Brutus, or On Eminent Orators Passage 281

cum honos sit praemium virtutis iudicio studioque civium delatum ad aliquem, qui eum sententiis, qui suffragiis adeptus est, is mihi et honestus et honoratus videtur. Qui autem occasione aliqua etiam invitis suis civibus nactus est imperium, ut ille cupiebat, hunc nomen honoris adeptum, non honorem puto. Quae si ille audire voluisset, maxima cum gratia et gloria ad summanr amplitudinem pervenisset, ascendens gradibus magistratuum, ut pater eius fecerat, ut reliqui clariores viri . Quae quidem etiam cum P. Crasso M. F., cum initio aetatis ad amicitiam se meam contulisset, saepe egisse me arbitror, cum eum vehementer hortarer ut eam laudis viam rectissimam esse duceret quam maiores eius ei tritam reliquissent.

Since an honor is a reward for virtue conferred upon someone by the judgment and favor of his fellow citizens, the man who obtains it through their opinions and votes seems to me both honorable and honored. But someone who through some opportunity gains command even against the wishes of his own citizens, as Curio desired, has obtained, in my view, the name of an honor, not honor itself. Had he been willing to hear this, he would have reached the greatest eminence with the highest favor and glory, ascending through the grades of magistracy as his father and other more illustrious men had done. I believe I often urged this same point upon Publius Crassus, son of Marcus, after he attached himself to my friendship at the beginning of his youth, earnestly exhorting him to regard as the straightest path to distinction the one his ancestors had left well trodden for him.

« Puisque l’honneur est la récompense de la vertu décernée à quelqu’un par le jugement et le zèle des citoyens, celui qui l’a obtenu par leurs opinions et leurs suffrages me paraît à la fois honorable et honoré. Mais celui qui, profitant de quelque occasion et malgré ses concitoyens, s’est emparé du pouvoir, comme Curio le désirait, a obtenu selon moi le nom de l’honneur, non l’honneur lui-même. S’il avait voulu écouter ces conseils, il serait parvenu au faîte de la grandeur avec la plus grande faveur et la plus grande gloire, en gravissant les degrés des magistratures comme l’avait fait son père et comme les autres hommes les plus illustres. Je crois avoir souvent donné aussi ces conseils à P. Crassus, fils de Marcus, lorsqu’au début de sa jeunesse il rechercha mon amitié. Je l’exhortais vivement à considérer comme la voie la plus droite vers la gloire celle que ses ancêtres avaient frayée devant lui. »