Mur. 17.1At enim in praetūrae petītiōne prior renūntiātus est Servius.But, you say, in the contest for the praetorship Servius was declared elected first. Mur. 17.1Pergitisne vōs tamquam ex syngraphā agere cum populō ut, quem locum semel honōris cuipiam dederit, eundem in reliquīs honōribus dēbeat?Are you going on to deal with the people as if under a written bond, so that whatever place in office it has once given to someone, it owes him the same place in all the remaining offices? Mur. 17.1Quod enim fretum, quem Eurīpum tot mōtūs, tantās, tam variās habēre putātis agitātiōnēs commūtātiōnēsque flūctuum, quantās perturbātiōnēs et quantōs aestūs habet ratiō comitiōrum?For what strait, what Euripus, do you think has so many movements, such great and such varied surges and shifts of the waves, as there are upheavals and tides in the workings of the elections? Mur. 17.1Diēs intermissus aut nox interposita saepe perturbat omnia, et tōtam opīniōnem parva nōn numquam commūtat aura rūmōris.A single day's interval or the coming of one night often throws everything into confusion, and sometimes a slight breath of rumour changes the whole of opinion.
Mur. 17.1Saepe etiam sine ūllā apertā causā fit aliud atque exīstimārīs, ut nōn numquam ita factum esse etiam populus admīrētur, quasi vērō nōn ipse fēcerit.Often, too, without any evident cause, something happens other than you had expected, so that sometimes even the people itself wonders that it happened so, as if it had not done it itself. Mur. 17.36Nihil est incertius volgō, nihil obscūrius voluntāte hominum, nihil fallācius ratiōne tōtā comitiōrum.Nothing is more uncertain than the crowd, nothing more obscure than men's inclinations, nothing more deceptive than the whole workings of the elections. Mur. 17.36Quis Philippum summō ingeniō, operā, grātiā, nōbilitāte ā Herenniō superārī posse arbitrātus est?Who thought that Philippus, with his supreme talent, effort, influence and nobility, could be beaten by Herennius? Mur. 17.36quis Catulum hūmānitāte, sapientiā, integritāte antecellentem ā Malliō?who thought that Catulus, outstanding in culture, wisdom and integrity, could be beaten by Mallius? Mur. 17.36quis Scaurum, hominem gravissimum, cīvem ēgregium, fortissimum senātōrem, ā Maximō?who thought that Scaurus, a man of the greatest weight, an excellent citizen, a most courageous senator, could be beaten by Maximus?
Mur. 17.36Nōn modo hōrum nihil ita fore putātum est sed, nē cum esset factum quidem, quā rē ita factum esset intellegī potuit.Not only was none of these outcomes expected, but even when it had happened, no one could understand why it had happened so. Mur. 17.36Nam, ut tempestātēs saepe certō aliquō caelī signō commoventur, saepe imprōvīsō nūllā ex certā ratiōne obscūrā aliquā ex causā concitantur, sīc in hāc comitiōrum tempestāte populārī saepe intellegās quō signō commōta sit, saepe ita obscūra causa est ut cāsū excitāta esse videātur.For just as storms are often stirred up by some definite sign in the sky, but often arise unexpectedly, for no definite reason, from some obscure cause, so in this popular storm of the elections you may often understand by what sign it was stirred, but often its cause is so obscure that it seems to have been roused by chance.