Hist. 2.41.1Vetus ac iam prīdem īnsitā mortālibus potentiae cupīdō cum imperiī magnitūdine adolēvit ērūpitque;The age-old lust for power, long ago implanted in mankind, grew and broke out with the greatness of the empire; Hist. 2.41.1nam rēbus modicīs aequālitās facile habēbātur.for while affairs were modest, equality was easily maintained. Hist. 2.41.1Sed ubi subāctō orbe et aemulīs urbibus rēgibusve excīsīs sēcūrās opēs concupīscere vacuum fuit, prīma inter patrēs plēbemque certāmina exarsēre.But when the world had been subdued and rival cities or kings destroyed, and men were free to covet wealth in security, the first struggles flared up between senators and people. Hist. 2.41.1Modo turbulentī tribūnī, modo cōnsulēs praevalidī, et in urbe ac forō temptāmenta cīvīlium bellōrum;Now there were turbulent tribunes, now over-powerful consuls, and in the city and the forum rehearsals for civil wars; Hist. 2.41.1mox ē plēbe īnfimā C. Marius et nōbilium saevissimus L. Sulla victam armīs lībertātem in dominātiōnem vertērunt.soon Gaius Marius, from the lowest of the people, and Lucius Sulla, cruellest of the nobles, defeated liberty by arms and turned it into despotism. Hist. 2.41.1Post quōs Cn. Pompeius occultior nōn melior, et numquam posteā nisi dē prīncipātū quaesītum.After them came Gnaeus Pompeius, more covert, not better, and from then on the struggle was never for anything but supreme power.
Hist. 2.41.1Nōn discessēre ab armīs in Pharsālia ac Philippīs cīvium legiōnēs, nēdum Othōnis ac Vitelliī exercitūs sponte positūrī bellum fuerint: eadem illōs deum īra, eadem hominum rabiēs, eaedem scelerum causae in discordiam ēgēre.Legions of citizens did not lay down their arms at Pharsalus and Philippi, much less were the armies of Otho and Vitellius likely to give up the war of their own accord: the same anger of the gods, the same madness of men, the same motives for crime drove them into discord. Hist. 2.41.1Quod singulīs velut ictibus trānsācta sunt bella, ignāviā prīncipum factum est.That the wars were finished with what were, as it were, single blows was due to the cowardice of the emperors. Hist. 2.41.1Sed mē veterum novōrumque mōrum reputātiō longius tulit: nunc ad rērum ōrdinem veniō.But reflection on ancient and modern ways has carried me too far: now I return to the order of events.