Somnium Scipionis (De Re Publica 6.16)

Rep. 6.16.1Sed sīc, Scīpiō, ut avus hic tuus, ut ego, quī tē genuī, iūstitiam cole et pietātem, quae cum magna in parentibus et propinquīs, tum in patriā maxima est;

But, Scipio, like your grandfather here, like me who begot you, cherish justice and dutifulness, which is great towards parents and kin, but greatest towards one's country;

Note. cum magna … tum … maxima: 'great … but greatest'. pietās: dutiful devotion to family, country and gods. avus hic tuus: the elder Africanus, his grandfather by adoption.

Rep. 6.16.1ea vīta via est in caelum et in hunc coetum eōrum, quī iam vīxērunt et corpore laxātī illum incolunt locum, quem vidēs, (erat autem is splendidissimō candōre inter flammās circus ēlūcēns) quem vōs, ut ā Grāiīs accēpistis, orbem lacteum nūncupātis;

such a life is the road to heaven and to this gathering of those who have already lived and, released from the body, dwell in that place which you see' (it was a circle shining with the most brilliant whiteness among the fires) 'which you, as you have learned from the Greeks, call the Milky Way;'

Note. ea vīta: 'such a life'. corpore laxātī: 'released from the body'. The parenthesis describes the Milky Way, which according to Pythagorean belief was the home of the blessed. ut ā Grāīs accēpistis: the Greek galaxias kyklos. nūncupātis: 'you name'.

Rep. 6.16.1ex quō omnia mihi contemplantī praeclāra cētera et mīrābilia vidēbantur.

and as I gazed from there, everything else seemed glorious and wonderful.

Note. ex quō: 'from which place'. omnia … cētera: 'all the rest'. contemplantī: present participle of the deponent contemplor.

Rep. 6.16.1Erant autem eae stellae, quās numquam ex hōc locō vīdimus, et eae magnitūdinēs omnium, quās esse numquam suspicātī sumus, ex quibus erat ea minima, quae ultima ā caelō, citima ā terrīs lūce lūcēbat aliēnā.

There were stars which we never see from this place, and they all had sizes we never suspected; the smallest of them was the one that, farthest from heaven and nearest to the earth, shone with borrowed light.

Note. eae stellae, quās numquam ex hōc locō vīdimus: 'such stars as we never see from here'. ea minima, quae …: the moon, the smallest body, lowest of the spheres. ultima ā caelō, citima ā terrīs: 'farthest from heaven, nearest to earth'. lūce … aliēnā: 'with borrowed light'; the moon shines by the sun's light.

Rep. 6.16.1Stellārum autem globī terrae magnitūdinem facile vincēbant.

The spheres of the stars easily exceeded the size of the earth.

Note. Stellārum … globī: the stars themselves are spheres, each larger than the earth.

Rep. 6.16.1Iam ipsa terra ita mihi parva vīsa est, ut mē imperiī nostrī, quō quasi punctum eius attingimus, paenitēret.

And now the earth itself looked so small to me that I was ashamed of our empire, with which we touch only a point, as it were, of it.

Note. ut mē imperiī nostrī … paenitēret: paenitet takes an accusative of the person and a genitive of the cause, 'that I was ashamed of our empire'. quō … quasi pūnctum eius attingimus: 'with which we touch, as it were, a mere point of it'.