Cicerone consule, uxor mea et ego advenerunt Romam cum filiis et filio nobis. Quamvis invisus esset, tamen Clodium amicum virum esse inveni et immo tam amiciter fuit ut invitaverit nos cenare cum se. Mensa parata, colloquium fit. Si Cicero suum filium ad Galliam non miserit, ille dixit, certe post unam noctem res publica periverit. Post cenam, uxor et ego saltaverunt sub luce Lunae. Uxor risit per lacrimam suam. Rogavi ei quid res esset, atque dixit, re publica ante pedes nostros perita, reliquum tempus breve nobis esse.
This is what it's supposed to mean:
When Cicero was consul, my wife and I arrived at Rome with our daughters and our son. However hated he might be, I found Clodius to be a friendly man, and indeed he was so friendly that he invited us to dine with him. Once the table had been set, conversation arose. If Cicero had not sent his son to Gaul, he said, the republic would certainly have fallen in the space of one night. After dinner, my wife and I danced beneath the light of the moon. She smiled through her tears. I asked her what the matter was, and she said that, with the republic falling before our feet (this is required to be constructed as abl. abs.), our remaining time was brief.
This is a homework question, so I'd appreciate it if you could be as vague as possible when pointing out areas where I may be wrong. I will get better at this if it's the last thing I do.
This is what it's supposed to mean:
When Cicero was consul, my wife and I arrived at Rome with our daughters and our son. However hated he might be, I found Clodius to be a friendly man, and indeed he was so friendly that he invited us to dine with him. Once the table had been set, conversation arose. If Cicero had not sent his son to Gaul, he said, the republic would certainly have fallen in the space of one night. After dinner, my wife and I danced beneath the light of the moon. She smiled through her tears. I asked her what the matter was, and she said that, with the republic falling before our feet (this is required to be constructed as abl. abs.), our remaining time was brief.
This is a homework question, so I'd appreciate it if you could be as vague as possible when pointing out areas where I may be wrong. I will get better at this if it's the last thing I do.