Sulla deinde in vīllam profectus rūsticārī et vēnandō[3] vītam
agere coepit. Ibi morbō correptus interiit, vir ingentis animī,
cupidus voluptātum, sed glōriae cupidior; lītterīs[4] Graecīs atque
[60] Latīnīs ērudītus et virōrum lītterātōrum adeō amāns,[5] ut
sēdulitātem etiam malī cūiusdam poētae aliquō praemiō dīgnam dūxerit:
nam cum ille epigramma in eum fēcisset eīque subiēcisset,[6]
Sulla statim praemium eī darī iussit, sed eā lēge,[7] nē quid[2] posteā
scrīberet. Ante victōriam laudandus,[8] in iīs vērō, quae secūta
[65] sunt, numquam[9] satis vituperandus, urbem enim et Ītaliam cīvīlis
sanguinis flūminibus inundāvit. Nōn sōlum in vīvōs saeviit,
sed nē mortuīs quidem pepercit[10]: nam Gāī Mariī, cūius, etsī
posteā hostis, aliquandō tamen quaestor fuerat, ērutōs cinerēs in
flūmen prōiēcit. Quā crūdēlitāte rērum praeclārē gestārum glōriam
[70] corrūpit.
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[74.7] mulier obvia . . . inquit: ‘a woman met them and said.’
[74.8] quaesīta . . . dīxisset: ‘though inquiries were made as to who had said this.’ How literally? dīxisset is a subjunctive of indir. question dependent on quaesīta: cf. [p. 3, n. 2].
[74.9] Cf. VIII, 43.
[74.10] Cf. XXIII, 20.
[74.11] i.e. Sulla.
[74.12] Cf. [p. 13, n. 20].
[74.13] lūdicrae artis: ‘the sportive art,’ i.e. what we would call ‘the stage,’ or ‘the drama.’ The better classes at Rome looked with disfavor on the theater. Since no free Roman was allowed to appear upon the stage, the actors were slaves or freedmen. The praetor was empowered to flog actors publicly at will.
[74.14] After the election of the quaestors their posts were assigned to them by lot.