Ep. 6.33.1"Tollite cūncta" inquit "coeptōsque auferte labōrēs!"'Take everything away,' he says, 'and remove the labours you have begun!' Ep. 6.33.1Seu scrībis aliquid seu legis, tollī auferrī iubē et accipe ōrātiōnem meam ut illa arma dīvīnam - num superbius potuī?Whether you are writing something or reading, have it taken away, removed, and receive my speech, as those arms were, divine — could I have said anything prouder? Ep. 6.33.1-, rē vērā ut inter meās pulchram;— but in truth fine as among my own speeches; Ep. 6.33.1nam mihi satis est certāre mēcum.for it is enough for me to compete with myself. Ep. 6.33.2Est haec prō Attiā Viriolā, et dignitāte persōnae et exemplī rāritāte et iūdiciī magnitūdine īnsignis.It is on behalf of Attia Viriola, and remarkable for the standing of the person, the rarity of the precedent, and the importance of the trial. Ep. 6.33.2Nam fēmina splendidē nāta, nūpta praetōriō virō, exhērēdāta ab octōgēnāriō patre intrā ūndecim diēs quam illī novercam amōre captus indūxerat, quadruplicī iūdiciō bona paterna repetēbat.For a woman of distinguished birth, married to a man of praetorian rank, disinherited by her eighty-year-old father within eleven days of his bringing home a stepmother for her, carried away by love, was claiming her father's property before the fourfold court.
Ep. 6.33.3Sedēbant centum et octōgintā iūdicēs - tot enim quattuor cōnsiliīs colliguntur -, ingēns utrimque advocātiō et numerōsā subsellia, praetereā dēnsa circumstantium corōna lātissimum iūdicium multiplicī circulō ambībat.There sat a hundred and eighty judges — for so many are gathered in the four panels —, a huge array of advocates on both sides and crowded benches, and besides a dense ring of bystanders surrounded the very wide court in many circles. Ep. 6.33.4Ad hoc stīpātum tribūnal, atque etiam ex superiōre basilicae parte quā fēminae quā virī et audiendī - quod difficile - et - quod facile - vīsendī studiō imminēbant.Besides this the tribunal was packed, and even from the upper part of the basilica women and men leaned over in their eagerness to hear — which was difficult — and to see — which was easy. Ep. 6.33.4Magna exspectātiō patrum, magna fīliārum, magna etiam novercārum.Great was the expectation of fathers, great that of daughters, great too that of stepmothers. Ep. 6.33.5Secūtus est varius ēventus;The result was mixed; Ep. 6.33.5nam duōbus cōnsiliīs vīcimus, totidem victī sumus.for in two panels we won, in as many we lost.
Ep. 6.33.5Notābilis prōrsus et mīra eādem in causā, īsdem iūdicibus, īsdem advocātīs, eōdem tempore tanta dīversitās.Quite remarkable and wonderful was so great a difference in the same case, with the same judges, the same advocates, at the same time. Ep. 6.33.6Accidit cāsū, quod nōn cāsus vidērētur: victa est noverca, ipsa hērēs ex parte sextā, victus Subūrānus, quī exhērēdātus ā patre singulārī impudentiā aliēnī patris bona vindicābat, nōn ausus suī petere.It happened by chance, in a way that did not seem chance: the stepmother lost, herself heir to a sixth part; Suburanus lost, who, disinherited by his own father, was with singular impudence claiming the property of another man's father, not having dared to claim his own father's. Ep. 6.33.7Haec tibi exposuī, prīmum ut ex epistulā scīrēs, quae ex ōrātiōne nōn poterās, deinde - nam dētegam artēs - ut ōrātiōnem libentius legerēs, sī nōn legere tibi sed interesse iūdiciō vidērēris;I have set this out for you, first so that you might learn from the letter what you could not learn from the speech, and then — for I shall disclose my tricks — so that you might read the speech more gladly, if you seemed to yourself not to be reading but to be present at the trial; Ep. 6.33.7quam, sit licet magna, nōn dēspērō grātiam brevissimae impetrātūram.and though it is long, I do not despair that it will win the favour of a very short one.
Ep. 6.33.8Nam et cōpiā rērum et argūtā dīvīsiōne et narrātiunculīs plūribus et ēloquendī varietāte renovātur.For it is refreshed by its wealth of matter, its neat arrangement, its several little narratives, and its variety of expression. Ep. 6.33.8Sunt multa - nōn audērem nisi tibi dīcere - ēlāta, multa pugnācia, multa subtīlia.There are many passages — I should not dare to say so except to you — that are elevated, many combative, many subtle. Ep. 6.33.9Intervenit enim ācribus illīs et ērēctīs frequēns necessitās computandī ac paene calculōs tabulamque poscendī, ut repente in prīvātī iūdiciī fōrmam centumvirāle vertātur.For among those vigorous and lofty passages there often intervenes the necessity of calculating and almost of calling for counters and a board, so that the Centumviral Court is suddenly turned into the shape of a private trial. Ep. 6.33.10Dedimus vēla indignātiōnī, dedimus īrae, dedimus dolōrī, et in amplissimā causā quasi magnō marī plūribus ventīs sumus vectī.We spread our sails to indignation, to anger, to grief, and in this most ample case we were carried along, as on a great sea, by many winds.
Ep. 6.33.11In summā solent quīdam ex contubernālibus nostrīs exīstimāre hanc ōrātiōnem - iterum dīcam - ut inter meās esse an: vērē tū, facillimē iūdicābis quī, tam memoriter tenēs omnēs ut, cōnferre cum hāc dum hanc sōlam legis possīs possis.In short, some of my intimate friends are accustomed to think that this speech — I shall say it again — is, among my speeches, what the speech For Ctesiphon is: whether rightly, you will most easily judge, who have all of them so thoroughly by heart that you can compare them with this while you read this alone. Ep. 6.33.11Valē.Farewell.