Mur. 7.1Summam videō esse in tē, Ser. Sulpicī, dignitātem generis, integritātis, industriae cēterōrumque ōrnāmentōrum omnium quibus frētum ad cōnsulātūs petītiōnem adgredī pār est.I see that in you, Servius Sulpicius, there is the highest distinction of birth, integrity, diligence and all the other qualities relying on which a man may fittingly enter on a candidature for the consulship. Mur. 7.1Paria cognōscō esse ista in Mūrēnā, atque ita paria ut neque ipse dignitāte vincī ā tē potuerit neque tē dignitāte superārit.I recognise that these qualities are equal in Murena, and so equal that neither could he have been surpassed by you in standing nor has he surpassed you in standing. Mur. 7.1Contempsistī Mūrēnae genus, extulistī tuum.You disparaged Murena's family and extolled your own. Mur. 7.1Quō locō sī tibi hoc sūmis, nisi quī patricius sit, nēminem bonō esse genere nātum, facis ut rūrsus plēbēs in Aventīnum sēvocanda esse videātur.On this point, if you assume that no one is of good birth unless he is a patrician, you make it seem that the plebs must once again secede to the Aventine. Mur. 7.1Sīn autem sunt amplae et honestae familiae plēbēiae, et proavus Mūrēnae et avus praetor fuit, et pater, cum amplissimē atque honestissimē ex praetūrā triumphāsset, hōc faciliōrem huic gradum cōnsulātūs adipīscendī relīquit quod is iam patrī dēbitus ā fīliō petēbātur.But if there are distinguished and honourable plebeian families, both Murena's great-grandfather and his grandfather were praetors, and his father, after celebrating a most splendid and honourable triumph following his praetorship, left this man an easier step to winning the consulship, because the son was seeking what was already owed to his father.
Mur. 7.16Tua vērō nōbilitās, Ser. Sulpicī, tametsī summa est, tamen hominibus litterātīs et historicīs est notior, populō vērō et suffrāgātōribus obscūrior.Your nobility, Servius Sulpicius, though it is of the highest, is better known to men of letters and antiquarians, but less known to the people and the voters. Mur. 7.16Pater enim fuit equestrī locō, avus nūllā inlūstrī laude celebrātus.For your father was of equestrian rank, your grandfather celebrated for no illustrious distinction. Mur. 7.16Itaque nōn ex sermōne hominum recentī sed ex annālium vetustāte ēruenda memoria est nōbilitātis tuae.So the record of your nobility must be dug out not from the recent talk of men but from the antiquity of the annals. Mur. 7.16Quā rē ego tē semper in nostrum numerum adgregāre soleō, quod virtūte industriāque perfēcistī ut, cum equitis Rōmānī essēs fīlius, summā tamen amplitūdine dignus putārēre.For this reason I always count you among our number, because by your merit and diligence you brought it about that, though you were the son of a Roman knight, you were nevertheless thought worthy of the highest eminence. Mur. 7.16Nec mihi umquam minus in Pompeiō, novō homine et fortissimō virō, virtūtis esse vīsum est quam in homine nōbilissimō, Aemiliō.Nor has there ever seemed to me less merit in Pompeius, a new man and a very brave one, than in that most noble man, Aemilius.
Mur. 7.16Etenim eiusdem animī atque ingenī est posterīs suīs, quod Pompeius fēcit, amplitūdinem nōminis quam nōn accēperit trādere et, ut Scaurus, memoriam prope intermortuam generis suā virtūte renovāre.Indeed, it belongs to the same spirit and talent to hand down to one's descendants, as Pompeius did, a distinguished name which one did not inherit, and, like Scaurus, to renew by one's own merit the almost extinct memory of one's family.