Ep. 3.4.1Quamvīs et amīcī quōs praesentēs habēbam, et sermōnēs hominum factum meum comprobāsse videantur, magnī tamen aestimō scīre quid sentiās tū.Although both the friends I had with me and the talk of people seem to have approved what I did, I still set great store by knowing what you think. Ep. 3.4.2Nam cuius integrā rē cōnsilium exquīrere optāssem, huius etiam perāctā iūdicium nōsse mīrē concupīscō.For I am wonderfully eager to learn, now that the matter is done, the verdict of the man whose advice I would have wished to seek while it was still undecided. Ep. 3.4.2Cum pūblicum opus meā pecūniā incohātūrus in Tuscōs excucurrissem, acceptō ut praefectus aerārī commeātū, lēgātī prōvinciae Baeticae, questūrī dē prōcōnsulātū Caecilī Classicī, advocātum mē ā senātū petīvērunt.When I had hurried off to my Tuscan estate to begin a public building at my own expense, having obtained leave as prefect of the treasury, envoys from the province of Baetica, intending to complain of the proconsulship of Caecilius Classicus, asked the senate for me as their advocate.
Ep. 3.4.3Collēgae optimī meīque amantissimī, dē commūnis officiī necessitātibus praelocūtī, excūsāre mē et eximere temptārunt.My excellent colleagues, who are most devoted to me, spoke first of the demands of our joint office and tried to excuse and exempt me. Ep. 3.4.3Factum est senātūs cōnsultum perquam honōrificum, ut darer prōvinciālibus patrōnus sī ab ipsō mē impetrāssent.A decree of the senate was passed, most complimentary to me, that I should be given to the provincials as their patron if they obtained my consent from me myself. Ep. 3.4.4Lēgātī rūrsus inductī iterum mē iam praesentem advocātum postulāvērunt, implōrantēs fidem meam quam essent contrā Massam Baebium expertī, allēgantēs patrōcinī foedus.The envoys, brought in again, once more demanded me as their advocate, now that I was present, appealing to my good faith, which they had experienced against Massa Baebius, and pleading the bond of patronage. Ep. 3.4.4Secūta est senātūs clārissima assēnsiō, quae solet dēcrēta praecurrere.There followed the senate's loud assent, which usually runs ahead of its decrees. Ep. 3.4.4Tum ego "Dēsinō" inquam, "patrēs cōnscrīptī, putāre mē iūstās excūsātiōnis causās attulisse."Then I said: 'I cease, conscript fathers, to think that I have put forward just grounds for being excused.' Ep. 3.4.4Placuit et modestia sermōnis et ratiō.Both the modesty of the remark and its reasoning gave pleasure.
Ep. 3.4.5Compulit autem mē ad hoc cōnsilium nōn sōlum cōnsēnsus senātūs, quamquam hic maximē, vērum et aliī quīdam minōrēs, sed tamen numerī.I was driven to this decision, moreover, not only by the agreement of the senate, though by this most of all, but also by certain other considerations, lesser ones but still of weight. Ep. 3.4.5Veniēbat in mentem priōrēs nostrōs etiam singulōrum hospitum iniūriās voluntāriīs accūsātiōnibus exsecūtōs, quō dēfōrmius arbitrābar pūblicī hospitiī iūra neglegere.It came into my mind that our forefathers had pursued by voluntary prosecutions the wrongs done even to individual guest-friends, and so I thought it all the more disgraceful to neglect the rights of public hospitality. Ep. 3.4.6Praetereā cum recordārer, quanta prō īsdem Baeticīs superiōre advocātiōne etiam perīcula subīssem, cōnservandum veteris officiī meritum novō vidēbātur.Besides, when I recalled what dangers I had even undergone for these same Baeticans in my previous advocacy, it seemed that the merit of the old service should be preserved by a new one. Ep. 3.4.6Est enim ita comparātum ut antīquiōra beneficia subvertās, nisi illa posteriōribus cumulēs.For things are so ordered that you overturn earlier kindnesses unless you crown them with later ones.
Ep. 3.4.6Nam quamlibet saepe obligātī, sī quid ūnum negēs, hoc sōlum meminērunt quod negātum est.For however often people have been obliged, if you refuse them one thing, they remember only what was refused. Ep. 3.4.7Dūcēbar etiam quod dēcesserat Classicus, āmōtumque erat quod in eiusmodī causīs solet esse trīstissimum, perīculum senātōris.I was also influenced by the fact that Classicus had died, and what is usually the grimmest thing in cases of this kind, danger to a senator, had been removed. Ep. 3.4.7Vidēbam ergō advocātiōnī meae nōn minōrem grātiam quam sī vīveret ille prōpositam, invidiam nūllam.I saw, then, that no less gratitude was in store for my advocacy than if he had been alive, and no ill will. Ep. 3.4.8In summā computābam, sī mūnere hōc iam tertiō fungerer, faciliōrem mihi excūsātiōnem fore, sī quis incidisset, quem nōn dēbērem accūsāre.In sum, I reckoned that if I performed this duty now for the third time, it would be easier for me to be excused if anyone should turn up whom I ought not to prosecute. Ep. 3.4.8Nam cum est omnium officiōrum fīnis aliquis, tum optimē lībertātī venia obsequiō praeparātur.For while there is some limit to all duties, freedom is best prepared for by earning indulgence through compliance.
Ep. 3.4.9Audīstī cōnsiliī meī mōtūs: superest alterutrā ex parte iūdicium tuum, in quō mihi aequē iūcunda erit simplicitās dissentientis quam comprobantis auctōritās.You have heard the motives for my decision: it remains for you to give your judgement one way or the other, and in it the frankness of disagreement will be as welcome to me as the authority of approval. Ep. 3.4.9Valē.Farewell.