Book 2, Chapter 25
Original Latin
54 Multa me consule a me ipso scripta recitasti, multa ante Marsicum bellum a Sisenna collecta attulisti, multa ante Lacedaemoniorum malam pugnam in Leuctricis a Callisthene commemorata dixisti; de quibus dicam equidem singulis, quoad videbitur; sed dicendum etiam est de universis. Quae est enim ista a deis profecta significatio et quasi denuntiatio calamitatum? quid autem volunt di inmortales primum ea significantes, quae sine interpretibus non possimus intellegere, deinde ea, quae cavere nequeamus? At hoc ne homines quidem probi faciunt, ut amicis inpendentis calamitates praedicant, quas illi effugere nullo modo possint, ut medici, quamquam intellegunt saepe, tamen numquam aegris dicunt illo morbo eos esse morituros; omnis enim praedictio mali tum probatur, cum ad praedictionem cautio adiungitur.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks and reviewed throughout against it. Both books, all 130 chapters and 282 numbered sections; no historical English translation used. Latin transcription credited to the Perseus Project under CC BY-SA 4.0, Müller’s 1915 Teubner edition.
54 “You recited many events I myself recorded during my consulship. You brought forward many events collected by Sisenna from before the Marsic War, and many recorded by Callisthenes before the Spartans' disastrous battle at Leuctra. I shall discuss these individually as far as seems appropriate; but we must also speak of them as a whole. What is this signaling from the gods, this announcement, as it were, of calamities? What do the immortal gods intend, first by giving signs we cannot understand without interpreters, and then by giving signs of things we cannot avoid? Even decent human beings do not do this: they do not foretell to friends impending disasters from which those friends have no possible escape. Doctors, for example, though they often understand the truth, never tell the sick that their illness will kill them. A prediction of evil is approved only when it is accompanied by a means of avoiding it.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation, made independently and directly from the Latin, never from the Musean edition. Both books and every numbered section; a separate Latin-source model review covered the entire text. No human specialist review is claimed.
54 “You recited many things from my own account of my consulship. You cited Sisenna’s many reports from the time before the Marsic War, as well as Callisthenes’ many accounts from before the Spartans’ defeat on the battlefield at Leuctra. I will discuss individual examples as far as seems worthwhile, but we must also discuss them as a whole. What is this supposed message from the gods, this warning, as it were, of disasters? What do the immortal gods mean by giving signs, first, that we cannot understand without interpreters, and second, that concern events we have no way of avoiding? Not even an honest person would foretell disaster to friends who could do nothing to escape it. Doctors, for example, often know, but never tell their patients that they will die of their illness. A prediction of harm is welcome only when the prediction comes with a way to guard against it.
About this section
Book 2, Chapter 25 is part of On Divination by Marcus Tullius Cicero. This page sets the Latin original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is chapter 83 of 130 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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