Tab. IClementia Victi, sive Duae Voces Unius Domus. Tabula Actis Mundi more veterum picta (a machina).The Clemency of the Defeated, or Two Voices from One House. Painted for Acta Mundi in the classical manner (AI-generated).
Ex Palatio · De venia post cladem oblataFrom the Palace · On pardon offered after defeat
Venia a victo oblata confessio est
Pardon offered by the defeated is a confession
Ut Breitbart, Daily Wire et DW narrant, Donaldus Trump post comitia media adversa in colloquio televisorio dixit rationem suam advenarum expellendorum fortasse nimis duram fuisse, et pactionem cum Democratis proposuit; paulo post Stephanum Miller, illius severitatis auctorem, domui suae praefecit. Consilium meum: clementia quae a victo offertur hostes non conciliat, veteranos alienat.
As Breitbart, the Daily Wire and DW report, Donald Trump, after adverse midterm elections, said in a television interview that his policy of deporting migrants had perhaps been too tough, and proposed a deal with the Democrats; shortly afterwards he set Stephen Miller, the author of that severity, over his household. My counsel: clemency offered by the defeated does not win over enemies; it alienates veterans.
Cur hoc legimusWhy we read this Quia princeps post comitia de finibus tuendis dubitat, quod regendi artem labefacit.Because the princeps wavers on border defense after an election, which undermines the art of rule.
Die Solis, ante diem VI Idus Novembres, Donaldus Trump, praeses Civitatum Foederatarum, in colloquio quod CBS divulgavit, ut Breitbart, Daily Wire et DW consentiunt, dixit rationem suam advenarum sine lege habitantium expellendorum nimis duram fortasse fuisse sibique in comitiis nocuisse. Homicidas, latrones, venditores medicamentorum pellendos esse censuit; eos autem qui decem aut quindecim annos laborarent et vectigalia penderent, ancillas et ministras deversoriorum, pactione aliqua retinendos. Affirmat se a Democratis iam rogari; quorum nomina acta non tradunt. Ex quo in magistratum rediit, ut Daily Wire ex rationibus ministerii securitatis patriae refert, plus quam duodeciens centena et quinquaginta milia hominum comprehensa, prope duodeciens centena milia expulsa sunt.
On Sunday, 8 November, Donald Trump, President of the United States, said in an interview broadcast by CBS (Breitbart, the Daily Wire and DW agree on this) that his policy of deporting those living in the country unlawfully had perhaps been too tough, and had hurt him at the polls. Killers, the rough ones and drug dealers, he judged, should be put out; but those who have worked ten or fifteen years and pay taxes, the maids and waitresses of hotels, should be kept by some deal. He states that Democrats are already calling him; the reports do not give their names. Since his return to office, as the Daily Wire reports from the figures of the Department of Homeland Security, more than 1.25 million people have been arrested and nearly 1.2 million deported.
Eodem fere tempore, Susie Wiles ab ianua remota, Stephanum Miller, quem omnia acta huius severitatis architectum appellant, rerum domesticarum principem fecit; hodie officium init. De populi autem sententia acta dissident: Fox News, teste Daily Wire, dicit quinquaginta octo ex centenis suffragatorum censere rem nimis longe processisse; Harvard Harris, teste Breitbart, mense Februario quinquaginta septem ex centenis omnes expelli voluisse. Ego non ex auguriis comitiorum iudico, sed ex domo.
At almost the same moment, with Susie Wiles removed from the door, he made Stephen Miller, whom every report calls the architect of this severity, chief of his household; he takes up the post today. On the people's mind, the reports disagree: Fox News, according to the Daily Wire, says that 58 percent of voters think the thing went too far; Harvard Harris, according to Breitbart, that in February 57 percent wanted everyone sent home. I do not judge by the auguries of the assemblies, but by the house.
Si me consuleret, primum hoc dicerem: periculum neque in severitate est neque in clementia, sed in duabus vocibus unius domus. Eodem die praeses populo veniam ostendit et ianuam ei committit qui veniam numquam dandam putat. Veterani, qui eum propter hanc ipsam promissionem bis ad summum honorem tulerunt, audiunt se nimis duros fuisse; hostes, qui iam accusatores et quaesitores conducunt et, ut Breitbart monet, ipsum familiamque eius quaestionibus petunt, veniam metu extortam interpretantur, non beneficio datam.
Were he to consult me, I would say this first: the danger lies neither in severity nor in clemency, but in two voices from one house. On the same day the President shows the people a pardon and entrusts his door to a man who thinks a pardon should never be given. His veterans, who twice carried him to the highest office for this very promise, hear that they were too harsh; his enemies, who already engage prosecutors and investigators and, as Breitbart warns, pursue him and his family with inquiries, read the pardon as something wrung from fear, not given as a favour.
Memor sum quid olim marito de Cinna dixerim: «Severitate nihil adhuc profecisti.» Contraria temptanda suasi, ut medici solent. Sed attende quomodo id factum sit. Augustus Cinnam solum ad se vocavit, victor, nullo cogente; ignovit, consulatum addidit, et habuit amicum fidissimum. Clementia quae a victore in secreto datur beneficium est et devincit; quae a victo multitudini in theatro annuntiatur, pretium est, et pretium semel nominatum hostis semper augebit.
I remember what I once said to my husband about Cinna: "Your severity has achieved nothing so far." I advised him to try the opposite, as physicians do. But mark how it was done. Augustus summoned Cinna to him alone, as victor, with no one compelling him; he pardoned him, added a consulship, and had in him a most faithful friend. Clemency that the victor grants in private is a benefaction, and it binds; clemency that the defeated announces to the crowd in the theatre is a price, and a price once named the enemy will always raise.
Clementia quae a victore in secreto datur beneficium est et devincit; quae a victo multitudini in theatro annuntiatur, pretium est, et pretium semel nominatum hostis semper augebit.
Clemency that the victor grants in private is a benefaction, and it binds; clemency that the defeated announces to the crowd in the theatre is a price, and a price once named the enemy will always raise.
Maiores nostri post Cannas captivos non redemerunt, legatum hostis non admiserunt, consuli victo gratias egerunt quod de re publica non desperasset. Ea constantia socios retinuit et Hannibalem fregit. Si praeses severitatem mutare vult, et licet eam in homicidas potissimum convertere, ut Thomas Homan diu suasit, id tacite in administrando faciat, non in pactione cum iis qui eum persequuntur. Neque domum suam iocis regat: munus praeconis Palatini vacat ex quo Katie Zacharia post paucos dies abiit, et praeses id per iocum pugilum magistro obtulit.
After Cannae our ancestors did not ransom the captives, did not admit the enemy's envoy, and thanked the beaten consul because he had not despaired of the republic. That constancy held the allies and broke Hannibal. If the President wishes to change his severity, and he may well turn it chiefly against killers, as Tom Homan has long urged, let him do it quietly in the administration, not in a bargain with those who are hunting him. Nor should he govern his house by jokes: the post of palace herald has stood empty since Katie Zacharia left after a few days, and the President offered it, in jest, to a master of prize-fighters.
Quod igitur suadeo breve est: una vox domus sit, beneficia in secreto dentur, et ignoscat victor, perseveret victus.
What I advise, then, is brief: let the house have one voice, let favours be given in private, and let the victor pardon, and the defeated hold firm.
FONTES ANTIQVIANCIENT SOURCES
- Sen. Clem. 1.9.6Severitate nihil adhuc profecisti
FONTES HODIERNITODAY’S SOURCES
- BreitbartTrump Dangles Concessions, Says Deportation Policy ‘Too Tough’
- The Daily WireTrump Says His Mass Deportation Effort ‘Was Too Tough’
- DWUS President Donald Trump says deportation policy was 'too tough' for voters
Res ex fontibus; sententia Romani.Facts from the sources; the opinion is the Roman’s.
Iulia Augusta
Ti. Claudii Neronis uxor, deinde Augusti per annos duos et quinquaginta; mater Tiberii principis et Drusi. Prudentia, pudicitia, consilio domum Caesarum rexit; Augustus testamento eam in familiam Iuliam adoptavit et Augustam appellavit.Wife first of Tiberius Claudius Nero, then for fifty-two years of Augustus; mother of the emperor Tiberius and of Drusus. She ruled the Caesars’ household by prudence, chastity and counsel; in his will Augustus adopted her into the Julian family and named her Augusta.
Haec vox restituta est ex his libris:This voice is reconstructed from:
Scribe ad Livia: tabellarius epistulam tuam per vias Romanas feret, et responsum post dies aliquot redibit.Write to Livia: the courier carries your letter along the Roman roads, and a reply comes back after a few days.
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