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Title: The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1 - The Whole Extant Correspodence in Chronological Order
Author: Cicero, Marcus Tullius, 106 BC-43 BC
Language: English
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THE LETTERS OF
CICERO
THE WHOLE EXTANT CORRESPONDENCE
IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
BY
EVELYN S. SHUCKBURGH, M.A.
LATE FELLOW OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
AUTHOR OF A TRANSLATION OF POLYBIUS, A HISTORY OF ROME, ETC
IN FOUR VOLUMES
VOL. I. B.C. 68-52
LONDON
GEORGE BELL AND SONS
1899
CHISWICK PRESS:--CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
PREFACE
The object of this book is to give the English-speaking public, in a
convenient form, as faithful and readable a copy as the translator was
capable of making of a document unique in the literature of antiquity.
Whether we regard the correspondence of Cicero from the point of view of
the biographer and observer of character, the historian, or the lover of
_belles lettres_, it is equally worthy of study. It seems needless to
dwell on the immense historical importance of letters written by
prominent actors in one of the decisive periods of the world's history,
when the great Republic, that had spread its victorious arms, and its
law and discipline, over the greater part of the known world, was in the
throes of its change from the old order to the new. If we would
understand--as who would not?--the motives and aims of the men who acted
in that great drama, there is nowhere that we can go with better hope of
doing so than to these letters. To the student of character also the
personality of Cicero must always have a great fascination. Statesman,
orator, man of letters, father, husband, brother, and friend--in all
these capacities he comes before us with singular vividness. In every
one of them he will doubtless rouse different feelings in different
minds. But though he will still, as he did in his lifetime, excite
vehement disapproval as well as strong admiration, he will never, I
think, appear to anyone dull or uninteresting. In the greater part of
his letters he is not posing or assuming a character; he lets us only
too frankly into his weaknesses and his vanities, as well as his
generous admirations and warm affections. Whether he is weeping, or
angry, or exulting, or eager for compliments, or vain of his abilities
and achievements, he is not a phantasm or a farceur, but a human being
with fiercely-beating pulse and hot blood.
The difficulty of the task which I have been bold enough to undertake
is well known to scholars, and may explain, though perhaps not excuse,
the defects of my work. One who undertakes to express the thoughts of
antiquity in modern idiom goes to his task with his eyes open, and has
no right at every stumbling-block or pitfall to bemoan his unhappy fate.
So also with the particular difficulties presented by the great founder
of Latin style--his constant use of superlatives, his doubling and
trebling of nearly synonymous terms, the endless shades of meaning in
such common words as _officium_, _fides_, _studium_, _humanitas_,
_dignitas_, and the like--all these the translator has to take in the
day's work. Finally, there are the hard nuts to crack--often very
hard--presented by corruption of the text. Such problems, though,
relatively with other ancient works, not perhaps excessively numerous,
are yet sufficiently numerous and sufficiently difficult. But besides
these, which are the natural incidents of such work, there is the
special difficulty that the letters are frequently answers to others
which we do not possess, and which alone can fully explain the meaning
of sentences which must remain enigmatical to us; or they refer to
matters by a word or phrase of almost telegraphic abruptness, with which
the recipient was well acquainted, but as to which we are reduced to
guessing. When, however, all such insoluble difficulties are allowed
for, which after all in absolute bulk are very small, there should (if
the present version is at all worthy) be enough that is perfectly plain
to everyone, and generally of the highest interest.
I had no intention of writing a commentary on the language of Cicero or
his correspondents, and my translation must, as a rule, be taken for the
only expression of my judgment formed after reading and weighing the
arguments of commentators. I meant only to add notes on persons and
things enabling the reader to use the letters for biographical, social,
and historical study. I should have liked to dedicate it by the words
_Boswellianus Boswellianis_. But I found that the difficulties of the
text compelled me to add a word here and there as to the solution of
them which I preferred, or had myself to suggest. Such notes are very
rare, and rather meant as danger signals than critical discussions. I
have followed in the main the chronological arrangement of the letters
adopted by Messrs. Tyrrell and Purser, to whose great work my
obligations are extremely numerous. If, as is the case, I have not
always been able to accept their conclusions, it is none the less true
that their brilliant labours have infinitely lightened my task, and
perhaps made it even possible.
I ought to mention that I have adopted the English mode of dating,
writing, for instance, July and August, though Cicero repudiated the
former and, of course, never heard of the latter. I have also refrained
generally from attempting to represent his Greek by French, partly
because I fear I should have done it ill, and partly because it is not
in him as in an English writer who lards his sentences with French. It
is almost confined to the letters to Atticus, to whom Greek was a second
mother-tongue, and often, I think, is a quotation from him. It does not
really represent Cicero's ordinary style.
One excuse for my boldness in venturing upon the work is the fact that
no complete translation exists in English. Mr. Jeans has published a
brilliant translation of a selection of some of the best of the letters.
But still it is not the whole. The last century versions of Melmoth and
Herbenden have many excellences; but they are not complete either (the
letters to Brutus, for instance, having been discovered since), and
need, at any rate, a somewhat searching revision. Besides, with many
graces of style, they may perhaps prove less attractive now than they
did a century ago. At any rate it is done, and I must bear with what
equanimity nature has given me the strictures of critics, who doubtless
will find, if so minded, many blemishes to set off against, and perhaps
outweigh, any merit my translation may have. I must bear that as well as
I may. But no critic can take from me the days and nights spent in close
communion with Rome's greatest intellect, or the endless pleasure of
solving the perpetually recurring problem of how best to transfer a
great writer's thoughts and feelings from one language to another:
"Cæsar in hoc potuit iuris habere nihil."
LETTERS IN VOLUME I
Number
in this
Translation
Fam. I. 1 94
" 2 95
" 3 96
" 4 97
" 5 98
" 5b 102
" 6 103
" 7 113
" 8 118
" 9 152
" 10 161
Fam. II. 1 165
" 2 167
" 3 168
" 4 174
" 5 175
" 6 176
Fam. III. 1 180
Fam. V. 1 13
" 2 14
" 3 112
" 4 88
" 5 17
" 6 15
" 7 12
" 8 130
" 12 108
" 17 178
" 18 179
Fam. VII. 1 126
" 2 181
" 5 133
" 6 135
" 7 136
" 8 139
" 9 144
" 10 160
" 11 166
" 12 169
" 13 170
" 14 171
" 15 173
" 16 156
" 17 145
" 18 172
" 23 125
" 26 93
Fam. XIII. 6a 114
" 6b 115
" 40 128
" 41 54
" 42 53
" 49 162
" 60 163
" 73 164
" 74 127
" 75 177
Fam. XIV. 1 81
" 2 78
" 3 83
" 4 61
Fam. XVI. 10 p. 386
" 13 p. 384
" 14 p. 385
" 16 p. 387
Q. Fr. I. 1 29
" 2 52
" 3 65
" 4 71
Q. Fr. II. 1 92
" 2 99
" 3 101
" 4 104
" 5 105
" 6 116
" 7 119
" 8 122
" 9 131
" 10 132
" 11 134
" 12 138
" 13 140
" 14 141
" 15 146
Q. Fr III. 1 147
" 2 149
" 3 150
" 4 151
" 5} 154
" 6}
" 7 155
" 8 158
" 9 159
Petit. Cons. p. 367
Att. I. 1 10
" 2 11
" 3 8
" 4 9
" 5 1
" 6 2
" 7 3
" 8 5
" 9 4
" 10 6
" 11 7
" 12 16
" 13 18
" 14 19
" 15 20
" 16 21
" 17 22
" 18 23
" 19 24
" 20 25
Att. II. 1 26
" 2 27
" 3 28
" 4 30
" 5 31
" 6 32
" 7 33
" 8 34
" 9 35
" 10 37
" 11 38
" 12 36
" 13 39
" 14 40
" 15 41
" 16 42
" 17 43
" 18 44
" 19 45
" 20 46
" 21 47
" 22 48
" 23 49
" 24 50
" 25 51
Att. III. 1 58
" 2 56
" 3 55
" 4 57
" 5 59
" 6 60
" 7 62
" 8 63
" 9 64
" 10 66
" 11 67
" 12 68
" 13 70
" 14 69
" 15 72
" 16 73
" 17 74
" 18 75
" 19 76
" 20 77
" 21 79
" 22 80
" 23 82
" 24 84
" 25 85
" 26 86
" 27 87
Att. IV. 1 89
" 2 90
" 3 91
" 4a 100
" 4b 106
" 5 107
" 6 109
" 7 110
" 8a 111
" 8b 117
" 9 121
" 10 120
" 11 123
" 12 124
" 13 129
" 14 137
" 15 143
" 16} 142, 148, 157
" 17}
" 18 153
INTRODUCTION
[Sidenote: Ground covered by the Correspondence.]
The correspondence of Cicero, as preserved for us by his freedman Tiro,
does not open till the thirty-ninth year of the orator's life, and is so
strictly contemporary, dealing so exclusively with the affairs of the
moment, that little light is thrown by it on his previous life. It does
not become continuous till the year after his consulship (B.C. 62).
There are no letters in the year of the consulship itself or the year of
his canvass for the consulship (B.C. 64 and 63). It begins in B.C. 68,
and between that date and B.C. 65 there are only eleven letters. We
have, therefore, nothing exactly contemporaneous to help us to form a
judgment on the great event which coloured so much of his after life,
the suppression of the Catilinarian conspiracy and the execution of the
conspirators, in the last month of his consulship. But setting aside the
first eleven letters, we have from that time forward a correspondence
illustrating, as no other document in antiquity does, the hopes and
fears, the doubts and difficulties, of a keen politician living through
the most momentous period of Roman history, the period of the fall of
the Republic, beginning with Pompey's return from the East in B.C. 62,
and ending with the appearance of the young Octavian on the scene and
the formation of the Triumvirate in B.C. 43, of whose victims Cicero was
one of the first and most illustrious. It is by his conduct and speeches
during this period that Cicero's claim to be a statesman and a patriot
must be judged, and by his writings in the same period that his place in
literature must chiefly be assigned. Before B.C. 63 his biography, if we
had it, would be that of the advocate and the official, no doubt with
certain general views on political questions as they occurred, but not
yet committed definitely to a party, or inclined to regard politics as
the absorbing interest of his life. In his early youth his hero had
been his fellow townsman Marius, in whose honour he composed a poem
about the time of taking the _toga virilis_. But it was as the
successful general, and before the days of the civil war. And though he
served in the army of Sulla in the Marsic war (B.C. 90-88), he always
regarded his cruelties with horror, however much he may have afterwards
approved of certain points of his legislation. It was not till the
consulship that he became definitely a party man[1] and an Optimate, and
even then his feelings were much distracted by a strong
belief--strangely ill-founded--that Pompey would be as successful as a
statesman as he had been fortunate as a general. For him he had also a
warm personal attachment, which never seems to have wholly died out, in
spite of much petulance of language. This partly accounts for the
surrender of B.C. 56, and his acquiescence in the policy of the
triumvirs, an acquiescence never hearty indeed, as far as Cæsar and
Crassus were concerned, but in which he consoled himself with the belief
that nothing very unconstitutional could be done while Pompey was
practically directing affairs at Rome.
[Sidenote: The various nature of the Correspondence.]
It is through this period of political change and excitement that the
correspondence will take us, with some important gaps indeed, but on the
whole fullest when it is most wanted to shew the feelings and motives
guiding the active politicians of the day, or at any rate the effect
which events had upon one eager and acute intellect and sensitive heart.
One charm of the correspondence is variety. There is almost every sort
of letter. Those to Atticus are unstudied, spontaneous, and reflect the
varying moods of the writer. At times of special excitement they follow
each other day by day, and sometimes more than once in the same day; and
the writer seems to conceal nothing, however much it might expose him to
ridicule, and to the charge of fickleness, weakness, or even cowardice.
Those addressed to other friends are sometimes familiar and playful,
sometimes angry and indignant. Some of them are careful and elaborate
state papers, others mere formal introductions and recommendations.
Business, literature, and philosophy all have their share in them; and,
what is so rare in ancient literature, the family relations of the
writer, his dealings with wife, son, and daughter, brother and nephew,
and sons-in-law, are all depicted for us, often with the utmost
frankness. After reading them we seem to know Cicero the man, as well as
Cicero the statesman and orator. The eleven letters which precede the
consulship are happily, from this point of view, addressed to Atticus.
For it was to Atticus that he wrote with the least concealment, and with
the confidence that any detail, however small, which concerned himself
would be interesting to his correspondent. It is well, therefore, that,
though we thus come into his life when it was more than half over, we
should at once hear his genuine sentiments on whatever subjects he may
be speaking. Besides his own, we have about ninety letters to Cicero
from some of the chief men of the day--Pompey, Cæsar, Cato, Brutus,
Antony, and many others. They are of very various excellence. The best
of them are by much less known men. Neither Pompey nor Cæsar were good
letter-writers, or, if the latter was so, he was too busy to use his
powers.
[Sidenote: Cicero's position previous to the beginning of the
Correspondence in B.C. 68.]
[Sidenote: Quæstor, B.C. 75.]
The letters begin, then, in B.C. 68, when Cicero was in his
thirty-seventh year. He was already a man of established reputation both
as a pleader and a writer. Rhetorical treatises (B.C. 86), translations
from Xenophon and Plato (B.C. 84), and from the poems of Aratus (B.C.
81), had given evidence of a varied literary interest and a promise of
future eminence, while his success as an advocate had led to the first
step in the official _cursus honorum_ by his becoming a quæstor in B.C.
75. The lot assigned Lilybæum as his sphere of work, and though the
duties of a quæstor in Sicily were not such as to bring a man's name
much before the Roman public, Cicero plumes himself, as was not unusual
with him, on the integrity and energy which he displayed in his
administration. He has indeed the honesty to tell against himself the
story of the acquaintance who, meeting him at Puteoli on his return
journey, asked him what day he had left Rome and what was the news
there. When he answered rather crossly that he had just come from
Sicily, another acquaintance put in with "Why, of course. Didn't you
know he has just been quæstor _at Syracuse_!" At any rate he had done
sufficiently well in Lilybæum to give him his next step, the ædileship
to which he was elected B.C. 70, and to induce the Sicilians to apply to
him, when in that year they desired the prosecution of the extortionate
Verres. His energy and success in this business raised him, without
question, to the first rank of advocates, and pledged him to a righteous
policy in regard to the government of the provinces.
[Sidenote: Cicero's Boyhood and Education.]
Still Cicero was a _novus homo_, and the jealous exclusiveness of the
great families at Rome might yet prevent his attainment of the highest
office of all. When the correspondence opens he is a candidate for the
prætorship, which he obtained without difficulty, at the head of the
poll. But his birth might still be a bar to the consulship. His father,
M. Tullius, lived at Arpinum, an ancient city of the Volscians and
afterwards of the Samnites, which had long enjoyed a partial, and from
B.C. 188 a complete, Roman franchise, and was included in the Cornelian
tribe. Cicero's mother's name was Helvia, of whom we know nothing but
the one anecdote told by Quintus (_Fam._ xvi. 26), who says that she
used to seal the wine jars when they were emptied, so that none might be
drained without her knowing it--a testimony to her economy and careful
housewifery. His father had weak health and resided almost entirely in
his villa at Arpinum, which he had considerably enlarged, much devoted
to study and literature (_de Leg._ ii. 1). But though he apparently
possessed considerable property, giving him equestrian rank, and though
Cicero says that his family was very ancient, yet neither he nor any of
his ancestors had held Roman magistracies. Marcus and his brother
Quintus were the first of their family to do so, and both had to depend
on character and ability to secure their elections. But though the
father did nothing for his sons by holding curule office himself, he did
the best for their education that was possible. Cicero calls him
_optimus et prudentissimus_, and speaks with gratitude of what he had
done for his sons in this respect. They were sent early to Rome to the
house of C. Aculeo, a learned jurisconsult, married to a sister of
Helvia; and attended--with their cousins, the sons of Aculeo--the best
schools in the city.[2] The young Marcus shewed extraordinary ability
from the first, and that avidity for reading and study which never
forsook him. As a young man he diligently attended the chambers of
renowned jurisconsults, especially those of the elder and younger
Scævola, Crassus, and Antonius, and soon found that his calling in life
was oratory. It was not till he was twenty-eight years old,
however--when he had already written much and pleaded many cases--that
he went on a visit of between two and three years to Greece, Asia, and
Rhodes, to study in the various schools of rhetoric and philosophy, and
to view their famous cities (B.C. 79-77). It was after his return from
this tour that his age (he was now thirty-one) made the seeking of
office at Rome possible. From that time his election to the several
offices--quæstorship, ædileship, prætorship, consulship--followed
without any repulse, each in the first year of his age at which he was
legally capable of being elected.
He had doubtless made the acquaintance of Titus Pomponius, afterwards
called Atticus, early in life. But it seems that it was their intimacy
at Athens (B.C. 79), where Atticus, who was three years his senior, had
been residing for several years, that began the very close and warm
friendship which lasted with nothing but the slightest and most passing
of clouds till his death. His brother Quintus was married to Pomponia, a
sister of Atticus; but the marriage turned out unfortunately, and was a
strain upon the friendship of Cicero and Atticus rather than an
additional bond. This source of uneasiness meets us in the very first
letter of the correspondence, and crops up again and again till the
final rupture of the ill-assorted union by divorce in B.C. 44. Nothing,
however, had apparently interrupted the correspondence of the two
friends, which had been going on for a long time before the first letter
which has been preserved.
[Sidenote: Cicero the successful Advocate.]
[Sidenote: Death of Cicero's Father.]
The eleven letters, then, which date before the consulship, shew us
Cicero in full career of success as an advocate and rising official,
not as yet apparently much interested in party politics, but with his
mind, in the intervals of forensic business, engaged on the adornment of
the new villa at Tusculum, the first of the numerous country residences
which his growing wealth or his heightened ideas of the dignity of his
position prompted him to purchase. Atticus is commissioned to search in
Athens and elsewhere for objects of art suitable for the residence of a
wealthy Roman, who at the same time was a scholar and man of letters. He
is beginning to feel the charm of at any rate a temporary retreat from
the constant bustle and occupations of the city. Though Cicero loved
Rome, and could hardly conceive of life unconnected with its business
and excitements,[3] and eagerly looked for news of the city in his
absence, yet there was another side to his character. His interest in
literature and philosophy was quite as genuine as his interest in the
forum and senate-house. When the season came for temporarily withdrawing
from the latter, he returned to the former with eager passion. But
Tusculum was too near Rome to secure him the quiet and solitude
necessary for study and composition. Thus, though he says (vol. i., p.
4), "I am so delighted with my Tusculan villa that I never feel really
happy till I get there," he often found it necessary, when engaged in
any serious literary work, to seek the more complete retirement of
Formiæ, Cumæ, or Pompeii, near all of which he acquired properties,
besides an inheritance at Arpinum.[4] But the important achievements in
literature were still in the future. The few letters of B.C. 68-67 are
full of directions to Atticus for the collection of books or works of
art suitable to his house, and of matters of private interest. They are
also short and sometimes abrupt. The famous allusion to his father's
death in the second letter of this collection, contained in a single
line--_pater nobis decessit a.d. 111 Kal. Decembris_--followed by
directions to Atticus as to articles of _vertu_ for his villa, has much
exercised the minds of admirers, who do not like to think Cicero capable
of such a cold-hearted sentence. It is certainly very unlike his usual
manner.[5] He is more apt to exaggerate than understate his emotions;
and in the first letter extant he speaks with real feeling of the death
of a cousin. Elsewhere--as we have seen--he refers to his father with
respect and gratitude. How then are we to account for such a cold
announcement? Several expedients have been hit upon. First, to change
_decessit_ to _discessit_, and to refer the sentence to the father's
quitting Rome, and not life; in which case it is not easy to see why the
information is given at all. Second, to suppose it to be a mere answer
to a request for the information on the part of Atticus; in which case
the date must refer to some previous year, or the letter must be placed
considerably later, to allow of time for Atticus to hear of the death
and to write his question. In favour of the first is the fact that
Asconius (§ 82) says that Cicero lost his father when he was a candidate
for the consulship (B.C. 64). Some doubt has been thrown upon the
genuineness of the passage in Asconius; and, if that is not trustworthy,
we have nothing else to help us. On the whole I think we must leave the
announcement as it stands in all its baldness. Cicero's father had long
been an invalid, and Atticus may have been well aware that the end was
expected. He would also be acquainted with the son's feelings towards
his father, and Cicero may have held it unnecessary to enlarge upon
them. It is possible, too, that he had already written to tell Atticus
of the death and of his own feelings, but had omitted the date, which he
here supplies. Whatever may be the true explanation--impossible now to
recover--everything we know of Cicero forbids us to reckon insensibility
among his faults, or reserve in expressing his feelings among his
characteristics.
[Sidenote: The Prætorship, B.C. 66.]
In the next year (B.C. 67) we find Cicero elected to the prætorship,
after at least two interruptions to the _comitia_, which, though not
aimed at himself, gave him a foretaste of the political troubles to come
a few years later. He is, however, at present simply annoyed at the
inconvenience, not yet apprehensive of any harm to the constitution. The
double postponement, indeed, had the effect of gratifying his vanity:
for his own name was returned three times first of the list of eight.
His prætorship (B.C. 66) passed without any startling event. The two
somewhat meagre letters which remain belonging to this year tell us
hardly anything. Still he began more or less to define his political
position by advocating the _lex Manilia_, for putting the Mithridatic
war into the hands of Pompey; and one of his most elaborate forensic
speeches--that for Cluentius--was delivered in the course of the year:
in which also his brother Quintus was elected to the ædileship.
[Sidenote: B.C. 65-64. Preparations for the Consulship.]
So far Cicero had risen steadily and without serious difficulty up the
official ladder. But the stress was now to come. The old families seem
not to have been so ready to oppose the rise of the _novus homo_ to the
prætorship. It was the consulship on which they tried to keep a tight
hand. Accordingly, immediately after the year of his prætorship, we find
him anxiously looking out for support and inquiring who are likely to be
his competitors. The interesting point in regard to this is his
connexion with Catiline. In his speech in the senate delivered in the
following year (_in toga candida_, B.C. 64) he denounced Catiline in the
most violent language, accusing him of every conceivable crime; yet in
B.C. 65 he not only contemplated being elected with him without any
expression of disgust, but even considered whether he should not
undertake his defence on some charge that was being brought against
him--perhaps for his conduct during the Sullan proscriptions. To
whitewash Catiline is a hopeless task; and it throws a lurid light upon
the political and moral sentiments of the time to find Cicero even
contemplating such a conjunction.
After this, for two years, there is a break in the correspondence.
Atticus had probably returned to Rome, and if there were letters to
others (as no doubt there were) they have been lost. A certain light is
thrown on the proceedings of the year of candidature (B.C. 64) by the
essay "On the duties of a candidate," ascribed to his brother Quintus,
who was himself to be a candidate for the prætorship in the next year
(B.C. 63). We may see from this essay that Pompey was still regarded as
the greatest and most influential man at Rome; that Catiline's character
was so atrocious in the eyes of most, that his opposition was not to be
feared; that Cicero's "newness" was a really formidable bar to his
election, and that his chief support was to be looked for from the
individuals and companies for whom he had acted as counsel, and who
hoped to secure his services in the future. The support of the nobles
was not a certainty. There had been a taint of _popularity_ in some of
Cicero's utterances, and the writer urges him to convince the consulars
that he was at one with the Optimates, while at the same time aiming at
the conciliation of the equestrian order. This was, in fact, to be
Cicero's political position in the future. The party of the
Optimates--in spite of his disgust at the indifference and frivolity of
many of them--was to be his party: his favourite constitutional object
was to be to keep the equites and the senate on good terms: and his
greatest embarrassment was how to reconcile this position with his
personal loyalty to Pompey, and his views as to the reforms necessary in
the government of the provinces.
[Sidenote: The Consulship, B.C. 63.]
For the momentous year of the consulship we have no letters. His brother
Quintus was in Rome as candidate and then prætor-designate; Atticus was
also in Rome; and the business, as well as the dignity of a consul, were
against anything like ordinary correspondence. Of the earlier part of
the consulship we have little record. The speeches against Rullus were
delivered at the beginning of the year, and commit Cicero pretty
definitely to a policy as to the _ager publicus_--which was, to his
disgust, entirely reversed by the triumvirs in B.C. 59--but they do not
shew any sense of coming trouble. Cicero, however, throughout his
consulship took a very definite line against the _populares_. Not only
did he defend Rabirius Postumus, when accused by Cæsar of the
assassination of Saturninus, and address the people against offering
violence to L. Roscius on account of the unpopular _lex theatralis_,[6]
but he even resisted the restoration to their civil rights of the sons
of the men proscribed by Sulla, avowedly on the ground of the necessity
of maintaining the established order, though he knew and confessed the
justice of the proposal.[6]
[Sidenote: The Conspiracy of Catiline.]
Any movement, therefore, on the side of the popular party had now his
opposition with which to reckon. He professes to have known very early
in his year of office that some more than usually dangerous movement was
in contemplation. We cannot well decide from the violent denunciation of
Catiline contained--to judge from extant fragments--in the speech _in
toga candida_, how far Cicero was really acquainted with any definite
designs of his. Roman orators indulged in a violence of language so
alien from modern ideas and habits, that it is difficult to draw
definite conclusions. But it appears from Sallust that Catiline had in a
secret meeting before the elections of B.C. 64, professed an intention
of going all lengths in a revolutionary programme and, if that was the
case, Cicero would be sure to have had some secret information on the
subject. But his hands were partly tied by the fact that the _comitia_
had given him a colleague--C. Antonius--deeply implicated in Catiline's
policy, whatever it was. Pompey, whom he regarded as the champion of law
and order, was in the East: and Catiline's candidature--and it was
supposed his policy also--had had the almost open support of the richest
man in Rome, M. Licinius Crassus, and of the most influential man of the
_populares_, C. Iulius Cæsar. In the house of one or the other of them,
indeed, the meeting at which Catiline first unfolded his purposes was
believed to have been held. Still Catiline had not been guilty of any
overt act which enabled Cicero to attack him. He had, indeed, been
informed, on very questionable authority, that Catiline had made a plot
to assassinate him while holding the elections, and he made a
considerable parade of taking precautions for his safety--letting it be
seen that he wore a cuirass under his toga, and causing his house to be
guarded by the younger members of his party. The elections, according
to Plutarch, had at least been once postponed from the ordinary time in
July, though this has been denied.[7] At any rate it was not till they
had taken place and Catiline had been once more rejected, that any
definite step is alleged to have been taken by him, such as Cicero could
lay hold of to attack him. On the 20th of October, in the senate, Cicero
made a speech warning the Fathers of the impending danger, and on the
21st called upon Catiline for an explanation in their presence. But,
after all, even the famous meeting of the 5th of November, in the house
of M. Porcius Læca, betrayed to Cicero by Fulvia, the mistress of Q.
Curius, would not have sufficed as grounds for the denunciation of the
first extant speech against Catiline (7th of November), if it had not
been for something else. For some months past there had been rumours of
risings in various parts of Italy; but by the beginning of November it
was known that C. Manlius (or Mallius) had collected a band of
desperadoes near Fæsulæ, and, having established there a camp on the
27th of October, meant to advance on Rome. Manlius had been a centurion
in Sulla's army, and had received an allotment of confiscated land in
Etruria; but, like others, had failed to prosper. The movement was one
born of discontent with embarrassments which were mostly brought about
by extravagance or incompetence. But the rapidity with which Manlius was
able to gather a formidable force round him seems to shew that there
were genuine grievances also affecting the agricultural classes in
Etruria generally. At any rate there was now no doubt that a formidable
disturbance was brewing; the senate voted that there was a _tumultus_,
authorized the raising of troops, and named commanders in the several
districts affected. It was complicity in this rising that Cicero now
sought to establish against Catiline and his partisans in Rome. The
report of the meeting in the house of Læca gave him the pretext for his
first step--a fiery denunciation of Catiline in the senate on the 7th of
November. Catiline left Rome, joined the camp of Manlius, and assumed
the ensigns of _imperium_. That he was allowed thus to leave the city
is a proof that Cicero had as yet no information enabling him to act at
once. It was the right of every citizen to avoid standing a trial by
going into exile. Catiline was now under notice of prosecution for
_vis_, and when leaving Rome he professed to be going to Marseilles,
which had the _ius exilii_. But when it was known that he had stopped
short at Fæsulæ, the senate at once declared both him and Manlius
_hostes_, and authorized the consuls to proceed against them. The
expedition was intrusted to Antonius, in spite of his known sympathy
with Catiline, while Cicero was retained with special powers to protect
the city. The result is too well known to be more than glanced at here.
Catiline's partisans were detected by letters confided to certain envoys
of the Allobroges, which were held to convict them of the guilt of
treason, as instigating Catiline to march on Rome, and the senate of the
Allobroges to assist the invasion by sending cavalry to Fæsulæ.
[Sidenote: Execution of the conspirators, December, B.C. 63. Its legal
grounds and consequences.]
The decree of the senate, _videant consules, etc._, had come to be
considered as reviving the full _imperium_ of the consul, and investing
him with the power of life and death over all citizens. Cicero acted on
this (questionable) constitutional doctrine. He endeavoured, indeed, to
shelter himself under the authority of a senatorial vote. But the senate
never had the power to try or condemn a citizen. It could only record
its advice to the consul. The whole legal responsibility for the
condemnation and death of the conspirators, arrested in consequence of
these letters, rested on the consul. To our moral judgment as to
Cicero's conduct it is of primary importance to determine whether or not
these men were guilty: to his legal and constitutional position it
matters not at all. Nor was that point ever raised against him. The
whole question turns on whether the doctrine was true that the _senatus
consultum ultimum_ gave the consul the right of inflicting death upon
citizens without trial, _i.e._, without appeal to the people, on the
analogy of the dictator _seditionis sedandæ causa_, thus practically
defeating that most ancient and cherished safeguard of Roman liberty,
the _ius provocationis_. The precedents were few, and scarcely such as
would appeal to popular approval. The murder of Tiberius Gracchus had
been _ex post facto_ approved by the senate in B.C. 133-2. In the case
of Gaius Gracchus, in B.C. 121, the senate had voted _uti consul Opimius
rempublicam defenderet_, and in virtue of that the consul had authorized
the killing of Gaius and his friends: thus for the first time exercising
_imperium sine provocatione_. Opimius had been impeached after his year
of office, but acquitted, which the senate might claim as a confirmation
of the right, in spite of the _lex_ of Gaius Gracchus, which confirmed
the right of _provocatio_ in all cases. In B.C. 100 the tribune
Saturninus and the prætor Glaucia were arrested in consequence of a
similar decree, which this time joined the other magistrates to the
consuls as authorized to protect the Republic: their death, however, was
an act of violence on the part of a mob. Its legality had been impugned
by Cæsar's condemnation of Rabirius, as _duovir capitalis_, but to a
certain extent confirmed by the failure to secure his conviction on the
trial of his appeal to the people. In B.C. 88 and 83 this decree of the
senate was again passed, in the first case in favour of Sulla against
the tribune Sulpicius, who was in consequence put to death; and in the
second case in favour of the consuls (partisans of Marius) against the
followers of Sulla. Again in B.C. 77 the decree was passed in
consequence of the insurrection of the proconsul Lepidus, who, however,
escaped to Sardinia and died there.
In every case but one this decree had been passed against the popular
party. The only legal sanction given to the exercise of the _imperium
sine provocatione_ was the acquittal of the consul Opimius in B.C. 120.
But the jury which tried that case probably consisted entirely of
senators, who would not stultify their own proceedings by condemning
him. To rely upon such precedents required either great boldness (never
a characteristic of Cicero), or the most profound conviction of the
essential righteousness of the measure, and the clearest assurance that
the safety of the state--the supreme law--justified the breach of every
constitutional principle. Cicero was not left long in doubt as to
whether there would be any to question his proceeding. On the last day
of the year, when about to address the people, as was customary, on
laying down his consulship, the tribune Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos
forbade him to speak, on the express ground that he "had put citizens to
death uncondemned"--_quod cives indemnatos necavisset_. Cicero consoled
himself with taking the required oath as to having observed the laws,
with an additional declaration that he had "saved the state."
Nevertheless, he must have felt deeply annoyed and alarmed at the action
of Metellus, for he had been a _legatus_ of Pompey, and was supposed to
represent his views, and it was upon the approbation and support of
Pompey, now on the eve of his return from the East, that Cicero
particularly reckoned.
[Sidenote: Letters after B.C. 63.]
The letters in our collection now recommence. The first of the year
(B.C. 62) is one addressed to Pompey, expressing some discontent at the
qualified manner in which he had written on recent events, and affirming
his own conviction that he had acted in the best interests of the state
and with universal approval. But indeed the whole correspondence to the
end of Cicero's exile is permeated with this subject directly or
indirectly. His quarrel with Metellus Nepos brought upon him a
remonstrance from the latter's brother (or cousin), Metellus Celer
(Letters XIII, XIV), and when the correspondence for B.C. 61 opens, we
find him already on the eve of the quarrel with Publius Clodius which
was to bring upon him the exile of B.C. 58.
[Sidenote: Publius Clodius Pulcher.]
P. CLODIUS PULCHER was an extreme instance of a character not uncommon
among the nobility in the last age of the Republic. Of high birth, and
possessed of no small amount of ability and energy, he belonged by
origin and connexion to the Optimates; but he regarded politics as a
game to be played for his personal aggrandizement, and public office as
a means of replenishing a purse drained by boundless extravagance and
self-indulgence. His record had been bad. He had accompanied his
brother-in-law Lucullus, or had joined his staff, in the war with
Mithridates, and had helped to excite a mutiny in his army in revenge
for some fancied slight. He had then gone to Cilicia, where another
brother-in-law, Q. Marcus Rex, was proprætor, and while commanding a
fleet under him had fallen into the hands of pirates, and when freed
from them had gone--apparently in a private capacity--to Antioch, where
he again excited a mutiny of Syrian troops engaged in a war against the
Arabians (B.C. 70-65). On his return to Rome he attempted to make
himself conspicuous by prosecuting Catiline, but accepted a bribe to
withdraw. In B.C. 64, on the staff of the governor of Gallia
Narbonensis, he is accused of having enriched himself with plunder. For
a time after that he was still acting as a member of the party of the
Optimates; seems to have supported Cicero during the Catiline
conspiracy; and in B.C. 62 stood for the quæstorship and was elected.
His violation of the mysteries was alleged to have been committed in
December of that year, and before he could go to the province allotted
to him as quæstor in Sicily he had to stand a trial for sacrilege. Such
an offence--penetrating in disguise into the house of the Pontifex
Maximus, when his wife was engaged in the secret rites of the Bona
Dea--would place him under a curse, and not only prevent his entering
upon his quæstorship, but would disfranchise and politically ruin him.
Clodius would seem not to have been a person of sufficient character or
importance to make this trial a political event. But not only had he
powerful backers, but his opponents also, by proposing an innovation in
the manner of selecting the jurors for trying him, had managed to give a
spurious political importance to the case. One of the most brilliant of
the early letters (XV, p. 37) gives us a graphic picture of the trial.
Clodius was acquitted and went to his province, but returned in B.C. 60,
apparently prepared for a change of parties. Cicero and he had
quarrelled over the trial. He had said sarcastic things about the sacred
consulship, and Cicero had retaliated by bitter speeches in the senate,
and by giving evidence at the trial of having seen Clodius in Rome three
hours before he professed to have been at Interamna, on the day of the
alleged sacrilege. It is perhaps possible that his alibi may have been
true in substance, for he may have been well out of Rome on his way to
Interamna after seeing Cicero. But, however that may be, he nourished a
grudge against Cicero, which he presently had an opportunity of
satisfying. The year of his return to Rome from Sicily (B.C. 60) was the
same as that of Cæsar's return from Spain. Pompey--who had returned the
year before--was at enmity with the senate on account of the
difficulties raised to the confirmation of his _acta_ and the allotments
for his veterans. Cæsar had a grievance because of the difficulties put
in the way of his triumph. The two coalesced, taking in the millionaire
Crassus, to form a triumvirate or coalition of three, with a view to
getting measures they desired passed, and offices for themselves or
their partisans. This was a great blow to Cicero, who clung feverously
to Pompey as a political leader, but could not follow him in a coalition
with Cæsar: for he knew that the object of it was a series of measures
of which he heartily disapproved. His hope of seeing Pompey coming to
act as acknowledged leader of the Optimates was dashed to the ground. He
could not make up his mind wholly to abandon him, or, on the other hand,
to cut himself adrift from the party of Optimates, to whose policy he
had so deeply committed himself. Clodius was troubled by no such
scruples. Perhaps Cæsar had given him substantial reasons for his change
of policy. At any rate, from this time forward he acts as an extreme
_popularis_--much too extreme, as it turned out, for Pompey's taste. As
a patrician his next step in the official ladder would naturally have
been the ædileship. But that peaceful office did not suit his present
purpose. The tribuneship would give him the right to bring forward
measures in the _comitia tributa_, such as he desired to pass, and would
in particular give him the opportunity of attacking Cicero. The
difficulty was that to become tribune he must cease to be a patrician.
He could only do that by being adopted into a plebeian gens. He had a
plebeian ready to do it in B.C. 59. But for a man who was _sui iuris_ to
be adopted required a formal meeting of the old _comitia curiata_, and
such a meeting required the presence of an augur, as well as some kind
of sanction of the pontifices. Cæsar was Pontifex Maximus, and Pompey
was a member of the college of augurs. Their influence would be
sufficient to secure or prevent this being done. Their consent was, it
appears, for a time withheld. But Cæsar was going to Gaul at the end of
his consulship, and desired to have as few powerful enemies at Rome
during his absence as possible. Still he had a personal feeling for
Cicero, and when it was known that one of Clodius's objects in seeking
to become a plebeian and a tribune was to attack him, Cæsar offered him
two chances of honourable retreat--first as one of the commissioners to
administer his land law, and again as one of his _legati_ in Gaul. But
Cicero would not accept the first, because he was vehemently opposed to
the law itself: nor the second, because he had no taste for provincial
business, even supposing the proconsul to be to his liking; and because
he could not believe that P. Clodius would venture to attack him, or
would succeed if he did. Cæsar's consulship of B.C. 59 roused his worst
fears for the Republic; and, though he thought little of the
statesmanship or good sense of Cæsar's hostile colleague Bibulus, he was
thoroughly disgusted with the policy of the triumvirs, with the
contemptuous treatment of the senate, with the high-handed disregard of
the auspices--by means of which Bibulus tried to invalidate the laws and
other _acta_ of Cæsar--and with the armed forces which Pompey brought
into the _campus_, nominally to keep order, but really to overawe the
_comitia_, and secure the passing of Cæsar's laws. Nor was it in his
nature to conceal his feelings. Speaking early in the year in defence of
his former colleague, C. Antonius, accused of _maiestas_ for his conduct
in Macedonia, he expressed in no doubtful terms his view of the
political situation. Within a few hours the words were reported to the
triumvirs, and all formalities were promptly gone through for the
adoption of Clodius. Cæsar himself presided at the _comitia curiata_,
Pompey attended as augur, and the thing was done in a few minutes. Even
then Cicero does not appear to have been alarmed, or to have been fully
aware of what the object of Publius was. While on his usual spring visit
to his seaside villas in April (B.C. 59), he expressed surprise at
hearing from the young Curio that Clodius was a candidate for the
tribuneship (vol. i., p. 99). His surprise no doubt was more or less
assumed: he must have understood that Clodius's object in the adoption
was the tribunate, and must have had many uneasy reflexions as to the
use which he would make of the office when he got it. Indeed there was
not very much doubt about it, for Publius openly avowed his intentions.
We have accordingly numerous references, in the letters to Atticus, to
Cicero's doubts about the course he ought to adopt. Should he accept
Cæsar's offer of a legation in Gaul, or a free and votive legation?
Should he stay in Rome and fight it out? The latter course was the one
on which he was still resolved in July, when Clodius had been, or was on
the point of being, elected tribune (p. 110). He afterwards wavered (p.
113), but was encouraged by the belief that all the "orders" were
favourable to him, and were becoming alienated from the triumvirs (pp.
117, 119), especially after the affair of Vettius (pp. 122-124), and by
the friendly disposition of many of the colleagues of Clodius in the
tribuneship. With such feelings of confidence and courage the letters of
B.C. 59 come to an end.
[Sidenote: The Exile, April, B.C. 58--August, B.C. 57.]
The correspondence only opens again in April of B.C. 58, when the worst
has happened. Clodius entered upon his tribuneship on the 10th of
December, B.C. 59, and lost little time in proposing a law to the
_comitia_ for the trial of any magistrate guilty of putting citizens to
death without trial (_qui cives indemnatos necavisset_). The wording of
the law thus left it open to plead that it applied only to such act as
occurred after its enactment, for the pluperfect _necavisset_ in the
dependent clause answers to the future perfect in a direct one. And this
was the interpretation that Cæsar, while approving the law itself,
desired to put upon it.[8] He again offered Cicero a legation in Gaul,
but would do nothing for him if he stayed in Rome; while Pompey, who had
been profuse in promises of protection, either avoided seeing Cicero, or
treated his abject entreaties with cold disdain.[9] Every citizen, by a
humane custom at Rome, had the right of avoiding a prosecution by
quitting the city and residing in some town which had the _ius exilii_.
It is this course that we find Cicero already entered upon when the
correspondence of the year begins. In the letters of this year of exile
he continually reproaches himself with not having stayed and even
supported the law, in full confidence that it could not be applied to
himself. He attributes his having taken the less courageous course to
the advice of his friends, who were actuated by jealousy and a desire
to get rid of him. Even Atticus he thinks was timid, at the best, in
advising his retirement. It is the only occasion in all the
correspondence in which the least cloud seems to have rested on the
perfect friendship of the two men. Atticus does not appear to have shewn
any annoyance at the querulous remarks of his friend. He steadily
continued to write, giving information and advice, and made no
difficulty in supplying his friend with money. During Cicero's absence
Atticus became still more wealthy than before by inheriting the estates
of his cross-grained uncle Cæcilius. But he was always careful as to the
investment of his money and he would not, perhaps, have been so ready to
trust Cicero, had he not felt confidence in the ultimate recovery of his
civil status. Still his confidence was peculiarly welcome at a time
which would have been otherwise one of great pressure. For Clodius had
followed up Cicero's retirement with the usual _lex_ in regard to
persons leaving Rome to avoid a trial--a prohibition "of fire and water"
within a fixed distance from Italy, which involved the confiscation of
all his property in Italy. His villas were dismantled, his town house
pulled down, and a vote of the people obtained by Clodius for the
consecration of its site as a _templum_ dedicated to Liberty, and a
scheme was formed and the work actually commenced for occupying part of
it by an extension of an existing porticus or colonnade (the _porticus
Catuli_) to contain a statue of Liberty. That this consecration was
regular is shewn by the pleas by which it was afterwards sought to
reverse it.[10] When Cicero was recalled the question came before the
pontifices, who decided that the consecration was not valid unless it
had been done by the "order of the people." It could not be denied on
the face of it that there had been such an order. Cicero was obliged to
resort to the plea that Clodius's adoption had been irregular and
invalid, that therefore he was not legally a tribune, and could not take
an order of the people. Finally, the senate seems to have decided that
its restoration to Cicero was part of the general _restitutio in
integrum_ voted by the _comitia centuriata_; and a sum of money was
assigned to him for the rebuilding of the house. Clodius refused to
recognize the validity of this decree of the senate, and attempted by
violence to interrupt the workmen engaged on the house. We have a lively
picture of this in Letter XCI (vol. i., pp. 194-196).
[Sidenote: Letters of the Exile (Letters LV-LXXXVIII).]
The letters from Cicero as an exile are painful reading for those who
entertain a regard for his character. It was not unnatural, indeed, that
he should feel it grievously. He had so completely convinced himself of
the extraordinary value of his services to the state, of the importance
of his position in Roman politics, and of the view that the Optimates
would take of the necessity of retaining him, that to see himself
treated like a fraudulent or unsuccessful provincial governor, of no
importance to anyone but himself, was a bitter blow to his self-esteem.
The actual loss was immense. His only means were now the amount of money
he had been able to take with him, or was able to borrow. All was gone
except such property as his wife retained in her own right. He was a
dependent upon her, instead of being her support and the master of his
own household. The services of freedmen--readily rendered when he was
prosperous--would now be a matter of favour and personal attachment,
which was not always sufficient to retain them. The "life and light" of
the city, in which no man ever took a more eager interest and delight,
were closed to him. He was cut off from his family, and from familiar
intercourse with friends, on both of which he was much dependent for
personal happiness. Lastly, wherever he lived, he lived, as it were, on
sufferance, no longer an object of respect as a statesman, or the source
of help to others by his eloquence. But, disagreeable as all this was to
a man of Cicero's sensitive vanity, there was something still worse.
Even in towns which were the legal distance from Italy he could not
safely stay, if they were within the jurisdiction of one of his personal
enemies, or contained other exiles, who owed him an ill turn. He was
protected by no law, and more than one instance of such a man's falling
a victim to an enemy's dagger is recorded. Cicero's first idea was to go
to Malta: but Malta was for some purposes in the jurisdiction of the
governor of Sicily, and the governor of Sicily (C. Vergilius[11])
objected to his passing through Sicily or staying at Malta. We have no
reason for supposing Vergilius personally hostile to Cicero, but he may
have thought that Cicero's services to the Sicilians in the case of
Verres would have called out some expression of feeling on their part in
his favour, which would have been awkward for a Roman governor. Cicero
therefore crossed to Epirus, and travelled down the Egnatian road to
Thessalonica. This was the official capital of the province of
Macedonia, and the quæstor in Macedonia, Gnæus Plancius, met Cicero at
Dyrrachium, invited him to fix his residence there with him, and
accompanied him on his journey. Here he stayed till November in a state
of anxiety and distress, faithfully reflected in his letters, waiting to
hear how far the elections for B.C. 57 would result in putting his
friends in office, and watching for any political changes that would
favour his recall: but prepared to go still farther to Cyzicus, if the
incoming governor, L. Calpurnius Piso, who, as consul in B.C. 58 with
Gabinius, had shewn decided animus against him, should still retain that
feeling in Macedonia. Events, however, in Rome during the summer and
autumn of B.C. 58 gave him better hopes. Clodius, by his violent
proceedings, as well as by his legislation, had alienated Pompey, and
caused him to favour Cicero's recall. Of the new consuls Lentulus was
his friend, and Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos (who as tribune in B.C. 63-62
had prevented his speech when laying down his consulship) consented to
waive all opposition. A majority of the new tribunes were also
favourable to him, especially P. Sestius and T. Annius Milo; and in
spite of constant ups and downs in his feelings of confidence, he had on
the whole concluded that his recall was certain to take place. Towards
the end of November he therefore travelled back to Dyrrachium, a _libera
civitas_ in which he had many friends, and where he thought he might be
safe, and from which he could cross to Italy as soon as he heard of the
law for his recall having been passed. Here, however, he was kept
waiting through many months of anxiety. Clodius had managed to make his
recall as difficult as possible. He had, while tribune, obtained an
order from the people forbidding the consuls to bring the subject before
the senate, and Piso and Gabinius had during their year of office
pleaded that law as a bar to introducing the question.
[Sidenote: The Recall, August, B.C. 57.]
The new consuls were not, or did not consider themselves, so bound, and
Lentulus having brought the subject forward, the senate early passed a
resolution that Cicero's recall was to take precedence of all other
business. In accordance with the resolution of the senate, a law was
proposed by the consul Lentulus in the _comitia centuriata_, and
probably one by Milo to the _tributa_. But Clodius, though no longer
armed with the tribuneship, was not yet beaten. He obtained the aid of
some gladiators belonging to his brother Appius, and more than once
interrupted and dispersed an assembly of the _comitia_. In the riots
thus occasioned blood was shed on both sides, and Cicero's brother
Quintus on one occasion nearly lost his life. This was the beginning of
the series of violent contests between Clodius and Milo, only ended by
the murder of the former on the Appian road in B.C. 52. But Clodius was
a candidate for the ædileship in this year (B.C. 57), and could be
barred from that office legally by a prosecution for _vis_, of which
Milo gave notice against him. It was, perhaps, a desire to avoid this,
as much as fear of Milo's counter exhibition of violence, that at length
caused him to relax in his opposition, or at any rate to abstain from
violently interrupting the _comitia_. Accordingly, on the 4th of August,
the law proposed by both consuls, and supported by Pompey, was passed
unanimously by the centuries. Cicero, we must presume, had received
trustworthy information that this was to be the case (shewing that some
understanding had been come to with Clodius, or there would have been no
certainty of his not violently dispersing the _comitia_ again), for on
that same day he set sail from Dyrrachium and landed at Brundisium on
the 5th. His triumphant return to Rome is described in the eighty-ninth
letter of this collection. For Pompey's share in securing it he
expressed, and seems really to have felt, an exaggerated gratitude,
which still influenced him in the unhappy months of B.C. 49, when he was
hesitating as to joining him beyond seas in the civil war.
But though Clodius had somehow been prevented from hindering his recall,
he by no means relaxed his hostility. He not only tried to excite the
populace against him by arguing that the scarcity and consequent high
price of corn, from which the people were at that time suffering, was in
some way attributable to Cicero's policy, but he also opposed the
restoration of his house; and when a decree of the senate was passed in
Cicero's favour on that point, brought his armed ruffians to prevent the
workmen from going on with the rebuilding, as well as to molest Cicero
himself (vol. i., p. 195). This was followed by a determined opposition
by Milo to the holding of the elections for B.C. 56, until his
prosecution of Clodius _de vi_ should have been tried. Clodius, however,
was acquitted,[12] and, being elected ædile, immediately commenced a
counter accusation against Milo for _vis_. He impeached him before the
_comitia_ in February (B.C. 56), on which occasion Pompey spoke in
Milo's defence in the midst of a storm of interruptions got up by the
friends of Clodius (vol. i., pp. 214, 217). Milo was also acquitted, and
the rest of Clodius's ædileship seems to have passed without farther
acts of open violence.
[Sidenote: Cicero and the Triumvirs.]
But Cicero had now other causes of anxiety. He had spoken in favour of
the commission offered to Pompey in B.C. 57 for superintending the
corn-supply of Rome (_cura annonæ_). Pompey was to have fifteen legates,
a good supply of ships and men, and considerable powers in all
corn-growing countries in the Mediterranean. Cicero supported this,
partly from gratitude to Pompey, but partly also from a wish to promote
his power and influence against the ever-increasing influence and fame
of Cæsar. He secretly hoped that a jealousy might grow up between them;
that Pompey would be drawn closer to the Optimates; and that the union
of the triumvirate might be gradually weakened and finally disappear.
Pompey was thoroughly offended and alarmed by the insults offered him by
the Clodian mob, and by Clodius's own denunciations of him; and if he
could be convinced that these were suggested or approved by Cæsar or
Crassus, it would go far to withdraw him from friendship with either of
them. With Crassus, indeed, he had never been on cordial terms: it was
only Cæsar's influence that had caused him to form any union with him.
Cæsar, on the other hand, was likely to be uneasy at the great powers
which the _cura annonæ_ put into Pompey's hands; and at the possible
suggestion of offering him the dictatorship, if the Clodian riots became
quite intolerable. On the whole, Cicero thought that he saw the element
of a very pretty quarrel, from which he hoped that the result might be
"liberty"--the orderly working of the constitution, that is, without the
irregular supremacy of anyone, at any rate of anyone of the popular
party. He had, however, a delicate part to play. He did not wish or dare
to break openly with Cæsar, or to speak too openly to Pompey; and he was
conscious that the intemperance, folly, or indifference of many of the
Optimates made it difficult to reckon on their support, and made that
support a very questionable benefit if accorded. But though his letters
of this period are full of expressions indicating doubt of Pompey and
irritation with him, yet he seems still to have spoken of him with
warmth on public occasions, while he avoided mentioning Cæsar, or spoke
of him only in cold terms.
[Sidenote: Renewal of the Triumvirate at Luca, April, B.C. 56, and
Cicero's change of policy.]
[Sidenote: Quintus Cicero in Gaul.]
The hope, however, of detaching Pompey from Cæsar was dashed by the
meeting at Luca in April, B.C. 56, at which a fresh arrangement was made
for the mutual advantage of the triumvirs. Cæsar got the promise of the
introduction of a law giving him an additional five years of command in
Gaul, with special privileges as to his candidature for the consulship
of B.C. 48; while Pompey and Crassus bargained for a second consulship
in B.C. 55, and the reversion of the Spains (to be held as a single
province) and Syria respectively, each for five years. The care taken
that none of the three should have _imperium_ overlapping that of the
others was indeed a sign of mutual distrust and jealousy. But the
bargain was made with sufficient approval of the members of the party
crowding Luca to secure its being carried out by the _comitia_. The
union seemed stronger than ever; and Cicero at length resolved on a
great change of attitude. Opposition to the triumvirs had been
abandoned, he saw, by the very party for whom he had been incurring the
enmity of Pompey and Cæsar. Why should he hold out any longer? "Since
those who have no power," he writes to Atticus in April, "refuse me
their affection, let me take care to secure the affection of those who
have power. You will say, 'I could have wished that you had done so
before.' I know you did wish it, and that I have made a real ass of
myself."[13] This is the first indication in the letters of the change.
But it was soon to be publicly avowed. The opposition to the consulship
of Pompey and Crassus was so violent that no election took place during
B.C. 56, and they were only elected under the presidency of _interreges_
at the beginning of February, B.C. 55. But by the _lex Sempronia_ the
senate was bound to name the consular provinces--_i.e._, the provinces
to be governed by the incoming consuls after their year of
office--before the elections, and in his speech on the subject (_de
Provinciis Consularibus_), delivered apparently in July, B.C. 56,
Cicero, while urging that Piso and Gabinius should have successors
appointed to them in Macedonia and Syria, took occasion to announce and
defend his own reconciliation with Cæsar, and to support his continuance
in the governorship of Gaul. Shortly afterwards, when defending the
citizenship of L. Cornelius Balbus, he delivered a glowing panegyric on
Pompey's character and services to the state. This was followed by a
complete abstention from any farther opposition to the carrying out of
Cæsar's law for the allotment of the Campanian land--a subject which he
had himself brought before the senate only a short time before, and on
which he really continued to feel strongly.[14] Cicero's most elaborate
defence of his change of front is contained in a long letter to P.
Lentulus Spinther, written two years afterwards.[15] The gist of it is
much the same as the remark to Atticus already quoted. "Pompey and
Cæsar were all-powerful, and could not be resisted without civil
violence, if not downright civil war. The Optimates were feeble and
shifty, had shewn ingratitude to Cicero himself, and had openly favoured
his enemy Clodius. Public peace and safety must be the statesman's chief
object, and almost any concession was to be preferred to endangering
these." Nevertheless, we cannot think that Cicero was ever heartily
reconciled to the policy, or the unconstitutional preponderance of the
triumvirs. He patched up some sort of reconciliation with Crassus, and
his personal affection for Pompey made it comparatively easy for him to
give him a kind of support. Cæsar was away, and a correspondence filled
on both sides with courteous expressions could be maintained without
seriously compromising his convictions. But Cicero was never easy under
the yoke. From B.C. 55 to B.C. 52 he sought several opportunities for a
prolonged stay in the country, devoting himself--in default of
politics--to literature. The fruits of this were the _de Oratore_ and
the _de Republica_, besides poems on his own times and on his
consulship. Still he was obliged from time to time to appear in the
forum and senate-house, and in various ways to gratify Pompey and Cæsar.
It must have been a great strain upon his loyalty to this new political
friendship when, in B.C. 54, Pompey called upon him to undertake the
defence of P. Vatinius, whom he had not long before attacked so fiercely
while defending Sestius. Vatinius had been a tribune in B.C. 59, acting
entirely in Cæsar's interests, and Cicero believed him to have been his
enemy both in the matter of his exile and in the opposition to his
recall. He had denounced him in terms that would have made it almost
impossible, one would think, to have spoken in his defence in any cause
whatever. At best he represented all that Cicero most disliked in
politics; and on this very election, to the prætorship, for which he was
charged with bribery (_de sodalitiis_), Cicero had already spoken in
strongly hostile terms in the senate. For now undertaking his defence he
has, in fact, no explanation to give to Lentulus (vol. i., p. 319), and
he was long sore at having been forced to do it. Through B.C. 54 and 53
he was busied with his _de Republica_, and was kept more in touch with
Cæsar by the fact that his brother Quintus was serving as _legatus_ to
the latter in Britain and Gaul, and that his friend Trebatius
(introduced by himself) was seeking for promotion and profit in Cæsar's
camp. But even his brother's service with Cæsar did not eventually
contribute to the formation of cordial feeling on his part towards
Cæsar, whom he could not help admiring, but never really liked. For
Quintus, though he distinguished himself by his defence of his camp in
the autumn of B.C. 54, lost credit and subjected himself to grave rebuke
by the disaster incurred in B.C. 53, near Aduatuca (_Tongres_), brought
about by disregarding an express order of Cæsar's. There is no allusion
to this in the extant correspondence, but a fragment of letter from
Cæsar to Cicero (_neque pro cauto ac diligente se castris
continuit_[16]), seems to shew that Cæsar had written sharply to Cicero
on his brother's _faux pas_, and after this time, though Cicero met
Cæsar at Ravenna in B.C. 52, and consented to support the bill allowing
him to stand for the consulship in his absence,[17] there is apparent in
his references to him a return to the cold or critical tone of former
times. But of course there were other reasons.
[Sidenote: Pompey's third Consulship and the trial of Milo, B.C. 52.]
Pompey's six months' sole consulship of B.C. 52 ("that divine third
consulship"), the rumour of his dictatorship, and the growing
determination of the Optimates to play off Pompey against Cæsar (Crassus
having disappeared) and to insist on Cæsar resigning his province and
army before the end of his ten years' tenure, and before standing for a
second consulship, caused Cicero's hope of a final dissolution of the
unconstitutional compact to revive again; and made him draw more and
more closely to Pompey as the chief hope of the _boni_. In the beginning
of the year he had found himself in opposition, or quasi-opposition, to
Pompey in regard to the prosecution of Milo for the murder of Clodius.
But though in the previous year he had declared that the election of
Milo to the consulship was of the utmost importance to his own position
and the safety of the state,[18] now that it was rendered impossible by
Milo's condemnation, he seems to have placed all his hopes on Pompey.
Unfortunately, there is here a break in the correspondence. There is no
letter of the last six months of B.C. 53, and only four (perhaps only
three) of B.C. 52.[19] So that the riots which prevented Milo's
election, the death of Clodius and the riots following it, and the
consequent sole consulship of Pompey, with the latter's new legislation
and the trial of Milo--all have to be sought for elsewhere. The last
letter of this volume and of this year, addressed to M. Marius in
December, B.C. 52, alludes to the condemnation of Milo, and to the
numerous prosecutions following it. "Here, in Rome, I am so distracted
by the number of trials, the crowded courts, and the new legislation,
that I daily offer prayers that there may be no intercalation."[20]
[Sidenote: Cicero appointed Proconsul of Cilicia, B.C. 51-50.]
When the correspondence opens again in the spring of B.C. 51 an event
has happened, of no particular importance in itself, but of supreme
interest to Cicero, and very fortunate for the readers of the
correspondence. One of Pompey's new laws ordained that no one was to
take a province till the fifth year after laying down his consulship or
prætorship. Pompey broke his own law by keeping his province, the
Spains--his position in regard to them was altogether exceptional--but,
in order to carry out the law in other cases, the senate arranged that
ex-consuls and ex-prætors who had not been to provinces should in turn
draw lots for vacant governorships. Cicero and Bibulus appear to have
been the senior _consulares_ in that position, and with much reluctance
Cicero allowed his name to be cast into the urn. He drew Cilicia and
Bibulus Syria. He says that his motive was a desire to obey the wishes
of the senate. Another motive may have been a desire to be away from
Rome while the controversy as to Cæsar's retirement from his province
was settled, and to retrieve a position of some political importance,
which he had certainly not increased during the last few years. When it
came to the actual start, however, he felt all the _gêne_ of the
business--the formation and control of his staff, the separation from
friends, and the residence far from the "light and life" of Rome, among
officials who were certainly commonplace and probably corrupt, and
amidst a population, perhaps acute and accomplished, but certainly
servile and ill content, and in some parts predatory and barbarous. At
the best, they would be emphatically provincial, in a dreary sense of
the word. He felt unequal to the worry and bore of the whole business,
and reproached himself with the folly of the undertaking. Of course,
this regret is mingled with his usual self-congratulation on the purity
with which he means to manage his province. But even that feeling is not
strong enough to prevent his longing earnestly to have the period of
banishment as short as possible, or to prevent the alarm with which he
hears of a probable invasion by the Parthians. One effect of his almost
two years' absence from Rome was, I think, to deprive him of the power
of judging clearly of the course of events. He had constant intelligence
and excellent correspondents--especially Cælius--still he could not
really grasp what was going on under the surface: and when he returned
to find the civil war on the point of breaking out, he was, after all,
taken by surprise, and had no plan of action ready. This, as well as his
government of the province, will be fully illustrated in the next volume
of the correspondence.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Cicero's Correspondents.]
The persons to whom the chief letters are addressed in this volume,
besides Atticus, are Cicero's brother Quintus and P. Lentulus Spinther.
There are two excellent letters to M. Marius, and one very interesting,
though rather surprising, epistle to L. Lucceius. Others of more than
average interest are to Terentia, M. Fadius Gallus, C. Scribonius Curio,
and Tiro.
[Sidenote: Titus Pomponius Atticus.]
ATTICUS (B.C. 109-32) is a man of whom we should be glad to know more
than we do. He was the friend of all the leading men of the day--Pompey,
Cæsar, Cicero, Antony, Brutus--father-in-law of Agrippa, and survived to
be a constant correspondent of Augustus, between B.C. 43 and his death
in B.C. 32. He was spared and respected by both sides in the civil
wars, from Sulla to the Second Triumvirate. The secret of his success
seems to have been that he was no man's rival. He resolutely declined
all official employment, even on the staff of his brother-in-law Quintus
Cicero. He committed himself to no side in politics, and, not being in
the senate, had no occasion by vote or speech to wound the feelings of
anyone. So, too, though he cared for literature, it was rather as a
friendly critic of others than as an author. He did, it is true, compile
some books on Roman history, on historical portraits, and certain family
biographies; but they were not such as made him a rival of any of his
contemporaries. They were rather the productions of a rich amateur, who
had leisure to indulge a quasi-literary taste, without any thought of
joining the ranks of professed writers. Thirdly, he had great wealth,
partly inherited, partly acquired by prudent speculation in the purchase
of town properties, or in loans to states or public bodies on fair
terms: and this wealth was at the service of his friends, but not in the
lavish or reckless manner, which often earns only ingratitude without
being of any permanent service to the recipients. He lent money, but
expected to be repaid even by his brother-in-law. And this prudence
helped to retain the confidence, while his sympathetic temperament
secured the liking, of most. Again, he had the valuable knack of
constantly replenishing the number of his friends among men junior to
himself. His character attracted the liking of Sulla, who was
twenty-seven years his senior, and he remained the close friend of his
contemporaries Hortensius and Cicero (the former five years his senior,
the latter three years his junior) till the day of their death. But we
also find him on intimate terms with Brutus, twenty-four, and Octavian,
forty-six years junior to himself. Lastly, he was not too much at Rome.
More than twenty years of his earlier manhood (B.C. 87-65) were spent in
Greece, principally at Athens, partly in study and partly in business.
And Athens at this time, long deprived of political importance, had
still the charm not only of its illustrious past, but also of its
surviving character as the home of culture and refinement. When he at
length returned to Rome in B.C. 65, he had already purchased a property
in Epirus, near Buthrotum (see p. 3), where he built a villa, in which
he continued to spend a considerable part of his remaining years. This
was sufficiently remote, not only from Rome, but from the summer
residences of the Roman nobles, to secure his isolation from the
intrigues and enmities of Roman society. He did not indeed--as who
does?--always escape giving offence. At the very beginning of the
correspondence we hear of his vain attempts to mollify the anger of L.
Lucceius--how incurred we do not know; and Quintus Cicero, of whose
sharp temper we hear so much, was on more than one occasion on the point
of a rupture with him. But his family life was generally as pleasing as
his connexion with his friends. With his mother, who lived to a great
age, he boasted that he had never been reconciled, because he had never
quarrelled. He was the only one who could get on with the crusty uncle
Cæcilius. In the delicate matter of his sister Pomponia's differences
with her husband Quintus Cicero, he seems to have acted with kindness as
well as prudence; and though he married late in life (B.C. 56, when he
was in his fifty-third year), he appears to have made an excellent
husband to Pilia and a very affectionate father to his daughter. His
unwearied sympathy with the varied moods of Cicero--whether of
exultation, irritation, or despair--and the entire confidence which
Cicero feels that he will have that sympathy in every case, are
creditable to both. It is only between sincere souls that one can speak
to the other as to a second self, as Cicero often alleges that he does
to Atticus.
[Sidenote: Quintus Tullius Cicero.]
Of QUINTUS CICERO, the next most important correspondent in this volume,
we get a fairly clear picture. Four years younger than his famous
brother (b. B.C. 102), he followed him at the due distance up the ladder
of official promotion to the prætorship, to which he was elected in the
year of his elder's consulship. There, however, Quintus stopped. He
never seems to have stood for the consulship. He had no oratorical
genius to give him reputation in the forum, nor were his literary
productions of any value, either for style or originality. His abilities
for administration, as shewn in his three years' government of Asia,
appear to have been respectable, but were marred by faults of temper,
which too often betrayed him into extreme violence of language. In
military command he shewed courage and energy in defending his camp in
the rising of the Gauls in the winter of B.C. 54-53; but he spoilt the
reputation thus gained by the mistake committed in the autumn of B.C.
53, which cost the loss of a considerable number of troops, and all but
allowed the roving Germans to storm his camp. He remained another year
in Gaul, but did nothing to retrieve this mistake. In military affairs
fortune rarely forgives. In politics he seems to have contented himself
generally with saying ditto to his brother. And this continued to be the
case up to Pharsalia. After that, finding himself on the losing side, he
turned somewhat fiercely upon the brother, whom he regarded as having
misled him; and for a time there was a miserable breach between them,
which, however, did not last very long. When the end came it found the
brothers united in heart as in misfortune. His private happiness was
marred by an uncongenial marriage. Pomponia--sister of Atticus--seems to
have been as high-tempered as her husband, and less placable. The
constant quarrels between them exercised the patience both of Cicero and
Atticus, and crops up all through the correspondence. One effect of them
was the loss of all control over their son, who, being called upon to
smooth over the differences between father and mother, naturally took up
at an early age a line of his own, and shewed a disposition to act
independently of his elders.
[Sidenote: Terentia.]
The letters to TERENTIA do not fill much space in the correspondence,
and are rarely interesting. Married about B.C. 80, Cicero seems to have
lived in harmony with her at least till the time of his return from
exile, during which unhappy period he acknowledges the activity of her
exertions in support of his recall, and the drain which his ruin was
making upon her resources. Terentia had a large private fortune, and
apparently used it liberally in his service. Nevertheless, immediately
on his return from exile, there seems to have been some cause of
coldness between the husband and wife. He darkly alludes to certain
domestic troubles in the first letter to Atticus written from Rome (vol
i., p. 189), and repeats the hint in the next (p. 193). When he landed
at Brundisium it was Tullia, not Terentia, who came to meet him (p.
187), and for some time after she appears to be presiding in his house
rather than Terentia (see pp. 224, 257). Whatever the cause of this
coldness was, however, it appears to have been removed for a time. He
kept up a correspondence with her while he was in Cilicia (B.C. 51-50),
and though he does not seem pleased at her having arranged the marriage
of Tullia with Dolabella, he addresses her warmly when about to return,
and was met by her on landing. During the five or six months that
followed, before Cicero left Italy to join Pompey, there is no
indication of any alienation: but the short notes from Pompey's camp,
and in the first half of B.C. 47, are cold and conventional, and on his
return to Brundisium after Pharsalia, and during his lengthened stay
there, he appears to have declined to allow her to come and see him.
Soon after his return to Rome, in September, B.C. 47, matters came to a
climax. Perhaps some of the mischief was caused by the mismanagement or
dishonesty of Terentia's steward, Philotimus, of whom we hear a good
deal in the letters from Cilicia: but whatever was the origin of the
quarrel, Cicero asserts that on his return he found his affairs in a
state of utter disorder. It may well have been that, like other
adherents to the losing cause, he had to suffer from loss of any
property that could be easily laid hands on in Rome, and that Terentia
had had no power to save it. But Cicero, rightly or wrongly, attributed
the embarrassment which he found awaiting him to his wife. He says in a
letter to Gnæus Plancius:[21] "I should not have taken any new step at a
time of such general disaster had I not on my return found my private
affairs in as sorry a position as the public. The fact is, that when I
saw that, owing to the criminal conduct of those to whom my life and
fortunes ought, in return for my never-to-be-forgotten services, to have
been their dearest object, there was nothing safe within the walls of my
house, nothing that was not the subject of some intrigue, I made up my
mind that I must arm myself by the faithful support of new marriage
connexions against the perfidy of the old." This is a lame excuse for a
man of sixty separating from the companion of his whole manhood, and in
the eyes of Roman Society it was rendered still more questionable by a
prompt marriage with a young girl, rich, and his own ward: from whom,
however, he soon again divorced himself, angered, it is said, by her
want of feeling at the death of Tullia. Terentia long survived her
husband, living, we are told, to be over a hundred years old. Divorce
was, of course, not regarded in these days of the Republic as it had
once been, or as it is now among ourselves; still we should have been
glad, both for his fame and his happiness, if the few years remaining to
him had not had this additional cloud. A man of sixty embarking on such
matrimonial enterprise is not a dignified spectacle, or one pleasing to
gods and men.
The other correspondents may be dismissed in few words.
[Sidenote: P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther.]
P. CORNELIUS LENTULUS SPINTHER, to whom some of the longest letters are
addressed, represents the high aristocracy, to which Cicero wished to
commend himself, though seeing keenly the weakness which underlay their
magnificence. The part played by Lentulus in politics had been showy,
but never founded on steadfast principle. He owed his earlier promotions
to Cæsar's influence, but in his consulship of B.C. 57 had taken the
side of the aristocracy in promoting the recall of Cicero, though he had
gone against their sentiment by supporting Pompey's appointment to the
_cura annonæ_. But as he was going to Cilicia in B.C. 56, Lentulus
wished to have the lucrative task of restoring Ptolemy Auletes to the
throne of Egypt, from which he had been righteously driven by his
subjects. Therefore it was all to the good that Pompey should have
business at home preventing him from taking this in hand. How Lentulus
was baulked in this desire will appear in the letters. He no doubt had
his full share of the _Lentulitas_ distinguishing his family. But all
was forgiven by Cicero to a man who had promoted his recall, and he
takes great pains to justify to Lentulus his own change of policy in
regard to the triumvirs after B.C. 56. When the civil war began Lentulus
joined Domitius at Corfinium, and with him fell into Cæsar's hands, and
was dismissed unharmed. He afterwards joined Pompey in Epirus, intent on
succeeding Cæsar as Pontifex Maximus, as soon as the latter had been
satisfactorily disposed of. After Pharsalia he sought refuge at Rhodes,
but was refused sanctuary by the islanders, and was eventually put to
death, though we do not know by whom (_Att._ xi. 13; _Fam._ ix. 18).
[Sidenote: M. Fadius Gallus, M. Marius, L. Lucceius, C. Scribonius
Curio, C. Trebatius Testa.]
M. FADIUS GALLUS, the Epicurean, and M. MARIUS, the valetudinarian and
wit, were among friends valued for their personal and agreeable
qualities rather than for any public or political importance attaching
to them. The same may be said of L. LUCCEIUS, of whose Roman history
Cicero thought so well, that he wrote a remarkable letter begging for an
honourable place in it for his consulship, as Pliny did to Tacitus.[22]
C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO, son of a great friend of Cicero, after a _jeunesse
orageuse_, returned to Rome from his quæstorship in Asia, in B.C. 53, to
take up the inheritance of his father, which he quickly dissipated.
Cicero seems to have had a high idea of his abilities, and to have
believed him capable of taking the lead of the Optimates. But in his
tribuneship of B.C. 51-50 he disappointed all such hopes by openly
joining Cæsar's party, and resisting all attempts to recall him. He
joined Cæsar at Ravenna as soon as his tribuneship was out, and urged
him to march on Rome. In B.C. 49 he was sent to secure Sicily and
Africa. The first he did, but in the second he perished in battle
against the senatorial governor and king Iuba. Cicero's relation to C.
TREBATIUS TESTA, a learned jurisconsult, was apparently that of a patron
or tutor, who, thinking that he has found a young man of ability,
endeavours to push him. He sent him with a letter of introduction to
Cæsar, who was good-natured, though rather sarcastic as to the scope for
legal abilities to be found in Gaul. He gave him, however, a military
tribuneship, without exacting military duties, and apparently kept on
good terms with him, for he employed him in B.C. 49 to communicate his
wish to Cicero as to his remaining at Rome. Cicero's letters to him,
though numerous, are not among the most interesting. They are full of
banter of a rather forced and dull kind; and Cicero was evidently
annoyed to find that his scheme for advancing Trebatius in Cæsar's
province had not been very successful. The friendship, however, survived
the civil war, and we find Cicero in B.C. 44 dedicating his _Topica_ to
Trebatius.
[Footnote 1: That Cicero up to the time of his consulship had been
connected rather with the _populares_ is illustrated by Quintus (_de
Petit._ i.) urging him to make it clear that he had never been a
demagogue, but that if he had ever spoken "in the spirit of the popular
party, he had done so with the view of attracting Pompey."]
[Footnote 2: _De Orat._ ii. §§ 1, 2.]
[Footnote 3: "The city, the city, my dear Rufus--stick to that, and live
in its full light. Residence elsewhere--as I made up my mind early in
life--is mere eclipse and obscurity to those whose energy is capable of
shining at Rome."--_Fam._ ii. 12 (vol. ii., p. 166).]
[Footnote 4: Even at these he found troublesome people to interrupt him.
See vol. i., pp. 102, 104.]
[Footnote 5: Yet the announcement of the birth of his son (p. 16) and of
the dangerous confinement of Tullia (vol. ii., p. 403) are almost
equally brief.]
[Footnote 6: See _Att._ ii. 1, vol. 1., p. 62; Plut. _Cic._ 13; Cic. _in
Pis._ § 4.]
[Footnote 7: _Die Entstchungsgeschichte der catilinarischen
Verschwörung_, by Dr. Constantin John, 1876. I am still of opinion that
Plutarch's statement can be strongly supported.]
[Footnote 8: Cæsar said, οὺ μὴν καὶ προσήκειν ἐπὶ τοῐς παρεληλυθόσι
τοιοῠτόν τινα νόμον συγγράφεσθαι (Dio, xxxviii. 17).]
[Footnote 9: "The man who did not so much as raise me up, when I threw
myself at his feet."--_Att._ x. 4 (vol. ii., p. 362). Similar allusions
to Pompey's conduct to him on the occasion often occur.]
[Footnote 10: See vol. i., p. 190.]
[Footnote 11: See vol. i., pp. 129, 138; cp. _pro Planc._ §§ 95-96.]
[Footnote 12: _Fam._ i. 9, 15 (vol. i., p. 316).]
[Footnote 13: Letter CVII, vol. i., pp. 219, 220.]
[Footnote 14: Ever since its capture in the second Punic War, Capua had
ceased to have any corporate existence, and its territory had been _ager
publicus_, let out to tenants (_aratores_). Cæsar had restored its
corporate existence by making it a _colonia_, and much of the land had
been allotted to veterans of his own and Pompey's armies. The state thus
lost the rent of the land, one of the few sources of revenue from Italy
now drawn by the exchequer of Rome.]
[Footnote 15: Letter CLII, vol. i., pp. 310-324.]
[Footnote 16: Quoted by Flavius Charisius, _Ars Gramm._ i., p. 126 (ed.
Kiel).]
[Footnote 17: Vol. ii., p. 204.]
[Footnote 18: Vol. i., p. 357.]
[Footnote 19: CLXXVIII-CLXXXI. The date of the letter to P. Sittius
(CLXXVIII) is not certain.]
[Footnote 20: Vol. i., p. 366.]
[Footnote 21: Letter DXXXIII (_Fam._ iv. 14), about October, B.C. 46.]
[Footnote 22: Vol. i., p. 226; Pliny, _Ep._, vii. 33.]
"TULLIUS, of all the sons of royal Rome
That are, or have been, or are yet to come,
Most skilled to plead, most learned in debate,--
Catullus hails thee, small as thou art great.
Take thou from him his thanks, his fond regards,
The first of patrons from the least of bards."
CATULLUS, xlix. (J. E. S.)
CICERO'S LETTERS
ERRATA IN VOL. I.
Page 107, note 3, last line, _dele_ note of interrogation after "expenses."
" 193, note 4, last line, _for_ B.C. 45 _lege_ B.C. 46.
" 253, Letter CXXII, _for_ A IV, 1, _lege_ A IV, 2.
CICERO'S LETTERS
I (A I, 5)
[Sidenote: B.C. 68. Coss., L. Cæcilius Metellus, Q. Marcius Rex.]
This opening of the correspondence finds Cicero, now in his
thirty-ninth year, in the midst of his official career. He had
already been quæstor (B.C. 75) and ædile (B.C. 69), and was looking
forward to his election to the prætorship in the next year (B.C.
67). He had already risen almost to the highest place in his
profession as advocate, and had partly delivered, partly published
his great indictment of Verres only a year ago. He is married to
Terentia (B.C. 80), and has one daughter, Tullia or Tulliola, born
on August 5, probably the next year (B.C. 79). His intimacy with T.
Pomponius Atticus (three years his senior), perhaps begun at
school, had lasted at least eleven years, from the time when he met
him at Athens (B.C. 79), and with him had been initiated in the
Eleusinian mysteries (_de Leg._ 2, § 36). There too they had both
seen much of the writer's cousin Lucius, whose death he deplores in
this letter (_de Fin._ 5, § 1). Atticus had lived abroad in Athens
and Epirus, with occasional visits home from B.C. 88 to B.C. 65, in
which latter year he seems to have returned for a more lengthened
stay (Nep. _Att._ 4). The two friends have already corresponded
frequently, but this is the first letter preserved.
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 68, ÆT. 38]
We are such intimate friends that more than almost anyone else you can
appreciate the grief as well as the actual public and private loss that
the death of my cousin Lucius is to me. There is absolutely no
gratification which any human being can receive from the kindly
character of another that I have not been accustomed to receive from
him. I am sure, therefore, that you will share my grief. For, in the
first place, whatever affects me affects you; and in the second place,
you have yourself lost in him a friend and connexion of the highest
character and most obliging disposition, who was attached to you from
personal inclination, as well as from my conversation.
As to what you say in your letter about your sister,[23] she will
herself bear me witness what pains I have taken that my brother Quintus
should show her proper affection. Thinking him somewhat inclined to be
angry with her, I wrote to him in such a way as I thought would not hurt
his feelings as a brother, while giving him some good advice as my
junior, and remonstrating with him as being in the wrong. The result is
that, from frequent letters since received from him, I feel confident
that everything is as it ought and as we should wish it to be.
As to the frequency of my letters you have no ground for your complaint.
The fact is our good sister Pomponia never informed me of there being a
courier ready to take a letter. Farthermore, I never chanced to know of
anyone going to Epirus,[24] and I was not till recently informed of your
being at Athens.
Again, as to the business of Acutilius which you had left in my hands. I
had settled it on my first visit to Rome after your departure. But it
turned out that, in the first place, there was no urgency in the matter,
and, in the second place, as I felt confidence in your judgment, I
preferred that Peducæus[25] rather than myself should advise you by
letter on the subject. For having submitted my ears to Acutilius for
several days (and I think you know his style), I should scarcely have
regarded it as a hardship to write you a letter describing his
grumblings after patiently enduring the bore (and it _was_ rather a
bore, I can tell you) of hearing them. Moreover, though you find fault
with me, allow me to observe that I have had only one letter from you,
though you had greater leisure for writing, and more opportunity of
sending letters.
As to what you say in your letter, "Even if anyone is inclined to be
offended with you, I ought to bring him to a better mind"--I understand
to what you allude, and I have not neglected the matter. But the truth
is that the extent of his displeasure is something surprising. However,
I have not omitted to say anything there was to say in your behalf: but
on what points I am to hold out your wishes, I consider, ought to be my
guide. If you will write me word distinctly what they are, you will find
that I have had no desire to be more exacting, and in the future shall
be no more yielding, than you wish.[26]
As to the business of Tadius. He tells me that you have written him word
that there was no need of farther trouble, since the property is secured
by prescription. I am surprised that you do not know that in the case of
a statutory wardship of an unmarried girl prescription cannot be
pleaded.[27]
I am glad you like your purchase in Epirus. What I commissioned you to
get for me, and anything you see suitable to my Tusculan villa, I should
be glad if you will, as you say in your letter, procure for me, only
don't put yourself to any inconvenience. The truth is, there is no other
place that gives me complete rest after all my worries and hard work.
I am expecting my brother Quintus every day. Terentia has a severe
attack of rheumatism. She is devoted to you, to your sister, and your
mother, and adds her kindest regards in a postscript. So does my pet
Tulliola. Love me, and be assured that I love you as a brother.
[Footnote 23: Pomponia, married to Cicero's younger brother Quintus. We
shall frequently hear of this unfortunate marriage. Quintus was four
years younger than his brother, who had apparently arranged the match,
and felt therefore perhaps somewhat responsible for the result (Nep.
_Att._ 5).]
[Footnote 24: Atticus had estates and a villa near Buthrotum in
Epirus,--_Butrinto_ in Albania, opposite Corfu.]
[Footnote 25: This is probably Sext. Peducæus the younger, an intimate
friend of Atticus (Nep. _Att._ 21); his father had been prætor in Sicily
when Cicero was quæstor (B.C. 76-75), the son was afterwards a partisan
of Cæsar in the Civil War, governor of Sardinia, B.C. 48, and proprætor
in Spain, B.C. 39.]
[Footnote 26: The person alluded to is L. Lucceius, of whom we shall
hear again. See Letters V, VII, VIII, CVIII. What his quarrel with
Atticus was about, we do not know.]
[Footnote 27: Prescriptive right to property was acquired by possession
(_usus_) of two years. But no such right could be acquired to the
property of a girl under guardianship (_pro Flacco_, § 84).]
II (A I, 6)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME, DECEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 68, ÆT. 38]
I won't give you any excuse hereafter for accusing me of neglecting to
write. It is you that must take care that with all your leisure you keep
up with me.
Rabirius's house at Naples,[28]for the improvement of which you have
designs drawn out and completed in imagination, has been bought by M.
Fonteius[29] for 130,000 sesterces (about £1,040). I wished you to know
this in case you were still hankering after it.
We may be quite satisfied, I think, with my brother's feelings towards
Pomponia. He is with her at present in his villa at Arpinum, and has
Decimus Turanius with him, who is great in _belles lettres_.
The date of my father's death was the 28th of November.
That is about all my news. If you light on any articles of _vertu_
suitable for a gymnasium, which would look well in the place you wot
of,[30] please don't let them slip. I am so delighted with my Tusculan
villa that I never feel really happy till I get there. Let me know
exactly what you are doing and intending to do about everything.
[Footnote 28: C. Rabirius, whom Cicero defended in B.C. 63, when
prosecuted by Cæsar for his share in the murder of Saturninus (B.C.
100). He lived, we know, in Campania, for his neighbours came to give
evidence in his favour at the trial.]
[Footnote 29: M. Fonteius made a fortune in the province of Gaul beyond
the Alps, of which he was proprætor, B.C. 77-74. In B.C. 69 he had been
accused of malversation, and defended by Cicero. After his acquittal he
seems to be buying a seaside residence in Campania, as so many of the
men of fashion did.]
[Footnote 30: Cicero's "gymnasium" was some arrangement of buildings and
plantations more or less on the model of the Greek gymnasia, at his
Tusculan villa.]
III (A I, 7)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME, DECEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 68, ÆT. 38]
All's well at your mother's,[31] and I keep an eye on her. I have
undertaken to pay L. Cincius 20,400 sesterces[32] to your credit on the
Ides of February. Pray see that I receive at the earliest possible
opportunity what you say in your letters that you have bought and
secured for me. I should also be very much obliged if you would, as you
promised, think over the means of securing the library for me. My hope
of getting the one enjoyment which I care for, when I come to retire,
depends entirely on your kindness.
[Footnote 31: The mother of Atticus lived to be ninety, dying in B.C.
33, not long before Atticus himself, who at her funeral declared that
"he had never been reconciled to her, for he had never had a word of
dispute with her" (Nep. _Att._ 17).]
[Footnote 32: This sum (about £163) is for the works of art purchased
for the writer by Atticus.]
IV (A I, 9)
[Sidenote: B.C. 67. Coss., C. Calpurnius Piso, M. Acilius Glabrio.]
The year of Cicero's election to the prætorship. It is the year
also of Pompey's great commission by the _lex Gabinia_ against the
Pirates. But Cicero does not seem as yet much concerned with
"foreign politics."
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 67, ÆT. 39]
I get letters from you far too seldom considering that you can much more
easily find people starting for Rome than I to Athens: considering, too,
that you are more certain of my being at Rome than I of your being at
Athens. For instance, it is owing to this uncertainty on my part that
this very letter is somewhat short, because not being sure as to where
you are, I don't choose my confidential talk to fall into strange hands.
The Megaric statues and the Hermæ, which you mentioned in your letters,
I am waiting for impatiently. Anything you have of the same kind which
may strike you as worthy of my "Academia," do not hesitate to send, and
have complete confidence in my money-chest. My present delight is to
pick up anything particularly suitable to a "gymnasium." Lentulus
promises the use of his ships. I beg you to be zealous in these matters.
Thyillus begs you (and I also at his request) to get him some writings
of the Eumolpidæ.[33]
V (A I, 8)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 67, ÆT. 39]
All well at your house. Your mother and sister are regarded with
affection by me and my brother Quintus. I have spoken to Acutilius. He
says that he has not heard from his agent, and professes surprise that
you should make any difficulty of his having refused to guarantee you
against farther demands. As to the business of Tadius, the announcement
in your letter that you have settled the matter out of court I saw
gratified and pleased him very much. That friend of mine[34]--a most
excellent man, upon my honour, and most warmly attached to me--is very
angry with you. If I could but know how much you care about it, I should
be able to decide how much trouble I am to take in the matter. I have
paid L. Cincius the 20,400 sesterces for the Megaric statues in
accordance with your letter to me. As to your Hermæ of Pentelic marble
with bronze heads, about which you wrote to me--I have fallen in love
with them on the spot. So pray send both them and the statues, and
anything else that may appear to you to suit the place you wot of, my
passion, and your taste--as large a supply and as early as possible.
Above all, anything you think appropriate to a gymnasium and terrace. I
have such a passion for things of this sort that while I expect
assistance from you, I must expect something like rebuke from others. If
Lentulus has no vessel there, put them on board anyone you please. My
pet Tulliola claims your present and duns me as your security. I am
resolved, however, to disown the obligation rather than pay up for you.
[Footnote 33: Thyillus (sometimes written Chilius), a Greek poet living
at Rome. See Letters XVI and XXI. The Eumolpidæ were a family of priests
at Athens who had charge of the temple of Demeter at Eleusis. The πάτρια
Εὐμολπιδῶν (the phrase used by Cicero here) may be either books of
ritual or records such as priests usually kept: πάτρια is an appropriate
word for such rituals or records handed down by priests of one race or
family.]
[Footnote 34: Lucceius, as in the first letter and the next.]
VI (A I, 10)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
TUSCULUM
[Sidenote: B.C. 67, ÆT. 39]
"Being in my Tusculan villa" (that's for your "being in the
Ceramicus")--however, I being there, a courier sent by your sister
arrived from Rome and delivered me a letter from you, announcing at the
same time that the courier who was going to you started that very
afternoon. The result is that, though I do send _an_ answer, I am forced
by the shortness of the time to write only these few words. First, as to
softening my friend's feeling towards you, or even reconciling him
outright, I pledge you my word to do so. Though I have been attempting
it already on my own account, I will now urge the point more earnestly
and press him closer, as I think I gather from your letter that you are
so set upon it. This much I should like you to realize, that he is very
deeply offended; but since I cannot see any serious ground for it, I
feel confident that he will do as I wish and yield to my influence. As
for my statues and Hermeracles, pray put them on board, as you say in
your letter, at your very earliest convenience, and anything else you
light upon that may seem to you appropriate to the place you wot of,
especially anything you think suitable to a palæstra and gymnasium. I
say this because I am sitting there as I write, so that the very place
itself reminds me. Besides these, I commission you to get me some
medallions to let into the walls of my little entrance-court, and two
engraved stone-curbs. Mind you don't engage your library to anyone,
however keen a lover you may find; for I am hoarding up my little
savings expressly to secure that resource for my old age. As to my
brother, I trust that all is as I have ever wished and tried to make it.
There are many signs of that result--not least that your sister is
_enceinte_. As for my election, I don't forget that I left the question
entirely to you, and I have all along been telling our common friends
that I have not only not asked you to come, but have positively
forbidden you to do so, because I understood that it was much more
important to you to carry through the business you have now in hand,
than it is to me to have you at my election. I wish you therefore to
feel as though you had been sent to where you are in my interests. Nay,
you will find me feeling towards you, and hear of it from others,
exactly as though my success were obtained not only in your presence,
but by your direct agency.
Tulliola gives notice of action against you. She is dunning me as your
surety.
VII (A I, 11)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 67, ÆT. 39]
I was doing so before spontaneously, and have been since greatly stirred
by your two letters, with their earnest expressions to the same effect.
Besides, Sallustius has been always at my side to prompt me to spare no
pains to induce Lucceius to be reconciled to you. But after doing
everything that could be done, not only did I fail to renew his old
feelings towards you, but I could not even succeed in eliciting the
reason of his alienation. On his part, however, he keeps harping on that
arbitration case of his, and the other matters which I knew very well
before you left Rome were causing him offence. Still, he has certainly
got something else fixed deeper in his mind; and this no letters _from_
you, and no commissioning of me will obliterate as easily as you will do
in a personal interview, I don't mean merely by your words, but by the
old familiar expression of your face--if only you think it worth while,
as you will if you will listen to me, and be willing to act with your
habitual kindness. Finally, you need not wonder why it is that, whereas
I intimated in my letters that I felt hopeful of his yielding to my
influence, I now appear to have no such confidence; for you can scarcely
believe how much more stubborn his sentiment appears to me than I
expected, and how much more obstinate he is in this anger. However, all
this will either be cured when you come, or will only be painful to the
party in fault.
As to the sentence in your letter, "you suppose by this time I am
prætor-elect," let me tell you that there is no class of people at Rome
so harassed by every kind of unreasonable difficulty as candidates for
office; and that no one knows when the elections will be.[35] However,
you will hear all this from Philadelphus. Pray despatch at the earliest
opportunity what you have bought for my "Academia." I am surprisingly
delighted with the mere thought of that place, to say nothing of its
actual occupation. Mind also not to let anyone else have your books.
Reserve them, as you say in your letter, for me. I am possessed with the
utmost longing for them, as I am with a loathing for affairs of every
other kind, which you will find in an incredibly worse position than
when you left them.[36]
[Footnote 35: The _comitia_ were twice postponed this year. Apparently
the voting for Cicero had in each case been completed, so that he is
able to say that he was "thrice returned at the head of the poll by an
unanimous vote" (_de Imp. Pomp._ § 2). The postponement of the elections
was probably connected with the struggles of the senate to hinder the
legislation (as to bribery) of the Tribune, Gaius Cornelius (Dio, 36,
38-39).]
[Footnote 36: The first allusion in these letters to the disturbed
position of public affairs. See the passage of Dio quoted in the
previous note. There were so many riots in the interval between the
proclamation and the holding of the elections, not without bloodshed,
that the senate voted the consuls a guard.]
VIII (A I, 3)
[Sidenote: B.C. 66. Coss., M. Æmilius Lepidus, L. Volcatius Tullus.]
In this year Cicero was prætor, and delivered his first extant
public speech (_apud populum_) in support of the _lex Manilia_,
which gave Pompey the command in the Mithridatic War with the
provinces of Asia and Bithynia. The strict Optimates opposed it.
Cicero supported it on the grounds of the importance of the war and
the proofs Pompey had already given of military ability, courage,
personal prestige, and good fortune. He takes occasion to point out
the mischief done to the Roman name by oppressive or fraudulent
governors and imperators. In this same year he delivered one of his
ablest speeches in court in defending A. Cluentius Habitus on a
charge of poisoning. At the consular elections this year the two
first elected were disabled for bribery.
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME, JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 66, ÆT. 40]
I have to inform you of the death of your grandmother from pining at
your long absence, and at the same time because she was afraid that the
Latin towns would revolt and fail to bring the victims up the Alban
Mount. I presume that L. Saufeius will send you a letter of condolence
on the subject.[37] I am expecting you here in the course of January--is
it a mere rumour or does it come from letters of yours to others? For to
me you have not mentioned the subject. The statues which you got for me
have been landed at Caieta. I haven't seen them, for I have been unable
to leave Rome. I have sent a man to clear the freightage. I am
exceedingly obliged to you for having taken so much trouble to get them,
and so reasonably. As to your frequent remarks in your letters about
pacifying my friend, I have done everything I could and tried every
expedient; but he is inveterate against you to a surprising degree, on
what suspicions, though I think you have been told, you shall yet learn
from me when you come. I failed to restore Sallustius[38] to his old
place in his affections, and yet he was on the spot. I tell you this
because the latter used to find fault with me in regard to you. Well, he
has found by personal experience that _he_ is not so easy to pacify, and
that on my part no zeal has been lacking either on his or your behalf. I
have betrothed Tulliola to C. Piso Frugi, son of Lucius.[39]
[Footnote 37: The point of this frigid joke is not clear. Was the
grandmother really dead? What was she to do with the Latin _feriæ_? Mr.
Strachan Davidson's explanation is perhaps the best, that Cicero means
that the old lady was thinking of the Social War in B.C. 89, when the
loyalty of the Latin towns must have been a subject of anxiety. She is
in her dotage and only remembers old scares. This is understanding
_civitates_ with _Latinæ_. Others understand _feriæ_ or _mulieres_.
Saufeius, a Roman eques, was an Epicurean, who would hold death to be no
evil. He was a close friend of Atticus, who afterwards saved his
property from confiscation by the Triumvirs (Nep. _Att._ 12).]
[Footnote 38: Cneius Sallustius, a learned friend of Cicero's, of whom
we shall often hear again.]
[Footnote 39: C. Calpurnius Piso, quæstor B.C. 58, died in B.C. 57. The
marriage took place in B.C. 63.]
IX (A I, 4)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 65, ÆT. 41]
You keep on making me expect you again and again. Only the other day,
when I thought you on the point of arriving, I was suddenly put off by
you till Quintilis (July). Now, however, I _do_ think that you should
come at the time you mention if you possibly can. You will thereby be in
time for my brother Quintus's election, will pay me a long-deferred
visit, and will settle the dispute with Acutilius. This latter Peducæus
also suggested my mentioning to you, for I think it is full time that
you settled that affair. My good offices are at your service and always
have been so. Here at Rome I have conducted the case of Gaius Macer with
a popular approval surpassing belief and unparalleled. Though I had been
inclined to take a lenient view of his case, yet I gained much more
substantial advantage from the popular approval on his condemnation
than I should have got from his gratitude if he had been acquitted.[40]
I am very glad to hear what you say about the Hermathena. It is an
ornament appropriate to my "Academia" for two reasons: Hermes is a sign
common to all gymnasia, Minerva specially of this particular one. So I
would have you, as you say, adorn the place with the other objects also,
and the more the better. The statues which you sent me before I have not
yet seen. They are in my villa at Formiæ, whither I am at this moment
thinking of going. I shall get them all transferred to my Tusculan
villa. If I find myself with more than I want there I shall begin
adorning Caieta. Please reserve your books, and don't despair of my
being able to make them mine. If I succeed in that, I am superior to
Crassus in wealth and look down on everybody's manors and pastures.[41]
[Footnote 40: The annalist C. Licinius Macer was impeached _de
repetundis_ (he was prætor about B.C. 70 or 69, and afterwards had a
province), and finding that he was going to be condemned, committed
suicide. He was never therefore condemned regularly (Val. Max. ix. 127;
Plut. _Cic._ 9). Cicero presided at the court as prætor.]
[Footnote 41: The books must have been a very valuable collection, or
Cicero would hardly have made so much of being able to buy them,
considering his lavish orders for statues or antiques.]
X (A I, 1)
[Sidenote: B.C. 65. Coss., L. Aurelius Cotta, L. Manlius Torquatus.]
The election to the consulship is not till the next year (B.C. 64),
but Cicero is already making preparation for it, and looking out
for support. In July his only son was born. He does not refer to
the so-called "first Catilinarian conspiracy," but mentions
Catiline as a possible competitor, and even contemplates defending
him on some charge brought against him to prevent his standing for
the consulship.
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME, JULY
[Sidenote: B.C. 65, ÆT. 41]
The state of things in regard to my candidature, in which I know that
you are supremely interested, is this, as far as can be as yet
conjectured. The only person actually canvassing is P. Sulpicius
Galba.[42] He meets with a good old-fashioned refusal without reserve or
disguise. In the general opinion this premature canvass of his is not
unfavourable to my interests; for the voters generally give as a reason
for their refusal that they are under obligations to me. So I hope my
prospects are to a certain degree improved by the report getting about
that my friends are found to be numerous. My intention was to begin my
own canvass just at the very time that Cincius[43] tells me that your
servant starts with this letter, namely, in the _campus_ at the time of
the tribunician elections on the 17th of July. My fellow candidates, to
mention only those who seem certain, are Galba and Antonius and Q.
Cornificius.[44] At this I imagine you smiling or sighing. Well, to make
you positively smite your forehead, there _are_ people who actually
think that Cæsonius[45] will stand. I don't think Aquilius will, for he
openly disclaims it and has alleged as an excuse his health and his
leading position at the bar. Catiline will certainly be a candidate, if
you can imagine a jury finding that the sun does not shine at noon. As
for Aufidius and Palicanus,[46] I don't think you will expect to hear
from me about them. Of the candidates for this year's election Cæsar is
considered certain. Thermus is looked upon as the rival of Silanus.[47]
These latter are so weak both in friends and reputation that it seems
_pas impossible_ to bring in Curius over their heads. But no one else
thinks so. What seems most to my interests is that Thermus should get
in with Cæsar. For there is none of those at present canvassing who, if
left over to my year, seems likely to be a stronger candidate, from the
fact that he is commissioner of the _via Flaminia_, and when that has
been finished, I shall be greatly relieved to have seen him elected
consul this election.[48] Such in outline is the position of affairs in
regard to candidates up to date. For myself I shall take the greatest
pains to carry out all the duties of a candidate, and perhaps, as Gaul
seems to have a considerable voting power, as soon as business at Rome
has come to a standstill I shall obtain a _libera legatio_ and make an
excursion in the course of September to visit Piso,[49] but so as not to
be back later than January. When I have ascertained the feelings of the
nobility I will write you word. Everything else I hope will go smoothly,
at any rate while my competitors are such as are now in town. You must
undertake to secure for me the _entourage_ of our friend Pompey, since
you are nearer than I. Tell him I shall not be annoyed if he doesn't
come to my election.[50] So much for that business. But there is a
matter for which I am very anxious that you should forgive me. Your
uncle Cæcilius having been defrauded of a large sum of money by P.
Varius, began an action against his cousin A. Caninius Satyrus for the
property which (as he alleged) the latter had received from Varius by a
collusive sale. He was joined in this action by the other creditors,
among whom were Lucullus and P. Scipio, and the man whom they thought
would be official receiver if the property was put up for sale, Lucius
Pontius; though it is ridiculous to be talking about a receiver at this
stage in the proceedings. Cæcilius asked me to appear for him against
Satyrus. Now, scarcely a day passes that Satyrus does not call at my
house. The chief object of his attentions is L. Domitius,[51] but I am
next in his regard. He has been of great service both to myself and to
my brother Quintus in our elections. I was very much embarrassed by my
intimacy with Satyrus as well as that with Domitius, on whom the success
of my election depends more than on anyone else. I pointed out these
facts to Cæcilius; at the same time I assured him that if the case had
been one exclusively between himself and Satyrus, I would have done what
he wished. As the matter actually stood, all the creditors being
concerned--and that too men of the highest rank, who, without the aid of
anyone specially retained by Cæcilius, would have no difficulty in
maintaining their common cause--it was only fair that he should have
consideration both for my private friendship and my present situation.
He seemed to take this somewhat less courteously than I could have
wished, or than is usual among gentlemen; and from that time forth he
has entirely withdrawn from the intimacy with me, which was only of a
few day's standing.[52] Pray forgive me, and believe that I was
prevented by nothing but natural kindness from assailing the reputation
of a friend in so vital a point at a time of such very great distress,
considering that he had shewn me every sort of kindness and attention.
But if you incline to the harsher view of my conduct, take it that the
interests of my canvass prevented me. Yet, even granting that to be so,
I think you should pardon me, "since not for sacred beast or oxhide
shield."[53] You see in fact the position I am in, and how necessary I
regard it, not only to retain but even to acquire all possible sources
of popularity. I hope I have justified myself in your eyes, I am at any
rate anxious to have done so. The Hermathena you sent I am delighted
with: it has been placed with such charming effect that the whole
gymnasium seems arranged specially for it.[54] I am exceedingly obliged
to you.
[Footnote 42: One of the judices rejected by Verres on his trial, a
pontifex and augur.]
[Footnote 43: Agent of Atticus.]
[Footnote 44: C. Antonius (uncle of M. Antonius) was elected with
Cicero. Q. Cornificius had been tr. pl. in B.C. 69. See Letter XVIII.]
[Footnote 45: M. Cæsonius, Cicero's colleague in the ædileship. He had
lost credit as one of the _Iunianum concilium_ in the trial of
Oppianicus.]
[Footnote 46: Aufidius Lurco, tr. pl. B.C. 61. M. Lollius Palicanus, tr.
pl. some years previously.]
[Footnote 47: L. Iulius Cæsar, actually consul in B.C. 64,
brother-in-law of Lentulus the Catilinarian conspirator, was afterwards
_legatus_ to his distant kinsman, Iulius Cæsar, in Gaul. A. Minucius
Thermus, defended by Cicero in B.C. 59, but the identification is not
certain. D. Iunius Silanus got the consulship in the year after Cicero
(B.C. 62), and as consul-designate spoke in favour of executing the
Catilinarian conspirators.]
[Footnote 48: The text is corrupt in all MSS. I have assumed a reading,
something of this sort, _quæ cum erit absoluta, sane facile ac libenter
eum nunc fieri consulem viderim_. This at any rate gives nearly the
required sense, which is that Cicero regards the influence which Thermus
will gain by managing the repair of the _Flaminia_ as likely to make him
a formidable candidate, and therefore he would be glad to see him
elected in the present year 65 (_nunc_) rather than wait for the next,
his own year.]
[Footnote 49: C. Calpurnis Piso, consul in B.C. 67, then proconsul of
Gallia Transalpina (Narbonensis). He was charged with embezzlement in
his province and defended by Cicero in B.C. 63. There were no votes in
Transalpine Gaul, but Cicero means in going and coming to canvass the
Cispadane cities.]
[Footnote 50: Pompey was this year on his way to take over the
Mithridatic War. But Cicero may have thought it likely that he or some
of his staff would pass through Athens and meet Atticus.]
[Footnote 51: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, prætor in B.C. 58, and consul
B.C. 54, fell at Pharsalia, fighting against Cæsar.]
[Footnote 52: Q. Cæcilius, a rich uncle of Atticus, so cross-grained
that no one but Atticus could get on with him, to whom he accordingly
left his large fortune (Nep. _Att._ 5).]
[Footnote 53: Hom. _Il._ xxii. 159, Achilles pursuing Hector:
"Since not for sacred beast or oxhide shield
They strove,--man's guerdon for the fleet of foot:
Their stake was Hector's soul, the swift steed's lord."
]
[Footnote 54: Reading _eius_ ἀνάθημα, and taking the latter word in the
common sense of "ornament": the Hermathena is so placed that the whole
gymnasium is as it were an ornament to it, designed to set it off,
instead of its being a mere ornament to the gymnasium. Professor
Tyrrell, however, will not admit that the words can have this or any
meaning, and reads, ἡλίου ἄναμμα, "sun light"--"the whole gymnasium
seems as bright as the sun"--a curious effect, after all, for one statue
to have.]
XI (A I, 2)
TO ATTICUS (AT ATHENS)
ROME, JULY
[Sidenote: B.C. 65, ÆT. 41]
I have to inform you that on the day of the election of L. Iulius Cæsar
and C. Marcius Figulus to the consulship, I had an addition to my family
in the shape of a baby boy. Terentia doing well.
Why such a time without a letter from you? I have already written to you
fully about my circumstances. At this present time I am considering
whether to undertake the defence of my fellow candidate, Catiline.[55]
We have a jury to our minds with full consent of the prosecutor. I hope
that if he is acquitted he will be more closely united with me in the
conduct of our canvass; but if the result be otherwise I shall bear it
with resignation. Your early return is of great importance to me, for
there is a very strong idea prevailing that some intimate friends of
yours, persons of high rank, will be opposed to my election. To win me
their favour I see that I shall want you very much. Wherefore be sure to
be in Rome in January, as you have agreed to be.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: B.C. 62. Coss., D. Iunius Silanus, L. Licinius Murena.]
We have no letters to or from Cicero in the years B.C. 64 and
63,[56] partly, no doubt, because Atticus was in Rome a great deal
during these years. We take up the correspondence, therefore, after
an interval of two years, which in many respects were the most
important in Cicero's life. In B.C. 64 he attained his chief
ambition by being elected to the consulship, but we have little
trace of his public actions that year, only the fragments of one
speech remaining, in defence of Q. Gallius on a charge of
_ambitus_. The animus of the popular party, however, is shewn by
the prosecution of some surviving partisans of Sulla on charges of
homicide, among them Catiline, who by some means escaped conviction
(Dio, xxxvii. 10). In the year of the consulship (B.C. 63) some of
Cicero's most important speeches were delivered. The three on the
agrarian proposals of Rullus present him to us for the first time
as discussing an important question of home politics, the disposal
of the _ager publicus_, a question which had become again prominent
owing to the great additions made to it by the confiscations of
Sulla. He also defended C. Rabirius, prosecuted by Iulius Cæsar for
the murder of Saturninus as long ago as B.C. 100, and later in the
year defended Murena on a charge of _ambitus_. Finally, the three
Catilinarian speeches illustrate the event which coloured the whole
of Cicero's life. In B.C. 62 his brother Quintus was prætor and
Cicero defended in his court P. Sulla, accused of complicity with
Catiline. On the 29th of December (B.C. 63) the tribune Q. Cæcilius
Metellus Nepos prevented Cicero from making a speech when laying
down his consulship, and went on to propose summoning Pompey to
Rome, "to protect the lives of the citizens." This led to scenes of
violence, and Metellus fled to Pompey, who reached Italy late in
the year B.C. 62 from the East.
[Footnote 55: Asconius assigns this to the accusation of embezzlement in
Africa. But that seems to have been tried in the previous year, or
earlier in this year. The new impeachment threatened seems to have been
connected with his crimes in the proscriptions of Sulla (Dio, xxxvii,
10). Cicero may have thought of defending him on a charge relating to so
distant a period, just as he did Rabirius on the charge of murdering
Saturninus (B.C. 100), though he had regarded his guilt in the case of
extortion in Africa as glaring.]
[Footnote 56: The essay on the duties of a candidate attributed to
Quintus is hardly a letter, and there is some doubt as to its
authenticity. I have therefore relegated it to an appendix.]
XII (F V, 7)
TO CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS
ROME
_M. Tullius Cicero, son of Marcus, greets Cn. Pompeius, son of Cneius,
Imperator._
[Sidenote: B.C. 62. ÆT. 44]
If you and the army are well I shall be glad. From your official
despatch I have, in common with everyone else, received the liveliest
satisfaction; for you have given us that strong hope of peace, of which,
in sole reliance on you, I was assuring everyone. But I must inform you
that your old enemies--now posing as your friends--have received a
stunning blow by this despatch, and, being disappointed in the high
hopes they were entertaining, are thoroughly depressed. Though your
private letter to me contained a somewhat slight expression of your
affection, yet I can assure you it gave me pleasure: for there is
nothing in which I habitually find greater satisfaction than in the
consciousness of serving my friends; and if on any occasion I do not
meet with an adequate return, I am not at all sorry to have the balance
of kindness in my favour. Of this I feel no doubt--even if my
extraordinary zeal in your behalf has failed to unite you to me--that
the interests of the state will certainly effect a mutual attachment and
coalition between us. To let you know, however, what I missed in your
letter I will write with the candour which my own disposition and our
common friendship demand. I did expect _some_ congratulation in your
letter on my achievements, for the sake at once of the ties between us
and of the Republic. This I presume to have been omitted by you from a
fear of hurting anyone's feelings. But let me tell you that what I did
for the salvation of the country is approved by the judgment and
testimony of the whole world. You are a much greater man than Africanus,
but I am not much inferior to Lælius either; and when you come home you
will recognize that I have acted with such prudence and spirit, that
you will not be ashamed of being coupled with me in politics as well as
in private friendship.
XIII (F V, I)
Q. METELLUS CELER TO CICERO
CISALPINE GAUL
_Q. Metellus Celer, son of Quintus, proconsul, greets M. Tullius
Cicero._[57]
[Sidenote: B.C. 62. ÆT. 44]
If you are well I am glad. I had thought, considering our mutual regard
and the reconciliation effected between us, that I was not likely to be
held up to ridicule in my absence, nor my brother attacked by you in his
civil existence and property for the sake of a mere word. If his own
high character was not a sufficient protection to him, yet either the
position of our family, or my own loyal conduct to you and the Republic,
ought to have been sufficient to support him. As it is, I see that he
has been ruined and I abandoned by the last people in the world who
ought to have done so. I am accordingly in sorrow and wearing mourning
dress, while actually in command of a province and army and conducting a
war. And seeing that your conduct in this affair has neither been
reasonable nor in accordance with the milder methods of old times, you
must not be surprised if you live to repent it. I did not expect to find
you so fickle towards me and mine. For myself, meanwhile, neither family
sorrow nor ill-treatment by any individual shall withdraw me from the
service of the state.
[Footnote 57: Q. Metellus Celer had been prætor in B.C. 63 and was now
(B.C. 62), as proconsul in Gallia Cisalpina, engaged against the remains
of the Catilinarian conspiracy. Meanwhile his brother (or cousin) Q.
Cæcilius Metellus Nepos, a tribune, after trying in vain to bring Cicero
to trial for the execution of the conspirators, at last proposed to
summon Pompey to Rome to prevent danger to the lives of citizens. This
attempt led to riots and contests with Cato, and Nepos finally fled from
Rome to Pompey. By leaving Rome he broke the law as to the tribunes, and
the senate declared his office vacant, and this letter would even seem
to shew that the senate declared him a public enemy. This letter of
remonstrance is peremptory, if not insolent, in tone, and the reader
will observe that the formal sentences, dropped in more familiar
letters, are carefully used.]
XIV (F V, 2)
TO Q. METELLUS (IN CISALPINE GAUL)
ROME
_M. Tullius, son of Marcus, to Q. Metellus Celer, son of Quintus,
proconsul, wishes health._
[Sidenote: B.C. 62, ÆT. 44]
If you and the army are well I shall be glad. You say in your letter
that you "thought, considering our mutual regard and the reconciliation
effected between us, that you were not likely to be held up to ridicule
by me." To what you refer I do not clearly understand, but I suspect
that you have been informed that, while arguing in the senate that there
were many who were annoyed at my having saved the state, I said that
your relations, whose wishes you had been unable to withstand, had
induced you to pass over in silence what you had made up your mind you
ought to say in the senate in my praise. But while saying so I also
added this--that the duty of supporting the Republic had been so divided
between us that I was defending the city from internal treachery and the
crime of its own citizens, you Italy from armed enemies and covert
conspiracy;[58] yet that this association in a task so noble and so
glorious had been imperilled by your relations, who, while you had been
complimented by me in the fullest and most laudatory terms, had been
afraid of any display of mutual regard on your part being put to my
credit. As this sentence betrayed how much I had looked forward to your
speech, and how mistaken I had been in that expectation, my speech
caused some amusement, and was received with a moderate amount of
laughter; but the laugh was not against you, it was rather at my
mistake, and at the open and _naïve_ confession of my eagerness to be
commended by you. Surely it cannot but be a compliment to you that in
the hour of my greatest triumph and glory I yet wished for some
testimony of approval from your lips. As to your expression,
"considering our mutual regard"--I don't know your idea of what is
"mutual" in friendship; mine is an equal interchange of good feeling.
Now if I were to mention that I passed over a province for your sake,
you might think me somewhat insincere; for, in point of fact, it suited
my convenience, and I feel more and more every day of my life the
advantage and pleasure which I have received from that decision. But
this I do say--the moment I had announced in public meeting my refusal
of a province, I began at once thinking how I might hand it on to you. I
say nothing as to the circumstances of your allotment: I only wish you
to suspect that nothing was done in that matter by my colleague without
my cognizance. Recall the other circumstances: how promptly I summoned
the senate on that day after the lots had been drawn, at what a length I
spoke about you. You yourself said at the time that my speech was not
merely complimentary to you, but absolutely a reflexion on your
colleagues. Farther, the decree of the senate passed on that day has
such a preamble that, so long as it is extant, there can never be any
doubt of my services to you. Subsequently, when you had gone out of
town, I would have you recall my motions in the senate, my speeches in
public meetings, my letters to yourself. And having reviewed all these
together, I would like you to judge yourself whether you think that your
approach to Rome the last time you came quite shewed an adequate return
for all these services.[59] Again, as to your expression, "the
reconciliation effected between us"--I do not understand why you speak
of "reconciliation" in the case of a friendship that had never been
broken. As to what you say, that your brother Metellus ought not "to
have been attacked by me for a mere word," in the first place I would
like to assure you that your feeling and fraternal partiality--so full
of human kindness and natural affection--meet with my warmest
approbation; in the next place I must claim your indulgence if I have in
any matter opposed your brother in the interests of the Republic, for my
devotion to the Republic is paramount. If, however, it is my personal
safety that I have defended against a most ruthless assault of his, I
think you should be content that I make no complaint even to you of your
brother's injurious conduct. Now, when I had become aware that he was
deliberately making every preparation to use his tribunician office to
my ruin, I appealed to your wife Claudia[60] and your sister Mucia[61]
(of whose kindness to me for the sake of my friendship with Pompey I had
satisfied myself by many instances) to deter him from that injurious
conduct. And yet, as I am sure you have heard, on the last day of
December he inflicted upon me--a consul and the preserver of my
country--an indignity such as was never inflicted upon the most disloyal
citizen in the humblest office: that is to say, he deprived me when
laying down my office of the privilege of addressing the people--an
indignity, however, which after all redounded to my honour. For, upon
his forbidding me to do anything but take the oath, I pronounced an oath
at once the most absolutely true and the most glorious in a loud
voice--an oath which the people swore also in a loud voice to be
absolutely true. Though I had actually suffered this signal indignity, I
yet on that same day sent common friends to Metellus to persuade him to
alter his resolution; to whom he answered that he was no longer free to
do so. And, in fact, a short time previously he _had_ said in a public
meeting that a man who had punished others without trial ought not
himself to be allowed the privilege of speech. What a model of
consistency! What an admirable citizen! So he deemed the man who had
saved the senate from massacre, the city from the incendiary, Italy from
war, deserving of the same penalty as that inflicted by the senate, with
the unanimous approval of all loyal citizens, upon those who had
intended to set fire to the city, butcher magistrates and senate, and
stir up a formidable war! Accordingly, I did withstand your brother
Metellus to his face: for on the 1st of January, in the senate, I
maintained a debate with him on the state of the Republic, such as
taught him that he had to contend with a man of courage and firmness. On
the 3rd of January,[62] on again opening the debate, he kept harping on
me and threatening me at every third word of his speech; nor could any
intention be more deliberate than his was to overthrow me by any means
in his power, not by calm and judicial argument, but by violence and
mere browbeating. If I had not shewn some boldness and spirit in
opposing his intemperate attack, would not everyone have concluded that
the courage I had displayed in my consulship was the result of accident
rather than design? If you did not know that Metellus was contemplating
these measures in regard to me, you must consider that you have been
kept in the dark by your brother on matters of the utmost importance:
if, on the other hand, he did intrust any part of his designs to you,
then surely I ought to be regarded by you as a man of placable and
reasonable temper for not addressing a word of reproach to you even on
such occurrences as these. Understanding then that it was by no "mere
word" (as you express it) of Metellus that I was roused, but by his
deliberate policy and extraordinary animosity towards me, next observe
my forbearance--if "forbearance" is the name to be given to irresolution
and laxity under a most galling indignity. I never once delivered a vote
in a speech against your brother: every time a motion was before the
house I assented without rising to those whose proposal appeared to me
to be the mildest. I will also add that, though in the circumstances
there was no obligation upon me to do so, yet so far from raising
objections I actually did my best to secure that my enemy, because he
was your brother, should be relieved from penalties by a decree of the
senate.[63] Wherefore I have not "attacked" your brother, but only
defended myself from your brother's attack; nor have I been "fickle" (to
quote your word), but, on the contrary, so constant, that I remained
faithful to my friendship to you, though left without any sign of
kindness from you. For instance, at this moment, though your letter
amounts almost to a threat, I am writing back an answer such as you see.
I not only pardon your vexation, I even applaud it in the highest
degree; for my own heart tells me how strong is the influence of
fraternal affection. I ask you in your turn to put a liberal
construction upon my vexation, and to conclude that when attacked by
your relatives with bitterness, with brutality, and without cause, I not
only ought not to retract anything, but, in a case of that kind, should
even be able to rely upon the aid of yourself and your army. I have
always wished to have you as a friend: I have taken pains to make you
understand that I am a warm friend to you. I abide by that sentiment,
and shall abide by it as long as _you_ will let me; and I shall more
readily cease to be angry with your brother for love of you, than I
shall from anger with him abate in the smallest degree my kindness for
you.
[Footnote 58: Metellus had been employed with Antonius against the camp
at Fæsulæ, but was now engaged against some Alpine tribes.]
[Footnote 59: When Metellus was commanding against Catiline, it is
suggested that he marched towards Rome to support his brother, but this
is conjecture.]
[Footnote 60: Sister of P. Clodius. Of this famous woman we shall hear
often again. She is believed to be the Lesbia of Catullus, and she is
the "Palatine Medea" of the speech _pro Cælio_. Yet, in spite of
Cicero's denunciations of her, he seems at one time to have been so fond
of her society as to rouse Terentia's jealousy.]
[Footnote 61: Wife of Pompey--divorced by him on his return from the
East.]
[Footnote 62: On the next meeting of the senate. The second was a _dies
comitialis_ on which the senate usually did not meet (Cæs. _B. Civ._ i.
I).]
[Footnote 63: For the riots caused by his contests with Cato (on which
the senate seems to have passed the _senatus consultum ultimum_), and
for his having left Rome while tribune.]
XV (F V, 6)
TO P. SESTIUS[64] (IN MACEDONIA)
ROME, DECEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 62, ÆT. 44]
Decius the copyist has been to see me, and begged me to try and secure
that no successor should be appointed to you this turn. Though I
regarded him as a man of good character and attached to you, yet,
remembering the tenor of your previous letter to me, I could not feel
certain that the wishes of a cautious man of the world like yourself had
undergone so complete a change. But after your wife Cornelia had called
on Terentia, and I had had a conversation with Q. Cornelius, I took care
to be present at every meeting of the senate, and found that the
greatest trouble was to make Fufius the tribune, and the others to whom
you had written, believe me rather than your own letters. The whole
business has, after all, been postponed till January, but there is no
difficulty about it. Roused by your congratulations--for in a letter
sometime ago you wished me good luck on the completion of my purchase of
a house from Crassus--I have bought that very house for 3,500 sestertia
(about £28,000), a good while subsequent to your congratulation.
Accordingly, you may now look upon me as being so deeply in debt as to
be eager to join a conspiracy if anyone would admit me! But, partly from
personal dislike they shut their doors in my face and openly denounce me
as the punisher of conspiracy, partly are incredulous and afraid that I
am setting a trap for them! Nor do they suppose that a man can be short
of money who has relieved the money-lenders from a state of siege. In
point of fact, money is plentiful at six per cent., and the success of
my measures has caused me to be regarded as a good security. Your own
house, and all the details of its construction, I have examined and
strongly approve. As for Antonius,[65] though everyone notices his want
of attention to my interests, I have nevertheless defended him in the
senate with the utmost earnestness and persistence, and have made a
strong impression on the senate by my language as well as by my personal
prestige. Pray write to me more frequently.
[Footnote 64: P. Sestius was serving as proquæstor in Macedonia under
Gaius Antonius. As tribune in B.C. 57 he worked for Cicero's recall, but
was afterwards prosecuted _de vi_, and defended by Cicero.]
[Footnote 65: Gaius Antonius, Cicero's colleague in the consulship. He
had the province of Macedonia after the consulship, Cicero having
voluntarily withdrawn in his favour to secure his support against
Catiline. Scandal said that he had bargained to pay Cicero large sums
from the profits of the province. He governed so corruptly and
unsuccessfully that he was on his return condemned of _maiestas_.]
XVI (A I, 12)
[Sidenote: B.C. 61. Coss., M. Papius Piso, M. Valerius Messalla.]
The letters of this year are much concerned with the sacrilege of
P. Clodius, who, it was alleged, had been detected in disguise in
the house of the Pontifex Maximus Iulius Cæsar, when his wife was
celebrating the mysteries of the Bona Dea, from which males were
excluded. His trial was made the occasion of bitter party
struggles, and by giving evidence in contradiction of Clodius's
alibi Cicero incurred his enmity, and eventually, therefore, his
own exile. Quintus is proprætor in Asia, Cæsar in Spain. Pompey
reached Rome early this year. The _ordo equester_ is much irritated
with the senate on the question of the contracts for the collection
of the Asiatic taxes.
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 1 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
The Teucris[66] business hangs fire, and Cornelius has not called on
Terentia since. I suppose I must have recourse to Considius, Axius, and
Selicius:[67] for his nearest relations can't get a penny out of
Cæcilius[68] under twelve per cent. But to return to my first remark: I
never saw anything more shameless, artful, and dilatory. "I am on the
point of sending my freedman," "I have commissioned Titus"--excuses and
delays at every turn! But perhaps it is a case of _l'homme propose_,[69]
for Pompey's advance couriers tell me that he means to move in the
senate that a successor to Antonius ought to be named, and the prætor
intends to bring the proposal before the people at the same time. The
facts are such that I cannot defend him in view of the opinion either
of the aristocrats or the people, and, what is more than anything else,
that I have no wish to do so. For a thing has happened into the truth of
which I charge you to look thoroughly. I have a freedman, who is a
worthless fellow enough; I mean Hilarus, an accountant and a client of
your own. The interpreter Valerius gives me this information about him,
and Thyillus writes me word that he has been told the same story: that
the fellow is with Antonius, and that Antonius, in exacting money
payments, frequently remarks that a part is being collected for me, and
that I have sent a freedman to look after our common interests. I felt
exceedingly disturbed, and yet could not believe it; but at any rate
there has been some gossip of the sort. Pray look into the whole matter,
learn the truth, find out the author, and get the empty-headed idiot out
of the country, if you possibly can. Valerius mentions Cn. Plancius as
the origin of this gossip. I trust you thoroughly to investigate and
find out what is at the bottom of it. I have good reason to believe that
Pompey is most kindly disposed to me. His divorce of Mucia is strongly
approved.[70] I suppose you have heard that P. Clodius, son of Appius,
was caught in woman's clothes at Gaius Cæsar's house, while the state
function was going on, and that he was saved and got out by means of a
maid-servant; and that the affair is causing immense scandal. I feel
sure you will be sorry for it.[71] I have nothing else to tell you. And,
indeed, at the moment of writing, I am in considerable distress: for a
delightful youth, my reader Sosthenes, has just died, and his death has
affected me more than that of a slave should, I think, do. Pray write
often. If you have no news, write just what comes uppermost.
1 January, in the consulship of M. Messalla and M. Piso.
[Footnote 66: From expressions in the following letters it seems certain
that this refers to money expected from Gaius Antonius; but we have no
means of deciding whether or no Teucris is a pseudonym for some agent.
Cicero had undertaken to be the advocate and supporter of Antonius, and
though as an actual _patronus_ in court he could not take money, he may
have felt justified in receiving supplies from him. Still, he knew the
character of Antonius, and how such wealth was likely to be got, and it
is not a pleasant affair.]
[Footnote 67: Money-lenders.]
[Footnote 68: The rich and cross-grained uncle of Atticus. See Letter
X.]
[Footnote 69: Cicero quotes half a Greek verse of Menander's, ταὐτόματον
ἡμῶν, leaving Atticus to fill up the other two words, καλλίω βουλεύεται,
"Chance designs better than we ourselves."]
[Footnote 70: Mucia was suspected of intriguing with Iulius Cæsar.]
[Footnote 71: The chief festival of the Bona Dea (Tellus) was in May.
The celebration referred to here took place on the night between the 3rd
and 4th of December. It was a state function (_pro populo_), and was
celebrated in the presence of the Vestals and the wife of the consul or
prætor urbanus, _in ea domo quæ est in imperio_. As Cæsar was Pontifex
Maximus, as well as prætor urbanus, it took place in the _Regia_, the
Pontiff's official house (Plutarch, _Cic._ 19; Dio, xxxvii. 35).]
XVII (F V, 5)
TO C. ANTONIUS (IN MACEDONIA)
ROME, JANUARY
_M. Cicero wishes health to Gaius Antonius, son of Marcus, Imperator._
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
Though I had resolved to write you nothing but formal letters of
introduction (not because I felt that they had much weight with you, but
to avoid giving those who asked me for them an idea that there had been
any diminution in our friendship), yet since Titus Pomponius is starting
for your province, who knows better than anyone else all that I feel and
have done for you, who desires your friendship and is most devotedly
attached to me, I thought I must write something, especially as I had no
other way of satisfying Pomponius himself. Were I to ask from you
services of the greatest moment, it ought not to seem surprising to
anyone: for you have not wanted from me any that concerned your
interests, honour, or position. That no return has been made by you for
these you are the best witness: that something even of a contrary nature
has proceeded from you I have been told by many. I say "told," for I do
not venture to say "discovered,"[72] lest I should chance to use the
word which people tell me is often falsely attributed to me by you. But
the story which has reached my ears I would prefer your learning from
Pomponius (who was equally hurt by it) rather than from my letter. How
singularly loyal my feelings have been to you the senate and Roman
people are both witnesses. How far you have been grateful to me you may
yourself estimate: how much you owe me the rest of the world estimates.
I was induced to do what I did for you at first by affection, and
afterwards by consistency. Your future, believe me, stands in need of
much greater zeal on my part, greater firmness and greater labour.[73]
These labours, unless it shall appear that I am throwing away and
wasting my pains, I shall support with all the strength I have; but if I
see that they are not appreciated, I shall not allow you--the very
person benefited[74]--to think me a fool for my pains. What the meaning
of all this is you will be able to learn from Pomponius. In commending
Pomponius to you, although I am sure you will do anything in your power
for his own sake, yet I do beg that if you have any affection for me
left, you will display it all in Pomponius's business. You can do me no
greater favour than that.
[Footnote 72: The word (_comperisse_) used by Cicero in regard to the
Catilinarian conspiracy; it had apparently become a subject of rather
malignant chaff.]
[Footnote 73: Cicero is hinting at the danger of prosecution hanging
over the head of Antonius.]
[Footnote 74: Reading _tibi ipsi_ (not _ipse_), with Tyrrell.]
XVIII (A 1, 13)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 27 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
I have now received three letters from you--one by the hands of M.
Cornelius, which you gave him, I think, at Three Taverns; a second which
your host at Canusium delivered to me; a third dated, according to you,
from on board your pinnace, when the cable was already slipped.[75] They
were all three, to use a phrase from the schools of rhetoric flavoured
with the salt of learning, and illumined with the marks of affection. In
these letters, indeed, I am urgently pressed by you to send answers, but
what renders me rather dilatory in this respect is the difficulty of
finding a trustworthy carrier. How few of these gentry are able to
convey a letter rather weightier than usual without lightening it by
skimming its contents! Besides, I do not always care to send[76]
whenever anyone is starting for Epirus: for I suppose that, having
offered victims before your Amaltheia,[77] you at once started for the
siege of Sicyon. And yet I am not even certain when you start to visit
Antonius or how much time you are devoting to Epirus. Accordingly, I
don't venture to trust either Achæans or Epirotes with a letter somewhat
more outspoken than usual. Now some events _have_ occurred since you
left me worth my writing to you, but they must not be trusted to the
risk of a letter being lost, opened, or intercepted.
Well, then, to begin with: I was not called upon to speak first, and the
pacifier of the Allobroges[78] was preferred to me, and though this met
with some murmurs of disapprobation from the senate, I was not sorry it
was done. For I am thereby freed from any obligation to shew respect to
an ill-conditioned man, and am at liberty to support my position in the
Republic in spite of him. Besides, the second place has a dignity almost
equal to that of _princeps senatus_, and does not put one under too much
of an obligation to the consul. The third called on was Catulus; the
fourth, if you want to go still farther, Hortensius. The consul
himself[79] is a man of a small and ill-regulated mind, a mere buffoon
of that splenetic kind which raises a laugh even in the absence of wit:
it is his face rather than his facetiousness[80] that causes merriment:
he takes practically no part in public business, and is quite alienated
from the Optimates. You need expect no service to the state from him,
for he has not the will to do any, nor fear any damage, for he hasn't
the courage to inflict it. His colleague, however, treats me with great
distinction, and is also a zealous supporter of the loyalist party. For
the present their disagreement has not come to much; but I fear that
this taint may spread farther. For I suppose you have heard that when
the state function was being performed in Cæsar's house a man in woman's
dress got in,[81] and that the Vestals having performed the rite again,
mention was made of the matter in the senate by Q. Cornificius--he was
the first, so don't think that it was one of us consulars--and that on
the matter being referred by a decree of the senate to the [Virgins and]
pontifices, they decided that a sacrilege had been committed: that then,
on a farther decree of the senate, the consuls published a bill: and
that Cæsar divorced his wife. On this question Piso, from friendship for
P. Clodius, is doing his best to get the bill promulgated by himself
(though in accordance with a decree of the senate and on a point of
religion) rejected. Messalla as yet is strongly for severe measures. The
loyalists hold aloof owing to the entreaties of Clodius: bands of
ruffians are being got together: I myself, at first a stern Lycurgus, am
becoming daily less and less keen about it: Cato is hot and eager. In
short, I fear that between the indifference of the loyalists and the
support of the disloyal it may be the cause of great evils to the
Republic. However, your great friend[82]--do you know whom I mean?--of
whom you said in your letter that, "not venturing to blame me, he was
beginning to be complimentary," is now to all appearance exceedingly
fond of me, embraces me, loves and praises me in public, while in secret
(though unable to disguise it) he is jealous of me. No good-breeding, no
straightforwardness, no political morality, no distinction, no courage,
no liberality! But on these points I will write to you more minutely at
another time; for in the first place I am not yet quite sure about them,
and in the next place I dare not intrust a letter on such weighty
matters to such a casual nobody's son as this messenger.
The prætors have not yet drawn their lots for the provinces. The matter
remains just where you left it. The description of the scenery of
Misenum and Puteoli which you ask for I will include in my speech.[83] I
had already noticed the mistake in the date, 3rd of December. The points
in my speeches which you praise, believe me, I liked very much myself,
but did not venture to say so before. Now, however, as they have
received your approval, I think them much more "Attic" than ever. To the
speech in answer to Metellus[84] I have made some additions. The book
shall be sent you, since affection for me gives you a taste for
rhetoric. What news have I for you? Let me see. Oh, yes! The consul
Messalla has bought Antonius's house for 3,400 sestertia (about
£27,200). What is that to me? you will say. Why, thus much. The price
has convinced people that I made no bad bargain, and they begin to
understand that in making a purchase a man may properly use his friends'
means to get what suits his position. The Teucris affair drags on, yet I
have hopes. Pray settle the business you have in hand. You shall have a
more outspoken letter soon.
27 January, in the consulship of M. Messalla and M. Piso.
[Footnote 75: _Ora soluta._ Or, if _ancora sublata_ be read, "when the
anchor was already weighed." In either case it means "just as you were
starting." Atticus wrote on board, and gave the letter to a carrier to
take on shore.]
[Footnote 76: A word lost in the text.]
[Footnote 77: See end of Letter XXI. Cicero playfully supposes that
Atticus only stayed in his villa in Epirus to offer sacrifices to the
nymph in his gymnasium, and then hurried off to Sicyon, where people
owed him money which he wanted to get. He goes to Antonius first to get
his authority for putting pressure on Sicyon, and perhaps even some
military force.]
[Footnote 78: C. Calpurnius Piso (consul B.C. 67), brother of the consul
of the year, had been governor of Gallia Narbonensis (B.C. 66-65), and
had suppressed a rising of the Allobroges, the most troublesome tribe in
the province, who were, in fact, again in rebellion.]
[Footnote 79: M. Pupius Piso.]
[Footnote 80: "By the expression of his face rather than the force of
his expressions" (Tyrrell).]
[Footnote 81: See p. 27, note 2.]
[Footnote 82: Pompey.]
[Footnote 83: Or, "inclose with my speech"; in both cases the dative
_orationi meæ_ is peculiar. No speech exists containing such a
description, but we have only two of the previous year extant (_pro
Flacco_ and _pro Archia Poeta_). Cicero was probably sending it,
whichever it was, to Atticus to be copied by his _librarii_, and
published. Atticus had apparently some other works of Cicero's in hand,
for which he had sent him some "queries."]
[Footnote 84: Apparently the speech in the senate referred to in Letter
XIV, p. 23, spoken on 1st January, B.C. 62. Metellus had prevented his
_contio_ the day before.]
XIX (A I, 14)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 13 FEBRUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
I fear it may seem affectation to tell you how occupied I have been; but
I am so distracted with business that I have only just found time for
this short letter, and that has been stolen from the most urgent
engagements. I have already described to you Pompey's first public
speech--it did not please the poor, nor satisfy the disloyal, nor find
favour with the wealthy, nor appear sound to the loyalists; accordingly,
he is down in the world.[85] Presently, on the instigation of the consul
Piso, that most insignificant of tribunes, Fufius, brought Pompey on to
the platform. The meeting was in the _circus Flaminius_, and there was
in the same place that day a crowd of market people--a kind of _tiers
état_.[86] He asked him to say whether he approved of the jurymen being
selected by the prætor, to form a panel for the prætor himself to
employ. That was the regulation made by the senate in the matter of
Clodius's sacrilege. Thereupon Pompey made a highly "aristocratic"
speech, and replied (and at great length) that in all matters the
authority of the senate was of the greatest weight in his eyes and had
always been so. Later on the consul Messalla in the senate asked Pompey
his opinion as to the sacrilege and the bill that had been published.
His speech in the senate amounted to a general commendation of all
decrees of the house, and when he sat down he said to me, "I think my
answer covers your case also."[87] When Crassus observed that Pompey had
got a cheer from the idea in men's minds that he approved my consulship,
he rose also to his feet and delivered a speech in the most
complimentary terms on my consulship, going so far as to say that he
owed it to me that he was still a senator, a citizen, nay, a free man;
and that he never beheld wife, home, or country without beholding the
fruits of my conduct. In short: that whole topic, which I am wont to
paint in various colours in my speeches (of which you are the
Aristarchus), the fire, the sword--you know my paint-pots--he elaborated
to the highest pitch. I was sitting next to Pompey. I noticed that he
was agitated, either at Crassus earning the gratitude which he had
himself neglected, or to think that my achievements were, after all, of
such magnitude that the senate was so glad to hear them praised,
especially by a man who was the less under an obligation to praise me,
because in everything I ever wrote[88] my praise of Pompey was
practically a reflexion on him. This day has brought me very close to
Crassus, and yet in spite of all I accepted with pleasure any
compliment--open or covert--from Pompey. But as for my own speech, good
heavens! how I did "put it on" for the benefit of my new auditor Pompey!
If I ever did bring every art into play, I did then--period, transition,
enthymeme, deduction--everything. In short, I was cheered to the echo.
For the subject of my speech was the dignity of the senate, its harmony
with the equites, the unanimity of Italy, the dying embers of the
conspiracy, the fall in prices, the establishment of peace. You know my
thunder when these are my themes. It was so loud, in fact, that I may
cut short my description, as I think you must have heard it even in
Epirus. The state of things at Rome is this: the senate is a perfect
Areopagus. You cannot conceive anything firmer, more grave, or more
high-spirited. For when the day came for proposing the bill in
accordance with the vote of the senate, a crowd of our dandies with
their chin-tufts assembled, all the Catiline set, with Curio's girlish
son at their head, and implored the people to reject it. Moreover, Piso
the consul, who formally introduced the bill, spoke against it.
Clodius's hired ruffians had filled up the entrances to the voting
boxes. The voting tickets were so manipulated that no "ayes" were
distributed. Hereupon imagine Cato hurrying to the rostra, delivering an
admirable invective against the consul, if we can call that an
"invective" which was really a speech of the utmost weight and
authority, and in fact containing the most salutary advice. He is
followed to the same effect by your friend Hortensius, and many
loyalists besides, among whom, however, the contribution of Favonius was
conspicuous. By this rally of the Optimates the _comitia_ is dissolved,
the senate summoned. On the question being put in a full house--in spite
of the opposition of Piso, and in spite of Clodius throwing himself at
the feet of the senators one after the other--that the consuls should
exhort the people to pass the bill, about fifteen voted with Curio, who
was against any decree being passed; on the other side there were fully
four hundred. So the vote passed. The tribune Fufius then gave in.[89]
Clodius delivered some wretched speeches to the people, in which he
bestowed some injurious epithets on Lucullus, Hortensius, C. Piso, and
the consul Messalla; me he only charged with having "discovered"
everything.[90] In regard to the assignation of provinces to the
prætors, the hearing legations, and other business, the senate voted
that nothing should be brought before it till the bill had been brought
before the people. There's the state of things at Rome for you. Yet pray
listen to this one thing more which has surpassed my hopes. Messalla is
a superlatively good consul, courageous, firm, painstaking; he praises,
shows attachment to, and imitates me. That other one (Piso) is the less
mischievous because of one vice--he is lazy, sleepy, unbusiness-like, an
utter _fainéant_, but in intention he is so disaffected that he has
begun to loathe Pompey since he made the speech in which some praise was
bestowed on the senate. Accordingly, he has alienated all the loyalists
to a remarkable degree. And his action is not dictated by love for
Clodius more than by a taste for a profligate policy and a profligate
party. But he has nobody among the magistrates like himself, with the
single exception of the tribune Fufius. The tribunes are excellent, and
in Cornutus we have a quasi-Cato. Can I say more?
Now to return to private matters. "Teucris" has fulfilled her
promise.[91] Pray execute the commission you undertook. My brother
Quintus, who purchased the remaining three-fourths of the house in the
Argiletum for 725 sestertia (about £5,800), is now trying to sell his
Tusculan property, in order to purchase, if he can, the town house of
Pacilius. Make it up with Lucceius! I see that he is all agog to stand
for the consulship. I will do my best. Be careful to let me know exactly
how you are, where you are, and how your business goes on.
13 February.
[Footnote 85: The letter giving this description is lost. I think
_frigebat_ is epistolary imperfect--"_he_ is in the cold shade," not,
"_it_ fell flat."]
[Footnote 86: πανήγυρις. Cicero uses the word (an honourable one in
Greek) contemptuously of the rabble brought together at a market.]
[Footnote 87: Pompey's general commendation of the decrees of the senate
would include those regarding the Catiline conspirators, and he
therefore claimed to have satisfied Cicero.]
[Footnote 88: _Meis omnibus litteris_, the MS. reading. Prof. Tyrrell's
emendation, _orationibus meis, omnibus litteris_, "in my speeches, every
letter of them," seems to me even harsher than the MS., a gross
exaggeration, and doubtful Latin. _Meis litteris_ is well supported by
_literæ forenses et senatoriæ_ of _de Off._ 2, § 3, and though it is an
unusual mode of referring to speeches, we must remember that they were
now published and were "literature." The particular reference is to the
speech _pro Imperio Pompeii_, in which, among other things, the whole
credit of the reduction of Spartacus's gladiators is given to Pompey,
whereas the brunt of the war had been borne by Crassus.]
[Footnote 89: Fufius, though Cicero does not say so, must have vetoed
the decree, but in the face of such a majority withdrew his veto. The
practice seems to have been, in case of tribunician veto, to take the
vote, which remained as an _auctoritas senatus_, but was not a _senatus
consultum_ unless the tribune was induced to withdraw.]
[Footnote 90: _Comperisse_. See Letter XVII, note 1, p. 28.]
[Footnote 91: See Letters XVI and XVIII, pp. 26, 32.]
XX (A I, 15)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 15 MARCH
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
You have heard that my dearest brother Quintus has got Asia; for I do
not doubt that rumour has conveyed the news to you quicker than a letter
from any of us. Now then, considering how desirous of a good reputation
he and I have ever been, and how unusually Philhellenic we are and have
the reputation of being, and considering how many there are whose enmity
we have incurred for the sake of the Republic, "call to mind all your
valour,"[92] to secure us the praise and affection of all concerned. I
will write at greater length to you on these points in the letter which
I shall give to Quintus himself.[93] Please let me know what you have
done about the business I confided to you, and also in your own affair;
for I have had no letter from you since you left Brundisium. I am very
anxious to hear how you are.
15 March.
[Footnote 92: παντοίης ἀρέτης μιμνήσκεο (Hom. _Il._ xxii. 8)]
[Footnote 93: The allotment of provinces had been put off (see last
letter) till the affair of Clodius's trial was settled; consequently
Quintus would not have much time for preparation, and would soon set
out. He would cross to Dyrrachium, and proceed along the _via Egnatia_
to Thessalonica. He might meet Atticus at Dyrrachium, or go out of his
way to call on him at Buthrotum.]
XXI (A I, 16)
TO ATTICUS
ROME (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
You ask me what has happened about the trial, the result of which was so
contrary to the general expectation, and at the same time you want to
know how I came to make a worse fight of it than usual. I will answer
the last first, after the manner of Homer.[94] The fact is that, so long
as I had to defend the authority of the senate,[95] I battled with such
gallantry and vigour that there were shouts of applause and crowds round
me in the house ringing with my praise. Nay, if you ever thought that I
shewed courage in political business, you certainly would have admired
my conduct in that cause. For when the culprit had betaken himself to
public meetings, and had made an invidious use of my name, immortal
gods! What battles! What havoc! What sallies I made upon Piso, Curio, on
the whole of that set! How I fell upon the old men for their
instability, on the young for their profligacy! Again and again, so help
me heaven! I regretted your absence not only as the supporter of my
policy, but as the spectator also of my admirable fighting. However,
when Hortensius hit on the idea of a law as to the sacrilege being
proposed by the tribune Fufius, in which there was no difference from
the bill of the consul except as to the kind of jurymen--on that point,
however, the whole question turned--and got it carried by sheer
fighting, because he had persuaded himself and others that _he_ could
not get an acquittal no matter who were the jurymen, I drew in my sails,
seeing the neediness of the jurors, and gave no evidence beyond what was
so notorious and well attested that I could not omit it.[96] Therefore,
if you ask the reason of the acquittal--to return at length to the
former of the two questions--it was entirely the poverty and low
character of the jury. But that this was possible was entirely the
result of Hortensius's policy. In his alarm lest Fufius should veto the
law which was to be proposed in virtue of a senatorial decree, he failed
to see that it was better that the culprit should be left under a cloud
of disgrace and dishonour than that he should be trusted to the
discretion of a weak jury. But in his passionate resentment he hastened
to bring the case into court, saying that a leaden sword was good enough
to cut _his_ throat. But if you want to know the history of the trial,
with its incredible verdict, it was such that Hortensius's policy is now
blamed by other people after the event, though I disapproved of it from
the first. When the rejection of jurors had taken place, amidst loud
cheers and counter-cheers--the accuser like a strict censor rejecting
the most worthless, the defendant like a kind-hearted trainer of
gladiators all the best--as soon as the jury had taken their seats, the
loyalists at once began to feel distrust. There never was a seedier lot
round a table in a gambling hell. Senators under a cloud, equites out at
elbows, tribunes who were not so much made of money as "collectors" of
it, according to their official title.[97] However, there were a few
honest men in the panel, whom he had been unable to drive off it by
rejection, and they took their seats among their uncongenial comrades
with gloomy looks and signs of emotion, and were keenly disgusted at
having to rub elbows with such rascals. Hereupon, as question after
question was referred to the panel in the preliminary proceedings, the
severity of the decisions passes belief: there was no disagreement in
voting, the defendant carried none of his points, while the accuser got
even more than he asked. He was triumphant. Need I say more? Hortensius
would have it that he was the only one of us who had seen the truth.
There was not a man who did not think it impossible for him to stand his
trial without being condemned a thousand times over. Farther, when I was
produced as a witness, I suppose you have been told how the shouts of
Clodius's supporters were answered by the jury rising to their feet to
gather round me, and openly to offer their throats to P. Clodius in my
defence. This seemed to me a greater compliment than the well-known
occasion when your fellow citizens[98] stopped Xenocrates from taking an
oath in the witness-box, or when, upon the accounts of Metellus
Numidicus[99] being as usual handed round, a Roman jury refused to look
at them. The compliment paid me, I repeat, was much greater.
Accordingly, as the jurymen were protecting me as the mainstay of the
country, it was by their voices that the defendant was overwhelmed, and
with him all his advocates suffered a crushing blow. Next day my house
was visited by as great a throng as that which escorted me home when I
laid down the consulship. Our eminent Areopagites then exclaimed that
they would not come into court unless a guard was assigned them. The
question was put to the whole panel: there was only one vote against the
need of a guard. The question is brought before the senate: the decree
is passed in the most solemn and laudatory terms: the jurymen are
complimented: the magistrates are commissioned to carry it out: no one
thought that the fellow would venture on a defence. "Tell me, ye Muses,
now how first the fire befell!"[100] You know Bald-head, the Nanneian
millionaire,[101] that panegyrist of mine, whose complimentary oration
I have already mentioned to you in a letter. In two days' time, by the
agency of a single slave, and one, too, from a school of gladiators, he
settled the whole business--he summoned them to an interview, made a
promise, offered security, paid money down. Still farther, good heavens,
what a scandal! even favours from certain ladies, and introductions to
young men of rank, were thrown in as a kind of _pourboire_ to some of
the jurors. Accordingly, with the loyalists holding completely aloof,
with the forum full of slaves, twenty-five jurors were yet found so
courageous that, though at the risk of their lives, they preferred even
death to producing universal ruin. There were thirty-one who were more
influenced by famine than fame. On seeing one of these latter Catulus
said to him, "Why did you ask us for a guard? Did you fear being robbed
of the money?" There you have, as briefly as I could put it, the nature
of the trial and the cause of the acquittal.
Next you want to know the present state of public affairs and of my own.
That settlement of the Republic--firmly established by my wisdom, as you
thought, as I thought by God's--which seemed fixed on a sure foundation
by the unanimity of all loyalists and the influence of my
consulship--that I assure you, unless some God take compassion on us,
has by this one verdict escaped from our grasp: if "verdict" it is to be
called, when thirty of the most worthless and dissolute fellows in Rome
for a paltry sum of money obliterate every principle of law and justice,
and when that which every man--I had almost said every animal--knows to
have taken place, a Thalna, a Plautus, and a Spongia, and other scum of
that sort decide not to have taken place. However, to console you as to
the state of the Republic, rascaldom is not as cheerful and exultant in
its victory as the disloyal hoped after the infliction of such a wound
upon the Republic. For they fully expected that when religion, morality,
the honour of juries, and the prestige of the senate had sustained such
a crushing fall, victorious profligacy and lawless lust would openly
exact vengeance from all the best men for the mortification which the
strictness of my consulship had branded in upon all the worst. And it is
once more I--for I do not feel as if I were boasting vaingloriously when
speaking of myself to you, especially in a letter not intended to be
read by others--it was I once more, I say, who revived the fainting
spirits of the loyalists, cheering and encouraging each personally.
Moreover, by my denunciations and invectives against those corrupt
jurors I left none of the favourers and supporters of that victory a
word to say for themselves. I gave the consul Piso no rest anywhere, I
got him deprived of Syria, which had been already plighted to him, I
revived the fainting spirit of the senate and recalled it to its former
severity. I overwhelmed Clodius in the senate to his face, both in a set
speech, very weighty and serious, and also in an interchange of
repartees, of which I append a specimen for your delectation. The rest
lose all point and grace without the excitement of the contest, or, as
you Greeks call it, the ἀγών. Well, at the meeting of the senate on the
15th of May, being called on for my opinion, I spoke at considerable
length on the high interests of the Republic, and brought in the
following passage by a happy inspiration: "Do not, Fathers, regard
yourselves as fallen utterly, do not faint, because you have received
one blow. The wound is one which I cannot disguise, but which I yet feel
sure should not be regarded with extreme fear: to fear would shew us to
be the greatest of cowards, to ignore it the greatest of fools. Lentulus
was twice acquitted, so was Catiline, a third such criminal has now been
let loose by jurors upon the Republic. You are mistaken, Clodius: it is
not for the city but for the prison that the jurors have reserved you,
and their intention was not to retain you in the state, but to deprive
you of the privilege of exile. Wherefore, Fathers, rouse up all your
courage, hold fast to your high calling. There still remains in the
Republic the old unanimity of the loyalists: their feelings have been
outraged, their resolution has not been weakened: no fresh mischief has
been done, only what was actually existing has been discovered. In the
trial of one profligate many like him have been detected."--But what am
I about? I have copied almost a speech into a letter. I return to the
duel of words. Up gets our dandified young gentleman, and throws in my
teeth my having been at Baiæ. It wasn't true, but what did that matter
to him? "It is as though you were to say," replied I, "that I had been
in disguise!" "What business," quoth he, "has an Arpinate with hot
baths?" "Say that to your patron," said I, "who coveted the
watering-place of an Arpinate."[102] For you know about the marine
villa. "How long," said he, "are we to put up with this king?" "Do you
mention a king," quoth I, "when Rex[103] made no mention of you?" He,
you know, had swallowed the inheritance of Rex in anticipation. "You
have bought a house," says he. "You would think that he said," quoth I,
"you have bought a jury." "They didn't trust you on your oath," said he.
"Yes," said I, "twenty-five jurors did trust me, thirty-one didn't trust
you, for they took care to get their money beforehand." Here he was
overpowered by a burst of applause and broke down without a word to say.
My own position is this: with the loyalists I hold the same place as
when you left town, with the tagrag and bobtail of the city I hold a
much better one than at your departure. For it does me no harm that my
evidence appears not to have availed. Envy has been let blood without
causing pain, and even more so from the fact that all the supporters of
that flagitious proceeding confess that a perfectly notorious fact has
been hushed up by bribing the jury. Besides, the wretched starveling
mob, the blood-sucker of the treasury, imagines me to be high in the
favour of Magnus--and indeed we have been mutually united by frequent
pleasant intercourse to such an extent, that our friends the boon
companions of the conspiracy, the young chin-tufts, speak of him in
ordinary conversation as Gnæus Cicero. Accordingly, both in the circus
and at the gladiatorial games, I received a remarkable ovation without a
single cat-call. There is at present a lively anticipation of the
elections, in which, contrary to everybody's wishes, our friend Magnus
is pushing the claims of Aulus's son;[104] and in that matter his
weapons are neither his prestige nor his popularity, but those by which
Philip said that any fortress could be taken--if only an ass laden with
gold could make its way up into it. Farthermore, that precious consul,
playing as it were second fiddle to Pompey,[105] is said to have
undertaken the business and to have bribery agents at his house, which I
don't believe. But two decrees have already passed the house of an
unpopular character, because they are thought to be directed against the
consul on the demand of Cato and Domitius[106]--one that search should
be allowed in magistrates' houses, and a second, that all who had
bribery agents in their houses were guilty of treason. The tribune Lurco
also, having entered on his office irregularly in view of the Ælian law,
has been relieved from the provisions both of the Ælian and Fufian laws,
in order to enable him to propose his law on bribery, which he
promulgated with correct auspices though a cripple.[107] Accordingly,
the _comitia_ have been postponed to the 27th of July. There is this
novelty in his bill, that a man who has promised money among the tribes,
but not paid it, is not liable, but, if he has paid, he is liable for
life to pay 3,000 sesterces to each tribe. I remarked that P. Clodius
had obeyed this law by anticipation, for he was accustomed to promise,
and not pay. But observe! Don't you see that the consulship of which we
thought so much, which Curio used of old to call an apotheosis, if this
Afranius is elected, will become a mere farce and mockery? Therefore I
think one should play the philosopher, as you in fact do, and not care a
straw for your consulships!
You say in your letter that you have decided not to go to Asia. For my
part I should have preferred your going, and I fear that there may be
some offence[108] given in that matter. Nevertheless, I am not the man
to blame you, especially considering that I have not gone to a province
myself. I shall be quite content with the inscriptions you have placed
in your Amaltheium,[109] especially as Thyillus has deserted me and
Archias written nothing about me. The latter, I am afraid, having
composed a Greek poem on the Luculli, is now turning his attention to
the Cæcilian drama.[110] I have thanked Antonius on your account, and I
have intrusted the letter to Mallius. I have heretofore written to you
more rarely because I had no one to whom I could trust a letter, and was
not sure of your address. I have puffed you well. If Cincius should
refer any business of yours to me, I will undertake it. But at present
he is more intent on his own business, in which I am rendering him some
assistance. If you mean to stay any length of time in one place you may
expect frequent letters from me: but pray send even more yourself. I
wish you would describe your Amaltheium to me, its decoration and its
plan; and send me any poems or stories you may have about
Amaltheia.[111] I should like to make a copy of it at Arpinum. I will
forward you something of what I have written. At present there is
nothing finished.
[Footnote 94: ὕστερον πρότερον Ὁμηρικῶς.]
[Footnote 95: That is, the resolution of the senate, that the consuls
should endeavour to get the bill passed.]
[Footnote 96: Cicero deposed to having seen Clodius in Rome three hours
after he swore that he was at Interamna (ninety miles off), thus
spoiling his alibi.]
[Footnote 97: The difficulty of this sentence is well known. The juries
were now made up of three _decuriæ_--senators, equites, and _tribuni
ærarii_. But the exact meaning of _tribuni ærarii_ is not known, beyond
the fact that they formed an _ordo_, coming immediately below the
equites. Possibly they were old tribal officers who had the duty of
distributing pay or collecting taxes (to which the translation supposes
a punning reference), and as such were required to be of a _census_
immediately below that of the equites. I do not profess to be satisfied,
but I cannot think that Professor Tyrrell's proposal makes matters much
easier--_tribuni non tam ærarii, ut appellantur, quam ærati_; for his
translation of _ærati_ as "bribed" is not better supported, and is a
less natural deduction than "moneyed."]
[Footnote 98: _I.e._, the Athenians. Xenocrates of Calchedon (B.C.
396-314), residing at Athens, is said to have been so trusted that his
word was taken as a witness without an oath (Diog. Laert. IV. ii. 4).]
[Footnote 99: Q. Cæcilius Numidicus, consul B.C. 109, commanded against
Iugurtha. The event referred to in the text is said to have occurred on
his trial _de repetundis_, after his return from a province which he had
held as proprætor (Val. Max. II. x. 1).]
[Footnote 100: Hom. _Il._ xvi. 112:
ἕσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι, Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαι
ὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε νηυσὶν Ἀχαίων.
]
[Footnote 101: The reference is to Crassus. But the rest is very dark.
The old commentators say that he is here called _ex Nanneianis_ because
he made a large sum of money by the property of one Nanneius, who was
among those proscribed by Sulla. His calling Crassus his "panegyrist" is
explained by Letter XIX, pp. 33-34.]
[Footnote 102: C. Curio, the elder, defended Clodius. He had bought the
villa of Marius (a native of Arpinum) at Baiæ.]
[Footnote 103: Q. Marcius Rex married a sister of Clodius, and dying,
left him no legacy.]
[Footnote 104: L. Afranius.]
[Footnote 105: Reading _deterioris histrionis similis_, "like an
inferior actor."]
[Footnote 106: Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, married to Cato's sister.
Consul B.C. 54. A strong aristocrat and vehement opponent of Cæsar.]
[Footnote 107: Aufidius Lurco had apparently proposed his law on bribery
between the time of the notice of the elections (_indictio_) and the
elections themselves, which was against a provision of the _leges Ælia
et Fufia_. What his breach of the law was in entering on his office
originally we do not know: perhaps some neglect of auspices, or his
personal deformity.]
[Footnote 108: _I.e._ to Quintus Cicero, now proprætor in Asia, who
apparently wished his brother-in-law to come to Asia in some official
capacity.]
[Footnote 109: Some epigrams or inscriptions under a portrait bust of
Cicero in the gymnasium of Atticus's villa at Buthrotum. Atticus had a
taste for such compositions. See Nepos, _Att._ 18; Pliny, _N. H._ 35, §
11.]
[Footnote 110: Cicero had defended Archias, and Thyillus seems also to
have been intimate with him: but he says Archias, after complimenting
the Luculli by a poem, is now doing the same to the Cæcilii Metelli. The
"Cæcilian drama" is a reference to the old dramatist, Cæcilius Statius
(_ob._ B.C. 168).]
[Footnote 111: Of Amaltheia, nurse of Zeus in Crete, there were plenty
of legends. Atticus is making in his house something like what Cicero
had made in his, and called his academia or gymnasium. That of Atticus
was probably also a summer house or study, with garden, fountains, etc.,
and a shrine or statue of Amaltheia.]
XXII (A I, 17)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 5 DECEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 61, ÆT. 45]
Your letter, in which you inclose copies of his letters, has made me
realize that my brother Quintus's feelings have undergone many
alternations, and that his opinions and judgments have varied widely
from time to time.[112] This has not only caused me all the pain which
my extreme affection for both of you was bound to bring, but it has also
made me wonder what can have happened to cause my brother Quintus such
deep offence, or such an extraordinary change of feeling. And yet I was
already aware, as I saw that you also, when you took leave of me, were
beginning to suspect, that there was some lurking dissatisfaction, that
his feelings were wounded, and that certain unfriendly suspicions had
sunk deep into his heart. On trying on several previous occasions, but
more eagerly than ever after the allotment of his province, to assuage
these feelings, I failed to discover on the one hand that the extent of
his offence was so great as your letter indicates; but on the other I
did not make as much progress in allaying it as I wished. However, I
consoled myself with thinking that there would be no doubt of his seeing
you at Dyrrachium, or somewhere in your part of the country: and, if
that happened, I felt sure and fully persuaded that everything would be
made smooth between you, not only by conversation and mutual
explanation, but by the very sight of each other in such an interview.
For I need not say in writing to you, who know it quite well, how kind
and sweet-tempered my brother is, as ready to forgive as he is sensitive
in taking offence. But it most unfortunately happened that you did not
see him anywhere. For the impression he had received from the artifices
of others had more weight with him than duty or relationship, or the
old affection so long existing between you, which ought to have been the
strongest influence of all. And yet, as to where the blame for this
misunderstanding resides, I can more easily conceive than write: since I
am afraid that, while defending my own relations, I should not spare
yours. For I perceive that, though no actual wound was inflicted by
members of the family, they yet could at least have cured it. But the
root of the mischief in this case, which perhaps extends farther than
appears, I shall more conveniently explain to you when we meet. As to
the letter he sent to you from Thessalonica,[113] and about the language
which you suppose him to have used both at Rome among your friends and
on his journey, I don't know how far the matter went, but my whole hope
of removing this unpleasantness rests on your kindness. For if you will
only make up your mind to believe that the best men are often those
whose feelings are most easily irritated and appeased, and that this
quickness, so to speak, and sensitiveness of disposition are generally
signs of a good heart; and lastly--and this is the main thing--that we
must mutually put up with each other's gaucheries (shall I call them?),
or faults, or injurious acts, then these misunderstandings will, I hope,
be easily smoothed away. I beg you to take this view, for it is the
dearest wish of my heart (which is yours as no one else's can be) that
there should not be one of my family or friends who does not love you
and is not loved by you.
That part of your letter was entirely superfluous, in which you mention
what opportunities of doing good business in the provinces or the city
you let pass at other times as well as in the year of my consulship: for
I am thoroughly persuaded of your unselfishness and magnanimity, nor did
I ever think that there was any difference between you and me except in
our choice of a career. Ambition led me to seek official advancement,
while another and perfectly laudable resolution led you to seek an
honourable privacy. In the true glory, which is founded on honesty,
industry, and piety, I place neither myself nor anyone else above you.
In affection towards myself, next to my brother and immediate family, I
put you first. For indeed, indeed I have seen and thoroughly appreciated
how your anxiety and joy have corresponded with the variations of my
fortunes. Often has your congratulation added a charm to praise, and
your consolation a welcome antidote to alarm. Nay, at this moment of
your absence, it is not only your advice--in which you excel--but the
interchange of speech--in which no one gives me so much delight as you
do--that I miss most, shall I say in politics, in which circumspection
is always incumbent on me, or in my forensic labour, which I formerly
sustained with a view to official promotion, and nowadays to maintain my
position by securing popularity, or in the mere business of my family?
In all these I missed you and our conversations before my brother left
Rome, and still more do I miss them since. Finally, neither my work nor
rest, neither my business nor leisure, neither my affairs in the forum
or at home, public or private, can any longer do without your most
consolatory and affectionate counsel and conversation. The modest
reserve which characterizes both of us has often prevented my mentioning
these facts; but on this occasion it was rendered necessary by that part
of your letter in which you expressed a wish to have yourself and your
character "put straight" and "cleared" in my eyes. Yet, in the midst of
all this unfortunate alienation and anger, there is one fortunate
circumstance--that your determination of not going to a province was
known to me and your other friends, and had been at various times before
distinctly expressed by yourself; so that your not being his guest may
be attributed to your personal tastes and judgments, not to the quarrel
and rupture between you. And so those ties which have been broken will
be restored, and ours which have been so religiously preserved will
retain all their old inviolability.
At Rome I find politics in a shaky condition; everything is
unsatisfactory and foreboding change. For I have no doubt you have been
told that our friends, the equites, are all but alienated from the
senate. Their first grievance was the promulgation of a bill on the
authority of the senate for the trial of such as had taken bribes for
giving a verdict. I happened not to be in the house when that decree was
passed, but when I found that the equestrian order was indignant at it,
and yet refrained from openly saying so, I remonstrated with the
senate, as I thought, in very impressive language, and was very weighty
and eloquent considering the unsatisfactory nature of my cause. But here
is another piece of almost intolerable coolness on the part of the
equites, which I have not only submitted to, but have even put in as
good a light as possible! The companies which had contracted with the
censors for Asia complained that in the heat of the competition they had
taken the contract at an excessive price; they demanded that the
contract should be annulled. I led in their support, or rather, I was
second, for it was Crassus who induced them to venture on this demand.
The case is scandalous, the demand a disgraceful one, and a confession
of rash speculation. Yet there was a very great risk that, if they got
no concession, they would be completely alienated from the senate. Here
again I came to the rescue more than anyone else, and secured them a
full and very friendly house, in which I, on the 1st and 2nd of
December, delivered long speeches on the dignity and harmony of the two
orders. The business is not yet settled, but the favourable feeling of
the senate has been made manifest: for no one had spoken against it
except the consul-designate, Metellus; while our hero Cato had still to
speak, the shortness of the day having prevented his turn being reached.
Thus I, in the maintenance of my steady policy, preserve to the best of
my ability that harmony of the orders which was originally my joiner's
work; but since it all now seems in such a crazy condition, I am
constructing what I may call a road towards the maintenance of our
power, a safe one I hope, which I cannot fully describe to you in a
letter, but of which I will nevertheless give you a hint. _I cultivate
close intimacy with Pompey_. I foresee what you will say. I will use all
necessary precautions, and I will write another time at greater length
about my schemes for managing the Republic. You must know that Lucceius
has it in his mind to stand for the consulship at once; for there are
said to be only two candidates in prospect. Cæsar is thinking of coming
to terms with him by the agency of Arrius, and Bibulus also thinks he
may effect a coalition with him by means of C. Piso.[114] You smile?
This is no laughing matter, believe me. What else shall I write to you?
What? I have plenty to say, but must put it off to another time. If you
mean to wait till you hear, let me know. For the moment I am satisfied
with a modest request, though it is what I desire above everything--that
you should come to Rome as soon as possible.
5 December.
[Footnote 112: Cicero is evidently very anxious as to the
misunderstanding between Quintus and his brother-in-law Atticus, caused,
as he hints, or at any rate not allayed, by Pomponia. The letter is very
carefully written, without the familiar tone and mixture of jest and
earnest common to most of the letters to Atticus.]
[Footnote 113: At the end of the _via Egnatia_, which started from
Dyrrachium.]
[Footnote 114: The election in question is that to be held in B.C. 60
for the consulship of B.C. 59. Cæsar and Bibulus were elected, and
apparently were the only two candidates declared as yet. They were, of
course, extremists, and Lucceius seems to reckon on getting in by
forming a coalition with either one or the other, and so getting the
support of one of the extreme parties, with the moderates, for himself.
The bargain eventually made was between Lucceius and Cæsar, the former
finding the money. But the Optimates found more, and carried Bibulus.
Arrius is Q. Arrius the orator (see Index). C. Piso is the consul of
B.C. 67.]
XXIII (A I, 18)
[Sidenote: B.C. 60. Coss., Q. Cæcilius Metellus Celer, L. Afranius.]
This was the year in which Cæsar, returning from his proprætorship
in Spain, found Pompey in difficulties with the senate (1) as to
the confirmation _en bloc_ of his _acta_ in the East, (2) as to the
assignation of lands to his veterans; and being met with opposition
himself as to the triumph that he claimed, and his candidatureship
for the consulship, he formed with Pompey and Crassus the agreement
known as the first triumvirate. Cicero saw his favourite political
object, the _concordia ordinum_, threatened by any opposition to
the triumvirate, which he yet distrusted as dangerous to the
constitution. We shall find him, therefore, vacillating between
giving his support to its policy or standing by the extreme
Optimates. P. Clodius is taking measures to be adopted into a
plebeian gens, in order to stand for the tribuneship. Quintus is
still in Asia. Pompey's triumph had taken place in the previous
September.
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 20 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
Believe me there is nothing at this moment of which I stand so much in
need as a man with whom to share all that causes me anxiety: a man to
love me; a man of sense to whom I can speak without affectation,
reserve, or concealment. For my brother is away--that most open-hearted
and affectionate of men. Metellus is not a human being, but
"Mere sound and air, a howling wilderness."
While you, who have so often lightened my anxiety and my anguish of soul
by your conversation and advice, who are ever my ally in public affairs,
my confidant in all private business, the sharer in all my conversations
and projects--where are you? So entirely am I abandoned by all, that the
only moments of repose left me are those which are spent with my wife,
pet daughter, and sweet little Cicero. For as to those friendships with
the great, and their artificial attractions, they have indeed a certain
glitter in the outside world, but they bring no private satisfaction.
And so, after a crowded morning _levée_, as I go down to the forum
surrounded by troops of friends, I can find no one out of all that crowd
with whom to jest freely, or into whose ear I can breathe a familiar
sigh. Therefore I wait for you, I long for you, I even urge on you to
come; for I have many anxieties, many pressing cares, of which I think,
if I once had your ears to listen to me, I could unburden myself in the
conversation of a single walk. And of my private anxieties, indeed, I
shall conceal all the stings and vexations, and not trust them to this
letter and an unknown letter-carrier. These, however--for I don't want
you to be made too anxious--are not very painful: yet they are
persistent and worrying, and are not put to rest by the advice or
conversation of any friend. But in regard to the Republic I have still
the same courage and purpose, though it has again and again of its own
act eluded treatment.[115] For should I put briefly what has occurred
since you left, you would certainly exclaim that the Roman empire cannot
be maintained much longer. Well, after your departure our first scene,
I think, was the appearance of the Clodian scandal, in which having, as
I thought, got an opportunity of pruning licentiousness and keeping our
young men within bounds, I exerted myself to the utmost, and lavished
all the resources of my intellect and genius, not from dislike to an
individual, but from the hope of not merely correcting, but of
completely curing the state. The Republic received a crushing blow when
this jury was won over by money and the opportunity of debauchery. See
what has followed! We have had a consul inflicted upon us, whom none
except us philosophers can look at without a sigh. What a blow that is!
Though a decree of the senate has been passed about bribery and the
corruption of juries, no law has been carried; the senate has been
harassed to death, the Roman knights alienated. So that one year has
undermined two buttresses of the Republic, which owed their existence to
me, and me alone; for it has at once destroyed the prestige of the
senate and broken up the harmony of the orders. And now enter this
precious year! It was inaugurated by the suspension of the annual rites
of Iuventas;[116] for Memmius initiated M. Lucullus's wife in some rites
of his own! Our Menelaus, being annoyed at that, divorced his wife. Yet
the old Idæan shepherd had only injured Menelaus; our Roman Paris
thought Agamemnon as proper an object of injury as Menelaus.[117] Next
there is a certain tribune named C. Herennius, whom you, perhaps, do not
even know--and yet you may know him, for he is of your tribe, and his
father Sextus used to distribute money to your tribesmen--this person is
trying to transfer P. Clodius to the plebs, and is actually proposing a
law to authorize the whole people to vote in Clodius's affair in the
_campus_.[118] I have given him a characteristic reception in the
senate, but he is the thickest-skinned fellow in the world. Metellus is
an excellent consul, and much attached to me, but he has lowered his
influence by promulgating (though only for form's sake) an identical
bill about Clodius. But the son of Aulus,[119] God in heaven! What a
cowardly and spiritless fellow for a soldier! How well he deserves to be
exposed, as he is, day after day to the abuse of Palicanus![120]
Farther, an agrarian law has been promulgated by Flavius, a poor
production enough, almost identical with that of Plotius. But meanwhile
a genuine statesman is not to be found, even "in a dream." The man who
could be one, my friend Pompey--for such he is, as I would have you
know--defends his twopenny embroidered toga[121] by saying nothing.
Crassus never risks his popularity by a word. The others you know
without my telling you. They are such fools that they seem to expect
that, though the Republic is lost, their fish-ponds will be safe. There
is one man who does take some trouble, but rather, as it seems to me,
with consistency and honesty, than with either prudence or
ability--Cato. He has been for the last three months worrying those
unhappy _publicani_, who were formerly devoted to him, and refuses to
allow of an answer being given them by the senate. And so we are forced
to suspend all decrees on other subjects until the _publicani_ have got
their answer. For the same reason I suppose even the business of the
foreign embassies will be postponed. You now understand in what stormy
water we are: and as from what I have written to you in such strong
terms you have a view also of what I have not written, come back to me,
for it is time you did. And though the state of affairs to which I
invite you is one to be avoided, yet let your value for me so far
prevail, as to induce you to come there even in these vexatious
circumstances. For the rest I will take care that due warning is given,
and a notice put up in all places, to prevent you being entered on the
census as absent; and to get put on the census just before the
lustration is the mark of your true man of business.[122] So let me see
you at the earliest possible moment. Farewell.
20 January in the Consulship of Q. Metellus and L. Afranius.
[Footnote 115: Reading (mainly with Schutz) _animus præsens et voluntas,
tamen etiam atque etiam ipsa medicinam refugit_. The verb _refugit_ is
very doubtful, but it gives nearly the sense required. Cicero is ready
to be as brave and active as before, but the state will not do its part.
It has, for instance, blundered in the matter of the law against
judicial corruption. The senate offended the equites by proposing it,
and yet did not carry the law. I think _animus_ and _voluntas_ must
refer to Cicero, not the state, to which in his present humour he would
not attribute them.]
[Footnote 116: The temple of Iuventas was vowed by M. Livius after the
battle of the Metaurus (B.C. 207), and dedicated in B.C. 191 by C.
Licinius Lucullus, games being established on the anniversary of its
dedication (Livy, xxi. 62; xxxvi. 36). It is suggested, therefore, that
some of the Luculli usually presided at these games, but on this
occasion refused, because of the injury done by C. Memmius, who was
curule ædile.]
[Footnote 117: By Agamemnon and Menelaus Cicero means Lucius and Marcus
Lucullus; the former Memmius had, as tribune in B.C. 66-65, opposed in
his demand for a triumph, the latter he has now injured in the person of
his wife.]
[Footnote 118: A man who was _sui iuris_ was properly adopted before the
_commitia curiata_, now represented by thirty lictors. What Herennius
proposed was that it should take place by a regular _lex_, passed by the
_comitia tributa_. The object apparently was to avoid the necessity of
the presence of a pontifex and augur, which was required at the _comitia
curiata_. The concurrent law by the consul would come before the
_comitia centuriata_. The adopter was P. Fonteius, a very young man.]
[Footnote 119: L. Afranius, the other consul.]
[Footnote 120: M. Lollius Palicanus, "a mere mob orator" (_Brutus_,
§223).]
[Footnote 121: The _toga picta_ of a triumphator, which Pompey, by
special law, was authorized to wear at the games. Cicero uses the
contemptuous diminutive, _togula_.]
[Footnote 122: To be absent from the census without excuse rendered a
man liable to penalties. Cicero will therefore put up notices in
Atticus's various places of business or residence of his intention to
appear in due course. To appear just at the end of the period was, it
seems, in the case of a man of business, advisable, that he might be
rated at the actual amount of his property, no more or less.]
XXIV (A I, 19)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 15 MARCH
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
It is not only if I had as much leisure as you, but also if I chose to
send letters as short as yours usually are, should I easily beat you and
be much the more regular in writing. But, in fact, it is only one more
item in an immense and inconceivable amount of business, that I allow no
letter to reach you from me without its containing some definite sketch
of events and the reflexions arising from it. And in writing to you, as
a lover of your country, my first subject will naturally be the state of
the Republic; next, as I am the nearest object of your affection, I will
also write about myself, and tell you what I think you will not be
indisposed to know. Well then, in public affairs for the moment the
chief subject of interest is the disturbance in Gaul. For the Ædui--"our
brethren"[123]--have recently fought a losing battle, and the Helvetii
are undoubtedly in arms and making raids upon our province.[124] The
senate has decreed that the two consuls should draw lots for the Gauls,
that a levy should be held, all exemptions from service be suspended,
and legates with full powers be sent to visit the states in Gaul, and
see that they do not join the Helvetii. The legates are Quintus Metellus
Creticus,[125] L. Flaccus,[126] and lastly--a case of "rich unguent on
lentils"--Lentulus, son of Clodianus.[127] And while on this subject I
cannot omit mentioning that when among the consulars my name was the
first to come up in the ballot, a full meeting of the senate declared
with one voice that I must be kept in the city. The same occurred to
Pompey after me; so that we two appeared to be kept at home as pledges
of the safety of the Republic. Why should I look for the "bravos" of
others when I get these compliments at home? Well, the state of affairs
in the city is as follows. The agrarian law is being vehemently pushed
by the tribune Flavius, with the support of Pompey, but it has nothing
popular about it except its supporter. From this law I, with the full
assent of a public meeting, proposed to omit all clauses which adversely
affected private rights. I proposed to except from its operation such
public land as had been so in the consulship of P. Mucius and L.
Calpurnius.[128] I proposed to confirm the titles of holders of those to
whom Sulla had actually assigned lands. I proposed to retain the men of
Volaterræ and Arretium--whose lands Sulla had declared forfeited but
had not allotted--in their holdings. There was only one section in the
bill that I did not propose to omit, namely, that land should be
purchased with this money from abroad, the proceeds of the new revenues
for the next five years.[129] But to this whole agrarian scheme the
senate was opposed, suspecting that some novel power for Pompey was
aimed at. Pompey, indeed, had set his heart on getting the law passed.
I, however, with the full approval of the applicants for land,
maintained the holdings of all private owners--for, as you know, the
landed gentry form the bulk of our party's forces--while I nevertheless
satisfied the people and Pompey (for I wanted to do that also) by the
purchase clause; for, if that was put on a sound footing, I thought that
two advantages would accrue--the dregs might be drawn from the city, and
the deserted portions of Italy be repeopled. But this whole business was
interrupted by the war, and has cooled off. Metellus is an exceedingly
good consul, and much attached to me. That other one is such a ninny
that he clearly doesn't know what to do with his purchase.[130] This is
all my public news, unless you regard as touching on public affairs the
fact that a certain Herennius, a tribune, and a fellow tribesman of
yours--a fellow as unprincipled as he is needy--has now begun making
frequent proposals for transferring P. Clodius to the plebs; he is
vetoed by many of his colleagues. That is really, I think, all the
public news.
For my part, ever since I won what I may call the splendid and immortal
glory of the famous fifth of December[131] (though it was accompanied by
the jealousy and hostility of many), I have never ceased to play my part
in the Republic in the same lofty spirit, and to maintain the position I
then inaugurated and took upon myself. But when, first, by the acquittal
of Clodius I clearly perceived the insecurity and rotten state of the
law courts; and, secondly, when I saw that it took so little to alienate
my friends the _publicani_ from the senate--though with me personally
they had no quarrel; and, thirdly, that the rich (I mean your friends
the fish-breeders) did not disguise their jealousy of me, I thought I
must look out for some greater security and stronger support. So, to
begin with, I have brought the man who had been too long silent on my
achievements, Pompey himself, to such a frame of mind as not once only
in the senate, but many times and in many words, to ascribe to me the
preservation of this empire and of the world. And this was not so
important to me--for those transactions are neither so obscure as to
need testimony, nor so dubious as to need commendation--as to the
Republic; for there were certain persons base enough to think that some
misunderstanding would arise between me and Pompey from a difference of
opinion on these measures. With him I have united myself in such close
intimacy that both of us can by this union be better fortified in his
own views, and more secure in his political position. However, the
dislike of the licentious dandies, which had been roused against me, has
been so far softened by a conciliatory manner on my part, that they all
combine to show me marked attention. In fine, while avoiding
churlishness to anyone, I do not curry favour with the populace or relax
any principle; but my whole course of conduct is so carefully regulated,
that, while exhibiting an example of firmness to the Republic, in my own
private concerns--in view of the instability of the loyalists, the
hostility of the disaffected, and the hatred of the disloyal towards
me--I employ a certain caution and circumspection, and do not allow
myself, after all, to be involved in these new friendships so far but
that the famous refrain of the cunning Sicilian frequently sounds in my
ears:[132]
"Keep sober and distrust: these wisdom's sinews!"
Of my course and way of life, therefore, you see, I think, what may be
called a sketch or outline. Of your own business, however, you
frequently write to me, but I cannot at the moment supply the remedy you
require. For that decree of the senate was passed with the greatest
unanimity on the part of the rank and file,[133] though without the
support of any of us consulars. For as to your seeing my name at the
foot of the decree, you can ascertain from the decree itself that the
subject put to the vote at the time was a different one, and that this
clause about "free peoples" was added without good reason. It was done
by P. Servilius the younger,[134] who delivered his vote among the last,
but it cannot be altered after such an interval of time. Accordingly,
the meetings, which at first were crowded, have long ceased to be held.
If you have been able, notwithstanding, by your insinuating address to
get a trifle of money out of the Sicyonians, I wish you would let me
know.[135] I have sent you an account of my consulship written in Greek.
If there is anything in it which to a genuine Attic like yourself seems
to be un-Greek or unscholarly, I shall not say as Lucullus said to you
(at Panhormus, was it not?) about his own history, that he had
interspersed certain barbarisms and solecisms for the express purpose of
proving that it was the work of a Roman. No, if there is anything of
that sort in my book, it will be without my knowledge and against my
will. When I have finished the Latin version I will send it to you; and
thirdly, you may expect a poem on the subject, for I would not have any
method of celebrating my praise omitted by myself. In this regard pray
do not quote "Who will praise his sire?"[136] For if there is anything
in the world to be preferred to this, let it receive its due meed of
praise, and I mine of blame for not selecting another theme for my
praise. However, what I write is not panegyric but history. My brother
Quintus clears himself to me in a letter, and asserts that he has never
said a disparaging word of you to anyone. But this we must discuss face
to face with the greatest care and earnestness: only _do_ come to see me
again at last! This Cossinius, to whom I intrust my letter, seems to me
a very good fellow, steady, devoted to you, and exactly the sort of man
which your letter to me had described.
15 March.
[Footnote 123: A special title given to the Ædui on their application
for alliance. Cæsar, _B. G._ i. 33.]
[Footnote 124: The migration of the Helvetii did not actually begin till
B.C. 58. Cæsar tells us in the first book of his _Commentaries_ how he
stopped it.]
[Footnote 125: Consul B.C. 69, superseded in Crete by Pompey B.C. 65.
Triumphed B.C. 62.]
[Footnote 126: Prætor B.C. 63, defended by Cicero in an extant oration.]
[Footnote 127: Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Clodianus, consul in B.C. 72.
Cicero puns on the name Lentulus from _lens_ (pulse, φακή), and quotes a
Greek proverb for things incongruous. See Athenæus, 160 (from the
_Necuia_ of Sopater):
Ἴθακος Ὀδυσσεὺς, τὸ ἐκὶ τῇ φακῇ μύρον
πάρεστι· θάρσει, θυμέ.
]
[Footnote 128: B.C. 133, the year before the agrarian law of Tiberius
Gracchus. The law of Gracchus had not touched the public land in
Campania (the old territory of Capua). The object of this clause (which
appears repeatedly in those of B.C. 120 and 111, see Bruns, _Fontes
Iuris_, p. 72) is to confine the allotment of _ager publicus_ to such
land as had become so subsequently, _i.e._, to land made "public"
principally by the confiscations of Sulla.]
[Footnote 129: That is, he proposed to hypothecate the _vectigalia_ from
the new provinces formed by Pompey in the East for five years.]
[Footnote 130: The consulship. The bribery at Afranius's election is
asserted in Letter XXI.]
[Footnote 131: The day of the execution of the Catilinarian
conspirators.]
[Footnote 132: Epicharmus, twice quoted by Polybius, xviii. 40; xxxi.
21. νᾶφε καὶ μέμνας' ἀπιστεῖν, ἄρθρα ταῦτα τῶν φρενῶν.]
[Footnote 133: _Pedarii_ were probably those senators who had not held
curule office. They were not different from the other senators in point
of legal rights, but as ex-magistrates were asked for their _sententia_
first, they seldom had time to do anything but signify by word their
assent to one or other motion, or to cross over to the person whom they
intended to support.]
[Footnote 134: P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus, son of the conqueror of the
Isaurians. As he had not yet been a prætor, he would be called on after
the _consulares_ and _prætorii_. He then moved a new clause to the
decree, and carried it.]
[Footnote 135: The decree apparently prevented the recovery of debts
from a _libera civitas_ in the Roman courts. Atticus would therefore
have to trust to the regard of the Sicyonians for their credit.]
[Footnote 136: A son must be hard up for something to say for himself if
he is always harping on his father's reputation; and so must I, if I
have nothing but my consulship. That seems the only point in the
quotation. I do not feel that there is any reference to praise of his
father in Cicero's own poem. There are two versions of the proverb:
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ κακοδαίμονες υἱοί
and
τίς πατέρ' αἰνήσει εἰ μὴ εὐδαίμονες υἱοί.
]
XXV (A I, 20)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 13 MAY
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
On my return to Rome from my villa at Pompeii on the 12th of May, our
friend Cincius handed me your letter dated 13th February. It is this
letter of yours which I will now proceed to answer. And first let me say
how glad I am that you have fully understood my appreciation of
you;[137] and next how excessively rejoiced I am that you have been so
extremely reasonable in regard to those particulars in which you
thought[138] that I and mine had behaved unkindly, or with insufficient
consideration for your feelings: and this I regard as a proof of no
common affection, and of the most excellent judgment and wisdom.
Wherefore, since you have written to me in a tone so delightful,
considerate, friendly and kind, that I not only have no call to press
you any farther, but can never even hope to meet from you or any other
man with so much gentleness and good nature, I think the very best
course I can pursue is not to say another word on the subject in my
letters. When we meet, if the occasion should arise, we will discuss it
together.
As to what you say about politics, your suggestions indeed are both
affectionate and wise, and the course you suggest does not differ
substantially from my own policy--for I must neither budge an inch from
the position imposed upon me by my rank, nor must I without forces of my
own enter the lines of another, while that other, whom you mention in
your letter, has nothing large-minded about him, nothing lofty, nothing
which is not abject and time-serving. However, the course I took was,
after all, perhaps not ill-calculated for securing the tranquillity of
my own life; but, by heaven, I did greater service to the Republic than,
by suppressing the attacks of the disloyal, I did to myself, when I
brought conviction home to the wavering mind of a man of the most
splendid fortune, influence and popularity, and induced him to
disappoint the disloyal and praise my acts. Now if I had been forced to
sacrifice consistency in this transaction, I should not have thought
anything worth that price; but the fact is that I have so worked the
whole business, that I did not seem to be less consistent from my
complacency to him, but that he appeared to gain in character by his
approbation of me. In everything else I am so acting, and shall continue
so to act, as to prevent my seeming to have done what I did do by mere
chance. My friends the loyalists, the men at whom you hint, and that
"Sparta" which you say has fallen to my lot,[139] I will not only never
desert, but even if I am deserted by her, I shall still stand by my
ancient creed. However, please consider this, that since the death of
Catulus I am holding this road for the loyalists without any garrison or
company. For as Rhinton, I think, says:
"Some are stark naught, and some care not at all."[140]
However, how our friends the fish-breeders[141] envy me I will write you
word another time, or will reserve it till we meet. But from the
senate-house nothing shall ever tear me: either because that course is
the right one, or because it is most to my interests, or because I am
far from being dissatisfied with the estimation in which I am held by
the senate.
As to the Sicyonians, as I wrote to you before,[142] there is not much
to be hoped for in the senate. For there is no one now to lay a
complaint before it. Therefore, if you are waiting for that, you will
find it a tedious business. Fight some other way if you can. At the time
the decree was passed no one noticed who would be affected by it, and
besides the rank and file of the senators voted in a great hurry for
that clause. For cancelling the senatorial decree the time is not yet
ripe, because there are none to complain of it, and because also many
are glad to have it so, some from spite, some from a notion of its
equity. Your friend Metellus is an admirable consul: I have only one
fault to find with him--he doesn't receive the news from Gaul of the
restoration of peace with much pleasure. He wants a triumph, I suppose.
I could have wished a little less of that sort of thing: in other
respects he is splendid. But the son of Aulus behaves in such a way,
that his consulship is not a consulship but a stigma on our friend
Magnus. Of my writings I send you my consulship in Greek completed. I
have handed that book to L. Cossinius. My Latin works I think you like,
but as a Greek you envy this Greek book. If others write treatises on
the subject I will send them to you, but I assure you that, as soon as
they have read mine, some how or other they become slack. To return to
my own affairs, L. Papirius Pætus, an excellent man and an admirer of
mine, has presented me with the books left him by Servius Claudius. As
your friend Cincius told me that I could take them without breaking the
_lex Cincia_[143], I told him that I should have great pleasure in
accepting them, if he brought them to Italy. Wherefore, as you love me,
as you know that I love you, do try by means of friends, clients,
guests, or even your freedmen or slaves, to prevent the loss of a single
leaf. For I am in urgent need of the Greek books which I suspect, and of
the Latin books which I know, that he left: and more and more every day
I find repose in such studies every moment left to me from my labours in
the forum. You will, I say, do me a very great favour, if you will be as
zealous in this matter as you ever are in matters in which you suppose
me to feel strongly; and Pætus's own affairs I recommend to your
kindness for which he thanks you extremely. A prompt visit from yourself
is a thing which I do not merely ask for, I advise it.
[Footnote 137: Contained in Letter XXII, pp. 46-47.]
[Footnote 138: Reading _tibi_ for _mihi_, as Prof. Tyrrell suggests.]
[Footnote 139: Σπάρτην ἔλαχες κείνην κοσμεῖ. "Sparta is your lot, do it
credit," a line of Euripides which had become proverbial.]
[Footnote 140: οἱ μὲν παρ' οὐδέν εἰσι, τοῖς δ' οὐδεν μέλει. Rhinton, a
dramatist, _circa_ B.C. 320-280 (of Tarentum or Syracuse).]
[Footnote 141: See pp. 52, 56, 65.]
[Footnote 142: See p. 57.]
[Footnote 143: The _lex Cincia_ (B.C. 204) forbade the taking of
presents for acting as advocate in law courts.]
XXVI (A II, 1)
TO ATTICUS (IN GREECE)
ROME, JUNE
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
On the 1st of June, as I was on my way to Antium, and eagerly getting
out of the way of M. Metellus's gladiators, your boy met me, and
delivered to me a letter from you and a history of my consulship written
in Greek.[144] This made me glad that I had some time before delivered
to L. Cossinius a book, also written in Greek, on the same subject, to
take to you. For if I had read yours first you might have said that I
had pilfered from you. Although your essay (which I have read with
pleasure) seemed to me just a trifle rough and bald, yet its very
neglect of ornament is an ornament in itself, as women were once thought
to have the best perfume who used none. My book, on the other hand, has
exhausted the whole of Isocrates's unguent case, and all the paint-boxes
of his pupils, and even Aristotle's colours. This, as you tell me in
another letter, you glanced over at Corcyra, and afterwards I suppose
received it from Cossinius.[145] I should not have ventured to send it
to you until I had slowly and fastidiously revised it. However,
Posidonius, in his letter of acknowledgment from Rhodes, says that as he
read my memoir, which I had sent him with a view to his writing on the
same subject with more elaboration, he was not only not incited to
write, but absolutely made afraid to do so. In a word, I have routed the
Greeks. Accordingly, as a general rule, those who were pressing me for
material to work up, have now ceased to bother me. Pray, if you like the
book, see to there being copies at Athens and other Greek towns;[146]
for it may possibly throw some lustre on my actions. As for my poor
speeches, I will send you both those you ask for and some more also,
since what I write to satisfy the studious youth finds favour, it seems,
with you also. [For it suited my purpose[147]--both because it was in
his Philippics that your fellow citizen Demosthenes gained his
reputation, and because it was by withdrawing from the mere
controversial and forensic style of oratory that he acquired the
character of a serious politician--to see that I too should have
speeches that may properly be called _consular_. Of these are, first,
one delivered on the 1st of January in the senate, a second to the
people on the agrarian law, a third on Otho, a fourth for Rabirius, a
fifth on the Sons of the Proscribed, a sixth when I declined a province
in public meeting, a seventh when I allowed Catiline to escape, which I
delivered the day after Catiline fled, a ninth in public meeting on the
day that the Allobroges made their revelation, a tenth in the senate on
the 5th of December. There are also two short ones, which may be called
fragments, on the agrarian law. This whole cycle I will see that you
have. And since you like my writings as well as my actions, from these
same rolls you will learn both what I have done and what I have said--or
you should not have asked for them, for I did not make you an offer of
them.]
You ask me why I urge you to come home, and at the same time you
intimate that you are hampered by business affairs, and yet say that you
will nevertheless hasten back, not only if it is needful, but even if I
desire it. Well, there is certainly no absolute necessity, yet I do
think you might plan the periods of your tour somewhat more
conveniently. Your absence is too prolonged, especially as you are in a
neighbouring country, while yet I cannot enjoy your society, nor you
mine. For the present there is peace, but if my young friend
Pulcher's[148] madness found means to advance a little farther, I should
certainly summon you from your present sojourn. But Metellus is offering
him a splendid opposition and will continue to do so. Need I say more?
He is a truly patriotic consul and, as I have ever thought, naturally an
honest man. That person, however, makes no disguise, but avowedly
desires to be elected tribune. But when the matter was mooted in the
senate, I cut the fellow to pieces, and taunted him with his
changeableness in seeking the tribuneship at Rome after having given out
at Hera, in Sicily,[149] that he was a candidate for the ædileship; and
went on to say that we needn't much trouble ourselves, for that he would
not be permitted to ruin the Republic any more as a plebeian, than
patricians like him had been allowed to do so in my consulship.
Presently, on his saying that he had completed the journey from the
straits in seven days, and that it was impossible for anyone to have
gone out to meet him, and that he had entered the city by night,[150]
and making a great parade of this in a public meeting, I remarked that
that was nothing new for him: seven days from Sicily to Rome, three
hours from Rome to Interamna![151] Entered by night, did he? so he did
before! No one went to meet him? neither did anyone on the other
occasion, exactly when it should have been done! In short, I bring our
young upstart to his bearings, not only by a set and serious speech, but
also by repartees of this sort. Accordingly, I have come now to rally
him and jest with him in quite a familiar manner. For instance, when we
were escorting a candidate, he asked me "whether I had been accustomed
to secure Sicilians places at the gladiatorial shows?" "No," said I.
"Well, I intend to start the practice," said he, "as their new patron;
but my sister,[152] who has the control of such a large part of the
consul's space, wont give me more than a single foot." "Don't grumble,"
said I, "about one of your sister's feet; you may lift the other also."
A jest, you will say, unbecoming to a consular. I confess it, but I
detest that woman--so unworthy of a consul. For
"A shrew she is and with her husband jars,
and not only with Metellus, but also with Fabius,[153] because she is
annoyed at their interference in this business.[154] You ask about the
agrarian law: it has completely lost all interest, I think. You rather
chide me, though gently, about my intimacy with Pompey. I would not have
you think that I have made friends with him for my own protection; but
things had come to such a pass that, if by any chance we had quarrelled,
there would inevitably have been violent dissensions in the state. And
in taking precautions and making provision against that, I by no means
swerved from my well-known loyalist policy, but my object was to make
him more of a loyalist and induce him to drop somewhat of his
time-serving vacillation: and he, let me assure you, now speaks in much
higher terms of my achievements (against which many had tried to incite
him) than of his own. He testifies that while he served the state well,
I preserved it. What if I even make a better citizen of Cæsar,[155] who
has now the wind full in his sails--am I doing so poor a service to the
Republic? Farthermore, if there was no one to envy me, if all, as they
ought to be, were my supporters, nevertheless a preference should still
be given to a treatment that would cure the diseased parts of the state,
rather than to the use of the knife. As it is, however, since the
knighthood, which I once stationed on the slope of the Capitoline,[156]
with you as their standard-bearer and leader, has deserted the senate,
and since our leading men think themselves in a seventh heaven, if there
are bearded mullets in their fish-ponds that will come to hand for food,
and neglect everything else, do not you think that I am doing no mean
service if I secure that those who have the power, should not have the
will, to do any harm? As for our friend Cato, you do not love him more
than I do: but after all, with the very best intentions and the most
absolute honesty, he sometimes does harm to the Republic. He speaks and
votes as though he were in the Republic of Plato, not in the scum of
Romulus. What could be fairer than that a man should be brought to trial
who has taken a bribe for his verdict? Cato voted for this: the senate
agreed with him. The equites declared war on the senate, not on me, for
I voted against it. What could be a greater piece of impudence than the
equites renouncing the obligations of their contract? Yet for the sake
of keeping the friendship of the order it was necessary to submit to the
loss. Cato resisted and carried his point. Accordingly, though we have
now had the spectacle of a consul thrown into prison,[157] of riots
again and again stirred up, not one of those moved a finger to help,
with whose support I and the consuls that immediately followed me were
accustomed to defend the Republic. "Well, but," say you, "are we to pay
them for their support?" What are we to do if we can't get it on any
other terms? Are we to be slaves to freedmen or even slaves? But, as you
say, _assez de sérieux!_ Favonius[158] carried my tribe with better
credit than his own; he lost that of Lucceius. His accusation of
Nasica[159] was not creditable, but was conducted with moderation: he
spoke so badly that he appeared when in Rhodes to have ground at the
mills more than at the lessons of Molon.[160] He was somewhat angry
with me because I appeared for the defence: however, he is now making up
to me again on public grounds. I will write you word how Lucceius is
getting on when I have seen Cæsar, who will be here in a couple of days.
The injury done you by the Sicyonians you attribute to Cato and his
imitator Servilius.[161] Why? did not that blow reach many excellent
citizens? But since the senate has so determined, let us commend it, and
not be in a minority of one.[162] My "Amaltheia"[163] is waiting and
longing for you. My Tusculan and Pompeian properties please me
immensely, except that they have overwhelmed me--me, the scourge of
debt!--not exactly in Corinthian bronze, but in the bronze which is
current in the market.[164] In Gaul I hope peace is restored. My
"Prognostics,"[165] along with my poor speeches, expect shortly. Yet
write and tell me what your ideas are as to returning. For Pomponia sent
a message to me that you would be at Rome some time in July. That does
not agree with your letter which you wrote to me about your name being
put on the census roll. Pætus, as I have already told you, has presented
me with all books left by his brother. This gift of his depends upon
your seeing to it with care. Pray, if you love me, take measures for
their preservation and transmission to me. You could do me no greater
favour, and I want the Latin books preserved with as much care as the
Greek. I shall look upon them as virtually a present from yourself. I
have written to Octavius:[166] I had not said anything to him about you
by word of mouth; for I did not suppose that you carried on your
business in that province, or look upon you in the light of general
money-lender: but I have written, as in duty bound, with all
seriousness.
[Footnote 144: Nep. _Att._ c. 18.]
[Footnote 145: Atticus seems to have seen a copy belonging to some one
else at Corfu. Cicero explains that he had kept back Atticus's copy for
revision.]
[Footnote 146: Cicero evidently intends Atticus to act as a publisher.
His _librarii_ will make copies. See p. 32, note 1.]
[Footnote 147: The passage in brackets is believed by some, not on very
good grounds, to be spurious. Otho is L. Roscius Otho, the author of the
law as to the seats in the theatre of the equites. The "proscribed" are
those proscribed by Sulla, their sons being forbidden to hold office, a
disability which Cicero maintained for fear of civil disturbances. See
_in Pis._ §§ 4-5.]
[Footnote 148: Pulchellus, _i.e._, P. Clodius Pulcher, the diminutive of
contempt.]
[Footnote 149: Where he had been as quæstor. Hera is said to be another
name for Hybla. Some read _heri_, "only yesterday."]
[Footnote 150: Clodius is shewing off his modesty. It was usual for
persons returning from a province to send messengers in front, and to
travel deliberately, that their friends might pay them the compliment of
going out to meet them. Entering the city after nightfall was another
method of avoiding a public reception. See Suet. _Aug._ 53.]
[Footnote 151: See p. 37, note 3.]
[Footnote 152: Clodia, wife of the consul Metellus. See p. 22, note.]
[Footnote 153: We don't know who this is; probably a _cavaliere
servente_ of Clodia's.]
[Footnote 154: _I.e._, in the business of her brother Clodius's attempt
to get the tribuneship.]
[Footnote 155: Though Cæsar has been mentioned before in regard to his
candidature for the consulship, and in connexion with the Clodius case,
this is the first reference to him as a statesman. He is on the eve of
his return from Spain, and already is giving indication of his coalition
with Pompey. His military success in Spain first clearly demonstrated
his importance.]
[Footnote 156: During the meeting of the senate at the time of the
Catilinarian conspiracy (2 _Phil._ § 16).]
[Footnote 157: The consul Cæcilius Metellus was imprisoned by the
tribune Flavius for resisting his land law (Dio, xxxvii. 50).]
[Footnote 158: M. Favonius, an extreme Optimate. _Ille Catonis æmulus_
(Suet. _Aug._ 13). He had a bitter tongue, but a faithful heart (Plut.
_Pomp._ 60, 73; Vell. ii 73). He did not get the prætorship (which he
was now seeking) till B.C. 49. He was executed after Philippi (Dio. 47,
49).]
[Footnote 159: P. Scipio Nasica Metellus Pius, the future father-in-law
of Pompey, who got the prætorship, was indicted for _ambitus_ by
Favonius.]
[Footnote 160: Ἀπολλόνιος Μόλων of Alabanda taught rhetoric at Rhodes.
Cicero had himself attended his lectures. He puns on the name Molon and
_molæ_, "mill at which slaves worked."]
[Footnote 161: See pp. 57, 60.]
[Footnote 162: Reading _discessionibus_, "divisions in the senate," with
Manutius and Tyrrell, not _dissentionibus_; and _deinde ne_, but not
_st_ for _si_.]
[Footnote 163: His study, which he playfully calls by this name, in
imitation of that of Atticus. See p. 30.]
[Footnote 164: See Letter XV, p. 25.]
[Footnote 165: His translation of the _Prognostics_ of Aratus.]
[Footnote 166: Gaius Octavius, father of Augustus, governor of
Macedonia.]
XXVII (A II, 2)
TO ATTICUS (ON HIS WAY TO ROME)
TUSCULUM (DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
Take care of my dear nephew Cicero, I beg of you. I seem to share his
illness. I am engaged on the "Constitution of Pellene," and, by heaven,
have piled up a huge heap of Dicæarchus at my feet.[167] What a great
man! You may learn much more from him than from Procilius. His
"Constitution of Corinth" and "Constitution of Athens" I have, I think,
at Rome. Upon my word, you will say, if you read these, "What a
remarkable man!" Herodes, if he had any sense, would have read him
rather than write a single letter himself.[168] He has attacked me by
letter; with you I see he has come to close quarters. I would have
joined a conspiracy rather than resisted one, if I had thought that I
should have to listen to him as my reward. As to Lollius, you must be
mad. As to the wine, I think you are right.[169] But look here! Don't
you see that the Kalends are approaching, and no Antonius?[170] That the
jury is being empanelled? For so they send me word. That Nigidius[171]
threatens in public meeting that he will personally cite any juror who
does not appear? However, I should be glad if you would write me word
whether you have heard anything about the return of Antonius; and since
you don't mean to come here, dine with me in any case on the 29th. Mind
you do this, and take care of your health.
[Footnote 167: The roll being unwound as he read and piled on the
ground. Dicæarchus of Messene, a contemporary of Aristotle, wrote on
"Constitutions" among other things. Procilius seems also to have written
on polities.]
[Footnote 168: Herodes, a teacher at Athens, afterwards tutor to young
Cicero. He seems to have written on Cicero's consulship.]
[Footnote 169: These remarks refer to something in Atticus's letter.]
[Footnote 170: Gaius Antonius, about to be prosecuted for _maiestas_ on
his return from Macedonia.]
[Footnote 171: P. Nigidius Figulus, a tribune (which dates the letter
after the 10th of December). The tribunes had no right of summons
(_vocatio_), they must personally enforce their commands.]
XXVIII (A II, 3)
TO ATTICUS (ON HIS WAY TO ROME)
ROME (DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
First, I have good news for you, as I think. Valerius has been
acquitted. Hortensius was his counsel. The verdict is thought to have
been a favour to Aulus's son; and "Epicrates,"[172] I suspect, has been
up to some mischief. I didn't like his boots and his white
leggings.[173] What it is I shall know when you arrive. When you find
fault with the narrow windows, let me tell you that you are criticising
the Cyropædeia.[174] For when I made the same remark, Cyrus used to
answer that the views of the gardens through broad lights were not so
pleasant. For let α be the eye, βγ the object seen, δ and ε the rays ...
you see the rest.[175] For if sight resulted from the impact of
images,[176] the images would be in great difficulties with a narrow
entrance: but, as it is, that "effusion" of rays gets on quite nicely.
If you have any other fault to find you won't get off without an answer,
unless it is something that can be put right without expense.
I now come to January and my "political attitude," in which, after the
manner of the Socratics, I shall put the two sides; at the end, however,
as they were wont to do, the one which I approve. It is, indeed, a
matter for profound reflexion. For I must either firmly oppose the
agrarian law--which will involve a certain struggle, but a struggle full
of glory--or I must remain altogether passive, which is about equivalent
to retiring to Solonium[177] or Antium; or, lastly, I must actually
assist the bill, which I am told Cæsar fully expects from me without any
doubt. For Cornelius has been with me (I mean Cornelius Balbus,[178]
Cæsar's intimate), and solemnly assured me that he meant to avail
himself of my advice and Pompey's in everything, and intended to
endeavour to reconcile Crassus with Pompey.[179] In this last course
there are the following advantages: a very close union with Pompey, and,
if I choose, with Cæsar also; a reconciliation with my political
enemies, peace with the common herd, ease for my old age. But the
conclusion of the third book of my own poem has a strong hold on me:
"Meanwhile the tenor of thy youth's first spring,
Which still as consul thou with all thy soul
And all thy manhood heldest, see thou keep,
And swell the chorus of all good men's praise."[180]
These verses Calliope herself dictated to me in that book, which
contains much written in an "aristocratic" spirit, and I cannot,
therefore, doubt that I shall always hold that
"The best of omens is our country's cause."[181]
But let us reserve all this for our walks during the Compitalia[182].
Remember the day before the Compitalia. I will order the bath to be
heated, and Terentia is going to invite Pomponia. We will add your
mother to the party. Please bring me Theophrastus _de Ambitione_ from my
brother's library.
[Footnote 172: "The Conqueror," _i.e._, Pompey. Aulus's son is L.
Afranius.]
[Footnote 173: _I.e._, his military get-up.]
[Footnote 174: Cyrus was Cicero's architect; his argument or theory he
calls Cyropædeia, after Xenophon's book.]
[Footnote 175: He supposes himself to be making a mathematical figure in
optics:
[Illustration]]
[Footnote 176: The theory of sight held by Democritus, denounced as
unphilosophical by Plutarch (_Timoleon_, Introd.).]
[Footnote 177: Apparently a villa in the _Solonius ager_, near
Lanuvium.]
[Footnote 178: The Cornelius Balbus of Gades, whose citizenship Cicero
defended B.C. 56 (consul B.C. 40). He was Cæsar's close friend and
agent.]
[Footnote 179: Cicero was apparently not behind the scenes. The
coalition with Pompey certainly, and with Crassus probably, had been
already made and the terms agreed upon soon after the elections. If
Cicero afterwards discovered this it must have shewn him how little he
could trust Pompey's show of friendship and Cæsar's candour. Cæsar
desired Cicero's private friendship and public acquiescence, but was
prepared to do without them.]
[Footnote 180: From Cicero's Latin poem on his consulship.]
[Footnote 181: εἶς οἰωνός ἄριστος ἀμύνεσθαι περὶ πάτρης (Hom. _Il._ xii.
243).]
XXIX (Q FR I, 1)
Quintus Cicero was prætor in B.C. 62. In B.C. 61 (March) he went
out to "Asia" as proprætor; his first year of office would be up in
March, B.C. 60, but his governorship was, as was very common,
extended till March, B.C. 59. Towards the end of B.C. 60 the senate
seems to have arranged not to appoint his successor, that is, he
would be left in office till about March, B.C. 58. It is in view of
this third year of office that Cicero writes this essay-letter to
him on the duties of a provincial governor. Apparently Quintus had
faults of temper which had caused some scandals to reach Rome. We
have seen how he was one of the few who managed to quarrel with
Atticus; and in B.C. 48 we shall find how fiercely he resented the
exercise of his brother's influence which had led him to take the
losing side, which from his attachment to Cæsar he may have been
half inclined to think the wrong side. His constant squabbles with
his wife (though the fault was evidently in great part hers) also
go towards forming our conclusion about him that, with some ability
and honesty, he was _un peu difficile_.
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN ASIA)
ROME (DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 60, ÆT. 46]
I. Though I have no doubt that many messengers, and even common rumour,
with its usual speed, will anticipate this letter, and that you will
already have heard from others that a third year has been added to my
loss and your labour, yet I thought you ought to receive from me also
the news of this tiresome circumstance. For not in one, but in several
of my previous letters, in spite of others having given up the idea in
despair, I gave you hope of being able at an early date to quit your
province, not only that I might as long as possible cheer you with a
pleasurable belief, but also because I and the prætors took such pains
in the matter, that I felt no misgiving as to the possibility of its
being arranged. As it is, since matters have so turned out that neither
the prætors by the weight of their influence, nor I by my earnest
efforts, have been able to prevail, it is certainly difficult not to be
annoyed, yet our minds, practised as they are in conducting and
supporting business of the utmost gravity, ought not to be crushed or
weakened by vexation. And since men ought to feel most vexed at what has
been brought upon them by their own fault, it is I who ought in this
matter to be more vexed than you. For it is the result of a fault on my
part, against which you had protested both in conversation at the moment
of your departure, and in letters since, that your successor was not
named last year. In this, while consulting for the interests of our
allies, and resisting the shameless conduct of some merchants, and while
seeking the increase of our reputation by your virtues, I acted
unwisely, especially as I made it possible for that second year to
entail a third. And as I confess the mistake to have been mine, it lies
with your wisdom and kindness to remedy it, and to see that my
imprudence is turned to advantage by your careful performance of your
duties. And truly, if you exert yourself in every direction to earn
men's good word, not with a view to rival others, but henceforth to
surpass yourself, if you rouse your whole mind and your every thought
and care to the ambition of gaining a superior reputation in all
respects, believe me, one year added to your labour will bring us, nay,
our posterity also, a joy of many years' duration. Wherefore I begin by
entreating you not to let your soul shrink and be cast down, nor to
allow yourself to be overpowered by the magnitude of the business as
though by a wave; but, on the contrary, to stand upright and keep your
footing, or even advance to meet the flood of affairs. For you are not
administering a department of the state, in which fortune reigns
supreme, but one in which a well-considered policy and an attention to
business are the most important things. But if I had seen you receiving
the prolongation of a command in a great and dangerous war, I should
have trembled in spirit, because I should have known that the dominion
of fortune over us had been at the same time prolonged. As it is,
however, a department of the state has been intrusted to you in which
fortune occupies no part, or, at any rate, an insignificant one, and
which appears to me to depend entirely on your virtue and self-control.
We have no reason to fear, as far as I know, any designs of our enemies,
any actual fighting in the field, any revolts of allies, any default in
the tribute or in the supply of corn, any mutiny in the army: things
which have very often befallen the wisest of men in such a way, that
they have been no more able to get the better of the assault of fortune,
than the best of pilots a violent tempest. You have been granted
profound peace, a dead calm: yet if the pilot falls asleep, it may even
so overwhelm him, though if he keeps awake it may give him positive
pleasure. For your province consists, in the first place, of allies of a
race which, of all the world, is the most civilized; and, in the second
place, of citizens, who, either as being _publicani_, are very closely
connected with me, or, as being traders who have made money, think that
they owe the security of their property to my consulship.
II. But it may be said that among even such men as these there occur
serious disputes, many wrongful acts are committed, and hotly contested
litigation is the result. As though I ever thought that you had no
trouble to contend with! I know that the trouble is exceedingly great,
and such as demands the very greatest prudence; but remember that it is
prudence much more than fortune on which, in my opinion, the result of
your trouble depends. For what trouble is it to govern those over whom
you are set, if you do but govern yourself? That may be a great and
difficult task to others, and indeed it is most difficult: to you it has
always been the easiest thing in the world, and indeed ought to be so,
for your natural disposition is such that, even without discipline, it
appears capable of self-control; whereas a discipline has, in fact, been
applied that might educate the most faulty of characters. But while you
resist, as you do, money, pleasure, and every kind of desire yourself,
there will, I am to be told, be a risk of your not being able to
suppress some fraudulent banker or some rather over-extortionate
tax-collector! For as to the Greeks, they will think, as they behold the
innocence of your life, that one of the heroes of their history, or a
demigod from heaven, has come down into the province. And this I say,
not to induce you to act thus, but to make you glad that you are acting
or have acted so. It is a splendid thing to have been three years in
supreme power in Asia without allowing statue, picture, plate, napery,
slave, anyone's good looks, or any offer of money--all of which are
plentiful in your province--to cause you to swerve from the most
absolute honesty and purity of life. What can be imagined so striking or
so desirable as that a virtue, a command over the passions, a
self-control such as yours, are not remaining in darkness and obscurity,
but have been set in the broad daylight of Asia, before the eyes of a
famous province, and in the hearing of all nations and peoples? That the
inhabitants are not being ruined by your progresses, drained by your
charges, agitated by your approach? That there is the liveliest joy,
public and private, wheresoever you come, the city regarding you as a
protector and not a tyrant, the private house as a guest and not a
plunderer?
III. But in these matters I am sure that mere experience has by this
time taught you that it is by no means sufficient to have these virtues
yourself, but that you must keep your eyes open and vigilant, in order
that in the guardianship of your province you may be considered to vouch
to the allies, the citizens, and the state, not for yourself alone, but
for all the subordinates of your government. However, you have in the
persons of your _legati_ men likely to have a regard for their own
reputation. Of these in rank, position, and age Tubero is first; who, I
think, particularly as he is a writer of history, could select from his
own Annals many whom he would like and would be able to imitate.
Allienus, again, is ours, as well in heart and affection, as in his
conformity to our principles. I need not speak of Gratidius: I am sure
that, while taking pains to preserve his own reputation, his fraternal
affection for us makes him take pains for ours also.[183] Your quæstor
is not of your own selection, but the one assigned you by lot. He is
bound both to act with propriety of his own accord, and to conform to
the policy and principles which you lay down. But should any one of
these adopt a lower standard of conduct, you should tolerate such
behaviour, if it goes no farther than a breach, in his private capacity,
of the rules by which he was bound, but not if it goes to the extent of
employing for gain the authority which you granted him as a promotion.
For I am far from thinking, especially since the moral sentiments of the
day are so much inclined to excessive laxity and self-seeking, that you
should investigate every case of petty misconduct, and thoroughly
examine every one of these persons; but that you should regulate your
confidence by the trustworthiness of its recipient. And among such
persons you will have to vouch for those whom the Republic has itself
given you as companions and assistants in public affairs, at least
within the limits which I have before laid down.
IV. In the case, however, of those of your personal staff or official
attendants whom you have yourself selected to be about you--who are
usually spoken of as a kind of prætor's cohort--we must vouch, not only
for their acts, but even for their words. But those you have with you
are the sort of men of whom you may easily be fond when they are acting
rightly, and whom you may very easily check when they shew insufficient
regard for your reputation. By these, when you were raw to the work,
your frank disposition might possibly have been deceived--for the better
a man is the less easily does he suspect others of being bad--now,
however, let this third year witness an integrity as perfect as the two
former, but still more wary and vigilant. Listen to that only which you
are supposed to listen to; don't let your ears be open to whispered
falsehoods and interested suggestions. Don't let your signet ring be a
mere implement, but, as it were, your second self: not the minister of
another's will, but a witness of your own. Let your marshal hold the
rank which our ancestors wished him to hold, who, looking upon this
place as not one of profit, but of labour and duty, scarcely ever
conferred it upon any but their freedmen, whom they indeed controlled
almost as absolutely as their slaves. Let the lictor be the dispenser of
your clemency, not his own; and let the fasces and axes which they carry
before you constitute ensigns rather of rank than of power. Let it, in
fact, be known to the whole province that the life, children, fame, and
fortunes of all over whom you preside are exceedingly dear to you.
Finally, let it be believed that you will, if you detect it, be hostile
not only to those who have accepted a bribe, but to those also who have
given it. And, indeed, no one will give anything, if it is made quite
clear that nothing is usually obtained from you through those who
pretend to be very influential with you. Not, however, that the object
of this discourse is to make you over-harsh or suspicious towards your
staff. For if any of them in the course of the last two years has never
fallen under suspicion of rapacity, as I am told about Cæsius and
Chærippus and Labeo--and think it true, because I know them--there is no
authority, I think, which may not be intrusted to them, and no
confidence which may not be placed in them with the utmost propriety,
and in anyone else like them. But if there is anyone of whom you have
already had reason to doubt, or concerning whom you have made some
discovery, in such a man place no confidence, intrust him with no
particle of your reputation.
V. If, however, you have found in the province itself anyone, hitherto
unknown to us, who has made his way into intimacy with you, take care
how much confidence you repose in him; not that there may not be many
good provincials, but, though we may hope so, it is risky to be
positive. For everyone's real character is covered by many wrappings of
pretence and is concealed by a kind of veil: face, eyes, expression very
often lie, speech most often of all. Wherefore, how can you expect to
find in that class[184] any who, while foregoing for the sake of money
all from which we can scarcely tear ourselves away,[185] will yet love
you sincerely and not merely pretend to do so from interested motives? I
think, indeed, it is a hard task to find such men, especially if we
notice that the same persons care nothing for almost any man out of
office, yet always with one consent shew affection for the prætors. But
of this class, if by chance you have discovered any one to be fonder of
you--for it may so happen--than of your office, such a man indeed gladly
admit upon your list of friends: but if you fail to perceive that,
there is no class of people you must be more on your guard against
admitting to intimacy, just because they are acquainted with all the
ways of making money, do everything for the sake of it, and have no
consideration for the reputation of a man with whom they are not
destined to pass their lives. And even among the Greeks themselves you
must be on your guard against admitting close intimacies, except in the
case of the very few, if such are to be found, who are worthy of ancient
Greece. As things now stand, indeed, too many of them are untrustworthy,
false, and schooled by long servitude in the arts of extravagant
adulation. My advice is that these men should all be entertained with
courtesy, but that close ties of hospitality or friendship should only
be formed with the best of them: excessive intimacies with them are not
very trustworthy--for they do not venture to oppose our wishes--and they
are not only jealous of our countrymen, but of their own as well.
VI. And now, considering the caution and care that I would shew in
matters of this kind--in which I fear I may be somewhat
over-severe--what do you suppose my sentiments are in regard to slaves?
Upon these we ought to keep a hold in all places, but especially in the
provinces. On this head many rules may be laid down, but this is at once
the shortest and most easily maintained--that they should behave during
your progresses in Asia as though you were travelling on the Appian way,
and not suppose that it makes any difference whether they have arrived
at Tralles or Formiæ. But if, again, any one of your slaves is
conspicuously trustworthy, employ him in your domestic and private
affairs; but in affairs pertaining to your office as governor, or in any
department of the state, do not let him lay a finger. For many things
which may, with perfect propriety, be intrusted to slaves, must yet not
be so intrusted, for the sake of avoiding talk and hostile remark. But
my discourse, I know not how, has slipped into the didactic vein, though
that is not what I proposed to myself originally. For what right have I
to be laying down rules for one who, I am fully aware, in this subject
especially, is not my inferior in wisdom, while in experience he is even
my superior? Yet, after all, if your actions had the additional weight
of my approval, I thought that they would seem more satisfactory to
yourself. Wherefore, let these be the foundations on which your public
character rests: first and foremost your own honesty and self-control,
then the scrupulous conduct of all your staff, the exceedingly cautious
and careful selection in regard to intimacies with provincials and
Greeks, the strict and unbending government of your slaves. These are
creditable even in the conduct of our private and everyday business: in
such an important government, where morals are so debased and the
province has such a corrupting influence, they must needs seem divine.
Such principles and conduct on your part are sufficient to justify the
strictness which you have displayed in some acts of administration,
owing to which I have encountered certain personal disputes with great
satisfaction, unless, indeed, you suppose me to be annoyed by the
complaints of a fellow like Paconius--who is not even a Greek, but in
reality a Mysian or Phrygian--or by the words of Tuscenius, a madman and
a knave, from whose abominable jaws you snatched the fruits of a most
infamous piece of extortion with the most complete justice.
VII. These and similar instances of your strict administration in your
province we shall find difficulty in justifying, unless they are
accompanied by the most perfect integrity: wherefore let there be the
greatest strictness in your administration of justice, provided only
that it is never varied from favour, but is kept up with impartiality.
But it is of little avail that justice is administered by yourself with
impartiality and care, unless the same is done by those to whom you have
intrusted any portion of this duty. And, indeed, in my view there is no
very great variety of business in the government of Asia: the entire
province mainly depends on the administration of justice. In it we have
the whole theory of government, especially of provincial government,
clearly displayed: all that a governor has to do is to shew consistency
and firmness enough, not only to resist favouritism, but even the
suspicion of it. To this also must be added courtesy in listening to
pleaders, consideration in pronouncing a decision, and painstaking
efforts to convince suitors of its justice, and to answer their
arguments. It is by such habits that C. Octavius has recently made
himself very popular;[186] in whose court, for the first time,[187] the
lictor did not interfere, and the marshal kept silence, while every
suitor spoke as often and as long as he chose. In which conduct he would
perhaps have been thought over-lax, had it not been that this laxity
enabled him to maintain the following instance of severity. The
partisans of Sulla were forced to restore what they had taken by
violence and terrorism. Those who had made inequitable decrees, while in
office, were now as private citizens forced to submit to the principles
they had established. This strictness on his part would have been
thought harsh, had it not been rendered palatable by many sweetening
influences of courtesy. But if this gentleness was sufficient to make
him popular at Rome, where there is such haughtiness of spirit, such
unrestrained liberty, such unlimited licence of individuals, and, in
fine, so many magistrates, so many means of obtaining protection, such
vast power in the hands of the popular assembly, and such influence
exercised by the senate, how welcome must a prætor's courtesy be in
Asia, in which there is such a numerous body of citizens and allies, so
many cities, so many communities, all hanging on one man's nod, and in
which there are no means of protection, no one to whom to make a
complaint, no senate, no popular assembly! Wherefore it requires an
exalted character, a man who is not only equitable from natural impulse,
but who has also been trained by study and the refinements of a liberal
education, so to conduct himself while in the possession of such immense
power, that those over whom he rules should not feel the want of any
other power.
VIII. Take the case of the famous Cyrus, portrayed by Xenophon, not as
an historical character, but as a model of righteous government, the
serious dignity of whose character is represented by that philosopher as
combined with a peculiar courtesy. And, indeed, it is not without reason
that our hero Africanus used perpetually to have those books in his
hands, for there is no duty pertaining to a careful and equitable
governor which is not to be found in them. Well, if _he_ cultivated
those qualities, though never destined to be in a private station, how
carefully ought those to maintain them to whom power is given with the
understanding that it must be surrendered, and given by laws under whose
authority they must once more come? In my opinion all who govern others
are bound to regard as the object of all their actions the greatest
happiness of the governed. That this is your highest object, and has
been so since you first landed in Asia, has been published abroad by
consistent rumour and the conversation of all. It is, let me add, not
only the duty of one who governs allies and citizens, but even of one
who governs slaves and dumb animals, to serve the interests and
advantage of those under him. In this point I notice that everyone
agrees that you take the greatest pains: no new debt is being contracted
by the states, while many have been relieved by you from a heavy and
long-standing one. Several cities that had become dilapidated and almost
deserted--of which one was the most famous state in Ionia, the other in
Caria, Samus and Halicarnassus--have been given a new life by you: there
is no party fighting, no civil strife in the towns: you take care that
the government of the states is administered by the best class of
citizens: brigandage is abolished in Mysia; murder suppressed in many
districts; peace is established throughout the province; and not only
the robberies usual on highways and in country places, but those more
numerous and more serious ones in towns and temples, have been
completely stopped: the fame, fortunes, and repose of the rich have been
relieved of that most oppressive instrument of prætorial
rapacity--vexatious prosecution; the expenses and tribute of the states
are made to fall with equal weight on all who live in the territories of
those states: access to you is as easy as possible: your ears are open
to the complaints of all: no man's want of means or want of friends
excludes him, I don't say from access to you in public and on the
tribunal, but even from your house and chamber: in a word, throughout
your government there is no harshness or cruelty--everywhere clemency,
mildness, and kindness reign supreme.
IX. What an immense benefit, again, have you done in having liberated
Asia from the tribute exacted by the ædiles a measure which cost me some
violent controversies! For if one of our nobles complains openly that
by your edict, "No moneys shall be voted for the games," you have robbed
him of 200 sestertia, what a vast sum of money would have been paid, had
a grant been made to the credit of every magistrate who held games, as
had become the regular custom! However, I stopped these complaints by
taking up this position--what they think of it in Asia I don't know, in
Rome it meets with no little approval and praise--I refused to accept a
sum of money which the states had decreed for a temple and monument in
our honour, though they had done so with the greatest enthusiasm in view
both of my services and of your most valuable benefactions; and though
the law contained a special and distinct exception in these words, "that
it was lawful to receive for temple or monument"; and though again the
money was not going to be thrown away, but would be employed on
decorating a temple, and would thus appear to have been given to the
Roman people and the immortal Gods rather than to myself--yet, in spite
of its having desert, law, and the wishes of those who offered the gift
in its favour, I determined that I must not accept it, for this reason
among others, namely, to prevent those, to whom such an honour was
neither due nor legal, from being jealous. Wherefore adhere with all
your heart and soul to the policy which you have hitherto adopted--that
of being devoted to those whom the senate and people of Rome have
committed and intrusted to your honour and authority, of doing your best
to protect them, and of desiring their greatest happiness. Even if the
lot had made you governor of Africans, or Spaniards, or
Gauls--uncivilized and barbarous nations--it would still have been your
duty as a man of feeling to consult for their interests and advantage,
and to have contributed to their safety. But when we rule over a race of
men in which civilization not only exists, but from which it is believed
to have spread to others, we are bound to repay them, above all things,
what we received from them. For I shall not be ashamed to go so
far--especially as my life and achievements have been such as to exclude
any suspicion of sloth or frivolity--as to confess that, whatever I have
accomplished, I have accomplished by means of those studies and
principles which have been transmitted to us in Greek literature and
schools of thought. Wherefore, over and above the general good faith
which is due to all men, I think we are in a special sense under an
obligation to that nation, to put in practice what it has taught us
among the very men by whose maxims we have been brought out of
barbarism.
X. And indeed Plato, the fountain-head of genius and learning, thought
that states would only be happy when scholars and philosophers began
being their rulers, or when those who were their rulers had devoted all
their attention to learning and philosophy. It was plainly this union of
power and philosophy that in his opinion might prove the salvation of
states. And this perhaps has at length fallen to the fortune of the
whole empire: certainly it has in the present instance to your province,
to have a man in supreme power in it, who has from boyhood spent the
chief part of his zeal and time in imbibing the principles of
philosophy, virtue, and humanity. Wherefore be careful that this third
year, which has been added to your labour, may be thought a prolongation
of prosperity to Asia. And since Asia was more fortunate in retaining
you than I was in my endeavour to bring you back, see that my regret is
softened by the exultation of the province. For if you have displayed
the very greatest activity in earning honours such as, I think, have
never been paid to anyone else, much greater ought your activity to be
in preserving these honours. What I for my part think of honours of that
kind I have told you in previous letters. I have always regarded them,
if given indiscriminately, as of little value, if paid from interested
motives, as worthless: if, however, as in this case, they are tributes
to solid services on your part, I hold you bound to take much pains in
preserving them. Since, then, you are exercising supreme power and
official authority in cities, in which you have before your eyes the
consecration and apotheosis of your virtues, in all decisions, decrees,
and official acts consider what you owe to those warm opinions
entertained of you, to those verdicts on your character, to those
honours which have been rendered you. And what you owe will be to
consult for the interests of all, to remedy men's misfortunes, to
provide for their safety, to resolve that you will be both called and
believed to be the "father of Asia."
XI. However, to such a resolution and deliberate policy on your part the
great obstacle are the _publicani_: for, if we oppose them, we shall
alienate from ourselves and from the Republic an order which has done us
most excellent service, and which has been brought into sympathy with
the Republic by our means; if, on the other hand, we comply with them in
every case, we shall allow the complete ruin of those whose interests,
to say nothing of their preservation, we are bound to consult. This is
the one difficulty, if we look the thing fairly in the face, in your
whole government. For disinterested conduct on one's own part, the
suppression of all inordinate desires, the keeping a check upon one's
staff, courtesy in hearing causes, in listening to and admitting
suitors--all this is rather a question of credit than of difficulty: for
it does not depend on any special exertion, but rather on a mental
resolve and inclination. But how much bitterness of feeling is caused to
allies by that question of the _publicani_ we have had reason to know in
the case of citizens who, when recently urging the removal of the
port-dues in Italy, did not complain so much of the dues themselves, as
of certain extortionate conduct on the part of the collectors.
Wherefore, after hearing the grievances of citizens in Italy, I can
comprehend what happens to allies in distant lands. To conduct oneself
in this matter in such a way as to satisfy the _publicani_, especially
when contracts have been undertaken at a loss, and yet to preserve the
allies from ruin, seems to demand a virtue with something divine in it,
I mean a virtue like yours. To begin with, that they are subject to tax
at all, which is their greatest grievance, ought not to be thought so by
the Greeks, because they were so subject by their own laws without the
Roman government. Again, they cannot despise the word _publicanus_, for
they have been unable to pay the assessment according to Sulla's
poll-tax without the aid of the publican. But that Greek _publicani_ are
not more considerate in exacting the payment of taxes than our own may
be gathered from the fact that the Caunii, and all the islands assigned
to the Rhodians by Sulla, recently appealed to the protection of the
senate, and petitioned to be allowed to pay their tax to us rather than
to the Rhodians. Wherefore neither ought those to revolt at the name of
a _publicanus_ who have always been subject to tax, nor those to despise
it who have been unable to make up the tribute by themselves, nor those
to refuse his services who have asked for them. At the same time let
Asia reflect on this, that if she were not under our government, there
is no calamity of foreign war or internal strife from which she would be
free. And since that government cannot possibly be maintained without
taxes, she should be content to purchase perpetual peace and
tranquillity at the price of a certain proportion of her products.
XII. But if they will fairly reconcile themselves to the existence and
name of publican, all the rest may be made to appear to them in a less
offensive light by your skill and prudence. They may, in making their
bargains with the _publicani_, not have regard so much to the exact
conditions laid down by the censors as to the convenience of settling
the business and freeing themselves from farther trouble. You also may
do, what you have done splendidly and are still doing, namely, dwell on
the high position of the _publicani_, and on your obligations to that
order, in such a way as--putting out of the question all considerations
of your _imperium_ and the power of your official authority and
dignity--to reconcile the Greeks with the _publicani_, and to beg of
those, whom you have served eminently well, and who owe you everything,
to suffer you by their compliance to maintain and preserve the bonds
which unite us with the _publicani_. But why do I address these
exhortations to you, who are not only capable of carrying them out of
your own accord without anyone's instruction, but have already to a
great extent thoroughly done so? For the most respectable and important
companies do not cease offering me thanks daily, and this is all the
more gratifying to me because the Greeks do the same. Now it is an
achievement of great difficulty to unite in feeling things which are
opposite in interests, aims, and, I had almost said, in their very
nature. But I have not written all this to instruct you--for your wisdom
requires no man's instruction--but it has been a pleasure to me while
writing to set down your virtues, though I have run to greater length in
this letter than I could have wished, or than I thought I should.
XIII. There is one thing on which I shall not cease from giving you
advice, nor will I, as far as in me lies, allow your praise to be spoken
of with a reservation. For all who come from your province do make one
reservation in the extremely high praise which they bestow on your
virtue, integrity, and kindness--it is that of sharpness of temper. That
is a fault which, even in our private and everyday life, seems to
indicate want of solidity and strength of mind; but nothing, surely, can
be more improper than to combine harshness of temper with the exercise
of supreme power. Wherefore I will not undertake to lay before you now
what the greatest philosophers say about anger, for I should not wish to
be tedious, and you can easily ascertain it yourself from the writings
of many of them: but I don't think I ought to pass over what is the
essence of a letter, namely, that the recipient should be informed of
what he does not know. Well, what nearly everybody reports to me is
this: they usually say that, as long as you are not out of temper,
nothing can be pleasanter than you are, but that when some instance of
dishonesty or wrong-headedness has stirred you, your temper rises to
such a height that no one can discover any trace of your usual kindness.
Wherefore, since no mere desire for glory, but circumstances and fortune
have brought us upon a path of life which makes it inevitable that men
will always talk about us, let us be on our guard, to the utmost of our
means and ability, that no glaring fault may be alleged to have existed
in us. And I am not now urging, what is perhaps difficult in human
nature generally, and at our time of life especially, that you should
change your disposition and suddenly pluck out a deeply-rooted habit,
but I give you this hint: if you cannot completely avoid this failing,
because your mind is surprised by anger before cool calculation has been
able to prevent it, deliberately prepare yourself beforehand, and daily
reflect on the duty of resisting anger, and that, when it moves your
heart most violently, it is just the time for being most careful to
restrain your tongue. And that sometimes seems to me to be a greater
virtue than not being angry at all. For the latter is not always a mark
of superiority to weakness, it is sometimes the result of dullness; but
to govern temper and speech, however angry you may be, or even to hold
your tongue and keep your indignant feelings and resentment under
control, although it may not be a proof of perfect wisdom, yet requires
no ordinary force of character. And, indeed, in this respect they tell
me that you are now much more gentle and less irritable. No violent
outbursts of indignation on your part, no abusive words, no insulting
language are reported to me: which, while quite alien to culture and
refinement, are specially unsuited to high power and place. For if your
anger is implacable, it amounts to extreme harshness; if easily
appeased, to extreme weakness. The latter, however, as a choice of
evils, is, after all, preferable to harshness.
XIV. But since your first year gave rise to most talk in regard to this
particular complaint--I believe because the wrong-doing, the
covetousness, and the arrogance of men came upon you as a surprise, and
seemed to you unbearable --while your second year was much milder,
because habit and reflexion, and, as I think, my letters also, rendered
you more tolerant and gentle, the third ought to be so completely
reformed, as not to give even the smallest ground for anyone to find
fault. And here I go on to urge upon you, not by way of exhortation or
admonition, but by brotherly entreaties, that you would set your whole
heart, care, and thought on the gaining of praise from everybody and
from every quarter. If, indeed, our achievements were only the subject
of a moderate amount of talk and commendation, nothing eminent, nothing
beyond the practice of others, would have been demanded of you. As it
is, however, owing to the brilliancy and magnitude of the affairs in
which we have been engaged, if we do not obtain the very highest
reputation from your province, it seems scarcely possible for us to
avoid the most violent abuse. Our position is such that all loyalists
support us, but demand also and expect from us every kind of activity
and virtue, while all the disloyal, seeing that we have entered upon a
lasting war with them, appear contented with the very smallest excuse
for attacking us. Wherefore, since fortune has allotted to you such a
theatre as Asia, completely packed with an audience, of immense size, of
the most refined judgment, and, moreover, naturally so capable of
conveying sound, that its expressions of opinion and its remarks reach
Rome, put out all your power, I beseech you, exert all your energies to
appear not only to have been worthy of the part we played here, but to
have surpassed everything done there by your high qualities.
XV. And since chance has assigned to me among the magistracies the
conduct of public business in the city, to you that in a province, if my
share is inferior to no one's, take care that yours surpasses others. At
the same time think of this: we are not now working for a future and
prospective glory, but are fighting in defence of what has been already
gained; which indeed it was not so much an object to gain as it is now
our duty to defend. And if anything in me could be apart from you, I
should desire nothing more than the position which I have already
gained. The actual fact, however, is that unless all your acts and deeds
in your province correspond to my achievements, I shall think that I
have gained nothing by those great labours and dangers, in all of which
you have shared. But if it was you who, above all others, assisted me to
gain a most splendid reputation, you will certainly also labour more
than others to enable me to retain it. You must not be guided by the
opinions and judgments of the present generation only, but of those to
come also: and yet the latter will be a more candid judgment, for it
will not be influenced by detraction and malice. Finally, you should
think of this--that you are not seeking glory for yourself alone (and
even if that were the case, you still ought not to be careless of it,
especially as you had determined to consecrate the memory of your name
by the most splendid monuments), but you have to share it with me, and
to hand it down to our children. In regard to which you must be on your
guard lest by any excess of carelessness you should seem not only to
have neglected your own interests, but to have begrudged those of your
family also.
XVI. And these observations are not made with the idea of any speech of
mine appearing to have roused you from your sleep, but to have rather
"added speed to the runner." For you will continue to compel all in the
future, as you have compelled them in the past, to praise your equity,
self-control, strictness, and honesty. But from my extreme affection I
am possessed with a certain insatiable greed for glory for you. However,
I am convinced that, as Asia should now be as well-known to you as each
man's own house is to himself, and since to your supreme good sense such
great experience has now been added, there is nothing that affects
reputation which you do not know as well as possible yourself, and
which does not daily occur to your mind without anybody's exhortation.
But I, who when I read your writing seem to hear your voice, and when I
write to you seem to be talking to you, am therefore always best pleased
with your longest letter, and in writing am often somewhat prolix
myself. My last prayer and advice to you is that, as good poets and
painstaking actors always do, so you should be most attentive in the
last scenes and conclusion of your function and business, so that this
third year of your government, like a third act in a play, may appear to
have been the most elaborated and most highly finished. You will do that
with more ease if you will think that I, whom you always wished to
please more than all the world besides, am always at your side, and am
taking part in everything you say and do. It remains only to beg you to
take the greatest care of your health, if you wish me and all your
friends to be well also.
Farewell.
[Footnote 182: A country festival and general holiday. It was a _feriæ
conceptivæ_, and therefore the exact day varied. But it was about the
end of the year or beginning of the new year (_in Pis._ § 4; Aul. Gell.
x. 24; Macrob. _Sat._ i. 4; _ad Att._ vii. 5; vii. 7, § 2).]
[Footnote 183: Of the persons mentioned, L. Ælius Tubero is elsewhere
praised as a man of learning (_pro Lig._ § 10); A. Allienus (prætor B.C.
49) was a friend and correspondent; M. Gratidius is mentioned in _pro
Flacco_, § 49, as acting in a judicial capacity, and was perhaps a
cousin of Cicero's.]
[Footnote 184: The class of Romans who have practically become
provincials.]
[Footnote 185: Rome and its society and interests.]
[Footnote 186: Father of Augustus, governor of Macedonia, B.C. 60-59.
But he seems to refer to his prætorship (B.C. 61) at Rome; at any rate,
as well as to his conduct in Macedonia.]
[Footnote 187: Reading _primum_; others _primus_, "his head lictor."]
XXX (A II, 4)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59. Coss., C. Iulius Cæsar, M. Calpurnius Bibulus.]
This year was a crucial one in the history of the Republic, and
also of Cicero particularly. It witnessed the working of the
agreement entered into in the previous year between Pompey, Cæsar,
and Crassus, to secure their several objects, commonly called the
First Triumvirate. The determined enmity of the consuls to each
other, the high-handed conduct of Cæsar in regard to the senate,
his ultimate appointment to the unusual period of five years'
government of the Gauls and Illyricum, were so many blows at the
old constitution; and scarcely less offensive to the Catonian
Optimates were the agrarian laws passed in favour of Pompey's
veterans, the forcing of his _acta_ through the senate, and the
arrangement whereby he too was eventually to have the consulship
again, and an extended period of provincial government. Cicero was
distracted by hesitation. He had pinned his faith on Pompey's
ultimate opposition to Cæsar, and yet did not wholly trust him, and
was fully aware of the unpracticable nature of Cato and the
weakness of the Optimates. The triumvirs had an instrument for
rendering him helpless in Clodius, but Cicero could not believe
that they would use it, or that his services to the state could be
so far forgotten as to make danger possible. We shall find him,
then, wholly absorbed in the question as to how far he is to give
into or oppose the triumvirs. It is not till the end of the year
that he begins to see the real danger ahead. We have one extant
oration of this year--_pro Flacco_--which was not much to his
credit, for Flaccus had evidently been guilty of extortion in Asia.
He also defended the equally guilty C. Antonius in a speech which
brought upon him the vengeance of the triumvirs, but it is happily
lost.
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
TUSCULUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I am exceedingly obliged to you for sending me Serapio's book, of which
indeed, between you and me, I scarcely understood a thousandth part. I
have ordered the money for it to be paid you at once, that you may not
put it down to the cost of presentation copies. But as I have mentioned
the subject of money, I will beg you to try to come to a settlement with
Titinius in any way you can. If he doesn't stand by his own proposal,
what I should like best is that what he bought at too dear a rate should
be returned, if that can be done with Pomponia's consent: if that too is
impossible, let the money be paid rather than have any difficulty. I
should be very glad if you would settle this before you leave Rome, with
your usual kindness and exactness.
So Clodius, you say, is for Tigranes? I only wish he would go--on the
same terms as the Skepsian![188] But I don't grudge him the job; for a
more convenient time for my taking a "free legation" is when my brother
Quintus shall have settled down again, as I hope, into private life, and
I shall have made certain how that "priest of the Bona Dea"[189] intends
to behave. Meanwhile I shall find my pleasure in the Muses with a mind
undisturbed, or rather glad and cheerful; for it will never occur to me
to envy Crassus or to regret that I have not been false to myself. As to
geography, I will try to satisfy you, but I promise nothing for
certain.[190] It is a difficult business, but nevertheless, as you bid
me, I will take care that this country excursion produces something for
you. Mind you let me know any news you have ferreted out, and especially
who you think will be the next consuls. However, I am not very curious;
for I have determined not to think about politics. I have examined
Terentia's woodlands. What need I say? If there was only a Dodonean oak
in them, I should imagine myself to be in possession of Epirus. About
the 1st of the month I shall be either at Formiæ or Pompeii.[191] If I
am not at Formiæ, pray, an you love me, come to Pompeii. It will be a
great pleasure to me and not much out of the way for you. About the
wall, I have given Philotimus orders not to put any difficulty in the
way of your doing whatever you please. I think, however, you had better
call in Vettius.[192] In these bad times, when the life of all the best
men hangs on a thread, I value one summer's enjoyment of my Palatine
_palæstra_ rather highly; but, of course, the last thing I should wish
would be that Pomponia and her boy should live in fear of a falling
wall.
[Footnote 188: That is, if it ends in his death, for Meliodorus of
Skepsis was sent by Mithridates to Tigranes to urge him to go to war
with Rome, but privately advised him not to do so, and, in consequence,
was put to death by Mithridates (Plut. _Luc._ 22). The word _Scepsii_
(Σκηψίου) was introduced by Gronovius for the unintelligible word
_Syrpie_ found in the MSS., which so often blunder in Greek names.]
[Footnote 189: Clodius, alluding to his intrusion into the mysteries.]
[Footnote 190: Atticus has asked Cicero for a Latin treatise on
geography--probably as a publisher, Cicero being the prince of
book-makers--and to that end has sent him the Greek geography of
Serapio.]
[Footnote 191: In his Formianum or Pompeianum, his villas at Formiæ and
Pompeii.]
[Footnote 192: An architect, a freedman of Cyrus, of whom we have heard
before.]
XXXI (A II, 5)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I wish very much, and have long wished, to visit Alexandria, and at the
same time to get away from here, where people are tired of me, and
return when they have begun to feel my loss--but at such a time and at
the bidding of such statesmen![193]
"I fear to face the men of Troy
And Trojan matrons with their trailing robes."[194]
For what would my friends the Optimates say--if there are such persons
left? That I had accepted a bribe to change my views?
"Polydamas the first would lay the charge."
I mean my friend Cato, who is as good as a hundred thousand in my eyes.
What, too, will history say of me six hundred years hence? I am much
more afraid of that than of the petty gossip of the men of to-day. But,
I think, I had better lie low and wait. For if it is really offered to
me, I shall be to a certain extent in a position of advantage, and then
will be the time to weigh the matter. There is, upon my word, a certain
credit even in refusing. Wherefore, if Theophanes[195] by chance has
consulted you on the matter, do not absolutely decline. What I am
expecting to hear from you is, what Arrius says, and how he endures
being left in the lurch,[196] and who are intended to be consuls--is it
Pompey and Crassus, or, as I am told in a letter, Servius Sulpicius with
Gabinius?--and whether there are any new laws or anything new at all;
and, since Nepos[197] is leaving Rome, who is to have the augurship--the
one bait by which those personages could catch me! You see what a high
price I put on myself! Why do I talk about such things, which I am eager
to throw aside, and to devote myself heart and soul to philosophy. That,
I tell you, is my intention. I could wish I had done so from the first.
Now, however, that I have found by experience the hollowness of what I
thought so splendid, I am thinking of doing business exclusively with
the Muses. In spite of that, please give me in your next some more
definite information about Curtius and who is intended to fill his
place, and what is doing about P. Clodius, and, in fact, take your time
and tell me everything as you promise; and pray write me word what day
you think of leaving Rome, in order that I may tell you where I am
likely to be: and send me a letter at once on the subjects of which I
have written to you. I look forward much to hearing from you.
[Footnote 193: The triumvirs. The mission to Egypt was in the affairs of
Ptolemy Auletes (father of Cleopatra), who was this year declared a
"friend and ally." He soon got expelled by his subjects.]
[Footnote 194: _Il._ vi. 442; xxii. 100. Cicero's frequent expression
for popular opinion, or the opinion of those he respects--his Mrs.
Grundy.]
[Footnote 195: Theophanes, a philosopher of Mitylene, a close friend of
Pompey's, in whose house he frequently resided. He took charge of
Pompey's wife and children in B.C. 48-47.]
[Footnote 196: Q. Arrius, an orator and friend of Cæsar's, by whose help
he had hoped for the consulship. See p. 49.]
[Footnote 197: Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos (consul B.C. 57). His brother,
the consul of B.C. 60, had just died and made a vacancy in the college
of augurs.]
XXXII (A II, 6)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
As to my promise to you in a former letter that there should be some
product of this country excursion, I cannot confirm it to any great
extent: for I have become so attached to idleness that I cannot be torn
from its arms. Accordingly, I either enjoy myself with books, of which I
have a delightful stock at Antium, or I just count the waves--for the
rough weather prevents my shrimping! From writing my mind positively
recoils. For the geographical treatise, upon which I had settled, is a
serious undertaking: so severely is Eratosthenes, whom I had proposed as
my model, criticised by Serapio and Hipparchus: what think you will be
the case if Tyrannio[198] is added to the critics? And, by Hercules, the
subject is difficult of explanation and monotonous, and does not seem to
admit of as much embellishment as I thought, and, in short--which is the
chief point--any excuse for being idle seems to me a good one: for I am
even hesitating as to settling at Antium and spending the rest of my
life there, where, indeed, I would rather have been a duovir[199] than
at Rome. You, indeed, have done more wisely in having made yourself a
home at Buthrotum. But, believe me, next to that free town of yours
comes the borough of the Antiates. Could you have believed that there
could be a town so near Rome, where there are many who have never seen
Vatinius? Where there is no one besides myself who cares whether one of
the twenty commissioners[200] is alive and well? Where no one intrudes
upon me, and yet all are fond of me? This, this is the place to play the
statesman in! For yonder, not only am I not allowed to do so, but I am
sick of it besides. Accordingly, I will compose a book of secret memoirs
for your ear alone in the style of Theopompus, or a more acrid one
still.[201] Nor have I now any politics except to hate the disloyal, and
even that without any bitterness, but rather with a certain enjoyment in
writing. But to return to business: I have written to the city quæstors
about my brother's affair. See what they say to it, whether there is any
hope of the cash in _denarii_, or whether we are to be palmed off with
Pompeian _cistophori_.[202] Farthermore, settle what is to be done about
the wall. Is there anything else? Yes! Let me know when you are thinking
of starting.
[Footnote 198: A captive brought by Lucullus, who became a friend of
Cicero and tutor to his son and nephew.]
[Footnote 199: One of the two yearly officers of a colony--they answer
to the consuls at Rome. Therefore Cicero means, "I wish I had been a
consul in a small colony rather than a consul at Rome."]
[Footnote 200: For distribution of land under Cæsar's law. P. Vatinius
was a tribune this year, and worked in Cæsar's interests.]
[Footnote 201: Theopompus of Chios, the historian (_Att._ vi. 1, § 12).
Born about B.C. 378. His bitterness censured by Polybius, viii. 11-13.]
[Footnote 202: The money due from the treasury to Q. Cicero in Asia. He
wants it to be paid in Roman currency (_denarii_), not in Asiatic coins
(_cistophori_), a vast amount of which Pompey had brought home and
deposited in the treasury. So an Indian official might like sovereigns
instead of rupees if he could get them.]
XXXIII (A II, 7)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
About the geography I will think again and again. But you ask for two of
my speeches, one of which I did not care to write out because I had
ended it abruptly, the other because I did not want to praise the man I
did not like. But that, too, I will see about. At all events, something
shall be forthcoming to prevent your thinking that I have been
absolutely idle. I am quite delighted to hear what you tell me about
Publius; pray ferret out the whole story, and bring it to me when you
come, and meanwhile write anything you may make out or suspect, and
especially as to what he is going to do about the legation. For my part,
before reading your letter, I was anxious that the fellow should go,
not, by heaven, in order to avoid his impeachment--for I am wonderfully
keen to try issues with him--but it seemed to me that, if he had secured
any popularity by becoming a plebeian, he would thereby lose it. "Well,
why did you transfer yourself to the Plebs? Was it to make a call on
Tigranes? Tell me: do the kings of Armenia refuse to receive
patricians?" In a word, I had polished up my weapons to tear this
embassy of his to pieces. But if he rejects it, and thus moves the anger
of those proposers and augurs of the _lex curiata_,[203] it will be a
fine sight! By Hercules, to speak the truth, our friend Publius is being
treated a little contemptuously! In the first place, though he was once
the only man at Cæsar's house, he is not now allowed to be one in
twenty:[204] in the next place, one legation had been promised him and
another has been given. The former fine fat one[205] for the levying of
money is reserved, I presume, for Drusus of Pisaurum or for the gourmand
Vatinius: this latter miserable business, which might be very well done
by a courier, is given to him, and his tribuneship deferred till it
suits them. Irritate the fellow, I beg you, as much as you can. The one
hope of safety is their mutual disagreement, the beginning of which I
have got scent of from Curio. Moreover, Arrius is fuming at being
cheated out of the consulship. Megabocchus and our blood-thirsty young
men are most violently hostile. May there be added to this, I pray, may
there be added, this quarrel about the augurate! I hope I shall often
have some fine letters to send you on these subjects. But I want to know
the meaning of your dark hint that some even of the _quinqueviri_[206]
are speaking out. What can it be? If there is anything in it, there is
more hope than I had thought. And I would not have you believe that I
ask you these questions "with any view to action,"[207] because my heart
is yearning to take part in practical politics. I was long ago getting
tired of being at the helm, even when it was in my power. And now that I
am forced to quit the ship, and have not cast aside the tiller, but have
had it wrenched out of my hands, my only wish is to watch their
shipwreck from the shore: I desire, in the words of your favourite
Sophocles,
"And safe beneath the roof
To hear with drowsy ear the plash of rain."
As to the wall, see to what is necessary. I will correct the mistake of
Castricius, and yet Quintus had made it in his letter to me 15,000,
while now to your sister he makes it 30,000.[208] Terentia sends you her
regards: my boy Cicero commissions you to give Aristodemus the same
answer for him as you gave for his cousin, your sister's son.[209] I
will not neglect your reminder about your Amaltheia.[210] Take care of
your health.
[Footnote 203: As he was a man _sui iuris_, Clodius's adoption into a
new gens (_adrogatio_) would have to take place before the _comitia
curiata_ (now represented by thirty lictors), which still retained this
formal business. The ceremony required the presence of an augur and a
pontifex to hold it. Cicero supposes Pompey and Cæsar as intending to
act in that capacity. Pompey, it seems, did eventually attend.]
[Footnote 204: One of the twenty commissioners under Cæsar's agrarian
law. Cicero was offered and declined a place among them. The "only man,"
of course, refers to the intrusion on the mysteries.]
[Footnote 205: To Egypt.]
[Footnote 206: This seems also to refer to the twenty agrarian
commissioners, who, according to Mommsen, were divided into committees
of five, and were, therefore, spoken of indifferently as _quinqueviri_
and _vigintiviri_. But it is somewhat uncertain.]
[Footnote 207: κατὰ τὸ πρακτικόν.]
[Footnote 208: Castricius seems to have been a _negotiator_ or banker in
Asia. We don't know what mistake is referred to; probably as to some
money transmitted to Pomponia.]
[Footnote 209: It is suggested that Aristodemus is some teacher of the
two young Ciceros, to whom the young Marcus wishes to apologize for his
absence or to promise some study.]
[Footnote 210: Perhaps some inscription or other ornament for Atticus's
gymnasium in his villa at Buthrotum.]
XXXIV (A II, 8)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
When I had been eagerly expecting a letter from you as usual till
evening, lo and behold a message that slaves have come from Rome. I
summon them: I ask if they have any letters. "No," say they. "What do
you say," said I, "nothing from Pomponius?" Frightened to death by my
voice and look, they confessed that they had received one, and that it
had been lost on the journey. Need I say more? I was intensely annoyed.
For no letter has come from you for the last few days without something
in it important and entertaining. In these circumstances, if there was
anything in the letter, dated 15th April, worth telling, pray write at
once, that I may not be left in ignorance; but if there was nothing but
banter, repeat even that for my benefit. And let me inform you that
young Curio has been to call on me. What he said about Publius agreed
exactly with your letter. He himself, moreover, wonderfully "holds our
proud kings in hate."[211] He told me that the young men generally were
equally incensed, and could not put up with the present state of things.
If there is hope in them, we are in a good way. My opinion is that we
should leave things to take their course. I am devoting myself to my
memoir. However, though you may think me a Saufeius,[212] I am really
the laziest fellow in the world. But get into your head my several
journeys, that you may settle where you intend to come and see me. I
intend to arrive at my Formian house on the Parilia (21st April). Next,
since you think that at this time I ought to leave out luxurious
Crater,[213] on the 1st of May I leave Formiæ, intending to reach Antium
on the 3rd of May. For there are games at Antium from the 4th to the 6th
of May, and Tullia wants to see them. Thence I think of going to
Tusculum, thence to Arpinum, and be at Rome on the 1st of June. Be sure
that we see you at Formiæ or Antium, or at Tusculum. Rewrite your
previous letter for me, and add something new.
[Footnote 211: A verse from Lucilius. "Young Curio" is the future
tribune of B.C. 50, who was bribed by Cæsar, joined him at Ravenna at
the end of that year, was sent by him in B.C. 49 to Sicily and Africa,
and fell in battle with the Pompeians and King Iuba.]
[Footnote 212: L. Saufeius, the Epicurean friend of Atticus (see Letter
II). He seems to mean, "as indefatigable as Saufeius." But Prof. Tyrrell
points out that it might mean, "at the risk of your thinking me as
Epicurean and self-indulgent as Saufeius, I say," etc.]
[Footnote 213: The bay of Misenum, near which was Cicero's Pompeianum.]
XXXV (A II, 9)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM, MAY
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
Cæcilius[214] the quæstor having suddenly informed me that he was
sending a slave to Rome, I write these hurried lines in order to get out
of you the wonderful conversations with Publius, both those of which you
write, and that one which you keep dark, and assert that it would be too
long to write your answer to him; and, still farther, the one that has
not yet been held, which that Iuno of a woman[215] is to report to you
when she gets back from Solonium. I wish you to believe that there can
be nothing I should like more. If, however, the compact made about me is
not kept, I am in a seventh heaven to think that our friend the
Jerusalemitish plebeian-maker[216] will learn what a fine return he has
made to my brilliant speeches, of which you may expect a splendid
recantation. For, as well as I can guess, if that profligate is in
favour with our tyrants, he will be able to crow not only over the
"cynic consular,"[217] but over your Tritons of the fish-ponds
also.[218] For I shall not possibly be an object of anybody's jealousy
when robbed of power and of my influence in the senate. If, on the other
hand, he should quarrel with them, it will not suit his purpose to
attack me. However, let him attack. Charmingly, believe me, and with
less noise than I had thought, has the wheel of the Republic revolved:
more rapidly, anyhow, than it should have done owing to Cato's error,
but still more owing to the unconstitutional conduct of those who have
neglected the auspices, the Ælian law, the Iunian, the Licinian, the
Cæcilian and Didian,[219] who have squandered all the safeguards of the
constitution, who have handed over kingdoms as though they were private
estates to tetrachs,[220] and immense sums of money to a small coterie.
I see plainly now the direction popular jealousy is taking, and where it
will finally settle. Believe that I have learnt nothing from experience,
nothing from Theophrastus,[221] if you don't shortly see the time of our
government an object of regret. For if the power of the senate was
disliked, what do you think will be the case when it has passed, not to
the people, but to three unscrupulous men? So let them then make whom
they choose consuls, tribunes, and even finally clothe Vatinius's wen
with the double-dyed purple[222] of the priesthood, you will see before
long that the great men will be not only those who have made no false
step,[223] but even he who did make a mistake, Cato. For, as to myself,
if your comrade Publius will let me, I think of playing the sophist: if
he forces me, I shall at least defend myself, and, as is the trick of my
trade, I publicly promise to
"Strike back at him who first is wroth with me."[224]
May the country only be on my side: it has had from me, if not more than
its due, at least more than it ever demanded. I would rather have a bad
passage with another pilot than be a successful pilot to such ungrateful
passengers. But this will do better when we meet. For the present take
an answer to your questions. I think of returning to Antium from Formiæ
on the 3rd of May. From Antium I intend to start for Tusculum on the 7th
of May. But as soon as I have returned from Formiæ (I intend to be there
till the 29th of April) I will at once inform you. Terentia sends
compliments, and "Cicero the little greets Titus the Athenian."[225]
[Footnote 214: Q. Cæcilius Bassus, probably quæstor at Ostia. Antium
would be in his district.]
[Footnote 215: βοῶπις, _sc._ Clodia. She is to talk to her brother about
Cicero. She is "Iuno" perhaps as an enemy--as Bacon called the Duchess
of Burgundy Henry VII.'s Iuno--or perhaps for a less decent reason, as
_coniux sororque_ of Publius.]
[Footnote 216: Pompey, who was proud of having taken Jerusalem.
_Traductor ad plebem_, said of the magistrate presiding at the _comitia_
for adoption.]
[Footnote 217: Cicero himself. Clodius may have called him this from his
biting repartees. Prof. Tyrrell, "Tear 'em."]
[Footnote 218: The nobility, whom Cicero has before attacked as idle and
caring for nothing but their fish-ponds (_piscinarii_, cp. p. 59).]
[Footnote 219: The _lex Ælia_ (about B.C. 150) was a law regulating the
powers of magistrates to dissolve _comitia_ on religious grounds, such
as bad omens, _servata de cœlo, etc._ Cicero (who could have had very
little belief in the augural science) regards them as safeguards of the
state, because as the Optimates generally secured the places in the
augural college, it gave them a hold on elections and legislation.
Bibulus tried in vain to use these powers to thwart Cæsar this year. The
_lex Cæcilia Didia_ (.B.C. 98) enforced the _trinundinatio_, or three
weeks' notice of elections and laws, and forbade the proposal of a _lex
satura_, _i.e._, a law containing a number of miscellaneous enactments.
Perhaps its violation refers to the _acta_ of Pompey in the East, which
he wanted to have confirmed _en bloc_. The senate had made difficulties:
but one of the fruits of the triumvirate was a measure for doing it. The
_lex Iunia et Licinia_ (B.C. 62) confirmed the _Cæcilia Didia_, and
secured that the people knew what the proposed laws were.]
[Footnote 220: As Pompey did in Asia, _e.g._, to Deiotarus of Galatia,
and about ten others. It is curious that Cicero speaks of the _pauci_
just as his opponent Cæsar and Augustus after him. Each side looks on
the other as a coterie (Cæsar, _B. C._ i. 22; Monum. Ancyr. i. § 1)]
[Footnote 221: Theophrastus, successor of Aristotle at the Lyceum,
Athens (p. 70).]
[Footnote 222: The purple-bordered toga of the augur. Vatinius did not
get the augurship. He had some disfiguring swelling or wen.]
[Footnote 223: Himself.]
[Footnote 224: ἄνδρ' ἀπαμύνεσθαι, ὅτε τις πρότερος χαλεπήνῃ (Hom. _Il._
xxiv. 369).]
[Footnote 225: Written in Greek, perhaps by the boy himself.]
XXXVI (A II, 12)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
TRES TABERNÆ, 12 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
Are they going to deny that Publius has been made a plebeian? This is
indeed playing the king, and is utterly intolerable. Let Publius send
some men to witness and seal my affidavit: I will take an oath that my
friend Gnæus, the colleague of Balbus, told me at Antium that he had
been present as augur to take the auspices. Two delightful letters from
you delivered at the same time! For which I do not know what I am to pay
you by way of reward for good news. That I owe you for them I candidly
confess. But observe the coincidence. I had just made my way from Antium
on to the _via Appia_ at Three Taverns,[226] on the very day of the
Cerealia (18th April), when my friend Curio meets me on his way from
Rome. At the same place and the same moment comes a slave from you with
letters. The former asked me whether I hadn't heard the news? I said,
"No." "Publius," says he, "is a candidate for the tribuneship." "You
don't mean it?" "Yes, I do," says he, "and at daggers drawn with Cæsar.
His object is to rescind his acts." "What says Cæsar?" said I. "He
denies having proposed any _lex_ for his adoption." Then he poured forth
about his own hatred, and that of Memmius and Metellus Nepos. I embraced
the youth and said good-bye to him, hastening to your letters. A fig for
those who talk about a "living voice"! What a much clearer view I got of
what was going on from your letters than from his talk! About the
current rumours of the day, about the designs of Publius, about "Iuno's"
trumpet calls, about Athenio who leads his roughs, about his letter to
Gnæus, about the conversation of Theophanes and Memmius. Besides, how
eager you have made me to hear about the "fast" dinner party which you
mention! I am greedy in curiosity, yet I do not feel at all hurt at your
not writing me a description of the symposium: I would rather hear it by
word of mouth. As to your urging me to write something, my material
indeed is growing, as you say, but the whole is still in a state of
fermentation--"new wine in the autumn." When the liquor has settled down
and become clarified, I shall know better what to write. And even if you
cannot get it from me at once, you shall be the first to have it: only
for some time you must keep it to yourself. You are quite right to like
Dicæarchus; he is an excellent writer, and a much better citizen than
these rulers of ours who reverse his name.[227] I write this letter at
four o'clock in the afternoon of the Cerealia (12th April), immediately
after reading yours, but I shall despatch it, I think, to-morrow, by
anyone I may chance to meet on the road. Terentia is delighted with your
letter, _et Cicéron le philosophe salue Titus l'homme d'état_.
[Footnote 226: Where the road from Antium joins the Appia. Cicero seems
to be on his way to Formiæ, where he had intended to arrive on the 21st.
He must be going very leisurely.]
[Footnote 227: Δικαίαρχος and ἀδικαίαρχοι, a pun on a name not
reproducible in English: "just-rulers" and "unjust-rulers."]
XXXVII (A II, 10)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
APPII FORUM,[228] APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
Please admire my consistency. I am determined not to be at the games at
Antium: for it is somewhat of a solecism to wish to avoid all suspicion
of frivolity, and yet suddenly to be shewn up as travelling for mere
amusement, and that of a foolish kind. Wherefore I shall wait for you
till the 7th of May at Formiæ. So now let me know what day we shall see
you. From Appii Forum, ten o'clock. I sent another a short time ago from
Three Taverns.
[Footnote 228: On the _via Appia_. Cicero halts at Appii Forum and at
once despatches a short note, probably by some one he finds there going
to Rome, to announce a change of plan. He had meant to get back to
Antium on 6th May, because Tullia wanted to see the games. See Letter
XXXIV, p. 96.]
XXXVIII (A II, 11)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I tell you what it is: I feel myself a downright exile since arriving at
Formiæ. For at Antium there was never a day that I didn't know what was
going on at Rome better than those who were there. For your letters
used to shew me not only what was doing at Rome, but the actual
political situation also--and not only that, but also what was likely to
happen. Now, unless I snatch a bit of news from some passing traveller,
I can learn nothing at all. Wherefore, though I am expecting you in
person, yet pray give this boy, whom I have ordered to hurry back to me
at once, a bulky letter, crammed not only with all occurrences, but with
what you think about them; and be careful to let me know the day you are
going to leave Rome. I intend staying at Formiæ till the 6th of May. If
you don't come there by that day, I shall perhaps see you at Rome. For
why should I invite you to Arpinum?
"A rugged soil, yet nurse of hardy sons:
No dearer land can e'er my eyes behold."[229]
So much for this. Take care of your health.
[Footnote 229: Homer, _Odyss._ ix. 27.]
XXXIX (A II, 13)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
What an abominable thing! No one gave you my letter written on the spot
at Three Taverns in answer to your delightful letters! But the fact is
that the packet into which I had put it arrived at my town house on the
same day as I wrote it, and has been brought back to me to Formiæ.
Accordingly, I have directed the letter meant for you to be taken back
again, to shew you how pleased I was with yours. So you say that the
talk has died out at Rome! I thought so: but, by Hercules, it hasn't
died out in the country, and it has come to this, that the very country
can't stand the despotism you have got at Rome. When you come to
"Læstrygonia of the distant gates"[230]--I mean Formiæ--what loud
murmurs! what angry souls! what unpopularity for our friend Magnus! His
surname is getting as much out of fashion as the "Dives" of Crassus.
Believe me, I have met no one here to take the present state of things
as quietly as I do. Wherefore, credit me, let us stick to philosophy. I
am ready to take my oath that there is nothing to beat it. If you have a
despatch to send to the Sicyonians,[231] make haste to Formiæ, whence I
think of going on the 6th of May.
[Footnote 230: τηλέπυλον Λαιστρυγονίην, whose king Lamus (_Odyss._ x.
81) was supposed to have founded Formiæ (Horace, _Od._ iii. 17).]
[Footnote 231: A despatch from senate or consuls. See Letter XXIV, p.
60.]
XL (A II, 14)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47.]
How you rouse my curiosity as to what Bibulus says, as to your
conversation with "Iuno," and even as to your "fast" dinner party!
Therefore make haste to come, for my ears are thirsty for news. However,
there is nothing which I think is now more to be dreaded by me than that
our dear Sampsiceramus, finding himself belaboured by the tongues of
all, and seeing these proceedings easy to upset, should begin striking
out. For myself, I have so completely lost all nerve, that I prefer a
despotism, with the existing peace, to a state of war with the best
hopes in the world. As to literary composition, to which you frequently
urge me, it is impossible! My house is a basilica rather than a villa,
owing to the crowds of visitors from Formiæ. But (you'll say) do I
really compare the Æmilian tribe to the crowd in a basilica?[232] Well,
I say nothing about the common ruck--the rest of them don't bother me
after ten o'clock: but C. Arrius is my next door neighbour, or rather,
he almost lives in my house, and even declares that the reason for his
not going to Rome is that he may spend whole days with me here
philosophizing! And then, lo and behold, on my other side is Sebosus,
that friend of Catulus! Which way am I to turn? By heaven, I would start
at once for Arpinum, only that I see that the most convenient place to
await your visit is Formiæ: but only up to the 6th of May! For you see
with what bores my ears are pestered. What a splendid opportunity, with
such fellows in the house, if anyone wanted to buy my Formian
property![233] And in spite of all this am I to make good my words, "Let
us attempt something great, and requiring much thought and leisure"?
However, I _will_ do something for you, and not spare my labour.
[Footnote 232: _At comparem_ for _at quam partem_. _At_ has its usual
force of introducing a supposed objection. I can't, say you, compare the
Æmilian tribe, the Formiani, to a crowd in a court-house! They are not
so bad as that, not so wasteful of time! I take _basilica_ to mean the
saunterers in a basilica, as we might say "the park" for the company in
it, "the exchange" for the brokers in it. I feel certain that Prof.
Tyrrell is wrong in ascribing the words _sed--sunt_ to a quotation from
Atticus's letter. What is wanted is to remove the full stop after
_sunt_. The contrast Cicero is drawing is between the interruption to
literary work of a crowd of visitors and of one or two individuals
always turning up. The second is the worse--and here I think all workers
will agree with him: the crowd of visitors (_vulgus_) go at the regular
hour, but individuals come in at all hours.]
[Footnote 233: Because he would be inclined to sell it cheap in his
disgust.]
XLI (A II, 15)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
As you say, things are as shifting (I see) in public affairs as in your
letter; still, that very variety of talk and opinion has a charm for me.
For I seem to be at Rome when I am reading your letter, and, as is the
regular thing in questions of such importance, to hear something first
on one side and then on the other. But what I can't make out is
this--what he can possibly hit upon to settle the land question without
encountering opposition. Again, as to Bibulus's firmness in putting off
the _comitia_, it only conveys the expression of his own views, without
really offering any remedy for the state of the Republic. Upon my word,
my only hope is in Publius! Let him become, let him become a tribune by
all means, if for no other reason, yet that you may be brought back from
Epirus! For I don't see how you can possibly afford to miss him,
especially if he shall elect to have a wrangle with me! But, seriously,
if anything of the sort occurs, you would, I am certain, hurry back. But
even supposing this not to be the case, yet whether he runs amuck or
helps to raise the state, I promise myself a fine spectacle, if only I
may enjoy it with you sitting by my side.[234] Just as I was writing
these words, enter Sebosus! I had scarcely got out a sigh when "Good
day," says Arrius. This is what you call going out of town! I shall
really be off to
"My native mountains and my childhood's haunts."[235]
In fine, if I can't be alone I would rather be with downright
countryfolk than with such ultra-cockneys. However, I shall, since you
don't say anything for certain, wait for you up to the 5th of May.
Terentia is much pleased with the attention and care you have bestowed
on her controversy with Mulvius. She is not aware that you are
supporting the common cause of all holders of public land. Yet, after
all, _you_ do pay something to the _publicani_; she declines to pay even
that,[236] and, accordingly, she and Cicero--most conservative of
boys--send their kind regards.
[Footnote 234: The spectacle Cicero hopes for is Clodius's contests with
the triumvirs.]
[Footnote 235: To Arpinum (see last letter). The verse is not known, and
may be a quotation from his own poem on Marius. He often quotes
himself.]
[Footnote 236: This is not mentioned elsewhere. The explanation seems to
be that for the _ager publicus_ allotted under the Sempronian laws a
small rent had been exacted, which was abolished by a law of B.C. 111
(the name of the law being uncertain). But some _ager publicus_ still
paid rent, and the _publicanus_ Mulvius seems to have claimed it from
some land held by Terentia, perhaps on the ground that it was land (such
as the _ager Campanus_) not affected by the law of Gracchus, and
therefore not by the subsequent law abolishing rent.]
XLII (A II, 16)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, 29 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
On the day before the Kalends of May, when I had dined and was just
going to sleep, the letter was delivered to me containing your news
about the Campanian land. You needn't ask: at first it gave me such a
shock that there was no more sleep for me, though that was the result of
thought rather than pain. On reflexion, however, the following ideas
occurred to me. In the first place, from what you had said in your
previous letter--"that you had heard from a friend of his[237] that a
proposal was going to be made which would satisfy everybody"--I had
feared some very sweeping measure, but I don't think this is anything of
the sort. In the next place, by way of consolation, I persuaded myself
that the hope of a distribution of land is now all centred on the
Campanian territory.[238] That land cannot support more than 5,000, so
as to give ten _iugera_ apiece:[239] the rest of the crowd of expectants
must necessarily be alienated from them. Besides, if there is anything
that more than another could inflame the feeling of the aristocrats, who
are, I notice, already irritated, it is this; and all the more that with
port-dues in Italy abolished,[240] and the Campanian land divided, what
home revenue is there except the five per cent. on manumissions? And
even that, I think, it will only take a single trumpery harangue,
cheered by our lackeys, to throw away also. What our friend Gnæus can
be thinking of I can't imagine--
"For still he blows, and with no slender pipe,
But furious blasts by no mouth-band restrained"--
to be induced to countenance such a measure as that. For hitherto he has
fenced with these questions: "he approved Cæsar's laws, but Cæsar must
be responsible for his proceedings in carrying them"; "he himself was
satisfied with the agrarian law "; "whether it could be vetoed by a
tribune or no was nothing to do with him"; "he thought the time had come
for the business of the Alexandrine king to be settled"; "it was no
business of his to inquire whether Bibulus had been watching the sky on
that occasion or no"; "as to the _publicani_, he had been willing to
oblige that order"; "what was going to happen if Bibulus came down to
the forum at that time he could not have guessed."[241] But now, my
Sampsiceramus, what will you say to this? That you have secured us a
revenue from the Antilibanus and removed that from the Campanian land?
Well, how do you mean to vindicate that? "I shall coerce you," says he,
"by means of Cæsar's army." You won't coerce me, by Hercules, by your
army so much as by the ingratitude of the so-called _boni_, who have
never made me any return, even in words, to say nothing of substantial
rewards. But if I had put out my strength against that coterie, I should
certainly have found some way of holding my own against them. As things
are, in view of the controversy between your friend Dicæarchus and my
friend Theophrastus--the former recommending the life of action, the
latter the life of contemplation--I think I have already obeyed both.
For as to Dicæarchus, I think I have satisfied his requirements; at
present my eyes are fixed on the school which not only allows of my
abstaining from business, but blames me for not having always done so.
Wherefore let me throw myself, my dear Titus, into those noble studies,
and let me at length return to what I ought never to have left.
As to what you say about Quintus's letter, when he wrote to me he was
also "in front a lion and behind a ----."[242] I don't know what to say
about it; for in the first lines of his letter he makes such a
lamentation over his continuance in his province, that no one could help
being affected: presently he calms down sufficiently to ask me to
correct and edit his Annals. However, I would wish you to have an eye to
what you mention, I mean the duty on goods transferred from port to
port. He says that by the advice of his council he has referred the
question to the senate. He evidently had not read my letter, in which
after having considered and investigated the matter, I had sent him a
written opinion that they were not payable.[243] If any Greeks have
already arrived at Rome from Asia on that business, please look into it
and, if you think it right, explain to them my opinion on the subject.
If, to save the good cause in the senate, I can retract, I will gratify
the _publicani_: but if not, to be plain with you, I prefer in this
matter the interests of all Asia and the merchants; for it affects the
latter also very seriously. I think it is a matter of great importance
to us. But you will settle it. Are the quæstors, pray, still hesitating
on the _cistophorus_ question?[244] If nothing better is to be had,
after trying everything in our power, I should be for not refusing even
the lowest offer. I shall see you at Arpinum and offer you country
entertainment, since you have despised this at the seaside.
[Footnote 237: Cæsar.]
[Footnote 238: The old territory of Capua and the Stellatian Plain had
been specially reserved from distribution under the laws of the Gracchi,
and this reservation had not been repealed in subsequent laws: _ad
subsidia reipublicæ vectigalem relictum_ (Suet. _Cæs._ 20; cp. Cic. 2
_Phil._ § 101).]
[Footnote 239: According to Suetonius 20,000 citizens had allotments on
the _ager publicus_ in Campania. But Dio says (xxxviii. 1) that the
Campanian land was exempted by the _lex Iulia_ also. Its settlement was
probably later, by colonies of Cæsar's veterans. A _iugerum_ is
five-eighths of an acre.]
[Footnote 240: See Letter XXIX, p. 82. They were abolished B.C. 60.]
[Footnote 241: This and the mention of Cæsar's "army" (a bodyguard) is
explained by Suet. _Cæs._ 20: "Having promulgated his agrarian law,
Cæsar expelled his colleague, Bibulus, by force of arms from the Forum
when trying to stop proceedings by announcing bad omens ... and finally
reduced him to such despair that for the rest of his year of office he
confined himself to his house and only announced his bad omens by means
of edicts." Bibulus appears to have been hustled by the mob also.]
[Footnote 242: πρόσθε λέων ὄπιθεν δὲ ----. Cicero leaves Atticus, as he
often does, to fill up the rest of the line, δράκων, μέσση δὲ χίμαιρα
(Hom. _Il._ vi. 181). He means, of course, that Quintus is
inconsistent.]
[Footnote 243: The question seems to be as to goods brought to a port
and paying duty, and then, not finding a sale, being transferred to
another port in the same province. The _publicani_ at the second port
demanded the payment of a duty again, which Cicero decides against
them.]
[Footnote 244: Schutz takes this to mean, "Are the quæstors now doubting
as to paying _even cistophori_?" _i.e._, are they, so far from paying in
Roman _denarii_, even hesitating to pay in Asiatic? But if so, what is
the _extremum_ which Cicero advises Quintus to accept? Prof. Tyrrell,
besides, points out that the quæstors could hardly refuse to pay
anything for provincial expenses. It is a question between _cistophori_
and _denarii_. See p. 92.]
XLIII (A II, 17)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FORMIÆ, MAY
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I quite agree with your letter. Sampsiceramus is getting up a
disturbance. We have everything to fear. He is preparing a despotism and
no mistake about it. For what else is the meaning of that sudden
marriage union,[245] the Campanian land affair, the lavish expenditure
of money? If these measures were final, even then the mischief had been
very great; but the nature of the case makes finality impossible. For
how could these measures possibly give them any pleasure in themselves?
They would never have gone so far as this unless they had been paving
the way for other fatal steps. Immortal Gods!--But, as you say, at
Arpinum about the 10th of May we will not weep over these questions,
lest the hard work and midnight oil I have spent over my studies shall
turn out to have been wasted, but discuss them together calmly. For I am
not so much consoled by a sanguine disposition as by philosophic
"indifference,"[246] which I call to my aid in nothing so much as in our
civil and political business. Nay, more, whatever vanity or sneaking
love of reputation there is lurking in me--for it is well to know one's
faults--is tickled by a certain pleasurable feeling. For it used to
sting me to the heart to think that centuries hence the services of
Sampsiceramus to the state would loom larger than my own. That anxiety,
at least, is now put to rest. For he is so utterly fallen that, in
comparison with him, Curius might seem to be standing erect after his
fall.[247] But all this when we meet. Yet, as far as I can see, you will
be at Rome when I come. I shall not be at all sorry for that, if you
can conveniently manage it. But if you come to see me, as you say in
your letter, I wish you would fish out of Theophanes how
"Arabarches"[248] is disposed to me. You will, of course, inquire with
your usual zeal, and bring me the result to serve as a kind of
suggestion for the line of conduct I am to adopt. From his conversation
we shall be able to get an inkling of the whole situation.
[Footnote 245: The marriage of Pompey with Cæsar's daughter Iulia.]
[Footnote 246: ἀδιαφορία, a word taken from the Stoies, _huic_
[_Zenoni_] _summum bonum est in his rebus neutram in partem moveri, quæ
ἀδιαφορία ab ipso dicitur_ (_Acad._ ii. § 130).]
[Footnote 247: C. Curius, one of the Catiline set, who had been
ignominiously expelled from the senate.]
[Footnote 248: Another nickname of Pompey, from the title of the head of
the Thebais in Egypt. Like Sampsiceramus and the others, it is meant as
a scornful allusion to Pompey's achievements in the East, and perhaps
his known wish to have the direction of affairs in Egypt.]
XLIV (A II, 18)
TO ATTICUS (ON HIS WAY TO EPIRUS)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I have received several letters from you, which shewed me with what
eagerness and anxiety you desired to know the news. We are bound hard
and fast on every side, and are no longer making any difficulty as to
being slaves, but fearing death and exile as though greater evils,
though they are in fact much smaller ones. Well, this is the
position--one unanimously groaned over, but not relieved by a word from
anyone. The object, I surmise, of the men in power is to leave nothing
for anyone to lavish. The only man who opens his mouth and openly
disapproves is the young Curio. He is loudly cheered, and greeted in the
forum in the most complimentary manner, and many other tokens of
goodwill are bestowed on him by the loyalists; while Fufius[249] is
pursued with shouts, jeers, and hisses. From such circumstances it is
not hope but indignation that is increased, for you see the citizens
allowed to express their sentiments, but debarred from carrying them out
with any vigour. And to omit details, the upshot is that there is now no
hope, I don't say of private persons, but even of the magistrates being
ever free again. Nevertheless, in spite of this policy of repression,
conversation, at least in society and at dinner tables, is freer than it
was. Indignation is beginning to get the better of fear, though that
does not prevent a universal feeling of despair. For this Campanian
law[250] contains a clause imposing an oath to be taken by candidates in
public meeting, that they will not suggest any tenure of public land
other than that provided in the Julian laws. All the others take the
oath without hesitation: Laterensis[251] is considered to have shewn
extraordinary virtue in retiring from his canvass for the tribuneship to
avoid the oath. But I don't care to write any more about politics. I am
dissatisfied with myself, and cannot write without the greatest pain. I
hold my own position with some dignity, considering the general
repression, but considering my achievements in the past, with less
courage than I should like. I am invited by Cæsar in a very gentlemanly
manner to accept a legation, to act as _legatus_ to himself, and even an
"open votive legation" is offered me. But the latter does not give
sufficient security, since it depends too much on the scrupulousness of
Pulchellus[252] and removes me just when my brother is returning;[253]
the former offers better security and does not prevent my returning when
I please. I am retaining the latter, but do not think I shall use it.
However, nobody knows about it. I don't like running away; I am itching
to fight. There is great warmth of feeling for me. But I don't say
anything positive: you will please not to mention it. I am, in fact,
very anxious about the manumission of Statius[254] and some other
things, but I have become hardened by this time. I could wish, or rather
ardently desire, that you were here: then I should not want advice or
consolation. But anyhow, be ready to fly hither directly I call for you.
[Footnote 249: See Letter XIX, p. 35.]
[Footnote 250: _I.e._, Cæsar's _agrarian law_, by which some of the
Campanian _ager publicus_ was to be divided.]
[Footnote 251: M. Iuventius Laterensis. See Letter L, p. 123.]
[Footnote 252: Pulchellus, _i.e._, P. Clodius Pulcher. The diminutive is
used to express contempt. Cicero, since his return to Rome, is beginning
to realize his danger.]
[Footnote 253: A _libera legatio_ was really a colourable method of a
senator travelling with the right of exacting certain payments for his
expenses from the Italian or provincial towns. Sometimes it was simply a
_legatio libera_, a sinecure without any pretence of purpose, sometimes
it was _voti causa_, enabling a man to fulfil some vow he was supposed
to have made. It was naturally open to much abuse, and Cicero as consul
had passed a law for limiting it in time. Clodius would become tribune
on 10 December, and this _libera legatio_ would protect Cicero as long
as it lasted, but it would not, he thinks, last long enough to outstay
the tribuneship: if he went as _legatus_ to Cæsar in Gaul, he would be
safe, and might choose his own time for resigning and returning to
Rome.]
[Footnote 254: Statius, a slave of Quintus, was unpopular in the
province. See p. 125.]
XLV (A II, 19)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I have many causes for anxiety, both from the disturbed state of
politics and from the personal dangers with which I am threatened. They
are very numerous; but nothing gives me more annoyance than the
manumission of Statius: "To think that he should have no reverence for
my authority! But of authority I say nothing--that he should have no
fear of a quarrel with me, to put it mildly!"[255] But what I am to do I
don't know, nor indeed is there so much in the affair as you would think
from the talk about it. For myself, I am positively incapable of being
angry with those I love deeply. I only feel vexed, and that to a
surprising degree. Other vexations are on really important matters. The
threats of Clodius and the conflicts before me touch me only slightly.
For I think I can either confront them with perfect dignity or decline
them without any embarrassment. You will say, perhaps, "Enough of
dignity, like the proverb, 'Enough of the oak':[256] an you love me,
take thought for safety!" Ah, dear me, dear me, why are you not here?
Nothing, certainly, could have escaped you. I, perhaps, am somewhat
blinded, and too much affected by my high ideal. I assure you there
never was anything so scandalous, so shameful, so offensive to all
sorts, conditions and ages of men alike, as the present state of
affairs. It is more so, by Hercules, than I could have wished, but not
more than I had expected. Your _populares_ have now taught even usually
quiet men to hiss. Bibulus is praised to the skies: I don't know why,
but he has the same sort of applause as his
"Who by delays restored alone our State."[257]
Pompey--the man I loved--has, to my infinite sorrow, ruined his own
reputation. They hold no one by affection, and I fear they will be
forced to use terror. I, however, refrain from hostility to their cause
owing to my friendship for him, and yet I cannot approve, lest I should
stultify my own past. The feeling of the people was shewn as clearly as
possible in the theatre and at the shows. For at the gladiators both
master and supporters were overwhelmed with hisses. At the games of
Apollo the actor Diphilus made a pert allusion to Pompey, in the words:
"By our misfortunes thou art--Great."
He was encored countless times. When he delivered the line,
"The time will come when thou wilt deeply mourn
That self-same valour,"
the whole theatre broke out into applause, and so on with the rest. For
the verses do seem exactly as though they were written by some enemy of
Pompey's to hit the time. "If neither laws nor customs can control,"
etc., caused great sensation and loud shouts. Cæsar having entered as
the applause died away, he was followed by the younger Curio. The latter
received an ovation such as used to be given to Pompey when the
constitution was still intact. Cæsar was much annoyed. A despatch is
said to have been sent flying off to Pompey at Capua.[258] _They_ are
offended with the equites, who rose to their feet and cheered Curio, and
are at war with everybody. They are threatening the Roscian law,[259]
and even the corn law.[260] There has been a great hubbub altogether.
For my part, I should have preferred their doings being silently
ignored; but that, I fear, won't be allowed. Men are indignant at what
nevertheless must, it seems, be put up with. The whole people have
indeed now one voice, but its strength depends rather on exasperation
than anything to back it up. Farthermore, our Publius is threatening me:
he is hostile, and a storm is hanging over my head which should bring
you post haste to town. I believe that I am still firmly supported by
the same phalanx of all loyal or even tolerably loyal men which
supported me when consul. Pompey displays no common affection for me. He
also asserts that Clodius is not going to say a word about me. In which
he is not deceiving me, but is himself deceived. Cosconius having died,
I am invited to fill his place.[261] That would indeed be a case of
"invited to a dead man's place." I should have been beneath contempt in
the eyes of the world, and nothing could be conceived less likely to
secure that very "personal safety" of which you speak. For those
commissioners are disliked by the loyalists, and so I should have
retained my own unpopularity with the disloyal, with the addition of
that attaching to others. Cæsar wishes me to accept a legateship under
him. This is a more honourable method of avoiding the danger. But I
don't wish to avoid it. What do I want, then? Why, I prefer fighting.
However, I have not made up my mind. Again I say, Oh that you were here!
However, if it is absolutely necessary I will summon you. What else is
there to say? What else? This, I think: I am certain that all is lost.
For why mince matters any longer? But I write this in haste, and, by
Hercules, in rather a nervous state. On some future occasion I will
either write to you at full length, if I find a very trustworthy person
to whom to give a letter, or if I write darkly you will understand all
the same. In these letters I will be Lælius, you Furius; the rest shall
be in riddles. Here I cultivate Cæcilius,[262] and pay him assiduous
attention. I hear Bibulus's edicts have been sent to you. Our friend
Pompey is hot with indignation and wrath at them.[263]
[Footnote 255: Terence, _Phorm._ 232.]
[Footnote 256: ἅλις δρυός, _i.e._, feeding on acorns is a thing of the
past, it is out of date, like the golden age when they fed on wild fruit
_et quæ deciderant patula Iovis arbore glandes_ (Ovid, _Met._ i. 106);
and so is dignity, it is a question of _safety_ now.]
[Footnote 257: Ennius on Q. Fabius Maximus Cunctator.]
[Footnote 258: Pompey was in Campania acting as one of the twenty land
commissioners.]
[Footnote 259: The _lex Roscia theatralis_ (B.C. 67), which gave
fourteen rows of seats to the equites.]
[Footnote 260: That is, the law for distribution of corn among poorer
citizens. There were many such. Perhaps the most recent was the _lex
Cassia Terentia_ (B.C. 73). Cæsar, who, when in later years he became
supreme, restricted this privilege, may have threatened to do so now.]
[Footnote 261: _I.e._, as one of the twenty land commissioners. The next
clause seems to refer to some proverbial expression, "to be invited to a
place at Pluto's table," or some such sentence. Cicero means that his
acceptance would be equivalent to political extinction, either from the
obscurity of Cosconius or the inconsistency of the proceeding.]
[Footnote 262: The uncle of Atticus. See p. 15.]
[Footnote 263: After the scene of violence in which Bibulus, on
attempting to prevent the agrarian law being passed, was driven from the
rostra, with his lictors' fasces broken, he shut himself up in his house
and published edicts declaring Cæsar's acts invalid, and denouncing the
conduct of Pompey (Suet. _Cæs._ 20; Dio, xxxviii. 6).]
XLVI (A II, 20)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I have done everything I could for Anicatus, as I understood was your
wish. Numestius, in accordance with your earnestly expressed letter, I
have adopted as a friend. Cæcilius I look after diligently in all ways
possible. Varro[264] does all I could expect for me. Pompey loves me and
regards me as a dear friend. "Do you believe that?" you will say. I do:
he quite convinces me. But seeing that men of the world in all
histories, precepts, and even verses, are for ever bidding one be on
one's guard and forbidding belief, I carry out the former--"to be on my
guard"--the latter--"to disbelieve"[265]--I cannot carry out. Clodius is
still threatening me with danger. Pompey asserts that there is no
danger. He swears it. He even adds that he will himself be murdered by
him sooner than I injured. The negotiation is going on. As soon as
anything is settled I will write you word. If I have to fight, I will
summon you to share in the work. If I am let alone, I won't rout you out
of your "Amaltheia." About politics I will write briefly: for I am now
afraid lest the very paper should betray me. Accordingly, in future, if
I have anything more to write to you, I shall clothe it in covert
language. For the present the state is dying of a novel disorder; for
although everybody disapproves of what has been done, complains, and is
indignant about it, and though there is absolutely no difference of
opinion on the subject, and people now speak openly and groan aloud, yet
no remedy is applied: for we do not think resistance possible without a
general slaughter, nor see what the end of concession is to be except
ruin. Bibulus is exalted to the skies as far as admiration and affection
go. His edicts and speeches are copied out and read. He has reached the
summit of glory in a novel way. There is now nothing so popular as the
dislike of the popular party. I have my fears as to how this will end.
But if I ever see my way clearly in anything, I will write to you more
explicitly. For yourself, if you love me as much as I am sure you do,
take care to be ready to come in all haste as soon as I call for you.
But I do my best, and shall do so, to make it unnecessary. I said I
would call you Furius in my letters, but it is not necessary to change
your name. I'll call myself Lælius and you Atticus, but I will use
neither my own handwriting nor seal, if the letter happens to be such as
I should not wish to fall into the hands of a stranger. Diodotus is
dead; he has left me perhaps 1,000 sestertia. Bibulus has postponed the
elections to the 18th of October, in an edict expressed in the vein of
Archilochus.[266] I have received the books from Vibius: he is a
miserable poet,[267] but yet he is not without some knowledge nor wholly
useless. I am going to copy the book out and send it back.
[Footnote 264: M. Terentius Varro, "the most learned of the Romans," and
author of very large numbers of books. He was afterwards one of Pompey's
_legati_ in Spain. He survived most of the men of the revolutionary
era.]
[Footnote 265: See Letter XXIV, p. 56.]
[Footnote 266: _I.e._, in biting language. _Archilochum proprio rabies
armavit iambo_ (Hor. _A. P._ 79).]
[Footnote 267: The _Cosmographia_ of Alexander of Ephesus. See Letter
XLVIII, p. 120.]
XLVII (A II, 21)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
Why should I write to you on the Republic in detail? It is utterly
ruined; and is, so far, in a worse state than when you left it, that
then a despotism seemed to be oppressing it which was popular with the
multitude, and though offensive to the loyalists, yet short of actual
mischief; but now all on a sudden they have become so universally hated,
that I tremble to think what will be the end of it. For we have had
experience of those men's resentment and violence, who have ruined
everything in their anger against Cato; yet they were employing such
slow poisons, that it seemed as though our end might be painless. Now,
however, I fear they have been exasperated by the hisses of the crowd,
the talk of the respectable classes, and the murmurs of Italy. For my
part, I was in hopes, as I often used actually to say to you, that the
wheel of the state chariot had made its revolution with scarcely any
noise and leaving scarcely any visible rut; and it would have been so,
if people could only have waited till the storm had blown over. But
after sighing in secret for a long time they all began, first to groan,
and at last to talk and shout. Accordingly, that friend of ours,
unaccustomed to being unpopular, always used to an atmosphere of praise,
and revelling in glory, now disfigured in body and broken in spirit,
does not know which way to turn; sees that to go on is dangerous, to
return a betrayal of vacillation; has the loyalists his enemies, the
disloyal themselves not his friends. Yet see how soft-hearted I am. I
could not refrain from tears when, on the 25th of July, I saw him making
a speech on the edicts of Bibulus. The man who in old times had been
used to bear himself in that place with the utmost confidence and
dignity, surrounded by the warmest affection of the people, amidst
universal favour--how humble, how cast down he was then! How ill-content
with himself, to say nothing of how unpleasing to his audience! Oh,
what a spectacle! No one could have liked it but Crassus--no one else in
the world! Not I, for considering his headlong descent from the stars,
he seemed to me to have lost his footing rather than to have been
deliberately following a path; and, as Apelles, if he had seen his
Venus, or Protogenes his Ialysus daubed with mud, would, I presume, have
felt great sorrow, so neither could I behold without great sorrow a man,
portrayed and embellished with all the colours of my art, suddenly
disfigured. Although no one thought, in view of the Clodius business,
that I was bound to be his friend, yet so great was my affection for
him, that no amount of injury was capable of making it run dry. The
result is that those Archilochian edicts of Bibulus against him are so
popular, that one can't get past the place where they are put up for the
crowd of readers, and so deeply annoying to himself that he is pining
with vexation. To me, by Hercules, they are distressing, both because
they give excessive pain to a man whom I have always loved, and because
I fear lest one so impulsive and so quick to strike, and so unaccustomed
to personal abuse, may, in his passionate resentment, obey the dictates
of indignation and anger. I don't know what is to be the end of Bibulus.
As things stand at present he is enjoying a wonderful reputation. For on
his having postponed the _comitia_ to October, as that is a measure
which is always against the popular feeling, Cæsar had imagined that the
assembly could be induced by a speech of his to go to Bibulus's house;
but after a long harangue full of seditious suggestions, he failed to
extract a word from anyone. In short, they feel that they do not possess
the cordial goodwill of any section: all the more must we fear some act
of violence. Clodius is hostile to us. Pompey persists in asserting that
he will do nothing against me. It is risky for me to believe that, and I
am preparing myself to meet his attack. I hope to have the warmest
feelings of all orders on my side. I have personally a longing for you,
and circumstances also demand your presence at that time. I shall feel
it a very great addition to my policy, to my courage, and, in a word, to
my safety, if I see you in time. Varro does all I can expect. Pompey
talks like an angel. I have hopes that I shall come off with flying
colours, or at any rate without being molested. Be sure and tell me how
you are, how you are amusing yourself, and what settlement you have come
to with the Sicyonians.
XLVIII (A II, 22)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
How I wished you had stayed at Rome! I am sure you would have stayed if
you had foreseen what was going to happen. For then we should have had
no difficulty in keeping "Pulchellus" in order, or at least should have
known what he was going to do. As things are, he darts about, talks like
a madman, never sticks to anything: threatens now this one and now that:
seems likely, in reality, to do whatever turns up. When he sees how
unpopular the present state of things is, he seems to intend an attack
upon the authors of it; but when he again recalls their power and
armies, he transfers his hostility to the loyalists. Me personally he
threatens at one time with violence, at another with impeachment. With
him Pompey has remonstrated, and, as he tells me himself--for I have no
other evidence--has urgently remonstrated, pointing out that he would
himself lie under the extreme imputation of perfidy and unprincipled
conduct, if any danger to me were created by the man whom he had himself
armed by acquiescing in his becoming a plebeian: that both he and
Appius[268] had pledged themselves in regard to me: if Clodius did not
respect that, he should shew such annoyance that everyone would
understand that he valued my friendship above everything. Having said
this and much else to the same effect, he told me that the fellow at
first argued against it at great length and for a long time, but
eventually gave way and declared that he would do nothing against his
wishes. Nevertheless, he has not ceased since then speaking of me with
the greatest bitterness. But even if he had not done so, I should have
felt no confidence in him, but should have been making every
preparation, as in fact I am doing. As it is, I am so conducting myself
that every day the affections of people towards me and the strength of
my position are enhanced. I don't touch politics in any shape or way; I
employ myself with the greatest assiduity in pleading causes and in my
regular forensic business.[269] And this I feel is extremely gratifying,
not only to those who enjoy my services, but also to the people
generally. My house is crowded; I am met by processions; the memory of
my consulship is renewed; men's feelings are clearly shewn: my hopes are
so raised, that the struggle hanging over me seems at times one from
which I need not shrink. Now is the time that I need your advice, your
love and fidelity. Wherefore come post haste! Everything will be easy
for me if I have you. I can carry on many negotiations through our
friend Varro, which will be on firmer ground with you to back them up; a
great deal can be elicited from Publius himself, and be brought to my
knowledge, which cannot possibly be kept concealed from you; a great
deal also--but it is absurd to enumerate particulars, when I want you
for everything. I would like you to be convinced of this above all, that
everything will be simplified for me if I see you: but it all turns on
this coming to pass _before_ he enters on his office. I think that if
you are here while Crassus is egging on Pompey--as you can get out of
Clodius himself, by the agency of "Iuno,"[270] how far they are acting
in good faith--we shall escape molestation, or at any rate not be left
under a delusion. You don't stand in need of entreaties or urgency from
me. You understand what my wish is, and what the hour and the importance
of the business demand. As to politics, I can tell you nothing except
that everybody entertains the greatest detestation for those who are
masters of everything. There is, however, no hope of a change. But, as
you easily understand, Pompey himself is discontented and extremely
dissatisfied with himself. I don't see clearly what issue to expect: but
certainly such a state of affairs seems likely to lead to an outbreak of
some sort. Alexander's books[271]--a careless writer and a poor poet,
and yet not without some useful information--I have sent back to you. I
have had pleasure in admitting Numerius Numestius to my friendship, and
I find him a man of character and good sense, worthy of your
recommendation.
[Footnote 268: Appius Claudius Pulcher, elder brother of P. Clodius.]
[Footnote 269: The speeches known to us of this year are those for his
colleague, C. Antonius, A. Thermus, and L. Flaccus. The two former are
lost, but we know from his own account that he had not avoided touching
on politics in the speech for Antonius, but had so offended Pompey and
Cæsar that they at once carried out the adoption of Clodius (_de Domo_,
§ 41).]
[Footnote 270: Βοῶπις, _i.e._, Clodia. See Letters XXXV, XL. _Crasso
urgente_ is difficult. Cicero must mean that while Crassus (whom he
always regards as hostile to himself) is influencing Pompey, he cannot
trust what Pompey says, and must look for real information elsewhere.]
[Footnote 271: Alexander of Ephesus. See Letter XLVI, p. 115.]
XLIX (A II, 23)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY OR AUGUST)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
I don't think you have ever before read a letter of mine not written by
my own hand. You will be able to gather from that how I am distracted
with business. For as I had not a moment to spare and was obliged to
take a walk in order to refresh my poor voice, I have dictated this
while walking. The first thing, then, which I wish you to know is that
our friend "Sampsiceramus" is exceedingly dissatisfied with his
position, and desires to be restored to the place from which he has
fallen; that he confides his annoyance to me, and is without disguise
seeking for a remedy--which I don't think can be found. The second thing
is that all on that side, whether promoters or mere hangers-on, are
falling out of fashion, though no one opposes them: there never was a
greater unanimity of feeling or talk everywhere. For myself (for I am
sure you wish to know it) I take part in no political deliberations, and
have devoted myself entirely to my forensic business and work. Thereby,
as may easily be understood, I have frequent occasion to refer to my
past achievements and to express my regret. But the brother of our
"Iuno" is giving utterance to all kinds of alarming threats, and, while
disclaiming them to "Sampsiceramus," makes an open avowal and parade of
them to others. Wherefore, loving me as much as I know you do, if you
are asleep, wake up; if you are standing, start walking; if you are
walking, set off running; if you are running, take wings and fly. You
can scarcely believe how much I confide in your advice and wisdom, and
above all in your affection and fidelity. The importance of the
interests involved perhaps demands a long disquisition, but the close
union of our hearts is contented with brevity. It is of very great
importance to me that, if you can't be at Rome at the elections, you
should at least be here after his election is declared.[272] Take care
of your health.
[Footnote 272: _I.e._, between the time of his election and of his
entering on his office. The tribunes entered on their office on the 10th
of December; the elections usually took place in July, but were
postponed till October this year by Bibulus. See Letter XLVI, p. 115.]
L (A II, 24)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY OR AUGUST)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
In the letter which I delivered to Numestius I begged you to come back,
in the most urgent and vehement terms it was possible to use. To the
speed which I then enjoined even add something if you possibly can. And
yet do not be agitated, for I know you well, and am not ignorant of "how
love is all compact of thought and fear." But the matter, I hope, is
going to be less formidable in the end than it was at its beginning.
That fellow Vettius, our old informer, promised Cæsar, as far as I can
make out, that he would secure young Curio being brought under some
suspicion of guilt. Accordingly, he wormed his way into intimacy with
the young man, and having, as is proved, often met him, at last went the
length of telling him that he had resolved by the help of his slaves to
make an attack upon Pompey and assassinate him. Curio reported this to
his father, the latter to Pompey. The matter was reported to the senate.
Vettius, on being brought in, at first denied that he had ever had any
appointment with Curio. However, he did not long stick to that, but
immediately claimed the protection of the state as giving information.
There was a shout of "no" to this;[273] but he went on to state that
there had been a confederacy of young men under the leadership of Curio,
to which Paullus had at first belonged, and Q. Cæpio (I mean
Brutus[274]) and Lentulus, son of the flamen, with the privity of his
father: that afterwards C. Septimius, secretary to Bibulus, had brought
him a dagger from Bibulus. That made the whole thing ridiculous, as
though Vettius would have been at a loss for a dagger unless the consul
had given him one; and it was all the more scouted because on the 5th of
May Bibulus had told Pompey to be on his guard against plots; on which
occasion Pompey had thanked him. Young Curio, being brought into the
senate, spoke in answer to the allegations of Vettius; and on this
particular occasion the strongest thing against Vettius was his having
said that the plan of the young men was to attack Pompey in the forum,
with the help of Gabinius's gladiators,[275] and that in this the
ring-leader was Paullus, who was ascertained to have been in Macedonia
at that time. A decree of the senate is passed that "Vettius, having
confessed to having 'worn a dagger,'[276] should be cast into prison;
that anyone releasing him would be guilty of treason to the state." The
opinion generally held is that the whole affair had been arranged.
Vettius was to be caught in the forum with a dagger, and his slaves also
with weapons, and he was then to offer to lay an information; and this
would have been carried out, had not the Curios given Pompey previous
information. Presently the decree of the senate was read in public
assembly. Next day, however, Cæsar--the man who formerly as prætor had
bidden Q. Catulus[277] speak on the ground below--now brought Vettius on
to the rostra, and placed him on an elevation to which Bibulus, though
consul, was prevented from aspiring. Here that fellow said exactly what
he chose about public affairs, and, having come there primed and
instructed, first struck Cæpio's name out of his speech, though he had
named him most emphatically in the senate, so that it was easy to see
that a night and a nocturnal intercession[278] had intervened: next he
named certain men on whom he had not cast even the slightest suspicion
in the senate: L. Lucullus, by whom he said that C. Fannius was usually
sent to him--the man who on a former occasion had backed a prosecution
of Clodius; L. Domitius, whose house had been agreed on as the
headquarters of the conspirators. Me he did not _name_, but he said that
"an eloquent consular, who lived near the consul, had said to him that
there was need of some Servilius Ahala or Brutus being found."[279] He
added at the very end, on being recalled by Vatinius after the assembly
had been dismissed, that he had been told by Curio that my son-in-law
Piso was privy to these proceedings, as M. Laterensis also. At present
Vettius is on trial for "violence" before Crassus Dives,[280] and when
condemned he intends to claim the impunity of an informer; and if he
obtains that, there seem likely to be some prosecutions. I don't despise
the danger, for I never despise any danger, but neither do I much fear
it. People indeed shew very great affection for me, but I am quite tired
of life: such a scene of misery is it all. It was only the other day
that we were fearing a massacre, which the speech of that gallant old
man Q. Considius prevented:[281] now this one, which we might have
feared any day, has suddenly turned up. In short, nothing can be more
unfortunate than I, or more fortunate than Catulus, both in the
splendour of his life and in the time of his death. However, in the
midst of these miseries I keep my spirit erect and undismayed, and
maintain my position in a most dignified manner and with great caution.
Pompey bids me have no anxiety about Clodius, and shews the most cordial
goodwill to me in everything he says. I desire to have you to suggest my
policy, to be the partner in my anxieties, and to share my every
thought. Therefore I have commissioned Numestius to urge you, and I now
entreat you with the same or, if possible, greater earnestness, to
literally fly to us. I shall breathe again when I once see you.
[Footnote 273: _Reclamatum est._ The MSS. have _haud reclamatum est_,
"it was not refused."]
[Footnote 274: Marcus Iunius Brutus, the future assassin of Cæsar,
adopted by his uncle, Q. Servilius Cæpio. The father of Lentulus was
_flamen Martialis_ (L. Lentulus), _in Vat._ § 25. Paullus is L. Æmilius
Paullus, consul B.C. 50.]
[Footnote 275: _Cum gladiatoribus._ Others omit _cum_, in which case the
meaning will be "at the gladiatorial shows of Gabinius." As some _date_
is wanted, this is probably right.]
[Footnote 276: Under the _lex de sicariis_ of Sulla carrying a weapon
with felonious intent was a capital crime, for which a man was tried
_inter sicarios_. See 2 _Phil._ §§ 8, 74.]
[Footnote 277: Q. Lutatius Catulus, who died in the previous year, B.C.
60, had been a keen opponent of Cæsar, who tried to deprive him of the
honour of dedicating the restored Capitoline temple, and beat him in the
election of Pontifex Maximus.]
[Footnote 278: Servilia, mother of Brutus, was reported to be Cæsar's
mistress. As Cicero is insinuating that the whole affair was got up by
Cæsar to irritate Pompey with the _boni_, this allusion will be
understood.]
[Footnote 279: If Vettius did say this, he at any rate successfully
imitated Cicero's manner. These names are always in his mouth. See 2
_Phil._ §§ 26, 87; _pro Mil._. §§ 8, 82, etc. For a farther discussion
of Vettius, see Appendix B.]
[Footnote 280: Probably a prætor, not the triumvir.]
[Footnote 281: Q. Considius Gallus, who, according to Plutarch (_Cæs._
13), said in the senate that the attendance of senators was small
because they feared a massacre. "What made you come, then?" said Cæsar.
"My age," he replied; "I have little left to lose."]
LI (A II, 25)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (JULY OR AUGUST)
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
When I have praised any one of your friends to you I should like you
tell him that I have done so. For instance, you know I lately wrote to
you about Varro's kindness to me, and that you wrote me back word that
the circumstance gave you the greatest delight. But I should have
preferred your writing to him and saying that he was doing all I could
expect--not because he was, but in order that he might do so. For he is
a man of astonishing whims, as you know, "tortuous and no
wise----."[282] But I stick to the rule "Follies of those in power,"
etc.[283] But, by Hercules, that other friend of yours, Hortalus--with
what a liberal hand, with what candour, and in what ornate language has
he praised me to the skies, when speaking of the prætorship of Flaccus
and that incident of the Allobroges.[284] I assure you nothing could
have been more affectionate, complimentary, or more lavishly expressed.
I very much wish that you would write and tell him that I sent you word
of it. Yet why write? I think you are on your way and are all but here.
For I have urged you so strongly to come in my previous letters. I am
expecting you with great impatience, longing for you very much; nor do I
call for you more than circumstances themselves and the state of the
times. Nothing can be more desperate than the position of politics,
nothing more unpopular than the authors of it, I--as I think, hope, and
imagine--am safe behind a rampart of goodwill of the strongest kind.
Wherefore fly to me: you will either relieve me from all annoyance or
will share it. My letter is all the shorter because, as I hope, I shall
be able in a very short time to talk over what I want to say face to
face. Take care of your health.
[Footnote 282:
ἑλικτὰ κοὐδὲν ὑγιὲς ἀλλὰ πᾶν πέριξ φρονοῦντες.
Eur. _Androm._ 448.
"With tortuous thoughts, naught honest, winding all."
]
[Footnote 283:
τὰς τῶν κρατούντων ἀμαθίας φέρειν χρεών.
Eur. _Phœn._ 393.
"Follies of those in power we needs must bear."
]
[Footnote 284: L. Valerius Flaccus, as prætor in B.C. 63, had assisted
Cicero in the Catiline conspiracy. He was now being tried for
embezzlement in Asia, and was defended by the famous Q. Hortensius
(Hortalus) and Cicero--the only extant speech of this year.]
LII (Q FR I, 2)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN ASIA)
ROME, 26 OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
Statius arrived at my house on the 25th October. His arrival gave me
uneasiness, because you said in your letter that you would be plundered
by your household in his absence. However, I thought it a very happy
circumstance that he anticipated the expectation of his arrival, and the
company that would have assembled to meet him, if he had left the
province with you, and had not appeared before. For people have
exhausted their remarks, and many observations have been made and done
with of the "Nay, but I looked for a mighty man"[285] kind, which I am
glad to have all over before you come. But as for the motive for your
sending him--that he might clear himself with me--that was not at all
necessary. For, to begin with, I had never suspected him, nor in what I
wrote to you about him was I expressing my own judgment; but since the
interest and safety of all of us who take part in public business
depends, not on truth alone, but on report also, I wrote you word of
what people were saying, not what I thought myself. How prevalent and
how formidable that talk was Statius ascertained himself on his arrival.
For he was present when certain persons at my house gave vent to some
complaints on that very subject, and had the opportunity of perceiving
that the observations of the malevolent were being directed at himself
especially. But it used to annoy me most when I was told that he had
greater influence with you, than your sober time of life and the wisdom
of a governor required. How many people, do you suppose, have solicited
me to give them a letter of introduction to Statius? How often, do you
suppose, has he himself, while talking without reserve to me, made such
observations as, "I never approved of that," "I told him so," "I tried
to persuade him," "I warned him not to"? And even if these things shew
the highest fidelity, as I believe they do, since that is your judgment,
yet the mere appearance of a freedman or slave enjoying such influence
cannot but lower your dignity: and the long and short of it is--for I am
in duty bound not to say anything without good grounds, nor to keep back
anything from motives of policy--that Statius has supplied all the
material for the gossip of those who wished to decry you; that formerly
all that could be made out was that certain persons were angry at your
strictness; but that after his manumission the angry had something to
talk about.
Now I will answer the letters delivered to me by L. Cæsius, whom, as I
see you wish it, I will serve in every way I can. One of them is about
Zeuxis of Blaundus, whom you say was warmly recommended to you by me
though a most notorious matricide. In this matter, and on this subject
generally, please listen to a short statement, lest you should by chance
be surprised at my having become so conciliatory towards Greeks. Seeing,
as I did, that the complaints of Greeks, because they have a genius for
deceit, were allowed an excessive weight, whenever I was told of any of
them making complaint of you, I appeased them by every means in my
power. First, I pacified the Dionysopolitans, who were very bitter:
whose chief man, Hermippus, I secured not only by my conversation, but
by treating him as a friend. I did the same to Hephæstus of Apameia; the
same to that most untrustworthy fellow, Megaristus of Antandrus; the
same to Nicias of Smyrna; I also embraced with all the courtesy I
possessed the most trumpery of men, even Nymphôn of Colophôn. And all
this I did from no liking for these particular people, or the nation as
a whole: I was heartily sick of their fickleness and obsequiousness, of
feelings that are not affected by our kindness, but by our position.
But to return to Zeuxis. When he was telling me the same story as you
mention in your letter about what M. Cascellius had said to him in
conversation, I stopped him from farther talk, and admitted him to my
society. I cannot, however, understand your virulence when you say that,
having sewn up in the parricide's-sack two Mysians at Smyrna, you
desired to display a similar example of your severity in the upper part
of your province, and that, therefore, you had wished to inveigle Zeuxis
into your hands by every possible means. For if he had been brought into
court, he ought perhaps not to have been allowed to escape: but there
was no necessity for his being hunted out and inveigled by soft words to
stand a trial, as you say in your letter--especially as he is one whom I
learn daily, both from his fellow citizens and from many others, to be a
man of higher character than you would expect from such an obscure town
as his.[286] But, you will say, it is only Greeks to whom I am
indulgent. What! did not I do everything to appease L. Cæcilius? What a
man! how irritable! how violent! In fact, who is there except
Tuscenius,[287] whose case admitted of no cure, have I not softened? See
again, I have now on my hands a shifty, mean fellow, though of
equestrian rank, called Catienus: even he is going to be smoothed down.
I don't blame you for having been somewhat harsh to his father, for I am
quite sure you have acted with good reason: but what need was there of a
letter of the sort which you sent to the man himself? "That the man was
rearing the cross for himself from which you had already pulled him off
once; that you would take care to have him smoked to death, and would be
applauded by the whole province for it." Again, to a man named C.
Fabius--for that letter also T. Catienus is handing round--"that you
were told that the kidnapper Licinius, with his young kite of a son, was
collecting taxes." And then you go on to ask Fabius to burn both father
and son alive if he can; if not, to send them to you, that they may be
burnt to death by legal sentence. That letter sent by you in jest to C.
Fabius, if it really is from you, exhibits to ordinary readers a
violence of language very injurious to you. Now, if you will refer to
the exhortations in all my letters, you will perceive that I have never
found fault with you for anything except harshness and sharpness of
temper, and occasionally, though rarely, for want of caution in the
letters you write. In which particulars, indeed, if my influence had had
greater weight with you than a somewhat excessive quickness of
disposition, or a certain enjoyment in indulging temper, or a faculty
for epigram and a sense of humour, we should certainly have had no cause
for dissatisfaction. And don't you suppose that I feel no common
vexation when I am told how Vergilius is esteemed, and your neighbour
C. Octavius?[288] For if you only excel your neighbours farther up
country, in Cilicia and Syria, that is a pretty thing to boast of! And
that is just the sting of the matter, that though the men I have named
are not more blameless than yourself, they yet outdo you in the art of
winning favour, though they know nothing of Xenophon's Cyrus or
Agesilaus; from which kings, in the exercise of their great office, no
one ever heard an irritable word. But in giving you this advice, as I
have from the first, I am well aware how much good I have done.[289]
Now, however, as you are about to quit your province, pray do leave
behind you--as I think you are now doing--as pleasant a memory as
possible. You have a successor of very mild manners; in other respects,
on his arrival, you will be much missed. In sending letters of
requisition, as I have often told you, you have allowed yourself to be
too easily persuaded. Destroy, if you can, all such as are inequitable,
or contrary to usage, or contradictory to others. Statius told me that
they were usually put before you ready written, read by himself, and
that, if they were inequitable, he informed you of the fact: but that
before he entered your service there had been no sifting of letters;
that the result was that there were volumes containing a selection of
letters, which were usually adversely criticised.[290] On this subject I
am not going to give you any advice at this time of day, for it is too
late; and you cannot but be aware that I have often warned you in
various ways and with precision. But I have, on a hint from Theopompus,
intrusted him with this message to you: do see by means of persons
attached to you, which you will find no difficulty in doing, that the
following classes of letters are destroyed--first, those that are
inequitable; next, those that are contradictory; then those expressed in
an eccentric or unusual manner; and lastly, those that contain
reflexions on anyone. I don't believe all I hear about these matters,
and if, in the multiplicity of your engagements, you have let certain
things escape you, now is the time to look into them and weed them out.
I have read a letter said to have been written by your nomenclator Sulla
himself, which I cannot approve: I have read some written in an angry
spirit. But the subject of letters comes in pat: for while this sheet of
paper was actually in my hands, L. Flavius, prætor-designate and a very
intimate friend, came to see me. He told me that you had sent a letter
to his agents, which seemed to me most inequitable, prohibiting them
from taking anything from the estate of the late L. Octavius Naso, whose
heir L. Flavius is, until they had paid a sum of money to C. Fundanius;
and that you had sent a similar letter to the Apollonidenses, not to
allow any payment on account of the estate of the late Octavius till the
debt to Fundanius had been discharged. It seems to me hardly likely that
you have done this; for it is quite unlike your usual good sense. The
heir not to take anything? What if he disowns the debt? What if he
doesn't owe it at all? Moreover, is the prætor wont to decide whether a
debt is due?[291] Don't I, again, wish well to Fundanius? Am I not his
friend? Am I not touched with compassion? No one more so: but in certain
matters the course of law is so clear as to leave no place for personal
feeling. And Flavius told me that expressions were used in the letter,
which he said was yours, to the effect that you would "either thank them
as friends, or make yourself disagreeable to them as enemies." In short,
he was much annoyed, complained of it to me in strong terms, and begged
me to write to you as seriously as I could. This I am doing, and I do
strongly urge you again and again to withdraw your injunction to
Flavius's agents about taking money from the estate, and not to lay any
farther injunction on the Apollonidenses contrary to the rights of
Flavius. Pray do everything you can for the sake of Flavius and, indeed,
of Pompey also. I would not, upon my honour, have you think me liberal
to him at the expense of any inequitable decision on your part: but I do
entreat you to leave behind you some authority, and some memorandum of a
decree or of a letter under your hand, so framed as to support the
interests and cause of Flavius. For the man, who is at once very
attentive to me, and tenacious of his own rights and dignity, is feeling
extremely hurt that he has not prevailed with you either on the grounds
of personal friendship or of legal right; and, to the best of my belief,
both Pompey and Cæsar have, at one time or another, commended the
interests of Flavius to you, and Flavius has written to you personally,
and certainly I have. Wherefore, if there is anything which you think
you ought to do at my request, let it be this. If you love me, take
every care, take every trouble, and insure Flavius's cordial thanks both
to yourself and myself. I cannot use greater earnestness in making any
request than I use in this.
As to what you say about Hermias, it has been in truth a cause of much
vexation to me. I wrote you a letter in a rather unbrotherly spirit,
which I dashed off in a fit of anger and now wish to recall, having been
irritated by what Lucullus's freedman told me, immediately after hearing
of the bargain. For this letter, which was not expressed in a brotherly
way, you ought to have brotherly feeling enough to make allowance. As to
Censorinus, Antonius, the Cassii, Scævola--I am delighted to hear from
you that you possess their friendship. The other contents of that same
letter of yours were expressed more strongly than I could have wished,
such as your "with my ship at least well trimmed"[292] and your "die
once for all."[293] You will find those expressions to be unnecessarily
strong. My scoldings have always been very full of affection. They
mention certain things for complaint,[294] but these are not important,
or rather, are quite insignificant. For my part, I should never have
thought you deserving of the least blame in any respect, considering the
extreme purity of your conduct, had it not been that our enemies are
numerous. Whatever I have written to you in a tone of remonstrance or
reproach I have written from a vigilant caution, which I maintain, and
shall maintain; and I shall not cease imploring you to do the same.
Attalus of Hypæpa has begged me to intercede with you that you should
not prevent his getting the money paid which has been decreed for a
statue of Q. Publicius. In which matter I both ask as a favour and urge
as a duty, that you should not consent to allow the honour of a man of
his character, and so close a friend of mine, to be lowered or hindered
by your means. Farthermore, Licinius, who is known to you, a slave of my
friend Æsopus, has run away. He has been at Athens, living in the house
of Patron the Epicurean as a free man. Thence he has made his way to
Asia. Afterwards a certain Plato of Sardis, who is often at Athens, and
happened to be at Athens at the time that Licinius arrived there, having
subsequently learnt by a letter from Æsopus that he was an escaped
slave, arrested the fellow, and put him into confinement at Ephesus; but
whether into the public prison, or into a slave mill, we could not
clearly make out from his letter. But since he is at Ephesus, I should
be obliged if you would trace him in any manner open to you, and with
all care either [send him] or bring him home with you. Don't take into
consideration the fellow's value: such a good-for-nothing is worth very
little; but Æsopus is so much vexed at his slave's bad conduct and
audacity, that you can do him no greater favour than by being the means
of his recovering him.
Now for the news that you chiefly desire. We have so completely lost the
constitution that Cato,[295] a young man of no sense, but yet a Roman
citizen and a Cato, scarcely got off with his life because, having
determined to prosecute Gabinius for bribery, when the prætors could not
be approached for several days, and refused to admit anyone to their
presence, he mounted the rostra in public meeting and called Pompey an
"unofficial dictator." No one ever had a narrower escape of being
killed. From this you may see the state of the whole Republic. People,
however, shew no inclination to desert my cause. They make wonderful
professions, offers of service, and promises: and, indeed, I have the
highest hopes and even greater spirit--so that I hope to get the better
in the struggle, and feel confident in my mind that, in the present
state of the Republic, I need not fear even an accident. However, the
matter stands thus: if Clodius gives notice of an action against me, the
whole of Italy will rush to my support, so that I shall come off with
many times greater glory than before; but if he attempts the use of
violence, I hope, by the zeal not only of friends but also of opponents,
to be able to meet force with force. All promise me the aid of
themselves, their friends, clients, freedmen, slaves, and, finally, of
their money. Our old regiment of loyalists is warm in its zeal and
attachment to me. If there were any who had formerly been comparatively
hostile or lukewarm, they are now uniting themselves with the loyalists
from hatred to these despots. Pompey makes every sort of promise, and so
does Cæsar: but my confidence in them is not enough to induce me to drop
any of my preparations. The tribunes-designate are friendly to us. The
consuls-designate make excellent professions. Some of the new prætors
are very friendly and very brave citizens--Domitius, Nigidius, Memmius,
Lentulus[296]--the others are loyalists also, but these are eminently
so. Wherefore keep a good heart and high hopes. However, I will keep you
constantly informed on particular events as they occur from day to day.
[Footnote 285: ἀλλ' αἰεί τινα φῶτα μέγαν καὶ καλὸν ἐδέγμην, "but I ever
expected some big and handsome man" (Hom. _Odyss._ ix. 513). Statius had
been manumitted by Quintus Cicero, and there had been much talk about
it, as we have already heard. See XLIV, p. 109, and XLV, p. 111.]
[Footnote 286: Reading _quam pro civitate sua_ for _prope quam civitatem
suam_. I think _prope_ and _pro_ (_pr_) might easily have been mistaken
for each other, and if the order of _quam_ and _pro_ (mistaken for
_prope_) were once changed, the case of _civitate_ would follow. Prof.
Tyrrell, who writes the town _Blandus_, would read _molliorem_ for
_nobiliorem_, and imagines a pun on the meaning of _Blandus_. But the
name of the town seems certainly _Blaundus_, Βλαῦνδος, or Μλαῦνδος
(Stephanus, Βλαῦδος); see Head, _Hist. Num._ p. 559: and Cicero, though
generally punning on names, would hardly do so here, where he is making
a grave excuse.]
[Footnote 287: Whom he called (Letter XXIX) "a madman and a knave."]
[Footnote 288: C. Vergilius Balbus, proprætor in Sicily (_pro Planc._ §
95; Letter XXIX). C. Octavius (father of Augustus), in Macedonia (see p.
78). L. Marcius Philippus was proprætor of Syria B.C. 61-59. The
governor of Cilicia in the same period is not known; probably some one
left in charge by Pompey.]
[Footnote 289: I have endeavoured to leave the English as ambiguous as
the Latin. Cicero may mean that he has done some good, for at the end of
Letter XXIX he says that Quintus has improved in these points, and had
been better in his second than in his first year. On the other hand, the
context here seems rather to point to the meaning "how _little_ good I
have done!"--impatiently dismissing the subject of temper.]
[Footnote 290: These "requisitionary letters" were granted by a
provincial governor to certain persons requiring supplies, payment of
debts, or legal decisions in their favour in the provinces, or other
privileges, and, if carelessly granted, were open to much abuse. Cicero,
in his own government of Cilicia, boasted that he had signed none such
in six months. The ill-wishers of Quintus had apparently got hold of a
number of these letters signed by him (having been first written out by
the suitors themselves and scarcely glanced at by him), and a selection
of them published to prove his injustice or carelessness.]
[Footnote 291: The governor of a province would stand in such a matter
in the place of the prætor in Rome, _i.e._, he would decide on questions
of law, not of fact, as, whether a debt was due or not. However, Quintus
perhaps only erred in the form of his injunction. He might forbid the
deceased's estate being touched till the question of Fundanius's debt
was decided; but in his letter he assumed (as he had no right to do)
that the claim was good. Substantially it seems to me that Quintus was
right, and certainly in his appeal to him Cicero does not follow his own
injunction to disregard personal feelings.]
[Footnote 292: ὀρθὰν τὰν ναῦν. Quintus had written, it seems, defiantly
about the slanders afloat against him, and had quoted two Greek
proverbial sayings. The first is found in Stobæus, 108 (extract from
Teles): "It was a fine saying of the pilot, 'At least, Poseidon, a ship
well trimmed,'" _i.e._, if you sink my ship, she shall at least go down
with honour. Quintus means, "Whatever my enemies may do afterwards, I
will keep my province in a sound state as long as I am here."]
[Footnote 293: ἅπαξ θανεῖν, perhaps "Better to die once for all than
give in to every unjust demand." The editors quote Æschylus, _Pr. V._
769:
κρεῖσσον γὰρ εἰσάπαξ θανεῖν
ἢ θὰς ἁπάσας ἡμέρας πάσχειν κακῶς.
But I don't feel sure that this is the passage alluded to.]
[Footnote 294: Reading _queruntur_ for _quæ sunt_.]
[Footnote 295: Gaius Cato, tribune B.C. 56.]
[Footnote 296: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who as prætor threatened Cæsar
with impeachment, and as consul (B.C. 54) tried to get him recalled. He
was, in 50-49, appointed Cæsar's successor in Gaul, defended Marseilles
against him, and eventually fell in the battle of Pharsalia. P. Nigidius
Figulus supported Cicero during the Catiline conspiracy. Gaius Memmius,
ædile B.C. 60 (see p. 51). Lucretius dedicated his poem to him. L.
Cornelius Lentulus Crus, consul B.C. 49, accused Clodius in B.C. 61,
murdered in Africa after Pompey, B.C. 48.]
LIII (F XIII, 42)
TO L. CULLEOLUS (IN ILLYRICUM)
ROME[297]
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
My friend L. Lucceius,[298] the most delightful fellow in the world, has
expressed in my presence amazingly warm thanks to you, saying that you
have given most complete and liberal promises to his agents. Since your
words have roused such gratitude in him, you may imagine how grateful he
will be for the thing itself, when, as I hope, you will have performed
your promise. In any case the people of Bullis have shewn that they
intend to do Lucceius right according to the award of Pompey. But we
have very great need of the additional support of your wishes,
influence, and prætorian authority. That you should give us these I beg
you again and again. And this will be particularly gratifying to me,
because Lucceius's agents know, and Lucceius himself gathered from your
letter to him, that no one's influence has greater weight with you than
mine. I ask you once more, and reiterate my request, that he may find
that to be the case by practical experience.
[Footnote 297: There is no direct means of dating these letters, as we
have no other information as to the proconsulship of Culleolus.
Illyricum was not always a separate government, but was sometimes under
the governor of Macedonia, sometimes under the governor of Gaul. The
indications of date are (1) Pompey is at home and often seen by Cicero,
therefore it is not between the spring of B.C. 67 and the end of 62; (2)
it is not later than March, B.C. 58, because from that time for ten
years Cæsar was governor of Illyricum, and before he ceased to be so
Pompey had left Italy, never to return. Even if Culleolus was not
governor of Illyricum, but of Macedonia, the same argument holds good,
for C. Antonius was in Macedonia B.C. 63-60, and Octavius from B.C. 60
to March, B.C. 59. That is, Culleolus could not have been in Macedonia
while Pompey was in Italy till after March, B.C. 59.]
[Footnote 298: L. Lucceius, whom we have heard of before as a candidate
for the consulship with Cæsar, and whom we shall hear of again as the
author of a history of the social and civil wars (Sulla and Marius), and
as being asked to write on Cicero's consulship. He was a close friend of
Pompey, and took his side in B.C. 49 (Cæs. _B. C._ iii. 18). The people
of Bullis owed Lucceius money, and Cicero asks for "mandatory letters"
from Culleolus to get it.]
LIV (F XIII, 41)
TO L. CULLEOLUS (IN ILLYRICUM)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 59, ÆT. 47]
In what you have done for the sake of L. Lucceius, I wish you to be
fully aware that you have obliged a man who will be exceedingly
grateful; and that, while this is very much the case with Lucceius
himself, so also Pompey as often as he sees me--and he sees me very
often--thanks you in no common terms. I add also, what I know will be
exceedingly gratifying to you, that I am myself immensely delighted with
your kindness to Lucceius. For the rest, though I have no doubt that as
you acted before for my sake, so now, for the sake of your own
consistency, you will abide by your liberal intentions, yet I reiterate
my request to you with all earnestness, that what you first gave us
reason to hope, and then actually carried out, you would be so good as
to see extended and brought to a final completion by your means. I
assure you, and I pledge my credit to it, that such a course will be
exceedingly gratifying to both Lucceius and Pompey, and that you will be
making a most excellent investment with them. About politics, and about
the business going on here, and what we are all thinking about, I wrote
to you in full detail a few days ago, and delivered the letter to your
servants. Farewell.
LETTERS IN EXILE
[Sidenote: B.C. 58. Coss., L. Piso, A. Gabinius.]
We have no record in Cicero's correspondence of the final measures
taken by Clodius against him. We find him when the correspondence
for this year opens on his way to exile: all his boasts of staying
and fighting have been thrown to the winds. Clodius, indeed, had
not simply done what Cicero expected at the worst--impeached him.
He had gone more systematically to work. Among other measures
calculated to win popularity, he proposed a modification of the
_lex Ælia Fufia_, declaring it illegal for a magistrate to stop
legislative _comitia_ by "watching the sky." Thus freed from one
hindrance, he next proposed and carried a law for the prosecution
of any magistrate who had put a citizen to death without trial
(_qui indemnatos cives necavisset_). Cicero at once recognized his
danger: if the people voted this law, a jury could scarcely fail to
condemn. The triumvirs would do nothing. Pompey, after all his
promises, avoided seeing Cicero as much as possible: Cæsar offered
him a _legatio_ again; and though he spoke against giving the law a
retrospective effect, he could not consistently object to the law
itself, and shewed no sign of desiring to shelter Cicero, except on
his consenting to leave Rome. Cicero then adopted the course which
was open to all citizens threatened with a prosecution--that of
going away from Rome--and started apparently with the view of going
to Malta. Whether it was wise or not, Cicero afterwards lamented
having taken this course, and thought that he had better have
braved the danger and stood his trial. It at any rate facilitated
the next move of Clodius, who proposed and carried a bill
forbidding Cicero "fire and water" within 500 (afterwards reduced
to 400) miles of Italy, and confiscating his property. Accordingly,
Cicero had to go much farther than he had intended. He crossed from
Brundisium to Dyrrachium, and proceeded along the _via Egnatia_ to
its terminus at Thessalonica, where he spent the autumn, B.C. 58.
In November, B.C. 58, he returned to Dyrrachium, ready for the
recall which he heard was imminent. Meanwhile his town house was
destroyed, its site made a _templum_, and a statue of Liberty set
up in it, and his villas at Tusculum and Antium dismantled. The
dangers of his position are not exaggerated in his letters, and may
account for much of their melancholy tone. He had lost the
protection of the laws, and any one of his many enemies meeting him
might have killed him with practical impunity. He seems to have
left Rome in April.
LV (A III, 3)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
VIBO, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I hope I may see the day when I shall thank you for having compelled me
to remain alive! At present I thoroughly repent it. But I beg you to
come and see me at Vibo at once, to which town I have for several
reasons directed my journey.[299] But if you will only come there, I
shall be able to consult you about my entire journey and exile. If you
don't do so, I shall be surprised, but I feel sure you will.
[Footnote 299: Mod. _Monte Leone_, on the road to Rhegium, from which at
this time Cicero meant to cross to Sicily, and thence to Malta.]
LVI (A III, 2)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
NARES LUCANÆ,[300] APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
The reason for having come this journey is that there was no place where
I could be independent except on Sica's estate,[301] especially till the
bill is emended,[302] and at the same time because I find that from this
spot I can reach Brundisium, if you were only with me, but without you I
cannot stay in those parts owing to Autronius.[303] At present, as I
said in my previous letter, if you will come to me, we shall be able to
form a plan for the whole business. I know the journey is troublesome,
but the whole calamity is full of troubles. I cannot write more, I am so
heart-broken and dejected. Take care of your health.
From Nares Lucanæ, 8 April.
[Footnote 300: Nares Lucanæ (_Monte Nero_), near the River Silarus, and
on the _via Popilia_ (south-western branch of the _Appia_). Cicero has
therefore come north again from Vibo, having given up the idea of
Rhegium and Sicily, and making for Beneventum, and so by the _via Appia_
for Brundisium.]
[Footnote 301: A friend of Cicero's, of whose death at Brundisium we
afterwards hear (_Fam._ xiv. 4, § 6).]
[Footnote 302: The bill originally named 500 miles as the distance from
Italy. Before passing it had to be put up in public three weeks
(_trinundinæ_), and meanwhile might be amended, and was amended to 400.]
[Footnote 303: P. Autronius Pætus, one of Catiline's confederates, who
would injure Cicero if he could. Cicero would not be able to reach
Epirus without coming within his reach; for he had been condemned for
_ambitus_, and was in exile there or in Achaia. _Illas partes_=Epirus.]
LVII (A III, 4)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
NEAR VIBO, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I hope you will attribute my sudden departure from Vibo, whither I had
asked you come, to my unhappiness rather than to fickleness. A copy of
the bill for my ruin was brought to me, in which the correction of which
I had been told was to the effect that I might legally remain anywhere
beyond 400 miles. Since I was not allowed to go yonder,[304] I set out
towards Brundisium before the day for carrying the bill had come, both
to prevent Sica, in whose house I was staying, from being ruined,[305]
and because I was prevented from residing at Malta. So now make haste to
catch me up, if only I shall find any welcome there.[306] At present I
receive kind invitations. But about the rest of my journey I am nervous.
Truly, my dear Pomponius, I am very sorry I consented to live: in which
matter you exercised the chief influence with me. But of these things
when we meet. Only be sure and come.
[Footnote 304: To Malta. The proprætor of Sicily, C. Vergilius, opposed
his going to Malta, which was in the province of Sicily, though it had a
_primus_ of its own (_Planc._ 40; Plut. _Cic._ 32).]
[Footnote 305: Because of entertaining the condemned man, a special
proviso in this law (Dio, xxxviii. 17).]
[Footnote 306: In Epirus, believing that Atticus will understand that
his going to Brundisium means that he will go to Epirus: and as Atticus
lives there, he naturally asks him to come to meet him. Epirus was, for
certain purposes at least, in the province of Macedonia, and it depended
on the governor, L. Appuleius Saturninus, what reception he would meet.
His friend Plancius was quæstor.]
LVIII (A III, 1)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THURIUM, ON THE WAY TO BRUNDISIUM, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I always thought that it was of great importance to me that you should
be with me: but when I read the bill, then, indeed, I understood that
there could be nothing more desirable for me than that you should
overtake me as soon as possible, in order that, if after quitting Italy
I should have to travel through Epirus, I might avail myself of your
protection and that of your friends; or, if I had to adopt any other
plan, I might come to some definite resolution in accordance with your
opinion. Wherefore I beg you to do your best to overtake me promptly,
which will be easier for you to do since the law about the province of
Macedonia has now been passed.[307] I would urge you at greater length
were it not that with you facts speak for me.
[Footnote 307: One of Clodius's concessions to the consuls, to keep them
quiet, was to get Macedonia assigned by a _lex_ to L. Calpurnius Piso.
As Atticus lived in what was practically part of the province, and had
much business there, it was important to him to be on the spot, and try
to influence the choice of a governor. That being over, he would not
have so much to detain him in Rome.]
LIX (A III, 5)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THURIUM, 10 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Terentia thanks you frequently and very warmly. That is a great comfort
to me. I am the most miserable man alive, and am being worn out with the
most poignant sorrow. I don't know what to write to you. For if you are
at Rome, it is now too late for you to reach me; but if you are on the
road, we shall discuss together all that needs to be discussed when you
have overtaken me. All I ask you is to retain the same affection for me,
since it was always myself you loved. For I am the same man: my enemies
have taken what was mine, they have not taken myself. Take care of your
health.
From Thurium, 10 April.
LX (A III, 6)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ON THE WAY TO TARENTUM, 18 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I had felt certain of seeing you at Tarentum or Brundisium, and that was
of importance to me in many respects: among others, as to my being able
to stay in Epirus and consult you about the future. My disappointment in
this is only another item in the long list of my misfortunes.[308] I
mean to go to Asia, to Cyzicus for choice. I commend my family to you. I
am very wretched and can scarcely support my life.
From near Tarentum, 17 April.
[Footnote 308: We suppose that Cicero has heard from Atticus that he is
not going to be at Tarentum or Brundisium, for he writes before arriving
at either.]
LXI (F XIV, 4)
TO TERENTIA, TULLIOLA, AND YOUNG CICERO (AT ROME)
BRUNDISIUM, 29 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Yes, I do write to you less often than I might, because, though I am
always wretched, yet when I write to you or read a letter from you, I am
in such floods of tears that I cannot endure it. Oh, that I had clung
less to life! I should at least never have known real sorrow, or not
much of it, in my life. Yet if fortune has reserved for me _any_ hope of
recovering at any time any position again, I was not utterly wrong to do
so: if these miseries are to be permanent, I only wish, my dear, to see
you as soon as possible and to die in your arms, since neither gods,
whom you have worshipped with such pure devotion, nor men, whom I have
ever served, have made us any return. I have been thirteen days at
Brundisium in the house of M. Lænius Flaccus, a very excellent man, who
has despised the risk to his fortunes and civil existence in comparison
to keeping me safe, nor has been induced by the penalty of a most
iniquitous law to refuse me the rights and good offices of hospitality
and friendship. May I some time have the opportunity of repaying him!
Feel gratitude I always shall. I set out from Brundisium on the 29th of
April,[309] and intend going through Macedonia to Cyzicus. What a fall!
What a disaster! What can I say? Should I ask you to come--a woman of
weak health and broken spirit? Should I refrain from asking you? Am I to
be without you, then? I think the best course is this: if there is any
hope of my restoration, stay to promote it and push the thing on: but
if, as I fear, it proves hopeless, pray come to me by any means in your
power. Be sure of this, that if I have you I shall not think myself
wholly lost. But what is to become of my darling Tullia? You must see to
that now: I can think of nothing. But certainly, however things turn
out, we must do everything to promote that poor little girl's married
happiness and reputation. Again, what is my boy Cicero to do? Let him,
at any rate, be ever in my bosom and in my arms.[310] I can't write
more. A fit of weeping hinders me. I don't know how you have got on;
whether you are left in possession of anything, or have been, as I fear,
entirely plundered. Piso, as you say, I hope will always be our friend.
As to the manumission of the slaves you need not be uneasy. To begin
with, the promise made to yours was that you would treat them according
as each severally deserved. So far Orpheus has behaved well, besides him
no one very markedly so. With the rest of the slaves the arrangement is
that, if my property is forfeited, they should become my freedmen,
supposing them to be able to maintain at law that status.[311] But if my
property remained in my ownership, they were to continue slaves, with
the exception of a very few. But these are trifles. To return to your
advice, that I should keep up my courage and not give up hope of
recovering my position, I only wish that there were any good grounds for
entertaining such a hope. As it is, when, alas! shall I get a letter
from you? Who will bring it me? I would have waited for it at
Brundisium, but the sailors would not allow it, being unwilling to lose
a favourable wind. For the rest, put as dignified a face on the matter
as you can, my dear Terentia. Our life is over: we have had our day: it
is not any fault of ours that has ruined us, but our virtue. I have made
no false step, except in not losing my life when I lost my honours. But
since our children preferred my living, let us bear everything else,
however intolerable. And yet I, who encourage you, cannot encourage
myself. I have sent that faithful fellow Clodius Philhetærus home,
because he was hampered with weakness of the eyes. Sallustius seems
likely to outdo everybody in his attentions. Pescennius is exceedingly
kind to me; and I have hopes that he will always be attentive to you.
Sica had said that he would accompany me; but he has left Brundisium.
Take the greatest possible care of your health, and believe me that I am
more affected by your distress than my own. My dear Terentia, most
faithful and best of wives, and my darling little daughter, and that
last hope of my race, Cicero, good-bye!
29 April, from Brundisium.
[Footnote 309: Reading _prid. Kal._ instead of _a. d. II. Kal._, which
Tyrrell calls _audacius_ in Schutz. But absolute nonsense is not to be
kept even for a MS.
(1) Cicero says that he has been thirteen days at Brundisium. In the
next letter he tells Atticus he arrived on the 17th. That, in the Roman
way of counting, brings it to _prid._ (29th).
(2) Either the date at the end of the letter is wrong, or _prid._ must
be used here
(3) There is no such date properly as _a. d. II. Kal._ The day before
_prid._ is _a. d. III_.
In regard to dates we must remember that Cicero is using the præ-Julian
calendar, in which all months, except February, March, May, July, and
October, had twenty-nine days. These last four had thirty-one and
February twenty-eight.]
[Footnote 310: Cicero does not mean that young Marcus is to come to him
at once, but that, when Tullia's marriage portion is settled, Terentia
is to bring him with her if she comes. Really he didn't mean any of them
to come, at any rate for a long while. Piso is Tullia's husband.]
[Footnote 311: If Cicero's property was confiscated, it might be held
that the slaves went with it, and would be sold with it, and that his
manumission of them was an evasion, which could not hold good at law. If
his property was not confiscated, they were to remain in their status as
slaves. See Letter CXCII.]
LXII (A III, 7)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
BRUNDISIUM, 29 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I arrived at Brundisium on the 17th of April. On that day your slaves
delivered me your letter, and some other slaves, on the next day but
one, brought me another. As to your invitation and advice to stay at
your house in Epirus, your kindness is most gratifying, and far from
being a novelty. It is a plan that would have exactly suited my wishes,
if I might have spent all my time there: for I loathe a crowd of
visitors, I can scarcely bear the light, and that solitude, especially
in a spot so familiar, would have been the reverse of disagreeable. But
to put up there as a mere stage in my journey! In the first place it is
far out of my way, and in the next it is only four days from Autronius
and the rest, and in the third place you are not there. Had I been going
to reside permanently, a fortified castle would have been an advantage,
but to one only passing through it is unnecessary. Why, if I had not
been afraid, I should have made for Athens[312]--there were
circumstances that made me much wish to go--but as it is, I have enemies
in the neighbourhood, you are not there, and I fear they[313] might hold
even that town not to be the legal distance from Italy, nor do you
mention by what day I am to expect you. As to your urging me to remain
alive, you carry one point--that I should not lay violent hands upon
myself: the other you cannot bring to pass--that I should not regret my
policy and my continuance in life. For what is there to attach me to it,
especially if the hope which accompanied me on my departure is
non-existent? I will not attempt to enumerate all the miseries into
which I have fallen through the extreme injustice and unprincipled
conduct, not so much of my enemies, as of those who were jealous of me,
because I do not wish to stir up a fresh burst of grief in myself, or
invite you to share the same sorrow. I say this deliberately--that no
one was ever afflicted with so heavy a calamity, that no one had ever
greater cause to wish for death; while I have let slip the time when I
might have sought it most creditably. Henceforth death can never heal,
it can only end my sorrow.[314] In politics I perceive that you collect
all circumstances that you think may inspire me with a hope of a change:
and though they are insignificant, yet, since you will have it so, let
us have patience. In spite of what you say, you will catch us up if you
make haste. For I will either come into Epirus to be near you, or I will
travel slowly through Candavia.[315] My hesitation about Epirus is not
caused by vacillation on my part, but by the fact that I do not know
where I am likely to see my brother. As to him, I neither know how I am
to see him, nor how I shall let him go. That is the greatest and most
distressing of all my distresses. I would indeed have written to you
oftener, and at greater length, had it not been that sorrow, while it
has affected all parts of my intellect, has above all entirely destroyed
my faculty for this kind of writing. I long to see you. Take care of
your health.
Brundisium, 29 April.
[Footnote 312: He means that had it not been for enemies in Greece and
Epirus, he should not only have gone as far south as Epirus, but
farther--to Athens. There is a good deal to be said for Schutz's
reading, _Achaiam_ for _Athenas_, but as the MS. reading can be
explained, it is safer to keep it.]
[Footnote 313: The Clodian party at Rome. "That town" is Athens.]
[Footnote 314: "I have lost my chance of dying with honour; henceforth
death may end my grief, but cannot heal my damaged reputation." _Reliqua
tempora_, _i.e._, other opportunities of suicide.]
[Footnote 315: A mountain range in Illyria, over which the _via Egnatia_
passes (mod. _Elbassán_).]
LXIII (A III, 8)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 29 MAY
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I wrote to you at Brundisium, when on the point of starting, the reasons
for my not going to Epirus: namely, the proximity of Achaia, which was
full of enemies of the most unscrupulous character, and secondly, the
difficulty of leaving it when I wished to resume my journey. Added to
this, while I was at Dyrrachium two messages reached me: the first, that
my brother was coming from Ephesus to Athens by ship; the second, that
he was coming through Macedonia by land. Accordingly, I sent a message
to meet him at Athens, telling him to come thence to Thessalonica. I
myself continued my journey, and arrived at Thessalonica on the 23rd of
May, but have no certain intelligence about his journey except that he
had left Ephesus some time ago. At present I am feeling very nervous as
to what steps are being taken at Rome. Although you say in one of your
letters, dated the 15th of May, that you hear that he will be vigorously
prosecuted, in another you say that things are calming down. But then
the latter is dated a day before the former; which makes me all the more
anxious. So while my own personal sorrow is every day tearing my heart
and wearing out my strength, this additional anxiety indeed scarcely
leaves me any life at all. However, the voyage itself was very
difficult, and he perhaps, being uncertain where I was, has taken some
other course. For my freedman Phaetho saw nothing of him. Phaetho was
driven by the wind from Ilium[316] to Macedonia, and met me at Pella.
How formidable other circumstances are I am fully aware, and I don't
know what to say to you. I fear everything, nor is there any misery
which would not seem possible in my present unfortunate position.
Miserable as I still am in the midst of my heavy trials and sorrows, now
that this anxiety is added to them, I remain at Thessalonica in a state
of suspense without venturing upon any step whatever.
Now to answer you. I have not seen Cæcilius Trypho. I comprehend from
your letter what you and Pompey have been saying. That any movement in
politics is impending I cannot see as clearly as you either see, or
perhaps only suggest for my consolation. For, as the case of Tigranes
was passed over, all hope of a rupture is at an end.[317] You bid me
thank Varro: I will do so; also Hypsæus.[318] As to your advice not to
go farther off till the _acta_[319] of the month of May reach me, I
think I shall do as you suggest. But where to stay? I have not yet come
to any decision. And indeed my mind is so uneasy about Quintus, that I
can determine on nothing. However, I will let you know immediately. From
the incoherent nature of my letters I think you will understand the
agitation of my mind, caused not so much by my misery, though I have
been overwhelmed by an incredible and unparalleled calamity, as by the
recollection of my blunder. For by whose unprincipled advice I was egged
on and betrayed you certainly now perceive,[320] and oh that you had
perceived it before, and had not given your whole mind to lamentation
along with me! Wherefore, when you are told that I am prostrate and
unmanned with grief, consider that I am more distressed at my own folly
than at the result of it, in having believed a man whom I did not think
to be treacherous. My writing is impeded both by the recollection of my
own disasters, and by my alarm about my brother. Yes, pray look after
and direct all the affairs you mention. Terentia expresses the warmest
gratitude to you. I have sent you a copy of the letter which I have
written to Pompey.
Thessalonica, 29 May.
[Footnote 316: Reading _ab Ilio_ with Madvig for _ab illo_.]
[Footnote 317: Tigranes, a son of the king of Armenia, was brought to
Rome by Pompey to adorn his triumph, and put under the care of Lucius
Flavius. This prince was, for a bribe, released by Clodius by a trick,
and the attempt to get him away led to a scuffle in which lives were
lost. Pompey regarded this as a slight upon himself, and his partisan,
the consul Gabinius, attempted to prevent it. But both were hustled in
the forum and treated with insults. The hope of a breach in the
triumvirate arose from the supposition that Clodius had the support of
Cæsar in his high-handed proceeding (Dio, xxxviii. 30; Plut. _Pomp._ 48;
Ascon. 47).]
[Footnote 318: P. Plautius Hypsæus, who had been Pompey's quæstor and on
intimate terms with him. He had been, it seems, interesting himself on
Cicero's behalf.]
[Footnote 319: The gazette of public transactions and measures passed in
the senate, which was sent round to the provinces. We shall hear of it
again.]
[Footnote 320: The next letter shews that he means Hortensius. The
blunder which he complains of having committed, by the advice of
Hortensius, is that of having left Rome, rather than stay and brave the
impeachment.]
LXIV (A III, 9)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 13 JUNE
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
My brother Quintus having quitted Asia before the 1st of May, and
arrived at Athens on the 15th, he would have to make great haste to
prevent proceedings being commenced against him in his absence,
supposing there to be some one who was not content with the misfortunes
we have already sustained. Accordingly, I preferred that he should hurry
on to Rome rather than come to me; and at the same time--for I will tell
you the truth, and it will give you a notion of the extent of my
wretchedness--I could not make up my mind to see him, devotedly attached
to me as he is, and a man of most tender feelings, or to obtrude upon
him my miseries and ruin in all their wretchedness, or to endure their
being seen by him. And I was besides afraid of what certainly would have
happened--that he would not have had the resolution to leave me. I had
ever before my eyes the time when he would either have to dismiss his
lictors,[321] or be violently torn from my arms. The prospect of this
bitter pain I have avoided by the other bitter pain of not seeing my
brother. It is all you, who advised me to continue living, that have
forced me into this distressful position. Accordingly, I am paying the
penalty of my error. However, I am sustained by your letter, from which
I easily perceive how high your own hopes are. This did give me some
consolation, but only, after all, till you passed from the mention of
Pompey to the passage beginning "Now try and win over Hortensius and
men of that sort." In heaven's name, my dear Pomponius, don't you yet
perceive by whose means, by whose treachery, by whose dishonest advice,
I have been ruined? But all this I will discuss with you when we meet. I
will only say this much, which I think you know: it is not my enemies,
but my jealous rivals, that have ruined me. Now, however, if things are
really as you hope, I will keep up my spirits, and will rely upon the
hope on which you bid me rely. But if, as I myself think, this proves
illusory, what I was not allowed to do at the best time shall be done at
a worse.[322] Terentia often expresses her gratitude to you. For myself
one of my miseries also consists in fear--the business of my unhappy
brother. If I could only know how it stands, I should know what I ought
to do. Personally, the hope of the advantages and of the letters you
mention keeps me still, as you advise, at Thessalonica. If I get any
news, I shall know what I ought to do about the rest. Yes, if, as you
say in your letter, you left Rome on the 1st of June, you will soon see
us. I have sent you a letter which I wrote to Pompey.
Thessalonica, 15 June.
[Footnote 321: Because, though a provincial governor retained his
lictors till he reached Rome, he was bound to go straight home or
dismiss them.]
[Footnote 322: _I.e._, suicide.]
LXV (Q FR I, 3)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (ON HIS WAY TO ROME)
THESSALONICA, 15 JUNE
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Brother! Brother! Brother! did you really fear that I had been induced
by some angry feeling to send slaves to you without a letter? Or even
that I did not wish to see you? I to be angry with you! Is it possible
for me to be angry with you? Why, one would think that it was you that
brought me low! Your enemies, your unpopularity, that miserably ruined
me, and not I that unhappily ruined you! The fact is, the much-praised
consulate of mine has deprived me of you, of children, country, fortune;
from you I should hope it will have taken nothing but myself. Certainly
on your side I have experienced nothing but what was honourable and
gratifying: on mine you have grief for my fall and fear for your own,
regret, mourning, desertion. _I_ not wish to see you? The truth is
rather that I was unwilling to be seen by you. For you would not have
seen your brother--not the brother you had left, not the brother you
knew, not him to whom you had with mutual tears bidden farewell as he
followed you on your departure for your province: not a trace even or
faint image of him, but rather what I may call the likeness of a living
corpse. And oh that you had sooner seen me or heard of me as a corpse!
Oh that I could have left you to survive, not my life merely, but my
undiminished rank! But I call all the gods to witness that the one
argument which recalled me from death was, that all declared that to
some extent your life depended upon mine. In which matter I made an
error and acted culpably. For if I had died, that death itself would
have given clear evidence of my fidelity and love to you. As it is, I
have allowed you to be deprived of my aid, though I am alive, and with
me still living to need the help of others; and my voice, of all others,
to fail when dangers threatened my family, which had so often been
successfully used in the defence of the merest strangers. For as to the
slaves coming to you without a letter, the real reason (for you see that
it was not anger) was a deadness of my faculties, and a seemingly
endless deluge of tears and sorrows. How many tears do you suppose these
very words have cost me? As many as I know they will cost you to read
them! Can I ever refrain from thinking of you or ever think of you
without tears? For when I miss you, is it only a brother that I miss?
Rather it is a brother of almost my own age in the charm of his
companionship, a son in his consideration for my wishes, a father in the
wisdom of his advice! What pleasure did I ever have without you, or you
without me? And what must my case be when at the same time I miss a
daughter: How affectionate! how modest! how clever! The express image of
my face, of my speech, of my very soul! Or again a son, the prettiest
boy, the very joy of my heart? Cruel inhuman monster that I am, I
dismissed him from my arms better schooled in the world than I could
have wished: for the poor child began to understand what was going on.
So, too, your own son, your own image, whom my little Cicero loved as a
brother, and was now beginning to respect as an elder brother! Need I
mention also how I refused to allow my unhappy wife--the truest of
helpmates--to accompany me, that there might be some one to protect the
wrecks of the calamity which had fallen on us both, and guard our common
children? Nevertheless, to the best of my ability, I did write a letter
to you, and gave it to your freedman Philogonus, which, I believe, was
delivered to you later on; and in this I repeated the advice and
entreaty, which had been already transmitted to you as a message from me
by my slaves, that you should go on with your journey and hasten to
Rome. For, in the first place, I desired your protection, in case there
were any of my enemies whose cruelty was not yet satisfied by my fall.
In the next place, I dreaded the renewed lamentation which our meeting
would cause: while I could not have borne your departure, and was afraid
of the very thing you mention in your letter--that you would be unable
to tear yourself away. For these reasons the supreme pain of not seeing
you--and nothing more painful or more wretched could, I think, have
happened to the most affectionate and united of brothers--was a less
misery than would have been such a meeting followed by such a parting.
Now, if you can, though I, whom you always regarded as a brave man,
cannot do so, rouse yourself and collect your energies in view of any
contest you may have to confront. I hope, if my hope has anything to go
upon, that your own spotless character and the love of your fellow
citizens, and even remorse for my treatment, may prove a certain
protection to you. But if it turns out that you are free from personal
danger, you will doubtless do whatever you think can be done for me. In
that matter, indeed, many write to me at great length and declare that
they have hopes; but I personally cannot see what hope there is, since
my enemies have the greatest influence, while my friends have in some
cases deserted, in others even betrayed me, fearing perhaps in my
restoration a censure on their own treacherous conduct. But how matters
stand with you I would have you ascertain and report to me. In any case
I shall continue to live as long as you shall need me, in view of any
danger you may have to undergo: longer than that I cannot go on in this
kind of life. For there is neither wisdom nor philosophy with sufficient
strength to sustain such a weight of grief. I know that there has been a
time for dying, more honourable and more advantageous; and this is not
the only one of my many omissions, which, if I should choose to bewail,
I should merely be increasing your sorrow and emphasizing my own
stupidity. But one thing I am not bound to do, and it is in fact
impossible--remain in a life so wretched and so dishonoured any longer
than your necessities, or some well-grounded hope, shall demand. For I,
who was lately supremely blessed in brother, children, wife, wealth, and
in the very nature of that wealth, while in position, influence,
reputation, and popularity, I was inferior to none, however
distinguished--I cannot, I repeat, go on longer lamenting over myself
and those dear to me in a life of such humiliation as this, and in a
state of such utter ruin. Wherefore, what do you mean by writing to me
about negotiating a bill of exchange? As though I were not now wholly
dependent on your means! And that is just the very thing in which I see
and feel, to my misery, of what a culpable act I have been guilty in
squandering to no purpose the money which I received from the treasury
in your name,[323] while you have to satisfy your creditors out of the
very vitals of yourself and your son. However, the sum mentioned in your
letter has been paid to M. Antonius, and the same amount to Cæpio. For
me the sum at present in my hands is sufficient for what I contemplate
doing. For in either case--whether I am restored or given up in
despair--I shall not want any more money. For yourself, if you are
molested, I think you should apply to Crassus and Calidius. I don't know
how far Hortensius is to be trusted. Myself, with the most elaborate
pretence of affection and the closest daily intimacy, he treated with
the most utter want of principle and the most consummate treachery, and
Q. Arrius helped him in it: acting under whose advice, promises, and
injunctions, I was left helpless to fall into this disaster. But this
you will keep dark for fear they might injure you. Take care also--and
it is on this account that I think you should cultivate Hortensius
himself by means of Pomponius--that the epigram on the _lex
Aurelia_[324] attributed to you when candidate for the ædileship is not
proved by false testimony to be yours. For there is nothing that I am so
afraid of as that, when people understand how much pity for me your
prayers and your acquittal will rouse, they may attack you with all the
greater violence. Messalla I reckon as really attached to you: Pompey I
regard as still pretending only. But may you never have to put these
things to the test! And that prayer I would have offered to the gods had
they not ceased to listen to prayers of mine. However, I do pray that
they may be content with these endless miseries of ours; among which,
after all, there is no discredit for any wrong thing done--sorrow is the
beginning and end, sorrow that punishment is most severe when our
conduct has been most unexceptionable. As to my daughter and yours and
my young Cicero, why should I recommend them to you, my dear brother?
Rather I grieve that their orphan state will cause you no less sorrow
than it does me. Yet as long as you are uncondemned they will not be
fatherless. The rest, by my hopes of restoration and the privilege of
dying in my fatherland, my tears will not allow me to write! Terentia
also I would ask you to protect, and to write me word on every subject.
Be as brave as the nature of the case admits.
Thessalonica, 13 June.
[Footnote 323: See pp. 92, 107.]
[Footnote 324: Quintus was a candidate in B.C. 66 for the ædileship of
the following year. The _lex Aurelia_, which divided the juries between
the senators, equites, and _tribuni ærarii_, was passed in Pompey's
first consulship, B.C. 70. As this was the compromise in the matter of
the _iudicia_ favoured by Pompey, Hortensius, and the like, an attack on
it would be likely to give offence.]
LXVI (A III, 10)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 17 JUNE
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
The public transactions up to the 25th of May I have learnt from your
letter. I am waiting for the rest, as you advised, at Thessalonica; and
when they arrive I shall be better able to decide where to be. For if
there is any reason, if any action is being taken, if I shall see any
hopes, I shall either wait in the same place or go to your house; but
if, as you say, these hopes have vanished into air, I shall look out for
something else. At present you do not give me any indication except the
disagreement of those friends of yours, which, however, arises between
them on every kind of subject rather than myself. Therefore I don't see
what good it is to me. However, as long as you all will have me hope, I
shall obey you. For as to your scoldings so frequent and so severe, and
your saying that I am faint-hearted, I would ask you what misery is
there so heavy as not to be included in my disfranchisement? Did anyone
ever fall from such a high position, in so good a cause, with such
endowments of genius, wisdom and popularity, with such powerful supports
from all loyalists? Can I forget what I was, and not feel what I am? Of
what honour, of what glory, of what children, of what means, of what a
brother I am deprived? This last, indeed, to draw your attention to a
new kind of disaster--though I valued him, and always had done so, more
than myself--I have avoided seeing, lest I should behold his grief and
mourning, or lest I--whom he had left in the highest prosperity--should
obtrude myself upon him in a state of ruin and humiliation. I pass over
the other particulars that are past bearing: for I am prevented by my
tears. And here, let me ask, am I to be blamed for my grief, or for the
unfortunate mistake of not retaining these advantages (and I could
easily have done so, had not a plot for my destruction been hatched
within my own walls), or at least of not losing them without losing my
life at the same time? My purpose in writing these words is that you
should rather console me, as you do, than think me deserving of
correction or chiding; and the reason of the comparative brevity of my
letters is, in the first place, that I am hindered by outbursts of
sorrow, and, in the second place, that I have news to expect from Rome
rather than any to communicate myself. But when that news arrives I will
let you know my plans. Pray, as you have done hitherto, write to me on
as many subjects as possible, that I may not be ignorant of any possible
thing there is to know.
Thessalonica, 17 June.
LXVII (A III, 11)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 27 JUNE
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I have been kept at Thessalonica up to this time as well by your letter
and some good news (which, however, did not rest on the best authority),
and the expectation of hearing from you all at Rome, as by the fact that
you advised my doing so. When I receive the letters which I expect, if
there turns out to be the hope which rumour brings me, I shall go to
your house;[325] if otherwise, I will inform you of what I have done.
Pray go on, as you are doing, and help me by your exertions, advice, and
influence. Cease now consoling me, but yet don't chide me; for when you
do that, I fail to recognize your affection and regret! Yet I believe
you to be so distressed yourself at my wretchedness, that it is not
within anyone's power to console you. Give your support to Quintus, my
best and kindest of brothers. Pray write to me fully on everything.
27 June.
[Footnote 325: _I.e._, to the house of Atticus at Buthrotum.]
LXVIII (A III, 12)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 17 JULY
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Well, you argue earnestly as to what hope is to be entertained, and
especially through the action of the senate, and yet you mention that
the clause of the bill is being posted up, in virtue of which the
subject is forbidden to be mentioned in the senate. Accordingly, not a
word is said about it. In these circumstances you find fault with me for
distressing myself, when the fact is I am already more distressed than
anybody ever was, as you know very well. You hold out hope as a
consequence of the elections. What hope can there be with the same man
tribune, and a consul-designate who is my enemy?[326] But you have dealt
me a blow in what you say about my speech having got abroad.[327] Pray
do your best to heal that wound, as you express it. I did indeed write
one some time ago, in a fit of anger at what he had first composed
against me; but I had taken such pains to suppress it, that I thought it
would never get into circulation. How it has leaked out I cannot think.
But since the occasion never arose for my having a word of dispute with
him, and since it appears to me to be more carelessly written than my
other speeches, I think it might be maintained not to be by me. Pray
look after this if you think I can do anything to remedy the mischief;
but if my ruin is inevitable, I don't so much care about it. I am still
lying idle in the same place, without conversation, without being able
to think. Though, as you say, I have "intimated" to you my desire that
you should come to me, yet it is now clear to me[328] that you are doing
me useful service where you are, but could not give me even a word of
relief here. I cannot write any more, nor have I anything to say: I am
rather waiting to hear from you all.
Thessalonica, 17 July.
[Footnote 326: Clodius was not re-elected, and Q. Cæcilius Metellus
Nepos, who had as tribune (B.C. 63-62) been hostile to Cicero, now as
consul supported Pompey in befriending Cicero.]
[Footnote 327: The speech in the senate _in Curionem et Clodium_,
_i.e._, against the elder C. Curio, who had been Clodius's advocate in
B.C. 61 on the charge _de incesto_. Fragments only of it are preserved.
They are sufficiently violent. Cicero suggests repudiating the
authorship, because the speech had never been delivered, and therefore
was not necessarily intended for publication. There is no special reason
for abusing Cicero's character on this account. If some enemy had got
hold of the MS. and published it without his consent, it was not really
the expression of his deliberate sentiments.]
[Footnote 328: Reading _nunc tamen intellego_ for _si donatam ut
intellego_, which is meaningless. There may be latent in _si donatam_
some proper name, as _Dodonam_ or _Macedoniam_, but it is not possible
to extract it now. _Istic_, as usual, means "where you are," _i.e._, at
Rome.]
LXIX (A III, 14)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 21 JULY
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
From your letter I am full of anxiety to hear what Pompey's view is of
my case, or what he professes to be his view. The elections, I presume,
are over; and when they were over you say that he was of opinion that my
case should be mooted. If I seem foolish to you for entertaining hopes,
it is at your bidding that I do so: yet I know that you have in your
letters been usually inclined rather to check me and my hopes. Now pray
write distinctly what your view is. I know that I have fallen into this
distress from numerous errors of my own. If certain accidents have in
any degree corrected those errors, I shall be less sorry that I
preserved my life then and am still living. Owing to the constant
traffic along the road[329] and the daily expectation of political
change, I have as yet not removed from Thessalonica. But now I am being
forced away, not by Plancius--for he, indeed, wishes to keep me
here--but by the nature of the place, which is not at all calculated for
the residence of a disfranchised man in such a state of sorrow. I have
not gone to Epirus, as I had said I would, because all of a sudden the
messages and letters that arrived have all indicated it to be
unnecessary for me to be in the immediate neighbourhood of Italy. From
this place, as soon as I have heard something about the elections, I
shall set my face towards Asia, but to what particular part I am not yet
certain: however, you shall know.
Thessalonica, 21 July.
[Footnote 329: The _via Egnatia_, the road across Macedonia, which was
one of the great channels of communication between Rome and the East,
and which terminated at Thessalonica.]
LXX (A III, 13)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 5 AUGUST
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
As to my having written you word that I meant to go to Epirus, I changed
my plan when I saw that my hope was vanishing and fading away, and did
not remove from Thessalonica. I resolved to remain there until I heard
from you on the subject mentioned in your last letter, namely, that
there was going to be some motion made in the senate on my case
immediately after the elections, and that Pompey had told you so.
Wherefore, as the elections are over and I have no letter from you, I
shall consider it as though you had written to say that nothing has come
of it, and I shall not feel annoyed at having been buoyed up by a hope
which did not keep me long in suspense. But the movement, which you said
in your letter that you foresaw as likely to be to my advantage, people
arriving here tell me will not occur.[330] My sole remaining hope is in
the tribunes-designate: and if I wait to see how that turns out, you
will have no reason to think of me as having been wanting to my own
cause or the wishes of my friends. As to your constantly finding fault
with me for being so overwhelmed by my misfortune, you ought to pardon
me when you see that I have sustained a more crushing blow than anyone
you have ever seen or heard of. As to your saying that you are told that
my intellect in even affected by grief, that is not so; my intellect is
quite sound. Oh that it had been as much so in the hour of danger! when
I found those, to whom I thought my safety was the dearest object of
their life, most bitterly and unfeelingly hostile: who, when they saw
that I had somewhat lost my balance from fear, left nothing undone which
malice and treachery could suggest in giving me the final push, to my
utter ruin. Now, as I must go to Cyzicus, where I shall get letters
more rarely, I beg you to write me word all the more carefully of
everything you may think I ought to know. Be sure you are affectionate
to my brother Quintus: if in all my misery I still leave him with rights
undiminished, I shall not consider myself utterly ruined.
5 August.
[Footnote 330: The probable split among the triumvirs, alluded to in
Letter LXIII.]
LXXI (Q FR I, 4)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, AUGUST
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
I beg you, my dear brother, if you and all my family have been ruined by
my single misfortune, not to attribute it to dishonesty and bad conduct
on my part, rather than to short-sightedness and the wretched state I
was in. I have committed no fault except in trusting those whom I
believed to be bound by the most sacred obligation not to deceive me, or
whom I thought to be even interested in not doing so. All my most
intimate, nearest and dearest friends were either alarmed for themselves
or jealous of me: the result was that all I lacked was good faith on the
part of my friends and caution on my own.[331] But if your own blameless
character and the compassion of the world prove sufficient to preserve
you at this juncture from molestation, you can, of course, observe
whether any hope of restoration is left for me. For Pomponius, Sestius,
and my son-in-law Piso have caused me as yet to stay at Thessalonica,
forbidding me, on account of certain impending movements, to increase my
distance. But in truth I am awaiting the result more on account of their
letters than from any firm hope of my own. For what can I hope with an
enemy possessed of the most formidable power, with my detractors masters
of the state, with friends unfaithful, with numbers of people jealous?
However, of the new tribunes there is one, it is true, most warmly
attached to me--Sestius--and I hope Curius, Milo, Fadius, Fabricius;
but still there is Clodius in violent opposition, who even when out of
office will be able to stir up the passions of the mob by the help of
that same gang, and then there will be found some one also to veto the
bill.
Such a state of things was not put before me when I was leaving Rome,
but I often used to be told that I was certain to return in three days
with the greatest _éclat_. "What made you go, then?" you will say. What,
indeed! Many circumstances concurred to throw me off my balance--the
defection of Pompey, the hostility of the consuls, and of the prætors
also, the timidity of the _publicani_, the armed bands. The tears of my
friends prevented me seeking refuge in death, which would certainly have
been the best thing for my honour, the best escape from unbearable
sorrows. But I have written to you on this subject in the letter I gave
to Phaetho. Now that you have been plunged into griefs and troubles,
such as no one ever was before, if the compassion of the world can
lighten our common misfortune, you will, it seems, score a success
beyond belief! But if we are both utterly ruined--ah me!--I shall have
been the absolute destruction of my whole family, to whom I used to be
at least no discredit! But pray, as I said in a previous letter to you,
look into the business, test it thoroughly, and write to me with the
candour which our situation demands, and not as your affection for me
would dictate. I shall retain my life as long as I shall think that it
is in your interest for me to do so, or that it ought to be preserved
with a view to future hope. You will find Sestius most friendly to us,
and I believe that Lentulus, the coming consul, will also be so for your
sake. However, deeds are not so easy as words. You will see what is
wanted and what the truth is. On the whole, supposing that no one takes
advantage of your unprotected position and our common calamity, it is by
your means, or not at all, that something may be effected. But even if
your enemies have begun to annoy you, don't flinch: for _you_ will be
attacked by legal process, not by swords. However, I hope that this may
not occur. I beg you to write me back word on all subjects, and to
believe that though I have less spirit and resource than in old times, I
have quite as much affection and loyalty.
[Footnote 331: Reading _defuit_ for _fuit_.]
LXXII (A III, 15)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 17 AUGUST
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
On the 13th of August I received four letters from you: one in which you
urge me in a tone of reproof to be less weak; a second, in which you say
that Crassus's freedman has told you about my anxiety and leanness; a
third, in which you describe the proceedings in the senate; a fourth on
the subject of Varro's assurances to you as to the friendly feelings of
Pompey.
To the first my answer is this: though I do grieve, yet I keep all my
mental faculties, and it is precisely that which vexes me--I have no
opportunity and no one with whom to employ so sound an intellect. For if
you cannot find yourself separated from one individual like myself
without sorrow, what do you think must be my case, who am deprived both
of you and of everyone else? And if you, while still in possession of
all your rights, miss me, to what an extent do you think those rights
are missed by me? I will not enumerate the things of which I have been
despoiled, not only because you are not ignorant of them, but also lest
I should reopen my own sorrow. I only assert this, that never did anyone
in an unofficial position possess such great advantages, or fall into
such great miseries. Moreover, lapse of time not only does not soften
this grief, it even enhances it. For other sorrows are softened by age,
this one cannot but be daily increased both by my sense of present
misery and the recollection of my past life. For it is not only property
or friends that I miss, but myself. For what am I? But I will not allow
myself either to wring your soul with my complaints, or to place my
hands too often on my wounds. For as to your defence of those whom I
said had been jealous of me, and among them Cato, I indeed think that he
was so far removed from that crime, that I am above all things sorry
that the pretended zeal of others had more influence with me than his
honesty. As for your excuses for the others, they ought to be excused
in my eyes if they are so in yours. But all this is an old story now.
Crassus's freedman, I think, spoke without any real sincerity. In the
senate you say that the debate was satisfactory. But what about Curio?
Hasn't he read that speech? I can't make out how it got into
circulation! But Axius, in describing the proceedings of the same day,
does not speak so highly of Curio.[332] But he may be omitting
something; I know you have certainly not written anything except what
actually occurred. Varro's talk gives me some hope of Cæsar, and would
that Varro himself would throw himself into the cause! Which he
certainly will do, both of his own accord and under pressure from you.
For myself, if fortune ever grants me the enjoyment of you all and of my
country, I will at least take care that you shall, above all the rest of
my friends, have cause to be glad: and I will so discharge all the
duties of affection and friendship, which (to confess the truth) have
not heretofore been conspicuous, that you shall regard me as restored to
yourself as much as to my brother and my children. If I have in any way
sinned in my conduct to you, or rather since I have done so, pardon me.
For I have sinned more grievously against myself. And I do not write
this to you because I know you not to feel deeply for my misfortune: but
certainly if it had been a matter of _obligation_ with you, and had
always been so, to love me as much as you do and have done, you would
never have allowed me to lack that judgment with which you are so well
supplied,[333] nor would you have allowed me to be persuaded that the
passing of the bill for the "colleges" was to our advantage.[334] But
you did nothing but weep over my sorrow, as though you were my second
self. This was indeed a sign of your affection: but what might have been
done, if I had earned it at your hands--the spending by you of days and
nights in thinking out the course I ought to have pursued--that was
omitted, owing to my own culpable imprudence, not yours. Now if, I don't
say you only, but if there had been anyone to urge me, when alarmed at
Pompey's ungenerous answer,[335] not to adopt that most degrading
course--and you are the person that, above all others, could have done
it--I should either have died honourably, or we should have been living
to-day triumphant. In this you must forgive me. For I find much greater
fault with myself, and only call you in question afterwards, as at once
my second self and the sharer in my error; and, besides, if I am ever
restored, our mistake will seem still less in my eyes, and to you at
least I shall be endeared by your own kindness, since there is none on
my side.[336] There is something in the suggestion you mentioned as
having been made in your conversation with Culleo as to a
_privilegium_,[337] but by far the better course is to have the law
repealed. For if no one vetoes it, what course can be safer? But if
anyone is found to prohibit its passing, he will be equally able to veto
a decree of the senate. Nor is there need for the repeal of anything
else. For the previous law did not touch me: and if, on its publication,
I had chosen to speak in its favour, or to ignore it, as it ought to
have been ignored, it could not have done me any harm at all.[338] It
was at this point first that my judgment failed to assist me, nay, even
did me harm. Blind, blind, I say, was I in laying aside my senator's
toga, and in entreating the people; it was a fatal step to take before
some attack had been begun upon me by name.[339] But I am harping on the
past: it is, however, for the purpose of advising you, if any action is
to be taken, not to touch that law, in which there are many provisions
in the interests of the people. But it is foolish for me to be laying
down rules as to what you are to do and how. I only wish that something
may be done! And it is on that point that your letter displays much
reserve: I presume, to prevent my being too much agitated by despair.
For what action do you see possible to be taken, or in what way? Through
the senate? But you yourself told me that Clodius had fixed upon the
doorpost of the senate-house a certain clause in the law, "that it might
neither be put to the house nor mentioned."[340] How could
Domitius,[341] therefore, say that he would bring it before the house?
How came it about also that Clodius held his tongue, when those you
mention in your letter both spoke on the subject and demanded that a
motion should be brought in? But if you go to the people--can it be
carried except with the unanimous approval of the tribunes? What about
my property? What about my house? Will it be possible to have it
restored? Or, if that cannot, how can I be? Unless you see these
difficulties on the way to be solved, what is the hope to which you
invite me? But if, again, there is no hope, what sort of life is there
for me? So I await at Thessalonica the gazette of the proceedings of the
1st of August, in accordance with which I shall decide whether to take
refuge on your estate, in order at once to avoid seeing people I don't
want to see, to see you, according to your letter, and to be nearer at
hand in case of any motion being made (and this I understand is in
accordance with your view and that of my brother Quintus), or to depart
for Cyzicus. Now, my dear Pomponius, since you imparted to me none of
your wisdom in time to save me, either because you had made up your mind
that I had judgment enough of my own, or that you owed me nothing beyond
being by my side; and since, betrayed, beguiled, and hurried into a
snare as I was, I neglected all my defences, abandoned and left Italy,
which was everywhere on the _qui vive_ to defend me, and surrendered
myself and mine into the hands of enemies while you looked on and said
nothing, though, even if you were not my superior in mental power, you
were at least in less of a fright: now, if you can, raise the fallen,
and in that way assist me! But if every avenue is barred, take care that
I know that also, and cease at length either to scold me or to offer
your kindly-meant consolations. If I had meant to impeach your good
faith, I should not have chosen your roof, of all others, to which to
trust myself: it is my own folly that I blame for having thought that
your love for me was exactly what I could have wished it to be:[342] for
if that had been so, you would have displayed the same good faith, but
greater circumspection; at least, you would have held me back when
plunging headlong into ruin, and would not have had to encounter the
labours which you are now enduring in saving the wrecks of my fortunes.
Wherefore do be careful to look into, examine thoroughly, and write
fully everything that occurs, and resolve (as I am sure you do) that I
shall be _some one_, since I cannot now be the man I was and the man I
might have been; and lastly, believe that in this letter it lis not you,
but myself that I have accused. If there are any people to whom you
think that letters ought to be delivered in my name, pray compose them
and see them delivered.
17 August.
[Footnote 332: Or, as Prof. Tyrrell suggests, "does not quote Curio to
that effect." I think, however, that Cicero does not use _laudo_ in this
sense except in connexion with _auctorem_, _auctores_, and even then
generally with a subsense, at least, of commendation. The speech was
composed to be delivered against the elder Curio and Clodius (see p.
155), but was never delivered. Its personal tone made it dangerous now.]
[Footnote 333: Cicero means that Atticus acted with the emotion
spontaneously arising from his affection, but not with the caution which
he would have shewn in doing a thing which he was under some obligation
to do.]
[Footnote 334: The ancient "colleges" or "clubs" had been gradually
increasing, and a decree of the senate in B.C. 64 had declared certain
of them unlawful. But Clodius had overridden this decree by a _lex_
early in B.C. 58, and many new ones were formed, which he used for his
political purposes (_pro Sest._ § 55; Dio, xxxviii. 13).]
[Footnote 335: That he could do nothing against the wishes of Cæsar
(_Att._ x. 4, § 3; cp. _in Pis._ § 77). According to Plutarch, Pompey
avoided a personal interview (_Cic._ 31).]
[Footnote 336: The kindness has been all on the side of Atticus, who
will therefore be attached to the object of it--for the benefactor loves
more than the benefited.]
[Footnote 337: A _privilegium_ was a law referring to a particular
person, which was forbidden by the twelve tables, and if it was shewn to
be unconstitutional a decree of the senate could declare it void. But
Cicero seems to think that such a proceeding of the senate would give a
possibility of raising the question afresh.]
[Footnote 338: The first bill named no one, but enacted that "anyone who
had put a citizen to death uncondemned should be forbidden fire and
water." The second, "that M. Tullius be forbidden fire and water."
Cicero says that the former did not touch him, I suppose, because it
could not be retrospective. This is in accordance with the view of
Cæsar, who approved of the law, but said that old sores ought not to be
ripped up--οὐ μὴν καὶ προσήκειν ἐπὶ παρεληλυθόσι τοιοῦτόν τινα νόμον
συγγράφεσθει (Dio, xxxviii. 17).]
[Footnote 339: Because it shewed that he considered himself as coming
under the new law.]
[Footnote 340: Letter LXVIII, p. 154.]
[Footnote 341: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was a prætor this year.]
[Footnote 342: Though Cicero uses _tantum ... quantum_ here, he does not
mean that Atticus failed to love him enough--that would have been too
unreasonable. In a certain way he means that he loved him too much. He
allowed his spontaneous feelings full vent, without acting with the cool
wisdom which he would have shewn in fulfilling a duty or moral
obligation. It is more fully expressed above. Still, it was a difficult
thing to say, and he doesn't succeed in making it very clear.]
LXXIII (A III, 16)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 19 AUGUST
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
My whole journey is in suspense till I receive letters from you all of
the 1st of August. For if there turns out to be any hope, I am for
Epirus: if not, I shall make for Cyzicus or some other place. Your
letter is cheerful[343] indeed, but at the same time, the oftener I read
it, the more it weakens the suggested ground for hope, so that it is
easy to see that you are trying to minister at once to consolation and
to truth. Accordingly, I beg you to write to me exactly what you know
and exactly what you think.
19 August.
[Footnote 343: Reading _lætæ_ for _lectæ_.]
LXXIV (A III, 17)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 4 SEPTEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
News of my brother Quintus of an invariably gloomy nature reached me
from the 3rd of June up to the 29th of August. On that day, however,
Livineius, a freedman of Lucius Regulus, came to me by the direction of
Regulus himself.[344] He announced that absolutely no notice whatever
had been given of a prosecution, but that there had, nevertheless, been
some talk about the son of C. Clodius.[345] He also brought me a letter
from my brother Quintus. But next day came the slaves of Sestius, who
brought me a letter from you not so positive in regard to this alarm as
the conversation of Livineius had been. I am rendered very anxious in
the midst of my own endless distress, and the more so as Appius[346] has
the trial of the case. As to other circumstances mentioned in the same
letter by you in connexion with my hopes, I understand that things are
going less well than other people represent them. I, however, since we
are now not far from the time at which the matter will be decided, will
either go to your house or will still remain somewhere in this
neighbourhood. My brother writes me word that his interests are being
supported by you more than by anyone else. Why should I urge you to do
what you are already doing? or offer you thanks which you do not expect?
I only pray that fortune may give us the opportunity of enjoying our
mutual affection in security. I am always very anxious to get your
letters, in which I beg you not to be afraid of your minuteness boring
me, or your plain speaking giving me pain.
4 September.
[Footnote 344: L. Livineius Regulus, whom Cicero (_F._ xiii. 60) calls a
very intimate friend, and says that his freedman Trypho stood his friend
in the hour of need. He seems to have been condemned (in B.C. 56?) for
something, but he afterwards served under Iulius Cæsar (_B. Afr._ § 9).
The freedman's full name was L. Livineius Trypho.]
[Footnote 345: About Appius acting as prosecutor of Quintus. He was a
nephew of P. Clodius. See Letter CCXXII.]
[Footnote 346: Appius Claudius Pulcher, brother of P. Clodius, was
prætor-designate for B.C. 57, and had allotted to him the _quæstio de
rebus repetundis_ (_pro Sest._ § 78). He was consul B.C. 54.]
LXXV (A III, 18)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA (SEPTEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
You raised no little flutter in my mind when you said in your letter
that Varro had assured you as a friend that Pompey would certainly take
up my case, and that as soon as he had received a letter from Cæsar,
which he was expecting, he would even name some one to formally carry
out the business. Was that all mere talk, or was the letter from Cæsar
hostile? Is there some ground for hope? You mentioned, too, that Pompey
had also used the expression "after the elections." Pray, as you can
conceive the severity of the troubles by which I am prostrated, and as
you must think it natural to your kindness to do so, inform me fully as
to the whole state of my case. For my brother Quintus, dear good fellow,
who is so much attached to me, fills his letters with hopeful
expressions, fearing, I suppose, my entirely losing heart. Whereas your
letters vary in tone; for you won't have me either despair or cherish
rash hopes. I beseech you to let me know everything as far as you can
detect the truth.
LXXVI (A III, 19)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 15 SEPTEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
As long as my letters from you all continued to be of such a nature as
to keep expectation alive, I was bound to Thessalonica by hope and eager
longing: afterwards, when all political measures for this year appeared
to me to be over, I yet determined not to go to Asia, both because a
crowd of people is disagreeable to me, and because, in case any movement
was set on foot by the new magistrates, I was unwilling to be far off.
Accordingly, I resolved to go to your house in Epirus, not because the
natural features of the country mattered to me, shunning as I do the
light of day altogether, but because it will be most grateful to my
feelings to set out from a harbour of yours to my restoration; and, if
that restoration is denied me, there is no place where I shall with
greater ease either support this most wretched existence or (which is
much better) rid myself of it. I shall be in a small society: I shall
shake off the crowd. Your letters have never raised me to such a pitch
of hope as those of others; and yet my hopes have always been less warm
than your letters. Nevertheless, since a beginning has been made in the
case, of whatever sort and from whatever motive, I will not disappoint
the sad and touching entreaties of my best and only brother, nor the
promises of Sestius and others, nor the hopes of my most afflicted wife,
nor the entreaties of my most unhappy Tulliola, as well as your own
loyal letter. Epirus will furnish me with a road to restoration or to
that other alternative mentioned above. I beg and entreat of you, Titus
Pomponius, as you see that I have been despoiled by the treachery of men
of all that most adds splendour to life, of all that can most gratify
and delight the soul, as you see that I have been betrayed and cast away
by my own advisers, as you understand that I have been forced to ruin
myself and my family--help me by your compassion, and support my brother
Quintus, who is still capable of being saved; protect Terentia and my
children. For myself, if you think it possible that you may see me at
Rome, wait for me; if not, come to see me if you can, and make over to
me just so much of your land as may be covered by my corpse. Finally,
send slaves to me with letters as soon and as often as possible.
15 September.
LXXVII (A III, 20)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 4 OCTOBER
_Cicero greets Q. Cæcilius Pomponianus Atticus, son of Quintus._[347]
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
That this is now the case, and that your uncle has done what he ought to
have done, I approve in the strongest manner possible: I will say I am
"glad," when circumstances shall admit of my using such a word. Ah me!
how well everything would have been going if my own spirit, my own
judgment, and the good faith of those on whom I relied had not failed
me! But I won't review these circumstances lest I increase my sorrow.
Yet I feel sure that it occurs to your mind what a life ours was, how
delightful, how dignified. To recover this, in the name of fortune,
bestow all your energies, as I know you do, and take care that I keep
the birthday of my return in your delightful house with you and my
family. For this hope and expectation, though now put before me as being
very strong, I yet wished to wait in your home in Epirus; but my letters
are such as to make me think it better not to be in the same
neighbourhood. What you say in your letter about my town house and about
Curio's speech is exactly true. Under the general act of restoration, if
only that is accorded me, everything will be included, of which I care
for nothing more than for my house. But I don't give you any precise
injunction, I trust myself wholly to your affection and honour. I am
very glad to hear that you have extricated yourself from every
embarrassment in view of so large an inheritance. As to your promise to
employ your means in securing my restoration, though I am in all points
assisted by you above all others, yet I quite see what a support that
is, and I fully understand that you are undertaking and can carry on
many departments of my cause, and do not need to be asked to do so. You
tell me not to suspect that your feelings have been at all affected by
acts of commission or omission on my part towards you--well, I will obey
you and will get rid of that anxiety; yet I shall owe you all the more
from the fact that your kind consideration for me has been on a higher
level than mine for you. Please tell me in your letters whatever you
see, whatever you make out, whatever is being done in my case, and
exhort all your friends to help in promoting my recall. The bill of
Sestius[348] does not shew sufficient regard for my dignity or
sufficient caution. For the proposed law ought to mention me by name,
and to contain a carefully expressed clause about my property. Pray see
to it.
Thessalonica, 4 October.
[Footnote 347: Cicero gives Atticus his full name, rather playfully, as
it was a new acquisition. His uncle, Q. Cæcilius, dying this year, left
him heir to a large fortune, and adopted him in his will (Nep. _Att._
5). He therefore, according to custom, took his uncle's _prænomen_ and
_nomen_, Q. Cæcilius, retaining his own _nomen_ in an adjectival form
(Pomponianus) as a _cognomen_, just as C. Octavius became, by his
uncle's will, _C. Iulius Cæsar Octavianus_. His additional name of
Atticus remained as before, and in ordinary life was his usual
designation. See p. 15.]
[Footnote 348: Sestius, tribune-elect for B.C. 57, would come into
office 10th December, B.C. 58. He means to bring a bill before the
people for Cicero's recall, and a draft of it has been sent to Cicero,
who criticises it as not entering sufficiently into details, though he
had before said that a general _restitutio in integrum_ covered
everything; but perhaps this bill only repealed the Clodian law as a
_privilegium_, without mentioning anything else.]
LXXVIII (F XIV, 2)
TO TERENTIA (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 5 OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Greetings to Terentia, and Tulliola, and Cicero. Don't suppose that I
write longer letters to anyone else, unless some one has written at
unusual length to me, whom I think myself bound to answer. For I have
nothing to write about, and there is nothing at such a time as this that
I find it more difficult to do. Moreover, to you and my dear Tulliola I
cannot write without many tears. For I see you reduced to the greatest
misery--the very people whom I desired to be ever enjoying the most
complete happiness, a happiness which it was my bounden duty to secure,
and which I should have secured if I had not been such a coward. Our
dear Piso I love exceedingly for his noble conduct. I have to the best
of my ability encouraged him by letter to proceed, and thanked him, as I
was bound to do. I gather that you entertain hopes in the new tribunes.
We shall have reason to depend on that, if we may depend on Pompey's
goodwill, but yet I am nervous about Crassus. I gather that you have
behaved in every respect with the greatest courage and most loyal
affection, nor am I surprised at it; but I grieve that the position
should be such that my miseries are relieved by such heavy ones on your
part. For a kind friend of ours, Publius Valerius, has told me in a
letter which I could not read without violent weeping, how you had been
dragged from the temple of Vesta to the Valerian bank.[349] To think of
it, my dear, my love! You from whom everybody used to look for
help![350] That you, my Terentia, should now be thus harassed, thus
prostrate in tears and humiliating distress! And that this should be
brought about by my fault, who have preserved the rest of the citizens
only to perish myself! As to what you say about our town house, or
rather its site, I shall not consider myself fully restored, until it
has also been restored for me. However, these things are not yet within
our grasp. I am only sorry that you, impoverished and plundered as you
are, should be called upon to bear any part of the present expenses. Of
course, if the business is successfully accomplished we shall get
everything back: but if the same evil fortune keeps us down, will you be
so foolish as to throw away even the poor remains of your fortune?[351]
I beseech you, my life, as far as expense goes, allow others to bear it,
who are well able if they are only willing to do so; and do not, as you
love me, try your delicate constitution. For I have you day and night
before my eyes: I see you eagerly undertaking labours of every kind: I
fear you cannot endure them. Yet I see that everything depends on you!
Wherefore, to enable us to attain what you hope and are striving for,
attend carefully to your health. _I_ don't know to whom to write except
to those who write to me, or to those about whom you say something in
your letters. I will not go farther off, since that is your wish, but
pray send me a letter as often as possible, especially if there is
anything on which we may safely build our hope. Good-bye, my loves,
good-bye!
Thessalonica, 5 October.
[Footnote 349: Terentia, whose half-sister was a Vestal, seems to have
taken sanctuary with the Vestals, as did the mother and sister of
Augustus in B.C. 43. The special indignity of which Cicero complains is
that she had been forced to leave the sanctuary and appear at the bank
of Valerius, but for what purpose we cannot now tell. It is suggested
that it was to make some solemn declaration as to her husband's
property, some of which she may be supposed to have tried to conceal.
The term _ducta esses_ is that applied to prisoners led through the
streets, but we may regard it as used _ad invidiam_.]
[Footnote 350: In securing her husband's advocacy.]
[Footnote 351: Mention is made of Terentia's separate estate in Letters
XXX and LXXXI.]
LXXIX (A III, 21)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA, 28 OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
It is exactly thirty days to the writing of this letter since I have
heard from you. Well, my present intention is, as I have told you, to go
into Epirus and there by preference to await whatever may turn up. I beg
you to write to me with the utmost openness whatever you perceive to be
the state of the case, and whether it is for good or evil, and also to
send a letter, as you say, in my name to whomsoever you think it
necessary.
28 October.
LXXX (A III, 22)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
THESSALONICA AND DYRRACHIUM, 27 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Though my brother Quintus and Piso have given me a careful account of
what has been done, yet I could have wished that your engagements had
not hindered you from writing fully to me, as has been your custom, what
was on foot and what you understood to be the facts. Up to the present,
Plancius[352] keeps me here by his generous treatment, though I have
several times already made an effort to go to Epirus. He has conceived a
hope, which I do not share, that we may possibly quit the province
together: he hopes that that may redound greatly to his credit. But as
soon as news shall come that soldiers are on their way hither,[353] I
shall have to insist on quitting him. And as soon as I do that I will
at once send you word, that you may know where I am. Lentulus,[354] in
his own peculiar zeal for my cause, which he manifests by action and
promises and writings, gives me some hope of Pompey's friendly feelings.
For you have often told me in your letters that the latter was wholly
devoted to him. As to Metellus,[355] my brother has written me word that
by your agency as much has been accomplished as he had hoped. My dear
Pomponius, fight hard that I may be allowed to live with you and my own
family, and write me everything that occurs. I am heavy with sorrow and
regret for all my dear ones, who have always been dearer to me than
myself. Take care of your health.
* * * * *
Dyrrachium, 27 November. As, if I went through Thessaly into Epirus, I
should have been likely to be a very long time without any intelligence,
and as I have warm friends in the people of Dyrrachium, I have come to
them, after writing the former part of this letter at Thessalonica. When
I turn my face from this town towards your house I will let you know,
and for your part I would have you write me everything with the utmost
particularity, whatever its nature. I am now expecting some definite
step or the abandonment of all hope.
[Footnote 352: Cn. Plancius, quæstor in Macedonia, whose kindness Cicero
lauds highly when defending him in B.C. 54.]
[Footnote 353: The forces of the new governor, L. Calpurnius Piso, who
was to have Macedonia after his consulship, and would be sending his
troops on before him.]
[Footnote 354: P. Cornelius Lentulus, consul-designate for B.C. 57.]
[Footnote 355: Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos, consul-designate for B.C. 57.
See pp. 22-23.]
LXXXI (F XIV, 1)
TO TERENTIA
PARTLY WRITTEN AT THESSALONICA, PARTLY AT DYRRACHIUM, 28 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Greetings to his Terentia, Tulliola, and Cicero. I learn, both from the
letters of many and the conversation of all whom I meet, that you are
shewing a virtue and courage surpassing belief; and that you give no
sign of fatigue in mind or body from your labours. Ah me! To think that
a woman of your virtue, fidelity, uprightness, and kindness should have
fallen into such troubles on my account! And that my little Tullia
should reap such a harvest of sorrow from the father, from whom she used
to receive such abundant joys! For why mention my boy Cicero, who from
the first moment of conscious feeling has been made aware of the
bitterest sorrows and miseries? And if, as you say, I had thought these
things the work of destiny, I could have borne them somewhat more
easily, but they were really all brought about by my own fault, in
thinking myself beloved by those who were really jealous of me, and in
not joining those who really wanted me.[356] But if I had followed my
own judgment, and had not allowed the observations of friends, who were
either foolish or treacherous, to have such great influence with me, we
should have been living at the height of bliss. As it is, since friends
bid us hope, I will do my best to prevent my weakness of health from
failing to second your efforts. I fully understand the magnitude of the
difficulty, and how much easier it will turn out to have been to stay at
home than to get back. However, if we have all the tribunes on our side,
if we find Lentulus as zealous as he appears to be, if, finally, we have
Pompey and Cæsar, there is no reason to despair. About our slaves,[357]
we will do what you say is the opinion of our friends. As to this place,
by this time the epidemic has taken its departure; but while it lasted,
it did not touch me. Plancius, the kindest of men, desires me to stay
with him and still keeps me from departing. I wanted to be in a less
frequented district in Epirus, to which neither Hispo[358] nor soldiers
would come, but as yet Plancius keeps me from going; he hopes that he
may possibly quit his province for Italy in my company. And if ever I
see that day, and come once more into your arms, and if I ever recover
you all and myself, I shall consider that I have reaped a sufficient
harvest both of your piety and my own. Piso's[359] kindness, virtue, and
affection toward us all are so great that nothing can surpass them. I
hope his conduct may be a source of pleasure to him, a source of glory I
see clearly that it will be. I did not mean to find fault with you about
my brother Quintus, but I wished that you all, especially considering
how few there are of you, should be as closely united as possible. Those
whom you wished me to thank I have thanked, and told them that my
information came from you. As to what you say in your letter, my dear
Terentia, about your intention of selling the village, alas! in heaven's
name, what will become of you? And if the same ill-fortune continues to
pursue us, what will become of our poor boy? I cannot write the rest--so
violent is my outburst of weeping, and I will not reduce you to the same
tearful condition. I only add this: if my friends remain loyal to me,
there will be no lack of money; if not, you will not be able to effect
our object out of your own purse. In the name of our unhappy fortunes,
beware how we put the finishing stroke to the boy's ruin. If he has
something to keep him from absolute want, he will need only moderate
character and moderate luck to attain the rest. See to your health, and
mind you send me letter-carriers, that I may know what is going on and
what you are all doing. I have in any case only a short time to wait.
Give my love to Tulliola and Cicero. Good-bye.
Dyrrachium,[360] 27 November.
* * * * *
P.S.--I have come to Dyrrachium both because it is a free state, very
kindly disposed to me, and the nearest point to Italy.[361] But if the
crowded condition of the place offends me, I shall take myself elsewhere
and I will write you word.
[Footnote 356: The party of the triumvirs.]
[Footnote 357: See Letter LXI, p. 142.]
[Footnote 358: A centurion or other officer in the army of Piso crossing
to Macedonia. But the name is otherwise unknown, and some have thought
that it is an intentional disguise for the name of _Piso_ himself.]
[Footnote 359: Cicero's son-in-law.]
[Footnote 360: The greater part of this letter was evidently written at
Thessalonica. Cicero appears to have put the date and place of departure
to it after arriving at Dyrrachium, and then added a postscript to
explain why he had come there.]
[Footnote 361: As a _libera civitas_ Dyrrachium had the _ius exilii_,
and would not be filled with Roman officials. The crowded state of the
town--by which Cicero means crowded with Romans--would arise from its
being the usual place of disembarkation from Rome across the north of
the Greek peninsula to the East. There was doubtless always a large
traffic between it and Brundisium, but at this time of year, when
sailing would be, if possible, avoided, he might hope to find it
somewhat less crowded.]
LXXXII (A III, 23)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
DYRRACHIUM, 29 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
On the 26th of November I received three letters from you, one dated
25th of October, in which you exhort me to await the month of January
with a good heart, and write at length on such topics as you think tend
to encourage my hopes--as to the zeal of Lentulus, the goodwill of
Metellus, and the general policy of Pompey. In the second letter,
contrary to your usual custom, you append no date, but give sufficient
indication of the time of its writing. For the law having been published
by the eight tribunes, you mention that you wrote this letter on the
very same day, that is, the 29th of October,[362] and you say what good
you think that publication has done. In regard to which, if my
restoration is to be despaired of along with this law, I would have you
think in your affection for me that my fruitless exertions are pitiable
rather than foolish: but if there is any ground for hope, try and secure
that my cause may be hereafter supported with greater attention to
details by the new magistrates. For this bill of the old tribunes[363]
had three clauses, of which the one relating to my return was carelessly
drafted. For nothing is restored to me except my citizenship and
senatorial rank: which, in the circumstances of my position, suffices
me, but it does not escape your observation what special provisions will
have to be made, and in what manner. The second clause is the usual
one--"If anything be done in virtue of this law against other
laws."[364] But observe, my dear Pomponius, what the object of the third
clause is, and by whom it has been put in. For you know that Clodius
provided that it should be scarcely possible, or rather altogether
impossible, for his law to be deprived of validity either by senate or
people. But you must see that the penal provisions of such laws as are
repealed have never been observed. For in that case hardly any law could
be repealed at all--for there is no law which does not hedge itself in
by trying to make repeal difficult--but when a law is repealed, so is
the clause meant to prevent its repeal. Now, though this is in truth the
case, since it has been the universal doctrine and practice, our eight
tribunes introduced the following clause: _If any provision is contained
in this bill which, in view of existing laws or plebiscites_ (_i.e._,
Clodius's law), _it is not lawful without incurring penalty, now or
heretofore, whether to publish, repeal, amend, or supersede, or whereby
he who has so published or amended would be liable to penalty or
fine--such provision is not enacted by this law_. And observe that this
contingency did not touch the case of those eight tribunes, for they
were not bound by a law emanating from their own body.[365] Which makes
one the more suspicious of some evil intention, since they have added a
clause which did not affect themselves, but was against my interests: so
that the new tribunes, if they happened to be somewhat timid, would
think it still more necessary to employ the clause.[366] And Clodius did
not fail to notice this. For he said in the public meeting of November
the third, that by this clause a limit to their legal powers was laid
down for the tribunes-designate; and yet it cannot escape your notice
that in no law is there a clause of the sort: whereas, if it had been
necessary, everybody would have employed it in repealing a law. How this
point came to escape Ninnius[367] and the rest, pray find out, and who
introduced the clause, and how it was that the eight tribunes did not
hesitate to bring my case before the senate--which implies that they did
not think that clause of the law binding--and were yet so cautious in
their proposal for its repeal, as to be afraid (though not personally
liable) of what need not be taken into consideration, even by those who
are bound by the law. This clause I would not have the new tribunes
propose; however, let them only carry something, no matter what: I shall
be content with the single clause recalling me, so long only as the
business is done. I have for some time been feeling ashamed of writing
at such length; for I fear by the time you read this it will be all up
with any hopes, so that this minute criticism of mine may seem pitiable
to you and ridiculous to others. But if there is any ground for hope,
pray look at the law which Visellius[368] drafted for T. Fadius. I like
it very much: for that of our friend Sestius, which you say has your
approbation, I don't like.
The third letter is dated 12th of November, in which you explain with
wisdom and care what the circumstances are which seem to cause a
postponement of my affair, and about Crassus, Pompey, and the rest.
Accordingly, I beg you, if there is any hope that the matter can be
settled by the zeal of the loyalists, by the exertion of influence, and
by getting numbers on our side, to endeavour to break through all
difficulties at a rush, to throw your whole weight into the attempt, and
incite others to do the same. But if, as I perceive from your
conjectures as well as my own, there is no hope left, I beg and implore
you to cherish my brother Quintus, whom I to our mutual misery have
ruined, and not allow him to do anything to himself which would be to
the detriment of your sister's son. My little Cicero, to whom, poor boy!
I leave nothing but prejudice and the blot upon my name, pray protect to
the best of your power. Terentia, that most afflicted of women, sustain
by your kindness. I shall start for Epirus as soon as I have received
news of the first days of the new tribunate.[369] Pray describe fully to
me in your next letter what sort of a beginning is made.
29 November.
[Footnote 362: This bill for Cicero's recall would, of course, be vetoed
by Clodius, and could not therefore be passed, but it would probably
influence the action of the new tribunes for B.C. 57.]
[Footnote 363: _I.e._, the tribunes of B.C. 58.]
[Footnote 364: _I.e._, securing indemnity to the proposers if there is a
technical breach of existing laws, something like the common
clause--"all statutes to the contrary notwithstanding."]
[Footnote 365: The Clodian law.]
[Footnote 366: Because they would not be protected as the previous
tribunes were by the fact of the Clodian law (which alone was
contravened) having emanated from their own _collegium_.]
[Footnote 367: L. Quadratus Ninnius, tribune-elect. On the 1st of June
next he brought forward the question of Cicero's restoration in the
senate.]
[Footnote 368: Cicero's cousin, C. Visellius Varro, a learned
jurisconsult (_Brut._ § 264; 1 _Verr._ § 71).]
[Footnote 369: The tribunes came into office on the 10th of December,
nearly three weeks before the consuls, prætors, etc., who entered office
on the 1st of January.]
LXXXIII (F XIV, 3)
TO TERENTIA (AT ROME)
DYRRACHIUM, 29 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
Greetings to his Terentia, Tulliola, and Cicero. I have received three
letters from the hands of Aristocritus, which I almost obliterated with
tears. For I am thoroughly weakened with sorrow, my dear Terentia, and
it is not my own miseries that torture me more than yours--and yours, my
children! Moreover, I am more miserable than you in this, that whereas
the disaster is shared by us both, yet the fault is all my own. It was
my duty to have avoided the danger by accepting a legation,[370] or to
resist it by careful management and the resources at my command, or to
fall like a brave man. Nothing was more pitiful, more base, or more
unworthy of myself than the line I actually took. Accordingly, it is
with shame as well as grief that I am overpowered. For I am ashamed of
not having exhibited courage and care to a most excellent wife and most
darling children. I have, day and night, before my eyes the mourning
dresses, the tears of you all, and the weakness of your own health,
while the hope of recall presented to me is slender indeed. Many are
hostile, nearly all jealous. To expel me had been difficult, to keep me
out is easy. However, as long as you entertain any hope, I will not give
way, lest all should seem lost by my fault. As to your anxiety for my
personal safety, that is now the easiest thing in the world for me, for
even my enemies desire me to go on living in this utter wretchedness. I
will, however, do as you bid me. I have thanked the friends you desired
me to thank, and I have delivered the letters to Dexippus, and have
mentioned that you had informed me of their kindness. That our Piso has
shewn surprising zeal and kindness to us I can see for myself, but
everybody also tells me of it. God grant that I may be allowed, along
with you and our children, to enjoy the actual society of such a
son-in-law! For the present our one remaining hope is in the new
tribunes, and that, too, in the first days of their office; if the
matter is allowed to get stale, it is all over with us. It is for that
reason that I have sent Aristocritus back to you at once, in order that
you may be able to write to me on the spot as to the first official
steps taken, and the progress of the whole business; although I have
also given Dexippus orders to hurry back here at once, and I have sent a
message to my brother to despatch letter-carriers frequently. For the
professed object of my being at Dyrrachium at the present juncture is
that I may hear as speedily as possible what is being done; and I am in
no personal danger, for this town has always been defended by me. When I
am told that enemies are on their way here I shall retire into Epirus.
As to your coming to me, as you say you will if I wish it--for my part,
knowing that a large part of this burden is supported by you, I should
like you to remain where you are. If you succeed in your attempt I must
come to you: but if, on the other hand--but I needn't write the rest.
From your first, or at most, your second letter, I shall be able to
decide what I must do. Only be sure you tell me everything with the
greatest minuteness, although I ought now to be looking out for some
practical step rather than a letter. Take care of your health, and
assure yourself that nothing is or has ever been dearer to me than you
are. Good-bye, my dear Terentia, whom I seem to see before my eyes, and
so am dissolved in tears. Good-bye!
29 November.
[Footnote 370: Either the _libera legatio_ or the acting _legatio_ in
Gaul, both of which Cæsar offered him.]
LXXXIV (A III, 24)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
DYRRACHIUM, 10 DECEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT. 48]
When, some time ago, I received letters from you all stating that with
your consent the vote for the expenses of the consular provinces had
been taken, though I was nervous as to the result of the measure, I yet
hoped that you saw some good reason for it beyond what I could see: but
when I was informed by word of mouth and by letters that this policy of
yours was strongly censured, I was much disturbed, because the hope
which I had cherished, faint as it was, seemed completely destroyed. For
if the tribunes are angry with us, what hope can there be? And, indeed,
they seem to have reason to be angry, since they, who had undertaken my
cause, have not been consulted on the measure; while by your assenting
to it they have been deprived of all the legitimate influence of their
office: and that though they profess that it was for my sake that they
wished to have the vote for the outfit of the consuls under their
control, not in order to curtail their freedom of action, but in order
to attach them to my cause:[371] that as things stand now, supposing
the consuls to choose to take part against me, they can do so without
let or hindrance, but if they wish to do anything in my favour they are
powerless if the tribunes object. For as to what you say in your letter,
that, if your party had not consented, they would have obtained their
object by a popular vote--that would have been impossible against the
will of the tribunes.[372] So I fear, on the one hand, that I have lost
the favour of the tribunes; and on the other, even supposing that favour
to remain, that the tie has been lost by which the consuls were to be
attached. Added to this is another disadvantage, the abandonment of the
weighty resolution--as, indeed, it was reported to me--that the senate
should pass no decree until my case had been decided, and that, too, in
the case of a measure which was not only not urgent, but even contrary
to custom and unprecedented. For I think there is no precedent for
voting the provincial outfit of magistrates when still only designate:
so that, since in a matter like this the firm line[373] on which my
cause had been taken up has been infringed, there is now no reason why
any decree should not be passed. It is not surprising that those friends
to whom the question was referred assented, for it was difficult to find
anyone to express an opinion openly against proposals so advantageous to
two consuls. It would in any case have been difficult not to be
complaisant to such a warm friend as Lentulus, or to Metellus after the
exceedingly kind way in which he put aside his quarrel with me. But I
fear that, while failing to keep a hold on them, we have lost the
tribunes. How this matter has occurred, and in what position the whole
business stands, I would have you write to me, and in the same spirit as
before: for your outspoken candour, even if not altogether pleasant, is
yet what I prefer.
10 December.
[Footnote 371: The phrase _ornare provincias, ornare consules_, etc.,
means the vote in the senate deciding the number of troops, amount of
money, and other outfit that the magistrates going to their provinces
were to have. The provinces to be taken by outgoing consuls were decided
before the elections--in this case they were Cilicia and Spain. But the
_ornatio_ usually took place after the consuls had entered on their
office, _i.e._, after the 1st of January. For this year, however--we
don't know why--it had taken place before the 1st of December, B.C. 58.
The result of this would be that the new tribunes for B.C. 57--entering
on their office 10th December, B.C. 58--would have no voice in the
matter, and would thus lose a great hold on the consuls. Most of these
tribunes were supporters of Cicero, while he was doubtful as to one of
the consuls--Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos. He thinks, therefore, that his
cause has lost by this measure, for the tribunes will have less power of
putting force on the consuls to do anything for him, and yet the same
power of stopping them should they wish to do anything of their own
accord. Besides, the new tribunes may be alienated by what they may
think a measure derogatory to their position. These fears came to
nothing; the tribunes were loyal to Cicero, and the consul Piso
forwarded his recall.]
[Footnote 372: Because the tribunes could have vetoed any measure
brought before the people, and so could have forced the consuls to come
to terms.]
[Footnote 373: _I.e._, that the senate would pass no decree prior to one
recalling Cicero.]
LXXXV (A III, 25)
TO ATTICUS (? IN EPIRUS[374])
DYRRACHIUM (DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 58, ÆT 48]
After you left me I received a letter from Rome, from which I see
clearly that I must rot away in this state of disfranchisement: for I
can't believe (don't be offended at my saying so) that you would have
left town at this juncture, if there had been the least hope left of my
restoration. But I pass over this, that I may not seem to be ungrateful
and to wish everything to share my own ruin. All I ask of you is what
you have faithfully promised, that you will appear before the 1st of
January wherever I may be.
[Footnote 374: There is no indication in the letter as to where Atticus
is. He left Rome late in B.C. 58, and apparently did not return till
after Cicero's recall. The most natural explanation is that he was in
Epirus, or somewhere in Greece, and that he had visited Cicero at
Dyrrachium on his way. I do not quite see how this should be thought
impossible in view of the last sentence of LXXXV or the next letter.
Cicero asks Atticus to join him, but he might do so whether Atticus were
at Buthrotum, or Rome, or anywhere else.]
LXXXVI (A III, 26)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57. Coss., P. Cornelius Lentulus Spinther, Q. Cæcilius
Metellus Nepos.
The new year found Cicero still at Dyrrachium, waiting for the law
to pass for his recall, which (owing chiefly to the riotous
opposition of Clodius) did not pass till the 5th of August. We have
no letters in the interval between January and August, but a few
lively ones recounting the nature of his return (4th of September),
and four speeches dealing with his position and that of his
property. He seems at once to have attached himself to Pompey, and
to have promoted his appointment as _præfectus annonæ_.
TO ATTICUS (? IN EPIRUS[374])
DYRRACHIUM, JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
I have received a letter from my brother Quintus inclosing the decree of
the senate passed concerning me. My intention is to await the time for
legislation, and, if the law is defeated, I shall avail myself of the
resolution of the senate,[375] and prefer to be deprived of my life
rather than of my country. Make haste, I beg, to come to me.
[Footnote 375: On 1st January, B.C. 57, P. Lentulus brought the case of
Cicero before the senate. The prevailing opinion was that his
_interdictio_ having been illegal, the senate could quash it. But
Pompey, for the sake of security, recommended a _lex_. One of the
tribunes, without actually vetoing the _senatus consultum_, demanded a
night for consideration. The question was again debated in succeeding
meetings of the senate, but on the 25th was not decided. Technically an
_auctoritas_ was a decree that had been vetoed by a tribune, and Cicero
(_pro Sest._ § 74) implies that such a veto had been put in, and at any
rate the _noctis postulatio_ was equivalent to a veto.]
LXXXVII (A III, 27)
TO ATTICUS (? AT ROME)
DYRRACHIUM (AFTER 25 JANUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
From your letter and from the bare facts I see that I am utterly
ruined.[376] I implore you, in view of my deplorable position, to stand
by my family in whatever respect they shall need your help. I shall, as
you say, see you soon.
[Footnote 376: Perhaps he has just heard that the sitting of the senate
on the 25th of January had been interrupted by Clodius's roughs. But
other similar events happened, and there is no certain means of dating
this note. The difficulty, as it stands, is that it implies Atticus's
temporary return to Rome.]
LXXXVIII (F V, 4)
TO Q. METELLUS THE CONSUL (AT ROME)
DYRRACHIUM (JANUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
A letter from my brother Quintus, and one from my friend Titus
Pomponius, had given me so much hope, that I depended on your assistance
no less than on that of your colleague. Accordingly, I at once sent you
a letter in which, as my present position required, I offered you thanks
and asked for the continuance of your assistance. Later on, not so much
the letters of my friends, as the conversation of travellers by this
route, indicated that your feelings had undergone a change; and that
circumstance prevented my venturing to trouble you with letters. Now,
however, my brother Quintus has sent me a copy which he had made of your
exceedingly kind speech delivered in the senate. Induced by this I have
attempted to write to you, and I do ask and beg of you, as far as I may
without giving you offence, to preserve your own friends along with me,
rather than attack me to satisfy the unreasonable vindictiveness of your
connexions. You have, indeed, conquered yourself so far as to lay aside
your own enmity for the sake of the Republic: will you be induced to
support that of others _against_ the interests of the Republic? But if
you will in your clemency now give me assistance, I promise you that I
will be at your service henceforth: but if neither magistrates, nor
senate, nor people are permitted to aid me, owing to the violence which
has proved too strong for me, and for the state as well, take care
lest--though you may wish the opportunity back again for retaining all
and sundry in their rights--you find yourself unable to do so, because
there will be nobody to be retained.[377]
[Footnote 377: This intentionally enigmatical sentence is meant to
contain a menace against Clodius, who is hinted at in the word _omnium_,
just as he is earlier in the letter in the word _tuorum_. Clodius was a
connexion by marriage of Metellus (through his late brother, the husband
of Clodia), and Cicero assumes that Metellus is restrained from helping
him by regard for Clodius. He knows, however, by this time, that one of
the new tribunes, Milo, is prepared to repel force by force, and he
hints to Metellus that if he countenances Clodius's violence he may some
day find that there is no Clodius to save--if that's his object. In
Letter LXXXIX he shews how early he had contemplated Clodius being
killed by Milo (_occisum iri ab ipso Milone video_).]
LXXXIX (A IV, 1)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (SEPTEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
Directly I arrived at Rome, and there was anyone to whom I could safely
intrust a letter for you, I thought the very first thing I ought to do
was to congratulate you in your absence on my return. For I knew, to
speak candidly, that though in giving me advice you had not been more
courageous or far-seeing than myself, nor--considering my devotion to
you in the past--too careful in protecting me from disaster, yet that
you--though sharing in the first instance in my mistake, or rather
madness, and in my groundless terror--had nevertheless been deeply
grieved at our separation, and had bestowed immense pains, zeal, care,
and labour in securing my return. Accordingly, I can truly assure you of
this, that in the midst of supreme joy and the most gratifying
congratulations, the one thing wanting to fill my cup of happiness to
the brim is the sight of you, or rather your embrace; and if I ever
forfeit that again, when I have once got possession of it, and if, too,
I do not exact the full delights of your charming society that have
fallen into arrear in the past, I shall certainly consider myself
unworthy of this renewal of my good fortune.
In regard to my political position, I have resumed what I thought there
would be the utmost difficulty in recovering--my brilliant standing at
the bar, my influence in the senate, and a popularity with the loyalists
even greater than I desired. In regard, however, to my private
property--as to which you are well aware to what an extent it has been
crippled, scattered, and plundered--I am in great difficulties, and
stand in need, not so much of your means (which I look upon as my own),
as of your advice for collecting and restoring to a sound state the
fragments that remain. For the present, though I believe everything
finds its way to you in the letters of your friends, or even by
messengers and rumour, yet I will write briefly what I think you would
like to learn from my letters above all others. On the 4th of August I
started from Dyrrachium, the very day on which the law about me was
carried. I arrived at Brundisium on the 5th of August. There my dear
Tulliola met me on what was her own birthday, which happened also to be
the name-day of the colony of Brundisium and of the temple of Safety,
near your house. This coincidence was noticed and celebrated with warm
congratulations by the citizens of Brundisium. On the 8th of August,
while still at Brundisium, I learnt by a letter from Quintus that the
law had been passed at the _comitia centuriata_ with a surprising
enthusiasm on the part of all ages and ranks, and with an incredible
influx of voters from Italy. I then commenced my journey, amidst the
compliments of the men of highest consideration at Brundisium, and was
met at every point by legates bearing congratulations. My arrival in the
neighbourhood of the city was the signal for every soul of every order
known to my nomenclator coming out to meet me, except those enemies who
could not either dissemble or deny the fact of their being such. On my
arrival at the Porta Capena, the steps of the temples were already
thronged from top to bottom[378] by the populace; and while their
congratulations were displayed by the loudest possible applause, a
similar throng and similar applause accompanied me right up to the
Capitol, and in the forum and on the Capitol itself there was again a
wonderful crowd. Next day, in the senate, that is, the 5th of September,
I spoke my thanks to the senators. Two days after that--there having
been a very heavy rise in the price of corn, and great crowds having
flocked first to the theatre and then to the senate-house, shouting out,
at the instigation of Clodius, that the scarcity of corn was my
doing--meetings of the senate being held on those days to discuss the
corn question, and Pompey being called upon to undertake the management
of its supply in the common talk not only of the plebs, but of the
aristocrats also, and being himself desirous of the commission, when the
people at large called upon me by name to support a decree to that
effect, I did so, and gave my vote in a carefully-worded speech. The
other consulars, except Messalla and Afranius, having absented
themselves on the ground that they could not vote with safety to
themselves, a decree of the senate was passed in the sense of my motion,
namely, that Pompey should be appealed to to undertake the business, and
that a law should be proposed to that effect. This decree of the senate
having been publicly read, and the people having, after the senseless
and new-fangled custom that now prevails, applauded the mention of my
name,[379] I delivered a speech. All the magistrates present, except one
prætor and two tribunes, called on me to speak.[380] Next day a full
senate, including all the consulars, granted everything that Pompey
asked for. Having demanded fifteen legates, he named me first in the
list, and said that he should regard me in all things as a second self.
The consuls drew up a law by which complete control over the corn-supply
for five years throughout the whole world was given to Pompey. A second
law is drawn up by Messius,[381] granting him power over all money, and
adding a fleet and army, and an _imperium_ in the provinces superior to
that of their governors. After that our consular law seems moderate
indeed: that of Messius is quite intolerable. Pompey professes to prefer
the former; his friends the latter. The consulars led by Favonius
murmur: I hold my tongue, the more so that the pontifices have as yet
given no answer in regard to my house.[382] If they annul the
consecration I shall have a splendid site. The consuls, in accordance
with a decree of the senate, will value the cost of the building that
stood upon it; but if the pontifices decide otherwise, they will pull
down the Clodian building, give out a contract in their own name (for a
temple), and value to me the cost of a site and house. So our affairs
are
"For happy though but ill, for ill not worst."[383]
In regard to money matters I am, as you know, much embarrassed. Besides,
there are certain domestic troubles, which I do not intrust to writing.
My brother Quintus I love as he deserves for his eminent qualities of
loyalty, virtue, and good faith. I am longing to see you, and beg you to
hasten your return, resolved not to allow me to be without the benefit
of your advice. I am on the threshold, as it were, of a second life.
Already certain persons who defended me in my absence begin to nurse a
secret grudge at me now that I am here, and to make no secret of their
jealousy. I want you very much.
[Footnote 378: Reading _ab infimo_.]
[Footnote 379: As backing the decree. The phrase was _aderat scribendo
M. Tullius Cicero_, etc.]
[Footnote 380: _Dederunt_, _i.e._, _contionem_; lit. gave me a meeting,
_i.e._, the right of addressing the meeting, which only magistrates or
those introduced by magistrates could do.]
[Footnote 381: C. Messius, a tribune of the year.]
[Footnote 382: Clodius had consecrated the site of Cicero's house for a
temple of Liberty. The pontifices had to decide whether that
consecration held good, or whether the site might be restored to Cicero.
Hence his speech _de Domo sua ad Pontifices_.]
[Footnote 383: The origin of the Latin line is not known. The English is
Milton's, _P. L._ ii. 224.]
XC (A IV, 2)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME (OCTOBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
If by any chance you get letters less frequently from me than from
others, I beg you not to put it down to my negligence, or even to my
engagements; for though they are very heavy, there can be none
sufficient to stop the course of our mutual affection and of the
attention I owe to you. The fact is that, since my return to Rome, this
is only the second time that I have been told of anyone to whom I could
deliver a letter, and accordingly this is my second letter to you. In my
former I described the reception I had on my return, what my political
position was, and how my affairs were.
"For happy though but ill, for ill not worst."
The despatch of that letter was followed by a great controversy about my
house. I delivered a speech before the pontifices on the 29th of
September. I pleaded my cause with care, and if I ever was worth
anything as a speaker, or even if I never was on any other occasion, on
this one at any rate my indignation at the business, and the importance
of it, did add a certain vigour to my style.[384] Accordingly, the
rising generation must not be left without the benefit of this speech,
which I shall send you all the same, even if you don't want it.[385] The
decree of the pontifices was as follows: "If neither by order of the
people nor vote of the plebs the party alleging that he had dedicated
had been appointed by name to that function, nor by order of the people
or vote of the plebs had been commanded to do so, we are of opinion that
the part of the site in question may be restored to M. Tullius without
violence to religion." Upon this I was at once congratulated--for no one
doubted that my house was thereby adjudged to me--when all on a sudden
that fellow mounts the platform to address a meeting, invited to speak
by Appius,[386] and announces at once to the people that the pontifices
had decided in his favour,[387] but that I was endeavouring to take
forcible possession; he exhorts them to follow himself and Appius to
defend their own shrine of Liberty.[388] Hereupon, when even those
credulous hearers partly wondered and partly laughed at the fellow's mad
folly, I resolved not to go near the place until such time as the
consuls by decree of the senate had given out the contract for restoring
the colonnade of Catulus.[389] On the 1st of October there was a full
meeting of the senate. All the pontifices who were senators were invited
to attend, and Marcellinus,[390] who is a great admirer of mine, being
called on to speak first, asked them what was the purport of their
decree. Then M. Lucullus, speaking for all his colleagues, answered that
the pontifices were judges of a question of religion, the senate of the
validity of a law: that he and his colleagues had given a decision on a
point of religion; in the senate they would with the other senators
decide on the law. Accordingly, each of them, when asked in their proper
order for their opinion, delivered long arguments in my favour. When it
came to Clodius's turn, he wished to talk out the day, and he went on
endlessly; however, after he had spoken for nearly three hours, he was
forced by the loud expression of the senate's disgust to finish his
speech at last. On the decree in accordance with the proposal of
Marcellinus passing the senate against a minority of one, Serranus
interposed his veto.[391] At once both consuls referred the question of
Serranus's veto to the senate. After some very resolute speeches had
been delivered--"that it was the decision of the senate that the house
should be restored to me": "that a contract should be given out for the
colonnade of Catulus": "that the resolution of the house should be
supported by all the magistrates": "that if any violence occurred, the
senate would consider it to be the fault of the magistrate who vetoed
the decree of the senate"--Serranus became thoroughly frightened, and
Cornicinus repeated his old farce: throwing off his toga, he flung
himself at his son-in-law's feet.[392] The former demanded a night for
consideration. They would not grant it: for they remembered the 1st of
January. It was, however, at last granted with difficulty on my
interposition. Next day the decree of the senate was passed which I send
you. Thereupon the consuls gave out a contract for the restoration of
the colonnade of Catulus: the contractors immediately cleared that
portico of his away to the satisfaction of all.[393] The buildings of my
house the consuls, by the advice of their assessors, valued at 2,000,000
sesterces (about £16,000).[394] The rest was valued very stingily. My
Tusculan villa at 500,000 sesterces (about £4,000): my villa at Formiæ
at 250,000 sesterces (about £2,000)--an estimate loudly exclaimed
against not only by all the best men, but even by the common people. You
will say, "What was the reason?" They for their part say it was my
modesty--because I would neither say no, nor make any violent
expostulation. But that is not the real cause: for that indeed in itself
would have been in my favour.[395] But, my dear Pomponius, those very
same men, I tell you, of whom you are no more ignorant than myself,
having clipped my wings, are unwilling that they should grow again to
their old size. But, as I hope, they are already growing again. Only
come to me! But this, I fear, may be retarded by the visit of your and
my friend Varro. Having now heard the actual course of public business,
let me inform you of what I have in my thoughts besides. I have allowed
myself to be made _legatus_ to Pompey, but only on condition that
nothing should stand in the way of my being entirely free either to
stand, if I choose, for the censorship--if the next consuls hold a
censorial election--or to assume a "votive commission" in connexion
with nearly any fanes or sacred groves.[396] For this is what falls in
best with our general policy and my particular occasions. But I wished
the power to remain in my hands of _either_ standing for election, _or_
at the beginning of the summer of going out of town: and meanwhile I
thought it not disadvantageous to keep myself before the eyes of the
citizens who had treated me generously. Well, such are my plans in
regard to public affairs; my domestic affairs are very intricate and
difficult. My town house is being built: you know how much expense and
annoyance the repair of my Formian villa occasions me, which I can
neither bear to relinquish nor to look at. I have advertised my Tusculan
property for sale; I don't much care for a suburban residence.[397] The
liberality of friends has been exhausted in a business which brought me
nothing but dishonour: and this you perceived though absent, as did
others on the spot, by whose zeal and wealth I could easily have
obtained all I wanted, had only my supporters allowed it.[398] In this
respect I am now in serious difficulty. Other causes of anxiety are
somewhat more of the _tacenda_ kind.[399] My brother and daughter treat
me with affection. I am looking forward to seeing you.
[Footnote 384: The speech _de Domo sua ad Pontifices_. The genuineness
of the existing speech has been doubted. But it may very well be said
that no one but Cicero could have written it. It is not certainly one of
his happiest efforts, in spite of what he says here; but he is not
unaccustomed to estimate his speeches somewhat highly, and to mistake
violence for vigour.]
[Footnote 385: He will send it to Atticus to get copied by his
_librarii_, and published.]
[Footnote 386: Appius Claudius Pulcher, brother of P. Clodius, was a
prætor this year.]
[Footnote 387: It is not clear that Clodius was wrong; the pontifices
decided that for a valid consecration an order of the people was
requisite, and, of course, Clodius could allege such an order. Cicero
devoted the greater part of his speech, therefore, to shewing (1) that
Clodius's adoption was invalid, and that he was therefore no tribune,
and incapable of taking an order of the people; (2) that the law was a
_privilegium_, and therefore invalid. The pontifices did not consider
either of these points, which were not properly before them, or within
their competence; they merely decided the religious question--that
unless there had been a _iussus populi_ or _plebis scitus_ there was no
valid consecration.]
[Footnote 388: Or perhaps only "statue of Liberty," as the temple was
not yet completed.]
[Footnote 389: A portico or colonnade, built by Q. Catulus, the
conqueror of the Cimbri, on the site of the house of M. Flaccus, who was
killed with Saturninus in B.C. 100. It was close to Cicero's house, and
what Clodius appears to have done was to pull down the portico, and
build another, extending over part of Cicero's site, on which was to be
a temple for his statue of Liberty.]
[Footnote 390: Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus was called on first as
consul designate for B.C. 56.]
[Footnote 391: Sext. Attilius Serranus, a tribune. He had been a quæstor
in Cicero's consulship, but had opposed his recall.]
[Footnote 392: Cn. Oppius Cornicinus, the father-in-law of Serranus, is
said in _p. red. at Quir._ § 13 to have done the same in the senate on
the 1st of January, when Serranus also went through the same form of
"demanding a night" for consideration.]
[Footnote 393: Prof. Tyrrell brackets _porticum_. But I do not
understand his difficulty, especially as he saw none in the last letter.
Cicero (_de Domo_, § 102) certainly implies that Clodius had, at any
rate, partly pulled down the _porticus Catuli_, in order to build
something on a larger scale, which was to take in some of Cicero's site.
This was now to come down, and so leave Cicero his _area_, and, I
presume, the old _porticus Catuli_ was to be restored.]
[Footnote 394: Cicero had given Crassus 3,500,000 for it (about
£28,000). See Letter XVI.]
[Footnote 395: _I.e._, my modest reserve. There does not seem any reason
for Tyrrell's emendation of _num_ for _nam_.]
[Footnote 396: I have translated Klotz's text. That given by Prof.
Tyrrell is, to me at any rate, quite unintelligible. Cicero's _legatio_
under Pompey appears to have been, in fact, honorary, or _libera_, for
he doesn't seem to have done anything. He wishes to reserve the right of
resigning it to stand for the censorship (censors were elected in the
following year), or of turning it into a _votiva legatio_, to visit
certain sacred places on the plea of performing a vow, thus getting the
opportunity, if he desired it, of retiring temporarily from Rome in a
dignified manner. The force of _prope_ seems to be "almost any, I care
not what." It was not likely that a man with his stormy past would do
for the delicate duties of the censorship, and he would save appearances
by going on a _votiva legatio_. See Letter XLIV.]
[Footnote 397: _Facile careo_, others read _non facile_, "I don't like
being without a suburban residence."]
[Footnote 398: The thing which brought him "nothing but dishonour" was
his quitting Rome, and the consequent expenses connected with winning
over friends, or paying for Milo's bravoes to face those of Clodius. In
the last part of the sentence he seems to mean that, had his supporters
backed him properly, he would have got everything necessary to make good
his losses from the liberality of the senate. Others explain that
_defensores_ really means Pompey only.]
[Footnote 399: This and the omission of his wife in the next clause, as
the similar hint at the end of the last letter, seem to point to some
misunderstanding with Terentia, with whom, however, a final rupture was
postponed for nearly twelve years (B.C. 46.)]
XCI (A IV, 3)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 24 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
I am very well aware that you long to know what is going on here, and
also to know it from me, not because things done before the eyes of the
whole world are better realized when narrated by my hand than when
reported to you by the pens or lips of others, but because it is from my
letters that you get what you want--a knowledge of _my_ feelings in
regard to the occurrences, and what at such a juncture is the state of
my mind, or, in a word, the conditions in which I am living. On the 3rd
of November the workmen were driven from the site of my house by armed
ruffians: the _porticus Catuli_,[400] which was being rebuilt on a
contract given out by the consuls, in accordance with a decree of the
senate, and had nearly reached the roof, was battered down: the house of
my brother Quintus[401] was first smashed with volleys of stones thrown
from my site, and then set on fire by order of Clodius, firebrands
having been thrown into it in the sight of the whole town, amidst loud
exclamations of indignation and sorrow, I will not say of the
loyalists--for I rather think there _are_ none--but of simply every
human being. That madman runs riot: thinks after this mad prank of
nothing short of murdering his opponents: canvasses the city street by
street: makes open offers of freedom to slaves. For the fact is that up
to this time, while trying to avoid prosecution,[402] he had a case,
difficult indeed to support, and obviously bad, but still a case: he
might have denied the facts, he might have shifted the blame on others,
he might even have pleaded that some part of his proceedings had been
legal. But after such wrecking of buildings, incendiaries, and wholesale
robberies as these, being abandoned by his supporters, he hardly retains
on his side Decimus the marshal,[403] or Gellius; takes slaves into his
confidence; sees that, even if he openly assassinates everyone he wishes
to, he will not have a worse case before a court of law than he has at
present. Accordingly, on the 11th of November, as I was going down the
Sacred Way, he followed me with his gang. There were shouts,
stone-throwing, brandishing of clubs and swords, and all this without a
moment's warning. I and my party stepped aside into Tettius Damio's
vestibule: those accompanying me easily prevented his roughs from
getting in. He might have been killed himself.[404] But I am now on a
system of cure by regimen: I am tired of surgery. The fellow, seeing
that what everybody called for was not his prosecution but his instant
execution, has since made all your Catilines seem models of
respectability.[405] For on the 12th of November he tried to storm and
set fire to Milo's house, I mean the one on Germalus:[406] and so openly
was this done, that at eleven o'clock in the morning he brought men
there armed with shields and with their swords drawn, and others with
lighted torches. He had himself occupied the house of P. Sulla[407] as
his headquarters from which to conduct the assault upon Milo's.
Thereupon Q. Flaccus led out some gallant fellows from Milo's other
house (the _Anniana_): killed the most notorious bravoes of all
Clodius's gang: wanted to kill Clodius himself; but my gentleman took
refuge in the inner part of Sulla's house. The next thing was a meeting
of the senate on the 14th. Clodius stayed at home: Marcellinus[408] was
splendid: all were keen. Metellus[409] talked the business out by an
obstructive speech, aided by Appius, and also, by Hercules! by your
friend on whose firmness you wrote me such a wonderfully true letter!
Sestius[410] was fuming. Afterwards the fellow vows vengeance on the
city if his election is stopped. Marcellinus's resolution having been
exposed for public perusal (he had read it from a written copy, and it
embraced our entire case--the prosecution was to include his violent
proceedings on the site of my house, his arson, his assault on me
personally, and was to take place before the elections), he put up a
notice that he intended to watch the sky during all comitial days.[411]
Public speeches of Metellus disorderly, of Appius hot-headed, of
Publius stark mad. The upshot, however, was that, had not Milo served
his notice of bad omens in the _campus_, the elections would have been
held. On the 19th of November Milo arrived on the _campus_ before
midnight with a large company. Clodius, though he had picked gangs of
runaway slaves, did not venture into the _campus_. Milo stopped there
till midday,[412] to everybody's great delight and his own infinite
credit: the movement of the three brethren[413] ended in their own
disgrace; their violence was crushed, their madness made ridiculous.
However, Metellus demands that the obstructive notice should be served
on him next day in the forum: "there was no need to come to the _campus_
before daybreak: he would be in the _comitium_ at the first hour of the
day."[414] Accordingly, on the 20th Milo came to the forum before
sunrise. Metellus at the first sign of dawn was stealthily hurrying to
the _campus_, I had almost said by by-lanes: Milo catches our friend up
"between the groves"[415] and serves his notice. The latter returned
greeted with loud and insulting remarks by Q. Flaccus. The 21st was a
market day.[416] For two days no public meeting. I am writing this
letter on the 23rd at three o'clock in the morning. Milo is already in
possession of the _campus_. The candidate Marcellus[417] is snoring so
loud that I can hear him next door. I am told that Clodius's vestibule
is completely deserted: there are a few ragged fellows there and a
canvas lantern.[418] His party complains that I am the adviser of the
whole business: they little know the courage and wisdom of that hero!
His gallantry is astonishing. Some recent instances of his superhuman
excellence I pass over; but the upshot is this: I don't think the
election will take place. I think Publius will be brought to trial by
Milo--unless he is killed first. If he once puts himself in his way in a
riot, I can see that he will be killed by Milo himself. The latter has
no scruple about doing it; he avows his intention; he isn't at all
afraid of what happened to me, for _he_ will never listen to the advice
of a jealous and faithless friend, nor trust a feeble aristocrat. In
spirit, at any rate, I am as vigorous as in my zenith, or even more so;
in regard to money I am crippled. However, the liberality of my brother
I have, in spite of his protests, repaid (as the state of my finances
compelled) by the aid of my friends, that I might not be drained quite
dry myself. What line of policy to adopt in regard to my position as a
whole, I cannot decide in your absence: wherefore make haste to town.
[Footnote 400: See last letter. The _porticus Catuli_ had been, at any
rate, partly demolished by Clodius to make way for his larger scheme of
building, which was to take in part of Cicero's "site." See _pro Cæl._
§79.]
[Footnote 401: Next door to Cicero's own house.]
[Footnote 402: He would avoid prosecution _de vi_ by getting elected to
the ædileship for B.C. 56, for actual magistrates were rarely
prosecuted; but he, in this case, actually avoided it by getting a
consul and tribune to forbid it by edict (_pro Sest._ § 89).]
[Footnote 403: _Designatorem._ This may mean (1) an official who shewed
people to their places in the theatre; (2) an undertaker's man, who
marshalled funerals. To the latter office a certain _infamia_ was
attached. We know nothing more of Decimus (see _pro Domo_, § 50).
Gellius was an eques and a stepson of L. Marcius Philippus. He
afterwards gave evidence against Sestius for _vis_ (see _pro Sest._ §
110). Cicero calls him the mover of all seditions (_in Vatin._ § 4), and
one of Clodius's gang (_de Har. Resp._ § 59). See next letter.]
[Footnote 404: Perhaps by M. Antonius. See 2 _Phil._ § 21; _pro Mil._ §
40.]
[Footnote 405: Lit. "made all Catilines _Acidini_." Acidinus was the
cognomen of several distinguished men. In _Leg. Agr._ ii. § 64, Cicero
classes the _Acidini_ among men "respectable not only for the public
offices they had held, and for their services to the state, but also for
the noble way in which they had endured poverty." There does not,
however, seem any very good reason known for their becoming proverbial
as the antithesis to revolutionaries.]
[Footnote 406: A slope of the Palatine. Milo's other house (p. 196).]
[Footnote 407: P. Cornelius Sulla, nephew of the dictator. Cicero
defended him in B.C. 62, but he had taken the part of Clodius in the
time of Cicero's exile.]
[Footnote 408: Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, the consul-designate
for the next year. In that capacity he would be called on for his
_sententia_ first.]
[Footnote 409: Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos, the consul. Though he had not
opposed Cicero's recall, he stood by his cousin, P. Clodius, in regard
to the threatened prosecution. Appius is Appius Claudius, brother of P.
Clodius.]
[Footnote 410: P. Sestius, the tribune favourable to Cicero, afterwards
defended by him.]
[Footnote 411: Mr. Purser's reading of _nisi anteferret_ before
_proscripsit_ seems to me to darken the passage. What happened was this.
Marcellinus's _sententia_ was never put to the vote, because Metellus,
Appius, and Hortensius (Cicero seems to mean him) talked out the
sitting. Accordingly, Marcellinus published it, _i.e._, put it up
outside the Curia to be read: and under it he (or some other magistrate
whose name has dropped out of the text) put a notice that he was going
to "watch the sky" all the _dies comitiales_, so as to prevent the
election being held. But this had been rendered inoperative by Clodius's
amendment of the _lex Ælia Fufia_ (see 2 _Phil._ § 81)--or at any rate
of doubtful validity--and, accordingly, the only thing left was the
_obnuntiatio_ by a magistrate, which Milo proceeded to make. The rule,
however was that such _obnuntiatio_ must be made before the _comitia_
were begun (2 _Phil. ib._), which again could not begin till sunrise.
Hence Milo's early visit to the _campus_. For the meaning of _proposita_
see Letter XLVII.]
[Footnote 412: After which the _comitia_ could not be begun.]
[Footnote 413: P. Clodius, his brother Appius, and his _cousin_ Metellus
Nepos.]
[Footnote 414: Metellus means that he shall take the necessary auspices
for the _comitia_ in the _comitium_, before going to the _campus_ to
take the votes.]
[Footnote 415: Generally called _inter duos lucos_, the road down the
Capitolium towards the Campus Martius, originally so called as being
between the two heads of the mountain. It was the spot traditionally
assigned to the "asylum" of Romulus.]
[Footnote 416: On the _nundinæ_ and the next day no _comitia_ and no
meeting of the senate could be held.]
[Footnote 417: Candidate for the ædileship, of whom we know nothing.]
[Footnote 418: Apparently a poor lantern, whose sides were made of
canvas instead of horn.]
XCII (Q FR II, 1)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN SARDINIA[419])
ROME (10 DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
The letter which you have already read I had sent off in the morning.
But Licinius was polite enough to call on me in the evening after the
senate had risen, that, in case of any business having been done there,
I might, if I thought good, write an account of it to you. The senate
was fuller than I had thought possible in the month of December just
before the holidays. Of us consulars there were P. Servilius, M.
Lucullus, Lepidus, Volcatius, Glabrio: the two consuls-designate; the
prætors. We were a really full house: two hundred in all.[420] Lupus had
excited some interest.[421] He raised the question of the Campanian land
in considerable detail. He was listened to in profound silence. You are
not unaware what material that subject affords. He omitted none of the
points which I had made in this business.[422] There were some sharp
thrusts at Cæsar, some denunciations of Gellius, some appeals to the
absent Pompey. After concluding his speech at a late hour, he said that
he would not ask for our votes lest he might burden us with a personal
controversy; he quite understood the sentiments of the senate from the
denunciations of past times and the silence on the present occasion.
Milo spoke. Lupus begins the formula of dismissal,[423] when Marcellinus
says: "Don't infer from our silence, Lupus, what we approve or
disapprove of at this particular time. As far as I am concerned, and I
think it is the same with the rest, I am only silent because I do not
think it suitable that the case of the Campanian land should be debated
in Pompey's absence." Then Lupus said that he would not detain the
senate.[423] Racilius rose and began bringing before the house the case
of the proposed prosecutions. He calls upon Marcellinus, of course,
first;[424] who, after complaining in serious tones of the Clodian
incendiaries, massacres, and stonings, proposed a resolution that
"Clodius himself should, under the superintendence of the prætor
urbanus, have his jury allotted to him; that the elections should be
held only when the allotment of jurors[425] had been completed; that
whoever stopped the trials would be acting against the interests of the
state."[426] The proposal having been received with warm approval, Gaius
Cato[427]--as did also Cassius--spoke against it, with very emphatic
murmurs of disapprobation on the part of the senate, when he proposed to
hold the elections before the trials. Philippus supported Lentulus.[428]
After that Racilius called on me first of the unofficial senators for my
opinion.[429] I made a long speech upon the whole story of P. Clodius's
mad proceedings and murderous violence: I impeached him as though he
were on his trial, amidst frequent murmurs of approbation from the whole
senate. My speech was praised at considerable length, and, by Hercules!
with no little oratorical skill by Antistius Vetus, who also supported
the priority of the legal proceedings, and declared that he should
consider it of the first importance. The senators were crossing the
floor in support of this view,[430] when Clodius, being called on, began
trying to talk out the sitting. He spoke in furious terms of having been
attacked by Racilius in an unreasonable and discourteous manner. Then
his roughs on the Græcostasis[431] and the steps of the house suddenly
raised a pretty loud shout, in wrath, I suppose, against Q. Sextilius
and the other friends of Milo. At this sudden alarm we broke up with
loud expressions of indignation on all sides. Here are the transactions
of one day for you: the rest, I think, will be put off to January. Of
all the tribunes I think Racilius is by far the best: Antistius also
seems likely to be friendly to me: Plancius, of course, is wholly ours.
Pray, if you love me, be careful and cautious about sailing in December.
[Footnote 419: Quintus Cicero was in Sardinia as Pompey's _legatus_ as
superintendent of the corn-supply, to which office he had been appointed
in August. The letter is written not earlier than the 10th of December,
for the new tribunes for B.C. 56 have come into office, and not later
than the 16th, because on the 17th the Saturnalia began. Perhaps as the
senate is summoned and presided over by Lupus, it is on the 10th, the
day of his entrance upon office.]
[Footnote 420: "Full," that is, for the time of year. A "full house" is
elsewhere mentioned as between three and four hundred.]
[Footnote 421: P. Rutilius Lupus, one of the new tribunes.]
[Footnote 422: This refers to Cicero's attempts to exempt the _ager
publicus_ in Campania from being divided (see Letter XXIV, p. 55); and
not only to his speeches against Rullus. It was because Cæsar
disregarded the ancient exception of this land from such distribution
that Cicero opposed his bill, and refused to serve on the commission.]
[Footnote 423: _Nihil vos moramur_ were the words used by the presiding
magistrate, indicating that he had no more business to bring before the
senate. If no one said anything, the senate was dismissed; but any
magistrate, or magistrate-designate, could speak, and so continue the
sitting up to nightfall, when the house stood adjourned.]
[Footnote 424: Because consul-designate. L. Racilius, one of the new
tribunes.]
[Footnote 425: The _sortitio iudicum_ was performed by the prætor
drawing out the required number of names from the urn, which contained
the names of all liable to serve. The accused could, however, challenge
a certain number, and the prætor had then to draw others.]
[Footnote 426: The formula whereby the senate declared its opinion that
so and so was guilty of treason. It had no legal force, but the
magistrates might, and sometimes did, act on it.]
[Footnote 427: C. Porcius Cato, distant relation of Cato Uticensis, one
of the new tribunes.]
[Footnote 428: _I.e._, Marcellinus (Cn. Cornelius Lentulus).]
[Footnote 429: The senators not in office only spoke when called on
(_rogati_). The consuls-designate (if there were any) were always called
first, and then the consulars in order. To be called _first_ was a
subject of ambition, and an opportunity for the presiding magistrate to
pay a compliment or the reverse.]
[Footnote 430: They went and sat or stood near the speaker they wished
to support. It was not, however, a formal division till the speeches
ended, and the presiding magistrate counted. Still, it made the division
easier.]
[Footnote 431: A platform outside the senate-house, where
representatives originally of Greek and then of other states were
placed. It was apparently possible to hear, or partly hear, the debates
from it. It was a _locus substructus_ (Varro, _L. L._ v. 155). There is
no evidence that it was a building to lodge ambassadors in, as Prof.
Tyrrell says.]
XCIII (F VII, 26)
TO M. FADIUS GALLUS (AT ROME)
TUSCULUM[432] (? DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 57, ÆT. 49]
Having been suffering for nine days past from a severe disorder of the
bowels, and being unable to convince those who desired my services that
I was ill because I had no fever, I fled to my Tusculan villa, after
having, in fact, observed for two days so strict a fast as not even to
drink a drop of water. Accordingly, being thoroughly reduced by weakness
and hunger, I was more in want of your services than I thought mine
could be required by you. For myself, while shrinking from all
illnesses, I especially shrink from that in regard to which the Stoics
attack your friend Epicurus for saying that "he suffered from strangury
and pains in the bowels"--the latter of which complaints they attribute
to gluttony, the former to a still graver indulgence. I had been really
much afraid of dysentery. But either the change of residence, or the
mere relaxation of anxiety, or perhaps the natural abatement of the
complaint from lapse of time, seems to me to have done me good. However,
to prevent your wondering how this came about, or in what manner I let
myself in for it, I must tell you that the sumptuary law, supposed to
have introduced plain living, was the origin of my misfortune. For
whilst your epicures wish to bring into fashion the products of the
earth, which are not forbidden by the law, they flavour mushrooms,
_petits choux_, and every kind of pot-herb so as to make them the most
tempting dishes possible.[433] Having fallen a victim to these in the
augural banquet at the house of Lentulus, I was seized with a violent
diarrhœa, which, I think, has been checked to-day for the first time.
And so I, who abstain from oysters and lampreys without any difficulty,
have been beguiled by beet and mallows. Henceforth, therefore, I shall
be more cautious. Yet, having heard of it from Anicius[434]--for he saw
me turning sick--you had every reason not only for sending to inquire,
but even for coming to see me. I am thinking of remaining here till I am
thoroughly restored, for I have lost both strength and flesh. However,
if I can once get completely rid of my complaint, I shall, I hope,
easily recover these.
[Footnote 432: The year of this letter has been inferred from the
mention of Lentulus's augural banquet. For P. Cornelius Lentulus
Spinther, son of the consul of B.C. 57, was in this year elected into
the college of augurs. Yet as we know that Cicero's Tusculan villa was
dismantled by Clodius, and was advertised for sale (though not sold), it
seems rather extraordinary that Cicero should have gone there for his
health. The _Fadii Galli_ were a family of Cicero's native place,
Arpinum.]
[Footnote 433: There were several sumptuary laws. Those which may
possibly be referred to here are (1) the _lex Licinia_ (? B.C. 103),
which defined certain foods as illegal at banquets, but excepted _quod
ex terra vite arbore ve sit natum_ (Macrobius, _Sat._ iii. 17, 9; Gell.
ii. 24, 7); (2) the _lex Æmilia_ (B.C. 68), which also defined both the
quantity and quality of food allowable at banquets (Gell. ii. 24, 12).]
[Footnote 434: C. Anicius, a senator and intimate friend of Cicero's.]
XCIV (F I, I)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56. Coss., Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus, L.
Marcius Philippus.]
In the year B.C. 56 the growing differences between the triumvirs
were temporarily composed at the meeting at Luca, and Cicero made
up his mind that the only course for him to pursue was to attach
himself to them, as the party of the _boni_ had not, as he hoped,
taken advantage of those differences to attach Pompey to themselves
as a leader against Cæsar. His recantation is indicated in the
speeches _de Provinciis Consularibus_ and _pro Balbo_, in which he
practically supports part, at least, of the arrangements of Luca.
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER[435] (IN CILICIA)
ROME, 13 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Whatever attention or affection I may shew you, though it may seem
sufficient in the eyes of others, can never seem sufficient in my own.
For such has been the magnitude of your services to me that, inasmuch as
you never rested till my affair was brought to a conclusion, while I
cannot effect the same in your cause,[436] I regard my life as a burden.
The difficulties are these. The king's agent, Hammonius, is openly
attacking us by bribery. The business is being carried out by means of
the same money-lenders as it was when you were in town. Such people as
wish it done for the king's sake--and they are few--are all for
intrusting the business to Pompey. The senate supports the trumped-up
religious scruple, not from any respect to religion, but from
ill-feeling towards him, and disgust at the king's outrageous bribery. I
never cease advising and instigating Pompey--even frankly finding fault
with and admonishing him--to avoid what would be a most discreditable
imputation.[437] But he really leaves no room for either entreaties or
admonitions from me. For, whether in everyday conversation or in the
senate, no one could support your cause with greater eloquence,
seriousness, zeal, and energy than he has done, testifying in the
highest terms to your services to himself and his affection for you.
Marcellinus, you know, is incensed with his flute-playing majesty.[438]
In everything, saving and excepting this case of the king, he professes
the intention of being your champion. We take what he gives: nothing can
move him from his motion as to the religious difficulty, which he made
up his mind to bring, and has, in fact, brought several times before the
senate. The debate up to the Ides (for I am writing early in the morning
of the Ides[439]) has been as follows: Hortensius and I and Lucullus
voted for yielding to the religious scruple as far as concerned the
army,[440] for otherwise there was no possibility of getting the matter
through, but, in accordance with the decree already passed on your own
motion, were for directing you to restore the king, "so far as you may
do so without detriment to the state": so that while the religious
difficulty prohibits the employment of an army, the senate might still
retain you as the person authorized. Crassus votes for sending three
legates, not excluding Pompey: for he would allow them to be selected
even from such as are at present in possession of _imperium_.[441]
Bibulus is for three legates selected from men without _imperium_. The
other consulars agree with the latter, except Servilius, who says that
he ought not to be restored at all: and Volcatius, who on the motion of
Lupus votes for giving the business to Pompey: and Afranius, who agrees
with Volcatius. This last fact increases the suspicion as to Pompey's
wishes: for it was noticed that Pompey's intimates agreed with
Volcatius. We are in a very great difficulty: the day seems going
against us. The notorious colloguing and eagerness of Libo and Hypsæus,
and the earnestness displayed by Pompey's intimates, have produced an
impression that Pompey desires it; and those who don't want him to have
it are at the same time annoyed with your having put power into his
hands.[442] I have the less influence in the case because I am under an
obligation to you. Moreover, whatever influence I might have had is
extinguished by the idea people entertain as to Pompey's wishes, for
they think they are gratifying him. We are in much the same position as
we were long before your departure: now, as then, the sore has been
fomented secretly by the king himself and by the friends and intimates
of Pompey, and then openly irritated by the consulars, till the popular
prejudice has been excited to the highest pitch. All the world shall
recognize my loyalty, and your friends on the spot shall see my
affection for you though you are absent. If there were any good faith in
those most bound to shew it, we should be in no difficulty at all.
[Footnote 435: Consul of B.C. 57, who had gone at the end of his
consulship to be governor of Cilicia.]
[Footnote 436: When Ptolemy Auletes first appealed to the senate (B.C.
57) to restore him to the throne of Egypt, it appears that a resolution
was passed authorizing the proconsul of Cilicia to do so; but as Pompey
wished to have the business, the senate found itself in a difficulty,
not wishing to put him in military command, or daring to offend him by
an open refusal (Dio, xxxix. 12). The tribune C. Cato found up a
Sibylline oracle forbidding the employment of an army for the purpose,
which served the senate as a decent excuse. The commission to Lentulus
was eventually withdrawn by an _auctoritas senatus_, and Lentulus did
not venture to do it. Ptolemy, finding that he could not succeed in
getting Pompey commissioned, retired to Ephesus, and afterwards
succeeded by an enormous bribe in inducing Gabinius, the proconsul of
Syria, to do it (B.C. 55).]
[Footnote 437: Of having been induced by greed or ambition to undertake
the restoration of Ptolemy.]
[Footnote 438: Reading _tibicini_ for the unmeaning _tibi_. It is not
certain, but it makes good sense. Ptolemy was called _Auletes_
(flute-player), of which the Latin _tibicen_ is a translation, meant, no
doubt, somewhat jocosely.]
[Footnote 439: _I.e._, before going to the senate on the Ides of January
(13th). See next letter.]
[Footnote 440: The Sibylline oracle forbade restoring the king "with a
multitude."]
[Footnote 441: Pompey had at this time _imperium_ as _curator annonæ_.]
[Footnote 442: Because it was on Lentulus's motion that Pompey had been
made _curator annonæ_, and so in possession of _imperium_ with naval and
military forces.]
XCV (F I, 2)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME, 15 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Nothing was done on the 13th of January in the senate, because the day
was to a great extent spent in an altercation between the consul
Lentulus and the tribune Caninius. On that day I also spoke at
considerable length, and thought that I made a very great impression on
the senate by dwelling on your affection for the house. Accordingly,
next day we resolved that we would deliver our opinions briefly: for it
appeared to us that the feelings of the senate had been softened towards
us--the result not only of my speech, but of my personal appeal and
application to individual senators. Accordingly, the first proposition,
that of Bibulus, having been delivered, that three legates should
restore the king: the second, that of Hortensius, that you should
restore him without an army: the third, that of Volcatius, that Pompey
should do it, a demand was made that the proposal of Bibulus should be
taken in two parts.[443] As far as he dealt with the religious
difficulty--a point which was now past being opposed--his motion was
carried; his proposition as to three legates was defeated by a large
majority. The next was the proposition of Hortensius. Thereupon the
tribune Lupus, on the ground that he had himself made a proposal about
Pompey, starts the contention that he ought to divide the house before
the consuls. His speech was received on all sides by loud cries of "No":
for it was both unfair and unprecedented. The consuls would not give in,
and yet did not oppose with any vigour. Their object was to waste the
day, and in that they succeeded:[444] for they saw very well that many
times the number would vote for the proposal of Hortensius, although
they openly professed their agreement with Volcatius. Large numbers were
called upon for their opinion, and that, too, with the assent of the
consuls: for they wanted the proposal of Bibulus carried. This dispute
was protracted till nightfall, and the senate was dismissed. I happened
to be dining with Pompey on that day, and I seized the opportunity--the
best I have ever had, for since your departure I have never occupied a
more honourable position in the senate than I had on that day--of
talking to him in such a way, that I think I induced him to give up
every other idea and resolve to support your claims. And, indeed, when I
actually hear him talk, I acquit him entirely of all suspicion of
personal ambition: but when I regard his intimates of every rank, I
perceive, what is no secret to anybody, that this whole business has
been long ago corruptly manipulated by a certain coterie, not without
the king's own consent and that of his advisers.
I write this on the 15th of January, before daybreak. To-day there is to
be a meeting of the senate. We shall maintain, as I hope, our position
in the senate as far as it is possible to do so in such an age of
perfidy and unfair dealing. As to an appeal to the people on the
subject, we have, I think, secured that no proposition can be brought
before them without neglect of the auspices or breach of the laws, or,
in fine, without downright violence.[445] The day before my writing
these words a resolution of the senate on these matters of the most
serious character was passed, and though Cato and Caninius vetoed it, it
was nevertheless written out.[446] I suppose it has been sent to you. On
all other matters I will write and tell you what has been done, whatever
it is, and I will see that everything is carried out with the most
scrupulous fairness as far as my caution, labour, attention to details,
and influence can secure it.
[Footnote 443: The proposal of Bibulus to send "three legates" implied a
concession to the Sibylline verse, in not sending "an army." It was
therefore to be voted on as two questions--(1) Shall the Sibylline verse
be obeyed, and an army not sent? (2) Shall three legates be sent?]
[Footnote 444: That is, the debate went off on the side issue as to who
had the prior right of dividing the house. Lupus said _he_ had, because
the proposal of Volcatius was really made before the others, _i.e._, in
the previous day's debate (see last letter). The consuls were only too
glad thus to avoid having the main question brought to a vote, and let
this technical point be spun out in a languid debate.]
[Footnote 445: Because they had magistrates ready to stop the _comitia_
by declaring bad omens, and tribunes ready to veto any proposal.]
[Footnote 446: A _senatus consultum_ vetoed by a tribune was written
out, with the names of its proposers and backers, and a statement at the
end as to the tribunes vetoing it. It was thus on record as an
_auctoritas senatus_, "resolution of the senate," not a _senatus
consultum_. A perfect specimen is given in Letter CCXXIII. This
_auctoritas_ was to the effect that no one was to undertake the
restoration. See Letter CXIII.]
XCVI (F I, 3)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (? JANUARY)
_M. Cicero presents his compliments to P. Lentulus, proconsul._
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Aulus Trebonius, who has important business in your province, both of
wide extent and sound, is an intimate friend of mine of many years'
standing. As before this he has always, both from his brilliant position
and the recommendations of myself and his other friends, enjoyed the
highest popularity in the province, so at the present time, trusting to
your affection for me and our close ties, he feels sure that this letter
of mine will give him a high place in your esteem. That he may not be
disappointed in that hope I earnestly beg of you, and I commend to you
all his business concerns, his freedmen, agents, and servants; and
specially that you will confirm the decrees made by T. Ampius in his
regard, and treat him in all respects so as to convince him that my
recommendation is no mere ordinary one.[447]
[Footnote 447: This is a specimen of the short letter of introduction to
a provincial governor which were given almost as a matter of course by
men of position at Rome. We shall have many of them in the course of the
correspondence: and Cicero elsewhere warns the recipient of such letters
not to pay attention to them unless he expressly indicates his wish by
some less formal sentence (see Letter CXIV). T. Ampius was the
predecessor of Lentulus in Cilicia.]
XCVII (F I, 4)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME, JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Though in the senate of the 15th of January we made a most glorious
stand, seeing that on the previous day we had defeated the proposal of
Bibulus about the three legates, and the only contest left was with the
proposal of Volcatius, yet the business was spun out by our opponents by
various obstructive tactics. For we were carrying our view in a full
senate, in spite of the multifarious devices and inveterate jealousy of
those who were for transferring the cause of the king from you to some
one else. That day we found Curio very bitterly opposed, Bibulus much
more fair, almost friendly even. Caninius and Cato declared that they
would not propose any law before the elections. By the _lex Pupia_, as
you know, no senate could be held before the 1st of February, nor in
fact during the whole of February,[448] unless the business of the
legations were finished or adjourned. However, the Roman people are
generally of opinion that the pretext of a trumped-up religious scruple
has been introduced by your jealous detractors, not so much to hinder
you, as to prevent anyone from wishing to go to Alexandria with a view
of getting the command of an army. However, everyone thinks that the
senate has had a regard for your position. For there is no one that is
ignorant of the fact that it was all the doing of your opponents that no
division took place: and if they, under the pretext of a regard for the
people, but really from the most unprincipled villainy, attempt to carry
anything, I have taken very good care that they shall not be able to do
so without violating the auspices or the laws, or, in fact, without
absolute violence. I don't think I need write a word either about my own
zeal or the injurious proceedings of certain persons. For why should I
make any display myself--since, if I were even to shed my blood in
defence of your position, I should think that I had not covered a tithe
of your services to me? Or why complain of the injurious conduct of
others, which I cannot do without the deepest pain? I cannot at all
pledge myself to you as to the effect of open violence, especially with
such feeble magistrates; but, open violence out of the question, I can
assure you that you will retain your high position, if the warmest
affections both of the senate and the Roman people can secure it to you.
[Footnote 448: _I.e._, no meeting of the senate for ordinary business.
During the month of February the senate usually devoted all its time to
hearing and answering deputations from the provinces or foreign states.
The _lex Pupia_ forbade the meeting of the senate on _dies comitiales_,
and after the 14th the days in January were all _comitiales_: but
another law (_lex Vatinia_) ordered it to meet every day in February for
the business of the legations. If this business was concluded or
deferred it remained a moot point whether a magistrate was not still
bound or, at least, allowed to summon it for other business (_ad Q. Fr._
ii. 13).]
XCVII (F I, 5)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME, FEBRUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Though the first wish of my heart is that my warmest gratitude to you
should be recognized first of all by yourself and then by everybody
else, yet I am deeply grieved that such a state of things has followed
your departure as to give you occasion, in your absence, to test the
loyalty and good disposition towards you both of myself and others. That
you see and feel that men are shewing the same loyalty in maintaining
your position as I experienced in the matter of my restoration, I have
understood from your letter. Just when I was depending most securely on
my policy, zeal, activity and influence in the matter of the king, there
was suddenly sprung on us the abominable bill of Cato's,[449] to hamper
all our zeal and withdraw our thoughts from a lesser anxiety to a most
serious alarm. However, in a political upset of that kind, though there
is nothing that is not a source of terror yet the thing to be chiefly
feared is treachery: and Cato, at any rate, whatever happens, we have no
hesitation in opposing. As to the business of Alexandria and the cause
of the king, I can only promise you thus much, that I will to the utmost
of my power satisfy both you, who are absent, and your friends who are
here. But I fear the king's cause may either be snatched from our hands
or abandoned altogether, and I cannot easily make up my mind which of
the two alternatives I would least wish. But if the worst comes to the
worst, there is a third alternative, which is not wholly displeasing
either to Selicius[450] or myself--namely, that we should not let the
matter drop, and yet should not allow the appointment, in spite of our
protests, to be transferred to the man to whom it is now regarded as
practically transferred.[451] We will take the utmost care not to omit
struggling for any point that it seems possible to maintain, and not to
present the appearance of defeat if we have in any case failed to
maintain it. You must shew your wisdom and greatness of mind by
regarding your fame and high position as resting on your virtue, your
public services, and the dignity of your character, and by believing
that, if the perfidy of certain individuals has deprived you of any of
those honours which fortune has lavished on you, it will be more
injurious to them than to you. I never let any opportunity slip either
of acting or thinking for your interests. I avail myself of the aid of
Q. Selicius in everything: nor do I think that there is any one of all
your friends either shrewder, or more faithful, or more attached to you.
[Footnote 449: That of the tribune C. Cato for the recall of Lentulus.]
[Footnote 450: A money-lender, and friend of Lentulus Spinther.]
[Footnote 451: Pompey.]
XCIX (Q FR II, 2)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN SARDINIA)
ROME, 18 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
It was not from the multiplicity of business, though I am very much
engaged, but from a slight inflammation of the eyes that I was induced
to dictate this letter, and not, as is my usual habit, write it with my
own hand. And, to begin with, I wish to excuse myself to you on the very
point on which I accuse you. For no one up to now has asked me "whether
I have any commands for Sardinia"--I think you often have people who
say, "Have you any commands for Rome?" As to what you have said in your
letters to me about the debt of Lentulus and Sestius, I have spoken with
Cincius.[452] However the matter stands, it is not the easiest in the
world. But surely Sardinia must have some special property for recalling
one's memory of the past. For just as the famous Gracchus--as
augur--after arriving in that province remembered something that had
happened to him, when holding the elections in the Campus Martius, in
violation of the auspices, so you appear to me to have recalled at your
ease in Sardinia the design of Numisius and the debts due to Pomponius.
As yet I have made no purchase. Culleo's auction has taken place: there
was no purchaser for his Tusculan property. If very favourable terms
were to be offered, I should perhaps not let it slip. About your
building I do not fail to press Cyrus.[453] I hope he will do his duty.
But everything goes on somewhat slowly, owing too the prospect of that
madman's ædileship.[454] For it seems that the legislative assembly will
take place without delay: it has been fixed for the 20th of January.
However, I would not have you uneasy. Every precaution shall be taken by
me. In regard to the Alexandrine king, a decree of the senate was passed
declaring it dangerous to the Republic that he should be restored "with
a host." The point remaining to be decided in the senate being whether
Lentulus or Pompey should restore him, Lentulus seemed on the point of
carrying the day. In that matter I did justice to my obligations to
Lentulus marvellously well, while at the same time splendidly gratifying
Pompey's wishes: but the detractors of Lentulus contrived to talk the
matter out by obstructive speeches. Then followed the comitial days, on
which a meeting of the senate was impossible. What the villainy of the
tribunes is going to accomplish I cannot guess; I suspect, however, that
Caninius will carry his bill by violence.[455] In this business I cannot
make out what Pompey really wishes. What his _entourage_ desire
everybody sees. Those who are financing the king are openly advancing
sums of money against Lentulus. There seems no doubt that the commission
has been taken out of Lentulus's hands, to my very great regret,
although he has done many things for which I might, if it were not for
superior considerations, be justly angry with him. I hope, if it is
consistent with your interests, that you will embark as soon as
possible, when the weather is fair and settled, and come to me. For
there are countless things, in regard to which I miss you daily in every
possible way. Your family and my own are well.
18 January.
[Footnote 452: Agent or steward of Atticus.]
[Footnote 453: The architect. See Letter XXVIII, p. 68.]
[Footnote 454: Clodius, who was ædile this year.]
[Footnote 455: For commissioning Pompey with two lictors to restore
Ptolemy.]
C (A IV, 4 a)
TO ATTICUS (RETURNING FROM EPIRUS)
ROME, 28 JANUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
I was charmed to see Cincius when he called on me on the 28th of January
before daybreak. For he told me that you were in Italy and that he was
sending slaves to you. I did not like them to go without a letter from
me; not that I had anything to say to you, especially as you are all but
here, but that I might express merely this one thing--that your arrival
is most delightful and most ardently wished for by me. Wherefore fly to
us with the full assurance that your affection for me is fully
reciprocated. The rest shall be reserved for our meeting. I write in
great haste. The day you arrive, mind, you and your party are to dine
with me.
CI (Q FR II, 3)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN SARDINIA)
ROME, 12 FEBRUARY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
I have already told you the earlier proceedings; now let me describe
what was done afterwards. The legations were postponed from the 1st of
February to the 13th. On the former day our business was not brought to
a settlement. On the 2nd of February Milo appeared for trial. Pompey
came to support him. Marcellus spoke on being called upon by me.[456] We
came off with flying colours. The case was adjourned to the 7th.
Meanwhile (in the senate), the legations having been postponed to the
13th, the business of allotting the quæstors and furnishing the outfit
of the prætors was brought before the house. But nothing was done,
because many speeches were interposed denouncing the state of the
Republic. Gaius Cato published his bill for the recall of Lentulus,
whose son thereupon put on mourning. On the 7th Milo appeared. Pompey
spoke, or rather wished to speak. For as soon as he got up Clodius's
ruffians raised a shout, and throughout his whole speech he was
interrupted, not only by hostile cries, but by personal abuse and
insulting remarks. However, when he had finished his speech--for he
shewed great courage in these circumstances, he was not cowed, he said
all he had to say, and at times had by his commanding presence even
secured silence for his words--well, when he had finished, up got
Clodius. Our party received him with such a shout--for they had
determined to pay him out--that he lost all presence of mind, power of
speech, or control over his countenance. This went on up to two
o'clock--Pompey having finished his speech at noon--and every kind of
abuse, and finally epigrams of the most outspoken indecency were uttered
against Clodius and Clodia. Mad and livid with rage Clodius, in the very
midst of the shouting, kept putting the questions to his claque: "Who
was it who was starving the commons to death?" His ruffians answered,
"Pompey." "Who wanted to be sent to Alexandria?" They answered,
"Pompey." "Who did they wish to go?" They answered, "Crassus." The
latter was present at the time with no friendly feelings to Milo. About
three o'clock, as though at a given signal, the Clodians began spitting
at our men. There was an outburst of rage. They began a movement for
forcing us from our ground. Our men charged: his ruffians turned tail.
Clodius was pushed off the rostra: and then we too made our escape for
fear of mischief in the riot. The senate was summoned into the Curia:
Pompey went home. However, I did not myself enter the senate-house, lest
I should be obliged either to refrain from speaking on matters of such
gravity, or in defending Pompey (for he was being attacked by Bibulus,
Curio, Favonius, and Servilius the younger) should give offence to the
loyalists. The business was adjourned to the next day. Clodius fixed the
Quirinalia (17 of February) for his prosecution. On the 8th the senate
met in the temple of Apollo, that Pompey might attend. Pompey made an
impressive speech. That day nothing was concluded. On the 9th in the
temple of Apollo a decree passed the senate "that what had taken place
on the 7th of February was treasonable." On this day Cato warmly
inveighed against Pompey, and throughout his speech arraigned him as
though he were at the bar. He said a great deal about me, to my disgust,
though it was in very laudatory terms. When he attacked Pompey's perfidy
to me, he was listened to in profound silence on the part of my enemies.
Pompey answered him boldly with a palpable allusion to Crassus, and said
outright that "he would take better precautions to protect his life
than Africanus had done, whom C. Carbo had assassinated."[457]
Accordingly, important events appear to me to be in the wind. For Pompey
understands what is going on, and imparts to me that plots are being
formed against his life, that Gaius Cato is being supported by Crassus,
that money is being supplied to Clodius, that both are backed by Crassus
and Curio, as well as by Bibulus and his other detractors: that he must
take extraordinary precautions to prevent being overpowered by that
demagogue--with a people all but wholly alienated, a nobility hostile, a
senate ill-affected, and the younger men corrupt. So he is making his
preparations and summoning men from the country. On his part, Clodius is
rallying his gangs: a body of men is being got together for the
Quirinalia. For that occasion we are considerably in a majority, owing
to the forces brought up by Pompey himself: and a large contingent is
expected from Picenum and Gallia, to enable us to throw out Cato's bills
also about Milo and Lentulus.
On the 10th of February an indictment was lodged against Sestius for
bribery by the informer Cn. Nerius, of the Pupinian tribe, and on the
same day by a certain M. Tullius for riot.[458] He was ill. I went at
once, as I was bound to do, to his house, and put myself wholly at his
service: and that was more than people expected, who thought that I had
good cause for being angry with him. The result is that my extreme
kindness and grateful disposition are made manifest both to Sestiius
himself and to all the world, and I shall be as good as my word. But
this same informer Nerius also named Cn. Lentulus Vatia and C. Cornelius
to the commissioners.[459] On the same day a decree passed the senate
"that political clubs and associations should be broken up, and that a
law in regard to them should be brought in, enacting that those who did
not break off from them should be liable to the same penalty as those
convicted of riot."
On the 11th of February I spoke in defence of Bestia[460] on a charge of
bribery before the prætor Cn. Domitius,[461] in the middle of the forum
and in a very crowded court; and in the course of my speech I came to
the incident of Sestius, after receiving many wounds in the temple of
Castor, having been preserved by the aid of Bestia. Here I took occasion
to pave the way beforehand for a refutation of the charges which are
being got up against Sestius, and I passed a well-deserved encomium upon
him with the cordial approval of everybody. He was himself very much
delighted with it. I tell you this because you have often advised me in
your letters too retain the friendship of Sestius. I am writing this on
the 12th of February before daybreak: the day on which I am to dine with
Pomponius on the occasion of his wedding.
Our position in other respects is such as you used to cheer my
despondency by telling me it would be--one of great dignity and
popularity: this is a return to old times for you and me effected, my
brother, by your patience, high character, loyalty, and, I may also add,
your conciliatory manners. The house of Licinius, near the grove of
Piso,[462] has been taken for you. But, as I hope, in a few months'
time, after the 1st of July, you will move into your own. Some excellent
tenants, the Lamiæ, have taken your house in Carinæ.[463] I have
received no letter from you since the one dated Olbia. I am anxious to
hear how you are and what you find to amuse you, but above all to see
you yourself as soon as possible. Take care of your health, my dear
brother, and though it is winter time, yet reflect that after all it is
Sardinia that you are in.[464]
15 February.
[Footnote 456: Milo impeached by Clodius before the _comitia tributa_
for his employment of gladiators. Dio (xxxix. 18) says that Clodius thus
impeached Milo, not with any hope of securing his conviction against the
powerful support of Cicero and Pompey, but to get the chance of
insulting these latter. Marcellus was one of the candidates for the
ædileship with Clodius. See Letter XCI.]
[Footnote 457: In B.C. 129, after making a speech in favour of the
claims of the Italians for exemption from the agrarian law of Gracchus,
Scipio Æmilianus, the younger Africanus, was found dead in his bed. The
common report was that he had been assassinated by Carbo, or with his
privity, but it was never proved (see _de Orat._ ii. § 170). Cicero does
not here assume the truth of the story, he merely repeats Pompey's
words.]
[Footnote 458: M. Tullius Albinovanus. It was on this charge _de vi_
that Cicero defended Sestius in the extant speech. The charge of bribery
does not appear to have been proceeded with.]
[Footnote 459: _Adlegatos_, probably commissioners named to receive and
report on a deposition of an informer before the senate acted.]
[Footnote 460: L. Calpurnius Piso Bestia, a candidate in the last
election of ædiles.]
[Footnote 461: Cn. Domitius Calvinus, consul B.C. 53. In the Civil War
he sided with Pompey, and perished at sea after Thapsus (B.C. 46).]
[Footnote 462: _Ad lucum Pisonis_. The place is not known, but there is
not sufficient reason for the change to _ad lacum Pisonis_, a place
equally unknown.]
[Footnote 463: A part of Rome on the slope of the Mons Oppius.]
[Footnote 464: _I.e._, get out of it as soon as you can.]
CII (F I, 5 b)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
What is being done and has been done here I imagine you know from
letters of numerous correspondents and from messengers: but what are
still matters for conjecture, and seem likely to take place, I think I
ought to write and tell you. After Pompey had been roughly treated with
shouts and insulting remarks, while speaking before the people on the
7th of February in defence of Milo, and had been accused in the senate
by Cato in exceedingly harsh and bitter terms amidst profound silence,
he appeared to me to be very much upset in his mind. Accordingly, he
seems to me to have quite given up any idea of the Alexandrine
business--which, as far as we are concerned, remains exactly where it
was, for the senate has taken nothing from you except what, owing to the
same religious difficulty, cannot be granted to anyone else. My hope and
my earnest endeavour now is that the king, when he understands that he
cannot obtain what he had in his mind--restoration by Pompey--and that,
unless restored by you, he will be abandoned, and neglected, should pay
you a visit.[465] This he will do without any hesitation, if Pompey
gives the least hint of his approval. But you know that man's deliberate
ways and obstinate reserve. However, I will omit nothing that may
contribute to that result. The other injurious proceedings instituted by
Cato I shall, I hope, have no difficulty in resisting. I perceive that
none of the consulars are friendly to you except Hortensius and
Lucullus; the rest are either hostile, without openly shewing it, or
undisguisedly incensed. Keep a brave and high spirit, and feel confident
that the result will be to utterly repulse the attack of a most
contemptible fellow, and to retain your high position and fame.
[Footnote 465: Ptolemy was at Ephesus.]
CIII (F I, 6)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
What is going on you will learn from Pollio,[466] who not only was
engaged in all the transactions, but was the leader in them. In my own
deep distress, occasioned by the course your business has taken,[467] I
am chiefly consoled by the hope which makes me strongly suspect that the
dishonest practices of men will be defeated both by the measures of your
friends and by mere lapse of time, which must have a tendency to weaken
the plans of your enemies and of traitors. In the second place, I derive
a ready consolation from the memory of my own dangers, of which I see a
reflexion in your fortunes. For though your position is attacked in a
less important particular than that which brought mine to the ground,
yet the analogy is so strong, that I trust you will pardon me if I am
not frightened at what you did not yourself consider ought to cause
alarm. But shew yourself the man I have known you to be, to use a Greek
expression, "since your nails were soft."[468] The injurious conduct of
men will, believe me, only make your greatness more conspicuous. Expect
from me the greatest zeal and devotion in everything: I will not falsify
your expectation.
[Footnote 466: The famous C. Asinius Pollio.]
[Footnote 467: The postponement of the Egyptian commission.]
[Footnote 468: ἐξ ἀπαλῶν ὀνύχων, _i.e._, "from your earliest youth."
Others explain it to mean "from the bottom of your heart," or
"thoroughly," from the idea that the nerves ended in the nails. ἔξ αὐτῶν
τῶν ὀνύχων, "thoroughly," occurs in late Greek, and similar usages in
the Anthology.]
CIV (Q FR II, 4 AND PART OF 6)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN SARDINIA)
ROME, MARCH
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Our friend Sestius was acquitted on the 11th of March, and, what was of
great importance to the Republic--that there should be no appearance of
difference of opinion in a case of that sort--was acquitted unanimously.
As to what I had often gathered from your letters, that you were anxious
about--that I should not leave any loophole for abuse to an unfriendly
critic on the score of my being ungrateful, if I did not treat with the
utmost indulgence his occasional wrong-headedness--let me tell you that
in this trial I established my character for being the most grateful of
men. For in conducting the defence I satisfied in the fullest manner
possible a man of difficult temper, and, what he above all things
desired, I cut up Vatinius (by whom he was being openly attacked) just
as I pleased, with the applause of gods and men. And, farther, when our
friend Paullus[469] was brought forward as a witness against Sestius, he
affirmed that he would lay an information against Vatinius[470] if
Licinius Macer hesitated to do so, and Macer, rising from Sestius's
benches, declared that he would not fail. Need I say more? That impudent
swaggering fellow Vatinius was overwhelmed with confusion and thoroughly
discredited.
That most excellent boy, your son Quintus, is getting on splendidly with
his education. I notice this the more because Tyrannio[471] gives his
lessons in my house. The building of both your house and mine is being
pushed on energetically. I have caused half the money to be paid to
your contractor. I hope before winter we may be under the same roof. As
to our Tullia, who, by Hercules, is very warmly attached to you, I hope
I have settled her engagement with Crassipes.[472] There are two days
after the Latin festival which are barred by religion.[473] Otherwise
the festival of Iuppiter Latiaris has come to an end.
The affluence which you often mention I feel the want of to a certain
extent; but while I welcome it if it comes to me, I am not exactly
beating the covert for it.[474] I am building in three places, and am
patching up my other houses. I live somewhat more lavishly than I used
to do. I am obliged to do so. If I had you with me I should give the
builders full swing for a while.[475] But this too (as I hope) we shall
shortly talk over together.
The state of affairs at Rome is this: Lentulus Marcellinus is splendid
as consul, and his colleague does not put any difficulty in his way: he
is so good, I repeat, that I have never seen a better. He deprived them
of all the comitial days; for even the Latin festival is being
repeated,[476] nor were thanksgiving days wanting.[477] In this way the
passing of most mischievous laws is prevented, especially that of
Cato,[478] on whom, however, our friend Milo played a very pretty trick.
For that defender of the employment of gladiators and beast-fighters had
bought some beast-fighters from Cosconius and Pomponius, and had never
appeared in public without them in their full armour. He could not
afford to maintain them, and accordingly had great difficulty in
keeping them together. Milo found this out. He commissioned an
individual, with whom he was not intimate, to buy this troop from Cato
without exciting his suspicion. As soon as it had been removed,
Racilius--at this time quite the only real tribune--revealed the truth,
acknowledged that the men had been purchased for himself--for this is
what they had agreed--and put up a notice that he intended to sell
"Cato's troop." This notice caused much laughter. Accordingly, Lentulus
has prevented Cato from going on with his laws, and also those who
published bills of a monstrous description about Cæsar, with no tribune
to veto them. Caninius's proposal, indeed, about Pompey has died a
natural death. For it is not approved of in itself, and our friend
Pompey is also spoken of with great severity for the breach of his
friendship with Publius Lentulus. He is not the man he was. The fact is
that to the lowest dregs of the populace his support of Milo gives some
offence, while the aristocrats are dissatisfied with much that he omits
to do, and find fault with much that he does. This is the only point,
however, in which I am not pleased with Marcellinus--that he handles him
too roughly. Yet in this he is not going counter to the wishes of the
senate: consequently I am the more glad to withdraw from the
senate-house and from politics altogether. In the courts I have the same
position as I ever had: never was my house more crowded. One untoward
circumstance has occurred owing to Milo's rashness--the acquittal of
Sext. Clodius[479]--whose prosecution at this particular time, and by a
weak set of accusers, was against my advice. In a most corrupt panel his
conviction failed by only three votes. Consequently the people clamour
for a fresh trial, and he must surely be brought back into court. For
people will not put up with it, and seeing that, though pleading before
a panel of his own kidney, he was all but condemned, they look upon him
as practically condemned. Even in this matter the unpopularity of Pompey
was an obstacle in our path. For the votes of the senators were largely
in his favour, those of the knights were equally divided, while the
_tribuni ærarii_ voted for his condemnation. But for this _contretemps_
I am consoled by the daily condemnations of my enemies, among whom, to
my great delight, Servius[480] got upon the rocks: the rest are utterly
done for. Gaius Cato declared in public meeting that he would not allow
the elections to be held, if he were deprived of the days for doing
business with the people. Appius has not yet returned from his visit to
Cæsar. I am looking forward with extraordinary eagerness to a letter
from you. Although I know the sea is still closed, yet they tell me that
certain persons have, nevertheless, arrived from Olbia full of your
praises, and declaring you to be very highly thought of in the province.
They said also that these persons reported that you intended to cross as
soon as navigation became possible. That is what I desire: but although
it is yourself, of course, that I most look forward to, yet meanwhile I
long for a letter. Farewell, my dear brother.
[Footnote 469: L. Æmilius Paullus, prætor B.C. 53, consul B.C. 50, a
strong Optimate and friend of Cicero's.]
[Footnote 470: P. Vatinius, the tribune of B.C. 59, who had supported
Cæsar and proposed the law for his five years' command in Gaul. Cicero
spoke against him for perjury; but afterwards we shall find them
ostensibly reconciled.]
[Footnote 471: A Greek grammarian and geographer, of whom we have heard
before, and shall hear of again in connexion with Cicero's library.]
[Footnote 472: P. Furius Crassipes. Tullia's first husband, C.
Calpurnius Piso Frugi, died, it seems, before Cicero returned from exile
in B.C. 57. This second marriage (or, perhaps, only betrothal) was
shortly ended by a divorce.]
[Footnote 473: _I.e._, on which the _sponsalia_ could not take place.]
[Footnote 474: Not going the right way to work to get it.]
[Footnote 475: At the end of the next letter he says that, pending
Quintus's arrival, he has stopped some of his building.]
[Footnote 476: On some alleged informality the _feriæ Latinæ_ were held
a second time (_instauratæ_), really, Cicero implies, in order to bar
some additional days for public business, and prevent legislation, as
later on the election of Pompey and Crassus was prevented (Dio, xxxix.
30).]
[Footnote 477: At the end of B.C. 57, or the beginning of 56, fifteen
days of _supplicatio_ were decreed in consequence of Cæsar's success in
Gaul (Cæs. _B. G._ ii. 35).]
[Footnote 478: Gaius Cato the tribune, who proposed to recall Lentulus.]
[Footnote 479: A _scriba_ or public clerk, and a client of the patrician
Clodii.]
[Footnote 480: Unknown. Cicero's words seem to imply that he nearly got
convicted, but not quite.]
CV (Q FR II, 5 AND PARTS OF 6 AND 7)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN SARDINIA)
ROME, 8 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
I have already sent you a letter containing the information of my
daughter Tullia having been betrothed to Crassipes on the 4th of April,
and other intelligence public and private. The following are the events
since then. On the 5th of April, by a decree of the senate, a sum of
money amounting to 40,000 sestertia (about £320,000) was voted to Pompey
for the business of the corn-supply. But on the same day there was a
vehement debate on the Campanian land, the senators making almost as
much noise as a public meeting. The shortness of money and the high
price of corn increased the exasperation. Nor will I omit the following:
the members of the colleges of the Capitolini and the Mercuriales[481]
expelled from their society a Roman knight named M. Furius Flaccus, a
man of bad character: the expulsion took place when he was at the
meeting, and though he threw himself at the feet of each member.
On the 6th of April, the eve of my departure from town, I gave a
betrothal party to Crassipes. That excellent boy, your and my Quintus,
was not at the banquet owing to a very slight indisposition. On the 7th
of April I visited Quintus and found him quite restored. He talked a
good deal and with great feeling about the quarrels between our wives.
What need I say more? Nothing could have been pleasanter. Pomponia,
however, had some complaints to make of you also: but of this when we
meet. After leaving your boy I went to the site of your house: the
building was going on with a large number of workmen. I urged the
contractor Longilius to push on. He assured me that he had every wish to
satisfy us. The house will be splendid, for it can be better seen now
than we could judge from the plan: my own house is also being built with
despatch. On this day I dined with Crassipes. After dinner I went in my
sedan to visit Pompey at his suburban villa. I had not been able to call
on him in the daytime as he was away from home. However, I wished to see
him, because I am leaving Rome to-morrow, and he is on the point of
starting for Sardinia. I found him at home and begged him to restore you
to us as soon as possible. "Immediately," he said. He is going to start,
according to what he said, on the 11th of April, with the intention of
embarking at Livorno or Pisa.[482] Mind, my dear brother, that, as soon
as he arrives, you seize the first opportunity of setting sail, provided
only that the weather is favourable. I write this on the 8th of April
before daybreak, and am on the point of starting on my journey, with the
intention of stopping to-day with Titus Titius at Anagnia. To-morrow I
think of being at Laterium,[483] thence, after five days in Arpinum,
going to my Pompeian house, just looking in upon my villa at Cumæ on my
return journey, with the view--since Milo's trial has been fixed for the
7th of May--of being at Rome on the 6th, and of seeing you on that day,
I hope, dearest and pleasantest of brothers. I thought it best that the
building at Arcanum[484] should be suspended till your return. Take good
care, my dear brother, of your health, and come as soon as possible.
[Footnote 481: In B.C. 357 a "college" was established for celebrating
the _ludi Capitolini_, in celebration of the failure of the Gauls to
take it. It consisted of men living on the Capitoline (Livy, v. 50). The
_Mercuriales_ were a "college" or company of merchants who celebrated
the _fête_ of the consecration of the temple of Mercury (B.C., 495) on
the Ides of May (Livy, ii. 27; Ov. _F._ v. 669; C. _I. L._ i. p. 206).]
[Footnote 482: It was on this journey that Pompey visited Luca tomeet
Cæsar and Crassus.]
[Footnote 483: The name of a property of Quintus at Arpinum.]
[Footnote 484: Another property of Quintus near Mintumæ.]
CVI (A IV, 4 b)
TO ATTICUS (RETURNING FROM EPIRUS)
ANTIUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
It will be delightful if you come to see us here. You will find that
Tyrannio has made a wonderfully good arrangement of my books, the
remains of which are better than I had expected. Still, I wish you would
send me a couple of your library slaves for Tyrannio to employ as
gluers, and in other subordinate work, and tell them to get some fine
parchment to make title-pieces, which you Greeks, I think, call
"sillybi." But all this is only if not inconvenient to you. In any case,
be sure you come yourself, if you can halt for a while in such a place,
and can persuade Pilia[485] to accompany you. For that is only fair, and
Tullia is anxious that she should come. My word! You have purchased a
fine troop! Your gladiators, I am told, fight superbly. If you had
chosen to let them out you would have cleared your expenses by the last
two spectacles. But we will talk about this later on. Be sure to come,
and, as you love me, see about the library slaves.
[Footnote 485: The recently married wife of Atticus. See p. 216.]
CVII (A IV, 5)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Do you really mean it? Do you think that there is anyone by whom I
prefer to have what I write read and approved of before yourself? "Why,
then, did I send it to anyone before you?" I was pressed by the man to
whom I sent it, and had no copy. And--well! I am nibbling at what I
must, after all, swallow--my "recantation"[486] did seem to me a trifle
discreditable! But good-bye to straightforward, honest, and high-minded
policy! One could scarcely believe the amount of treachery there is in
those leaders of the state, as they wish to be, and might be, if they
had any principle of honour in them. I had felt it, known it--taken in,
abandoned, and cast aside by them, as I had been! and yet my purpose
still was to stick by them in politics. They were the same men as they
ever had been. At last, on your advice, my eyes have been opened. You
will say that your advice only extended to action, not to writing also.
The truth is that I wanted to bind myself to this new combination, that
I might have no excuse for slipping back to those who, even at a time
when I could claim their compassion, never cease being jealous of me.
However, I kept within due limits in my subject, when I did put pen to
paper. I shall launch out more copiously if _he_ shews that he is glad
to receive it, and those make wry faces who are angry at my possessing
the villa which once belonged to Catulus, without reflecting that I
bought it from Vettius: who say that I ought not to have built a town
house, and declare that I ought to have sold. But what is all this to
the fact that, when I have delivered senatorial speeches in agreement
with their own views, their chief pleasure has yet been that I spoke
contrary to Pompey's wishes? Let us have an end of it. Since those who
have no power refuse me their affection, let us take care to secure the
affection of those who have power. You will say, "I could have wished
that you had done so before." I know you did wish it, and that I have
made a real ass of myself. But now the time has come to shew a little
affection for myself, since I can get none from them on any terms.
I am much obliged to you for frequently going to see my house.
Crassipes[487] swallows up my money for travelling. Tullia will go
straight to your suburban villa.[488] That seems the more convenient
plan. Consequently she will be at your town house the next day: for what
can it matter to you? But we shall see. Your men have beautified my
library by making up the books and appending title-slips. Please thank
them.
[Footnote 486: παλινφδία--something he had apparently written and sent
to Pompey or Cæsar, giving in his adhesion to the policy of the
triumvirs. It can hardly have been the speech _de Provinciis
Consularibus_ or the _oratio pro Balbo_, which had probably not yet been
delivered, for the arrangement recommended in the former speech was not
that of the conference of Luca, while in the latter, though he speaks
respectfully of Cæsar, there is nothing in the shape of a palinode in
general politics.]
CVIII (F V, 12)
TO L. LUCCEIUS[489]
ARPINUM (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
I have often tried to say to you personally what I am about to write,
but was prevented by a kind of almost clownish bashfulness. Now that I a
not in your presence I shall speak out more boldly: a letter does not
blush. I am inflamed with an inconceivably ardent desire, and one, as I
think, of which I have no reason to be ashamed, that in a history
written by _you_ my name should be conspicuous and frequently mentioned
with praise. And though you have often shewn me that you meant to do so,
yet I hope you will pardon my impatience. For the style of your
composition, though I had always entertained the highest expectations of
it, has yet surpassed my hopes, and has taken such a hold upon me, or
rather has so fired my imagination, that I was eager to have my
achievements as quickly as possible put on record in your history. For
it is not only the thought of being spoken of by future ages that makes
me snatch at what seems a hope of immortality, but it is also the desire
of fully enjoying in my lifetime an authoritative expression of your
judgment, or a token of your kindness for me, or the charm of your
genius. Not, however, that while thus writing I am unaware under what
heavy burdens you are labouring in the portion of history you have
undertaken, and by this time have begun to write. But because I saw that
your history of the Italian and Civil Wars was now all but finished, and
because also you told me that you were already embarking upon the
remaining portions of your work, I determined not to lose my chance for
the want of suggesting to you to consider whether you preferred to weave
your account of me into the main context of your history, or whether, as
many Greek writers have done--Callisthenes, the Phocian War; Timæus, the
war of Pyrrhus; Polybius, that of Numantia; all of whom separated the
wars I have named from their main narratives--you would, like them,
separate the civil conspiracy from public and external wars. For my
part, I do not see that it matters much to my reputation, but it does
somewhat concern my impatience, that you should not wait till you come
to the proper place, but should at once anticipate the discussion of
that question as a whole and the history of that epoch. And at the same
time, if your whole thoughts are engaged on one incident and one person,
I can see in imagination how much fuller your material will be, and how
much more elaborately worked out. I am quite aware, however, what little
modesty I display, first, in imposing on you so heavy a burden (for your
engagements may well prevent your compliance with my request), and in
the second place, in asking you to shew me off to advantage. What if
those transactions are not in your judgment so very deserving of
commendation? Yet, after all, a man who has once passed the border-line
of modesty had better put a bold face on it and be frankly impudent. And
so I again and again ask you outright, both to praise those actions of
mine in warmer terms than you perhaps feel, and in that respect to
neglect the laws of history. I ask you, too, in regard to the personal
predilection, on which you wrote in a certain introductory chapter in
the most gratifying and explicit terms--and by which you shew that you
were as incapable of being diverted as Xenophon's Hercules by
Pleasure--not to go against it, but to yield to your affection for me a
little more than truth shall justify. But if I can induce you to
undertake this, you will have, I am persuaded, matter worthy of your
genius and your wealth of language. For from the beginning of the
conspiracy to my return from exile it appears to me that a
moderate-sized monograph might be composed, in which you will, on the
one hand, be able to utilize your special knowledge of civil
disturbances, either in unravelling the causes of the revolution or in
proposing remedies for evils, blaming meanwhile what you think deserves
denunciation, and establishing the righteousness of what you approve by
explaining the principles on which they rest: and on the other hand, if
you think it right to be more outspoken (as you generally do), you will
bring out the perfidy, intrigues, and treachery of many people towards
me. For my vicissitudes will supply you in your composition with much
variety, which has in itself a kind of charm, capable of taking a strong
hold on the imagination of readers, when you are the writer. For nothing
is better fitted to interest a reader than variety of circumstance and
vicissitudes of fortune, which, though the reverse of welcome to us in
actual experience, will make very pleasant reading: for the untroubled
recollection of a past sorrow has a charm of its own. To the rest of the
world, indeed, who have had no trouble themselves, and who look upon the
misfortunes of others without any suffering of their own, the feeling of
pity is itself a source of pleasure. For what man of us is not
delighted, though feeling a certain compassion too, with the death-scene
of Epaminondas at Mantinea? He, you know, did not allow the dart to be
drawn from his body until he had been told, in answer to his question,
that his shield was safe, so that in spite of the agony of his wound he
died calmly and with glory. Whose interest is not roused and sustained
by the banishment and return of Themistocles?[490] Truly the mere
chronological record of the annals has very little charm for us--little
more than the entries in the _fasti_: but the doubtful and varied
fortunes of a man, frequently of eminent character, involve feelings of
wonder, suspense, joy, sorrow, hope, fear: if these fortunes are crowned
with a glorious death, the imagination is satisfied with the most
fascinating delight which reading can give. Therefore it will be more in
accordance with my wishes if you come to the resolution to separate from
the main body of your narrative, in which you embrace a continuous
history of events, what I may call the drama of my actions and fortunes:
for it includes varied acts, and shifting scenes both of policy and
circumstance. Nor am I afraid of appearing to lay snares for your favour
by flattering suggestions, when I declare that I desire to be
complimented and mentioned with praise by you above all other writers.
For you are not the man to be ignorant of your own powers, or not to be
sure that those who withhold their admiration of you are more to be
accounted jealous, than those who praise you flatterers. Nor, again, am
I so senseless as to wish to be consecrated to an eternity of fame by
one who, in so consecrating me, does not also gain for himself the glory
which rightfully belongs to genius. For the famous Alexander himself did
not wish to be painted by Apelles, and to have his statue made by
Lysippus above all others, merely from personal favour to them, but
because he thought that their art would be a glory at once to them and
to himself. And, indeed, those artists used to make images of the person
known to strangers: but if such had never existed, illustrious men would
yet be no less illustrious. The Spartan Agesilaus, who would not allow a
portrait of himself to be painted or a statue made, deserves to be
quoted as an example quite as much as those who have taken trouble
about such representations: for a single pamphlet of Xenophon's in
praise of that king has proved much more effective than all the
portraits and statues of them all. And, moreover, it will more redound
to my present exultation and the honour of my memory to have found my
way into your history, than if I had done so into that of others, in
this, that I shall profit not only by the genius of the writer--as
Timoleon did by that of Timæus, Themistocles by that of Herodotus--but
also by the authority of a man of a most illustrious and
well-established character, and one well known and of the first repute
for his conduct in the most important and weighty matters of state; so
that I shall seem to have gained not only the fame which Alexander on
his visit to Sigeum said had been bestowed on Achilles by Homer, but
also the weighty testimony of a great and illustrious man. For I like
that saying of Hector in Nævius, who not only rejoices that he is
"praised," but adds, "and by one who has himself been praised." But if I
fail to obtain my request from you, which is equivalent to saying, if
you are by some means prevented--for I hold it to be out of the question
that you would _refuse_ a request of mine--I shall perhaps be forced to
do what certain persons have often found fault with, write my own
panegyric, a thing, after all, which has a precedent of many illustrious
men. But it will not escape your notice that there are the following
drawbacks in a composition of that sort: men are bound, when writing of
themselves, both to speak with greater reserve of what is praiseworthy,
and to omit what calls for blame. Added to which such writing carries
less conviction, less weight; many people, in fine, carp at it, and say
that the heralds at the public games are more modest, for after having
placed garlands on the other recipients and proclaimed their names in a
loud voice, when their own turn comes to be presented with a garland
before the games break up, they call in the services of another herald,
that they may not declare themselves victors with their own voice. I
wish to avoid all this, and, if you undertake my cause, I shall avoid
it: and, accordingly, I ask you this favour. But why, you may well ask,
when you have already often assured me that you intended to record in
your book with the utmost minuteness the policy and events of my
consulship, do I now make this request to you with such earnestness and
in so many words? The reason is to be found in that burning desire, of
which I spoke at the beginning of my letter, for something _prompt_:
because I am in a flutter of impatience, both that men should learn what
I am from your books, while I am still alive, and that I may myself in
my lifetime have the full enjoyment of my little bit of glory. What you
intend doing on this subject I should like you to write me word, if not
troublesome to you. For if you do undertake the subject, I will put
together some notes of all occurrences: but if you put me off to some
future time, I will talk the matter over with you. Meanwhile, do not
relax your efforts, and thoroughly polish what you have already on the
stocks, and--continue to love me.
[Footnote 487: That is, the dowry and expenses of Tullia's betrothal to
Crassipes.]
[Footnote 488: _Tullia de via recta in hortos_, for _tu_, etc., and _ad
te postridie_. This may not be right, but no other suggestions as to the
meaning of these abrupt clauses have been made which are in the least
convincing. We must suppose that Atticus has asked Tullia to stay with
him and his wife Pilia, and Cicero is describing her journey from
Antium.]
[Footnote 489: L. Lucceius, of whom we have heard before, as having some
quarrel with Atticus. His work has not survived. No letter of the
correspondence has brought more adimadversion on Cicero, and yet
log-rolling and the appealing to friends on the press to review one's
book are not wholly unknown even in our time.]
[Footnote 490: Cicero appears by a slip to have written Themistocles
instead of Aristeides. The dramatic return of the latter just before the
battle of Salamis is narrated in Herodotus: whereas the former never
returned, though his dead body was said to have been brought to Athens.]
CIX (A IV, 6)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
FROM THE COUNTRY (APRIL-MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Of course I am as sorry about Lentulus as I am bound to be: we have lost
a good patriot and a great man, one who to great strength of character
united a culture equally profound. My consolation is a miserable one,
but still it is a consolation--that I do not grieve on his account: I
don't mean in the sense of Saufeius and your Epicurean friends, but, by
Hercules, because he loved his country so deeply, that he seems to me to
have been snatched away by a special favour of providence from its
conflagration. For what could be more humiliating than the life we are
living, especially mine? For as to yourself, though by nature a
politician, you have yet avoided having any servitude peculiar to
yourself: you merely come under an appellation common to us all.[491]
But _I_, who, if I say what I ought about the Republic, am looked on as
mad, if what expediency dictates, as a slave, and if I say nothing, as
utterly crushed and helpless--what must I be suffering? Suffer, indeed,
I do, and all the more keenly that I cannot even shew my pain without
appearing ungrateful. Again: what if I should choose a life of
inactivity and take refuge in the harbour of retired leisure?
Impossible! Rather war and the camp! Am I to serve in the ranks after
refusing to be a general? I suppose I must. For I perceive you, too,
think so, you whom I wish that I had always obeyed. All that is left to
me now is, "You have drawn Sparta: make the best of it!" But, by
heavens, I can't: and I feel for Philoxenus,[492] who preferred a return
to gaol. However, in my present retirement I am thinking over how to
express my rejection of the old policy, and when we meet you will
strengthen me in it.
I notice that you have written to me at frequent intervals, but I
received all the letters at once. This circumstance increased my grief.
For I had read three to begin with, in which the report of Lentulus was
that he was a little better. Then came the thunderbolt of the fourth.
But it is not he, as I said, who is to be pitied, but we who are so
callous as to live on.[493] You remind me to write that essay on
Hortensius: I have digressed into other subjects, but have not forgotten
your charge. But, by heaven, at the first line I shrank from the task,
lest I, who seem to have acted foolishly in resenting his intemperate
conduct as a friend, should once more be foolishly rendering his
injurious treatment of me conspicuous, if I wrote anything; and at the
same time lest my high _morale_, manifested in my actions, should be
somewhat obscured in my writing, and this mode of taking satisfaction
should seem to imply a certain instability. But we shall see. Only be
sure to write me something as often as possible. I sent a letter to
Lucceius asking him to write the history of my consulship: be sure you
get it from him, for it is a very pretty bit of writing, and urge him to
use despatch, and thank him for having written me an answer saying that
he would do so. Go and see my house as often as you can. Say something
to Vestorius:[494] for he is acting very liberally in regard to me.
[Footnote 491: Reading _communi fueris nomine_. After all, the meaning
is very doubtful.]
[Footnote 492: Philoxenus, who, having been sent to the quarries by
Dionysius of Syracuse, for criticising the tyrant's poetry, was given
another chance. After reading a few lines he turned away silently.
"Where are you going?" said Dionysius. "Back to the quarries," said
Philoxenus. For Σπαρταν ἔλαχες, ταύτην κοσμεῖ, see p. 59.]
[Footnote 493: _Ferrei_. The true meaning of the word here seems to me
to be shewn by _de Am._ § 87, _quis tam esset ferreus, qui eam vitam
ferre posset, cuique non auferret fructum voluptatum omnium solitudo_?
There is an intentional play on the words _ferreus_ and _ferre_. Others
have altered it to _servi_, and others have explained it as an allusion
to the iron age, in both cases spoiling the antithesis--he died, we
remain--and in the latter using the word in a sense not elsewhere found.
Lentulus is L. Cornelius Lentulus. See Letter L.]
[Footnote 494: A money-lender.]
CX (A IV, 7)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ARPINUM (APRIL-MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
Nothing could be better timed than your letter, which much relieved the
anxiety I was feeling about that excellent boy, our Quintus. Two hours
earlier Chærippus had arrived: his news was simply awful. As to what you
say about Apollonius, why, heaven confound him! a Greek and turn
bankrupt! Thinks he may do what Roman knights do! For, of course,
Terentius is within his rights! As to Metellus--_de mortuis_,
etc.[495]--yet there has been no citizen die these many years past who
----. Well, I am willing to warrant your getting the money: for what
have you to fear, whomsoever he made his heir, unless it were Publius?
But he has, in fact, made a respectable man his heir, though he was
himself ----! Wherefore in this business you will not have to open your
money-chest: another time you will be more cautious. Please see to my
instructions about my house: hire some guards: give Milo a hint.[496]
The Arpinates grumble amazingly about Laterium.[497] Well, what can I
say? I was much annoyed myself, but "to words of mine he gave no
heed."[498] For the rest, take care of young Cicero and love him as
always.
[Footnote 495: οὐχ ὁσίη φθιμένοισιν, leaving Atticus, as often, to fill
in the words ἐπ' ἀνδράσιν εὐχετάασθαι (Hom. _Od._ xxii. 412, where the
word is κταμένοισιν). Terentius is some eques who has stopped payment.]
[Footnote 496: Because Clodius was attempting to pull down Cicero's
new-built house on the ground that the site was still consecrated. He
was prevented by Milo (Dio, xxxix. 20).]
[Footnote 497: Something that Quintus had done, perhaps about water, on
his estate which annoyed his fellow townsmen.]
[Footnote 498: ὁ δ' οὐκ ἐμπάζετο μύθων (Hom. _Od._ i. 271).]
CXI (A IV, 8 a)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
ANTIUM (APRIL-MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
There were many things in your letter which pleased me, but nothing more
than your "dish of cheese and salt fish"![499] For as to what you say
about the sale,
"Boast not yourself before you see the end,"[500]
I can find nothing in the way of a building for you in the
neighbourhood. In the town there is something of the sort, though it is
doubtful whether it is for sale, and, in fact, close to my own house.
Let me tell you that Antium is the Buthrotum of Rome, just what your
Buthrotum is to Corcyra. Nothing can be quieter, cooler, or
prettier--"be this mine own dear home."[501] Moreover, since Tyrannio
has arranged my books for me, my house seems to have had a soul added to
it; in which matter your Dionysius and Menophilus were of wonderful
service. Nothing can be more charming than those bookcases of yours,
since the title-slips have shewn off the books. Good-bye. I should like
you to write me word about the gladiators, but only if they fight well,
I don't want to know about them if they were failures.
[Footnote 499: We must suppose Atticus to have mentioned some money loss
(see last letter), and to have added that, though a ruinous one, his
tastes were simple, and he could live on simple fare. Cicero laughs at
the affectation of the rich Atticus. _Raudusculum_, "a piece of bronze,"
was the ancient term for the piece of bronze money used in sales, _per
æs et libram_ (Varro, _L. L._ v. 163).]
[Footnote 500: μήπω μέγ' εἴπης πρὶν τελευτήσαντ' ἴδῃς, "Do not boast
till you see a man dead"--a well-known line from a lost play of
Sophocles, containing a sentiment elsewhere often repeated, especially
in Herodotus's account of the interview of Solon and Crœsus.]
[Footnote 501: εἴη μοὶ οὖτος φίλος οἶκος, according to a probable
restoration of the Greek words (instead of εἴη μισητὸς φίλος οἶκος, "I
might even hate my town house in comparison"); cp. Hor. _Od._ ii. 6, 7.]
CXII (F V, 3)
FROM Q. METELLUS NEPOS (IN SPAIN)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
The insults of a most outrageous person, with which he loads me in
frequent public speeches, are alleviated by your kind services to me;
and as they are of little weight as coming from a man of that character,
they are regarded by me with contempt, and I am quite pleased by an
interchange of persons to regard you in the light of a cousin.[502] Him
I don't wish even to remember, though I have twice saved his life in his
own despite. Not to be too troublesome to you about my affairs, I have
written to Lollius as to what I want done about my provincial accounts,
with a view to his informing and reminding you. If you can, I hope you
will preserve your old goodwill to me.
[Footnote 502: _Fratris_. The mother of Clodius, Cæcilia, was a daughter
of Q. Cæcilius Metellus Balearicus (consul B.C. 123), father of the
writer of this letter.]
CXIII (F I, 7)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (OCTOBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
I have read your letter in which you say that you are obliged for the
frequent information I give you about all current events, and for the
clear proof you have of my kindness to yourself. The latter--the
regarding you with warm affection--it is my duty to do, if I wish to
maintain the character which you desired for me; the former it is a
pleasure to do, namely, separated as we are by length of space and time,
to converse with you as frequently as possible by means of letters. But
if this shall occur less frequently than you expect, the reason will be
that my letters are of such a kind that I dare not trust them to
everybody promiscuously. As often as I get hold of trustworthy persons
to whom I may safely deliver them, I will not omit to do so. As to your
question about each particular person's loyalty and friendly feelings
towards you, it is difficult to speak in regard to individuals. I can
venture on this one assertion, which I often hinted to you before, and
now write from close observation and knowledge--that certain persons,
and those, above all others, who were most bound and most able to help
you, have been exceedingly jealous of your claims: and that, though the
point in question is different, your present position is exceedingly
like what mine was some time ago in this, that those whom you had
attacked on public grounds now openly assail you, while those whose
authority, rank, and policy you had defended, are not so much mindful of
your kindness as enemies to your reputation. In these circumstances, as
I wrote you word before, I perceive that Hortensius is very warmly your
friend, Lucullus anxious to serve you: while of the magistrates L.
Racilius shews special loyalty and affection. For my taking up the
cudgels for you, and advocating your claims, would seem in the eyes of
most people to be the measure of my obligation to you rather than of my
deliberate opinion. Besides these I am, in fact, not able to bear
witness to any one of the consulars shewing zeal or kindness or friendly
feeling towards you. For you are aware that Pompey, who is very
frequently accustomed, not on my instigation but of his own accord, to
confide in me about you, did not often attend the senate during these
discussions. It is true your last letter, as I could easily conceive,
was very gratifying to him. To me, indeed, your reasonableness, or
rather your extreme wisdom, seemed not only charming, but simply
admirable. For by that letter you retained your hold on a man of lofty
character, who was bound to you by the signal generosity of your conduct
towards him, but who was entertaining some suspicions that, owing to
the impression prevailing among certain persons as to his own ambitious
desires, you were alienated from him. I always thought that he wished to
support your reputation, even in that very dubious episode of Caninius's
proposal;[503] but when he had read your letter, I could plainly see
that he was thinking with his whole soul of you, your honours, and your
interests. Wherefore look upon what I am going to write as written after
frequent discussions with him, in accordance with his opinion, and with
the weight of his authority. It is this: "That, since no senatorial
decree exists taking the restoration of the Alexandrine king out of your
hands, and since the resolution written out upon that restoration
(which, as you are aware, was vetoed) to the effect that no one was to
restore the king at all,[504] has rather the weight of a measure adopted
by men in anger than of a deliberate decision of the senate--you can
yourself see, since you are in possession of Cilicia and Cyprus,[505]
what it is within your power to effect and secure; and that, if
circumstances seem to make it possible for you to occupy Alexandria and
Egypt, it is for your own dignity and that of the empire that, after
having first placed the king at Ptolemais or some neighbouring place,
you should proceed with fleet and army to Alexandria, in order that,
when you have secured it by restoring peace and placing a garrison in
it, Ptolemy may go back to his kingdom: thus it will be brought about
that he is restored at once by your agency, as the senate originally
voted, and without a 'host,' as those who are scrupulous about religion
said was the order of the Sibyl."
But though both he and I agreed in this decision, we yet thought that
men would judge of your policy by its result: if it turns out as we wish
and desire, everybody will say that you acted wisely and courageously;
if any hitch occurs, those same men will say that you acted ambitiously
and rashly. Wherefore what you really can do it is not so easy for us to
judge as for you, who have Egypt almost within sight. For us, our view
is this: if you are certain that you can get possession of that
kingdom, you should not delay: if it is doubtful, you should not make
the attempt. I can guarantee you this, that, if you succeed, you will be
applauded by many while abroad, by all when you return. I see great
danger in any failure, on account of the senatorial resolution and the
religious scruple that have been introduced into the question. But for
me, as I exhort you to snatch at what is certain to bring you credit, so
I warn you against running any risks, and I return to what I said at the
beginning of my letter--that men will judge all you do, not so much from
the policy which prompted it as from its result. But if this method of
procedure appears to you to be dangerous, our opinion is that, if the
king fulfils his obligations to those of your friends, who throughout
your province and sphere of government have lent him money, you should
assist him both with troops and supplies: such is the nature and
convenient situation of your province, that you either secure his
restoration by giving him aid, or hinder it by neglecting to do so. In
carrying out this policy you will perceive better and more easily than
anyone else what the actual state of affairs, the nature of the case,
and the circumstances of the hour admit: what our opinion was I thought
that I was the person, above all others, to tell you.
As to your congratulations to myself on my present position, on my
intimacy with Milo, on the frivolity and impotency of Clodius--I am not
at all surprised that, like a first-rate artist, you take pleasure in
the brilliant works of your own hands. However, people's
wrong-headedness--I don't like to use a harsher word--surpasses belief;
they might have secured me by their sympathy in a cause in which they
were all equally interested, yet they have alienated me by their
jealousy: for by their carping and most malicious criticisms I must tell
you that I have been all but driven from that old political standpoint
of mine, so long maintained, not, it is true, so far as to forget my
position, but far enough to admit at length some consideration for my
personal safety also. Both might have been amply secured if there had
been any good faith, any solidity in our consulars: but such is the
frivolity of most of them, that they do not so much take pleasure in my
political consistency, as offence at my brilliant position. I am the
more outspoken in writing this to you, because you lent your support,
not only to my present position, which I obtained through you, but also
long ago to my reputation and political eminence, when they were, so to
speak, but just coming into existence; and at the same time because I
see that it was not, as I used formerly to think, my want of curule
pedigree that excited prejudice: for I have noticed in your case, one of
the noblest of the land, a similar exhibition of base jealousy, and
though they did not object to class you among the _noblesse_, they were
unwilling that you should take any higher flight. I rejoice that your
fortune has been unlike mine: for there is a great difference between
having one's reputation lowered and one's personal safety abandoned to
the enemy. In my case it was your noble conduct that prevented me from
being too much disgusted with my own; for you secured that men should
consider more to have been added to my future glory than had been taken
from my present fortune. As for you--instigated both by your kindness to
myself and my affection for you, I urge you to use all your care and
industry to obtain the full glory, for which you have burned with such
generous ardour from boyhood, and never, under anyone's injurious
conduct, to bend that high spirit of yours, which I have always admired
and always loved. Men have a high opinion of you; they loudly praise
your liberality; they vividly remember your consulship. You must surely
perceive how much more marked, and how much more prominent these
sentiments will be, if backed up by some considerable repute from your
province and your government. However, in every administrative act which
you have to perform by means of your army and in virtue of your
_imperium_, I would have you reflect on these objects long before you
act, prepare yourself with a view to them, turn them over in your mind,
train yourself to obtain them, and convince yourself that you can with
the greatest ease maintain the highest and most exalted position in the
state. This you have always looked for, and I am sure you understand
that you have attained it. And that you may not think this exhortation
of mine meaningless or adopted without reason, I should explain that the
consideration which has moved me to make it was the conviction that you
required to be warned by the incidents, which our careers have had in
common, to be careful for the rest of your life as to whom to trust and
against whom to be on your guard.
As to your question about the state of public affairs--there is the most
profound difference of opinion, but the energy is all on one side. For
those who are strong in wealth, arms, and material power, appear to me
to have scored so great a success from the stupidity and fickleness of
their opponents, that they are now the stronger in moral weight as well.
Accordingly, with very few to oppose them, they have got everything
through the senate, which they never expected to get even by the popular
vote without a riot: for a grant for military pay and ten legates have
been given to Cæsar by decree,[506] and no difficulty has been made of
deferring the nomination of his successor, as required by the Sempronian
law.[507] I say the less to you on this point, because this position of
public affairs is no pleasure to me: I mention it, however, in order to
urge you to learn, while you can do so without suffering for it, the
lesson which I myself, though devoted from boyhood to every kind of
reading, yet learnt rather from bitter experience than from study, that
we must neither consider our personal safety to the exclusion of our
dignity, nor our dignity to the exclusion of our safety.
In your congratulations as to my daughter and Crassipes I am obliged to
you for your kindness, and do indeed expect and hope that this connexion
may be a source of pleasure to us. Our dear Lentulus, a young man who
gives such splendid promise of the highest qualities, be sure you
instruct both in those accomplishments which you have yourself ever been
forward in pursuing, and also, above all, in the imitation of yourself:
he can study in no better school than that. He holds a very high place
in my regard and affection, as well because he is yours, as because he
is worthy of such a father, and because he is devoted to me, and has
always been so.
[Footnote 503: See Letter XCV.]
[Footnote 504: See Letter CII.]
[Footnote 505: Joined to the province of Cilicia by Cato in B.C. 58-57.
What Cicero is recommending is a clear evasion. Lentulus is not to
_take_ Ptolemy back, but to go to Egypt and make it ready for him.]
[Footnote 506: Cicero says elsewhere that he supported this (_pro
Balbo_, §61; _de Prov. Cons._ §28; cp. Dio, xxxix. 25).]
[Footnote 507: The law of Gaius Gracchus (B.C. 123) enacting that the
senate should name before the elections the provinces to be held by the
next consuls.]
CXIV (F XIII, 6 a)
Q. VALERIUS ORCA (PROCONSUL IN AFRICA)
ROME (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
If you are well I shall be glad. I am quite well. I presume that you
will remember that, when escorting you on the commencement of your
official journey,[508] I mentioned to you in the presence of Publius
Cuspius, and also afterwards urged you privately at some length, that
whomsoever I might recommend to you as connexions of his, you should
regard as among connexions of my own. You, as was to be expected from
your extreme regard and uninterrupted attentions to me, undertook to do
this for me with the utmost liberality and kindness. Cuspius, who is
most careful in his duties towards all connected with him, takes a
surprising interest in the well-being of certain persons of your
province, because he has been twice in Africa when presiding over the
very large concerns of his revenue-company. Accordingly, this patronage
of his, which he exercises on their behalf, I am accustomed as far as I
can to back up by such means and influence as I possess. Wherefore I
thought it necessary to explain to you in this letter why I give letters
of introduction to all the friends of Cuspius. In future letters I will
merely append the mark[509] agreed upon between you and me, and at the
same time indicate that he is one of Cuspius's friends. But the
recommendation which I have resolved to subscribe to in this present
letter, let me tell you, is more serious than any of them. For P.
Cuspius has pressed me with particular earnestness to recommend Lucius
Iulius to you as warmly as possible. I appear to be barely able to
satisfy his eagerness by using the words which I generally use when most
in earnest. He asks for something out of the common way from me, and
thinks I have a special knack in that style of writing. I have promised
him to produce a masterpiece of commendation--a specimen of my choicest
work. Since I cannot reach that standard, however, I would beg you to
make him think that some astonishing effect has been produced by the
style of my letter. You will secure that, if you treat him with all the
liberality which your kindness can suggest and your official power make
feasible--I don't mean merely in the way of material assistance, but
also in words and even in looks: and what influence such things have in
a province I could have wished that you had already learnt by
experience, though I have an idea that you soon will do so. This man
himself, whom I am recommending to you, I believe to be thoroughly
worthy of your friendship, not only because Cuspius says so (though that
should be enough), but because I know the keenness of his judgment of
men and in the selection of his friends. I shall soon be able to judge
what has been the effect of this letter, and shall, I feel certain, have
reason to thank you. For myself, I shall with zeal and care see to all
that I think to be your wish or to concern your interests. Take care of
your health.
[Footnote 508: _Paludatum_, lit. dressed in the _paludamentum_, the
military dress in which provincial governors left Rome with _imperium_.]
[Footnote 509: _Notam_, some cipher, which he had agreed upon with
Valerius to indicate that the _commendatio_ was not to be looked upon as
a mere matter of course.]
CXV (F XIII, 6 b)
TO Q. VALERIUS ORCA (PROCONSUL IN AFRICA)
ROME (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
P. Cornelius, who delivers you this letter, has been recommended to me
by P. Cuspius, for whose sake you are thoroughly informed from me how
much I desire and am bound to do. I earnestly beg you that Cuspius may
have as great, early, and frequent occasion as possible to thank me for
this introduction.
CXVI (Q FR II, 6)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (RETURNING FROM SARDINIA)
ROME, MAY
[Sidenote: B.C. 56, ÆT. 50]
How delighted I was to get your letter! It had been expected by me at
first, it is true, only with longing, but recently with alarm also. And,
in fact, let me tell you that this is the only letter which has reached
me since the one brought me by your sailor and dated Olbia. But let
everything else, as you say, be reserved till we can talk it over
together. One thing, however, I cannot put off: on the 15th of May the
senate covered itself with glory by refusing Gabinius a _supplicatio_.
Procilius[510] vows that such a slight was never inflicted on anyone.
Out of doors there is much applause. To me, gratifying as it is on its
own account, it is even more so because it was done when I was not in
the house. For it was an unbiassed[511] judgment of the senate, without
any attack or exercise of influence on my part. The debate previously
arranged for the 15th and 16th, namely, the question of the Campanian
land, did not come on. In this matter I don't quite see way.[512] But I
have said more than I meant to say: for it is best reserved till we
meet. Goodbye, best and most longed-for of brothers! Fly to me. Our boys
both share my prayer: of course, you will dine with me the day of your
arrival.
[Footnote 510: One of the tribunes. He was convicted of _vis_ in B.C.,
54. Gabinius was governor of Syria B.C. 57-54. He had been engaged in
some warlike affairs in Iudæa, for which, or for some successes over the
Arabs, he claimed the _supplicatio_.]
[Footnote 511: εἰλικρινές, "pure," "clear."]
[Footnote 512: _Mihi aqua hæret_, "there's a stoppage in my water
course."]
CXVII (A IV, 8 b)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55. Coss., Cu. Pompeius Magnus, M. Licinius Crassus.]
In this year Cicero devoted much of his time and energy to the
composition of the _de Oratore_. He was glad to be away from Rome,
for though he had resolved to give up his opposition to the
triumvirs, he was never really happy in supporting or even
witnessing their policy, and the first letter betrays his
sentiments as to the way in which the consuls had secured their
election. His fear of an autocracy, however, seems now to be
directed rather to Pompey than Cæsar; nor was he at all charmed by
the splendour of the games given at the opening of Pompey's new
theatre. The only extant speech is that against L. Calpurnius Piso
(consul B.C. 58) who had been recalled from Macedonia.
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
TUSCULUM[513] (JANUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
Apenas had scarcely left me, when your letter came. Really? Do you
suppose he won't propose his law?[514] Pray speak a little louder: I
seem scarcely to have caught what you said. But let me know it at once,
if it is all the same to you, that is! Well, since an additional day has
been assigned to the games, I am all the more content to spend that day
with Dionysius. About Trebonius I cordially agree with you. About
Domitius,[515]
"I swear by Ceres that no single fig
Was e'er so like another,"
as his case to mine, either in the sameness of persons, the
unexpectedness of it, or the futility of the loyalists. There is one
difference--he has brought it upon himself. For as to the misfortune
itself, I rather think mine is the less grievous. For what could be more
mortifying than that a man, who has been consul-designate, so to speak,
ever since he was born, should fail in securing his election? Especially
when he is the only (plebeian) candidate, or at most had but one
opponent. If it is also the fact, which I rather think it is, that
_he_[516] has in the register of his pocket-book some equally long pages
of future, no less than of past consuls, what more humiliating position
than our friend's, except that of the Republic? My first information
about Natta[517] was from your letter: I couldn't bear the man. As to
your question about my poem: what if it is all agog to escape from my
hands? Well? Would you permit it? About Fabius Luscus--I was just going
to speak of him: the man was always very cordial to me, and I never had
any cause to dislike him; for he is intelligent, very well-behaved, and
serviceable enough. As I was seeing nothing of him, I supposed him to be
out of town: but was told by this fellow Gavius of Firmum, that he was
at Rome, and had never been away. It made a disagreeable impression on
me. "Such a trifle as that?" you will say. Well, he had told me a good
deal of which there could be no doubt as to these brothers of Firmum.
What it is that has made him hold aloof from me, if he has done so, I
have no idea.
As to your advice to me to act "diplomatically" and keep to the "outside
course"--I will obey you. But I want still more worldly wisdom, for
which, as usual, I shall come to you. Pray small things out from
Fabius,[518] if you can get at him, and pick the brains of your guest,
and write me word on these points and all others every day. When there
is nothing for you to write, write and say so. Take care of your health.
[Footnote 513: The letter appears to be from Tusculum, because Cicero
asks for a letter every day, which he could hardly expect if he were
farther off. This year Cicero was much away from Rome, and yet his
correspondence is meagre compared with other years. So far as this is
not due to accident in the preservation of his letters, it may be
accounted for by the fact that he was working at his _de Oratore_--so
hard, that even his brother Quintus had scruples in breaking in upon
him.]
[Footnote 514: This may refer to the laws of Trebonius, giving Pompey
and Crassus Spain and Syria respectively, and Cæsar an additional five
years in Gaul, or to some of Pompey's own legislation.]
[Footnote 515: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, a candidate for the consulship
of B.C. 55, but whose election had never come off. By various
contrivances the _comitia_ were prevented, so that the new year opened
with an _interregnum_; and Pompey and Crassus were elected under the
presidency of an _interrex_ (Dio, xxxix. 31).]
[Footnote 516: Pompey.]
[Footnote 517: L. Natta, a brother-in-law of Clodius, a pontifex who had
presided at the _consecratio_ of Cicero's house. He seems to have just
died.]
[Footnote 518: A friend of Pompey's. I think "your guest" must be Pompey
himself, whom Atticus is about to entertain at dinner.]
CXVIII (F I, 8)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (JANUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
What debates have taken place in the senate, what determination has been
come to in your business, and what Pompey has undertaken to do, all this
you will best learn from Marcus Plætorius, who has not only been engaged
in these matters, but has even taken the lead in them, and left nothing
undone which the greatest affection for you, the greatest good sense,
and the greatest care could do. From the same man you will ascertain the
general position of public affairs, which are of such a nature as is not
easy to put in writing. They are, it is true, all in the power of our
friends, and to such an extent that it does not seem probable that the
present generation will witness a change. For my part, as in duty bound,
as you advised, and as personal affection and expediency compel, I am
attaching myself to the fortunes of the man whose alliance you thought
you must court when my fortunes were in question. But you must feel how
difficult it is to put away a political conviction, especially when it
happens to be right and proved up to the hilt. However, I conform myself
to the wishes of him from whom I cannot dissent with any dignity: and
this I do not do, as perhaps some may think, from insincerity; for
deliberate purpose and, by heaven! affection for Pompey are so powerful
with me, that whatever is to his interest, and whatever he wishes,
appears to me at once to be altogether right and reasonable. Nor, as I
think, would even his opponents be wrong if, seeing that they cannot
possibly be his equals, they were to cease to struggle against him. For
myself I have another consolation--my character is such that all the
world thinks me justified beyond all others, whether I support Pompey's
views, or hold my tongue, or even, what is above everything else to my
taste, return to my literary pursuits. And this last I certainly shall
do, if my friendship for this same man permits it. For those objects
which I had at one time in view, after having held the highest offices
and endured the greatest fatigues--the power of intervening with dignity
in the debates of the senate, and a free hand in dealing with public
affairs--these have been entirely abolished, and not more for me than
for all. For we all have either to assent to a small clique, to the
utter loss of our dignity, or to dissent to no purpose. My chief object
in writing to you thus is that you may consider carefully what line you
will also take yourself. The whole position of senate, law courts, and
indeed of the entire constitution has undergone a complete change. The
most we can hope for is tranquillity: and this the men now in supreme
power seem likely to give us, if certain persons[519] shew somewhat more
tolerance of their despotism. The old consular prestige, indeed, of a
courageous and consistent senator we must no longer think of: that has
been lost by the fault of those who have alienated from the senate both
an order once very closely allied to it, and an individual of the most
illustrious character. But to return to what more immediately affects
your interests--I have ascertained that Pompey is warmly your friend,
and with him as consul, to the best of my knowledge and belief, you will
get whatever you wish. In this he will have me always at his elbow, and
nothing which affects you shall be passed over by me. Nor, in fact,
shall I be afraid of boring him, for he will be very glad for his own
sake to find me grateful to him. I would have you fully persuaded that
there is nothing, however small, affecting your welfare that is not
dearer to me than every interest of my own. And entertaining these
sentiments, I can satisfy myself indeed, as far as assiduity is
concerned, but in actual achievement I cannot do so, just because I
cannot reach any proportion of your services to me, I do not say by
actual return in kind, but by any return even of feeling. There a report
that you have won a great victory.[520] Your despatch is anxiously
awaited, and I have already talked to Pompey about it. When it arrives,
I will shew my zeal by calling on the magistrates and members of the
senate: and in everything else which may concern you, though I shall
strive for more than I can achieve, I shall yet do less than I ought.
[Footnote 519: The extreme Optimates, such as Cato.]
[Footnote 520: Against the predatory and piratic inhabitants of
Cilicia.]
CXIX (Q FR II, 7)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN THE COUNTRY)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
I thought you would like my book:[521] that you like it as much as you
say I am greatly delighted. As to your hint about my Urania and your
advice to remember the speech of Iupiter,[522] which comes at the end of
that book, I do indeed remember it, and that whole passage was aimed at
myself rather than at the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the day after
you started I went long before daybreak with Vibullius to call on
Pompey; and upon addressing him on the subject of the works and
inscriptions in your honour,[523] he answered me very kindly, gave me
great hopes, said he would like to talk to Crassus about it, and advised
me to do so too. I joined in escorting Crassus to is house on his
assuming the consulate: he undertook the affair, and said that Clodius
would at this juncture have something that he wanted to get by means of
himself and Pompey: he thought that, if I did not baulk Clodius's views,
I might get what I wanted without any opposition. I left the matter
entirely in his hands and told him that I would do exactly as he wished.
Publius Crassus the younger was present at this conversation, who, as
you know, is very warmly attached to me. What Clodius wants is an
honorary mission (if not by decree of the senate, then by popular vote)
to Byzantium or to Brogitarus, or to both.[524] There is a good deal of
money in it. It is a thing I don't trouble myself about much, even if I
don't get what I am trying to get. Pompey, however, has spoken to
Crassus. They seem to have taken the business in hand. If they carry it
through, well and good: if not, let us return to my "Iupiter."
On the 11th of February a decree passed the senate as to bribery on the
motion of Afranius, against which I had spoken when you were in the
house. To the loudly expressed disapprobation of the senate the consuls
did not go on with the proposals of those who, while agreeing with
Afranius's motion, added a rider that after their election the prætors
were to remain private citizens for sixty days.[525] On that day they
unmistakably threw over Cato. In short, they manage everything their own
way, and wish all the world to understand it to be so.
[Footnote 521: His poem "On his own Times."]
[Footnote 522: In his poem _de Consulatu suo_, the second book of which
(Urania) ends with a speech of Iupiter, who recommends his leaving
politics for literature.]
[Footnote 523: A statue in the temple of Tellus.]
[Footnote 524: Brogitarus was a Galatian and connexion of Deiotarus.
Clodius, as tribune, had done some services to Byzantium, and had also
got Brogitarus the office of high priest of Cybele. He wants now to go
and get his money for these favours.]
[Footnote 525: The prætorian elections, like the consular, had been put
off till February. Those elected would therefore enter on their office
at once, and so escape prosecution, to which they would have been liable
if, as in ordinary years, they had been "prætors-designate" from July to
January. Afranius's motion seems to have been for suspending the bribery
laws _pro hac vice_. Cato had been beaten: if there had been an
opportunity of impeaching his rivals he might have got in.]
CXX (A IV, 10)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
CUMÆ, 20 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
At Puteoli there is a great report that Ptolemy has been restored. If
you have any more certain news, I should like to know it. I am here
devouring the library of Faustus.[526] Perhaps you thought I was
feasting on the beauties of Puteoli and the Lucrine lake. Well, I have
them too. But I declare to heaven that the more I am debarred from the
enjoyment of ordinary pleasures, owing to the political situation, the
more do I find support and refreshment in literature; and I would rather
be sitting in that charming seat of yours, under your bust of Aristotle,
than in _their_[527] curule chair, and be taking a stroll with you
rather than with the great man[528] with whom I see I shall have to
walk. But as to that walk, let fortune look to it, or god, if there is
any god who cares for such things. I wish, when possible, you would come
and see my walk and Spartan bath, and the buildings planned by Cyrus,
and would urge Philotimus to make haste, that I may have something to
match with yours in that department.[529] Pompey came to his Cuman
property on the Parilia (19th April). He at once sent a man to me with
his compliments. I am going to call on him on the morning of the 20th,
as soon as I have written this letter.
[Footnote 526: Son of the dictator Sulla, who is known to have brought
back from Athens a famous Aristotelian library.]
[Footnote 527: Pompey and Crassus, the consuls.]
[Footnote 528: Pompey, as the context shews. In the next clause
_ambulatio_ has a double meaning of physical walking and of a political
course of conduct.]
[Footnote 529: Philotimus, a freedman of Terentia's, seems to have been
engaged at Rome in the reconstruction of Cicero's house. The Spartan
bath (_Laconicum_) was a hot-air bath, like a Turkish bath.]
CXXI (A IV, 9)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
CUMÆ, 28 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
I should much like to know whether the tribunes are hindering the census
by stopping business with their bad omens[530] (for there is a rumour to
that effect), and what they are doing and contriving as to the
censorship altogether. I have had an interview with Pompey here. He
talked a good deal to me about politics. He is not at all satisfied with
himself, to judge from what he says--one is obliged to put in that
proviso in his case. He thinks very little of Syria as a province; talks
a good deal about Spain--here, too, I must add, "to judge from what he
says," and, I think, his whole conversation requires that reservation,
and to be ticketed as Phocylides did his verses--καὶ τόδε
Φωκυλίδου.[531] He expressed gratitude to you for undertaking to
arrange the statues:[532] towards myself he was, by Hercules, most
effusively cordial. He even came to my Cuman house to call on me.
However, the last thing he seemed to wish was that Messalla should stand
for the consulship: that is the very point on which I should like to
hear what you know. I am much obliged by your saying that you will
recommend my fame to Lucceius, and for your frequent inspection of my
house. My brother Quintus has written to tell me that, as you have that
dear boy, his son Quintus, staying with you, he intends coming to your
house on the 7th of May. I left my Cuman villa on the 26th of April.
That night I spent at Naples with Pætus. I write this very early on the
27th, on my road to my Pompeian house.
[Footnote 530: The tribunes had no _veto_ against the censors, they
could only hinder them by the indirect method of _obnuntiatio_,
declaring that the omens were bad, and so preventing business.]
[Footnote 531: This also is Phocylides's.]
[Footnote 532: In Pompey's new theatre.]
CXXII (Q FR II, 8)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (AT ROME)
CUMÆ (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
Afraid that you will interrupt me--you? In the first place, if I were as
busy as you think, do you know what interruption means? Have you taken a
lesson from Ateius?[533] So help me heaven, in my eyes you give _me_ a
lesson in a kind of learning which I never enjoy unless you are with me.
Why, that you should talk to me, interrupt me, argue against me, or
converse with me, is just what I should like. Nothing could be more
delightful! Never, by Hercules, did any crazy poet read with greater
zest his last composition than I listen to you, no matter what business
is in hand, public or private, rural or urban. But it was all owing to
my foolish scrupulousness that I did not carry you off with me when I
was leaving town. You confronted me the first time with an unanswerable
excuse--the health of my son: I was silenced. The second time it was
both boys, yours and mine: I acquiesced.[534] Now comes a delightful
letter, but with this drop of gall in it--that you seem to have been
afraid, and still to be afraid, that you might bore me. I would go to
law with you if it were decent to do so; but, by heaven! if ever I have
a suspicion of such a feeling on your part, I can only say that I shall
begin to be afraid of boring _you_ at times, when in your company. [I
perceive that you have sighed at this. 'Tis the way of the world: "But
if you lived on earth" ...I will never finish the quotation and say,
"Away with all care!"[535] Marius,[536] again, I should certainly have
forced into my sedan--I don't mean that famous one of Ptolemy that
Anicius got hold of:[537] for I remember when I was conveying him from
Naples to Baiæ in Anicius's eight-bearer sedan, with a hundred armed
guards in our train, I had a real good laugh when Marius, knowing
nothing of his escort, suddenly drew back the curtains of the sedan--he
was almost dead with fright and I with laughing; well, this same friend,
I say, I should at least have carried off, too secure, at any rate, the
delicate charm of that old-fashioned courtesy, and of a conversation
which is the essence of culture. But I did not like to invite a man of
weak health to a villa practically without a roof, and which even now it
would be a compliment to describe as unfinished. It would indeed be a
special treat to me to have the enjoyment of him here also. For I assure
you that the neighbourhood of Marius makes the sunshine of that other
country residence of mine.[538] I will see about getting him put up in
the house of Anicius. For I myself, though a student, can live with
workpeople in the house. I get this philosophy, not from Hymettus, but
from Arpinum.[539] Marius is feebler in health and constitution. As to
interrupting my book[540]--I shall take from you just so much time for
writing as you may leave me. I only hope you'll leave me none at all,
that my want of progress may be set down to your encroachment rather
than to my idleness! In regards to politics, I am sorry that you worry
yourself too much, and are a better citizen than Philoctetes, who, on
being wronged himself, was anxious for the very spectacle[541] that I
perceive gives you pain. Pray hasten hither: I will console you and wipe
all sorrow from your eyes: and, as you love me, bring Maruis. But haste,
haste, both of you! There is a garden at my house.[542]
[Footnote 533: Some bore, unknown to us.]
[Footnote 534: The two boys seem to be receiving their education
together at this time in the house of Quintus.]
[Footnote 535: It is all but impossible to explain these words. Some
editors transfer them to the sentence after _de Republica_. But they are
scarcely more in place there. The Greek quotation is not known.]
[Footnote 536: M. Marius, to whom Letter CXXVI is addressed.]
[Footnote 537: C. Anicius, a senator, seems to have obtained from
Ptolemy Auletes, by gift or purchase, his state sedan and its
attendants.]
[Footnote 538: The Pompeianum.]
[Footnote 539: An unintellible word, meant apparently for Greek (perhaps
_arce_ Ψυρίᾳ, see _Att._ xvi. 13), is in the text. The most probable
conjecture refers it in some way to Arpinum, Cicero's hardy mountain
birthplace.]
[Footnote 540: The _de Oratore_.]
[Footnote 541: The ruin of his country.]
[Footnote 542: For us to walk and converse in. It hardly refers to a
supply of vegetables, as some suggest.]
CXXIII (A IV, 11)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
CUMÆ (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
I was delighted with your two letters which I received together on the
26th. Go on with the story. I long to know all the facts of what you
write about. Also I should like you to find out what this means: you can
do so from Demetrius. Pompey told me that he was expecting Crassus in
his Alban villa on the 27th: that as soon as he arrived, they were going
at once to Rome to settle accounts with the _publicani_. I asked,
"During the gladiatorial exhibitions?" He answered, "Before they were
begun." What that means I wish you would send me word either at once, if
you know, or when he has reached Rome. I am engaged here in devouring
books with the aid of that wonderful fellow Dionysius,[543] for, by
Hercules, that is what he seems to me to be. He sends compliments to you
and all your party.
"No bliss so great as knowing all that is."
Wherefore indulge my thirst for knowledge by telling what happened on
the first and on the second day of the shows: what about the
censors,[544] what about Appius,[545] what about that she-Appuleius of
the people?[546] Finally, pray write me word what you are doing
yourself. For, to tell the truth, revolutions don't give me so much
pleasure as a letter from you. I took no one out of town with me except
Dionysius: yet I am in no fear of wanting conversation--so delightful do
I find that youth. Pray give my book to Lucceius.[547] I send you the
book of Demetrius of Magnesia,[548] that there may be a messenger on the
spot to bring me back a letter from you.
[Footnote 543: A learned freedman of Atticus's.]
[Footnote 544: See p. 250. Censors were elected this year, but the
powers of the censorship had been much curtailed by a law of Clodius in
B.C. 58.]
[Footnote 545: Apius Claudius (brother of Clodius) was a candidate for
the consulship of B.C. 54.]
[Footnote 546: Clodius, a revolutionary, like Appuleius Saturninus. The
feminine gender is an insult.]
[Footnote 547: Either his poem "On his own Times," or the notes of
events which he had promised in Letter CVIII, p. 231.]
[Footnote 548: A treatise on union (περὶ ὁμονοίας). The rhetorician
Dionysius of Magnesia had been with Cicero during his tour in Asia.]
CXXIV (A IV, 12)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
CUMÆ, APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
Egnatius[549] is at Rome. But I spoke strongly to him at Antium about
Halimetus's business. He assured me that he would speak seriously to
Aquilius.[550] You will see the man therefore, if you please. I think I
can scarcely be ready for Macro:[551] for I see that the auction at
Larinum is on the Ides and the two days following. Pray forgive me for
that, since you think so much of Macro. But, as you love me, dine with
me on the 2nd, and bring Pilia. You must absolutely do so. On the 1st I
think of dining at Crassipes' suburban villa as a kind of inn. I thus
elude the decree of the senate. Thence to my town house after dinner, so
as to be ready to be at Milo's in the morning.[552] There, then, I shall
see you, and shall march you on with me. My whole household sends you
greeting.
[Footnote 549: L. Egnatius, who owed Q. Cicero money.]
[Footnote 550: C. Aquilius Gallus, Cicero's colleague in the prætorship,
and a busy advocate. See p. 13.]
[Footnote 551: Apparently a money-lender.]
[Footnote 552: Perhaps at his _sponsalia_, as he was married towards the
end of the year.]
CXXV (F VII, 23)
TO M. FADIUS GALLUS
ROME (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
I had only just arrived from Arpinum when your letter was delivered to
me; and from the same bearer I received a letter from Arrianus,[553] in
which there was this most liberal offer, that when he came to Rome he
would enter my debt to him on whatever day I chose. Pray put yourself in
my place: is it consistent with your modesty or mine, first to prefer a
request as to the day, and then to ask more than a year's credit? But,
my dear Gallus, everything would have been easy, if you had bought the
things I wanted, and only up to the price that I wished. However, the
purchases which, according to your letter, you have made shall not only
be ratified by me, but with gratitude besides: for I fully understand
that you have displayed zeal and affection in purchasing (because you
thought them worthy of me) things which pleased yourself--a man, as I
have ever thought, of the most fastidious judgment in all matters of
taste. Still, I should like Damasippus[554] to abide by his decision:
for there is absolutely none of those purchases that I care to have.
But you, being unacquainted with my habits, have bought four or five of
your selection at a price at which I do not value any statues in the
world. You compare your Bacchæ with Metellus's Muses. Where is the
likeness? To begin with, I should never have considered the Muses worth
all that money, and I think all the Muses would have approved my
judgment: still, it would have been appropriate to a library, and in
harmony with my pursuits. But Bacchæ! What place is there in my house
for them? But, you will say, they are pretty. I know them very well and
have often seen them. I would have commissioned you definitely in the
case of statues known to me, if I had decided on them. The sort of
statues that I am accustomed to buy are such as may adorn a place in a
_palæstra_ after the fashion of gymnasia.[555] What, again, have I, the
promoter of peace, to do with a statue of Mars? I am glad there was not
a statue of Saturn also: for I should have thought these two statues had
brought me debt! I should have preferred some representation of Mercury:
I might then, I suppose, have made a more favourable bargain with
Arrianus. You say you meant the table-stand[556] for yourself; well, if
you like it, keep it. But if you have changed your mind I will, of
course, have it. For the money you have laid out, indeed, I would rather
have purchased a place of call at Tarracina,[557] to prevent my being
always a burden on my host. Altogether I perceive that the fault is with
my freedman, whom I had distinctly commissioned to purchase certain
definite things, and also with Iunius, whom I think you know, an
intimate friend of Arrianus. I have constructed some new sitting-rooms
in a miniature colonnade on my Tusculan property. I want to ornament
them with pictures: for if I take pleasure in anything of that sort it
is in painting. However, if I am to have what you have bought, I should
like you to inform me where they are, when hey are to be fetched, and by
what kind of conveyance. For if Damasippus doesn't abide by his
decision, I shall look for some would-be Damasippus,[558] even at a
loss.
As to what you say about the house, as I was going out of town I
intrusted the matter to my daughter Tullia:[559] for it was at the very
hour of my departure that I got your letter. I also discussed the matter
with your friend Nicias, because he is, as you know, intimate with
Cassius. On my return, however, before I got your last letter, I asked
Tullia what she had done. She said that she had approached Licinia[560]
(though I think Cassius is not very intimate with his sister), and that
she at once said that she could not venture, in the absence of her
husband (Dexius is gone to Spain), to change houses without his being
there and knowing about it. I am much gratified that you should value
association with me and my domestic life so highly, as, in the first
place, to take a house which would enable you to live not only near me,
but absolutely with me, and, in the second place, to be in such a hurry
to make this change of residence. But, upon my life, I do not yield to
you in eagerness for that arrangement. So I will try every means in my
power. For I see the advantage to myself, and, indeed, the advantages to
us both. If I succeed in doing anything, I will let you know. Mind you
also write me word back on everything, and let me know, if you please,
when I am to expect you.
[Footnote 553: C. Arrianus Evander, a dealer in statues, it seems, from
whom Fadius had bought some for Cicero. He offers to let the debt for
them (and so the interest) run from any day Cicero pleases.]
[Footnote 554: A well-known connoisseur, mentioned by Horace, _Sat._ ii.
3, 64, _seq._. He seems to have offered to take the bargain off Cicero's
hands.]
[Footnote 555: That is, for his _palæstra_ or gymnasium, as he calls it,
in his Tusculanum. See Letters I, II, VII.]
[Footnote 556: An ornamental leg or stand for table or sideboard
(_abacus_). See picture in Rich's _Dictionary of Antiquities_.]
[Footnote 557: On the _via Appia_, where the canal across the marshes
began. Cicero stops there a night between Formiæ and Pomptina Summa
(_Att._ vii. 5).]
[Footnote 558: One who professes to be an amateur of art like
Damasippus.]
[Footnote 559: As in Letter CVI, Tullia, not Terentia, seems to be in
Cicero's confidence and presiding in his house. Terentia must already
have been on bad terms with him, and perhaps was residing on her own
property.]
[Footnote 560: Half-sister of Gaius Cassius.]
CXXVI (F VII, I)
TO M. MARIUS (AT CUMÆ)
ROME (OCTOBER?)
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
If some bodily pain or weakness of health has prevented your coming to
the games, I put it down to fortune rather than your own wisdom: but if
you have made up your mind that these things which the rest of the world
admires are only worthy of contempt, and, though your health would have
allowed of it, you yet were unwilling to come, then I rejoice at both
facts--that you were free from bodily pain, and that you had the sound
sense to disdain what others causelessly admire. Only I hope that some
fruit of your leisure may be forthcoming, a leisure, indeed, which you
had a splendid opportunity of enjoying to the full, seeing that you were
left almost alone in your lovely country. For I doubt not that in that
study of yours, from which you have opened a window into the Stabian
waters of the bay, and obtained a view of Misenum, you have spent the
morning hours of those days in light reading, while those who left you
there were watching the ordinary farces[561] half asleep. The remaining
parts of the day, too, you spent in the pleasures which you had yourself
arranged to suit your own taste, while we had to endure whatever had met
with the approval of Spurius Mæcius.[562] On the whole, if you care to
know, the games were most splendid, but not to your taste. I judge from
my own. For, to begin with, as a special honour to the occasion, those
actors had come back to the stage who, I thought, had left it for their
own. Indeed, your favourite, my friend Æsop, was in such a state that no
one could say a word against his retiring from the profession. On the
beginning to recite the oath his voice failed him at the words "If I
knowingly deceive." Why should I go on with the story? You know all
about the rest of the games, which hadn't even that amount of charm
which games on a moderate scale generally have: for the spectacle was so
elaborate as to leave no room for cheerful enjoyment, and I think you
need feel no regret at having missed it. For what is the pleasure of a
train of six hundred mules in the "Clytemnestra," or three thousand
bowls in the "Trojan Horse," or gay-coloured armour of infantry and
cavalry in some battle? These things roused the admiration of the
vulgar; to you they would have brought no delight. But if during those
days you listened to your reader Protogenes, so long at least as he read
anything rather than my speeches, surely you had far greater pleasure
than any one of us. For I don't suppose you wanted to see Greek or Oscan
plays, especially as you can see Oscan farces in your senate-house over
there, while you are so far from liking Greeks, that you generally won't
even go along the Greek road to your villa. Why, again, should I suppose
you to care about missing the athletes, since you disdained the
gladiators? in which even Pompey himself confesses that he lost his
trouble and his pains. There remain the two wild-beast hunts, lasting
five days, magnificent--nobody denies it--and yet, what pleasure can it
be to a man of refinement, when either a weak man is torn by an
extremely powerful animal, or a splendid animal is transfixed by a
hunting spear? Things which, after all, if worth seeing, you have often
seen before; nor did I, who was present at the games, see anything the
least new. The last day was that of the elephants, on which there was a
great deal of astonishment on the part of the vulgar crowd, but no
pleasure whatever. Nay, there was even a certain feeling of compassion
aroused by it, and a kind of belief created that that animal has
something in common with mankind.[563] However, for my part, during this
day, while the theatrical exhibitions were on, lest by chance you should
think me too blessed, I almost split my lungs in defending your friend
Caninius Gallus.[564] But if the people were as indulgent to me as they
were to Æsop, I would, by heaven, have been glad to abandon my
profession and live with you and others like us. The fact is I was tired
of it before, even when both age and ambition stirred me on, and when I
could also decline any defence that I didn't like; but now, with things
in the state that they are, there is no life worth having. For, on the
one hand, I expect no profit of my labour; and, on the other, I am
sometimes forced to defend men who have been no friends to me, at the
request of those to whom I am under obligations. Accordingly, I am on
the look-out for every excuse for at last managing my life according to
my own taste, and I loudly applaud and vehemently approve both you and
your retired plan of life: and as to your infrequent appearances among
us, I am the more resigned to that because, were you in Rome, I should
be prevented from enjoying the charm of your society, and so would you
of mine, if I have any, by the overpowering nature of my engagements;
from which, if I get any relief--for entire release I don't expect--I
will give even you, who have been studying nothing else for many years,
some hints as to what it is to live a life of cultivated enjoyment. Only
be careful to nurse your weak health and to continue your present care
of it, so that you may be able to visit my country houses and make
excursions with me in my litter. I have written you a longer letter than
usual, from superabundance, not of leisure, but of affection, because,
if you remember, you asked me in one of your letters to write you
something to prevent you feeling sorry at having missed the games. And
if I have succeeded in that, I am glad: if not, I yet console myself
with this reflexion, that in future you will both come to the games and
come to see me, and will not leave your hope of enjoyment dependent on
my letters.[565]
[Footnote 561: _Communis_, which is not satisfactory. But neither is the
emendation proposed, _cominus_. For _communis_, "common," "vulgar," see
_de Off._ ii. § 45.]
[Footnote 562: Whom Pompey employed to select the plays to be exhibited
in his new theatre.]
[Footnote 563: Pliny (_N. H._ viii. § 21) says that the people were so
moved that they loudly cursed Pompey.]
[Footnote 564: L. Caninius Gallus (see p. 210). What he was accused of
does not appear.]
[Footnote 565: I do not like to think this letter a mere rhetorical
exercise, as has been suggested, rather than a true account of Cicero's
feelings as to the theatre and amphitheatre. He often expresses his want
of interest in the latter. The vulgar display in the theatre, unlike the
severe simplicity of Greek art, was an old evil (see Polyb. xxx. 14).]
CXXVII (F XIII, 74)
TO Q. PHILIPPUS (PROCONSUL IN ASIA)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
Though, considering your attention to me and our close ties, I have no
doubt of your remembering my recommendation, yet I again and again
recommend to you the same L. Oppius, my intimate friend who is now in
Rome, and the business of L. Egnatius, my very intimate friend who is
now abroad. With the latter my connexion and intimacy are so strong,
that I could not be more anxious if the business were my own. Wherefore
I shall be highly gratified if you take the trouble too make him feel
that I have as high a place in your affections as I think I have. You
cannot oblige me more than by doing so: and I beg you warmly to do it.
CXXVIII (F XIII, 40)
TO Q. ANCHARIUS (PROCONSUL IN MACEDONIA)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
Lucius and Gaius, sons of Lucius Aurelius, with whom, as with their
excellent father, I am most intimately acquainted, I recommend to you
with more than usual earnestness, as young men endowed with the best
qualities, as being very closely allied to myself, and as being in the
highest degree worthy of your friendship. If any recommendations of mine
have ever had influence with you, as I know that many have had much, I
beg you to let this one have it. If you treat them with honour and
kindness, you will not only have attached to yourself two very grateful
and excellent young men, but you will also have done me the very
greatest favour.
CXXIX (A IV, 13)
TO ATTICUS (AT ROME)
TUSCULUM, 15 NOVEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 55, ÆT. 51]
I see that you know of my arrival at Tusculum on the 14th of November. I
found Dionysius there. I wish to be at Rome on the 17th. Why do I say
"wish"? Rather I am forced to be so. Milo's wedding. There is some idea
of an election. Even supposing that to be confirmed,[566] I am glad to
have been absent from the wrangling debates which I am told have taken
place in the senate. For I should either have defended him, which would
have been against my opinion, or have deserted him whom I was bound to
defend. But, by Hercules, describe to me to the utmost of your power
those events, and the present state of politics, and how the consuls
stand this bother. I am very ravenous for news, and, to tell you the
truth, I feel no confidence in anything. Our friend Crassus indeed,
people say, started in his official robes with less dignity than in the
old times did L. Paullus,[567] at the same time of life as he is, and,
like him, in his second consulship. What a sorry fellow! About my
oratorical books, I have been working hard. They have been long in hand
and much revised: you can get them copied.[568] I again beg of you an
outline sketch of the present situation, that I may not arrive in Rome
quite a stranger.
[Footnote 566: _Ego, ut sit rata_, Schutz's reading, which seems the
best for the unintelligible _ergo et si irata_ of the MSS. It would
mean, "though I regret not having been back for Domitius's election (if
it has taken place), I am glad to have been away from the previous
wrangling in the senate."]
[Footnote 567: Crassus starts for Syria; he compares him to L. Æmilius
Paullus starting for the war with Perses (B.C. 168). Paullus was, like
Crassus, sixty years old, and in his second consulship. Paullus set out
with good omens, Crassus with a curse, denounced by the tribune C.
Ateius Capito (_de Div._ i. § 29; Plutarch, _Crass._ 16).]
[Footnote 568: By his _librarii_. Atticus was again acting as his
publisher.]
CXXX (F V, 8)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54. Coss., L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, Ap. Claudius
Pulcher.]
During this year politics were comparatively uneventful. Crassus
was gone to Syria. Pompey should have gone to Spain, but at the
request of the senate he stayed near Rome, and in the autumn his
wife Iulia died, thus breaking one strong tie between him and
Cæsar. Quintus Cicero went as _legatus_ to Cæsar and accompanied
him to Britain. Cicero himself kept up a correspondence with Cæsar,
and seems to nurse his friendship with him with an almost feverish
eagerness, which, however, lacks spontaneity. He was engaged this
year in composing his treatise on the Republic.
TO M. LICINIUS CRASSUS (ON HIS WAY TO SYRIA)
ROME (JANUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I have no doubt all your friends have written to tell you what zeal I
displayed on the ----[569] in the defence, or you might call it the
promotion, of your official position. For it was neither half-hearted
nor inconspicuous, nor of a sort that could be passed over in silence.
In fact, I maintained a controversy against both the consuls and many
consulars with a vehemence such as I have never shewn in any cause
before, and I took upon myself the standing defence of all your honours,
and paid the duty I owed to our friendship--long in arrear, but
interrupted by the great complexity of events--to the very utmost. Not,
believe me, that the will to shew you attention and honour was ever
wanting to me; but certain pestilent persons--vexed at another's
fame--did at times alienate you from me, and sometimes changed my
feelings towards you. But I have got the opportunity, for which I had
rather wished than hoped, of shewing you in the very height of your
prosperity that I remember our mutual kindness and am faithful to our
friendship. For I have secured not only that your whole family, but that
the entire city should know that you have no warmer friend than myself.
Accordingly, that most noble of women, your wife, as well as your two
most affectionate, virtuous, and popular sons, place full confidence in
my counsel, advice, zeal, and public actions; and the senate and Roman
people understand that in your absence there is nothing upon which you
can so absolutely count and depend as upon my exertions, care,
attention, and influence in all matters which affect your interests.
What has been done and is being done in the senate I imagine that you
are informed in the letters from members of your family. For myself, I
am very anxious that you should think and believe that I did not stumble
upon the task of supporting your dignity from some sudden whim or by
chance, but that from the first moment of my entering on public life I
have always looked out to see how I might be most closely united to you.
And, indeed, from that hour I never remember either my respect for you,
or your very great kindness and liberality to me, to have failed. If
certain interruptions of friendship have occurred, based rather on
suspicion than fact, let them, as groundless and imaginary, be uprooted
from our entire memory and life. For such is your character, and such I
desire mine to be, that, fate having brought us face to face with the
same condition of public affairs, I would fain hope that our union and
friendship will turn out to be for the credit of us both. Wherefore how
much consideration should in your judgment be shewn to me, you will
yourself decide, and that decision, I hope, will be in accordance with
my position in the state. I, for my part, promise and guarantee a
special and unequalled zeal in every service which may tend to your
honour and reputation. And even if in this I shall have many rivals, I
shall yet easily surpass them all in the judgment of the rest of the
world as well as that of your sons, for both of whom I have a particular
affection; but while equally well-disposed to Marcus, I am more entirely
devoted to Publius for this reason, that, though he always did so from
boyhood, he is at this particular time treating me with the respect and
affection of a second father.
I would have you believe that this letter will have the force of a
treaty, not of a mere epistle; and that I will most sacredly observe and
most carefully perform what I hereby promise and undertake. The defence
of your political position which I have taken up in your absence I will
abide by, not only for the sake of our friendship, but also for the sake
of my own character for consistency. Therefore I thought it sufficient
at this time to tell you this--that if there was anything which I
understood to be your wish or for your advantage or for your honour, I
should do it without waiting to be asked; but that if I received a hint
from yourself or your family on any point, I should take care to
convince you that no letter of your own or any request from any of your
family has been in vain. Wherefore I would wish you to write to me on
all matters, great, small, or indifferent, as to a most cordial friend;
and to bid your family so to make use of my activity, advice, authority,
and influence in all business matters--public or private, forensic or
domestic, whether your own or those of your friends, guests, or
clients--that, as far as such a thing is possible, the loss of your
presence may be lessened by my labour.
[Footnote 569: The date has been lost.]
CXXXI (Q FR II, 9)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN THE COUNTRY)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Your note by its strong language has drawn out this letter. For as to
what actually occurred on the day of your start, it supplied me with
absolutely no subject for writing. But as when we are together we are
never at a loss for something to say, so ought our letters at times to
digress into loose chat. Well then, to begin, the liberty of the
Tenedians has received short shrift,[570] no one speaking for them
except myself, Bibulus, Calidius, and Favonius. A complimentary
reference to you was made by the legates from Magnesia and Sipylum, they
saying that you were the man who alone had resisted the demand of L.
Sestius Pansa.[571] On the remaining days of this business in the
senate, if anything occurs which you ought to know, or even if there is
nothing, I will write you something every day. On the 12th I will not
fail you or Pomponius. The poems of Lucretius are as you say--with many
flashes of genius, yet very technical.[572] But when you return, ... if
you succeed in reading the _Empedoclea_ of Sallustius, I shall regard
you as a hero, yet scarcely human.
[Footnote 570: Lit. "has been beheaded with the axe of Tenes," mythical
founder and legislator of Tenedos, whose laws were of Draconian
severity. A _legatio_ from Tenedos, heard as usual in February, had
asked that Tenedos might be made a _libera civitas_.]
[Footnote 571: Some _publicanus_ who had made a charge on the Magnesians
which they considered excessive.]
[Footnote 572: Lucretius seems to have been now dead, according to
Donatus 15 October (B.C. 55), though the date is uncertain. I have
translated the reading _multæ tamen artis_, which has been changed by
some to _multæ etiam artis_. But the contrast in the criticism seems to
be between the fine poetical passages in the _de Rerum Natura_ and the
mass of technical exposition of philosophy which must have repelled the
"general reader" at all times. It suggests at once to Cicero to mention
another poem on a similar subject, the _Empedoclea_ of Sallustius, of
which and its writer we know nothing. It was not the historian.]
CXXXII (Q FR II, 10)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN THE COUNTRY)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I am glad you like my letter: however, I should not even now have had
anything to write about, if I had not received yours. For on the 12th,
when Appius had got together a thinly-attended meeting of the senate,
the cold was so great that he was compelled by the general clamour[573]
to dismiss us. As to the Commagenian, because I have blown that
proposition to the winds, Appius makes wonderful advances to me both
personally and through Pomponius; for he sees that if I adopt a similar
style of discussion in the other business, February will not bring him
anything in. And certainly I did chaff him pretty well, and not only
wrenched from his grasp that petty township of his--situated in the
territory of Zeugma on the Euphrates[574]--but also raised a loud laugh
by my satire on the man's purple-edged toga, which he had been granted
when Cæsar was consul.[575] "His wish," said I, "for a renewal of the
same honour, to save the yearly re-dying of his purple-edged toga, I do
not think calls for any decree of the house; but you, my lords, who
could not endure that the Bostrian[576] should wear the _toga prætexta_,
will you allow the Commagenian to do so?" You see the style of chaff,
and the line I took. I spoke at length against the petty princeling,
with the result that he was utterly laughed out of court. Alarmed by
this exhibition, as I said, Appius is making up to me. For nothing could
be easier than to explode the rest of his proposals. But I will not go
so far as to trip him up, lest he appeal to the god of hospitality, and
summon all his Greeks--it is they who make us friends again. I will do
what Theopompus wants. I had forgotten to write to you about Cæsar: for
I perceive what sort of letter you have been expecting. But the fact is,
he has written word to Balbus that the little packet of letters, in
which mine and Balbus's were packed, had been so drenched with rain that
he was not even aware that there was a letter from me. He had, however,
made out a few words of Balbus's letter, to which he answered as
follows: "I perceive that you have written something about Cicero, which
I have not fully made out: but, as far I could guess, it was of a kind
that I thought was more to be wished than hoped for." Accordingly, I
afterwards sent Cæsar a duplicate copy of the letter. Don't be put off
by that passage about his want of means. In answer to it I wrote back
saying that he must not stop payment from any reliance on my money
chest, and descanted playfully on that subject, in familiar terms and
yet without derogating from my dignity. His good feeling towards us,
however, according to all accounts, is marked. The letter, indeed, on
the point of which you expect to hear, will almost coincide with your
return:[577] the other business of each day I will write on condition of
your furnishing me with letter-carriers. However, such cold weather is
threatening,[578] that there is very great danger that Appius may find
his house frost-bitten and deserted![579]
[Footnote 573: Retaining _populi convicio_, and explaining _populus_ to
have the general meaning of the crowd, including senators and
spectators. Cicero uses _populus_ in this vague way elsewhere.]
[Footnote 574: Zeugma I take to mean the "territory of Zeugma," a town
on the Euphrates, part of the Roman province of Syria, and close to the
frontier of Commagene. Antiochus had asked that some stronghold should
be reckoned as his rather than as belonging to the province.]
[Footnote 575: Appius, he insinuates, hoped to make money by granting
the request of Antiochus, left king of Commagene by Pompey, for some
special privileges, among which was the right of wearing the _toga
prætexta_, which symbolized some position with a shadow of Roman
_imperium_, while at the same time conveying a compliment to the Roman
suzernainty. See Polyb. lib. xxvi.; xxx. 26; Suet. _Aug._ 60.]
[Footnote 576: Some petty prince of Bostra (_Bozra_), in Arabia, of whom
we know nothing.]
[Footnote 577: Quintus was expecting, what he got, the offer of serving
under Cæsar as _legatus_. Cæsar was preparing for his second invasion of
Britain.]
[Footnote 578: Which will prevent meetings of the senate, and so give me
no news to send you.]
[Footnote 579: There is a _double entendre_. Cold weather will prevent
the meetings of the senate actually, but metaphorically politics will be
also cold and dull, and that dullness will probably be nowhere so
evident as in the deserted state of the consul Appius's house, which in
all probability will miss its usual bevy of callers. This
explanation--put forward by Prof. Tyrrell--is not wholly satisfactory,
yet it is the best that has been given.]
CXXXIII (F VII, 5)
TO CÆSAR (IN GAUL)
ROME (FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Cicero greets Cæsar, _imperator_. Observe how far I have convinced
myself that you are my second self, not only in matters which concern me
personally, but even in those which concern my friends. It had been my
intention to take Gaius Trebatius with me for whatever destination I
should be leaving town, in order to bring him home again honoured as
much as my zeal and favour could make him. But when Pompey remained at
home longer than I expected, and a certain hesitation on my part (with
which you are not unacquainted) appeared to hinder, or at any rate to
retard, my departure,[580] I presumed upon what I will now explain to
you. I begin to wish that Trebatius should look to you for what he had
hoped from me, and, in fact, I have been no more sparing of my promises
of goodwill on your part than I had been wont to be of my own. Moreover,
an extraordinary coincidence has occurred which seems to support my
opinion and to guarantee your kindness. For just as I was speaking to
our friend Balbus[581] about this very Trebatius at my house, with more
than usual earnestness, a letter from you was handed to me, at the end
of which you say: "Miscinius Rufus,[582] whom you recommend to me, I
will make king of Gaul, or, if you choose, put him under the care of
Lepta. Send me some one else to promote." I and Balbus both lifted our
hands in surprise: it came so exactly in the nick of time, that it
appeared to be less the result of mere chance than something
providential. I therefore send you Trebatius, and on two grounds, first
that it was my spontaneous idea to send him, and secondly because you
have invited me to do so. I would beg you, dear Cæsar, to receive him
with such a display of kindness as to concentrate on his single person
all that you can be possibly induced to bestow for my sake upon my
friends. As for him I guarantee--not in the sense of that hackneyed
expression of mine, at which, when I used it in writing to you about
Milo, you very properly jested, but in good Roman language such as sober
men use--that no honester, better, or more modest man exists. Added to
this, he is at the top of his profession as a jurisconsult, possesses an
unequalled memory, and the most profound learning. For such a man I ask
neither a tribuneship, prefecture, nor any definite office, I ask only
your goodwill and liberality: and yet I do not wish to prevent your
complimenting him, if it so please you, with even these marks of
distinction. In fact, I transfer him entirely from my hand, so to speak,
to yours, which is as sure a pledge of good faith as of victory. Excuse
my being somewhat importunate, though with a man like you there can
hardly be any pretext for it--however, I feel that it will be allowed to
pass. Be careful of your health and continue to love me as ever.
[Footnote 580: Pompey had two functions at this time: he was governor of
Spain and _præfectus annonæ_. The latter office, as being extraordinary,
might be, perhaps, held with the other without an actual breach of law,
but it was certainly against the spirit of the constitution. Cicero
knows that Pompey's staying in Italy and governing his province by
_legati_ will not be acceptable to Cæsar, and he alludes to it in
carefully guarded terms. He had been named his _legatus_ when Pompey
first undertook the care of the corn-supply, but it does not seem as if
he ever seriously contemplated going on actual service.]
[Footnote 581: L. Cornelius Balbus, whom Cicero defended, and who acted
as Cæsar's agent.]
[Footnote 582: The name of the person jocosely referred to by Cæsar is
uncertain, from corruption of the text. Q. Lepta is Cæsar's _præfectus
fabrum_.]
CXXXIV (Q FR II, 11 [13])
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN THE COUNTRY)
ROME (15 FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Your "black snow"[583] made me laugh, and I am very glad that you are in
a cheerful frame of mind and ready for a joke. As to Pompey, I agree
with you, or rather you agree with me. For, as you know, I have long
been singing the praises of your Cæsar. Believe me, he is very close to
my heart, and I am not going to let him slip from his place. Now for the
history of the Ides (13th). It was Cælius's tenth day.[584] Domitius had
not obtained a full panel. I am afraid that foul ruffian, Servius Pola,
will appear for the prosecution. For our friend Cælius has a dead set
made at him by the Clodian gens. There is nothing certain as yet, but I
am afraid. On the same day there was a full house for the case of the
Tyrians: the _publicani_ of Syria appeared in large numbers against
them. Gabinius was abused roundly:[585] the _publicani_ were also
denounced by (the consul) Domitius for having escorted him on his start
on horseback. Our friend Lucius Lamia was somewhat insolent: for on
Domitius saying, "It is your fault, equites of Rome, that such things
have happened: for you give verdicts laxly," he said, "Yes, we give
verdicts, but you senators give evidence of character."[586] Nothing was
done that day: the house stood adjourned at nightfall. On the comitial
days which follow the Quirinalia (17th February), Appius holds the view
that he is not prevented by the _lex Pupia_ from holding a meeting of
the senate, and that by the _lex Gabinia_ he is even compelled to have a
meeting for the legations from the 1st of February to the 1st of
March.[587] And so the elections are supposed to be put off till March.
Nevertheless, on these comitial days the tribunes say that they will
bring forward the case of Gabinius.[588] I collect every item of
intelligence, that I may have some news to tell you: but, as you see, I
am short of material. Accordingly, I return to Callisthenes and
Philistus, in whom I see that you have been wallowing. Callisthenes is a
commonplace and hackneyed piece of business, like a good many Greeks.
The Sicilian is a first-rate writer, terse, sagacious, concise, almost a
minor Thucydides;[589] but which of his two books you have--for these
are two works--I don't know. That about Dionysius is my favourite. For
Dionysius himself is a magnificent intriguer, and was familiarly known
to Philistus. But as to your postscript--are you really going in for
writing history? You have my blessing on your project: and since you
furnish me with letter-carriers, you shall hear to-day's transactions on
the Lupercalia (15th February). Enjoy yourself with our dear boy to your
heart's content.
[Footnote 583: We cannot tell the allusion, not having the letter of
Quintus. But he seems to have used the expression for something
incongruous either in politics, or in regard to his contemplated
services with Cæsar.]
[Footnote 584: _I.e._, the day he had to appear for trial, usually fixed
by the prætor on the tenth day from the notice of prosecution. Cælius
had been acqiuitted in B.C. 56, when Cicero defended him; this second
trial appears to have in some way fallen through. The prætor Domitius is
said to be Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Lucius, but he was much too
young to have been prætor this year. The former trial of Cælius (B.C.
56) had been before Cn. Comitius Calvinus, hence a difficulty about this
passage. For the prætor Domitius of this year is not known. Domitius
Calvinus was prætor B.C. 56.]
[Footnote 585: The _publicani_ of Syria were enraged with Gabinius for
neglecting his province while going to Egypt, thus allowing the pirates
so to plunder that they could not collect enough dues to recoup them for
their bargain to the state (Dio, xxxix. 59).]
[Footnote 586: L. Ælius Lamia, an eques, appears to have been one of the
deputation of _publicani_ who attended the senate to accuse Gabinius.]
[Footnote 587: The prætorian elections were again postponed from the
previous year to the early months of B.C. 54. Appius Claudius found
means to put them off till March by holding meetings of the senate each
day--the electoral _comita_ not being able to meet on the same day as
the senate.]
[Footnote 588: The tribune C. Memmius was prosecuting Gabinius (Letter
CXLVII). The judicial _comita_ could meet, though not the electoral.]
[Footnote 589: Callisthenes of Olynthus wrote (1) a history of the
Trojan war; (2) an account of Alexander the Great. Philistus of Syracuse
(1) a history of Sicily; (2) a life of Dionysius the elder; (3) a life
of Dionysius the younger. He imitated Thucydides (_de Orat._ § 17).]
CXXXV (F VII, 6)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
CUMÆ (APRIL)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
In all my letters to Cæsar or Balbus there is a sort of statutory
appendix containing a recommendation of you, and not one of the ordinary
kind, but accompanied by some signal mark of my warm feeling towards
you. See only that you get rid of that feeble regret of yours for the
city and city ways, and carry out with persistence and courage what you
had in your mind when you set out. We, your friends, shall pardon your
going away for that purpose as much as
"The wealthy noble dames who held the Corinthian peak"
pardoned Medea, whom, with hands whitened to the utmost with chalk, she
persuaded not to think ill of her for being absent from her fatherland:
for
"Many have served themselves abroad and served the state as well;
Many have spent their lives at home to be but counted fools."
In which latter category you would have certainly been, had I not forced
you abroad. But I will write more another time. You who learnt to look
out for others, look out, while in Britain, that you are not yourself
taken in my the charioteers; and, since I have begun quoting the
_Medea_, remember this line:
"The sage who cannot serve himself is vainly wise I ween."
Take care of your health.[590]
[Footnote 590: Trebatius is going to join Cæsar, who is about to sail to
Britain; hence the jest about the _essedarii_, drivers of Gallic and
British war-chariots. Letter CXXXIII recommended him to Cæsar. The lines
quoted are from the _Medea_ of Ennius, adapted or translated from
Euripides. I date these two letters from Cumæ, because he speaks of
writing to Balbus, who was at Rome (p. 267).]
CXXXVI (F VII, 7)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (ON HIS WAY TO GAUL)
CUMÆ (APRIL OR MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
For my part, I never cease recommending you, but I am eager to know from
you how far my recommendation is of service. My chief hope is in Balbus,
to whom I write about you with the greatest earnestness and frequency.
It is often excites my wonder that I don't hear from you as often as
from my brother Quintus. In Britain I am told there is no gold or
silver. If that turns out to be the case, I advise you to capture a
war-chariot and hasten back to us at the earliest opportunity. But
if--letting Britain alone--we can still obtain what we want, take care
to get on intimate terms with Cæsar. In that respect my brother will be
of much use to you, so will Balbus, but most of all, believe me, your
own modesty and industry. You have an _imperator_ of the most liberal
character, your age is exactly the best one for employment, and your
recommendation at any rate is quite unique, so that all you have to fear
is not doing yourself full justice.
CXXXVII (A IV, 14)
TO ATTICUS (ON A JOURNEY)
CUMÆ (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Our friend Vestorius[591] has informed me by letter that you are
believed to have left Rome on the 10th of May--later than you said that
you intended--because you had not been very well. If you are now better
I rejoice indeed. I wish you would write to your town house, ordering
your books to be at my service just as if you were at home, especially
those of Varro. For I have occasion to use some passages of those books
in reference to those which I have in hand, and which, I hope, will meet
with your strong approval.[592] Pray, if by chance you have any news,
principally from my brother Quintus, next from Cæsar, and, finally,
anything about the elections or about politics--for you have an
excellent nose for such things--write and tell me about them: if you
have no news, nevertheless write something. For a letter from you never
yet seemed to me either ill-timed or too long-winded. But above all I
beg that, when your business and your whole tour has been concluded to
your mind, you will come back to us as soon as possible. Give my
compliments to Dionysius. Take care of your health.
[Footnote 591: A banker at Puteoli.]
[Footnote 592: The six books on the Republic.]
CXXXVIII (Q FR II, 12 [14])
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
CUMÆ (MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I have up to now received two letters from you, one just as I was
leaving town, the other dated Ariminum: others which you say in your
letter that you have sent I have not received. I am having a fairly
pleasant time (except that you are not here) at Cumæ and Pompeii, and
intend staying in these parts till the 1st of June. I am writing the
treatise of which I spoke to you, "On the Republic," a very bulky and
laborious work. But if it turns out as I wish, it will be labour well
bestowed, and if not I shall toss it into the very sea which I have
before my eyes as I write, and set to work on something else; since to
do nothing is beyond my power. I will carefully observe your instruction
both as to attaching certain persons to myself and not alienating
certain others. But my chief care will be to see your son, or rather
our son, if possible, every day at any rate, and to watch the progress
of his education as often as possible; and, unless he declines my help,
I will even offer to be his instructor, a practice to which I have
become habituated in the leisure of these days while bringing my own
boy, the younger Cicero, on. Yes, do as you say in your letter, what,
even if you had not said so, I know you do with the greatest
care--digest, follow up, and carry out my instructions. For my part,
when I get to Rome, I will let no letter-carrier of Cæsar go without a
letter for you. During these days you must excuse me: there has been no
one to whom I could deliver a letter until the present bearer M. Orfius,
a Roman knight, a man that is my friend as well from personal
consideration as because he comes from the _municipium_ of Atella,[593]
which you know is under my patronage. Accordingly, I recommend him to
you with more than common warmth, as a man in a brilliant position in
his own town and looked up to even beyond it. Pray attach him to
yourself by your liberal treatment of him: he is a military tribune in
your army. You will find him grateful and attentive. I earnestly beg you
to be very friendly to Trebatius.
[Footnote 593: A _municipium_ of Campania nine miles from Naples.]
CXXXIX (F VII, 8)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (JUNE)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Cæsar has written me a very courteous letter saying that he has not yet
seen as much of you as he could wish, owing to his press of business,
but that he certainly will do so. I have answered his letter and told
him how much obliged I shall be if he bestows on you as much attention,
kindness, and liberality as he can. But I gathered from your letters
that you are in somewhat too great a hurry: and at the same time I
wondered why you despised the profits of a military tribuneship,
especially as you are exempted from the labour of military duty. I shall
express my discontent to Vacerra and Manilius: for I dare not say a word
to Cornelius,[594] who is responsible for your unwise conduct, since you
profess to have learnt legal wisdom from him. Rather press on your
opportunity and the means put into your hands, than which none better
will ever be found. As to what you say of the jurist Precianus, I never
cease recommending you to him; for he writes me word that you owe him
thanks. Be sure to let me know to what that refers. I am waiting for a
letter from you dated "Britain."[595]
[Footnote 594: Vacerra, Manilius, Cornelius, well-known lawyers or
jurists of the day.]
[Footnote 595: We shall afterwards see that Trebatius did not go to
Britain.]
CXL (Q FR II, 13)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME (3 JUNE)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
On the 2nd of June, the day of my return to Rome, I received your letter
dated Placentia: then next day another dated Blandeno, along with a
letter from Cæsar filled full of courteous, earnest, and pleasant
expressions. These expressions are indeed valuable, or rather _most_
valuable, as tending very powerfully to secure our reputation and
exalted position in that state. But believe me--for you know my
heart--that what I value most in all this I already possess, that is,
first of all, your active contribution to our common position; and,
secondly, all that warm affection of Cæsar for me, which I prefer to all
the honours which he desires me to expect at his hands. His letter too,
despatched at the same time as your own--which begins by saying what
pleasure your arrival and the renewed memory of our old affection had
given him, and goes on to say that he will take care that, in the midst
of my sorrow and regret at losing you, I shall have reason to be glad
that you are with him of all people--gave me extraordinary delight.
Wherefore you, of course, are acting in a truly brotherly spirit when
you exhort me, though, by heaven, I am now indeed forward enough to do
so, to concentrate all my attentions upon him alone. Yes, I will do so,
indeed, with a burning zeal: and perhaps I shall manage to accomplish
what is frequently the fortune of travellers when they make great haste,
who, if they have got up later than they intended, have, by increasing
their speed, arrived at their destination sooner than if they had waked
up before daylight. Thus I, since I have long overslept myself in
cultivating that great man, though you, by heaven, often tried to wake
me up, will make up for my slowness with horses and (as you say he likes
my poem) a poet's chariots. Only let me have Britain to paint in colours
supplied by yourself, but with my own brush. But what am I saying? What
prospect of leisure have I, especially as I remain at Rome in accordance
with his request? But I will see. For perhaps, as usual, my love for you
will overcome all difficulties. For my having sent Trebatius to him he
even thanks me in very witty and polite terms, remarking that there was
no one in the whole number of his staff who knew how to draw up a
recognizance. I have asked him for a tribuneship for M. Curtius--since
Domitius (the consul) would have thought that he was being laughed at,
if my petition had been addressed to him, for his daily assertion is
that he hasn't the appointment of so much as a military tribune: he even
jested in the senate at his colleague Appius as having gone to visit
Cæsar,[596] that he might get from him at least one tribuneship. But my
request was for next year, for that was what Curtius wished. Whatever
line you think I ought to take in politics and in treating my opponents,
be sure I shall take, and shall be "gentler than any ear-lap." Affairs
at Rome stand thus; there is some hope of the elections taking place,
but it is an uncertain one. There is some latent idea of a
dictatorship,[597] but neither is that confirmed. There is profound calm
in the forum, but it is rather the calm of decrepitude than content.
The opinions I express in the senate are of a kind to win the assent of
others rather than my own:
"Such the effects of miserable war."[598]
[Footnote 596: At Luca in the year B.C. 56.]
[Footnote 597: _Comitia habendi causa_. No such had been appointed since
B.C. 202, and the irregular dictatorship of Sulla in B.C. 82 made the
idea distasteful. Pompey was understood to wish for the appointment, now
and later on. See pp. 326, 335.]
[Footnote 598: τοιαῦθ' ὁ τλήμων πόλεμος ἐξεργάζεται (Eur. _Supp._ 119).]
CXLI (Q FR II, 14 [15 b])
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME (JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Well! this time I'll use a good pen, well-mixed ink, and superfine
paper. For you say you could hardly read my previous letter, for which,
my dear brother, he reason was none of those which you suppose. For I
was not busy, nor agitated, nor out of temper with some one: but it is
always my way to take the first pen that turns up and use it as if it
were a good one. But now attend, best and dearest of brothers, to my
answer to what you wrote in this same short letter in such a very
business-like way. On this subject you beg that I should write back to
you with brotherly candour, without concealment, or reserve, or
consideration for your feelings--I mean whether you are to hasten home,
as we had talked of, or to stay where you are, if there is any excuse
for doing so, in order to extricate yourself from your embarrassments.
If, my dear Quintus, it were some small matter on which you were asking
my opinion, though I should have left it to you to do what you chose, I
should yet have shewn you what mine was. But on this subject your
question amounts to this--what sort of year I expect the next to be?
Either quite undisturbed as far as we are concerned, or at any rate one
that will find us in the highest state of preparation for defence. This
is shewn by the daily throng at my house, my reception in the forum, the
cheers which greet me in the theatre. My friends feel no anxiety,
because they know the strength of my position in my hold upon the
favour both of Cæsar and Pompey. These things give me entire
confidence. But if some furious outbreak of that madman occurs,
everything is ready for crushing him. This is my feeling, my deliberate
opinion: I write to you with entire confidence. I bid you have no
doubts, and I do so with no intention of pleasing you, but with
brotherly frankness. Therefore, while I should wish you to come at the
time you arranged, for the sake of the pleasure we should have in each
other's society, yet I prefer the course you yourself think the better
one. I, too, think these objects of great importance--ample means for
yourself and extrication from your load of debt. Make up your mind to
this, that, free from embarrassments, we should be the happiest people
alive if we keep well. For men of our habits the deficiency is small,
and such as can be supplied with the greatest ease, granted only that we
keep our health.
There is an enormous recrudescence of bribery. Never was there anything
equal to it. On the 15th of July the rate of interest rose from four to
eight per cent., owing to the compact made by Memmius with the consul
Domitius:[599] I wish Scaurus could get the better of it. Messalla is
very shaky. I am not exaggerating--they arrange to offer as much as
10,000 sestertia (about £80,000) for the vote of the first century. The
matter is a burning scandal. The candidates for the tribuneship have
made a mutual compact--having deposited 500 sesteria (about £4,000)
apiece with Cato, they agree to conduct their canvass according to his
direction, with the understanding that anyone offending against it is to
be condemned by him. If this election then turns out to be pure, Cato
will have been of more avail than all laws and jurors put together.
[Footnote 599: For the nature of this compact, see p. 300.]
CXLII (A IV, 16 AND PART OF 17)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS OR ON HIS JOURNEY TO ASIA)
ROME (? 24 JUNE)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
The bare fact of my letter being by the hand of an amanuensis will be a
sign of the amount of my engagements. I have no fault to find with you
as to the number of your letters, but most of them told me nothing
except where you were, or at most shewed by the fact that they came from
you that no harm had happened to you. Of this class of letters there
were two which gave me very great pleasure, dated by you from Buthrotum
almost at the same time: for I was anxious to know that you had had a
favourable crossing. But this constant supply of your letters did not
give me so much pleasure by the richness of their contents as by their
frequency. The one which your guest, M. Paccius, delivered to me was
important and full of matter. I will therefore answer it. And this is
the first thing I have to say: I have shewn Paccius, both by word and
deed, what weight a recommendation from you has: accordingly, he is
among my intimate friends, though unknown to me before. Now for the
rest. Varro, of whom you write, shall be got in somewhere, if I can but
find a place for him.[600] But you know the style of my Dialogues: just
as in those "On the Orator," which you praise to the skies, a mention of
anyone by the interlocutors was impossible, unless he had been known to
or heard of by them, so in the "Dialogue on the Republic," which I have
begun, I have put the discussion in the mouths of Africanus, Philus,
Lælius, and Manilius. I have added two young men, Q. Tubero and P.
Rutilius, and the two sons-in-law of Lælius, Scævola and Fannius. So I
am thinking how (since I employ introductions to each book, as
Aristotle does in what he calls his "Exoterics") to contrive some
pretext for naming your friend in a natural way, as I understand is your
wish. May I only be enabled to carry out my attempt! For, as you cannot
but observe, I have undertaken a subject wide, difficult, and requiring
the utmost leisure--the very thing that, above all others, I lack. In
those books which you commend you complain of the absence of Scævola
among the speakers. Well, I did not withdraw him without a set purpose,
but I did exactly what that god of our idolatry, Plato, did in his
Republic. When Socrates had come to the Piræus on a visit to Cephalus, a
wealthy and cheerful old man, during all the introductory conversation
the old man takes part in the discussion; then, after having himself
made a speech very much to the point, he says that he wants to go away
to attend on the religious rites, and does not return again. I believe
Plato hardly thought that it would be quite natural, if he kept a man of
that age any longer in a conversation so protracted. I thought that I
was bound to be still more careful in the case of Scævola, who was at
the age and with the broken health as you remember he then was, and who
had enjoyed such high offices, that it was scarcely in accordance with
etiquette for him to be staying several days in the Tusculan villa of
Crassus. Besides, the conversation in the first book was not unconnected
with Scævola's special pursuits: the other books, as you know, contain a
technical discussion. In such I was unwilling that that facetious
veteran, as you know he was, should take part.
As to Pilia's business, which you mention, I will see to it. For the
matter is quite clear, as you say, from the information supplied by
Aurelianus, and in managing it I shall have also an opportunity of
glorifying myself in my Tullia's eyes. I am supporting Vestorius: for I
know that it gratifies you, and I am careful that he would understand
that to be the case. But do you know the sort of man he is? Though he
has two such good-natured people to deal with, nothing can exceed his
impracticability. Now as to what you ask about Gaius Cato. You know that
he was acquitted under the _lex Iunia Licinia_:[601] I have to tell you
that he will be acquitted under the _lex Fufia_,[602] and not so much to
the satisfaction of his defenders as of his accusers. However, he has
become reconciled to myself and Milo. Drusus has had notice of
prosecution by Lucretius. The 3rd of July is the day fixed for
challenging his jurors. About Procilius[603] there are sinister
rumours--but you know what the courts are. Hirrus is on good terms with
Domitius.[604] The senatorial decree which the present consuls have
carried about the provinces--"whoever henceforth, etc."--does not seem
to me likely to have any effect.
As to your question about Messalla, I don't know what to say: I have
never seen candidates so closely matched. Messalla's means of support
you know. Scaurus has had notice of prosecution from Triarius. If you
ask me, no great feeling of sympathy for him has been roused. Still, his
ædileship is remembered with some gratitude, and he has a certain hold
on the country voters from the memory of his father. The two remaining
plebeian candidates have compensating advantages which make them about
equal: Domitius Calvinus is strong in friends, and is farther supported
by his very popular exhibition of gladiators; Memmius finds favour with
Cæsar's veterans and relies on Pompey's client towns in Gaul. If this
does not avail him, people think that some tribune will be found to push
off the elections till Cæsar comes back, especially since Cato has been
acquitted.
I have answered your letter brought by Paccius: now for the rest. From
my brother's letter I gather surprising indications of Cæsar's affection
for me, and they have been confirmed by a very cordial letter from Cæsar
himself. The result of the British war is a source of anxiety. For it is
ascertained that the approaches to the island are protected by
astonishing masses of cliff. Moreover, it is now known that there isn't
a pennyweight of silver in that island, nor any hope of booty except
from slaves, among whom I don't suppose you can expect any instructed
in literature or music.
Paullus has almost brought his basilica in the forum to the roof, using
the same columns as were in the ancient building: the part for which he
gave out a contract he is building on the most magnificent scale.[605]
Need I say more? Nothing could be more gratifying or more to his glory
than such a monument. Accordingly, the friends of Cæsar--I mean myself
and Oppius, though you burst with anger--have thought nothing of 60,000
sestertia (about £480,000) for that monument, which you used to speak of
in such high terms, in order to enlarge the forum and extend it right up
to the Hall of Liberty. The claims of private owners could not be
satisfied for less. We will make it a most glorious affair. For in the
Campus Martius we are about to erect voting places for the _comitia
tributa_, of marble and covered, and to surround them with a lofty
colonnade a mile in circumference: at the same time the _Villa Publica_
will also be connected with these erections.[606] You will say: "What
good will this monument do me?" But why should I trouble myself about
that? I have told you all the news at Rome: for I don't suppose you want
to know about the lustrum, of which there is now no hope,[607] or about
the trials which are being held under the (Cincian) law.[608]
Now allow yourself to be scolded, if you deserve it. For you say in the
letter from Buthrotum, delivered to me by C. Decimus, that you think you
will have to go to Asia. There did not, by Hercules, seem to me to be
anything that made it matter in the least whether you did the business
by agents or in person; or anything to make you go so often and so far
from your friends. But I could have wished that I had urged this on you
before you had taken any step. For I certainly should have had some
influence on you. As things are, I will suppress the rest of my
scolding. May it only have some effect in hastening your return! The
reason of my not writing oftener to you is the uncertainty I am in as to
where you are or are going to be. However, I thought I ought to give
this letter to a chance messenger, because he seemed to be likely to see
you. Since you think you really will go to Asia, pray tell me by what
time we may expect you back, and what you have done about Eutychides.
[Footnote 600: That is, as an interlocutor in the dialogue "On the
Republic," which Cicero was engaged in writing.]
[Footnote 601: A law re-enacting the _lex Didia_, and enacting under
penalties that no law was to be brought forward without due publication
beforehand.]
[Footnote 602: A law which enabled the magistrates and tribunes to stop
legislation by _obnuntiatio_.]
[Footnote 603: Procilius had been condemned _de vi_ (p. 280). The
rumours, I suppose, were as to the jury having been corrupted.]
[Footnote 604: The consul L. Domitius Ahenobarbus and C. Lucceius
Hirrus, the latter a warm partisan of Pompey, who was supposed to be
agitating for a dictatorship.]
[Footnote 605: L. Æmilius Paullus (consul B.C. 50) restored the basilica
built by his ancestor M. Æmilius Lepidus in B.C. 179, and appears to
have added largely to it, or even built a new one.]
[Footnote 606: These works seem to have been contemplated by the censors
and senate, and Cicero speaks of himself and Oppius as doing them
because they supported the measure. They were partly carried out by
Cæsar but not completed till the time of Augustus.]
[Footnote 607: Because the tribunes stopped it--the formal act at the
end of the Censor's office--by _obnuntiationes_.]
[Footnote 608: The name of the law mentioned here is uncertain. The _lex
Cincia de munuibus_ forbade advocates taking fees for pleading.]
CXLIII (A IV, 15)
TO ATTICUS (IN EPIRUS)
ROME, 27 JULY
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I am glad about Eutychides, who, using your old _prænomen_ and your new
_nomen_, will be called Titus Cæcilius, just as Dionysius, from a
combination of your names and mine, is Marcus Pomponius. I am, by
Hercules, exceedingly gratified that Eutychides has had cause to know
your kindness to me, and that the sympathy he shewed me in the time of
my sorrow was neither unnoticed at the time nor afterwards forgotten by
me. I suppose you were obliged to undertake your journey to Asia. For
you never would have been willing, without the most urgent cause, to be
so far from so many persons and things which you love so much, and which
give you so much delight. But the speed of your return will shew your
kindness and love for your friends. Yet I fear lest the rhetorician
Clodius, by his charms, and Pituanius, that excellent scholar, as he is
said to be, and now, indeed, so wholly devoted to Greek letters, may
detain you. But if you would shew the feelings of a man, come back to us
at the time you promised. You will, after all, be able to enjoy their
society at Rome, when they get there safe. You say you desire something
in the way of a letter from me: I have written, and, indeed, on many
subjects--everything detailed like a journal--but, as I conjecture from
your not having, as it seems, remained long in Epirus, I suppose it has
not reached you. Moreover, my letters to _you_ are generally of such a
kind, that I don't like to put them in anyone's hands, unless I can feel
certain that he will deliver them to you.
Now for affairs at Rome. On the 4th of July Sufenas and Cato were
acquitted, Procilius condemned. From which we have learnt that our
treble-distilled Areopagites care not a rush for bribery, elections,
_interregnum, lèse majesté_, or, in fact, for the state generally; but
that they would rather that a father of a family were not murdered on
his own hearth-stone--and even that preference not very decided. There
were twenty-two votes for acquittal, twenty-nine for condemnation![609]
Publius, no doubt by an eloquent peroration in his speech for the
prosecution, had quickened the feelings of the jurors! Herbalus[610] was
in the case, and behaved as usual. I said never a word. For my little
girl, who is unwell, was afraid of offending Publius's feelings. After
this was over the people of Reate conducted me to their Tempe, to plead
their cause against the people of Interamna before the consul and ten
commissioners, because the Veline Lake, which had been drained by Manius
Curius by cutting away the mountain, flowed into the Nar, by which means
the famous Rosia has been reclaimed from the swamp, though still fairly
moist.[611] I lived with Axius, who took me also to visit Seven Waters.
I returned to Rome on the 9th of July for the sake of Fonteius. I
entered the theatre. At first I was greeted with loud and general
applause--but don't take any notice of that, I was a fool to mention
it--then I turned my attention to Antiphon. He had been manumitted
before being brought on to the stage. Not to keep you in suspense, he
bore away the palm. But there never was anything so dwarfish, so
destitute of voice, so---- But keep this to yourself. However, in the
_Andromache_ he was just taller than Astyanax: among the rest he had not
one of his own height. You next ask about Arbuscula: she had a great
success. The games were splendid and much liked. The wild-beast hunt was
put off to a future occasion. Next follow me into the _campus_. Bribery
is raging: "and I a sign to you will tell."[612] The rate of interest
from being four percent, on the 15th of July has gone up to eight
percent. You will say, "Well, _I_ don't mind that."[613] What a man!
What a citizen! Memmius is supported by all Cæsar's influence. The
consuls have formed a coalition between him and Domitius (Calvinus) on
terms which I dare not commit to paper. Pompey rages, remonstrates,
backs Scaurus, but whether only ostensibly or from the heart people
don't feel sure. No one takes the lead: money reduces all to the same
level. Messalla's chance is at a low ebb: not because he is wanting in
spirit or friends, but because this coalition of the consuls, as well as
Pompey's opposition, stands in his way. I think the result will be a
postponement of the elections. The tribunician candidates have taken an
oath to conduct their canvass according to the direction of Cato. They
have deposited with him 500 sestertia apiece, on condition that whoever
Cato condemns should forfeit it, and that it should be paid over to his
competitors. I write this the day before the elections are to take
place. But on the 28th of July, if they have taken place, and if the
letter-carrier has not started, I will write you an account of the whole
_comitia_: and, if they are conducted without corruption, Cato by
himself will have been more efficacious than all laws and jurors put
together. I have undertaken to defend Messius, who has been recalled
from his legation: for Appius had named him _legatus_ to Cæsar.
Servilius ordered his attendance in an edict. His jurors are to be from
the tribes Pomptina, Velina, and Mæcia. It is a sharp fight: however, it
is going fairly well. After that I have to prepare myself for Drusus,
then for Scaurus. Very high-sounding title-slips are being prepared for
my speeches! Perhaps even the consuls-designate will be added to the
list of my clients: and if Scaurus is not one of them, he will find
himself in serious difficulties in this trial. Judging from my brother
Quintus's letter, I suspect that by this time he is in Britain. I await
news of him with anxiety. We have certainly gained one advantage--many
unmistakable indications enable us to feel sure that we are in the
highest degree liked and valued by Cæsar. Please give my compliments to
Dionysius, and beg and exhort him to come as soon as possible, that he
may continue the instruction of my son and of myself as well.
[Footnote 609: M. Nonius Sufenas and C. Cato were charged with bribery
and other illegal proceedings during their tribuneship: Procilius for
riot (_de vi_) when some citizen was killed.]
[Footnote 610: Q. Hortensius, the great orator.]
[Footnote 611: This refers to the famous waterfall of Terni. An
artificial cutting drained the River Velinus (which otherwise covered
the high valley as a lake) into the Nar, which is in the valley below.
What was good for the people of Reate was, of course, dangerous for the
people of Interamna living below. M. Curius Dentatus was consul B.C.
290.]
[Footnote 612: σἠμα δἐ τοι ἐρέω (Hom. _Il._ xxiii. 326).]
[Footnote 613: Because Atticus lent money.]
CXLIV (F VII, 9)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (SEPTEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
It is a long time since I heard how you were getting on: for you don't
write, nor have I written to you for the last two months. As you were
not with my brother Quintus I did not know where to send a letter, or to
whom to give it. I am anxious to know how you are and where you mean to
winter. For my part, my opinion is that you should do so with Cæsar; but
I have not ventured to write to him owing to his mourning.[614] I would
rather you put off your return to us, so long as you come with fuller
pockets. There is nothing to make you hurry home, especially since
"Battara"[615] is dead. But you are quite capable of thinking for
yourself. I desire to know what you have settled. There is a certain Cn.
Octavius or Cn. Cornelius, a friend of yours,
"Of highest race begot, a son of Earth."
He has frequently asked me to dinner, because he knows that you are an
intimate friend of mine. At present he has not succeeded in getting me:
however, I am much obliged to him.
[Footnote 614: For the death (in September) of his daughter Iulia, wife
of Pompey.]
[Footnote 615: A nickname, it is said, of Vacerra (perhaps because he
stuttered), who had been a teacher of Trebatius.]
CXLV (F VII, 17)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (SEPTEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
From what I gather from your letter I have thanked my brother Quintus,
and can besides at last heartily commend you, because you at length seem
to have come to some fixed resolution. For I was much put out by your
letters in the first months of your absence, because at times you seemed
to me--pardon the expression--to be light-minded in your longing for the
city and city life, at others timid in undertaking military work, and
often even a little inclined to presumption--a thing as unlike your
usual self as can be. For, as though you had brought a bill of exchange,
and not a letter of recommendation to your commander-in-chief, you were
all in a hurry to get your money and return home; and it never occurred
to you that those who went to Alexandria[616] with real bills of
exchange have as yet not been able to get a farthing. If I looked only
to my own interests, I should wish, above all things, to have you with
me: for I used to find not only pleasure of no ordinary kind in your
society, but also much advantage from your advice and active assistance.
But since from your earliest manhood you had devoted yourself to my
friendship and protection, I thought it my duty not only to see that you
came to no harm, but to advance your fortunes and secure your promotion.
Accordingly, as long as I thought I should be going abroad to a
province, I am sure you remember the voluntary offers I made you. After
that plan had been changed, perceiving that I was being treated by Cæsar
with the highest consideration, and was regarded by him with unusual
affection, and knowing as I did his incredible liberality and
unsurpassed loyalty to his word, I recommended you to him in the
weightiest and most earnest words at my command. And he accepted this
recommendation in a gratifying manner, and repeatedly indicated to me in
writing, and shewed you by word and deed, that he had been powerfully
affected by my recommendation. Having got such a man as your patron, if
you believe me to have any insight, or to be your well-wisher, do not
let him go; and if by chance something at times has annoyed you, when
from being busy or in difficulties he has seemed to you somewhat slow to
serve you, hold on and wait for the end, which I guarantee will be
gratifying and honourable to you. I need not exhort you at any greater
length: I only give you this warning, that you will never find a better
opportunity, if you let this slip, either of securing the friendship of
a most illustrious and liberal man, or of enjoying a wealthier province
or a more suitable time of life. "Quintus Cornelius concurred," as you
say in your law books. I am glad you didn't go to Britain, because you
have been saved some hard work, and I the necessity of listening to your
stories about that expedition. Pray write to me at full length as to
where you are going to winter, and what your hopes and present position
are.
[Footnote 616: To Ptolemy Auletes, who had agreed to pay large sums to
certain persons for supporting his interests in the senate.]
CXLVI (Q FR II, 15)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN BRITAIN)
ROME (SEPTEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
When you receive a letter from me by the hand of an amanuensis, you may
be sure that I have not even a little leisure; when by my own--a little.
For let me tell you that in regard to causes and trials in court, I have
never been closer tied, and that, too, at the most unhealthy season of
the year, and in the most oppressively hot weather. But these things,
since you so direct me, I must put up with, and must not seem to have
come short of the ideas and expectations which you and Cæsar entertain
of me, especially since, even if it were somewhat difficult not to do
that, I am yet likely from this labour to reap great popularity and
prestige. Accordingly, as you wish me to do, I take great pains not to
hurt anyone's feelings, and to secure being liked even by those very men
who are vexed at my close friendship with Cæsar, while by those who are
impartial, or even inclined to this side, I may be warmly courted and
loved. When some very violent debates took place in the senate on the
subject of bribery for several days, because the candidates for the
consulship had gone to such lengths as to be past all bearing, I was not
in the house. I have made up my mind not to attempt any cure of the
political situation without powerful protection. The day I write this
Drusus has been acquitted on a charge of collusion by the _tribuni
ærarii_, in the grand total by four votes, for the majority of senators
and equites were for condemnation. On the same day I am to defend
Vatinius. That is an easy matter. The _comitia_ have been put off to
September. Scaurus's trial will take place immediately, and I shall not
fail to appear for him. I don't like your "Sophoclean Banqueters" at
all, though I see that you played your part with a good grace.[617] I
come now to a subject which, perhaps, ought to have been my first. How
glad I was to get your letter from Britain! I was afraid of the ocean,
afraid of the coast of the island. The other parts of the enterprise I
do not underrate; but yet they inspire more hope than fear, and it is
the suspense rather than any positive alarm that renders me uneasy. You,
however, I can see, have a splendid subject for description, topography,
natural features of things and places, manners, races, battles, your
commander himself--what themes for your pen! I will gladly, as you
request, assist you in the points you mention, and will send you the
verses you ask for, that is, "An owl to Athens."[618] But, look you! I
think you are keeping me in the dark. Tell me, my dear brother, what
Cæsar thinks of my verses. For he wrote before to tell me he had read my
first book. Of the first part, he said that he had never read anything
better even in Greek: the rest, up to a particular passage, somewhat
"careless"[619]--that is his word. Tell me the truth--is it the
subject-matter or the "style" that he does not like? You needn't be
afraid: I shall not admire myself one whit the less. On this subject
speak like a lover of truth, and with your usual brotherly frankness.
[Footnote 617: In the "Banqueters" (σύνδειπνοι) of Sophocles, Achilles
is excluded from a banquet in Tenedos. Some social mishap seems to have
occurred to Quintus in camp.]
[Footnote 618: Sending coals to Newcastle.]
[Footnote 619: ῥαθυμότερα.]
CXLVII (Q FR III, 1)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN BRITAIN)
ARPINUM AND ROME, 28 SEPTEMBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
After extraordinarily hot weather--I never remember greater heat--I have
refreshed myself at Arpinum, and enjoyed the extreme loveliness of the
river during the days of the games, having left my tribesmen under the
charge of Philotimus.[620] I was at Arcanum on the 10th of September.
There I found Mescidius and Philoxenus, and saw the water, for which
they were making a course not far from your villa, running quite nicely,
especially considering the extreme drought, and they said that they were
going to collect it in much greater abundance. Everything is right with
Herus. In your Manilian property I came across Diphilus outdoing himself
in dilatoriness. Still, he had nothing left to construct, except baths,
and a promenade, and an aviary. I liked that villa very much, because
its paved colonnade[621] gives it an air of very great dignity. I never
appreciated this till now that the colonnade itself has been all laid
open, and the columns have been polished. It all depends--and this I
will look to--upon the stuccoing being prettily done. The pavements
seemed to be being well laid. Certain of the ceilings I did not like,
and ordered them to be changed. As to the place in which they say that
you write word that a small entrance hall is to be built--namely, in the
colonnade--I liked it better as it is. For I did not think there was
space sufficient for an entrance hall; nor is it usual to have one,
except in those buildings which have a larger court; nor could it have
bedrooms and apartments of that kind attached to it. As it is, from the
very beauty of its arched roof, it will serve as an admirable summer
room. However, if you think differently, write back word as soon as
possible. In the bath I have moved the hot chamber to the other corner
of the dressing-room, because it was so placed that its steampipe was
immediately under the bedrooms. A fair-sized bedroom and a lofty winter
one I admired very much, for they were both spacious and
well-situated--on the side of the promenade nearest to the bath.
Diphilus had placed the columns out of the perpendicular, and not
opposite each other. These, of course, he shall take down; he will learn
some day to use the plumb-line and measure. On the whole, I hope
Diphilus's work will be completed in a few months: for Cæsius, who was
with me at the time, keeps a very sharp look-out upon him.
Thence I started straight along the _via Vitularia_ to your Fufidianum,
the estate which we bought for you a few weeks ago at Arpinum for
100,000 sesterces (about £800). I never saw a shadier spot in
summer--water springs in many parts of it, and abundant into the
bargain. In short, Cæsius thought that you would easily irrigate fifty
_iugera_ of the meadow land. For my part, I can assure you of this,
which is more in my line, that you will have a villa marvellously
pleasant, with the addition of a fish-pond, spouting fountains, a
_palæstra_, and a shrubbery. I am told that you wish to keep this
Bovillæ estate. You will determine as you think good. Calvus said that,
even if the control of the water were taken from you, and the right of
drawing it off were established by the vendor, and thus an easement were
imposed on that property, we could yet maintain the price in case we
wished to sell. He said that he had agreed with you to do the work at
three sesterces a foot, and that he had stepped it, and made it three
miles. It seemed to me more. But I will guarantee that the money could
nowhere be better laid out. I had sent for Cillo from Venafrum, but on
that very day four of his fellow servants and apprentices had been
crushed by the falling in of a tunnel at Venafrum. On the 13th of
September I was at Laterium. I examined the road, which appeared to me
to be so good as to seem almost like a high road, except a hundred and
fifty paces--for I measured it myself from the little bridge at the
temple of Furina, in the direction of Satricum. There they had put down
dust, not gravel (this shall be changed), and that part of the road is a
very steep incline. But I understood that it could not be taken in any
other direction, particularly as you did not wish it to go through the
property of Locusta or Varro. The latter alone had made the road very
well where it skirted his own property. Locusta hadn't touched it; but I
will call on him at Rome, and think I shall be able to stir him up, and
at the same time I shall ask M. Taurus, who is now at Rome, and whom I
am told promised to allow you to do so, about making a watercourse
through his property. I much approved of your steward Nicephorius, and I
asked him what orders you had given about that small building at
Laterium, about which you spoke to me. He told me in answer that he had
himself contracted to do the work for sixteen sestertia (about £128),
but that you had afterwards made many additions to the work, but nothing
to the price, and that he had therefore given it up. I quite approve, by
Hercules, of your making the additions you had determined upon; although
the villa as it stands seems to have the air of a philosopher, meant to
rebuke the extravagance of other villas. Yet, after all, that addition
will be pleasing. I praised your landscape gardener: he has so covered
everything with ivy, both the foundation-wall of the villa and the
spaces between the columns of the walk, that, upon my word, those Greek
statues seemed to be engaged in fancy gardening, and to be shewing off
the ivy. Finally, nothing can be cooler or more mossy than the
dressing-room of the bath. That is about all I have to say about country
matters. The gardener, indeed, as well as Philotimus and Cincius are
pressing on the ornamentation of your town house; but I also often look
in upon it myself, as I can do without difficulty. Wherefore don't be at
all anxious about that.
As to your always asking me about your son, of course I "excuse you";
but I must ask you to "excuse" me also, for I don't allow that you love
him more than I do. And oh that he had been with me these last few days
at Arpinum, as he had himself set his heart on being, and as I had no
less done! As to Pomponia, please write and say that, when I go out of
town anywhere, she is to come with me and bring the boy. I'll do wonders
with him, if I get him to myself when I am at leisure: for at Rome there
is no time to breathe. You know I formerly promised to do so for
nothing. What do you expect with such a reward as you promise me? I now
come to your letters which I received in several packets when I was at
Arpinum. For I received three from you in one day, and, indeed, as it
seemed, despatched by you at the same time--one of considerable length,
in which your first point was that my letter to you was dated earlier
than that to Cæsar. Oppius at times cannot help this: the reason is
that, having settled to send letter-carriers, and having received a
letter from me, he is hindered by something turning up, and obliged to
despatch them later than he had intended; and I don't take the trouble
to have the day altered on a letter which I have once handed to him. You
write about Cæsar's extreme affection for us. This affection you must on
your part keep warm, and I for mine will endeavour to increase it by
every means in my power. About Pompey, I am carefully acting, and shall
continue to act, as you advise. That my permission to you to stay longer
is a welcome one, though I grieve at your absence and miss you
exceedingly, I am yet partly glad. What you can be thinking of in
sending for such people as Hippodamus and some others, I do not
understand. There is not one of those fellows that won't expect a
present from you equal to a suburban estate. However, there is no reason
for your classing my friend Trebatius with them. I sent him to Cæsar,
and Cæsar has done all I expected. If he has not done quite what _he_
expected himself, I am not bound to make it up to him, and I in like
manner free and absolve you from all claims on his part. Your remark,
that you are a greater favourite with Cæsar every day, is a source of
undying satisfaction to me. As to Balbus, who, as you say, promotes that
state of things, he is the apple of my eye. I am indeed glad that you
and my friend Trebonius like each other. As to what you say about the
military tribuneship, I, indeed, asked for it definitely for Curtius,
and Cæsar wrote back definitely to say that there was one at Curtius's
service, and chided me for my modesty in making the request. If I have
asked one for anyone else--as I told Oppius to write and tell Cæsar--I
shall not be at all annoyed by a refusal, since those who pester me for
letters _are_ annoyed at a refusal from me. I like Curtius, as I have
told him, not only because you asked me to do so, but from the
character you gave of him; for from your letter I have gathered the zeal
he shewed for my restoration. As for the British expedition, I conclude
from your letter that we have no occasion either for fear or exultation.
As to public affairs, about which you wish Tiro to write to you, I have
written to you hitherto somewhat more carelessly than usual, because I
knew that all events, small or great, were reported to Cæsar. I have now
answered your longest letter.
Now hear what I have to say to your small one. The first point is about
Clodius's letter to Cæsar. In that matter I approve of Cæsar's policy,
in not having given way to your request so far as to write a single word
to that Fury. The next thing is about the speech of Calventius
"Marius."[622] I am surprised at your saying that you think I ought to
answer it, particularly as, while no one is likely to read that speech,
unless I write an answer to it, every schoolboy learns mine against him
as an exercise. My books, all of which you are expecting, I have begun,
but I cannot finish them for some days yet. The speeches for Scaurus and
Plancius which you clamour for I have finished. The poem to Cæsar, which
I had begun, I have cut short. I will write what you ask me for, since
your poetic springs are running dry, as soon as I have time.
Now for the third letter. It is very pleasant and welcome news to hear
from you that Balbus is soon coming to Rome, and so well
accompanied![623] and will stay with me continuously till the 15th of
May. As to your exhorting me in the same letter, as in many previous
ones, to ambition and labour, I shall, of course, do as you say: but
when am I to enjoy any real life?
Your fourth letter reached me on the 13th of September, dated on the
10th of August from Britain. In it there was nothing new except about
your _Erigona_, and if I get that from Oppius I will write and tell you
what I think of it. I have no doubt I shall like it.[624] Oh yes! I had
almost forgotten to remark as to the man who, you say in your letter,
had written to Cæsar about the applause given to Milo--I am not
unwilling that Cæsar should think that it was as warm as possible. And
in point of fact it was so, and yet that applause, which is given to
him, seems in a certain sense to be given to me.[625]
I have also received a very old letter, but which was late in coming
into my hands, in which you remind me about the temple of Tellus and the
colonnade of Catulus. Both of these matters are being actively carried
out. At the temple of Tellus I have even got your statue placed. So,
again, as to your reminder about a suburban villa and gardens, I was
never very keen for one, and now my town house has all the charm of such
a pleasure-ground. On my arrival in Rome on the 18th of September I
found the roof on your house finished: the part over the sitting-rooms,
which you did not wish to have many gables, now slopes gracefully
towards the roof of the lower colonnade. Our boy, in my absence, did not
cease working with his rhetoric master. You have no reason for being
anxious about his education, for you know his ability, and I see his
application. Everything else I take it upon myself to guarantee, with
full consciousness that I am bound to make it good.
As yet there are three parties prosecuting Gabinius: first, L. Lentulus,
son of the _flamen_, who has entered a prosecution for _lèse
majesté_;[626] secondly, Tib. Nero, with good names at the back of his
indictment; thirdly, C. Memmius the tribune in conjunction with L.
Capito. He came to the walls of the city on the 19th of September,
undignified and neglected to the last degree. But in the present state
of the law courts I do not venture to be confident of anything. As Cato
is unwell, he has not yet been formally indicted for extortion. Pompey
is trying hard to persuade me to be reconciled to him, but as yet he has
not succeeded at all, nor, if I retain a shred of liberty, will he
succeed. I am very anxious for a letter from you. You say that you have
been told that I was a party to the coalition of the consular
candidates--it is a lie. The compacts made in that coalition, afterwards
made public by Memmius, were of such a nature that no loyal man ought to
have been a party to them;[627] nor at the same time was it possible for
me to be a party to a coalition from which Messalla was excluded, who is
thoroughly satisfied with my conduct in every particular, as also, I
think, is Memmius. To Domitius himself I have rendered many services,
which he desired and asked of me. I have put Scaurus under a heavy
obligation by my defence of him. It is as yet very uncertain both when
the elections will be and who will be consuls.
Just as I was folding up this epistle letter-carriers arrived from you
and Cæsar (20th September) after a journey of twenty days. How anxious I
was! How painfully I was affected by Cæsar's most kind letter![628] But
the kinder it was, the more sorrow did his loss occasion me. But to turn
to your letter. To begin with, I reiterate my approval of your staying
on, especially as, according to your account, you have consulted Cæsar
on the subject. I wonder that Oppius has anything to do with Publius,
for I advised against it. Farther on in your letter you say that I am
going to be made _legatus_ to Pompey on the 13th of September: I have
heard nothing about it, and I wrote to Cæsar to tell him that neither
Vibullius nor Oppius had delivered his message to Pompey about my
remaining at home. Why, I know not. However, it was I who restrained
Oppius from doing so, because it was Vibullius who should take the
leading part in that matter: for with him Cæsar had communicated
personally, with Oppius only by letter. I indeed can have no "second
thoughts"[629] in matters connected with Cæsar. He comes next after you
and our children in my regard, and not much after. I think I act in this
with deliberate judgment, for I have by this time good cause for it,
yet warm personal feeling no doubt does influence me also.
Just as I had written these last words--which are by my own hand--your
boy came in to dine with me, as Pomponia was dining out. He gave me your
letter to read, which he had received shortly before--a truly
Aristophanic mixture of jest and earnest, with which I was greatly
charmed.[630] He gave me also your second letter, in which you bid him
cling to my side as a mentor. How delighted he was with those letters!
And so was I. Nothing could be more attractive than that boy, nothing
more affectionate to me!--This, to explain its being in another
handwriting, I dictated to Tiro while at dinner.
Your letter gratified Annalis very much, as shewing that you took an
active interest in his concerns, and yet assisted him with exceedingly
candid advice. Publius Servilius the elder, from a letter which he said
he had received from Cæsar, declares himself highly obliged to you for
having spoken with the greatest kindness and earnestness of his devotion
to Cæsar. After my return to Rome from Arpinum I was told that
Hippodamus had started to join you. I cannot say that I was surprised at
his having acted so discourteously as to start to join you without a
letter from me: I only say this, that I was annoyed. For I had long
resolved, from an expression in your letter, that if I had anything I
wished conveyed to you with more than usual care, I should give it to
him: for, in truth, into a letter like this, which I send you in an
ordinary way, I usually put nothing that, if it fell into certain hands,
might be a source of annoyance. I reserve myself for Minucius and
Salvius and Labeo. Labeo will either be starting late or will stay here
altogether. Hippodamus did not even ask me whether he could do anything
for me. T. Penarius sends me a kind letter about you: says that he is
exceedingly charmed with your literary pursuits, conversation, and above
all by your dinners. He was always a favourite of mine, and I see a good
deal of his brother. Wherefore continue, as you have begun, to admit the
young man to your intimacy.
From the fact of this letter having been in hand during many days, owing
to the delay of the letter-carriers, I have jotted down in it many
various things at odd times, as, for instance, the following. Titus
Anicius has mentioned to me more than once that he would not hesitate to
buy a suburban property for you, if he found one. In these remarks of
his I find two things surprising: first, that when you write to him
about buying a suburban property, you not only don't write to me to that
effect, but write even in a contrary sense; and, secondly, that in
writing to him you totally forget his letters which you shewed me at
Tusculum, and as totally the rule of Epicharmus, "Notice how he has
treated another":[631] in fact, that you have quite forgotten, as I
think, the lesson conveyed by the expression of his face, his
conversation, and his spirit. But this is your concern. As to a suburban
property, be sure to let me know your wishes, and at the same time take
care that that fellow doesn't get you into trouble. What else have I to
say? Anything? Yes, there is this: Gabinius entered the city by night on
the 27th of September, and to-day, at two o'clock, when he ought to have
appeared on his trial for _lèse majesté_, in accordance with the edict
of C. Alfius, he was all but crushed to the earth by a great and
unanimous demonstration of the popular hatred. Nothing could exceed his
humiliating position. However, Piso comes next to him. So I think of
introducing a marvellous episode into my second book[632]--Apollo
declaring in the council of the gods what sort of return that of the two
commanders was to be, one of whom had lost, and the other sold his army.
From Britain I have a letter of Cæsar's dated the 1st of September,
which reached me on the 27th, satisfactory enough as far as the British
expedition is concerned, in which, to prevent my wondering at not
getting one from you, he tells me that you were not with him when he
reached the coast. To that letter I made no reply, not even a formal
congratulation, on account of his mourning. Many, many wishes, dear
brother, for your health.
[Footnote 620: That is, to get them seats at the games. See Letter XXVI,
p. 63.]
[Footnote 621: The _porticus_ is a kind of cloister round the
_peristylium_ or _atrium_.]
[Footnote 622: Calventius is said to stand for L. Calpurnius Piso
Cæsoninus, the consul of B.C. 58, against whom Cicero's speech was
spoken in B.C. 55 in the senate. He calls him Calventius from his
maternal grandfather, and Marius because--as he had said, in the speech,
§ 20--he had himself gone into exile rather than come to open fight with
him; just as Q. Metellus had done in B.C. 100, when, declining to take
the oath to the agrarian law of Saturninus, rather than fight Marius,
who had taken the oath, he went into exile. This seems rather a
roundabout explanation; but no better has been proposed, and, of course,
Quintus, who had lately read the speech, would be able better to
understand the allusion.]
[Footnote 623: _I.e._, with money.]
[Footnote 624: This tragedy of Quintus's never reached Cicero. It was
lost in transit. Perhaps no great loss.]
[Footnote 625: Milo was ædile and had just given some splendid games.]
[Footnote 626: _Maiestas._ He would be liable to this charge, under a
law of Sulla's, for having left his province to interfere in Egypt.]
[Footnote 627: See p. 300.]
[Footnote 628: Apparently referring to the death of his daughter Iulia.]
[Footnote 629: δευτέρας φροντίδας from Eurip. _Hipp._ 436, αἱ δευτέραι
πως φροντίδες σοφωτέραι.]
[Footnote 630: Or, "as kindly and critical at once as Aristophanes (of
Byzantium)," as though Quintus had written a Caxtonian criticism of his
son's style.]
[Footnote 631: γυῶθι πῶς ἄλλω κέχρηται.]
[Footnote 632: Of his poem "On his own Times." Piso in Macedonia, where
he had been unsuccessful with border tribes: Gabinius in going to Egypt
to support Ptolemy. He left many of his soldiers there.]
CXLVIII (A IV, 17 AND PARTS OF 16)
TO ATTICUS (ABROAD)
ROME, 1 OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
You think I imagine that I write more rarely to you than I used to do
from having forgotten my regular habit and purpose, but the fact is
that, perceiving your locality and journeys to be equally uncertain, I
have never intrusted a letter to anyone--either for Epirus, or Athens,
or Asia, or anywhere else--unless he was going expressly to you. For my
letters are not of the sort to make their non-delivery a matter of
indifference; they contain so many confidential secrets that I do not as
a rule trust them even to an amanuensis, for fear of some jest leaking
out in some direction or another.
The consuls are in a blaze of infamy because Gaius Memmius, one of the
candidates, read out in the senate a compact which he and his fellow
candidate, Domitius Calvinus, had made with the consuls--that both were
to forfeit to the consuls 40 sestertia apiece (in case they were
themselves elected consuls), if they did not produce three augurs to
depose that they had been present at the passing of a _lex curiata_,
which, in fact, had not been passed; and two consulars to depose to
having helped to draft a decree for furnishing the consular provinces,
though there had not even been a meeting of the senate at all.[633] As
this compact was alleged not to have been a mere verbal one, but to
have been drawn up with the sums to be paid duly entered, formal orders
for payment, and written attestations of many persons, it was, on the
suggestion of Pompey, produced by Memmius, but with the names
obliterated. It has made no difference to Appius--he had no character to
lose! To the other consul it was a real knock-down blow, and he is, I
assure you, a ruined man. Memmius, however, having thus dissolved the
coalition, has lost all chance of election, and is by this time in a
worse position than ever, because we are now informed that his
revelation is strongly disapproved of by Cæsar. Our friend Messalla and
his fellow candidate, Domitius Calvinus, have been very liberal to the
people. Nothing can exceed their popularity. They are certain to be
consuls. But the senate has passed a decree that a "trial with closed
doors" should be held before the elections in respect to each of the
candidates severally by the panels already allotted to them all. The
candidates are in a great fright. But certain jurors--among them
Opimius, Veiento, and Rantius--appealed to the tribunes to prevent their
being called upon to act as jurors without an order of the people[634].
The business goes on. The _comitia_ are postponed by a decree of the
senate till such time as the law for the "trial with closed doors" is
carried. The day for passing the law arrived. Terentius vetoed it. The
consuls, having all along conducted this business in a half-hearted kind
of way, referred the matter back to the senate. Hereupon--Bedlam! my
voice being heard with the rest. "Aren't you wise enough to keep quiet,
after all?" you will say. Forgive me: I can hardly restrain myself. But,
nevertheless, was there ever such a farce? The senate had voted that the
elections should not be held till the law was passed: that, in case of a
tribunician veto, the whole question should be referred to them afresh.
The law is introduced in a perfunctory manner: is vetoed, to the great
relief of the proposers: the matter is referred to the senate. Upon that
the senate voted that it was for the interest of the state that the
elections should be held at the earliest possible time!
Scaurus, who had been acquitted a few days before,[635] after a most
elaborate speech from me on his behalf--when all the days up to the 29th
of September (on which I write this) had one after the other been
rendered impossible for the _comitia_ by notices of ill omens put in by
Scævola--paid the people what they expected at his own house, tribe by
tribe. But all the same, though his liberality was more generous, it was
not so acceptable as that of the two mentioned above, who had got the
start of him. I could have wished to see your face when you read
this;[636] for I am certain you entertain some hope that these
transactions will occupy a great many weeks! But there is to be a
meeting of the senate to-day, that is, the 1st of October--for day is
already breaking. There no one will speak his mind except Antius and
Favonius,[637] for Cato is ill. Don't be afraid about me: nevertheless,
I make no promises. Is there anything else you want to know? Anything?
Yes, the trials, I think. Drusus and Scaurus[638] are believed not to
have been guilty. Three candidates are thought likely to be prosecuted:
Domitius Calvinus by Memmius, Messalla by Q. Pompeius Rufus,
Scaurus[639] by Triarius or by L. Cæsar. "What will you be able to say
for them?" quoth you. May I die if I know! In those books[640]
certainly, of which you speak so highly, I find no suggestion.
[Footnote 633: The object of the existing consuls in making such a
bargain was to get to their provinces without difficulty, with
_imperium_, which had to be bestowed by a formal meeting of the old
_comitia curiata_. But that formality could be stopped by tribunes or
other magistrates "watching the sky," or declaring evil omens: and just
as these means were being resorted to to put off the elections, so they
were also likely to be used in this matter. If it was thus put off into
the next year, Domitius and Appius, not being any longer consuls, would
have still greater difficulty. Corrupt as the arrangement was, it seems
not to have come under any existing law, and both escaped punishment.
Appius went as proconsul to Cilicia, in spite of the _lex curiata_ not
being passed, but Domitius Ahenobarbus seems not to have had a province.
The object of Domitius Calvinus and Memmius in making the compact was to
secure their own election, which the existing consuls had many means of
assisting, but it is not clear what Memmius's object in disclosing it
was. Perhaps anger on finding his hopes gone, and an idea that anything
that humiliated Ahenobarbus would be pleasing to Cæsar. He also seems to
have quarrelled with Calvinus. Gaius Memmius Gemellus is not to be
confounded with Gaius Memmius the tribune mentioned in the next letter.]
[Footnote 634: There is considerable uncertainty as to the exact nature
of _iudicium tacitum_, here rendered "a trial with closed doors," on the
analogy of the _senatus consultum tacitum_ described by Capitolinus, _in
Gordian_. ch. xii. It is not, I think, mentioned elsewhere (_iudiciis
tacitis_ of 2 _Off._ § 24, is a general expression for "anonymous
expressions of opinion"), and the passage in Plutarch (_Cato min._ 44)
introduces a new difficulty, for it indicates a court in which
candidates _after_ election are to purge themselves. Again, _quæ erant
omnibus sortita_ is very difficult. Cicero nowhere else, I believe, uses
the passive _sortitus_. But, passing that, what are the _consilia_
meant? The tense and mood shew, I think, that the words are explanatory
by the writer, not part of the decree. I venture, contrary to all
editors, to take _omnibus_ as dative, and to suppose that the _consilia_
meant are those of the _album iudicum_ who had been selected to try
cases of _ambitus_, of which many were expected. There is no proof that
the _iudices_ in a _iudicium tacitum_ had to be senators, and the names
in the next sentence point the other way. The senate proposed that the
law should allow this selection from the _album_ to form the _iudicium
tacitum_, which would give no public verdict, but on whose report they
could afterwards act.]
[Footnote 635: M. Æmilius Scaurus was acquitted on the 2nd of September
on a charge of extortion in Sardinia. The trial had been hurried on lest
he should use the Sardinian money in bribing for the consulship. Hence
he could not begin distributing his gifts to the electors till after
September 2nd, and his rivals Domitius and Messalla got the start of
him. See Asconius, 131 _seq._]
[Footnote 636: He means that Atticus--as a lender of money--would be
glad of anything that kept the rate of interest up (see p. 286). He is,
of course, joking.]
[Footnote 637: Antius is not known. Favonius was a close imitator of
Cato's Stoicism. He was now opposing both Pompey and Cæsar strenuously,
but on the Civil War breaking out, attached himself strongly to Pompey.
He was put to death by Augustus after the battle of Philippi (Suet.
_Aug._ 13). He had a very biting tongue. See Plut. _Pomp._ 60.]
[Footnote 638: Drusus was probably Livius Drusus, the father of Livia,
wife of Augustus; he was accused by Lucretius of _prævaricatio_,
"collusion."]
[Footnote 639: This time for _ambitus_.]
[Footnote 640: The _de Oratore_.]
CXLIX (Q FR III, 2)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME, OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
In the evening of the 10th of October Salvius started on board ship for
Ostia with the things you wished sent to you from home. On that same day
Memmius[641] gave Gabinius such a splendid warming in public meeting
that Calidius couldn't say a word for him. To-morrow (which is strictly
the day after to-morrow, for I am writing before daybreak) there is a
trial before Cato for the selection of his prosecutor between Memmius,
Tiberius Nero, and Gaius and Lucius, sons of M. Antonius. I think the
result will be in favour of Memmius, though a strong case is being made
out for Nero. In short, he is in a fairly tight fix, unless our friend
Pompey, to the disgust of gods and men, upsets the whole concern. Let me
give you a specimen of the fellow's impudence, and extract _something_
amusing from the public disasters. Gabinius having given out wherever he
came that he was demanding a triumph, and having suddenly, the
excellent general! invaded the city of his enemies by night,[642] did
not venture to enter the senate. Meanwhile, exactly on the tenth day, on
which he was bound to report the number of the enemy and of his own
soldiers who had been killed, he slunk into the house, which was very
thinly attended. When he made as if to go out, he was stopped by the
consuls. The _publicani_ were introduced. The fellow was assailed on
every side, and my words stinging him more than all, he lost patience,
and in a voice quivering with anger called me "Exile."
Thereupon--Heavens! I never had such a compliment paid me in all my
life!--the senate rose up to a man with a loud shout and made a menacing
movement in his direction: the _publicani_ made an equal noise and a
similar movement. In fine, they all behaved exactly as you would have
done. It is the leading topic of conversation out of the house. However,
I refrain from prosecuting, with difficulty, by Hercules! yet refrain I
do: either because I don't want to quarrel with Pompey--the impending
question of Milo is enough in that direction--or because we have no
jurors worthy of the name. I fear a fiasco: besides, there is the
ill-will of certain persons to me, and I am afraid my conducting the
prosecution might give him some advantage: besides, I do not despair of
the thing being done both without me and yet partly through my
assistance. All the candidates for the consulships have had prosecutions
for bribery lodged against them: Domitius Calvinus by Memmius (the
tribune), Memmius (the candidate) by Q. Acutius, an excellent young man
and a good lawyer, Messalla by Q. Pompeius, Scaurus by Triarius. The
affair causes great commotion, because it is a plain alternative between
shipwreck for the men concerned or for the laws. Pressure is being
applied to prevent the trials taking place. It looks like an
_interregnum_ again. The consuls desire to hold the _comitia_: the
accused don't wish it, and especially Memmius, because he hopes that
Cæsar's approach[643] may secure him the consulship. But he is at a
very low ebb. Domitius, with Messalla as his colleague, I think is a
certainty. Scaurus has lost his chance. Appius declares that he will
relieve Lentulus even without a curiate law,[644] and, indeed, he
distinguished himself amazingly that day (I almost forgot to mention it)
in an attack upon Gabinius. He accused him of _lèse majesté_, and gave
the names of his witnesses without Gabinius answering a word. That is
all the public news. At home all is well: your house itself is being
proceeded with by the contractors with fair expedition.
[Footnote 641: C. Memmius, a tribune of this year, not the same as the
C. Memmius Gemellus of the last letter.]
[Footnote 642: Referring to the fact that Gabinius, on his arrival
outside Rome, without the usual procession of friends which met a
returning proconsul, skulked about till nightfall, not venturing to
enter Rome (the city of his enemies!) in daylight. By entering Rome he
gave up his _imperium_ and could no longer ask a triumph.]
[Footnote 643: Cæsar was accustomed to come to North Italy (Gallia
Cisalpina) for the winter to Ravenna or Luca, and there he could be
communicated with and exercise great influence.]
[Footnote 644: That is, he would go to his province of Cilicia on the
strength of his nomination or allotment by the senate. There was some
doubt as to the question whether such allotment did not give _imperium_
even without a _lex curiata_. Besides, the consul had already
_imperium_, and he might consider it to be uninterrupted if he left Rome
immediately. However, as there was always an interval between the end of
the consulship and the quitting Rome _paludatus_, the _lex curiata_ had
generally been considered necessary (Cæs. _B. C._ i. 6). After B.C. 52
the _lex Pompeia_ enacted a five years' interval, when, of course, a law
would be necessary.]
CL (Q FR III, 3)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME (OCTOBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
The writing of an amanuensis must shew you the amount of my engagements.
I assure you that no day passes without my appearing for the defence of
some one. Accordingly, all composition or reflexion I reserve for the
hour of my walk. So stands my business: matters at home, however, are
everything I could wish. Our boys are well, diligent in their studies,
and affectionate to me and each other. The decoration of both of our
houses is still in hand: but your rural works at Arcanum and Laterium
are now completed. For the rest, as to the water and the road, I went
into the case thoroughly, in a certain letter of mine, without omitting
anything. But, in truth, the anxiety which is now giving me great
uneasiness and pain is that for a period of fifty days I have heard
nothing from you or from Cæsar--nothing has found its way from those
parts, either in the shape of a letter, or even of a rumour. Moreover,
both the sea and land out there make me uneasy, and I never cease
imagining, as one does when one's affections are deeply involved, all
that I least desire. Wherefore I do not, indeed, for the present ask you
to write me an account of yourself and your doings, for that you never
omit doing when possible, but I wish you to know this--that I have
scarcely ever been so anxious for anything as at the moment of writing I
am for a letter from you. Now for what is going on in politics. One day
after another for the _comitia_ is struck out by notices of bad omens,
to the great satisfaction of all the loyalists: so great is the scandal
in which the consuls are involved, owing to the suspicion of their
having bargained for a bribe from the candidates. The four candidates
for the consulship are all arraigned: their cases are difficult of
defence, but I shall do my best to secure the safety of our friend
Messalla--and that is inseparable from the acquittal of the others.
Publius Sulla has accused Gabinius of bribery--his stepson Memmius, his
cousin Cæcilius, and his son Sulla backing the indictment. L. Torquatus
put in his claim to the conduct of the prosecution, and, to everybody's
satisfaction, failed to establish it. You ask, "What will become of
Gabinius?" We shall know in three days' time about the charge of _lèse
majesté_. In that case he is at a disadvantage from the hatred
entertained by all classes for him; witnesses against him as damaging as
can be: accusers in the highest degree inefficient: the panel of jurors
of varied character: the president a man of weight and decision--Alfius:
Pompey active in soliciting the jurors on his behalf. What the result
will be I don't know; I don't see, however, how he can maintain a
position in the state. I shew no rancour in promoting his destruction,
and await the result with the utmost good temper. That is nearly all the
news. I will add this one item: your boy (who is mine also) is
exceedingly devoted to his rhetoric master Pæonius, a man, I think, of
great experience in his profession, and of very good character. But you
are aware that my method of instruction aims at a somewhat more
scholarly and philosophical style.[645] Accordingly I, for my part, am
unwilling that his course of training should be interrupted, and the boy
himself seems to be more drawn to that declamatory style, and to like it
better; and as that was the style in which I was myself initiated, let
us allow him to follow in my path, for I feel sure it will eventually
bring him to the same point; nevertheless, if I take him with me
somewhere in the country, I shall guide him to the adoption of my system
and practice. For you have held out before me a great reward, which it
certainly shall not be my fault if I fail to fully obtain. I hope you
will write and tell me most carefully in what district you are going to
pass the winter, and what your prospects are.
[Footnote 645: θετικώτερον. From θέσις, a philosophical proposition or
thesis. In _Paradox. præf._ he uses θετικά of subjects suited to such
theses.]
CLI (Q FR III, 4)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME, 24 OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Gabinius has been acquitted. Nothing could be more absolutely futile
than his accuser, Lentulus, and the backers of the indictment, or more
corrupt than the jury. Yet, after all, had it not been for incredible
exertions and entreaties on Pompey's part, and even an alarming rumour
of a dictatorship, he would not have been able to answer even Lentulus;
for even as it was, with such an accuser and such a jury, he had
thirty-two votes out of seventy recorded against him. This trial is
altogether so scandalous, that he seems certain to be convicted in the
other suits, especially in that for extortion. But you must see that the
Republic, the senate, the law courts are mere cyphers, and that not one
of us has any constitutional position at all. What else should I tell
you about the jurors? Two men of prætorian rank were on the
panel--Domitius Calvinus, who voted for acquittal so openly that
everybody could see; and Cato, who, as soon as the voting tablets had
been counted, withdrew from the ring of people, and was the first to
tell Pompey the news. Some people--for instance, Sallust--say that I
ought to have been the prosecuting counsel. Was I to have exposed myself
to such a jury as this? What would have been my position, if he had
escaped when I conducted the case? But there were other considerations
which influenced me. Pompey would have looked upon it as a contest with
me, not for that man's safety, but for his own position: he would have
entered the city;[646] it would have become a downright quarrel; I
should have seemed like a Pacideianus matched with the Samnite
Æserninus[647]--he would, perhaps, have bitten off my ear,[648] and at
least he would have become reconciled to Clodius. For my part,
especially if you do not disapprove of it, I strongly approve my own
policy. That great man, though his advancement had been promoted by
unparalleled exertions on my part, and though I owed him nothing, while
he owed me all, yet could not endure that I should differ from him in
politics--to put it mildly--and, when in a less powerful position,
shewed me what he could do against me when in my zenith. At this time of
day, when I don't even care to be influential, and the Republic
certainly has no power to do anything, while he is supreme in
everything, was I to enter upon a contest with him? For that is what I
should have had to have done. I do not think that you hold me bound to
have undertaken it. "Then, as an alternative," says the grave Sallust,
"you should have defended him, and have made that concession to Pompey's
earnest wish, for he begged you very hard to do so." An ingenious friend
is Sallust, to give me the alternative of a dangerous quarrel or undying
infamy! I, however, am quite pleased with the middle course which I have
steered; and another gratifying circumstance is that, when I had given
my evidence with the utmost solemnity, in accordance with my honour and
oath, the defendant said that, if he retained his right to remain in the
city, he would repay me, and did not attempt to cross-question me.
As to the verses which you wish me to compose, it is true that I am
deficient in industry in regard to them, which requires not only time,
but also a mind free from all anxiety, but I am also wanting in
inspiration. For I am not altogether without anxiety as to the coming
year, though without fear. At the same time, and, upon my word, I speak
without irony, I consider you a greater master of that style of writing
than myself. As to filling up your Greek library, effecting interchanges
of books, and purchasing Latin books, I should be very glad that your
wishes should be carried out, especially as they would be very useful to
me. But I have no one to employ for myself in such a business: for such
books as are really worth getting are not for sale, and purchases cannot
be effected except by an agent who is both well-informed and active.
However, I will give orders to Chrysippus and speak to Tyrannio. I will
inquire what Scipio has done about the treasury. I will see that what
seems to be the right thing is done. As to Ascanio, do what you like: I
shall not interfere. As to a suburban property, I commend your not being
in a hurry, but I advise your having one. I write this on the 24th of
October, the day of the opening of the games, on the point of starting
for my Tusculan villa, and taking my dear young Cicero with me as though
to school (a school not for sport, but for learning), since I did not
wish to be at any greater distance from town, because I purposed
supporting Pomptinus's[649] claim of a triumph on the 3rd of November.
For there will be, in fact, some little difficulty; as the prætors, Cato
and Servilius,[650] threaten to forbid it, though I don't know what they
can do. For he will have on his side Appius the consul, some prætors and
tribunes. Still, they do threaten--and among the foremost Q. Scævola,
"breathing war."[651] Most delightful and dearest of brothers, take good
care of your health.
[Footnote 646: Pompey was outside the _pomœrium_ (_ad Romam_) as
having _imperium_.]
[Footnote 647: Two gladiators, one incomparably superior to the other.]
[Footnote 648: A proverbial expression, cp. "snapped my nose off."]
[Footnote 649: C. Pomptinus, prætor in B.C. 63 (when he had supported
Cicero), was afterwards employed against the Allobroges as proprætor of
Narbonensis (B.C. 61). He had been, ever since leaving his province (?
B.C. 58), urging his claim to a triumph. He obtained it now by the
contrivance of the prætor Serv. Sulpicius Galba, who got a vote passed
by the _comitia_ before daybreak, which was unconstitutional (Dio, 39,
65).]
[Footnote 650: P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus (consul B.C. 48) was an
admirer of Cato. See p. 112.]
[Footnote 651: Ἄρη πνέων.]
CLII (F I, 9)
TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA)
ROME (OCTOBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
M. Cicero desires his warmest regards to P. Lentulus, _imperator_.[652]
Your letter was very gratifying to me, from which I gathered that you
fully appreciated my devotion to you: for why use the word kindness,
when even the word "devotion" itself, with all its solemn and holy
associations, seems too weak to express my obligations to you? As for
your saying that my services to you are gratefully accepted, it is you
who in your overflowing affection make things, which cannot be omitted
without criminal negligence, appear deserving of even gratitude.
However, my feelings towards you would have been much more fully known
and conspicuous, if, during all this time that we have been separated,
we had been together, and together at Rome. For precisely in what you
declare your intention of doing--what no one is more capable of doing,
and what I confidently look forward to from you--that is to say, in
speaking in the senate, and in every department of public life and
political activity, we should together have been in a very strong
position (what my feelings and position are in regard to politics I will
explain shortly, and will answer the questions you ask), and at any rate
I should have found in you a supporter, at once most warmly attached and
endowed with supreme wisdom, while in me you would have found an
adviser, perhaps not the most unskilful in the world, and at least both
faithful and devoted to your interests. However, for your own sake, of
course, I rejoice, as I am bound to do, that you have been greeted with
the title of _imperator_, and are holding your province and victorious
army after a successful campaign. But certainly, if you had been here,
you would have enjoyed to a fuller extent and more directly the benefit
of the services which I am bound to render you. Moreover, in taking
vengeance on those whom you know in some cases to be your enemies,
because you championed the cause of my recall, in others to be jealous
of the splendid position and renown which that measure brought you, I
should have done you yeoman's service as your associate. However, that
perpetual enemy of his own friends, who, in spite of having been
honoured with the highest compliments on your part, has selected you of
all people for the object of his impotent and enfeebled violence, has
saved me the trouble by punishing himself. For he has made attempts, the
disclosure of which has left him without a shred, not only of political
position, but even of freedom of action.[653] And though I should have
preferred that you should have gained your experience in my case alone,
rather than in your own also, yet in the midst of my regret I am glad
that you have learnt what the fidelity of mankind is worth, at no great
cost to yourself, which I learnt at the price of excessive pain. And I
think that I have now an opportunity presented me, while answering the
questions you have addressed to me, of also explaining my entire
position and view. You say in your letter that you have been informed
that I have become reconciled to Cæsar and Appius, and you add that you
have no fault to find with that. But you express a wish to know what
induced me to defend and compliment Vatinius. In order to make my
explanation plainer I must go a little farther back in the statement of
my policy and its grounds.
Well, Lentulus! At first--after the success of your efforts for my
recall--I looked upon myself as having been restored not alone to my
friends, but to the Republic also; and seeing that I owed you an
affection almost surpassing belief, and every kind of service, however
great and rare, that could be bestowed on your person, I thought that to
the Republic, which had much assisted you in restoring me, I at least
was bound to entertain the feeling which I had in old times shewed
merely from the duty incumbent on all citizens alike, and not as an
obligation incurred by some special kindness to myself. That these were
my sentiments I declared to the senate when you were consul, and you had
yourself a full view of them in our conversations and discussions. Yet
from the very first my feelings were hurt by many circumstances, when,
on your mooting the question of the full restoration of my position, I
detected the covert hatred of some and the equivocal attachment of
others. For you received no support from them either in regard to my
monuments, or the illegal violence by which, in common with my brother,
I had been driven from my house; nor, by heaven, did they shew the
goodwill which I had expected in regard to those matters which, though
necessary to me owing to the shipwreck of my fortune, were yet regarded
by me as least valuable--I mean as to indemnifying me for my losses by
decree of the senate. And though I saw all this--for it was not
difficult to see--yet their present conduct did not affect me with so
much bitterness as what they had done for me did with gratitude. And
therefore, though according to your own assertion and testimony I was
under very great obligation to Pompey, and though I loved him not only
for his kindness, but also from my own feelings, and, so to speak, from
my unbroken admiration of him, nevertheless, without taking any account
of his wishes, I abode by all my old opinions in politics.[654] With
Pompey sitting in court,[655] upon his having entered the city to give
evidence in favour of Sestius, and when the witness Vatinius had
asserted that, moved by the good fortune and success of Cæsar, I had
begun to be his friend, I said that I preferred the fortune of Bibulus,
which he thought a humiliation, to the triumphs and victories of
everybody else; and I said during the examination of the same witness,
in another part of my speech, that the same men had prevented Bibulus
from leaving his house as had forced me from mine: my whole
cross-examination, indeed, was nothing but a denunciation of his
tribuneship;[656] and in it I spoke throughout with the greatest
freedom and spirit about violence, neglect of omens, grants of royal
titles. Nor, indeed, in the support of this view is it only of late that
I have spoken: I have done so consistently on several occasions in the
senate. Nay, even in the consulship of Marcellinus and Philippus,[657]
on the 5th of April the senate voted on my motion that the question of
the Campanian land should be referred to a full meeting of the senate on
the 15th of May. Could I more decidedly invade the stronghold of his
policy, or shew more clearly that I forgot my own present interests, and
remembered my former political career? On my delivery of this proposal a
great impression was made on the minds not only of those who were bound
to have been impressed, but also of those of whom I had never expected
it. For, after this decree had passed in accordance with my motion,
Pompey, without shewing the least sign of being offended with me,
started for Sardinia and Africa, and in the course of that journey
visited Cæsar at Luca. There Cæsar complained a great deal about my
motion, for he had already seen Crassus at Ravenna also, and had been
irritated by him against me. It was well known that Pompey was much
vexed at this, as I was told by others, but learnt most definitely from
my brother. For when Pompey met him in Sardinia, a few days after
leaving Luca, he said: "You are the very man I want to see; nothing
could have happened more conveniently. Unless you speak very strongly to
your brother Marcus, you will have to pay up what you guaranteed on his
behalf."[658] I need not go on. He grumbled a great deal: mentioned his
own services to me: recalled what he had again and again said to my
brother himself about the "acts" of Cæsar, and what my brother had
undertaken in regard to me; and called my brother himself to witness
that what he had done in regard to my recall he had done with the
consent of Cæsar: and asked him to commend to me the latter's policy and
claims, that I should not attack, even if I would not or could not
support them. My brother having conveyed these remarks to me, and
Pompey having, nevertheless, sent Vibullius to me with a message,
begging me not to commit myself on the question of the Campanian land
till his return, I reconsidered my position and begged the state itself,
as it were, to allow me, who had suffered and done so much for it, to
fulfil the duty which gratitude to my benefactors and the pledge which
my brother had given demanded, and to suffer one whom it had ever
regarded as an honest citizen to shew himself an honest man. Moreover,
in regard to all those motions and speeches of mine which appeared to be
giving offence to Pompey, the remarks of a particular set of men, whose
names you must surely guess, kept on being reported to me; who, while in
public affairs they were really in sympathy with my policy, and had
always been so, yet said that they were glad that Pompey was
dissatisfied with me, and that Cæsar would be very greatly exasperated
against me. This in itself was vexatious to me: but much more so was the
fact that they used, before my very eyes, so to embrace, fondle, make
much of, and kiss my enemy--mine do I say? rather the enemy of the laws,
of the law courts, of peace, of his country, of all loyal men!--that
they did not indeed rouse my bile, for I have utterly lost all that, but
imagined they did. In these circumstances, having, as far as is possible
for human prudence, thoroughly examined my whole position, and having
balanced the items of the account, I arrived at a final result of all my
reflexions, which, as well as I can, I will now briefly put before you.
If I had seen the Republic in the hands of bad or profligate citizens,
as we know happened during the supremacy of Cinna, and on some other
occasions, I should not under the pressure, I don't say of rewards,
which are the last things to influence me, but even of danger, by which,
after all, the bravest men are moved, have attached myself to their
party, not even if their services to me had been of the very highest
kind. As it is, seeing that the leading statesman in the Republic was
Pompey, a man who had gained this power and renown by the most eminent
services to the state and the most glorious achievements, and one of
whose position I had been a supporter from my youth up, and in my
prætorship and consulship an active promoter also, and seeing that this
same statesman had assisted me, in his own person by the weight of his
influence and the expression of his opinion, and, in conjunction with
you, by his counsels and zeal, and that he regarded my enemy as his own
supreme enemy in the state--I did not think that I need fear the
reproach of inconsistency, if in some of my senatorial votes I somewhat
changed my standpoint, and contributed my zeal to the promotion of the
dignity of a most distinguished man, and one to whom I am under the
highest obligations. In this sentiment I had necessarily to include
Cæsar, as you see, for their policy and position were inseparably
united. Here I was greatly influenced by two things--the old friendship
which you know that I and my brother Quintus have had with Cæsar, and
his own kindness and liberality, of which we have recently had clear and
unmistakable evidence both by his letters and his personal attentions. I
was also strongly affected by the Republic itself, which appeared to me
to demand, especially considering Cæsar's brilliant successes, that
there should be no quarrel maintained with these men, and indeed to
forbid it in the strongest manner possible. Moreover, while entertaining
these feelings, I was above all shaken by the pledge which Pompey had
given for me to Cæsar, and my brother to Pompey. Besides, I was forced
to take into consideration the state maxim so divinely expressed by our
master Plato--"Such as are the chief men in a republic, such are ever
wont to be the other citizens." I called to mind that in my consulship,
from the very 1st of January, such a foundation was laid of
encouragement for the senate, that no one ought to have been surprised
that on the 5th of December there was so much spirit and such commanding
influence in that house. I also remember that when I became a private
citizen up to the consulship of Cæsar and Bibulus, when the opinions
expressed by me had great weight in the senate, the feeling among all
the loyalists was invariable. Afterwards, while you were holding the
province of hither Spain with _imperium_ and the Republic had no genuine
consuls, but mere hucksters of provinces, mere slaves and agents of
sedition, an accident threw my head as an apple of discord into the
midst of contending factions and civil broils. And in that hour of
danger, though a unanimity was displayed on the part of the senate that
was surprising, on the part of all Italy surpassing belief, and of all
the loyalists unparalleled, in standing forth in my defence, I will not
say what happened--for the blame attaches to many, and is of various
shades of turpitude--I will only say briefly that it was not the rank
and file, but the leaders, that played me false. And in this matter,
though some blame does attach to those who failed to defend me, no less
attaches to those who abandoned me: and if those who were frightened
deserve reproach, if there are such, still more are those to be blamed
who pretended to be frightened. At any rate, my policy is justly to be
praised for refusing to allow my fellow citizens (preserved by me and
ardently desiring to preserve me) to be exposed while bereft of leaders
to armed slaves, and for preferring that it should be made manifest how
much force there might be in the unanimity of the loyalists, if they had
been permitted to champion my cause before I had fallen, when after that
fall they had proved strong enough to raise me up again. And the real
feelings of these men you not only had the penetration to see, when
bringing forward my case, but the power to encourage and keep alive. In
promoting which measure--I will not merely not deny, but shall always
remember also and gladly proclaim it--you found certain men of the
highest rank more courageous in securing my restoration than they had
been in preserving me from my fall: and, if they had chosen to maintain
that frame of mind, they would have recovered their own commanding
position along with my salvation. For when the spirit of the loyalists
had been renewed by your consulship, and they had been roused from their
dismay by the extreme firmness and rectitude of your official conduct;
when, above all, Pompey's support had been secured; and when Cæsar, too,
with all the prestige of his brilliant achievements, after being
honoured with unique and unprecedented marks of distinction and
compliments by the senate, was now supporting the dignity of the house,
there could have been no opportunity for a disloyal citizen of outraging
the Republic.
But now notice, I beg, what actually ensued. First of all, that intruder
upon the women's rites, who had shewn no more respect for the Bona Dea
than for his three sisters, secured immunity by the votes of those men
who, when a tribune wished by a legal action to exact penalties from a
seditious citizen by the agency of the loyalists, deprived the Republic
of what would have been hereafter a most splendid precedent for the
punishment of sedition. And these same persons, in the case of the
monument, which was not mine, indeed--for it was not erected from the
proceeds of spoils won by me, and I had nothing to do with it beyond
giving out the contract for its construction--well, they allowed this
monument of the senate's to have branded upon it the name of a public
enemy, and an inscription written in blood. That those men wished my
safety rouses my liveliest gratitude, but I could have wished that they
had not chosen to take my bare safety into consideration, like doctors,
but, like trainers, my strength and complexion also! As it is, just as
Apelles perfected the head and bust of his Venus with the most elaborate
art, but left the rest of her body in the rough, so certain persons only
took pains with my head, and left the rest of my body unfinished and
unworked. Yet in this matter I have falsified the expectation, not only
of the jealous, but also of the downright hostile, who formerly
conceived a wrong opinion from the case of Quintus Metellus, son of
Lucius--the most energetic and gallant man in the world, and in my
opinion of surpassing courage and firmness--who, people say, was much
cast down and dispirited after his return from exile.[659] Now, in the
first place, we are asked to believe that a man who accepted exile with
entire willingness and remarkable cheerfulness, and never took any pains
at all to get recalled, was crushed in spirit about an affair in which
he had shewn more firmness and constancy than anyone else, even than the
pre-eminent M. Scaurus himself![660] But, again, the account they had
received, or rather the conjectures they were indulging in about him,
they now transferred to me, imagining that I should be more than usually
broken in spirit: whereas, in fact, the Republic was inspiring me with
even greater courage than I had ever had before, by making it plain
that I was the one citizen it could not do without; and by the fact that
while a bill proposed by only one tribune had recalled Metellus, the
whole state had joined as one man in recalling me--the senate leading
the way, the whole of Italy following after, eight of the tribunes
publishing the bill, a consul putting the question at the centuriate
assembly, all orders and individuals pressing it on, in fact, with all
the forces at its command. Nor is it the case that I afterwards made any
pretension, or am making any at this day, which can justly offend
anyone, even the most malevolent: my only effort is that I may not fail
either my friends or those more remotely connected with me in either
active service, or counsel, or personal exertion. This course of life
perhaps offends those who fix their eyes on the glitter and show of my
professional position, but are unable to appreciate its anxieties and
laboriousness.
Again, they make no concealment of their dissatisfaction on the ground
that in the speeches which I make in the senate in praise of Cæsar I am
departing from my old policy. But while giving explanations on the
points which I put before you a short time ago, I will not keep till the
last the following, which I have already touched upon. You will not
find, my dear Lentulus, the sentiments of the loyalists the same as you
left them--strengthened by my consulship, suffering relapse at intervals
afterwards, crushed down before your consulship, revived by you: they
have now been abandoned by those whose duty it was to have maintained
them: and this fact they, who in the old state of things as it existed
in our day used to be called _Optimates_, not only declare by look and
expression of countenance, by which a false pretence is easiest
supported, but have proved again and again by their actual sympathies
and votes. Accordingly, the entire view and aim of wise citizens, such
as I wish both to be and to be reckoned, must needs have undergone a
change. For that is the maxim of that same great Plato, whom I
emphatically regard as my master: "Maintain a political controversy only
so far as you can convince your fellow citizens of its justice: never
offer violence to parent or fatherland."[661] He, it is true, alleges
this as his motive for having abstained from politics, because, having
found the Athenian people all but in its dotage, and seeing that it
could not be ruled by persuasion, or by anything short of compulsion,
while he doubted the possibility of persuasion, he looked upon
compulsion as criminal. My position was different in this: as the people
was not in its dotage, nor the question of engaging in politics still an
open one for me, I was bound hand and foot. Yet I rejoiced that I was
permitted in one and the same cause to support a policy at once
advantageous to myself and acceptable to every loyalist. An additional
motive was Cæsar's memorable and almost superhuman kindness to myself
and my brother, who thus would have deserved my support whatever he
undertook; while as it is, considering his great success and his
brilliant victories, he would seem, even if he had not behaved to me as
he has, to claim a panegyric from me. For I would have you believe that,
putting you aside, who were the authors of my recall, there is no one by
whose good offices I would not only confess, but would even rejoice, to
have been so much bound.
Having explained this matter to you, the questions you ask about
Vatinius and Crassus are easy to answer. For, since you remark about
Appius, as about Cæsar, "that you have no fault to find," I can only say
that I am glad you approve my policy. But as to Vatinius, in the first
place there had been in the interval a reconciliation effected through
Pompey, immediately after his election to the prætorship, though I had,
it is true, impugned his canditature in some very strong speeches in the
senate, and yet not so much for the sake of attacking him as of
defending and complimenting Cato. Again, later on, there followed a very
pressing request from Cæsar that I should undertake his defence. But my
reason for testifying to his character I beg you will not ask, either in
the case of this defendant or of others, lest I retaliate by asking you
the same question when you come home: though I can do so even before you
return: for remember for whom you sent a certificate of character from
the ends of the earth. However, don't be afraid, for those same persons
are praised by myself, and will continue to be so. Yet, after all, there
was also the motive spurring me on to undertake his defence, of which,
during the trial, when I appeared for him, I remarked that I was doing
just what the parasite in the _Eunuchus_ advised the captain to do:
"As oft as she names Phædria, you retort
With Pamphila. If ever she suggest,
'Do let us have in Phædria to our revel:'
Quoth you, 'And let us call on Pamphila
To sing a song.' If she shall praise _his_ looks,
Do you praise _hers_ to match them: and, in fine,
Give tit for tat, that you may sting her soul."
So I asked the jurors, since certain men of high rank, who had also done
me very great favours, were much enamoured of my enemy, and often under
my very eyes in the senate now took him aside in grave consultation, now
embraced him familiarly and cheerfully--since these men had their
Publius, to grant me another Publius, in whose person I might repay a
slight attack by a moderate retort.[662] And, indeed, I am often as good
as my word, with the applause of gods and men. So much for Vatinius. Now
about Crassus. I thought I had done much to secure his gratitude in
having, for the sake of the general harmony, wiped out by a kind of
voluntary act of oblivion all his very serious injuries, when he
suddenly undertook the defence of Gabinius, whom only a few days before
he had attacked with the greatest bitterness. Nevertheless, I should
have borne that, if he had done so without casting any offensive
reflexions on me. But on his attacking me, though I was only arguing and
not inveighing against him, I fired up not only, I think, with the
passion of the moment--for that perhaps would not have been so hot--but
the smothered wrath at his many wrongs to me, of which I thought I had
wholly got rid, having, unconsciously to myself, lingered in my soul, it
suddenly shewed itself in full force. And it was at this precise time
that certain persons (the same whom I frequently indicate by a sign or
hint), while declaring that they had much enjoyed my outspoken style,
and had never before fully realized that I was restored to the Republic
in all my old character, and when my conduct of that controversy had
gained me much credit outside the house also, began saying that they
were glad both that he was now my enemy, and that those who were
involved with him would never be my friends. So when their ill-natured
remarks were reported to me by men of most respectable character, and
when Pompey pressed me as he had never done before to be reconciled to
Crassus, and Cæsar wrote to say that he was exceedingly grieved at that
quarrel, I took into consideration not only my circumstances, but my
natural inclination: and Crassus, that our reconciliation might, as it
were, be attested to the Roman people, started for his province, it
might almost be said, from my hearth. For he himself named a day and
dined with me in the suburban villa of my son-in-law Crassipes. On this
account, as you say that you have been told, I supported his cause in
the senate, which I had undertaken on Pompey's strong recommendation, as
I was bound in honour to do.
I have now told you with what motives I have supported each measure and
cause, and what my position is in politics as far as I take any part in
them: and I would wish you to make sure of this--that I should have
entertained the same sentiments, if I had been still perfectly
uncommitted and free to choose. For I should not have thought it right
to fight against such overwhelming power, nor to destroy the supremacy
of the most distinguished citizens, even if it had been possible; nor,
again, should I have thought myself bound to abide by the same view,
when circumstances were changed and the feelings of the loyalists
altered, but rather to bow to circumstances. For the persistence in the
same view has never been regarded as a merit in men eminent for their
guidance of the helm of state; but as in steering a ship one secret of
the art is to run before the storm, even if you cannot make the harbour;
yet, when you can do so by tacking about, it is folly to keep to the
course you have begun rather than by changing it to arrive all the same
at the destination you desire: so while we all ought in the
administration of the state to keep always in view the object I have
very frequently mentioned, peace combined with dignity, we are not bound
always to use the same language, but to fix our eyes on the same object.
Wherefore, as I laid down a little while ago, if I had had as free a
hand as possible in everything, I should yet have been no other than I
now am in politics. When, moreover, I am at once induced to adopt these
sentiments by the kindness of certain persons, and driven to do so by
the injuries of others, I am quite content to think and speak about
public affairs as I conceive best conduces to the interests both of
myself and of the Republic. Moreover, I make this declaration the more
openly and frequently, both because my brother Quintus is Cæsar's
legate, and because no word of mine, however trivial, to say nothing of
any act, in support of Cæsar has ever transpired, which he has not
received with such marked gratitude, as to make me look upon myself as
closely bound to him. Accordingly, I have the advantage of his
popularity, which you know to be very great, and his material resources,
which you know to be immense, as though they were my own. Nor do I think
that I could in any other way have frustrated the plots of unprincipled
persons against me, unless I had now combined with those protections,
which I have always possessed, the goodwill also of the men in power. I
should, to the best of my belief, have followed this same line of policy
even if I had had you here. For I well know the reasonableness and
soberness of your judgment: I know your mind, while warmly attached to
me, to be without a tinge of malevolence to others, but on the contrary
as open and candid as it is great and lofty. I have seen certain persons
conduct themselves towards you as you might have seen the same persons
conduct themselves towards me. The same things that have annoyed me
would certainly have annoyed you. But whenever I shall have the
enjoyment of your presence, you will be the wise critic of all my plans:
you who took thought for my safety will also do so for my dignity. Me,
indeed, you will have as the partner and associate in all your actions,
sentiments, wishes--in fact, in everything; nor shall I ever in all my
life have any purpose so steadfastly before me, as that you should
rejoice more and more warmly every day that you did me such eminent
service.
As to your request that I would send you any books I have written since
your departure, there are some speeches, which I will give Menocritus,
not so very many, so don't be afraid! I have also written--for I am now
rather withdrawing from oratory and returning to the gentler Muses,
which now give me greater delight than any others, as they have done
since my earliest youth--well, then, I have written in the Aristotelian
style, at least that was my aim, three books in the form of a discussion
in dialogue "On the Orator," which, I think, will be of some service to
your Lentulus. For they differ a good deal from the current maxims, and
embrace a discussion on the whole oratorical theory of the ancients,
both that of Aristotle and Isocrates. I have also written in verse three
books "On my own Times," which I should have sent you some time ago, if
I had thought they ought to be published--for they are witnesses, and
will be eternal witnesses, of your services to me and of my
affection--but I refrained because I was afraid, not of those who might
think themselves attacked, for I have been very sparing and gentle in
that respect, but of my benefactors, of whom it were an endless task to
mention the whole list. Nevertheless, the books, such as they are, if I
find anyone to whom I can safely commit them, I will take care to have
conveyed to you: and as far as that part of my life and conduct is
concerned, I submit it entirely to your judgment. All that I shall
succeed in accomplishing in literature or in learning--my old favourite
relaxations--I shall with the utmost cheerfulness place before the bar
of your criticism, for you have always had a fondness for such things.
As to what you say in your letter about your domestic affairs, and all
you charge me to do, I am so attentive to them that I don't like being
reminded, can scarcely bear, indeed, to be asked without a very painful
feeling. As to your saying, in regard to Quintus's business, that you
could not do anything last summer, because you were prevented by illness
from crossing to Cilicia, but that you will now do everything in your
power to settle it, I may tell you that the fact of the matter is that,
if he can annex this property, my brother thinks that he will owe to you
the consolidation of this ancestral estate. I should like you to write
about all your affairs, and about the studies and training of your son
Lentulus (whom I regard as mine also) as confidentially and as
frequently as possible, and to believe that there never has been anyone
either dearer or more congenial to another than you are to me, and that
I will not only make you feel that to be the case, but will make all the
world and posterity itself to the latest generation aware of it.
Appius used some time back to repeat in conversation, and afterwards
said openly, even in the senate, that if he were allowed to carry a law
in the _comitia curiata_, he would draw lots with his colleague for
their provinces; but if no curiatian law were passed, he would make an
arrangement with his colleague and succeed you: that a curiatian law was
a proper thing for a consul, but was not a necessity: that since he was
in possession of a province by a decree of the senate, he should have
_imperium_ in virtue of the Cornelian law until such time as he entered
the city. I don't know what your several connexions write to you on the
subject: I understand that opinion varies. There are some who think that
you can legally refuse to quit your province, because your successor is
named without a curiatian law: some also hold that, even if you do quit
it, you may leave some one behind you to conduct its government. For
myself, I do not feel so certain about the point of law--although there
is not much doubt even about that--as I do of this, that it is for your
greatest honour, dignity, and independence, which I know you always
value above everything, to hand over your province to a successor
without any delay, especially as you cannot thwart his greediness
without rousing suspicion of your own. I regard my duty as twofold--to
let you know what I think, and to defend what you have done.
P.S.--I had written the above when I received your letter about the
_publicani_, to whom I could not but admire the justice of your conduct.
I could have wished that you had been able by some lucky chance to avoid
running counter to the interests and wishes of that order, whose honour
you have always promoted. For my part, I shall not cease to defend your
decrees: but you know the ways of that class of men; you are aware how
bitterly hostile they were to the famous Q. Scævola himself. However, I
advise you to reconcile that order to yourself, or at least soften its
feelings, if you can by any means do so. Though difficult, I think it
is, nevertheless, not beyond the reach of your sagacity.
[Footnote 652: Cicero gives him this title, by which he had been greeted
by his soldiers after some victory over the predatory tribes in Cilicia.
This letter is Cicero's most elaborate apology for his change of policy
in favour of the triumvirs.]
[Footnote 653: Cicero has been variously supposed to refer to C. Cato
(who proposed the recall of Lentulus), to Appius the consul, and finally
to Pompey. The last seems on the whole most likely, though the
explanation is not without difficulties. In that case the "disclosure"
will refer to Pompey's intrigues as to the restoration of Ptolemy
Auletes, of which he wished to have the management.]
[Footnote 654: _I.e._, to keep in with the Optimates, who were at this
time suspicious of, and hostile to Pompey.]
[Footnote 655: At the trial of Sestius.]
[Footnote 656: B.C. 59, when Vatinius proposed the law for Cæsar's five
years' rule in Gaul.]
[Footnote 657: B.C. 56.]
[Footnote 658: Pompey is only speaking metaphorically. Quintus had
guaranteed Cicero's support. Pompey half-jestingly speaks as though he
had gone bail for him for a sum of money.]
[Footnote 659: Q. Cæcilius Metellus Numidius, expelled from the senate
and banished B.C. 100 for refusing the oath to the agrarian law of
Saturninus, but recalled in the following year. Cicero is fond of
comparing himself with him. See Letter CXLVII.]
[Footnote 660: M. Æmilius Scaurus, consul B.C. 115 and 108, censor 109,
and long _princeps senatus_. Cicero comments elsewhere on his
_severitas_ (_de Off._ § 108).]
[Footnote 661: Plato, _Crit._ xii.]
[Footnote 662: Like the character in the play (Terence, _Eun._ 440), if
the nobles annoyed Cicero by their attentions to P. Clodius, he would
annoy them by his compliments to Publius Vatinius.]
CLIII (A IV, 18)
TO ATTICUS (IN ASIA)
ROME, OCTOBER
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
... As it is,[663] to tell you my opinion of affairs, we must put up
with it. You ask me how I have behaved. With firmness and dignity. "What
about Pompey," you will say, "how did he take it?" With great
consideration, and with the conviction that he must have some regard for
my position, until a satisfactory atonement had been made to me. "How,
then," you will say, "was the acquittal secured?" It was a case of mere
dummies,[664] and incredible incompetence on the part of the
accusers--that is to say, of L. Lentulus, son of Lucius, who, according
to the universal murmur, acted collusively. In the next place, Pompey
was extraordinarily urgent; and the jurors were a mean set of fellows.
Yet, in spite of everything, there were thirty-two votes for conviction,
thirty-eight for acquittal. There are the other prosecutions hanging
over his head: he is by no means entirely free yet. You will say, "Well,
then, how do _you_ bear it?" With the best air possible, by heaven! and
I really do plume myself on my behaviour. We have lost, my dear
Pomponius, not only all the healthy sap and blood of our old
constitution, but even its colour and outward show. There is no Republic
to give a moment's pleasure or a feeling of security. "And is that,
then," you will say, "a satisfaction to you?" Precisely that. For I
recall what a fair course the state had for a short time, while I was at
the helm, and what a return has been made me! It does not give me a pang
that one man absorbs all power. The men to burst with envy are those who
were indignant at my having had some power. There are many things which
console me, without my departing an inch from my regular position; and I
am returning to the life best suited to my natural disposition--to
letters and the studies that I love. My labour in pleading I console by
my delight in oratory. I find delight in my town house and my country
residences. I do not recall the height from which I have fallen, but the
humble position from which I have risen. As long as I have my brother
and you with me, let those fellows be hanged, drawn, and quartered for
all I care: I can play the philosopher with you. That part of my soul,
in which in old times irritability had its home, has grown completely
callous. I find no pleasure in anything that is not private and
domestic. You will find me in a state of magnificent repose, to which
nothing contributes more than the prospect of your return. For there is
no one in the wide world whose feelings are so much in sympathy with my
own. But now let me tell you the rest. Matters are drifting on to an
_interregnum_; and there is a dictatorship in the air, in fact a good
deal of talk about it, which did Gabinius also some service with timid
jurors. All the candidates for the consulship are charged with bribery.
You may add to them Gabinius, on whom L. Sulla had served notice,
feeling certain that he was in a hopeless position--Torquatus having,
without success, demanded to have the prosecution. But they will all be
acquitted, and henceforth no one will be condemned for anything except
homicide. This last charge is warmly pressed, and accordingly informers
are busy. M. Fulvius Nobilior has been convicted. Many others have had
the wit to abstain from even putting in an appearance. Is there any more
news? Yes! After Gabinius's acquittal another panel of jurors, in a fit
of irritation, an hour later condemned Antiochus Gabinius, some fellow
from the studio of Sopolis, a freedman and orderly officer of Gabinius,
under the _lex Papia_. Consequently he at once remarked, "So the
Republic will not acquit me under the law of treason as it did
you!"[665]
Pomptinus wants to celebrate a triumph on the 2nd of November. He is
openly opposed by the prætors Cato and Servilius and the tribune Q.
Mucius. For they say that no law for his _imperium_ was ever
carried:[666] and this one too was carried, by heaven, in a stupid way.
But Pomptinus will have the consul Appius on his side.[667] Cato,
however, declares that he shall never triumph so long as he is alive. I
think this affair, like many of the same sort, will come to nothing.
Appius thinks of going to Cilicia without a law, and at his own
expense.[668] I received a letter on the 24th of October from my brother
and from Cæsar, dated from the nearest coasts of Britain on the 26th of
September. Britain done with ... hostages taken ... no booty ... a
tribute, however, imposed; they were on the point of bringing back the
army. Q. Pilius has just set out to join Cæsar. If you have any love for
me or your family, or any truth in you, or even if you have any taste
left, and any idea of enjoying all your blessings, it is really time for
you to be on your way home, and, in fact, almost here. I vow I cannot
get on without you. And what wonder that I can't get on without _you_,
when I miss Dionysius so much? The latter, in fact, as soon as the day
comes, both I and my young Cicero will demand of you. The last letter I
had from you was dated Ephesus, 9th of August.
[Footnote 663: The beginning of the letter is lost, referring to the
acquittal of Gabinius on a charge of _maiestas_.]
[Footnote 664: γοργεῖα γυμνά, "mere bugbears."]
[Footnote 665: Antiochus Gabinius was tried, not for treason
(_maiestas_), but under the _lex Papia_, for having, though a
_peregrinus_, acted as a citizen; but he says "will not acquit me of
_treason_," because he means to infer that his condemnation was really
in place of Gabinius, whose acquittal had irritated his jury; therefore
he was practically convicted of _maiestas_ instead of his patron
Gabinius. I have, accordingly, ventured to elicit the end of a hexameter
from the Greek letters of the MS., of which no satisfactory account has
been given, and to read _Itaque dixit statim "respublica lege
maiestatis_ οὐ σοί κεν ἄρ' ἶσα μ' ἀφείη (or ἀφιῇ)." The quotation is not
known. Antiochus Gabinius was doubtless of Greek origin and naturally
quoted Greek poetry. Sopolis was a Greek painter living at Rome (Pliny,
_N. H._ xxxv. §§ 40, 43).]
[Footnote 666: Pomptinus had been waiting outside Rome for some years to
get his triumph (see p. 309). The _negant latum de imperio_ must refer
to a _lex curiata_ originally conferring his _imperium_, which his
opponents alleged had not been passed. The _insulse latum_ refers to the
law now passed granting him the triumph in spite of this. This latter
was passed by the old trick of the prætor appearing in the _campus_
before daybreak to prevent _obnuntiatio_. The result was that the
tribunes interrupted the procession, which led to fighting and bloodshed
(Dio, 39, 65).]
[Footnote 667: Because he wanted to go to his province himself in spite
of having failed to get a _lex curiata_ (p. 324).]
[Footnote 668: _I.e._, without waiting for the senate to vote the usual
outfit (_ornare provinciam_).]
CLIV (Q FR III, 5-6)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
TUSCULUM (OCTOBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
You ask me what I have done about the books which I begun to write when
in my Cuman villa: I have not been idle and am not being idle now; but I
have frequently changed the whole plan and arrangement of the work. I
had already completed two books, in which I represented a conversation
taking place on the Novendialia held in the consulship of Tuditanus and
Aquilius,[669] between Africanus, shortly before his death, and Lælius,
Philus, Manilius, P. Rutilius, Q. Tubero, and Lælius's sons-in-law,
Fannius and Scævola; a conversation which was extended to nine days and
the same number of books "On the best Constitution of the State" and "On
the best Citizen." The work was excellently composed, and the rank of
the speakers added considerable weight to the style. But when these
books were read to me in the presence of Sallustius at Tusculum, it was
suggested to me by him that a discourse on such subjects would come with
much greater force if I were myself the speaker on the Republic,
especially as I was a no mere Heraclides Ponticus,[670] but an
ex-consul, and one who had been engaged in the most important affairs in
the state: that when I put them in the mouth of men of such ancient date
they would have an air of unreality: that I had shewn good taste in my
books about the science of rhetoric in keeping the dialogue of the
orators apart from myself, and yet had attributed it to men whom I had
personally seen: and, finally, that Aristotle delivers in the first
person his essays "On the Republic" and "On the Eminent Man." I was
influenced the more by this from the fact that I was unable to touch on
the most important commotions in our state, because they were subsequent
to the age of the speakers. Moreover, my express object then was not to
offend anyone by launching into the events of my own time: as it is, I
shall avoid that and at the same time be the speaker with you.
Nevertheless, when I come to Rome I will send you the dialogues as they
originally stood. For I fancy that those books will convince you that
they have not been abandoned by me without some chagrin.
I am extremely gratified by Cæsar's affection of which you write to me.
The offers which he holds out I do not much reckon on, nor have I any
thirst for honours or longing for glory; and I look forward more to the
continuation of his kindness than to the fulfilment of his promises.
Still, I live a life so prominent and laborious that I might seem to be
expecting the very thing that I deprecate. As to your request that I
should compose some verses, you could hardly believe, my dear brother,
how short of time I am: nor do I feel much moved in spirit to write
poetry on the subject you mention. Do you really come to me for
disquisitions on things that I can scarcely conceive even in
imagination--you who have distanced everybody in that style of vivid and
descriptive writing? Yet I would have done it if I could, but, as you
will assuredly not fail to notice, for writing poetry there is need of a
certain freshness of mind of which my occupations entirely deprive me. I
withdraw myself, it is true, from all political anxiety and devote
myself to literature; still, I will hint to you what, by heaven, I
specially wished to have concealed from you. It cuts me to the heart, my
dearest brother, to the heart, to think that there is no Republic, no
law courts, and that my present time of life, which ought to have been
in the full bloom of senatorial dignity, is distracted with the labours
of the forum or eked out by private studies, and that the object on
which from boyhood I had set my heart,
"Far to excel, and tower above the crowd,"[671]
is entirely gone: that my opponents have in some cases been left
unattacked by me, in others even defended: that not only my sympathies,
but my very dislikes, are not free: and that Cæsar is the one man in the
world who has been found to love me to my heart's content, or even, as
others think, the only one who was inclined to do so. However, there is
none of all these vexations of such a kind as to be beyond the reach of
many daily consolations; but the greatest of consolations will be our
being together. As it is, to those other sources of vexation there is
added my very deep regret for your absence. If I had defended Gabinius,
which Pansa thought I ought to have done, I should have been quite
ruined: those who hate him--and that is entire orders--would have begun
to hate me for the sake of their hatred for him. I confined myself, as I
think with great dignity, to doing only that which all the world saw me
do. And to sum up the whole case, I am, as you advise, devoting all my
efforts to tranquillity and peace. As to the books: Tyrannio is a
slow-coach: I will speak to Chrysippus, but it is a laborious business
and requires a man of the utmost industry. I find it in my own case,
for, though I am as diligent as possible, I get nothing done. As to the
Latin books, I don't know which way to turn--they are copied and exposed
for sale with such a quantity of errors! However, whatever can possibly
be done I will not neglect to do. Gaius Rebilus, as I wrote to you
before, is at Rome. He solemnly affirms his great obligations to you,
and reports well of your health.[672] I think the question of the
treasury was settled in my absence. When you speak of having finished
four tragedies in sixteen days, I presume you are borrowing from some
one else? And do _you_ deign to be indebted to others after writing the
_Electra_, and the _Troades_? Don't be idle; and don't think the
proverbial γνῶθι σεαυτόν was only meant to discourage vanity: it means
also that we should be aware of our own qualities. But pray send me
these tragedies as well as the _Erigona_. I have now answered your last
two letters.
[Footnote 669: B.C. 129. The _Novendialia_ was a nine days' festival on
the occasion of some special evil omens or prodigies; for an instance
(in B.C. 202), see Livy, 30, 38. The book referred to is that "On the
Republic."]
[Footnote 670: _I.e._, a mere theorist like Heraclides Ponticus, a pupil
of Plato's, whose work "On Constitutions" still exists.]
[Footnote 671: Hom. _Il._ vi. 208.]
[Footnote 672: Reading _qui omnia adiurat debere tibi et te valere
renuntiat_. The text, however, is corrupt.]
CLV (Q FR III, 7)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
TUSCULUM (NOVEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
At Rome, and especially on the Appian road as far as the temple of Mars,
there is a remarkable flood. The promenade of Crassipes has been washed
away, pleasure grounds, a great number of shops. There is a great sheet
of water right up to the public fish-pond. That doctrine of Homer's is
in full play:
"The days in autumn when in violent flood
Zeus pours his waters, wroth at sinful men"--
for it falls in with the acquittal of Gabinius--
"Who wrench the law to suit their crooked ends
And drive out justice, recking naught of Gods."[673]
But I have made up my mind not to care about such things. When I get
back to Rome I will write and tell you my observations, and especially
about the dictatorship, and I will also send a letter to Labienus and
one to Ligurius. I write this before daybreak by the carved wood
lamp-stand, in which I take great delight, because they tell me that you
had it made when you were at Samos. Good-bye, dearest and best of
brothers.
[Footnote 673: Hom. _Il._ xvi. 385.]
CLVI (F VII, 16)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (NOVEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
In the "Trojan Horse," just at the end, you remember the words, "Too
late they learn wisdom."[674] You, however, old man, were wise in time.
Those first snappy letters of yours were foolish enough, and then----! I
don't at all blame you for not being over-curious in regard to Britain.
For the present, however, you seem to be in winter quarters somewhat
short of warm clothing, and therefore not caring to stir out:
"Not here and there, but everywhere,
Be wise and ware:
No sharper steel can warrior bear."
If I had been by way of dining out, I would not have failed your friend
Cn. Octavius; to whom, however, I did remark upon his repeated
invitations, "Pray, who are you?" But, by Hercules, joking apart, he is
a pretty fellow: I could have wished you had taken him with you! Let me
know for certain what you are doing and whether you intend coming to
Italy at all this winter. Balbus has assured me that you will be rich.
Whether he speaks after the simple Roman fashion, meaning that you will
be well supplied with money, or according to the Stoic dictum, that "all
are rich who can enjoy the sky and the earth," I shall know hereafter.
Those who come from your part accuse you of pride, because they say you
won't answer men who put questions to you. However, there is one thing
that will please you: they all agree in saying that there is no better
lawyer than you at Samarobriva![675]
[Footnote 674: By Livius Andronicus or Nævius. Tyrrell would write the
proverb _in extremo sero sapiunt_, "'tis too late to be wise at the
last." There was a proverb, _sero parsimonia in fundo_, something like
this, Sen. _Ep._ i. 5, from the Greek (Hes. _Op._ 369), δειλὴ δ' ἐν
πυθμένι φειδώ.]
[Footnote 675: In Gallia Belgica, mod. _Amiens._]
CLVII (A IV, 17)
TO ATTICUS (ON HIS WAY TO ROME)
ROME (NOVEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
At last the long-expected letter from you! Back to Italy, how
delightful! What wonderful fidelity to your promise! What a charming
voyage! About this last, by Hercules, I was very nervous, remembering
the fur wrappers of your former crossing. But, unless I am mistaken, I
shall see you sooner than you say in your letter. For I believe you
thought that your ladies were in Apulia, and when you find that not to
be the case, what can there be to detain you there? Are you bound to
give Vestorius some days, and must you go through the stale banquet of
his Latin Atticism again after an interval? Nay, fly hither and visit
(the remains) of that genuine Republic of ours!...[676] Observe my
strength of mind and my supreme indifference to the Felician[677]
one-twelfth legacy, and also, by heaven, my very gratifying connexion
with Cæsar--for this delights me as the one spar left me from the
present shipwreck--Cæsar, I say, who treats your and my Quintus,
heavens! with what honour, respect, and favours! It is exactly as if I
were the _imperator_. The choice was just lately offered him of
selecting any of the winter quarters, as he writes me word. Wouldn't you
be fond of such a man as that? Of which of your friends would you, if
not of him? But look you! did I write you word that I was _legatus_ to
Pompey, and should be outside the city from the 13th of January onwards?
This appeared to me to square with many things. But why say more? I
will, I think, reserve the rest till we meet, that you may, after all,
have something to look forward to. My very best regards to Dionysius,
for whom, indeed, I have not merely kept a place, but have even built
one. In fine, to the supreme joy of your return, a finishing stroke will
be added by his arrival. The day you arrive, you and your party will, I
entreat you, stay with me.
[Footnote 676: There are some words here too corrupt to be translated
with any confidence. They appear to convey a summary of news already
written in several letters as to the bribery at the elections, the
acquittal of Gabinius, and the rumour of a dictatorship.]
[Footnote 677: A legacy of a twelfth left by a certain Felix to Cicero
and Quintus had been rendered null by a mistake as to the will. See the
letter to Quintus, p. 338.]
CLVIII (Q FR III, 8)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME (NOVEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
The earlier of your two letters is full of irritability and
complainings, and you say you gave another of the same sort the day
before to Labienus, who has not yet arrived--but I have nothing to say
in answer to it, for your more recent letter has obliterated all trace
of vexation from my mind. I will only give you this hint and make this
request, that in the midst of your vexations and labours you should
recall what our notion was as to your going to Cæsar. For our object was
not the acquisition of certain small and unimportant gains. For what was
there of that kind which we should have thought worth the price of our
separation? What we sought was the strongest possible security for the
maintenance of our entire political position by the countenance of a man
of the highest character and most commanding influence. Our interest is
not so much in the acquisition of sums of money, as in the realization
of this hope: all else that you get is to be regarded only as a security
against actual loss.[678] Wherefore, if you will frequently turn your
thoughts back upon what we originally proposed to ourselves and hoped to
do, you will bear with less impatience the labours of military service
of which you speak and the other things which annoy you, and,
nevertheless, will resign them whenever you choose. But the right moment
for that step is not yet come, though it is now not far off.
Farthermore, I give you this hint--don't commit anything at all to
writing, the publication of which would be annoying to us. There are
many things that I would rather not know than learn at some risk. I
shall write at greater length to you with a mind less preoccupied, when
my boy Cicero is, as I hope he will be, in a good state of health. Pray
be careful to let me know to whom I should give the letter which I shall
then send you--to Cæsar's letter-carriers, for him to forward them
direct to you, or to those of Labienus? For where your Nervii dwell, and
how far off, I have no idea.[679] I derived great pleasure from your
letter describing the courage and dignity displayed (as you say) by
Cæsar in his extreme sorrow. You bid me finish the poem in his honour
which I had begun; and although I have been diverted from it by
business, and still more by my feelings, yet, since Cæsar knows that I
did begin something, I will return to my design, and will complete in
these leisure days of the "supplications,"[680] during which I greatly
rejoice that our friend Messalla and the rest are at last relieved from
worry. In reckoning on him as certain to be consul with Domitius, you
are quite in agreement with my own opinion. I will guarantee Messalla to
Cæsar: but Memmius cherishes a hope, founded on Cæsar's return to Italy,
in which I think he is under a mistake. He is, indeed, quite out of it
here. Scaurus, again, has been long ago thrown over by Pompey. The
business has been put off: the _comitia_ postponed and postponed, till
we may expect an _interregnum_. The rumour of a dictator is not pleasing
to the aristocrats; for myself, I like still less what they say. But the
proposal, as a whole, is looked upon with alarm, and grows unpopular.
Pompey says outright that he doesn't wish it: to me previously he used
not personally to deny the wish. Hirrus seems likely to be the proposer.
Ye gods! what folly! How in love with himself and without--a rival! He
has commissioned me to choke off Cælius Vinicianus, a man much attached
to me. Whether Pompey wishes it or not, it is difficult to be sure.
However, if it is Hirrus who makes the proposal, he will not convince
people that he does not wish it. There is nothing else being talked
about in politics just now; at any rate, nothing else is being done. The
funeral of the son of Serranus Domesticus took place in very melancholy
circumstances on the 23rd of November. His father delivered the funeral
oration which I composed for him. Now about Milo. Pompey gives him no
support, and is all for Gutta, saying also that he will secure Cæsar on
his side. Milo is alarmed at this, and no wonder, and almost gives up
hope if Pompey is created dictator. If he assists anyone who vetoes the
dictatorship by his troop and bodyguard,[681] he fears he may excite
Pompey's enmity: if he doesn't do so, he fears the proposal may be
carried by force. He is preparing games on a most magnificent scale, at
a cost, I assure you, that no one has ever exceeded. It is foolish, on
two or even three accounts, to give games that were not demanded--he has
already given a magnificent show of gladiators: he cannot afford it: he
is only an executor, and might have reflected that he is now an
executor, not an ædile. That is about all I had to write. Take care of
yourself, dearest brother.
[Footnote 678: Cicero means, "the substantial gain to be got from your
serving under Cæsar in Gaul is the securing of his protection in the
future: all other gains, such as money etc., are merely to be regarded
as securing you from immediate loss in thus going to Gaul: they don't
add anything fresh to our position and prospects."]
[Footnote 679: Quintus had his winter quarters among the Nervii, in a
town near the modern Charleroi. In this winter he was in great danger
from a sudden rising of the Nervii and other tribes (Cæs. _B. G._ v.
24-49).]
[Footnote 680: Twenty days of _supplicatio_ had been decreed in honour
of Cæsar's campaigns of B.C. 55 (Cæs. _B. G._ iv. 38).]
[Footnote 681: His gladiators, which he kept in training for the games
he was going to give in honour of a deceased friend.]
CLIX (Q FR III, 9)
TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)
ROME (NOVEMBER OR DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
In regard to Gabinius, I had not to carry out any of the measures which
you suggested with such affectionate solicitude. "May the earth swallow
me rather, etc.!"[682] I acted with very great dignity and also with the
greatest consideration. I neither bore hardly on him nor helped him. I
gave strong evidence, in other respects I did not stir. The disgraceful
and mischievous result of the trial I bore with the utmost serenity. And
this is the advantage which, after all that has happened, has accrued to
me--that I am not even affected in the least by those evils in the state
and the licentious conduct of the shameless, which used formerly to make
me burst with indignation: for anything more abandoned than the men and
the times in which we are living there cannot be. Accordingly, as no
pleasure can possibly be got from politics, I don't know why I should
lose my temper. Literature and my favourite studies, along with the
retirement of my country houses, and above all our two boys, furnish my
enjoyments. The one man who vexes me is Milo. But I hope an end will be
put to my anxieties by his getting the consulship: and to obtain this
for him I shall struggle as hard as I did for my own, and you, I am
sure, will continue to give assistance from over there. In his case
other things are all secure, unless it is snatched from his grasp by
downright violence: it is about his means that I am frightened:
"For he is now beyond all bearing mad,"[683]
to spend 1,000,000 sesterces (about £8,000) on his games. His want of
prudence in this one particular I shall put up with as well as I can,
and you should be strong-minded enough to do the same. In mentioning the
changes to be expected next year, I didn't mean you to understand me to
refer to domestic alarms: the reference was wholly to the state of the
Republic, in which, though not charged with any actual duty, I can
scarcely discharge myself from all anxiety. Yet how cautious I would
have you be in writing you may guess from the fact that I do not mention
in my letters to you even open acts of disorder in the state, lest my
letter should be intercepted and give offence to the feelings of anyone.
Wherefore, as far as domestic affairs are concerned, I would have you be
quite easy: in politics I know how anxious you always are. I can see
that our friend Messalla will be consul, if by means of an _interrex_,
without any prosecution, if by that of a dictator, without danger of
conviction. He is not disliked by anyone. Hortensius's warm support will
stand him in good stead. Gabinius's acquittal is looked upon as a
general act of indemnity. _En passant_: nothing has, after all, been
done as yet about a dictatorship. Pompey is out of town; Appius is
intriguing darkly; Hirrus is paving the way: there are many tribunes
calculated on to veto it: the people are indifferent: the leading men
disinclined to it: I don't stir a finger. I am exceedingly obliged for
your promises as to slaves, and I am indeed, as you say, short-handed
both at Rome and on my estates. But pray do nothing for my convenience
unless it entirely suits your own, and your means. About the letter of
Vatinius I laughed heartily. But though I know I am being watched by
him, I can swallow his hatred and digest it too. You urge me to
"finish": well, I have finished what, in my own opinion at least, is a
very pretty "epic" on Cæsar, but I am in search of a trustworthy
letter-carrier, lest it should share the fate of your
_Erigona_[684]--the only personage who has missed a safe journey from
Gaul during Cæsar's governorship.
What? because I had no good stone was I to pull down the whole
building?--a building which I like better every day of my life: the
lower court especially and the chambers attached to it are admirable. As
to Arcanum, it is a building worthy of Cæsar, or, by heaven, of some one
even more tasteful still. For your statues, _palæstra_, fish-pond, and
conduit are worthy of many Philotimuses, and quite above your
Diphiluses. But I will visit them personally, as well as sending men to
look after them and giving orders about them. As to the will of Felix,
you will complain more when you know all. For the document which he
believed himself to have sealed, in which your name was most certainly
entered as heir to a twelfth, this, by a mistake of his own and of his
slave Sicura, he did not seal: while the one which he did not intend to
seal he did seal. But let it go hang, so long as we keep well! I am as
devoted to your son Cicero as you can wish, and as he deserves, and as I
am bound to be. However, I am letting him leave me, both to avoid
keeping him from his teachers, and because his mother is leaving,
without whom I am very much alarmed as to the boy's large appetite. Yet,
after all, we see a great deal of each other. I have now answered all
your letters. Dearest and best of brothers, good-bye.
[Footnote 682: _I.e._, rather than defend him. τότε μοι χάνοι (εὐρεῖα
χθών), Hom. _Il._ iv. 182.]
[Footnote 683: ὁ δὲ μαίνεται οὐκ ἔτ' ἀνεκτῶς (Hom. _Il._ viii. 355). The
numerals seem doubtful. According to some MSS. the amount would be
10,000,000, _i.e._, £80,000.]
[Footnote 684: The tragedy written by Quintus and lost in transit.]
CLX (F VII, 10)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (NOVEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I have read your letter which informs me that our Cæsar considers you a
great lawyer. You must be glad to have found a country where you have
the credit of knowing something. But if you had gone to Britain also, I
feel sure that there would not have been in all that great island anyone
more learned in the law than you. However--you won't mind my laughing,
for you invited me to do so--I am becoming positively a little jealous
of you! That you should have been actually sent for by a man whom other
people--not because of his pride, but of his many engagements--cannot
venture to approach!
But in that letter you told me nothing about your success, which, by
heaven, is of no less concern to me than my own. I am very much afraid
you may be frozen in your winter quarters: and therefore I think you
ought to use a good stove. Mucius and Manilius "concur" in this opinion,
especially on the ground of your being short of military cloaks.
However, I am told that you are having a sufficiently warm time of it
where you are--news which made me much alarmed for you.[685] However, in
military matters you are much more cautious than at the bar, seeing that
you wouldn't take a swim in the ocean, fond of swimming as you are, and
wouldn't take a look at the British charioteers, though in old time I
could never cheat you even out of a blind-folded gladiator.[686] But
enough of joking. You know how earnestly I have written to Cæsar about
you; I know how often. Yet, in truth, I have lately ceased doing so,
lest I should appear to distrust the kindness of a man who has been most
liberal and affectionate to me. However, in the very last letter I wrote
I thought he ought to be reminded. I did so. Please tell me what effect
it had, and at the same time tell me about your position in general and
all your plans. For I am anxious to know what you are doing, what you
are expecting, how long your separation from us you think is to last. I
would wish you to believe that the one consolation, enabling me to bear
your absence, is the knowledge that it is for your advantage. But if
that is not so, nothing can be more foolish than both the one and the
other of us: me for not inducing you to come back to Rome--you for not
flying thither. By heavens, our conversation, whether serious or
jesting, will be worth more not only than the enemy, but even than our
"brothers" the Hædui.[687] Wherefore let me know about everything as
soon as possible:
"I'll be some use by comfort, rede, or pelf."[688]
[Footnote 685: He seems to refer to the rising of the Nervii against the
Roman winter quarters (Cæs. _B. G._ v. 39 _seq_).]
[Footnote 686: _Andabatam_, a gladiator with a closed helmet covering
the face, who thus fought without seeing his adversary.]
[Footnote 687: A title granted to the Hædui by the senate (Cæs. _B. G._
i. 33; Tac. _Ann._ xi. 25).]
[Footnote 688: Terence, _Heautont_. 86.]
CLXI (F I, 10)
TO L. VALERIUS (IN CILICIA)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
M. Cicero wishes heath to L. Valerius, learned in the law. For why I
should not pay you this compliment I don't know, especially considering
that in these times one may employ impudence to supply the place of
learning. I have written to our friend Lentulus, thanking him earnestly
in your name. But I could wish that you would now cease using my letter
of introduction and at last come back to us, and prefer a city where you
are of some account, to a place where you appear to be the only man of
legal learning. However, those who come from where you are either say
you are proud because you give no "opinions," or insulting because you
give bad ones.[689] But I am now longing to crack a joke with you face
to face. So come as soon as ever you can, and don't go and visit your
native Apulia, that we may have the joy of welcoming your safe return.
For if you go there, like another Ulysses, you will not recognize any of
your friends.[690]
[Footnote 689: Cicero perhaps means that Valerius's "opinions" are too
right to suit such a set as are to be found in the province. Valerius
will not mind people there thinking him a bad lawyer. "At Rome you are
considered a good lawyer, in Cilicia they don't think so!"]
[Footnote 690: _Cognosces tuorum neminem._. Others read _cognoscere
tuorum nemini_, "you will not be recognized by any of your friends,"
which agrees better with Homer's account of the return of Ulysses. But
perhaps the exact comparison is not to be pressed.]
CLXII (F XIII, 49)
TO M. CURIUS (A PROCONSUL)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
Q. Pompeius, son of Sextus, has become my intimate friend from many
causes of long standing. As he has often in the past been accustomed to
defend his material interests, as well as his reputation and influence,
by my recommendations, so on the present occasion assuredly, with you as
governor of the province, he ought to be able to feel that he has never
had a warmer recommendation to anyone. Wherefore I beg you with more
than ordinary earnestness that, as you ought in view of our close
friendship to regard all my friends as your own, you would give the
bearer so high a place in your regard, that he may feel that nothing
could have been more to his interest and honour than my recommendation.
Farewell.
CLXIII (F XIII, 60)
TO C. MUNATIUS (IN A PROVINCE)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
L. Livineius Trypho is to begin with a freedman of my most intimate
friend L. Regulus (whose disaster makes me more than ever anxious to do
him some service--for as far as feeling goes I could not be warmer): but
I also am attached to his freedman on his own account, for he shewed me
very great kindness at that time in my career, when I was best able to
see men's real goodwill and fidelity. I recommend him to you with all
the warmth that one who is grateful and not oblivious should use in
recommending those who have done him good service. You will have greatly
gratified me if he is made to feel that in confronting many dangers for
my security, and often undertaking voyages in the depths of winter, he
has also put you under an obligation in view of your kind feeling
towards me.
CLXIV (F XIII, 73)
TO Q. PHILIPPUS (PROCONSUL OF ASIA)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 54, ÆT. 52]
I congratulate you on your safe return to your family from your
province, without loss to your reputation or to the state. But if I had
seen you at Rome I should also have thanked you for having looked after
L. Egnatius, my most intimate friend, who is still absent, and L.
Oppius, who is here. With Antipater of Derbe I have become not merely on
visiting terms, but really very intimate. I have been told that you are
exceedingly angry with him, and I was very sorry to hear it. I have no
means of judging the merits of the case, only I am persuaded that a man
of your character has done nothing without good reason. However, I do
beg of you again and again that, in consideration of our old friendship,
you will, for my sake if for anyone's, grant his sons, who are in your
power, their liberty, unless you consider that in doing so your
reputation may be injured. If I had thought that, I would never have
made the request, for your fame is of more importance in my eyes than
any friendship with him. But I persuade myself--though I may possibly be
mistaken--that this measure will bring you honour rather than abuse.
What can be done in the matter, and what you _can_ do for my sake (for
as to your willingness I feel no doubt), I should be obliged by your
informing me, if it is not too much trouble to you.
CLXV (F II, 1)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, Coss., M. Domitius Calvinus, M. Valerius Messalla.]
This was the year in which Crassus was defeated and killed in
Parthia, making thus the first break in the triumvirate, when
already the ties between Pompey and Cæsar were weakened by the
death of Iulia in the previous year. Cæsar, however, had been in
great difficulties in Gaul. At the end of the previous year a fresh
rising of the Nervii destroyed a Roman legion and put Q. Cicero in
great danger. In the present year Quintus met with his disaster at
the hands of the Sigambri. The chief event to Cicero personally was
his election into the college of augurs, in place of the younger
Crassus. Atticus appears to be in Rome, for there are no letters to
him. There was a series of _interregna_ this year owing to partisan
conflicts, lasting till July, and when the consuls were at length
appointed, they failed to hold the elections for B.C. 52.
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO[691] (IN ASIA)
ROME (JANUARY OR FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
Though I am sorry that you have suspected me of neglect, yet it was not
so annoying to me to have my lack of attention found fault with, as
delightful to have it missed by you; especially as in the particular
point on which you accuse me I happen to be innocent, while in shewing
that you miss a letter from me, you avow an affection for me, of which,
indeed, I was fully aware, but which, nevertheless, is very soothing and
gratifying to my feelings. The fact is that I have never let anyone go,
so long, that is, as I thought him likely to reach you, without giving
him a letter. Why, was there ever such an untiring correspondent as I?
From you, however, I have received two, or at the most three
letters--and those extremely brief. Wherefore, if you are a harsh judge
of me, I shall find you guilty on precisely the same charge. But if you
don't want me to do that, you will have to be considerate to me.
However, enough about writing; for I am not afraid of failing to satiate
you with my correspondence, especially if you shew a just appreciation
of my zeal in that department. I have been grieved on the one hand at
your long absence from us, because I have lost the advantage of a most
delightful intimacy; and yet on the other hand I rejoice at it, because
while on this foreign service you have gained all your objects with
infinite credit to yourself, and because in all you have undertaken
fortune has answered to my wishes. There is one injunction, a very short
one, which my unspeakable affection for you compels me to give you. Such
lofty expectations are entertained of your spirit, shall I say? or of
your ability, that I cannot refrain from imploring and beseeching you to
return to us with a character so finished, as to be able to support and
maintain the expectations which you have excited. And since no loss of
memory will ever obliterate my recollection of your services to me, I
beg you not to forget that, whatever increase of fortune or position may
befall you, you would not have been able to attain it, had you not as a
boy obeyed my most faithful and affectionate counsels.[692] Wherefore it
will be your duty to shew me such affection, that my age--now on the
decline--may find repose in your devotion and youth.
[Footnote 691: The younger Curio was now quæstor to C. Clodius, brother
of Publius and Appius, in Asia. He was tribune in B.C. 50, when he
suddenly changed sides and joined Cæsar, who purchased his adhesion by
paying his immense debts.]
[Footnote 692: Curio had supported Cicero against Clodius, and had
worked for his recall. He seems to have attended at Cicero's house for
the study of rhetoric or legal practice, as was the fashion for young
men to do. He presently married Fulvia, the widow of Clodius, who after
his death in Africa (B.C. 48) married Antony.]
CLXVI (F VII, 11)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (JANUARY OR FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
If you had not left Rome before, you certainly would have left it now.
For who wants a lawyer when there are so many _interregna_? I shall
advise all defendants in civil suits to ask each _interrex_ for two
adjournments for obtaining legal assistance.[693] Do you think that I
have taken a pretty good hint from you as to civil procedure? But come!
How are you? What is happening? For I notice in your letter a tendency
to be even jocose. These are better signs than the _signa_ in my
Tusculan villa.[694] But I want to know what it means. You say, indeed,
that you are consulted by Cæsar, but I should have preferred his
consulting _for_ you. If that is taking place, or you think it likely to
take place, by all means persevere in your military service and stay on:
I shall console myself for my loss of you by the hope that it will be
your gain: but if, on the other hand, things are not paying with you,
come back to us. For either something will turn up sooner or later here,
or, if not, one conversation between you and me, by heaven, will be
worth more than all the Samobrivæ[695] in the world. Finally, if you
return speedily, there will be no talk about it; but if you stay away
much longer without getting anything, I am in terror not only of
Laberius, but of our comrade Valerius also. For it would make a capital
character for a farce--a British lawyer![696] I am not laughing though
you may laugh, but, as usual, when writing to you, I jest on the most
serious subject. Joking apart, I advise you in the most friendly spirit,
that if you hold a position for yourself worthy of my introduction, you
should put up with the loss of my society and farther your own career
and wealth: but if things are stagnant with you there, come back to us.
In spite of everything you will get all you want, by your own good
qualities certainly, but also by my extreme affection for you.
[Footnote 693: The _interregna_ lasting this year till July. No legal
business could be done, as the law courts were closed during an
_interregnum_. But Cicero jestingly says that he advises clients to
apply to each _interrex_ (who only held office for five days) for two
adjournments, whereby he would get his case postponed indefinitely: for
if each adjournment was to the third day, the two would cover each
_interregnum_. Of course he is only jesting, for in any case the cause
would not come on.]
[Footnote 694: There is a play on the double meaning of _signa_, "signs"
and "statues." Cicero did not like the statues in his Tusculanum. See
Letter CXXV.]
[Footnote 695: Samobriva (Amiens), where Trebatius was, or had been, in
Cæsar's camp. Cæsar spells it Samarobriva.]
[Footnote 696: Laberius is a rival jurisconsult, Valerius a writer of
mimes. Though Cicero jests at the supposed comic character, "a lawyer in
Britain" (as we might say, "a lawyer among the Zulus"), it does not
appear that Trebatius went to Britain with Cæsar.]
CLXVII (F II, 2)
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO (IN ASIA)
ROME (? FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
I have been deprived of a strong witness to my extreme affection for you
in the person of your most illustrious father: who would have been
fortunate above the common lot, both in his own memorable achievements
and in the possession of such a son as yourself, had it been granted him
to see you before his departure from life. But I hope our friendship
stands in no need of witnesses. Heaven bless your inheritance to you!
You will at least have in me one to whom you are as dear and as precious
as you have been to your father.
CLXVIII (F II, 3)
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO (IN ASIA)
ROME (? FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
Rupa[697] was not backward in his wish to promise an exhibition of
gladiators in your name, but neither I nor any of your friends approved
of anything being done in your absence which would tie your hands when
you returned. For my part, I will either write you my opinion at greater
length later on, or, to give you no opportunity of preparing an answer
to it, I will take you unprepared and state my view by word of mouth
against yours. I shall thus either bring you over to my opinion, or at
least leave in your mind a record of my view, so that, if at any time
(which heaven forbid!) you may see cause to repent of your decision, you
may be able to recall mine. Briefly, be assured that your return will
find the state of things to be such, that you may gain the highest
possible honours in the state more easily by the advantages with which
you are endowed by nature, study, and fortune, than by gladiatorial
exhibitions. The power of giving such things stirs no feeling of
admiration in anyone; for it is wholly a question of means, and not of
character; and there is nobody who is not by this time sick and tired of
them. But I am not acting as I said I would do, for I am embarking on a
statement of the reasons for my opinion. So I will put off this entire
discussion to your arrival. Believe me, you are expected with the
greatest interest, and hopes are entertained of you such as can only be
entertained of the highest virtue and ability. If you are as prepared
for this as you ought to be--and I feel certain you are--you will be
bestowing on us, your friends, on the whole body of your fellow
citizens, and on the entire state, the most numerous and most excellent
of exhibitions. You will certainly become aware that no one can be
dearer or more precious than you are to me.
[Footnote 697: A freedman and agent of Curio's. The question is of
funeral games and an exhibition of gladiators in honour of Curio's
father. Curio gave them, and involved himself in huge debt in
consequence.]
CLXIX (F VII, 12)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (? FEBRUARY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
I was wondering what had made you cease writing to me. My friend
Pansa[698] has informed me that you have become an Epicurean! What a
wonderful camp yours must be! What would you have done if I had sent you
to Tarentum[699] instead of Samobriva? I was already a little doubtful
about you, when I found you supporting the same doctrine as my friend
Selius![700] But on what ground will you support the principles of civil
law, if you act always in your own interest and not in that of your
fellow citizens? What, too, is to become of the legal formula in cases
of trust, "as should be done among honest men"? For who can be called
honest who does nothing except on his own behalf? What principle will
you lay down "in dividing a common property," when nothing can be
"common" among men who measure all things by their own pleasure?[701]
How, again, can you ever think it right to swear by _Iupiter lapis_,
when you know that Iupiter cannot be angry with anyone?[702] What is to
become of the people of Ulubræ,[703] if you have decided that it is not
right to take part in civic business? Wherefore, if you are really and
truly a pervert from our faith, I am much annoyed; but if you merely
find it convenient to humour Pansa, I forgive you. Only _do_ write and
tell us how you are, and what you want me to do or to look after for
you.
[Footnote 698: C. Vibius Pansa had been in Gaul, and was now home to
stand for the tribuneship, which he obtained for B.C. 52-51.]
[Footnote 699: Where he would have been in luxury.]
[Footnote 700: A follower of the new academy, with which Cicero was more
in sympathy than with the Epicurean ethics, but apparently only partly
so. The leading doctrine was the denial of the possibility of knowledge,
and, applied to ethics, this might destroy all virtue.]
[Footnote 701: All these jesting objections to a lawyer being an
Epicurean are founded on the Epicurean doctrine that individual feeling
is the standard of morals, and the _summum bonum_ is the good of the
individual. The logical deduction that a man should therefore hold aloof
from politics and social life, as involving social obligations and
standards, was, of course, evaded in practice.]
[Footnote 702: For the Epicureans believed the gods to exist, but not to
trouble themselves with the affairs of men. In taking an oath by
_Iupiter lapis_ the swearer took a stone in his hand and said, "If I
abide by this oath may he bless me: but if I do otherwise in thought or
deed, may all others be kept safe, each in his own country, under his
own laws, in enjoyment of his own goods, household gods, and tombs--may
I alone be cast out, even as this stone is now." Then he throws down the
stone. This passage from Polybius (iii. 25) refers to treaties, but the
same form seems to have been used in suits about land.]
[Footnote 703: Ulubræ--like other _municipia_--had a _patronus_ at Rome
to look after its interests. If Trebatius (who was its _patronus_) would
take no part in politics, he would be of no use to the Ulubrani.
πολιτεύεσθαι, "to act as a citizen," "to act as a member of a political
body."]
CLXX (F VII, 13)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME, 4 MARCH
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
Did you suppose me to be so unjust as to be angry with you from the idea
that you were not sufficiently persevering and were too eager to return,
and do you think that that is the reason of my long silence? I was
certainly annoyed by the uneasiness of your spirits, which your first
letters conveyed to me; but there was absolutely no other reason for the
interruption of my own, except my complete ignorance of your address.
Are you still, at this time of day, finding fault with me, and do you
refuse to accept my apology? Just listen to me, my dear Testa! Is it
money that is making you prouder, or the fact that your
commander-in-chief consults you? May I die if I don't believe that such
is your vanity that you would rather be consulted by Cæsar than
gilded[704] by him! But if both reasons are true, who will be able to
put up with you except myself, who can put up with anything? But to
return to our subject--I am exceedingly glad that you are content to be
where you are, and as your former state of mind was vexatious, so your
present is gratifying, to me. I am only afraid that your special
profession may be of little advantage to you: for, as I am told, in your
present abode
"They lay no claim by joining lawful hands,
But challenge right with steel."[705]
But you are not wont[706] to be called in to assist at a "forcible
entry." Nor have you any reason to be afraid of the usual proviso in the
injunction, "into which you have not previously made entry by force and
armed men," for I am well assured that you are not a man of violence.
But to give you some hint as to what you lawyers call "securities," I
opine that you should avoid the Treviri; I hear they are real _tresviri
capitales_--deadly customers: I should have preferred their being
_tresviri_ of the mint![707] But a truce to jesting for the present.
Pray write to me in the fullest detail of all that concerns you.
4 March.
[Footnote 704:
"I will make fast the doors and _gild_ myself
With some more ducats."--SHAKESPEARE..
]
[Footnote 705: Ennius, _Ann._ 275. The phrase _manum consertum_ in legal
language meant to make a joint claim by the symbolical act of each
claimant laying a hand on the property (or some representation of it) in
court. But it also meant "to join hands in war." Hence its equivocal use
in this passage. _Consertum_ is a supine, and some such word as _eunt_
must be understood before it.]
[Footnote 706: Reading _at tu non soles_. I cannot explain Prof.
Tyrrell's reading _et tu soles_ in connexion with what follows.]
[Footnote 707: This elaborate joke is founded on a pun upon the name of
the Gallic _Treviri_ and the commissioners in Rome: (1) the _III viri
capitales_, who had charge of prisons, executions, etc.; (2) the _III
viri auro argento æri flando feriundo_, "the commissioners for coining
gold, silver, and bronze." Also there is a reference to the meaning of
_capitalis_, "deadly," "affecting the life or citizenship."]
CLXXI (F VII, 14)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME (? MARCH)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
Chrysippus Vettius, a freedman of the architect Cyrus, made me think
that you had not quite forgotten me; for he has brought me a greeting in
your words. You have grown a mighty fine gentleman, that you can't take
the trouble of writing a letter to me--a man, I might almost say, of
your own family! But if you have forgotten how to write, all the fewer
clients will lose their causes by having you as their advocate! If you
have forgotten me, I will take the trouble of paying you a visit where
you are, before I have quite faded out of your mind. If it is a terror
of the summer camp that is disheartening you, think of some excuse to
get off, as you did in the case of Britain. I was glad to hear one thing
from that same Chrysippus, that you were on friendly terms with Cæsar.
But, by Hercules, I should have preferred, as I might fairly have
expected, to be informed of your fortunes as frequently as possible from
your own letters. And this would certainly have been the case, if you
had been more forward to learn the laws of friendship than of suits in
court. But this is all jest in your own vein, and to some degree in mine
also. I love you very dearly, and I both wish to be loved by you and
feel certain that I am.
CLXXII (F VII, 18)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
A VILLA IN THE AGER POMPTINUS, 8 APRIL
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
I have received several letters from you at the same time, written at
various times, in which everything else gave me great pleasure; for they
shewed that you were now sustaining your military service with a brave
spirit, and were a gallant and resolute man. These are qualities which
for a short time I felt to be lacking in you, though I attributed your
uneasiness not so much to any weakness of your own spirit, as to your
feeling your absence from us. Therefore go on as you have begun: endure
your service with a stout heart: believe me, the advantages you will
gain are many; for I will reiterate my recommendation of you, though I
shall wait for the right moment of doing so. Be assured that you are not
more anxious that your separation from me should be as profitable as
possible to yourself than I am. Accordingly, as your "securities" are
somewhat weak, I have sent you one in my poor Greek, written by my own
hand.[708] For your part, I should wish you to keep me informed of the
course of the war in Gaul: for the less warlike my informant, the more
inclined I am to believe him.
But to return to your letters. Everything else (as I said) is prettily
written, but I do wonder at this: who in the world sends several
identical letters, when he writes them with his own hand? For your
writing on paper that has been used before, I commend your economy: but
I can't help wondering what it was that you preferred to rub out of this
bit of paper rather than not write such poor stuff as this--unless it
were, perhaps, some of your legal formulas. For I don't suppose you rub
out my letters to replace them with your own. Can it mean that there is
no business going on, that you are out of work, that you haven't even a
supply of paper? Well, that is entirely your own fault, for taking your
modesty abroad with you instead of leaving it behind here with us. I
will commend you to Balbus, when he starts to join you, in the good old
Roman style. Don't be astonished if there is a somewhat longer interval
than usual between my letters: for I intend being out of town in April.
I write this letter in the Pomptine district, having put up at the villa
of M. Æmilius Philemo, from which I could hear the noise of my clients,
I mean those you confided to me! For at Ulubræ it is certain that an
enormous mass of frogs have bestirred themselves to do me honour. Take
care of your health.[709]
8 April, from the Ager Pomptinus.
P.S.--Your letter which I received from L. Arruntius I have torn up,
though it didn't deserve it; for it had nothing in it which might not
have been safely read in a public meeting. But not only did Arruntius
say that such were your orders, but you had appended a similar
injunction to your letter. Well, be it so! I am surprised at your not
having written anything to me since, especially as you are in the midst
of such stirring events.[710]
[Footnote 708: _Græculam tibi misi cautionem chirographi mei._ Various
interpretations have been given to this: (1) "a truly Greek security,"
_i.e._, "not to be depended on"; (2) referring to a poem in Greek,
perhaps the one in praise of Cæsar's achievements, mentioned before (p.
338), in which some compliment to Trebatius was introduced; (3) Prof.
Tyrrell would make it refer to this letter itself, which he supposes to
have been written in Greek, and afterwards translated by Tiro. But this
letter does not read like a translation, and, after all, is not of a
nature to shew as a "commendation." It is conceived in too jocular a
vein. I have taken it to refer to some inclosure written in Greek which
he might use in this way, and the mention of his "own handwriting" to
refer to the fact that he would naturally have employed a Greek
secretary to write Greek. The diminutive _Græculam_ I take to be
apologetic for the Greek. But it is not at all certain.]
[Footnote 709: On his journey along the _via Appia_ to one of his
seaside villas Cicero has put up at a friend's house (a freedman of
Lepidus), near the Pomptine marshes, as was his wont (_Att._ vii. 5). It
was near Ulubræ, of which he was deputy _patronus_ in the absence of
Trebatius, and he jestingly pretends that the frogs which he hears
croaking in the marshes are frogs of Ulubræ turning out to do him
honour, as though they were the citizens of the town. Ulubræ was a very
dull and decaying town.]
[Footnote 710: The great rising in Gaul in B.C. S4-53, and the second
expedition across the Rhine.]
CLXXIII (F VII, 15)
TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
How wayward people are who love may be gathered from this: I was
formerly annoyed that you were discontented at being where you are: now,
on the contrary, it stings me to the heart that you write that you are
quite happy there. For I did not like your not being pleased at my
recommendation, and now I am vexed that you can find anything pleasant
without me. But, after all, I prefer enduring your absence to your not
getting what I hope for you. However, I cannot say how pleased I am that
you have become intimate with that most delightful man and excellent
scholar, C. Matius.[711] Do your best to make him as fond of you as
possible. Believe me, you can bring nothing home from your province that
will give you greater pleasure. Take care of your health.
CLXXIV (F II, 4)
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO (IN ASIA)
ROME (? MAY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
You are aware that letters are of many kinds; but there is one kind
which is undeniable, for the sake of which, indeed, the thing was
invented, namely, to inform the absent of anything that is to the
interest of the writer or recipient that they should know. You, however,
certainly don't expect a letter of that kind from me. For of your
domestic concerns you have members of your family both to write and to
act as messengers. Besides, in my personal affairs there is really
nothing new. There are two other kinds of letters which give me great
pleasure: the familiar and sportive, and the grave and serious. Which of
these two I ought least to employ I do not understand. Am I to jest with
you by letter? Upon my word, I don't think the man a good citizen who
could laugh in times like these. Shall I write in a more serious style?
What could be written of seriously by Cicero to Curio except public
affairs? And yet, under this head, my position is such that I neither
dare write what I think, nor choose to write what I don't think.
Wherefore, since I have no subject left to write about, I will employ my
customary phrase, and exhort you to the pursuit of the noblest glory.
For you have a dangerous rival already in the field, and fully prepared,
in the extraordinary expectation formed of you; and this rival you will
vanquish with the greatest ease, only on one condition--that you make up
your mind to put out your full strength in the cultivation of those
qualities, by which the noble actions are accomplished, upon the glory
of which you have set your heart. In support of this sentiment I would
have written at greater length had not I felt certain that you were
sufficiently alive to it of your own accord; and I have touched upon it
even thus far, not in order to fire your ambition, but to testify my
affection.
[Footnote 711: The friendship between Trebatius and Matius remained as
long as we know anything about them. Cicero afterwards acknowledges
(_F._ ii. 27) the great services Matius had done him with Cæsar, to whom
Matius remained attached to the end.]
CLXXV (F II, 5)
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO (ON HIS WAY FROM ASIA)
ROME (? JUNE)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
The state of business here I dare not tell even in a letter. And though,
wherever you are, as I have told you before, you are in the same boat,
yet I congratulate you on your absence, as well because you don't see
what we see, as because your reputation is placed on a lofty and
conspicuous pinnacle in the sight of multitudes both of citizens and
allies; and it is conveyed to us by neither obscure nor uncertain talk,
but by the loud and unanimous voice of all. There is one thing of which
I cannot feel certain--whether to congratulate you, or to be alarmed for
you on account of the surprising expectation entertained of your return;
not because I am at all afraid of your not satisfying the world's
opinion, but, by heaven, lest, when you do come, there may be nothing
for you to preserve: so universal is the decline and almost extinction
of all our institutions. But even thus much I am afraid I have been rash
to trust to a letter: wherefore you shall learn the rest from
others.[712] However, whether you have still some hope of the Republic,
or have given it up in despair, see that you have ready, rehearsed and
thought out in your mind, all that the citizen and the man should have
at his command who is destined to restore to its ancient dignity and
freedom a state crushed and overwhelmed by evil times and profligate
morals.
[Footnote 712: In these vague though ominous sentences Cicero is
referring to the constant and violent hindrances to the election of
magistrates, that is, to the orderly working of the constitution, which
were occurring. No consuls were elected till September.]
CLXXVI (F II, 6)
TO C. SCRIBONIUS CURIO (ARRIVED IN ITALY)
ROME (? JULY)
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
News had not yet reached me of your arrival in Italy when I sent Sext.
Villius, an intimate of my friend Milo, with this letter to you. But
nevertheless, since your arrival was thought to be approaching, and it
was ascertained that you had already started from Asia Rome-wards, the
importance of my subject made me dismiss any fear of being premature in
sending you this letter, for I was exceedingly anxious that it should
reach you as soon as possible. If the obligations, Curio, had only been
on your side, and as great as they are usually proclaimed by you rather
than as valued by me, I should have been more shy of coming to you for
any request of importance which I might have to make. For it is very
disagreeable to a modest man to ask a great favour from one whom he
thinks under an obligation to himself, lest he should seem rather to
demand than to ask what he is seeking, and to regard it more in the
light of a debt than of a favour. But since your kindnesses to me were
known to the whole world, or rather I should say were made especially
prominent and valuable by the very novelty of my circumstances; and
since it is the mark of a generous heart to be willing, when much is
owed, to reckon the debt at its highest; I did not hesitate to prefer
to you by letter a petition for what was of the highest importance and
most vital consequence to me of anything in the world. For I was not
afraid of being unable to support your kindnesses to me, even though
they were beyond calculation: especially as I felt confident that there
was no amount of favour for which my heart was incapable of finding room
when receiving it, or for which in repayment it could not make a full
and brilliant return. I have concentrated and embarked all my zeal, all
my efforts, all the care and industry of which I am capable, my every
thought, in fact, my whole heart and soul, on securing Milo's
consulship; and I have made up my mind that in this matter I ought to
look not merely for the profit arising from an act of kindness, but also
for the credit of disinterested affection. Nor do I think that anyone
was ever so anxious about his own personal safety and his own fortunes
as I am for his election, on which I have made up my mind that all my
interests depend. To him I see clearly that, if you choose, you can
render such substantial help that we need ask for nothing else. We have
on our side all these advantages: the favour of the loyalists won since
his tribunate on account of his supporting me (as I hope you
understand); that of the common multitude on account of the splendour of
his gladiatorial exhibitions and the liberality of his disposition; the
favour of the young men and of those influential in securing votes, won
by his own eminent powers of captivation, shall I call it? or his
diligence in that department; lastly, my own electoral support, which,
if it is not very powerful, is at any rate regarded as only right, due
and proper, and on that account is perhaps influential also. What we
want is a leader, and what I may call a controller, or, so to speak, a
pilot of those winds which I have described: and if we had to select one
such out of the whole world, we should have no one to compare with you.
Wherefore, if (as I am sure you can) you can regard me as a grateful, as
an honest man, from the mere fact that I am thus eagerly exerting myself
for Milo, if, in fine, you think me worthy of your kindness, I do ask
you this favour--that you come to the rescue of this anxiety of mine and
this crisis in my reputation, or, to put it with greater truth, that you
will devote your zeal to what is all but a question of life and death to
me. As to Titus Annius[713] himself, I promise you this much--that if
you resolve to embrace his cause, you will never have anyone of greater
spirit, solidity, firmness, or affection to yourself. While to me you
will have given so much additional honour and prestige, that I shall
have no difficulty in acknowledging you to have been as effective in
supporting my reputation as you were in securing my safety.
Did I not know that you must be fully aware, while writing this letter
to you, under what a weight of obligation I am labouring, how strongly I
am bound to work in this election for Milo, not only with every kind of
exertion, but even with downright fighting, I should have written at
greater length. As it is, I hand over and commit the business, the
cause, and myself wholly and entirely into your hands. Of one thing be
sure: if I obtain this help from you, I shall owe you almost more than I
owe Milo himself; for my personal safety, in which I have been
conspicuously aided by him, has not been as dear to me as the sacred
duty of returning the favour will be delightful. That object I feel
confident that your aid, and yours alone, will enable me to secure.
[Footnote 713: Milo. His full name is T. Annius Milo Papianus;
originally of the _gens Papia_, he had been adopted by his maternal
grandfather, T. Annius.]
CLXXVII (F XIII, 75)
TO TITUS TITIUS, A LEGATUS[714]
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 53, ÆT. 53]
Though I have no doubt that my first introduction retains its full value
in your eyes, I yet yield to the request of a man with whom I am very
intimate, C. Avianius Flaccus, for whose sake I not only desire, but am
in duty bound to secure every possible favour. In regard to him I both
spoke earnestly to you in a personal interview--on which occasion you
answered me with the greatest kindness--and have written with full
particulars to you on a previous occasion; but he thinks it to his
interest that I should write to you as often as possible. Wherefore I
would have you pardon me if, in compliance with his wishes, I shall
appear to be at all forgetful of the stability of your character. What I
beg of you is this--that you would accommodate Avianius as to the place
and time for landing his corn: for which he obtained by my influence a
three years' licence whilst Pompey was at the head of that business. The
chief thing is--and you can therein lay me under the greatest
obligation--that you should have convinced Avianius that I enjoy your
affection, since he thinks himself secure of mine. You will greatly
oblige me by doing this.
[Footnote 714: Pompey was _præfectus annonæ_ B.C. 57-52. As such he had
a number of _legati_, of whom this Titus Titius was one; but there is
nothing to shew in which of the corn-supplying countries he was
employed. Avianius is a corn merchant, and wants concessions as to the
importation of his cargoes.]
CLXXVIII (F V, 17)
[Sidenote: B.C. 52. Coss., from V. Kal, Mart., Cn. Pompeius Magnus
(alone); from 1st August, with Q. Metellus Scipio.]
This year again, owing to the riots in the previous year excited by
Clodius to prevent the election of Milo, began with a series of
_interregna_ lasting nearly three months, January, February, and
the intercalary month. On the 17th of January Clodius was killed
near Bovillæ by Milo's servants, and by his order. Riots followed
in Rome, the body was burnt in the Curia, which caught fire and was
destroyed. Cicero undertook Milo's defence under a new law _de vi_
brought in by Pompey, but broke down, and Milo was condemned
(April). Later in the year he successfully prosecuted T. Munatius
Plancus Bursa, who as tribune had promoted the riots after the
death of Clodius, and who had also supported the plan of making
Pompey dictator.
TO P. SITTIUS[715] (IN EXILE)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 52, ÆT. 54]
It was not because I had forgotten our friendship, or had any intention
of breaking off my correspondence, that I have not written to you of
late years. The reason is that the earlier part of them was a period of
depression owing to the disaster which had befallen the Republic and
myself, while the later period, with your own most distressing and
undeserved misfortune, has made me reluctant to write. Since, however, a
sufficiently long period has now elapsed, and I have recalled with
greater distinctness your high character and lofty courage, I thought it
not inconsistent with my purposes to write this to you. For my part, my
dear P. Sittius, I defended you originally, when an attempt was made in
your absence to bring you into odium and under a criminal charge; and
when a charge against you was involved in the accusation and trial of
your most intimate friend,[716] I took the very greatest care to
safeguard your position and justify you. And, again also, on this last
occasion, soon after my return to Rome, though I found that your case
had been put on a footing far different from what I should have advised,
if I had been there, still I omitted nothing that could contribute to
your security. And though on that occasion the ill-feeling arising from
the price of corn, the hostility of certain persons, not only to
yourself, but to all your friends as well, the unfairness of the whole
trial, and many other abuses in the state, had greater influence than
the merits of your case or than truth itself, I yet did not fail to
serve your son Publius with active assistance, advice, personal
influence, and direct testimony. Wherefore, as I have carefully and
religiously fulfilled all the other offices of friendship, I thought I
ought not to omit that of urging upon you and beseeching you to remember
that you are a human being and a gallant man--that is, that you should
bear philosophically accidents which are common to all and incalculable,
which none of us mortals can shun or forestall by any means whatever:
should confront with courage such grief as fortune brings: and should
reflect that not in our state alone, but in all others that have
acquired an empire, such disasters have in many instances befallen the
bravest and best from unjust verdicts. Oh that I were writing untruly
when I say, that you are exiled from a state in which no man of
foresight can find anything to give him pleasure! As for your son,
again, I fear that, if I write nothing to you, I may seem not to have
borne testimony to his high qualities as they deserve; while on the
other hand, if I write fully all I feel, I fear that my letter may
irritate the smart of your regret. But, after all, your wisest course
will be to regard his loyalty, virtue, and steady conduct as being in
your possession, and as accompanying you wherever you may be: for, in
truth, what we embrace in imagination is no less ours than what we see
before our eyes. Wherefore not only ought his brilliant qualities and
extreme affection for you to afford you great consolation, but so also
ought I and others of your friends who value you, and always will do so,
not for your position, but your worth; and so, above all else, ought
your own conscience, when you reflect that you have not deserved
anything that has befallen you, and when you consider besides that the
wise are distressed by guilt, not by mischance--by their own ill-doing,
not by the misconduct of others. For my part, I shall omit no
opportunity either of consoling or alleviating your present position;
for the recollection of our old friendship, and the high character and
respectful attentions of your son, will keep me in mind of that duty. If
you, on your part, will mention by letter anything you want, I will take
care that you shall not think that you have written in vain.
[Footnote 715: The letter in some MSS. is inscribed to Sextius or
Sestius. Of P. Sittius of Nuceria we hear in the speech _pro Sulla_, §§
56, 58. Sulla (who was accused of assisting Catiline) had sent P.
Sittius on a mission to Spain, as it was alleged, to raise a rebellion
there in support of Catiline. It does not, however, appear that his
condemnation took place then. It seems to have been just previous to
Cicero's return from exile (August, B.C. 57), and it is suggested that
it was after his ædileship of the previous year, when a scarcity of corn
had contributed to his unpopularity. The date of the letter is
uncertain.]
[Footnote 716: P. Sulla. Sittius was not, it seems, brought to trial
with Sulla, but his journey to Spain formed part of the allegations
against Sulla.]
CLXXIX (F V, 18)
TO T. FADIUS[717] (IN EXILE)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 52, ÆT. 54]
Although I too, who am desirous of consoling you, stand in need of
consolation myself--for nothing for a long time past has so deeply
afflicted me as your disaster--nevertheless I do strongly not only
exhort, but even beg and implore you, with all the earnestness that my
affection dictates, to summon all your energies, to shew a manly
courage, and to reflect under what conditions all mortals, and in what
times we particularly, have been born. Your virtue has given you more
than fortune has taken away: for you have obtained what not many "new
men" have obtained; you have lost what many men of the highest rank have
lost. Finally, a state of legislation, law courts, and politics
generally appears to be imminent, such that the man would seem to be the
most fortunate who has quitted such a republic as ours with the lightest
possible penalty. As for you, however--since you retain your fortune and
children, with myself and others still very closely united to you,
whether by relationship or affection--and since you are likely to have
much opportunity of living with me and all your friends--and since,
again, your condemnation is the only one out of so many that is
impugned, because, having been passed by one vote (and that a doubtful
one), it is regarded as a concession to a particular person's
overwhelming[718] power--for all these reasons, I say, you ought to be
as little distressed as possible at the inconvenience that has befallen
you. My feeling towards yourself and your children will always be such
as you wish, and such as it is in duty bound to be.
[Footnote 717: Titus Fadius Gallus had been a quæstor in Cicero's
consulship (B.C. 63), and a tribune in B.C. 58, when Cicero reckoned him
among those on whom he depended to resist Clodius. He also, among
others, had a motion prepared for Cicero's recall, of which Cicero
speaks with approbation (p. 178). We do not know on what charge he had
been condemned, but a number of prosecutions followed the death of
Clodius and Pompey's legislation as to violence and corruption of
juries.]
[Footnote 718: Pompey. He uses the word _potentia_, as he generally
does, in an invidious sense of "tyrannical, or, unconstitutional power,"
as opposed to _auctoritas_, "legitimate influence."]
CLXXX (F III, 1)
TO APPIUS CLAUDIUS PULCHER[719] (IN CILICIA)
ROME
[Sidenote: B.C. 52, ÆT. 54]
Cicero to Appius, _imperator_. Could the Republic itself speak and tell
you of its state, you would not learn it more easily from its own lips
than from your freedman Phania: he is a man of such clear insight, as
well as (in a good sense) of such keen curiosity! Wherefore he shall
explain everything to you: for that will suit me best by enabling me to
curtail my letter, and will be more prudent for me in view of other
circumstances. But in regard to my good feeling towards you, though you
can learn it from this same Phania, yet I think that I also have
personally something I ought to say on the subject. For assure yourself
of this--that you are exceedingly dear to me, from the many attractions
of your character, your kindness, and the goodness of your heart, but
also because from your letter, as well as from the remarks of many, I
understand that all my conduct towards you has been most warmly
appreciated by you. And since that is so, I will take means to make up
for the great loss of time, which we have sustained from this
interruption of our intercourse, by the liberality, the frequency, and
the importance of my services; and that I think I shall do, since you
would have it be so, by no means against the grain, or as the phrase is,
"against the will of Minerva"--a goddess by the way whom, if I shall
chance to get possession of a statue of her from your stock, I shall not
simply designate "Pallas," but "Appias."[720] Your freedman Cilix was
not well known to me before, but when he delivered me your kind and
affectionate letter, he confirmed the courteous expressions of that
letter by his own words. I was much gratified by his speech, when he
described to me your feelings and the remarks which you were daily
making about me. In short, within two days he became my intimate friend,
without, however, my ceasing to regret Phania deeply. When you send the
latter back to Rome, which I imagine you intend speedily to do, pray
give him instructions as to all matters which you wish to be transacted
or looked after by me.
I commend L. Valerius the lawyer to you very strongly; not, however, in
his capacity of lawyer: for I wish to take better precautions for him
than he does for others. I am really fond of the man: he is one of my
closest and most intimate friends. In a general way he expresses nothing
but gratitude to you; but he also says that a letter from me will have
very great influence with you. I beg you again and again that he may not
find himself mistaken.
[Footnote 719: Brother of Cicero's enemy, P. Clodius. He had been consul
in B.C. 54, and was now proconsul in Cilicia, in which government Cicero
was to succeed him. His relations with Cicero had been varied, and
though Cicero speaks warmly to him, he does not do so often of him, and
his compliments are evidently not really sincere.]
[Footnote 720: "I shall, in compliment to your accomplishments, call the
goddess of learning and wisdom 'Appias,'" _i.e._, the "Appian Goddess."
But the meaning of the elaborate and dull joke or compliment is far from
clear, especially the phrase _si forte de tuis sumpsero_. Was Cicero
expecting a present of a bust of Minerva, or intending to purchase one
from Appius's collection? Or does he allude, as has been suggested, to
the Minerva he had himself dedicated before his exile, and which had
probably fallen into the hands of the Appian family?]
CLXXXI (F VII, 2)
TO M. MARIUS (IN CAMPANIA)
ROME (DECEMBER)
[Sidenote: B.C. 52, ÆT. 54]
I will look after your commission carefully. But, sharp man that you
are, you have given your commission to the very person above all others
whose interest it is that the article should fetch the highest possible
price! However, you have been far-sighted in fixing beforehand how far I
am to go. But if you had left it to me, I am so much attached to you
that I would have made a bargain with the heirs: as it is, since I know
your price, I will put up some one to bid rather than let it go for
less. But a truce to jesting! I will do your business with all care, as
in duty bound. I feel sure you are glad about Bursa[721], but your
congratulations are too half-hearted. For you suppose, as you say in
your letter, that, owing to the fellow's meanness, I don't look upon it
as a matter of much rejoicing. I would have you believe that I am more
pleased with this verdict than with the death of my enemy. For, in the
first place, I would rather win by legal process than by the sword; in
the second place, by what brings credit to a friend than by what
involves his condemnation.[722] And, above all, I was delighted that the
support of the loyalists was given to me so decisively against the
influence exerted to an incredible degree by a most illustrious and
powerful personage. Finally--though, perhaps, you won't think it
likely--I hated this man much more than the notorious Clodius himself.
For the latter I had attacked, the former I had defended. The latter,
too, though the very existence of the Republic was to be risked in my
person, had yet a certain great object in view; nor was it wholly on his
own initiative, but with the support of those who could not be safe as
long as I was so. But this ape of a fellow, in sheer wantonness, had
selected me as an object for his invectives, and had persuaded certain
persons[723] who were jealous of me that he would always be a ready
instrument for an attack upon me. Wherefore I bid you rejoice with all
your heart: a great stroke has been struck. Never were any citizens more
courageous than those who ventured to vote for his condemnation, in the
teeth of the immense power of the man by whom the jurors had themselves
been selected. And this they never would have done had not my grievance
been theirs also. Here, in Rome, I am so distracted by the number of
trials, the crowded courts, and the new legislation,[724] that I daily
offer prayers that there may be no intercalation,[725] so that I may see
you as soon as possible.
[Footnote 721: The condemnation of T. Munatius Plancus Bursa, who, being
tribune in B.C. 52, had promoted the riots following the death of
Clodius, especially in regard to burning his body in the Curia, and had,
after his office terminated (10th December), been prosecuted _de vi_ by
Cicero successfully. Bursa, with others, had supported Pompey's wish for
the dictatorship, as well as his legislation, and accordingly, in
attacking him, Cicero had against him the weight of Pompey's influence.
He therefore looks upon it as a great triumph.]
[Footnote 722: The condemnation of Bursa was a point in favour of Milo,
whereas Milo's murder of Clodius only brought his ultimate condemnation
and exile. Milo's trial had taken place in April.]
[Footnote 723: Pompey and his friends.]
[Footnote 724: The new laws introduced by Pompey _de vi_, _de
magistratibus_, _de pecunia ob iudicium_.]
[Footnote 725: The intercalary month was inserted between the 23rd and
24th of February. Whether it was to be inserted or not depended on the
pontifices, who kept their secret jealously. If it is inserted, Cicero
will be kept all the longer in town with senatorial and legal business,
and so be prevented from seeing Marius, who lived near his Pompeian
villa.]
APPENDIX A
DE PETITIONE CONSULATUS
[This is rather an essay than a letter, and is not generally included in
any of the books of the correspondence. To my mind there are indications
of its being a later composition, the exercise of some one who wished to
shew the nature of canvassing at the time. Still, there are many
arguments in favour of regarding it as the composition of Quintus, and
at any rate it is a contribution to the picture of the times.]
Q. CICERO TO HIS BROTHER MARCUS (AT ROME)
I. Although you have all the accomplishments within the reach of human
genius, experience, or acuteness, yet I thought it only consistent with
my affection to set down in writing what occurred to my mind while
thinking, as I do, day and night on your canvass, not with the
expectation that you would learn anything new from it, but that the
considerations on a subject, which appeared to be disconnected and
without system, might be brought under one view by a logical
arrangement.
Consider what the state is: what it is you seek: who you are that seek
it. Almost every day as you go down to the forum you should say to
yourself, "I am a _novus homo_," "I am a candidate for the consulship,"
"This is Rome." For the "newness" of your name you will best compensate
by the brilliancy of your oratory. That has ever carried with it very
great political distinction. A man who is held worthy of defending
consulars cannot be thought unworthy of the consulship. Wherefore, since
your reputation in this is your starting-point, since whatever you are,
you are from this, approach each individual case with the persuasion
that on it depends as a whole your entire reputation. See that those
aids to natural ability, which I know are your special gifts, are ready
for use and always available; and remember what Demetrius wrote about
the hard work and practice of Demosthenes; and, finally, take care that
both the number and rank of your friends are unmistakable. For you have
such as few _novi homines_ have had--all the _publicani_, nearly the
whole equestrian order, many municipal towns specially devoted to you,
many persons who have been defended by you, men of every order, many
_collegia_, and, besides these, a large number of the rising generation
who have become attached to you in their enthusiasm for rhetoric, and,
finally, your friends who visit you daily in large numbers and with such
constant regularity. See that you retain these advantages by reminding
these persons, by appealing to them, and by using every means to make
them understand that this, and this only, is the time for those who are
in your debt to show their gratitude, and for those who wish for your
services in the future to place you under an obligation. It also seems
possible that a "new man" may be much assisted by the fact that he has
the good wishes of men of high rank, and especially of consulars. It is
a point in your favour that you should be thought worthy of this
position and rank by the very men to whose position and rank you are
wishing to attain. All these men must be canvassed with care, agents
must be sent to them, and they must be convinced that we have always
been at one with the Optimates in our political sentiments, that we have
never been demagogues in the very least: that if we seem ever to have
said anything in the spirit of that party, we did so with the view of
attracting Cn. Pompeius, that we might have the man of the greatest
influence either actively on our side in our canvass, or at least not
opposed to us.[726] Farthermore, take pains to get on your side the
young men of high rank, or retain the affection of those you already
have. They will contribute much to your political position. You have
very many; make them feel how much you think depends on them: if you
induce those to be positively eager who are merely not disinclined, they
will be of very great advantage to you.
II. It is also a great set-off to your "newness," that the nobles who
are your competitors are of a such a kind that no one can venture to say
that their nobility ought to stand them in greater stead than your high
character. For instance, who could think of P. Galba and L. Cassius,
though by birth of the highest rank, as candidates for the consulship?
You see, therefore, that there are men of the noblest families, who from
defect of ability are not your equals. But, you will say, Catiline and
Antonius are formidable. Rather I should say that a man of energy,
industry, unimpeachable character, great eloquence, and high popularity
with those who are the ultimate judges, should wish for such
rivals--both from their boyhood stained with blood and lust, both of
ruined fortunes. Of one of them we have seen the property put up for
sale, and actually heard him declare on oath that at Rome he could not
contend with a Greek or obtain an impartial tribunal.[727] We know that
he was ejected from the senate by the judgment of genuine censors: in
our prætorship we had him as a competitor, with such men as Sabidius and
Panthera to back him, because he had no one else to appear for him at
the scrutiny. Yet in this office he bought a mistress from the slave
market whom he kept openly at his house. Moreover, in his canvass for
the consulship, he has preferred to be robbing all the innkeepers, under
the disgraceful pretext of a _libera legatio_, rather than to be in town
and supplicate the Roman people. But the other! Good heavens! what is
his distinction? Is he of equally noble birth? No. Is he richer? No. In
manliness, then? How do you make that out? Why, because while the former
fears his own shadow, this man does not even fear the laws!--A man born
in the house of a bankrupt father, nurtured in the society of an
abandoned sister, grown to manhood amidst the massacre of fellow
citizens, whose first entrance to public life was made by the slaughter
of Roman knights! For Sulla had specially selected Catiline to command
that band of Gauls which we remember, who shore off the heads of the
Titinii and Nannii and Tanusii: and while with them he killed with his
own hands the best man of the day, his own sister's husband, Quintus
Cæcilius, who was a Roman eques, a man belonging to no party, always
quiet by inclination, and then so from age also.
III. Why should I speak of him as a candidate for the consulship, who
caused M. Marius, a man most beloved by the Roman people, to be beaten
with vine-rods in the sight of that Roman people from one end of the
city to the other--forced him up to the tomb--rent his frame with every
kind of torture, and while he was still alive and breathing, cut off his
head with his sword in his right hand, while he held the hairs on the
crown of his head with his left, and carried off his head in his own
hand with streams of blood flowing through his fingers?[728] A man who
afterwards lived with actors and gladiators on such terms that the
former ministered to his lust, the latter to his crimes--who never
approached a place so sacred or holy as not to leave there, even if no
actual crime were committed, some suspicion of dishonour founded on his
abandoned character--a man whose closest friends in the senate were the
Curii and the Annii, in the auction rooms the Sapalæ and Carrilii, in
the equestrian order the Pompilii and Vettii--a man of such consummate
impudence, such abandoned profligacy, in fine, such cunning and success
in lasciviousness, that he corrupted young boys when almost in the
bosoms of their parents? Why should I after this mention Africa to you,
or the depositions of the witnesses? They are well known--read them
again and again yourself. Nevertheless, I think that I should not omit
to mention that he left that court in the first place as needy as some
of the jurors were before the trial, and in the second place the object
of such hatred, that another prosecution against him is called for every
day. His position is such that he is more likely to be nervous even if
you do nothing, than contemptuous if you start any proceedings.
What much better fortune in your canvass is yours than that which not
long ago fell to the lot of another "new man," Gaius Cælius![729] He had
two men of the highest rank as competitors, but they were of such a
character that their rank was the least of their recommendations--genius
of the highest order, supreme modesty, very numerous public services,
most excellent methods of conducting a canvass, and diligence in
carrying them out. And yet Cælius, though much inferior in birth, and
superior in hardly anything, beat one of them. Wherefore, if you do what
your natural ability and studies, which you have always pursued, enable
you to do, what the exigencies of your present position require, what
you are capable of doing and are bound to do, you will not have a
difficult struggle with competitors who are by no means so conspicuous
for their birth as notorious for their vices. For what citizen can there
be found so ill-affected as to wish by one vote to draw two daggers
against the Republic?
IV. Having thus set forth what advantages you have and might have to set
against your "newness," I think I ought now to say a word on the
importance of what you are trying for. You are seeking the consulship,
an office of which no one thinks you unworthy, but of which there are
many who will be jealous. For, while by birth of equestrian rank,[730]
you are seeking the highest rank in the state, and yet one which, though
the highest, reflects much greater splendour on a man of courage,
eloquence, and pure life than on others. Don't suppose that those who
have already held that office are blind to the political position you
will occupy, when once you have obtained the same. I suspect, however,
that those who, though born of consular families, have not attained the
position of their ancestors, will, unless they happen to be strongly
attached to you, feel some jealousy. Even "new men" who have been
prætors I think, unless under great obligations to you, will not like to
be surpassed by you in official rank. Lastly, in the populace itself, I
am sure it will occur to you how many are envious, how many, from the
precedents of recent years, are averse to "new men." It must also needs
be that some are angry with you in consequence of the causes which you
have pleaded. Nay, carefully consider this also, whether, seeing that
you have devoted yourself with such fervour to the promotion of Pompey's
glory, you can suppose certain men to be your friends on that
account.[731] Wherefore, seeing that you are seeking the highest place
in the state, and at the same time that there do exist sentiments
opposed to you, you must positively employ every method, and all your
vigilance, labour, and attention to business.
V. Again, the canvass for office resolves itself into an activity of two
kinds, of which one is concerned with the loyalty of friends, the other
with the feelings of the people. The loyalty of friends must be secured
by acts of kindness and attention, by length of time, and by an easy and
agreeable temper. But this word "friends" has a wider application during
a canvass than in other times of our life. For whosoever gives any sign
of an inclination to you, or habitually visits at your house, must be
put down in the category of friends. But yet the most advantageous thing
is to be beloved and pleasant in the eyes of those who are friends on
the more regular grounds of relationship by blood or marriage, of
membership of the same club, or of some close tie or other. Farther, you
must take great pains that, in proportion as a man is most intimate and
most closely connected with your household, he should love you and
desire your highest honour--as, for instance, your tribesmen,
neighbours, clients, and finally your freedmen and even your slaves; for
nearly all the talk which forms one's public reputation emanates from
domestic sources. In a word, you must secure friends of every class: for
show--men conspicuous for their office or name, who, even if they do not
give any actual assistance in canvassing, yet add some dignity to the
candidate; to maintain your just rights--magistrates, consuls first and
then tribunes; to secure the votes of the centuries--men of eminent
popularity. Those who either have gained or hope to gain the vote of a
tribe or century, or any other advantage, through your influence, take
all pains to collect and secure. For during recent years men of ambition
have exerted themselves with all their might and main to become sure of
getting from their tribesmen what they sought. Do you also do your very
best, by every means in your power, to make such men attached to you
from the bottom of their hearts and with the most complete devotion. If,
indeed, men were as grateful as they ought to be, all this should be
ready to your hand, as I trust in fact that it is. For within the last
two years you have put under an obligation to you four clubs of men who
have the very greatest influence in promoting an election, those of C.
Fundanius, Q. Gallius, C. Cornelius, C. Orchivius.[732] When they
committed the defence of these men to you, I am acquainted with what
their clubsmen undertook and promised you to do, for I was present at
the interview. Wherefore you must insist at the present juncture on
exacting from them your due by reminding them, appealing to them,
solemnly assuring them, and taking care that they thoroughly understand
that they will never have any other opportunity of shewing their
gratitude. I cannot doubt that these men, from hope of your services in
the future as well as from the benefits recently received, will be
roused to active exertions. And speaking generally, since your
candidature is most strongly supported by that class of friendships
which you have gained as a counsel for the defence, take care that to
all those, whom you have placed under this obligation to you, their duty
should in every case be clearly defined and set forth. And as you have
never been in any matter importunate with them, so be careful that they
understand that you have reserved for this occasion all that you
consider them to owe you.
VI. But since men are principally induced to shew goodwill and zeal at
the hustings by three considerations--kindness received, hope of more,
personal affection and good feeling--we must take notice how best to
take advantage of each of these. By very small favours men are induced
to think that they have sufficient reason for giving support at the
poll, and surely those you have saved (and their number is very large)
cannot fail to understand that, if at this supreme crisis they fail to
do what you wish, they will never have anyone's confidence. And though
this is so, nevertheless they must be appealed to, and must even be led
to think it possible that they, who have hitherto been under an
obligation to us, may now put us under an obligation to them. Those,
again, who are influenced by hope (a class of people much more apt to be
scrupulously attentive) you must take care to convince that your
assistance is at their service at any moment, and to make them
understand that you are carefully watching the manner in which they
perform the duties they owe you, and to allow no mistake to exist as to
your clearly perceiving and taking note of the amount of support coming
from each one of them. The third class which I mentioned is that of
spontaneous and sincere friends, and this class you will have to make
more secure by expressions of your gratitude; by making your words tally
with the motives which it shall appear to you influenced them in taking
up your cause; by shewing that the affection is mutual; and by
suggesting that your friendship with them may ripen into intimacy and
familiar intercourse. In all these classes alike consider and weigh
carefully the amount of influence each possesses, in order to know both
the kind of attention to pay to each, and what you are to expect and
demand from each. For certain men are popular in their own
neighbourhoods and towns; there are others possessed of energy and
wealth, who, even if they have not heretofore sought such popularity,
can yet easily obtain it at the moment for the sake of one to whom they
owe or wish to do a favour. Your attention to such classes of men must
be such as to shew them that you clearly understand what is to be
expected from each, that you appreciate what you are receiving, and
remember what you have received. There are, again, others who either
have no influence or are positively disliked by their tribesmen, and
have neither the spirit nor the ability to exert themselves on the spur
of the moment: be sure you distinguish between such men, that you may
not be disappointed in your expectation of support by placing over-much
hope on some particular person.
VII. But although you ought to rely on, and be fortified by, friendships
already gained and firmly secured, yet in the course of the canvass
itself very numerous and useful friendships are acquired. For among its
annoyances a candidature has this advantage: you can without loss of
dignity, as you cannot in other affairs of life, admit whomsoever you
choose to your friendship, to whom if you were at any other time to
offer your society, you would be thought guilty of an eccentricity;
whereas during a canvass, if you don't do so with many, and take pains
about it besides, you would be thought to be no use as a candidate at
all. Moreover, I can assure you of this, that there is no one, unless he
happens to be bound by some special tie to some one of your rivals,
whom you could not induce, if you took pains, to earn your affection by
his good services, and to seize the opportunity of putting you under an
obligation--let him but fully understand that you value him highly, that
you really mean what you say, that he is making a good investment, and
that there will accrue from it not only a brief and electioneering
friendship, but a firm and lasting one. There will be no one, believe
me, if he has anything in him at all, who will let slip this opportunity
offered of establishing a friendship with you, especially when by good
luck you have competitors whose friendship is one to be neglected or
avoided, and who not only are unable to secure what I am urging you to
secure, but cannot even make the first step towards it. For how should
Antonius make the first step towards attaching people to himself, when
he cannot even call them, unaided, by their proper names? I, for one,
think that there can be no greater folly than to imagine a man
solicitous to serve you whom you don't know by sight. Extraordinary
indeed must be the fame, the political position and extent of the public
services of that man whom entire strangers, without supporters to back
him, would elect to office. That a man without principle or energy,
without doing any good service, and without ability, lying under a cloud
of discredit, and without friends, should beat a man fortified with the
devotion of a numerous circle and by the good opinion of all, cannot
possibly occur except from gross negligence.
VIII. Wherefore see that you have the votes of all the centuries secured
to you by the number and variety of your friends. The first and most
obvious thing is that you should embrace the Roman senators and knights,
and the active and popular men of all the other orders. There are many
city men of good business habits, there are many freedmen engaged in the
forum who are popular and energetic: these men try with all your might
both personally and by common friends, as far as you can, to make eager
in your behalf; seek them out, send agents to them, shew them that they
are putting you under the greatest obligation. After that review the
entire city, all colleges, districts, neighbourhoods. If you attach to
yourself the leading men of these, you will by their means easily keep a
hold upon the multitude. When you have done that, take care to have in
your mind a chart of all Italy laid out according to the tribe of each
town, and learn it by heart, so that you may not allow any _municipium_,
colony, prefecture, or, in a word, any spot in Italy to exist, in which
you have not a sufficient foothold. Inquire also for and trace out
individuals in every region, inform yourself about them, seek them out,
strengthen their resolution, secure that in their own neighbourhoods
they shall canvass for you, and be as it were candidates in your
interest. They will wish for you as a friend, if they once see that
their friendship is an object with you. Make sure that they _do_
understand this by directing your speech specially to this point. Men of
country towns, or from the country, think themselves in the position of
friends if we of the city know them by name: if, however, they think
that they are besides securing some protection for themselves, they do
not let slip the opportunity of being obliging. Of such people others in
town, and above all your rivals, don't so much as know the existence:
you know about them and will easily recognize them, without which
friendship is impossible. Nor is such recognition enough (though it is a
great thing) unless some hope of material advantage and active
friendship follows, for your object is not to be looked upon as a mere
"nomenclator," but as a sincere friend also. So when you have both got
the favour of these same men in the centuries, who from the means they
have taken to secure their personal objects enjoy most popularity among
their fellow tribesmen; and have made those all desirous of your success
who have influence in any section of their tribe, owing to
considerations attaching to their municipality or neighbourhood or
college, then you may allow yourself to entertain the highest hopes.
Again, the centuries of the knights appear to me capable of being won
over, if you are careful, with considerably more ease. Let your first
care be to acquaint yourself with the knights; for they are
comparatively few: then make advances to them, for it is much easier to
gain the friendship of young men at their time of life. Then again, you
have on your side the best of the rising generation, and the most
devoted to learning. Moreover, as the equestrian order is yours, they
will follow the example of that order, if only you take the trouble to
confirm the support of those centuries, not only by the general good
affection of the order, but also by the friendships of individuals.
Finally, the hearty zeal of the young in canvassing for votes, appearing
at various places, bringing intelligence, and being in attendance on you
in public are surprisingly important as well as creditable.
IX. And since I have mentioned "attendance," I may add that you should
be careful to see large companies every day of every class and order;
for from the mere number of these a guess may well be made as to the
amount of support you are likely to have in the _campus_ itself. Such
visitors are of three kinds: one consists of morning callers who come to
your house, a second of those who escort you to the forum, a third of
those who attend you on your canvass. In the case of the morning
callers, who are less select and, according to the prevailing fashion,
come in greater numbers, you must contrive to make them think that you
value even this slight attention very highly. Let those who shall come
to your house see that you notice it; shew your gratification to such
of their friends as will repeat it to them; frequently mention it to the
persons themselves. It often happens that people, when they visit a
number of candidates, and observe that there is one who above the rest
notices these attentions, devote themselves to him; leave off visiting
the others; little by little become devoted to one instead of being
neutral, and from sham turn out real supporters. Farthermore, carefully
remember this, if you have been told or have discovered that a man who
has given you his promise is "dressing for the occasion," as the phrase
goes, make as though you had neither heard it nor knew it; if any offers
to clear himself to you, because he thinks himself suspected, assert
roundly that you have never doubted his sincerity and have no right to
doubt it. For the man who thinks that he is not giving satisfaction can
never be a friend. You ought, however, to know each man's real feeling,
in order to settle how much confidence to place in him.
Secondly, of those who escort you to the forum: since this is a greater
attention than a morning call, indicate and make clear that it is still
more gratifying to you, and as far as it shall lie in your power go down
to the forum at fixed times. The daily escort by its numbers produces a
great impression and confers great personal distinction. The third class
is that of numbers perpetually attending you on your canvass. See that
those who do so spontaneously understand that you regard yourself as for
ever obliged by their extreme kindness: from those, on the other hand,
who owe you this attention, frankly demand that, as far as their age and
business allow, they should constantly be in personal attendance, and
that those who are unable to accompany you in person should find
relations to take their place in performing this duty. I am very
anxious, and think it extremely important, that you should always be
surrounded by large numbers. Besides, it confers a great reputation and
great distinction to be accompanied by those who by your exertions have
been defended, preserved, and acquitted in the law courts. Put this
demand fairly before them, that, since by your means and without any
payment some have retained their property, others their honour, others
their civil existence and entire fortunes, and since there will never be
any other time at which they can show their gratitude, they should
remunerate you by this service.
X. And since the point now in discussion is entirely a question of the
loyalty of friends, I must not, I think, pass over one caution.
Deception, intrigue, and treachery are everywhere. This is not the time
for a formal disquisition on the indications by which a true friend may
be distinguished from a false: all that is in place now is to give you a
hint. Your exalted character has compelled many to pretend to be your
friends while really jealous of you. Wherefore remember the saying of
Epicharmus, "the muscle and bone of wisdom is to believe nothing
rashly." Again, when you have got the feelings of your friends in a
sound state, you must then acquaint yourself with the attitude and
varieties of your detractors and opponents. There are three: first,
those whom you have attacked; second, those who dislike you without
definite reason; third, those who are warm friends of your competitors.
As to those attacked by you while pleading a friend's cause against
them, frankly excuse yourself; remind them of the ties constraining you;
give them reason to hope that you will act with equal zeal and loyalty
in their cases, if they become your friends. As for those who dislike
you without reason, do your best to remove that prejudice either by some
actual service, or by holding out hopes of it, or by indicating your
kindly feeling towards them. As for those whose wishes are against you
owing to friendship for your competitors, gratify them also by the same
means as the former, and, if you can get them to believe it, shew that
you are kindly disposed to the very men who are standing against you.
XI. Having said enough about securing friendships, I must now speak on
another department of a candidate's task, which is concerned with the
conciliation of the people. This demands a knack of remembering names,
insinuating manners, constant attendance, liberality, the power of
setting a report afloat and creating a hopeful feeling in the state.
First of all, make the faculty you possess of recognizing people
conspicuous, and go on increasing and improving it every day. I don't
think there is anything so popular or so conciliatory. Next, if nature
has denied you some quality, resolve to assume it, so as to appear to be
acting naturally. Although nature has great force, yet in a business
lasting only a few months it seems probable that the artificial may be
the more effective. For though you are not lacking in the courtesy which
good and polite men should have, yet there is great need of a flattering
manner which, however faulty and discreditable in other transactions of
life, is yet necessary during a candidateship. For when it makes a man
worse by truckling, it is wrong; but when only more friendly, it does
not deserve so harsh a term; while it is absolutely necessary to a
candidate, whose face and expression and style of conversation have to
be varied and accommodated to the feelings and tastes of everyone he
meets. As for "constant attendance," there is no need of laying down any
rule, the phrase speaks for itself. It is, of course, of very great
consequence not to go away anywhere; but the real advantage of such
constant attendance is not only the being at Rome and in the forum, but
the pushing one's canvass assiduously, the addressing oneself again and
again to the same persons, the making it impossible (as far as your
power goes) for anyone to say that he has not been asked by you, and
earnestly and carefully asked. Liberality is, again, of wide
application; it is shewn in regard to the management of your private
property, which, even if it does not actually reach the multitude, yet,
if spoken of with praise by friends, earns the favour of the multitude.
It may also be displayed in banquets, which you must take care to attend
yourself and to cause your friends to attend, whether open ones or those
confined to particular tribes. It may, again, be displayed in giving
practical assistance, which I would have you render available far and
wide: and be careful therein to be accessible to all by day and night,
and not only by the doors of your house, but by your face and
countenance, which is the door of the mind; for, if that shews your
feelings to be those of reserve and concealment, it is of little good to
have your house doors open. For men desire not only to have promises
made them, especially in their applications to a candidate, but to have
them made in a liberal and complimentary manner. Accordingly, it is an
easy rule to make, that you should indicate that whatever you are going
to do you will do with heartiness and pleasure; it is somewhat more
difficult, and rather a concession to the necessities of the moment than
to your inclination, that when you cannot do a thing you should [either
promise] or put your refusal pleasantly: the latter is the conduct of a
good man, the former of a good candidate. For when a request is made
which we cannot grant with honour or without loss to ourselves, for
instance, if a man were to ask us to appear in a suit against a friend,
a refusal must be given in a gentlemanly way: you must point out to him
that your hands are tied, must shew that you are exceedingly sorry, must
convince him that you will make up for it in other ways.
XII. I have heard a man say about certain orators, to whom he had
offered his case, "that he had been better pleased with the words of the
one who declined, than of the one who accepted." So true it is that men
are more taken by look and words than by actual services. [This latter
course, however, you will readily approve: the former it is somewhat
difficult to recommend to a Platonist like you, but yet I will have
regard for your present circumstances.] For even those to whom you are
forced by any other tie to refuse your advocacy may yet quit you
mollified and with friendly feelings. But those to whom you only excuse
a refusal by saying that you are hindered by the affairs of closer
friends, or by cases more important or previously undertaken, quit you
with hostile feelings, and are one and all disposed to prefer an
insincere promise to a direct negative from you. C. Cotta, a master in
the art of electioneering, used to say that, "so long as the request was
not directly contrary to moral duty, he used to promise his assistance
to all, to bestow it on those with whom he thought it would be most
advantageously invested: he did not refuse anyone, because something
often turned up to prevent the person whom he promised from availing
himself of it, and it often also occurred that he himself was less
engaged than he had thought at the time; nor could anyone's house be
full of suitors who only undertook what he saw his way to perform: by
some accident or other the unexpected often happens, while business,
which you have believed to be actually in hand, from some cause or other
does not come off: moreover, the worst that can happen is that the man
to whom you have made a false promise is angry." This last risk,
supposing you to make the promise, is uncertain, is prospective, and
only affects a few; but, if you refuse, the offence given is certain,
immediate, and more widely diffused. For many more ask to be allowed to
avail themselves of the help of another than actually do so. Wherefore
it is better that some of them should at times be angry with you in the
forum, than all of them perpetually at your own house: especially as
they are more inclined to be angry with those who refuse, than with a
man whom they perceive to be prevented by so grave a cause as to be
compatible with the desire to fulfil his promise if he possibly could.
But that I may not appear to have abandoned my own classification, since
the department of a candidate's work on which I am now dilating is that
which refers to the populace, I insist on this, that all these
observations have reference not so much to the feelings of friends as to
popular rumour. Though there is something in what I say which comes
under the former head--such as answering with kindness, and giving
zealous assistance in the business and the dangers of friends--yet in
this part of my argument I am speaking of the things which enable you to
win over the populace: for instance, the having your house full of
visitors before daybreak, the securing the affection of many by giving
them hope of your support, the contriving that men should leave you with
more friendly feelings than they came, the filling the ears of as many
as possible with the most telling words.
XIII. For my next theme must be popular report, to which very great
attention must be paid. But what I have said throughout the foregoing
discourse applies also to the diffusion of a favourable report: the
reputation for eloquence; the favour of the _publicani_ and equestrian
order; the goodwill of men of rank; the crowd of young men; the constant
attendance of those whom you have defended; the number of those from
municipal towns who have notoriously come to Rome on your account; the
observations which men make in your favour--that you recognize them,
address them politely, are assiduous and earnest in canvassing; that
they speak and think of you as kind and liberal; the having your house
full of callers long before daybreak; the presence of large numbers of
every class; that your look and speech give satisfaction to all, your
acts and deeds to many; that everything is done which can be done by
hard work, skill, and attention, not to cause the fame arising from all
these displays of feeling to reach the people, but to bring the people
itself to share them. You have already won the city populace and the
affections of those who control the public meetings by your panegyric of
Pompey, by undertaking the cause of Manilius, by your defence of
Cornelius.[733] We must not let those advantages be forgotten, which
hitherto no one has had without possessing at the same time the favour
of the great. We must also take care that everyone knows that Cn.
Pompeius is strongly in your favour, and that it emphatically suits his
purpose that you should win your election. Lastly, take care that your
whole candidature is full of _éclat_, brilliant, splendid, suited to the
popular taste, presenting a spectacle of the utmost dignity and
magnificence. See also, if possible, that some new scandal is started
against your competitors for crime or looseness of life or corruption,
such as is in harmony with their characters.
Above all in this election you must see that the Republic entertains a
good hope and an honourable opinion of you. And yet you must not enter
upon political measures in senate-house and public meeting while a
candidate: you must hold such things in abeyance, in order that from
your lifelong conduct the senate may judge you likely to be the
supporter of their authority; the Roman knights, along with the
loyalists and wealthy, judge you from your past to be eager for peace
and quiet times; and the people think of you as not likely to be hostile
to their interests from the fact that in your style of speaking in
public meetings, and in your declared convictions, you have been on the
popular side.
XIV. This is what occurred to me to say on the subject of these two
morning reflexions, which I said you ought to turn over in your mind
every day as you went down to the forum: "I am a _novus homo_," "I am a
candidate for the consulship." There remains the third, "This is Rome,"
a city made up of a combination of nations, in which many snares, much
deception, many vices enter into every department of life: in which you
have to put up with the arrogant pretensions, the wrong-headedness, the
ill-will, the hauteur, the disagreeable temper and offensive manners of
many. I well understand that it requires great prudence and skill for a
man, living among social vices of every sort, so many and so serious, to
avoid giving offence, causing scandal, or falling into traps, and in his
single person to adapt himself to such a vast variety of character,
speech, and feeling. Wherefore, I say again and again, go on
persistently in the path you have begun: put yourself above rivalry in
eloquence; it is by this that people at Rome are charmed and attracted,
as well as deterred from obstructing a man's career or inflicting an
injury upon him. And since the chief plague spot of our state is that it
allows the prospect of a bribe to blind it to virtue and worth, be sure
that you are fully aware of your own strength, that is, understand that
you are the man capable of producing in the minds of your rivals the
strongest fear of legal proceeding and legal peril. Let them know that
they are watched and scrutinized by you: they will be in terror of your
energy, as well as of your influence and power of speech, and above all
of the affection of the equestrian order towards you. But though I wish
you to hold out this before them, I do not wish you to make it appear
that you are already meditating an action, but to use this terror so as
to facilitate the gaining of your object: and, in a word, in this
contest strain every nerve and use every faculty in such a way as to
secure what we seek. I notice that there are no elections so deeply
tainted with corruption, but that some centuries return men closely
connected with them without receiving money. Therefore, if we are as
vigilant as the greatness of our object demands, and rouse our
well-wishers to put forth all their energies; and if we allot to men of
influence and zeal in our service their several tasks; if we put before
our rivals the threat of legal proceedings; if we inspire their agents
with fear, and by some means check the distributors, it is possible to
secure either that there shall be no bribery or that it shall be
ineffectual.
These are the points that I thought, not that I knew better than you,
but that I could more easily than you--in the pressing state of your
present engagements--collect together and send you written out. And
although they are written in such terms as not to apply to all
candidates for office, but to your special case and to your particular
election, yet I should be glad if you would tell me of anything that
should be corrected or entirely struck out, or that has been omitted.
For I wish this little essay "on the duties of a candidate" to be
regarded as complete in every respect.
[Footnote 726: It is to be observed that at this time Pompey is reckoned
as inclined to the _populares_. His legislation in B.C. 70 had been
somewhat in their favour; but he had not, as a fact, ever declared
himself either way.]
[Footnote 727: C. Antonius, impeached by Cæsar for plundering Macedonia,
_appellavit tribunos iuravitque se forum eiurare, quod æquo iure uti non
posset_ (Ascon. § 84). His offences in Macedonia, where he had been left
by Sulla, were in B.C. 83-80; his impeachment, B.C. 76; his expulsion
from the senate, B.C. 70.]
[Footnote 728: M. Marius Gratidianus (Ascon. § 84). These denunciations
of Antonius and Catiline seem to be taken from the oration _in toga
candida_.]
[Footnote 729: Cælius, consul B.C. 94 with Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus.]
[Footnote 730: Cicero, of course, was now a senator, but he was the
first of his family who had been so. The others who came forward for the
consulship were two patricians, P. Sulpicius Galba, L. Sergius Catilina;
four plebeians, C. Antonius, L. Cassius Longinus, whom Asconius calls
_nobiles_, _i.e._, members of families who had held curule office; and
Q. Cornificius and C. Licinius Sacerdos, whose families had only
recently risen to this position, _tantum non primi ex familiis suis
magistratum adepti erant_ (Asc.)]
[Footnote 731: He hints, I think, at Cæsar, who supported Antonius and
Catiline, and also the Luculli, who were opponents of Pompey.]
[Footnote 732: C. Fundanius, defended by Cicero B.C. 66, fr. p. 216. Q.
Gallius, defended by Cicero on _ambitus_ B.C. 64, fr. p. 217 (_Brut._ §
277). C. Cornelius, quæstor of Pompey, tr. pl. B.C. 67, defended by
Cicero B.C. 65 (Ascon. § 56 _seq._) C. Orchivius, Cicero's colleague in
prætorship B.C. 66 (_Or._ § 160). We don't know on what charge Cicero
defended him. The passage in _pro Cluent._ § 147, does not mean that he
was accused of _peculatus_, but that he presided over trials of
_peculatus_ as prætor.]
[Footnote 733: Manilius, tr. pl. B.C. 66, proposed the law for
appointing Pompey to supersede Lucullus in the East. After his year of
office he was accused of _maiestas_, and later on of _repetundæ_, but
apparently neither case came on. C. Cornelius, tr. pl. B.C. 57, was
accused of _maiestas_ in B.C. 55, and defended by Cicero. He had become
alienated from the senate by its opposition to his legislation against
usury in the provinces, and the case made a great sensation.]
APPENDIX B
L. VETTIUS (LETTER L, A II, 24)
L. Vettius, a kind of Titus Oates, was like the witness in "Great
Expectations," prepared to swear "mostly anything." The interest
attaching to such a sordid person is confined to the question whether he
was really acting with the connivance of, or under an agreement with,
any of the leading politicians of the day. If the principle of _cui
bono_ is applied, it is evident that the gainers were the party of the
trumvirs, whose popularity would be increased by a belief being created
that their opponents the Optimates were prepared to adopt extreme
measures to get rid of them. It would give them just the advantage which
the Rye House plot gave Charles II. This is Cicero's view, it seems, of
the matter, as insinuated in this letter and in his speech against
Vatinius (§§ 24-26; cp. _pro Sest._ § 132). In the letter, however, his
insinuations seem directed against Cæsar: in the speech Vatinius is the
scape-goat. But Vettius was not only a liar, but a bad liar. He made
blunders; and when he brought in the name of Bibulus, he was not aware
that Bibulus had got scent of something going on, and had secured
himself by giving Pompey warning. He also did not tell consistent
stories, mentioning names (such as that of Brutus) at one time, and
withdrawing them at another. He was accordingly wholly discredited, and
could therefore expect no protection from Cæsar, who had been careful
not to commit himself; and he had nothing for it but suicide, like
Pigott at the time of the Parnell Commission.
Cicero, then, would have us believe that Vettius had been instigated by
Vatinius (acting for Cæsar) to name Bibulus, L. Lucullus, Curio (father
and son), L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, L. Lentulus, L. Paullus, Cicero
himself, his son-in-law Piso, and M. Laterensis, as having been all more
or less privy to the plot to murder Pompey and Cæsar. That there was
absolutely no such plot, and that Vettius broke down hopelessly when
questioned. That the object was, (1) to irritate Pompey with the
Optimates and so confirm him in his alliance with Cæsar, (2) to
discredit the Optimates generally.
It may be well to state briefly the views put forward by our other
authorities for this period.
(1.) Suetonius (_Cæs. 20_) appears to attribute the instigation of
Vettius to Cæsar, as also the murder of Vettius in prison, after he
broke down so flagrantly. The text of this passage, however, is somewhat
doubtful.
(2.) Appian (_B. C._ ii. 12) describes the scene as happening at the
time that Cæsar's agrarian law was being passed, and Bibulus was hustled
in the forum. Vettius, with a drawn dagger, rushed into the crowd crying
out that he had been sent by Bibulus, Cicero, and Cato to assassinate
Cæsar and Pompey, and that an attendant of Bibulus had given him the
dagger. Vettius was arrested, put into prison to be questioned the next
day, and was murdered during the night. Cæsar meanwhile addressed the
people and excited their anger; but after the death of Vettius the
matter was hushed up.
(3.) Plutarch (_Lucull._ 42) says that the "Pompeians," annoyed at
finding the union with Cæsar opposed by the leading Optimates, induced
Vettius to accuse Lucullus and others of a plot to assassinate Pompey;
and that the corpse of Vettius shewed evident signs of violence.
(4.) Dio Cassius (38-39) says bluntly that Vettius was employed by
Lucullus and Cicero to assassinate Pompey, and was got rid of in prison.
He adds that Vettius was discredited by bringing in the name of Bibulus,
who (as Cicero also says) had secured himself by giving Pompey warning.
The conclusions seem to be (though in such a tangled skein of lies it is
impossible to be sure), (1) that there was no plot, properly so called,
though many of the Optimates, and Cicero among them, had used incautious
language; (2) that Vettius was suborned by some person or party of
persons to make the people believe that there was one; (3) that
Cæsar--though there is not sufficient evidence to shew that he had been
the instigator--was willing to take advantage of the prejudice created
by the suspicions thus aroused; (4) that though Vettius had served
Cicero in his capacity of spy in the days of the Catilinarian
conspiracy, and was able to report words of his sufficiently
characteristic, yet this letter to Atticus exonerates Cicero from
suspicion, even if there were a plot, and even if we could believe that
he could have brought himself to plot the death of Pompey.
APPENDIX C
The following letters to Tiro, with one from Quintus in regard to
his manumission, are given here because of the difficulty of dating
them. The indications of time are as follows. I. Those addressed to
Tiro are earlier than that of Quintus, because they refer to a
promised emancipation, while that of Quintus speaks of it as
accomplished. II. The letter of Quintus is after the emancipation
of his own freedman Statius, which apparently took place B.C. 59.
III. Quintus is at a distance from Italy, and is looking forward to
rejoin his brother and family. IV. Cicero is engaged on some more
than ordinary literary work. V. Pompey is visiting Cicero in his
Cuman villa. Now after his return from Asia (B.C. 58), Quintus was
only twice thus distant, in B.C. 57-56 in Sardinia, and in B.C.
54-53 in Britain and Gaul. In both of these periods Cicero was
engaged on literary work; in the former on the _de Oratore_, in the
latter on the _de Republica_. There is really no means of deciding
between these two. It is even possible that they might be placed
some time during the proprietorship of Quintus in Asia (B.C.
62-59), during which Cicero was engaged, among other things, on a
poem on his own times and a history of his consulship. Tiro--or M.
Tullius Tiro, as he was called after his emancipation--was not a
young man, and may well have been emancipated even in B.C. 59.
According to Hieronymus, he died in B.C. 5 in his hundredth year.
He was therefore little more than a year younger than Cicero
himself. The illness of Tiro must have been an earlier one than
that of which we shall hear much in B.C. 50-49.
I (F XVI, 13)
TO TIRO
(CUMÆ) 10 APRIL
I shall consider that I have everything possible from you, if I see you
in good health. I am awaiting the arrival of Andricus, whom I sent to
you, with the utmost anxiety. Do take pains to recover, if you love me:
and as soon as you have thoroughly re-established your health, come to
me. Good-bye.
10 April.
II (F XVI, 14)
TO TIRO
(CUMÆ) 11 APRIL
Andricus arrived a day later than I expected him, and accordingly I had
a night of terror and unhappiness. Your letter does not make me at all
more certain of your state, and yet it did revive me. I can take
pleasure in nothing; can employ myself in no literary work, which I
cannot touch till I have seen you. Give orders to promise the doctor any
fee he chooses to ask. I wrote to that effect to Ummidius. I am told
that your mind is ill at ease, and that the doctor says this is what
makes you ill. If you care for me, rouse from their sleep your studies
and your culture, which make you the dearest object of my affection. It
is your mind that requires strengthening now, in order that your body
may also recover. Pray do it both for your own and my sake. Keep Acastus
with you to help to nurse you. Preserve yourself for me. The day for the
fulfilment of my promise is at hand, and I will be true to it, if you
only come. Good-bye, good-bye!
11 April, noon.
III (F XVI, 15)
TO TIRO
(CUMÆ) 12 APRIL
Ægypta arrived on the 12th of April. Though he brought the news that you
were entirely without fever and were pretty well, yet he caused me
anxiety by saying that you had not been able to write to me: and all the
more so because Hermia, who ought to have arrived on the same day, has
not done so. I am incredibly anxious about your health. If you will
relieve me from that, I will _liberate_ you from every burden. I would
have written at greater length, if I had thought that you were now
capable of taking any pleasure in reading a letter. Concentrate your
whole intelligence, which I value above everything, upon preserving
yourself for your own and my benefit. Use your utmost diligence, I
repeat, in nursing your health. Good-bye.
P.S.--When I had finished the above Hermia arrived. I have your letter
written in a shaky hand, and no wonder after so serious an illness. I am
sending Ægypta back to stay with you, because he is by no means without
feeling, and seems to me to be attached to you, and with him a cook for
your especial use. Good-bye!
IV (F XVI, 10)
TO TIRO
CUMÆ, 19 MAY
I of course wish you to come to me, but I dread the journey for you. You
have been most seriously ill: you have been much reduced by a low diet
and purgatives, and the ravages of the disease itself. After dangerous
illnesses, if some mistake is made, drawbacks are usually dangerous.
Moreover, to the two days on the road which it will have taken you to
reach Cumæ, there will have to be added at once five more for your
return journey to Rome. I mean to be at Formiæ on the 30th: be sure, my
dear Tiro, that I find you there strong and well. My poor studies, or
rather _ours_, have been in a very bad way owing to your absence.
However, they have looked up a little owing to this letter from you
brought by Acastus. Pompey is staying with me at the moment of writing
this, and seems to be cheerful and enjoying himself. He asks me to read
him something of ours, but I told him that without you the oracle was
dumb. Pray prepare to renew your services to our Muses. My promise shall
be _performed_ on the day named: for I have taught you the etymology of
_fides_.[734] Take care to make a complete recovery. I shall be with you
directly. Good-bye.
19 May.
[Footnote 734: From _fio_, according to Cicero, _credamusque quia "fiat"
quod dictum est, appellatam fidem_ (_de Off._ i. § 23). He is referring
to his promise to emancipate Tiro on a particular day.]
V (F XVI, 16)
Q. CICERO TO HIS BROTHER
(GAUL?)
As I hope to see you again, my dear Marcus, and my own son Cicero, and
your Tulliola and your son, I am delighted about Tiro. He was much too
good for his position, and I am truly glad that you preferred that he
should be our freedman and friend rather than our slave. Believe me,
when I read your letter and his I jumped for joy, and I both thank and
congratulate you: for if the fidelity and good character of my own
Statius is a delight to me, how much more valuable must those same
qualities be in your man, since there is added to them knowledge of
literature, conversational powers, and culture, which have advantages
even over those useful virtues! I have all sorts of most conclusive
reasons for loving you: and here is another one, either for what you
have done, or, if you choose, for your perfect manner of announcing it
to me. Your letter shewed me your whole heart. I have promised Sabinus's
servants all they asked, and I will perform my promise.
END OF VOL. I.
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