Ep. 2.1.1Post aliquot annōs īnsigne atque etiam memorābile populī Rōmānī oculīs spectāculum exhibuit pūblicum fūnus Verginī Rūfī, maximī et clārissimī cīvis, perinde fēlīcis.After an interval of some years the public funeral of Verginius Rufus, a very great and very distinguished citizen, and no less fortunate, presented a notable and indeed memorable spectacle to the eyes of the Roman people. Ep. 2.1.2Trīgintā annīs glōriae suae supervīxit;He outlived his own glory by thirty years; Ep. 2.1.2lēgit scrīpta dē sē carmina, lēgit historiās et posteritātī suae interfuit.he read poems written about himself, he read histories, and he was present at his own posterity. Ep. 2.1.2Perfūnctus est tertiō cōnsulātū, ut summum fastīgium prīvātī hominis implēret, cum prīncipis nōluisset.He held a third consulship, so that he might reach the highest summit possible for a private man, since he had refused that of an emperor. Ep. 2.1.3Caesarēs quibus suspectus atque etiam invīsus virtūtibus fuerat ēvāsit, relīquit incolumem optimum atque amīcissimum, tamquam ad hunc ipsum honōrem pūblicī fūneris reservātus.He escaped the Caesars to whom his virtues had made him suspect and even hateful, and he left behind him in safety the best and friendliest of them, as though he had been kept in reserve for this very honour of a public funeral.
Ep. 2.1.4Annum tertium et octōgēnsimum excessit in altissimā tranquillitāte, parī venerātiōne.He passed his eighty-third year in the deepest tranquillity, and with equal veneration. Ep. 2.1.4Ūsus est firmā valētūdine, nisi quod solēbant eī manūs tremere, citrā dolōrem tamen.He enjoyed sound health, except that his hands used to tremble, though without pain. Ep. 2.1.4Aditus tantum mortis dūrior longiorque, sed hic ipse laudābilis.Only the approach of death was harsher and more drawn out, but even this was praiseworthy. Ep. 2.1.5Nam cum vōcem praeparāret āctūrus in cōnsulātū prīncipī grātiās, liber quem forte accēperat grandiōrem, et senī et stantī ipsō pondere ēlāpsus est.For while he was practising his voice, as he was about to give thanks to the emperor in his consulship, a book that he happened to have taken up, a rather large one, slipped from him by its very weight, since he was both old and standing. Ep. 2.1.5Hunc dum sequitur colligitque, per leve et lūbricum pavīmentum fallente vestīgiō cecidit coxamque frēgit, quae parum aptē collocāta reluctante aetāte male coiit.While he followed it and gathered it up, his foot gave way on the smooth and slippery floor; he fell and broke his hip, which was set badly and, as his age resisted, knit poorly.
Ep. 2.1.6Huius virī exsequiae magnum ōrnāmentum prīncipī magnum saeculō magnum etiam forō et rōstrīs attulērunt.This man's funeral brought great distinction to the emperor, great distinction to the age, great distinction also to the forum and the Rostra. Ep. 2.1.6Laudātus est ā cōnsule Cornēliō Tacitō;He was praised in the funeral speech by the consul Cornelius Tacitus; Ep. 2.1.6nam hic suprēmus fēlīcitātī eius cumulus accessit, laudātor ēloquentissimus.for this crowning addition came last to his good fortune, a most eloquent eulogist. Ep. 2.1.7Et ille quidem plēnus annīs abit, plēnus honōribus, illīs etiam quōs recūsāvit: nōbīs tamen quaerendus ac dēsīderandus est ut exemplar aevī priōris, mihi vērō praecipuē, quī illum nōn sōlum pūblicē quantum admīrābar tantum dīligēbam;And he, indeed, departs full of years, full of honours, even those which he refused; yet we must seek and miss him as a model of an earlier age, and I above all, who loved him not only in public life as much as I admired him; Ep. 2.1.8prīmum quod utrīque eadem regiō, mūnicipia fīnitima, agrī etiam possessiōnēsque coniūnctae, praetereā quod ille mihi tūtor relictus affectum parentis exhibuit.first because we both had the same region, neighbouring towns, and adjoining fields and estates as well, and besides because, left to me as my guardian, he showed me a parent's affection.
Ep. 2.1.8Sīc candidātum mē suffrāgiō ōrnāvit;So he honoured me with his vote when I was a candidate; Ep. 2.1.8sīc ad omnēs honōrēs meōs ex sēcessibus accucurrit, cum iam prīdem eiusmodī officiīs renūntiāsset;so he hastened from his retreats to all my entries into office, though he had long since given up duties of that kind; Ep. 2.1.8sīc illō diē quō sacerdōtēs solent nōmināre quōs dignissimōs sacerdōtiō iūdicant, mē semper nōminābat.so on the day when the priests customarily nominate those whom they judge most worthy of the priesthood, he always nominated me. Ep. 2.1.9Quīn etiam in hāc novissimā valētūdine, veritus nē forte inter quīnquevirōs creārētur, quī minuendīs pūblicīs sūmptibus iūdiciō senātūs cōnstituēbantur, cum illī tot amīcī senēs cōnsulārēsque superessent, mē huius aetātis per quem excūsārētur ēlēgit, hīs quidem verbīs: "Etiam sī fīlium habērem, tibi mandārem."Even in this last illness, fearing that he might be appointed one of the five commissioners who were being set up by decree of the senate to reduce public expenditure, he chose me, young as I am, to make his excuses, although he had so many elderly friends of consular rank still living, and in these words: 'Even if I had a son, I would entrust this to you.' Ep. 2.1.10Quibus ex causīs necesse est tamquam immātūram mortem eius in sinū tuō dēfleam, sī tamen fās est aut flēre aut omnīnō mortem vocāre, quā tantī virī mortālitās magis fīnīta quam vīta est.For these reasons I must weep for his death in your bosom as though it were untimely, if indeed it is right either to weep or to call it death at all, by which the mortality of so great a man has been ended rather than his life.
Ep. 2.1.11Vīvit enim vīvetque semper, atque etiam lātius in memoriā hominum et sermōne versābitur, postquam ab oculīs recessit.For he lives and will live for ever, and will move even more widely in the memory and talk of men, now that he has passed from their sight. Ep. 2.1.12Volō tibi multa alia scrībere, sed tōtus animus in hāc ūnā contemplātiōne dēfīxus est.I wish to write you much else, but my whole mind is fixed on this one contemplation. Ep. 2.1.12Verginium cōgitō, Verginium videō, Verginium iam vānīs imāginibus, recentibus tamen, audiō alloquor teneō;Verginius I think of, Verginius I see, Verginius, in images now empty yet still fresh, I hear, I address, I hold; Ep. 2.1.12cui fortasse cīvēs aliquōs virtūtibus parēs et habēmus et habēbimus, glōriā nēminem.and perhaps we have, and shall have, some citizens equal to him in virtue, but none in glory. Ep. 2.1.12Valē.Farewell.