Nam quo sordidius et abiectius nati sunt quoque notabilior paupertas et angustiae rerum nascentes eos circumsteterunt, eo clariora et ad demonstrandam oratoriae eloquentiae utilitatem inlustiora exempla sunt, quod sine commendatione natalium, sine substantia facultatum, neuter moribus egregius, alter habitu quoque corporis contemptus, per multos iam annos potentissimi sunt civitatis ac, donec libuit, principes fori, nunc principes in Caesaris amicitia agunt feruntque cuncta, atque ab ipso principe cum quadam reverentia diliguntur; quia Vespasianus, venerabilis senex et patientissimus veri, bene intellegit [et] ceteros quidem amicos suos iis niti quae ab ipso acceperint quaeque ipsi accumulare et in alios congerere promptum sit, Marcellum autem et Crispum attulisse ad amicitiam suam quod non a principe acceperint nec accipi possit.
The meaner and the more humble was the origin of those two men, and the more notorious the poverty and want that hemmed in their young lives, so the more brightly do they shine as conspicuous examples of the practical advantage of oratorical power. Though they had none of the recommendations of birth or the resources of wealth, though neither of the two was of pre-eminently high moral character, while one of them had an exterior that made him even an object of derision, yet after being now for many years the most powerful men in Rome, and'so long as they cared for such success'leaders of the bar, they take today the leading place in the Emperors circle of friends, and get their own way in everything. And by Vespasian himself they are regarded with an affection that is not unmixed with deference; for our aged and venerable Emperor, who never shuts his eyes to facts, is well aware that while all the rest of his favourites owe their position to the advantages they have received from him'advantages which he finds it quite easy to amass for himself and to lavish on others'Marcellus and Crispus, on the other hand, have brought to the friendship that unites them to him an element which they never got from an Emperor and which is absolutely incommunicable.
final_alignments\Tacitus_Dialogus.json