Cael. 14.1Sed tamen ex ipsā quaeram prius utrum mē sēcum sevērē et graviter et prīscē agere mālit, an remissē et lēniter et urbānē.But first I shall ask the lady herself whether she would prefer me to deal with her severely and gravely and in the old-fashioned way, or in a relaxed, gentle and urbane manner. Cael. 14.1Sī illō austērō mōre ac modō, aliquis mihi ab īnferīs excitandus est ex barbātīs illīs, nōn hāc barbulā quā ista dēlectātur sed illa horrida quam in statuīs antīquīs atque imāginibus vidēmus, quī obiūrget mulierem et quī prō mē loquātur nē mihi ista forte suscēnseat.If in that austere style and fashion, I must raise up from the dead one of those bearded men of old — not with the little beard in which she delights, but with that shaggy one which we see on ancient statues and portrait masks — to rebuke the woman and to speak for me, so that she may not perhaps be angry with me. Cael. 14.1Exsistat igitur ex hāc ipsā familiā aliquis ac potissimum Caecus ille;Let someone, then, arise from this very family, and above all the famous Caecus; Cael. 14.1minimum enim dolōrem capiet quī istam nōn vidēbit.for he will feel the least pain, since he will not see her.
Cael. 14.1Quī profectō, sī exstiterit, sīc aget ac sīc loquētur: "Mulier, quid tibi cum Caeliō, quid cum homine adulēscentulō, quid cum aliēnō?He surely, if he arises, will act and speak like this: 'Woman, what have you to do with Caelius, what with a mere youth, what with a stranger? Cael. 14.1Cūr aut tam familiāris fuistī ut aurum commodārēs, aut tam inimīca ut venēnum timērēs?Why were you either so intimate as to lend him gold, or so hostile as to fear poison? Cael. 14.1Nōn patrem tuum vīderās, nōn patruum, nōn avum, nōn proavum, nōn abavum, nōn atavum audierās cōnsulēs fuisse;"Had you not seen that your father, had you not heard that your uncle, your grandfather, your great-grandfather, your great-great-grandfather and your great-great-great-grandfather had been consuls; Cael. 14.34"nōn dēnique modo tē Q. Metellī mātrimōnium tenuisse sciēbās, clārissimī ac fortissimī virī patriaeque amantissimī, quī simul ac pedem līmine extulerat, omnīs prope cīvīs virtūte, glōriā, dignitāte superābat?did you not know, finally, that you had lately been the wife of Quintus Metellus, a most distinguished and brave man and a great lover of his country, who had only to set foot over his threshold to surpass almost all citizens in virtue, glory and standing?
Cael. 14.34Cum ex amplissimō genere in familiam clārissimam nūpsissēs, cūr tibi Caelius tam coniūnctus fuit?When you had married from a most illustrious line into a most famous family, why was Caelius so closely connected with you? Cael. 14.34cognātus, adfīnīs, virī tuī familiāris?Was he a kinsman, a relative by marriage, a friend of your husband? Cael. 14.34Nihil eōrum.None of these. Cael. 14.34Quid igitur fuit nisi quaedam temeritās ac libīdō?What was it, then, but some recklessness and lust? Cael. 14.34Nōnne tē, sī nostrae imāginēs virīlēs nōn commovēbant, nē prōgeniēs quidem mea, Q. illa Claudia, aemulam domesticae laudis in glōriā muliebrī esse admonēbat, nōn virgō illa Vestālis Claudia quae patrem complexa triumphantem ab inimīcō tribūnō plēbeī dē currū dētrahī passa nōn est?If the portrait masks of the men of our house did not move you, did not even my own descendant, the famous Quinta Claudia, remind you to rival the glory of your house in womanly renown, nor that Vestal Virgin Claudia who, embracing her father in his triumph, did not allow him to be dragged from his chariot by a hostile tribune of the plebs?
Cael. 14.34Cūr tē frāterna vitia potius quam bona paterna et avīta et ūsque ā nōbīs cum in virīs tum etiam in fēminīs repetīta mōvērunt?Why were you moved by your brother's vices rather than by the virtues of your father and forefathers, renewed ever since my time in women as well as in men? Cael. 14.34Ideōnē ego pācem Pyrrhī dirēmī ut tū amōrum turpissimōrum cōtīdiē foedera ferīrēs, ideō aquam addūxī ut eā tū incestē ūterēre, ideō viam mūnīvī ut eam tū aliēnīs virīs comitāta celebrārēs?"Was it for this that I broke off peace with Pyrrhus, that you might daily strike treaties of the most shameful amours; for this that I brought water to the city, that you might use it for your impurity; for this that I built a road, that you might throng it escorted by other women's husbands?'