τὸν Αἰμιλίων οἶκον ἐν Ῥώμῃ τῶν εὐπατριδῶν γεγονέναι καὶ παλαιῶν οἱ πλεῖστοι συγγραφεῖς ὁμολογοῦσιν.
That the Aemilii were one of the ancient and patrician houses at Rome, most writers agree.
ὅτι δʼ ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ γένει τήν ἐπωνυμίαν ἀπολιπὼν Μάμερκος ἦν, Πυθαγόρου παῖς τοῦ σοφοῦ, διʼ αἱμυλίαν λόγου καὶ χάριν Αἰμίλιος προσαγορευθείς, εἰρήκασιν ἔνιοι τῶν Πυθαγόρᾳ τήν Νομᾶ τοῦ βασιλέως παίδευσιν ἀναθέντων.
And that the first of them, and the one who gave his surname to the family, was Mamercus, a son of Pythagoras the philosopher, who received the surname of Aemilius for the grace and charm of his discourse, is the statement of some of those writers who hold that Pythagoras was the educator of Numa the king.
οἱ μὲν οὖν πλεῖστοι τῶν εἰς δόξαν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκίας ταύτης προελθόντων διʼ ἀρετὴν, ἣν ἐζήλωσαν, εὐτύχησαν, Λευκίου δὲ Παύλου τὸ περὶ Κάννας ἀτύχημα τήν τε φρόνησιν ἅμα καὶ τήν ἀνδρείαν ἔδειξεν.
Now, most of this family who rose to distinction by their cultivation of virtue, were blessed with good fortune; and in the case of Lucius Paulus, his misfortune at Cannae gave testimony alike to his wisdom and valour.
ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔπεισε τὸν συνάρχοντα κωλύων μάχεσθαι, τοῦ μὲν ἀγῶνος ἄκων μετέσχεν αὐτῷ, τῆς δὲ φυγῆς οὐκ ἐκοινώνησεν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ συνάψαντος τὸν κίνδυνον ἐγκαταλιπόντος αὐτὸς ἑστὼς καὶ μαχόμενος τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐτελεύτησε.
For when he could not dissuade his colleague from giving battle, he took part with him in the struggle, though reluctantly, but would not be a partner in his flight; nay, though the one who had brought on the peril left him in the lurch, he himself kept his post and died fighting the enemy.
τούτου θυγάτηρ μὲν Αἰμιλία Σκηπίωνι τῷ μεγάλῳ συνῴκησεν, υἱὸς δὲ Παῦλος Αἰμίλιος, περὶ οὗ τάδε γράφεται, γεγονὼς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ κατὰ καιρὸν ἀνθοῦντα δόξαις καὶ ἀρεταῖς ἐπιφανεστάτων ἀνδρῶν καὶ μεγίστων, διέλαμψεν, οὐ ταὐτὰ τοῖς εὐδοκιμοῦσι τότε νέοις ἐπιτηδεύματα ζηλώσας, οὐδὲ τήν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς πορευθείς.
This Paulus had a daughter, Aemilia, who was the wife of Scipio the Great, and a son, Aemilius Paulus, whose Life I now write. He came of age at a time which abounded in men of the greatest reputation and most illustrious virtue, and yet he was a conspicuous figure, although he did not pursue the same studies as the young nobles of the time, nor set out on his career by the same path.
οὔτε γὰρ λόγον ἤσκει περὶ δίκας, ἀσπασμούς τε καὶ δεξιώσεις καὶ φιλοφροσύνας, αἷς ὑποτρέχοντες οἱ πολλοὶ τὸν δῆμον ἐκτῶντο θεραπευτικοὶ καὶ σπουδαῖοι γενόμενοι, παντάπασιν ἐξέλιπε, πρὸς οὐδέτερον ἀφυῶς ἔχων, ὡς δʼ ἑκατέρου κρείττονα τήν ἀπʼ ἀνδρείας καὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ πίστεως δόξαν αὑτῷ περιποιούμενος, οἷς εὐθὺς διέφερε τῶν καθʼ ἡλικίαν.
For he did not practise pleading private cases in the courts, and refrained altogether from the salutations and greetings and friendly attentions to which most men cunningly resorted when they tried to win the favour of the people by becoming their zealous servants; not that he was naturally incapable of either, but he sought to acquire for himself what was better than both, namely, a reputation arising from valour, justice, and trustworthiness. In these virtues he at once surpassed his contemporaries.
πρώτην γοῦν τῶν ἐπιφανῶν ἀρχῶν ἀγορανομίαν μετελθών προεκρίθη δεκαδυοῖν ἀνδρῶν συναπογραψαμένων, οὓς ὕστερον ἅπαντας ὑπατεῦσαι λέγουσι.
At all events, when he sued for the first of the high offices in the state, the aedileship, he was elected over twelve competitors, all of whom, we are told, afterwards became consuls.
γενόμενος δʼ ἱερεὺς τῶν αὐγούρων προσαγορευομένων, οὓς τῆς ἀπʼ ὀρνίθων καὶ διοσημειῶν ἀποδεικνύουσι Ῥωμαῖοι μαντικῆς ἐπισκόπους καὶ φύλακας, οὕτω προσέσχε τοῖς πατρῴοις ἔθεσι καὶ κατενόησε τὴν τῶν παλαιῶν περὶ τὸ θεῖον εὐλάβειαν
Moreover, when he was made one of the priests called Augurs, whom the Romans appoint as guardians and overseers of the art of divination from the flight of birds and from omens in the sky, he so carefully studied the ancestral customs of the city, and so thoroughly understood the religious ceremonial of the ancient Romans, that his priestly function,
ὥστε τιμήν τινα δοκοῦσαν εἶναι καὶ ζηλουμένην ἄλλως ἕνεκα δόξης τὴν ἱερωσύνην τῶν ἀκροτάτων μίαν ἀποφῆναι τεχνῶν, καὶ μαρτυρῆσαι τοῖς φιλοσόφοις, ὅσοι τὴν εὐσέβειαν ὡρίσαντο θεραπείας θεῶν ἐπιστήμην εἶναι.
which men had thought to be a kind of honour, sought merely on account of the reputation which it gave, was made to appear one of the higher arts, and testified in favour of those philosophers who define religion as the science of the worship of the gods.
πάντα γὰρ ἐδρᾶτο μετʼ ἐμπειρίας ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ σπουδῆς, σχολὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἄγοντος ὅτε γίγνοιτο πρὸς τούτῳ, καὶ παραλείποντος οὐδὲν οὐδὲ καινοτομοῦντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς συνιερεῦσιν ἀεὶ καὶ περὶ τῶν μικρῶν διαφερομένου, καὶ διδάσκοντος ὡς εἰ τὸ θεῖον εὔκολόν τις ἡγεῖται καὶ ἀμεμφὲς εἶναι τῶν ἀμελειῶν, ἀλλὰ τῇ γε πόλει χαλεπὸν ἡ περὶ ταῦτα συγγνώμη καὶ παρόρασις·
For all the duties of this office were performed by him with skill and care, and he laid aside all other concerns when he was engaged in these, omitting nothing and adding nothing new, but ever contending even with his colleagues about the small details of ceremony, and explaining to them that, although the Deity was held to be good-natured and slow to censure acts of negligence, still, for the city at least it was a grievous thing to overlook and condone them;
οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς εὐθὺς μεγάλῳ παρανομήματι κινεῖ πολιτείαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν τῶν μειζόνων φρουρὰν καταλύουσιν οἱ προϊέμενοι τὴν ἐν τοῖς μικροῖς ἀκρίβειαν.
for no man begins at once with a great deed of lawlessness to disturb the civil polity, but those who remit their strictness in small matters break down also the guard that has been set over greater matters.
ὅμοιον δὲ καὶ τῶν στρατιωτικῶν ἐθῶν τε καὶ πατρίων ἐξεταστὴν καὶ φύλακα παρεῖχεν ἑαυτόν, οὐ δημαγωγῶν ἐν τῷ στρατηγεῖν, οὐδʼ, ὥσπερ οἱ πλεῖστοι τότε, δευτέρας ἀρχὰς ταῖς πρώταις μνώμενος διὰ τοῦ χαρίζεσθαι καὶ πρᾷος εἶναι τοῖς ἀρχομένοις,
Furthermore, he showed a like severity in scrutinising and preserving his country’s military customs and traditions also, not courting popular favour when he was in command, nor yet, as most men did at this time, courting a second command during his first by gratifying his soldiers and treating them with mildness;
ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἱερεὺς ἄλλων ὀργίων δεινῶν, τῶν περὶ τὰς στρατείας ἐθῶν ἐξηγούμενος ἕκαστα, καὶ φοβερὸς ὢν τοῖς ἀπειθοῦσι καὶ παραβαίνουσιν, ὤρθου τὴν πατρίδα, μικροῦ δεῖν πάρεργον ἡγούμενος τὸ νικᾶν τοὺς πολεμίους τοῦ παιδεύειν τοὺς πολίτας.
but, like a priest of other dread rites, he explained thoroughly all the details of military custom and was a terror to disobedient transgressors, and so restored his country to her former greatness, considering the conquest of his enemies hardly more than an accessory to the training of his fellow-citizens.
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