1. I wish, O conscript fathers, that the immortal gods had granted to us to return thanks to Servius Sulpicius while alive, rather than thus to devise honors for him now that he is dead. Nor have I any doubt, but that if that man had been able himself to give us his report of the proceedings of his embassy, his return would have been acceptable to you and salutary to the republic. Not that either Lucius. Piso or Lucius Philippus have been deficient in either zeal or care in the performance of so important a duty and so grave a commission; but, as Servius Sulpicius was superior in age to them, and in wisdom to every one, he, being suddenly taken from the business, left the whole embassy crippled and enfeebled.
1. di immortales fecissent, patres conscripti, ut vivo potius Ser. Sulpicio gratias ageremus quam honores mortuo quaereremus. vero dubito quin, si ille vir legationem renuntiare potuisset, reditus eius et vobis gratus fuerit et rei publicae salutaris futurus, non quo L. Philippo et L. Pisoni aut studium aut cura defuerit in tanto officio tantoque munere, sed cum Ser. Sulpicius aetate illis anteiret, sapientia omnibus, subito ereptus e causa totam legationem orbam et debilitatam reliquit.
2. But if deserved honors have been paid to any ambassador after death, there is no one by whom they can be found to have been ever more fully deserved than by Servius Sulpicius. The rest of those men who have died while engaged on an embassy, have gone forth, subject indeed to the usual uncertainties of life, but without any especial danger or fear of death. Servius Sulpicius set out with some hope indeed of reaching Antonius, but with none of returning. But though he was so very ill that if any exertion were added to his bad state of health, he would have no hope of himself, still he did not refuse to try, even while at his last gasp, to be of some service to the republic. Therefore neither the severity of the winter, nor the snow, nor the length of the journey, nor the badness of the roads, nor his daily increasing illness, delayed him. And when he had arrived where he might meet and confer with the man to whom he had been sent, he departed this life in the midst of his care and consideration as to how he might best discharge the duty which he had undertaken.
2. si cuiquam iustus honos habitus est in morte legato, in nullo iustior quam in Ser. Sulpicio reperietur. qui in legatione mortem obierunt ad incertum vitae periculum sine ullo mortis metu profecti sunt: Ser. Sulpicius cum aliqua perveniendi ad M. Antonium spe profectus est, nulla revertendi. cum ita adfectus esset ut, si ad gravem valetudinem labor accessisset, sibi ipse diffideret, non recusavit quo minus vel extremo spiritu, si quam opem rei publicae ferre posset, experiretur. non illum vis hiemis, non nives, non longitudo itineris, non asperitas viarum, non morbus ingravescens retardavit, cumque iam ad congressum conloquiumque eius pervenisset ad quem erat missus, in ipsa cura ac meditatione obeundi sui muneris excessit e vita.
3. As therefore, O Caius Pansa, you have done well in other respects, so you have acted admirably in exhorting us this day to pay honor to Servius Sulpicius, and in yourself making an eloquent oration in his praise. And after the speech which we have heard from you, I should have been content to say nothing beyond barely giving my vote, if I did not think it necessary to reply to Publius Servilius, who has declared his opinion that this honor of a statue ought to be granted to no one who has not been actually slain with a sword while performing the duties of his embassy. But I, O conscript fathers, consider that this was the feeling of our ancestors, that they considered that it was the cause of death, and not the manner of it, which was a proper subject for inquiry. In fact, they thought fit that a monument should be erected to any man whose death was caused by an embassy, in order to tempt men in perilous wars to be the more bold in undertaking the office of an ambassador. What we ought to do, therefore, is, not to scrutinize the precedents afforded by our ancestors, but to explain their intentions from which the precedents themselves arose.
3. Vt igitur alia, sic hoc, C. Pansa, praeclare quod et nos ad honorandum Ser. Sulpicium cohortatus es et ipse multa copiose de illius laude dixisti. a te dictis nihil praeter sententiam dicerem, nisi P. Servilio, clarissimo viro, respondendum putarem, qui hunc honorem statuae nemini tribuendum censuit nisi ei qui ferro esset in legatione interfectus. autem, patres conscripti, sic interpretor sensisse maiores nostros ut causam mortis censuerint, non genus esse quaerendum. cui legatio ipsa morti fuisset, eius monumentum exstare voluerunt, ut in bellis periculosis obirent homines legationis munus audacius. igitur exempla maiorum quaerenda, sed consilium est eorum a quo ipsa exempla nata sunt explicandum.
4. Lar Tolumnius, the king of Veii, slew four ambassadors of the Roman people, at Fidenae, whose statues were standing in the rostra till within my recollection. The honor was well deserved. For our ancestors gave those men who had encountered death in the cause of the republic an imperishable memory in exchange for this transitory life. We see in the rostra the statue of Cnaeus Octavius, an illustrious and great man, the first man who brought the consulship into that family, which afterward abounded in illustrious men. There was no one then who envied him, because he was a new man; there was no one who did not honor his virtue. But yet the embassy of Octavius was one in which there was no suspicion of danger. For having been sent by the senate to investigate the dispositions of kings and of free nations, and especially to forbid the grandson of king Antiochus, the one who had carried on war against our forefathers, to maintain fleets and to keep elephants, he was slain at Laodicea, in the gymnasium, by a man of the name of Leptines.
4. Lars Tolumnius, rex Veientium, quattuor legatos populi Romani Fidenis interemit, quorum statuae steterunt usque ad meam memoriam in rostris: iustus honos: eis enim maiores nostri qui ob rem publicam mortem obierant pro brevi vita diuturnam memoriam reddiderunt. Cn. Octavi, clari viri et magni, qui primus in eam familiam quae postea viris fortissimis floruit attulit consulatum, statuam videmus in rostris. tum novitati invidebat; nemo virtutem non honorabat. ea fuit legatio Octavi in qua periculi suspicio non subesset. cum esset missus a senatu ad animos regum perspiciendos liberorumque populorum, maximeque, ut nepotem regis Antiochi, eius qui cum maioribus nostris bellum gesserat, classis habere, elephantos alere prohiberet, Laudiceae in gymnasio a quodam Leptine est interfectus.
5. On this a statue was given to him by our ancestors as a recompense for his life, which might ennoble his progeny for many years, and which is now the only memorial left of so illustrious a family. But in his case, and in that of Tullus Cluvius, and Lucius Roscius, and Spurius Antius, and Caius Fulcinius, who were slain by the king of Veii, it was not the blood that was shed at their death, but the death itself which was encountered in the service of the republic, which was the cause of their being thus honored. Therefore, O conscript fathers, if it had been chance which had caused the death of Servius. Sulpicius, I should sorrow indeed over such a loss to the republic, but I should consider him deserving of the honor, not of a monument, but of a public mourning. But, as it is, who is there who doubts that it was the embassy itself which caused his death? For he took death away with him; though, if he had remained among us, his own care, and the attention of his most excellent son and his most faithful wife, might have warded it off.
5. est ei tum a maioribus statua pro vita quae multos per annos progeniem eius honestaret, nunc ad tantae familiae memoriam sola restaret. et huic et Tullo Cluvio et L. Roscio et Sp. Antio et C. Fulcinio qui a Veientium rege caesi sunt non sanguis qui est profusus in morte, sed ipsa mors ob rem publicam obita honori fuit., patres conscripti, si Ser. Sulpicio casus mortem attulisset, dolerem equidem tanto rei publicae volnere, mortem vero eius non monumento, sed luctu publico esse ornandam putarem. autem quis dubitat quin ei vitam abstulerit ipsa legatio? enim ille mortem extulit quam, si nobiscum remansisset, sua cura, optimi fili fidelissimaeque coniugis diligentia vitare potuisset.
6. But he, as he saw that, if he did not obey your authority, he should not be acting like himself; but that if he did obey, then that duty, undertaken for the welfare of the republic, would be the end of his life; preferred dying at a most critical period of the republic, to appearing to have done less service to the republic than he might have done. He had an opportunity of recruiting his strength and taking care of himself in many cities through which his journey lay. He was met by the liberal invitation of many entertainers, as his dignity deserved, and the men too who were sent with him exhorted him to take rest, and to think of his own health. But he, refusing all delay, hastening on, eager to perform your commands, persevered in this his constant purpose, in spite of the hindrances of his illness.
6. ille cum videret, si vestrae auctoritati non paruisset, dissimilem se futurum sui, sin paruisset, munus sibi illud pro re publica susceptum vitae finem fore, maluit in maximo rei publicae discrimine emori quam minus quam potuisset videri rei publicae profuisse. illi in urbibus iter qua faciebat reficiendi se et curandi potestas fuit. et hospitum invitatio liberalis pro dignitate summi viri et eorum hortatio qui una erant missi ad requiescendum et vitae suae consulendum. ille properans, festinans, mandata vestra conficere cupiens, in hac constantia morbo adversante perseveravit.
7. And as Antonius was above all things disturbed by his arrival, because the commands which were laid upon him by your orders had been drawn up by the authority and wisdom of Servius Sulpicius, he showed plainly how he hated the senate by the evident joy which he displayed at the death of the adviser of the senate. Leptines then did not kill Octavius, nor did the king of Veii slay those whom I have just named, more clearly than Antonius killed Servius Sulpicius. Surely he brought the man death, who was the cause of his death. Wherefore, I think it of consequence, in order that posterity may recollect it, that there should be a record of what the judgment of the senate was concerning this war. For the statue itself will be a witness that the war was so serious a one, that the death of an ambassador in it gained the honor of an imperishable memorial.
7. cum adventu maxime perturbatus esset Antonius, quod ea quae sibi iussu vestro denuntiarentur auctoritate erant et sententia Ser. Sulpici constituta, declaravit quam odisset senatum, cum auctorem senatus exstinctum laete atque insolenter tulit. igitur magis Leptines Octavium nec Veientium rex eos quos modo nominavi quam Ser. Sulpicium occidit Antonius: is enim profecto mortem attulit qui causa mortis fuit. Quocirca etiam ad posteritatis memoriam pertinere arbitror exstare quod fuerit de hoc bello iudicium senatus. enim statua ipsa testis bellum tam grave fuisse ut legati interitus honoris memoriam consecutus sit.
8. But if, O conscript fathers, you would only recollect the excuses alleged by Servius Sulpicius why he should not be appointed to this embassy, then no doubt will be left on your minds that we ought to repair by the honor paid to the dead the injury which we did to him while living. For it is you, O conscript fathers (it is a grave charge to make, but it must be uttered), it is you, I say, who have deprived Servius Sulpicius of life. For when you saw him pleading his illness as an excuse more by the truth of the fact than by any labored plea of words, you were not indeed cruel (for what can be more impossible for this order to be guilty of than that), but as you hoped that there was nothing that could not be accomplished by his authority and wisdom, you opposed his excuse with great earnestness, and compelled the man, who had always thought your decisions of the greatest weight, to abandon his own opinion.
8. si excusationem Ser. Sulpici, patres conscripti, legationis obeundae recordari volueritis, nulla dubitatio relinquetur quin honore mortui quam vivo iniuriam fecimus sarciamus. enim, patres conscripti, —grave dictu est sed dicendum tamen—vos, inquam, Ser. Sulpicium vita privastis: quem cum videretis re magis morbum quam oratione excusantem, non vos quidem crudeles fuistis—quid enim minus in hunc ordinem convenit? —sed cum speraretis nihil esse quod non illius auctoritate et sapientia effici posset, vehementius excusationi obstitistis atque eum qui semper vestrum consensum gravissimum iudicavisset de sententia deiecistis.
9. But when there was added the exhortation of Pansa, the consul, delivered with more weight than the ears of Servius Sulpicius had learned to resist, then at last he led me and his own son aside, and said that he was hound to prefer your authority to his own life. And we, admiring his virtue, did not dare to oppose his determination. His son was moved with extraordinary piety and affection, and my own grief did not fall far short of his agitation; but each of us was compelled to yield to his greatness of mind, and to the dignity of his language, when he, indeed, amid the loud praises and congratulations of you all, promised to do whatever you wished, and not to avoid the danger which might be incurred by the adoption of the opinion of which he himself had been the author. And we the next day escorted him early in the morning as he hastened forth to execute your commands. And he, in truth, when departing, spoke with me in such a manner that his language seemed like an omen of his fate.
9. Vt vero Pansae consulis accessit cohortatio gravior quam aures Ser. Sulpici ferre didicissent, tum vero denique filium meque seduxit atque ita locutus est ut auctoritatem vestram vitae suae se diceret anteferre. nos virtutem admirati non ausi sumus adversari voluntati. singulari pietate filius; non multum eius perturbationi meus dolor concedebat: sed uterque nostrum cedere cogebatur magnitudini animi orationisque gravitati, cum quidem ille maxima laude et gratulatione omnium vestrum pollicitus est se quod velletis esse facturum, neque eius sententiae periculum vitaturum cuius ipse auctor fuisset: quem exsequi mandata vestra properantem mane postridie prosecuti sumus. quidem discedens mecum ita locutus est ut eius oratio omen fati videretur.
10. Restore then, O conscript fathers, life to him from whom you have taken it. For the life of the dead consists in the recollection cherished of them by the living. Take care that he, whom you without, intending it sent to his death, shall from you receive immortality. And if you by your decree erect a statue to him in the rostra, no forgetfulness of posterity will ever obscure the memory of his embassy. For the remainder of the life of Servius Sulpicius will be recommended to the eternal recollection of all men by many and splendid memorials. The praise of all mortals will forever celebrate his wisdom, his firmness, his loyalty, his admirable vigilance and prudence in upholding the interests of the public. Nor will that admirable, and incredible, and almost godlike skill of his in interpreting the laws and explaining the principles of equity be buried in silence. If all the men of all ages, who have ever had any acquaintance with the law in this city, were got together into one place, they would not deserve to be compared to Servius Sulpicius.
10. igitur, patres conscripti, ei vitam cui ademistis. enim mortuorum in memoria est posita vivorum. ut is quem vos inscii ad mortem misistis immortalitatem habeat a vobis. si statuam in rostris decreto vestro statueritis, nulla eius legationem posteritatis obscurabit oblivio. reliqua Ser. Sulpici vita multis erit praeclarisque monumentis ad omnem memoriam commendata. illius gravitatem, constantiam, fidem, praestantem in re publica tuenda curam atque prudentiam omnium mortalium fama celebrabit. vero silebitur admirabilis quaedam et incredibilis ac paene divina eius in legibus interpretandis, aequitate explicanda scientia. ex omni aetate qui in hac civitate intellegentiam iuris habuerunt si unum in locum conferantur, cum Ser. Sulpicio non sint comparandi. enim ille magis iuris consultus quam iustitiae fuit.
11. Nor was he more skillful in explaining the law than in laying down the principles of justice. Those maxims which were derived from laws, and from the common law, he constantly referred to the original principles of kindness and equity. Nor was he more fond of arranging the conduct of lawsuits than of preventing disputes altogether. Therefore he is not in want of this memorial which a statue will provide; he has other and better ones. For this statue will be only a witness of his honorable death; those actions will be the memorial of his glorious life. So that this will be rather a monument of the gratitude of the senate, than of the glory of the man.
11. ea quae proficiscebantur a legibus et ab iure civili semper ad facilitatem aequitatemque referebat, neque instituere litium actiones malebat quam controversias tollere. hoc statuae monumento non eget; habet alia maiora. enim statua mortis honestae testis erit, illa memoria vitae gloriosae, ut hoc magis monumentum grati senatus quam clari viri futurum sit.
12. The affection of the son, too, will appear to have great influence in moving us to honor the father; for although, being overwhelmed with grief, he is not present, still you ought to be animated with the same feelings as if he were present. But he is in such distress, that no father ever sorrowed more over the loss of an only son than he grieves for the death of his father. Indeed, I think that it concerns also the fame of Servius Sulpicius the son, that he should appear to have paid all due respect to his father. Although Servius Sulpicius could leave no nobler monument behind him than his son, the image of his own manners, and virtues, and wisdom, and piety, and genius; whose grief can either be alleviated by this honor paid to his father by you, or by no consolation at all.
12. etiam valuisse ad patris honorem pietas fili videbitur; qui quamquam adflictus luctu non adest, tamen sic animati esse debetis ut si ille adesset. autem ita adfectus ut nemo umquam unici fili mortem magis doluerit quam ille maeret patris. quidem etiam ad famam Ser. Sulpici fili arbitror pertinere ut videatur honorem debitum patri praestitisse. nullum monumentum clarius Ser. Sulpicius relinquere potuit quam effigiem morum suorum, virtutis, constantiae, pietatis, ingeni filium, cuius luctus aut hoc honore vestro aut nullo solacio levari potest.
13. But when I recollect the many conversations which in the days of our intimacy on earth I have had with Servius Sulpicius, it appears to me, that if there be any feeling in the dead, a brazen statue, and that too a pedestrian one, will be more acceptable to him than a gilt equestrian one, such as was first erected to Lucius Sulla. For Servius was wonderfully attached to the moderation of our forefathers, and was accustomed to reprove the insolence of this age. As if, therefore, I were able to consult himself as to what he would wish, so I give my vote for a pedestrian statue of brass, as if I were speaking by his authority and inclination; which by the honor of the memorial will diminish and mitigate the great grief and regret of his fellow-citizens.
13. autem recordanti Ser. Sulpici multos in nostra familiaritate sermones gratior illi videtur, si qui est sensus in morte, aenea statua futura et ea pedestris quam inaurata equestris, qualis L. Sullae primum statuta est. enim Servius maiorum continentiam diligebat, huius saeculi insolentiam vituperabat. Vt igitur si ipsum consulam quid velit, sic pedestrem ex aere statuam tamquam ex eius auctoritate et voluntate decerno: quae quidem magnum civium dolorem et desiderium honore monumenti minuet et leniet.
14. And it is certain that this my opinion, O conscript fathers, will be approved of by the opinion of Publius Servilius, who has given his vote that a sepulcher be publicly decreed to Servius Sulpicius, but has voted against the statue. For if the death of an ambassador happening without bloodshed and violence requires no honor, why does he vote for the honor of a public funeral, which is the greatest honor that can be paid to a dead man? If he grants that to Servius Sulpicius which was not given to Gnaeus. Octavius, why does he think that we ought not to give to the former what was given to the latter? Our ancestors, indeed, decreed statues to many men; public sepulchers to few. But statues perish by weather, by violence, by lapse of time; but the sanctity of the sepulchers is in the soil itself, which can neither be moved nor destroyed by any violence; and while other things are extinguished, so sepulchers become holier by age.
14. hanc meam sententiam, patres conscripti, P. Servili sententia comprobari necesse est: qui sepulcrum publice decernendum Ser. Sulpicio censuit, statuam non censuit. si mors legati sine caede atque ferro nullum honorem desiderat, cur decernit honorem sepulturae qui maximus haberi potest mortuo? id tribuit Ser. Sulpicio, quod non est datum Cn. Octavio, cur quod illi datum est huic dandum esse non censet? quidem nostri statuas multis decreverunt, sepulcra paucis. statuae intereunt tempestate, vetustate, sepulcrorum autem sanctitas in ipso solo est quod nulla vi moveri neque deleri potest, atque, ut cetera exstinguuntur, sic sepulcra sanctiora fiunt vetustate.
15. Let, then, that man be distinguished by that honor also, a man to whom no honor can be given which is not deserved. Let us be grateful in paying respect in death to him to whom we can now show no other gratitude. And by that same step let the audacity of Marcus Antonius, waging a nefarious war, be branded with infamy. For when these honors have been paid to Servius Sulpicius, the evidence of his embassy having been insulted and rejected by Antonius, will remain for everlasting. On which account I give my vote for a decree in this form: “As Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the son of Quintus, of the Lemonian tribe, at a most critical period of the republic, and being ill with a very serious and dangerous disease, preferred the authority of the senate and the safety of the republic to his own life, and struggled against the violence and severity of his illness, in order to arrive at the camp of Antonius, to which the senate had sent him; and as he, when he had almost arrived at the camp, being overwhelmed by the violence of the disease, has lost his life in discharging a most important office of the republic; and as his death has been in strict correspondence to a life passed with the greatest integrity and honor, during which he, Servius Sulpicius, has often been of great service to the republic, both as a private individual and in the discharge of various magistracies;
15. igitur isto honore etiam is vir cui nullus honos tribui non debitus potest; grati simus in eius morte decoranda cui nullam iam aliam gratiam referre possumus. etiam M. Antoni nefarium bellum gerentis scelerata audacia. enim honoribus habitis Ser. Sulpicio repudiatae reiectaeque legationis ab Antonio manebit testificatio sempiterna. ob res ita censeo: “Ser. Sulpicius Q. f. Rufus difficillimo rei publicae tempore, gravi periculosoque morbo adfectus, auctoritatem senatus, salutem rei publicae vitae suae praeposuerit contraque vim gravitatemque morbi contenderit, ut in castra M. Antoni quo senatus eum miserat perveniret, isque, cum iam prope castra venisset, vi morbi oppressus vitam amiserit maximo rei publicae tempore, eiusque mors consentanea vitae fuerit sanctissime honestissimeque actae in qua saepe magno usui rei publicae Ser. Sulpicius et privatus et in magistratibus fuerit:”
16. and as he, being such a man, has encountered death on behalf of the republic while employed on an embassy;—the senate decrees that a brazen pedestrian statue of Servius Sulpicius be erected in the rostra in compliance with the resolution of this order, and that his children and posterity shall have a place round this statue of five feet in every direction, from which to behold the games and gladiatorial combats, because he died in the cause of the republic; and that this reason be inscribed on the pedestal of the statue; and that Caius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius the consuls, one or both of them, if it seem good to them, shall command the quaestors of the city to let out a contract for making that pedestal and that statue, and erecting them in the rostra; and that whatever price they contract for, they shall take care the amount is given and paid to the contractor; and as in old times the senate has exerted its authority with respect to the obsequies of, and honors paid to brave men, it now decrees that he shall be carried to the tomb on the day of his funeral with the greatest possible solemnity.
16. “cum talis vir ob rem publicam in legatione mortem obierit, senatui placere Ser. Sulpicio statuam pedestrem aeneam in rostris ex huius ordinis sententia statui, circumque eam statuam locum ludis gladiatoribusque liberos posterosque eius quoquo versus pedes quinque habere, eamque causam in basi inscribi quod is ob rem publicam mortem obierit, utique C. Pansa A. Hirtius consules, alter ambove, si eis videatur, quaestoribus urbanis imperent ut eam basim statuamque faciendam et in rostris statuendam locent, quantique locaverint, tantam pecuniam redemptori attribuendam solvendamque curent. Cumque antea senatus auctoritatem suam in virorum fortium funeribus ornamentisque ostenderit, placere eum quam amplissime supremo suo die efferri.”
17. And as Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the son of Quintus of the Lemonian tribe, has deserved so well of the republic as to be entitled to be complimented with all those distinctions; the senate is of opinion, and thinks it for the advantage of the republic, that the consule aedile should suspend the edict which usually prevails with respect to funerals in the case of the funeral of Servius Sulpicius Rufus, the son of Quintus of the Lemonian tribe; and that Caius Pansa, the consul, shall assign him a place for a tomb in the Esquiline plain, or in whatever place shall seem good to him, extending thirty feet in every direction, where Servius Sulpicius may be buried; and that that shall be his tomb, and that of his children and posterity, as having been a tomb most deservedly given to them by the public authority.” Soon after the delivery of the last speech, dispatches were received from Brutus by the consuls, giving an account of his success against Caius Antonius in Macedonia; stating that he had secured Macedonia, Illyricum, and Greece, with the armies in those countries; that Caius Antonius had retired to Apollonia with seven cohorts; that a legion under Lucius Piso had surrendered to young Cicero, who was commanding his cavalry; that Dolabella's cavalry had deserted to him; and that Vatinius had surrendered Dyrrachium and its garrison to him: He likewise praised Quintus Hortensius, the proconsul of Macedonia, as having assisted him in gaining over the Grecian provinces and the armies in those districts. As soon as Pansa received the dispatches, he summoned the senate to have them read; and in a set speech greatly extolled Brutus, and moved a vote of thanks to him; but Calenus, who followed him, declared his opinion that as Brutus had acted without any public commission or authority, he should be required to give up his army to the proper governors of the provinces, or to whoever the senate should appoint to receive it. After he had sat down, Cicero rose, and delivered the following speech. We all, O Pansa, ought both to feel and to show the greatest gratitude to you, who,—though we did not expect that you would hold any senate today,—the moment that you received the letters of Marcus Brutus, that most excellent citizen, did not interpose even the slightest delay to our enjoying the most excessive delight and mutual congratulation at the earliest opportunity. And not only ought this action of yours to be grateful to us all, but also the speech which you addressed to us after the letters had been read. For you showed plainly, that that was true which I have always felt to be so, that no one envied the virtue of another who was confident of his own.
17. “cum Ser. Sulpicius Q. f. Rufus ita de re publica meritus sit ut eis ornamentis decorari debeat, senatum censere atque e re publica existimare aedilis curulis edictum quod de funeribus habeant Ser. Sulpici Q. f. Rufi funeri remittere: utique locum sepulcro in campo Esquilino C. Pansa consul, seu quo in loco videbitur, pedes xxx quoquo versus adsignet quo Ser. Sulpicius inferatur; quod sepulcrum ipsius, liberorum posterorumque eius esset, uti quod optimo iure publice sepulcrum datum esset.” tibi, Pansa, gratias omnes et habere et agere debemus qui, cum hodierno die senatum te habiturum non arbitraremur, ut M. Bruti, praestantissimi civis, litteras accepisti, ne minimam quidem moram interposuisti quin quam primum maximo gaudio et gratulatione frueremur. factum tuum gratum omnibus debet esse, tum vero oratio qua recitatis litteris usus es. enim verum esse id quod ego semper sensi, neminem alterius qui suae confideret virtuti invidere.