Mur. 27.1Sed pauca quae meum animum repente mōvērunt prius dē Mūrēnae fortūnā conquerar.But first I shall briefly lament Murena's fortune, a few points that have suddenly stirred my feelings. Mur. 27.1Nam cum saepe anteā, iūdicēs, et ex aliōrum miseriīs et ex meīs cūrīs labōribusque cōtīdiānīs fortūnātōs eōs hominēs iūdicārem quī remōtī ā studiīs ambitiōnis ōtium ac tranquillitātem vītae secūtī sunt, tum vērō in hīs Mūrēnae tantīs tamque imprōvīsīs perīculīs ita sum animō adfectus ut nōn queam satis neque commūnem omnium nostrum condiciōnem neque huius ēventum fortūnamque miserārī.For though I have often before, judges, both from the miseries of others and from my own daily cares and labours, judged those men fortunate who, far removed from the pursuits of ambition, have followed a life of leisure and tranquillity, yet in these great and unforeseen dangers of Murena I am so affected that I cannot sufficiently pity either the common condition of all of us or this man's outcome and fortune. Mur. 27.1Quī prīmum, dum ex honōribus continuīs familiae maiōrumque suōrum ūnum ascendere gradum dignitātis cōnātus est, vēnit in perīculum nē et ea quae eī relicta, et haec quae ab ipsō parta sunt āmittat, deinde propter studium novae laudis etiam in veteris fortūnae discrīmen addūcitur.First, while he tried to climb one step of rank above the unbroken line of offices of his family and ancestors, he came into danger of losing both what was left to him and what he has gained himself; then, because of his eagerness for new distinction, he is brought into jeopardy even of his old fortune.
Mur. 27.56Quae cum sunt gravia, iūdicēs, tum illud acerbissimum est quod habet eōs accūsātōrēs, nōn quī odiō inimīcitiārum ad accūsandum, sed quī studiō accūsandī ad inimīcitiās dēscenderint.Grievous as these things are, judges, this is the bitterest of all, that he has as accusers men who have come down not from the hatred of enmity to accusation, but from eagerness to accuse to enmity. Mur. 27.56Nam ut omittam Servium Sulpicium quem intellegō nōn iniūriā Mūrēnae sed honōris contentiōne permōtum, accūsat paternus amīcus, Postumus, vetus, ut ait ipse, vīcīnus ac necessārius, quī necessitūdinis causās complūrīs prōtulit, simultātis nūllam commemorāre potuit.For, to pass over Servius Sulpicius, who I understand was moved not by any wrong done him by Murena but by the contest for office, he is accused by a friend of his father's, Postumus, an old neighbour and close friend, as he says himself, who has brought forward several grounds of friendship but could mention no ground of quarrel. Mur. 27.56Accūsat Ser. Sulpicius, sodālis fīlius, cuius ingeniō paternī omnēs necessāriī mūnītiōrēs esse dēbēbant.He is accused by Servius Sulpicius, the son of his old comrade, by whose talent all his father's friends ought to be the better protected.
Mur. 27.56Accūsat Catō quī cum ā Mūrēnā nūllā rē umquam aliēnus fuit, tum eā condiciōne nōbīs erat in hāc cīvitāte nātus ut eius opēs, ut ingenium praesidiō multīs etiam aliēnīs, exitiō vix cuiquam inimīcō esse dēbēret.He is accused by Cato, who not only has never been estranged from Murena in anything, but was born among us in this state on such terms that his wealth and his talent ought to serve as a protection to many, even strangers, and as destruction to scarcely anyone, even an enemy. Mur. 27.57Respondēbō igitur Postumō prīmum quī nesciō quō pactō mihi vidētur praetōrius candidātus in cōnsulārem quasi dēsultōrius in quadrīgārum curriculum incurrere.I shall reply first, then, to Postumus, who somehow seems to me, though a candidate for the praetorship, to be charging into the consular race like a trick rider into the course of the four-horse chariots. Mur. 27.57Cuius competītōrēs sī nihil dēlīquērunt, dignitātī eōrum concessit, cum petere dēstitit;If his rivals did no wrong, he yielded to their merit when he gave up his candidacy; Mur. 27.57sīn autem eōrum aliquis largītus est, expetendus amīcus est quī aliēnam potius iniūriam quam suam persequātur.but if any of them gave bribes, he is a friend worth seeking, who would pursue another's wrong rather than his own.
Mur. 27.57"Dē Postumī crīminibus, dē Servī adulēscentis."'On the charges of Postumus; on those of the young Servius.'