In Verrem 2.4.10-13 Flashcards
Quae fuit causa cur tam diligenter nos in provinciis ab emptionibus removerent?
What was the reason why they kept us so diligently from making purchases in the provinces?
Haec, iudices, quod putabant ereptionem esse,
This is the cause, judges, because they thought this was theft,
non emptionem, cum venditori suo arbitratu vendere non liceret.
not a purchase, since it was not allowed for the seller to sell on his own judgement/terms.
In provinciis intellegebant,
In the provinces they were understanding
si is qui esset cum imperio ac potestate quod apud quemque esset emere vellet,
if the man who was with the power and command was wanting to buy something which was in the possession of anyone,
idque ei liceret,
and that was permitted to him,
fore uti quod quisque vellet, [auferret]
it would be with the result that what each guy was wanting he would carry it away,
sive esset venale sive non esset,
whether it was for sale or it wasn’t
quanti vellet auferret.
for however much he wanted
Dicet aliquis:
Another would say
Sic agam:
Thus I would act in this way:
si, quod venale habuit Heius,
if Heius had that which was for sale
id quanti aestimabat tanti vendidit,
he sold it for as much as he estimated the value to be,
desino quaerere cur emeris.
I cease to ask why you bought it.
Quid igitur nobis faciendum est?
What must be done by us therefore?
num argumentis utendum in re eius modi?
Must we use arguments in a matter of this kind?
Quaerendum, credo, est Heius iste num aes alienum habuerit,
It must be asked, I suppose, whether Heius had debt (bronze of another),
num auctionem fecerit;
whether he held an auction;
si fecit, num tanta difficultas eum rei nummariae tenuerit,
if he did, whether so great a difficulty of a financial matter held him,
tanta egestas,
so much violence,
tanta vis presserit ut sacrarium suum spoliaret,
so great a force squeezed/pressed him to plunder his own shrine,
ut deos patrios venderet.
to sell his ancestral gods.
At hominem video auctionem fecisse nullam,
But I see that the man held no auction;
vendidisse praeter fructus suos nihil umquam,
that he had sold nothing except his own produce ever;
non modo in aere alieno nullo,
that he not only is and always has been in no debt,
sed in suis nummis multis esse et semper fuisse;
but in a lot of his own money;
si haec contra ac dico essent omnia,
if all these things were otherwise than I say
tamen illum haec, quae tot annos in familia sacrarioque maiorum fuissent, [venditurum non fuisse]
nevertheless that Heius [was not about to sell] these things which had been in his family and in the shrine of his ancestors for so many years.
venditurum non fuisse.
was not about to sell
‘Quid, si magnitudine pecuniae persuasum est?’
“What if there was persuasion by the magnitude of money?”
Veri simile non est ut ille homo tam locuples,
It is not probable that a man so rich,
tam honestus,
so honest/honorable,
religioni suae monumentisque maiorum pecuniam anteponeret.
would put money before his own religion and the monuments of his ancestors.
‘Sunt ista;
“There are those things;
verum tamen abducuntur homines non numquam etiam ab institutis suis magnitudine pecuniae.’
nevertheless men are sometimes led astray even from their own principles by a large amount of money.”
Videamus quanta ista pecunia fuerit quae potuerit Heium,
Let us see how great a sum this was which able to turn/lead away Heius,
hominem maxime locupletem,
a man especially rich,
minime avarum,
not at all greedy,
ab humanitate, a pietate, ab religione deducere.
away from his culture, from his devotion, and from religion observance / reverence.
Ita iussisti, opinor, ipsum in tabulas referre:
Thus, you ordered him himself, I believe, to record on tablets:
‘Haec omnia signa Praxiteli, Myronis, Polycliti HS sex milibus quingentis Verri vendita.’
“All these statues of Praxiteles, of Myron, of Polycletus, were sold to Verres for six thousand five hundred sesterces.”
Sic rettulit.
Thus he recorded them.
Recita. Ex tabulis.
Read it from the tablets.
Iuvat me haec praeclara nomina artificum,
It pleases me that these very famous names of artists,
quae isti ad caelum ferunt,
which those men carry to the heavens,
Verris aestimatione sic concidisse.
thus have fallen in the estimation of Verres.
Cupidinem Praxiteli HS mdc!
A cupid of Praxiteles for 1600 sesterces!
Profecto hinc natum est,
From this place certainly it was born,
‘Malo emere quam rogare.’
“I prefer to buy rather than to ask.”
Dicet aliquis:
Someone will say,
‘Quid? tu ista permagno aestimas?’
“What? Do you really value those things for a high price?”
Ego vero ad meam rationem usumque meum non aestimo;
I in truth do not value them according to my calculation and my experience;
verum tamen a vobis ita arbitror spectari oportere,
But nevertheless, thus I think that it is fitting that it be considered by you all,
quanti haec eorum iudicio qui studiosi sunt harum rerum aestimentur,
for how much these things are valued by the judgement of those who are passionate about these things,
quanti venire soleant,
for how much they are accustomed to come to market,
quanti haec ipsa, si palam libereque venirent, venire possent,
for how much these things themselves, if they were coming to market openly and freely, were able to come to market,
denique ipse Verres quanti aestimet.
finally for how much Verres himself values them.
Numquam enim,
For he would never have been so foolish,
si denariis cccc Cupidinem illum putasset,
if he had thought that Cupid (was worth) four hundred denarii,
commisisset ut propter eum in sermonem hominum atque in tantam vituperationem veniret.
that he came on account of it into the conversation of men and so much hostility/blame.
