Ep. 4.2.1Rēgulus fīlium āmīsit, hōc ūnō malō indignus, quod nesciō an malum putet.Regulus has lost his son, the one misfortune he did not deserve, because I am not sure he thinks it a misfortune. Ep. 4.2.1Erat puer ācris ingeniī sed ambiguī, quī tamen posset rēcta sectārī, sī patrem nōn referret.The boy had a keen but uncertain character, yet one that might still have followed the right path, if he had not taken after his father. Ep. 4.2.2Hunc Rēgulus ēmancipāvit, ut hērēs mātris exsisteret;Regulus freed him from his paternal power so that he might become his mother's heir; Ep. 4.2.2mancipātum - ita vulgō ex mōribus hominis loquēbantur - foedā et īnsolitā parentibus indulgentiae simulātiōne captābat.and once the boy was 'made over to him' — so people commonly put it, judging by the man's character — he courted him for his legacy with a pretence of indulgence that was foul and unheard-of in a parent. Ep. 4.2.2Incrēdibile, sed Rēgulum cōgitā.Incredible, but think of Regulus. Ep. 4.2.3Āmissum tamen lūget īnsāne.Yet now that he has lost him he mourns like a madman.
Ep. 4.2.3Habēbat puer mannulōs multōs et iūnctōs et solūtōs, habēbat canēs maiōrēs minōrēsque, habēbat lusciniās psittacōs merulās: omnēs Rēgulus circā rogum trucīdāvit.The boy had many ponies, both in harness and unbroken, he had dogs large and small, he had nightingales, parrots, blackbirds: Regulus slaughtered them all around the pyre. Ep. 4.2.4Nec dolor erat ille, sed ostentātiō dolōris.Nor was that grief, but a display of grief. Ep. 4.2.4Convenītur ad eum mīrā celebritāte.People flock to him in astonishing numbers. Ep. 4.2.4Cūnctī dētestantur ōdērunt, et quasi probent quasi dīligant, cursant frequentant, utque breviter quod sentiō ēnūntiem, in Rēgulō dēmerendō Rēgulum imitantur.All loathe and hate him, and yet, as if they approved of him, as if they loved him, they run to him and crowd round him, and, to put what I feel in a word, in winning the favour of Regulus they imitate Regulus. Ep. 4.2.5Tenet sē trāns Tiberim in hortīs, in quibus lātissimum sōlum porticibus immēnsīs, rīpam statuīs suīs occupāvit, ut est in summā avāritiā sūmptuōsus, in summā īnfāmiā glōriōsus.He keeps himself across the Tiber in his gardens, where he has covered a vast stretch of ground with immense colonnades and the riverbank with statues of himself, for he is lavish amid the greatest avarice and vainglorious amid the greatest infamy.
Ep. 4.2.6Vexat ergō cīvitātem īnsalūberrimō tempore et, quod vexat, sōlācium putat.So he is harassing the whole city at the unhealthiest season of the year, and thinks the harassing a consolation. Ep. 4.2.6Dīcit sē velle dūcere uxōrem, hoc quoque sīcut alia perversē.He says he wants to take a wife, doing this too, like everything else, perversely. Ep. 4.2.7Audiēs brevī nūptiās lūgentis nūptiās senis;You will soon hear of the wedding of a mourner, the wedding of an old man; Ep. 4.2.7quōrum alterum immātūrum alterum sērum est.of which the one is too early, the other too late. Ep. 4.2.7Unde hoc augurer quaeris?You ask how I divine this? Ep. 4.2.8Nōn quia affirmat ipse, quō mendācius nihil est, sed quia certum est Rēgulum esse factūrum, quidquid fierī nōn oportet.Not because he says so himself, for nothing is more untruthful than he, but because it is certain that Regulus will do whatever ought not to be done. Ep. 4.2.8Valē.Farewell.