Karl Heinrich Marx
1818-1838 AD
Trans. RMBullard
Latin (Modern Era)
KARL MARX
AN PRINCIPATUS AUGUSTI MERITO
INTER FELICIORES REIPUBLICAE ROMANAE AETATES NUMERETUR?
[Can the imperial reign of Augustus deservedly be counted among the happiest periods of time of the Roman Republic?]
Examinatio Maturitatis (1835)
[Examination of Maturity, 1835]
Quaerenti, qualis Augusti aetas fuerit, plura occurunt, ex quibus de ea judicari potest;
[To a person who asks, "What was the period under Augustus like?", many things bear relevance, from which one can thing can be determined concerning this matter;]
primum comparatio cum aliis Romanae historiae aetatibus,
[first of all, a comparison with the other periods of time in Roman history,]
nam, si ostenderis, aetatibus prioribus, quas felices appellant, similem fuisse Augusti aetatem,
[you see, if you should illustrate that the age of Auguste had been similar to the periods of time prior, which people call "happy"]
illis vero, quas aequalium et recentium judicium, versis et mutatis moribus in pejorem partem,
republica in factiones divisa, in bello etiam rebus male gestis, dissimilem, de ea ex aliis conjecturam facere potes;
[then those truly are the ones upon which you can make a guess concerning this matter, that is, the ones that had established through the judgment of fresh and equal-minded men, and whose traditions came to be overturned and warped in a worse direction, when things went south in a time of war,]
tum quaerendum est,
[and then, one must ask]
quae veteres de ea ipsa dixerint,
["what were the things that men of old said concerning this very matter,]
quid externae gentes de imperio habuerint,
[what did foreign nations think about his empire,]
an id veriti sint aut contemserint,
[that is, did they fear or despise it,]
denique vero quales artes litteraeque fuerint.
[and lastly, what truly were its specimen of arts and letters?]
Ne vero longius sim, quam necesse,
[So let me truly not be too long-winded than is necessary,]
pulcherrimam aetem ante Augustum, quam morum simplicitas, virtutis studia, magistratuum plebisque integritas felicem fecerunt, aetas, qua Italia inferior subigebatur, illamque Neronis, qua nulla miserior, cum Augusti aetate comparabo.
[as I shall compare the most beautiful period of time, the one before Augustus, in which came about a simplicity of customs, a passion for good worth, in which the integrity of the common folk made the offices of state blessed: the age, in which lowly Italy was stood up, I shall compare to that notorious one under Nero, in which no age could be more miserable.]
Nullo tempore magis a studiis optimarum artium Romani abhorruere,
[In no period of time did the Romans flee in horror more from the passion to master the best of skills,]
quam aetate ante bella punica,
[than in the age right before the Punic war,]
eruditione minime aestimata,
[when education was least esteemed of all,]
cum in agriculturam summi illarum aetatum homines praecipue studium operamque collocarent,
[and when the greatest men from these generations most of all called upon their passion and concentration, for agriculture,]
eloquentia supervacua,
[while eloquence was deemed beyond useless,]
cum paucis verbis de rebus agendis dicerent neque orationis elegantiam, sed sententiarum vim peterent,
[since they not only spoke using a few words, whenever they need to carry out their affairs, they neither sought to gain any eloquence for their speech, nor any power to form their thoughts,]
historia vero eloquentiae non egente,
[though, in fact, their previous history did not lack examples of eloquence,]
cum res gestas tantum referret
[although only a single man wrote down in records of their feats]
solumque in Annalium confectione consisteret.
[and alone, he constantly worked at a finished product of their yearly records.]
Tota vero aetas patrum plesbisque lite impleta;
[So truly, their entire generation was filled with strife between the senatorial order and the common folk;]
nam ab expulsis regibus usque ad primum bellum punicum de utriusque jure certatur
[you see, since the time when the kings were kicked out, up to the very first Punic War, a fight endured concerning the legal status of both factions]
et magna historiae pars leges tantum refert,
[and a great portion of their history so greatly concernings their laws,]
quas tribuni aut consules, magna utrimque cum contentione, fecere.
[that is, that laws that the tribunes, or consuls, enacted, with great contention between the two sides.]
Quid eo tempore laudandum sit, jam diximus.
[I've already said why this is something to be praised in a time like that.]
Neronis aetatem si describere volumus,
[If I shall desire to describe the period of time under Nero,]
non multa verba opus sunt,
[it will not require many words,]
nam, optimis occisis civibus, turpi regnante arbitrio, legibus violatis, urbe cremata, ducibus cum vererentur,
[you see, the best citizens were being murdered, while people began to panic, from the filthy decision-making of their leader, and his violations of their laws, and the burning down of their city,]
ne res bene gestae suspicionem excitarent
[fearing that should they would incite suspicion, should they do anything decent,]
neque quid ad magna facta eos commoveret, pace potius quam bello gloriam quaerentibus, quis interrogabit, qualis illa aetas fuerit?
[one shall not need to ask what motivated men like these to great deeds, and why they should glory from times of peace rather than war, and what type of generation of people that age was?]
Quin Augusti aetas huic dissimilis sit,
[Whether or not the period of time under Augustus was similar to the one aforementioned,]
nemo dubitare potest,
[no one can be in doubt,]
nam ejus imperium clementia insigne est,
[you see, his control of the state was remarkable by virtue of its sense of mercy,]
cum Romani, quamvis omnis libertas, omnis etiam libertatis species evanuerat,
[when the Romans, despite the fact that all notion of freedom, even the open appearance of freedom, had vanished,]
jussis principis instituta legesque mutare valentibus omnibusque honoribus,
[which had been replaced by the degrees of their emperor, and with all of his official powers of state capable of reforming their laws,]
quos prius tribuni plebis, censores, consules habuerant, tum ab uno viro occupatis,
[which, at which, only the tribunes of the plebs, censors, and consuls held, but now were seized by the likes of a single man,]
tamen putarent, se regnare, imperatorem tantum aliud nomen dignitatibus,
[and yet, people began to think that only the emperor should rule using an official title connecting the duties]
quas prius tribuni aut consules tenuissent,
[which the tribunes or consuls previously had possessed,]
neque libertatem sibi dereptam viderent.
[and did they perceive that their liberty had been taken from them.]
Hoc vero magnum clementiae argumentum, si cives dubitare possunt, quis princeps sit, an ipsi regnent, an regnentur.
[In fact, this is great indication of his mercy, if the citizens can be in doubt whether he was their leading man, or they themselves were in control.]
Bello vero Romani nunquam feliciores, nam Parthi subiecti, Cantabri victi, Rhaeti et Vindelicii prostrati sunt:
[In fact, the Romans were never any more successful in war, than when they subjected the Parthians to defeat, conquered the Cantabres, and the Rhaetians and Vindelices were laid down:]
Germani vero, summi Romanis hostes, quos Caesar frustra pugnasset, singulis quidem proeliis et proditione et insidiis et virtute silvisque Romanos superarunt:
[The Germans, in fact, the greatest of the Romans' enemies, whom Caesar had tried in vain to combat, actually overpowered the Romans in individual battles, using both treachery, tricks, their courage and their knowledge of the woods:]
sed omnino et Romana civitate, quam singulis Augustus praebuit,
et armis, quae duces periti gessere, et inimicitia, inter eos ipsos excitata, multorum Germaniae populorum vis frangebatur.
[but, in every way possible, the power of many peoples in Germany was broken by the Roman city, which Augustus supplied in every case with the arms that their experienced generals wielded, and enmity which was incited between these same men,]
Domi militiaeque igitur Augusti aetas non comparanda cum Neronis pejorumque principum tempore.
[Therefore, at home and abroad, the period of time under Augustus cannot be compared with the period of ime under Nero, and the worse emperors.]
Partes litesque autem, quas aetate ante bellum punicum invenimus,
[And still, the factionalism and strife that we find in the era before the Punic War,]
tum cessarant,
[came to an end at that time,]
nam Augustum omnes partes, omnes dignitates, omnem potestatem in se collegisse videmus,
[you see, we see how Augustus tied all the factions, all the positions of honor, all state power to himself,]
neque igitur imperium a se ipso dissidere potuit,
[and so, he could not detach the control of the state from even himself,]
quod omni civitati summum affert periculum,
[because it would bring the greatest degree of danger to the entire citizenry,]
auctoritate apud externos populos ea re dimminuta,
[should this civil authority of his be diminished among the foreign peoples,]
et rebus publicis magis ambitionis causa quam propter civitatis salutem administratis.
[and the Republic be governed more for the sake of ambition than in support of the city's welfare.]
Tali modo vero Augusti aetas oculos ad se rapere non debet,
[In fact, the age of Augustus ought not to draw one's eyes to itself in such a way]
ne multis in rebus illa aetate inferiorem videremus,
[that we should think it more lowly in that period of time, in many respects,]
nam moribus, libertate, virtute aut dimminutis aut plane demotis,
[that is, when their traditions, their sense of liberty, their sense of courage were either diminished or noticeably degraded,]
dum avaritia, luxuria, intemperantia regnant, aetas ipsa felix nominari non potest,
[so long as avarice, excessive living, and immoderation rule the day, the era itself cannot be declared a happy one,]
sed imperium Augusti, instituta legesque hominum, quos elexerat, ut rempublicam perturbatam meliorem redderent, valde effecerunt, ut perturbatio, a bellis civilibus evocata, decesserit.
[but the government of Augustus, his institutions, and the laws passed by the men whom he had appointed resulted in rendering a thoroughly chaotic republic better, and they very much found success in getting the atmosphere of disturbance, which had been called forth by their civil wars, to yield.]
Exempli causa Senatum, quem corruptissimi homines ingressi erant, a vestigiis sceleris expiare videmus Augustum,
[For example, we see that Augustus purged the long-standing misdeeds of the Senate, which the most corrupt men you can imagine had previously entered]
multis ab eo expulsis,
[once a great deal of men were cast out of, ]
quorum mores ei invisi,
[that is, whoever's code of conduct were despicable to him,]
multis introductis, qui virtute et intelligentia excelluere.
[and many men, who excelled by the sake of their virtue and intelligence, were introduced.]
Augusto principe semper viri, virtutis et sapientiae gloria praestantes, munere reipublicae fructi erant,
[While Augustus was the emperor, at every instance, the men who excelled from the high reputation of their good qualities and wisdom, benefitted from positions of power in their commonwealth,]
nam Maecenate, Agrippa quis viros eo tempore majores nominare potest!
[you see, who can name men greater than Maecenas and Agrippa from this period of time?]
Principis ingenium ipsum, quamvis nunquam simulationis integumentis nudatum conspicimus,
[The very genius of the emperor, although we never see it stripped of the trappings of its dissimulation,]
ut jam diximus,
[as I've already said,]
potestate non abutens, invisam vim mitiore specie tegens videtur,
[appears not to abuse its power, but to conceal any spiteful brute force with a gentler appearance,]
et si respublica, qualis ante bella punica fuerit, illi tempori aptissima erat,
[and if the Republic, at least the one that used to exist before the Punic Wars, was most suited to that period of time,]
quod animos ad magnas res excitabat,
[something which began to stir spirits to tremendous accomplishments,]
viros hostibus terribiles reddidit,
[it exposed terrible men back to their enemies,]
pulchram inter patres plebemque aemulationem, a qua vero non semper invidia abest, evocavit, respublica, qualem Augustus instituerat, ejus temporibus aptissima mihi quidem videtur,
[he evoked the beautiful rivalry between the senators and common folk, from which indeed there is never a sense of jealousy, and the Republic, that is, the one Augustus had established, from whose dates it certainly appears to me to be most appropriate,]
nam, animis effeminatis, simplicitate morum decessa, civitatis magnitudine aucta, imperator potius quam libera res publica populo libertatem afferre valet.
[you see, even though their minds grew ennervated, and the sincerity of their customs gave way, and the magnitude of their city increased, the emperor was better able to bring a sense of liberty to his populace than the free Republic,]
Jam ad id venimus,
[And now I come to this question,]
quale veterum de Augusti aetate judicium fuerit?
[what what was the opinion of older generations concerning the age of Augustus?]
Eum ipsum divinum apellant
[They say that he himself was divine]
neque hominem sed deum potius putant.
[nor do they think that he was a man, but rather a god.]
Quod non dici posset,
[Which is something that could not possibly be declared,]
Horatio tantum teste, sed strenuus historiae scriptor, Tacitus, semper de Augusto ejusque aetate maxima reverentia, summa admiratione, amore etiam loquitur.
[even Horace swore to it, and Tacitus, a hard-working writer of history, spoke about Augustus and his period of time always with the greatest sense of respect, utmost admiration, even with love.]
Litterae vero artesque nullo tempore magis floruere,
[Truly literature and art flourished more at no other period of time,]
ea aetate plurimis scriptoribus viventibus, a quibus fontibus quasi, omnes populi eruditionem hauriebant.
[when, in this age, all the people used to imbibe the learned wisdom from so many scores of comtemporary writers, almost as though from fountains.]
Cum respublica igitur bene instituta videatur,
[And so, since his state seems to have been established on solid foundations,]
principe populo felicitatem ferre cupiente,
[with a leader who desired to bring happiness to his populace,]
summis viris vero eo auctore honores tenentibus,
[and in fact, with the most important men enjoying the offices of power as a result of this men,]
cum Augusti aetas optimis historiae Romanae aetatibus non inferior,
malis vero dissimilis videatur,
[and since the age of Augustus seems no less superior than the very best ages of Roman history,]
cum partes litesque cessas videas,
artes litterasque vero florentes,
[when you can see factionalism and disputes in decline,]
Augusti principatus merito inter meliores aetates numerandus valdeque vir aestimandus,
[Augustus' rule as emperor must deservedly be counted among the very best ages of time, and the man greatly esteemed,]
qui, etsi omnia ei licerent,
[that is, a man who, although every power was granted to him,]
tamen, assecutus imperium, reipublicae salutem tantum efficere studuit.
[still, once he began to establish his reign, he remained eager to bring about so tremendous a state of bounty for his republic.]
