Chapter 15
Original Latin
37 castra mihi Pompei atque illud omne tempus obiecisti. quo quidem tempore si, ut dixi, meum consilium auctoritasque valuisset, tu hodie egeres, nos liberi essemus; res publica non tot duces et exercitus amisisset. fateor enim me, cum ea quae acciderunt providerem futura, tanta in maestitia fuisse quanta ceteri optimi cives, si idem providissent, fuissent. dolebam, dolebam, patres conscripti, rem publicam vestris quondam meisque consiliis conservatam brevi tempore esse perituram. nec vero eram tam indoctus ignarusque rerum ut frangerer animo propter vitae cupiditatem, quae me manens conficeret angoribus, dimissa molestiis omnibus liberaret. illos ego praestantissimos viros, lumina rei publicae, vivere volebam, tot consularis, tot praetorios, tot honestissimos senatores, omnem praeterea florem nobilitatis ac iuventutis, tum optimorum civium exercitus; qui si viverent, quamvis iniqua condicione pacis—mihi enim omnis pax cum civibus bello civili utilior videbatur—rem publicam hodie teneremus.
38 quae sententia si valuisset ac non ei maxime mihi quorum ego vitae consulebam spe victoriae elati obstitissent, ut alia omittam, tu certe numquam in hoc ordine vel potius numquam in hac urbe mansisses. at vero Cn. Pompei voluntatem a me alienabat oratio mea. an ille quemquam plus dilexit, cum ullo aut sermones aut consilia contulit saepius? quod quidem erat magnum, de summa re publica dissentientis in eadem consuetudine amicitiae permanere. ego quid ille et contra ille quid ego sentirem et spectarem videbat. ego incolumitati civium primum, ut postea dignitati possemus, ille praesenti dignitati potius consulebat. quod autem habebat uterque quid sequeretur, idcirco tolerabilior erat nostra dissensio.
Musean translation
Complete machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks; all 46 chapters and 119 sections retained. Source-language model review is recorded with the raw witness. Latin transcription: Perseus Project, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0; this adaptation uses the same license.
37 You reproached me with Pompey’s camp and that whole period. If my advice and influence had prevailed then, as I have said, you would be destitute today and we would be free; the republic would not have lost so many commanders and armies. I admit that, foreseeing what did come to pass, I felt as much sorrow as every other honorable citizen would have felt had he foreseen it too. I grieved, senators, I grieved that the republic, once saved by your counsels and mine, would soon perish. Nor was I so ignorant or unversed in affairs that a craving for life could break my spirit: if life remained, it would consume me with anguish; if I gave it up, it would release me from every trouble. I wanted those outstanding men, the lights of the republic, to live: so many who had been consuls, so many who had been praetors, so many honorable senators, all the flower of our nobility and youth, and the armies of our finest citizens. Had they lived, however harsh the terms of peace—for I thought any peace with fellow citizens more beneficial than civil war—we would hold the republic today.
38 Had that view prevailed, had the very men whose lives I was protecting not opposed me most fiercely, carried away by hopes of victory, then, to pass over everything else, you certainly would never have remained in this body—or rather, in this city. But my speech, you say, estranged Gnaeus Pompey from me. Did he love anyone more? Did he more often share his conversations or counsels with anyone? It was no small thing that, disagreeing on the republic’s highest interests, we maintained the same intimacy of friendship. I saw what he thought and sought; he saw what I thought and sought. I looked first to our fellow citizens’ safety, so that we might afterward protect their standing; he looked rather to their standing at that moment. Since each had a purpose to pursue, our disagreement was easier to bear.
Plain English translation
Complete machine-assisted Plain English translation made independently and directly from the Latin in separate source-only tasks, not from the Musean edition or a historical English translation; all 46 chapters and 119 sections retained. Latin transcription: Perseus Project, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0; this adaptation uses the same license.
37 You attacked me over Pompey’s camp and that whole period. As I’ve said, if my advice and influence had prevailed then, you’d be broke today. We’d be free. The republic wouldn’t have lost so many commanders and armies. I admit I saw what was coming. That made me deeply unhappy, as it would have made every other good citizen who foresaw it. I grieved, I grieved, senators. Your decisions and mine had once saved the republic. Now it would soon be destroyed. I wasn’t so ignorant or so clueless about events that wanting to stay alive broke my spirit. Staying alive would wear me down with grief. Letting life go would free me from every trouble. I wanted those outstanding men to live, those shining lights of the republic. So many former consuls, so many former praetors, so many highly respected senators! And all the finest nobles and young men, along with armies of excellent citizens! Had they lived, we’d still control the republic today, however unfair the peace terms. To me, any peace with fellow citizens seemed better than civil war.
38 Suppose my view had prevailed. Suppose the very men whose lives I was trying to save hadn’t opposed me, carried away by hopes of victory. Leave everything else aside. You certainly wouldn’t have stayed in this Senate—or rather, in this city. But you say my speeches turned Pompey against me. Did he love anyone more? Did he talk with anyone or share his plans more often? That really was something: we disagreed over the republic’s most important issue, yet kept the same close friendship. I understood what he thought and aimed at. He understood the same about me. I put citizens’ safety first, so we could protect their standing afterward. He cared more about protecting their standing right then. Each of us had a goal he was pursuing. That made our disagreement easier to bear.
About this section
Chapter 15 is part of Second Philippic 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 15 of 46 in the work, which is kept in the Roman tradition.
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