Letters to Atticus Passage 5

extremum illud vel molestissimum, nam Brutus noster silet, hoc est, non audet hominem id aetatis monere. aliud nihil habeo quod ex iis a te verbis significari putem, et hercule ita est. nam xvi Kal. Sept. cum venissem Veliam, Brutus audivit; erat enim cum suis navibus apud Haletem fluvium citra Veliam milia passus III. pedibus ad me statim. di immortales, quam valde ille reditu vel potius reversione mea laetatus effudit illa omnia quae tacuerat! ut recordarer illud tuum. nam Brutus noster silet. maxime autem dolebat me Kal. Sext. in senatu non fuisse. Pisonem ferebat in caelum; se autem laetari quod effugissem duas maximas vituperationes, unam, quam itinere faciendo me intellegebam suscipere, desperationis ac reictionis rei publicae (flentes mecum vulgo querebantur quibus de meo celeri reditu non probabam), alteram, de qua Brutus et qui una erant (multi autem erant) laetabantur, quod eam vituperationem effugissem me existimari ad Olympia. hoc vero nihil turpius quovis rei publicae tempore sed hoc ἀναπολόγητον . ego vero austro gratias miras qui me a tanta infamia averterit.

The last remark was perhaps the most offensive: 'For our friend Brutus is silent,' meaning that he does not dare admonish a man of my age. I can think of nothing else your words could signify, and by Hercules that is precisely how matters stand. When I reached Velia on 17 August, Brutus heard of it, for he was with his ships at the river Hales, three miles this side of Velia. He came to me at once on foot. Immortal gods, how greatly he rejoiced at my return, or rather my turning back, and how he poured out everything he had kept silent! I recalled those words of yours, 'For our friend Brutus is silent.' He was especially distressed that I had not been in the Senate on 1 August. He praised Piso to the skies. Yet he rejoiced, he said, that I had escaped two very serious censures. One was the charge of despairing of and abandoning the Republic, which I understood I was incurring by making the journey. People everywhere complained to me with tears, and I could not persuade them of my swift return. The other, which delighted Brutus and those with him, and there were many, was that I had escaped being thought to be traveling to the Olympic Games. Nothing could have been more disgraceful at any time in the Republic, and in the present circumstances it would have been indefensible. I offer extraordinary thanks to the south wind for turning me away from so great an infamy.

Tes derniers mots sont les plus pénibles: «Car notre cher Brutus garde le silence», c’est-à-dire qu’il n’ose pas conseiller un homme de mon âge. Je ne vois rien d’autre que ces mots puissent signifier, et, par Hercule, il en est bien ainsi. Lorsque j’arrivai à Vélia le 17 août, Brutus l’apprit; il se trouvait avec ses navires près du fleuve Halès, à trois milles en deçà de Vélia. Il vint aussitôt me rejoindre à pied. Dieux immortels, comme mon retour, ou plutôt mon demi-tour, l’a réjoui! Il répandit tout ce qu’il avait tu. Cela me rappela tes mots: «Car notre cher Brutus garde le silence.» Il regrettait surtout mon absence du Sénat aux calendes d’août. Il portait Piso aux nues. Il se réjouissait pourtant que j’eusse échappé à deux blâmes très graves. Le premier était celui de désespoir et d’abandon de la République, auquel je comprenais m’exposer en faisant ce voyage; beaucoup de gens s’en plaignaient en pleurant avec moi, et je ne pouvais les convaincre de mon prochain retour. Le second, auquel Brutus et ses nombreux compagnons se réjouissaient de me voir échapper, était de laisser croire que j’allais aux jeux Olympiques. Rien n’aurait été plus honteux à quelque époque de la République, mais dans celle-ci c’était ἀναπολόγητον. Pour ma part, je remercie merveilleusement le vent du sud de m’avoir détourné d’une si grande infamie.