Cicero- De Imperio 27-29

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Satis mihi multa verba fecisse videor qua re esset hoc bellum genere ipso necessarium magnitudine periculosum.
I think I have said quite enough words, as to why this war is in its very nature necessary, in its enormity dangerous.
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Restat ut de imperatore ad id bellum delingendo ac tantis rebus praeficiendo dicendum esse videatur.
It stands that I must speak about the general, who must be chosen for that war, and must be put in charge of such matters.
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Utinam, Quiretes, virorum fortium atque innocentium copiam tantam haberetis, ut haec vobis deliberatio difficilis esset,
I wish, Romans, that you had such a great supply of brave and virtuous men that it was a difficult choice for you,
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Quemnam potissimum tantis rebus ac tanto bello praeficiendum putaretis!
Whom you thought above all must be put in charge of such matters and such a war
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Nunc vero – cum sit Cn. Pompeius, qui non modo eorum hominum qui nunc sunt gloriam,
As it is indeed, when there is Gnaius Pompey alone, who has surpassed in virtue and not only the glory of these men who live now
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Sed etiam antiquitatis memoriam virtute superarit – quae res est cuiusquam animum in hac causa dubium facere possit?
But even the memory of antiquity – what is there that in this case, can make anyone’s mind doubtful?
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Ego enim sic existimo, in summo imperatore quattuor has res inesse oportere,—scientiam rei militaris, virtutem, auctoritatem, felicitatem
For I think that these four qualities should be present in the greatest general, -knowledge of military matters, virtue, authority, luck.
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Quis igitur hoc homine scientior umquam aut fuit aut esse debuit? qui e ludo atque e pueritiae disciplinis
Therefore who was ever or ought to have been more knowledgeable than this man? Who set out from school and the teachings of his boyhood,
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bello maximo atque acerrimis hostibus ad patris exercitum atque in militiae disciplinam profectus est;
To his fathers army and the discipline of the military, in a very great war and with most bitter enemies;
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qui extrema pueritia miles in exercitu fuit summi imperatoris, ineunte adulescentia maximi ipse exercitus imperator;
who at the end of his boyhood was a soldier in the army of the highest general, when entering his adolescence he himself was the general of a very great army
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qui saepius cum hoste conflixit quam quisquam cum inimico concertavi,
Who has clashed more frequently with enemies than anyone has disputed with an enemy,
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plura bello gessit quam ceteri legerunt, plures provincias confecit quam alii concupiverunt;
Has waged more wars than others have read about, has subdued more provinces than others have longed for;
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cuius adulescentia ad scientiam rei militaris non alienis praeceptis sed suis imperiis,
Whose youth was trained to the knowledge of military affairs, not by the instruction of others but by his own command,
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non offensionibus belli sed victoriis, non stipendiis sed triumphis est erudita.
Not by the obstacles of war but by the victories, not by the campaigns but by triumphs?
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Quod denique genus esse belli potest, in quo illum non exercuerit fortuna rei publicae?
Lastly, what description of war can there be, in which the misfortune of the republic has not trained him?
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Civile, Africanum, Transalpinum, Hispaniense [mixtum ex civitatibus atque ex bellicosissimis nationibus], servile,
Civil, in Africa, across the Alps, in Spain (stirred up from the most warlike cities and nations) against slaves,
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navale bellum, varia et diversa genera et bellorum et hostium, non solum gesta ab hoc uno, sed etiam confecta,
Naval war, varied and different types of war and enemies, not only waged by this one man, but even completed
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nullam rem esse declarant in usu positam militari, quae huius viri scientiam fugere possit.
They show that there is no matter set in the experience of a soldier, which can escape the knowledge of this man.
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Iam vero virtuti Cn. Pompei quae potest oratio par inveniri?
But now, what speech can be found equal to the virtue of Gnaius Pompey?
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Quid est quod quisquam aut illo dignum aut vobis novum aut cuiquam inauditum possit adferre?
What is there that anyone can say that will be either worthy of him or new to you or unheard of by anyone?
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Neque enim illae sunt solae virtutes imperatoriae, quae volgo existimantur,—
For neither are those the only virtues of a general, which are commonly thought-
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labor in negotiis, fortitudo in periculis, industria in agendo, celeritas in conficiendo, consilium in providiendo:
labour in business, strength amid dangers, hard work in action, speed in completion, good sense in strategic thinking;
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quae tanta sunt in hoc uno, quanta in omnibus reliquis imperatoribus, quos aut vidimus aut audivimus, non fuerunt.
These are greater in this one man than they have been in all the other generals, of whom we have seen or heard
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Restat ut de imperatore ad id bellum delingendo ac tantis rebus praeficiendo dicendum esse videatur.

Back

It stands that I must speak about the general, who must be chosen for that war, and must be put in charge of such matters.

Card 3

Front

Utinam, Quiretes, virorum fortium atque innocentium copiam tantam haberetis, ut haec vobis deliberatio difficilis esset,

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Quemnam potissimum tantis rebus ac tanto bello praeficiendum putaretis!

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Nunc vero – cum sit Cn. Pompeius, qui non modo eorum hominum qui nunc sunt gloriam,

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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