cicero speech

defendi rem publicam adulescens, non deseram senex

I defended the republic as a young man, I shall not desert it as an old man:

contempsi Catalinae gladios, non pertimescam tuos.

I scorned the swords of Catiline, I shall not begin to fear yours.

quin etiam corpus libenter obtulerim,

no indeed, I shall even offer my body willingly

si repraesentari morte mea libertas civitatis potest,

if the freedom of the state can be brought back by my death,

ut aliquando dolor populi Romani pariat quod iam diu parturit!

in order that at some point the sorrow of the Roman people may give birth to that which it has already been labouring over for a long time!

etenim si abhinc annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo

indeed if nearly twenty years ago in this very temple

negavi posse mortem immaturam esse consulari,

i denied that it was possible for death to come early for a consul,

quanto verius nunc negabo seni?

how much more truly shall i now deny that for an old man?

mihi vero, patres conscripti, iam etiam optanda mors est

indeed, fellow senators, now i must even wish for death,

perfuncto rebus eis quas adeptus sum quasque gessi.

who have performed those things which I obtained and which I did.

duo mondo haec opto,

i desire only these two things,

unum ut moriens populum Romanum liberum relinquam -

one, that when i die i shall leave the roman people free -

hoc mihi maius ab dis immortalibus dari nihil potest

there can be, for me, nothing greater given by the immortal gods -

alterum ut ita cuique eveniat ut de re publica quisque mereatur.

the other that things may turn out for each person in such a way as each person deserves from the republic.