Cicero: Letters to Atticus, Vol. 2 of 3
BOOK VII
I
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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.
[2] Cf. vi, 4, 6, 9.
In heaven's name, I want all the affection which you have lavished on me, and all your worldly
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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
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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.
[Sidenote: 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
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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.
[3] _The reading here is debatable._ Sulpicius, Hillus, _and_ alius _have been suggested in place of_ stultus.
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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.
[4] Probably a quotation from some early poet.
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
[5] _Iliad_ vi, 442, and xxii, 100.
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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.
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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.
[6] 1,000,000 sesterces.
[Sidenote: 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.
[7] Cato.
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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.
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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].
[8] Taken by the older commentators to be a Latin form of Λαερτιάδης (i.e. Ulysses); but the sense does not seem to warrant the comparison, which could only mean "as wily as Ulysses."
"A truce to what is past for all our pain."[9]
[9] _Iliad_ xviii, 112; xix, 65, "Let bygones be bygones."
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.
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II
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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,
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II
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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.
[10] Catullus, Cinna, and the other imitators of Alexandrine poetry.
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
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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.
[11] detortorio _M_; detortorium _CZ_; _corr. by Junius_.
Redeo ad rem. Quo modo exspectabam epistulam,
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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.
[12] Monetary fractions are generally expressed by parts of the _as_; but here the _denarius_ is used as the standard. The _libella_ was one-tenth and the _teruncius_ one-fortieth of a _denarius_.
[13] With φυσικήν the substantive ὁρμήν must be understood.
[14] _De Republica._
I return to business. How I looked for the letter
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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.
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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'
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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
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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,
[15] Cf. II, 16, where Dicaearchus is mentioned as an advocate of an active life. He was a pupil of Aristotle, and wrote philosophical and geographical works.
[16] Of the _De Republica_.
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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,
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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.
[17] _Legati_ of Caesar: but nothing is known of any slight on them.
[18] Before his exile Cicero dedicated a statue of Minerva in the Capitol with the inscription _Custos Urbis_. Possibly, however, there was a longer inscription. Volcacius and Servius maintained neutrality in the civil war.
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
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Sed, quoniam res eo deducta est, non quaeram, ut scribis:
Ποῦ σκάφος τὸ τῶν Ἀτρειδῶν;
mihi σκάφος unum erit, quod 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
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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]
[19] Euripides _Troades_ 455 ποῦ σκάφος τὸ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ
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
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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.
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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.
[20] Lit. "about the knee-splints (I gave) my staff." He refers to restraining their rapacity.
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
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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."
[21] re ego _Reid_; re _L (marg.), M (above the line)_; reo _NOPM_¹: eo _M_².
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
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Caelius has taken the Porta Flumentana,[22] I don't see why I should not make Puteoli mine.
[22] Caelius had bought Lucceius' property near the Porta Flumentana at the entrance of the Campus Martius.
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.
[23] In the morning as I disembarked in the Piraeus.
[24] Terence, _Eun._ 539 (yesterday while some of us youths met in the Piraeus), and 115 (The merchant added one thing more, a female slave from Sunium). In the first the MSS. of Terence read _Piraeo_.
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?
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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.
[25] satis est _Mommsen_: satis _MSS._: comitatis satis _or_ satis dignitatis _Lehmann_.
[26] rem _Bosius_; rem a me _Purser_.
[27] facere rentur Δ _Bosius_; facerentur _O_².
Data v Idus Decembr. a Pontio ex Trebulano.
IV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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
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"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."
[28] Caelius the banker is again referred to in XII, 5.
[29] L. Cornelius Balbus of Tartessus.
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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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
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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
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aut deposuerimus. Cura igitur, ut valeas. Aliquando ἀπότριψαι quartanam istam diligentia, quae in te summa est.
VI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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.
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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.
[Sidenote: _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?
[Sidenote: 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.
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VII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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
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VII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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
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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
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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
[30] Abdera was the classical Gotham.
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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.
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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.
[31] Balbus of Gades was adopted by Theophanes of Mytilene, who had himself received the citizenship from Pompey.
Please remember me to Alexis, a very clever boy, unless perhaps in my absence he has become a man, as he threatened to do.
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VIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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
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VIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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.
[Sidenote: 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
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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.
[32] ἰδέα _Schmidt_: î _M_; ita, viv, nif, infra _other MSS._
IX
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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X
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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.
[Sidenote: _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,
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X
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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.
[Sidenote: _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,
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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]
[33] COCON _MSS._: τόσον _Tyrrell, Purser_; σοι _Vict._
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]
[34] an _added by Ernesti_.
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"To win God's greatest gift, a crown?"
[Sidenote: 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.
[35] Or "precious." The meaning is very doubtful.
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.
"Such were the deeds they did, men say, The heroes of an elder day."
[Sidenote: 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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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
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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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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,
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
[36] Caesar.
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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
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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
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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]
[37] Aenigma--obscurius, _transferred by O. E. Schmidt from the beginning of XIIIa_.
XIIIa
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _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;
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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]
[38] The line--in full μάντις δ'ἄριστος ὅστις εἰκάζει καλῶς--is taken from a lost tragedy of Euripides.
[39] The "nuptial number" of the _Republic_, 545c foll.
XIIIa
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _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
[40] The Oppii were bankers. If _saccones_ is read, it must be taken as a jocular reference to money-bags. Some, however, read _succones_ "blood-suckers," suggesting an obscure play upon the words ὀπός (fig juice) and _sucus_.
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _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
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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.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Capuae V K. Febr. a. 705_]
Ut ab urbe discessi, nullum adhuc intermisi diem, quin aliquid ad te litterarum darem, non quo haberem
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is uneasy as to our forces. I am wanted at Capua to assist the levy. The settlers in Campania are hanging back. As for Caesar's professional fighting men at Capua, about whom I misinformed you on the authority of A. Torquatus, Pompey has very cleverly distributed them two a-piece to heads of families. There were 5,000 heavy armed gladiators in the school. They were said to meditate a sortie. Pompey's was a wise provision for the safety of the state.
As for my women-folk, among whom is your sister, I entreat you to consider the propriety of their stay at Rome, when the other ladies of their rank have departed. I wrote to them and to you on this point previously. Please urge them to leave the city, especially as I have those estates on the sea-coast, which is under my care, so that they can live there without much inconvenience, considering the state of affairs. For, if I give offence by the conduct of my son-in-law (though I am not his keeper), the fact that my women-folk stay in Rome after others have left makes matters worse. I should like to know what you and Sextus think about leaving town, and to have your opinion of matters in general. As for me, I cease not to advocate peace. It may be on unjust terms, but even so it is more expedient than the justest of civil wars. However, I can but leave it to fate.
XV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Capua, Jan. 26_, B.C. _49_]
Since I left Rome I have not yet let a day pass without dropping you a line; not that I had any
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magno opere, quod scriberem, sed ut loquerer tecum absens; quo mihi, cum coram id non licet, nihil est iucundius.
Capuam cum venissem a. d. VI Kal. pridie, quam has litteras dedi, consules conveni multosque nostri ordinis. Omnes cupiebant Caesarem abductis praesidiis stare condicionibus iis, quas tulisset; uni Favonio leges ab illo nobis imponi non placebat. Sed is haud auditus[41] in consilio. Cato enim ipse iam servire quam pugnare mavult; sed tamen ait in senatu se adesse velle, cum de condicionibus agatur, si Caesar adductus sit, ut praesidia deducat. Ita, quod maxime opus est, in Siciliam ire non curat; quod metuo ne obsit, in senatu esse vult. Postumius autem, de quo nominatim senatus decrevit, ut statim in Siciliam iret Furfanioque succederet, negat se sine Catone iturum et suam in senatu operam auctoritatemque quam magni aestimat. Ita res ad Fannium pervenit. Is cum imperio in Siciliam praemittitur. In disputationibus nostris summa varietas est. Plerique negant Caesarem in condicione mansurum postulataque haec ab eo interposita esse, quo minus, quod opus esset ad bellum, a nobis pararetur. Ego autem eum puto facturum, ut praesidia deducat. Vicerit enim, si consul factus erit, et minore scelere vicerit, quam quo ingressus est. Sed accipienda plaga est. Sumus enim flagitiose imparati cum a militibus tum a pecunia; quam quidem omnem non modo privatam, quae in urbe est, sed etiam publicam, quae in aerario est, illi reliquimus. Pompeius ad legiones Appianas[42] est profectus; Labienum secum habet. Ego tuas opiniones de his rebus exspecto. Formias me continuo recipere cogitabam.
[41] haud auditus _Bosius_: auditus auditus _M_: a nullo auditus _Müller_.
[42] Appianas _Lipsius_: acianas _M_¹: actianas _M_²: Attianas _most editors_.
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particular news, but I wanted to talk with you in my absence. When we cannot talk face to face, there is nothing I like better.
I reached Capua yesterday, the 25th, where I met the consuls and many fellow-members. All hope that Caesar will abide by his conditions, accepting the withdrawal of his garrisons: only Favonius objects to his dictating to us. But no one listened to him. For even Cato now prefers slavery to war: but he wants to be in the House when the terms are debated, if Caesar can be induced to withdraw his garrisons. So he does not care to do what would be most useful, and go to Sicily: and he wants to be in the House, where I fear he will cause trouble. The Senate definitely decreed that Postumius should set out for Sicily at once and succeed Furfanius. Postumius replied he would not go without Cato; he has a great idea of his own value and influence in the House. So choice fell on Fannius; he is dispatched to Sicily with military power. In our debates there is great difference of opinion. Most declare that Caesar will not stick to his compact, and that his demands were only introduced to hinder our preparations for war. I fancy, however, that he will withdraw his garrisons. For he will win his point, if he is elected consul, and win it with less scandal than by his first course. But the blow must be borne. We are sinfully unready in men and money: for we have left him not only our private purses in the city, but the state funds in the treasury. Pompey along with Labienus has set out for Appius' legions. I want your views on this. I think of returning to Formiae at once.
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XVI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Calibus III K. Febr. a. 705_]
Omnes arbitror mihi tuas litteras redditas esse, sed primas praepostere, reliquas ordine, quo sunt missae per Terentiam. De mandatis Caesaris adventuque Labieni et responsis consulum ac Pompei scripsi ad te litteris iis, quas a. d. V Kal. Capua dedi, pluraque praeterea in eandem epistulam conieci. Nunc has exspectationes habemus duas, unam, quid Caesar acturus sit, cum acceperit ea, quae referenda ad illum data sunt L. Caesari, alteram, quid Pompeius agat. Qui quidem ad me scribit paucis diebus se firmum exercitum habiturum, spemque adfert, si in Picenum agrum ipse venerit, nos Romam redituros esse. Labienum secum habet non dubitantem de imbecillitate Caesaris copiarum; cuius adventu Gnaeus noster multo animi plus habet. Nos a consulibus Capuam venire iussi sumus ad Nonas Febr.
Capua profectus sum Formias a. d. III Kal. Eo die cum Calibus tuas litteras hora fere nona accepissem, has statim dedi. De Terentia et Tullia tibi adsentior. Ad quas scripseram, ad te ut referrent. Si nondum profectae sunt, nihil est, quod se moveant, quoad perspiciamus, quo loci sit res.
XVII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano IV Non. Febr. a. 705_]
Tuae litterae mihi gratae iucundaeque sunt. De pueris in Graeciam transportandis tum cogitabam,
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XVI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Cales, Jan. 28_, B.C. _49_]
I think all your letters reached me, but the first out of proper order, the others as they were dispatched by Terentia. About Caesar's ultimatum, the arrival of Labienus, and the reply of Pompey and the consuls, I informed you in my letter of the 26th of January from Capua, and I threw in a deal of other information besides. Now we have two things to wait for, first what Caesar will do on receipt of the terms given to L. Caesar to convey to him, and secondly what Pompey is doing now. Pompey indeed writes to me that in a few days he will have a strong force, and he encourages me to hope, that, if he enters Picenum, we shall return to Rome. Labienus accompanies him, confident in the weakness of Caesar's forces. His arrival has much encouraged Pompey. The consuls have ordered me to go to Capua by the 5th of February.
I set out from Capua for Formiae on the 28th of January. On receipt of your letter at Cales on that day about three o'clock I write this by return. As for Terentia and Tullia I agree with you, and I have written to them to consult you. If they have not yet started, there is no reason for them to bestir themselves, till we see how things are.
XVII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 2_, B.C. _49_]
Your welcome letter I received with delight. I thought of sending the boys to Greece when Pompey's
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cum fuga ex Italia quaeri videbatur. Nos enim Hispaniam peteremus; illis hoc aeque commodum non erat. Tu ipse cum Sexto etiam nunc mihi videris Romae recte esse posse; etenim minime amici Pompeio nostro esse debetis. Nemo enim umquam tantum de urbanis praediis detraxit. Videsne me etiam iocari?
Scire iam te oportet, L. Caesar quae response referat a Pompeio, quas ab eodem ad Caesarem ferat litteras. Scriptae enim et datae ita sunt, ut proponerentur in publico. In quo accusavi mecum ipse Pompeium, qui, cum scriptor luculentus esset, tantas res atque eas, quae in omnium manus venturae essent, Sestio nostro scribendas dederit. Itaque nihil umquam legi scriptum σηστιωδέστερον. Perspici tamen ex litteris Pompei potest nihil Caesari negari omniaque ei cumulate, quae postulet, dari. Quae ille amentissimus fuerit nisi acceperit, praesertim cum impudentissime postulaverit. Quis enim tu es, qui dicas: "Si in Hispaniam profectus erit, si praesidia dimiserit"? Tamen conceditur minus honeste nunc quidem violata iam ab illo re publica illatoque bello, quam si olim de ratione habenda impetrasset. Et tamen vereor, ut his ipsis contentus sit. Nam, cum ista mandata dedisset L. Caesari, debuit esse paulo quietior, dum responsa referrentur; dicitur autem nunc esse acerrimus.
Trebatius quidem scribit se ab illo VIIII Kal. Febr.
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flight from Italy seemed likely. For I myself should have gone to Spain, but it would not have been so suitable for them. I fancy you and Sextus may well stay in Rome even now; for you are not in the least bound to be Pompey's friends: no one has ever depreciated city property so much as Pompey. I must have my joke still, you see.
You should know already the reply that Pompey is sending by Lucius Caesar, and the nature of his letter to Caesar; for it was written and sent on purpose to be published. Mentally I blamed Pompey who, though a clear writer himself, gave Sestius the task of drawing up documents of such importance, which were to come into every one's hands. Accordingly I have never seen anything more Sestian in its style.[43] Still it is plain from the letter that nothing can be denied to Caesar, and that the whole bulk of his demands are to be granted. He will be utterly mad to reject the terms, particularly when his demands are most impudent. Pray, who are you, Caesar, to insist "Provided Pompey go to Spain, provided he dismiss his garrisons"? Still the demand is being granted, but it has cost us more loss of dignity now that he has outraged the sanctity of the state and waged war against it, than if he had obtained his previous request to be admitted a candidate. And yet I fear he may want more. For when he entrusted his ultimatum to L. Caesar, he should have kept a little quiet until he received a reply. But he is said now to be more energetic than ever.
[43] Cf. Catullus xliv for comments on Sestius' style. Sestius was defended by Cicero in 56 B.C. with a speech which is extant.
Trebatius indeed writes to me that Caesar requested
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rogatum esse, ut scriberet ad me, ut essem ad urbem, nihil ei me gratius facere posse. Haec verbis plurimis. Intellexi ex dierum ratione, ut primum de discessu nostro Caesar audisset, laborare eum coepisse, ne omnes abessemus. Itaque non dubito, quin ad Pisonem, quin ad Servium scripserit; illud admiror, non ipsum ad me scripsisse, non per Dolabellam, non per Caelium egisse. Quamquam non aspernor Trebati litteras; a quo me unice diligi scio. Rescripsi ad Trebatium (nam ad ipsum Caesarem, qui mihi nihil scripsisset, nolui), quam illud hoc tempore esset difficile; me tamen in praediis meis esse neque dilectum ullum neque negotium suscepisse. In quo quidem manebo, dum spes pacis erit; sin bellum geretur, non deero officio nec dignitati meae pueros ὑπεκθέμενος in Graeciam. Totam enim Italiam flagraturam bello intellego. Tantum mali est excitatum partim ex improbis, partim ex invidis civibus. Sed haec paucis diebus ex illius ad nostra responsa responsis intellegentur quorsum evasura sint. Tum ad te scribam plura, si erit bellum; sin otium aut[44] etiam indutiae, te ipsum, ut spero, videbo.
[44] otium aut _Tyrrell and Purser_: autem _MSS._
Ego IIII Nonas Febr., quo die has litteras dedi, in Formiano, quo Capua redieram, mulieres exspectabam. Quibus quidem scripseram tuis litteris admonitus, ut Romae manerent. Sed audio maiorem quendam in urbe timorem esse. Capuae Nonis Febr. esse volebam, quia consules iusserant. Quicquid huc erit a Pompeio allatum, statim ad te scribam tuasque de istis rebus litteras exspectabo.
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him on the 22nd of January to write and beg me to remain near the city; that would win me his best thanks. All this at great length. I calculated from the date, that as soon as he heard of my departure Caesar began to be concerned lest we should all go from town. So I have no doubt he wrote to Piso and to Servius. One thing surprises me that he did not write to me himself, or approach me through Dolabella or Caelius. However, I am not offended at a letter from Trebatius, who is my particular wellwisher. I would not reply to Caesar himself, as he had not written to me; but I wrote to Trebatius how difficult such a course would be at this juncture, but that I was staying on my country estates, and had not undertaken any part in the levy or any business. To this I will stand so long as there is any prospect of peace; but, if it comes to war, I shall act as becomes my duty and rank, after stowing away my boys to Greece. For all Italy, I gather, will blaze with war. Such a catastrophe is caused partly by disloyalty, partly by jealousy amongst her citizens. The outcome will be known in a few days from Caesar's answer to our letter. Then, if it be war, I will write again: if it be peace or a respite, I shall hope to see you.
On the 2nd of February, the date of this letter, I await my women-folk in my place at Formiae, whence I have returned from Capua. I wrote to them on your advice to stay in Rome. But I hear that panic has rather increased there. I want to be at Capua on the 5th of February, as the consuls have ordered. Any news we get here from Pompey I will let you know at once, and I shall look to letters from you for news from the city.
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XVIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano III Non. Febr. a. 705_]
IIII Non. Febr. mulieres nostrae Formias venerunt tuaque erga se officia plena tui suavissimi studii ad me pertulerunt. Eas ego, quoad sciremus, utrum turpi pace nobis an misero bello esset utendum, in Formiano esse volui et una Cicerones. Ipse cum fratre Capuam ad consules (Nonis enim adesse iussi sumus) III Nonas profectus sum, cum has litteras dedi.
Responsa Pompei grata populo et probata contioni esse dicuntur. Ita putaram. Quae quidem ille si repudiarit, iacebit; si acceperit--. "Utrum igitur," inquies, "mavis"? Responderem, si, quem ad modum parati essemus, scirem. Cassium erat hic auditum expulsum Ancona eamque urbem a nobis teneri. Si bellum futurum est, negotium utile. Caesarem quidem L. Caesare cum mandatis de pace misso tamen aiunt acerrime dilectum habere, loca occupare, vincire praesidiis. O perditum latronem! o vix ullo otio compensandam hanc rei publicae turpitudinem! Sed stomachari desinamus, tempori pareamus, cum Pompeio in Hispaniam eamus. Haec opto[45] in malis, quoniam illius alterum consulatum a re publica ne data quidem occasione reppulimus. Sed haec hactenus.
[45] optima _Lipsius and recent editors_.
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XVIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 3_, B.C. _49_]
On the 2nd of February my women-folk came to Formiae and brought me an account of your very kind and zealous attentions. I wished them to stay in my villa here along with the boys, till we know whether we are to have peace with dishonour, or war with its horrors. I and my brother start for Capua on the 3rd of February, the date of this letter, to meet the consuls on the 5th according to their instructions.
Pompey's reply to Caesar is said to please the people, and to have won the approval of a public meeting. I expected it. If Caesar rejects this condition, he will fall in esteem: if he accept----. You will ask my choice in the matter. I would answer, if I knew our state of preparation. It is reported here that Cassius has been driven from Ancona, and that our party hold the town. That will be a useful thing in the event of war. As for Caesar, though he has sent L. Caesar with negotiations for peace, nevertheless reports declare that he is collecting levies with the greatest energy, seizing posts, and securing the country with garrisons. What a villain robber! What a disgrace to the country, too dear a price to pay for any peace! But let us restrain our anger, yield to circumstance and accompany Pompey to Spain. That is my choice in our straits, since we did not take the chance when we had it of keeping him from his second consulship.[46] But enough of politics.
[46] Or "since we refused him his second consulship, when we had no choice in the matter."
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De Dionysio fugit me ad te antea scribere; sed ita constitui, exspectare responsa Caesaris, ut, si ad urbem rediremus, ibi nos exspectaret, sin tardius id fieret, tum eum arcesseremus. Omnino, quid ille facere debuerit in nostra illa fuga, quid docto homine et amico dignum fuerit, cum praesertim rogatus esset, scio, sed haec non nimis exquiro a Graecis. Tu tamen videbis, si erit, quod nolim, arcessendus, ne molesti simus invito.
Quintus frater laborat, ut tibi, quod debet, ab Egnatio solvat; nec Egnatio voluntas deest, nec parum locuples est, sed, cum tale tempus sit, ut Q. Titinius (multum enim est nobiscum) viaticum se neget habere idemque debitoribus suis denuntiarit, ut eodem faenore uterentur, atque hoc idem etiam L. Ligus fecisse dicatur, nec hoc tempore aut domi nummos Quintus habeat aut exigere ab Egnatio aut versuram usquam facere possit, miratur te non habuisse rationem huius publicae difficultatis. Ego autem, etsi illud ψευδησιόδειον (ita enim putatur) observo μηδὲ δίκην, praesertim in te, a quo nihil umquam vidi temere fieri, tamen illius querela movebar. Hoc quicquid est, te scire volui.
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It escaped my memory to write to you about Dionysius before: but my determination is this, to await Caesar's answer, so that, if I return to Rome, Dionysius may await me there; but, if there is delay, then I would summon him. I am quite aware of what he ought to have done when I took to flight, what was proper for a scholar and a friend, especially when he had been asked to do it: but I do not expect much from a Greek. But please see, if I have to summon him, which I hope I shall not, that I may not be troubling a reluctant man.
My brother Quintus is anxious to give you a draft on Egnatius for the money he owes, and Egnatius is willing and has plenty of cash; but when the times are such that Q. Titinius,[47] whom I see often, declares he has no money to get along with, and yet has told his debtors that they may let their debts stand over at the same rate of interest as before, and when L. Ligus too is said to have taken the same steps, and Quintus at the present time has no money in hand, and is unable to borrow from Egnatius or to raise a new loan anywhere, he is surprised that you have not taken into account our national straits. Though I observe the saying wrongly ascribed to Hesiod "Hear both sides,"[48] particularly in the case of yourself, whom I have always found considerate, still I was affected by his grievance. You ought to know his grievance, such as it is.
[47] An _eques_ and a money-lender.
[48] μηδὲ δίκην δικάσῃς πρὶν ἃν ἀμφοῖν μῦθον ἀκούσῃς, generally ascribed to Phocylides.
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XIX
CICERO ATTICO.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano III Non. Febr. a. 705._]
Nihil habeo, quod ad te scribam, qui etiam eam epistulam, quam eram elucubratus, ad te non dederim. Erat enim plena spei bonae, quod et contionis voluntatem audieram et illum condicionibus usurum putabam, praesertim suis. Ecce tibi III Nonas Febr. mane accepi litteras tuas, Philotimi, Furni, Curionis ad Furnium, quibus irridet L. Caesaris legationem. Plane oppressi videmur, nec, quid consilii capiam, scio. Nec mehercule de me laboro, de pueris quid agam, non habeo. Capuam tamen proficiscebar haec scribens, quo facilius de Pompei rebus cognoscerem.
XX
CICERO ATTICO.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Capuae Non. Febr. a. 705_]
Breviloquentem iam me tempus ipsum facit. Pacem enim desperavi, bellum nostri nullum administrant. Cave enim putes quicquam esse minoris his consulibus: quorum ego spe audiendi aliquid et cognoscendi nostri apparatus maximo imbri Capuam veni pridie Nonas, ut eram iussus. Illi autem nondum venerant, sed erant venturi inanes, imparati. Gnaeus autem Luceriae dicebatur esse et adire cohortes legionum Appianarum[49] non firmissimarum. At illum
[49] Appianarum _Lipsius cf._ 15. 3: itinarum _M_¹: itinerum _M_²: Attianarum _older editors_.
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XIX
CICERO TO ATTICUS.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 3_, B.C. _49_]
I have no news for you, and have not even sent you my lucubration of last night: for that was a letter full of good cheer, because I had heard of the temper shown at the public meeting, and thought that Caesar would abide by terms which were in fact his own. But now on this, the morning of the 3rd of February, I have got a letter from you, one from Philotimus, one from Furnius, and one from Curio to Furnius ridiculing the mission of L. Caesar. We appear to be crushed utterly, nor do I know what plan to take. I am not indeed in trouble about myself, it is the boys that put me in a dilemma. Still I am setting out for Capua, as I write this, that I may more easily get to know Pompey's affairs.
XX
CICERO TO ATTICUS.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 5_, B.C. _49_]
The occasion makes me brief. I have abandoned hope of peace: but our party takes no steps for war. Pray don't suppose that there is anything of less concern to our present consuls than the war. I came to Capua on the 4th according to instructions, in heavy rain, with the hope of hearing something from them and getting to know of our equipment. They had not yet arrived, but were expected, emptyhanded, unprepared. Pompey was reported to be at Luceria and close to some cohorts[50] of the shaky
[50] Or "and some cohorts are approaching."
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ruere nuntiant et iam iamque adesse, non ut manum conserat (quicum enim?), sed ut fugam intercludat. Ego autem in Italia καὶ συναποθανεῖν--nec te id consulo; sin extra, quid ago? Ad manendum hiems, lictores, improvidi et neglegentes duces, ad fugam hortatur amicitia Gnaei, causa bonorum, turpitudo coniungendi cum tyranno; qui quidem incertum est Phalarimne an Pisistratum sit imitaturus. Haec velim explices et me iuves consilio; etsi te ipsum istic iam calere puto, sed tamen, quantum poteris. Ego si quid hic hodie novi cognoro, scies; iam enim aderunt consules ad suas Nonas. Tuas cotidie litteras exspectabo; ad has autem, cum poteris, rescribes. Mulieres et Cicerones in Formiano reliqui.
XXI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Calibus VI Id. Febr. ante lucem a. 705_]
De malis nostris tu prius audis quam ego. Istim enim emanant. Boni autem hinc quod exspectes, nihil est. Veni Capuam ad Nonas Febr., ita ut iusserant consules. Eo die Lentulus venit sero. Alter consul omnino non venerat VII Idus. Eo enim die ego Capua discessi et mansi Calibus. Inde has litteras postridie ante lucem dedi. Haec, Capuae dum fui, cognovi, nihil in consulibus, nullum usquam dilectum. Nec enim conquisitores φαινοπροσωπεῖν audent, cum
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Appian troops. Caesar is said to be tearing along, and is nearly on us, not to join battle--there is no one to join it with--but to cut us off from flight. Now, if it is to be in Italy, I am ready to die with her--and on that I need not ask your advice: but if the struggle is beyond her borders, what am I to do? The winter, my lictors, the improvidence and neglect of the leaders prompt me to stay: my friendship with Pompey, the cause of the loyalists, the disgrace of association with a tyrant, prompt me to flee. One cannot say whether that tyrant will choose Phalaris or Pisistratus as his model. Please unravel this and assist me with your advice. Though I suppose you are in a warm corner in Rome, still help me to the best of your ability. I will advise you if anything new crops up here to-day. The consuls will arrive on the 5th as arranged. I shall look for a letter every day: but answer this one as soon as you can. I have left the ladies and the boys at Formiae.
XXI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Cales, Feb. 8_, B.C. _49_]
Of our troubles you hear sooner than I. It is from your quarter they come. No good news can be expected from here. I reached Capua on the 5th of February, as the consuls bade. Lentulus arrived late in the day. The other consul had not arrived at all on the 7th: for on that day I left Capua and stayed at Cales. On the 8th before daybreak I dispatch you this letter from there. The discovery I made at Capua was that no reliance is to be placed on the consuls, and that no levy is being made anywhere. For recruiting officers do not dare to show their faces
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ille adsit, contraque noster dux nusquam sit, nihil agat, nec nomina dant. Deficit enim non voluntas, sed spes. Gnaeus autem noster (o rem miseram et incredibilem!) ut totus iacet! Non animus est, non consilium, non copiae, non diligentia. Mittam illa, fugam ab urbe turpissimam, timidissimas in oppidis contiones, ignorationem non solum adversarii, sed etiam suarum copiarum; hoc cuius modi est? VII Idus Febr. Capuam C. Cassius tribunus pl. venit, attulit mandata ad consules, ut Romam venirent, pecuniam de sanctiore aerario auferrent, statim exirent. Urbe relicta redeant; quo praesidio? deinde exeant; quis sinat? Consul ei rescripsit, ut prius ipse in Picenum. At illud totum erat amissum; sciebat nemo praeter me ex litteris Dolabellae. Mihi dubium non erat, quin ille iam iamque foret in Apulia, Gnaeus noster in navi.
Ego quid agam σκέμμα magnum--neque mehercule mihi quidem ullum, nisi omnia essent acta turpissime, neque ego ullius consilii particeps--sed tamen quod me deceat. Ipse me Caesar ad pacem hortatur; sed antiquiores litterae, quam ruere coepit. Dolabella, Caelius me illi valde satis facere. Mira me ἀπορία
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when Caesar is at hand, and our leader is nowhere to be found and takes no action. No one enlists. It is not good will that is lacking, but hope. What an inconceivable plight is Pompey's, and how utterly he has broken down! He has neither spirit nor plan, nor forces, nor energy. I say nothing of his most disgraceful flight from the city, his timorous speeches in the towns, his ignorance not only of the strength of his opponent but of his own forces: but what of this? On the 7th of February C. Cassius the tribune came to Capua, and brought an order to the consuls to come to Rome, carry off the money from the reserve treasury[51] and leave at once. On quitting the city they are to return--but they have no escort: then there is the getting out of the city--who is going to give them leave? Lentulus replied that Pompey must first come to Picenum. No one except myself knows it; but Dolabella has written to me that that district is totally lost. I have no doubt but that Caesar is on the point of entering Apulia and that Pompey is on board ship.
[51] This reserve fund was said to have been founded originally to meet a possible invasion of the Gauls. It was made up from spoils in war and from the 5 per cent tax on manumitted slaves. It was drawn upon in the second Punic War (cf. Livy XXVII, 11). Caesar (_Bellum Civ._ 14) says the consuls intended to open it before they left Rome; but fled in haste at a report of his approach.
What I am to do is a big problem. It would be no problem for me at all, if everything had not been disgracefully managed; and I had no part in the plan: still my proper course is a problem. Caesar himself invites to peace: but the letter is dated before he began to run amuck. Dolabella and Caelius declare that he is well satisfied with me. I am at my wits'
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torquet. Iuva me consilio, si potes, et tamen ista, quantum potes, provide. Nihil habeo tanta rerum perturbatione, quod scribam. Tuas litteras exspecto.
XXII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano VI Id. Febr. vesperi aut V Id. mane a. 705_]
Pedem in Italia video nullum esse, qui non in istius potestate sit. De Pompeio scio nihil, eumque, nisi in navim se contulerit, exceptum iri puto. O celeritatem incredibilem! huius autem nostri--sed non possum sine dolore accusare eum, de quo angor et crucior. Tu caedem non sine causa times, non quo minus quicquam Caesari expediat ad diuturnitatem victoriae et dominationis, sed video, quorum arbitrio sit acturus. Recte sit. Censeo cedendum. De Oppiis eis[52] egeo consilii. Quod optimum factu videbitur, facies. Cum Philotimo loquere atque adeo Terentiam habebis Idibus. Ego quid agam? qua aut terra aut mari persequar eum, qui ubi sit, nescio? Etsi terra quidem qui possum? mari quo? Tradam igitur isti me? Fac posse tuto (multi enim hortantur), num etiam honeste? Nullo modo. Equidem a te petam consilium, ut soleo. Explicari res non potest; sed tamen, si quid in mentem venit, velim scribas, et ipse quid sis acturus.
[52] cedendum de oppidis iis. _M. The correction_ Oppiis _is due to Boot_.
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end. Assist me with your advice, if you can, but guard against events as much as possible. I have nothing to say in such an anxious crisis: but I am looking for your letter.
XXII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, the evening of Feb. 8 or morning of Feb. 9_, B.C. _49_]
I see there is not a foot of ground in Italy which is not in Caesar's power. I have no news of Pompey, and I imagine he will be captured unless he has taken to the sea. What marvellous dispatch! While our leader--: but it grieves me to blame him, as I am in an agony of suspense on his account. There is reason for you to fear butchery, not that anything could be less advantageous to secure Caesar a lasting victory and power; but I see on whose advice he will act. I hope it will be all right; and I think we shall have to yield. As regards the Oppii I have no suggestion to make. Do what you think best. You should speak with Philotimus, and besides you will have Terentia on the 13th. What can I do? In what land or on what sea can I follow a man, when I don't know where he is? After all how can I follow on land, and by sea whither? Shall I then surrender to Caesar? Suppose I could surrender with safety, as many advise, could I surrender with honour? By no means. I will ask your advice as usual. The problem is insoluble. Still, if anything comes into your head, please write; and let me know what you will do yourself.
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XXIII
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano V Id. Febr. vesp. aut IV Id. mane a. 705_]
V Idus Febr. vesperi a Philotimo litteras accepi Domitium exercitum firmum habere, cohortes ex Piceno Lentulo et Thermo ducentibus cum Domiti exercitu coniunctas esse, Caesarem intercludi posse eumque id timere, bonorum animos recreatos Romae, improbos quasi perculsos. Haec metuo equidem ne sint somnia, sed tamen M'. Lepidum, L. Torquatum, C. Cassium tribunum pl. (hi enim sunt nobiscum, id est in Formiano) Philotimi litterae ad vitam revocaverunt. Ego autem illa metuo ne veriora sint, nos omnes paene iam captos esse, Pompeium Italia cedere; quem quidem (o rem acerbam!) persequi Caesar dicitur. Persequi Caesar Pompeium? quid? ut interficiat? O me miserum! Et non omnes nostra corpora opponimus? In quo tu quoque ingemiscis. Sed quid faciamus? Victi, oppressi, capti plane sumus.
Ego tamen Philotimi litteris lectis mutavi consilium de mulieribus. Quas, ut scripseram ad te, Romam remittebam; sed mihi venit in mentem multum fore sermonem me iudicium iam de causa publica fecisse; qua desperata quasi hunc gradum mei reditus esse, quod mulieres revertissent. De me autem ipso tibi adsentior, ne me dem incertae et periculosae fugae, cum rei publicae nihil prosim, nihil Pompeio; pro quo emori cum pie possum tum lubenter. Manebo igitur, etsi vivere--.
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XXIII
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, the evening of Feb. 9 or the morning of Feb. 10_, B.C. _49_]
On the evening of the 9th of February, I got a letter from Philotimus, declaring that Domitius has a reliable force, the cohorts from Picenum under the command of Lentulus and Thermus have joined his army, Caesar can be cut off and fears the contingency, and the hopes of loyalists at Rome have been restored, and those of the other party dashed. I am afraid this may be a dream; but still the news revived M'. Lepidus, L. Torquatus and C. Cassius the tribune of the plebs--for they are with me, that is at Formiae. I fear the truer version may be that we are now all practically prisoners, that Pompey is leaving Italy, pursued it is said by Caesar. What a bitter thought! Caesar pursue Pompey! What, to slay him? Woe is me! And we do not all throw our bodies in the way! You too are sorry about it. But what can we do? We are beaten, ruined and utterly captive.
Still the perusal of Philotimus' letter has caused me to change my plan about the women-folk. I wrote you I was sending them back to Rome: but it has come into my mind that there would be a deal of talk, that I had now come to a decision on the political situation; and that in despair of success the return of the ladies of my house was as it were one step towards my own return. As for myself, I agree with you that I should not commit myself to the danger and uncertainty of flight, seeing that it would avail nothing to State or Pompey, for whom I would dutifully and gladly die. So I shall stay, though life--.
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Quod quaeris, hic quid agatur, tota Capua et omnis hic dilectus iacet; desperata res est, in fuga omnes sunt, nisi qui deus iuverit,[53] ut Pompeius istas Domiti copias cum suis coniungat. Sed videbamur omnia biduo triduove scituri. Caesaris litterarum exemplum tibi misi; rogaras enim. Cui nos valde satis facere multi ad me scripserunt; quod patior facile, dum ut adhuc nihil faciam turpiter.
[53] nisi qui deus iuverit _Tyrrell_: nisi quid eius fuerit _M_: nisi quid eius modi fuerit _Ascensius_.
XXIV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano IV Id. Febr. a. 705_]
Philotimi litterae me quidem non nimis, sed eos, qui in his locis erant, admodum delectarunt. Ecce postridie Cassii litterae Capua a Lucretio, familiari eius, Nigidium a Domitio Capuam venisse. Eum dicere Vibullium cum paucis militibus e Piceno currere ad Gnaeum, confestim insequi Caesarem, Domitium non habere militum III milia. Idem scripsit Capua consules discessisse. Non dubito quin Gnaeus in fuga sit; modo effugiat. Ego a consilio fugiendi, ut tu censes, absum.
XXV
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano IV aut III Id. Febr. a. 705_]
Cum dedissem ad te litteras tristes et metuo ne veras de Lucreti ad Cassium litteris Capua missis, Cephalio venit a vobis. Attulit etiam a te litteras hilariores nec tamen firmas, ut soles. Omnia facilius credere possum, quam quod scribitis, Pompeium exercitum habere. Nemo huc ita adfert omniaque, quae
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For your query as to the state of affairs in this quarter, Capua and the levy are in stagnation: our cause is despaired of: every one is in flight, unless some god help Pompey to join that army of Domitius with his own. It would seem that we shall know all in a day or so. As requested I send you a copy of Caesar's letter. Many of my correspondents say that he is quite satisfied with me. I can allow that, provided I continue to do nothing to stain my honour.
XXIV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 10_, B.C. _49_]
Philotimus' letter delighted me little, but those who are here considerably. Well, on the very next day a letter of Cassius from his friend Lucretius at Capua announced that Nigidius, an emissary of Domitius, had reached Capua, bringing news that Vibullius with a few soldiers was hurrying in from Picenum to Pompey's camp, that Caesar was pursuing rapidly and that Domitius had less than 3000 men. The letter stated that the consuls had left Capua. I am sure Pompey must be fleeing: I only hope he may escape. I accept your advice and have no intention of flight myself.
XXV
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 10 or 11_, B.C. _49_]
After I had sent you a despondent and, I fear, true report about the letter Lucretius dispatched to Cassius from Capua, Cephalio came to me from you with a letter more cheerful, but not as decided as usual. Any news is more credible than your news of Pompey having an army. No one brings such a
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nolim. O rem miseram! malas causas semper obtinuit, in optima concidit. Quid dicam nisi illud eum scisse (neque enim erat difficile), hoc nescisse? Erat enim ars difficilis recte rem publicam regere. Sed iam iamque omnia sciemus et scribemus ad te statim.
XXVI
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano XV K. Mart. a. 705_]
Non venit idem usu mihi, quod tu tibi scribis, "quotiens exorior." Ego enim nunc paulum exorior et maxime quidem iis litteris, quae Roma adferuntur de Domitio, de Picentium cohortibus. Omnia erant facta hoc biduo laetiora. Itaque fuga, quae parabatur, repressa est; Caesaris interdicta:
"Si te secundo lumine hic offendero--"
respuuntur; bona de Domitio, praeclara de Afranio fama est.
Quod me amicissime admones, ut me integrum, quoad possim, servem, gratum est; quod addis, ne propensior ad turpem causam videar, certe videri possum. Ego me ducem in civili bello, quoad de pace ageretur, negavi esse, non quin rectum esset, sed quia, quod multo rectius fuit, id mihi fraudem tulit. Plane eum, cui noster alterum consulatum deferret et triumphum (at quibus verbis! "pro tuis rebus[54] gestis amplissimis"), inimicum habere nolueram. Ego scio, et quem metuam et quam ob rem. Sin erit
[54] pro tuis rebus _Lambinus_; ut prorsus _M_.
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report here, but every kind of unwelcome news. It is a sorry thought that Pompey has always won in a bad cause, but fails in the best of causes. The only solution is that he knew the ropes in the former (which is not a difficult accomplishment), but did not in the latter. It is a difficult art to rule a republic in the right way. At any moment we may know all, and I will write you immediately.
XXVI
CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _Formiae, Feb. 15_, B.C. _49_]
I have not had what you say is your experience:--"as often as my hopes revive." Only now are mine reviving a little, and especially over letters from Rome about Domitius and the squadrons of Picenum. Things have become more cheerful in the last two days. I have given up my preparation for flight. I spurn Caesar's threat: "If I shall meet thee here to-morrow morn."[55] The news about Domitius is good, that about Afranius is splendid.
[55] From a Latin translation of Euripides, _Medea_, 352.
Thanks for your very friendly advice, not to commit myself more than I can help. You add a caution against showing a leaning towards the wrong party: well, I confess I may seem to. I refused to take a leading part in civil war, so long as there were negotiations for peace, not because the war was unjust, but because former action of mine in a still juster cause did me harm. I had no desire at all to excite the enmity of a man to whom our leader offered a second consulship, and a triumph too with the fulsome flattery "on account of your brilliant achievements." I know whom I have to fear and why.
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bellum, ut video fore, partes meae non desiderabuntur.
De HS X̅X̅ Terentia tibi rescripsit. Dionysio, dum existimabam vagos nos fore, nolui molestus esse; tibi autem crebro ad me scribenti de eius officio nihil rescripsi, quod diem ex die exspectabam, ut statuerem, quid esset faciendum. Nunc, ut video, pueri certe in Formiano videntur hiematuri. Et ego? Nescio. Si enim erit bellum, cum Pompeio esse constitui. Quod habebo certi, faciam, ut scias. Ego bellum foedissimum futurum puto, nisi qui, ut tu scribis, Parthicus casus exstiterit.
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But if the war I foresee comes, I shall not fail to play my part.
About that £180,[56] Terentia sent you an answer. I did not want to trouble Dionysius, so long as I expected to be a wanderer. I gave no answer to your repeated letters about the man's duty, because daily I was expecting to settle what should be done. Now as far as I can see, my boys will certainly winter at Formiae. And I? I don't know. For, if war comes, I am determined to be with Pompey. I will keep you informed of reliable news. I fancy there will be a most terrible war, unless, as you remark, some Parthian incident occur again.[57]
[56] 20,000 sesterces.
[57] I.e. a sudden retreat of Caesar, like that of the Parthians. Cf. VI, 6.
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M. TULLI CICERONIS
EPISTULARUM AD ATTICUM
LIBER OCTAVUS
I
CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis XIV K. Mart. a. 705_]
Cum ad te litteras dedissem, redditae mihi litterae sunt a Pompeio. Cetera de rebus in Piceno gestis, quae ad se Vibullius scripsisset, de dilectu Domiti, quae sunt vobis nota nec tamen tam laeta erant in iis litteris, quam ad me Philotimus scripserat. Ipsam tibi epistulam misissem, sed iam subito fratris puer proficiscebatur. Cras igitur mittam. Sed in ea Pompei epistula erat in extremo ipsius manu: "Tu censeo Luceriam venias. Nusquam eris tutius." Id ego in eam partem accepi, haec oppida atque oram maritimam illum pro derelicto habere, nec sum miratus eum, qui caput ipsum reliquisset, reliquis membris non parcere. Ei statim rescripsi hominemque certum misi de comitibus meis, non me quaerere, ubi tutissimo essem. Si me vellet sua aut rei publicae causa Luceriam venire, statim esse venturum; hortatusque sum, ut oram maritimam retineret, si rem frumentariam sibi ex provinciis suppeditari vellet. Hoc me frustra scribere videbam; sed uti in urbe retinenda tunc sic nunc in Italia non relinquenda testificabar sententiam meam. Sic enim parari video, ut Luceriam omnes copiae contrahantur, et ne is quidem locus sit stabilis, sed ex eo ipso, si urgeamur, paretur fuga.
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CICERO'S LETTERS
TO ATTICUS