Somnium Scipionis (De Re Publica 6.9)

Rep. 6.9.1Cum in Āfricam vēnissem M'. Mānīliō cōnsulī ad quārtam legiōnem tribūnus, ut scītis, mīlitum, nihil mihi fuit potius, quam ut Masinissam convenīrem rēgem, familiae nostrae iūstīs dē causīs amīcissimum.

When I had come to Africa as military tribune of the fourth legion under the consul Manius Manilius, as you know, nothing mattered more to me than to meet King Masinissa, who for good reasons was a very close friend of our family.

Note. The Dream of Scipio ends Cicero's dialogue On the Republic (written 54-51 BC), set in 129 BC. The speaker is P. Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, telling his friends a dream he had twenty years earlier, in 149 BC, at the start of the Third Punic War. Cicero modelled the episode on the Myth of Er that ends Plato's Republic. cum … vēnissem: cum with the pluperfect subjunctive, 'when I had come'. M'. is the abbreviation of Mānius. tribūnus … mīlitum: 'military tribune', split by ut scītis. nihil mihi fuit potius quam ut …: 'nothing was more important to me than to …'; potius is the neuter of the comparative adjective potior.

Rep. 6.9.1Ad quem ut vēnī, conplexus mē senex conlacrimāvit aliquantōque post suspexit ad caelum et: Grātēs, inquit, tibi agō, summe Sōl, vōbīsque, reliquī Caelitēs, quod, ante quam ex hāc vītā migrō, cōnspiciō in meō regnō et hīs tēctīs P. Cornēlium Scīpiōnem, cuius ego nōmine ipsō recreor;

When I came to him, the old man embraced me and wept, and after a while he looked up to the sky and said: 'I give thanks to you, highest Sun, and to you, the other dwellers in heaven, that before I depart from this life I see in my kingdom and under this roof Publius Cornelius Scipio, by whose very name I am refreshed;

Note. ut vēnī: ut with the perfect indicative means 'when'. conplexus is the edition's spelling of complexus (from complector); Mueller prints the unassimilated prefix con-, also in conlacrimāvit and later conplet, inparibus, inpulsū, inlecebrīs. grātēs … agō: 'I give thanks', a solemn, religious phrase. Caelitēs: 'the heavenly ones', the gods. ante quam … migrō: antequam split in two. P. Cornēlium Scīpiōnem: Aemilianus had been adopted by the son of the elder Africanus, so he bore the famous name.

Rep. 6.9.1itaque numquam ex animō meō discēdit illīus optimī atque invictissimī virī memoria.

so never does the memory of that best and most unconquered man leave my mind.'

Note. illīus optimī atque invictissimī virī: the elder Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal at Zama in 202 BC, and whom Masinissa had served. memoria is the subject of discēdit.

Rep. 6.9.1Deinde ego illum dē suō regnō, ille mē dē nostrā rē pūblicā percontātus est, multīsque verbīs ultrō citrōque habitīs ille nōbīs cōnsūmptus est diēs.

Then I questioned him about his kingdom, and he questioned me about our republic, and with much talk back and forth that day was spent.

Note. ego illum …, ille mē … percontātus est: one verb shared by two clauses; percontor (deponent) 'question'. ultrō citrōque: 'to and fro'. multīs verbīs … habitīs: ablative absolute. ille … diēs: 'that day', the subject of cōnsūmptus est; nōbīs is a dative of agent with the passive.