--- title: "The Consolation of Philosophy · De consolatione philosophiae" author: "Boethius" translator: "H. F. Stewart" languages: [la, en] shelf: "Mystics" section: 1 of 10 url: https://scriptura.si/works/boethius-consolation-latin/1/ cite: "Boethius, tr. H. F. Stewart, The Consolation of Philosophy · De consolatione philosophiae, section 1. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/boethius-consolation-latin/1/" --- # The Consolation of Philosophy · De consolatione philosophiae *Boethius, tr. H. F. Stewart* Awaiting execution, Boethius is visited by Lady Philosophy: fortune’s wheel, true happiness and the providence of God, in Latin prose and verse beside English. > Latin: ed. H. F. Stewart, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, stoa0058.stoa001, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: H. F. Stewart, from the Perseus Digital Library (stoa0058.stoa001.perseus-eng1). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 1. Book I · section 1 · 1 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/boethius-consolation-latin/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/boethius-consolation-latin/1/#p-N [¶0] I THAT with youthful heat did verses write, Must now my woes in doleful tunes indite. My work is framed by Muses torn and rude, And my sad cheeks are with true tears bedewed: For these alone no terror could affray from being partners of my weary way. The art that was my young life's joy and glory Becomes my solace now i m old and sorry; Sorrow has filched my youth from me, the thief! My days are numbered not by time but Grief. a Untimely hoary hairs cover my head, And my loose skin quakes on my flesh half dead. o happy death, that spareth sweetest years, And comes in sorrow often called with tears. Alas, how deaf is he to wretch's cries; And loath he is to close up weeping eyes; While trustless chance me with vain favours crowned, that saddest hour my life had almost drowned Now she hath clouded her deceitful face, My spiteful days prolong their weary race. My friends, why did you count me fortunate? He that is fallen, ne'er stood in settled state. While I ruminated these things with myself, and determined to set forth my woful complaint in writing, methought I saw a woman stand above my head, having a grave countenance, glistening clear eye, and of quicker sight than commonly Nature doth afford; > Latin: Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi, Flebilis heu maestos cogor inire modos. Ecce mihi lacerae dictant scribenda Camenae Et ueris elegi fletibus ora rigant Has saltem nullus potuit peruincere terror, Ne nostrum comites prosequerentur iter. Gloria felicis olim uiridisque iuuentae Solantur maesti nunc mea fata senis. Venit enim properata malis inopina senectus Et dolor aetatem iussit inesse suam. Intempestiui funduntur uertice cani Et tremit effeto corpore laxa cutis. Mors hominum felix quae se nec dulcibus annis Inserit et maestis saepe uocata uenit. Eheu quam surda miseros auertitur aure Et flentes oculos claudere saeua negat. Dum leuibus male fida bonis fortuna falleret, Paene caput tristis merserat hora meum. Nunc quia fallacem mutauit nubila uultum, Protrahit ingratas impia uita moras. Quid me felicem totiens iactastis amici? Qui cecidit, stabili non erat ille gradu. [¶1] her colour fresh and bespeaking unabated vigour, and yet discovering so many years, that she could not at all be thought to belong to our times; her stature uncertain and doubtful, for sometime she exceeded not the common height of men, and sometime she seemed to touch the heavens with her head, and if she lifted it up to the highest, she pierced the very heavens, so that she could not be seen by the beholders; her garments were made of most fine threads with cunning workmanship into an ever-during stuff, which (as I knew afterward by her own report) she had woven with her own hands. A certain duskishness caused by negligence and time had darkened their colour, as it is wont to happen when pictures stand in a smoky room. In the lower part of them was placed the Greek letter Π, and in the upper θ, a and betwixt the two letters, in the manner of stairs, there were certain degrees made, by which there was a passage from the lower to the higher letter: this her garment had been cut by the violence of some, who had taken away such pieces as they could get. In her right hand she had certain books, and in her left hand she held a sceptre. This woman, seeing the poetical Muses standing about my bed, and suggesting words to my tears, being moved for a little space, and inflamed with angry looks: “Who,” saith she, “hath permitted these tragical harlots to have access to this sick man, which will not only not comfort his grief with wholesome remedies, but also nourish them with sugared poison? > Latin: Haec dum mecum tacitus ipse reputarem querimoniamque lacrimabilem stili officio signarem, adstitisse milli supra uerticem uisa est mulier reuerendi admodum uultus, oculis ardentibus et ultra communem hominum ualentiam perspicacibus colore umido atque inexhausti uigoris, quamuis ita aeui plena foret ut nullo modo nostrae crederetur aetatis, statura discretionis ambiguae. Nam nunc quidem ad communem sese hominum mensuram cohibebat, nunc uero pulsare caelum summi uerticis cacumine uidebatur; quae cum altius caput extulisset, ipsum etiam caelum penetrabat respicientiumque hominum frustrabatur intuitum. Vestes erant tenuissimis filis subtili artificio, indissolubili materia perfectae quas, uti post eadem prodente cognoui, suis manibus ipsa texuerat. Quarum speciem, ueluti fumosas imagines solet, caligo quaedam neglectae uetustatis obduxerat. Harum in extrema margine Π Graecum, in supremo uero θ, legebatur intextum. Atque inter utrasque litteras in scalarum modum gradus quidam insigniti uidebantur quibus ab inferiore ad superius elementum esset ascensus. Eandem tamen uestem uiolentorum quorundam sciderant manus et particulas quas quisque potuit abstulerant. Et dextera quidem eius libellos, sceptrum uero sinistra gestabat. [¶2] For these be they which with the fruitless thorns of affections do kill the fruitful crop of reason, and do accustom men s minds to sickness, instead of curing them. But if your flattery did deprive us of some profane fellow, a as commonly it happeneth, I should think that it were not so grievously to be taken, for in him our labours should receive no harm. But now have you laid hold of him who hath been brought up in Eleatical and Academical studies? b Rather get you gone, you Sirens pleasant even to destruction, and leave him to my Muses to be cured and healed.” That company being thus checked, overcome with grief, casting their eyes upon the ground, and bewraying their bashfulness with blushing, went sadly away. > Latin: Quae ubi poeticas Musas uidit nostro adsistentes toro fletibusque meis uerba dictantes, commota paulisper ac toruis inflammata luminibus: “Quis,” inquit, “has scenicas meretriculas ad hunc aegrum permisit accedere quae dolores eius non modo nullis remediis fouerent, uerum dulcibus insuper alerent uenenis? Hae sunt enim quae infructuosis affectuum spinis uberem fructibus rationis segetem necant hominumque mentes assuefaciunt morbo, non liberant. At si quem profanum, uti uulgo solitum uobis, blanditiae uestrae detraherent, minus moleste ferendum putarem, nihil quippe in eo nostrae operae laederentur. Hunc uero Eleaticis atque Academicis studiis innutritum? Sed abite potius Sirenes usque in exitium dulces meisque eum Musis curandum sanandumque relinquite.” [¶3] But I, whose sight was dimmed with tears, so that I could not discern what this woman might be, so imperious, and of such authority, was astonished, and, fixing my countenance upon the earth, began to expect with silence what she would do afterward. Then she coming nigher, sat down at my bed's feet, and beholding my countenance sad with mourning, and cast upon the ground with grief, complained of the perturbation of my mind with these verses. “Alas, how thy dull mind is headlong cast In depths of woe, where, all her light once lost, She doth to walk in utter darkness haste, While cares grow great with earthly tempests tost. He that through the opened heavens did freely run, And used to travel the celestial ways. Marking the rosy splendour of the sun, And noting Cynthia's cold and watery rays; He that did bravely comprehend in verse The different spheres and wandering course of stars, He that was wont the causes to rehearse Why sounding winds do with the seas make wars, What spirit moves the world s well-settled frame, And why the sun, whom forth the east doth bring, In western waves doth hide his falling flame, Searching what power tempers the pleasing Spring Which makes the earth her rosy flowers to bear, Whose gift it is that Autumn s fruitful season Should with full grapes flow in a plenteous year, Telling of secret Nature every reason, Now having lost the beauty of his mind Lies with his neck compassed in ponderous chains; His countenance with heavy weight declined, Him to behold the sullen earth constrains.” “But it is rather time,” saith she, “to apply remedies, than to make complaints.” And then looking wistfully upon me: “Art thou he,” saith she, “which, being long since nursed with our milk, and brought up with our nourishments, wert come to man's estate? > Latin: His ille chorus increpitus deiecit humi maestior uultum confessusque rubore uerecundiam limen tristis excessit. At ego cuius acies lacrimis mersa caligaret nec dinoscere possem, quaenam haec esset mulier tam imperiosae auctoritatis, obstipui uisuque in terram defixo quidnam deinceps esset actura, exspectare tacitus coepi. Tum illa propius accedens in extrema lectuli mei parte consedit meumque intuens uultum luctu grauem atque in humum maerore deiectum his uersibus de nostrae mentis perturbatione conquesta est. Heu quam praecipiti mersa profundo Mens hebet et propria luce relicta Tendit in externas ire tenebras, Terrenis quotiens flatibus aucta Crescit in inmensum noxia cura. Hic quondam caelo liber aperto Suetus in Aetherios ire meatus Cernebat rosei lumina solis, Visebat gelidae sidera lunae Et quaecumque uagos stella recursus Exercet uarios flexa per orbes, Comprensam numeris uictor habebat. Quin etiam causas unde sonora Flamina sollicitent aequora ponti, Quis uoluat stabilem spiritus orbem Vel cur hesperias sidus in undas Casurum rutilo surgat ab ortu, Quid ueris placidas temperet horas, Vt terram roseis floribus ornet, Quis dedit ut pleno fertilis anno Autumnus grauidis influat uuis Rimari solitus atque latentis Naturae uarias reddere causas. Nunc iacet effeto lumine mentis Et pressus grauibus colla catenis Decliuemque gerens pondere uultum Cogitur, heu, stolidam cernere terram. [¶4] Hut we had given thee such weapons as, if thou hadst not east them away, would have made thee invincible. Dost thou not know me? Why dost thou not speak? Is it shame-fastness or insensibleness that makes thee silent? I had rather it were shamefastness, but I perceive thou art become insensible.” And seeing me not only silent but altogether mute and dumb, fair and easily she laid her hand upon my breast saying: “There is no danger; he is in a lethargy, the common disease of deceived minds; he hath a little forgot himself, but he will easily remember himself again, if he be brought to know us first. To which end, let us a little wipe his eyes, dimmed with the cloud of mortal things. And having thus said, with a corner of her garment she dried my eyes which were wet with tears.” “Then fled the night and darkness did me leave, Mine eyes their wonted strength receive, As when swift Corus spreads the stars with clouds And the clear sky a veil of tempest shrouds The sun doth lurk, the earth receiveth night, Lacking the boon of starry light, But if fierce Boreas, sent from I brace, make way For the restoring of the day, Phoebus with fresh and sudden beams doth rise, Striking with light our wondering eyes.” In like manner, the mists of sadness dissolved, I came to myself and recovered my judgment, so that I knew my Physician's face; wherefore casting mine eyes upon her somewhat stedfastly, I beheld my nurse Philosophy, in whose house I had remained from my youth, and I said: “O Mistress of all virtues, for what cause art thou come from heaven into this our solitary banishment? > Latin: Sed medicinae, “inquit, ‘tempus est quam querelae’ Tum uero totis in me intenta luminibus: ‘Tune ille es,’ ait, ‘qui nostro quondam lacte nutritus nostris educatus alimentis in uirilis animi robur euaseras? Atqui talia contuleramus arma quae nisi prior abiecisses, inuicta te firmitate tuerentur. Agnoscisne me? Quid taces? Pudore an stupore siluisti? Mallem pudore, sed te, ut uideo, stupor oppressit.’ Cumque me non modo tacitum sed elinguem prorsus mutumque uidisset, admouit pectori meo leniter manum et: ‘Nihil,’ inquit, pericli est; lethargum patitur communem inlusarum mentium morbum. Sui paulisper oblitus est; recordabitur facile, si quidem nos ante cognouerit. Quod ut possit, paulisper lumina eius mortalium rerum nube caligantia tergamus.” Haec dixit oculosque meos fletibus undantes contracta in rugam ueste siceauit. Tunc me discussa liquerunt nocte tenebrae Luminibusque prior rediit uigor, Vt, cum praecipiti glomerantur sidera Coro Nimbosisque polus stetit imbribus. Sol latet ac nondum caelo uenientibus astris, Desuper in terram nox funditur; Hanc si Threicio Boreas emissus ab antro Verberet et clausam reseret diem, Emicat ac subito uibratus lumine Phoebus Mirantes oculos radiis ferit. [¶5] Art thou come to bear me company in being falsely accused?” “Should I,” saith she, “forsake thee, my disciple, and not divide the burden, which thou bearest through hatred of my name, by partaking of thy labour? But Philosophy never thought it lawful to forsake the innocent in his trouble. Should I fear any accusations, as though this were any new matter? For dost thou think that this is the first time that Wisdom hath been exposed to danger by wicked men? > Latin: Haud aliter tristitiae nebulis dissolutis hausi caelum et ad cognoscendam medicantis faciem mentem recepi. Itaque ubi in eam deduxi oculos intuitumque defixi, respicio nutricem meam cuius ab adulescentia laribus obuersatus fueram Philosophiam. “Et quid,” inquam, “tu in has exilii nostri solitudines o omnium magistra uirtutum supero cardine delapsa uenisti? An ut tu quoque mecum rea falsis criminationibus agiteris?” [¶6] Have we not in ancient times before our Plato s age had oftentimes great conflicts with the rashness of folly? And while he lived, had not his master Socrates the victory of an unjust death in my presence, whose inheritance, when afterward the mob of Epicures, Stoics, and others (every one for his own sect) endeavoured to usurp, and as it were in part of their prey, sought to draw me to them, exclaiming and striving against them; they tore the garment which I had woven with my own hands, and having gotten some little pieces of it, thinking me to be wholly in their possession, departed. Some of whom, because certain signs of my apparel appeared upon them, were rashly supposed to be my familiar friends, and condemned accordingly through the error of the profane multitude. But if thou hast not heard of the flight of Anaxagoras, the poison of Soerates, nor the torments of Zeno, because they are foreign examples; yet thou mayst have heard of Canius, of Seneca, of Soranus, a whose memory is both fresh and famous, whom nothing else brought to their overthrow but that they had been instructed in our school and were altogether disliking to the humours of wicked men; wherefore thou hast no cause to marvel, if in the sea of this life we be tossed with boisterous storms, whose chiefest purpose is to displease the wicked; of which though there be an huge army, yet it is to be despised, because it is not governed by any captain, but is carried up and down by fantastical error without any order at all. And if at any time they assail us with great force, our captain retireth her band into a castle, b leaving them occupied in sacking unprofitable baggage. And from above we laugh them to scorn for seeking so greedily after most vile things, being safe from all their furious assault, and fortified with that defence which aspiring folly cannot prevail against.” “Who mildly can his age dispose, And at his feet proud destiny throws: Who stoutly doth each chance behold, Keeping his countenance uncontrolled; Not him the ocean s rage and threat, Stirring the waves with angry heat, Nor hot Vesuvius when he casts From broken hills enflamèd blasts, Nor fiery thunder can dismay, Which takes the tops of towers away. Why do fierce tyrants us affright, Whose rage is far beyond their might? For nothing hope, nor fear thou harm, So their weak wrath thou shalt disarm. But he whom hope or terror takes, Being a slave, his shield forsakes, And leaves his place, and doth provide A chain wherewith his hands are tied.” Understandest thou these things, saith she, “and do they make impression in thy mind? Art thou c like the ass, deaf to the lyre? Why weepest thou? Why sheddest thou so many tears? Speak out; hide not thy thoughts. a If thou expectest to be cured, thou must discover thy wound.” Then I, collecting the forces of my mind together, made her answer in these words: “ Doth the cruelty of fortune s rage need further declaration, or doth it not sufficiently appear of itself? Doth not the very countenance of this place move thee? Is this the library which thou thyself hadst chosen to sit in at my house, in which thou hast oftentimes discoursed with me of the knowledge of divine and human things? > Latin: “An,” inquit illa, “te alumne desererem nec sarcinam quam mei nominis inuidia sustulisti, communicato tecum labore partirer? Atqui Philosophiae fas non erat incomitatum relinquere iter innocentis; meam scilicet criminationem uererer et quasi nouum aliquid acciderit, perhorrescerem? Nunc enim primum censes apud inprobos mores lacessitam periculis esse sapientiam? Nonne apud ueteres quoque ante nostri Platonis aetatem magnum saepe certamen cum stultitiae temeritate certauimus eodemque superstite praeceptor eius Socrates iniustae uictoriam mortis me adstante promeruit? Cuius hereditatem cum deinceps Epicureum uulgus ac Stoicum ceterique pro sua quisque parte raptum ire molirentur meque reclamantem renitentemque uelut in partem praedae traherent, uestem quam meis texueram manibus, disciderunt abreptisque ab ea panniculis totam me sibi cessisse credentes abiere. In quibus quoniam quaedam nostri habitus uestigia uidebantur, meos esse familiares inprudentia rata nonnullos eorum profanae multitudinis errore peruertit. Quod si nec Anaxagorae fugam nec Socratis uenenum nec Zenonis tormenta quoniam sunt peregrina nouisti, at Canios, at Senecas, at Soranos quorum nec peruetusta nec incelebris memoria est, scire potuisti. Quos nihil aliud in cladem detraxit nisi quod nostris moribus instituti studiis improborum dissimillimi uidebantur. Itaque nihil est quod admirere, si in hoc uitae salo circumflantibus agitemur procellis, quibus hoc maxime propositum est pessimis displicere. Quorum quidem tametsi est numerosus exercitus, spernendus tamen est, quoniam nullo duce regitur, sed errore tantum temere ac passim lymphante raptatur. Qui si quando contra nos aciem struens ualentior incubuerit, nostra quidem dux copias suas in arcem contrahit, illi uero circa diripiendam inutiles sarcinulas occupantur. At nos desuper inridemus uilissima rerum quaeque rapientes securi totius furiosi tumultus eoque uallo muniti quo grassanti stultitiae adspirare fas non sit.” Quisquis composito serenus aeuo Fatum sub pedibus egit 1 superbum Fortunamque tuens utramque rectus Inuictum potuit tenere uultum, Non illum rabies minaequc ponti Versum funditus exagitantis aestum Nec ruptis quotiens uagus caminis Torquet fumificos Vesaeuus ignes Aut celsas soliti ferire turres Ardentis uia fulminis mouebit. Quid tantum miseri saeuos tyrannos Mirantur sine uiribus furentes? Nec speres aliquid nec extimescas, Exarmaueris impotentis iram. At quisquis trepidus pauet uel optat, Quod non sit stabilis suique iuris, Abiecit clipeum locoque motus Nectit qua ualeat trahi catenam. [¶7] Had I this attire or countenance when I searched the secrets of nature with thee, when thou describedst unto me the course of the stars with thy geometrical rod, when thou didst frame my conversation and the manner of my whole life according to the pattern of the celestial order? > Latin: “Sentisne,” inquit, “haec atque animo inlabuntur tuo, an ὄνοσ λύρασ? Quid fles, quid lacrimis manas? ἐξαύδα, μὴ κεῦθε νόῳ. Si operam medicantis exspectas, oportet uulnus detegas.” Tum ego collecto in uires animo: “ [¶8] Are these the rewards which thy obedient servants have? But thou didst decree that sentence by the mouth of Plato: That commonwealths should be happy, if either the students of wisdom did govern them, or those which were appointed to govern them would give themselves to the study of wisdom. a Thou by the same philosopher didst admonish us that it is a sufficient cause for wise men to take upon themselves the government of the commonwealth, lest, if the rule of cities were left in the hands of lewd and wicked citizens, they should work the subversion and overthrow of the good. Wherefore, following this authority, I desired to practise that by public administration which I had learnt of thee in private conference. Thou and God Himself who had inserted thee in the minds of the wise, are my witnesses that nothing but the common desire of all good men brought me to be a magistrate. This hath been the cause of my grievous and irreconcilable disagreements with wicked men, and that which freedom of conscience carrieth with it, of ever contemning the indignation of potentates for the defence of justice. > Latin: Anne adhuc eget admonitione nec per se satis eminet fortunae in nos saeuientis asperitas? Nihilne te ipsa loci facies mouet? Haecine est bibliotheca, quam certissimam tibi sedem nostris in laribus ipsa delegeras? In qua mecum saepe residens de humanarum diuinarumque rerum scientia disserebas? Talis habitus talisque uultus erat, cum tecum naturae secreta rimarer, cum mihi siderum uias radio de-scriberes, cum mores nostros totiusque uitae rationem ad caelestis ordinis exempla formares? Haecine praemia referimus tibi obsequentes? Atqui tu hanc sententiam Platonis ore sanxisti: beatas fore res publicas, si eas uel studiosi sapientiae regerent uel earum rectores studere sapientiae, contigisset. Tu eiusdem uiri ore hanc sapientibus capessendae rei publicae necessariam causam esse monuisti, ne improbis flagitiosisque ciuibus urbium relicta gubernacula pestem bonis ac perniciem ferrent. [¶9] How often have I encountered with Conigastus, violently possessing himself with poor men's goods? How often have I put back Triguilla, Provost of the King's house, from injuries which he had begun, yea, and finished also? How often have I protected, by putting my authority in danger, such poor wretches as the unpunished covetousness of the barbarous did vex with infinite reproaches? > Latin: Hanc igitur auctoritatem secutus quod a te inter secreta otia didiceram transferre in actum publicae administrationis optaui. Tu mihi et qui te sapientium mentibus inseruit deus conscii nullum me ad magistratum nisi commune bonorum omnium studium detulisse. Inde cum inprobis graues inexorabilesque discordiae et quod conscientiae libertas habet, pro tuendo iure spreta potentiorum semper offensio. [¶10] Never did any man draw me from right to wrong. It grieved me no less than them which suffered it, to see the wealth of our subjects wasted, partly by private pillage, and partly by public tributes. contend with the chief Praetor himself, and the matter was discussed before the King, and I prevailed so far that it went not forward. I drew Paulinus, who had been Consul, out of the very mouth of the gaping courtiers, who like ravenous curs had already in hope and ambition devoured his riches. That Albinus who had likewise been Consul might not be punished upon presumptuous a and false accusation, I exposed myself to the hatred of Cyprian his accuser. > Latin: Quotiens ego Conigastum in inbecilli cuiusque fortunas impetum facientem obuius excepi, quotiens Triguillam regiae praepositum domus ab incepta, perpetrata iam prorsus iniuria deieci, quotiens miseros quos infinitis calumniis inpunita barbarorum semper auaritia uexabat, obiecta periculis auctoritate protexi! Numquam me ab iure ad iniuriam quisquam detraxit. Prouincialium fortunas tum priuatis rapinis tum publicis uectigalibus pessumdari non aliter quam qui patiebantur indolui. [¶11] May I seem to have provoked enmity enough against myself? But others should so much the more have procured my safety, since that for the love I bear to justice I left myself no way by the means of courtiers to be safe. But by whose accusations did I receive this blow? By theirs who, long since having put Basil out of the King's service, compelled him now to accuse me, by the necessity which he was driven to by debt. Opilio likewise and Gaudentius being banished by the King's decree, for the injuries and manifold deceits which they had committed, because they would not obey, defended themselves by taking sanctuary, of which the King hearing, gave sentence, that unless they departed out of the city of Ravenna within certain days, they should be branded in the foreheads, and put out by force. What could be added to this severity? And yet that very day their accusations against me went for current. What might be the reason of this? Did my dealing deserve it? Or did the condemnation, which went before, make them just accusers? Was not fortune ashamed, if not that innocency was accused, yet at least that it had so vile and base accusers? But what crime was laid to my charge? Wilt thou have it in one word? I am said to have desired the Senate's safety. Wilt thou know the manner how? I am blamed for having hindered their accuser to bring forth evidence by which he should prove the Senate guilty of treason. What thinkest thou, O Mistress? Shall I deny this charge, that I may not shame thee? But it is true, I desired it, neither will I ever cease from having that desire. Shall I confess it? But I have already left hindering their accuser. Shall I call it an offence to have wished the safety of that order? Indeed the Senate with their decrees concerning me had made it an offence. But folly, always deceiving herself, cannot change the deserts of things, nor, according to the decree of Soerates, a do I think it is lawful either to conceal the truth or grant a lie. > Latin: Cum acerbae famis tempore grauis atque inexplicabilis indicta coemptio profligatum inopia Campaniam prouinciam uideretur, certamen aduersum praefectum praetorii communis commodi ratione suscepi, rege cognoscente contendi et ne coemptio exigeretur, euici. Paulinum consularem uirum cuius opes Palatinae canes iam spe atque ambitione deuorassent, ab ipsis hiantium faucibus traxi. Ne Albinum consularem uirum praeiudicatae accusationis poena corriperet, odiis me Cypriani delatoris opposui. Satisne in me magnas uideor exaceruasse discordias? Sed esse apud ceteros tutior debui qui mihi amore iustitiae nihil apud aulicos quo magis essem tutior reseruaui. Quibus autem deferentibus perculsi sumus? Quorum Basilius olim regio ministerio depulsus in delationem nostri nominis alieni aeris necessitate compulsus est. Opilionem uero atque Gaudentium cum ob innumeras multiplicesque fraudes ire in exilium regia censura decreuisset cumque illi parere nolentes sacrarum sese aedium defensione tuerentur compertumque id regi foret, edixit: uti ni intra praescriptum diem Rauenna urbe decederent, notas insigniti frontibus pellerentur. Quid huic seueritati posse astrui uidetur? Atqui in eo die deferentibus eisdem nominis nostri delatio suscepta est. Quid igitur? Nostraene artes ita me-ruerunt? An illos accusatores iustos fecit praeniissa damnatio? Itane nihil fortunam puduit si minus accusatae innocentiae, at accusantium uilitatis? 1 At cuius criminis arguimur summam quaeris? Senatum dicimur saluum esse uoluisse. Modum desideras? Delatorem ne documenta deferret quibus senatum maiestatis reum faceret impedisse criminamur. [¶12] But how this may be, I leave to thine and Wisdom's censure. And that posterity may not be ignorant of the course and truth of the matter, I have put it down in writing. For why should I speak of those feigned letters, in which I am charged to have hoped for Roman liberty? The deceit of which would manifestly have appeared, if it might have been lawful for me to have used the confession of my very accusers, which in all business is of greatest force. For what liberty remaineth there to be hoped for? I would to God there were any! I would have answered as Canius did, who being charged by Gaius Caesar, son to Germanicus, that he was privy to the conspiracy made against him, answered: ' If I had been made acquainted with it, thou shouldest never have known of it.' > Latin: Quid igitur o magistra censes? Infitiabimur crimen, ne tibi pudor simus? At uolui nec umquam uelle desistam. Fatebimur? Sed impediendi delatoris opera cessauit. An optasse illius ordinis salutem nefas uocabo? Ille quidem suis de me decretis, uti hoc nefas esset, effecerat. Sed sibi semper mentiens inprudentia rerum merita non potest inmutare nec mihi Socratico decreto fas esse arbitror uel occuluisse ueritatem uel concessisse mendacium. Verum id quoquo modo sit, tuo sapientiumque iudicio aestimandum relinquo. Cuius rei seriem atque ueritatem, ne latere posteros queat, stilo etiam memoriaeque mandaui.