Man. 21.1Quid tam novum quam adulēscentulum prīvātum exercitum difficilī reī pūblicae tempore cōnficere?What is so new as for a mere youth, holding no office, to raise an army at a difficult time for the state? Man. 21.1Cōnfēcit.He raised one. Man. 21.1Huic praeesse?To command it? Man. 21.1Praefuit.He commanded it. Man. 21.1Rem optimē ductū suō gerere?To conduct affairs excellently under his own leadership? Man. 21.1Gessit.He did so. Man. 21.1Quid tam praeter cōnsuētūdinem quam hominī peradulēscentī cuius aetās ā senātōriō gradū longē abesset imperium atque exercitum darī, Siciliam permittī atque Āfricam bellumque in eā prōvinciā administrandum?What is so contrary to custom as for a very young man, whose age fell far short of senatorial rank, to be given a command and an army, to be entrusted with Sicily and Africa and the war to be waged in that province? Man. 21.1Fuit in hīs prōvinciīs singulārī innocentiā, gravitāte, virtūte, bellum in Āfricā maximum cōnfēcit, victōrem exercitum dēportāvit.He conducted himself in these provinces with singular integrity, dignity and merit, finished a very great war in Africa, and brought his army home victorious.
Man. 21.1Quid vērō tam inaudītum quam equitem Rōmānum triumphāre?And what is so unheard of as for a Roman knight to celebrate a triumph? Man. 21.1At eam quoque rem populus Rōmānus nōn modo vīdit sed omnium etiam studiō vīsendam et concelebrandam putāvit.Yet the Roman people not only saw this too, but thought it a thing to be seen and celebrated with universal enthusiasm. Man. 21.62Quid tam inūsitātum quam ut, cum duo cōnsulēs clārissimī fortissimīque essent, eques Rōmānus ad bellum maximum formīdolōsissimumque prō cōnsule mitterētur?What is so unusual as that, when there were two most illustrious and brave consuls, a Roman knight should be sent as proconsul to a very great and very fearful war? Man. 21.62Missus est.He was sent. Man. 21.62Quō quidem tempore cum esset nōn nēmō in senātū quī dīceret "nōn oportēre mittī hominem prīvātum prō cōnsule," Philippus dīxisse dīcitur "nōn sē illum suā sententiā prō cōnsule sed prō cōnsulibus mittere."At that time, when someone in the senate said 'a private individual ought not to be sent as proconsul', Philippus is said to have replied 'that by his vote he was sending him not in place of a consul but in place of both consuls'.
Man. 21.62Tanta in eō reī pūblicae bene gerendae spēs cōnstituēbātur ut duōrum cōnsulum mūnus ūnīus adulēscentis virtūtī committerētur.So great was the hope placed in him of good management of the state that the duty of two consuls was entrusted to the merit of one young man. Man. 21.62Quid tam singulāre quam ut ex senātūs cōnsultō lēgibus solūtus cōnsul ante fieret quam ūllum alium magistrātum per lēgēs capere licuīsset?What is so singular as that he should be released from the laws by decree of the senate and made consul before he could legally have held any other magistracy? Man. 21.62quid tam incrēdibile quam ut iterum eques Rōmānus ex senātūs cōnsultō triumphāret?what so incredible as that a Roman knight should celebrate a second triumph by decree of the senate? Man. 21.62Quae in omnibus hominibus nova post hominum memoriam cōnstitūta sunt, ea tam multa nōn sunt quam haec quae in hōc ūnō homine vīdimus.All the novelties established in the case of all men since the memory of man began are not so many as these which we have seen in this one man. Man. 21.63Atque haec tot exempla tanta ac tam nova profecta sunt in eōdem homine ā Catulī atque ā cēterōrum eiusdem dignitātis amplissimōrum hominum auctōritāte.And all these precedents, so many, so great and so new, in the case of this same man originated from the authority of Catulus and of the other most distinguished men of the same rank.