Brutus, or On Eminent Orators Passage 128

P. Scipio, qui est in consulatu mortuus, non multum ille quidem nec saepe dicebat, sed et Latine loquendo cuivis erat par et omnis sale facetiisque superabat. Eius conlega L. Bestia a bonis initiis orsus tribunatus - nam P. Popilium vi C. Gracchi expulsum sua rogatione restituit - , vir et acer et non indisertus, tristis exitus habuit consulatus. Nam invidiosa lege [Mamilia quaestio ] C. Galbam sacerdotem et quattuor consularis L. Bestiam C. Catonem Sp. Albinum civemque praestantissimum L. Opimium, Gracchi interfectorem, a populo absolutum, cum is contra populi studium stetisset, Gracchani iudices sustulerunt.

"Publius Scipio, who died during his consulship, did not speak much or often, but in his command of Latin he was the equal of anyone, and in wit and humor he surpassed everyone. His colleague Lucius Bestia began his tribunate from good principles, for by his bill he restored Publius Popilius, whom the violence of Gaius Gracchus had driven into exile. He was an incisive and not ineloquent man, but his consulship had a grim end. For under the hated Mamilian law, the Gracchan jurors destroyed the priest Gaius Galba; four former consuls, Lucius Bestia, Gaius Cato, Spurius Albinus, and Lucius Opimius; and that most distinguished citizen Opimius, the slayer of Gracchus, whom the people had acquitted although he had stood against the popular passion."

«P. Scipion, qui mourut pendant son consulat, ne parlait certes ni beaucoup ni souvent, mais il égalait n'importe qui dans la pureté du latin et surpassait tous les autres par son sel et ses traits d'esprit. Son collègue L. Bestia avait commencé son tribunat sous de bons auspices, puisqu'il avait, par sa proposition, rappelé P. Popilius, chassé par la violence de C. Gracchus. Homme énergique et non dépourvu d'éloquence, il eut pourtant un consulat à la fin funeste. En effet, en vertu de l'odieuse loi [Mamilia, la commission] composée de juges gracchiens supprima C. Galba, prêtre, et quatre anciens consuls: L. Bestia, C. Caton, Sp. Albinus et l'éminent citoyen L. Opimius, meurtrier de Gracchus, que le peuple avait acquitté bien qu'il eût résisté à ses passions.»