Cicero

Prō Planciō 64-65


Nōn vereor nē mihi aliquid, iūdicēs, videar adrogāre, sī dē quaestūrā meā dixerō. quamvīs enim illa flōruerit, tamen eum mē posteā fuisse in maximīs imperiīs arbitror ut nōn ita multum mihi glōriae sit ex quaestūrae laude repetendum. sed tamen nōn vereor nē quis audeat dīcere ullīus in Siciliā quaestūram aut clāriōrem aut grātiōrem fuisse. vērē mē hercule hōc dīcam: sīc tum existimābam, nihil hominēs aliud Rōmae nisi dē quaestūrā meā loquī. frūmentī in summā cāritāte maximum numerum mīseram; negōtiātōribus cōmis, mercātōribus iustus, mancipibus līberālis, sociīs abstinens, omnibus eram vīsus in omnī officiō dīligentissimus; excōgitātī quīdam erant ā Siculīs honōrēs in mē inaudītī. itaque hāc spē dēcēdēbam ut mihi populum Rōmānum ultrō omnia dēlātūrum putārem. at ego cum cāsū diēbus eīs itineris faciendī causā dēcēdens ē prōvinciā Puteolōs forte vēnissem, cum plūrimī et lautissimī in hīs locīs solent esse, concidī paene, iūdicēs, cum ex mē quīdam quaesisset quō diē Rōmā exissem et num quidnam esset novī. cui cum respondissem mē dē prōvinciā dēcēdere "etiam mē hercule" inquit, "ut opīnor, ex Africā". huic ego iam stomachans fastīdiōsē "immō ex Siciliā" inquam. tum quīdam, quasi quī omnia scīret "quid? tū nescīs" inquit "hunc quaestōrem Syrācūsīs fuisse?" quid multa? destitī stomachārī et mē ūnum ex eīs fēcī quī ad aquās vēnissent.


I have no fear, gentlemen of the jury, of seeming presumptuous if I mention my quaestorship. For although it was successful, nevertheless I think that I have subsequently gained such distinction in the highest posts that I need not look for much glory from the commendation bestowed on my quaestorship. Even so, I am not afraid of any possible claims that anyone’s quaestorship in Sicily has been either more distinguished or more popular. Indeed, I’ll even say that I thought at the time that people in Rome were talking about nothing else but my quaestorship. I had sent a great quantity of wheat when the price was very high; I was lenient to the bankers, fair to the merchants, generous to the contractors, not grasping at the allies’ expense. Everyone regarded me as very conscientious in all my duties, and the Sicilians had devised unprecedented honors for me. So I set off for home expecting the Roman people to be eager to heap distinctions on me. I left the province and happened to reach Puteoli, intending to journey overland from there, just at the season when that region is thronged with fashionable people. I almost collapsed when someone asked when I had left Rome and whether there was any news. When I replied that I was on my way back from my province, he said "Why, yes indeed, from Africa, isn't it?" "No", I said coldly, getting disgruntled, "from Sicily". At this juncture, someone who thought he knew it all said "What? Don't you know that this chap has been quaestor in Syracuse?" Need I say more? I stopped being disgruntled and mingled with those who had come to take the waters.



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