the Greeks, that Alcibiades—of whom I do not know whether his good qualities or his vices were more pernicious to his fatherland—for by the former he deceived his fellow-citizens, by the latter he afflicted them—when, still a boy, he had come to Pericles his uncle and had seen him sitting in private, sad, asked why he was carrying such confusion in his face. But when he said that, by mandate of the state, he had built the Propylaea of Minerva, which are the gates of the citadel, and that, a huge sum of money having been consumed on that work, he did not find in what way he might render an account of the administration and was therefore being buffeted, ‘then,’ he said, ‘rather look for how you may not render an account.’ And so the most distinguished and most prudent man, bereft of his own counsel, made use of the boyish one, and brought it about that the Athenians, entangled in a neighboring war, did not have leisure for exacting the accounts.

sed uiderint Athenae utrum Alcibiadem lamententur an glorientur, quoniam adhuc inter execrationem hominis et admirationem dubio mentis iudicio fluctuatur.

But let Athens see whether they lament Alcibiades or glory in him, since up to now it wavers, with a doubtful judgment of mind, between execration of the man and admiration.

3.2.init. Nos quia iam initia procursusque uirtutis patefecimus, actum ipsum persequemur, cuius ponderosissima uis et efficacissimi lacerti in fortitudine consistunt. Nec me praeterit, conditor urbis nostrae, Romule, principatum hoc tibi in genere laudis adsignari oportere.

3.2.init. Since we have now laid open the beginnings and the course of virtue, we will pursue the deed itself, whose most ponderous force and most efficacious sinews consist in fortitude. Nor does it escape me, founder of our city, Romulus, that the primacy in this kind of praise ought to be assigned to you.

sed patere, obsecro, uno te praecurri exemplo, cui et ipse aliquantum honoris debes, quia beneficio illius effectum est ne tam praeclarum opus tuum Roma dilaberetur.

but allow, I beseech you, that I precede you with one example, to whom you yourself also owe some honor, because by his beneficence it was effected that so illustrious a work of yours—Rome—should not fall to pieces.

3.2.1 Etruscis in urbem ponte sublicio inrumpentibus Horatius Cocles extremam eius partem occupauit totumque hostium agmen, donec post tergum suum pons abrumperetur, infatigabili pugna sustinuit atque, ut patriam periculo inminenti liberatam uidit, armatus se in Tiberim misit. cuius fortitudinem dii immortales admirati incolumitatem sinceram ei praestiterunt: nam neque altitudine deiectus quassatus[ue] nec pondere armorum pressus nec ullo uerticis circuitu actus, ne telis quidem, quae undique congerebantur, laesus tutum natandi euentum habuit. unus itaque tot ciuium, tot hostium in se oculos conuertit, stupentis illos admiratione, hos inter laetitiam et metum haesitantis, unusque duos acerrima pugna consertos exercitus, alterum repellendo, alterum propugnando distraxit.

3.2.1 When the Etruscans were breaking into the city by the Sublician bridge, Horatius Cocles seized its farthest part and, with indefatigable combat, held off the whole battle-line of the enemy until the bridge was broken off behind his back; and when he saw that his fatherland had been freed from the imminent peril, armed, he hurled himself into the Tiber. The immortal gods, admiring his fortitude, afforded him unimpaired safety: for, neither thrown down by the height nor shaken, nor pressed by the weight of his arms nor driven by any eddying whirl of the current, and not even wounded by the missiles which were being heaped up from every side, he had a safe outcome in swimming. One man, therefore, turned upon himself the eyes of so many citizens and so many enemies, the former gaping in admiration, the latter wavering between joy and fear, and one man sundered two armies engaged in the fiercest fight, by repelling the one and by championing the other.

denique unus urbi nostrae tantum scuto suo quantum Tiberis alueo munimenti attulit. quapropter discedentes Etrusci dicere potuerunt: Romanos uicimus, ab Horatio uicti sumus.

finally, one man brought to our city by his own shield as much muniment as the Tiber by its channel. wherefore the departing Etruscans could say: we conquered the Romans, we were conquered by Horatius.

3.2.2 Immemorem me propositi mei Cloelia facit, paene eadem [enim] tempestate, certe aduersus eundem hostem et in eodem Tiberi inclytum ausa facinus: inter ceteras enim uirgines obses Porsennae data hostium nocturno tempore custodiam egressa equum conscendit celerique traiectu fluminis non solum obsidio se, sed etiam metu patriam soluit, uiris puella lumen uirtutis praeferendo.

3.2.2 Cloelia makes me unmindful of my purpose, for in nearly the same season—certainly against the same enemy and in the same Tiber—she dared an illustrious feat: for among the other maidens given as a hostage to Porsenna, having slipped out of the enemies’ guard at night-time, she mounted a horse and, by a swift crossing of the river, freed not only herself from the siege, but also the fatherland from fear, a girl bearing before the men a light of virtue.

3.2.3 Redeo nunc ad Romulum, qui ab Acrone Caeninensium rege ad dimicandum prouocatus, quamquam et numero et fortitudine militum superiorem se crederet, tutiusque erat toto cum exercitu quam solum in aciem descendere, sua potissimum dextera omen uictoriae corripuit. nec incepto eius fortuna defuit: occiso enim Acrone fusisque hostibus opima de eo spolia Ioui Feretrio retulit. hactenus istud, quia publica religione consecrata uirtus nulla priuata laudatione indiget.

3.2.3 I return now to Romulus, who, provoked to fight by Acron, king of the Caeninenses, although he believed himself superior both in number and in the fortitude of his soldiers, and although it was safer to descend into the battle-line with the whole army than alone, seized with his own right hand above all the omen of victory. Nor did Fortune fail his undertaking: for, Acron having been slain and the enemies routed, he carried back from him the opima spoils to Jupiter Feretrius. So much on that, since a valor consecrated by public religion has need of no private laudation.

3.2.4 Ab Romulo proximus Cornelius Cossus eidem deo spolia consecrauit, cum magister equitum ducem Fidenatium in acie congressus interemisset. magnus initio huiusce generis inchoatae gloriae Romulus: Cosso quoque multum adquisitum est, quod imitari Romulum ualuit.

3.2.4 Next after Romulus, Cornelius Cossus consecrated the spoils to the same god, when, as Master of the Horse, having engaged the leader of the Fidenates in the battle-line, he slew him. Great, at the outset of the glory of this kind thus begun, was Romulus; much too was added to Cossus, in that he was able to imitate Romulus.

3.2.5 Ne M. quidem Marcelli memoriam ab his exemplis separare debemus, in quo tantus uigor animi fuit, ut apud Padum Gallorum regem ingenti exercitu stipatum cum paucis equitibus inuaderet, quem protinus obtruncatum armis exuit eaque Ioui Feretrio dicauit.

3.2.5 Nor ought we to separate even the memory of M. Marcellus from these examples, in whom there was such vigor of spirit, that by the Po he assailed the king of the Gauls, packed with a vast army, with a few horsemen; whom, straightway cut down, he stripped of his arms and dedicated them to Jupiter Feretrius.

3.2.6 Eodem et uirtutis et pugnae genere usi sunt T. Manlius Torquatus et Valerius Coruinus et Aemilianus Scipio. hi etiam ultro prouocatos hostium duces interemerunt, sed quia sub alienis auspiciis rem gesserant, spolia Ioui Feretrio non posuerunt consecranda. Idem Scipio Aemilianus, cum in Hispania sub Lucullo duce militaret atque Intercatia, praeualidum oppidum, circumsederetur, primus moenia eius conscendit.

3.2.6 The same kind both of valor and of combat were employed by T. Manlius Torquatus and Valerius Corvinus and Scipio Aemilianus. These men too slew enemy commanders who had unbidden challenged them; but because they had conducted the matter under others’ auspices, they did not set up the spoils to Jupiter Feretrius for consecration. The same Scipio Aemilianus, when he was soldiering in Spain under the leader Lucullus and Intercatia, a very powerful town, was being besieged, was the first to scale its walls.

neque erat in eo exercitu quisquam aut nobilitate aut animi indole aut futuris actis, cuius magis saluti parci et consuli deberet.sed tunc clarissimus quisque iuuenum pro amplificanda et tuenda patria plurimum laboris ac periculi sustinebat, deforme sibi existimans, quos dignitate praestaret, ab his uirtute superari. ideoque Aemilianus hanc militiam aliis propter difficultatem uitantibus sibi depoposcit.

nor was there in that army anyone, either in nobility or in the disposition of spirit or in future deeds, whose safety ought more to be spared and considered.sed then each most illustrious of the young men, for the enlarging and safeguarding of the fatherland, was enduring the greatest toil and danger, thinking it disgraceful for himself to be surpassed in virtue by those whom he surpassed in dignity. and so Aemilianus demanded this military service for himself, while others avoided it on account of the difficulty.

3.2.7 Magnum inter haec fortitudinis exemplum antiquitas offert. Romani Gallorum exercitu pulsi, cum se in Capitolium et in arcem conferrent, inque his collibus morari omnes non possent, necessarium consilium in plana parte urbis relinquendorum seniorum ceperunt, quo facilius iuuentus reliquias imperii tueretur. ceterum ne illo quidem tam misero tamque luctuoso tempore ciuitas nostra uirtutis suae oblita est: defuncti enim honoribus apertis ianuis in curulibus sellis cum insignibus magistratuum, quos gesserant, sacerdotiorumque, quae erant adepti, consederunt, ut et ipsi in occasu suo splendorem et ornamenta praeteritae uitae retinerent et plebi ad fortius sustinendos casus suos * * * . uenerabilis eorum aspectus primo hostibus fuit et nouitate rei et magnificentia cultus et ipso audaciae genere commotis.

3.2.7 Among these things antiquity offers a great example of fortitude. The Romans, driven back by the army of the Gauls, when they were withdrawing into the Capitol and the citadel, and since on these hills all could not remain, adopted a necessary plan of leaving the elders in the level part of the city, so that the youth might more easily guard the remnants of the imperium. Moreover, not even at that so wretched and so mournful a time did our commonwealth forget its valor: for those who had discharged their honors, with the doors open, sat in their curule chairs with the insignia of the magistracies they had borne and of the priesthoods they had obtained, so that both they themselves, in their own setting, might retain the splendor and ornaments of their past life, and for the plebs [serve] toward more bravely enduring their own misfortunes * * * . Their aspect was at first venerable to the enemies, who were moved both by the novelty of the thing and by the magnificence of the attire and by that very kind of audacity.

sed quis dubitaret quin et Galli et uictores illam admirationem mox in risum et in omne contumeliae genus conuersuri essent? non expectauit igitur hanc iniuriae maturitatem M. Atilius, uerum barbam suam permulcenti Gallo scipionem uehementi ictu capiti inflixit eique propter dolorem ad se occidendum ruenti cupidius corpus obtulit. capi ergo uirtus nescit, patientiae dedecus ignorat, fortunae succumbere omni fato tristius ducit, noua et speciosa genera interitus excogitat, si quisquam interit, qui sic extinguitur.

but who would doubt that both the Gauls and the victors would soon turn that admiration into laughter and into every kind of contumely? Marcus Atilius therefore did not wait for this ripeness of injury, but, as a Gaul was stroking his beard, he drove his staff with a vehement blow into the fellow’s head; and when the man, because of the pain, rushed at him to kill him, he all the more eagerly offered his body. Virtue, then, does not know how to be taken captive, is ignorant of the disgrace of patience, deems it sadder than any fate to succumb to Fortune, and devises new and specious kinds of perishing—if indeed anyone perishes who is extinguished thus.

3.2.8 Reddendus est nunc Romanae iuuentuti debitus gloriae titulus, quae C. Sempronio Atratino consule cum Volscis apud Verruginem parum prospere dimicante, ne acies nostra iam inclinata propelleretur, equis delapsa se ipsa hostium exercitum inrupit. quo demoto proximum tumulum occupauit effecitque ut omnis Volscorum conuersus impetus legionibus nostris ad confirmandos animos salutare laxamentum daret. itaque, cum iam de tropaeis statuendis cogitarent, proelium nocte dirimente uictoresne an uicti discederent incerti abierunt.

3.2.8 Now the due title of glory must be rendered to the Roman youth, which, with Gaius Sempronius Atratinus as consul, when he was fighting not very prosperously with the Volsci at Verrugo, lest our battle line, already inclined, be driven back, having dismounted from their horses, burst into the enemy’s army. When that was driven off, it occupied the nearest mound and brought it about that the whole redirected onslaught of the Volsci gave our legions a salutary respite for strengthening their spirits. And so, when they were already thinking about setting up trophies, with night breaking off the battle, they departed unsure whether they were victors or vanquished.

3.2.9 Strenuus ille quoque flos ordinis equestris, cuius mira uirtute Fabius Maximus Rullianus magister equitum bello, quod aduersus Samnites gerebatur, male commissi proelii crimine leuatus est: namque Papirio Cursore propter auspicia repetenda in urbem proficiscente castris praepositus ac uetitus in aciem exercitum ducere, nihilo minus manus cum hoste, sed tam infeliciter quam temere conseruit: procul enim dubio superabatur. ceterum optimae indolis iuuentus detractis equorum frenis uehementer eos calcaribus stimulatos in aduersos Samnites egit obstinataque animi praesentia extortam manibus hostium uictoriam et cum ea spem maximi ciuis [Rulliani] patriae restituit.

3.2.9 That vigorous flower too of the equestrian order, by whose wondrous virtue Fabius Maximus Rullianus, Master of Horse, in the war which was being waged against the Samnites, was relieved of the charge of an ill-joined battle: for when Papirius Cursor, setting out to the city for the auspices to be renewed, had put him in charge of the camp and had forbidden him to lead the army into the battle-line, nonetheless he joined hands with the enemy, but as unhappily as rashly—for beyond doubt he was being overmatched. However, a youth of the best natural quality, the horses’ bridles having been removed, drove them—spurred vehemently with spurs—against the opposing Samnites, and by a stubborn presence of mind restored to the fatherland the victory wrested from the enemy’s hands and, with it, the hope of the greatest citizen [Rullianus].

3.2.10 Qualis deinde roboris illi milites, qui uehementi ictu remorum concitatam fuga Punicam porum firmitate pedites in litus retraxerunt?

3.2.10 Of what strength then were those soldiers, who, by a vehement stroke of the oars, drew back to the shore the Punic lds, as foot-soldiers?

3.2.11 Eiusdem temporis et notae miles, qui Cannensi proelio, quo Hannibal magis uires Romanorum contudit quam animos fregit, cum ad retinenda arma inutiles uulneribus manus haberet, spoliare se conantis Numidae ceruicem conplexus os naribus et auribus corrosis deforme reddidit inque plenis ultionis morsibus expirauit. sepone iniquum pugnae euentum, quantum interfectore fortior interfectus! Poenus enim in uictoria obnoxius morienti solacio fuit, Romanus in ipso fine uitae uindex sui extitit.

3.2.11 A soldier of the same time and mark, who in the battle of Cannae—where Hannibal rather bruised the forces of the Romans than broke their spirits—when he had hands rendered useless by wounds for retaining arms, clasped the neck of a Numidian trying to despoil him, made his face misshapen, his nostrils and ears having been gnawed, and expired in full bites of vengeance. Set aside the unfair outcome of the fight: how much stronger than his slayer was the slain! For the Punic, even in victory, was rendered subject to the dying man—a solace; the Roman, at the very end of life, stood forth as his own avenger.

3.2.12 Militis hic in aduerso casu tam egregius uirilis animus, quem relaturus sum imperatoris: P. enim Crassus cum Aristonico bellum in Asia gerens a Thracibus, quorum is magnum numerum in praesidio habebat, inter Elaeam et Zmyrnam exceptus, ne in dicionem eius perueniret, dedecus arcessita ratione mortis effugit: uirgam enim, qua ad regendum equum usus fuerat, in unius barbari oculum direxit. qui ui doloris accensus latus Crassi sica confodit, dumque se ulciscitur, Romanum imperatorem maiestatis amissae turpitudine liberauit. ostendit fortunae Crassus quam indignum uirum tam graui contumelia adficere uoluisset, quoniam quidem iniectos ab ea libertati suae miserabiles laqueos prudenter pariter ac fortiter rupit donatumque se iam Aristonico dignitati suae reddidit.

3.2.12 This soldier’s in an adverse case so egregious virile spirit, I shall relate that of a commander: for P. Crassus, waging war against Aristonicus in Asia, being intercepted by Thracians, of whom he had a great number in garrison, between Elaea and Smyrna, in order not to come into his power, escaped disgrace by a death deliberately procured: for he directed the rod with which he had been using to govern his horse into one barbarian’s eye. He, inflamed by the force of pain, stabbed Crassus’s side with a dagger, and while he was taking vengeance, he freed the Roman commander from the foulness of forfeited majesty. Crassus showed to Fortune how unworthy a man she had wished to afflict with so grave a contumely, since indeed he prudently as well as bravely broke the pitiable nooses cast by her upon his liberty and, though already presented to Aristonicus, restored himself to his own dignity.

3.2.13 Eodem mentis proposito usus est Scipio : namque infeliciter Cn. Pompei generi sui defensis in Africa partibus classe Hispaniam petens, cum animaduertisset nauem, qua uehebatur, ab hostibus captam, gladio praecordia sua transuerberauit, ac deinde prostratus in puppi quaerentibus Caesarianis militibus ubinam esset imperator respondit 'imperator se bene habet', tantumque eloqui ualuit, quantum ad testandam animi fortitudinem aeternae laudi satis erat.

3.2.13 With the same mental purpose Scipio acted: for, having unhappily defended in Africa the party of his son-in-law Gnaeus Pompeius, and seeking Spain by fleet, when he noticed that the ship in which he was being conveyed had been seized by the enemy, he ran his vitals through with a sword; and then, laid out on the stern, to the Caesarian soldiers asking where the general was he replied, 'the general is doing well,' and he was able to utter just so much as was sufficient for eternal praise to attest the fortitude of his mind.

3.2.14 Tui quoque clarissimi excessus, Cato, Vtica monumentum est, in qua ex fortissimis uulneribus tuis plus gloriae quam sanguinis manauit: si quidem constantissime in gladium incumbendo magnum hominibus documentum dedisti, quanto potior esse debeat probis dignitas sine uita quam uita sine dignitate.

3.2.14 Utica too is a monument of your most illustrious decease, Cato, in which from your most heroic wounds more glory than blood flowed: since indeed, by most steadfastly leaning upon the sword, you gave men a great lesson how much more preferable dignity without life ought to be to the upright than life without dignity.

3.2.15 Cuius filia minime muliebris animi. quae, cum Bruti uiri sui consilium, quod de interficiendo ceperat Caesare, ea nocte, quam dies taeterrimi facti secutus est, cognosset, egresso cubiculum Bruto cultellum tonsorium quasi unguium resecandorum causa poposcit eoque uelut forte elapso se uulnerauit. clamore deinde ancillarum in cubiculum reuocatus Brutus obiurgare eam coepit, quod tonsoris praeripuisset officium.

3.2.15 His daughter was of a mind by no means womanly. She, when she had learned Brutus, her husband’s, counsel, which he had formed concerning putting Caesar to death, on the night which the day of the most loathsome deed followed, with Brutus having gone out of the bedchamber, asked for a tonsorial little knife as if for the purpose of trimming her nails, and with it, as though it had slipped by chance, wounded herself. Then, Brutus, recalled into the bedchamber by the clamor of the maidservants, began to rebuke her because she had forestalled the barber’s office.

cui secreto Porcia 'non est hoc' inquit 'temerarium factum meum, sed in tali statu nostro amoris mei erga te certissimum indicium: experiri enim uolui, si tibi propositum parum ex sententia cessisset, quam aequo animo me ferro essem interemptura'.

To him in private Porcia said, 'This is not a rash deed of mine, but, in such a state of our affairs, the most certain indication of my love toward you: for I wished to make trial, if your purpose had turned out less to your satisfaction, how with equanimity I would have slain myself by steel.'

3.2.16 Felicior progenie sua superior Cato, a quo Porciae familiae principia manarunt. qui cum ab hoste in acie uehementer ~ paruulo peteretur, uagina gladius eius elapsus decidit. quem subiectum proeliantium globo atque undique hostilibus pedibus circumdatum postquam abesse sibi animaduertit, adeo constanti animo in suam potestatem redegit, ut illum non periculo oppressus rapere, sed metu uacuus sumere uideretur.

3.2.16 More fortunate in his progeny was the earlier Cato, from whom the principles of the Porcian family flowed. He, when he was being pressed by the enemy in the battle-line with great vehemence at very close quarters, his sword slipped from the scabbard and fell. When he perceived that it was away from him, lying beneath the mass of combatants and on every side hedged about by hostile feet, he recovered it into his own power with such a constant mind that he seemed not to snatch it, overwhelmed by peril, but to take it, void of fear.

quo spectaculo adtoniti hostes postero die ad eum supplices pacem petentes uenerunt.

At that spectacle, the enemies, thunderstruck, came to him the next day as suppliants, seeking peace.

3.2.17 Togae quoque fortitudo militaribus operibus inserenda est, quia eandem laudem foro atque castris edita meretur. cum Ti. Gracchus in tribunatu profusissimis largitionibus fauore populi occupato rem publicam oppressam teneret palamque dictitaret interempto senatu omnia per plebem agi debere, in aedem Fidei Publicae conuocati patres conscripti a consule Mucio Scaeuola quidnam in tali tempestate faciendum esset deliberabant, cunctisque censentibus ut consul armis rem publicam tueretur, Scaeuola negauit se quicquam ui esse acturum. tum Scipio Nasica, 'quoniam' inquit 'consul, dum iuris ordinem sequitur, id agit, ut cum omnibus legibus Romanum imperium corruat, egomet me priuatus uoluntati uestrae ducem offero', ac deinde laeuam manum a parte togae circumdedit sublataque dextra proclamauit: 'qui rem publicam saluam esse uolunt me sequantur', eaque uoce cunctatione bonorum ciuium discussa Gracchum cum scelerata factione quas merebatur poenas persoluere coegit.

3.2.17 The fortitude of the toga too must be inserted among military operations, because it deserves the same praise, produced in the forum as in the camps. When Tiberius Gracchus in his tribunate, the favor of the people having been seized by most lavish largesses, held the commonwealth oppressed and openly kept saying that, the senate having been slain, everything ought to be transacted through the plebs, the senators, convened by the consul Mucius Scaevola into the temple of Public Faith, were deliberating what ought to be done in such a tempest; and when all were of the opinion that the consul should defend the commonwealth with arms, Scaevola said he would do nothing by force. Then Scipio Nasica said, “Since the consul, while following the order of right, is bringing it about that the Roman imperium collapse along with all the laws, I myself, a private citizen, offer myself as leader to your will,” and then he tucked his left hand into that part of his toga and, his right hand raised, proclaimed: “Those who wish the commonwealth to be safe, follow me,” and by that utterance, the hesitation of good citizens being shaken off, he compelled Gracchus with his criminal faction to pay the penalties he deserved.

3.2.18 Item, cum tr. pl. Saturninus et praetor Glaucia et Equitius designatus tr. pl. maximos in ciuitate nostra seditionum motus excitauissent, nec quisquam se populo concitato opponeret, primum M. Aemilius Scaurus C. Marium consulatum sextum gerentem hortatus est ut libertatem legesque manu defenderet protinusque arma sibi adferri iussit. quibus allatis ultima senectute confectum et paene dilapsum corpus induit spiculoque innixus ante fores curiae constitit ac paruulis et extremis spiritus reliquiis ne res publica expiraret effecit: praesentia enim animi sui senatum et equestrem ordinem ad uindictam exigendam inpulit.

3.2.18 Likewise, when the tribune of the plebs Saturninus and the praetor Glaucia and Equitius, designated tribune of the plebs, had stirred up the greatest motions of sedition in our city, and no one set himself against the roused populace, first Marcus Aemilius Scaurus exhorted Gaius Marius, holding the sixth consulship, to defend liberty and the laws by force of hand, and at once ordered arms to be brought to him. When these were brought, he put them upon a body worn out by extreme old age and almost collapsing, and, leaning on a little spear, he took his stand before the doors of the Curia, and with the very small and utmost remnants of breath he brought it about that the commonwealth not expire: for the presence of his spirit impelled the senate and the equestrian order to exact vengeance.

3.2.19 Sed ut armorum togaeque prius, nunc etiam siderum clarum decus, diuum Iulium, certissimam uerae uirtutis effigiem, repraesentemus, cum innumerabili multitudine et feroci impetu Neruiorum inclinari aciem suam uideret, timidius pugnanti militi scutum detraxit eoque tectus acerrime proeliari coepit. quo facto fortitudinem per totum exercitum diffudit labentemque belli fortunam diuino animi ardore restituit. idem alio proelio legionis Martiae aquiliferum ineundae fugae gratia iam conuersum faucibus conprehensum in contrariam partem ~ detraxit dexteramque ad hostem tendens 'corsum tu' inquit 'abis?

3.2.19 But, that we may set forth again, as earlier the glory of arms and of the toga, now even the bright ornament of the stars, the deified Julius, the surest effigy of true virtue: when he saw his own battle-line being inclined by the innumerable multitude and the ferocious impetus of the Nervii, he stripped the shield from a soldier fighting too timidly, and, covered by it, began to do battle most fiercely. By this deed he diffused fortitude through the whole army and restored the slipping fortune of the war by a divine ardor of spirit. Likewise, in another battle, seizing by the throat the standard-bearer of the Martian legion, already turned for the sake of entering upon flight, he dragged him back into the contrary direction ~ dragged him down, and, stretching his right hand toward the enemy, said, 'are you going your course?'

illic sunt cum quibus dimicamus'. et manibus quidem unum militem, adhortatione uero tam acri omnium legionum trepidationem correxit uincique paratas uincere docuit.

'there they are with whom we fight.' And with his hands indeed he dealt with one soldier; but by so keen an exhortation he corrected the trepidation of all the legions and taught those ready to be conquered to conquer.

3.2.20 Ceterum ut humanae uirtutis actum exequamur, cum Hannibal Capuam, in qua Romanus exercitus erat, obsideret, Vibius Accaus Paelignae cohortis praefectus uexillum trans Punicum uallum proiecit, se ipsum suosque conmilitones, si signo hostes potiti essent, execratus, et ad id petendum subsequente cohorte primus impetum fecit. quod ut Valerius Flaccus tribunus tertiae legionis aspexit, conuersus ad suos 'spectatores' inquit, 'ut uideo, alienae uirtutis huc uenimus, sed absit istud dedecus a sanguine nostro, ut Romani gloria cedere Latinis uelimus. ego certe aut speciosam optans mortem aut felicem audaciae exitum uel solus procurrere paratus sum'. his auditis Pedanius centurio conuulsum signum dextra retinens 'iam hoc' inquit 'intra hostile uallum mecum erit: proinde sequantur qui id capi nolunt', et cum eo in castra Poenorum inrupit totamque secum traxit legionem.

3.2.20 But, that we may set forth an act of human virtue: when Hannibal was besieging Capua, in which the Roman army was, Vibius Accaus, prefect of a Paelignian cohort, threw a standard across the Punic rampart, calling down curses upon himself and his fellow comrades if the enemies should gain possession of the standard, and, his cohort following to fetch it, he was the first to make a charge. When Valerius Flaccus, tribune of the Third Legion, saw this, turning to his men he said, 'Spectators, as I see, we have come here to another’s valor; but far be that disgrace from our blood, that we Romans should be willing for glory to yield to the Latins. I for my part, either desiring a splendid death or a happy outcome of boldness, am ready to run forward even alone.' On hearing this, Pedanius, a centurion, holding fast the wrenched-up standard in his right hand, said, 'Right now this will be inside the enemy rampart with me: therefore let those follow who do not wish it to be seized,' and with him he burst into the camp of the Carthaginians and drew along the whole legion with him.

ita trium hominum fortis temeritas Hannibalem, paulo ante spe sua Capuae potitorem, ne castrorum quidem suorum potentem esse passa est.

thus the brave temerity of three men did not allow Hannibal, a little before in his own expectation the master of Capua, to be master even of his own camp.

3.2.21 Quorum uirtuti nihil cedit Q. Occius, qui propter fortitudinem Achilles cognominatus est: nam ut reliqua eius opera non exequar, abunde tamen duobus factis, quae relaturus sum, quantus bellator fuerit cognoscetur. Q. Metello consuli legatus in Hispaniam profectus, Celtibericum sub eo bellum gerens, postquam cognouit a quodam gentis huius iuuene se ad dimicandum prouocari--erat autem illi forte prandendi gratia posita mensa--, relicta ea arma sua extra uallum deferri equumque educi clam iussit, ne a Metello inpediretur, et illum Celtiberum insolentissime obequitantem consectatus interemit detractasque corpori eius exuuias ouans laetitia in castra retulit. idem Pyrresum nobilitate ac uirtute omnes Celtiberos praestantem, cum ab eo in certamen pugnae deuocatus esset, succumbere sibi coegit.

3.2.21 Equal to their virtue is Q. Occius, who, on account of fortitude, was surnamed Achilles: for, though I do not recount his other exploits, yet from two deeds, which I am about to relate, it will be recognized how great a warrior he was. Having set out as legate to Spain under the consul Q. Metellus, waging the Celtiberian war under him, after he learned that he was being challenged to combat by a certain youth of that nation—now there had, by chance, been set before that man a table for the sake of lunch—, leaving that, he secretly ordered his arms to be carried beyond the rampart and his horse to be led out, lest he be impeded by Metellus, and, pursuing that Celtiberian who was most insolently riding around, he slew him and, the spoils stripped from his body, carried them back to camp exultant with joy. The same man compelled Pyrresus, who surpassed all the Celtiberians in nobility and virtue, when he had been summoned by him to a trial of fight, to succumb to him.

nec erubuit flagrantissimi pectoris iuuenis gladium ei suum et sagulum utroque exercitu spectante tradere. ille uero etiam petiit ut hospitii iure inter se iuncti essent, quando inter Romanos et Celtiberos pax foret restituta.

nor did he blush to hand over to him, a youth of most ardent breast, his own sword and sagum, with both armies looking on. he, for his part, even requested that by the right of hospitality they be joined between themselves, when peace between the Romans and the Celtiberians should be restored.

3.2.22 Ne Acilium quidem praeterire possumus, qui, cum decumae legionis miles pro C. Caesaris partibus maritima pugna proeliaretur, abscisa dextra, quam Massiliensium naui iniecerat, laeua puppim adprehendit nec ante dimicare destitit quam captam profundo mergeret. quod factum parum iusta notitia patet. at Cynaegirum Atheniensem simili pertinacia in consectandis hostibus usum uerbosa cantu laudum suarum Graecia omnium saeculorum memoriae litterarum praeconio inculcat.

3.2.22 Nor can we pass over Acilius either, who, when, as a soldier of the Tenth legion, he was fighting in a maritime battle for the party of Gaius Caesar, his right hand—which he had thrown onto a ship of the Massiliotes—having been cut off, with his left seized the stern and did not cease to fight before he sank it, once captured, in the deep. This deed stands forth with too scant a rightful notice. But Greece, verbose in the chant of its own praises, has inculcated into the memory of all ages, by the proclamation of letters, that Cynaegirus the Athenian used similar pertinacity in pursuing the enemy.

3.2.23 Classicam Acilii gloriam terrestri laude M. Caesius Scaeua eiusdem imperatoris centurio subsecutus est: cum pro castello enim, cui praepositus erat, dimicaret, Gnaeique Pompei praefectus Iustuleius summo studio et magno militum numero ad ~ eum capiendum niteretur, omnes, qui propius accesserant, interemit ac sine ullo regressu pedis pugnans super ingentem stragem, quam ipse fecerat, conruit. cuius capite, umero, femine saucio, oculo eruto, scutum c et xx ictibus perfossum apparuit. talis in ca stris diui Iuli disciplina milites aluit, quorum alter dextera, alter oculo amisso hostibus inhaesit, ille post hanc iacturam uictor, hic ne hac quidem iactura uictus.

3.2.23 The naval glory of Acilius was followed by the terrestrial praise of M. Caesius Scaeva, a centurion of the same imperator: for when he was fighting on behalf of the little fort to which he had been set over, and Iustuleius, a prefect of Gnaeus Pompeius, with the utmost zeal and a great number of soldiers was striving ~ to seize him, he slew all who had approached nearer, and, fighting without any retreat of a foot, collapsed upon the huge carnage which he himself had made. His head, shoulder, and thigh were wounded, one eye torn out; his shield appeared perforated by 120 blows. Such discipline in the camp of the Divine Julius fostered soldiers, of whom the one, his right hand lost, the other, his eye lost, clung to the enemies: the former, after this loss, a victor; the latter, not vanquished even by this loss.

Tuum uero, Scaeui, inexuperabilem spiritum in utra parte rerum naturae admiratione prosequar nescio, quoniam excellenti uirtute dubium reliquisti inter undasne pugnam fortiorem edideris an in terra uocem miseris: bello namque, quo C. Caesar non contentus opera sua litoribus Oceani claudere Britannicae insulae caelestis iniecit manus, cum quattuor conmilitonibus rate transuectus in scopulum uicinum insulae, quam hostium ingentes copiae obtinebant, postquam aestus regressu suo spatium, quo scopulus et insula diuidebantur, in uadum transitu facile redegit, ingenti multitudine barbarorum adfluente, ceteris rate ad litus regressis solus immobilem stationis gradum retinens, undique ruentibus telis et ab omni parte acri studio ad te inuadendum nitentibus, quinque militum diurno proelio suffectura pila una dextera hostium corporibus adegisti. ad ultimum destricto gladio audacissimum quemque modo umbonis inpulsu, modo mucronis ictu depellens hinc Romanis, illinc Britannicis oculis incredibili, nisi cernereris, spectaculo fuisti. postquam deinde ira ac pudor cuncta conari fessos coegit, tragula femur traiectus saxique pondere ora contusus, galea iam ictibus discussa et scuto crebris foraminibus absumpto, profundo te credidisti ac duabus loricis onustus inter undas, quas hostili cruore infe ceras, enasti, uisoque imperatore armis non amissis, sed bene inpensis, cum laudem mere<re>ris, ueniam petisti, <quod sine scuto redisses,> magnus proelio, sed maior disciplinae militaris memoria.

Your, indeed, Scaeva, unconquerable spirit I know not on which side of the nature of things to pursue with admiration, since by outstanding virtue you left it doubtful whether amid the waves you put forth the stronger combat, or on land you sent forth a voice: for in the war in which Gaius Caesar, not content to confine his exertions to the shores of the Ocean, laid a heavenly hand upon the British island, you, transported with four fellow-soldiers by raft to a crag near the island, which vast forces of the enemy were holding, after the tide in its ebb had reduced the space by which the crag and the island were divided to a ford easy for crossing, as a huge multitude of barbarians was pouring in, the others having returned by raft to the shore, you alone, keeping the immovable step of your station, with missiles rushing from all sides and with men on every part straining with keen zeal to assault you, with a single right hand drove javelins into the bodies of the enemy—javelins sufficient for five soldiers in a daylong battle. At last, your sword drawn, beating back each most daring assailant now by the shove of your shield-boss, now by the stroke of your point, you were to Roman and to British eyes a spectacle incredible, unless you were being seen. Afterward, when wrath and shame compelled them, though weary, to try everything, pierced in the thigh by a dart and your face bruised by the weight of stones, your helmet now shattered by blows and your shield consumed with frequent perforations, you committed yourself to the deep; and, laden with two cuirasses, you swam out amid the waves which you had stained with hostile blood; and, when the commander was seen, with your arms not lost but well expended, though you were deserving of praise, you asked for pardon, because you had returned without your shield—great in battle, but greater in the remembrance of military discipline.

itaque ab optimo uirtutis aestimatore cum facta tum etiam uerba tua centurionatus honore d<on>ata sunt.

Therefore, by the best estimator of valor, both your deeds and even your words were awarded the honor of the centurionate.

3.2.24 Sed quod ad proeliatorum excellentem fortitudinem adtinet, merito L. Sicci Dentati commemoratio omnia Romana exempla finierit, cuius opera honoresque operum ultra fidem ueri excedere iudicari possent, nisi ea certi auctores, inter quos M. Varro, monumentis suis testata esse uoluissent. quem centies et uicies in aciem descendisse tradunt, eo robore animi atque corporis utentem, ut maiorem semper uictoriae partem traxisse uideretur: sex et xxx spolia ex hoste retulisse, quorum in numero octo fuisse , cum quibus inspectante utroque exercitu ex prouocatione dimicasset, xiiii ciues ex media morte raptos seruasse, v et xl uulnera pectore excepisse, tergo cicatricibus uacuo: nouem triumphales imperatorum currus secutum, totius ciuitatis oculos in se numerosa donorum pompa conuertentem: praeferebantur enim aureae coronae octo, ciuicae xiiii, murales iii, obsidionalis i, torques lxxxiii, armillae clx, hastae xviii, phalerae xxv, ornamenta etiam legioni, nedum militi satis multa.

3.2.24 But as concerns the outstanding fortitude of combatants, with good reason the commemoration of L. Siccius Dentatus would have brought all Roman exemplars to a close, whose deeds and the honors of his deeds might be judged to exceed belief in truth, unless trustworthy authors, among whom M. Varro, had wished to attest them in their monuments. They relate that he went down into the line of battle 120 times, employing such strength of mind and body that he seemed always to have drawn the greater share of victory: that he brought back 36 spoils from the enemy, in the number of which there were 8 of those with whom, before both armies looking on, he had fought upon a challenge; that he saved 14 fellow-citizens snatched from the midst of death; that he received 45 wounds in the chest, his back free of scars; that he followed 9 triumphal chariots of commanders, turning the eyes of the entire state upon himself with a numerous parade of gifts: for borne before him were 8 golden crowns, 14 civic, 3 mural, 1 siege-crown, 83 torques, 160 armlets, 18 spears, 25 phalerae—decorations enough even for a legion, to say nothing of a soldier.

3.2.ext.1 Ille quoque ex pluribus corporibus in unum magna cum admiratione Calibus cruor confusus est. in quo oppido cum Fuluius Flaccus Campanam perfidiam principes ciuitatis ante tribunal suum capitali supplicio adficiendo uindicaret litterisque a senatu acceptis finem poenae eorum statuere cogeretur, ultro se ei T. Iubellius Taurea Campanus obtulit et quam potuit clara uoce 'quoniam' inquit, 'Fului, tanta cupiditate hauriendi sanguinis nostri teneris, quid cessas in me cruentam securem destringere, ut gloriari possis fortiorem aliquanto uirum quam ipse es tuo iussu esse interemptum?' eo deinde [dicente] libenter id se fuisse facturum, nisi senatus uoluntate inpediretur, adfirmante, 'at me' inquit, 'cui nihil patres conscripti praeceperunt, aspice, oculis quidem tuis gratum, animo uero tuo maius opus edentem', protinusque interfecta coniuge ac liberis gladio incubuit. quem illum uirum putemus fuisse, qui suorum ac sua caede testari uoluit se Fuluii crudelitatem suggillare quam senatus misericordia uti maluisse?

3.2.ext.1 That, too, at Cales, to great amazement, blood from several bodies was blended into one. In that town, when Fulvius Flaccus was avenging the Campanian perfidy by subjecting the leading men of the state before his tribunal to capital punishment, and, letters having been received from the Senate, was being forced to set an end to their penalty, T. Iubellius Taurea, a Campanian, of his own accord presented himself to him and, with as clear a voice as he could, said: 'Since, Fulvius, you are held by such a craving to drink down our blood, why do you delay to draw the bloody axe against me, so that you may boast that a man somewhat braver than you yourself has been slain by your order?' When he then said that he would gladly have done so, were he not hindered by the will of the Senate, Taurea affirmed: 'But as for me, to whom the Conscript Fathers have prescribed nothing—behold me accomplishing a deed pleasing indeed to your eyes, but greater to your mind,' and straightway, after killing his wife and children, he fell upon the sword. What sort of man are we to think that was, who wished by the slaughter of his own and of himself to testify that he preferred to stigmatize the cruelty of Fulvius rather than to have made use of the Senate’s mercy?

3.2.ext.2 Age, Darei quantus ardor animi! qui, cum sordida et crudeli magorum tyrannide Persas liberaret unumque ex his obscuro loco abiectum corporis pondere urgueret, praeclari operis socio plagam ei inferre dubitanti, ne, dum magum petit, ipsum uulneraret, 'tu uero' inquit 'nihil est quod respectu mei timidius gladio utaris: uel per utrumque illum agas licet, dum hic quam celerrime pereat'.

3.2.ext.2 Come now, how great the ardor of spirit of Darius! who, when he was freeing the Persians from the sordid and cruel tyranny of the magi, and was pressing down one of these, cast down in an obscure place, by the weight of his body, said to his associate in the illustrious work, as he hesitated to inflict a blow on him, lest, while he aimed at the magus, he wound himself: 'You indeed—there is no reason why, out of regard for me, you should use the sword more timidly: you may even drive it through both of us, so long as this fellow perish as swiftly as possible'.

3.2.ext.3 Hoc loci Leonidas nobilis Spartanus occurrit, cuius proposito, opere, exitu nihil fortius: nam cum ccc ciuibus apud Thermopylas toti Asiae obiectus grauem illum et mari et terrae Xerxen, nec hominibus tantum terribilem, sed Neptuno quoque conpedes et caelo tenebras minitantem, pertinacia uirtutis ad ultimam desperationem redegit. ceterum perfidia et scelere incolarum eius regionis [et] loci opportunitate, qua plurimum adiuuabatur, spoliatus occidere dimicans quam adsignatam sibi a patria stationem deserere maluit adeoque alacri animo suos ad id proelium, quo perituri erant, cohortatus est, ut diceret 'sic prandete, conmilitones, tamquam apud inferos cenaturi'. mors erat denuntiata: Lacedaemonii, perinde ac uictoria esset promissa, dicto intrepidi paruerunt.

3.2.ext.3 Here Leonidas, the noble Spartan, occurs to mind, than whose purpose, work, and outcome nothing was more courageous: for, with 300 citizens at Thermopylae set against the whole of Asia, that weighty Xerxes both to sea and to land—terrible not only to men, but threatening fetters to Neptune as well and darkness to the sky—he drove, by the pertinacity of virtue, to utter desperation. But, stripped by the treachery and crime of the inhabitants of that region [and] of the advantage of the place, by which he was greatly aided, he chose to die fighting rather than to desert the station assigned to him by his fatherland; and with so lively a spirit did he exhort his men to that battle in which they were going to perish, that he said: 'So take your lunch, comrades-in-arms, as though you were going to dine in the Underworld.' Death had been announced: the Lacedaemonians, just as if victory had been promised, obeyed the order unflinchingly.

3.2.ext.4 Othryadae quoque pugna pariter ac morte ~ speciosa Thyreatium laude quam spatio latius solum cernitur. qui sanguine suo scriptis litteris dereptam hostibus uictoriam tantum non post fata sua in sinum patriae cruento tropaei titulo retulit.

3.2.ext.4 The battle of Othryades, as much as his death, was ~ resplendent with Thyreatian renown, which is perceived more widely than the soil is seen in extent. He, with letters written in his own blood, brought back into the bosom of his fatherland the victory torn from the enemies, almost after his own death, by the bloody title of a trophy.

3.2.ext.5 Excellentissimos Spartanae uirtutis prouentus mirabilis lapsus sequitur. Epaminondas, maxima Thebarum felicitas idemque Lacedaemonis prima clades, cum uetustam eius urbis gloriam inuictamque ad id tempus publicam uirtutem apud Leuctram et Mantineam secundis proeliis contudisset, traiectus hasta, sanguine et spiritu deficiens recreare se cocantes primum an clypeus suus saluus esset, deinde an penitus fusi hostes forent interrogauit. quae postquam ex animi sententia conperit, 'non finis' inquit, 'conmilitones, uitae meae, sed melius et ~ athius initium aduenit: nunc enim uester Epaminondas nascitur, quia sic moritur.

3.2.ext.5 A most wretched lapse follows the most excellent harvests of Spartan virtue. Epaminondas, the greatest felicity of Thebes and likewise the first disaster of Lacedaemon, when he had crushed the ancient glory of that city and its public virtue undefeated up to that time by favorable battles at Leuctra and Mantinea, run through by a spear, failing in blood and breath, asked those trying to revive him first whether his shield was safe, then whether the enemies had been utterly routed. And after he learned these things to his heart’s content, he said, 'Not an end, fellow-soldiers, of my life, but a better and ~ happier beginning arrives: for now your Epaminondas is being born, because thus he dies.'

Thebas ductu et auspiciis meis caput Graeciae factas uideo, et fortis et animosa ciuitas Spartana iacet armis nostris abiecta: amara dominatione Graecia liberata est. orbus quoque, non tamen sine liberis morior, quoniam mirificas filias Leuctram et Mantineam relinquo'. e corpore deinde suo hastam educi iussit eoque uultu expirauit, quo, si eum di inmortales uictoriis suis perfrui passi essent, sospes patriae moenia intrasset.

I see Thebes, under my leadership and auspices, made the head of Greece, and the brave and spirited Spartan city lies cast down by our arms: from bitter domination Greece has been freed. Even bereft, yet not without children do I die, since I leave behind wondrous daughters, Leuctra and Mantinea.' Then he ordered the spear to be drawn out of his body, and he expired with that countenance with which, if the immortal gods had allowed him to enjoy his victories, he would have entered the walls of his fatherland safe and sound.

3.2.ext.6 Ac ne Theramenis quidem Atheniensis in publica custodia mori coacti parua mentis constantia, in qua xxx tyrannorum iussu porrectam ueneni potionem non dubitanter hausit quodque ex ea superfuerat iocabundus inlisum humo clarum edere sonum coegit renidensque seruo publico, qui eam tradiderat, 'Critiae' inquit 'propino: uide igitur ut hoc poculum ad eum continuo perferas'. erat autem is ex xxx tyrannis crudelissimus. profecto supplicio est se liberare tam facile supplicium perpeti. itaque Theramenes perinde atque in domestico lectulo moriens uita excessit, inimicorum existimatione punitus, suo iudicio finitus.

3.2.ext.6 And not even Theramenes the Athenian, compelled to die in public custody, showed small constancy of mind: at the order of the 30 tyrants he unhesitatingly drained the proffered cup of poison, and what had remained of it he, joking, made to give out a clear sound when dashed upon the ground; and, smiling at the public slave who had handed it over, he said, 'I pledge this to Critias: see therefore that you carry this cup to him immediately.' He, moreover, was the most cruel of the 30 tyrants. Truly, to free oneself from penalty is to endure the penalty so easily. And so Theramenes departed from life as if dying in his own domestic bed, punished in the estimation of his enemies, concluded by his own judgment.

3.2.ext.7 Sed Theramenes a litteris et doctrina uirilitatem traxit, Numantino uero Rhoetogeni ad consimilem uirtutem capessendam quasi magistra gentis suae ferocitas extitit: perditis namque et adflictis rebus Numantinorum, cum omnes ciues nobilitate, pecunia, honoribus praestaret, uicum suum, qui in ea urbe speciosissimus erat, contractis undique nutrimentis ignis incendit protinusque strictum gladium in medio posuit ac binos inter se dimicare iussit, ut uictus incisa ceruice ardentibus tectis superiaceretur. qui, cum tam forti lege mortis omnis absumpsisset, ad ultimum se ipse flammis inmersit.

3.2.ext.7 But Theramenes drew his virility from letters and doctrine, whereas for Rhoetogenes the Numantine, the ferocity of his nation stood forth, as it were, as a schoolmistress for taking up similar virtue: for when the affairs of the Numantines were ruined and shattered, since he excelled all the citizens in nobility, money, and honors, he set his own vicus—which in that city was the most splendid—on fire, the nutriments of fire having been gathered from every side; and straightway he placed a drawn sword in the midst and ordered them to fight in pairs among themselves, so that the vanquished, his neck cut, might be thrown atop the blazing roofs. When he had consumed all by so stout a law of death, at the last he himself plunged into the flames.

3.2.ext.8 Verum ut aeque populo Romano inimicae urbis excidium referam, Karthagine capta uxor Hasdrubalis exprobrata ei impietate, quod a Scipione soli sibi impetrare uitam contentus fuisset, dextra laeuaque communes filios mortem non recusantis trahens incendio se flagrantis patriae obiecit.

3.2.ext.8 But, in order that I may likewise report the destruction of a city equally inimical to the Roman people: when Carthage had been captured, Hasdrubal’s wife, having reproached him with impiety—namely, that he had been content to obtain life for himself alone from Scipio—dragging with her right and left hand their common sons, not refusing death, hurled herself into the conflagration of her blazing fatherland.

3.2.ext.9 Mulieris fortitudinis exemplo aeque fortem duarum puellarum casum adiciam. cum pestifera seditione Syracusarum tota regis Gelonis stirps euidentissimis exhausta cladibus ad unicam filiam Harmoniam uirginem esset redacta et in eam certatim ab inimicis impetus fieret, nutrix eius aequalem illi puellam regio cultu ornatam hostilibus gladiis subiecit, quae, ne cum ferro quidem trucidaretur, cuius esset condicionis [ediceret] proclamauit. admirata illius animum Harmonia [et] tantae fidei superesse non sustinuit reuocatosque interfectores professa quaenam esset in caedem suam conuertit.

3.2.ext.9 By an example of a woman's fortitude I will add the equally brave case of two girls. When, by a pestiferous sedition of the Syracusans, the whole stock of King Gelon, exhausted by most evident disasters, had been reduced to his only daughter Harmonia, a virgin, and against her assaults were being made in rivalry by enemies, her nurse exposed to the hostile swords a girl equal to her in age, adorned in royal attire, who, in order not to be slaughtered even by the blade, proclaimed of what condition she was [ediceret]. Harmonia, admiring that spirit, also did not endure to survive such great faith, and, having called back the killers, declaring who she was, turned them upon her own slaughter.

ita alteri tectum mendacium, alteri ueritas aperta finis uitae fuit.

thus for the one concealed mendacity, for the other truth laid open, was the end of life.

3.3.init. Egregiis uirorum pariter ac feminarum operibus fortitudo se oculis hominum subiecit patientiamque in medium procedere hortata est, non sane infirmioribus radicibus stabilitam aut minus generoso spiritu abundantem, sed ita similitudine iunctam, ut cum ea uel ex ea nata uideri possit.

3.3.init. By the outstanding works of men and of women alike, fortitude set itself before the eyes of men and urged patience to advance into the midst, assuredly not established upon weaker roots nor abounding with a less generous spirit, but so joined by similitude that it can seem either born together with it or born from it.

3.3.1 quid enim his, quae supra retuli, facto Mucii conuenientius? cum a Porsenna rege Etruscorum urbem nostram graui ac diutino bello urgueri aegre ferret, castra eius clam ferro cinctus intrauit immolantemque ante altaria conatus occidere est. ceterum inter molitionem pii pariter ac fortis propositi oppressus nec causam aduentus texit et tormenta quantopere contemneret mira patientia ostendit: perosus enim, credo, dexteram suam, quod eius ministerio in caede regis uti nequisset, iniectam foculo exuri passus est.

3.3.1 what, indeed, more fitting to these things which I have recounted above than the deed of Mucius? When he could hardly endure that our city was being pressed by Porsenna, king of the Etruscans, with a grave and long war, secretly girded with iron he entered his camp and attempted to kill him as he was sacrificing before the altars. But, overtaken in the execution of his pious as well as brave purpose, he did not veil the cause of his coming, and with wondrous patience he showed how greatly he scorned torments: for, hating, I suppose, his right hand, because he had not been able to use its ministry in the slaughter of the king, he allowed it, thrust upon the brazier, to be burned.

nullum profecto di inmortales admotum aris cultum adtentioribus oculis uiderunt. ipsum quoque Porsennam oblitum periculi sui ultionem suam uertere in admirationem coegit: nam 'reuertere' inquit 'ad tuos, Muci, et eis refer te, cum uitam meam petieris, a me uita donatum'. cuius clementiam non adulatus Mucius tristior Porsennae salute quam sua laetior urbi se cum aeternae gloriae cognomine Scaeuolae reddidit.

Surely the immortal gods have seen no cult applied to the altars with more attentive eyes. He even forced Porsenna himself, forgetful of his own peril, to turn his vengeance into admiration: for, 'Return,' he says, 'to your people, Mucius, and report to them that, when you sought my life, you have been granted life by me.' Not flattering whose clemency, Mucius—more saddened at Porsenna’s safety than happier at his own—returned himself to the city with the cognomen of eternal glory, Scaevola.

3.3.2 Pompei etiam probabilis uirtus, qui, dum legationis officio fungitur, a Gentio interceptus, cum senatus consilia prodere iuberetur, ardenti lucernae admotum digitum cremandum praebuit eaque patientia regi simul et desperationem tormentis quicquam ex se cognoscendi incussit et expetendae populi Romani amicitiae magnam cupiditatem ingenerauit. ac ne plura huiusce generis exempla domi scrutando saepius ad ciuilium bellorum detestandam memoriam progredi cogar, duobus Romanis exemplis contentus, quae ut clarissimarum familiarum commendationem, ita nullum publicum maerorem continent, externa subnectam.

3.3.2 Also credible was the virtue of Pompeius, who, while he was discharging the office of a legation, having been intercepted by Gentius, when he was ordered to betray the counsels of the senate, offered a finger, brought up to a burning lamp, to be burned; and by that patience he struck into the king at once both a desperation of learning anything from him by tortures and a great desire ingenerated for seeking the amity of the Roman people. And, lest by searching out more examples of this kind at home I be compelled more often to proceed to the detestable memory of civil wars, being content with two Roman examples—which, while they carry the commendation of most illustrious families, contain no public mourning—I will subjoin foreign ones.

3.3.ext.1 Vetusto Macedoniae more regi Alexandro nobilissimi pueri praesto erant sacrificanti. e quibus unus turibulo arrepto ante ipsum adstitit. in cuius brachium carbo ardens delapsus est.

3.3.ext.1 By the ancient custom of Macedonia, while King Alexander was sacrificing, the most noble boys were in attendance. Of these one, having seized a thurible, stood before him. Onto whose arm a burning coal slipped down.

quo etsi ita urebatur, ut adusti corporis eius odor ad circumstantium nares perueniret, tamen et dolorem silentio pressit et brachium inmobile tenuit, ne sacrificium Alexandri aut concusso turibulo impediret aut edito gemitu re<li>gio<ne> aspergeret. rex, quo patientia pueri magis delectatus est, hoc certius perseuerantiae experimentum sumere uoluit: consulto enim sacrificauit diutius nec hac re eum proposito repulit. si huic miraculo Dareus inseruisset oculos, scisset eius stirpis milites uinci non posse, cuius infirmam aetatem tanto robore praeditam animaduertisset.

Whereupon, although he was being burned in such a way that the odor of his scorched body reached the nostrils of the bystanders, nevertheless he both pressed down the pain in silence and held his arm motionless, lest he either impede Alexander’s sacrifice by the censer being shaken or, by a groan let out, besprinkle it with religious pollution. The king, the more delighted by the boy’s patience, wished to take a surer experiment of perseverance: for he sacrificed deliberately for a longer time, nor by this did he drive him from his purpose. If Darius had fastened his eyes upon this miracle, he would have known that soldiers of that stock could not be conquered, when he had observed a tender age endowed with such strength.

Est et illa uehemens et constans animi militia, litteris pollens, uenerabilium doctrinae sacrorum antistes, philosophia. quae ubi pectore recepta est, omni inhonesto atque inutili adfectu dispulso, totum [in] solidae uirtutis munimento confirmat potentiusque metu facit ac dolore.

There is also that vehement and constant militia of the mind, abounding in letters, the high-priest of venerable sacred doctrines, philosophy; which, when it has been received into the breast, with every dishonorable and unprofitable affect dispelled, confirms the whole man in the muniment of solid virtue and makes him more potent than fear and pain.

3.3.ext.2 Incipiam autem Zenone Eleate. qui cum esset in dispicienda rerum natura maximae prudentiae inque excitandis ad uigorem iuuenum animis promptissimus, praeceptorum fidem exemplo uirtutis suae publicauit: patriam enim egressus, in qua frui secura libertate poterat, Agrigentum miserabili seruitute obrutum petiit, tanta fiducia ingenii ac morum suorum fretus, ut sperauerit et tyranno et Phalari uaesanae mentis feritatem a se deripi posse. postquam deinde apud illum plus consuetudinem dominationis quam consilii salubritatem ualere animaduertit, nobilissimos eius ciuitatis adulescentes cupiditate liberandae patriae inflammauit.

3.3.ext.2 I will begin, however, with Zeno of Elea. Since he was of the greatest prudence in discerning the nature of things and very prompt in rousing the spirits of youths to vigor, he made public the credibility of his precepts by the example of his own virtue: for, having gone forth from his fatherland, in which he could enjoy secure liberty, he sought out Agrigentum, overwhelmed by miserable servitude, relying on such confidence in his talent and his morals that he hoped the ferity of a mad mind could be stripped by him from both the tyrant and Phalaris. After he then observed that with him the habit of domination prevailed more than the healthfulness of counsel, he inflamed the noblest youths of that city with a desire for liberating their fatherland.

cuius rei cum indicium ad tyrannum manasset, conuocato in forum populo torquere eum uario cruciatus genere coepit subinde quaerens quosnam consilii participes haberet. at ille neque eorum <quemquam> nominauit et proximum quemque ac fidissimum tyranno suspectum reddidit increpitansque Agrigentinis ignauiam ac timiditatem effecit ut subito mentis inpulsu concitati Phalarim lapidibus prosternerent. senis ergo unius eculeo inpositi non supplex uox nec miserabilis eiulatus, sed fortis cohortatio totius urbis animum fortunamque mutauit.

When disclosure of this matter had leaked to the tyrant, with the people convoked into the forum he began to torture him with a various genus of torments, again and again asking whom he had as participants in the counsel. But he named not one of them, and he rendered each nearest and most trustworthy man suspect to the tyrant; and by upbraiding the Agrigentines for sloth and timidity, he brought it about that, stirred by a sudden impulse of mind, they cast Phalaris down with stones. Therefore it was not the suppliant voice nor the pitiable wailing of a single old man set upon the rack, but a brave exhortation, that changed the spirit and the fortune of the whole city.

3.3.ext.3 Eiusdem nominis philosophus, cum Nearcho tyranno, de cuius nece consilium inierat, torqueretur supplicii pariter atque indicandorum gratia consciorum, doloris uictor, sed ultionis cupidus, esse dixit quod secreto audire eum admodum expediret, laxatoque eculeo, postquam insidiis opportunum animaduertit, aurem eius morsu corripuit nec ante dimisit quam et ipse uita et ille parte corporis priuaretur.

3.3.ext.3 A philosopher of the same name, when he was being tortured by Nearchus the tyrant, about whose killing he had entered upon a plan, for the sake alike of punishment and of indicating the accomplices, victorious over pain but desirous of vengeance, said that there was something which it would be very expedient for him to hear in secret; and with the rack loosened, after he noticed a moment suitable for a stratagem, he seized his ear with a bite and did not release it before both he himself was deprived of life and that man of a part of his body.

3.3.ext.4 Talis patientiae aemulus Anaxarchus, cum a tyranno Cypriorum Nicocreonte torqueretur nec ulla ui inhiberi posset quo minus eum amarissimorum maledictorum uerberibus inuicem ipse torqueret, ad ultimum amputationem linguae minitanti 'non erit' inquit, 'effeminate adulescens, haec quoque pars corporis mei tuae dicionis', protinusque dentibus abscisam et conmanducatam linguam in os eius ira patens expuit. multorum aures illa lingua et in primis Alexandri regis admiratione sui adtonitas habuerat, dum terrae condicionem, habitum maris, siderum motus, totius denique mundi naturam prudentissime et facundissime expromit. paene tamen occidit gloriosius quam uiguit, quia tam forti fine inlustrem professionis actum conprobauit, Anaxarchique ~ non uitam modo deseruit, sed mortem reddidit clariorem.

3.3.ext.4 A rival in such patience was Anaxarchus: when he was being tortured by Nicocreon, tyrant of the Cypriots, and could by no force be restrained from in turn torturing him with the lashes of most bitter maledictions, at last, when the tyrant threatened amputation of the tongue, he said, “It shall not be, effeminate adolescent, that this part also of my body be under your dominion,” and straightway he bit off his tongue with his teeth, chewed it up, and spat it, his mouth opened with anger, into his face. That tongue had held the ears of many, and especially of King Alexander, stunned with admiration of him, while he most prudently and most eloquently set forth the condition of the earth, the configuration of the sea, the motions of the stars, and, finally, the nature of the whole world. Yet he almost died more gloriously than he lived, because by so stout an end he proved the illustrious course of his profession; and, as for Anaxarchus—he not only forsook life, but rendered death more renowned.

3.3.ext.5 In Theodoto quoque uiro grauissimo Hieronymus tyrannus tortorum manus frustra fatigauit: rupit enim uerbera, fidiculas laxauit, soluit eculeum, lamminas extinxit prius quam efficere potuit ut tyrannicidii conscios indicaret. quin etiam satellitem, in quo totius dominationis summa quasi quodam cardine uersabatur, falsa criminatione inquinando fidum lateri eius custodem eripuit beneficioque patientiae non solum quae occulta fuerunt texit, sed etiam tormenta sua ultus est. quibus Hieronymus, dum inimicum cupide lacerat, amicum temere perdidit.

3.3.ext.5 In the case of Theodotus too, a most grave man, the tyrant Hieronymus wearied in vain the hands of torturers: for he broke the lashes, slackened the cords, loosed the rack, extinguished the plates, before he could bring it about that he would point out the accomplices of the tyrannicide. Nay even by polluting with a false criminination the henchman on whom the sum of the whole domination, as on a certain hinge, turned, he snatched from his side the guardian faithful to him; and by the benefit of patience he not only covered the things that were occult, but even took vengeance for his torments. By which things Hieronymus, while greedily lacerating an enemy, rashly lost a friend.

3.3.ext.6 Apud Indos uero patientiae meditatio tam obstinate usurpari creditur, ut sint qui omne uitae tempus nudi exigant, modo Caucasi montis gelido rigore corpora sua durantes, modo flammis sine ullo gemitu obicientes. atque his haud parua gloria contemptu doloris adquiritur titulusque sapientiae datur.

3.3.ext.6 Among the Indians, indeed, the meditation of patience is believed to be practiced so obstinately that there are those who pass their whole lifetime naked, now hardening their bodies in the gelid rigor of Mount Caucasus, now exposing themselves to flames without any groan. And by these, no small glory is acquired through contempt of pain, and the title of wisdom is given.

3.3.ext.7 Haec e pectoribus altis et eruditis orta sunt, illud tamen non minus admirabile seruilis animus cepit. seruus barbarus Hasdrubalem, quod dominum suum occidisset grauiter ferens, subito adgressus interemit, cumque conprehensus omni modo cruciaretur, laetitiam tamen, quam ex uindicta ceperat, in ore constantissime retinuit. non ergo fastidioso aditu uirtus: excitata uiuida ingenia ad se penetrare patitur neque haustum sui cum aliquo personarum discrimine largum malignumue praebet, sed omnibus aequaliter exposita quid cupiditatis potius quam quid dignitatis attuleris aestimat inque captu bonorum suorum tibi ipsi pondus examinandum relinquit, ut quantum subire animo sustinueris, tantum tecum auferas.

3.3.ext.7 These things have arisen from lofty and erudite breasts; yet an exploit no less admirable was conceived by a servile spirit. A barbarian slave, taking grievously that Hasdrubal had killed his master, suddenly attacked and slew him; and when apprehended and tortured in every way, nevertheless he most steadfastly kept upon his face the joy which he had taken from vengeance. Virtue, then, is not of a fastidious entry: when aroused, it allows lively wits to penetrate to itself, nor does it proffer the draught of itself, with any discrimination of persons, as either generous or grudging; but, being set forth equally to all, it assesses what of desire rather than what of dignity you have brought, and in the grasping of its own goods it leaves to yourself the weight to be examined, so that as much as you have been able to undergo in spirit, so much you carry away with you.

3.4.init. quo uenit ut et humili loco nati ad summam dignitatem consurgant et generosissimarum imaginum fetus in aliquod reuoluti dedecus acceptam a maioribus lucem in tenebras conuertant. quae quidem planiora suis exemplis reddentur, ac prius de his ordiar, quorum in meliorem statum facta mutatio splendidam relatu praebet materiam.

3.4.init. whence it comes to pass that both those born in a humble station rise to the highest dignity, and the offspring of the most well-born images, rolled back into some disgrace, turn the light received from their forefathers into darkness. These things indeed will be made plainer by their own examples, and first I shall begin with those whose change into a better state offers material splendid to relate.

3.4.1 Incunabula Tulli Hostili agreste tugurium cepit: eiusdem adulescentia in pecore pascendo fuit occupata: ualidior aetas imperium Romanum rexit et duplicauit: senectus excellentissimis * * * decorata in altissimo maiestatis fastigio fulsit.

3.4.1 A rustic hut received the cradle of Tullus Hostilius: his adolescence was occupied in pasturing cattle: his more vigorous age ruled and doubled the Roman imperium: his old age, adorned with most excellent * * *, shone on the very highest peak of majesty.

3.4.2 Verum Tullus etsi magnum admirabilis incrementi, domesticum tamen exemplum est: Tarquinium autem ad Romanum imperium occupandum fortuna in urbem nostram aduexit, alienum, quod ~ exactu, alieniorem, quod ortum Corintho, fastidiendum, quod mercare genitum, erubescendum, quod etiam exule [Demarato] natum patre. ceterum tam prosperum condicionis suae euentum industria sua pro inuidioso gloriosum reddidit: dilatauit enim fines, cultum deorum nouis sacerdotiis auxit, numerum senatus amplificauit, equestrem ordinem uberiorem reliquit, quaeque laudum eius consummatio est, praeclaris uirtutibus effecit ne haec ciuitas paenitentiam ageret, quod regem a finitimis potius mutuata esset quam de suis legisset.

3.4.2 But Tullus, although a great example of admirable increment, is nevertheless a domestic example: Tarquin, however, fortune brought into our city to seize the Roman imperium, a stranger, because an exile, a yet greater stranger, because sprung from Corinth, to be disdained, because born from a merchant, to be blushed at, because born from a father who was even an exile [Demaratus]. Nevertheless, he rendered the so prosperous outcome of his condition, by his industry, glorious instead of invidious: for he extended the bounds, augmented the cult of the gods with new priesthoods, amplified the number of the senate, left the equestrian order more opulent, and, which is the consummation of his praises, by outstanding virtues brought it about that this city should not be doing repentance, because it had rather borrowed a king from its neighbors than chosen one from its own.

3.4.3 In Tullio uero fortuna praecipue uires suas ostendit, uernam huic urbi natum regem dando. cui quidem diutissime imperium obtinere, quater lustrum condere, ter triumphare contigit. ad summam autem unde processerit et quo peruenerit statuae ipsius titulus abunde testatur seruili cognomine et regia appellationeperplexis.

3.4.3 In Tullius, indeed, Fortune especially displayed her powers, by giving to this city a native-born king. To him, in fact, it befell to hold the imperium for a very long time, to establish the lustrum 4 times, to triumph 3 times. And, to sum up, from where he set out and to what point he arrived the inscription of his statue abundantly attests—for those perplexed by the servile cognomen and the royal appellation.

3.4.4 Miro gradu Varro quoque ad consulatum macellaria patris taberna conscendit. et quidem fortuna parum duxit sordidissimae mercis capturis alito duodecim fasces largiri, nisi etiam L. Aemilium Paulum dedisset collegam. atque ita se in eius sinum infudit ut, cum apud Cannas culpa sua uires populi Romani exhausisset, Paulum, qui proelium committere noluerat, occidere pateretur, illum in urbem incolumem reduceret.

3.4.4 By a wondrous step Varro too climbed to the consulship from his father’s butcher’s stall. And indeed Fortune deemed it too little to bestow the twelve fasces upon one nourished by the takings of the most sordid merchandise, unless she also gave him L. Aemilius Paulus as colleague. And thus she poured herself into his bosom, so that, when at Cannae by his own fault he had exhausted the strength of the Roman people, she allowed Paulus, who had been unwilling to commit the battle, to be slain, and led him back safe into the city.

quin etiam senatum gratias ei agentem, quod redire uoluisset, ante portas eduxit extuditque ut grauissimae cladis auctori dictatura deferretur.

nay even he led the senate, giving thanks to him because he had wished to return, out before the gates, and hammered out that the dictatorship be conferred upon the author of the most grievous defeat.

3.4.5 Non paruus consulatus rubor M. Perpenna est, utpote [quam] consul ante quam ciuis, sed in bello gerendo utilior aliquanto rei publicae Varrone imperator: regem enim Aristonicum cepit Crassianaeque stragis punitor extitit, cum interim, cuius uita trium phauit, mors Papia lege damnata est: namque patrem illius, nihil ad se pertinentia ciuis Romani iura conplexum Sabelli iudicio petitum redire in pristinas sedes coegerunt. ita M. Perpennae nomen adumbratum, falsus consulatus, caliginis simile imperium, caducus triumphus, ~ aliena in urbe inprobe peregrinatus est.

3.4.5 No small blush upon the consulship is M. Perpenna, inasmuch as a consul before he was a citizen; yet in the waging of war, as a commander, he was somewhat more useful to the republic than Varro: for he captured King Aristonicus and stood forth as the punisher of the Crassian slaughter, while meanwhile, though his life triumphed, his death was condemned by the Papia law; for they compelled his father—prosecuted in the judgment of Sabellus, having embraced the rights of a Roman citizen that did not pertain to him—to return to his former station. Thus M. Perpenna’s name was adumbrated, a false consulship, an authority akin to caliginous gloom, a crumbling triumph—he shamelessly sojourned as a foreigner in a city not his own.

3.4.6 M. uero Porci Catonis incrementa publicis uotis expetenda fuerunt, qui nomen suum Tusculi ignobile Romae nobilissimum reddidit: ornata sunt enim ab eo litterarum Latinarum monumenta, adiuta disciplina militaris, aucta maiestas senatus, prorogata familia, in qua maximum decus posterior ortus est Cato.

3.4.6 Indeed, the increments of Marcus Porcius Cato were to be sought by public vows, who made his name, ignoble at Tusculum, most noble at Rome: for the monuments of Latin letters were adorned by him, the military discipline aided, the majesty of the senate augmented, the family prolonged, in which the later-born Cato arose as the greatest ornament.

3.4.ext.1 Sed ut Romanis externa iungamus, Socrates, non solum hominum consensu, uerum etiam Apollinis oraculo sapientissimus iudicatus, Phaenarete matre obstetrice et Sophronisco patre marmorario genitus ad clarissimum gloriae lumen excessit. neque immerito: nam cum eruditissimorum uirorum ingenia in disputatione caeca uagarentur mensurasque solis ac lunae et ceterorum siderum loquacibus magis quam certis argumentis explicare conarentur, totius etiam mundi habitum conplecti auderent, primus ab his indoctis erroribus abductum animum suum intima condicionis humanae et in secessu pectoris repositos adfectus scrutari coegit, si uirtus per se ipsa aestimetur, uitae magister optimus.

3.4.ext.1 But so that we may join foreigners to the Romans, Socrates, judged wisest not only by the consensus of men but even by the oracle of Apollo, born of Phaenarete, a midwife, as mother, and of Sophroniscus, a marble-worker, as father, advanced to the most shining light of glory. And not undeservedly: for when the talents of the most erudite men were wandering in blind disputation and they were trying to explain the measures of the sun and moon and the other stars by loquacious rather than certain arguments, and even dared to comprehend the configuration of the whole world, he, first, having drawn his mind away from these unlearned errors, compelled it to scrutinize the inmost parts of the human condition and the affections laid up in the recess of the breast—if virtue be estimated by itself, the best master of life.

3.4.ext.2 Quem patrem Euripides aut quam matrem Demosthenes habuerit ipsorum quoque saeculo ignotum fuit. alterius autem matrem cultellos uenditasse omnium paene doctorum litterae locuntur. sed quid aut illius tragica aut huius oratoria ui clarius?

3.4.ext.2 What father Euripides had or what mother Demosthenes had was unknown even in their own age. But that the mother of the one sold little knives, the writings of almost all the learned declare. But what is clearer than that one’s tragic force or this one’s oratorical force?

3.5.init. Sequitur duplicis promissi pars adopertis inlustrium uirorum imaginibus reddenda, quoniam quidem sunt referendi qui ab earum splendore degenerauerunt, taeterrimis ignauiae ac nequitiae sordibus inbuta nobilia portenta.

3.5.init. There follows the part of the double promise that must be rendered with the images of illustrious men veiled, since indeed those must be recounted who have degenerated from their splendor, noble portents imbued with the most foul filth of sloth and wickedness.

3.5.1 Quid enim monstro similius quam superioris Africani filius Scipio, qui in tanta domestica gloria ortus a paruulo admodum regis Antiochi praesidio capi sustinuit, cum ei uoluntaria morte absumi satius fuerit quam inter duo fulgentissima cognomina patris et patrui, altero [maiori] oppressa Africa iam parto, altero maiore ex parte recuperata Asia surgere incipiente, manus uinciendas hosti tradere eiusque beneficio precarium spiritum obtinere, de quo mox L. Scipio speciosissimum deorum hominumque oculis subiecturus erat triumphum. Idem praeturae petitor candidam togam adeo turpitudinis maculis obsolefactam in campum detulit, ut, nisi gratia Cicerei, qui patris eius scriba fuerat, adiutus esset, honorem a populo impetraturus non uideretur. quamquam quid interfuit utrum repulsam an sic adeptam praeturam domum referret?

3.5.1 For what is more like a monster than Scipio, the son of the earlier Africanus, who, born amid so great domestic glory, when a very small boy endured to be taken captive by the guard of King Antiochus, although it would have been better for him to be consumed by voluntary death than, between the two most shining cognomina of his father and his uncle—the one, with Africa already won and crushed, already attained, the other, for the greater part recovered, Asia beginning to rise—to hand over his hands to be bound to the enemy and by his favor to hold a precarious breath of life, over whom presently L. Scipio was going to set before the eyes of gods and men a most beautiful triumph. The same man, a candidate for the praetorship, brought into the Campus a white toga so worn down with stains of disgrace that, unless he had been aided by the favor of Cicereius, who had been his father’s scribe, he did not seem likely to obtain the honor from the people. Although what difference did it make whether he brought home a rejection or a praetorship so obtained?

quam cum propinqui ab eo pollui animaduerterent, id egerunt, ne aut sellam ponere aut ius dicere auderet, insuperque e manu eius anulum, in quo caput Africani sculptum erat, detraxerunt. dii boni, quas tenebras e quo fulmine nasci passi estis!

which, when his relatives noticed that he was polluting it, they contrived that he should not dare either to set the chair or to pronounce law, and moreover they pulled from his hand the ring on which the head of Africanus had been sculpted. Good gods, what darkness have you allowed to be born from what thunderbolt!

3.5.2 Age Q. Fabi Maximi Allobrogi et ciuis et imperatoris clarissimi filius Q. Fabius Maximus quam perditam luxuria uitam egit! cuius ut cetera flagitia obliterentur, tamen abunde illo dedecore mores nudari possunt, quod ei Q. Pompeius praetor urbanus paternis bonis interdixit, neque in tanta ciuitate qui illud decretum reprehenderet inuentus est: dolenter enim homines ferebant pecuniam, quae Fabiae gentis splendori seruire debebat, flagitiis dissici. ergo quem nimia patris indulgentia heredem reliquerat publica seueritas exheredauit.

3.5.2 Come: the son of Q. Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus, both a most renowned citizen and general, Q. Fabius Maximus—what a life ruined by luxury he led! Though the rest of his disgraces be blotted out, nevertheless his character can abundantly be laid bare by this one disgrace, that Q. Pompeius, the urban praetor, interdicted him from his paternal goods; nor, in so great a commonwealth, was anyone found who would criticize that decree: for men took it grievously that the money which ought to serve the splendor of the Fabian clan was being torn apart by his disgraces. Therefore, him whom a father’s excessive indulgence had left as heir, public severity disinherited.

3.5.3 Possedit fauorem plebis Clodius Pulcher adhaerensque Fuluianae stolae pugio militare decus muliebri imperio subiectum habuit. quorum filius Pulcher, praeterquam quod eneruem et frigidam iuuentam egit, perdito etiam amore uulgatissimae meretricis infamis fuit mortisque erubescendo genere consumptus est: auide enim abdomine deuorato foedae ac sordidae intemperantiae spiritum redditit.

3.5.3 Clodius Pulcher possessed the favor of the plebs, and, clinging to Fulvia’s stola, the dagger had martial honor subjected to a womanly command. Their son Pulcher, besides the fact that he passed an enervate and frigid youth, was infamous also for a ruined passion for a most common prostitute, and he was consumed by a kind of death to blush at: for greedily, with his abdomen devoured, he gave up the spirit to foul and sordid intemperance.

3.5.4 Nam Q. quidem Hortensi, qui in maximo et ingeniosorum ciuium et amplissimorum prouentu summum auctoritatis atque eloquentiae gradum obtinuit, nepos Hortensius Corbio omnibus scortis abiectiorem et obsceniorem uitam exegit, ad ultimumque lingua eius tam libidini cunctorum inter lupanaria prostitit quam aui pro salute ciuium in foro excubuerat.

3.5.4 For as to Q. Hortensius, who, amid the greatest abundance both of ingenious citizens and of the most distinguished, held the highest degree of authority and eloquence, his grandson Hortensius Corbio led a life more abject and more obscene than all prostitutes; and at the last his tongue prostituted itself to the libido of everyone among the brothels as much as his grandfather’s had kept vigil in the forum for the safety of the citizens.

3.6.init Animaduerto in quam periculosum iter processerim. itaque me ipse reuocabo, ne, si reliqua eiusdem generis naufragia consectari perseuerauero, aliqua inutili relatione inplicer. referam igitur pedem deformesque umbras in imo gurgite turpitudinis suae iacere patiar: satius est enim narrare qui inlustres uiri in cultu ceteroque uitae ritu aliqua ex parte nouando sibi indulserint.

3.6.init I observe into how perilous a journey I have proceeded. And so I will recall myself, lest, if I persist in pursuing shipwrecks of the same kind, I be entangled in some useless relation. I will therefore draw back my foot and allow the misshapen shades to lie in the deepest whirlpool of their own turpitude: for it is better to narrate how illustrious men, in attire and in the rest of life’s rite, by innovating in some part, have indulged themselves.

3.6.1 P. Scipio, cum in Sicilia augendo traiciendoque in Africam opportunum quaerendo gradum Karthaginis ruinam animo uolueret, inter consilia ac molitiones tantae rei operam gymnasio dedit pallioque et crepidis usus . nec hac re segniores Punicis exercitibus manus intulit, sed nescio an ideo alacriores, quia uegeta et strenua ingenia, quo plus recessus sumunt, hoc uehementiores impetus edunt. crediderim etiam fauorem eum sociorum uberiorem se adepturum existimasse, si uictum eorum et sollemnes exercitationes conprobasset. ad quas tamen ueniebat, cum multum ac diu * * * fatigasset umeros et cetera membra militari agitatione firmitatem suam probare coegisset, consistebatque in his labor eius, in illis remissio laboris.

3.6.1 P. Scipio, while in Sicily, as by enlarging and ferrying across the into Africa, in seeking an opportune foothold he was revolving in mind the ruin of Carthage, amid the counsels and exertions of so great a matter he gave attendance to the gymnasium and made use of the pallium and sandals, and he . Nor by this did he lay hands more sluggishly upon the Punic armies, but, if anything, I know not whether the readier, because lively and strenuous spirits, the more recess they take, the more vehement an impetus they deliver. I could believe too that he reckoned he would obtain a richer favor of the allies, if he approved their fare and solemn exercises. To which, however, he would come when, much and for a long time, he had wearied his shoulders and the other limbs, and had compelled his own sturdiness to prove itself by military agitation drill; and in these was his toil, in those the remission of toil.

3.6.2 L. uero Scipionis statuam chlamydatam et crepidatam in Capitolio cernimus. quo habitu uidelicet, quia aliquando usus erat, effigiem suam formatam poni uoluit.

3.6.2 We behold, on the Capitol, a statue of L. Scipio, chlamys-clad and crepidae-shod. In that attire, evidently—because he had at some time used it—he wished his own effigy, fashioned so, to be set up.

3.6.3 L. quoque Sulla, cum imperator esset, chlamydato sibi et crepidato Neapoli ambulare deforme non duxit.

3.6.3 L. Sulla also, when he was commander, did not deem it unseemly to walk at Naples chlamys-clad and crepida-shod.

3.6.4 C. autem Duellius, qui primus naualem triumphum ex Poenis retulit, quotienscumque epulatus erat, ad funalem cereum praeeunte tibicine et fidicine a cena domum reuerti solitus est, insignem bellicae rei successum nocturna celebratione testando.

3.6.4 But Gaius Duellius, who first brought back a naval triumph over the Punics (the Carthaginians), whenever he had feasted , was accustomed to return home from dinner with a rope‑wicked torch‑candle, a flute‑player and a lyre‑player going before, attesting by a nocturnal celebration the notable success in the business of war.

3.6.5 Nam Papirius quidem Masso, cum bene gesta re publica triumphum a senatu non inpetrauisset, in Albano monte triumphandi et ipse initium fecit et ceteris postea exemplum praebuit proque laurea corona, cum alicui spectaculo interesset, myrtea usus est.

3.6.5 For indeed Papirius Masso, when, though the commonwealth had been well managed, he had not obtained a triumph from the Senate, on the Alban Mount he himself made a beginning of triumphing and afterwards provided a precedent for the others; and in place of a laurel crown, whenever he attended any spectacle, he used a myrtle one.

3.6.6 Iam C. Marii paene insolens factum: nam post Iugurthinum Cimbricumque et Teutonicum triumphum cantharo semper potauit, quod Liber pater Indicum ex Asia deducens triumphum hoc usus poculi genere ferebatur, inter ipsum haustum uini uictoriae eius suas uictorias conpararet.

3.6.6 Now an almost insolent deed of Gaius Marius: for after his Jugurthine and Cimbrian and Teutonic triumph he always drank from a cantharus, because Father Liber, leading down his Indian triumph from Asia, was said to have used this kind of cup, he might, in the very draught of wine, compare his own victories with that victory.

3.6.7 M. autem Cato praetor M. Scauri ceterorumque reorum iudicia nulla indutus tunica, sed tantum modo praetexta amictus egit.

3.6.7 But M. Cato, as praetor, conducted the trials of M. Scaurus and the other defendants with no tunic put on, but only wrapped in the praetexta (toga praetexta).

3.7.init Sed haec atque his similia uirtutis aliquid sibi in consuetudine nouanda licentiae sumentis indicia sunt: illis autem, quae deinceps subnectam, quantam sui fiduciam habere soleat cognoscetur.

3.7.init But these and things like them are indications of a license that, in the renewing of custom, claims to itself some share of virtue: but from those things which I shall subjoin next, it will be recognized how great a confidence in himself he is wont to have.

3.7.1 Publio et Gnaeo Scipionibus in Hispania cum maiore parte exercitus acie Punica oppressis omnibusque prouinciae eius nationibus Karthaginiensium amicitiam secutis, nullo ducum nostrorum illuc ad corrigendam rem proficisci audente, Scipio quartum et uicesimum agens annum iturum se pollicitus est. qua quidem fiducia populo Romano salutis ac uictoriae spem dedit.

3.7.1 With Publius and Gnaeus Scipio in Spain overwhelmed by a Punic battle-line along with the greater part of the army, and with all the nations of that province having followed the friendship of the Carthaginians, when none of our commanders dared to set out thither to set the situation right, Scipio, being in his 24th year, promised that he would go. By that confidence indeed he gave to the Roman people a hope of safety and victory.

Eademque in ipsa Hispania usus est: nam cum oppidum Badiam circumsederet, tribunal suum adeuntis in aedem, quae intra moenia hostium erat, uadimonia in posterum diem facere iussit continuoque urbe potitus et tempore et loco, quo praedixerat, sella posita ius eis dixit. nihil hac fiducia generosius, nihil praedictione uerius, nihil celeritate efficacius, nihil etiam dignitate dignius.

And he used the same in Spain itself: for when he was besieging the town Badia, he ordered those coming before his tribunal to enter a temple which was within the enemy’s walls, to make recognizances for the next day; and forthwith, having gotten possession of the city, both at the time and at the place which he had foretold, with the chair set he pronounced judgment for them. Nothing was more noble than this confidence, nothing truer in prediction, nothing more efficacious in celerity, nothing even more worthy in dignity.

Nec minus animosus minusue prosperus illius in Africam transitus, in quam ex Sicilia exercitum senatu uetante transduxit, quia, nisi plus in ea re suo quam patrum conscriptorum consilio credidisset, secundi Punici belli finis inuentus non esset.

Nor was his crossing into Africa less spirited nor less prosperous, into which, with the senate forbidding, he led his army across from Sicily; for unless in that matter he had trusted more in his own counsel than in that of the conscript fathers, the end of the Second Punic War would not have been found.

Cui facto par illa fiducia, quod, postquam Africam attigit, speculatores Hannibalis in castris deprehensos et ad se perductos nec supplicio adfecit nec de consiliis ac uiribus Poenorum percontatus est, sed circa omnis manipulos diligentissime ducendos curauit interrogatosque an satis ea considerassent, quae speculari iussi erant, prandio dato ipsis iumentisque eorum incolumes dimisit. quo tam pleno fiduciae spiritu prius animos hostium quam arma contudit.

To this deed a like confidence was equal, in that, after he reached Africa, he neither afflicted with punishment Hannibal’s scouts, seized in his camp and brought to him, nor interrogated them about the counsels and forces of the Punics, but took the most diligent care that they be led around all the maniples; and, having asked whether they had sufficiently considered the things which they had been ordered to spy out, with a luncheon given to them and to their beasts of burden he sent them away unharmed. By a spirit so full of confidence he crushed the enemies’ courage before their arms.

Verum ut ad domestica eius eximiae fiduciae acta ueniamus, cum a L. Scipione ex Antiochensi pecunia sestertii quadragies ratio in curia reposceretur, prolatum ab eo librum, quo acceptae et expensae summae continebantur refellique inimicorum accusatio poterat, discerpsit, indignatus de ea re dubitari, quae sub ipso legato administrata fuerat. quin etiam in hunc modum egit: 'non reddo, patres conscripti, aerario uestro sestertii quadragies rationem, alieni imperii minister, quod meo ductu meisque auspiciis bis milies sestertio uberius feci: neque enim huc puto [eo] malignitatis uentum, ut de mea innocentia quaerendum sit: nam cum Africam totam potestati uestrae subiecerim, nihil ex ea, quod meum diceretur, praeter cognomen retuli. non me igitur Punicae, non fratrem meum Asiaticae gazae auarum reddiderunt, sed uterque nostrum inuidia magis quam pecunia locupletior est'. tam constantem defensionem Scipionis uniuersus senatus conprobauit, sicut illud factum, quod, cum ad necessarium rei publicae usum pecuniam ex aerario promi opus esset, idque quaestores, quia lex obstare uideretur, aperire non auderent, priuatus claues poposcit patefactoque aerario legem utilitati cedere coegit.

But, to come to the domestic acts of his exceptional confidence: when an account in the senate-house was demanded by L. Scipio of money from Antiochus in the sum of 4,000,000 sesterces, he tore up the book produced by him, in which the totals of receipts and expenditures were contained and by which the accusation of enemies could be refuted, indignant that there should be doubt about a matter which had been administered under himself as legate. Nay more, he spoke to this effect: 'I do not render, Conscript Fathers, to your treasury an account of 4,000,000 sesterces, I, a minister of another’s command, because under my leadership and my auspices I made it richer by 200,000,000 sesterces: for I do not think that [to this point] malignity has advanced, that inquiry should be made into my innocence: for since I have subjected all Africa to your power, I brought back nothing from it that could be called mine, except a cognomen. The Punic treasure, therefore, has not made me, nor the Asiatic my brother, greedy; but each of us is richer in envy rather than in money.' The whole senate approved so steadfast a defense of Scipio, just as it approved that deed, that, when money had to be drawn from the treasury for a necessary use of the commonwealth, and the quaestors, because the law seemed to stand in the way, did not dare to open it, as a private citizen he demanded the keys, and, the treasury having been opened, he forced the law to yield to utility.

quam quidem ei fiduciam conscientia illa dedit, qua meminerat omnes leges a se esse seruatas.

Indeed that conscience gave him this confidence, whereby he remembered that all the laws had been observed by himself.

Non fatigabor eiusdem facta identidem referendo, quoniam ne ille quidem in consimili genere uirtutes edendo fatigatus est. diem illi ad populum M. Naeuius tr. pl. aut, <ut> quidam memorant, duo Petilii dixerant. quo ingenti frequentia in forum deductus rostra conscendit capitique suo corona triumphali inposita 'hoc ego' inquit, 'Quirites, die Karthaginem magna spirantem leges nostras accipere iussi: proinde aecum est uos mecum ire in Capitolium supplicatum'. speciosissimam deinde eius uocem aeque clarus euentus <secutus> est, si quidem et senatum totum et uniuersum equestrem ordinem et cunctam plebem Iouis optimi maximi puluinaria petens comitem habuit.

I will not grow weary of repeatedly recounting the deeds of the same man, since not even he grew weary of exhibiting virtues in a similar kind. M. Naevius, tribune of the plebs, or, <ut> some relate, the two Petilii, had named a day for him before the people. On which, conducted into the forum with a huge throng, he mounted the rostra, and, a triumphal crown placed upon his head, said: ‘This day, Quirites, I ordered Carthage, breathing great things, to accept our laws; therefore it is just that you go with me to the Capitol to offer supplication.’ An equally illustrious outcome <secutus> followed his most splendid utterance, since indeed he had as companion, as he sought the pulvinaria of Jupiter Best and Greatest, the whole senate, the entire equestrian order, and the whole plebs.

restabat ut tribunus apud populum sine populo ageret desertusque in foro cum magno calumniae suae ludibrio solus moraretur. cuius deuitandi ruboris causa in Capitolium processit deque accusatore Scipionis uenerator factus est.

It remained that the tribune should transact before the people without the people, and, deserted in the forum, should linger alone with great mockery of his own calumny. For the sake of avoiding that blush, he proceeded into the Capitol and, from being Scipio’s accuser, became his venerator.

3.7.2 Auiti spiritus egregius successor Scipio Aemilianus, cum urbem praeualidam obsideret, suadentibus quibusdam ut circa moenia eius ferreos murices spargeret omniaque uada plumbatis tabulis consterneret habentibus clauorum cacumina, ne subita eruptione hostes in praesidia nostra impetum facere possent, respondit non esse eiusdem et capere aliquos uelle et timere.

3.7.2 The outstanding successor in his ancestral spirit, Scipio Aemilianus, when he was besieging a very strong city, as certain men were advising him to scatter iron caltrops around its walls and to strew all the fords with leaded boards having the tips of nails, lest by a sudden sally the enemies might be able to make an attack upon our garrisons, replied that it does not befit the same man both to wish to take others and to be afraid.

3.7.3 In quamcumque memorabilium partem exemplorum conuertor, uelim nolimue, in cognomine Scipionum haeream necesse est: qui enim licet hoc loci Nasicam praeterire, fidentis animi dicti[que] clarissimum auctorem? annonae caritate increscente C. Curiatius tr. pl. productos in contionem consules conpellebat ut de frumento emendo adque id negotium explicandum mittendis legatis in curia referrent. cuius instituti minime utilis interpellandi gratia Nasica contrariam actionem ordiri coepit.

3.7.3 Into whatever part of memorable examples I turn, whether I will it or not, I must needs stick fast at the cognomen of the Scipios: for who—even if I may pass by Nasica at this point—is a more illustrious author of a saying and deed of a confident spirit? As the dearness of the grain-supply was increasing, Gaius Curiatius, tribune of the plebs, after bringing the consuls forward into the assembly, was compelling them to report in the senate about buying grain and about sending legates to carry through that business. For the sake of interrupting a plan by no means useful, Nasica began to set a contrary motion in train.

obstrepente deinde plebe 'tacete, quaeso, Quirites', inquit: 'plus ego enim quam uos quid rei publicae expediat intellego'. qua uoce audita omnes pleno uenerationis silentio maiorem auctoritatis eiusquam suorum alimentorum respectum egerunt.

with the plebeians then raising a din, 'be silent, I beg, Quirites,' he said: 'for I understand more than you what is expedient for the Republic.' When this voice was heard, all, in a silence full of veneration, showed a greater regard for his authority than for their own sustenance.

3.7.4 Liui quoque Salinatoris aeternae memoriae tradendus animus. qui cum Hasdrubalem exercitumque Poenorum in Vmbria delesset et ei diceretur Gallos ac Ligures ex acie sine ducibus et signis sparsos ac palantes parua manu opprimi posse, respondit in hoc eis oportere parci, ne hostibus tantae cladis domestici nuntii deessent.

3.7.4 The spirit of Livius Salinator also is to be consigned to eternal memory. When he had destroyed Hasdrubal and the army of the Punics in Umbria, and it was said to him that the Gauls and the Ligurians, scattered and straggling from the battle-line without leaders and standards, could be overpowered by a small force, he replied that in this they ought to be spared, lest the enemies lack domestic messengers of so great a disaster.

3.7.5 Bellica haec praestantia animi, togata illa, sed minus laudabilis, quam P. Furius Philus consul in senatu exhibuit: Q. enim Metellum Quintumque Pompeium consulares uiros, uehementes inimicos suos, cupidam sibi profectionem in prouinciam Hispaniam, quam sortitus erat, identidem exprobrantis, legatos secum illuc ire coegit: fiduciam non solum fortem, sed paene etiam temerariam, quae duobus acerrimis odiis latera sua cingere ausa est usumque ministerii uix tutum in amicis e sinu inimicorum petere sustinuit!

3.7.5 This martial excellence of spirit; that in the toga, but no less laudable, which the consul P. Furius Philus exhibited in the senate: for he forced Q. Metellus and Quintus Pompeius, consular men, his vehement enemies, who kept reproaching him again and again for his eager desire for departure to the province of Spain, which he had obtained by lot, to go thither with him as legates; a confidence not only brave, but almost even temerarious, which dared to gird its flanks with two most sharp hatreds and endured to seek the use of a ministry scarcely safe even among friends, from the bosom of enemies!

3.7.6 Cuius factum si cui placet, necesse est L. etiam Crassi, qui apud maiores eloquentia clarissimus fuit, propositum non displiceat: nam cum ex consulatu prouinciam Galliam obtineret atque in eam C. Carbo, cuius patrem damnauerat, ad speculanda acta sua uenisset, non solum eum inde non summouit, sed insuper locum ei in tribunali adsignauit nec ulla de re nisi eo in consilium adhibito cognouit. itaque acer et uehemens Carbo nihil aliud Gallica peregrinatione consecutus est quam ut animaduerteret sontem patrem suum ab integerrimo uiro in exilium missum.

3.7.6 If the deed of the former pleases anyone, it is necessary that the purpose of L. Crassus also, who among the ancestors was most renowned for eloquence, not displease: for when, after his consulship, he held the province of Gaul, and into it C. Carbo, whose father he had condemned, had come to spy out his doings, not only did he not remove him from there, but moreover he assigned him a place on the tribunal, and he heard no matter unless that man was admitted into his council. And thus the keen and vehement Carbo achieved nothing else by his Gallic peregrination than to observe that his father, being guilty, had been sent into exile by a most integrous man.

3.7.7 Cato uero superior saepe numero ab inimicis ad causae dictionem uocatus nec ullo umquam crimine conuictus ad ultimum tantum fiduciae in sua innocentia reposuit, ut ab his in quaestionem publicam deductus Ti. Gracchum, a quo in administratione rei publicae ad multum odium dissidebat, iudicem deposceret. qua quidem animi praestantia pertinaciam eorum insectandi se inhibuit.

3.7.7 But Cato the Elder, very often called by enemies to the pleading of a case and never convicted of any charge, ultimately placed such confidence in his own innocence that, when brought by them into a public inquest, he demanded as judge Tiberius Gracchus, from whom, in the administration of the Republic, he dissented to the point of great hatred. By this excellence of spirit, indeed, he checked their pertinacity in persecuting him.

3.7.8 Eadem M. Scauri fortuna, aeque senectus longa ac robusta, idem animus. qui cum pro rostris accusaretur, quod ab rege Mitridate ob rem publicam prodendam pecuniam accepisset, causam suam ita egit: 'est enim inicum, Quirites, cum inter alios uixerim, apud alios me rationem uitae reddere, sed tamen audebo uos, quorum maior pars honoribus et actis meis interesse non potuit, interrogare: Varius Seuerus Sucronensis Aemilium Scaurum regia mercede corruptum imperium populi Romani prodidisse ait, Aemilius Scaurus huic se adfinem esse culpae negat: utri creditis'? cuius admiratione populus conmotus Varium ab illa dementissima actione pertinaci clamore depulit.

3.7.8 The same was the fortune of M. Scaurus, his old age equally long and robust, the same spirit. When he was being accused before the Rostra, that he had received money from King Mithridates for betraying the commonwealth, he pleaded his cause thus: 'for it is unfair, Quirites, since I have lived among some, to render my account of life before others; yet I will dare to ask you—most of whom could not have had a share in my honors and acts: Varius Severus of Sucronensis says that Aemilius Scaurus, corrupted by royal pay, betrayed the imperium of the Roman people; Aemilius Scaurus denies that he is related to this fault: which of the two do you believe'? At the admiration of this, the people, stirred, with stubborn clamor drove Varius away from that most demented action.

3.7.9 Contra M. Antonius ille disertus--non enim respuendo, sed amplectendo causae dictionem quam innocens esset testatus est--quaestor proficiscens in Asiam, Brundisium iam peruenerat, ubi litteris certior incesti se postulatum apud L. Cassium praetorem, cuius tribunal propter nimiam seueritatem scopulus reorum dicebatur, cum id uitare beneficio legis Memmiae liceret, quae eorum, qui rei publicae causa abessent, recipi nomina uetabat, in urbem tamen recurrit. quo tam pleno fiduciae bonae consilio cum absolutionem celerem tum profectionem honestiorem consecutus est.

3.7.9 By contrast, that eloquent M. Antonius--not, indeed, by rejecting, but by embracing the pleading of his case he bore witness how innocent he was--setting out as quaestor to Asia, had already reached Brundisium, when, made aware by letters that he was arraigned on a charge of incest before L. Cassius the praetor, whose tribunal, on account of excessive severity, was called the reef of defendants, although it was permitted to avoid that by the benefit of the Lex Memmia, which forbade the names of those who were absent for the sake of the commonwealth to be received, nevertheless he ran back to the city. By this counsel, so full of good confidence, he obtained both a swift acquittal and a more honorable departure.

3.7.10 Sunt et illa speciosa fiduciae publicae exempla: nam cum eo bello, quod aduersus Pyrrum gerebatur, Karthaginienses c ac xxx nauium classem in praesidium Romanis Ostiam ultro misissent, senatui placuit legatos ad ducem eorum ire, qui dicerent populum Romanum bella suscipere solere, quae suo milite gerere posset: proinde classem Karthaginem reducerent.

3.7.10 There are also those splendid examples of public confidence: for when, in that war which was being waged against Pyrrhus, the Carthaginians, of their own accord, had sent to Ostia, for the Romans’ safeguard, a fleet of 130 ships, it pleased the Senate that legates go to their commander to say that the Roman People are wont to undertake wars which they can wage with their own soldiery: accordingly, let them lead the fleet back to Carthage.

Idem post aliquot annos Cannensi clade exhaustis Romani imperii uiribus supplementum in Hispaniam exercitu mittere ausus fecit ne locus hostilium castrorum tum maxime Capenam portam armis Hannibale pulsante minoris ueniret quam si illum Poeni non obtinerent. ita se gerere in aduersis rebus quid aliud est quam saeuientem fortunam in adiutorium sui pudore uictam conuertere?

The same man, after some years, when the forces of the Roman imperium had been exhausted by the Cannae disaster, dared to send a supplement of troops with an army into Spain; he took care that the site of the enemy camp—at the very time when Hannibal was striking the Capene Gate with arms—should not come to be of lesser value than if the Carthaginians did not hold it. Thus to conduct oneself in adverse affairs—what else is it than to turn raging Fortune, overcome by modesty, into an aid to oneself?

3.7.11 Magno spatio diuisus est a senatu ad poetam Accium transitus. ceterum ut ab eo decentius ad externa transeamus, producatur in medium. is Iulio Caesari amplissimo ac florentissimo uiro in conlegium poetarum uenienti numquam adsurrexit, non maiestatis eius inmemor, sed quod in conparatione communium studiorum aliquanto se superiorem esse confideret.

3.7.11 By a great span is the passage divided from the senate to the poet Accius. however, that from him we may pass more decently to external matters, let him be brought into the midst. he never rose for Julius Caesar, a most ample and most flourishing man, when he was coming into the college of poets, not unmindful of his majesty, but because, in the comparison of their common studies, he was confident that he was somewhat superior to him.

quapropter insolentiae crimine caruit, quia ibi uoluminum, non imaginum certamina exercebantur.

wherefore he was free of the charge of insolence, because there the contests were of volumes, not of images.

3.7.ext.1 Ne Euripides quidem Athenis arrogans uisus est, cum postulante [ui] populo ut ex tragoedia quandam sententiam tolleret progressus in scaenam dixit se, ut eum doceret, non ut ab eo disceret, fabulas conponere solere. laudanda profecto fiducia est, quae aestimationem sui certo pondere examinat, tantum sibi adrogans, quantum a contemptu et insolentia distare satis est. itaque etiam quod Alcestidi tragico poetae respondit probabile.

3.7.ext.1 Not even Euripides seemed arrogant at Athens, when, with the [ui] people demanding that he remove a certain sentence from a tragedy, stepping forward onto the stage he said that he was accustomed to compose plays to teach them, not to learn from them. Truly to be praised is the confidence which assays the estimation of itself with a sure weight, arrogating to itself only so much as is enough to stand at a distance from contempt and insolence. And so even what he answered to Alcestides, the tragic poet, is plausible.

apud quem cum quereretur quod eo triduo non ultra tres uersus maximo inpenso labore deducere potuisset, atque is se centum perfacile scripsisse gloriaretur, 'sed hoc' inquit 'interest, quod tui in triduum tantum modo, mei uero in omne tempus sufficient': alterius enim fecundi cursus scripta intra primas memoriae metas conruerunt, alterius cunctante stilo elucubratum opus per omne aeui tempus plenis gloriae uelis feretur.

with whom, when he was complaining that in those three days he had not been able to draw out more than three verses with very great expended labor, and that man was boasting that he had written a hundred very easily, 'but this,' he said, 'makes the difference: that yours will suffice only for three days, whereas mine will suffice for all time': for the writings of the one, from a fecund course, collapsed within the first boundary-marks of memory, but the other's elucubrated work, with the stylus delaying, will be borne through all the time of the age with the full sails of glory.

3.7.ext.2 Adiciam scaenae eiusdem exemplum. Antigenidas tibicen discipulo suo magni profectus, sed parum feliciter populo se adprobanti cunctis audientibus dixit 'mihi cane et Musis', quia uidelicet perfecta ars fortunae lenocinio defecta iusta fiducia non exuitur, quamque se scit laudem mereri, eam si [eam] ab aliis non impetrat, domestico tamen acceptam iudicio refert.

3.7.ext.2 I will add an example from that same stage. Antigenidas the flute-player, his pupil having made great progress but commending himself to the people with too little success, said to him, with all listening: 'play for me and for the Muses,' because, to be sure, perfected art, though bereft of Fortune’s pandering, is not stripped of rightful confidence; and the praise which he knows himself to deserve, if he does not obtain it from others, he nevertheless counts as received by a domestic judgment.

3.7.ext.3 Zeuxis autem, cum Helenam pinxisset, quid de eo opere homines sensuri essent expectandum non putauit, sed protinus [se ad] hos uersus adiecit:

3.7.ext.3 But Zeuxis, when he had painted Helen, did not think that it ought to be waited to see what men would feel about that work, but forthwith added [himself to] these verses:

o» nƒmesiw Tr´aw ka ßuknmidaw ŠAxaio¡w

no blame to the Trojans and the well-greaved Achaeans

toid' Èmf gunaik pol¡n xr"non Ílgea p“sxein. adeone dextrae suae multum pictor adrogauit, ut ea tantum formae conprehensum crederet, quantum aut Leda caelesti partu edere aut Homerus diuino ingenio exprimere potuit?

no blame for the Trojans and well-greaved Achaeans to suffer pains for a long time over such a woman. did the painter so much arrogate to his right hand, that he believed as much of beauty to have been comprehended as either Leda could bring forth by a celestial birth or Homer could express by a divine genius?

3.7.ext.4 Phidias quoque Homeri uersibus egregio dicto adlusit: simulacro enim Iouis Olympii perfecto, quo nullum praestantius aut admirabilius humanae ~ fabricae manus, interrogatus ab amico quonam mentem suam dirigens uultum Iouis propemodum ex ipso caelo petitum eboris liniamentis esset amplexus, illis se uersibus quasi magistro usum respondit,

3.7.ext.4 Phidias likewise alluded to Homer’s verses with an excellent saying: for when the simulacrum of Olympian Jove had been finished, than which no hand of human ~ fabrication was more preeminent or more admirable, being asked by a friend, toward what guiding his mind he had embraced, with the lineaments of ivory, the countenance of Jove as if sought almost from heaven itself, he replied that he had used those verses as a kind of teacher,

Ö, ka kuanƒôsin ßp' fr si neÀse Kron§vn:

Thus he spoke; and the Son of Cronus nodded with his dark-blue brows:

Èmbr"siai d' Íra xa•tai ßperrâsanto Ínaktow

And then the ambrosial locks of the lord flowed

kratŽw Èp' Èyan“toio: mƒgan d' ßlƒlijen ÷Olumpon.

from his immortal head; and great Olympus rang.

3.7.ext.5 Non patiuntur me tenuioribus exemplis diutius insistere fortissimi duces. si quidem Epaminondas, cum ei ciues irati sternendarum in oppido uiarum contumeliae causa curam mandarent,--erat enim illud ministerium apud eos sordidissimum-- sine ulla cunctatione id recepit daturumque se operam ut breui speciosissimum fieret adseuerauit. mirifica deinde procuratione abiectissimum negotium pro amplissimo ornamento expetendum Thebis reddidit.

3.7.ext.5 The bravest leaders do not allow me to dwell longer on slighter examples. For indeed Epaminondas, when angry citizens entrusted to him the care of the streets to be strewn in the town for the sake of contumely--for that ministry was among them most sordid--without any hesitation accepted it and asserted that he would take pains that in short order it should become most splendid. Then by marvelous administration he rendered in Thebes the most abject business into something to be sought as a most ample ornament.

3.7.ext.6 Hannibal uero, cum apud regem Prusiam exularet auctorque ei conmittendi proelii esset, atque is non idem sibi extis portendi diceret, 'ain tu'? inquit, 'uitulinae carunculae quam imperatori ueteri mauis credere'? si uerba numeres, breuiter et abscise, si sensum aestimes, copiose et ualenter: Hispanias enim dereptas populo Romano et Galliarum ac Liguriae uires in suam redactas potestatem et nouo transitu Alpium iuga patefacta et Trasimennum lacum dira inustum memoria et Cannas, Punicae uictoriae clarissimum monumentum, et Capuam possessam et Italiam laceratam ante pedes hominis effudit uniusque hostiae iocineri longo experimento testatam gloriam suam postponi aequo animo non tulit. et sane, quod ad exploranda bellica artificia aestimandosque militaris ductus adtinebat, omnis foculos, omnis aras Bithyniae Marte ipso iudice pectus Hannibalis praegrauasset.

3.7.ext.6 But Hannibal, when he was in exile with King Prusias and was his adviser to commit to battle, and when that man said that the entrails did not portend the same to him, “Do you, then?” he said, “Do you prefer to trust a calf’s little liver-lobe rather than a veteran commander?” If you count the words, it was brief and curt; if you assess the sense, copious and powerful: for he poured out before the man’s feet the Spains torn from the Roman people, and the forces of the Gauls and of Liguria reduced into his own power, and the ridges of the Alps laid open by a new crossing, and Lake Trasimene branded with dire memory, and Cannae, the most illustrious monument of Punic victory, and Capua held, and Italy lacerated—and he did not bear with an even mind that his glory, attested by long experience, should be set after the liver of a single victim. And truly, so far as it pertained to exploring warlike artifices and evaluating military conduct, with Mars himself as judge, the breast of Hannibal would have outweighed all the little hearths and all the altars of Bithynia.

3.7.ext.7 Capax generosi spiritus illud quoque dictum regis Cotyis: ut enim ab Atheniensibus ciuitatem sibi datam cognouit, 'et ego' inquit 'illis meae gentis ius dabo'. aequauit Athenis Thraciam, ne uicissitudini talis beneficii imparem iudicando humilius de origine sua sentire existimaretur.

3.7.ext.7 Befitting a generous spirit was also that saying of King Cotys: for when he learned that citizenship had been given to him by the Athenians, "I too," he said, "will give to them the right of my nation." He made Thrace equal to Athens, lest he be thought, by judging himself unequal to the reciprocation of such a benefaction, to think more humbly of his own origin.

3.7.ext.8 Nobiliter etiam uterque Spartanus, et qui increpitus a quodam, quod in aciem claudus descenderet, pugnare, non sibi fugere propositum esse respondit, et qui referente quodam sagittis Persarum solem obscurari solere, 'bene narras' inquit: 'in umbra enim proeliabimur'. eiusdem uir urbis atque animi hospiti suo patriae muros excelsos latosque ostendenti dixit, 'si mulieribus istos conparastis, recte, si uiris, turpiter'.

3.7.ext.8 Nobly too did each Spartan, both the one who, when rebuked by someone because he, lame, was descending into the battle-line, replied that his purpose was to fight, not to flee, and the one who, when someone reported that the sun was wont to be obscured by the Persians’ arrows, said, 'you tell it well: for in the shade we shall do battle'. A man of the same city and spirit said to his host, who was showing him the high and broad walls of his fatherland, 'if you have prepared those for women, rightly; if for men, shamefully'.

3.8.init Aptum et animosum bonae fiduciae pectus emenso quasi debitum opus superest constantiae repraesentatio: natura enim sic conparatum est ut, quisquis se aliquid ordine ac recte mente complexum confidit, uel iam gestum, si obtrectetur, acriter tueatur, uel nondum editum, si interpelletur, sine ulla cunctatione ad effectum perducat.

3.8.init The open and high-spirited breast of good confidence having been traversed, as it were, the portrayal of constancy remains as a due task: for nature is so composed that whoever trusts that he has grasped something in order and rightly in his mind, either, if an already accomplished thing be detracted from, defends it keenly, or, if a not-yet-brought-forth thing be interpellated, brings it without any hesitation to completion.

3.8.1 Sed dum exempla propositae rei persequor, latius mihi circumspicienti ante omnia se Fului Flacci constantia offert. Capuam fallacibus Hannibalis promissis Italiae regnum nefaria defectione pacisci persuasam armis occupauerat. tam deinde culpae hostium iustus aestimator quam speciosus uictor Campanum senatum impii decreti auctorem funditus delere constituit.

3.8.1 But while I pursue examples of the proposed matter, as I look around more broadly, before all the constancy of Fulvius Flaccus offers itself to me. He had occupied Capua by arms, which, persuaded by Hannibal’s fallacious promises to bargain for the kingdom of Italy by nefarious defection, had revolted. Then, as just an appraiser of the enemies’ fault as he was a splendid victor, he determined to destroy utterly the Campanian senate, the author of the impious decree.

itaque catenis onustum in duas custodias, Teanam Calenamque diuisit consilium executurus, cum ea peregisset, quorum administrandorum citerior esse necessitas uidebatur. rumore autem de senatus mitiore sententia orto, ne debitam poenam scelerati effugerent, nocte admisso equo Teanum contendit interfectisque qui ibi adseruabantur e uestigio Cales <est> transgressus perseuerantiae suae opus execut<ur>us et iam deligatis ad palum hostibus litteras a patribus conscriptis nequiquam salutaris Campanis accepit: in sinistra enim eas manu, sicut erant traditae, reposuit ac iusso lictore lege agere tum demum aperuit, postquam illis obtemperari non poterat. qua constantia uictoriae quoque gloriam antecessit, quia, si eum intra se ipsam partita laude aestimes, maiorem punita Capua quam capta reperias.

Therefore, laden with chains, he divided them into two custodies, to Teanum and to Cales, intending to execute his plan, after he had first completed those matters whose administration seemed to have the nearer necessity. But when a rumor arose of a milder sentence from the Senate, lest the criminals escape the due punishment, at night, mounting his horse, he hastened to Teanum, and, the men who were being kept there slain, he immediately crossed over to Cales to execute the work of his perseverance; and now, with the enemies bound to the stake, he received from the Conscript Fathers letters salutary to the Campanians—but in vain: for he put them in his left hand just as they had been delivered, and, the lictor ordered to proceed by law, only then did he open them, after it was no longer possible to obey them. By this constancy he even outstripped the glory of victory, because, if you estimate him with the praise divided within itself, you will find Capua greater punished than captured.

3.8.2 Atque ista quidem seueritatis, illa uero pietatis constantia admirabilis, quam Q. Fabius Maximus infatigabilem patriae praestitit. pecuniam pro captiuis Hannibali numerauerat, fraudatus ea publice tacuit: dictatori ei magistrum equitum Minucium iure imperii senatus aequauerat, silentium egit: conpluribus praeterea iniuriis lacessitus in eodem animi habitu mansit nec umquam sibi rei publicae permisit irasci. tam perseuerans in amore ciuium: quid?

3.8.2 And those instances, indeed, of severity; but that constancy of piety is truly admirable, which Q. Fabius Maximus displayed indefatigable for his fatherland. He had paid money to Hannibal for captives; cheated of it, he kept silence in public. The senate had made his master of horse, Minucius, equal to him in the right of command with the dictator; he held his peace. Provoked besides by several injuries, he remained in the same disposition of mind, and never allowed himself to be angry with the commonwealth. So persevering in love for his fellow-citizens: what more?

in bello gerendo nonne par eius constantia? imperium Romanum Cannensi proelio paene destructum uix sufficere ad exercitus conparandos uidebatur. itaque frustrari et eludere Poenorum impetus quam manum cum his tota acie conserere melius ratus, plurimis conminationibus Hannibalis inritatus, saepe etiam specie bene gerendae rei oblata numquam a consilii salubritate ne parui quidem certaminis discrimine recessit, quodque est difficillimum, ubique ira ac spe superior apparuit.

In waging war, was not his constancy equal? The Roman imperium, almost destroyed in the battle of Cannae, seemed scarcely to suffice for mustering armies. And so, judging it better to frustrate and elude the onsets of the Punics than to join hands with them in a full-line engagement, though provoked by Hannibal’s very many threatenings, and often even when a show of managing the affair well was offered, he never departed from the healthfulness of his counsel, not even at the risk of a very small contest; and—what is most difficult—everywhere he appeared superior to anger and to hope.

ergo ut Scipio pugnando, ita hic non dimicando maxime ciuitati nostrae succurrisse uisus est: alter enim celeritate sua Karthaginem oppressit, alter cunctatione id egit, ne Roma opprimi posset.

Therefore, just as Scipio by fighting, so this man by not engaging seemed most of all to have succored our commonwealth: for the one by his celerity oppressed Carthage, the other by cunctation brought it about that Rome could not be oppressed.

3.8.3 C. etiam Pisonem mirifice et constanter turbulento rei publicae statu egisse consulem narratione insequenti patebit. M. Palicani seditiosissimi hominis pestiferis blanditiis praereptus populi fauor consularibus comitiis summum dedecus admittere conabatur amplissimum ei deferre imperium cupiens, cuius taeterrimis actis exquisitum potius supplicium quam ullus honos debebatur. nec deerat consternatae multitudini furialis fax tribunicia, quae temeritatem eius et ruentem comitaretur et languentem actionibus suis inflammaret.

3.8.3 It will be clear from the following narration that C. Piso too, wondrously and steadfastly, discharged the consulship amid a turbulent state of the republic. The favor of the people, pre-empted by the pestiferous blandishments of M. Palicanus, a most seditious man, was trying at the consular elections to admit the utmost disgrace, wishing to confer upon him the most ample imperium, whereas for his most foul acts a carefully exacted punishment rather than any honor was owed. Nor was there lacking to the panic-stricken multitude a furial tribunician torch, which would accompany his temerity when it was rushing headlong, and, when it was flagging, would inflame it by its actions.

in hoc miserando pariter atque erubescendo statu ciuitatis tantum non manibus tribunorum pro rostris Piso conlocatus, cum hinc atque illinc ambissent ac Palicanum num suffragiis populi consulem creatum renuntiaturus esset interrogaretur, primo respondit non existimare se tantis tenebris offusam esse rem publicam, ut huc indignitatis ueniretur. deinde, cum perseueranter instarent ac dicerent 'age, si uentum fuerit?' 'non renuntiabo' inquit. quo quidem tam absciso responso consulatum Palicano prius quam illum adipisceretur eripuit.

in this condition of the commonwealth at once pitiable and shame-inducing, Piso, almost set in place by the very hands of the tribunes before the Rostra, when they had hemmed him in on this side and that and he was asked whether he would proclaim that Palicanus had been created consul by the votes of the people, first replied that he did not think the republic was so overcast with such great darkness that one would come to this pitch of indignity. Then, when they pressed him persistently and said, “Come then, if it should come to that?” “I will not proclaim,” he said. By which answer, so cut short, he snatched the consulship from Palicanus before that man could attain it.

multa et terribilia Piso contempsit, dum speciosum mentis suae flecti non uolt rigorem.

Piso contemned many and terrible things, while he does not wish the splendid rigor of his mind to be bent.

3.8.4 Metellus autem Numidicus propter consimile perseuerantiae genus excepit quoque indignam maiestate ac moribus suis procellam: cum enim animaduerteret quo tenderent Saturnini tribuni pl. funesti conatus quantoque malo rei publicae, nisi his occurreretur, erupturi essent, in exilium quam in legem eius ire maluit. potest aliquis hoc uiro dici constantior, qui, ne sententia sua pelleretur, patria, in qua summum dignitatis gradum obtinebat, carere sustinuit?

3.8.4 But Metellus Numidicus, on account of a similar kind of perseverance, likewise encountered a storm unworthy of his majesty and morals: for when he observed whither the baleful attempts of the Saturninian tribunes of the plebs were tending, and into how great an evil for the commonwealth, unless they were countered, they were about to burst forth, he preferred to go into exile rather than submit to his law. Can anyone be said more constant than this man, who, lest he be driven from his opinion, endured to be without his fatherland, in which he held the highest grade of dignity?

3.8.5 Ceterum ut neminem ei praetulerim, ita Q. Scaeuolam augurem merito conparauerim. dispulsis prostratisque inimicorum partibus Sulla occupata urbe senatum armatus coegerat ac summa cupiditate ferebatur ut C. Marius quam celerrime hostis iudicaretur. cuius uoluntati nullo obuiam ire audente solus Scaeuola de hac re interrogatus sententiam dicere noluit.

3.8.5 However, though I would prefer no one to him, yet I would with good reason compare Q. Scaevola the Augur to him. With the enemy factions dispersed and laid low, Sulla, the city occupied, had convened the senate under arms and was borne by the utmost desire that C. Marius be judged an enemy as swiftly as possible. As no one dared to go against his will, Scaevola alone, when asked about this matter, refused to declare his opinion.

quin etiam truculentius sibi instanti Sullae 'licet' inquit 'mihi agmina militum, quibus curiam circumsedisti, ostentes, licet mortem identidem miniteris, numquam tamen efficies ut propter exiguum senilemque sanguinem meum Marium, a quo urbs et Italia conseruata est, hostem iudicem'.

nay even, more truculently to Sulla pressing him: 'granted that you show me the ranks of soldiers with which you have encircled the Curia, granted that you threaten death again and again, never, however, will you bring it about that, on account of my scant and senile blood, I judge Marius—by whom the city and Italy were preserved—an enemy'.

3.8.6 Quid feminae cum contione? si patrius mos seruetur, nihil: sed ubi domestica quies seditionum agitata fluctibus est, priscae consuetudinis auctoritas conuellitur, plusque ualet quod uiolentia cogit quam quod suadet et praecipit uerecundia. itaque te, Sempronia, Ti. et C. Gracchorum soror, uxor Scipionis Aemiliani, non ut absurde grauissimis uirorum operibus inserentem, maligna relatione conprehendam, sed quia ab tribuno plebei producta ad populum in maxima confusione nihil a tuorum amplitudine degenerasti, honorata memoria prosequar.

3.8.6 What has a woman to do with a public assembly? If the ancestral custom be observed, nothing: but when domestic quiet has been agitated by the billows of seditions, the authority of ancient custom is torn up, and what violence compels prevails more than what modesty advises and prescribes. And so you, Sempronia, sister of Ti. and C. Gracchus, wife of Scipio Aemilianus, I will not, as if absurdly inserting into the most weighty works of men, seize upon with a malign report, but because, when by a tribune of the plebs you were brought forth to the people amid the greatest confusion, you did not in the least degenerate from the amplitude of your house, I will accompany with honored memory.

coacta es eo loci consistere, ubi principum ciuitatis perturbari frons solebat, instabat tibi toruo uultu minas profundens amplissima potestas, clamore imperitae multitudinis obstrepens totum forum acer rimo studio nitebatur ut Equitio, cui Semproniae gentis falsum ius quaerebatur, tamquam filio Tiberii fratris tui osculum dares. tu tamen illum, nescio quibus tenebris protractum portentum, execrabili audacia ad usurpandam alienam propinquitatem tendentem reppulisti.

you were compelled to take your stand in that place where the brow of the princes of the state used to be disturbed; the most ample power pressed upon you with a grim visage, pouring forth threats, and, with the clamor of the unskilled multitude dinning, the whole Forum strove with the keenest zeal that you should give a kiss to Equitius, for whom a false right of the Sempronian gens was being sought, as though to the son of Tiberius, your brother. you, however, repelled that portent, dragged forth from I know not what darkness, reaching with execrable audacity to usurp another’s propinquity.

3.8.7 Non indignabuntur lumina nostrae urbis, si inter eorum eximium fulgorem centurionum quoque uirtus spectandam se obtulerit: nam ut humilitas amplitudinem uenerari debet, ita nobilitati fouenda magis quam spernenda bonae indolis nouitas est. an abigi debet Titius ab horum exemplorum contextu? qui pro Caesaris partibus excubans, Scipionis praesidio interceptus, cum uno modo salus ab eo daretur, si se futurum Cn. Pompei generi ipsius militem adfirmasset, ita respondere non dubitauit: 'tibi quidem, Scipio, gratias ago, sed mihi uti ista condicione uitae non est opus'. sine ullis imaginibus nobilem animum!

3.8.7 The luminaries of our city will not be indignant, if amid their exceptional brilliance the virtue of centurions too presents itself to be beheld: for as humility ought to venerate greatness, so for nobility the novelty of good indole is to be fostered rather than scorned. Or should Titius be driven away from the contexture of these examples? He, keeping watch for Caesar’s side, intercepted by Scipio’s guard, when safety was offered to him by him in only one way—if he should affirm that he would be a soldier for Gnaeus Pompeius, his son-in-law—did not hesitate to reply thus: 'to you indeed, Scipio, I give thanks, but for me to make use of life on that condition there is no need'. A noble spirit without any ancestral images!

3.8.8 Idem constantiae propositum secutus Maeuius centurio diui Augusti, cum Antoniano bello saepe numero excellentes pugnas edidisset, inprouisis hostium insidiis circumuentus et ad Antonium Alexandriam perductus interrogatusque quidnam de eo statui deberet, 'iugulari me' inquit 'iube, quia non salutis beneficio neque mortis supplicio adduci possum ut aut Caesaris miles desinam aut tuus incipiam. ceterum quo constantius uitam contempsit, eo facilius impetrauit: Antonius enim uirtuti eius incolumitatem tribuit.

3.8.8 Following the same purpose of constancy, Maevius, a centurion of the deified Augustus, although in the Antonian war he had on many occasions delivered outstanding battles, having been hemmed in by the enemies’ unforeseen ambush and brought to Antony at Alexandria, and asked what ought to be decided about him, said: “Order me to have my throat cut, because I can be induced neither by the benefit of safety nor by the punishment of death to either cease to be Caesar’s soldier or begin to be yours.” But the more steadfastly he despised life, the more easily he obtained it: for Antony granted safety to his virtue.

3.8.ext.1 Conplura huiusce notae Romana exempla supersunt, sed satietas modo uitanda est. itaque stilo meo ad externa iam delabi permittam. quorum principatum teneat Blassius, cuius constantia nihil pertinacius: Salapiam enim patriam suam praesidio Punico occupatam Romanis cupiens restituere Dasium acerrimo studio secum in administratione rei publicae dissidentem et alioquin toto animo Hannibalis amicitiae uacantem, sine quo propositum consilium peragi non poterat, ad idem opus adgrediendum maiore cupiditate quam spe certiore temptare ausus est.

3.8.ext.1 Numerous Roman examples of this stamp survive, but satiety must now be avoided. And so I will allow my stylus to slip down to foreign ones. Let Blassius hold the primacy of these, than whose constancy nothing more pertinacious: for, wishing to restore Salapia, his homeland, occupied by a Punic garrison, to the Romans, he dared to try to induce Dasius—who with most ardent zeal was at odds with him in the administration of the commonwealth, and otherwise with his whole mind was devoted to the friendship of Hannibal, without whom the proposed plan could not be carried through—to undertake the same work, with greater eagerness than with surer hope.

qui protinus sermonem eius, adiectis quae et ipsum commendatiorem et inimicum inuisiorem factura uidebantur, Hannibali retulit. a quo adesse iussi sunt, ut alter crimen probaret, alter defenderet. ceterum, <cum> pro tribunali res gereretur et quaestioni illi omnium oculi essent intenti, dum aliud forte citerioris curae negotium tractatur, Blassius uultu dissimulante ac uoce summissa monere Dasium coepit ut Romanorum potius quam Karthaginiensium partes foueret.

who immediately reported his conversation to Hannibal, adding things which seemed likely both to make himself more commendable and to render his enemy more odious. By him they were ordered to be present, that the one might prove the charge, the other defend. But, when the matter was being conducted before the tribunal and all eyes were intent upon that inquiry, while by chance another business of more immediate care was being handled, Blassius, with his countenance dissembling and his voice subdued, began to advise Dasius to foster the Roman cause rather than the Carthaginian.

enimuero tunc ille proclamat se in conspectu ducis aduersus eum sollicitari. quod quia et incredibile existimabatur et ad unius tantum auris penetrauerat et iactabatur ab inimico, uerita<ti>s fide caruit. sed non ita multo post Blasii mira constantia Dasium ad se traxit Marcelloque et Salapiam et quingentos Numidas, qui in ea custodiae causa erant, tradidit.

Indeed, then he cries out that in the presence of the leader he is being solicited against him. Which, because it was considered incredible, and had penetrated only one ear, and was being vaunted by an enemy, lacked the credence of truth. But not much later the wondrous constancy of Blassius drew Dasius over to himself, and he delivered to Marcellus both Salapia and five hundred Numidians, who were in it for the sake of custody.

3.8.ext.2 Phocion uero, cum Athenienses rem aliter atque ipse suaserat prospere administrassent, adeo perseuerans sententiae suae propugnator extitit, ut in contione laetari quidem se successu eorum, sed consilium tamen suum aliquanto melius fuisse diceret: non enim damnauit quod recte uiderat, quia quod alius male consuluerat bene cesserat, felicius illud existimans, hoc sapientius. et sane blandum animum temeritati casus facit, ubi prauo consilio propitius aspirat, quoque uehementius noceat, speratius prodest. placidi et misericordes et liberales omnique suauitate temperati mores Phocionis, quos optime profecto consensus omnium bonitatis cognomine decorandos censuit.

3.8.ext.2 Phocion, however, when the Athenians had managed the matter prosperously otherwise than he himself had advised, proved so persevering a champion of his own opinion that in the assembly he said that he did indeed rejoice at their success, but that nevertheless his own counsel had been somewhat better: for he did not condemn what he had rightly seen, because that which another had ill-counseled had turned out well, judging that the more fortunate, this the more sapient. And indeed chance makes temerity’s spirit bland, when it breathes favorably upon a perverse counsel, and, that it may harm the more vehemently, it helps the more hoped-for. Placid and merciful and liberal, and tempered with every suavity, were Phocion’s manners, which the consensus of all most rightly judged deserving to be adorned with the cognomen of Goodness.

itaque constantia, quae natura rigidior uidetur, lenis e mansueto pectore fluxit:

and so constancy, which by nature seems more rigid, flowed gently from a mild breast:

3.8.ext.3 Socratis autem uirilitatis robore uallatus animus aliquanto praefractius perseuerantiae exemplum edidit.

3.8.ext.3 But the spirit of Socrates, fortified by the strength of virility, produced a somewhat more unbending example of perseverance.

Vniuersa ciuitas Atheniensium iniquissimo ac truculentissimo furore instincta de capite decem praetorum, qui apud Arginussas Lacedaemoniam classem deleuerant, tristem sententiam tulerat. forte tunc eius potestatis Socrates, cuius arbitrio plebei scita ordinarentur, indignum iudicans tot et tam bene meritos [et] indigna causa impetu inuidiae abripi, temeritati multitudinis constantiam suam obiecit maximoque contionis fragore et incitatissimis minis conpulsus non est ut se publicae dementiae auctorem ascriberet. quae oppositu eius legitima grassari uia prohibita iniusto praetorum cruore manus suas contaminare perseuerauit.

The entire city of the Athenians, instigated by a most inequitable and most truculent fury, had passed a grim capital sentence concerning the heads of the ten praetors, who at Arginusae had destroyed the Lacedaemonian fleet. It chanced that at that time Socrates was of that authority by whose arbitration the plebeian decrees were ordained; judging it unworthy that so many and so well-deserving men [and] by an unworthy cause be swept away by the rush of envy, he opposed his constancy to the temerity of the multitude, and, though driven by the greatest crash of the assembly and the most incited menaces, he was not compelled to enroll himself as an author of the public dementia. Which, its legitimate way of proceeding blocked by his opposition, persevered in contaminating its hands with the unjust blood of the praetors.

nec timuit Socrates ne consternatae patriae undecimus furor mors ipsius existeret.

nor did Socrates fear that the eleventh fury of his consternated fatherland would prove his own death.

3.8.ext.4 Proximum, etsi non eiusdem splendoris est, at aeque certum constantiae haberi potest experimentum. efficacis operae forensis, fidei non latentis Athenis Ephialtes accusare publice iussus et inter ceteros Demostrati nomen deferre coactus est, cuius filius erat Demochares excellentis formae puer, animo eius flagrantissimo inhaerens amore. itaque communis officii sorte truculentus accusator, priuati adfectus condicione miserabilis reus, puerum ad se exorandum quo parcius patris criminibus insisteret uenientem neque repellere neque supplicem genibus suis aduolutum intueri sustinuit, sed operto capite flens et gemens preces expromere passus est nihilominusque sincera fide accusatum Demostratum damnauit.

3.8.ext.4 The next example, although it is not of the same splendor, yet can be held an equally sure proof of constancy. Ephialtes, a man of efficacious forensic service and of loyalty not latent at Athens, was ordered to prosecute publicly and was compelled among others to denounce by name Demostratus, whose son Demochares was a boy of excellent beauty, cleaving to his spirit with most blazing love. And so, by the lot of common duty a truculent accuser, by the condition of private affection a pitiable defendant, he could not bring himself either to repel the boy coming to him to beseech that he might press more sparingly upon his father’s charges, or to look upon him, a suppliant, thrown at his knees; but with his head covered, weeping and groaning, he allowed him to pour forth his prayers, and nonetheless with sincere good faith he condemned Demostratus, having accused him.

uictoriam nescio laude an tormento maiore partam, quoniam prius quam sontem opprimeret se ipsum uicit Ephialtes.

a victory, I know not whether won with greater laud or with greater torment, since before he crushed the guilty man, Ephialtes conquered himself.

3.8.ext.5 Quem Syracusanus Dio seueritate exempli praegrauat. quibusdam monentibus ut aduersus Heraclidem et Callippum, quorum fidei plurimum credebat, tamquam insidias ei nectentis cautior esset respondit uita se malle excedere quam [in] metu uiolentae mortis amicos inimicis iuxta ponere.

3.8.ext.5 Whom Dio the Syracusan outweighs by the severity of the example. When certain people were advising that he should be more cautious against Heraclides and Callippus, in whose good faith he trusted very much, as if they were weaving plots against him, he replied that he preferred to depart from life rather than, [in] fear of a violent death, to place friends alongside enemies.

3.8.ext.6 Quod sequitur et rei ipsius admiratione et claritate auctoris inlustre. Alexander Macedonum rex incluta iam pugna excellentissimis opibus Darei contusis aestu et itineris feruore in Cilicia percalefactus Cydno, qui aquae liquore conspicuus Tarson interfluit, corpus suum inmersit. subito deinde ex nimio haustu frigoris obstupefactis neruis ac torpore hebetatis artubus maxima cum exanimatione totius exercitus in oppidum castris propinquum defertur.

3.8.ext.6 What follows is notable both for the admiration of the thing itself and for the clarity of the author. Alexander, king of the Macedonians, with the most excellent resources of Darius already crushed in an illustrious battle, heated by the heat and fervor of the march in Cilicia, immersed his body in the Cydnus, which, conspicuous for the limpidness of its water, flows through Tarsus. Suddenly then, from an excessive draught of cold, his nerves being stupefied and his limbs dulled with torpor, with the greatest dismay of the whole army he is carried into a town near the camp.

iacebat aeger Tarsi, inque ualitudine eius aduersa instantis uictoriae spes fluctuabat. itaque conuocati medici adtentissimo consilio salutis remedia circumspiciebant. quorum cum ad unam potionem <se> sententiae direxissent, atque eam Philippus medicus suis manibus temperatam Alexandro--erat autem ipsius amicus et comes--porrexisset, a Parmenione missae litterae superueniunt admonentes ut rex insidias Philippi perinde ac pecunia corrupti a Dareo caueret.

He lay sick at Tarsus, and in his adverse health the hope of the impending victory was fluctuating. Accordingly the physicians, convoked, with the most attentive counsel were looking around for remedies of safety. When their opinions had converged upon a single potion, and Philip the physician—he was his friend and companion—had proffered it to Alexander, compounded by his own hands, letters sent by Parmenion supervened, admonishing that the king should beware the snares of Philip, as though corrupted with money by Darius.

quas cum legisset, sine ulla cunctatione medicamentum hausit ac tum legendas Philippo tradidit. pro quo tam constanti erga amicum iudicio dignissimam a dis inmortalibus mercedem recepit, qui incolumitatis eius praesidium falso interpellari indicio noluerunt.

when he had read them, without any hesitation he quaffed the medicament and then handed them over to Philip to be read. For which judgment so constant toward a friend he received from the immortal gods a most worthy recompense, who did not wish the protection of his safety to be impeded by a false charge.