In Verrem 2.4.9-11 Flashcards
Videte maiorum diligentiam,
Consider the diligence of our ancestors,
qui nihildum etiam istius modi suspicabantur,
who were suspecting nothing as yet of this sort even,
verum tamen ea quae parvis in rebus accidere poterant providebant.
however they were foreseeing those things which could happen in small matters.
Neminem qui cum potestate aut legatione in provinciam esset profectus
They thought that no one who had set out as a governor or an ambassador into the province
tam amentem fore putaverunt ut emeret argentum,
(would be) so insane to buy silver,
dabatur enim de publico;
for it was given at the public expense;
ut vestem, praebebatur enim legibus;
or to buy clothing, for it was supplied by the laws;
mancipium putarunt,
they supposed that he might buy a slave,
quo et omnes utimur et non praebetur a populo:
which both we all use and which is not supplied by the people:
sanxerunt ne quis emeret nisi in demortui locum.
they forbade anyone by law to buy a slave except in the place of a dead slave.
Si qui Romae esset demortuus?
If any (slave) had died in Rome?
immo, si quis ibidem;
No, if any one had died in the same place as the governor (their master);
non enim te instruere domum tuam voluerunt in provincia,
For they did not wish you to furnish your house in the province,
sed illum usum provinciae supplere.
but to provide that use in the province.
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.
