Here is the passage, which I’ve cut and pasted from the LatinLibrary page:
Unde etiam de terrena ciuitate, quae cum dominari adpetit, etsi populi seruiant, ipsa ei dominandi libido dominatur, non est praetereundum silentio quidquid dicere suscepti huius operis ratio postulat si facultas datur.
Context: the plan of Augustine’s work centers on the City of God, conceived of as a divine, eternal realm, that transcends and interpenetrates the earthly powers that are shaken by time and chance. Here Augustine explains that he will write about the earthly powers when appropropriate.
Faulty translation: Hence also the earthly city, which when it strives for hegemonic rule [over others], and even if [subject] nations are its slaves, and which itself is dominated by its own lust for dominating, must not be passed over in silence when the plan of this work has something to say if the ability is given.
My trial translation is a mess. I don’t really understand how the sentence is stitched together. In particular I don’t understand these phrases:
ipsa ei dominandi libido dominatur
quidquid dicere suscepti
si facultas datur