Man. 7.1Ac nē illud quidem vōbīs neglegendum est quod mihi ego extrēmum prōposueram, cum essem dē bellī genere dictūrus, quod ad multōrum bona cīvium Rōmānōrum pertinet;And you must not neglect, either, the point which I had set myself to treat last, when I was about to speak of the nature of the war, which concerns the property of many Roman citizens; Man. 7.1quōrum vōbīs prō vestrā sapientiā, Quirītēs, habenda est ratiō dīligenter.and of them, citizens, you must, in keeping with your wisdom, take careful account. Man. 7.1Nam et pūblicānī, hominēs honestissimī atque ōrnātissimī, suās ratiōnēs et cōpiās in illam prōvinciam contulērunt, quōrum ipsōrum per sē rēs et fortūnae vōbīs cūrae esse dēbent.For the tax-farmers, most honourable and distinguished men, have transferred their business and their resources to that province, and their affairs and fortunes in themselves ought to be your concern. Man. 7.1Etenim, sī vectīgālia nervōs esse reī pūblicae semper dūximus, eum certē ōrdinem quī exercet illa firmāmentum cēterōrum ōrdinum rēctē esse dīcēmus.Indeed, if we have always held the revenues to be the sinews of the state, we shall surely be right to call the order which farms them the mainstay of the other orders.
Man. 7.18Deinde ex cēterīs ōrdinibus hominēs gnāvī atque industriī partim ipsī in Asiā negōtiantur, quibus vōs absentibus cōnsulere dēbētis, partim eōrum in eā prōvinciā pecūniās magnās conlocātās habent.Next, of the other orders, active and industrious men are partly themselves doing business in Asia, and you ought to look after them in their absence, and partly have large sums of money invested in that province. Man. 7.18Est igitur hūmānitātis vestrae magnum numerum cīvium calamitāte prohibēre, sapientiae vidēre multōrum cīvium calamitātem ā rē pūblicā sēiūnctam esse nōn posse.It is a mark of your humanity, therefore, to keep a great number of citizens from disaster, and of your wisdom to see that the disaster of many citizens cannot be separated from the state. Man. 7.18Etenim illud prīmum parvī rēfert, vōs pūblicānīs āmissa vectīgālia posteā victōriā reciperāre;For in the first place it matters little that you recover the lost revenues for the tax-farmers afterwards by victory; Man. 7.18neque enim īsdem redimendī facultās erit propter calamitātem neque aliīs voluntās propter timōrem.for the same men will not have the means to contract for them again, because of their disaster, nor will others have the will, because of fear.
Man. 7.19Deinde quod nōs eadem Asia atque īdem iste Mithridātēs initiō bellī Asiāticī docuit, id quidem certē calamitāte doctī memoriā retinēre dēbēmus.Next, what this same Asia and this same Mithridates taught us at the beginning of the Asian war, that at least, having been taught by disaster, we ought surely to keep in memory. Man. 7.19Nam tum, cum in Asiā magnās permultī rēs āmīsērunt, scīmus Rōmae solūtiōne impedītā fidem concīdisse.For at that time, when very many men lost large fortunes in Asia, we know that at Rome, as payments were halted, credit collapsed. Man. 7.19Nōn enim possunt ūnā in cīvitāte multī rem ac fortūnās āmittere ut nōn plūrīs sēcum in eandem trahant calamitātem: ā quō perīculō prohibēte rem pūblicam.For many people in a single state cannot lose their property and fortunes without dragging more along with them into the same disaster: protect the state from that danger. Man. 7.19Etenim — mihi crēdite id quod ipsī vidētis — haec fidēs atque haec ratiō pecūniārum quae Rōmae, quae in forō versātur, implicāta est cum illīs pecūniīs Asiāticīs et cohaeret;For — believe me in what you see for yourselves — this system of credit and finance which operates at Rome, in the forum, is bound up and interlocked with those Asian funds; Man. 7.19ruere illa nōn possunt ut haec nōn eōdem labefacta mōtū concīdant.those cannot fall without these being shaken by the same movement and collapsing.
Man. 7.19Quā rē vidēte num dubitandum vōbīs sit omnī studiō ad id bellum incumbere in quō glōria nōminis vestrī, salūs sociōrum, vectīgālia maxima, fortūnae plūrimōrum cīvium coniūnctae cum rē pūblicā dēfendantur.Consider, therefore, whether you ought to hesitate to throw all your energy into that war in which the glory of your name, the safety of your allies, your greatest revenues, and the fortunes of very many citizens, bound up with the state, are being defended.