Ep. 4.22.1Interfuī prīncipis optimī cognitiōnī in cōnsilium assūmptus.I was present at a hearing held by our excellent emperor, having been called in as one of his advisers. Ep. 4.22.1Gymnicus agōn apud Viennēnsēs ex cuiusdam testāmentō celebrātur.Athletic games are held at Vienne under the terms of someone's will. Ep. 4.22.1Hunc Trebōnius Rūfīnus, vir ēgregius nōbīsque amīcus, in duumvirātū tollendum abolendumque cūrāvit.Trebonius Rufinus, an excellent man and a friend of mine, had them stopped and abolished during his term as duumvir. Ep. 4.22.2Negābātur ex auctōritāte pūblicā fēcisse.It was alleged that he had done so without public authority. Ep. 4.22.2Ēgit ipse causam nōn minus fēlīciter quam disertē.He pleaded his own case, no less successfully than eloquently. Ep. 4.22.2Commendābat āctiōnem, quod tamquam homō Rōmānus et bonus cīvis in negōtiō suō mātūrē et graviter loquēbātur.His speech was commended by the fact that, like a Roman and a good citizen, he spoke in his own affair with maturity and gravity. Ep. 4.22.3Cum sententiae perrogārentur, dīxit Iūnius Mauricus, quō virō nihil firmius nihil vērius, nōn esse restituendum Viennēnsibus agōna;When opinions were being asked in turn, Junius Mauricus, than whom no man is firmer or more truthful, said that the games should not be restored to the people of Vienne; Ep. 4.22.3adiēcit "Vellem etiam Rōmae tollī posset."he added: 'I wish they could be abolished at Rome too.' Ep. 4.22.4Cōnstanter, inquis, et fortiter;Firmly, you say, and bravely; Ep. 4.22.4quidnī?why not?
Ep. 4.22.4sed hoc ā Mauricō novum nōn est.but this is nothing new from Mauricus. Ep. 4.22.4Īdem apud imperātōrem Nervam nōn minus fortiter.He spoke no less bravely before the emperor Nerva. Ep. 4.22.4Cēnābat Nerva cum paucīs;Nerva was dining with a few friends; Ep. 4.22.4Veientō proximus atque etiam in sinū recumbēbat: dīxī omnia cum hominem nōmināvī.Veiento was next to him and even reclining on his breast: I have said everything when I have named the man. Ep. 4.22.5Incidit sermō dē Catullō Messālīnō, quī lūminibus orbātus ingeniō saevō mala caecitātis addiderat: nōn verēbātur, nōn ērubēscēbat, nōn miserēbātur;The conversation turned to Catullus Messalinus, who, deprived of his sight, had added to the evils of blindness a savage temperament: he felt no fear, no shame, no pity; Ep. 4.22.5quō saepius ā Domitiānō nōn secus ac tēla, quae et ipsa caeca et imprōvida feruntur, in optimum quemque contorquēbātur.and for that reason he was hurled by Domitian all the more often against every good man, just like weapons, which themselves are also flung blind and heedless. Ep. 4.22.6Dē huius nēquitiā sanguināriīsque sententiīs in commūne omnēs super cēnam loquēbantur, cum ipse imperātor: "Quid putāmus passūrum fuisse sī vīveret?"Everyone at dinner was talking together of his wickedness and his bloodthirsty proposals, when the emperor himself said: 'What do we think would have happened to him if he were alive?' Ep. 4.22.6Et Mauricus: "Nōbīscum cēnāret."And Mauricus said: 'He would be dining with us.' Ep. 4.22.7Longius abiī, libēns tamen.I have digressed rather far, but gladly.
Ep. 4.22.7Placuit agōna tollī, quī mōrēs Viennēnsium īnfēcerat, ut noster hic omnium.It was decided that the games should be abolished, which had corrupted the morals of the people of Vienne, as ours here corrupt the morals of all. Ep. 4.22.7Nam Viennēnsium vitia intrā ipsōs resīdunt, nostra lātē vagantur, utque in corporibus sīc in imperiō gravissimus est morbus, quī ā capite diffunditur.For the vices of the people of Vienne stay among themselves, ours spread far and wide, and as in bodies so in an empire the most serious disease is the one that spreads from the head. Ep. 4.22.7Valē.Farewell.