Philippics Passage 95

at quibus verbis? modo aequum sibi videri, modo non iniquum. mira verborum complexio! at ille numquam - semper enim absenti adfui Deiotaro - quicquam sibi quod nos pro illo postularemus aequum dixit videri. syngrapha sesterti centiens per legatos, viros bonos, sed timidos et imperitos, sine nostra , sine reliquorum hospitum regis sententia facta in gynaecio est , quo in loco plurimae res venierunt et veneunt. qua ex syngrapha quid sis acturus meditere censeo: rex enim ipse sua sponte, nullis commentariis Caesaris, simul atque audivit eius interitum, suo Marte res suas recuperavit.

But in what words? At one moment, 'it seemed fair to him'; at another, 'not unfair.' What a marvelous combination of words! Yet Caesar never said, for I always represented Deiotarus in his absence, that anything we requested on his behalf seemed fair to him. A bond for ten million sesterces was drawn up through the king's envoys, good men but timid and inexperienced, without my advice or that of the king's other guest-friends, in the women's quarters, the place where very many things have been and are being sold. I advise you to consider what you mean to do about that bond. For the king himself, of his own accord and without any memoranda from Caesar, recovered his property by his own strength as soon as he heard of Caesar's death.

Mais en quels termes? Tantôt «il lui paraît équitable», tantôt «il ne lui paraît pas inique». Merveilleux assemblage de mots! Or jamais, car j’ai toujours assisté Déiotarus en son absence, César ne déclara trouver équitable quoi que ce fût de ce que nous demandions pour lui. Une reconnaissance de dette de dix millions de sesterces fut établie par l’entremise des ambassadeurs, hommes de bien mais craintifs et inexpérimentés, sans notre avis ni celui des autres hôtes du roi, dans l’appartement des femmes, où tant d’affaires furent et sont encore vendues. Je te conseille de réfléchir à ce que tu feras de cette reconnaissance. Le roi lui-même, de sa propre initiative et sans aucun mémoire de César, dès qu’il apprit sa mort, recouvra ses biens par ses propres forces.