Ep. 5.14.1Sēcesseram in mūnicipium, cum mihi nūntiātum est Cornūtum Tertullum accēpisse Aemiliae viae cūram.I had withdrawn to my home town when news reached me that Cornutus Tertullus had been given charge of the Aemilian Way. Ep. 5.14.2Exprimere nōn possum, quantō sim gaudiō affectus, et ipsīus et meō nōmine: ipsīus quod, sit licet - sīcut est - ab omnī ambitiōne longē remōtus, dēbet tamen eī iūcundus honor esse ultrō datus, meō quod aliquantō magis mē dēlectat mandātum mihi officium, postquam pār Cornūtō datum videō.I cannot express how glad I was, both on his account and on my own: on his because, though he is — as indeed he is — far removed from all ambition, still an honour given unasked must be pleasant to him; on mine because the office entrusted to me pleases me rather more now that I see an equal one given to Cornutus. Ep. 5.14.3Neque enim augērī dignitāte quam aequārī bonīs grātius.For it is not more gratifying to be raised in rank than to be put on a level with good men. Ep. 5.14.3Cornūtō autem quid melius, quid sānctius, quid in omnī genere laudis ad exemplar antīquitātis expressius?And what is better than Cornutus, what more upright, what more closely modelled on the pattern of antiquity in every kind of merit?
Ep. 5.14.3quod mihi cognitum est nōn fāmā, quā aliōquī optimā et meritissimā fruitur, sed longīs magnīsque experīmentīs.which I know not from report, though he enjoys an excellent and well-deserved one, but from long and great experience. Ep. 5.14.4Ūnā dīligimus, ūnā dīlēximus omnēs ferē quōs aetās nostra in utrōque sexū aemulandōs tulit;Together we love, and together we have loved, nearly all those of either sex whom our age has produced as worthy of imitation; Ep. 5.14.4quae societās amīcitiārum artissimā nōs familiāritāte coniūnxit.and this sharing of friendships has joined us in the closest intimacy. Ep. 5.14.5Accessit vinculum necessitūdinis pūblicae;There was added the bond of a public connection; Ep. 5.14.5īdem enim mihi, ut scīs, collēga quasi vōtō petītus in praefectūrā aerāriī fuit, fuit et in cōnsulātū.for he was, as you know, my colleague, almost as if I had prayed for him, in the prefecture of the treasury, and again in the consulship. Ep. 5.14.5Tum ego quī vir et quantus esset altissimē īnspēxī, cum sequerer ut magistrum, ut parentem verērer, quod nōn tam aetātis mātūritāte quam vītae merēbātur.Then I saw most deeply what sort of man he was and how great, as I followed him as a master and revered him as a parent, which he deserved not so much for his ripeness of years as for his life.
Ep. 5.14.6Hīs ex causīs ut illī sīc mihi grātulor, nec prīvātim magis quam pūblicē, quod tandem hominēs nōn ad perīcula ut prius vērum ad honōrēs virtūte perveniunt.For these reasons I congratulate myself as much as him, and no more privately than publicly, that at last men arrive through virtue not at dangers, as before, but at honours. Ep. 5.14.7In īnfīnītum epistulam extendam, sī gaudiō meō indulgeam.I would extend this letter without end if I were to indulge my joy. Ep. 5.14.7Praevertor ad ea, quae mē agentem hic nūntius dēprehendit.I turn instead to what I was doing when this news caught me. Ep. 5.14.8Eram cum prosocerō meō, eram cum amita uxōris, eram cum amīcīs diū dēsīderātīs, circumībam agellōs, audiēbam multum rūsticārum querellārum, ratiōnēs legēbam invītus et cursim - aliīs enim chartīs, aliīs sum litterīs initiātus -, coeperam etiam itinerī mē praeparāre.I was with my wife's grandfather, I was with my wife's aunt, I was with friends I had long missed, I was going round my little farms, listening to a great many rustic complaints, reading accounts unwillingly and hastily — for I have been initiated into other papers, other letters — and I had even begun to prepare for my journey.
Ep. 5.14.9Nam inclūdor angustiīs commeātūs, eōque ipsō, quod dēlēgātum Cornūtō audiō officium, meī admoneor.For I am hemmed in by the narrow limits of my leave, and the very news that the office has been assigned to Cornutus reminds me of my own. Ep. 5.14.9Cupiō tē quoque sub idem tempus Campānia tua remittat, nē quis cum in urbem redierō, contuberniō nostrō diēs pereat.I hope your Campania will release you too about the same time, so that when I have returned to the city no day of our companionship may be lost. Ep. 5.14.9Valē.Farewell.