SECTIONS 29-36 (VIRTUS)

Question 0

quid est quisaquam aut illo dignum aut vobis novum aut cuiquam inauditum possit adferre?

Answer 0

What is there which anyone could bring forward which is either worthy of him, new to you, or something which no one has heard before?

Question 1

Iam vero virtuti Cn. Pompei quae potest oratio par inveniri?

Answer 1

Moreover, what speech can be found equal to the merit of Pompeius?

Question 2

neque enim illae sunt solae vitutes imperatoriae, quae vulgo existimantur,

Answer 2

For those which are commonly considered to be the good qualities of a general are not the only ones,

Question 3

labor in negotiis, fortitudo in periculis, industria in agendo, celeritas in conficiendo, consilium in providendo,

Answer 3

energy in conducting affairs, bravery in dangers, hard work in action, speed in completing a matter, forethought in forward planning,

Question 4

quae tanta sunt in hoc uno, quanta in omnibus reliquis imperatoribus,

Answer 4

all of which are greater in this one man as ever existed in all the remaining generals

Question 5

quos aut videmus aut audivimus, non fuerunt.

Answer 5

whom we have either seen or heard of.

Question 6

Testis est Italia, quam ille ipse victor L. Sulla huius virtute et subsidio confessus est libertam;

Answer 6

Italy is a witness to these qualities, which the famous conqueror himself, Lucius Sulla, acknowledged was set free by Pompey’s valour and assistance.

Question 7

testis est Sicilia, quam multis undique cinctam periculis non terrore belli sed consilii celeritate explicavit:

Answer 7

Sicily is a witness, which, surrounded by great dangers on all sides, Pompey freed from danger, not by threat of war, but by speed of plan:

Question 8

testis est Africa, quae magnis oppressa hostium copiis eorum ipsorum sanguine redundavit:

Answer 8

Africa is a witness, which, overwhelmed by great enemy forces, ovflowed with those same enemies’ own blood:

Question 9

testis est Gallia, per quam legionibus nostris iter in Hispaniam Gallorum internicione patefactum est:

Answer 9

Gaul is a witness, through which the road to Spain was opened up for our legions by the slaughter of the Gauls:

Question 10

testis est Hispania, quae saepissime plurimos hostes ab hoc superatos prostratosque conspexit:

Answer 10

Spain is a witness, which very frequently saw its many foes overcome and laid low by this man:

Question 11

testis est iterum et saepius Italia, quae cum servili bello taetro periculosoque premeretur, ab hoc auxilium absente expetivit,

Answer 11

Italy again, and more frequently, is witness, which sought help from Pompey in his absence, when it was hard pressed by the foul and dangerous slave-war,

Question 12

quod bellum exspectatione eius attenuatum atque imminutum est, adventu sublatum ac sepultum.

Answer 12

a war whose danger was diminished and lessened by the mere expectation of his coming, and removed and buried by his arrival.

Question 13

Testis nunc vero iam omnes orae atque exterae gentes ac nationes,

Answer 13

Now moreover, all the shores are witness, as are all foreign tribes and nations,

Question 14

denique maria omnia, cum universa,

Answer 14

finally, all the seas, both collectively,

Question 15

tum in singulis oris omnes sinus atque portus.

Answer 15

and all the bays and harbours on each shore.

Question 16

quis enim tot mari locus per hos annos aut firmum habuit praesidium,

Answer 16

For over the whole sea, what place during these years either had such strong protection

Question 17

ut tutus esset,

Answer 17

that it was safe,

Question 18

aut tam fuit abditus, ut lateret?

Answer 18

or was so secluded that it escaped notice?

Question 19

quis navigavit, qui non se aut mortis aut servitutis periculo committeret,

Answer 19

Who sailed who did not commit himself to the danger of either death or slavery,

Question 20

cum aut hieme aut referto praedonum mari navigaret?

Answer 20

since he was sailing either in winter or on a sea packed with pirates?

Question 21

hoc tantum bellum, tam turpe, tam vetus,

Answer 21

Who would ever think that this war, so important, so disgraceful,

Question 22

tam late divisum atque dispersum quis umquam arbitraretur aut ab omnibus imperatoribus uno anno aut omnibus annis ab uno imperatore confici posse?

Answer 22

so long standing and scattered, could be brought to an end either by all the generals in one year, or in all the years by one general?

Question 23

quam provinciam tenuistis a praedonibus liberam per hosce annos?

Answer 23

What province did you hold which was free from pirates during these years?

Question 24

quod vectigal vobis tutum fuit?

Answer 24

What tribute was secure for you?

Question 25

quem socium defendistis?

Answer 25

What ally did you defend?

Question 26

cui praesidio classibus vestris fuistis?

Answer 26

Whom did you protect with your fleets?

Question 27

quam multas existimatis insulas esse desertas,

Answer 27

How many islands do you think were deserted,

Question 28

quam multas aut metu relictas aut a praedonibus captas urbis esse sociorum?

Answer 28

how many allied cities abandoned because of fear, or captured by the pirates?

Question 29

sed quid ego longinqua commemoro?

Answer 29

But why do I mention distant events?

Question 30

fuit hoc quondam,

Answer 30

There was a time once,

Question 31

fuit proprium populi Romani longe a domo bellare et propugnaculis imperi sociorum fortunas, non sua tecta defendere.

Answer 31

which was peculiar to the Roman people, to fight wars far from home, and to defend the fortunes of our allies with the bulwarks of supreme power, not its own dwellings.

Question 32

sociis ego vestris mare oer hosce annos clausum fuisse dicam,

Answer 32

Should I mention that the sea had been closed to our allies during these years,

Question 33

cum exercitus vestri numquam Brundisio hieme summa transmiserint?

Answer 33

when your armies have never crossed from Brundisium except for in the depths of winter?

Question 34

qui ad vos ab exteris nationibus venirent, captos querar,

Answer 34

Should I complain about those who came to you from foreign nations being captured

Question 35

cum legati populi Romani sint?

Answer 35

when envoys of the Roman people were being ransomed?

Question 36

mercatoribus mare tutum non fuisse dicam,

Answer 36

Should I mention that the sea was not safe for merchants,

Question 37

cum duodecim secures in praedonum potestatem pervenerint?

Answer 37

when the twelve axes came into the power of the pirates?

Question 38

Cnidum aut Colophonem aut Samum, nobilissimas urbis,

Answer 38

Should I remind you that Cnidus or Colophon or Samos, very noble cities,

Question 39

innumerabilisque alias captas esse commemorem,

Answer 39

and countless others were captured,

Question 40

cum vestros portis atque eos portus quibus vitam ac spiritum ducitis in praedonum fuisse potestate sciatis?

Answer 40

since you know that your ports and, indeed, those ports by which you derive your life and breath, were under the control of the prirates?

Question 41

an vero ignoratis portum Caietae celeberrimum

Answer 41

Or indeed, are you unaware that the very busy harbour of Caiata,

Question 42

et plenissimum navium inspectante praetore a praedonibus esse direptum,

Answer 42

which was packed with ships, was plundered by the pirates under the very eyes of the praetor?

Question 43

ex Miseno autemeius ipsius liberos qui cum praedonibus antea bellum gesserat a praedonibus esse sublatos?

Answer 43

Moreover, that the children of the very man who had previously waged war on the prates were stolen from Misenum by the pirates?

Question 44

nam quid ego Ostiense incommodum atque illamlabem atque ignominiam rei publicae querar,

Answer 44

For why should I complain of the disaster at Ostium and that stain and disgrace to the state

Question 45

cum prope inspectantibus vobis classis ea cui consul populi Romani praepositus esset a praedonibus capta atque oppressa est?

Answer 45

when,malmost under your noses, that fleet, in charge of which a consul of the Roman people had been put, was captured and destroyed by the pirates?

Question 46

pro di immortales!

Answer 46

Ye immortal gods!

Question 47

tantamne unius hominis incredibilis ac divina virtus tam brevi tempore lucem adferre rei publicae potuit

Answer 47

Was one man’s unbelievable and prodigious bravery able, in such a short time, to bring such great help to the state

Question 48

ut vos, qui modo ante ostium Tiberinum classem hostium videbatis,

Answer 48

that you, who just now saw the fleet of the enemy in front of the mouth of the Tiber,

Question 49

ei nunc nullam intra Oceani ostium praedonum navem esse audiatis?

Answer 49

now hear that there is no pirate ship within the entrance to the Atlantic ocean?

Question 50

atque haec qua celeritate gesta sint, quamquam videtis,

Answer 50

Moreover, although you perceive with what speed these things were done,

Question 51

tamen a me in dicendo praetereunda non sunt.

Answer 51

nevertheless I must not pass over them in my speech.

Question 52

quis enim umquam aut obeundo negotii aut consequendi quaestus studio tam brevi tempore tot loca adire, tantos cursus comficere potuit, quam celeriter Cn. Pompeio duce tanti belli impetus navigavit?

Answer 52

For, in their enthusiasm for conducting business or for obtaining profit, who was ever able to approach so many places, and to complete such great journeys in such short time as the vigour of such an important war quickly swept across the sea under Gnaeus Pompeius’ leadership?

Question 53

qui nondum tempestivo ad navigandum mari Siciliam adiit,

Answer 53

This man, although the sea was not yet suitable for sailing, approached Sicily,

Question 54

Africam exploravit, inde Sardiniam cum classe venit

Answer 54

reconnoitre Africa, came to Sardinia with a fleet

Question 55

atque haec tria frumentaria subsidia rei publicae firmissimis classibusque munivit.

Answer 55

and fortified these three sources of corn supply to the state with very strong garrisons and fleets.

Question 56

Inde cum se in Italiam recepisset, duabus Hispaniis et Gallia Transalpina praesidiis ac navibus confirmata,

Answer 56

When he had returned to Italy from there, having strengthened the two provinces of Spain and Transalpine Gaul with garrisons and ships,

Question 57

missis item in oram Illyrici maris et in Achaiam omnemque Graeciam navibus Italiae duo maria maximis classibus firmissimisque praesidiis adornavit,

Answer 57

and having sent ships at the same time to the coast of the Illyrian sea and to Achaia and the whole of Greece, he equipped the two seas of Italy with very big fleets and very strong garrisons,

Question 58

ipse autem ut Brundisio profectus est, unde quinqua gesimo die totam ad imperium populi Romani Ciciliam aduinxit;

Answer 58

while he himself, when he had set out from Brundisium, added the whole of Cilicia to the empire of the Roman people on the forty-ninth day;

Question 59

omnes qui ubique praedones fuerunt partim capti interfectique sunt,

Answer 59

Of all the pirates who were all over the Mediterranean, some were captured and killed,

Question 60

partim unius huius se imperio ac potestati dediderunt.

Answer 60

others surrendered to the command and power of this man alone.

Question 61

idem Cretensibus, cum ad eum usque in Pamphyliam legatos deprecatoresque misissent, spem deditionis non ademit obsidesque imperavit.

Answer 61

The same man did not remove the hope of surrender from the Cretans, but demanded hostages when they had sent envoys and mediators to him as far away as Pamphylia.

Question 62

ita tantum bellum, tam diuturnum, tam longe lateque dispersum,

Answer 62

And so, this war, so important, so longlasting, and spread so far and wide,

Question 63

quo bello omnes gentes ac nationes premebantur,

Answer 63

a war by which all races and nations were being hard-pressed;

Question 64

Cn. Pompeius extrema hieme apparavit, ineunte vere suscepit, media aestate confecit.

Answer 64

Pompeius prepared for at the end of winter, undertook at the beginning of spring, and finished in the middle of the summer.

Question 65

est haec divina atque incredibilis virtus imperatoris.

Answer 65

This, then, is the prodigious and unbelievable genius of a general.

Question 66

quid? ceterae quaspaulo amte commemorare coeperam quantae atque quam multae sunt!

Answer 66

Moreover, how great and how many are the other, which I had begun to relate a short time ago!

Question 67

non enim bellandi virtus solum in summo ac perfecto imperatore quaerenda est sed multae sunt artes eximiae huius administrae comitesque virtutis.

Answer 67

For in a supreme and perfect general, not only the ability to make war should be sought, but there are many outstanding skills which assist and accompany this ability.

Question 68

ac primum quanta innocentia debent esse imperatores,

Answer 68

First of all, with what integrity a general should be endowed!

Question 69

quanta diende in omnibus rebus temperantia,

Answer 69

Then with what restraint in all matters!

Question 70

quanta fide, quanta facilitate, quanto ingenio, quanta humanitate!

Answer 70

With what accessibility, what courtesy, what natural talent, what kindness!

Question 71

quae breviter qualia sint in Cn. Pompeio consideremus.

Answer 71

Let us consider briefly the nature of these qualities of Gnaeus Pompeius.

Question 72

summa enim sunt omnia, Quirites, sed ea magis ex aliorum contentione quam ipsa per sese cognosci atque intellegi possunt.

Answer 72

For they are all very great, citizens, but they can be recognised and understood more from comparison with others than by looking at them by themselves.