CICERO'S LETTERS TO ATTICUS BOOK VII

I CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Athens, Oct. 16, B.C. 50

I did give L. Saufeius a letter, one for you alone, because, though I had no time to write, I was reluctant that so intimate an acquaintance of yours should come to you without a note from me. But, considering the pace of philosophers, I imagine the present letter will reach you first. If, however, you have got that earlier letter now, you will know that I arrived at Athens on Oct. 14; that on disembarking at the port I received your letter from our friend Acastus; that, perturbed though I was at your arrival in Rome with a fever, nevertheless I began to take heart at Acastus' welcome announcement of your convalescence; but shivered myself at your news of Caesar's legions, and pleaded with you to beware lest friend Philotimus' time-serving injure us.[2] As for the point I touched on long ago (misrepresented to you by Turranius at Brundisium, as I gathered from a letter received from that good fellow Xeno), I set forth briefly the reason why I had not put my brother in charge of the province. Those practically were the topics of that letter. Now hear what remains.

In heaven's name, I want all the affection which you have lavished on me, and all your worldly

in omni genere iudico singularem, confer ad eam curam, ut de omni statu meo cogites. Videre enim mihi videor tantam dimicationem, nisi idem deus, qui nos melius, quam optare auderemus, Parthico bello liberavit, respexerit rem publicam,—sed tantam, quanta numquam fuit. Age, hoc malum mihi commune est cum omnibus. Nihil tibi mando ut de eo cogites, illud meum proprium πρόβλεμα, quaeso, suscipe. Videsne, ut te auctore sim utrumque complexus? Ac vellem a principio te audisse amicissime monentem.

Ἀλλ' ἐμὸν οὔποτε θυμὸν ἐνὶ στήθεσσιν ἔπειθες.

Sed aliquando tamen persuasisti, ut alterum complecterer, quia de me erat optume meritus, alterum, quia tantum valebat. Feci igitur itaque effeci omni obsequio, ut neutri illorum quisquam esset me carior. Haec enim cogitabamus, nec mihi coniuncto cum Pompeio fore necesse peccare in re publica aliquando nec cum Caesare sentienti pugnandum esse cum Pompeio. Tanta erat illorum coniunctio. Nunc impendet, ut et tu ostendis, et ego video, summa inter eos contentio. Me autem uterque numerat suum, nisi forte simulat alter. Nam Pompeius non dubitat; vere enim iudicat ea, quae de re publica nunc sentiat, mihi valde probari. Utriusque autem accepi eius modi litteras eodem tempore quo tuas, ut neuter quemquam omnium pluris facere quam me videretur. Verum quid agam? Non quaero illa ultima (si enim

wisdom, which I swear to my mind is unrivalled in every subject, to be devoted to a careful estimate of my whole position. For myself, I seem to foresee a terrific struggle, unless indeed the same god, who wrought above my boldest hopes in freeing us from a Parthian war, take pity on the state—anyhow, such a terrific struggle as there never has been before. True, the calamity would fall not only on me, but on every one. I don't ask you to consider the wider problem: solve my own little case, I entreat. Don't you see that it is you who are responsible for my friendship with both Pompey and Caesar? Ah, would that I had listened to your friendly admonitions from the outset.

Odyssey ix, 33

"Thou couldst not sway the spirit in my breast."

But at last, however, you persuaded me to be friendly with the one, because he had done so much for me; with the other, because he was so powerful. Well, I did so, and I have studiously contrived to be particularly dear to both of them. For my idea was this. Allied with Pompey, I should never have to be guilty of political impropriety; and, siding with Caesar, I should not have to fight with Pompey. So close was the alliance of those two. But now, on your showing and in my view, there threatens a dire struggle between them. Each of them counts me his friend—unless, perhaps, Caesar is dissembling; for Pompey has no doubt, rightly supposing that his present political views have my strongest approval. But both have sent me letters (which came with yours) in terms that would appear to make more of me than of anyone at all. But what am I to do? I don't mean in the long run. If the matter is to be fought in the

castris res geretur, video cum altero vinci satius esse quam cum altero vincere), sed illa, quae tum agentur, cum venero, ne ratio absentis habeatur, ut exercitum dimittat. "Dic, M. Tvlli." Quid dicam? "Exspecta, amabo te, dum Atticum conveniam"? Non est locus ad tergiversandum. Contra Caesarem? "Ubi illae sunt densae dexterae?" Nam, ut illi hoc liceret, adiuvi rogatus ab ipso Ravennae de Caelio tribuno pl. Ab ipso autem? Etiam a Gnaeo nostro in illo divino tertio consulatu.

Aliter sensero? Αἰδέομαι non Pompeium modo, sed Τρῶας καὶ Τρωάδας.

Πουλυδάμας μοι πρῶτος ἐλεγχείην καταθήσει.

Quis? Tu ipse scilicet, laudator et factorum et scriptorum meorum. Hanc ergo plagam effugi per duos superiores Marcellorum consulatus, cum est actum de provincia Caesaris, nunc incido in discrimen ipsum? Itaque ut stultus[3] primus suam sententiam dicat, mihi valde placet de triumpho nos moliri aliquid, extra urbem esse cum iustissuma causa. Tamen dabunt operam, ut eliciant sententiam meam. Ridebis hoc loco fortasse. Quam vellem etiam nunc in provincia morari! Plane opus fuit, si hoc impendebat. Etsi nil miserius. Nam, ὁδῦυ πάρεργον, volo te hoc scire.

field, I see it would be better to be beaten with Pompey than to win with Caesar. But what about the points in debate on my arrival—refusing the claims of a candidate who is away from Rome and ordering the disbanding of his army. "Your opinion, Marcus Tullius," will be the question. What am I to say? "Please wait till I meet Atticus?" There is no chance of evasion. I speak against Caesar? "Where then the pledge of plighted hands?"[4] For I assisted in getting Caesar privilege on these two points, when I was asked by him personally at Ravenna to approach Caelius the tribune to propose a bill. Asked by him personally, do I say? Yes, and by our friend Pompey in that immortal third consulship.

Shall I choose the other course? "I fear" not only Pompey, but "the men and long-robed dames of Troy": "Polydamas will be the first to rail."[5] Who's he? Why, you, who praise my work and writings. Have I then avoided this trap during the last two consulships of the Marcelli, when the matter of Caesar's province was under debate, only to fall now into the thick of the trouble? That some fool may have the first vote on the motion, I feel strongly inclined to devote my energies to my triumph, a most reasonable excuse for staying outside the city. Nevertheless they will try to extract my opinion. Perhaps this will excite your mirth: I wish to goodness I were still staying in my province. I certainly ought to have stayed, if this was coming: though it would have been most wretched. For by the way

Omnia illa prima, quae etiam tu tuis litteris in caelum ferebas, ἐπίτηκτα fuerunt. Quam non est facilis virtus! Quam vero difficilis eius diuturna simulatio! Cum enim hoc rectum et gloriosum putarem, ex annuo sumptu, qui mihi decretus esset, me C. Caelio quaestori relinquere annuum, referre in aerarium ad HS CIↃ, ingemuit nostra cohors omne illud putans distribui sibi oportere, ut ego amicior invenirer Phrygum et Cilicum aerariis quam nostro. Sed me non moverunt; nam et mea laus apud me plurimum valuit, nec tamen quicquam honorifice in quemquam fieri potuit, quod praetermiserim. Sed haec fuerit, ut ait Thucydides, ἐκβολὴ λόγου non inutilis.

Tu autem de nostro statu cogitabis, primum quo artificio tueamur benevolentiam Caesaris, deinde de ipso triumpho; quem video, nisi rei publicae tempora impedient, εὐπόριστον. Iudico autem cum ex litteris amicorum tum ex supplicatione. Quam qui non decrevit, plus decrevit, quam si omnes decresset triumphos. Ei porro adsensus est unus familiaris meus, Favonius, alter iratus, Hirrus. Cato autem et scribendo adfuit et ad me de sententia sua iucundissimas litteras misit. Sed tamen gratulans mihi Caesar de supplicatione triumphat de sententia Catonis nec scribit, quid ille sententiae dixerit, sed tantum, supplicationem eum mihi non decrevisse.

there is one thing I want to tell you. All that show of virtue at first, which even you praised sky high in your letters, was only superficial. Truly righteousness is hard: hard even to pretend to it for long. For, when I thought it a fine show of rectitude to leave my quaestor C. Caelius a year's cash out of what was decreed me for my budget and to pay back into the treasury £8,800,[6] my staff, thinking all the money should have been distributed among them, lamented that I should turn out to be more friendly to the treasuries of Phrygia and Cilicia than to our own. I was unmoved: for I set my good name before everything. Yet there is no possible honour that I have omitted to bestow on any of these knaves. This, in Thucydides' phrase, is a digression—but not pointless.

Thuc. i, 97

But as to my position. You will consider first by what trick I can retain Caesar's good will: and then the matter of my triumph, which, barring political obstacles, seems to me easy to get: I infer as much from letters from friends and from that business of the public thanksgiving in my honour. For the man who voted against it,[7] voted for more than if he had voted for all the triumphs in the world; moreover his adherents were one a friend of mine, Favonius, and another an enemy, Hirrus. Cato both took part in drafting the decree, and sent me a most agreeable letter about his vote. But Caesar, in writing to congratulate me over the thanksgiving, exults over Cato's vote, says nothing about the latter's speech on the occasion, and merely remarks that he opposed the proclamation of a thanksgiving.

Redeo ad Hirrum. Coeperas eum mihi placare; perfice. Habes Scrofam, habes Silium. Ad eos ego et iam antea scripsi ad ipsum Hirrum. Locutus enim erat cum iis commode se potuisse impedire, sed noluisse; adsensum tamen esse Catoni, amicissimo meo, cum is honorificentissimam in me sententiam dixisset; nec me ad se ullas litteras misisse, cum ad omnes mitterem. Verum dicebat. Ad eum enim solum et ad Crassipedem non scripseram. Atque haec de rebus forensibus; redeamus domum.

Diiungere me ab illo volo. Merus est φυρατής, germanus Lartidius.

Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν προτετύχθαι ἐάσομεν ἀχνύμενοί περ.

Reliqua expediamus, hoc primum, quod accessit cura dolori meo. Sed tamen hoc, quicquid est, Precianum cum iis rationibus, quas ille meas tractat, admisceri nolo. Scripsi ad Terentiam, scripsi etiam ad ipsum, me, quicquid possem nummorum, ad apparatum sperati triumphi ad te redacturum. Ita puto ἄμεμπτα fore; verum ut lubebit. Hanc quoque suscipe curam, quem ad modum experiamur. Id tu et ostendisti quibusdam litteris ex Epiro an Athenis datis, et in eo ego te adiuvabo.

I come back to Hirrus. You have begun to reconcile him to me; accomplish it. Scrofa and Silius are on your side. I have already written to them and to Hirrus himself. For Hirrus had told them in a friendly way that he could easily have prevented the decree, but was reluctant; that, however, he had sided with Cato, my very good friend, when the latter recorded a vote complimenting me in the highest terms. Hirrus added that I had omitted to write to him, though I had sent letters to every one else. He was right. It was only to him and to Crassipes that I did not write. So much for public life. Let us come home.

I wish to dissociate myself from that fellow Philotimus. He is a veritable muddler, a regular Lartidius[8].

"A truce to what is past for all our pain."[9]

Let us settle what remains; and first this point, which adds anxiety to my sorrow. This sum, I mean, whatever it is, which comes from Precius, I do not want mixed up with the accounts of mine of which that fellow has the handling. I have written to Terentia and to Philotimus himself that I shall deposit with you any moneys I may collect, for the equipment of the triumph I anticipate. So I fancy there will be no amour propre wounded: but as they like. Here is another matter for your consideration—the steps I am to take to arrange this business. You outlined them in a letter dated from Epirus or Athens, and I will support your plan.

II CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Brundisi V K. Dec., ut videtur, a. 704

Brundisium venimus VII Kalend. Decembr. usi tua felicitate navigandi; ita belle nobis

"Flavit ab Epiro lenissimus Onchesmites."

Hunc σπονδειάζοντα, si cui voles τῶν νεωτέρων, pro tuo vendito. Valetudo tua me valde conturbat; significant enim tuae litterae te prorsus laborare. Ego autem, cum sciam, quam sis fortis, vehementius esse quiddam suspicor, quod te cogat cedere et prope modum infringat. Etsi alteram quartanam Pamphilus tuus mihi dixit decessisse et alteram leviorem accedere. Terentia vero, quae quidem eodem tempore ad portam Brundisinam venit quo ego in portum mihique obvia in foro fuit, L. Pontium sibi in Trebulano dixisse narrabat etiam eam decessisse. Quod si ita est, est, quod maxume mehercule opto, idque spero tua prudentia et temperantia te consecutum.

Venio ad epistulas tuas; quas ego sescentas uno tempore accepi, aliam alia iucundiorem, quae quidem erant tua manu. Nam Alexidis manum amabam, quod tam prope accedebat ad similitudinem tuae litterae; non amabam, quod indicabat te non valere. Cuius quoniam mentio facta est, Tironem Patris aegrum reliqui, adulescentem, ut nosti, et adde, si quid vis,

II CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Brundisium, Nov. 26, B.C. 50

I arrived at Brundisium on the 24th of November after enjoying your proverbial luck at sea: so fair for me "blew from Epirus the softest of breezes, Onchesmites." There, that verse with its spondaic ending you can pass off for your own on any of our new school of poets[10] you like. Your health causes me great anxiety; for I see from your letter that you really suffer. But, knowing your spirit, I strongly suspect there is something serious which compels you to give in and nearly causes a breakdown, although your Pamphilus tells me that one fit of quartan has passed, and that a second and lighter attack is coming on. But Terentia (who reached Brundisium's gates as I reached the harbour, and met me in the forum) told me that L. Pontius had informed her at Trebula that the second attack also had abated. If that is so, my utmost hopes are realized, and I expect that consummation has been attained by your caution and moderate habits.

I come to your letters, which have reached me in shoals, each more delightful than the last—I mean those in your own handwriting. I like Alexis' hand; it so closely resembles your own script; but there is one thing I do not like about it—it shows that you are ill. Talking of Alexis, I left Tiro sick at Patrae; he is, as you know, a young man, and you may add, if you like, an honest fellow. Nothing

probum. Nihil vidi melius. Itaque careo aegre et, quamquam videbatur se non graviter habere, tamen sum sollicitus, maximamque spem habeo in M'. Curi diligentia, de qua ad me scripsit Tiro et multi nuntiarunt. Curius autem ipse sensit, quam tu velles se a me diligi, et eo sum admodum delectatus. Et mehercule est, quam facile diligas, ἀυτόχθων in homine urbanitas. Eius testamentum deporto trium[11] Ciceronum signis obsignatum cohortisque praetoriae. Fecit palam te ex libella, me ex terruncio. In Actio Corcyrae Alexio me opipare muneratus est. Q. Ciceroni obsisti non potuit, quo minus Thyamim videret. Filiola tua te delectari laetor et probari tibi φυσικὴι esse τὴν πρὸς τὰ τέκνα. Etenim, si haec non est, nulla potest homini esse ad hominem naturae adiunctio; qua sublata vitae societas tollitur, "Bene eveniat!" inquit Carneades spurce, sed tamen prudentius quam Lucius noster et Patron, qui, cum omnia ad se referant, numquam quicquam alterius causa fieri putent et, cum ea re bonum virum oportere esse dicant, ne malum habeat, non quo id natura rectum sit, non intellegant se de callido homine loqui, non de bono viro. Sed haec, opinor, sunt in iis libris, quos tu laudando animos mihi addidisti.

Redeo ad rem. Quo modo exspectabam epistulam,

could be better than Tiro. So I miss him terribly, and, though he did not seem very bad, still I am anxious, and build great hopes on the care of M'. Curius, about which Tiro has written and many people have told me. Curius himself was aware of your desire that he should win my esteem: and I am greatly charmed with him. Indeed he is one of nature's gentlemen, whom it is easy to like. I carry home his will sealed with the seals of three of my family and of the praetor's staff. In the presence of witnesses he made you heir to a tenth of his estate and me to a fortieth.[12] At Actium in Corcyra Alexio made me a splendid present. Q. Cicero could not be stopped from seeing the river Thyamis. I am glad you take delight in your baby daughter, and have satisfied yourself that a desire for children is natural.[13] For, if it is not, there can be no natural tie between man and man; remove that tie, and social life is destroyed. "Heaven bless the consequence," says Carneades naughtily, but with more wisdom than our philosophers Lucius and Patron, who in sticking to selfish hedonism and denying altruism, and saying that man must be virtuous for fear of the consequences of vice and not because virtue is an end in itself, fail to see that they are describing a type not of goodness but of craftiness. But these points, I think, are handled in the volumes[14] you have encouraged me by praising.

I return to business. How I looked for the letter

quam Philoxeno dedisses! Scripseras enim in ea esse de sermone Pompei Neapolitano. Eam mihi Patron Brundisi reddidit. Corcyrae, ut opinor, acceperat. Nihil potuit esse iucundius. Erat enim de re publica, de opinione, quam is vir haberet integritatis meae, de benevolentia, quam ostendit eo sermone, quem habuit de triumpho. Sed tamen hoc iucundissimum, quod intellexi te ad eum venisse, ut eius animum erga me perspiceres. Hoc mihi, inquam, accidit iucundissimum. De triumpho autem nulla me cupiditas umquam tenuit ante Bibuli impudentissimas litteras, quas amplissume supplicatio consecuta est. A quo si ea gesta essent, quae scripsit, gauderem et honori faverem; nunc illum, qui pedem porta, quoad hostis cis Euphratem fuit, non extulerit, honore augeri, me, in cuius exercitu spem illius exercitus habuit, idem non adsequi, dedecus est nostrum, nostrum inquam te coniungens. Itaque omnia experiar, et ut spero, adsequar. Quodsi tu valeres, iam mihi quaedam explorata essent. Sed, ut spero, valebis.

De raudusculo Numeriano multum te amo. Hortensius quid egerit, aveo scire, Cato quid agat; qui quidem in me turpiter fuit malevolus. Dedit integritatis, iustitiae, clementiae, fidei mihi testimonium, quod non quaerebam; quod postulabam, negavit id. Itaque Caesar eis litteris, quibus mihi gratulatur et omnia pollicetur, quo modo exsultat Catonis in me ingratissmi iniuria! At hic idem Bibulo dierum XX.

you said was entrusted to Philoxenus! For it was to contain news of Pompey's talk at Naples. Patron handed it to me at Brundisium. It was at Corcyra, I fancy, he had taken charge of it. Nothing could be more delightful. It touched on politics, the great man's opinion of my honour, the kindliness he displayed in his remarks about my triumph. But the most delightful item of all was the intelligence that you had called on him to find out his feeling towards me. This, I repeat, was what I found most delightful. As for a triumph, I had no desire for one up to the time Bibulus sent his shameless despatches and got a thanksgiving voted in the most complimentary way. Now, if he had done what he professed to have done, I should have been glad and supported the honour; but, as it is, it is a disgrace to us—to both of us: for I include you in the business—that I, on whose army his army relied, should not get the same rewards as a man who never set foot outside the city gates so long as there was an enemy this side of Euphrates. Therefore I shall make every effort, and, as I hope, shall succeed. If you were well, some points would have been settled already; but I hope you will soon be well.

For that twopenny debt to Numerius I am much bounden to you. I long to know what Hortensius has done about my triumph and what Cato is doing. Cato's behaviour to me was shamefully spiteful. He gave me a character for rectitude, equity, clemency, and good faith, for which I did not ask; what I did want, that he denied me. Accordingly in his letter of congratulation and lavish assurances, how Caesar exults over the wrong Cato did me by his deep ingratitude! Yet Cato voted Bibulus a twenty days'

Ignosce mihi; non possum haec ferre nec feram.

Cupio ad omnes tuas epistulas, sed nihil necesse est; iam enim te videbo. Illud tamen de Chrysippo—nam de altero illo minus sum admiratus, operario homine; sed tamen ne illo quidem quicquam improbius. Chrysippum vero, quem ego propter litterularum nescio quid libenter vidi, in honore habui, discedere a puero insciente me! Mitto alia, quae audio multa, mitto furta; fugam non fero, qua mihi nihil visum est sceleratius. Itaque usurpavi vetus illud Drusi, ut ferunt, praetoris, in eo, qui eadem liber non iuraret, me istos liberos non addixisse, praesertim cum adesset nemo, a quo recte vindicarentur. Id tu, ut videbitur, ita accipies; ego tibi adsentiar.

Uni tuae disertissimae epistulae non rescripsi, in qua est de periculis rei publicae. Quid rescriberem? valde eram perturbatus. Sed ut nihil magno opere metuam, Parthi faciunt, qui repente Bibulum semivivum reliquerunt.

III CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Trebulano V Id. Dec. a. 704

A. d. VIII Idus Decembr. Aeculanum veni et ibi tuas litteras legi, quas Philotimus mihi reddidit. E quibus hanc primo aspectu voluptatem cepi, quod

festival. Forgive me, I cannot and I will not bear it.

I long to answer all your letters; but there is no need, for soon I shall see you. Still I must tell you about Chrysippus—the conduct of that other fellow, a mere mechanic, excites my surprise less, though it could not have been more scandalous. But Chrysippus, whom I was always glad to see and held in honour, because he had a smattering of culture, fancy him deserting my son without my knowledge! I can put up with other things, though I hear of plenty, I can even put up with embezzlement; but I cannot put up with his flight. It is the most scandalous thing I ever heard of. So I have taken a leaf from Drusus' book, when, in his praetorship, as the story goes, a man, who had been manumitted, refused to take the oaths he had promised: and I have denied that those fellows ever were freed by me, especially as there were no legal witnesses to the transaction. Take it any way you will: I will abide by your decision.

The only one of your letters, which I have not answered, is the most eloquent of them all, dealing with the country's peril. I have no answer to make: I am very much upset. But the Parthians, whose sudden retreat left Bibulus half dead with fright, have taught me not to be much alarmed at anything.

III CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Trebula, Dec. 9, B.C. 50

On the 6th of December I came to Aeculanum, and there I read your letter, which Philotimus handed to me. I was pleased at the first glance to see it was

erant a te ipso scriptae, deinde earum accuratissuma diligentia sum mirum in modum delectatus. Ac primum illud, in quo te Dicaearcho adsentiri negas, etsi cupidissume expetitum a me est et te approbante, ne diutius anno in provincia essem, tamen non est nostra contentione perfectum. Sic enim scito, verbum in senatu factum esse numquam de ullo nostrum, qui provincias obtinuimus, quo in iis diutius quam ex senatus consulto maneremus, ut iam ne istius quidem rei culpam sustineam, quod minus diu fuerim in provincia, quam fortasse fuerit utile. Sed "quid si hoc melius?" opportune dici videtur ut in hoc ipso. Sive enim ad concordiam res adduci potest sive ad bonorum victoriam, utriusvis rei me aut adiutorem velim esse aut certe non expertem; sin vincuntur boni, ubicumque essem, una cum iis victus essem. Quare celeritas nostri reditus ἀμεταμέλητος debet esse. Quodsi ista nobis cogitatio de triumpho iniecta non esset, quam tu quoque adprobas, ne tu haud multum requireres illum virum, qui in sexto libro informatus est. Quid enim tibi faciam, qui illos libros devorasti? Quin nunc ipsum non dubitabo rem tantam abicere, si id erit rectius. Utrumque vero simul agi non potest, et de triumpho ambitiose et de re publica libere. Sed ne dubitaris, quin, quod honestius, id mihi futurum sit antiquius. Nam, quod putas utilius esse, vel mihi quod tutius sit, vel etiam ut rei publicae prodesse possim, me esse cum imperio, id coram considerabimus quale sit. Habet enim res deliberationem; etsi ex parte magna

in your handwriting; and I was highly delighted at the care and attention it showed. First you say that you disagree with Dicaearchus.[15] Now, though I was exceedingly anxious, and that with your approval, not to stay in my province more than a year, it was not my own efforts that gained the point. For you should know that no word was ever said in the House about any of us provincial governors outstaying the term of our appointment; so that now I am not to be blamed even for making a shorter stay in my province than was perhaps to my advantage. But "all for the best" is an apt saying, as it is in this case. For, if peace can be patched up, or the loyalists can be made to win the victory, I should be sorry not to assist or at any rate have a hand in the matter. But, if the loyalists are conquered, I should share their defeat wherever I were. So my speedy return ought not to cost me any regret. If this idea of a triumph that you approve had not come into my head, you would find me not far short of the ideal statesman I sketched in the sixth volume.[16] What would you have me do, you devourer of those books of mine? Even now I will not hesitate to throw away my great ambition, if that course is better. One cannot of course play both parts at once, the selfish candidate for triumph and the independent politician. But doubt not that I shall take honesty to be my best policy. As for your point that it were better for me, whether for my private safety, or for the public welfare, that I should retain my command, we will talk it over together. It is a matter for deliberation,

tibi adsentior. De animo autem meo erga rem publicam bene facis quod non dubitas, et illud probe indicas, nequaquam satis pro meis officiis, pro ipsius in alios effusione illum in me liberalem fuisse, eiusque rei causam vere explicas, et eis, quae de Fabio Caninioque acta scribis, valde consentiunt. Quae si secus essent, totumque se ille in me profudisset, tamen illa, quam scribis, custos urbis me praeclarae inscriptionis memorem esse cogeret, nec mihi concederet, ut imitarer Volcacium aut Servium, quibus tu es contentus, sed aliquid nos vellet nobis dignum et sentire et defendere. Quod quidem agerem, si liceret, alio modo, ac nunc agendum est.

De sua potentia dimicant homines hoc tempore periculo civitatis. Nam, si res publica defenditur, cur ea consule isto ipso defensa non est? cur ego, in cuius causa rei publicae salus consistebat, defensus postero anno non sum? cur imperium illi aut cur illo modo prorogatum est? cur tanto opere pugnatum est, ut de eius absentis ratione habenda decem tribuni pl. ferrent? His ille rebus ita convaluit, ut nunc in uno civi spes ad resistendum sit; qui mallem tantas ei vires non dedisset quam nunc tam valenti resisteret,

though I agree with you in the main. You do well not to doubt my attitude towards politics: and you judge rightly that Caesar has not been liberal to me considering my services, and considering his lavishness towards others. You explain his reasons rightly: I am in the same boat with Fabius and Caninius,[17] as your letter shows. But if things were otherwise and he had been profuse in his generosity towards me, nevertheless the goddess you mention, the guardian of the city, would have compelled me to remember her fine inscription, and would not allow me to imitate Volcacius or Servius,[18] with whom you are content, but would wish me to express and maintain a policy worthy of my name. And I should have done it, if I could, in a different way from the way I must adopt now.

It is for their own power men are fighting now to the danger of the country. For if the constitution is being defended, why was it not defended when Caesar himself was consul? Why was I, on whose case the safety of the constitution depended, not defended in the following year? Why was Caesar's command prolonged, or why was it prolonged in such a fashion? Why was there such a struggle to get the ten tribunes to bring in a bill allowing him to stand in his absence? All this has made him so strong that now hope of resistance depends on one citizen. I wish that citizen had not given him so much power rather than that he now resisted him in the hour of

Sed, quoniam res eo deducta est, non quaeram, ut scribis:

Ποῦ σκάφος τὸ τῶν Ἀτρειδῶν;

coegi a Pompeio gubernabitur. Illud ipsum quod ais: "Quid fiet, cum erit dictum: Dic, M. Tvlli?"—σύντομα: "Cn. Pompeio adsentior." Ipsum tamen Pompeium separatim ad concordiam hortabor. Sic enim sentio, maxumo in periculo rem esse. Vos scilicet plura, qui in urbe estis. Verum tamen haec video, cum homine audacissimo paratissimoque negotium esse, omnes damnatos omnes ignominia adfectos, omnes damnatione ignominiaque dignos illac facere, omnem fere iuventutem omnem illam urbanam ac perditam plebem, tribunos valentes addito C. Cassio, omnes, qui aere alieno premantur, quos pluris esse intellego, quam putaram (causam solum ilia causa non habet, ceteris rebus abundat), hic omnia facere omnes, ne armis decernatur; quorum exitus semper incerti, nunc vero etiam in alteram partem magis timendi.

Bibulus de provincia decessit, Veientonem praefecit; in decedendo erit, ut audio, tardior. Quem cum ornavit Cato, declaravit iis se solis non invidere, quibus nihil aut non multum ad dignitatem posset accedere.

Nunc venio ad privata; fere enim respondi tuis litteris de re publica, et iis, quas in suburbano, et iis, quas postea scripsisti. Ad privata venio. Unum etiam de Caelio. Tantum abest, ut meam ille sententiam

his strength. But since things have come to such a pass, I shall not ask, to borrow your quotation,

"Where is the bark of Atreus' sons?"[19]

My only bark will be that which has Pompey for a pilot. For your query "What will happen when the question is put 'Your vote, Marcus Tullius'"—briefly "I vote with Pompey." Still I shall exhort Pompey privately to pacific measures. I feel that there is the greatest danger. You, who are in town, will know more. Yet I see that we have to do with a man of the greatest daring and readiness, who has on his side all the criminal and social outcasts, and all who deserve to be counted criminals and outcasts; nearly all the younger generation; all the lowest city rabble; the powerful tribunes including C. Cassius; all the insolvent, who are more in number than I imagined. All his cause wants is a good cause: it has everything else in plenty. On our side we all do everything to avoid battle. You can never be sure of the issue of war, and it is to be feared it would go against us now.

Bibulus has quitted the province and left Veiento in charge: he will be pretty slow, I hear, on his journey. This is the man in whose praise Cato spoke, when he declared that the only people he did not envy were those who could not be raised higher or not much higher.

To come to private matters: for I have fairly answered your letter on the political situation, both the one you wrote in your town villa and the one you wrote later. Now for private matters. But one word about Caelius. So far is he from affecting my

moveat, ut valde ego ipsi, quod de sua sententia decesserit; paenitendum putem. Sed quid est, quod et vici Luccei sint addicti? Hoc te praetermisisse miror. De Philotimo faciam equidem, ut mones. Sed ego mihi ab illo non rationes exspectabam, quas tibi edidit, verum id reliquum, quod ipse in Tusculano me referre in commentarium mea manu voluit, quodque idem in Asia mihi sua manu scriptum dedit. Id si praestaret, quantum mihi aeris alieni esse tibi edidit, tantum et plus etiam mihi ipse deberet. Sed in hoc genere, si modo per rem publicam licebit, non accusabimur posthac, neque hercule antea neglegentes fuimus, sed amicorum multitudine occupati. Ergo utemur, ut polliceris, et opera et consilio tuo nec tibi erimus, ut spero, in eo molesti. De serperastris cohortis meae nihil est quod doleas. Ipsi enim se collegerunt admiratione integritatis meae. Sed me moverat nemo magis quam is, quem tu neminem putas. Idem et initio fuerat et nunc est egregius. Sed in ipsa decessione significavit sperasse se aliquid et id, quod animum induxerat paulisper, non tenuit, sed cito ad se rediit, meisque honorificentissimis erga se officiis victus pluris ea duxit quam omnem pecuniam.

Ego a Curio tabulas accepi, quas mecum porto. Hortensi legata cognovi. Nunc aveo scire, quid hominis sit et quarum rerum auctionem instituat.

view, that I think he must be sorry he changed his own. But what is this story of Lucceius' property being knocked down to him? I wonder you passed that over. As for Philotimus I shall take your advice. But I was not expecting from him the accounts, which he gave you: I was expecting the balance, which he wished me to enter in my note-book with my own hand at Tusculum, and for which he gave me in Asia a certificate in his own hand. If he should pay up all the money he told you was owing to me, he would still owe me as much again and even more. But, if only politics will allow, I shall not incur blame hereafter in matters of this kind. Indeed I have not been careless hitherto; but my time has been taken up by a crowd of friends. I shall therefore have your industry and advice, as you promise, and I hope I shall not be troublesome in the matter. You have no reason to lament the treatment that I meted to my crooked staff.[20] They pulled themselves together in amaze at my honesty. But nobody surprised me more than the man whom you think a nobody. From first to last he was and is splendid. But just at my departure he showed me that he had hoped for some reward; and yet he did not long cling to the idea which had entered his mind, but quickly came to himself again, and overwhelmed by the honours I had done him, regarded them as of more worth than any money.

I have received his will from Curius and bring it with me. I know the legacies Hortensius has to pay. Now I want to know the metal of the man, and what properties he is putting up for sale. When

Nescio enim, cur, cum portam Flumentanam Caelius occuparit, ego Puteolos non meos faciam.

Venio ad "Piraeea" in quo magis reprehendendus sum, quod homo Romanus "Piraeea" scripserim, non "Piraeum" (sic enim omnes nostri locuti sunt), quam quod addiderim "in." Non enim hoc ut oppido praeposui, sed ut loco. Et tamen Dionysius noster et, qui est nobiscum, Nicias Cous non rebatur oppidum esse Piraeea. Sed de re ego[21] videro. Nostrum quidem si est peccatum, in eo est, quod non ut de oppido locutus sum, sed ut de loco, secutusque sum non dico Caecilium:

"Máne ut ex portu ín Piraeum"

(malus enim auctor Latinitatis est), sed Terentium, cuius fabellae propter elegantiam sermonis putabantur a C. Laelio scribi:

"Heri áliquot adulescéntuli coíimus in Piraeum,"

et idem:

"Mercátor hoc addébat, captam e Súnio."

Quodsi δήμους oppida volumus esse, tam est oppidum Sunium quam Piraeus. Sed, quoniam grammaticus es, si hoc mihi ξήτημα persolveris, magna me molestia liberaris.

Ille mihi litteras blandas mittit: facit idem pro eo Balbus. Mihi certum est ab honestissuma sententia digitum nusquam. Sed scis, illi reliquum quantum sit. Putasne igitur verendum esse, ne aut obiciat id nobis aliquis, si languidius, aut repetat, si fortius? Quid ad haec reperis? "Solvamus," inquis. Age, a

Caelius has taken the Porta Flumentana,[22] I don't see why I should not make Puteoli mine.

Coming to the form Piraeea, I am more to be blamed for writing it thus and not Piraeum in Latin, as all our people do, than I am for adding the preposition "in." I used "in" as before a word signifying a place and not a town. After all Dionysius and Nicias of Cos, who is with me, do not consider that the Piraeus is a town. I will look into the question. If I have made a mistake, it is in speaking of it not as a town but as a place, and I have authority. I do not depend on a quotation from Caecilius: "Máne ut ex portu in Piraeum,"[23] as he is a poor authority in Latinity; but I will quote Terence, whose fine style caused his plays to be ascribed to C. Laelius "Heri áliquot adulescéntuli coíimus in Piraeum," and again: "Mercátor hoc addébat, captam e Súnio."[24] If we want to call parishes towns, Sunium is as much a town as the Piraeus. But, since you are a purist, you will save me a lot of trouble, if you can solve the problem for me.

Caesar sends me a friendly letter. Balbus does the same on his account. Certainly I shall not swerve a finger's breadth from the strictest honour; but you know how much I still owe him. Don't you think there is fear that this may be cast in my teeth, if I am slack; and repayment demanded from me, if I am energetic? What solution is there?

Caelio mutuabimur. Hoc tu tamen consideres velim; puto enim, in senatu si quando praeclare pro re publica dixero, Tartessium istum tuum mihi exeunti: "Iube sodes nummos curare."

Quid superest? Etiam. Gener est suavis mihi, Tulliae, Terentiae. Quantumvis vel ingenii vel humanitatis: satis est[25]; reliqua, quae nosti, ferenda. Scis enim, quos aperuerimus. Qui omnes praeter eum, de quo per te egimus, reum me[26] facerent.[27] Ipsis enim expensum nemo feret. Sed haec coram; nam multi sermonis sunt. Tironis reficiendi spes est in M'. Curio; cui ego scripsi tibi eum gratissimum facturum.

Data v Idus Decembr. a Pontio ex Trebulano.

IV CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Pompeiano IV aut III Id. Dec. a 704

Dionysium flagrantem desiderio tui misi ad te nec mehercule aequo animo, sed fuit concedendum. Quem quidem cognovi cum doctum, quod mihi iam ante erat notum, tum sane plenum officii, studiosum etiam meae laudis, frugi hominem, ac, ne libertinum laudare videar, plane virum bonum. Pompeium vidi IIII Idus Decembres. Fuimus una horas duas fortasse. Magna laetitia mihi visus est adfici meo adventu, de

"Pay up," say you. Well, I will borrow from the bank.[28] But there is a point you might consider. If I ever make a notable speech in the House on behalf of the constitution, your friend from Tarshish[29] will be pretty sure to say to me as I go out: "Kindly send me a draft."

Anything else? Yes. My son-in-law is agreeable to me, to Tullia, and to Terentia. He has any amount of native charm or shall I say culture: and that is enough. We must put up with the faults you know of. For you know what we have found the others to be on inspection. All of them except the one with whom you negotiated for us would get me into the law courts. No one will lend them money on their own security. But this when we meet: it is a long story. My hope of Tiro's recovery lies in M'. Curius. I have written to him that he will be doing you the greatest favour.

Dec. 9, at Pontius' villa at Trebula.

IV CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Pompeii, Dec. 10 or 11, B.C. 50

Dionysius burned to be with you, so I sent him, with some misgivings I must admit; but it had to be. I knew him before to be a scholar: I find him very obliging, careful of my good name, an honest fellow, and, not to give him a mere freedman's character, evidently a man of honour. Pompey I interviewed on the 10th of December. We were together a matter of two hours: he seemed greatly delighted with

triumpho hortari, suscipere partes suas, monere, ne ante in senatum accederem, quam rem confecissem, ne dicendis sententiis aliquem tribunum alienarem. Quid quaeris? in hoc officio sermonis nihil potuit esse prolixius. De re publica autem ita mecum locutus est, quasi non dubium bellum haberemus. Nihil ad spem concordiae. Plane illum a se alienatum cum ante intellegeret, tum vero proxume iudicasse. Venisse Hirtium a Caesare, qui esset illi familiarissimus, ad se non accessisse, et, cum ille a. d. VIII Idus Decembr. vesperi venisset, Balbus de tota re constituisset a. d. VII ad Scipionem ante lucem venire, multa de nocte eum profectum esse ad Caesarem. Hoc illi τεκμηριῶδες videbatur esse alienationis. Quid multa? nihil me aliud consolatur, nisi quod illum, cui etiam inimici alterum consulatum, fortuna summam potentiam dederit, non arbitror fore tam amentem, ut haec in discrimen adducat. Quodsi ruere coeperit, ne ego multa timeo; quae non audeo scribere. Sed, ut nunc est, a. d. III Nonas Ian. ad urbem cogito.

V CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Formiano XV K. Ian., ut videtur, a. 704

Multas uno tempore accepi epistulas tuas; quae mihi, quamquam recentiora audiebam ex iis, qui ad me veniebant, tamen erant iucundae; studium enim et benevolentiam declarabant. Valetudine tua moveor et Piliam in idem genus morbi delapsam curam tibi

my arrival, encouraged me about my triumph, promised to do his part, warned me not to enter the House till my business was finished, for fear I should make an enemy of some tribune by the opinions I expressed. In short, promises could go no further. As to the political situation, he hinted certain war, without hope of agreement. It appeared that, though he had long understood there was a split between himself and Caesar, he had had very recent proof of it. Hirtius, a very intimate friend of Caesar's, had come and had not called on Pompey. Besides Hirtius had arrived on the evening of the 6th of December and Balbus had arranged a meeting with Pompey's father-in-law before daybreak on the 7th to discuss affairs, when, lo, late on the night before, Hirtius set out to go to Caesar. This seemed to Pompey proof positive of a split. In a word I have no consolation except the thought, that, when even his enemies have renewed his term of office and fortune has bestowed on him supreme power, Caesar will not be so mad as to jeopardize these advantages. If he begins to run amuck, my fears are more than I can commit to paper. As things are, I meditate a visit to town on the 3rd of January.

V CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae Dec. 16, B.C. 50

A number of your letters have reached me at the same time: and, although visitors bring me later news, they are delightful, as they show your affection and good will. I am concerned about your illness, and I suppose Pilia's attack of the same complaint will increase

adferre maiorem sentio. Date igitur operam, ut valeatis. De Tirone video tibi curae esse. Quem quidem ego, etsi mirabilis utilitates mihi praebet, cum valet, in onmi genere vel negotiorum vel studiorum meorum, tamen propter humanitatem et modestiam malo salvum quam propter usum meum. Philogenes mecum nihil umquam de Luscenio locatus est; de ceteris rebus habes Dionysium. Sororem tuam non venisse in Arcanum miror. De Chrysippo meum consilium probari tibi non moleste fero. Ego in Tusculanum nihil sane hoc tempore; devium est τοῖς ἀπαντῶσιν et habet alia δύσχρεστα. Sed de Formiano Tarracinam pridie Kal. Ian. Inde Pomptinam summam, inde in Albanum Pompei. Ita ad urbem III Nonas natali meo.

De re publica cotidie magis timeo. Non enim boni, ut putant, consentiunt. Quos ego equites Romanos, quos senatores vidi, qui acerrime cum cetera tum hoc iter Pompei vituperarent! Pace opus est. Ex victoria cum multa mala tum certe tyrannus exsistet. Sed haec prope diem coram. Iam plane mihi deest, quod ad te scribam; nec enim de re publica, quod uterque nostrum scit eadem, et domestica nota sunt ambobus.

Reliquum est iocari, si hic sinat. Nam ego is sum, qui illi concedi putem utilius esse, quod postulat, quam signa conferri. Sero enim resistimus ei, quem per annos decem aluimus contra nos. "Quid sentis igitur?" inquis. Nihil scilicet nisi de sententia tua nec prius quidem, quam nostrum negotium aut confecerimus

your trouble. Both of you do your best to get well. As for Tiro I see you are attending to him. Though when in health, he is marvellously useful to me in every department of business and literature, it is not a selfish motive, but his own charming character and modest bearing that prompts my hope for his recovery. Philogenes has never said anything to me about Luscenius. As for other matters Dionysius is with you. I am astonished your sister has not come to Arcanum. I am glad you approve my plan about Chrysippus. I shall not go to Tusculum at such a time as this, not I. It is out of the way for chance rencontres and has other drawbacks. But from Formiae I go to Tarracina on the last of December. Thence to the upper end of the Pomptine marsh: thence to Pompey's Alban villa: and so to Rome on the 3rd, my birthday.

The political crisis is causing me greater fear every day. The loyalists are not, as is imagined, in agreement. I have met numbers of Roman knights, and numbers of Members, ready to inveigh bitterly against everything and especially this journey of Pompey's. Peace is our want. Victory will bring many evils, and without doubt a tyrant. But this we shall soon discuss together. I have no news at all now: each of us knows as much as the other about political affairs, and domestic details are for us common knowledge.

All one can do is to jest—if he will allow it. For I am one who thinks it better to agree to his demands than to enter upon war. It is late to resist him, when for ten years we have nurtured this viper in our bosom. Then you ask my view. It is the same as yours; and I shall express none till my own affairs

aut deposuerimus. Cura igitur, ut valeas. Aliquando ἀπότριψαι quartanam istam diligentia, quae in te summa est.

VI CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Formiano XIV K. Ian., ut videtur, a. 704

Plane deest, quod ad te scribam; nota omnia tibi sunt; nee ipse habeo, a te quod exspectem. Tantum igitur nostrum illud sollemne servemus, ut ne quem istuc euntem sine litteris dimittamus. De re publica valde timeo, nec adhuc fere inveni, qui non concedendum putaret Caesari, quod postularet, potius quam depugnandum. Est illa quidem impudens postulatio, opinione valentior. Cur autem nunc primum ei resistamus?

Οὐ γὰρ δὴ τόδε μεῖζον ἔπι κακόν

quam cum quinquennium prorogabamus, aut cum, ut absentis ratio haberetur, ferebamus, nisi forte haec illi tum arma dedimus, ut nunc cum bene parato pugnaremus. Dices: "Quid tu igitur sensurus es?" Non idem quod dicturus; sentiam enim omnia facienda, ne armis decertetur, dicam idem quod Pompeius neque id faciam humili animo. Sed rursus hoc permagnum rei publicae malum est, et quodam modo mihi praeter ceteros non rectum me in tantis rebus a Pompeio dissidere.

are concluded or abandoned. So be sure to get well. Apply some of your wonderful capacity for taking pains to shaking off the fever.

VI CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae, Dec. 17, B.C. 50

I have positively no news: all mine is known to you; and there is none that I can look for from you. Only let me preserve my old ceremony of letting no visitor go to you without a letter. My fears as to the political situation are great. And so far I have found hardly a man who would not yield to Caesar's demand sooner than fight. That demand, it is true, is shameless, but stronger than we thought. But why should we choose this occasion to begin resisting?

Odyssey xii, 209

"No greater evil threatens now"

than when we prolonged his office for another five years; or when we agreed to let him stand as a candidate in his absence. But perhaps we were then giving him these weapons to turn against us now. You will say; "What then will your view be?" My view will not be what I shall say; for my view will be that every step should be taken to avoid a conflict; but I shall say the same as Pompey, nor shall I be actuated by subserviency. But again it is a very great calamity to the state, and in a way improper to me beyond others to differ from Pompey in matters of such importance.

VII CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Formiano inter XIII et X K. Ian. a. 704

"Dionysius, vir optumus, ut mihi quoque est perspectus, et doctissumus tuique amantissumus, Romam venit XV Kalend. Ian. et litteras a te mihi reddidit." Tot enim verba sunt de Dionysio in epistula tua, illud putato non adscribis, "et tibi gratias egit." Atqui certe ille agere debuit, et, si esset factum, quae tua est humanitas, adscripsisses. Mihi autem nulla de eo παλινωδία datur propter superioris epistulae testimonium. Sit igitur sane bonus vir. Hoc enim ipsum bene fecit, quod mihi sui cognoscendi penitus etiam istam facultatem dedit. Philogenes recte ad te scripsit; curavit enim, quod debuit. Eum ego uti ea pecunia volui, quoad liceret; itaque usus est menses XIIII. Pomptinum cupio valere, et, quod scribis in urbem introisse, vereor, quid sit; nam id nisi gravi de causa non fecisset. Ego, quoniam IIII Non. Ian. compitalicius dies est, nolo eo die in Albanum venire, ne molestus familiae veniam. III Non. Ian. igitur; inde ad urbem pridie Nonas. Tua λῆψις quem in diem incurrat, nescio, sed prorsus te commoveri incommodo valetudinis tuae nolo.

De honore nostro nisi quid occulte Caesar per suos tribunos molitus erit, cetera videntur esse tranquilla; tranquillissimus autem animus meus, qui totum istuc aequi boni facit, et eo magis, quod iam a multis audio constitutum esse Pompeio et eius concilio in Siciliam

VII CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae, Dec. 18-21, B.C. 50

"Dionysius, an excellent fellow—as I too have found him—a good scholar and your very stanch friend, arrived in Rome on the 16th of December, and gave me a letter from you." That's all you say about Dionysius in your letter. You do not add "and he expressed his gratitude to you." Yet certainly he ought to have done so, and, if he had, you would have added it with your usual good nature. I cannot make a volte face about him, owing to the character I gave him in the former letter. Let us call him then an honest fellow. He has done me one kindness at any rate in giving me this further chance to know him thoroughly. Philogenes is correct in what he wrote: he duly settled his debt. I wanted him to use the money as long as he could; so he has used it for 14 months. I hope Pomptinus is getting well. You mention his entrance into town. I am somewhat anxious as to what it means: he would not have entered the city except for some good reason. As the 2nd of January is a holiday, I don't wish to reach Pompey's Alban villa on that date for fear I should be a nuisance to his household. I shall go there on the 3rd, and then visit the city on the 4th. I forget on what day the fever will attack you again; but I would not have you stir to the damage of your health.

As for my triumph, unless Caesar has been secretly intriguing through his tribune partisans, all else seems smooth and easy. My mind is absolutely at ease, and I regard the whole business with indifference, especially as many people tell me that Pompey and his advisers

me mittere, quod imperium habeam. Id est Ἀβδηριτικόν. Nec enim senatus decrevit, nec populus iussit me imperium in Sicilia habere. Sin hoc res publica ad Pompeium refert, qui me magis quam privatum aliquem mittat? Itaque, si hoc imperium mihi molestum erit, utar ea porta, quam primam videro. Nam, quod scribis mirificam exspectationem esse mei neque tamen quemquam bonorum aut satis bonorum dubitare, quid facturus sim, ego, quos tu bonos esse dicas, non intellego. Ipse nullos novi, sed ita, si ordines bonorum quaerimus; nam singulares sunt boni viri. Verum in dissensionibus ordines bonorum et genera quaerenda sunt. Senatum bonum putas, per quem sine imperio provinciae sunt (numquam enim Curio sustinuisset, si cum eo agi coeptum esset; quam sententiam senatus sequi noluit; ex quo factum est, ut Caesari non succederetur), an publicanos, qui numquam firmi, sed nunc Caesari sunt amicissimi, an faeneratores an agricolas, quibus optatissimum est otium? nisi eos timere putas, ne sub regno sint, qui id numquam, dum modo otiosi essent, recusarunt. Quid ergo? exercitum retinentis, cum legis dies transierit, rationem haberi placet? Mihi vero ne absentis quidem; sed, cum id datum est, illud una datum est. Annorum enim decem imperium et ita latum placet? Placet igitur etiam me expulsum et agrum Campanum

have determined to send me to Sicily, because I still have military powers. That is a muddle-headed plan.[30] For neither has the House decreed, nor the people authorized me to have military power in Sicily. If the state delegates the appointment to Pompey, why should he send me rather than any unofficial person? So, if this military power is going to be a nuisance, I shall get rid of it by entering the first city gate I see. As for your news that there is a wonderful interest in my arrival and that none of the "right or right enough party" doubt as to my future action, I don't understand your phrase "the right party." I don't know of such a party, that is if we look for a class; of course there are individuals. But in political splits it is classes and parties we want. Do you think the Senate is "right," when it has left our provinces without military rule? For Curio could never have held out, if there had been negotiations with him—a proposal rejected by the House, which left Caesar without a successor. Is it the tax-collectors, who have never been loyal and are now very friendly with Caesar? Or is it the financiers or the farmers, whose chief desire is peace? Do you suppose they will fear a king, when they never declined one so long as they were left in peace? Well then, do I approve of the candidature of a man who keeps his army beyond the legal term? No, not even of his candidature in absence. But when the one privilege was granted, the other went with it. Do I then approve of the extension of his military power for ten years, and that carried as it was carried? Then I should have to approve of my own banishment, the throwing away of the Campanian land on the people, the adoption

perisse et adoptatum patricium a plebeio, Gaditanum a Mytilenaeo, et Labieni divitiae et Mamurrae placent et Balbi horti et Tusculanum. Sed horum omnium fons unus est. Imbecillo resistendum fuit, et id erat facile; nunc legiones XI, equitatus tantus, quantum volet, Transpadani, plebes urbana, tot tribuni pl., tam perdita iuventus, tanta auctoritate dux, tanta audacia. Cum hoc aut depugnandum est aut habenda e lege ratio. "Depugna," inquis, "potius quam servias." Ut quid? si victus eris, proscribare, si viceris, tamen servias? "Quid ergo," inquis, "facturus es?" Idem quod pecudes, quae dispulsae sui generis sequuntur greges. Ut bos armenta sic ego bonos viros aut eos, quicumque dicentur boni, sequar, etiamsi ruent. Quid sit optimum male contractis rebus, plane video. Nemini est enim exploratum, cum ad arma ventum sit, quid futurum sit, at illud omnibus, si boni victi sint, nec in caede principum clementiorem hunc fore quam Cinna fuerit, nec moderatiorem quam Sulla in pecuniis locupletum. Συμπολιτεύομαί σοι iam dudum et facerem diutius, nisi me lucerna desereret. Ad summam "Dic, M. Tvlli." Adsentior Cn. Pompeio, id est T. Pomponio.

Alexim, humanissimum puerum, nisi forte dum ego absum, adulescens factus est (id enim agere videbatur), salvere iubeas velim.

of a patrician by a plebeian, of that gentleman of Gades by the man of Mytilene.[31] And I should have to approve of the wealth of Labienus and Mamurra and the gardens and Tusculan estate of Balbus. But the source of all these evils is one. We ought to have resisted him when he was weak: that would have been easy. Now there are eleven legions, cavalry as much as he wants, the northern tribes across the Po, the city riff-raff, all the tribunes of the people, the young profligates, a leader of such influence and daring. We must either fight him or allow his candidature according to the law. "Fight," say you, "rather than be slaves." The result will be proscription if beaten and slavery even if one wins. "What shall I do then?" What the cattle do, who when scattered follow flocks of their own kind. As an ox follows the herd, so shall I follow the "right party," or whoever are said to be the "right party," even if they rush to destruction. The best course in our straits is clear to me. No one can tell the issue of war: but every one can tell that, if the right party are beaten, Caesar will not be more merciful than Cinna in slaying the nobility, nor more moderate than Sulla in robbing the rich. I have discussed la haute politique long enough, and I would do so longer, had not my lamp gone out. The end is "Your vote, Marcus Tullius." I vote with Pompey, that is with Titus Pomponius.

Please remember me to Alexis, a very clever boy, unless perhaps in my absence he has become a man, as he threatened to do.

VIII CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Formiano VI aut V K. Ian. a. 704

Quid opus est de Dionysio tam valde adfirmare? An mihi nutus tuus non faceret fidem? Suspicionem autem eo mihi maiorem tua taciturnitas attulerat, quod et tu soles conglutinare amicitias testimoniis tuis, et illum aliter cum aliis de nobis locutum audiebam. Sed prorsus ita esse, ut scribis, mihi persuades. Itaque ego is in illum sum, quem tu me esse vis.

Diem tuum ego quoque ex epistula quadam tua, quam incipiente febricula scripseras, mihi notaveram et animadverteram posse pro re nata te non incommode ad me in Albanum venire III Nonas Ianuar. Sed, amabo te, nihil incommodo valetudinis feceris. Quid enim est tantum in uno aut altero die?

Dolabellam video Liviae testamento cum duobus coheredibus esse in triente, sed iuberi mutare nomen. Est πολιτικὸν σκέμμα, rectumne sit nobili adulescenti mutare nomen mulieris testamento. Sed id φιλοσοφώτερον διευκρινήσομεν, cum sciemus, quantum quasi sit in trientis triente.

Quod putasti fore ut, antequam istuc venirem, Pompeium viderem, factum est ita; nam VI Kal. ad Lavernium me consecutus est. Una Formias venimus et ab hora octava ad vesperum secreto collocuti sumus. Quod quaeris, ecquae spes pacificationis sit, quantum ex Pompei multo et accurato sermone perspexi, ne voluntas quidem est. Sic enim existimat, si ille vel dimisso exercitu consul factus sit, σύγχυσιν

VIII CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae, Dec. 25 or 26, B.C. 50

There was no need for you to give such strong assurances about Dionysius. A hint from you would have satisfied me. But your silence gave me all the more reason for suspicion, because you are used to cement friendships with good-natured assurances, and because I heard that he used different language about us to others. However, your letter convinces me. So I behave to him exactly as you wish.

Your bad day too I had noted from a letter you wrote at the beginning of your feverishness, and I had calculated that under the circumstances you could conveniently meet me at the Alban villa on the 3rd of January. But please do nothing to affect your health. A day or two will make no difference.

Dolabella, I see, by Livia's will shares a third of her estate with two others, but is asked to change his name. It is a social problem whether it is proper for a young noble to change his name under a lady's will. But we can determine that on more scientific grounds, when we know to how much a third of a third amounts.

Iliad xviii, 309

Your guess that I should meet Pompey before coming to Rome has come true. On the 25th he overtook me near the Lavernium. We reached Formiae together, and were closeted together from two o'clock till evening. For your query as to the chance of a peaceful settlement, so far as I could tell from Pompey's full and detailed discourse, he does not even want peace. Pompey thinks that the constitution will be subverted even if Caesar is elected consul without

τῆς πολιτείας fore, atque etiam putat eum, cum audierit contra se diligenter parari, consulatum hoc anno neglecturum ac potius exercitum provinciamque retenturum. Sin autem ille fureret, vehementer hominem contemnebat et suis et rei publicae copiis confidebat. Quid quaeris? etsi mihi crebro ξυνὸς Ἐνυάλιος occurrebat, tamen levabar cura virum fortem et peritum et plurimum auctoritate valentem audiens πολιτικῶς de pacis simulatae periculis disserentem. Habebamus autem in manibus Antoni contionem habitam X Kal. Ianuar., in qua erat accusatio Pompei usque a toga pura, querela de damnatis, terror armorum. In quibus ille "Quid censes," aiebat, "facturum esse ipsum, si in possessionem rei publicae venerit, cum haec quaestor eius infirmus et inops audeat dicere?" Quid multa? non modo non expetere pacem istam, sed etiam timere visus est. Ex illa autem sententia ἰδέα[32] relinquendae urbis movet hominem, ut puto. Mihi autem illud molestissimum est, quod solvendi sunt nummi Caesari et instrumentum triumphi eo conferendum. Est enim ἄμορφον ἀντιπολιτευομένου χρεωφειλέτην esse. Sed haec et multa alia coram.

IX CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Formiano V aut IV K. Ian. a. 704

"Cotidiene," inquis, "a te accipiendae litterae sunt?" Si habebo, cui dem, cotidie. "At iam ipse ades." Tum igitur, cum venero, desinam. Unas video

an army; and he fancies that when Caesar hears of the energetic preparations against him, he will give up the idea of the consulship this year, and prefer to keep his army and his province. Still, if Caesar should play the fool, Pompey has an utter contempt for him, and firm confidence in his own and the state's resources. Well, although the "uncertainty of war" came constantly into my mind, I was relieved of anxiety as I listened to a soldier, a strategist, and a man of the greatest influence discoursing in a statesmanlike way on the risks of a hollow peace. We had before us a speech of Antony made on the 21st of December, which attacked Pompey from boyhood, complained about the condemnation of certain people and threatened war. Pompey's comment was "What do you suppose Caesar will do, if he becomes master of the state, when a wretched, insignificant subordinate dares to talk in this strain?" In a word, he appeared not only not to seek peace, but even to fear it. But I fancy the idea of leaving the city shakes his resolution. What annoys me most is that I have to pay up to Caesar, and devote to the purpose what I should have used for my triumph. It is bad form to owe money to a political opponent. But this and many other topics can wait till we meet.

IX CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae, Dec. 26 or 27, B.C. 50

You ask if you are going to get a letter from me every day. Every day, if I can find a messenger. True I am at hand myself. Well, I will stop writing

mihi a te non esse redditas, quas L. Quinctius, familiaris meus, cum ferret, ad bustum Basili vulneratus et despoliatus est. Videbis igitur, num quid fuerit in iis, quod me scire opus sit, et simul hoc διευκρινήσεις πρόβλημα sane πολιτικόν. Cum sit necesse aut haberi Caesaris rationem illo exercitum vel per senatum vel per tribunos pl. obtinente; aut persuaderi Caesari, ut tradat provinciam atque exercitum et ita consul fiat; aut, si id ei non persuadeatur, haberi comitia sine illius ratione illo patiente atque obtinente provinciam; aut, si per tribunos pl. non patiatur et tamen quiescat, rem adduci ad interregnum; aut, si ob eam causam, quod ratio eius non habeatur, exercitum adducat, armis cum eo contendere, illum autem initium facere armorum aut statim nobis minus paratis, aut tum, cum comitiis amicis eius postulantibus, ut e lege ratio habeatur, impetratum non sit, ire autem ad arma aut hanc unam ob causam, quod ratio non habeatur, aut addita causa, si forte tribunus pl. senatum impediens aut populum incitans notatus aut senatus consulto circumscriptus aut sublatus aut expulsus sit dicensve se expulsum ad illum confugerit, suscepto autem bello aut tenenda sit urbs aut ea relicta ille commeatu et reliquis copiis intercludendus—quod horum malorum, quorum aliquod certe subeundum est, minimum putes. Dices profecto persuaderi illi, ut tradat exercitum et ita consul fiat. Est omnino id eius modi, ut, si ille eo descendat, contra dici nihil possit, idque eum, si non obtinet, ut ratio habeatur retinentis exercitum, non

when I arrive. I see I have missed one of your letters: my friend L. Quinctius was wounded and robbed near the tomb of Basilus, while he was bringing it. So you must see if there was any news in it I ought to have, and you shall solve me this inevitable problem of politics to boot. It may be necessary for us to admit Caesar as a candidate while he keeps his army, be it by the favour of the House or the tribunes. Or we may have to persuade him to take office on condition of giving up his province and his troops. Or, if he will not yield to persuasion on that point, we may refuse to admit him as a candidate at the election, and he may endure the treatment and keep his province. Or, if he employs the tribunes to interfere, yet keeps the peace, a political deadlock may be brought about. Or, if he uses force, because we reject him as a candidate, we may have to fight and he may begin at once before we are ready, or when his friends fail to get his candidature allowed at the elections in accordance with his legal privilege. He may resort to arms solely on account of his rejection as a candidate, or for a further reason, if a tribune through using obstructionist tactics or an appeal to popular feeling incur a censure or a limitation of power or suspension or expulsion from office, or if some tribune fly to him with a tale of expulsion. War begun, we must either hold the city or abandon it and cut him off from food and supplies. Of these evils some one must be borne: consider which in your opinion is the lightest. Of course you will say, "Induce him to give up his army and so take the consulship." True there can be no objection to that, if he will condescend, and I wonder he does not, if he cannot get his candidature supported

facere miror. Nobis autem, ut quidam putant, nihil est timendum magis quam ille consul. "At sic malo," inquies, "quam cum exercitu." Certe; sed istud ipsum "sic" magnum malum putat aliquis, neque ei remedium est ullum. "Cedendum est, si id volet." Vide consulem illum iterum, quem vidisti consulatu priore. "At tum imbecillus plus," inquis, "valuit quam tota res publica." Quid nunc putas? et eo consule Pompeio certum est esse in Hispania. O rem miseram! si quidem id ipsum deterrimum est, quod recusari non potest, et quod ille si faciat, iam iam a bonis omnibus summam ineat gratiam. Tollamus igitur hoc, quo illum posse adduci negant; de reliquis quid est deterrimum? Concedere illi, quod, ut idem dicit, impudentissime postulat. Nam quid impudentius? Tenuisti provinciam per annos decem, non tibi a senatu, sed a te ipso per vim et per factionem datos; praeteriit tempus non legis, sed libidinis tuae, fac tamen legis; ut succedatur, decernitur; impedis et ais: "Habe meam rationem." Habe tu nostram. Exercitum tu habeas diutius, quam populus iussit, invito senatu? "Depugnes oportet, nisi concedis." Cum bona quidem spe, ut ait idem, vel vincendi vel in libertate moriendi. Iam, si pugnandum est, quo tempore, in casu, quo consilio, in temporibus situm est. Itaque te in ea quaestione non exerceo; ad ea, quae dixi, adfer, si quid habes. Equidem dies noctesque torqueor.

while he keeps his army. But for us some think that nothing could be worse than Caesar in office. You may say, "Better so, than with an army." Certainly: but Pompey thinks that very "so" fatal, and there is no remedy for it. "We must submit to Caesar's will." But imagine him in office again after your experience of his former tenure. You will reflect that, weak as he was, he was too strong for the constitution. What about him now? And now, if Caesar is consul, Pompey will remain in Spain. What a plight! since the worst of all is the very alternative which we cannot refuse him, and the one which, if he takes it, will of itself win him the favour of the right party. This course it is said he will not accept; let us put it out of court. Which is the worst of the remaining alternatives? To concede his impertinent demand, as Pompey terms it? Impertinent it is indeed. You have had a province for ten years, not allotted by the Senate, but by yourself through force and insubordination. This term, not a legal term, but a term of your own will and pleasure—or say, this legal term—comes to an end. The House passes a decree for the appointment of a successor. You object and cry, "Consider my candidature." Consider our case. Are you to dare the House and keep your army longer than the nation sanctions? "You must fight or yield." Then as Pompey says, let us hope for victory, or death with freedom. If we must fight, the time depends on chance, the plan of campaign on circumstances. So I do not trouble you on that point. But make any suggestion you can on my remarks. Day and night I am tormented.

X CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. ad urbem XIV sub noctem aut XIII ante lucem K. Febr. a. 705

Subito consilium cepi, ut, antequam luceret, exirem, ne qui conspectus fieret aut sermo, lictoribus praesertim laureatis. De reliquo neque hercule quid agam neque quid acturus sim, scio; ita sum perturbatus temeritate nostri amentissimi consilii. Tibi vero quid suadeam, cuius ipse consilium exspecto? Gnaeus noster quid consilii ceperit capiatve, nescio, adhuc in oppidis coartatus et stupens. Omnes, si in Italia consistat, erimus una; sin cedet, consilii res est. Adhuc certe, nisi ego insanio, stulte omnia et incaute. Tu, quaeso, crebro ad me scribe, vel quod in buccam venerit.

XI CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. in Campania inter XIV et IX K. Febr. a. 705

Quaeso, quid est hoc? aut quid agitur? Mihi enim tenebrae sunt. "Cingulum," inquit, "nos tenemus, Anconem amisimus; Labienus discessit a Caesare." Utrum de imperatore populi Romani an de Hannibale loquimur? O hominem amentem et miserum, qui ne umbram quidem umquam τοῦ καλοῦ viderit! Atque haec ait omnia facere se dignitatis causa. Ubi est autem dignitas nisi ubi honestas? Honestum igitur habere exercitum nullo publico consilio, occupare urbes civium, quo facilior sit aditus ad patriam, χρεῶν ἀποκοπάς, φυγάδων καθόδους, sescenta alia scelera moliri,

X CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Near Rome, Jan. 17 or 18, B.C. 49

I have suddenly determined to leave town before daybreak, so that I may escape sightseers and gossips, especially with my bay-decked lictors. For the rest, what to do now or later, upon my word, I do not know: I am so upset by our rash and lunatic policy. What advice can I offer you, when it is to you I look for advice? I know not what plan Pompey has made or is making: so far he is cooped up in the towns, paralysed. If he makes his stand in Italy, we shall all be together: if he retires, it will be a matter for debate. So far certainly, unless I have lost my wits, his policy has been rash and foolish. Please write to me often, just what comes into your head.

XI CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

In Campania, Jan. 17-22, B.C. 49

What in the name of wonder is this? What is happening? I am in the dark. People say, "Cingulum is ours, Ancona is lost, Labienus has deserted from Caesar." Are we talking of a Roman officer or of Hannibal? Wretched madman never to have seen the shadow even of right! Yet all this, he says, is done to support his honour. Can there be honour without honesty: and is it honest to retain an army without sanction, to seize the cities of your country that you may strike the better at her heart, to contrive abolition of debts, the restoration of exiles, and scores of other crimes,

τὴν θεῶν μεγίστην ὥστ' ἔχειν τυραννίδα——;

Sibi habeat suam fortunam! Unam mehercule tecum apricationem in illo lucrativo tuo sole malim quam omnia istius modi regna vel potius mori miliens quam semel istius modi quicquam cogitare. "Quid, si tu velis?" inquis. Age, quis est, cui velle non liceat? Sed ego hoc ipsum "velle" miserius esse duco quam in crucem tolli. Una res est ea miserior, adipisci, quod ita volueris. Sed haec hactenus. Libenter enim in his molestiis ἐνσχολάζω τόσον.[33]

Redeamus ad nostrum. Per fortunas! quale tibi consilium Pompei videtur? hoc quaero, quod urbem reliquerit. Ego enim ἀπορῶ. Tum nihil absurdius. Urbem tu relinquas? ergo idem, si Galli venirent? "Non est," inquit, "in parietibus res publica." At in aris et focis. "Fecit Themistocles." Fluctum enim totius barbariae ferre urbs una non poterat. At idem Pericles non fecit annum fere post quinquagesimum, cum praeter moenia nihil teneret; nostri olim urbe reliqua capta arcem tamen retinuerunt.

Οὕτο που τῶν πρόσθεν ἐπευθόμεθα κλέα ἀνδρῶν.

Rursus autem ex dolore municipali sermonibusque eorum, quos convenio, videtur hoc consilium exitum habiturum. Mira hominum querela est (nescio an[34]

"To win God's greatest gift, a crown?"

Euripides, Phoenissae, 516

Well, let him keep his fortune. For my part, let me bask one hour in your clime's free gift of[35] sunlight, rather than win any kingdom of that sort. Better a thousand times to die than once to meditate such villainy. "Suppose you conceive a desire for it," you say. Desire is free to anyone; but I would rather be crucified than have such a desire. There is only one worse fate, to obtain your desire. But enough of this. It eases me to philosophize a trifle in our present straits.

To come back to Pompey. What, in heaven's name, do you think of his plan? I mean his desertion of Rome. I don't know what to make of it. Besides nothing could be more ridiculous. Leave the city? Would you then have done the same if the Gauls were coming? He may object that the state does not consist of lath and plaster. But it does consist of hearths and altars. "Themistocles abandoned Athens." Yes, because one city could not stand the flood of all the barbarians of the East. But Pericles did not desert her about fifty years later, though he held nothing but the walls. Once too our ancestors lost the rest of Rome, but they kept the citadel.

Iliad ix, 529

On the other hand to judge from the indignation in the towns and the talk of my acquaintances, it looks to me as if Pompey's flight would be a success. Here there is an extraordinary outcry (whether in

istic, sed facies, ut sciam) sine magistratibus urbem esse, sine senatu. Fugiens denique Pompeius mirabiliter homines movet. Quid quaeris? alia causa acta est. Nihil iam concedendum putant Caesari. Haec tu mihi explica qualia sint.

Ego negotio praesum non turbulento. Vult enim me Pompeius esse, quem tota haec Campania et maritima ora habeat ἐπίσκοπον, ad quem dilectus et summa negotii referatur. Itaque vagus esse cogitabam. Te puto iam videre, quae sit ὁρμὴ Caesaris, qui populus, qui totius negotii status. Ea velim scribas ad me, et quidem, quoniam mutabilia sunt, quam saepissime. Acquiesco enim et scribens ad te et legens tua.

XII CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Formiis X K. Febr. a. 705

Unam adhuc a te epistulam acceperam datam XII Kal., in qua significabatur aliam te ante dedisse, quam non acceperam. Sed quaeso, ut scribas quam saepissime, non modo si quid scies aut audieris, sed etiam si quid suspicabere, maximeque quid nobis faciendum aut non faciendum putes. Nam, quod rogas, curem, ut scias, quid Pompeius agat, ne ipsum quidem scire puto; nostrum quidem nemo. Vidi Lentulum consulem Formiis X Kal., vidi Libonem; plena timoris et erroris omnia. Ille iter Larinum; ibi enim cohortes et Luceriae et Teani reliquaque in Apulia. Inde

Rome also, I do not know: please tell me) at the city being left without magistrates and without the House. In fact Pompey's flight has made a marvellous stir. Men's attitude is really quite different: they object to any concession to Caesar. Explain to me what it all means.

My task is peaceful. Pompey wishes me to act as surveyor over the whole of the Campanian coast, to superintend the levy and all important business. So I expect to be a wanderer. I imagine you realize Caesar's policy, the temper of the people and the condition of affairs. Pray keep me informed, and, since things are in a changeable condition, as often as possible. It soothes me to write to you and read your letters.

XII CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Formiae, Jan. 21, B.C. 49

So far I have received one letter from you dated the 19th. In it you state that you sent me another; but it has not reached me. I entreat you, write to me as often as possible, not only what you shall know or hear, but even anything you may suspect; and especially give me your opinion as to what I ought or ought not to do. As to your request for information on Pompey's policy, I don't think he knows himself; certainly none of us know. I saw Lentulus the consul at Formiae on the 21st. I saw Libo. Everywhere there is panic and confusion. Pompey is on the road to Larinum; for there are cohorts there and also at Luceria and Teanum and in the rest of Apulia. No one knows whether he

utrum consistere uspiam velit an mare transire, nescitur. Si manet, vereor, ne exercitam firmum habere non possit; sin discedit, quo aut qua, aut quid nobis agendum sit, nescio. Nam istum quidem, cuius φαλαρισμὸν times, omnia taeterrime facturum puto. Nec eum rerum prolatio nec senatus magistratuumque discessus nec aerarium clausum tardabit. Sed haec, ut scribis, cito sciemus.

Interim velim mihi ignoscas quod ad te scribo tam multa totiens. Acquiesco enim, et tuas volo elicere litteras, maximeque consilium, quid agam aut quo me pacto geram. Demittamne me penitus in causam? Non deterreor periculo, sed dirumpor dolore, Tamne nullo consilio aut tam contra meum consilium gesta esse omnia! An cuncter et tergiverser, et eis me dem, qui tenent, qui potiuntur? Αἰδέομαι Τρῶας nec solum civis, sed etiam amici officio revocor; etsi frangor saepe misericordia puerorum. Ut igitur ita perturbato, etsi te eadem sollicitant, scribe aliquid, et maxime, si Pompeius Italia cedit, quid nobis agendum putes. M'. quidem Lepidus (nam fuimus una) eum finem statuit, L. Torquatus eundem. Me cum multa tum etiam lictores impediunt. Nihil vidi umquam, quod minus explicari posset. Itaque a te nihildum certi exquiro, sed quid videatur. Denique ipsam ἀπορίαν tuam cupio cognoscere. Labienum ab illo discessisse prope modum constat. Si ita factum esset, ut ille Romam veniens magistratus et senatum

will make a stand anywhere or cross the sea. If he remains in Italy, I fear it is impossible for him to have a reliable army. If he leaves Italy, where he will go or stay, and what we are to do I don't know. For I imagine that Caesar, whom you fear may be a Phalaris, will stick at no abominations. He will not be deterred by adjournment of public business, the departure of members and magistrates and the closure of the treasury. But, as you say, we shall know soon.

Meanwhile forgive me for writing so much and so often; it soothes me, and I wish to extract letters from you, and especially advice as to where to go and what to do. Shall I give myself up heart and soul to the good cause? I am not terrified by the danger, but tortured by the anguish. To think that everything has been done with such a lack of plan, or so contrary to my plan! Or shall I hesitate and play the turncoat, and join the party that holds the field? "I fear the Trojans," and I am held back not only by my duty as a citizen, but by my duty as a friend; though I am often shaken by pity for the boys. So write a line to me in my distress, although you have the same worries; and especially as to what you think I should do, if Pompey leaves Italy. I have met M'. Lepidus and he draws the line there; so does L. Torquatus. There are many obstacles before me, including my lictors. I have never seen such an intricate tangle. So I do not look to you for positive advice: but only for your opinion. In fact I want to know how the dilemma presents itself to you. It is practically certain that Labienus has left Caesar. If it could have been arranged that he could meet magistrates and Senate on his arrival at

Romae offenderet, magno usui causae nostrae fuisset. Damnasse enim sceleris hominem amicum rei publicae causa videretur, quod nunc quoque videtur, sed minus prodest. Non enim habet, cui prosit, eumque arbitror paenitere, nisi forte id ipsum est falsum, discessisse illum. Nos quidem pro certo habebamus.

Et velim, quamquam, ut scribis, domesticis te finibus tenes, formam mihi urbis exponas, ecquod Pompei desiderium, ecquae Caesaris invidia appareat, etiam quid censeas de Terentia et Tullia, Romae eas esse an mecum an aliquo tuto loco. Haec et si quid aliud ad me scribas velim vel potius scriptites.

XIII CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Menturnis IX K. Febr. a. 705

De Vennonianis rebus tibi assentior. Labienum ἥρωα iudico. Facinus iam diu nullum civile praeclarius, qui, ut aliud nihil, hoc tamen profecit, dedit illi dolorem. Sed etiam ad summam profectum aliquid puto. Amo etiam Pisonem. Cuius iudicium de genero suspicor visum iri grave. Quamquam, genus belli quod sit, vides. Ita civile est, ut non ex civium dissensione, sed ex unius perditi civis audacia natum sit. Is autem valet exercitu, tenet multos spe et promissis, omnia omnium concupivit. Huic tradita urbs est nuda praesidio, referta copiis. Quid est,

Rome, he would have been of great service to our cause. Loyalty it would have appeared had made him regard his friend a traitor: it appears so as it is, but it is of less use. For there is no cause to serve, and I imagine that he is sorry at leaving Caesar, unless perhaps the report is false. Myself I think it true.

And please give me a sketch of city affairs, though according to your account you keep to your house. Is Pompey missed? Does Caesar seem disliked? What do you think about Terentia and Tullia? Should they remain in Rome, or join me, or seek some refuge? On these and any other topics pray write to me, I mean write often.

XIII CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Menturnae, Jan. 22, B.C. 49

In the matter of Vennonius I agree with you. Labienus I consider a hero. There has been no public action of such distinction for a long time. If he has done nothing else, he has at least hurt Caesar's feelings. But I think he has served our main interests as well. I am delighted too with Piso. His judgement on his son-in-law[36] should carry weight. However, you see the nature of our struggle. It is civil war, though it has not sprung from division among our citizens, but from daring of one abandoned citizen. He is strong in military forces, he attracts adherents by hopes and promises, he covets the whole universe. Rome is delivered to him stripped of defenders, stocked with supplies: one may

quod ab eo non metuas, qui illa templa et tecta non patriam, sed praedam putet? Quid autem sit acturus aut quo modo, nescio, sine senatu, sine magistratibus. Ne simulare quidem poterit quicquam πολιτικῶς. Nos autem ubi exsurgere poterimus aut quando? Quorum dux quam ἀστρατήγητος, tu quoque animadvertis, cui ne Picena quidem nota fuerint; quam autem sine consilio, res testis. Ut enim alia omittam decem annorum peccata, quae condicio non huic fugae praestitit? Nec vero, nunc quid cogitet, scio ac non desino per litteras sciscitari. Nihil esse timidius constat, nihil perturbatius. Itaque nec praesidium, cuius parandi causa ad urbem retentus est, nec locum ac sedem praesidii ullam video. Spes omnis in duabus insidiose retentis paene alienis legionibus. Nam dilectus adhuc quidem invitorum est et a pugnando abhorrentium. Condicionum autem amissum tempus est. Quid futurum sit, non video; commissum quidem a nobis certe est sive a nostro duce, ut e portu sine gubernaculis egressi tempestati nos traderemus.

Itaque de Ciceronibus nostris dubito quid agam; nam mihi interdum amandandi videntur in Graeciam; de Tullia autem et Terentia, cum mihi barbarorum adventus ad urbem proponitur, omnia timeo; cum autem Dolabellae venit in mentem, paulum respiro. Sed velim consideres, quid faciendum putes primum πρὸς τὸ ἀσφαλές (aliter enim mihi de illis ac de me ipso consulendum est), deinde ad opiniones, ne reprehendamur, quod eas Romae velimus esse in communi bonorum fuga. Quin etiam tibi et Peducaeo (scripsit enim ad me), quid faciatis, videndum est. Is enim

fear anything from a man who regards her temples and her homes not as his native land, but as his loot. What he will do, and how he will do it, in the absence of House and magistrates, I do not know. He will be unable even to pretend constitutional methods. But where can our party raise its head or when? You, too, remark how poor a soldier our leader is; why, he did not even know how things were in Picenum; and the crisis shows his lack of policy. Pass over other faults of the last ten years. What compromise were not better than this flight? I do not know what he is thinking of doing now, though I inquire by constant letters. It is agreed that his alarm and confusion has reached the limit. He was kept in Italy to garrison Rome, but no garrison or place to post a garrison can I see. We depend entirely on two legions that were kept here by a trick, and are practically disloyal. For so far the levy has found unwilling recruits, afraid of war. But the time of compromise is passed. The future is obscure. We, or our leader, have brought things to such a pass, that having put to sea without a rudder, we must trust to the mercy of the storm.

So I hesitate what to do with the boys. Sometimes I think of sending them to Greece. As for Tullia and Terentia, when I picture the approach of the barbarians on Rome, I am terrified. But the thought of Dolabella is some small relief to my mind. Please consider my best course, in the first place with an eye to safety, for their safety stands on a different footing to mine, and then with regard to possible criticism, if I leave them in Rome, when the loyal are all in flight. Even you and Peducaeus must be careful what you do, as he writes to me. For your

splendor est vestrum, ut eadem postulentur a vobis quae ab amplissimis civibus. Sed de hoc tu videbis, quippe cum de me ipso ac de meis te considerare velim.

Reliquum est, ut, et quid agatur, quoad poteris, explores scribasque ad me, et quid ipse coniectura assequare, quod etiam a te magis exspecto. Nam acta omnibus nuntiantibus, a te exspecto futura. Μάντις δ' ἄριστος—. Loquacitati ignosces, quae et me levat ad te quidem scribentem et elicit tuas litteras. Aenigma Oppiorum ex Velia plane non intellexi; est enim numero Platonis obscurius.[37]

XIIIa CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Menturnis VIII K. Febr. a. 705

Iam intellexi tuum; Oppios enim de Velia saccones dicis. In eo aestuavi diu. Quo aperto reliqua patebant et cum Terentiae summa congruebant. L. Caesarem vidi Menturnis a. d. VIII Kal. Febr. mane cum absurdissimis mandatis, non hominem, sed scopas solutas, ut id ipsum mihi ille videatur irridendi causa fecisse, qui tantis de rebus huic mandata dederit;

eminence is such that people will expect the same from you as from the most distinguished citizens. But you are capable of looking after yourself. Why, it is to you that I look for advice about myself and my family.

For the rest, you must discover, as far as you can, what is happening, and write to me. Add your conjectures, too, for I look forward still more eagerly to them. Anybody can inform me of what has happened. From you I hope to hear what will happen. "The prince of seers...."[38] Pardon my chatter. It is a relief to write to you, and it gets me a letter from you. I am at a loss to explain your riddle about the Oppii of Velia; it is darker than Plato's number.[39]

XIIIa CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Menturnae, Jan 23, B.C. 49

I understand it now, you call those pursy Oppii the bagmen of Velia.[40] I was in doubt for a long time. But the riddle solved, the rest became clear, and tallied with Terentia's reckoning. I met L. Caesar at Menturnae on the morning of the 23rd of January with the most ridiculous commission. He is not a man, but a broom untied. I imagine that Caesar is mocking us by sending such a commissioner on so important business; but perhaps the fellow has no

nisi forte non dedit, et hic sermone aliquo arrepto pro mandatis abusus est.

Labienus, vir mea sententia magnus, Teanum venit a. d. VIIII Kal. Ibi Pompeium consulesque convenit. Qui sermo fuerit, et quid actum sit, scribam ad te, cum certum sciam. Pompeius a Teano Larinum versus profectus est a. d. VIII Kal. Eo die mansit Venafri. Iam aliquantum animi videtur nobis attulisse Labienus. Sed ego nondum habeo, quod ad te ex his locis scribam; ista magis exspecto, quid illim adferatur, quo pacto de Labieno ferat, quid agat Domitius in Marsis, Iguvi Thermus, P. Attius Cinguli, quae sit populi urbani voluntas, quae tua coniectura de rebus futuris. Haec velim crebro, et quid tibi de mulieribus nostris placeat, et quid acturus ipse sis, scribas. Si scriberem ipse, longior epistula fuisset, sed dictavi propter lippitudinem.

XIV CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Calibus a. d. VI K. Febr. a. 705

A. d. VI Kal. Febr. Capuam Calibus proficiscens, cum leviter lippirem, has litteras dedi. L. Caesar mandata Caesaris detulit ad Pompeium a. d. VIII Kal., cum is esset cum consulibus Teani. Probata condicio est, sed ita, ut ille de eis oppidis, quae extra suam provinciam occupavisset, praesidia deduceret. Id si fecisset, responsum est ad urbem nos redituros esse et rem per senatum confecturos. Spero posse in praesentia pacem nos habere; nam et illum furoris et hunc nostrum copiarum suppaenitet. Me Pompeius

authority, and is palming off some chance conversation as a commission.

Labienus, my hero, arrived at Teanum on the 22nd, where he met Pompey and the consuls. As soon as I have positive news, I will inform you of what they have said and done. Pompey set out from Teanum for Larinum on the 23rd. He spent that day at Venafrum. At last Labienus has given us some encouragement, but I have no news from this quarter. Rather I expect news from you of Caesar's doings, how he takes Labienus' desertion, what Domitius is doing among the Marsi, Thermus at Iguvium, and P. Attius at Cingulum, what is the city's feeling, and what are your views as to the future. Please write me often on these topics, and give me your opinion about my women-folk and your own intentions. Were I writing myself this letter would have been longer, but I dictate it owing to inflammation of the eyes.

XIV CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

Cales, Jan. 25, B.C. 49

On the 25th of January, setting out from Cales to Capua, I write this letter, though still suffering from slight inflammation of the eyes. L. Caesar brought Caesar's ultimatum to Pompey on the 23rd, while Pompey was at Teanum with the consuls. His conditions were accepted with the reservation that he should withdraw his garrison from the towns he has occupied outside his own province. That done, they said, we would return to Rome and settle business in the House. I hope for the present we may have peace: Caesar is rather sorry for his madness, and Pompey

Capuam venire voluit et adiuvare dilectum; in quo parum prolixe respondent Campani coloni. Gladiatores Caesaris, qui Capuae sunt, de quibus ante ad te falsum ex A. Torquati litteris scripseram, sane commode Pompeius distribuit binos singulis patribus familiarum. Scutorum in ludo IↃↃ fuerunt. Eruptionem facturi fuisse dicebantur. Sane multum in eo rei publicae provisum est.

De mulieribus nostris, in quibus est tua soror, quaeso videas, ut satis honestum nobis sit eas Romae esse, cum ceterae illa dignitate discesserint. Hoc scripsi ad eas et ad te ipsum antea. Velim eas cohortere, ut exeant, praesertim cum ea praedia in ora maritima habeamus, cui ego praesum, ut in iis pro re nata non incommode possint esse. Nam, si quid offendimus in genero nostro—quod quidem ego praestare non debeo—sed id fit maius, quod mulieres nostrae praeter ceteras Romae remanserunt. Tu ipse cum Sexto scire velim quid cogites de exeundo de totaque re quid existimes. Equidem pacem hortari non desino; quae vel iniusta utilior est quam iustissimum bellum cum civibus. Sed haec, ut fors tulerit.

XV CICERO ATTICO SAL.

Scr. Capuae V K. Febr. a. 705

Ut ab urbe discessi, nullum adhuc intermisi diem, quin aliquid ad te litterarum darem, non quo haberem