I
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Sept._, B.C. _57_]
As soon as I reached Rome and there was anyone to whom I could safely
entrust a letter to you, my first thought was to write and thank you for
my return, since you are not here to receive my thanks. For I grasped,
to tell you the truth, that though in the advice you gave me you showed
yourself no wiser and no braver than myself, and indeed, considering my
past attentions to you, you were none too energetic in defence of my
honour, still, though at first you shared my mistake or rather my
madness and my unnecessary fright, it was you who took my exile most to
heart and contributed most energy, zeal and perseverance in bringing
about my return. And so I can assure you that in the midst of great
rejoicing and the most gratifying congratulations, one thing was lacking
to fill the cup of my happiness, the sight of you or rather your
embrace. When once I have obtained that, I shall certainly think myself
undeserving of this renewal of good fortune, if ever I let you go again,
and if I do not exact to the full all arrears in the enjoyment of your
pleasant society.
As regards my political position, I have attained what I thought would
be the hardest thing to recover—my distinction at the Bar, my authority
in the House and more popularity with the sound party than I desire. But
you know how my private property has been crippled, dissipated,
plundered. I
fracta, dissipata, direpta sit, non ignoras, valde laboramus tuarumque
non tam facultatum, quas ego nostras esse iudico, quam consiliorum ad
colligendas et constituendas reliquias nostras indigemus.
Nunc, etsi omnia ant scripta esse a tuis arbitror aut etiam nuntiis ac
rumore perlata, tamen ea scribam brevi, quae te puto potissimum ex meis
litteris velle cognoscere. Pr. Nonas Sextiles Dyrrachio sum profectus
ipso illo die, quo lex est lata de nobis. Brundisium veni Nonis
Sextilibus. Ibi mihi Tulliola mea fuit praesto, natali suo ipso die, qui
casu idem natalis erat et Brundisinae coloniae et tuae vicinae Salutis;
quae res animadversa a multitudine summa Brundisinorum gratulatione
celebrata est. Ante diem VI Idus Sextiles cognovi, cum Brundisi essem,
litteris Quinti mirifico studio omnium aetatum atque ordinum,
incredibili concursu Italiae legem comitiis centuriatis esse perlatam.
Inde a Brundisinis honestissimis ornatus, iter ita feci, ut undique ad
me cum gratulatione legati convenerint. Ad urbem ita veni, ut nemo
ullius ordinis homo nomenclatori notus fuerit, qui mihi obviam non
venerit, praeter eos inimicos, quibus id ipsum, se inimicos esse, non
liceret aut dissimulare aut negare. Cum venissem ad portam Capenam,
gradus templorum ab infima plebe completi erant. A qua plausu maximo cum
esset mihi gratulatio significata, similis et frequentia et plausus me
usque ad Capitolium celebravit, in foroque et in ipso Capitolio miranda
multitudo fuit.
am in great difficulties with it and stand in need not so much of your
means, which I know I can look upon as my own, as of your advice to
gather the fragments together and arrange matters.
Now, though I suppose you have had all the news from your family or from
messengers and rumour, I will give you a short account of everything I
think you would rather learn from my letters. On the 4th of August, the
very day the law about me was proposed, I started from Dyrrachium, and
arrived at Brundisium on the 5th. There my little Tullia was waiting for
me, on her own birthday, which; as it happened, was the commemoration
day of Brundisium and of the temple of Safety near your house too. The
coincidence was noticed and the people of Brundisium held great
celebrations. On the 8th of August, while I was still at Brundisium, I
heard from Quintus that the law had been passed in the Comitia
Centuriata with extraordinary enthusiasm of all ages and ranks in Italy
who had flocked to Rome in thousands. Then I started on my journey amid
the rejoicings of all the loyal folk of Brundisium, and was met
everywhere by deputations offering congratulations. When I came near the
city, there was not a soul of any class known to my attendant,[108] who
did not come to meet me, except those enemies who could neither hide nor
deny their enmity. When I reached the Capenan Gate, the steps of the
temples were thronged with the populace. Their joy was exhibited in loud
applause: a similar crowd accompanied me with like applause to the
Capitol, and in the Forum and on the very Capitol there was an
extraordinary gathering.
Footnote 108:
A _nomenclator_ attended canvassers and others to tell them the names
of persons they met.
Postridie in senatu, qui fuit dies Nonarum Septembr., senatui gratias
egimus. Eo biduo cum esset annonae summa caritas, et homines ad theatrum
primo, deinde ad senatum concurrissent, impulsu Clodi mea opera frumenti
inopiam esse clamarent, cum per eos dies senatus de annona haberetur, et
ad eius procurationem sermone non solum plebis, verum etiam bonorum
Pompeius vocaretur, idque ipse cuperet, multitudoque a me nominatim, ut
id decernerem, postularet, feci et accurate sententiam dixi. Cum
abessent consulares, quod tuto se negarent posse sententiam dicere,
praeter Messallam et Afranium, factum est senatus consultum in meam
sententiam, ut cum Pompeio ageretur, ut eam rem susciperet, lexque
ferretur. Quo senatus consulto recitato cum more hoc insulso et novo
populus[109] plausum meo nomine recitando dedisset, habui contionem.
Omnes magistratus praesentes praeter unum praetorem et duos tribunes pl.
dederunt. Postridie senatus frequens et omnes consulares nihil Pompeio
postulanti negarunt. Ille legatos quindecim cum postularet, me principem
nominavit et ad omnia me alterum se fore dixit. Legem consules
conscripserunt, qua Pompeio per quinquennium omnis potestas rei
frumentariae toto orbe terrarum daretur, alteram Messius, qui omnis
pecuniae dat potestatem et adiungit classem et exercitum et maius
imperium in provinciis, quam sit eorum, qui eas obtineant. Illa nostra
lex consularis nunc modesta videtur, haec
Footnote 109:
populus _added by Boot_.
Next day, on the 5th of September, I returned thanks to the Senate[110]
in the House. On those two days bread was very dear and crowds ran first
to the theatre and then to the House, crying out at Clodius’ instigation
that the dearth of corn was my fault. On the same days there were
meetings of the House about the corn supply and Pompey was called upon
by poor and rich alike to take the matter in hand. He was more than
willing; and the people asked me by name to propose it: so I delivered
my opinion carefully. As the ex-consuls, except Messalla and Afranius,
were absent, thinking it was not safe to record a vote, a decree was
passed in accordance with my proposal that Pompey should be appealed to
take the matter in hand and a law should be passed. When this bill was
read out, the people received the mention of my name with applause after
the new silly fashion: and I delivered an harangue, with the permission
of all the magistrates present, except one praetor and two tribunes. On
the next day there was a full House and all the ex-consuls were willing
to grant Pompey anything. He asked for a committee of fifteen, naming me
at the head of them and saying that I should count as his second self in
everything. The consuls drew up a law giving Pompey the direction of the
whole corn supply in the world for five years: Messius another granting
him the control of the treasury, and adding an army and a fleet and
higher powers than those of the local officials in the provinces. The
law we ex-consuls proposed is regarded now as quite moderate, this
Footnote 110:
This the _Oratio cum senatui gratias egit_, and a few lines lower down
he refers to another extant speech, the _Oratio cum populo gratias
egit_.
Messi non ferenda. Pompeius illam velle se dicit, familiares hanc.
Consulares duce Favonio fremunt; nos tacemus et eo magis, quod de domo
nostra nihil adhuc pontifices responderunt. Qui si sustulerint
religionem, aream praeclaram habebimus; superficiem consules ex senatus
consulto aestimabunt; sin aliter, demolientur, suo nomine locabunt, rem
totam aestimabunt.
Ita sunt res nostrae,
“Ut in secundis fluxae, ut in advorsis bonae.”
In re familiari valde sumus, ut scis, perturbati. Praeterea sunt quaedam
domestica, quae litteris non committo. Quintum fratrem insigni pietate,
virtute, fide praeditum sic amo, ut debeo. Te exspecto et oro, ut
matures venire eoque animo venias, ut me tuo consilio egere non sinas.
Alterius vitae quoddam initium ordimur. Iam quidam, qui nos absentes
defenderunt, incipiunt praesentibus occulte irasci, aperte invidere.
Vehementer te requirimus.
II
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae in. m. Oct. a. 697_]
Si forte rarius tibi a me quam a ceteris litterae redduntur, peto a te,
ut id non modo neglegentiae meae, sed ne occupationi quidem tribuas;
quae etsi
of Messius as perfectly intolerable. Pompey says he prefers the former;
his friends that he prefers the latter. Favonius is leading the consular
party who rebel against it, while I hold my peace, especially as the
pontifices at present have given no answer about my house. If they annul
the consecration, I shall have a splendid site. The consuls will value
the building according to the decree of the Senate; if not, they will
pull it down, lease it out in their own name, and reckon up the whole
cost.
So my affairs are
“For happy though but ill, for ill not worst.”[111]
My monetary affairs, as you know, are in an awful muddle: and there are
some private matters which I won’t commit to writing. I am devoted to my
brother Quintus as his extraordinary affection, virtue and loyalty
deserve. I am looking forward to your coming and beg you to come soon,
and to come resolved to give me the full benefit of your advice. I am
standing at the threshold of a new life. Already those who took my part
in my exile are beginning to feel annoyance at my presence, though they
disguise it, and to envy me without even taking the trouble to disguise
that. I really stand in urgent need of you.
II
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Oct._, B.C. _57_]
If I am a less regular correspondent than others, please do not lay it
to my carelessness or to my business either; for, though I am
extraordinarily
Footnote 111:
Shuckburgh aptly borrows this line from Milton, _P.L._, II, 224.
summa est, tamen nulla esse potest tanta, ut interrumpat iter amoris
nostri et officii mei. Nam, ut veni Romam, iterum nunc sum certior
factus esse cui darem litteras; itaque has alteras dedi.
Prioribus tibi declaravi, adventus noster qualis fuisset, et quis esset
status, atque omnes res nostrae quem ad modum essent,
“Ut in secundis fluxae, ut in advorsis bonae.”
Post illas datas litteras secuta est summa contentio de domo. Diximus
apud pontifices pr. Kal. Octobres. Acta res est accurate a nobis, et, si
umquam in dicendo fuimus aliquid, aut etiam si numquam alias fuimus, tum
profecto doloris magnitudo vim quandam nobis dicendi dedit. Itaque
oratio iuventuti nostrae deberi non potest; quam tibi, etiamsi non
desideras, tamen mittam cito. Cum pontifices decressent ita, SI NEQVE
POPVLI IVSSV NEQVE PLEBIS SCITV IS, QVI SE DEDICASSE DICERET, NOMINATIM
EI REI PRAEFECTVS ESSET NEQVE POPVLI IVSSV AVT PLEBIS SCITU ID FACERE
IVSSVS ESSET, VIDERI POSSE SINE RELIGIONE EAM PARTEM AREAE MIHI
RESTITVI, mihi facta statim est gratulatio; nemo enim dubitabat, quin
domus nobis esset adiudicata: cum subito ille in contionem escendit,
quam Appius ei dedit. Nuntiat iam populo pontifices secundum se
decrevisse, me autem vi conari in possessionem venire; hortatur, ut se
et Appium sequantur et suam Libertatem vi defendant. Hic cum etiam illi
infirmi partim admirarentur, partim irriderent hominis amentiam, ego
statueram illuc non accedere, nisi
busy, no press of work could be sufficient to break the course of our
affection or of my duty to you. Since I have come to Rome, this is the
second time that I have heard of a messenger, and so this is the second
letter I send.
In my former I described the sort of return I had, my position and the
state of all my affairs:
“For happy though but ill, for ill not worst.”
After I sent that letter, there followed a great fight about my house. I
delivered a speech[112] before the pontifices on the 29th of September.
I bestowed great pains on the matter, and, if ever I had any oratorical
ability, or even if I never had before, on that occasion at any rate, my
great indignation lent some vigour to my style. So its publication is a
debt which I must not leave unpaid to the rising generation: and to you
I will send it very soon, whether you want it or not. The pontifices
decreed that “if the party alleging that he had dedicated had not been
appointed by name either by order of the people or vote of the plebs,
and if he had not been commanded to do so, either by order of the people
or by vote of the plebs then it appeared that that part of the site
might be restored to me without sacrilege,” I was congratulated at once,
everybody thinking that the house had been adjudged to me. But all of a
sudden up gets a man to speak, at Appius’ invitation, and announces that
the pontifices have decided in his favour and I am trying to take
possession by force: he exhorts them to follow him and Appius and defend
their shrine of Liberty. Thereupon, though even those pliable persons
were partly lost in wonder and partly laughing at the man’s folly, I
determined
Footnote 112:
_De domo sua ad pontifices._
cum consules ex senatus consulto porticum Catuli restituendam locassent.
Kal. Octobr. habetur senatus frequens. Adhibentur omnes pontifices, qui
erant senatores. A quibus Marcellinus, qui erat cupidissimus mei,
sententiam primus rogatus quaesivit, quid essent in decernendo secuti.
Tum M. Lucullus de omnium collegarum sententia respondit religionis
iudices pontifices fuisse, legis esse senatum; se et collegas suos de
religione statuisse, in senatu de lege statuturos cum senatu. Itaque suo
quisque horum loco sententiam rogatus multa secundum causam nostram
disputavit. Cum ad Clodium ventum est, cupiit diem consumere, neque ei
finis est factus, sed tamen, cum horas tres fere dixisset, odio et
strepitu senatus coactus est aliquando perorare. Cum fieret senatus
consultum in sententiam Marcellini omnibus praeter unum adsentientibus,
Serranus intercessit. De intercessione statim ambo consules referre
coeperunt. Cum sententiae gravissimae dicerentur, senatui placere mihi
domum restitui, porticum Catuli locari, auctoritatem ordinis ab omnibus
magistratibus defendi, si quae vis esset facta, senatum existimaturum
eius opera factum esse, qui senatus consulto intercessisset, Serranus
pertimuit, et Cornicinus ad suam veterem fabulam rediit; abiecta toga se
ad generi pedes abiecit. Ille noctem sibi postulavit. Non concedebant,
reminiscebantur enim Kal. Ianuar. Vix
not to go near the place until the consuls by decree of the Senate had
given out the contract for restoring the porch of Catulus. On the first
of October there was a full meeting of the Senate. All the pontifices
who were senators were summoned: and Marcellinus, a strong partisan of
mine, being called upon first for his opinion, asked them what was the
purport of their decree. Then M. Lucullus speaking for all his
colleagues answered, that the pontifices had to decide points of
religion and the Senate points of law: he and his colleagues had settled
the religious point and now in the Senate they would join the other
senators in settling the legal point. Accordingly as each of them was
called upon in his turn, he delivered a long speech in my favour. When
it came to Clodius, he wanted to waste the whole day and spoke on
endlessly, but at last, after speaking for nearly three hours, he was
forced by the indignant outcry of the Senate to wind up his speech. A
decree was passed in accordance with Marcellinus’ proposal with only one
dissentient voice: and then Serranus put his veto on it. Both consuls at
once referred the veto to the Senate, and many resolute speeches were
delivered: “that the Senate approved of the restitution of my house,”
“that a contract should be drawn up for the portico of Catulus,” “that
the Senate’s resolution should be supported by all the magistrates,”
“that if any violence occurred, the Senate would hold him responsible
who had vetoed its decree.” Serranus showed the white feather and
Cornicinus played the same old farce: he threw off his toga and flung
himself at his son-in-law’s feet. Serranus demanded a night to think it
over. They would not grant it, remembering the first of January. At last
with my
tamen tibi de mea voluntate concessum est. Postridie senatus consultum
factum est id, quod ad te misi. Deinde consules porticum Catuli
restituendam locarunt; illam porticum redemptores statim sunt demoliti
libentissimis omnibus. Nobis superficiem aedium consules de consilii
sententia aestimarunt sestertio viciens, cetera valde inliberaliter,
Tusculanam villam quingentis milibus, Formianum HS ducentis quinquaginta
milibus. Quae aestimatio non modo vehementer ab optimo quoque, sed etiam
a plebe reprenditur. Dices: ‘Quid igitur causae fuit?’ Dicunt illi
quidem pudorem meum, quod neque negarim neque vehementius postularim;
sed non est id: nam hoc quidem etiam profuisset. Verum iidem, mi T.
Pomponi, iidem, inquam, illi, quos ne tu quidem ignoras, qui mihi pinnas
inciderant, nolunt easdem renasci. Sed, ut spero, iam renascuntur. Tu
modo ad nos veni; quod vereor ne tardius interventu Varronis tui
nostrique facias.
Quoniam, acta quae sint, habes, de reliqua nostra cogitatione cognosce.
Ego me a Pompeio legari ita sum passus, ut nulla re impedirer. Quod nisi
vellem mihi esset integrum, ut, si comitia censorum proximi consules
haberent, petere possem, votivam legationem sumpsissem prope omnium
fanorum, lucorum; sic enim nostrae rationes utilitatis meae postulabant.
Sed volui meam potestatem esse vel petendi vel ineunte
consent the concession was unwillingly made. On the next day the decree
which I send was passed. Then the consuls gave out the contract for the
restoration of the portico of Catulus; and the contractors immediately
pulled down that portico of his to everybody’s satisfaction. The consuls
valued my house at nearly £18,000[113] at their assessor’s advice: and
the other things very stingily—my Tusculan villa at £4,400 and my
Formian at £2,200.[114] This estimate was violently decried not only by
all the conservative party, but by the people too. If you ask me the
reason, they say it was my bashfulness, as I did not refuse or make
pressing demands. But that is not the reason; for that in itself would
have counted for me. But the fact is, my dear Pomponius, those very same
men—you know quite well who I mean—who cut my wings, do not wish them to
grow again. But I hope they are growing. Do you only come to me. But I
fear you may be delayed by the visit of your and my friend Varro.
There you have all that has happened. Now you shall dip into my
thoughts. I have let myself be appointed legate to Pompey with a
reservation that it should not hamper me at all. If I did not want to
have a free hand to stand for the censorship, if the next consuls hold a
censorial election, I would have taken a votive commission[115] to
nearly any shrines or groves. For that was what suited my idea of my
interests best. But I wanted to be free either to stand for election or
to quit the city at the beginning of summer and meanwhile I thought it
good policy
Footnote 113:
2,000,000 sesterces.
Footnote 114:
500,000 and 250,000 sesterces.
Footnote 115:
Cf. p. 163 footnote.
aestate exeundi et interea me esse in oculis civium de me optime
meritorum non alienum putavi.
Ac forensium quidem rerum haec nostra consilia sunt, domesticarum autem
valde impedita. Domus aedificatur, scis, quo sumptu, qua molestia;
reficitur Formianum, quod ego nec relinquere possum nec videre;
Tusculanum proscripsi; suburbano facile careo. Amicorum benignitas
exhausta est in ea re, quae nihil habuit praeter dedecus, quod sensisti
tu absens, nos[116] praesentes; quorum studiis ego et copiis, si esset
per meos defensores licitum, facile essem omnia consecutus. Quo in
genere nunc vehementer laboratur. Cetera, quae me sollicitant,
μυστικώτερα sunt. Amamur a fratre et a filia. Te exspectamus.
III
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae VIII K. Dec. a. 697_]
Avere te certo scio cum scire, quid hic agatur, tum ea a me scire, non
quo certiora sint ea, quae in oculis omnium geruntur, si a me
scribantur, quam cum ab aliis aut scribantur tibi aut nuntientur, sed ut
perspicias ex meis litteris, quo animo ea feram, quae geruntur, et qui
sit hoc tempore aut mentis meae sensus aut omnino vitae status.
Armatis hominibus ante diem tertium Nonas Novembres expulsi sunt fabri
de area nostra, disturbata porticus Catuli, quae ex senatus consulto
consulum
Footnote 116:
nos _added by Madvig_.
to keep myself before the eyes of the citizens who have treated me well.
As regards public affairs those are my plans: but my private affairs are
in a horrible muddle. My house is being built and you know the expense
and the bother it entails: my Formian villa is being restored, though I
cannot bring myself either to abandon it or to look at it. My house at
Tusculum I have put up for sale: I can easily do without a suburban
residence. My friends’ benevolence has been exhausted in what has
brought nothing but dishonour: this you saw, though you were absent, and
so do I who am on the spot: and I might have obtained all I wanted
easily from their efforts and their wealth, if my champions had allowed
it. In this respect I am now in sore straits. My other anxieties may not
be rashly mentioned. My brother and daughter are devoted to me. I am
looking forward to your coming.
III
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Nov. 23_, B.C. _57_]
I am sure you are wanting to know what is going on here and to know it
from me too, not that there is any more certainty about events which
take place before the eyes of the whole world, if I write to you about
them, than if others either write or tell you of them: but that you may
see from my letters how I am taking events and what are my feelings and
my general state of existence.
On the 3rd of November the workmen were driven out of my building-ground
by armed assault: the porch of Catulus, which was being repaired on a
contract made by the consuls in accordance with a decree of
locatione reficiebatur et ad tectum paene pervenerat, Quinti fratris
domus primo fracta coniectu lapidum ex area nostra, deinde inflammata
iussu Clodi inspectante urbe coniectis ignibus, magna querela et gemitu
non dicam bonorum, qui nescio an nulli sint, sed plane hominum omnium.
Ille demens ruere, post hunc vero furorem nihil nisi caedem inimicorum
cogitare, vicatim ambire, servis aperte spem libertatis ostendere.
Etenim antea, cum iudicium nolebat, habebat ille quidem difficilem
manifestamque causam, sed tamen causam; poterat infitiari, poterat in
alios derivare, poterat etiam aliquid iure factum defendere; post has
ruinas, incendia, rapinas desertus a suis vix iam Decimum designatorem,
vix Gellium retinet, servorum consiliis utitur, videt, si omnes, quos
vult, palam occiderit, nihilo suam causam difficiliorem, quam adhuc sit,
in iudicio futuram. Itaque ante diem tertium Idus Novembres, cum Sacra
via descenderem, insecutus est me cum suis. Clamor, lapides, fustes,
gladii, haec improvisa omnia. Discessimus in vestibulum Tetti Damionis.
Qui erant mecum, facile operas aditu prohibuerunt. Ipse occidi potuit,
sed ego diaeta curare incipio, chirurgiae taedet. Ille omnium vocibus
cum se non ad iudicium, sed ad supplicium praesens trudi videret, omnes
Catilinas
the Senate, and had nearly got as high as the roof, was knocked down: my
brother Quintus’ house was first smashed by a discharge of stones from
my plot, and then set on fire under Clodius’ orders by firebrands hurled
before the eyes of the whole city, amidst the groans and growls—I will
not say of the loyal party, which seems to have vanished out of
existence—but simply of every human creature. He was rushing about in a
frenzy, thinking of nothing but the slaughter of his enemies after this
mad freak, and canvassing the city quarter by quarter, openly promising
liberation to slaves. Before this, when he was trying to shirk his
trial, he had a case hard indeed to support and obviously wrongful, but
still it was a case: he could deny things, he could put the blame on
others, he could even plead that he had the right on his side in some
respects. But after this wreckage, arson and pillage, his own supporters
have left him in the lurch and he hardly has a hold now even on Decimus
the marshal, or Gellius: he has to take slaves into his confidence and
sees, that if he openly commits all the murders he wishes to commit, his
case before the court will not be one whit worse than it is now. So, on
the 11th of November, as I was going down the Sacred Way, he followed me
with his gang. There were shouts, stones, clubs, swords, all without a
moment’s warning. We stepped aside into Tettius Damio’s hall: and those
who were with me easily prevented his roughs from entering. He might
have been killed himself: but I have got tired of surgery and am
beginning a regime cure. He realized that there was a universal outcry
not for his prosecution but for his execution, and has since behaved in
such a way that a Catiline looks ultraconservative
Acidinos postea reddidit. Nam Milonis domum, eam quae est in Cermalo,
pr. Idus Novembr. expugnare et incendere ita conatus est, ut palam hora
quinta cum scutis homines eductis gladiis, alios cum accensis facibus
adduxerit. Ipse domum P. Sullae pro castris sibi ad eam impugnationem
sumpserat. Tum ex Anniana Milonis domo Q. Flaccus eduxit viros acris;
occidit homines ex omni latrocinio Clodiano notissimos, ipsum cupivit,
sed ille se in interiora[117] aedium Sullae. Exin senatus postridie
Idus. Domi Clodius. Egregius Marcellinus, omnes acres. Metellus calumnia
dicendi tempus exemit adiuvante Appio, etiam hercule familiari tuo, de
cuius constantia virtute tuae verissimae litterae. Sestius furere. Ille
postea, si comitia sua non fierent, urbi minari. Milo, proposita
Marcellini sententia, quam ille de scripto ita dixerat, ut totam nostram
causam areae, incendiorum, periculi mei iudicio complecteretur eaque
omnia comitiis anteferret, proscripsit se per omnes dies comitiales de
caelo servaturum.
Contiones turbulentae Metelli, temerariae Appi, furiosissimae Publi.
Haec tamen summa, nisi Milo in campo obnuntiasset, comitia futura. Ante
diem XII Kal. Decembr. Milo ante mediam noctem cum magna manu in campum
venit. Clodius, cum haberet
Footnote 117:
in interiora _Orelli_: ex interiorem _M_.
beside him. For on the 12th of November he attempted to storm and burn
Milo’s house—the one on the Cermalus—openly bringing men with shields
and drawn swords and others with lighted torches to the spot at eleven
o’clock in the morning. His own headquarters during the assault were P.
Sulla’s house. Then Q. Flaccus led forth a gallant band from Milo’s
family house and slew the most notorious of Clodius’ troop of ruffians.
He wanted to slay Clodius himself: but he was skulking in the recesses
of Sulla’s house. There followed a meeting of the Senate on the 14th:
Clodius stayed at home: Marcellinus behaved splendidly: and everybody
was enthusiastic. Metellus with the assistance of Appius and, mark you,
your great friend[118] of whose constancy you sent me such a veracious
account, tried the ruse of talking the time away. Sestius was furious,
Clodius afterwards vowed vengeance on the city, if his election did not
take place. Marcellinus posted up his resolution which he had in writing
when he delivered it—it provided that my entire case should be included
in the trial, the attack on my building ground, the arson and the
assault on my person, and that all these should precede the election—and
Milo gave notice that he intended to watch the sky for omens on all the
election days.
Disorderly meetings were held by Metellus, wild meetings by Appius and
raging mad meetings by Publius. But the end of it all was that the
elections would have taken place, if Milo had not reported evil omens in
the Campus Martius. On the 19th of November Milo took up his position in
the Campus before midnight with a large force; while Clodius in spite of
Footnote 118:
Hortensius.
fugitivorum delectas copias, in campum ire non est ausus. Milo permansit
ad meridiem mirifica hominum laetitia summa cum gloria. Contentio
fratrum trium turpis, fracta vis, contemptus furor. Metellus tamen
postulat, ut sibi postero die in foro obnuntietur; nihil esse, quod in
campum nocte veniretur; se hora prima in comitio fore. Itaque ante diem
XI Kal. in comitium Milo de nocte venit. Metellus cum prima luce furtim
in campum itineribus prope deviis currebat: adsequitur inter lucos
hominem Milo, obnuntiat. Ille se recepit magno et turpi Q. Flacci
convicio. Ante diem X Kal. nundinae. Contio biduo nulla.
Ante diem VIII Kal. haec ego scribebam hora noctis nona. Milo campum iam
tenebat. Marcellus candidatus ita stertebat, ut ego vicinus audirem.
Clodi vestibulum vacuum sane mihi nuntiabatur: pauci pannosi linea
lanterna. Meo consilio omnia illi fieri querebantur ignari quantum in
illo heroe esset animi, quantum etiam consilii. Miranda virtus est. Nova
quaedam divina mitto; sed haec summa est. Comitia fore non arbitror;
reum Publium, nisi ante occisus erit, fore a Milone puto; si se in turba
ei iam[119] obtulerit, occisum iri ab ipso Milone video. Non dubitat
facere, prae se fert; casum illum nostrum non extimescit. Numquam enim
cuiusquam
Footnote 119:
se in turba ei iam _Klotz_: se uti turbae iam _NCZ_^b: si sentitur
veiam _M_.
his picked gangs of runaway slaves did not venture to show himself. Milo
to the huge delight of everybody and to his own great credit stayed
there till midday: and the three brethren’s struggle ended in disgrace,
their strength broken and their mad pride humbled. Metellus; however,
demands that the prohibition should be repeated in the forum on the next
day. There was no necessity, he said, for Milo to come to the Campus at
night; he would be in the Comitium at six in the morning. So on the 20th
Milo went to the Comitium in the early hours of the morning. At daybreak
Metellus came sneaking into the Campus by something like byepaths. Milo
catches the fellow up “between the groves”[120] and serves his notice:
and he retired amid loud jeers and insults from Q. Flaccus. The 21st was
a market-day, and for two days there were no meetings.
It is now three o’clock on the morning of the 23rd as I am writing. Milo
has already taken possession of the Campus. Marcellus, the candidate, is
snoring loud enough for me to hear him next door. I have just had news
that Clodius’ hall is utterly deserted, save for a few rag and bob tails
with a canvas lantern. His side are complaining that I am at the bottom
of it all: but they little know the courage and wisdom of that hero. His
valour is marvellous. I can’t stop to mention some of his new strokes of
genius. But this is the upshot: I believe the elections will not be
held, and Milo will bring Publius before the bar, unless he kills him
first. If he gives him a chance in a riot, I can see Milo will kill him
with his own hands. He has got no scruples
Footnote 120:
A spot between the Capitol and the Campus Martius, where Romulus
founded his Asylum.
invidi et perfidi consilio est usus, nec inerti nobili crediturus.
Nos animo dumtaxat vigemus, etiam magis, quam cum florebamus, re
familiari comminuti sumus. Quinti fratris tamen liberalitati pro
facultatibus nostris, ne omnino exhaustus essem, illo recusante
subsidiis amicorum respondemus. Quid consilii de omni nostro statu
capiamus, te absente nescimus. Quare adpropera.
IV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae III K. Febr. a. 698_]
Periucundus mihi Cincius fuit ante diem III Kal. Febr. ante lucem; dixit
enim mihi te esse in Italia seseque ad te pueros mittere. Quos sine meis
litteris ire nolui, non quo haberem, quod tibi, praesertim iam prope
praesenti, scriberem, sed ut hoc ipsum significarem, mihi tuum adventum
suavissimum exspectatissimumque esse. Quare advola ad nos eo animo, ut
nos ames, te amari scias. Cetera coram agemus. Haec properantes
scripsimus. Quo die venies; utique cum tuis apud me eris.
IVa
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Antiati m. Apr. aut Mai. a. 698_]
Perbelle feceris, si ad nos veneris. Offendes designationem Tyrannionis
mirificam in librorum meorum bibliotheca, quorum reliquiae multo
meliores sunt, quam putaram. Et velim mihi mittas de tuis
about it and avows his intentions, undeterred by my downfall: for he has
never followed the advice of a jealous and treacherous friend, nor
trusted in a weak aristocrat.
So far as my mind is concerned, I am as strong as ever I was even in my
most palmy days, if not stronger; but my circumstances are straitened.
My brother Quintus’ liberality I shall repay, in spite of his protests,
as the state of my finances compels me—by the aid of friends, so as not
entirely to beggar myself. What general course of action to adopt I
cannot make up my mind without your assistance; so make haste.
IV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Jan. 28_, B.C. _56_]
I was charmed by Cincius’ visit on the 28th of Rome. January before
daybreak: for he told me you were in Italy and he was sending some men
to you. I did not like them to go without a letter from me—not that I
had anything to write, especially when you are so near, but that I might
express my delight at your arrival and how I have longed for it. So fly
to me with the assurance that your love for me is fully reciprocated.
The rest we will discuss when we meet. I am writing in haste. The day
you arrive, mind, you and your party are to accept my hospitality.
IVa
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Antium, Apr. or May_, B.C. _56_]
I shall be delighted if you can pay me a visit. You will be surprised at
Tyrannio’s excellent arrangement in my library. What is left of it is
much better than I expected: still I should be glad if you would
librariolis duos aliquos, quibus Tyrannic utatur glutinatoribus, ad
cetera administris, usque imperes, ut sumant membranulam, ex qua indices
fiant, quos vos Graeci, ut opinor, σιλλύβους appellatis. Sed haec, si
tibi erit commodum. Ipse vero utique fac venias, si potes in his locis
adhaerescere et Piliam adducere. Ita enim et aequum est et cupit Tullia.
Medius fidius ne tu emisti λόχον[121] praeclarum. Gladiatores audio
pugnare mirifice. Si locare voluisses, duobus his muneribus liber
esses.[122] Sed haec posterius. Tu fac venias et de librariis, si me
amas, diligenter.
V
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Antiati m. Apr. aut Mai. a. 698_]
Ain tu? an me existimas ab ullo malle mea legi probarique quam a te? Cur
igitur cuiquam misi prius? Urgebar ab eo, ad quem misi, et non habebam
exemplar. Quid? Etiam (dudum enim circumrodo, quod devorandum est)
subturpicula mihi videbatur esse παλινῳδία. Sed valeant recta, vera,
honesta consilia. Non est credibile, quae sit perfidia in istis
principibus, ut volunt esse et ut essent, si quicquam haberent fidei.
Senseram, noram inductus, relictus, proiectus ab iis. Tamen hoc eram
animo, ut cum iis in re publica consentirem. Idem erant qui fuerant. Vix
aliquando te auctore resipui. Dices ea te monuisse, suasisse, quae
facerem, non etiam ut scriberem. Ego mehercule mihi necessitatem volui
Footnote 121:
λόχον _Bosius_; locum _M_; ludum _Ernesti_.
Footnote 122:
liber esses _Pius_; liberasses _M_.
send me two of your library slaves for Tyrannio to employ to glue pages
together and assist in general, and would tell them to get some bits of
parchment to make title-pieces, which I think you Greeks call “sillybi.”
That is only if it is convenient to you. In any case mind you come
yourself, if you can stick in such a place, and bring Pilia with you.
For that is only right and Tullia wishes her to come. My word! you have
bought a fine troop. I hear your gladiators are fighting splendidly. If
you had cared to let them out, you would have cleared your expenses on
these two shows. But of that later. Be sure you come, and, as you love
me, remember the library slaves.
V
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Antium, Apr. or May_, B.C. _56_]
Come now, do you really imagine I prefer my things to be read and
criticized by anyone but you? Then why did I send them to anyone else
first? The man I sent them to was very pressing and I had not a copy.
Anything else? Well, yes—though I keep mouthing the pill instead of
swallowing it—I was a bit ashamed of my palinode. But good-bye to
honesty, straightforwardness and uprightness! You would hardly believe
the treachery of our leaders, as they want to be and would be, if they
had any honour. I knew full well how they had taken me in, abandoned me
and cast me off. Still I resolved to stick to them in politics. But they
have proved the same as ever: and at last I have come to my senses under
your guidance. You will say your advice applied exclusively to my
actions and did not include writing too. The fact is, I
imponere huius novae coniunctionis, ne qua mihi liceret labi ad illos,
qui etiam tum, cum misereri mei debent, non desinunt invidere. Sed tamen
modici fuimus ὑποθέσει, ut scripsi. Erimus uberiores, si et ille
libenter accipiet, et ii subringentur, qui villam me moleste ferunt
habere, quae Catuli fuerat, a Vettio emisse non cogitant; qui domum
negant oportuisse me aedificare, vendere aiunt oportuisse. Sed quid ad
hoc, si, quibus sententiis dixi, quod et ipsi probarent, laetati sunt
tamen me contra Pompei voluntatem dixisse? Finis sit. Quoniam, qui nihil
possunt, ii me nolunt amare, demus operam, ut ab iis, qui possunt,
diligamur. Dices: “Vellem iam pridem.” Scio te voluisse et me asinum
germanum fuisse. Sed iam tempus est me ipsum a me amari, quando ab illis
nullo modo possum.
Domum meam quod crebro invisis est mihi valde gratum. Viaticum Crassipes
praeripit. Tu “de via recta in hortos.” Videtur commodius ad te:
postridie scilicet; quid enim tua? Sed viderimus. Bibliothecam mihi tui
pinxerunt constructione et sillybis. Eos velim laudes.
VI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in villa m. Apr. aut Mai. a. 698_]
De Lentulo scilicet sic fero, ut debeo. Virum bonum et magnum hominem et
in summa magnitudine animi multa humanitate temperatum perdidimus nosque
wanted to tie myself down to this new alliance so as to leave myself no
chance of slipping back to those who do not cease to envy me, even when
they ought to pity me. However, I was quite moderate in my treatment of
the subject, as I have said. I will let myself go more, if he takes it
well, and those make wry faces who are annoyed to see me occupy a villa
which used to belong to Catulus, forgetting that I bought it from
Vettius; and who declare I ought not to have built a house, but ought to
have sold the site. That however is nothing compared with their unholy
joy, when the very speeches I delivered in support of their views were
alienating me from Pompey. Let us have an end of it. Since those who
have no influence refuse me their affection, I may as well try to win
that of those who have some influence. You will say you wish I had
before. I know you wished it, and I was a downright ass. But now is the
time to show affection for myself, since I cannot get any from them
anyhow.
I am very grateful to you for going to see my house so often. Crassipes
is swallowing all my travelling money. You say I must go straight to
your country house. It seems to me more convenient to go to your town
house, and on the next day, it can’t make any difference to you. But we
shall see. Your men have beautified my library by binding the books and
affixing title-slips. Please thank them,
VI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _At his country house, Apr. or May_, B.C. _56_]
The news about Lentulus I feel of course as I ought: we have lost a good
man and a fine fellow, and one who combined a remarkable strength of
character with great courtesy. Still I find some consolation,
malo solacio, sed non nullo tamen, consolamur, quod ipsius vicem minime
dolemus, non ut Saufeius et vestri, sed mehercule quia sic amabat
patriam, ut mihi aliquo deorum beneficio videatur ex eius incendio esse
ereptus. Nam quid foedius nostra vita, praecipue mea? Nam tu quidem,
etsi es natura πολιτικός, tamen nullam habes propriam servitutem,
communi frueris nomine[123]; ego vero, qui, si loquor de re publica,
quod oportet, insanus, si, quod opus est, servus existimor, si taceo,
oppressus et captus, quo dolore esse debeo? Quo sum scilicet, hoc etiam
acriore, quod ne dolere quidem possum, ut non ingratus videar. Quid, si
cessare libeat et in otii portum confugere? Nequiquam. Immo etiam in
bellum et in castra. Ergo erimus ὀπαδοί, qui ταγοὶ esse noluimus? Sic
faciendum est, tibi enim ipsi (cui utinam semper paruissem!) sic video
placere. Reliquum iam[124] est
Σπάρταν ἔλαχες, ταύταν κόσμει.
Non mehercule possum et Philoxeno ignosco, qui reduci in carcerem
maluit. Verum tamen id ipsum mecum in his locis commentor, ut ista
improbem, idque tu, cum una erimus, confirmabis.
A te litteras crebro ad me scribi video, sed omnes uno tempore accepi.
Quae res etiam auxit dolorem
Footnote 123:
frueris nomine _Pius_; fueris nonne _M_.
Footnote 124:
reliquum iam _Orelli_; reliquia _M_.
though a poor one, in the thought that I need not grieve for him—not for
the same reason as Saufeius and your Epicurean friends, but because he
was so true a patriot that it seems as though a merciful providence had
snatched him from his country’s fiery ruin. For what could be more
shameful than the life we are all leading, especially myself? You, in
spite of a political bent, have avoided wearing any special yoke; but
you share the universal bondage. But think of the sufferings I undergo,
when I am taken for a lunatic, if I say what I ought about the State,
for a slave, if I say what expediency dictates, and for a cowed and
helpless bondsman, if I hold my tongue. I suffer as you may suppose,
with the added bitterness that I cannot show my grief without seeming
ungrateful. Well! why shouldn’t I take a rest, and flee to the haven of
retirement? I haven’t the chance. Then be it war and camp. And so I must
be a subaltern, after refusing to be a captain. So be it. That I see is
your opinion, and I wish I had always followed your advice. Hobson’s
choice[125] is all that is left to me. But upon my soul I can’t stomach
it, and have a fellow feeling for Philoxenus, who preferred to go back
to his prison.[126] However, I am spending my time here devising a way
of confounding their policy, and when we meet you will strengthen my
purpose.
I see your letters were written at several times, but I received them
all together, and that increased
Footnote 125:
Lit. “Sparta has fallen to your lot, do it credit,” a phrase denoting
that one has no choice. Cf. p. 95.
Footnote 126:
Philoxenus of Cythera, a dithyrambic poet, was condemned to the
quarries for criticizing the literary compositions of Dionysius of
Syracuse. He was given a chance of freedom, if he altered his opinion;
but preferred to return to the quarries.
meum. Casu enim trinas ante legeram, quibus meliuscule Lentulo esse
scriptum erat. Ecce quartae fulmen! Sed ille, ut scripsi, non miser, nos
vero ferrei.
Quod me admones, ut scribam illa Hortensiana, in alia incidi non immemor
istius mandati tui; sed mehercule in incipiendo refugi, ne, qui videor
stulte illius amici intemperiem non tulisse, rursus stulte iniuriam
illius faciam inlustrem, si quid scripsero, et simul ne βαθύτης mea,
quae in agendo apparuit, in scribendo sit occultior, et aliquid
satisfactio levitatis habere videatur. Sed viderimus; tu modo quam
saepissime ad me aliquid. Epistulam, Lucceio nunc quam misi, qua, meas
res ut scribat, rogo, fac ut ab eo sumas (valde bella est) eumque, ut
adproperet, adhorteris et, quod mihi se ita facturum rescripsit, agas
gratias, domum nostram, quoad poteris, invisas, Vestorio aliquid
significes. Valde enim est in me liberalis.
VII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Arpinati m. Apr. aut Mai. a. 698_]
Nihil εὐκαιρότερον epistula tua, quae me sollicitum de Quinto nostro,
puero optimo, valde levavit. Venerat horis duabus ante Chaerippus; mera
monstra nuntiarat. De Apollonio quod scribis, qui illi di irati! homini
Graeco, qui conturbat atque idem putat sibi
my sorrow; for, as it happened, I first read the three in which you said
Lentulus was a little better; and then, lo and behold, a thunderbolt in
the fourth. Still, as I said, he is out of misery, while we live on in
an Iron Age.[127]
I have not forgotten your advice to write that attack on Hortensius,
though I have drifted into other things. But upon my word, I jibbed at
the very beginning. I look foolish enough for not submitting to his
conduct, outrageous though it was, from a friend, and, if I were to
write about it, I fear I should enhance my folly by advertising his
insult, while at the same time the self-restraint which I showed in my
actions might not be so apparent in writing, and this way of taking
satisfaction might seem rather weak. But we will see. Be sure you send
me a line as often as you can, and take care you get from Lucceius the
letter I sent asking him to write my biography. It is a very pretty bit
of writing. Urge him to be quick about it, and give him my thanks for
his answer undertaking it. Have a look at my house as often as possible.
Say something to Vestorius: he is behaving most liberally to me.
VII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Arpinum, Apr or May_, B.C. _56_]
Nothing could be more à propos than your letter, which has relieved me
about the dear child Quintus very greatly. Chaerippus had come two hours
earlier with the wildest tales. As to your news about Apollonius,
confound him! A Greek to go bankrupt and
Footnote 127:
_Ferrei_, according to Kayser, contains an allusion to Hesiod’s Iron
Age: but others take it as simply “callous.”
licere quod equitibus Romanis. Nam Terentius suo iure. De Metello
[Sidenote: Odyssey xxii, 412]
οὐχ ὁσίη φθιμένοισιν,
sed tamen multis annis civis nemo erat mortuus qui quidem.... Tibi nummi
meo periculo sint. Quid enim vereris quemcumque[128] heredem fecit, nisi
Publium fecit. Verum fecit non improbiorem, quam fuit ipse.[129] Quare
in hoc thecam nummariam non retexeris, in aliis eris cautior.
Mea mandata de domo curabis, praesidia locabis, Milonem admonebis.
Arpinatium fremitus est incredibilis de Laterio. Quid quaeris? equidem
dolui;
[Sidenote: Odyssey i, 271]
ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἐμπάζετο μύθων.
Quod superest; etiam puerum Ciceronem curabis et amabis; ut facis.
VIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Anti m. Apr. aut Mai. a. 698_]
Multa me in epistula tua delectarunt, sed nihil magis quam patina
tyrotarichi. Nam de raudusculo quod scribis,
μήπω μέγ’ εἴπῃς, πρὶν τελευτήσαντ’ ἴδῃς.
Aedificati tibi in agris nihil reperio. In oppido est quiddam, de quo
est dubium, sitne venale, ac proximum quidem nostris aedibus. Hoc scito,
Antium Buthrotum esse Romae, ut Corcyrae illud tuum. Nihil quietius,
nihil alsius, nihil amoenius.
Εἴη μοὶ οὗτος φίλος οἶκος.[130]
Footnote 128:
quemcumque _editors_: quaecunque _M_.
Footnote 129:
improbiorem quam _Müller_: improbe (_corr. to_ improbi) quemquam _M_.
_The reading of the whole passage from_ qui quidem _is very
uncertain_.
Footnote 130:
Εἴη—οἶκος _Peerlkamp_: ΕΙΜΗΙϹΗΤΩ ΦΙΛΟ¯Ϲ¯ ΚΟϹ _M_.
think he has the same privilege as a Roman knight! For of course
Terentius was within his rights. As to Metellus “de mortuis nil nisi
bonum,” still for years no citizen has died who——For your money I will
go bail. Why should you fear, whoever he has appointed his heir, unless
it were Publius? However, he has chosen an heir no worse than himself:
so you won’t have to open your coffers over this business, and you will
be more careful another time.
You will attend to my instructions about the house, hire some guards and
give Milo a hint. There is a tremendous outcry here at Arpinum about
Laterium.[131] Of course I am much distressed about it: but “little he
recked my rede.” For the rest, look after little Quintus with the
affection you always show towards him.
VIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Antium, Apr. or May_, B.C. _56_]
Your letter contained many delightful passages, but nothing to beat the
“plate of red herrings.” For as to what you say about the little debt,
“don’t holloa till you are out of the wood.”[132]
I can’t find anything like a country house for you. In the town there is
something, and quite close to me too, but it is not certain if it is for
sale. Let me tell you that Antium is the Buthrotum of Rome, and just
what your Buthrotum is to Corcyra. Nothing could be quieter or fresher
or prettier: “this be my own
Footnote 131:
An estate of Q. Cicero in Arpinum. He seems to have diverted a
watercourse to the annoyance of his neighbours.
Footnote 132:
Lit. “Do not boast till you see your enemy dead.” From a lost play of
Sophocles.
Postea vero quam Tyrannio mihi libros disposuit, mens addita videtur
meis aedibus. Qua quidem in re mirifica opera Dionysi et Menophili tui
fuit. Nihil venustius quam illa tua pegmata, postquam mi sillybis[133]
libros illustrarunt. Vale. Et scribas ad me velim de gladiatoribus, sed
ita, bene si rem gerunt; non quaero, male si se gessere.
VIIIa
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. auctumno anni 698_]
Apenas vix discesserat, cum epistula. Quid ais? Putasne fore ut legem
non ferat? Dic, oro te, clarius; vix enim mihi exaudisse videor. Verum
statim fac ut sciam, si modo tibi est commodum. Ludis quidem quoniam
dies est additus, eo etiam melius hic eum diem cum Dionysio conteremus.
De Trebonio prorsus tibi adsentior. De Domitio
σύκῳ, μὰ τὴν Δήμητρα, σῦκον οὐδὲ ἕν
οὕτως ὅμοιον γέγονεν,
quam est ista περίστασις nostrae, vel quod ab isdem, vel quod praeter
opinionem, vel quod viri boni nusquam; unum dissimile, quod huic merito.
Nam de ipso casu nescio an illud melius. Quid enim hoc miserius, quam
eum, qui tot annos, quot habet, designatus consul fuerit, fieri consulem
non posse, praesertim cum aut solus aut certe non plus quam cum altero
petat? Si vero id est, quod nescio an sit, ut non minus longas iam in
codicillorum fastis futurorum consulum paginulas habeat quam factorum,
Footnote 133:
mi sillybis _editors_: misit _M_: sit tibi _NP_: sit tibae _Z_^l.
sweet home.” Since Tyrannio has arranged my books, the house seems to
have acquired a soul: and your Dionysius and Menophilus were of
extraordinary service. Nothing could be more charming than those
bookcases of yours now that the books are adorned with title-slips.
Farewell. Please let me know about the gladiators: but only if they are
behaving well; if not, I don’t want to know.
VIIIa
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Autumn_, B.C. _56_]
Apenas had hardly gone when your letter came. Really? Do you think he
won’t propose his law? Pray speak a little more clearly, I hardly think
I caught your meaning. But let me know at once, if you possibly can.
Well, as they have given an extra day to the games, I shall be all the
better contented to spend that day here with Dionysius.
About Trebonius I heartily agree with you. As for Domitius, his
_dénouement_ was as like mine as two peas; the same persons had a hand
in it, it was equally unexpected, and the conservative party deserted us
both. There is only one point of difference: he deserved his fate.
Perhaps my fall was the less hard to bear. For what could be more
humiliating than for one, who all his life long has looked forward to
the consulship as his birth-right, to fail to obtain it—and that too
when there is no one or at most only one other candidate standing
against him? But, if it is true that our friend[134] has in his
note-books as many pages of names of future consuls as of past, then
Footnote 134:
Pompey.
quid illo miserius nisi res publica, in qua ne speratur quidem melius
quicquam?
De Natta ex tuis primum scivi litteris; oderam hominem. De poëmate quod
quaeris, quid, si cupiat effugere? quid? sinas? De Fabio Lusco quod eram
exorsus, homo peramans semper nostri fuit nec mihi umquam odio. Satis
enim acutus et permodestus ac bonae frugi. Eum, quia non videbam, abesse
putabam: audivi ex Gavio hoc Firmano Romae esse hominem et fuisse
adsiduum. Percussit animum. Dices: “Tantulane causa?” Permulta ad me
detulerat non dubia de Firmanis fratribus. Quid sit, quod se a me
removit, si modo removit, ignoro.
De eo, quod me mones, ut et πολιτικῶς me geram et τὴν ἔξω[135] γραμμὴν
teneam, ita faciam. Sed opus est maiore prudentia. Quam a te, ut soleo,
petam. Tu velim ex Fabio, si quem habes aditum, odorere et istum
convivam tuum degustes et ad me de his rebus et de omnibus cotidie
scribas. Ubi nihil erit, quod scribas, id ipsum scribito. Cura ut
valeas.
IX
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Neapoli IV K. Mai. a. 699_]
Sane velim scire, num censum impediant tribuni diebus vitiandis (est
enim hic rumor) totaque de censura quid agant, quid cogitent. Nos hic
cum
Footnote 135:
ἔξω _Manutius_: εω _M_.
Domitius has only one rival in his misfortunes—the country which has
given up even hoping for better days.
Your letter was the first to give me information about Natta: I could
never abide the man. You ask about my poem. Well, what if it wants to
take wing? Will you let it? I had begun to mention Fabius Luscus: he was
always a great admirer of mine, and I never disliked him, for he was
intelligent enough and very worthy and unassuming. As I had not seen him
for a long time, I thought he was away: but I hear from this fellow
Gavius of Firmum that the man is in Rome and has been here all along. It
struck me as odd. You will say it is an insignificant trifle. But he had
told me a good many things, of which there was no doubt, about those
brothers from Firmum: and what has made him shun me, if he has shunned
me, I cannot imagine.
Your advice to act diplomatically and not to steer too close to the
wind[136] I will follow: but I shall want more than my own stock of
wisdom; so, as usual, I shall draw on you. Please scent out anything you
can from Fabius, if you can get at him, and suck that guest of yours
dry, and write to me every day about these points and anything else.
When you have nothing to write, write and say so. Look after yourself.
IX
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Naples, Apr. 27_, B.C. _55_]
I should much like to know whether the tribunes are hindering the census
by declaring days void—for there is a rumour to that effect—and what is
happening about the census in general and what people are
Footnote 136:
Lit. “Keep the outside course” in a chariot race.
Pompeio fuimus. Multa mecum de re publica sane sibi displicens, ut
loquebatur (sic est enim in hoc homine dicendum), Syriam spernens,
Hispaniam iactans, hic quoque, ut loquebatur; et, opinor, usquequaque,
de hoc cum dicemus, sit hoc quasi καὶ τόδε Φωκυλίδου. Tibi etiam gratias
agebat, quod signa componenda suscepisses; in nos vero suavissime
hercule est effusus. Venit etiam ad me in Cumanum a se. Nihil minus
velle mihi visus est quam Messallam consulatum petere. De quo ipso si
quid scis, velim scire.
Quod Lucceio scribis te nostram gloriam commendaturum, et aedificium
nostrum quod crebro invisis, gratum. Quintus frater ad me scripsit se,
quoniam Ciceronem suavissimum tecum haberes, ad te Nonis Maiis venturum.
Ego me de Cumano movi ante diem V Kal. Maias. Eo die Neapoli apud
Paetum. Ante diem IIII Kal. Maias iens in Pompeianum bene mane haec
scripsi.
X
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Cumano IX K. Mai. a. 699_]
Puteolis magnus est rumor Ptolomaeum esse in regno. Si quid habes
certius, velim scire. Ego hic pascor bibliotheca Fausti. Fortasse tu
putabas his
thinking. I met Pompey here; and he told me a lot of political news. He
was very dissatisfied with himself, as he said—for that is a necessary
proviso in his case. Of Syria he expressed a very low opinion, while he
runs down[137] Spain—with the same proviso “as he said,” which I think
must be inserted everywhere when he is mentioned, like the tag “this too
is by Phocylides.” To you he expressed his thanks for undertaking the
arrangement of the statues, and he laid himself out to be most
uncommonly pleasant to me. He even came to visit me in my house at
Cumae. The last thing he seemed to wish was that Messalla should stand
for the consulship: and if you have any information on that point, I
should like to know it.
I am most grateful to you for saying that you will recommend me as a
subject for a panegyric to Lucceius and for your frequent visits to my
house. My brother Quintus has written that he will pay you a visit on
the 7th of May since you have his dear child with you. I left my villa
at Cumae on the 26th of April, spent that night with Paetus at Naples,
and am writing this very early in the morning of the 27th on my way to
my place at Pompeii.
X
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Cumae, Apr. 22_, B.C. _55_]
Puteoli is full of the report that Ptolemy is restored. If you have more
definite news, I should like to know it. Here I am feasting on Faustus’
Footnote 137:
Following Manutius and Tyrrell. Others however translate _iactans_ as
“extolling.”
rebus Puteolanis et Lucrinensibus. Ne ista quidem desunt. Sed mehercule
a ceteris oblectationibus deseror et voluptatibus propter rem publicam.
Sic litteris sustentor et recreor maloque in illa tua sedecula, quam
habes sub imagine Aristotelis, sedere quam in istorum sella curuli
tecumque apud te ambulare quam cum eo, quocum video esse ambulandum. Sed
de illa ambulatione fors viderit, aut si qui est, qui curet, deus;
nostram ambulationem et Laconicum eaque, quae Cyrea sint, velim, quod
poterit, invisas et urgeas Philotimum, ut properet, ut possim tibi
aliquid in eo genere respondere, Pompeius in Cumanum Parilibus venit.
Misit ad me statim qui salutem nuntiaret. Ad eum postridie mane vadebam,
cum haec scripsi.
XI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Cumano ex. m. Mai. a. 699_]
Delectarunt me epistulae tuae, quas accepi uno tempore duas ante diem V
Kal. Perge reliqua. Gestio scire ista omnia. Etiam illud cuius modi sit,
velim perspicias; potes a Demetrio. Dixit mihi Pompeius Crassum a se in
Albano exspectari ante diem IIII Kal.; is cum venisset, Romam eum[138]
et se statim venturos, ut rationes cum publicanis putarent. Quaesivi,
gladiatoribusne. Respondit, antequam inducerentur. Id cuius modi sit,
aut nunc, si scies, aut cum is Romam venerit, ad me mittas velim.
Footnote 138:
eum _added by Lehmann_.
library. Perhaps you thought it was on the attractions of Puteoli and
the Lucrine lakes. Well, I have them too. But upon my word the more I am
deprived of other enjoyments and pleasures on account of the state of
politics, the more support and recreation do I find in literature. And I
would rather be in that niche of yours under Aristotle’s statue than in
their curule chair, and take a walk with you at home than have the
company which I see will be with me on my path. But my path I leave to
fate or god; if there be any god that looks after these things. Please
have a look at my garden path and my Spartan bath and the other things
which are in Cyrus’ province, when you can, and urge Philotimus to make
haste, so that I may have something in that line to match yours. Pompey
came to his place at Cumae on the Parilia: and at once sent a man to me
with his compliments. I am going to call on him on the morning
following, as soon as I have written this letter.
XI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Cumae, May_, B.C. _55_]
I was delighted with your two letters which I received together on the
26th. Go on with the story. I am longing to hear the whole of it. I
should also like you to look into the meaning of this: you can find out
from Demetrius. Pompey told me he was expecting Crassus at his house at
Alba on the 27th: and as soon as he arrived they were going to Rome
together to settle accounts with the tax-gatherers. I asked, “During the
show of gladiators?” And he answered, “Before it begins,” Please let me
know what this means, either at once, if you know, or when he gets to
Rome.
Nos hic voramus litteras cum homine mirifico (ita mehercule sentio)
Dionysio, qui te omnesque vos salutat.
Οὐδὲν γλυκύτερον ἢ πάντ’ εἰδέναι. Quare ut homini curioso ita perscribe
ad me, quid primus dies, quid secundus, quid censores, quid Appius, quid
illa populi Appuleia; denique etiam, quid a te fiat, ad me velim
scribas. Non enim, ut vere loquamur, tam rebus novis quam tuis litteris
delector.
Ego mecum praeter Dionysium eduxi neminem, nec metuo tamen, ne mihi
sermo desit: ita ab isto puero[139] delector. Tu Lucceio nostrum librum
dabis. Demetri Magnetis tibi mitto, statim ut sit, qui a te mihi
epistulam referat.
XII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. m. Mai. a. 699_]
Egnatius Romae est. Sed ego cum eo de re Halimeti vehementer Anti egi.
Graviter se acturum cum Aquilio confirmavit. Videbis ergo hominem, si
voles. Macroni vix videor praesto esse posse; Idibus enim auctionem
Larini video et biduum praeterea. Id tu, quoniam Macronem tanti facis,
ignoscas mihi velim. Sed, si me diligis, postridie Kal. cena apud me cum
Pilia. Prorsus id facies. Kalendis cogito in hortis Crassipedis quasi in
deversorio cenare. Facio fraudem senatus consulto. Inde domum cenatus,
ut sim mane
Footnote 139:
ita ab isto puero _Madvig_: abs te opere _codd._
I am devouring literature here with that extraordinary person—for upon
my soul I really think he is extraordinary—Dionysius, who sends his
respects to you and all your family.
“Than universal knowing nought more sweet.” So satisfy my curiosity by
describing to me all about the first and second days of the show, the
censors, Appius, and that unsexed Appuleius[140] of the populace: and
finally please let me know what you are doing yourself. For to tell you
the truth your letters are as exciting to me as a revolution.
I did not bring anyone away with me except Dionysius; yet I have no fear
of feeling the lack of conversation: I find the youth so entertaining.
You will give my book to Lucceius. I am sending you one by Demetrius of
Magnesia, so that there may be a messenger handy to bring back your
answer at once.
XII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _May_, B.C. _55_]
Egnatius is at Rome: but I pleaded Halimetus’ cause strongly with him at
Antium. He assured me he would speak seriously to Aquilius. You can look
him up, if you like. I hardly think I can keep the appointment with
Macro: for I see that the auction at Larinum is on the 15th and the two
following days. Pray forgive me, since you think so highly of Macro. But
as you love me, dine with me on the 2nd, and bring Pilia with you. You
absolutely must. On the 1st I am thinking of dining in Crassipes’
gardens in lieu of an inn; and so I cheat the senatorial decree.[141]
From there I shall proceed home
Footnote 140:
Clodius, compared with Appuleius Saturninus.
Footnote 141:
Compelling senators to attend meetings, if in Rome.
praesto Miloni. Ibi te igitur videbo et permanebo.[142] Domus te nostra
tota salutat.
XIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Tusculano m. Nov. post XVII K. Dec. a. 699_]
Nos in Tusculanum venisse a. d. XVII Kal. Dec video te scire. Ibi
Dionysius nobis praesto fuit Romae a. d. XIIII Kal. volumus esse. Quid
dico “volumus”? immo vero cogimur. Milonis nuptiae. Comitiorum non nulla
opinio est. Ego, ut sit rata,[143] afuisse me in altercationibus, quas
in senatu factas audio fero non moleste. Nam aut defendissem, quod non
placeret, aut defuissem, cui non oporteret. Sed mehercule velim res
istas et praesentem statum rei publicae, et quo animo consules ferant
hunc σκυλμόν, scribas ad me quantum pote. Valde sum ὀξύπεινος, et, si
quaeris, omnia mihi sunt suspecta. Crassum quidem nostrum minore
dignitate aiunt profectum paludatum quam olim aequalem eius L. Paulum,
item iterum consulem. O hominem nequam! De libris oratoriis factum est a
me diligenter. Diu multumque in manibus fuerunt. Describas licet. Illud
etiam te rogo, τὴν παροῦσαν κατάστασιν τυπωδῶς, ne istuc hospes veniam.
Footnote 142:
permanebo _Gurlitt_: promonebo _MSS._
Footnote 143:
Ego, ut sit rata _Crat. Bosius_: ergo et si irata _M_.
after dinner, so as to keep my appointment with Milo in the morning.
There then I shall see you, and I will wait till you come. My whole
family sends its respects.
XIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Tusculum, after Nov. 14_, B.C. _55_]
I see you know of my arrival at my Tusculum villa on the 14th of
November. There I was met by Dionysius. I want to be back in Rome on the
17th. When I say want, I mean I have to be in town for Milo’s wedding.
There is some idea of an election. Even if it has come off, I am not at
all sorry to have missed the disputes which I hear have taken place in
the Senate. For I should either have had to give my support against my
conscience, or neglect my bounden duty. But I hope to goodness you will
write me as full a description as possible of that affair and of the
present state of politics and tell me how the consuls are taking all
this pother. I am ravenous for news, and, to tell you the truth, I
suspect everything. They say our friend Crassus made a less dignified
start[144] in his uniform than L. Paulus of old, who rivalled him in age
and in his two consulships. What a poor thing he is! I have been working
hard at the books on oratory: and have had them on hand a long time and
done a lot to them: you can have them copied. Again I beg you to send me
a sketch of the present situation, that I may not feel an utter stranger
when I get back.
Footnote 144:
For Syria.
XIV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Cumano m. Mai. post VI Id. a. 700_]
Vestorius noster me per litteras fecit certiorem te Roma a. d. VI Idus
Maias putari profectum esse tardius, quam dixeras, quod minus valuisses.
Si iam melius vales, vehementer gaudeo. Velim domum ad te scribas, ut
mihi tui libri pateant non secus, ac si ipse adesses, cum ceteri tum
Varronis. Est enim mihi utendum quibusdam rebus ex his libris ad eos,
quos in manibus habeo; quos, ut spero, tibi valde probabo. Tu velim, si
quid forte novi habes, maxime a Quinto fratre, deinde a C. Caesare, et
si quid forte de comitiis, de re publica (soles enim tu haec festive
odorari), scribas ad me; si nihil habebis, tamen scribas aliquid.
Numquam enim mihi tua epistula aut intempestiva aut loquax visa est.
Maxime autem rogo, rebus tuis totoque itinere ex sententia confecto nos
quam primum revisas. Dionysium iube salvere. Cura, ut valeas.
XV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae VI K. Sext. a. 700_]
De Eutychide gratum, qui vetere praenomine, novo nomine T. erit
Caecilius, ut est ex me et ex te iunctus Dionysius M. Pomponius. Valde
mehercule mihi gratum est Eutychidem tuam erga me benivolentiam
XIV
CICERO TO ATTICUS GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Cumae, after May 10_, B.C. _54_]
Our friend Vestorius has informed me by letter that you are believed to
have left Rome on the 10th of May, later than you said you would,
because you had not been quite well. I sincerely hope you are better
now. Would you please write home telling them to give me the run of your
books, more especially of Varro, just as though you were there? I shall
have to use some passages from those books for the works I have in hand,
which I hope will meet with your hearty approval. I should be glad if
you would let me know, if you happen to have any news, from my brother
Quintus particularly, or from C. Caesar, or anything about the elections
and politics—you generally have a pretty scent for such things. If you
have no news, write something anyhow: for no letter of yours ever seemed
ill-timed or long-winded to me. But above all pray come back as soon as
possible, when your business and your tour are completed to your
satisfaction. Give my regards to Dionysius. Take care of yourself.
XV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, July 27_, B.C. _54_]
I am glad to hear about Eutychides. Taking your old name and your new
surname, he will be T. Caecilius, just as Dionysius has become M.
Pomponius by a combination of yours and mine. It is really a great
pleasure to me that Eutychides should know that his freedom is a favour
granted on my
cognosse et[145] suam illam in meo dolore συμπάθειαν neque tum mihi
obscuram neque post ingratam fuisse.
Iter Asiaticum tuum puto tibi suscipiendum fuisse; numquam enim tu sine
iustissima causa tam longe a tot tuis et hominibus et rebus carissimis
et suavissimis abesse voluisses. Sed humanitatem tuam amoremque in tuos
reditus celeritas declarabit. Sed vereor, ne lepore suo detineat diutius
rhetor[146] Clodius et homo pereruditus, ut aiunt, et nunc quidem
deditus Graecis litteris Pituanius. Sed, si vis homo esse, recipe te ad
nos, ad quod tempus confirmasti. Cum illis tamen, cum salvi venerint,
Romae vivere licebit.
Avere te scribis accipere aliquid a me litterarum. Dedi ac multis quidem
de rebus ἡμερολεγδὸν perscripta omnia; sed, ut conicio, quoniam mihi non
videris in Epiro diu fuisse, redditas tibi non arbitror. Genus autem
mearum ad te quidem litterarum eius modi fere est, ut non libeat cuiquam
dare, nisi de quo exploratum sit tibi eum redditurum.
Nunc Romanas res accipe. A. d. IIII Nonas Quintiles Sufenas et Cato
absoluti, Procilius condemnatus. Ex quo intellectum est τρισαρειοπαγίτας
ambitum, comitia, interregnum, maiestatem, totam denique rem publicam
flocci non facere: debemus patrem familias domi suae occidere nolle,
neque tamen id ipsum abunde; nam absolverunt XXII, condemnarunt XXVIII.
Publius sane diserto epilogo criminans mentes iudicum commoverat.
Hortalus in ea causa fuit,
Footnote 145:
et _added by Bücheler_.
Footnote 146:
rhetor _Bosius_: praetor _M_^1: p _M_^2.
account, and that his sympathy with me in my sorrow was not lost on me
at the time nor forgotten afterwards.
I suppose your journey to Asia is inevitable; for you would never want
to put such a distance between yourself and all your nearest and dearest
friends and possessions without very good reason. But you will show your
consideration and your love for your friends by the quickness with which
you return. I am however afraid the attractions of the rhetorician
Clodius and the reputed deep learning of Pituanius, who just now is
devoted to Greek literature, may keep you from returning. But, if you
would prove yourself a good man and true, find your way back to us by
the date you promised. You can live with them when they get safely to
Rome.
You say you are longing for a line of some sort from me. I have written
a letter full of news, with everything described as in a diary, but I
suppose it was never delivered, as you don’t seem to have stopped long
in Epirus. Besides my letters are generally not of a kind that I like to
give to anyone, unless I can be sure he will deliver them to you.
Now I will tell you the news of the town. On the 4th of July Sufenas and
Cato were acquitted, Procilius condemned. That shows us that our lights
of the law care not a straw for bribery, elections, a political
deadlock, treason or the country in general. They prefer one not to
murder a father of a family in his own home; but even that preference
has no overwhelming majority in its favour: for 22 voted for acquittal
against 28 for condemnation. Publius no doubt had awakened the sympathy
of the jury by his eloquent peroration for the prosecution. Hortalus was
retained and behaved as usual. I did not utter
cuius modi solet. Nos verbum nullum; verita est enim pusilla, quae nunc
laborat, ne animum Publi offenderem. His rebus actis Reatini me ad sua
Τέμπη duxerunt; ut agerem causam contra Interamnates apud consulem et
decem legatos, quod lacus Velinus a M’. Curio emissus interciso monte in
Nar defluit; ex quo est illa siccata et umida tamen modice Rosia. Vixi
cum Axio; qui etiam me ad Septem aquas duxit.
Redii Romam Fontei causa a. d. VII Idus Quinct. Veni spectatum primum
magno et aequabili plausu. Sed hoc ne curaris. Ego ineptus, qui
scripserim. Deinde Antiphonti operam. Is erat ante manu missus quam
productus. Ne diutius pendeas, palmam tulit; sed nihil tam pusillum,
nihil tam sine voce, nihil tam.... Verum haec tu tecum habeto. In
Andromacha tamen maior fuit quam Astyanax, in ceteris parem habuit
neminem. Quaeris nunc de Arbuscula. Valde placuit. Ludi magnifici et
grati; venatio in aliud tempus dilata.
Sequere nunc me in campum. Ardet ambitus; [Sidenote: Iliad xxiii, 326]
σῆμα δέ τοι ἐρέω. Faenus ex triente Idibus Quinctilibus factum erat
bessibus. Dices: “Istuc quidem non moleste fero.” O virum! o civem!
Memmium Caesaris omnes opes confirmant. Cum eo Domitium consules
iunxerunt, qua pactione, epistulae committere non audeo, Pompeius
fremit, queritur, Scauro
a word: for my little girl, who is ill, was afraid I might offend
Publius. After all this the people of Reate took me to their “banks and
braes” to plead their cause against the Interamnates before the consul
and ten commissioners, because the Veline lake, drained by the channel
cut by M’. Curius through the mountain,[147] flowed into the Nar. By
this means the famous Rosia has been dried up, though it is still
moderately damp. I stayed with Axius, who took me for a visit to the
Seven Waters too.
For Fonteius’ sake I returned to Rome on the 9th of July. I went to the
theatre and was greeted with loud and unbroken applause—but don’t bother
about that: I am a fool to mention it. Then I gave my attention to
Antiphon. He was granted his freedom before he appeared: and, not to
keep you in suspense, he won his laurels. But there never was such a
little weakling with so little voice and so.... But keep that to
yourself. However in the Andromache he was taller than Astyanax: among
the rest there was no one of his size. You want to know next about
Arbuscula: she pleased me very much. The games were magnificent and much
liked. The wild beast hunt was put off till later.
Now follow me to the election field. There is an outburst of bribery.
More by token, the rate of interest has risen from 4 per cent to 8 per
cent since the 15th of July. You will say: “Well, I can put up with that
at any rate.” And you call yourself a man and a patriot! Memmius is
supported by all Caesar’s influence. The consuls have coupled him with
Domitius in an agreement which I dare not commit to paper. Pompey is
raging and growling and backing
Footnote 147:
The passage to the waterfall of Terni, opened in 290 B.C.
studet, sed, utrum fronte an mente, dubitatur. Ἐξοχὴ in nullo est;
pecunia omnium dignitatem exaequat. Messalla languet, non quo aut animus
desit aut amici, sed coitio consulum et Pompeius obsunt. Ea comitia puto
fore ut ducantur. Tribunicii candidati iurarunt se arbitrio Catonis
petituros. Apud eum HS quingena deposuerunt, ut, qui a Catone damnatus
esset, id perderet et competitoribus tribueretur.
Haec ego pridie scribebam, quam comitia fore putabantur. Sed ad te,
quinto Kal. Sextil. si facta erunt, et tabellarius non erit profectus,
tota comitia perscribam. Quae si, ut putantur, gratuita fuerint, plus
unus Cato potuerit quam omnes leges[148] omnesque iudices. Messius
defendebatur a nobis de legatione revocatus; nam eum Caesari legarat
Appius. Servilius edixit, ut adesset. Tribus habet Pomptinam, Velinam,
Maeciam. Pugnatur acriter; agitur tamen satis. Deinde me expedio ad
Drusum, inde ad Scaurum. Parantur orationibus indices gloriosi. Fortasse
accedent etiam consules designati. In quibus si Scaurus non fuerit, in
hoc iudicio valde laborabit.
Ex Quinti fratris litteris suspicor iam eum esse in Britannia. Suspense
animo exspecto, quid agat. Illud quidem sumus adepti, quod multis et
magnis
Footnote 148:
omnes leges _added by Wesenberg_.
Scaurus; but whether ostensibly or in earnest is more than one can say.
None of them is romping ahead: money levels all their ranks. Messalla is
not in the running, not that his heart or his friends have failed him,
but the coalition of the consuls and Pompey are both against him. I
think the elections will have to be postponed. The candidates for the
tribunate have taken an oath to submit their conduct to Cato’s approval,
and have deposited £4,400[149] with him on the condition that any one of
them who is condemned by Cato shall lose it and it shall be given to his
rivals.
I am writing this the day before the elections are expected to come off.
But on the 28th I will give you a full account of them, if they have
taken place and the messenger has not started. If they really are
conducted without bribery, which people think will be the case, then
Cato alone will have done more than all the laws and all the law courts
can do. I am acting for Messius, who has been recalled from his office.
Appius had given him a commission on Caesar’s staff: but Servilius
issued a warrant requiring his presence. The tribes he has to face are
the Pomptine, Veline and Maecian. It is a sharp struggle, however it is
getting on fairly well. Then I have to get ready for Drusus and after
that for Scaurus. These will make grand titles for my speeches. I may
even have the names of the consuls elect to add to the list; and, if
Scaurus is not one of them, he will find himself in serious difficulties
in this trial.
From my brother Quintus’ letters I suspect he is now in Britain, and I
am very anxious to know how he is getting on. One point I have certainly
gained:
Footnote 149:
500,000 sesterces.
indiciis possumus iudicare, nos Caesari et carissimos et iucundissimos
esse. Dionysium velim salvere iubeas et eum roges et hortere, ut quam
primum veniat, ut possit Ciceronem meum atque etiam me ipsum erudire.
XVI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae ex. m. Iun aut in. Quint. a. 700_]
Occupationum mearum vel hoc signum erit, quod epistula librarii manu
est. De epistularum frequentia te nihil accuso, sed pleraeque tantum
modo mihi nuntiabant, ubi esses: quod erant abs te, vel etiam
significabant recte esse. Quo in genere maxime delectarunt duae fere
eodem tempore abs te Buthroto datae. Scire enim volebam te commode
navigasse. Sed haec epistularum frequentia non tam ubertate sua quam
crebritate delectavit. Illa fuit gravis et plena rerum, quam mihi M.
Paccius, hospes tuus, reddidit. Ad eam rescribam igitur et hoc quidem
primum. Paccio ratione et verbis et re ostendi, quid tua commendatio
ponderis haberet. Itaque in intimis est meis, cum antea notus non
fuisset.
Nunc pergam ad cetera. Varro, de quo ad me scribis, includetur in
aliquem locum, si modo erit locus. Sed nosti genus dialogorum meorum. Ut
in oratoriis, quos tu in caelum fers, non potuit mentio fieri cuiusquam
ab iis, qui disputant, nisi eius, qui illis notus aut auditus esset, ita
hanc ego, de re publica
Caesar has given many strong proofs which assure me of his esteem and
affection. Please pay my compliments to Dionysius, and beg and urge him
to come as soon as possible and undertake the instruction of my son and
of myself too.
XVI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, June or July_, B.C. _54_]
The bare fact that my letter is by the hand of an amanuensis will show
you how busy I am. I have nothing to grumble about as regards the
frequency of your letters, but most of them merely told me where you
were. That they were from you showed, too, that you were well. The two
of this sort which gave me the most pleasure were those dated almost
simultaneously from Buthrotum: for I was anxious to know whether you had
a good crossing. But it is more the regularity of this constant supply
of letters which has pleased me than the richness of their contents. The
one that your guest M. Paccius delivered was of importance and full of
matter: so I will answer that. The first thing is that I have shown
Paccius, both by word and by deed, the weight a recommendation from you
carries. Accordingly he is among my intimate friends now, though I did
not know him before.
Now for the rest. You mention Varro: I will try and get him in
somewhere, if I can find a place. But you know the style of my
Dialogues: just as in those _On the Orator_, which you laud to the
skies, I could not let the interlocutors mention anyone except persons
they had known or heard of, so here too in the dialogue _On the
Republic_ which I have begun, I
quam institui, disputationem in Africani personam et Phili et Laeli et
Manili contuli. Adiunxi adulescentes Q. Tuberonem, P. Rutilium, duo
Laeli generos, Scaevolam et Fannium. Itaque cogitabam, quoniam in
singulis libris utor prohoemiis ut Aristoteles in iis, quos ἐξωτερικοὺς
vocat, aliquid efficere, ut non sine causa istum appellarem; id quod
intellego tibi placere. Utinam modo conata efficere possim! Rem enim,
quod te non fugit, magnam complexus sum et gravem et plurimi otii, quo
ego maxime egeo.
Quod in iis libris, quos laudas, personam desideras Scaevolae, non eam
temere dimovi: sed fecit idem in πολιτείᾳ deus ille noster Plato. Cum in
Piraeum Socrates venisset ad Cephalum, locupletem et festivum senem,
quoad primus ille sermo habetur, adest in disputando senex, deinde, cum
ipse quoque commodissime locutus esset, ad rem divinam dicit se velle
discedere neque postea revertitur. Credo Platonem vix putasse satis
consonum fore, si hominem id aetatis in tam longo sermone diutius
retinuisset. Multo ego magis hoc mihi cavendum putavi in Scaevola, qui
et aetate et valetudine erat ea, qua eum esse meministi, et iis
honoribus, ut vix satis decorum videretur eum plures dies esse in Crassi
Tusculano. Et erat primi libri sermo non alienus a Scaevolae studiis,
reliqui libri τεχνολογίαν habent, ut scis. Huic ioculatorem senem illum,
ut noras, interesse sane nolui.
have put the discussion in the mouths of Africanus, Philus, Laelius and
Manilius, adding the youths Q. Tubero, P. Rutilius and the two
sons-in-law of Laelius, Scaevola and Fannius. So I am thinking of
contriving some way of mentioning him appropriately—for that I think is
what you want—in one of the introductions. I am giving an introduction
to each book, as Aristotle does in the work he called the _Exoterics_.
And I only hope I may manage to get him in. For as you fully comprehend,
I have set my hand to a subject of wide range and of some difficulty,
which requires much leisure; and that is precisely what I have not got.
While praising those books, you miss the character of Scaevola from the
scene. It was not without good reason that I removed him. Our god Plato
did the same in his _Republic_. When Socrates called on that wealthy and
cheery old soul Cephalus in the Piraeus, the old man takes part in the
discussion during the introductory conversation; but after a very neat
speech, he pleads that he wants to go to a divine service, and does not
come back again. I fancy Plato thought it would have been inartistic to
keep a man of that age any longer in so lengthy a discussion. I thought
there was still more reason to be careful in the case of Scaevola, who
was at the age and in the state of health in which you must remember he
was, and was crowned with such honours that it would hardly have been
proper for him to spend several days with Crassus at his villa at
Tusculum. Besides, the talk in the first book was not unconnected with
Scaevola’s pursuits: while the remaining books contained a technical
discussion, as you know. In such I did not like the merry old man, you
remember, to take a part.
De re Piliae quod scribis, erit mihi curae. Etenim est luculenta res
Aureliani, ut scribis, indiciis. Et in eo me etiam Tulliae meae
venditabo. Vestorio non desum. Gratum enim tibi id esse intellego et, ut
ille intellegat, curo. Sed scis, qui. Cum habeat duo faciles, nihil
difficilius.
Nunc ad ea, quae quaeris de C. Catone. Lege Iunia et Licinia scis
absolutum; Fufia ego tibi nuntio absolutum iri neque patronis suis tam
libentibus quam accusatoribus. Is tamen et mecum et cum Milone in
gratiam rediit. Drusus reus est factus a Lucretio. Iudicibus reiciendis
dies est dictus[150] a. d. V Non. Quinct. De Procilio rumores non boni,
sed indicia nosti. Hirrus cum Domitio in gratia est. Senatus consultum,
quod hi consules de provinciis fecerunt, QVICVMQVE POSTHAC—, non mihi
videtur esse valiturum.
[Sidenote: xvii, 2]
De Messalla quod quaeris, quid scribam, nescio. Numquam ego vidi tam
pares candidatos. Messallae copias nosti. Scaurum Triarius reum fecit.
Si quaeris, nulla est magno opere commota συμπάθεια, sed tamen habet
aedilitas eius memoriam non ingratam, et est pondus apud rusticos in
patris memoria. Reliqui duo plebeii sic exaequantur, ut Domitius valeat
amicis, adiuvetur tamen non nihil[151] gratissimo munere, Memmius
Caesaris commendetur militibus, Pompei Gallia nitatur. Quibus si non
valuerit, putant fore aliquem,
Footnote 150:
dies est dictus, _added by Madvig_.
Footnote 151:
nihil _added by Wesenberg_.
In Pilia’s business I will be sure to do what you suggest: for, as you
say, the point is quite clear on Aurelianus’ evidence. And it will give
me a chance of glorifying myself in my Tullia’s eyes. I am supporting
Vestorius: for I see you regard it as a favour, and I make him see it
too. But you know the kind of man he is: frightfully difficult to get on
with, even for two such easy-going people.
Now for your questions about C. Cato. You know he was acquitted under
the Junian and Licinian law. The Fufian law will acquit him too, I
assure you, and that as much to the relief of his accusers as of his
supporters. However, he has made his peace with Milo and myself. Drusus
is being prosecuted by Lucretius. The day for challenging the jury is
fixed for the 3rd of July. About Procilius there are sinister rumours:
but you know what juries are. Hirrus is on good terms with Domitius. The
decree which these consuls have carried about the provinces, “whosoever
henceforth,” etc., I do not think will have any effect.
I don’t know what to say to your question about Messalla: I have never
seen candidates more evenly matched. You know Messalla’s support.
Scaurus has been called into court by Triarius; without any great
sympathy for him being aroused, if you want to know. However his
aedileship recalls no unpleasant memories, and their remembrance of his
father has some weight with the country voters. The other two plebeian
candidates are about equal, as Domitius is strong in friends and his
very popular gladiatorial exhibition will count for him too, while
Memmius is popular with Caesar’s soldiers and relies on the support of
Pompey’s Gaul. If that does not avail him,
qui comitia in adventum Caesaris detrudat, Catone praesertim absoluto.
[Sidenote: xvi, 15]
Paccianae epistulae respondi. Nunc te obiurgari patere, si iure. Scribis
enim in ea epistula, quam C. Decimius mihi reddidit Buthroto datam, in
Asiam tibi eundum esse te arbitrari. Mihi mehercule nihil videbatur
esse, in quo tantulum interesset utrum per procuratores ageres an per te
ipsum, ut a tuis[152] totiens et tam longe abesses. Sed haec mallem
integra re tecum egissem, profecto enim aliquid egissem. Nunc reprimam
susceptam obiurgationem. Utinam valeat ad celeritatem reditus tui!
Ego ad te propterea minus saepe scribo, quod certum non habeo, ubi sis
aut ubi futurus sis; huic tamen nescio cui, quod videbatur isti te
visurus esse, putavi dandas esse litteras. Tu, quoniam iturum te in
Asiam esse putas, ad quae tempora te exspectemus, facias me certiorem
velim, et de Eutychide quid egeris.
XVII [XVIII]
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae K. Oct. a. 700_]
Puto te existimare me nunc oblitum consuetudinis et instituti mei rarius
ad te scribere, quam solebam; sed, quoniam loca et itinera tua nihil
habere certi video, neque in Epirum neque Athenas neque in Asiam cuiquam
nisi ad te ipsum proficiscenti dedi litteras. Neque enim sunt epistulae
nostrae eae quae si perlatae non sint, nihil ea res nos offensura sit;
quae tantum habent mysteriorum, ut eas ne librariis
Footnote 152:
ut a tuis _Boot_: mutabis _M_.
it is thought some one will block the elections till Caesar’s return,
especially since Cato’s acquittal.
There, I have answered the letter Paccius brought. Now you must let me
scold you, if you deserve it. In the letter dated from Buthrotum which
was delivered by C. Decimius, you say you think you will have to go to
Asia. For the life of me I cannot see any reason why it should make the
least little bit of difference whether you act by proxy or in person;
nor why you should so often go to such out of the way places. But I wish
I had tackled you about it before you had taken any steps: then I should
certainly have had some influence. As it is, I will keep the rest of my
scolding for another time. I only hope it may prevail on you to return
quickly.
The reason why I write so seldom to you is that I do not know where you
are or are going to be. But as there was some one or other who thought
he might see you, I decided to give him this letter. Since you think of
going to Asia, let me know when we may expect you back and what you have
done about Eutychides.
XVII [XVIII]
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Oct. 1_, B.C. _54_]
I suppose you think I have forgotten my old custom and rule and write
less frequently than I used; but the fact is that I have not given
letters to anyone going to Epirus or Athens or Asia, unless he was going
expressly to you, because there was no certainty where you were or where
you were going. For our letters are not such that it would do no harm to
us, if they are not delivered. They are so full of
quidem fere committamus, lepidum quid ne[153] quo excidat.
Consules flagrant infamia, quod C. Memmius candidatus pactionem in
senatu recitavit, quam ipse et suus competitor Domitius cum consulibus
fecisset, uti ambo HS quadragena consulibus darent, si essent ipsi
consules facti, nisi tres augures dedissent, qui se adfuisse dicerent,
cum lex curiata ferretur, quae lata non esset, et duo consulares, qui se
dicerent in ornandis provinciis consularibus scribendo adfuisse, cum
omnino ne senatus quidem fuisset. Haec pactio non verbis, sed nominibus
et perscriptionibus multorum tabulis cum esse facta diceretur, prolata a
Memmio est nominibus inductis auctore Pompeio. Hic Appius erat idem.
Nihil sane iacturae. Corruerat alter, et plane, inquam, iacebat. Memmius
autem dirempta coitione invito Calvino plane refrixerat, et eo magis
[Sidenote: xvi, 6] nunc totus iacet,[154] quod iam intellegebamus
enuntiationem illam Memmi valde Caesari displicere. Messalla noster et
eius Domitius competitor liberalis in populo valde fuit. Nihil gratius.
Certi erant consules. At senatus decrevit, ut tacitum iudicium ante
comitia fieret ab iis consiliis, quae erant omnibus sortita, in singulos
candidatos. Magnus timor candidatorum. Sed quidam iudices, in his
Opimius,
Footnote 153:
quid ne _added by Tyrrell_.
Footnote 154:
totus iacet _Reid_: cociace _M_.
secrets that we cannot even trust an amanuensis as a rule, for fear of
some jest leaking out.
The consuls’ infamy has had a lurid light thrown on it owing to C.
Memmius, one of the candidates, reading out in the Senate an agreement
made by himself and his fellow-candidate Domitius with them. If they
were elected to the consulship, they were both to give the consuls £350
each, if they did not produce three augurs who would depose that they
were present at the carrying of a _lex curiata_—which had never been
passed; and two ex-consuls who would depose to having been present at
the drafting of a decree for the fitting out of the consular
provinces—though there had never been any meeting of the Senate about it
at all. As this compact was alleged not to be a mere verbal compact, but
one properly drawn up with the sums promised on it, drafts on the bank,
and many other documents, Memmius exhibited it, with all the items
entered,[155] on the suggestion of Pompey. It was all the same to
Appius: he had nothing to lose by it. The other has had a sad comedown,
and I may say is quite done for. Memmius, however, having dissolved the
coalition against Calvinus’ will, has sunk out of mind, and his ruin is
all the more irretrievable because we know now that his disclosure
annoyed Caesar very much. Our friend Messalla and his fellow-competitor
Domitius were very liberal to the people, and could not be more popular.
They are certain of election. But the Senate has decreed that a trial
with closed doors should be held before the elections, and each
candidate’s conduct inquired into by the panels chosen by lot for all of
them. The candidates are in a great fright: but some of the jury—among
Footnote 155:
Or “cancelled.”
Veiento, Rantius, tribunos pl. appellarunt, ne iniussu populi
iudicarent. Res cedit; comitia dilata ex senatus consulto, dum lex de
tacito iudicio ferretur. Venit legi dies. Terentius intercessit.
Consules, qui illud levi brachio egissent, rem ad senatum detulerunt.
Hic Abdera non tacente me. Dices: “Tamen tu non quiescis?” Ignosce, vix
possum. Verum tamen quid tam ridiculum? Senatus decreverat, ne prius
comitia haberentur, quam lex lata esset; si qui intercessisset, res
integra referretur. Coepta ferri leviter, intercessum non invitis, res
ad senatum. De ea re ita censuerunt, comitia primo quoque tempore haberi
esse e re publica.
[Sidenote: xvi, 7]
Scaurus, qui erat paucis diebus illis absolutus, cum ego partem eius
ornatissime defendissem, obnuntiationibus per Scaevolam interpositis
singulis diebus usque ad pr. Kal. Octobr., quo ego haec die scripsi,
sublatis populo tributim domi suae satis fecerat. Sed tamen, etsi
uberior liberalitas huius, gratior esse videbatur eorum, qui occuparant.
Cuperem vultum videre tuum, cum haec legeres; nam profecto spem habes
nullam haec negotia multarum nundinarum fore. Sed senatus hodie fuerat
futurus, id est Kal. Octobribus; iam enim luciscit. Ibi loquetur praeter
them Opimus, Veiento, and Rantius—have appealed to the tribunes to
prevent their being called upon to serve without the sanction of the
people. The affair is going on. A senatorial decree postponed the
elections until an enactment about the trial with closed doors was
carried. The day for that enactment came, and Terentius vetoed it. The
consuls, who were taking the matter very coolly, referred the point to
the Senate. Thereupon there was Bedlam, and I contributed my share of
noise. You will say: “Can you never hold your tongue?” Forgive me: I
hardly can. But could anything be more ridiculous? The Senate had passed
a decree that the elections should not be held before that enactment was
passed: if it was vetoed, then the matter should be brought forward
again. The law was brought forward casually; it was vetoed to the
satisfaction of the proposers; the matter was referred to the Senate:
and they decided that it was to the interest of the State that the
elections should be held as soon as possible.
Scaurus, who was acquitted in the last few days, after a most elaborate
speech from me in his defence, gave the requisite donations to the
people tribe by tribe at his own house, since all the days up to the
last of September, on which I am writing, had been rendered impossible
for the elections by ill omens announced by Scaevola. But though his
liberality exceeded theirs, those who came first won the most
popularity. I should like to see your face as you read this. For of
course you have no hope that the business will be protracted over many
weeks. But there is going to be a meeting of the Senate on the first of
October, to-day, for the day is already breaking. There no one will
speak boldly except Antius and
Antium et Favonium libere nemo; nam Cato aegrotat. De me nihil timueris,
sed tamen promitto nihil.
[Sidenote: vi, 8]
Quid quaeris aliud? Iudicia, credo. Drusus, Scaurus non fecisse
videntur. Tres candidati fore rei putabantur, Domitius a Memmio,
Messalla a Q. Pompeio Rufo, Scaurus a Triario aut a L. Caesare. “Quid
poteris,” inquies, “pro iis dicere?” Ne vivam, si scio; in illis quidem
tribus libris, quos tu dilaudas, nihil reperio.
[Sidenote: xvi, 13]
Cognosce cetera. Ex fratris litteris incredibilia quaedam de Caesaris in
me amore cognovi, eaque sunt ipsius Caesaris uberrimis litteris
confirmata. Britannici belli exitus exspectatur; constat enim aditus
insulae esse muratos[156] mirificis molibus. Etiam illud iam cognitum
est, neque argenti scripulum esse ullum in illa insula neque ullam spem
praedae nisi ex mancipiis; ex quibus nullos puto te litteris aut musicis
eruditos exspectare.
[Sidenote: xvi, 14]
Paulus in medio foro basilicam iam paene refecit isdem antiquis
columnis; illam autem, quam locavit, facit magnificentissimam. Quid
quaeris? nihil gratius illo monumento; nihil gloriosius. Itaque Caesaris
amici, me dico et Oppium, dirumparis licet, in monumentum illud, quod tu
tollere laudibus solebas, ut forum laxaremus et usque ad atrium
Libertatis explicaremus, contempsimus sexcenties HS; cum privatis
Footnote 156:
muratos _Junius_, _Tyrrell_: miratos _M_: munitos _E_.
Favonius: Cato is ill. You need not be afraid for me, but I won’t
promise anything.
What else do you want to know? Oh! the trials, I suppose. Drusus and
Scaurus are thought to be innocent. Three candidates will probably be
prosecuted, Domitius by Memmius, Messalla by Q. Pompeius Rufus, Scaurus
by Triarius or L. Caesar. What shall I be able to find to say for them,
you will ask. May I die, if I know. Certainly I find no suggestions in
those three books you praise so highly.
Here is the other news. From my brother’s letters I hear that Caesar
shows signs of extraordinary affection for me, and this is confirmed by
a very cordial letter from Caesar himself. The result of the war in
Britain is looked forward to with anxiety. For it is proved that the
approach to the island is guarded with astonishing masses of rock, and
it has been ascertained too that there is not a scrap of silver in the
island, nor any hope of booty except from slaves; but I don’t fancy you
will find any with literary or musical talents among them.
Paulus has almost reached the roof of his colonnade in the Forum. He has
used the same old columns, but has executed most magnificently the part
he put out on contract. It goes without saying that a monument like that
will win for him more popularity and glory than anything. And so we
friends of Caesar—myself and Oppius I mean, though you may explode with
wrath at my confession—have thought nothing of spending half a million
of money[157] for that public work of which you used to speak so
enthusiastically, the extension of the Forum and continuation of it as
far as the Hall of Liberty. We could not
Footnote 157:
60,000,000 sesterces.
non poterat transigi minore pecunia. Efficiemus rem gloriosissimam; nam
in campo Martio saepta tributis comitiis marmorea sumus et tecta facturi
eaque cingemus excelsa porticu, ut mille passuum conficiatur. Simul
adiungetur huic operi villa etiam publica. Dices: “Quid mihi hoc
monumentum proderit?” At quid id laboramus? Habes res Romanas. Non enim
te puto de lustro, quod iam desperatum est, aut de iudiciis, quae lege
Coctia fiant, quaerere.
XVIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: xvi, 9]
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae ex. m. Oct. a. 700_]
... Nunc ut opinionem habeas rerum, ferendum est. Quaeris, ego me ut
gesserim. Constanter et libere. “Quid? ille,” inquies, “ut ferebat?”
Humaniter meaeque dignitatis, quoad mihi satis factum esset, habendam
sibi rationem putabat. Quo modo ergo absolutus? Omnino γοργεῖα
γυμνά.[158] Accusatorum incredibilis infantia, id est L. Lentuli L. f.,
quem fremunt omnes praevaricatum, deinde Pompei mira contentio, iudicum
sordes. Ac tamen XXXII condemnarunt, XXXVIII absolverunt. Iudicia
reliqua impendent. [Sidenote: xvi, 10] Nondum est plane expeditus.
Dices: “Tu ergo haec quo modo fers?” Belle mehercule et in eo me valde
amo. Amisimus, mi Pomponi, omnem
Footnote 158:
γοργεῖα γυμνά _Bosius_: ΠΟΡΠΑΠΥΜΝΑ _M_.
satisfy the private owners with less; but we will make it a most
magnificent affair. In the Campus Martius we are going to make
polling-barriers of marble for the tribal assemblies, roof them over,
and surround them with a lofty colonnade a mile in circumference. And at
the same time we shall join this to the Villa Publica. You will ask
“What advantage shall I derive from the work?” But we need not go into
that now. That is all the public news. For I don’t suppose you will want
to hear about the lustration which is given up in despair, or about the
trials which are taking place in accordance with the Coctian law.
XVIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Oct._, B.C. _54_]
... So now, to give you my opinion on affairs, we have got to put up
with them. You want to know how I behaved. With firmness and boldness.
You will ask how Pompey took things. Quite kindly, evidently thinking he
must consider my dignity until satisfaction had been paid to me. How did
Gabinius come to be acquitted then? It was simply a puppet show: the
behaviour of the accusers—that is to say of L. Lentulus, the younger,
who is being universally accused of collusion—was incredibly infantile:
Pompey exerted his influence energetically: and the jury were a rotten
lot. Still 32 voted for condemnation and 38 for acquittal. Other trials
are hanging over his head: he is not out of the wood yet. You will say:
“How then do you take it?” Quite coolly, upon my word, and I
congratulate myself thereon. The State, my dear Pomponius, has lost not
only its sap and blood,
non modo sucum ac sanguinem, sed etiam colorem et speciem pristinam
civitatis. Nulla est res publica, quae delectet, in qua acquiescam.
“Idne igitur,” inquies; “facile fers?” Id ipsum; recorder enim, quam
bella paulisper nobis gubernantibus civitas fuerit, quae mihi gratia
relata sit. Nullus dolor me angit unum omnia posse; dirumpuntur ii, qui
me aliquid posse doluerunt. Multa mihi dant solacia, nec tamen ego de
meo statu demigro, quaeque vita maxime est ad naturam, ad eam me refero,
ad litteras et studia nostra. Dicendi laborem delectatione oratoria
consolor; domus me et rura nostra delectant; non recordor, unde
ceciderim, sed unde surrexerim. Fratrem mecum et te si habebo, per me
isti pedibus trahantur; vobis ἐμφιλοσοφῆσαι possum. Locus ille animi
nostri, stomachus ubi habitabat olim, concalluit; privata modo et
domestica nos delectant. Miram securitatem videbis; cuius plurimae
mehercule partes sunt in tuo reditu; nemo enim in terris est mihi tam
consentientibus sensibus.
[Sidenote: xvi, 11]
Sed accipe alia. Res fluit ad interregnum, et est non nullus odor
dictaturae, sermo quidem multus; qui etiam Gabinium apud timidos iudices
adiuvit. Candidati consulares omnes rei ambitus. Accedit etiam Gabinius;
quem P. Sulla non dubitans, quin foris esset, postularat contra dicente
et nihil obtinente
but even all its old colour and outward semblance. There is in fact no
Republic to give one a feeling of joy and peace. “And is that what you
find so comfortable?” you may ask. That is the very thing. For I
remember its glory during the little while when I directed it, and the
return that was paid me. It does not cost me a pang to see one man
omnipotent: but those who were annoyed at my small power are bursting
with indignation. There are many things which bring consolation to me
without my stirring from my original position; and I am returning to the
life which suits my nature best, to literature and my studies. For the
labour of pleading I console myself by my delight in oratory. I find
pleasure in my town house and my country houses. I think not of the
height from which I have fallen, but of the depths from which I have
risen. If I have but my brother and you with me, they may be hanged
drawn and quartered for all I care: I can study philosophy with you.
That part of my soul which used to harbour wrath has lost its power of
feeling. Now only my private and personal affairs interest me. You will
find me in a wonderfully peaceful state of mind, and upon my word your
return is a great factor in my peace: for there is no one in the world
whose spirit so harmonizes with my own.
But now I will tell you the other news. Things are drifting towards an
interregnum: and a dictatorship is in the air. There is a great deal of
talk about it, which helped Gabinius with timid jurors. All the
candidates for the consulship are accused of bribery. Gabinius is with
them too. P. Sulla applied for the prosecution of him, suspecting that
he would be too out of pocket to bribe a jury. Torquatus applied too
Torquato. Sed omnes absolventur, nec posthac quisquam damnabitur, nisi
qui hominem Occident. Hoc tamen agitur severius, itaque indicia calent.
M. Fulvius Nobilior condemnatus est; multi alii urbani ne respondent
quidem.
[Sidenote: xvi, 12]
Quid aliud novi? Etiam. Absolute Gabinio stomachantes alii iudices hora
post Antiochum Gabinium nescio quem e Sopolidis pictoribus libertum,
accensum Gabini, lege Papia condemnarunt. Itaque dixit statim resp. lege
maiestatis ΟΥΣΟΙΜΡΙΣΑΜΑΦΙΗΙ. Pomptinus vult a. d. IIII Non. Novembr.
triumphare. Huic obviam Cato et Servilius praetores ad portam et Q.
Mucius tribunus. Negant enim latum de imperio, et est latum hercule
insulse. Sed erit cum Pomptino Appius consul. Cato tamen adfirmat se
vivo illum non triumphaturum. Id ego puto ut multa eiusdem ad nihil
recasurum. Appius sine lege suo sumptu in Ciliciam cogitat.
[Sidenote: xvii, 3]
A Quinto fratre et a Caesare accepi a. d. VIIII Kal. Nov. litteras datas
a litoribus Britanniae proximis a. d. VI Kal. Octobr. Confecta
Britannia, obsidibus acceptis, nulla praeda, imperata tamen pecunia
exercitum ex Britannia reportabant. Q. Pilius erat iam ad Caesarem
profectus. Tu, si aut amor in te est nostri ac tuorum aut ulla veritas,
aut etiam si sapis ac frui
but did not obtain it. But they will all be acquitted, and in future no
one will be condemned except for homicide. That charge is being severely
dealt with and so informers are busy. M. Fulvius Nobilior has been
condemned: and a number of others are polite enough not even to answer
the charge.
Any other news? Yes. An hour after the acquittal of Gabinius another
jury in indignation condemned some one called Antiochus Gabinius, out of
Sopolis’ studio, a freedman and attendant of Gabinius, under the Papian
law. He at once said “So the State will not acquit me of treason as it
did you.”[159]
Pomptinus wants to celebrate his triumph on the 2nd of November. He is
openly opposed by the praetors Cato and Servilius and the tribune Q.
Mucius, who declare that no authority was ever given for a triumph: and
it certainly was given in the most absurd manner. However Pomptinus will
have the consul Appius on his side. Cato declares he shall never triumph
as long as he lives. I fancy it will all come to nothing like most
similar affairs. Appius is thinking of going to Cilicia without
authority and at his own expense.
On the 24th of October I received a letter from my brother Quintus and
from Caesar, dated from the nearest point on the coast of Britain on the
25th of September. Britain is settled, hostages taken, no booty, but a
tribute imposed; and they are bringing back the army from the place. Q.
Pilius was just on his way to Caesar. If you have any affection for me
and your family, if any trust can be put in your word, nay, if you have
any sense and want to enjoy your
Footnote 159:
The Greek words here are corrupt. The translation follows
Schuckburgh’s emendation οὐ σοί κεν ἄρ’ ἶσά μ’ ἀφείη.
tuis commodis cogitas, adventare et prope adesse iam debes. Non
mehercule aequo animo te careo; te autem quid mirum, qui Dionysium tanto
opere desiderem? Quem quidem abs te, cum dies venerit, et ego et Cicero
meus flagitabit. Abs te proximas litteras habebam Epheso a. d. V Idus
Sextil. datas.
XIX [XVII]
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Romae ex. m. Nov. a. 700_]
O exspectatas mihi tuas litteras! o gratum adventum! o constantiam
promissi et fidem miram! o navigationem amandam! quam mehercule ego
valde timebam recordans superioris tuae transmissionis δέρρεις. Sed,
nisi fallor, citius te, quam scribis, videbo. Credo enim te putasse tuas
mulieres in Apulia esse. Quod cum secus erit, quid te Apulia moretur?
Num Vestorio dandi sunt dies et ille Latinus ἀττικισμὸς ex intervallo
regustandus? Quin tu huc advolas et invisis illius nostrae rei publicae
germanae imaginem.[160] Disputavi de nummis ante comitia tributim uno
loco [Sidenote: xviii, 3] divisis palam, inde absolutum Gabinium: remp.
in[161] dictaturam ruere[162] iustitio et omnium rerum licentia.
Perspice aequitatem animi mei et lauda meam[163] contemptionem
Seleucianae provinciae et mehercule cum Caesare suavissimam
coniunctionem (haec enim me una ex hoc naufragio tabula delectat); qui
quidem
Footnote 160:
imaginem _added by Wesenberg_. disputavi _Madvig_: putavi _MSS._
Footnote 161:
remp. in _added by Madvig_.
Footnote 162:
ruere _Madvig_: fruere _M_.
Footnote 163:
lauda meam _Boot_: ludum et _M_.
blessings, you ought to be on your way home and very close at hand too.
Upon my word, I cannot endure your absence. And what wonder that I want
you, when I miss Dionysius so much? Him both I and little Marcus shall
demand from you at the proper time. The last letter I had from you was
posted from Ephesus on the 9th of August.
XIX [XVII]
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Rome, Nov._, B.C. _54_]
How I have longed for this letter! And how glad I am to hear of your
arrival! You have kept your promise with marvellous exactitude and
fidelity. What a charming voyage! Of that I was really very much afraid,
remembering the fur-coats of your former crossing. But, unless I am
mistaken, I shall see you earlier than you say. I fancy you think your
ladies are still in Apulia. That is not the case, so there will be
nothing to keep you there. You surely wont throw days away on Vestorius
and have another taste of his Latin Greek after all this interval. Fly
hither rather, and visit the remains of what was once our genuine
Republic. I have discussed the open bribery of the people tribe by tribe
before the elections, and the consequent acquittal of Gabinius. Things
are tending to a dictatorship, what with the deadlock and the general
licence. Observe my placidity and praise my contempt for the Seleucinian
province,[164] and my really delightful association with Caesar. That is
the one plank left in this shipwreck to delight my eyes. Heavens! how he
does load
Footnote 164:
The whole of this passage is very doubtful, and the reference in
_Seleucianae provinciae_ is unknown.
Quintum meum tuumque, di boni! quem ad modum tractat honore, dignitate,
gratia! non secus ac si ego essem imperator. Hiberna legionis eligendi
optio delata commodum, ut ad me Quintus scribit. Hunc tu non ames? quem
igitur istorum?
Sed heus tu! scripseramne tibi me esse legatum Pompeio et extra urbem
quidem fore ex Idibus Ianuariis? Visum est hoc mihi ad multa quadrare.
Sed quid plura? Coram, opinor, reliqua, ut tu tamen aliquid exspectes.
Dionysio plurimam salutem; cui quidem ego non modo servavi, sed etiam
aedificavi locum. Quid quaeris? ad summam laetitiam meam, quam ex tuo
reditu capio, magnus illius adventus cumulus accedit. Quo die ad me
venies, fac ut, si me amas, apud me cum tuis maneas.
your and my Quintus with honours and dignities and favours! Just as
though I were a commander-in-chief. The choice of any of the army
winter-quarters has just been given him, as Quintus writes me. If one
does not fall in love with such a man, which of the others could one
fall in love with?
By the bye, had I told you I am on Pompey’s staff, and from the 13th of
January shall not be in Rome? It seemed to me to square with a good many
things. I need not say more. I think I will leave the rest till we meet
to give you something to look forward to. My best respects to Dionysius.
I have not merely kept a place for him; I have built one. In fact his
coming will add a finishing stroke to the great joy I shall find in your
return. The day you arrive, I must insist on you and your company
staying with me.
M. TULLI CICERONIS
EPISTULARUM AD ATTICUM
LIBER QUINTUS
I
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Menturnis III aut prid. Non. Mai. a. 703_]
Ego vero et tuum in discessu vidi animum et meo sum ipse testis. Quo
magis erit tibi videndum, ne quid novi decernatur, ut hoc nostrum
desiderium ne plus sit annuum. De Annio Saturnino curasti probe. De
satis dando vero te rogo, quoad eris Romae, tu ut satis des. Et sunt
aliquot satisdationes secundum mancipium veluti Mennianorum praediorum
vel Atilianorum. De Oppio factum est, ut volui, et maxime quod ¯DCCC¯
aperuisti. Quae quidem ego utique vel versura facta solvi volo, ne
extrema exactio nostrorum nominum exspectetur.
Nunc venio ad transversum illum extremae epistulae tuae versiculum, in
quo me admones de sorore. Quae res se sic habet. Ut veni in Arpinas, cum
ad me frater venisset, in primis nobis sermo isque multus de te fuit. Ex
quo ego veni ad ea, quae fueramus ego et tu inter nos de sorore in
Tusculano locuti. Nihil tam vidi mite, nihil tam placatum, quam tum meus
frater erat in sororem tuam, ut, etiam si qua
CICERO’S LETTERS
TO ATTICUS