Pro Caelio, section 18 - cum and consecutus.

Phoebus Apollo

Phoebus Apollo

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Reprehendistis a patre quod semigrarit. Quod quidem in hac aetate minime reprendendum est. Qui cum et ex publica causa iam esset mihi quidem molestam, sibi tamen gloriosam victoriam consecutus et per aetatem magistratus petere posset, non modo permittente patre sed etiam suadente ab eo semigravit et, cum domus patris a foro longe abesset, quo facilius et nostras domus obire et ipse a suis coli posset, conduxit in Palatio non magno domum.

(I'm a bit shaky on line references in Cicero, but I think these are lines 16-20 of section 18. Edit: by section, I don't mean the longer chapters!)

I'm struggling to translate cum and consecutus in the emboldened bit above. I've taken cum as 'since' and consecutus as 'having succeeded' but I actually thought this made more sense translating this as a finite verb - 'he had succeeded'. However, some translations I've seen take cum as 'although' (as in, 'although it was indeed annoying for me'). Also I've taken consecutus with ex publica causa ('he had won success in a political case') but because it's so far away from consecutus, I'm not sure whether it should go with it. So, so far my translation is:

Since he had already/just/by then succeeded in a political case, which, was annoying/unwelcome for/to me, however it was a glorious victory for him, and (since) he was now at an age to be able to seek/stand for magistracy/office...

I would appreciate some feedback! Thanks
 
 
Dantius

Dantius

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"esset ... consecutus" is one verb. You added a "which" that wasn't in the original and said "it was a glorious victory" (victoriam is acc. so that doesn't work), but "esset consecutus" is one verb with "victoriam" as the object. Very separated, but they go together. Translate as "to achieve/gain".
So, "who, when he had both (et) achieved a victory, annoying for me, to be sure, but still glorious for himself, from a political case, and because of* his age he could seek magistracies..."
I can't think of a better translation for per here, but that's not the standard translation.
 
Phoebus Apollo

Phoebus Apollo

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Dantius dixit:
"esset ... consecutus" is one verb. You added a "which" that wasn't in the original and said "it was a glorious victory" (victoriam is acc. so that doesn't work), but "esset consecutus" is one verb with "victoriam" as the object. Very separated, but they go together. Translate as "to achieve/gain".
So, "who, when he had both (et) achieved a victory, annoying for me, to be sure, but still glorious for himself, from a political case, and because of* his age he could seek magistracies..."
I can't think of a better translation for per here, but that's not the standard translation.
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Thank you so much Dantius! You've been so helpful.
Yes, I'm not too sure either about per aetatem, but Austin's commentary implies 'he was now of an age' is the meaning
 
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