Mur. 34.1Docē mercēde;Prove it was for pay; Mur. 34.1concēdam esse crīmen.I shall grant that it is a crime. Mur. 34.70Hōc quidem remōtō quid reprendis?If this is set aside, what do you find fault with? Mur. 34.70"Quid opus est" inquit "sectātōribus?"'What need is there,' he says, 'of followers?' Mur. 34.70Ā mē tū id quaeris, quid opus sit eō quō semper ūsī sumus?Do you ask me that, what need there is of something we have always made use of? Mur. 34.70Hominēs tenuēs ūnum habent in nostrum ōrdinem aut prōmerendī aut referendī beneficī locum, hanc in nostrīs petītiōnibus operam atque adsectātiōnem.Men of slender means have only one opportunity either of earning a kindness from our order or of repaying one: this service and attendance on us in our candidacies. Mur. 34.70Neque enim fierī potest neque postulandum est ā nōbīs aut ab equitibus Rōmānīs ut suōs necessāriōs candidātōs adsectentur tōtōs diēs;For it is neither possible nor to be demanded of us or of the Roman knights that they should attend their friends who are candidates for whole days on end; Mur. 34.70ā quibus sī domus nostra celebrātur, sī interdum ad forum dēdūcimur, sī ūnō basilicae spatiō honestāmur, dīligenter observārī vidēmur et colī;if our house is thronged by them, if we are sometimes escorted by them to the forum, if we are honoured by their company for one length of the basilica, we seem to be diligently attended and courted; Mur. 34.70tenuiōrum amīcōrum et nōn occupātōrum est ista adsiduitās, quōrum cōpia bonīs virīs et beneficīs dēesse nōn solet.that constant attendance belongs to poorer friends who are not busy, of whom good and generous men usually have no lack.
Mur. 34.71Nōlī igitur ēripere hunc īnferiōrī generī hominum frūctum officī, Catō;Do not, then, snatch from the humbler class of men this reward for their service, Cato; Mur. 34.71sine eōs quī omnia ā nōbīs spērant habēre ipsōs quoque aliquid quod nōbīs tribuere possint.allow those who hope for everything from us to have something themselves which they can give to us. Mur. 34.71Sī nihil erit praeter ipsōrum suffrāgium, tenuēs, etsī suffrāgantur, nīl valent grātiā.If they have nothing but their own vote, the poor, even when they vote, have no influence. Mur. 34.71Ipsī dēnique, ut solent loquī, nōn dīcere prō nōbīs, nōn spondēre, nōn vocāre domum suam possunt.Finally, they themselves, as they are accustomed to say, cannot plead for us, cannot stand surety for us, cannot invite us to their homes. Mur. 34.71Atque haec ā nōbīs petunt omnia neque ūllā rē aliā quae ā nōbīs cōnsequuntur nisi operā suā compēnsārī putant posse.And they ask all these things of us, and think that what they obtain from us can be repaid by nothing else but their service. Mur. 34.71Itaque et lēgī Fabiae quae est dē numerō sectātōrum, et senātūs cōnsultō quod est Caesare cōnsule factum restitērunt.And so they resisted both the Fabian law, which concerns the number of followers, and the decree of the senate which was passed in the consulship of Caesar.
Mur. 34.71Nūlla est enim poena quae possit observantiam tenuiōrum ab hōc vetere īnstitūtō officiōrum exclūdere.For there is no penalty which could shut out the attentiveness of the poorer from this old custom of service. Mur. 34.72At spectācula sunt tribūtim data et ad prandium volgō vocātī.But shows were given by tribes and people were invited to lunch generally. Mur. 34.72Etsī hoc factum ā Mūrēnā omnīnō, iūdicēs, nōn est, ab eius amīcīs autem mōre et modō factum est, tamen admonitus rē ipsā recordor quantum hae conquestiōnēs in senātū habitae punctōrum nōbīs, Servī, dētrāxerint.Although this was not done by Murena at all, judges, but was done by his friends according to custom and within measure, still, reminded by the matter itself, I recall how many votes these complaints made in the senate cost us, Servius. Mur. 34.72Quod enim tempus fuit aut nostrā aut patrum nostrōrum memoriā quō haec sīve ambitiō est sīve līberālitās nōn fuerit ut locus et in circō et in forō darētur amīcīs et tribūlibus?For what time has there been, within our memory or our fathers', when this practice — whether it is bribery or generosity — did not exist, that a place both in the circus and in the forum should be given to friends and fellow tribesmen?
Mur. 34.72Haec hominēs tenuiōrēs praemia commodaque ā suīs tribūlibus vetere īnstitūtō adsequēbanturThese rewards and advantages men of humbler standing used to obtain from their own fellow tribesmen by long-established custom