Lettres à Atticus Passage 2

multo inde sermone querebantur atque id quidem Cassius maxime, amissas occasiones Decimumque graviter accusabant. ego negabam oportere praeterita, adsentiebar tamen. quomque ingressus essem dicere quid oportuisset, nec vero quicquam novi sed ea quae cotidie omnes, nec tamen illum locum attingerem, quemquam praeterea oportuisse tangi, sed senatum vocari, populum ardentem studio vehementius incitari, totam suscipi rem publicam, exclamat tua familiaris, hoc vero neminem umquam audivi! ego repressi. sed et Cassius mihi videbatur iturus (etenim Servilia pollicebatur se curaturam ut illa frumenti curatio de senatus consulto tolleretur), et noster cito deiectus est de illo inani sermone †velle esse† dixerat. constituit igitur ut ludi absente se fierent suo nomine. proficisci autem mihi in Asiam videbatur ab Antio velle.

A long discussion followed. They lamented lost opportunities, Cassius most of all, and bitterly accused Decimus. I said that the past ought not to be discussed, though I agreed with them. When I began to say what ought to have been done, offering nothing new but only what everyone says every day, and without touching the point that anyone else ought to have been struck, namely that the Senate should have been summoned, the people's burning enthusiasm vigorously stirred, and the entire Republic taken in hand, your intimate friend exclaimed, 'I have never heard anyone say that before!' I checked myself. But Cassius seemed to me likely to go, for Servilia promised to arrange for that grain commission to be removed from the Senate's decree, and our friend was soon cast down from the empty talk in which he had said †he wished to be†. He therefore decided that the games should be held in his name during his absence. It seemed to me, however, that he wanted to leave Antium for Asia.

Après un long entretien, ils se plaignirent, surtout Cassius, des occasions perdues et accusèrent vivement Decimus. Je disais qu’il ne fallait pas revenir sur le passé, tout en leur donnant raison. Lorsque je commençai à expliquer ce qu’il aurait fallu faire, sans rien dire de nouveau, mais seulement ce que tout le monde répète chaque jour, et sans même toucher au point qu’il aurait fallu frapper quelqu’un d’autre, mais en disant qu’il fallait convoquer le Sénat, enflammer davantage encore le peuple déjà plein d’ardeur et prendre en main toute la République, ton amie s’écria: «Cela, vraiment, je ne l’ai jamais entendu dire par personne!» Je me contins. Cassius me paraissait toutefois disposé à partir, car Servilia promettait d’obtenir que la charge du blé fût retranchée du sénatus-consulte; et notre ami fut vite ramené de ce vain propos où il avait dit †vouloir être†. Il décida donc que les jeux seraient donnés en son nom pendant son absence. Quant à son départ, il me semblait vouloir quitter Antium pour l’Asie.