Marcus Tullius Cicero [Cicero or Tully]
106-43 BC *executed by 2nd Triumvirate (specifically Mark Antony)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Republican Era/Golden Age of Latin Literature)
M. TVLLI CICERONIS PRO M. MARCELLO ORATIO
[1] [I] Diuturni silenti, patres conscripti,
[Everyday silence, my fellow Senators,]
quo eram his temporibus usus—
[which I had enjoyed in times like these--]
non timore aliquo, sed partim dolore, partim verecundia—
[not with any sense of fear, but rather in grief partly, and in a sense of shame partly--]
finem hodiernus dies attulit,
[the arrival of today brought an end,]
idemque initium quae vellem
[and at the same time, these are the things that I was wanting in the beginning,]
quaeque sentirem meo pristino more dicendi.
[and these were the things I was feeling, by my own long-standing custom of speaking.]
Tantam enim mansuetudinem, tam inusitatam inauditamque clementiam, tantum in summa potestate rerum omnium modum, tam denique incredibilem sapientiam ac paene divinam,
[You see, so much consideration, so much uncanny and unheard-of mercy, so tremendous a manner of performing deeds at the highest level of power, and most importantly, such incredible and often divinely inspired wisdom]
tacitus praeterire nullo modo possum.
[I, in no way, can neglect to mention in silence.]
[2] M. enim Marcello vobis, patres conscripti, reique publicae reddito, non illius solum, sed etiam meam vocem et auctoritatem et vobis et rei publicae conservatam ac restitutam puto.
[Let me explain, my fellow senators: I am rendering Marcus Marcellus unto you all, and our commonwealth; I not only think that his alone, no, but my own right to speak and authority has been preserved and restored for the sake of you all, and for the Republic.]
I N F I N I T A
