Somnium Scipionis (De Re Publica 6.22)

Rep. 6.22.1quī nec pauciōrēs et certē meliōrēs fuērunt virī, praesertim cum apud eōs ipsōs, ā quibus audīrī nōmen nostrum potest, nēmō ūnīus annī memoriam cōnsequī possit.

who were no fewer, and were certainly better men, especially since among the very people by whom our name can be heard, no one can keep the memory of a single year?

Note. nec paucīōrēs et certē meliōrēs: those born before us were no fewer and better men. nēmō ūnīus annī memoriam cōnsequī possit: no one can attain even one 'great year' of fame, as the next sentences explain.

Rep. 6.22.1Hominēs enim populāriter annum tantum modo sōlis, id est ūnīus astrī, reditū mētiuntur;

For people commonly measure a year only by the return of the sun, that is, of one star;

Note. populāriter: 'in the common way'. ūnīus astrī: the sun, counted as one star among the others.

Rep. 6.22.1cum autem ad idem, unde semel profecta sunt, cūncta astra redierint eandemque tōtīus caelī discrīptiōnem longīs intervallīs rettulerint, tum ille vērē vertēns annus appellārī potest;

but when all the stars have returned to the same point from which they once set out, and after long intervals have brought back the same arrangement of the whole sky, then that can truly be called a revolving year;

Note. The 'great year': the time it takes for all the heavenly bodies to return together to the same positions. vertēns annus: 'the revolving year'. discrīptiōnem: the edition's spelling of dēscrīptiōnem, 'arrangement'.

Rep. 6.22.1in quō vix dīcere audeō quam multa hominum saecula teneantur.

how many generations of men it contains I hardly dare to say.

Note. quam multa … saecula teneantur: indirect question, 'how many generations are contained'.

Rep. 6.22.1Namque ut ōlim dēficere sōl hominibus exstinguīque vīsus est, cum Rōmulī animus haec ipsa in templa penetrāvit, quandōque ab eādem parte sōl eōdemque tempore iterum dēfēcerit, tum signīs omnibus ad prīncipium stellīsque revocātīs explētum annum habētō;

For just as the sun once seemed to men to fail and be extinguished, when the soul of Romulus entered these very temples, so whenever the sun is eclipsed again in the same place and at the same season, then, with all the constellations and stars called back to their starting point, you may consider the year complete;

Note. The great year is measured from the eclipse that marked Romulus' death, when his soul was taken up to the gods (Romulus was deified as Quirinus). quandōque: 'whenever'. habētō: 'consider'.

Rep. 6.22.1cuius quidem annī nōndum vīcēsimam partem scītō esse conversam.

and know that not yet a twentieth part of that year has passed.

Note. cuius … annī: 'of which year'. scītō: future imperative of sciō, 'know'. vīcēsimam partem … esse conversam: 'that a twentieth part has passed'; Romulus' death was about 570 years before the dream, so the great year is put at over 11,000 years.