filio. Ille vero ante decemviros non fuit, quippe qui aedilis curulis fuerit, qui magistratus multis annis post decemviros institutus est.
Quid ergo profecit, quod protulit fastos? Occultatam putant quodam tempore istam tabulam, ut dies agendi peterentur a paucis. Nec vero pauci sunt auctores Cn. Flavium scribam fastos protulisse actionesque composuisse, ne me hoc vel potius Africanum (is enim loquitur) commentum putes. Οὐκ ἔλαθέ σε illud de gestu histrionis. Tu sceleste suspicaris, ego ἀφελῶς scripsi. De me imperatore scribis te ex Philotimi litteris cognosse; sed credo te, iam in Epiro cum esses, binas meas de omnibus rebus accepisse, unas a Pindenisso capto, alteras Laodicea, without loss of honour to me. So I have given judgement that the payment of the people of Salamis to Scaptius is good at law. The equity of this course I will leave to your consideration. I will not even appeal to Cato: but don’t think I have let slip your exhortations. They are fixed in my heart. With tears in your eyes, you told me to think of my reputation. Is there any letter of yours which does not touch on the topic? So let who will be angry. I can put up with it. “The right is on my side,” especially since I have bound myself to good conduct, with six volumes[204] for bail. I am glad you like the books so much, though there is one point of history which you question, that about Cn.
Flavius, the son of Annius. He did not flourish before the days of the decemviri, since he held a curule aedileship, which was instituted long after their time. What good then did he do by publishing the official calendar? It is thought that at one time the calendar was not exposed in public, so that a privileged few might be the sole source of information as to days propitious for business. Moreover, several authorities maintain that this Cn. Flavius was the first man to publish the calendar and to draw up a digest of the forms of legal procedure. So don’t think that I, or rather my spokesman Africanus, invented a fiction. You took my remark about the actor’s mannerism, and suspected a satirical meaning:[205] but I wrote in all _naïveté_. You tell me that Philotimus wrote to you about my being hailed imperator; but I fancy that, now you are in Epirus, you have got my two letters about the business, one from Pindenissus after its capture, another from Laodicea, both Footnote 204: The _De Republica_.
Footnote 205: That it was a hit at Hortensius.
utrasque tuis pueris datas. Quibus de rebus propter casum navigandi per binos tabellarios misi Romam publice litteras.
De Tullia mea tibi adsentior scripsique ad eam et ad Terentiam mihi placere. Tu enim ad me iam ante scripseras: “Ac vellem te in tuum veterem gregem rettulisses.” Correcta vero epistula Memmiana nihil negotii fuit; multo enim malo hunc a Pontidia quam illum a Servilia.
Quare adiunges Saufeium nostrum, hominem semper amantem mei, nunc, credo, eo magis, quod debet etiam fratris Appi amorem erga me cum reliqua hereditate crevisse; qui declaravit, quanti me faceret, cum saepe tum in Bursa. Ne tu me sollicitudine magna liberaris.
Furni exceptio mihi non placet; nee enim ego ullum aliud tempus timeo, nisi quod ille solum excipit. Sed scriberem ad te de hoc plura, si Romae esses. In Pompeio te spem omnem otii ponere non miror. Ita res est, removendumque censeo illud “dissimulantem.” Sed enim οἰκονομία si perturbatior est, tibi assignato. Te enim sequor σχεδιάζοντα.
Cicerones pueri amant inter se, discunt, exercentur, sed alter, uti dixit Isocrates in Ephoro et Theopompo, frenis eget, alter calcaribus.
Quinto togam puram delivered to your slaves. For fear of accidents at sea, I sent the public despatch on my campaign to Rome in duplicate by different carriers.
As to my daughter Tullia I agree with you, and I have written to her and her mother giving my consent. For a former letter of yours to me said “I could wish you had returned to your old associates.” There was no occasion to alter the letter that came from Memmius: for I much prefer to accept this candidate from Pontidia than the other from Servilia. So get our friend Saufeius to help you in this business. He always liked me, and now I trust he will like me all the more, since he is bound to have inherited his brother Appius’ liking for me along with the rest of his inheritance, and Appius often expressed great affection for me, especially in the trial of Bursa. Indeed you will relieve me of a source of great anxiety.
I do not like Furnius’ proviso; there is nothing else I fear, except the point which he makes his sole proviso.[206] I would write to you more fully on the point, if you were in Rome. I am not surprised that you depend entirely on Pompey for keeping the peace. That is quite right, and I think you must delete your phrase “insincere.” If the order of my paragraphs is muddled, you have yourself to blame, as I am following your own harum-scarum way.
My son and nephew are fond of one another, learn their lessons and take their exercise together: but to quote Isocrates’ remark about Ephorus and Theopompus, one wants the rein and the other the spur.
Footnote 206: Apparently a proposal by a tribune that the governors of Syria and Cilicia could quit their provinces at the end of the year, provided the Parthians were not aggressive.
Liberalibus cogitabam dare; mandavit enim pater. Ea sic observabo, quasi intercalatum non sit. Dionysius mihi quidem in amoribus est; pueri autem aiunt eum furenter irasci; sed homo nec doctior nec sanctior fieri potest nec tui meique amantior. Thermum, Silium vere audis laudari.
Valde honeste se gerunt. Adde M. Nonium, Bibulum, me, si voles. Iam Scrofa vellem haberet, ubi posset; est enim lautum negotium. Ceteri infirmant πολίτευμα Catonis. Hortensio quod causam meam commendas, valde gratum. De Amiano spei nihil putat esse Dionysius. Terenti nullum vestigium adgnovi. Moeragenes certe periit. Feci iter per eius possessionem, in qua animal reliquum nullum est. Haec non noram tum, cum Democrito tuo cum locutus sum. Rhosica vasa mandavi. Sed heus tu! quid cogitas? in felicatis lancibus et splendidissimis canistris holusculis nos soles pascere; quid te in vasis fictilibus appositurum putem? Κέρας Phemio mandatum est; reperietur, modo aliquid illo dignum canat.
Parthicum bellum impendet. Cassius ineptas litteras misit, necdum Bibuli erant allatae. Quibus recitatis puto fore ut aliquando commoveatur senatus. Equidem sum in magna animi perturbatione. Si, ut opto, non prorogatur nostrum negotium, habeo Iunium I intend to celebrate Quintus’ coming of age[207] on the feast of Bacchus.[208] His father asked me to do this, and I shall act on the assumption that there will be no addition to the calendar. Dionysius is in my good graces: but the boys say he is liable to mad fits of temper.
However one could not get a master of more learning and better character and more liking for you and me. The praise you hear of Thermus and Silius is deserved: they conduct themselves in very honourable fashion.
You may praise M. Nonius, Bibulus, and myself too, if you like. I only wish Scrofa had scope for his tact. He is a fine fellow. The rest do little credit to Cato’s caucus. I am much obliged to you for recommending my case to Hortensius. As to Amianus Dionysius says there is no help. I have met with no trace of Terentius. Moeragenes has certainly been killed. I made a tour through his district and found not a living thing. I did not know this, when I spoke to your agent Democritus. I have ordered the Rhosian ware for you. But what the deuce will you serve up in porcelain, when you are accustomed to give us vegetarian fare on fern-pattern plates and in magnificent baskets? I have ordered a horn for Phemius, and one will be got. I only hope that his tune will be worthy of the instrument.
A war with the Parthians is imminent. Cassius’ despatch was futile, Bibulus’ has not yet come. I think the reading of it will stir the House to action at last. I am very anxious myself. If, as I hope, my tenure of office is not extended, I have June and July Footnote 207: On coming of age, which took place at about 15 or 16, the Roman boy left off the purple-bordered _toga praetexta_ and assumed the pure Footnote 208: March 17.
et Quinctilem in metu. Esto; duos quidem menses sustinebit Bibulus. Quid illo fiet, quem reliquero, praesertim si fratrem? quid me autem, si non tam cito decedo? Magna turba est. Mihi tamen cum Deiotaro convenit, ut ille in meis castris esset cum suis copiis omnibus. Habet autem cohortes quadringenarias nostra armatura XXX, equitum CIↃ CIↃ. Erit ad sustentandum, quoad Pompeius veniat; qui litteris, quas ad me mittit, significat suum negotium illud fore. Hiemant in nostra provincia Parthi; exspectatur ipse Orodes. Quid quaeris? aliquantum est negotii.
De Bibuli edicto nihil novi praeter illam exceptionem, de qua tu ad me scripseras, “nimis gravi praeiudicio in ordinem nostrum.” Ego tamen habeo ἰσοδυναμοῦσαν, sed tectiorem, ex Q. Muci P. f. edicto Asiatico, EXTRA QVAM SI ITA NEGOTIVM GESTVM EST, VT EO STARI NON OPORTEAT EX FIDE BONA, multaque sum secutus Scaevolae, in iis illud, in quo sibi libertatem censent Graeci datam, ut Graeci inter se disceptent suis legibus. Breve autem edictum est propter hanc meam διαίρεσιν, quod duobus generibus edicendum putavi. Quorum unum est provinciale, in quo est de rationibus civitatum, de aere alieno, de usura, de syngraphis; in eodem omnia de publicanis, alterum, quod sine edicto satis commode transigi non potest, de to fear. Very good. Bibulus can check them for two months, but what will happen to the man whom I leave behind, especially if he be my brother?
Or what will be my own fate, if I do not depart so speedily? It is a great bother. However Deiotarus has decided to join my camp in full force. He has thirty squadrons of four hundred men each armed in our fashion, and two thousand cavalry. He can hold out till Pompey comes. A letter he writes to me presumes that he will conduct the campaign. The Parthians spend the winter in a Roman province. Orodes is expected in person. You may take my word it is a big business.
As to Bibulus’ edict there is no new feature, except that proviso of which you wrote “it is a very grave reflection on our order.”[209] However I have a similar proviso, in more circumspect language, borrowed from the Asiatic edict of Q. Mucius, son of Publius, “Provided that the agreement is not such as contravenes equity.” I have followed Scaevola in many details, among them in the stipulation which the Greeks hold as the salvation of their freedom, that Greek cases are to be settled according to Greek law. The edict is short on account of the division I have made, as I considered it fell better under two heads. The one concerns provincial matters and deals with town accounts, debt, the rate of interest, contracts, and includes all matters referring to the tax-collectors. The second head, embracing matters which cannot properly be settled without an Footnote 209: Bibulus had excepted from debts recoverable in his court cases in which _vis_ or _dolus malus_ had been used. The clause was directed against _publicani_ and _negotiatores_ who belonged to the _equites_.
hereditatum possessionibus, de bonis possidendis, vendendis, magistris faciendis, quae ex edicto et postulari et fieri solent. Tertium de reliquo iure dicundo ἄγραφον reliqui. Dixi me de eo genere mea decreta ad edicta urban a accommodaturum. Itaque curo et satis facio adhuc omnibus. Graeci vero exsultant, quod peregrinis iudicibus utuntur.
“Nugatoribus quidem,” inquies. Quid refert? tamen se αὐτονομίαν adeptos putant. Vestri enim, credo, graves habent Turpionem sutorium et Vettium mancipem.
De publicanis quid agam, videris quaerere. Habeo in deliciis, obsequor, verbis laudo, orno; efficio, ne cui molesti sint. Τὸ παραδοξότατον, usuras eorum, quas pactionibus adscripserant, servavit etiam Servilius.
Ego sic. Diem statuo satis laxam, quam ante si solverint, dico me centesimas ducturum; si non solverint, ex pactione. Itaque et Graeci solvunt tolerabili faenore, et publicanis res est gratissima, si illa iam habent pleno modio, verborum honorem, invitationem crebram. Quid plura? sunt omnes ita mihi familiares, ut se quisque maxime putet. Sed tamen μηδὲν αὐτοῖς—scis reliqua.
De statua Africani (ὢ πραγμάτων ἀσυγκλώστων sed me id ipsum delectavit in tuis litteris) ain tu? Scipio hic Metellus proavum suum nescit censorem non edict, deals with inheritance, ownership and sale, the appointment of official receivers, matters where suits are wont to be brought and settled in accordance with the terms of an edict. A third head dealing with the rest of judicial procedure I left unwritten. I stated that in such matters my decrees would be based on those of Rome. I observe this rule, and so far satisfy everybody. The Greeks are jubilant at having foreign jurors. You may say that the jurors are wasters: however the Greeks flatter themselves that they have got home rule, and your own jurors are men of the lofty standing of Turpio the shoe maker and Vettius the broker.
You ask how I am dealing with the tax-gatherers. I pet them, indulge them, praise and honour them: and take care they trouble no one. It is very odd that the rates of interest specified in their bonds were upheld even by Servilius. My procedure is this. I name a day fairly remote, before which, if the debtors pay up, I lay down that I shall allow only 12 per cent. But, if they have not paid, judgement will be according to the bond. Accordingly the Greeks pay their debts at a fair rate of interest, and the farmers are gratified, provided they get their fill of compliments and invitations. In short, they are all so intimate with me that each man thinks himself my special favourite. But still you know the old saw.[210] As to the statue of Africanus (what a medley of topics! but that was the delightful feature of your letter, to my mind), do you really mean that Metellus Scipio does not know his great-grandfather Footnote 210: The quotation is incomplete, and the ending of it unknown. Probably it contained advice either against trusting or humouring people too much.
fuisse? Atqui nihil habuit aliud inscriptum nisi cos. ea statua, quae ad Opis nuper[211] posita in excelso est. In illa autem, quae est ad Πολυκλέους Herculem, inscriptum est CENS;[212] quam esse eiusdem status, amictus, anulus, imago ipsa declarat. At mehercule ego, cum in turma inauratarum equestrium, quas hic Metellus in Capitolio posuit, animadvertissem in Serapionis subscriptione Africani imaginem, erratum fabrile putavi, nunc video Metelli. O ἀνιστορησίαν turpem! Nam illud de Flavio et fastis, si secus est, commune erratum est, et tu belle ἠπόρησας, et nos publicam prope opinionem secuti sumus, ut multa apud Graecos. Quis enim non dixit Εὔπολιν, τὸν τῆς ἀρχαίας, ab Alcibiade navigante in Siciliam deiectum esse in mare? Redarguit Eratosthenes; adfert enim, quas ille post id tempus fabulas docuerit. Num idcirco Duris Samius, homo in historia diligens, quod cum multis erravit, inridetur? Quis Zaleucum leges Locris scripsisse non dixit? Num igitur iacet Theophrastus. si id a Timaeo, tuo familiari, reprensum est? Sed nescire proavum suum censorem non fuisse turpe est, praesertim cum post eum consulem nemo Cornelius illo vivo censor fuerit.
Quod de Philotimo et de solutione HS |¯XXDC¯| scribis, Philotimum circiter Kal. Ianuarias in Chersonesum audio venisse. At mi ab eo nihil adhuc. Reliqua mea Camillus scribit se accepisse. Ea quae Footnote 211: nuper _Boot_; per te _MSS._ Footnote 212: _I have adopted Tyrrell’s transposition of_ COS. (= CONSUL) _and_ CENS. (= CENSOR) _though with doubts of its correctness_.
was never censor? Certainly the statue which has lately been placed on high near the temple of Ops has only the inscription COS. But the statue near the Hercules of Polycles bears the inscription CENS.: and the pose, the dress, the ring and the likeness prove that it is a statue of the same person. As a matter of fact, when among the crowd of gilded knights placed by Metellus on the Capitol, I noticed a likeness of Africanus with the name Serapio on the pedestal, I thought it was a workman’s error, but now I see it is Metellus’ mistake. What gross ignorance of history! For that misconception about Flavius and the calendar, if it is such, is widely held: and you were quite right in having doubts about it. I have followed the view which is almost universal, as Greek authors often do. Every one says that Eupolis, the poet of the old Comedy, was thrown into the sea by Alcibiades on his voyage to Sicily. Eratosthenes confutes this, producing plays exhibited by him after that date. But that is no reason for laughing at Duris of Samos, who is an accurate historian, because he follows a vulgar error. All historians agree that Zaleucus drew up laws for the Locrians. It is not therefore fatal to Theophrastus, if he is called to account for that by your friend Timaeus. But not to know that one’s great-grandfather was not censor is shocking, especially as after his consulship no Cornelius was censor during his lifetime.
As for your remarks about Philotimus and the payment of £182,000,[213] I hear that Philotimus came to the Chersonese about the beginning of January, but so far I have heard nothing from him. Camillus writes that he has received my balance. I don’t know how Footnote 213: 20,600,000 sesterces.
sint, nescio et aveo scire. Verum haec posterius et coram fortasse commodius.
Illud me, mi Attice, in extrema fere parte epistulae commovit; scribis enim sic: Τί λοιπόν; deinde me obsecras amantissime, ne obliviscar vigilare et ut animadvertam, quae fiant. Num quid de quo inaudisti? Etsi nihil eius modi est; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. Nec enim me fefellisset nec fallet. Sed ista admonitio tua tam accurata nescio quid mihi significare visa est.
De M. Octavio iterum iam tibi rescribo te illi probe respondisse; paulo vellem fidentius. Nam Caelius libertum ad me misit et litteras accurate scriptas et de pantheris et civitatibus. Rescripsi alterum me moleste ferre, si ego in tenebris laterem, nec audiretur Romae nullum in mea provincia nummum nisi in aes alienum erogari, docuique nec mihi conciliare pecuniam licere nec illi capere monuique eum, quem plane diligo, ut, cum alios accusasset, cautius viveret; illud autem alterum alienum esse existumatione mea, Cibyratas imperio meo publice venari.
Lepta tua epistula gaudio exsultat; etenim scripta belle est meque apud eum magna in gratia posuit. Filiola tua gratum mihi fecit, quod tibi diligenter mandavit, ut mihi salutem adscriberes, gratum etiam Pilia, sed illa officiosius, quod mihi, quem iam pridem numquam vidit. Igitur tu quoque salutem much it is, and I should like to know. However, we can discuss this later and more conveniently when we meet.
That remark at the end of your letter, my dear Atticus, upset me. You used the phrase, “What more is there to say,” and follow it by a most affectionate warning not to forget to be on the watch and to keep an eye on events. Have you heard anything about any of my staff? I am sure there has been no wrong-doing, _pas du tout_. It could not have escaped my notice, and it will not. But your earnest entreaty seemed to hint something.
As for M. Octavius, I repeat that your reply was excellent. I could wish it had been in more positive terms. For Caelius has sent me a freedman of his and a carefully worded letter about panthers and an offer from the townships to furnish contributions. I replied that the second item is annoying, if my conduct is still a secret and the news has not reached town that in my province no money is exacted except in satisfaction of debts: and I have told him that it would be improper for me to allow payment and for him to take it. I have a sincere regard for him and have warned him that after his prosecution of other people he should conduct himself on more careful lines. As to the second point I have told him it would be a blot on my escutcheon that the people of Cibyra should have a public hunt during my governorship.
Lepta leaps with joy over your letter: for it was nicely written and puts me in his good graces. Your tiny daughter has done me a favour in ordering you earnestly to send me her greetings. It was kind of Pilia and very dutiful of your daughter to send greetings to one whom as yet she has never met. So please utrique adscribito. Litterarum datarum dies pr. Kal. Ianuar. suavem habuit recordationem clarissimi iuris iurandi, quod ego non eram oblitus. Magnus enim praetextatus illo die fui. Habes ad omnia. Non ut postulasti, χρύσεα χαλκείων, sed paria paribus respondimus.
Ecce autem alia pusilla epistula, quam non relinquam ἀναντιφώνητον. Bene mehercule potuit Lucceius Tusculanum, nisi forte (solet enim) cum suo tibicine. Et velim scire, qui sit eius status. Lentulum quidem nostrum omnia praeter Tusculanum proscripsisse audio. Cupio hos expeditos videre, cupio etiam Sestium, adde sis Caelium; in quibus omnibus est [Sidenote: Iliad vii, 93] Αἴδεσθεν μὲν ἀνήνασθαι, δεῖσαν δ’ ὑποδέχθαι.
De Memmio restituendo ut Curio cogitet, te audisse puto. De Egnati Sidicini nomine nec nulla nec magna spe sumus. Pinarium, quem mihi commendas, diligentissime Deiotarus curat graviter aegrum. Respondi etiam minori.
Tu velim, dum ero Laodiceae, id est ad Idus Maias, quam saepissime mecum per litteras colloquare, et cum Athenas veneris (iam enim sciemus de rebus urbanis, de provinciis, quae omnia in mensem Martium sunt conlata), utique ad me tabellarios mittas. Et heus tu! iamne vos a Caesare per Herodem talenta Attica L extorsistis? in quo, ut audio, magnum odium Pompei suscepistis. Putat enim suos nummos vos give my greetings to both of them in return. The date of your letter, the last day of December, reminded me pleasantly of the famous and unforgotten oath I took.[214] I was a Pompey in state robes that day.
There you have my answer to all your points: not as you asked “gold for copper,” but like for like.
There was another short letter which I will not leave unanswered.
Lucceius to be sure was able to do something for the villa at Tusculum, unless perhaps there was the old obstacle of the flute player[215]; and I should like to know its condition. Our friend Lentulus I hear has advertised all his property except that at Tusculum. I should like to see these gentlemen free from debt as well as Sestius and you may add Caelius too. To all of them one may apply the quotation, “ashamed to refuse, but yet afraid to take.” I suppose you have heard of Curio’s idea to recall Memmius. As for the debt due from Egnatius of Sidicinum, I have some hope, but not much. Deiotarus is taking very great care of Pinarius, whom you recommended to me, in a serious illness. So there is my answer to your little letter.
While I am at Laodicea, which will be up to the 15th of May, please correspond with me as often as possible, and on your arrival at Athens at any rate send me letter carriers, since by that time we shall know what has been done in town and about the provinces, of which the affairs are settled in March. By the bye have you yet got Herodes to wring from Caesar that £12,000? I hear you have excited the animosity of Pompey in the matter. He thinks that Footnote 214: Cicero refers to the day on which he laid down the consulship. Cf.
_Ad Fam._ v, 2.
Footnote 215: Or “prop.” But the whole passage is uncertain.
comedisse, Caesarem in Nemore aedificando diligentiorem fore. Haec ego ex P. Vedio, magno nebulone, sed Pompei tamen familiari, audivi. Hic Vedius mihi obviam venit cum duobus essedis et raeda equis iuncta et lectica et familia magna, pro qua, si Curio legem pertulerit, HS centenos pendat necesse est. Erat praeterea cynocephalus in essedo, nec deerant onagri. Numquam vidi hominem nequiorem. Sed extremum audi.
Deversatus est Laodiceae apud Pompeium Vindullum. Ibi sua deposuit, cum ad me profectus est. Moritur interim Vindullus; quae res ad Magnum Pompeium pertinere putabatur. C. Vennonius domum Vindulli venit. Cum omnia obsignaret, in Vedianas res incidit. In his inventae sunt quinque imagunculae matronarum, in quibus una sororis amici tui hominis “bruti,” qui hoc utatur, et illius “lepidi,” qui haec tam neglegenter ferat. Haec te volui παριστορῆσαι. Sumus enim ambo belle curiosi.
Unum etiam velim cogites. Audio Appium πρόπυλον Eleusine facere. Num inepti fuerimus, si nos quoque Academiae fecerimus? “Puto,” inquies.
Ergo id ipsum scribes ad me. Equidem valde ipsas Athenas amo. Volo esse aliquod monumentum; odi falsas inscriptiones statuarum alienarum. Sed, ut tibi placebit, faciesque me, in quem diem Romana incidant you have snapped up money which was his, and that it will not lessen Caesar’s energy in building a palace near the sacred grove of Diana.
This bit of news came to me from P. Vedius, a shady character, but an intimate of Pompey. The fellow met me on the road with two chariots, a carriage and horses and a litter and a large following. If Curio carries his law,[216] he will have to pay £l apiece. Besides other things, there was a dog-faced baboon in a chariot, and some wild asses. I never met such a rascal. But listen to the end of the story, At Laodicea Vedius put up with Pompeius Vindullus, and left his belongings with him, while he came to meet me. Meantime Vindullus died, and his property is supposed to go to Pompeius Magnus. C. Vennonius went to the house and, while sealing all the goods, found Vedius’ baggage. Among this baggage there were five little busts of Roman married ladies, among them one of the sister of your friend Brutus—a brute indeed to be acquainted with the fellow—and one of the wife of Lepidus, whose easy conduct agrees with the meaning of his name. I wanted to tell you this little tale _en passant_, for we are both nice gossips.
There is one thing I wish you to consider. I hear that Appius is putting up a porch at Eleusis. Shall I look a fool, if I do so in the Academy? I dare say you may think so: say so plainly, if you do. I am very fond of the city of Athens. I should like it to have some memorial of myself. I dislike lying titles on the statues of other folk. But as you think best. And please let me know the date of the Footnote 216: mentioned. Possibly travellers with a large retinue were taxed under the first of these.
mysteria, certiorem, et quo modo hiemaris. Cura, ut valeas. Post Leuctricam pugnam die septingentesimo sexagesimo quinto.
II CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Laodiceae in. m. Mai. a. 704_] Cum Philogenes, libertus tuus, Laodiceam ad me salutandi causa venisset et se statim ad te navigaturum esse diceret, has ei litteras dedi, quibus ad eas rescripsi, quas acceperam a Bruti tabellario. Et respondebo primum postremae tuae paginae, quae mihi magnae molestiae fuit, quod ad te scriptum est a Cincio de Stati sermone; in quo hoc molestissimum est, Statium dicere a me quoque id consilium probari.
Probari autem? De isto hactenus dixerim, me vel plurima vincla tecum summae coniunctionis optare, etsi sunt amoris artissima; tantum abest, ut ego ex eo, quo astricti sumus, laxari aliquid velim. Illum autem multa de istis rebus asperius solere loqui saepe arbitror. In hac autem peregrinatione militiave nostra saepe incensum ira vidi, saepe placatum.
Quid ad Statium scripserit, nescio. Quicquid acturus de tali re fuit, scribendum tamen ad libertum non fuit. Mihi autem erit maxumae curae, ne quid fiat secus, quam re se quemque praestare, ac maxumae partes istius mysteries at Rome, and how you are passing the winter. Keep well. I write this on the seven hundred and sixty-fifth day after the battle of Leuctra.[217] II CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Your freedman Philogenes has come to visit me at Laodicea and tells me that he is on the point of sailing to join you: so I give him this letter in reply to your letter which I got from Brutus’ letter-carrier.
First I will answer your last page which caused me much concern:—that is about Cincius’ communication on the talk he had with Statius. I was particularly concerned at Statius’ remark that the plan had my approval.
Approval indeed! I need only say thus much. I wish the ties of friendship to be as many and close as possible between us, though none can be so close as those of our common liking. I am far from wanting the tie between us to be relaxed. Quintus however to my knowledge will often use bitter language on his private affairs, and often I have pacified his anger, as I think you know. On my late tour or military campaign I have seen him often fly in a temper and often calm again. I don’t know what he wrote to Statius; whatever he meant to do, he ought not to have informed a freedman. However I will do my best to prevent any course contrary to our wishes and to propriety. In a case like this it is not enough for a man to make himself responsible for his own conduct only: and Footnote 217: Cicero refers thus to the killing of Clodius on Jan. 18, 52 B.C., comparing it with the defeat of the Spartans by Epaminondas at Leuctra in 371 B.C.
officii sunt pueri Ciceronis sive iam adulescentis; quod quidem illum soleo hortari. Ac mihi videtur matrem valde, ut debet, amare teque mirifice. Sed est magnum illud quidem, verum tamen multiplex pueri ingenium; in quo ego regendo habeo negotii satis.
Quoniam respondi postremae tuae paginae prima mea, nunc ad primam revertar tuam. Peloponnesias civitates omnes maritimas esse hominis non nequam, sed etiam tuo iudicio probati, Dicaearchi, tabulis credidi. Is multis nominibus in Trophoniana Chaeronis narratione Graecos in eo reprendit, quod mare tantum secuti sint, nec ullum in Peloponneso locum excipit. Cum mihi auctor placeret (etenim erat ἱστορικώτατος et vixerat in Peloponneso), admirabar tamen et vix adcredens communicavi cum Dionysio. Atque is primo est commotus, deinde, quod de isto Dicaearcho non minus bene existumabat quam tu de C. Vestorio, ego de M. Cluvio, non dubitabat, quin ei crederemus. Arcadiae censebat esse Lepreon quoddam maritumum; Tenea autem et Aliphera ct Tritia νεόκτιστα ei videbantur, idque τῷ τῶν νεῶν καταλόγῳ confirmabat, ubi mentio non fit istorum.
Itaque istum ego locum totidem verbis a Dicaearcho transtuli.
“Phliasios” autem dici sciebam, et ita fac ut habeas; nos quidem sic habemus. Sed primo me ἀναλογία deceperat, Φλιοῦς, Ὀποῦς, Σιποῦς, quod Ὀπούντιοι, Σιπούντιοι. Sed hoc continuo correximus.
Laetari te nostra moderatione et continentia video.
indeed the principal share of responsibility attaches to the boy, or young man as he is now, Quintus. This I am always telling him. To me he seems to love his mother greatly, as he should, and to be extremely fond of you. He is a lad of high but complex character, and I have enough to do to guide his conduct.
Having devoted my first page to answering your last, I will now return to your first. I relied on the maps of Dicaearchus, a writer of no mean standing and an authority you accept, for the information that all the states of the Peloponnese bordered on the sea. In the account of the cave of Trophonius, which he puts into the mouth of Chaeron, he blames the Greeks on many scores for sticking to the sea coast; and he does not except a single district in the Peloponnese. He was a very accurate historian and lived in the Peloponnese, so that his evidence seemed trustworthy. Still I was surprised and communicated my doubts to Dionysius. Dionysius was startled at first, but finally accepted his authority, since he had as good an opinion of Dicaearchus as you have of C. Vestorius or I of M. Cluvius. Arcadia he agreed had a seaport Lepreon: but Tenea, Aliphera and Tritia were, he considered, more modern, a view he supported by the omission of these places from Homer’s catalogue of the ships. Accordingly I borrowed the passage from Dicaearchus in so many words. I know that Phliasii is the proper form.
Please make it so in your copy. I read it in mine. But first of all thinking of Phlious I was misled by a vicious analogy of Opuntii from Opous and Sipuntii from Sipous. But I altered it at once.
I see that you are pleased at my unselfish moderation.
Tum id magis faceres, si adesses. Atque hoc foro, quod egi ex Idibus Februariis Laodiceae ad Kal. Maias omnium dioecensium praeter Ciliciae, mirabilia quaedam effecimus. Ita multae civitates omni aere alieno liberatae, multae valde levatae sunt, omnes suis legibus et iudiciis usae αὐτονομίαν adeptae revixerunt. His ego duobus generibus facultatem ad se aere alieno liberandas aut levandas dedi, uno, quod omnino nullus in imperio meo sumptus factus est (nullum cum dico, non loquor ὑπερβολικῶς), nullus, inquam, ne terruncius quidem. Hac autem re incredibile est quantum civitates emerserint. Accessit altera. Mira erant in civitatibus ipsorum furta Graecorum, quae magistratus sui fecerant. Quaesivi ipse de iis, qui annis decem proximis magistratum gesserant. Aperte fatebantur. Itaque sine ulla ignominia suis umeris pecunias populis rettulerunt. Populi autem nullo gemitu publicanis, quibus hoc ipso lustro nihil solverant, etiam superioris lustri reddiderunt. Itaque publicanis in oculis sumus. “Gratis,” inquis, “viris.” Sensimus. Iam cetera iuris dictio nec imperita et clemens cum admirabili facilitate; aditus autem ad me minime provinciales; nihil per cubicularium; ante lucem inambulabam domi ut olim candidatus. Grata haec et magna mihique nondum laboriosa ex illa vetere militia. Nonis Maiis in Ciliciam cogitabam. Ibi cum Iunium You would be more pleased, if you were here. In this very assize which I have been holding at Laodicea from the 13th of February to the 1st of May for all the districts except Cilicia, I have done wonders. See how many states have been freed from debt and how many have had their burden lightened. All have revived on acquiring home rule, and using their own enactments in law. I have given them in two ways the chance of freeing themselves or relieving themselves from debt. First by causing them no expense during my administration (and in saying no expense I mean literally not one farthing), which has helped them astonishingly out of their trouble. Secondly the states had suffered from surprising corruption in their own countrymen, that is to say their magistrates. I questioned the men who had held the office of magistrate during the last ten years. They concealed nothing. So without exposure they took on their own backs the repayment of the money: and the communities which had paid the tax-farmers nothing for the present five years have now without any complaints paid up arrears for the last five years too. So I am the apple of their eye to the tax-farmers. “Grateful fellows,” you exclaim. Yes I have experienced their gratitude. The rest of my judicial conduct has been enlightened, but mild and marvellously courteous. There has been none of the difficulty of access so characteristic of