CICERO'S LETTERS TO ATTICUS BOOK XVI (continued 2)

435have been together. If you will do this, you will have bound me—who have always been attached to you by my own inclination and by our family friendship—to you under a heavy obligation, and I beg you earnestly and repeatedly to do so.

XVIc CICERO TO CAPITO, GREETING

Written at the same time as 16b

I never thought I should have to come before you as a suppliant, but upon my soul I am not sorry that I should have an occasion for testing your affection. You know how fond I am of Atticus. Pray grant me one other favour and forget for my sake that once he wished to support a friend of his, who was an enemy of yours, when his reputation was at stake. In the first place your kindly disposition should bid you forgive that, for everyone ought to look after his own friends; in the next place, leaving Atticus out of the question, if you love me—and you are always declaring how great is the respect you have for your friend Cicero—grant me that now I may know for a certainty what I have always believed, that you have a great affection for me. By a decree, which I and many important persons signed, Caesar set free the Buthrotians, and assured us that, when the land-commissioners had crossed the sea, he would send a despatch about the territory to which they should be transferred; and then it happened that he died suddenly. Then, as you know (for you were present), when the consuls ought to have decided on Caesar's proceedings in accordance with a senatorial decree, they postponed the matter till the 1st of June. On the 2nd of June a law was passed in

436Iun., quae lex earum rerum, quas Caesar statuisset, decrevisset, egisset, consulibus cognitionem dedit. Causa Buthrotiorum delata est ad consules. Decretum Caesaris recitatum est et multi praeterea libelli Caesaris prolati. Consules de consilii sententia decreverunt secundum Buthrotios: litteras ad^[347] Plancum dederunt. Nunc, mi Capito (scio enim, quantum semper apud eos, quibuscum sis, posse soleas, eo plus apud hominem facillimum atque humanissimum, Plancum), enitere, elabora vel potius eblandire, effice, ut Plancus, quem spero optimum esse, sit etiam melior opera tua. Omnino res huius modi mihi videtur esse, ut sine cuiusquam gratia Plancus ipse pro ingenio et prudentia sua non sit dubitaturus, quin decretum consulum, quorum et lege et senatus consulto cognitio et iudicium fuit, conservet, praesertim cum hoc genere cognitionum labefactato acta Caesaris in dubium ventura videantur, quae non modo ii, quorum interest, sed etiam ii, qui illa non probant, otii causa confirmari velint. Quod cum ita sit, tamen interest nostra Plancum hoc animo libenti prolixoque facere; quod certe faciet, si tu nervulos tuos mihi saepe cognitos suavitatemque, qua nemo tibi par est, adhibueris. Quod ut facias, te vehementer rogo.

437addition to the decree of the Senate, granting the consuls the right of deciding on Caesar's statutes, decrees, and proceedings. The case of the Buthrotians was put before the consuls. Caesar's decree was read to them, and many other papers of Caesar's were brought forward too. By the advice of their council the consuls decided in favour of the Buthrotians, and sent a despatch to Plancus. Now, Capito, I know the influence you always have over those with whom you are, especially with so amiable and good-natured a person as Plancus; please use all your energy, or rather all your powers of persuasion, and make Plancus, who I hope will be sufficiently kindly himself, still more kindly. In any case I think this is the state of affairs: that without favouring anybody, Plancus will have sense and wisdom enough to have no hesitation in obeying the decree of the consuls, who had the right of enquiry and decision conferred upon them by law and by a senatorial decree, especially as, if this kind of decision is rendered null, Caesar's proceedings may well be called in question; and not only those who benefit by them, but even those who disapprove of them, have to give them their support for the sake of peace. Though that is the case, still it is to our interest that Plancus should do this willingly and freely; and no doubt he will if you exert your influence, which I know so well, and your persuasive power, which is unequalled: and that I beg you earnestly to do.

438

XVId CICERO C. CUPIENNIO S.

Scr. eodem tempore quo ep. 16c

Patrem tuum plurimi feci, meque ille mirifice et coluit et amavit; nec mehercule umquam mihi dubium fuit, quin a te diligerer; ego quidem id facere non destiti. Quam ob rem peto a te in maiorem modum, ut civitatem Buthrotiam subleves decretumque consulum, quod ii secundum Buthrotios fecerunt, cum et lege et senatus consulto statuendi potestatem haberent, des operam ut Plancus noster quam primum confirmet et comprobet. Hoc te vehementer, mi Cupienni, etiam atque etiam rogo.

XVIe CICERO PLANCO PRAET. DES. S.

Scr. post ep. 16b

Ignosce mihi, quod, cum antea accuratissime de Buthrotiis ad te scripserim, eadem de re saepius scribam. Non mehercule, mi Plance, facio, quo parum confidam aut liberalitati tuae aut nostrae amicitiae, sed, cum tanta res agatur Attici nostri, nunc vero etiam existimatio, ut id, quod probavit Caesar nobis testibus et obsignatoribus, qui et decretis et responsis Caesaris interfueramus, videatur obtinere potuisse, praesertim cum tota potestas eius rei tua sit, ut ea, quae consules decreverunt secundum

439

XVId CICERO TO C. CUPIENNIUS, GREETING.

Written at the same time at 16c

I was a great admirer of your father, and he was exceedingly attentive and affectionate to me; and I am sure I have never had any doubt that you have a regard for me. Certainly I have never ceased to have one for you. So I beg you with more than usual earnestness to assist the city of Buthrotum, and to make it your business that our friend Plancus should confirm and verify the decree which the consuls made in favour of the Buthrotians, when they had been granted the power of settling the question both by a statute and by a senatorial decree. This I do most earnestly beg and entreat you, my dear Cupiennius.

XVIe CICERO TO PLANCUS, PRAETOR ELECT, GREETING.

Written after 16b

Pardon me for writing again on the same subject, when I have already written very fully to you about the Buthrotians. I do assure you, my dear Plancus, that I do not do so because I have little faith in your generosity or your friendship for me. But my friend Atticus has so great a monetary stake in the matter; and now, what is more, his very reputation is involved in showing that he can obtain what Caesar approved of, and we, who were present when Caesar made his decrees and gave his answer, witnessed and sealed. And I appeal to you especially, because it is a case where the whole power, I will not say of confirming, but of confirming freely and willingly

440Caesaris decreta et responsa, non dicam comprobes, sed studiose libenterque comprobes. Id mihi sic erit gratum, ut nulla res gratior esse possit. Etsi iam sperabam, cum has litteras accepisses, fore ut ea, quae superioribus litteris a te petissemus, impetrata essent, tamen non faciam finem rogandi, quoad nobis nuntiatum erit te id fecisse, quod magna cum spe exspectamus. Deinde enim confido fore ut alio genere litterarum utamur tibique pro tuo summo beneficio gratias agamus. Quod si acciderit, velim sic existimes, non tibi tam Atticum, cuius permagna res agitur, quam me, qui non minus laboro quam ille, obligatum fore.

XVIf CICERO CAPITONI SAL.

Scr. paulo post ep. 16c

Non dubito, quin mirere atque etiam stomachere, quod tecum de eadem re agam saepius. Hominis familiarissimi et mihi omnibus rebus coniunctissimi permagna res agitur, Attici. Cognovi ego tua studia in amicos, etiam in te amicorum. Multum potes nos apud Plancum iuvare. Novi humanitatem tuam; scio, quam sis amicis iucundus. Nemo nos in hac causa plus iuvare potest quam tu. Et res ita est firma, ut debet esse, quam consules de consilii sententia decreverunt, cum et lege et senatus consulto cognoscerent. Tamen omnia posita putamus in Planci

441what the consuls decreed in accordance with Caesar's decrees and promises, lies in your hands. It will be doing me a favour than which none could be greater. Although I hope that by the time you receive this letter you will have granted me the petition I made in my former letter, still I shall not cease from asking until I have news that you have done what I am looking forward to with great hope. Then I trust I shall write a different kind of letter, and pay my thanks for your exceeding kindness. If that comes to pass I would have you think that you have not so much put Atticus, in spite of the huge sum of money he has at stake, under an obligation, as myself, who take an equal interest in the matter.

XVIf CICERO TO CAPITO, GREETING.

Written shortly after 16c

I have no doubt you are astonished and even annoyed with me for approaching you twice on the same subject. Atticus, my greatest friend and my closest intimate in every way, has grave interests at stake. I know the willingness with which you help your friends and your friends help you. You can render us much assistance with Plancus. I know the kindness of your heart; I know how welcome you are to your friends. There is no one who can help us more than you in this case. And the case is as sound as a case ought to be which the consuls have decided on the advice of their council, when they had the right of decision conferred on them by statute and by senatorial decree. Still to us the whole case seems to lie in the generosity of your

442tui liberalitate; quem quidem arbitramur cum officii sui et rei publicae causa decretum consulum comprobaturum tum libenter nostra causa esse facturum. Adiuvabis igitur, mi Capito. Quod ut facias, te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo.

443friend Plancus; and, indeed, we think he will ratify the consuls' decree both for duty's sake and for the sake of the constitution, and that he will do so willingly for our sake. So please help us, my dear Capito. I entreat and beseech you earnestly to do so.

445