Ep. 5.20.1Iterum Bīthȳnī: breve tempus ā Iūliō Bassō, et Rūfum Varēnum prōcōnsulem dētulērunt, Varēnum quem nūper adversus Bassum advocātum et postulārant et accēperant.The Bithynians again: a short time after Julius Bassus, they have also prosecuted the proconsul Rufus Varenus, the same Varenus whom they had recently both asked for and been granted as their advocate against Bassus. Ep. 5.20.1Inductī in senātum inquīsītiōnem postulāvērunt.Brought into the senate, they asked leave to conduct an inquiry. Ep. 5.20.2Varēnus petīt ut sibi quoque dēfēnsiōnis causā ēvocāre testēs licēret;Varenus asked that he too might be allowed to summon witnesses for his defence; Ep. 5.20.2recūsantibus Bīthȳnīs cognitiō suscepta est.when the Bithynians objected, a hearing was held. Ep. 5.20.2Ēgī prō Varēnō nōn sine ēventū;I pleaded for Varenus, not without success; Ep. 5.20.2nam bene an male liber indicābit.for whether well or badly, the published speech will show. Ep. 5.20.3In āctiōnibus enim utramque in partem fortūna dominātur: multum commendātiōnis et dētrahit et affert memoria vōx gestus tempus ipsum, postrēmō vel amor vel odium reī;For in the delivery of speeches fortune holds sway in both directions: memory, voice, gesture, the occasion itself, and finally either love or hatred for the defendant, take away much from their effect, or add much; Ep. 5.20.3liber offēnsīs, liber grātiā, liber et secundīs cāsibus et adversīs caret.a book is free of offence, free of favour, free of both lucky and unlucky chances.
Ep. 5.20.4Respondit mihi Fontēius Magnus, ūnus ex Bīthȳnīs, plūrimīs verbīs paucissimīs rēbus.Fonteius Magnus, one of the Bithynians, replied to me, with a great many words and very few facts. Ep. 5.20.4Est plērīsque Graecōrum, ut illī, prō cōpiā volūbilitās: tam longās tamque frīgidās perihodōs ūnō spīritū quasi torrente contorquent.Most Greeks, like him, have fluency instead of fullness: they whirl out such long and such frigid periods in one breath, as if in a torrent. Ep. 5.20.5Itaque Iūlius Candidus nōn invenustē solet dīcere, aliud esse ēloquentiam aliud loquentiam.And so Julius Candidus has a neat way of saying that eloquence is one thing and loquacity another. Ep. 5.20.5Nam ēloquentia vix ūnī aut alterī, immō - sī M. Antōniō crēdimus - nēminī, haec vērō, quam Candidus loquentiam appellat, multīs atque etiam impudentissimō cuique maximē contigit.For eloquence has fallen to scarcely one or two, or rather — if we believe Marcus Antonius — to no one, but this which Candidus calls loquacity has fallen to many, and most of all to the most shameless. Ep. 5.20.6Posterō diē dīxit prō Varēnō Homullus callidē ācriter cultē, contrā Nigrīnus pressē graviter ōrnātē.On the next day Homullus spoke for Varenus, shrewdly, keenly and elegantly, and against him Nigrinus, concisely, weightily and with ornament.
Ep. 5.20.6Cēnsuit Acīlius Rūfus cōnsul dēsignātus inquīsītiōnem Bīthȳnīs dandam, postulātiōnem Varēnī silentiō praeteriit.Acilius Rufus, the consul-elect, proposed that the Bithynians be granted their inquiry, and passed over Varenus' request in silence. Ep. 5.20.7Haec fōrma negandī fuit.This was a form of refusal. Ep. 5.20.7Cornēlius Prīscus cōnsulāris et accūsātōribus quae petēbant et reō tribuit, vīcitque numerō.Cornelius Priscus, a man of consular rank, granted both the accusers and the defendant what they asked, and won by numbers. Ep. 5.20.7Impetrāvimus rem nec lēge comprehēnsam nec satis ūsitātam, iūstam tamen.We obtained something neither covered by law nor customary enough, but nevertheless just. Ep. 5.20.8Quārē iūstam, nōn sum epistulā exsecūtūrus, ut dēsīderēs āctiōnem.Why just, I am not going to explain in a letter, so that you may want to see the speech. Ep. 5.20.8Nam sī vērum est Homēricum illud: "prōvidendum est mihi nē grātiam novitātis, et flōrem quae ōrātiunculam illam," vel maximē commendat, epistulae loquācitāte praecerpam et florem, quae oratiunculam illam vel maxime commendat, epistulae loquacitate praecerpam.For if that line of Homer is true, 'for men praise more that song which comes newest to the ears of those who listen', I must take care not to pluck off, by the chattiness of a letter, the charm and bloom of novelty which most of all commends that little speech.
Ep. 5.20.8Valē.Farewell.