Marc. 7.1Nunc veniō ad gravissimam querēlam et atrōcissimam suspīciōnem tuam, quae nōn tibi ipsī magis quam cum omnibus cīvibus, tum maximē nōbīs quī ā tē cōnservātī sumus prōvidenda est: quam etsī spērō falsam esse, numquam tamen extenuābō, tua enim cautiō nostra cautiō est.Now I come to your very grave complaint and most dreadful suspicion, which must be guarded against not more by you yourself than by all citizens, and most of all by us who have been preserved by you: and though I hope it is false, I shall never make light of it, for your caution is our caution. Marc. 7.1Quod sī in alterutrō peccandum sit, mālim vidērī nimis timidus quam parum prūdēns.But if one must err on one side or the other, I would rather seem too timid than not prudent enough. Marc. 7.1Sed quisnam est iste tam dēmēns?But who is this madman? Marc. 7.1dē tuīsne?—tametsī quī magis sunt tuī quam quibus tū salūtem īnspērantibus reddidistī?—anne ex eō numerō quī ūnā tēcum fuērunt?One of your own? — and yet who are more your own than those to whom you restored a safety they did not hope for? — or one of the number of those who were with you?
Marc. 7.1Nōn est crēdibilis tantus in ūllō furor ut quō duce omnia summa sit adeptus, huius vītam nōn antepōnat suae.Such madness is not credible in anyone, that he should not set the life of the man under whose leadership he has gained all the highest things above his own. Marc. 7.1An sī nihil tuī cōgitant sceleris, cavendum est nē quid inimīcī?Or, if your friends are plotting no crime, must we be on guard lest your enemies are? Marc. 7.1Quī?Who are they? Marc. 7.1omnēs enim quī fuērunt aut suā pertināciā vītam āmīsērunt aut tuā misericordiā retinuērunt, ut aut nūllī supersint dē inimīcīs aut quī fuērunt sint amīcissimī.for all who were your enemies have either lost their lives through their own obstinacy or kept them through your mercy, so that either none of your enemies survive or those who were are now your firmest friends. Marc. 7.22Sed tamen cum in animīs hominum tantae latebrae sint et tantī recessūs, augeāmus sānē suspīciōnem tuam: simul enim augēbimus dīligentiam.But nevertheless, since there are such great hiding places and such deep recesses in men's minds, let us by all means increase your suspicion: for at the same time we shall increase your vigilance.
Marc. 7.22Nam quis est omnium tam ignārus rērum, tam rudis in rē pūblicā, tam nihil umquam nec dē suā nec dē commūnī salūte cōgitāns, quī nōn intellegat tuā salūte continērī suam et ex ūnīus tuā vītā pendēre omnium?For who of all men is so ignorant of affairs, so inexperienced in public life, so utterly unmindful ever of his own safety or of the common safety, as not to understand that his own safety is bound up in yours and that the life of all hangs on your one life? Marc. 7.22Equidem dē tē diēs noctēsque, ut dēbeō, cōgitāns cāsūs dumtaxat hūmānōs et incertōs ēventūs valētūdinis et nātūrae commūnis fragilitātem extimēscō, doleōque, cum rēs pūblica immortālis esse dēbeat, eam in ūnīus mortālis animā cōnsistere.For my part, thinking of you day and night, as I ought, I fear only the accidents of human life, the uncertain outcomes of health and the frailty of our common nature, and I grieve that, when the commonwealth ought to be immortal, it rests on the life of one mortal man. Marc. 7.23Sī vērō ad hūmānōs cāsūs incertōsque mōtūs valētūdinis sceleris etiam accēdit īnsidiārumque cōnsēnsiō, quem deum, sī cupiat, posse opitulārī reī pūblicae crēdimus?But if to human accidents and the uncertain changes of health there is added also a conspiracy of crime and treachery, what god do we believe could help the commonwealth, even if he wished?