Mur. 36.1Quā rē nōlī, Catō, maiōrum īnstitūta quae rēs ipsa, quae diūturnitās imperī comprobat nimium sevērā ōrātiōne reprehendere.Therefore, Cato, do not censure with too severe a speech the institutions of our ancestors, which experience itself and the long duration of our empire approve. Mur. 36.1Fuit eōdem ex studiō vir ērudītus apud patrēs nostrōs et honestus homō et nōbilis, Tūberō.There was in our fathers' time a learned man of this same school, an honourable and noble man, Tubero. Mur. 36.1Is, cum epulum Maximus Āfricānī, patruī suī, nōmine populō Rōmānō daret, rogātus est ā Maximō ut triclīnium sterneret, cum esset Tūberō eiusdem Āfricānī sorōris fīlius.When Maximus was giving a public banquet to the Roman people in the name of Africanus, his uncle, Tubero was asked by Maximus to spread the dining couches, since Tubero was the son of the same Africanus's sister. Mur. 36.1Atque ille, homō ērudītissimus ac Stōicus, strāvit pelliculīs haedīnīs lectulōs Pūnicānōs et exposuit vāsa Samia, quasi vērō esset Diogenēs Cynicus mortuus et nōn dīvīnī hominis Āfricānī mors honestārētur;And he, a most learned man and a Stoic, spread Punic couches with goatskins and set out Samian pottery, as if it were Diogenes the Cynic who had died, and not the death of the godlike Africanus that was being honoured; Mur. 36.1quem cum suprēmō eius diē Maximus laudāret, grātiās ēgit dīs immortālibus quod ille vir in hāc rē pūblicā potissimum nātus esset;of whom Maximus, when he delivered his eulogy on his funeral day, gave thanks to the immortal gods that that man had been born in this state above all others; Mur. 36.1necesse enim fuisse ibi esse terrārum imperium ubi ille esset.for the empire of the world must needs be where he was.
Mur. 36.1Huius in morte celebrandā graviter tulit populus Rōmānus hanc perversam sapientiam Tūberōnis, itaque homō integerrimus, cīvis optimus, cum esset Paulī nepōs, Āfricānī, ut dīxī, sorōris fīlius, hīs haedīnīs pelliculīs praetūrā dēiectus est.At the celebration of his funeral the Roman people resented this perverse wisdom of Tubero's, and so a most upright man and an excellent citizen, though he was the grandson of Paullus and, as I said, the son of Africanus's sister, was cast down from the praetorship by those goatskins. Mur. 36.76Ōdit populus Rōmānus prīvātam luxuriam, pūblicam magnificentiam dīligit;The Roman people hates private luxury but loves public magnificence; Mur. 36.76nōn amat profūsās epulās, sordīs et inhūmānitātem multō minus;it does not like lavish banquets, still less meanness and boorishness; Mur. 36.76distinguit ratiōnem officiōrum ac temporum, vicissitūdinem labōris ac voluptātis.it distinguishes the claims of duties and occasions, the alternation of toil and pleasure. Mur. 36.76Nam quod ais nūllā rē adlicī hominum mentīs oportēre ad magistrātum mandandum nisi dignitāte, hoc tū ipse in quō summa est dignitās nōn servās.For as to your saying that men's minds ought to be drawn to entrusting a magistracy by nothing except merit, you yourself, in whom merit is supreme, do not observe this.
Mur. 36.76Cūr enim quemquam ut studeat tibi, ut tē adiuvet rogās?For why do you ask anyone to support you, to help you? Mur. 36.76Rogās tū mē ut mihi praesīs, ut committam ego mē tibi.You ask me to make you my superior, to entrust myself to you. Mur. 36.76Quid tandem?What, pray? Mur. 36.76istuc mē rogārī oportet abs tē, an tē potius ā mē ut prō meā salūte labōrem perīculumque suscipiās?ought I to be asked this by you, or rather you by me, to undertake toil and danger for my safety? Mur. 36.77Quid quod habēs nōmenclātōrem?What of the fact that you have a nomenclator? Mur. 36.77in eō quidem fallis et dēcipis.in this indeed you cheat and deceive. Mur. 36.77Nam, sī nōmine appellārī abs tē cīvīs tuōs honestum est, turpe est eōs notiōrēs esse servō tuō quam tibi.For if it is honourable for your fellow citizens to be called by name by you, it is shameful that they should be better known to your slave than to you. Mur. 36.77Sīn iam nōris, tamennē per monitōrem appellandī sunt cum petis, quasi incertus sīs?But if you already know them, must they still be addressed through a prompter when you canvass, as if you were unsure?
Mur. 36.77Quid quod, cum admonēris, tamen, quasi tūte nōris, ita salūtās?What of the fact that, when you have been prompted, you nonetheless greet them as if you knew them yourself? Mur. 36.77Quid, posteā quam es dēsignātus, multō salūtās neglegentius?What of the fact that after you have been elected you greet them much more carelessly? Mur. 36.77Haec omnia ad ratiōnem cīvitātis sī dērigās, rēcta sunt;All these things, if you measure them by the usage of the state, are right; Mur. 36.77sīn perpendere ad disciplīnae praecepta velīs, reperiantur prāvissima.but if you choose to weigh them by the precepts of your school, they would be found utterly wrong. Mur. 36.77Quā rē nec plēbī Rōmānae ēripiendī frūctūs istī sunt lūdōrum, gladiātōrum, convīviōrum, quae omnia maiōrēs nostrī comparāvērunt, nec candidātīs ista benignitās adimenda est quae līberālitātem magis significat quam largītiōnem.Therefore neither should the Roman plebs be robbed of those enjoyments of games, gladiators and banquets, all of which our ancestors established, nor should candidates be deprived of that kindness which signifies generosity rather than bribery.