visne igitur te inspiciamus a puero?
and so, do you want us to scrutinise you from boyhood?
sic opinor; a principio ordiamur.
yes indeed I think so, let us start from the beginning.
tenesne memoria praetextatum te decoxisse?
do you remember that you went bankrupt as an adolescent?
'patris', inquies, 'ista culpa est'.
'that', you will say, 'is my father's fault'.
concedo.
I grant it.
etenim est pietatis plena defensio.
and indeed your defence is full of filial devotion.
illud tamen audaciae tuae, quod sedisti in quattuordecim ordinibus
yet what reflects your own impudence is that you sat in the fourteen rows
cum esset lege Roscia decoctoribus certus locus constitutus
although there was a specific place reserved for those who had gone bankrupt under the Roscian law
quamvis quis fortunae vitio, non suo decoxisset.
even if someone had gone bankrupt not through his own fault but through that of his bad luck.
sumpsisti virilem, quam statim muliebrem togam reddidisti.
you put on the toga of manhood and you immediately made it the toga of womanhood.
primo volgare scortum
at first you were a common tart
certa flagitii merces, nec ea parva
there was a fixed fee for your shameful acts, and it wasn't a small one
sed cito Curio intervenit, qui te a meretricio quaestu abduxit
but Curio quickly arrived on the scene and rescued you from earning money as a prostitute
et, tamquam stolam dedisset, in matrimonio stabili et certo collocavit.
as if he had made you his wife, and settled you in a lasting and real marriage.
nemo umquam puer emptus libidinis causa tam fuit in domini potestate quam tu in Curionis.
no one bought as a boy out of lust was so in the power of his master as you were in Curio's.
quotiens te pater eius domu sua eiecit
how many times did his father throw you out of his house?
quotiens custodes posuit ne limen entrares!
how often did he post guards so that you could not cross his threshold?
cum tu tamen nocte socia
whereupon you, with night as your ally
hortante libidine, cogente mercede
with lust urging you on, with profit driving you
per tegulas demitterere
you lowered yourself down through the roof tiles
quae flagitia domus illa diutius ferre non potuit.
such shameful behaviour that house could not bear for any longer.
scisne me de rebus mihi notissimis dicere?
are you aware that I am speaking about matters that are intimately known to me?
recordare tempus illud, cum pater Curio maerens iacebat in lecto
remember that time when the elderly Curio was lying grieving in his bed
filius se ad pedes meos prosternens lacrimans te mihi commendabat
his son, weeping prostrate at my feet, entrusted you to me
orabat, ut se contra suum patrem, si sestertium sexagiens peteret, defenderem
he begged me to defend him against his father if he asked him for 6 million sesterces
tantum enim se pro te intercessisse dicebat.
for that was the massive sum he said that he had stood as guarantor for you.
ipse autem amore ardens confirmabat
as for himself, burning with desire, he assured me
quod desiderium tui discidii ferre non posset, se in exilium iturum.
that he would go into exile, since he couldn't bear the mourning caused by your separation.
quo tempore ego quanta mala florentissimae familiae sedavi vel potius sustuli!
how great were the misfortunes of your most flourishing family that I laid to rest at that time, or rather removed?
patri persuasi, ut aes alienum filii dissolveret
I persuaded the father to pay off his son's debt
redimeret adulescentem summa spe et animi et ingenii praeditum rei familiaris facultatibus
to buy out by means of the family money, a young man with so much promise and the greatest character and abilities
eumque non modo tua familiaritate, sed etiam congressione patrio iure et potestate prohiberet.
and by his power and authority of a father, to ban his son not only from friendship with you but from even seeing you.
haec tu per cum me acta meminisses
when you remembered that these deeds were accomplished by me
nisi illis quos videmus, gladiis confideres, maledictis me provocare ausus esses?
would you have dared to challenge me with insults if you didn't rely on these swords which we see?
sed iam stupra et flagitia omittamus
but for now let us leave aside your sexual depravity and shameful behaviour
sunt quaedam quae honeste non possum dicere
there are certain things I cannot speak about with integrity
tu autem eo liberior
but you are less constrained than I
quod ea in te admisisti quae a verecundo inimico audire non posses.
since in your case you have committed the sort of things which you cannot hear spoken of by a respectable opponent.
sed reliquum vitae cursum videte
but observe the rest of the course of his life
quem quidem celeriter perstringam.
which indeed I will glance at briefly.
ad haec enim, quae in civili bello, in maximis rei publicae miseriis fecit [...festinat animus]
for my mind hastens to the way in which he behaved in the civil war, the greatest misery for the state
et ad ea, quae cotidie fecit, festinat animus.
and to the way he behaves every day.
(quae peto ut,) quamquam multo notiora vobis quam mihi sunt
although these things are better known to you than to me
(peto ut...) tamen, ut facitis, attente audiatis.
I ask that you listen just as you are doing now.
debet enim talibus in rebus excitare animos non cognitio solum rerum
for in such situations our minds ought to be stirred not just by the learning of the facts
sed etiam recordatio
but also by recollection of them
etsi incidamus, opinor, media ne nimis sero ad extrema veniamus.
and yet I think we should cut short the intervening matters so that we do not arrive too late at the most recent ones.