τοῦ δὲ Καίσαρος ἐμβαλόντος εἰς ἔθνη μάχιμα καὶ παραβόλως κρατήσαντος, Γερμανοῖς δὲ καὶ σπονδῶν γενομένων δοκοῦντος ἐπιθέσθαι καὶ καταβαλεῖν τριάκοντα μυριάδας, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι τὸν δῆμον ἠξίουν εὐαγγέλια θύειν, ὁ δὲ Κάτων ἐκέλευεν ἐκδιδόναι τὸν Καίσαρα τοῖς παρανομηθεῖσι καὶ μὴ τρέπειν εἰς αὑτοὺς μηδὲ ἀναδέχεσθαι τὸ ἄγος εἰς τὴν πόλιν.
After Caesar had fallen upon warlike nations and at great hazards conquered them, and when it was believed that he had attacked the Germans even during a truce and slain three hundred thousand of them, there was a general demand at Rome that the people should offer sacrifices of good tidings, but Cato urged them to surrender Caesar to those whom he had wronged, and not to turn upon themselves, or allow to fall upon their city, the pollution of his crime.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔφη, θύωμεν, ὅτι τῆς τοῦ στρατηγοῦ μανίας καὶ ἀπονοίας τὴν δίκην εἰς τοὺς στρατιώτας οὐ τρέπουσιν, ἀλλὰ φείδονται τῆς πόλεως. ἐκ τούτου Καῖσαρ ἐπιστολὴν γράψας ἀπέστειλεν εἰς τὴν σύγκλητον· ὡς δὲ ἀνεγνώσθη βλασφημίας πολλὰς ἔχουσα καὶ κατηγορίας τοῦ Κάτωνος,
However, said he, let us also sacrifice to the gods, because they do not turn the punishment for the general’s folly and madness upon his soldiers, but spare the city. After this, Caesar wrote a letter and sent it to the senate; and when it was read, with its abundant insults and denunciations of Cato,
ἀναστὰς ἐκεῖνος οὐχ ὑπʼ ὀργῆς οὐδὲ φιλονεικίας, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ λογισμοῦ καὶ παρασκευῆς τὰ μὲν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐγκλήματα λοιδορίαις καὶ σκώμμασιν ὅμοια καὶ παιδιάν τινα καὶ βωμολοχίαν τοῦ Καίσαρος ἀπέδειξεν, ἁψάμενος δὲ τῶν ἐκείνου βουλευμάτων ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς καὶ πᾶσαν αὐτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν, ὥσπερ οὐκ ἐχθρός, ἀλλὰ συνωμότης καὶ κοινωνὸς, ἐκκαλύψας, καὶ διδάξας ὡς οὐ Γερμανῶν οὐδὲ Κελτῶν παῖδας, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνον αὐτὸν,
Cato rose to his feet and showed, not in anger or contentiousness, but as if from calculation and due preparation, that the accusations against him bore the marks of abuse and scoffing, and were childishness and vulgarity on Caesar’s part. Then, assailing Caesar’s plans from the outset and revealing clearly all his purpose, as if he were his fellow conspirator and partner and not his enemy, he declared that it was not the sons of Germans or Celts whom they must fear, but Caesar himself,
εἰ σωφρονοῦσι, φοβητέον ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς, οὕτως ἐπέστρεψε καὶ παρώξυνεν ὡς τοὺς φίλους τοῦ Καίσαρος μετανοεῖν, ὅτι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀναγνόντες ἐν τῇ βουλῇ καιρὸν τῷ Κάτωνι λόγων δικαίων καὶ κατηγοριῶν ἀληθῶν παρέσχον, Ἐκυρώθη μὲν οὖν οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἐλέχθη μόνον ὅτι καλῶς ἔχει διάδοχον Καίσαρι δοθῆναι.
if they were in their right minds, and so moved and incited his hearers that the friends of Caesar were sorry that by having the letter read in the senate they had given Cato an opportunity for just arguments and true denunciations. However, nothing was done, but it was merely said that it were well to give Caesar a successor.
τῶν δὲ φίλων ἀξιούντων καὶ Πομπήϊον ἐξ ἴσου τὰ ὅπλα καταθέσθαι καὶ ἀποδοῦναι τὰς ἐπαρχίας ἢ μηδὲ Καίσαρα, νῦν ἐκεῖνα βοῶν ὁ Κάτων ἃ προὔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ἥκειν, καὶ βιάζεσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀναφανδὸν ἤδη τῇ δυνάμει χρώμενον ἣν ἔσχεν ἐξαπατῶν καὶ φενακίζων τὴν πόλιν, ἔξω μὲν οὐδὲν ἐπέραινε, τοῦ δήμου θέλοντος ἀεὶ τὸν Καίσαρα μέγιστον εἶναι, τὴν δὲ σύγκλητον εἶχε πειθομένην καὶ φοβουμένην τὸν δῆμον.
And when Caesar’s friends demanded that Pompey also, as well as Caesar, should lay down his arms and give up his provinces, or else that Caesar should not do so either, Now shouted Cato, those things are come to pass which I foretold to you, and the man is at last resorting to open compulsion, using the forces which he got by deceiving and cheating the state. Outside the senate-house, however, Cato could accomplish nothing, since the people wished all along that Caesar should have the chief power; and although Cato had the senate under his influence, it was afraid of the people.
ὡς δὲ Ἀρίμινον κατείληπτο καὶ Καῖσαρ κατηγγέλλετο μετὰ στρατιᾶς ἐλαύνειν ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ἐνταῦθα δὴ πάντες ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνον ἀφεώρων, οἵ τε πολλοὶ καὶ Πομπήϊος, ὡς μόνον μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς προαισθόμενον, πρῶτον δὲ φανερῶς προειπόντα τὴν Καίσαρος γνώμην.
But when Ariminum was occupied and Caesar was reported to be marching against the city with an army, then all eyes were turned upon Cato, both those of the common people and those of Pompey as well; they realised that he alone had from the outset foreseen, and first openly foretold, the designs of Caesar.
εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Κάτων· ἀλλὰ εἴ γε οἷς ἐγὼ προὔλεγον ἀεὶ καὶ συνεβούλευον ἐπείσθη τις ὑμῶν, ἄνδρες, οὔτʼ ἂν ἕνα ἐφοβεῖσθε νῦν οὔτε ἐν ἑνὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας εἴχετε. Πομπηΐου δὲ εἰπόντος μαντικώτερα μὲν εἰρῆσθαι Κάτωνι, φιλικώτερα δὲ αὐτῷ πεπρᾶχθαι, συνεβούλευεν ὁ Κάτων ἑνὶ Πομπηΐῳ τὰ πράγματα τὴν σύγκλητον ἐγχειρίσαι· τῶν γὰρ αὐτῶν εἶναι καὶ ποιεῖν τὰ μεγάλα κακὰ καὶ παύειν.
Cato therefore said: Nay, men, if any of you had heeded what I was ever foretelling and advising, ye would now neither be fearing a single man nor putting your hopes in a single man. Pompey acknowledged that Cato had spoken more like a prophet, while he himself had acted too much like a friend. Cato then advised the senate to put affairs into the hands of Pompey alone; for the same men who caused great evils, he said, should put a stop to them.
ὁ μὲν οὖν Πομπήϊος οὔτε δύναμιν ἔχων ἑτοίμην οὔτε οὓς κατέλεγε τότε προθύμους ὁρῶν ἐξέλιπε τὴν Ῥώμην, ὁ δὲ Κάτων ἕπεσθαι καὶ συμφεύγειν ἐγνωκώς τὸν μὲν νεώτερον υἱὸν εἰς Βρεττίους ὑπεξέθετο πρὸς Μουνάτιον, τὸν δὲ πρεσβύτερον εἶχε σὺν ἑαυτῷ. τῆς οἰκίας καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων κηδεμόνος δεομένων ἀνέλαβε πάλιν τὴν Μαρκίαν χηρεύουσαν ἐπὶ χρήμασι πολλοῖς· ὁ γὰρ Ὁρτήσιος θνῄσκων ἐκείνην ἀπέλιπε κληρονόμον.
Pompey, however, who had no forces in readiness, and saw that those which he was then enrolling were without zeal, forsook Rome; and Cato, who had determined to follow him and share his exile, sent his younger son to Munatius in Bruttium for safe keeping, but kept his elder son with himself. And since his household and his daughters needed someone to look after them, he took to wife again Marcia, now a widow with great wealth; for Hortensius, on his death, had left her his heir.
εἰς ὃ δὴ μάλιστα λοιδορούμενος ὁ Καῖσαρ τῷ Κάτωνι φιλοπλουτίαν προφέρει καὶ μισθαρνίαν ἐπὶ τῷ γάμῳ. τί γὰρ ἔδει παραχωρεῖν δεόμενον γυναικός ἢ τί μὴ δεόμενον αὖθις ἀναλαμβάνειν, εἰ μὴ δέλεαρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑφείθη τὸ γύναιον Ὁρτησίῳ καὶ νέαν ἔχρησεν, ἵνα πλουσίαν ἀπολάβῃ; πρὸς μὲν οὖν ταῦτα μετρίως ἔχει τὸ Εὐριπίδειον ἐκεῖνο· πρῶτον μὲν οὖν τἄρρητʼ· ἐν ἀρρήτοισι γὰρ / τὴν σὴν νομίζω δειλίαν, ὦ Ἡράκλεις· /
It was with reference to this that Caesar heaped most abuse upon Cato, charging him with avarice and with trafficking in marriage. For why, said Caesar, should Cato give up his wife if he wanted her, or why, if he did not want her, should he take her back again? Unless it was true that the woman was at the first set as a bait for Hortensius, and lent by Cato when she was young that he might take her back when she was rich. To these charges, however, the well-known verses of Euripides apply very well:— First, then, the things not to be named; for in that class / I reckon, Heracles, all cowardice in thee; /
ὅμοιον γάρ ἐστι τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ μαλακίαν ὀνειδίζειν καὶ κατηγορεῖν αἰσχροκέρδειαν Κάτωνος, εἰ δὲ ἄλλῃ πη μὴ καλῶς πέπρακται τὰ περὶ τὸν γάμον, ἐπισκεπτέον. ἐγγυησάμενος γὰρ τὴν Μαρκίαν ὁ Κάτων, καὶ τὸν οἶκον ἐπιτρέψας ἐκείνῃ καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας, αὐτὸς ἐδίωκε Πομπήϊον.
for to charge Cato with a sordid love of gain is like reproaching Heracles with cowardice. But whether on other grounds, perhaps, the marriage was improper, were matter for investigation. For no sooner had Cato espoused Marcia than he committed to her care his household and his daughters, and set out himself in pursuit of Pompey.
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