Cicero - The Governor of Sicily travels to his province

laborem itinerum iste facilem sibi et iucundum ratione consilioque reddidit.

That [man] made the effort of journeys easy and pleasant for himself by method and planning.

primum mensibus hibernis, ad magnitudinem frigorum et tempestatum vim, hoc sibi praeclarum remedium comparaverat.

Firstly, in the winter months, [in response] to the extent of the cold and the strength of storms he had devised for himself a brilliant solution.

urbem Syracusas elegerat, ubi ita vivebat iste bonus imperator ut eum non facile non modo extra tectum sed ne extra lectum quidem quisquam viderit;

He had chosen the city of Syracuse, where that good commander lived in such a way that it was not easy for anyone to see him – not only outside the house, but not even out of his bed;

ita diei brevitas conviviis, noctis longitudo stupris et flagitiis continebatur.

In this way the shortness of his day[s] was filled with banquets, and the length of his night[s] with scandal and debauchery.

cum autem ver esse coeperat – cuius initium iste non a Favonio neque ab aliquo astro notabat, sed cum rosam viderat.

When, however, spring began – the start of which that man did not notice by the west wind nor by some star, but when he had seen a rose.

tum incipere ver arbitrabatur dabat se labori atque itineribus;

Then he judged that the spring was beginning he devoted himself to work and to journeys

in quibus adeo se praebebat patientem atque impigrum ut eum nemo umquam in equo sedentem viderit.

In these he showed himself (to be) so hardy and energetic that nobody ever saw him sitting on a horse.

nam, ut mos fuit Bithyniae regibus, lectica octaphoro ferebatur, in qua pulvinus erat perlucidus Melitensis rosa fartus;

For, as was the custom of the kings of Bithynia, he was carried in an eightbearer litter, in which there was a transparent cushion from Malta stuffed with rose[s];

ipse autem coronam habebat unam in capite, alteram in collo, reticulumque ad nares sibi admovebat tenuissimo lino, minutis maculis, plenum rosae.

moreover, he himself had one garland on his head, (and) another on his neck, and he kept moving towards his nostrils a bag/ sachet (made of) the most delicate linen with tiny holes, filled with rose[s].

sic confecto itinere cum ad aliquod oppidum venerat, eadem lectica usque in cubiculum deferebatur.

Thus, whenever at the end of a journey he had arrived at some town, he was conveyed in the same litter all the way into the bedroom.

eo veniebant, Siculorum magistratus, veniebant equites Romani;

There came the Sicilians' magistrates, there came Roman businessmen;

controversiae secreto deferebantur, paulo post palam decreta auferebantur.

Legal disputes were taken to his private room; shortly afterwards decisions were brought out publicly.

deinde ubi paulisper in cubiculo pretio iura discripserat, Veneri iam et Libero reliquum tempus deberi arbitrabatur.

Then, when he had handed out judgements, at a price, in his bedroom for a short time, he would decide that the rest of the time was now owed to Venus and Bacchus.