Philippics Passage 10

equidem cupio haec quam primum Antonium audire, ut intellegat non D. Brutum quem vallo circumsedeat, sed se ipsum obsideri. tria tenet oppida toto in orbe terrarum; habet inimicissimam Galliam; eos etiam quibus confidebat alienissimos, Transpadanos; Italia omnis infesta est; exterae nationes a prima ora Graeciae usque ad Aegyptum optimorum et fortissimorum civium imperiis et praesidiis tenentur. erat ei spes una in C. Antonio qui duorum fratrum aetatibus medius interiectus vitiis cum utroque certabat. is tamquam extruderetur a senatu in Macedoniam et non contra prohiberetur proficisci, ita cucurrit.

For my part, I want Antonius to hear this as soon as possible, so that he may understand that it is not Decimus Brutus, whom he has encircled with a rampart, who is under siege, but Antonius himself. He holds three towns in the whole world. Gaul is fiercely hostile to him, and even the Transpadanes, in whom he trusted, are utterly estranged from him. All Italy is against him. Foreign nations, from the nearest shore of Greece as far as Egypt, are held by the commands and garrisons of our best and bravest citizens. His one hope lay in Gaius Antonius, who, placed in age between his two brothers, rivalled each of them in vice. As though the Senate were thrusting him into Macedonia, rather than expressly forbidding him to go there, he raced away.

Pour ma part, je souhaite qu’Antonius apprenne tout cela au plus vite, afin qu’il comprenne que ce n’est pas Decimus Brutus qu’il enferme dans ses retranchements, mais qu’il est lui-même assiégé. Il tient trois villes dans le monde entier. La Gaule lui est profondément hostile, et même ceux auxquels il se fiait, les Transpadans, lui sont devenus tout à fait étrangers. Toute l’Italie lui est ennemie. Depuis les premières côtes de la Grèce jusqu’à l’Égypte, les nations étrangères sont tenues par les commandements et les garnisons des meilleurs et des plus courageux citoyens. Il ne lui restait qu’un espoir, Caius Antonius, qui, placé par l’âge entre ses deux frères, rivalisait de vices avec l’un et l’autre. Celui-ci a couru vers la Macédoine comme si le Sénat l’en expulsait, et non comme si, au contraire, on lui en interdisait le départ.