Marc. 6.1Atque huius quidem reī M. Mārcellō sum testis.And of this, indeed, I am a witness on Marcus Marcellus' behalf. Marc. 6.1Nostrī enim sēnsūs ut in pāce semper, sīc tum etiam in bellō congruēbant.For our feelings, just as always in peace, so then too in war were in agreement. Marc. 6.1Quotiēns ego eum et quantō cum dolōre vīdī, cum īnsolentiam certōrum hominum tum etiam ipsīus victōriae ferōcitātem extimēscentem!How often and with how much grief I saw him dreading both the arrogance of certain men and also the ferocity of victory itself! Marc. 6.1Quō grātior tua līberālitās, C. Caesar, nōbīs quī illa vīdimus dēbet esse.All the more welcome, then, Gaius Caesar, ought your generosity to be to us who saw those things. Marc. 6.1Nōn enim iam causae sunt inter sē, sed victōriae comparandae.For now it is not the causes that are to be compared with each other, but the victories. Marc. 6.17Vīdimus tuam victōriam proeliōrum exitū terminātam: gladium vāgīnā vacuum in urbe nōn vīdimus.We have seen your victory ended with the outcome of the battles: we have not seen a sword out of its sheath in the city.
Marc. 6.17Quōs āmīsimus cīvīs, eōs vīs Mārtis perculit, nōn īra victōriae, ut dubitāre dēbeat nēmō quīn multōs, sī posset, C. Caesar ab īnferīs excitāret, quoniam ex eādem aciē cōnservat quōs potest.The citizens we have lost were struck down by the violence of Mars, not by the anger of victory, so that no one ought to doubt that Gaius Caesar would raise many from the dead, if he could, since from the same battle line he preserves those he can. Marc. 6.17Alterīus vērō partis nihil amplius dīcō quam id quod omnēs verēbāmur, nimis īrācundam futūram fuisse victōriam.Of the other side I say nothing more than what we all feared, that its victory would have been too wrathful. Marc. 6.18Quīdam enim nōn modo armātīs sed interdum etiam ōtiōsīs minābantur, nec quid quisque sēnsisset, sed ubi fuisset cōgitandum esse dīcēbant;For some were threatening not only those in arms but sometimes even those who stayed at home, and they said that one should consider not what each man had thought, but where he had been; Marc. 6.18ut mihi quidem videantur dī immortālēs, etiam sī poenās ā populō Rōmānō ob aliquod dēlictum expetīvērunt, quī cīvīle bellum tantum et tam lūctuōsum excitāvērunt, vel plācātī iam vel satiātī aliquandō omnem spem salūtis ad clēmentiam victōris et sapientiam contulisse.so that it seems to me, at least, that the immortal gods, even if they exacted punishment from the Roman people for some wrongdoing — they who stirred up so great and so grievous a civil war — have now, either appeased or at last sated, placed all hope of safety in the clemency and wisdom of the victor.
Marc. 6.19Quā rē gaudē tuō istō tam excellentī bonō et fruere cum fortūnā et glōriā tum etiam nātūrā et mōribus tuīs;Therefore rejoice in this so excellent blessing of yours, and enjoy both your fortune and glory and also your nature and character; Marc. 6.19ex quō quidem maximus est frūctus iūcunditāsque sapientī.from this indeed comes the greatest reward and delight for a wise man. Marc. 6.19Cētera cum tua recordābere, etsī persaepe virtūtī, tamen plērumque fēlīcitātī tuae grātulābere: dē nōbīs quōs in rē pūblicā tēcum simul esse voluistī quotiēns cōgitābis, totiēns dē maximīs tuīs beneficiīs, totiēns dē incrēdibilī līberālitāte, totiēns dē singulārī sapientiā cōgitābis: quae nōn modo summa bona sed nīmīrum audēbō vel sōla dīcere.When you recall your other achievements, though you will very often congratulate your virtue, still you will mostly congratulate your good fortune: as often as you think of us, whom you have wished to be in the commonwealth together with you, so often will you think of your very great kindnesses, so often of your incredible generosity, so often of your singular wisdom: things which I will venture to call not only the highest goods but, surely, even the only ones.
Marc. 6.19Tantus est enim splendor in laude vērā, tanta in magnitūdine animī et cōnsilī dignitās ut haec ā virtūte dōnāta, cētera ā fortūnā commodāta esse videantur.For so great is the splendour in true praise, so great the dignity in greatness of soul and of counsel, that these seem to have been bestowed by virtue, the rest lent by fortune. Marc. 6.20Nōlī igitur in cōnservandīs virīs bonīs dēfetīgārī, nōn cupiditāte praesertim aliquā aut prāvitāte lapsīs, sed opīniōne officī stultā fortasse, certē nōn improbā, et speciē quādam reī pūblicae.Do not, then, grow weary of preserving good men, especially those who have fallen not through any desire or depravity, but through a notion of duty, foolish perhaps, certainly not wicked, and through a certain semblance of the commonwealth. Marc. 6.20Nōn enim tua ūlla culpa est, sī tē aliquī timuērunt, contrāque summa laus, quod minimē timendum fuisse sēnsērunt.For it is no fault of yours if some have feared you, and on the contrary it is your highest praise that they have perceived that you were least to be feared.