Ep. 3.20.1Meministīne tē saepe lēgisse, quantās contentiōnēs excitārit lēx tabellāria, quantumque ipsī lātōrī vel glōriae vel reprehēnsiōnis attulerit?Do you remember often reading what fierce disputes the ballot law aroused, and how much glory or blame it brought its proposer? Ep. 3.20.2At nunc in senātū sine ūllā dissēnsiōne hoc idem ut optimum placuit: omnēs comitiōrum diē tabellās postulāvērunt.But now in the senate this same thing has been approved without any dissent as the best course: everyone demanded ballots on election day. Ep. 3.20.3Excesserāmus sānē manifestīs illīs apertīsque suffrāgiīs licentiam contiōnum.We had certainly outdone the licence of popular assemblies with that open and undisguised voting. Ep. 3.20.3Nōn tempus loquendī, nōn tacendī modestia, nōn dēnique sedendī dignitās custōdiēbātur.Neither the time for speaking, nor the decorum of silence, nor even the dignity of remaining seated was observed. Ep. 3.20.4Magnī undique dissonīque clamōrēs, prōcurrēbant omnēs cum suīs candidātīs, multa agmina in mediō multīque circulī et indecōra cōnfūsiō;There was loud and discordant shouting on all sides, everyone rushed forward with his own candidates, there were many groups in the middle, many knots of people, and an unseemly confusion; Ep. 3.20.4adeō dēscīverāmus ā cōnsuētūdine parentum, apud quōs omnia disposita moderāta tranquilla maiestātem locī pudōremque retinēbant.so far had we departed from the custom of our fathers, among whom everything was orderly, measured and calm, and preserved the majesty and decorum of the place.
Ep. 3.20.5Supersunt senēs ex quibus audīre soleō hunc ōrdinem comitiōrum: citātō nōmine candidātī silentium summum;There are old men still living from whom I often hear that this was the procedure at elections: when the candidate's name was called, there was utter silence; Ep. 3.20.5dīcēbat ipse prō sē;he spoke for himself; Ep. 3.20.5explicābat vītam suam, testēs et laudātōrēs dabat vel eum sub quō mīlitāverat, vel eum cui quaestor fuerat, vel utrumque sī poterat;he gave an account of his life, and produced as witnesses and supporters either the man under whom he had served, or the man to whom he had been quaestor, or both if he could; Ep. 3.20.5addēbat quōsdam ex suffrāgātōribus;he added some of his backers; Ep. 3.20.5illī graviter et paucīs loquēbantur.they spoke with gravity and in few words. Ep. 3.20.5Plūs hoc quam precēs prōderat.This did more good than entreaties. Ep. 3.20.6Nōn numquam candidātus aut nātālēs competītōris aut annōs aut etiam mōrēs arguēbat.Sometimes a candidate would criticise his rival's birth, or his age, or even his character. Ep. 3.20.6Audiēbat senātus gravitāte cēnsōriā.The senate listened with the gravity of censors.
Ep. 3.20.6Ita saepius dignī quam grātiōsī praevalēbant.Thus the worthy more often prevailed than the well-connected. Ep. 3.20.7Quae nunc immodicō favōre corrupta ad tacita suffrāgia quasi ad remedium dēcucurrērunt;These practices, now corrupted by excessive partisanship, have had recourse to the secret ballot as to a remedy; Ep. 3.20.7quod interim plānē remedium fuit - erat enim novum et subitum -, sed vereor nē prōcēdente tempore ex ipsō remediō vitia nāscantur.and for the present it has clearly been a remedy — for it was new and sudden — but I fear that as time goes on faults may arise from the remedy itself. Ep. 3.20.8Est enim perīculum nē tacitīs suffrāgiīs impudentia irrēpat.For there is a danger that shamelessness may creep in with secret ballots. Ep. 3.20.8Nam quotō cuique eadem honestātis cūra sēcrētō quae palam?For how few have the same care for honour in secret as in public? Ep. 3.20.9Multī fāmam, cōnscientiam paucī verentur.Many fear their reputation, few their conscience. Ep. 3.20.9Sed nimis citō dē futūrīs: interim beneficiō tabellārum habēbimus magistrātūs, quī maximē fierī dēbuērunt.But I am speaking too soon of the future: meanwhile, thanks to the ballots, we shall have as magistrates those who most deserved to be made so.
Ep. 3.20.9Nam ut in reciperātōriīs iūdiciīs, sīc nōs in hīs comitiīs quasi repente apprehēnsī sincērī iūdicēs fuimus.For as in the courts of recuperators, so in these elections we, caught as it were by surprise, have been honest judges. Ep. 3.20.10Haec tibi scrīpsī, prīmum ut aliquid novī scrīberem, deinde ut nōn numquam dē rē pūblicā loquerer, cuius māteriae nōbīs quantō rārior quam veteribus occāsiō, tantō minus omittenda est.I have written this to you, first so as to write you some news, and secondly so as sometimes to speak about public affairs, a subject which, the rarer the opportunity for it is for us than for the ancients, the less we should let it pass. Ep. 3.20.11Et herculē quoūsque illa vulgāria?And, by Hercules, how long must we have those commonplaces? Ep. 3.20.11"Quid agis?'How are you doing? Ep. 3.20.11ecquid commodē valēs?"Are you keeping well?' Ep. 3.20.11Habeant nostrae quoque litterae aliquid nōn humile nec sordidum, nec prīvātīs rēbus inclūsum.Let our letters too have something that is not lowly or mean, nor confined to private affairs. Ep. 3.20.12Sunt quidem cūncta sub ūnīus arbitriō, quī prō ūtilitāte commūnī sōlus omnium cūrās labōrēsque suscēpit;Everything, it is true, is under the control of one man, who for the common good has alone taken upon himself the cares and labours of all; Ep. 3.20.12quīdam tamen salūbrī temperāmentō ad nōs quoque velut rīvī ex illō benignissimō fonte dēcurrunt, quōs et haurīre ipsī et absentibus amīcīs quasi ministrāre epistulīs possumus.yet by a wholesome arrangement certain streams flow down to us too, as it were, from that most generous source, which we can both drink from ourselves and, as it were, serve to absent friends by letter.
Ep. 3.20.12Valē.Farewell.