unexpected ending, and you want to know, too, why I showed less fight
than usual. Well! In my answer I’ll put the cart before the horse like
Homer. So long as I had to defend the Senate’s decree, I fought so
fiercely and doughtily, that cheering crowds rallied round me
enthusiastic in my applause. You would certainly have marvelled at my
courage on this occasion, if ever you credited me with any courage in my
country’s defence. When Clodius fell back on speechifying and took my
name in vain, didn’t I just show fight, didn’t I deal havoc! How I
charged Piso, Curio, and all that crowd! Didn’t I rate the old men for
their frivolity, the young for their wanton passions! Heaven is my
witness, I often wanted you not only to prompt my plans, but also to be
a spectator of my doughty deeds. But when Hortensius had conceived the
idea of letting Fufius bring in his bill about the sacrilege, which only
differed from the consular measure in the method of choosing the
jury—though that was the point on which everything turned—and fought for
his own way, under the impression, which he had also conveyed to others,
that no conceivable
posse, contraxi vela perspiciens inopiam iudicum, neque dixi quicquam
pro testimonio, nisi quod erat ita notum atque testatum, ut non possem
praeterire. Itaque, si causam quaeris absolutionis, ut iam πρὸς τὸ
πρότερον revertar, egestas iudicum fuit et turpitudo. Id autem ut
accideret, commissum est Hortensi consilio, qui dum veritus est, ne
Fufius ei legi intercederet, quae ex senatus consulto ferebatur, non
vidit illud, satius esse illum in infamia relinqui ac sordibus quam
infirmo iudicio committi, sed ductus odio properavit rem deducere in
iudicium, cum illum plumbeo gladio iugulatum iri tamen diceret.
Sed iudicium si quaeris quale fuerit, incredibili exitu, sic uti nunc ex
eventu ab aliis, a me tamen ex ipso initio consilium Hortensi
reprehendatur. Nam, ut reiectio facta est clamoribus maximis, cum
accusator tamquam censor bonus homines nequissimos reiceret, reus
tamquam clemens lanista frugalissimum quemque secerneret, ut primum
iudices consederunt, valde diffidere boni coeperunt. Non enim umquam
turpior in ludo talario consessus fuit, maculosi senatores, nudi
equites, tribuni non tam aerati quam, ut appellantur, aerarii. Pauci
tamen boni inerant, quos reiectione fugare ille non potuerat, qui maesti
inter sui dissimiles et maerentes sedebant et contagione
jury could acquit Clodius, I drew in a reef or two, not being blind to
the impecuniosity of the jurymen. I confined my testimony to points so
thoroughly well-known and attested that I could not omit them. So, to
come at last to the “horse,” if you want to know the reason for his
acquittal, it lay in the jury’s lack of pence and of conscience. But it
was Hortensius’ plan that made such a result possible. In his fright
that Fufius might veto the Senate’s measure, he overlooked the fact that
it would be better for Clodius to be kept in disgrace with a trial
hanging over his head, than for the case to come before an unsound
court. Spurred on by hatred, he rushed the matter into court, saying
that a leaden sword was sharp enough to cut Clodius’ throat.
If you want to know about the trial, the result of it was so incredible
that now after the event everybody agrees with my forebodings and blames
Hortensius. The challenging of the jury took place amidst an uproar,
since the prosecutor like a good censor rejected all the knaves, and the
defendant like a kind-hearted trainer of gladiators set aside all the
respectable people. And as soon as the jury took their seats, the
patriotic party began to have grave misgivings: for never did a more
disreputable set of people get together even in a gambling hell.
Senators with a past, knights without a penny, tribunes whose only right
to a title implying pay lay in their readiness to take it.[21] The few
honest folk among them, that he had not managed to remove in his
selection, sat as woe-begone as fish out of water,
Footnote 21:
Or keeping the ordinary sense of “aerarii”: “cashiered rather than
rich in cash.” But the sense both of “aerati” and of “aerarii” here is
very doubtful.
turpitudinis vehementer permovebantur. Hic, ut quaeque res ad consilium
primis postulationibus referebatur, incredibilis erat severitas nulla
varietate sententiarum. Nihil impetrabat reus, plus accusatori dabatur,
quam postulabat; triumphabat (quid quaeris?) Hortensius se vidisse
tantum; nemo erat, qui illum reum ac non miliens condemnatum
arbitraretur. Me vero teste producto credo te ex acclamatione Clodi
advocatorum audisse quae consurrectio iudicum facta sit, ut me
circumsteterint, ut aperte iugula sua pro meo capite P. Clodio
ostentarint. Quae mihi res multo honorificentior visa est quam aut illa,
cum iurare tui cives Xenocratem testimonium dicentem prohibuerunt, aut
cum tabulas Metelli Numidici, cum eae, ut mos est, circumferrentur,
nostri iudices aspicere noluerunt. Multo haec, inquam, nostra res maior.
Itaque iudicum vocibus, cum ego sic ab iis ut salus patriae defenderer,
fractus reus et una patroni omnes conciderunt; ad me autem eadem
frequentia postridie convenit, quacum abiens consulatu sum domum
reductus. Clamare praeclari Areopagitae se non esse venturos nisi
praesidio constituto. Refertur ad consilium. Una sola sententia
praesidium non desideravit. Defertur res ad senatum. Gravissime
ornatissimeque decernitur; laudantur iudices; datur negotium
magistratibus. Responsurum hominem nemo arbitrabatur.
Ἔσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι —
ὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε
sadly upset and bemoaning their contact with infamy. At the preliminary
proceedings, as point after point was put before the jury, their strict
and unanimous uprightness was extraordinary. The defendant never won a
point, and the prosecution were granted more than they asked for. It
goes without saying that Hortensius was triumphant at his penetration;
and no one regarded Clodius so much as a man on his trial as one that
had been condemned a thousand times over.
You have no doubt heard how the jury rose in a body to protect me, when
I stepped into the witness-box and Clodius’ supporters began to hoot:
and how they offered their throats to Clodius’ sword in defence of me.
Thereby, to my mind they paid me a far higher compliment than your
fellow-citizens paid Xenocrates, when they refused to let him take the
oath before giving his testimony, or our Roman jury paid Metellus
Numidicus, when they would not look at the accounts which he passed
round as is usual in such cases. I repeat, the honour shown me was far
greater. The shouts of the jury, proclaiming me as the saviour of the
country crushed and annihilated the defendant and all his supporters.
And on the next day a crowd as great as that which conducted me home at
the end of my consulship gathered round me. Our noble Areopagites
declared they would not come without a guard. The votes of the court
were taken, and there was only one person who voted a guard unnecessary.
The point was laid before the Senate, who passed a decree in the
strongest and most complimentary terms, thanking the jury and referring
the matter to the magistrates. No one thought Clodius would defend his
case. “Tell me [Sidenote: Iliad xvi, 112] now, ye Muses, how first the
fire fell.”
Nosti Calvum ex Nanneianis illum, illum laudatorem meum, de cuius
oratione erga me honorifica ad te scripseram. Biduo per unum servum et
eum ex ludo gladiatorio confecit totum negotium; arcessivit ad se,
promisit, intercessit, dedit. Iam vero (o di boni, rem perditam!) etiam
noctes certarum mulierum atque adulescentulorum nobilium introductiones
non nullis iudicibus pro mercedis cumulo fuerunt. Ita summo discessu
bonorum, pleno foro servorum XXV iudices ita fortes tamen fuerunt, ut
summo proposito periculo vel perire maluerint quam perdere omnia. XXXI
fuerunt, quos fames magis quam fama commoverit. Quorum Catulus cum
vidisset quendam, “Quid vos,” inquit, “praesidium a nobis postulabatis?
an, ne nummi vobis eriperentur, timebatis?” Habes, ut brevissime potui,
genus iudicii et causam absolutionis.
Quaeris deinceps, qui nunc sit status rerum et qui meus. Rei publicae
statum illum, quem tu meo consilio, ego divino confirmatum putabam, qui
bonorum omnium coniunctione et auctoritate consulatus mei fixus et
fundatus videbatur, nisi quis nos deus respexerit, elapsum scito esse de
manibus uno hoc iudicio, si iudicium est triginta homines populi Romani
You know Baldpate of Nanneian fame,[22] my late panegyrist, whose
complimentary speech in my honour I have already mentioned in my
letters; well, he managed the whole job in a couple of days with the
help of one slave and that an ex-prizefighter. He sent for everybody,
made promises, gave security, paid money down. Good heavens, what a
scandal there was! Even the favours of certain ladies and introductions
to young men of good family were given to some of the jury to swell the
bribe. All honest men withdrew entirely from the case and the forum was
full of slaves. Yet five and twenty of the jury were brave enough to
risk their necks, preferring death to treachery: but there were
thirty-one who were more influenced by famine than fame. Catulus meeting
one of these latter remarked to him: “Why did you ask for a guard? For
fear of having your pocket picked?” There you have as short a summary as
possible of the trial and the reason for the acquittal.
You want to know next what is the present state of public affairs, and
how I am getting on. We thought that the condition of the Republic had
been set on a firm footing, you by my prudence, I by divine
interposition: and that its preservation was secured and established by
the combination of all patriots and by the influence of my consulship.
But, let me tell you, unless some god remembers us, it has been dashed
from our grasp by this one trial, if one can call it a trial, when
thirty of the
Footnote 22:
Crassus; but why _ex Nanneianis_ is uncertain. Manutius says he bought
up the property of Nanneius, who was among those proscribed by Sulla,
and gave in his name as Licinius Calvus; but this is probably only a
guess.
levissimos ac nequissimos nummulis acceptis ius ac fas omne delere et,
quod omnes non modo homines, verum etiam pecudes factum esse sciant, id
Talnam et Plautum et Spongiam et ceteras huius modi quisquilias statuere
numquam esse factum. Sed tamen, ut te de re publica consoler, non ita,
ut sperarunt mali, tanto imposito rei publicae vulnere, alacris exsultat
improbitas in victoria. Nam plane ita putaverunt, cum religio, cum
pudicitia, cum iudiciorum fides, cum senatus auctoritas concidisset,
fore ut aperte victrix nequitia ac libido poenas ab optimo quoque
peteret sui doloris, quem improbissimo cuique inusserat severitas
consulatus mei. Idem ego ille (non enim mihi videor insolenter gloriari,
cum de me apud te loquor, in ea praesertim epistula, quam nolo aliis
legi) idem, inquam, ego recreavi adflictos animos bonorum unum quemque
confirmans, excitans; insectandis vero exagitandisque nummariis
iudicibus omnem omnibus studiosis ac fautoribus illius victoriae
παρρησίαν eripui, Pisonem consulem nulla in re consistere umquam sum
passus, desponsam homini iam Syriam ademi, senatum ad pristinam suam
severitatem revocavi atque abiectum excitavi, Clodium praesentem fregi
in senatu cum oratione perpetua plenissima gravitatis tum altercatione
huius modi; ex qua licet pauca degustes; nam cetera non possunt habere
eandem neque vim neque venustatem remoto illo studio contentionis, quem
ἀγῶνα vos appellatis. Nam, ut Idibus Maiis in senatum convenimus,
rogatus ego sententiam multa dixi de summa re publica, atque
most worthless scoundrels in Rome have blotted out right and justice for
filthy lucre, and when Hodge and John a Nokes and Tom a Styles and all
the riff-raff of that description have declared a thing not to have
happened which every man—man did I say?—nay, every beast of the field,
knows for a fact. Still—to give you some consolation about politics—the
country has not received so serious a blow as traitors wished, nor is
iniquity vaunting itself so rampantly on its victory. For they clearly
thought that, when religious and moral scruples, judicial honour and the
Senate’s authority had been destroyed, iniquity and lust would triumph
openly, and would wreak their vengeance on all honest folk for the brand
that had been stamped on vice by my consulship. I was the man—I don’t
think I am boasting unduly in saying so to you privately, especially in
a letter which I would rather you didn’t read to anyone—I was the man
who revived the fainting courage of the patriots, encouraging and
cheering them one by one. I attacked and routed that venal jury; and I
did not leave the victorious party and its supporters a word to say for
themselves. The consul Piso I did not leave an inch to stand on. Syria,
which had been promised him as his province, I wrested from him. The
Senate I aroused from its despondency, recalling it to its former
uprightness. Clodius I bearded and crushed in the Senate with a set
speech full of dignity, and then with a cross-examination, of which I
will give you a taste. The rest would lose both its verve and its wit,
when the fire of battle is out, and the tug-of-war, as you Greeks call
it, past. When I entered the House on the 15th of May, and was asked for
my opinion, I discussed politics at length, and by a
ille locus inductus a me est divinitus, ne una plaga accepta patres
conscripti conciderent, ne deficerent; vulnus esse eius modi, quod mihi
nec dissimulandum nec pertimescendum videretur, ne aut ignorando
stultissimi aut metuendo ignavissimi iudicaremur; bis absolutum esse
Lentulum, bis Catilinam, hunc tertium iam esse a iudicibus in rem
publicam immissum. “Erras, Clodi; non te iudices urbi, sed carceri
reservarunt, neque te retinere in civitate, sed exsilio privare
voluerunt. Quam ob rem, patres conscripti, erigite animos, retinete
vestram dignitatem. Manet illa in re publica bonorum consensio; dolor
accessit bonis viris, virtus non est imminuta; nihil est damni factum
novi, sed, quod erat, inventum est. In unius hominis perditi iudicio
plures similes reperti sunt.” Sed quid ago? paene orationem in epistulam
inclusi. Redeo ad altercationem. Surgit pulchellus puer, obicit mihi me
ad Baias fuisse. Falsum, sed tamen quid hoc? “Simile est,” inquam,
“quasi in operto dicas fuisse.” “Quid,” inquit, “homini Arpinati cum
aquis calidis?” “Narra,” inquam, “patrono tuo, qui Arpinatis aquas
concupivit”; nosti enim Marinas.[23] “Quousque,” inquit, “hunc regem
feremus?” “Regem appellas,” inquam, “cum Rex tui mentionem nullam
fecerit?”; ille autem Regis hereditatem spe
Footnote 23:
Marianas _Rom. and many editors_.
happy inspiration introduced this passage: “The Senate must not be
crushed by a single blow, they must not be faint-hearted. The wound is
such that it cannot be disguised, yet it must not be feared, lest by our
fear we prove ourselves abject cowards, or by ignoring it, very fools.
Lentulus twice obtained an acquittal, and Catiline as often, and this is
the third criminal let loose on the country by a jury. But you are
mistaken, Clodius. The jury saved you for the gallows, not for public
life: their object was not to keep you in the country, but to keep you
from leaving it. Keep up your hearts, then, senators, and preserve your
dignity. The feelings of all patriots are unchanged; they have suffered
grief, but their courage is undiminished. It is no new disaster that has
befallen us, we have merely discovered one that existed unnoticed. The
trial of one villain has revealed many as guilty as himself.” But there,
I’ve nearly copied the whole speech. Now for our passage of arms. Up
gets this pretty boy and reproaches me with spending my time at Baiae.
It was a lie: and anyhow what did it matter? “One would think,” said I,
“you were accusing me of spending my time in hiding.” “What need has a
man of Arpinum to take the waters?” asks Clodius: and I answered: “You
should talk like that to your patron[24] who wanted to take the waters
of a man of Arpinum,”—you know about the sea-water baths. “How long are
we going to let this man king it over us?” says he. “I wonder you
mention the word king,” I replied, “since King[25] did not mention you.”
He had
Footnote 24:
C. Scribonius Curio the elder, who bought the villa of Marius at Baiae
in the Sullan proscription.
Footnote 25:
Q. Marcius Rex, brother-in-law to Clodius.
devorarat. “Domum,” inquit, “emisti.” “Putes,” inquam, “dicere: Iudices
emisti.” “Iuranti,” inquit, “tibi non crediderunt.” “Mihi vero,” inquam,
“XXV indices crediderunt, XXXI, quoniam nummos ante acceperunt, tibi
nihil crediderunt.” Magnis clamoribus adflictus conticuit et concidit.
Noster autem status est hic. Apud bonos iidem sumus, quos reliquisti,
apud sordem urbis et faecem multo melius nunc, quam reliquisti. Nam et
illud nobis non obest, videri nostrum testimonium non valuisse; missus
est sanguis invidiae sine dolore atque etiam hoc magis, quod omnes illi
fautores illius flagitii rem manifestam illam redemptam esse a iudicibus
confitentur. Accedit illud, quod illa contionalis hirudo aerarii, misera
ac ieiuna plebecula, me ab hoc Magno unice diligi putat, et hercule
multa et iucunda consuetudine coniuncti inter nos sumus usque eo, ut
nostri isti comissatores coniurationis barbatuli iuvenes illum in
sermonibus “Cn. Ciceronem” appellent. Itaque et ludis et gladiatoribus
mirandas ἐπισημασίας sine ulla pastoricia fistula auferebamus.
Nunc est exspectatio comitiorum; in quae omnibus invitis trudit noster
Magnus Auli filium atque in eo neque auctoritate neque gratia pugnat,
sed quibus Philippus omnia castella expugnari posse dicebat, in quae
modo asellus onustus auro posset ascendere. Consul autem ille deterioris
histrionis similis suscepisse
been dying to inherit Kind’s money. “You have bought a house,” he says.
“You seem to think it is the same as buying a jury,” I answer. “They did
not credit you on your oath,” he remarks. To which I answer:
“Twenty-five jurymen credited me: the other thirty-one gave you no
credit, but took care to get their money first.” There was loud
applause, and he collapsed without a word, utterly crushed.
My own position is this. I have retained the influence I had, when you
left, over the conservative party, and have gained much more influence
over the sordid dregs of the populace than I had then. That my testimony
was not accepted does me no harm. My unpopularity has been tapped like a
dropsy and painlessly reduced, and another thing has done me even more
good: the supporters of that crime confess that that open scandal was
due to bribery. Besides that blood-sucker of the treasury, the wretched
and starveling mob, thinks I am a prime favourite with the “great man”
Pompey, and upon my soul we are upon terms of very pleasant intimacy—so
much so indeed that these bottle-conspirators, these youths with budding
beards in common table-talk call him Gnaeus Cicero. So both at the games
and at the gladiatorial shows, I have been the object of extraordinary
demonstrations without hisses or catcalls.
Now every one is looking forward to the elections. Our “great” Pompey is
pushing Aulus’ son amidst general disapproval: and the means he is using
are neither authority nor influence, but those which Philip said, would
storm any fort to which an ass laden with money could climb. Piso is
said to be playing second fiddle to Pompey and to have bribery-agents
negotium dicitur et domi divisores habere; quod ego non credo. Sed
senatus consulta duo iam facta sunt odiosa, quod in consulem facta
putantur, Catone et Domitio postulante, unum, ut apud magistratus
inquiri liceret, alterum, cuius domi divisores habitarent, adversus rem
publicam. Lurco autem tribunus pl., qui magistratum insimul cum[26] lege
alia iniit, solutus est et Aelia et Fufia, ut legem de ambitu ferret,
quam ille bono auspicio claudus homo promulgavit. Ita comitia in a. d.
VI Kal. Sext. dilata sunt. Novi est in lege hoc, ut, qui nummos in tribu
pronuntiarit, si non dederit, impune sit, sin dederit, ut, quoad vivat,
singulis tribulibus HS CIↃ CIↃ CIↃ debeat. Dixi hanc legem P. Clodium
iam ante servasse; pronuntiare enim solitum esse et non dare. Sed heus
tu! videsne consulatum illum nostrum, quem Curio antea ἀποθέωσιν
vocabat, si hic factus erit, fabam[27] mimum futurum? Quare, ut opinor,
φιλοσοφητέον, id
Footnote 26:
_Munro’s suggestion_ insimulatum _“impugned by” is perhaps the best of
the many suggested emendations._
Footnote 27:
Fabam _or_ Famam mimum _Orelli_: fabae hilum _Hoffmann_: fabae midam
_Brooks_.
in his house: but I don’t believe it. But two decrees have been passed
on the proposal of Cato and Domitius, which are unpopular because they
are thought to be directed against the consul; one, making it lawful to
search the house of any magistrate, and the other making it a
treasonable offence to have bribery agents in one’s house. The tribune
Lurco, who entered on his office under another law,[28] has been freed
from the obligations of the Aelian and Fufian laws, so that he may
propose his law about bribery. He had luck in publishing it in spite of
his deformity. Accordingly the elections have been postponed till the
27th of July. The new point about this law is that a mere promise to
bribe the tribesmen counts for nothing, if it is not fulfilled; but, if
it is fulfilled, the man who made it is liable for life to a fine of
£27[29] per tribe. I remarked Clodius had kept this law before it was
passed: for he is always promising and not paying. But, I say, if he[30]
gets in, that consulship of mine which Curio used to call a deification
will become an absolute farce.[31] So, I suppose I must take to
philosophy
Footnote 28:
Lurco’s proposal was irregular because it was made between the notice
of the elections and the elections themselves, which was forbidden by
the _leges Aelia et Fufia_ (153 B.C.).
Footnote 29:
3,000 sesterces.
Footnote 30:
Afranius.
Footnote 31:
Supposed to allude to the election of a king by boys at the
Saturnalia, using beans to vote with; but it is rather dubious Latin.
In Seneca’s _Apocolocyntosis_ 9 the same proverbs seem to be referred
to in the phrase “_olim” inquit “magna res erat deum fieri: iam famam
mimum fecisti_”: whence it has been suggested that _Faba_ or _Fama_
was the name of some well-known farce. Cf. _Laserpiciarius mimus_
(Petronius 33).
quod tu facis, et istos consulatus non flocci facteon.
Quod ad me scribis te in Asiam statuisse non ire, equidem mallem, ut
ires, ac vereor, ne quid in ista re minus commode fiat; sed tamen non
possum reprehendere consilium tuum, praesertim cum egomet in provinciam
non sim profectus.
Epigrammatis tuis, quae in Amaltheo posuisti, contenti erimus,
praesertim cum et Thyillus nos reliquerit, et Archias nihil de me
scripserit. Ac vereor, ne, Lucullis quoniam Graecum poema condidit, nunc
ad Caecilianam fabulam spectet. Antonio tuo nomine gratias egi eamque
epistulam Mallio dedi. Ad te ideo antea rarius scripsi, quod non habebam
idoneum, cui darem, nec satis sciebam, quo darem. Valde te venditavi.
Cincius si quid ad me tui negotii detulerit, suscipiam; sed nunc magis
in suo est occupatus; in quo ego ei non desum. Tu, si uno in loco es
futurus, crebras a nobis litteras exspecta; ast plures etiam ipse
mittito. Velim ad me scribas, cuius modi sit Ἀμαλθεῖον tuum, quo ornatu,
qua τοποθεσίᾳ, et, quae poemata quasque historias de Ἀμαλθείᾳ habes, ad
me mittas. Lubet mihi facere in Arpinati. Ego tibi aliquid de meis
scriptis mittam. Nihil erat absoluti.
XVII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae Non. Dec. a. 693_]
Magna mihi varietas voluntatis et dissimilitude opinionis ac iudicii
Quinti fratris mei demonstrate est ex litteris tuis, in quibus ad me
epistularum illius exempla misisti. Qua ex re et molestia sum tanta
like yourself, and not give a button for consulships.
You write that you have made up your mind not to go to Asia. I would
rather you did go, and I am afraid it may cause unpleasantness if you do
not. But I cannot blame your determination, especially as I have refused
to go to a province.
I shall be contented with the inscriptions you have put in your
Amaltheum, especially as Thyillus has deserted me and Archias has not
written anything about me. I am afraid, now he has written his Greek
poem on the Luculli, he is turning to the Caecilian drama. I have
thanked Antonius on your behalf, and given that letter to Mallius. My
letters to you up to now have been fewer than they should have been, as
I had no trusty messenger nor any certain address to send them to. I
have sung your praises loudly. If Cincius delegates any of your business
to me, I will undertake it. But just at present he is more concerned
with his own, in which I am ready to assist him. Expect frequent letters
from me, if you are settled: and send me even more. Please write me a
description of your Amaltheum, its adornment and situation; and send me
any poems and tales you have about Amalthea. I should like to make one
too in my place at Arpinum. I will send you some of my writings: but
there is nothing finished.
XVII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Dec. 5_, B.C. _61_]
Your letter and the enclosed copy of one of my brother Quintus’ letters
show me that he has continually changed his mind and wavered in his
opinion and judgement. I am exceedingly disturbed
adfectus, quantam mihi meus amor summus erga utrumque vestrum adferre
debuit, et admiratione, quidnam accidisset, quod adferret Quinto fratri
meo aut offensionem tam gravem aut commutationem tantam voluntatis.
Atque illud a me iam ante intellegebatur, quod te quoque ipsum
discedentem a nobis suspicari videbam, subesse nescio quid opinionis
incommodae sauciumque esse eius animum et insedisse quasdam odiosas
suspiciones. Quibus ego mederi cum cuperem antea saepe et vehementius
etiam post sortitionem provinciae, nec tantum intellegebam ei esse
offensionis, quantum litterae tuae declararant, nec tantum proficiebam,
quantum volebam. Sed tamen hoc me ipse consolabar, quod non dubitabam,
quin te ille aut Dyrrachi aut in istis locis uspiam visurus esset; quod
cum accidisset, confidebam ac mihi persuaseram fore ut omnia placarentur
inter vos non modo sermone ac disputatione, sed conspectu ipso
congressuque vestro. Nam quanta sit in Quinto fratre meo comitas, quanta
iucunditas, quam mollis animus et ad accipiendam et ad deponendam
offensionem, nihil attinet me ad te, qui ea nosti, scribere. Sed accidit
perincommode, quod eum nusquam vidisti. Valuit enim plus, quod erat illi
non nullorum artificiis inculcatum, quam aut officium aut necessitudo
aut amor vester ille pristinus, qui plurimum valere debuit. Atque huius
incommodi culpa ubi resideat, facilius possum existimare quam scribere;
vereor enim, ne, dum defendam meos, non parcam tuis. Nam sic intellego,
ut nihil a domesticis
about it, as indeed I could not help being, considering my affection for
both of you, and I wonder what can have happened to cause my brother
Quintus such grave offence and to make him change his mind so
extraordinarily. I grasped some time ago, what I think you were
beginning to suspect, when you left, that at the bottom of it must be
some idea of an insult, and that his feelings were wounded and some
unpleasant suspicions had taken deep root. Though I often before sought
to heal the wound, and redoubled my efforts after the allotment of his
province, I could neither find that he was as much annoyed as your
letter makes out, nor yet make as much headway with him as I wished.
However, I used to console myself with the thought that he would be sure
to see you either at Dyrrachium or somewhere thereabout. And I had quite
made up my mind that when that occurred, all the difficulties between
you would be smoothed over as much by the mere sight of one another and
the pleasure of meeting as by conversation and discussion. For I need
not tell you, who know it yourself, how amiable and kindly my brother
Quintus is, and how sensitive he is and ready both to take offence and
to forget it. But it has happened most unfortunately that you have not
seen him anywhere. For the impression he has received from some
designing persons has had more weight with him than either his duty or
your old intimacy and affection which ought to have had the greatest
weight of all. Where the blame for this unpleasantness rests, it is
easier for me to imagine than to write. For I am afraid that in
defending my relatives I may not spare yours. For my view is that, even
if no wound was inflicted
vulneris factum sit, illud quidem, quod erat, eos certe sanare potuisse.
Sed huiusce rei totius vitium, quod aliquanto etiam latius patet, quam
videtur, praesenti tibi commodius exponam. De iis litteris; quas ad te
Thessalonica misit, et de sermonibus, quos ab illo et Romae apud amicos
tuos et in itinere habitos putas, ecquid tantum causae sit, ignore, sed
omnis in tua posita est humanitate mihi spes huius levandae molestiae.
Nam, si ita statueris, et irritabiles animus esse optimorum saepe
hominum et eosdem placabiles et esse hanc agilitatem, ut ita dicam,
mollitiamque naturae plerumque bonitatis et, id quod caput est, nobis
inter nos nostra sive incommoda sive vitia sive iniurias esse
tolerandas, facile haec, quem ad modum spero, mitigabuntur; quod ego ut
facias te oro. Nam ad me, qui te unice diligo, maxime pertinet neminem
esse meorum, qui aut te non amet aut abs te non ametur.
Illa pars epistulae tuae minime fuit necessaria, in qua exponis, quas
facilitates aut provincialium aut urbanorum commodorum et aliis
temporibus et me ipso consule praetermiseris. Mihi enim perspecta est et
ingenuitas et magnitudo animi tui; neque ego inter me atque te quicquam
interesse umquam duxi praeter voluntatem institutae vitae, quod me
ambitio quaedam ad honorum studium, te autem alia minime reprehendenda
ratio ad honestum otium duxit. Vera quidem laude probitatis,
diligentiae, religionis neque me tibi neque quemquam antepono, amoris
vero erga
by members of the family, they could certainly have healed the one which
existed. But the real fault of the whole matter, which is of rather
wider extent than it appears, I can explain to you more conveniently
when we meet. As to the letter which he sent to you from Thessalonica
and the language which you think he used about you both to your friends
at Rome and on his journey, I cannot see any sufficient cause for them;
but all my hope of removing this unpleasantness lies in your kindness.
For if you can persuade yourself that the best of men are often those
whose feelings are easy to arouse and easy to appease, and that this
nimbleness, if I may use the word, and sensitiveness of disposition are
generally signs of a good heart, and—what is the main point—that we must
put up with one another’s unpleasantnesses and faults and insults, then,
as I hope, all this can be smoothed over easily. This I beg of you to
do. For, as I hold you in such peculiar esteem, it is my dearest wish
that there may not be any of my people who either does not love you or
is not loved by you.
That part of your letter in which you mention the chances of preferment
in the provinces or in town, which you neglected in my consulship and at
other times, was most unnecessary, for I am thoroughly persuaded of your
disinterestedness and magnanimity, and I have never thought that there
was any difference between you and me, except our choice of a career. A
touch of ambition led me to seek for distinction, while another
perfectly laudable motive led you to honourable ease. But in the real
glory which consists in uprightness, industry and piety, there is no one
I place above you, not even myself, and as
me, cum a fraterno amore domesticoque discessi, tibi primas defero. Vidi
enim, vidi penitusque perspexi in meis variis temporibus et
sollicitudines et laetitias tuas. Fuit mihi saepe et laudis nostrae
gratulatio tua iucunda et timoris consolatio grata. Quin mihi nunc te
absente non solum consilium, quo tu excellis, sed etiam sermonis
communicatio, quae mihi suavissima tecum solet esse, maxime deest—quid
dicam? in publicane re, quo in genere mihi neglegenti esse non licet, an
in forensi labore, quem antea propter ambitionem sustinebam, nunc, ut
dignitatem tueri gratia possim, an in ipsis domesticis negotiis, in
quibus ego cum antea tum vero post discessum fratris te sermonesque
nostros desidero? Postremo non labor meus, non requies, non negotium,
non otium, non forenses res, non domesticae, non publicae, non privatae
carere diutius tuo suavissimo atque amantissimo consilio ac sermone
possunt.
Atque harum rerum commemorationem verecundia saepe impedivit utriusque
nostrum; nunc autem ea fuit necessaria propter eam partem epistulae
tuae, per quam te ac mores tuos mihi purgatos ac probatos esse voluisti.
Atque in ista incommoditate alienati illius animi et offensi illud inest
tamen commodi, quod et mihi et ceteris amicis tuis nota fuit et abs te
aliquanto ante testificata tua voluntas omittendae provinciae, ut, quod
una non estis, non dissensione ac discidio vestro, sed voluntate ac
iudicio tuo factum esse videatur. Quare et illa, quae violata,
expiabuntur,
regards affection to myself, after my brother and my immediate
connections, I give you the palm. For I have seen time after time, and
have had thorough experience of your sorrow and your joy in my changing
fortunes. I have often had the pleasure of your congratulations in times
of triumph and the comfort of your consolation in hours of despondency.
Nay at this very moment your absence makes me feel the lack not only of
your advice, which you excel in giving, but of the interchange of
speech, which I enjoy most with you. I hardly know if I miss it most in
politics, where I dare not make a slip; or in my legal work, which I
used to undertake for advancement’s sake and now keep up to preserve my
position through popularity; or in my private concerns. In all of them I
have felt your loss all along and especially since my brother’s
departure. Finally, neither my work nor my recreation, neither my
business nor my leisure, neither my legal affairs nor my domestic, my
public life or my private, can do without your most agreeable and
affectionate advice and conversation any longer.
The modesty of both of us has often prevented me from mentioning these
facts: but now it was forced upon me by that part of your letter in
which you say you want yourself and your character cleared and
vindicated in my eyes. There is one good thing as regards the
unpleasantness caused by his alienation and anger, that your
determination not to go to the province was known to me and other
friends of yours, as you told us some time before; so the fact that you
are not with him cannot be attributed to your quarrel and rupture, but
to your choice and plans already fixed. So amends will be made for
et haec nostra, quae sunt sanctissime conservata, suam religionem
obtinebunt.
Nos hic in re publica infirma, misera commutabilique versamur. Credo
enim te audisse nostros equites paene a senatu esse diiunctos; qui
primum illud valde graviter tulerunt, promulgatum ex senatus consulto
fuisse, ut de eis, qui ob iudicandum accepissent, quaereretur. Qua in re
decernenda cum ego casu non adfuissem, sensissemque id equestrem ordinem
ferre moleste neque aperte dicere, obiurgavi senatum, ut mihi visus sum,
summa cum auctoritate, et in causa non verecunda admodum gravis et
copiosus fui. Ecce aliae deliciae equitum vix ferendae! quas ego non
solum tuli, sed etiam ornavi. Asiam qui de censoribus conduxerunt,
questi sunt in senatu se cupiditate prolapses nimium magno conduxisse,
ut induceretur locatio, postulaverunt. Ego princeps in adiutoribus atque
adeo secundus; nam, ut illi auderent hos postulare, Crassus eos impulit.
Invidiosa res, turpis postulatio et confessio temeritatis. Summum erat
periculum, ne, si nihil impetrassent, plane alienarentur a senatu. Huic
quoque rei subventum est maxime a nobis perfectunique, ut frequentissimo
senatu et libentissimo uterentur multaque a me de ordinum dignitate et
concordia dicta sunt Kal. Decembr. et postridie. Neque adhuc res
confecta est, sed voluntas senatus perspecta; unus enim contra dixerat
the breach of friendship; and the ties between us, which have been so
religiously preserved, will retain their inviolability.
The political position here is wretched, rotten and unstable. I expect
you have heard that our friends the knights have almost had a rupture
with the Senate. The first point that seriously annoyed them was the
publication of a senatorial decree for an investigation into any cases
of bribery of jurymen. As I did not happen to be present when the decree
was passed, and noticed that the knights were annoyed though they did
not openly say so, I remonstrated with the Senate very impressively, I
think, and spoke with great weight and fluency, considering how
shameless the case was. Here is another intolerable piece of petulance
on the part of the knights! Yet I have not only put up with it, but
forwarded their cause. The people who farmed the province of Asia from
the censors, complained in the Senate that their avariciousness had led
them to pay too high a price for it, and requested to have the lease
annulled. I was their chief supporter, or rather the second, for it was
Crassus who encouraged them to venture on the demand. It is a scandalous
affair, a disgraceful request and a confession of foolhardiness. There
was considerable danger, that, if they met with a refusal, they might
have severed their connection with the Senate entirely. In this case too
I was the main person who came to the rescue, and obtained for them a
hearing in a very full and friendly House, and discoursed freely on the
dignity and harmony of the two orders both on the first of December and
the following day. The matter is not yet settled: but the Senate’s
inclination is clear. For one person
Metellus consul designatus. Atqui erat[32] dicturus, ad quem propter
diei brevitatem perventum non est, heros ille noster Cato. Sic ego
conservans rationem institutionemque nostram tueor, ut possum, illam a
me conglutinatam concordiam. Sed tamen, quoniam ista sunt tam infirma,
munitur quaedam nobis ad retinendas opes nostras tuta, ut spero, via;
quam tibi litteris satis explicare non possum, significatione parva
ostendam tamen. Utor Pompeio familiarissime. Video, quid dicas. Cavebo,
quae sunt cavenda, ac scribam alias ad te de meis consiliis capessendae
rei publicae plura.
Lucceium scito consulatum habere in animo statim petere. Duo enim soli
dicuntur petituri, Caesar (cum eo coire per Arrium cogitat) et Bibulus
(cum hoc se putat per C. Pisonem posse coniungi). Rides? Non sunt haec
ridicula, mihi crede. Quid aliud scribam ad te, quid? Multa sunt, sed in
aliud tempus. † exspectare[33] velis, cures ut sciam. Iam illud modeste
rogo, quod maxima cupio, ut quam primum venias. Nonis Decembribus.
XVIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. XI Kal. Febr. a. 694_]
Nihil mihi nunc scito tam deesse quam hominem eum, quocum omnia, quae me
cura aliqua adficiunt, uno communicem, qui me amet, qui sapiat, quicum
ego cum loquar, nihil fingam, nihil dissimulem, nihil
Footnote 32:
qui erat _MSS. Bosius’ correction_ quin erat _may well be right. But I
have ventured to suggest_ atqui, _supposing that the last two letters
of_ designatus _were written in an abbreviated form, and the two_
at_’s came together_.
Footnote 33:
_Tyrrell reads_ Si exspectare velis, _following Klotz, with the
meaning “If you mean to remain absent from Rome till you hear from me
again.” Others suggest_ Tu fac ut quando nos te exspectare _or_ Quo
nos te tempore exspectare. _But none of these is very convincing._
only has opposed it, Metellus the consul elect. Our hero Cato was to
have spoken, but the day was too short for it to come to his turn. So I
am keeping to our policy and plan, and am preserving to the best of my
ability that harmony which I have welded: but still, as that is now in
such a shaky condition, I am, I hope, keeping a road open to preserve my
position. I cannot explain fully in a letter; but I will give you a
gentle hint. I am on the best of terms with Pompey. You know what I
mean. I will take all reasonable precautions, and will write again at
fuller length as to my plans for managing the republic.
Lucceius is thinking of standing for the consulship at once: for only
two candidates are spoken of as likely to come forward. With Caesar he
thinks he may come to terms through Arrius, and Bibulus’ cooperation he
hopes to win through C. Piso. You smile? There is nothing to laugh at, I
assure you. Is there anything else I want to tell you? Anything else?
Yes, lots of things, but another time ... you wish to wait (?), let me
know. At present I have one modest request to make, though it is my
chief desire: that you come as soon as possible.
5 December.
XVIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Jan. 20_, B.C. _60_]
Believe me, there is nothing I want so much at the present time, as a
person with whom I can share anything that causes me the least anxiety,
a man of affection and common sense, to whom I can speak without
affectation, reserve, or concealment. My
obtegam. Abest enim frater ἀφελέστατος et amantissimus. Metellus non
homo, sed
“litus atque aer et solitudo mera.”
Tu autem, qui saepissime curam et angorem animi mei sermone et consilio
levasti tuo, qui mihi et in publica re socius et in privatis omnibus
conscius et omnium meorum sermonum et consiliorum particeps esse soles,
ubinam es? Ita sum ab omnibus destitutus, ut tantum requietis habeam,
quantum cum uxore et filiola et mellito Cicerone consumitur. Nam illae
ambitiosae nostrae fucosaeque amicitiae sunt in quodam splendore
forensi, fructum domesticum non habent. Itaque, cum bene completa domus
est tempore matutino, cum ad forum stipati gregibus amicorum
descendimus, reperire ex magna turba neminem possumus, quocum aut iocari
libere aut suspirare familiariter possimus. Quare te exspectamus, te
desideramus, te iam etiam arcessimus. Multa sunt enim, quae me
sollicitant anguntque; quae mihi videor aures nactus tuas unius
ambulationis sermone exhaurire posse.
Ac domesticarum quidem sollicitudinum aculeos omnes et scrupulos
occultabo, neque ego huic epistulae atque ignoto tabellario committam.
Atque hi (nolo enim te permoveri) non sunt permolesti, sed tamen
insident et urgent et nullius amantis consilio aut sermone requiescunt;
in re publica vero, quamquam animus est praesens, tamen vulnus[34] etiam
atque etiam ipsa medicina efficit. Nam, ut ea breviter, quae post tuum
discessum acta sunt, colligam, iam exclames necesse est res Romanas
diutius stare non posse. Etenim post profectionem tuam primus,
Footnote 34:
vulnus _Sternkopf_, _Leo_: voluntas _MSS._
brother, who is the most unaffected of persons and most affectionate, is
away. Metellus is not a human being, but “sea-shore and airy void and
desert waste.”[35] And you whose conversation and advice have so often
lightened my load of care and anxiety, who have aided me in my political
life, been my confident in my family affairs and shared my conversations
and projects—where are you? So utterly am I deserted, that the only
moments of repose I have are those which are spent with my wife, my
little daughter and darling boy. For my grand and showy friendships
bring some public _éclat_, but private satisfaction they have none. And
so, when my house has been crowded with the morning _levée_ and I have
gone down to the forum amid a throng of friends, I cannot find in the
whole company a single man with whom I can jest freely or whisper
familiarly. So I look forward with longing to your coming and in fact
urge you to hurry: for I have many cares and anxieties, which I fancy
would be banished by a single walk and talk in your sympathetic hearing.
However, I will conceal the stings and pricks of my private troubles,
and will not entrust them to this letter and an unknown messenger. They
are not very grievous—so don’t alarm yourself—but still they are
persistent and worrying, and I have no friend’s advice and discussion to
lull them to rest. For the State, though there is still life in it, the
very cures that have been tried on it, have again and again opened fresh
wounds. If I were to give you a brief summary of what has happened since
you left, you would certainly exclaim that Rome cannot possibly stand
any longer. For it was after your departure, I believe, that the opening
scene of the
Footnote 35:
Probably from Accius.
ut opinor, introitus fuit in causam fabulae Clodianae, in qua ego
nactus, ut mihi videbar, locum resecandae libidinis et coercendae
iuventutis; vehemens fui et omnes profudi vires animi atque ingenii mei
non odio adductus alicuius, sed spe corrigendae et sanandae civitatis.
Adflicta res publica est empto constupratoque iudicio. Vide, quae sint
postea consecuta. Consul est impositus is nobis, quem nemo praeter nos
philosophos aspicere sine suspiritu posset. Quantum hoc vulnus! facto
senatus consulto de ambitu, de iudiciis nulla lex perlata, exagitatus
senatus, alienati equites Romani. Sic ille annus duo firmamenta rei
publicae per me unum constituta evertit; nam et senatus auctoritatem
abiecit et ordinum concordiam diiunxit. Instat hic nunc ille annus
egregius. Eius initium eius modi fuit, ut anniversaria sacra Iuventatis
non committerentur; nam M. Luculli uxorem Memmius suis sacris initiavit;
Menelaus aegre id passus divortium fecit. Quamquam ille pastor Idaeus
Menelaum solum contempserat, hic noster Paris tam Menelaum quam
Agamemnonem liberum non putavit. Est autem C. Herennius quidam tribunus
pl., quem tu fortasse ne nosti quidem; tametsi potes nosse, tribulis
enim tuus est, et Sextus, pater eius, nummos vobis dividere solebat. Is
ad plebem P. Clodium traducit, idemque fert, ut universus populus in
campo Martio suffragium de re Clodi ferat. Hunc
Clodian drama became the topic of discussion. There I thought I had a
chance of using the surgeon’s knife on licentiousness and curbing
youthful excesses: and I exerted myself, putting forth all the resources
of my intellect and mind, not out of private spite, but in the hope of
effecting a radical cure of the State. The corruption of the jury by
bribery and debauchery dealt a crushing blow to the republic. See what
has followed. We have had a consul forced on us, at whom no one except
us philosophers can look without a sigh. That is a fatal stroke. Though
a senatorial decree has been passed about the bribery of juries, no law
has been carried; the Senate has been frightened out of it, and the
knights have been estranged. So this one year has overturned two
bulwarks of the State which had been erected by me alone: for it has
destroyed the prestige of the Senate and broken up the harmony of the
orders. Now comes this precious year. It was inaugurated by the
suspension of the annual rites of the goddess of youth: for Memmius
initiated M. Lucullus’ wife into some rites of his own. Menelaus took it
hard and divorced his wife. Unlike the shepherd of Ida, who only
slighted Menelaus, our modern Paris thought Agamemnon[36] as fitting an
object for his contempt. There is one C. Herennius, a tribune—you may
not even know him, though perhaps you do, as he is a member of the same
tribe as yourself, and his father Sextus used to distribute money to
your tribesmen—he is trying to transfer P. Clodius to the plebs, and
even proposes that the whole people shall vote on the matter in the
Campus Martius. I gave him my
Footnote 36:
L. Lucullus, whose claim to a triumph Memmius opposed as tribune in
66–65 B.C.
ego accepi in senatu, ut soleo, sed nihil est illo homine lentius.
Metellus est consul egregius et nos amat, sed imminuit auctoritatem
suam, quod habet dicis causa promulgatum illud idem de Clodio. Auli
autem filius, o di immortales! quam ignavus ac sine animo miles! quam
dignus, qui Palicano, sicut facit, os ad male audiendum cotidie
praebeat! Agraria autem promulgata est a Flavio sane levis eadem fere,
quae fuit Plotia. Sed interea πολιτικὸς ἀνὴρ οὐδ’ ὄναρ quisquam inveniri
potest; qui poterat, familiaris noster (sic est enim; volo te hoc scire)
Pompeius togulam illam pictam silentio tuetur suam. Crassus verbum
nullum contra gratiam. Ceteros iam nosti; qui ita sunt stulti, ut amissa
re publica piscinas suas fore salvas sperare videantur. Unus est, qui
curet constantia magis et integritate quam, ut mihi videtur, consilio
aut ingenio, Cato; qui miseros publicanos, quos habuit amantissimos sui,
tertium iam mensem vexat neque iis a senatu responsum dari patitur. Ita
nos cogimur reliquis de rebus nihil decernere, antequam publicanis
responsum sit. Quare etiam legationes reiectum iri puto.
Nunc vides quibus fluctibus iactemur, et, si ex iis, quae scripsimus
tanta, etiam a me non scripta perspicis, revise nos aliquando et,
quamquam sunt haec
usual reception in the Senate; but he is the most phlegmatic of mortals.
Metellus is an excellent consul and an admirer of mine; but he has
lessened his influence by making, only for form’s sake, the very same
proposal about Clodius. But Aulus’ son—heavens above! what a cowardly
and spiritless wretch for a soldier! Just fit to be exposed, as he is,
to the daily abuse of Palicanus. An agrarian law has been proposed by
Flavius,—a very paltry production, almost identical with the Plotian
law. And in the meantime not the ghost of a real statesman is to be
found. The man who could be one, my intimate friend—for so he is, I
would have you to know—Pompey, wraps that precious triumphal cloak of
his around him in silence. Crassus never utters a word to risk his
popularity. The others you know well enough—fools who seem to hope that
their fish-ponds may be saved, though the country go to rack and ruin.
There is one who can be said to take some pains, but, according to my
view, with more constancy and honesty than judgement and ability—Cato.
It is now three months that he has been worrying those wretched
tax-collectors, who used to be great friends of his, and won’t let the
Senate give them an answer. So we are forced to suspend all decrees on
other subjects until the tax-collectors have had an answer. And I
suppose even the embassies[37] will have to be postponed for the same
reason.
Now you see the storm we have to weather; and, as you can grasp from
what I have written with such emphasis, something of what I have left
unwritten, come and see me again, for it is high time. Though
Footnote 37:
Foreign embassies were received in February.
fugienda, quo te voco, tamen fac ut amorem nostrum tanti aestimes, ut eo
vel cum his molestiis perfrui velis. Nam, ne absens censeare, curabo
edicendum et proponendum locis omnibus; sub lustrum autem censeri
germani negotiatoris est. Quare cura, ut te quam primum videamus. Vale.
XI Kal. Febr. Q. Metello, L. Afranio coss.
XIX
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae Id. Mart. a. 694_]
Non modo si mihi tantum esset otii, quantum est tibi, verum etiam si tam
breves epistulas vellem mittere, quam tu soles, facile te superarem et
in scribendo multo essem crebrior quam tu. Sed ad summas atque
incredibiles occupationes meas accedit, quod nullam a me volo[38]
epistulam ad te sine argumento ac sententia pervenire. Et primum tibi,
ut aequum est civi amanti patriam, quae sint in re publica, exponam;
deinde, quoniam tibi amore nos proximi sumus, scribemus etiam de nobis
ea, quae scire te non nolle arbitramur.
Atque in re publica nunc quidem maxime Gallici belli versatur metus. Nam
Haedui fratres nostri pugnam nuper malam[39] pugnarunt, et Helvetii sine
dubio sunt in armis excursionesque in provinciam faciunt. Senatus
decrevit, ut consules duas Gallias sortirentur, delectus haberetur,
vacationes ne valerent, legati cum auctoritate mitterentur, qui adirent
Galliae civitates darentque operam, ne eae se cum Helvetiis
coniungerent. Legati sunt Q. Metellus Creticus et L. Flaccus et, τὸ ἐπὶ
τῇ φακῇ μύρον, Lentulus
Footnote 38:
volo _Baiter_: solo _MSS._
Footnote 39:
pugnant pueri (_or_ puer) malam (_or_ in alam _or_ male) _MSS.: the
reading of the text is that of Boot_.
what I invite you to you might well avoid, let your affection for me
conquer even your objection under such unpleasant circumstances. I will
see to it that notice is given and posted up everywhere, that you may
not be entered on the census list as absent. But to get put on the roll
just before the census is too thoroughly tradesman-like. So let me see
you as soon as possible. Farewell.
Jan. 20 in the consulship of C. Metellus and L. Afranius.
XIX
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome March 15_, B.C. _60_]
If I had as much time as you have, or if I could bring myself to write
such short letters as you generally write, I could beat you hollow and
write far more frequently than you write. But on the top of my
inconceivable stress of work, you have to add my habit of never sending
you a letter without a theme and a moral. First, as one ought to a loyal
citizen, I will give you a sketch of political events, and then, as I am
the nearest in your affection, I will tell you any of my own affairs
that I think you would not be disinclined to know.
In politics then at the present minute fears of war in Gaul are the main
topic: for “our brothers” the Aedui have had a disastrous battle
recently, and the Helvetii are undoubtedly in arms and making raids on
our province. The Senate has decreed that the consuls should cast lots
for the two Gauls, that levies should be made, furloughs cancelled, and
ambassadors with full powers sent to visit the Gallic states and prevent
them from joining the Aedui. The ambassadors are Quintus Metellus
Creticus, and Lucius Flaccus, and—“the caper sauce on
Clodiani filius. Atque hoc loco illud non queo praeterire, quod, cum de
consularibus mea prima sors exisset, una voce senatus frequens
retinendum me in urbe censuit. Hoc idem post me Pompeio accidit, ut nos
duo quasi pignora rei publicae retineri videremur. Quid enim ego aliorum
in me ἐπιφωνήματα exspectem, cum haec domi nascantur?
Urbanae autem res sic se habent. Agraria lex a Flavio tribuno pl.
vehementer agitabatur auctore Pompeio; quae nihil populare habebat
praeter auctorem. Ex hac ego lege secunda contionis voluntate omnia illa
tollebam, quae ad privatorum incommodum pertinebant, liberabam agrum
eum, qui P. Mucio, L. Calpurnio consulibus publicus fuisset, Sullanorum
hominum possessiones confirmabam, Volaterranos et Arretinos, quorum
agrum Sulla publicarat neque diviserat, in sua possessione retinebam;
unam rationem non reiciebam, ut ager hac adventicia pecunia emeretur,
quae ex novis vectigalibus per quinquennium reciperetur. Huic toti
rationi agrariae senatus adversabatur suspicans Pompeio novam quandam
potentiam quaeri; Pompeius vero ad voluntatem perferendae legis
incubuerat. Ego autem magna cum agrariorum gratia confirmabam omnium
privatorum
lenten fare”[40]—Lentulus, son of Clodianus. And I cannot forbear adding
here that when my lot came up first in the ballot among the ex-consuls,
the Senate were unanimous in declaring that I should be kept in Rome.
The same happened to Pompey after me, so that we two appear to be kept
as pledges of the State. Why should I look for the “bravos” of strangers
when these triumphs bloom for me at home?
Well, this is the state of affairs in the city. The agrarian law was
zealously pushed by the tribune Flavius with the support of Pompey,
though its only claim to popularity was its supporter. My proposal to
remove from the law any points which encroached on private rights was
favourably received by a public meeting. I proposed to exempt from its
action such land as was public in the consulship of P. Mucius and L.
Calpurnius,[41] to confirm Sulla’s veterans in their possessions, to
allow the people of Volaterra and Arretium to retain in their holding
their land which Sulla had made public land, but had not distributed:
the only clause I did not reject was that land should be purchased by
this wind-fall which will come in from the new foreign revenues in the
next five years. The Senate was opposed to the whole agrarian scheme,
suspecting that Pompey was aiming at getting some new powers. Pompey had
set his heart on carrying the law through. I on the other hand, with the
full approval of the applicants for land, was for securing the holdings
of all private
Footnote 40:
Lit. “myrrh oil on lentils”; referring to a line in the _Phoenissae_
of Strattis.
Footnote 41:
133 B.C., the year before the agrarian law of Tiberius Gracchus.
possessiones; is enim est noster exercitus, hominum, ut tute scis,
locupletium; populo autem et Pompeio (nam id quoque volebam) satis
faciebam emptione, qua constituta diligenter et sentinam urbis exhauriri
et Italiae solitudinem frequentari posse arbitrabar. Sed haec tota res
interpellata bello refrixerat. Metellus est consul sane bonus et nos
admodum diligit; ille alter nihil ita est, ut plane, quid emerit,
nesciat. Haec sunt in re publica, nisi etiam illud ad rem publicam putas
pertinere, Herennium quendam, tribunum pl., tribulem tuum sane hominem
nequam atque egentem, saepe iam de P. Clodio ad plebem traducendo agere
coepisse. Huic frequenter interceditur. Haec sunt, ut opinor, in re
publica.
Ego autem, ut semel Nonarum illarum Decembrium iunctam invidia ac
multorum inimicitiis eximiam quandam atque immortalem gloriam consecutus
sum, non destiti eadem animi magnitudine in re publica versari et illam
institutam ac susceptam dignitatem tueri, sed, posteaquam primum Clodi
absolutione levitatem infirmitatemque iudiciorum perspexi, deinde vidi
nostros publicanos facile a senatu diiungi, quamquam a me ipso non
divellerentur, tum autem beatos homines, hos piscinarios dico amicos
tuos, non obscure nobis invidere, putavi mihi maiores quasdam opes et
firmiora praesidia esse quaerenda. Itaque primum, eum qui nimium diu de
rebus nostris tacuerat. Pompeium
persons—for, as you know, the strength of our party consists in the rich
landed gentry—while at the same time I fulfilled my desire to satisfy
Pompey and the populace by supporting the purchase of land, thinking
that, if that were thoroughly carried out, the city might be emptied of
the dregs of the populace, and the deserted parts of Italy peopled. But
the matter has cooled off now this war has interrupted it. Metellus is
an excellent consul and a great admirer of mine. The other one is an
utter nonentity and clearly bought a pig in a poke when he got the
consulship. That is all my political news, unless you think this has a
bearing on politics. One Herennius, a tribune and fellow tribesman of
yours, and a man of no character or position, has begun frequently
proposing the transference of P. Clodius from a patrician to a plebeian;
and his proposals are vetoed by many of his colleagues. This, I think,
is all the public news.
For myself, ever since that December day when I won such splendid and
immortal glory, though it carried with it much envy and enmity, I have
not ceased to employ the same high-minded policy and to keep the
position I have won and taken up. But, as soon as the acquittal of
Clodius showed me the uncertainty and instability of the law courts, and
I saw too how easily our friends the tax-gatherers could be estranged
from the Senate, though they might not sever their connection with me,
while the well-to-do—your friends with the fish-ponds, I mean—took no
pains to disguise their envy of me, I bethought me that I had better
look out for some stronger support and more secure protection. So
firstly I brought Pompey, the man who had held his peace too long about
adduxi in eam voluntatem, ut in senatu non semel, sed saepe multisque
verbis huius mihi salutem imperii atque orbis terrarum adiudicarit; quod
non tam interfuit mea (neque enim illae res aut ita sunt obscurae, ut
testimonium, aut ita dubiae, ut laudationem desiderent) quam rei
publicae, quod erant quidam improbi, qui contentionem fore aliquam mihi
cum Pompeio ex rerum illarum dissensione arbitrarentur. Cum hoc ego me
tanta familiaritate coniunxi, ut uterque nostrum in sua ratione munitior
et in re publica firmior hac coniunctione esse possit. Odia autem illa
libidinosae et delicatae iuventutis, quae erant in me incitata, sic
mitigata sunt comitate quadam mea, me unum ut omnes illi colant; nihil
iam denique a me asperum in quemquam fit nec tamen quicquam populare ac
dissolutum, sed ita temperata tota ratio est, ut rei publicae
constantiam praestem, privatis meis rebus propter infirmitatem bonorum,
iniquitatem malevolorum, odium in me improborum adhibeam quandam
cautionem et diligentiam atque ita, tametsi his novis amicitiis
implicati sumus, ut crebro mihi vafer ille Siculus insusurret Epicharmus
cantilenam illam suam:
Νᾶφε καὶ μέμνασ’ ἀπιστεῖν· ἄρθρα ταῦτα τᾶν φρενῶν.
Ac nostrae quidem rationis ac vitae quasi quandam formam, ut opinor,
vides.
De tuo autem negotio saepe ad me scribis. Cui mederi nunc non possumus;
est enim illud senatus
my achievements, into a frame of mind for attributing to me the
salvation of the empire and the world not once only, but time after time
and with emphasis in the House. That was not so much for my own
benefit—for my achievements were neither so obscure that they required
evidence, nor so dubious that they required puffing up—but for the
State’s sake, for there were some ill-natured persons who thought that
there was a certain amount of disagreement between Pompey and myself,
owing to a difference of opinion about those matters. With him I have
formed such an intimate connection that both of us are strengthened in
our policy and surer in our political position through our coalition.
The dislike which had been aroused against me among our dissipated and
dandified youths has been smoothed away by my affability, and now they
pay me more attention than anyone. In short I avoid hurting anyone’s
feelings, though I do not court popularity by relaxing my principles;
indeed my whole conduct is regulated so, that, while I preserve my
firmness in public life, in my private affairs the weakness of the loyal
party, the prejudice of the disaffected and the hostility of the
disloyal makes me move with some care and caution, and, involved though
I am in my new friendships, I frequently have the refrain of Epicharmus,
that subtle Sicilian, ringing in my ears:
Be sober of head, and mistrustful of friends;
Hinges are these on which wisdom depends.
There you have, I think, an outline sketch of my rule of life.
You keep writing about that business of yours; but at present I have no
remedy for it. The decree
consultum summa pedariorum voluntate nullius nostrum auctoritate factum.
Nam, quod me esse ad scribendum vides, ex ipso senatus consulto
intellegere potes aliam rem tum relatam, hoc autem de populis liberis
sine causa additum. Et ita factum est a P. Servilio filio, qui in
postremis sententiam dixit, sed immutari hoc tempore non potest. Itaque
conventus, qui initio celebrabantur, iam diu fieri desierunt. Tu si tuis
blanditiis tamen a Sicyoniis nummulorum aliquid expresseris, velim me
facias certiorem.
Commentarium consulatus mei Graece compositum misi ad te. In quo si quid
erit, quod homini Attico minus Graecum eruditumque videatur, non dicam,
quod tibi, ut opinor, Panhormi Lucullus de suis historiis dixerat, se,
quo facilius illas probaret Romani hominis esse, idcirco barbara quaedam
et σόλοικα dispersisse; apud me si quid erit eius modi, me imprudente
erit et invito. Latinum si perfecero, ad te mittam. Tertium poema
exspectato, ne quod genus a me ipso laudis meae praetermittatur. Hic tu
cave dicas: Τίς πατέρ’ αἰνήσει; Si est enim apud homines quicquam quod
potius sit, laudetur, nos vituperemur, qui non potius alia laudemus;
quamquam non ἐγκωμιαστικὰ sunt haec, sed ἱστορικά, quae scribimus.
Quintus frater purgat se mihi per litteras et adfirmat nihil a se
cuiquam de te secus esse dictum.
was passed by the enthusiasm of the silent members[42] without any
support from our party. For as to my signature which you find attached
to it, you can see from the decree itself that it was quite a different
matter which was brought forward, and this clause about the free peoples
was added without rhyme or reason. It was the work of P. Servilius the
younger, who was one of the last to speak: but it cannot be altered at
the present time. So the meetings which at first were held about it have
ceased long ago. If, however, you should manage to squeeze a few pence
out of the Sicyonians, please let me know.
I have sent you a copy of my account of my consulship in Greek. If there
is anything in it, which to your Attic taste seems bad Greek or
unscholarly, I will not say what Lucullus said to you—at Panhormus, I
think—about his history, that he had interspersed a few barbarisms and
solecisms as a clear proof that it was the work of a Roman. If there is
anything of the kind in my work, it is there without my knowledge and
against my will. When I have finished the Latin version, I will send it
to you. In the third place you may expect a poem, not to let slip any
method of singing my own praises. Please don’t quote “Who will praise
his sire?”[43] For if there is any more fitting subject for eulogy, then
I am willing to be blamed for not choosing some other subject. However
my compositions are not panegyrics at all but histories.
My brother Quintus has written exculpating himself and declaring that he
never said a word against
Footnote 42:
Members who did not speak, but only took part in the division
(_pedibus ire in sententiam_).
Footnote 43:
The whole proverb is found in Plutarch’s Life of Aratus, τίς πατέρ’
αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί.
Verum haec nobis coram summa cura et diligentia sunt agenda; tu modo nos
revise aliquando. Cossinius hic, cui dedi litteras, valde mihi bonus
homo et non levis et amans tui visus est et talis, qualem esse eum tuae
mihi litterae nuntiarant. Idibus Martiis.
XX
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae m. Maio a. 694_]
Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IV Idus Maias, Cincius noster
eam mihi abs te epistulam reddidit, quam tu Idibus Febr. dederas. Ei
nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo. Ac primum tibi perspectum esse
iudicium de te meum laetor, deinde te in iis rebus, quae mihi asperius a
nobis atque nostris et iniucundius actae videbantur, moderatissimum
fuisse vehementissime gaudeo idque neque amoris mediocris et ingenii
summi ac sapientiae iudico. Qua de re cum ad me ita suaviter,
diligenter, officiose, humaniter scripseris, ut non modo te hortari
amplius non debeam, sed ne exspectare quidem abs te aut ab ullo homine
tantum facilitatis ac mansuetudinis potuerim, nihil duco esse commodius
quam de his rebus nihil iam amplius scribere. Cum erimus congressi, tum,
si quid res feret, coram inter nos conferemus.
Quod ad me de re publica scribis, disputas tu quidem et amanter et
prudenter, et a meis consiliis ratio tua non abhorret; nam neque de
statu nobis nostrae dignitatis est recedendum neque sine nostris copiis
intra alterius praesidia veniendum, et is, de quo scribis, nihil habet
amplum, nihil excelsum, nihil non
you to anyone. But that is a point we have to discuss very carefully
when we meet, if only you will come and see me some time. This
Cossinius, to whom I have given the letter, seems to me a very good
steady sort of fellow, and devoted to you, exactly as you described him
in your letter. March 15.
XX
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, May_, B.C. _60_]
On my return from my villa at Pompeii on the 12th of May, our friend
Cincius passed on to me your letter which was dated the 13th of
February. That is the letter which I shall now answer. And first I must
say how delighted I am that you fully understood my opinion of you: next
how very glad I am that you showed such forbearance with regard to the
slights and unkindness which in my opinion you had received from me and
mine: and I count it a sign of affection more than ordinary and the
highest sense and wisdom. Indeed your answer is so charmingly worded and
with such consideration and kindliness that not only have I no further
right to press you, but I can never expect to experience such courtesy
and forbearance from you or any other man. So I think it would be best
for me to say no more about the matter in my letters. If any point
arises, we will discuss it together when we meet.
Your remarks about politics are couched in friendly and prudent terms,
and your view does not differ from my own—for I must not withdraw from
my dignified position, nor must I enter another’s lines without any
forces of my own, and the man you mention has no broad-mindedness and no
high-mindedness,
summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad
tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae
multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi,
cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem
sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem
convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam
rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego
illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur.
Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae
gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos
significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Σπάρταν non modo numquam
deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina
sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem
post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait
Rhinton, ut opinor,
Οἱ μὲν παρ’ οὐδέν εἰσι, τοῖς δ’ οὐδὲν μέλει.
Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in
congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel
quod ita rectum
nothing in him that is not low and time-serving. Well, perhaps the
course I took was not opposed to my own advantage and peace of life, but
I swear it was far more to the advantage of the State than to mine that
I should be the means of suppressing the attacks of the disloyal, and of
strengthening the wavering policy of a man of the highest position,
influence and popularity, and converting him from pandering to the
disloyal to approval of my achievements. If I had had to make any
sacrifice of principle in so doing, I should never have thought it
justifiable: but I managed it so that he seemed to gain in principle by
his approval of me, more than I lost in bowing to him. I will take care
that my actions now and in the future do not convey the impression that
what I did in the past was done at haphazard. My honest comrades, at
whom you hint, and the lot[44] which has fallen to me, as you say, I
will never desert. Nay, even if I am deserted by it I will abide by my
ancient principles. But I would have you please remember that, since the
death of Catulus, I am holding the way for the conservative party
without a garrison and without a comrade. For, as Rhinton, I think it
is, says:
Some are stark naught, and naught do others reck.
How our friends of the fish-ponds envy me, I will either tell you in
another letter, or keep it till we meet. But from the Senate house
nothing shall tear me: either because that is the right course, or
Footnote 44:
Σπάρταν ἔλαχες ταύταν κόσμει is quoted in full from Euripides’
Telephus in Att. IV, 6, 2.
est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti
fiam, minime me paenitet.
De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu;
nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est;
alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad
quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt.
Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui
querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis
delectantur.
Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari
e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem
mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius
consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri ὑπώπιον.
De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum
L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco
Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede,
simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur.
Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque
noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi
per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret,
because it is most consistent with my position, or because I am by no
means dissatisfied with the Senate’s estimation of me.
As regards the Sicyonians, there is very little hope to be placed in the
Senate, as I wrote you before: for there is no one now to raise a
complaint. It would be tedious to wait for them to move. Fight the point
in some other way, if you can. When the law was passed, nobody noticed
to whom it applied, and the dummy members plumped eagerly in its favour.
The time has not yet come for rescinding the decree, because there is no
one who complains about it, and some favour it, partly from spite and
partly from an idea of its justness.
Your friend Metellus is an excellent consul: I have only one fault to
find with him, he is not at all pleased with the news of peace from
Gaul. I take it he wants a triumph. I wish he would moderate that
desire: in every other way he is excellent. The behaviour of Aulus’s son
makes his consulship not a consulship, but a blot on the scutcheon[45]
of our friend Pompey.
I have sent you one of my works, a history of my consulship in Greek. I
have given it to L. Cossinius. I fancy you like my Latin work, but,
being a Greek, envy this Greek one. If others write about it, I will
send you copies; but I assure you, as soon as they read mine, they
somehow or other don’t hurry themselves about it.
Now to return to business. L. Papirius Paetus, my good friend and
admirer, has offered me the books left to him by Ser. Claudius: and, as
your friend Cincius said I could take them without breaking the
Footnote 45:
Lit. “a black eye.”
libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me
amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac
servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos
suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus
est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis
datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris,
si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde
velle arbitraris. ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi
ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed
etiam suadeo.
Cincian law[46], I said I would very willingly accept, if he brought
them here. Now, as you love me, as you know I love you, stir up all your
friends, clients, guests, freedmen, nay even your slaves, to see that
not a leaf is lost. For I have urgent necessity for the Greek works,
which I suspect, and the Latin books, which I am sure, he left. Every
day I seek my recreation, in such time as is left me from my legal
labours, more and more in such studies. You will do me the greatest of
favours, if you will show the same zeal in this as you generally do in
matters about which you think I am really keen. Paetus’ own affairs I
recommend to your notice too, and he expresses his deepest gratitude.
And I do more than ask you, I urge you, to pay me a visit soon.
Footnote 46:
The _lex Cincia de donis et muneribus_ (204 B.C.), which forbade
taking presents for pleading causes.
M. TULLI CICERONIS
EPISTULARUM AD ATTICUM
LIBER SECUNDUS
I
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae m. Iun. a. 694_]
Kal. Iuniis eunti mihi Antium, et gladiatores M. Metelli cupide
relinquenti, venit obviam tuus puer. Is mihi litteras abs te et
commentarium consulatus mei Graece scriptum reddidit. In quo laetatus
sum me aliquanto ante de isdem rebus Graece item scriptum librum L.
Cossinio ad te perferundum dedisse, nam, si ego tuum ante legissem,
furatum me abs te esse diceres. Quamquam tua illa (legi enim libenter)
horridula mihi atque incompta visa sunt, sed tamen erant ornata hoc
ipso, quod ornamenta neglexerant, et ut mulieres ideo bene olere, quia
nihil olebant, videbantur. Meus autem liber totum Isocratis myrothecium
atque omnes eius discipulorum arculas ac non nihil etiam Aristotelia
pigmenta consumpsit. Quem tu Corcyrae, ut mihi aliis litteris
significas, strictim attigisti, post autem, ut arbitror, a Cossinio
accepisti. Quem tibi ego non essem ausus mittere, nisi eum lente ac
fastidiose probavissem. Quamquam ad me scripsit iam Rhodo Posidonius se,
nostrum illud ὑπόμνημα cum legeret, quod ego ad eum, ut ornatius de
isdem rebus scriberet, miseram, non modo non excitatum esse ad
scribendum, sed etiam plane deterritum. Quid quaeris? conturbavi Graecam
nationem. Ita, vulgo qui instabant, ut darem sibi, quod ornarent, iam
exhibere mihi molestiam destiterunt. Tu, si tibi placuerit
CICERO’S LETTERS
TO ATTICUS