provincial governors; and no backstairs jobbery. Before daybreak I walk up and down in my house, as I did of yore when a candidate for office.
This is popular and a great boon, and I have not felt it a burden owing to my old training.
On the 15th of May I intend to go to Cilicia.
mensem consumpsissem (atque utinam in pace! magnum enim bellum inpendet a Parthis), Quinctilem in reditu ponere. Annuae enim mihi operae a. d.
III Kal. Sextil. emerentur. Magna autem in spe sum mihi nihil temporis prorogatum iri. Habebam acta urbana usque ad Nonas Martias; e quibus intellegebam Curionis nostri constantia omnia potius actum iri quam de provinciis. Ergo, ut spero, prope diem te videbo.
Venio ad Brutum tuum, immo nostrum; sic enim mavis. Equidem omnia feci, quae potui aut in mea provincia perficere aut in regno experiri. Omni igitur modo egi cum rege et ago cotidie per litteras scilicet. Ipsum enim triduum quadriduumve mecum habui turbulentis in rebus, quibus eum liberavi. Sed et tum praesens et postea creberrimis litteris non destiti rogare et petere mea causa, suadere et hortari sua. Multum profeci, sed quantum, non plane, quia longe absum, scio. Salaminios autem (hos enim poteram coërcere) adduxi, ut totum nomen Scaptio vellent solvere, sed centesimis ductis a proxuma quidem syngrapha nec perpetuis, sed renovatis quotannis. Numerabantur nummi: noluit Scaptius. Tu qui ais Brutum cupere aliquid perdere? Quaternas habebat in syngrapha. Fieri non poterat, nec, si posset, ego pati possem. Audio omnino Scaptium After spending the month of June there (and I pray it may be in peace, for a serious war with the Parthians is certainly coming), July I shall spend on my journey home. I shall have served my year on July the 30th.
I have great hopes that my tenure of office may not be extended. I have the city gazette up to the 7th of March. I gather that, thanks to the persistence of my friend Curio, appointments to the province will be the last business to be considered. So, as I hope, I shall see you soon.
I come now to Brutus, your friend or rather mine, since you prefer it. I have done everything that I could accomplish in my own province or attempt in the kingdom of Cappadocia. I have taken every measure with the king and still do so daily—by letter. The king himself was in my company only for three or four days and at a crisis in his affairs, from which I released him. But both then in person and subsequently in repeated letters I have continually begged and besought him in my own name and advised and persuaded him in his own interest. My efforts have borne fruit: but how much at this distance I cannot tell for certain.
The people of Salamis however, whom I could influence, I have induced to consent to settle all their debt with Scaptius, but with interest at 12 per cent calculated from the date of the last contract, and not at simple but compound interest. The money was counted down: but Scaptius refused to take it. What kind of a figure do you cut, who say that Brutus will make a sacrifice? Forty-eight per cent was written in the bond. It was an impossible sum. It could not be paid nor could I have permitted it. I hear after all that paenitere. Nam, quod senatus consultum esse dicebat, ut ius ex syngrapha diceretur, eo consilio factum est, quod pecuniam Salaminii contra legem Gabiniam sumpserant. Vetabat autem Auli lex ius dici de ita sumpta pecunia. Decrevit igitur senatus, ut ius diceretur ex ista syngrapha.
Nunc ista habet iuris idem quod ceterae, nihil praecipui. Haec a me ordine facta puto me Bruto probaturum; tibi nescio; Catoni certe probabo.
Sed iam ad te ipsum revertor. Ain tandem, Attice, laudator integritatis et elegantiae nostrae, “ausus es hoc ex ore tuo——,” inquit Ennius, ut equites Scaptio ad pecuniam cogendam darem, me rogare?
An tu, si mecum esses, qui scribis morderi te interdum, quod non simul sis, paterere me id facere, si vellem? “Non amplius,” inquis, “quinquaginta.” Cum Spartaco minus multi primo fuerunt. Quid tandem isti mali in tam tenera insula non fecissent? Non fecissent autem? immo quid ante adventum meum non fecerunt? Inclusum in curia senatum habuerunt Salaminium ita multos dies, ut interierint non nulli fame. Erat enim praefectus Appi Scaptius et habebat turmas ab Appio. Id me igitur tu, cuius mehercule os mihi ante oculos solet versari, cum de aliquo officio ac laude cogito, tu me, inquam, rogas, praefectus ut Scaptius sit? Alias hoc statueramus, ut negotiatorem neminem, idque Bruto probaramus. Habeat is turmas? Cur potius quam Scaptius is sorry. As to his argument from a decree of the Senate ordering judgement to be given according to the bond, the reason for that was that in borrowing the money the people of Salamis contravened the law of Gabinius. Aulus’ law forbade that judgement should be given for money so borrowed. So the Senate decreed that judgement might be given on that particular bond. Now the bond in question has the same validity as other bonds, and no special privilege. I fancy Brutus will admit that my behaviour has been proper. I do not know if you will take that view, but certainly Cato will.
Now I come back to yourself. My dear friend, you have praised the nice honour of my conduct “and can you dare with your own mouth,” as Ennius says, ask me to give Scaptius cavalry to collect his debts? Or would you, if you were here,—you who say that you chafe sometimes at not being with me,—would you suffer me to do such a thing, if I wanted? “Not more than fifty men,” you say. Spartacus had fewer men than that at first.
The blackguards would have done indescribable damage in such a weak island. Do you say, they would have refrained? Look at the damage they did before I came here. They kept the members of the local Senate prisoners in their Chamber for so long that some died of hunger. For Scaptius was a prefect of Appius, and was allowed some cavalry. Your face is always before my eyes, when I think of duty and honour, and can you, you, I repeat, ask me to give the fellow the office of prefect? I had settled in other cases never to give the office to a man of business, a course which had won the approval of Brutus: and is a fellow like Scaptius to have cavalry? Why should he not be content with a cohortes? Sumptu iam nepos evadit Scaptius. “Volunt,” inquit, “principes.” Scio; nam ad me Ephesum usque venerunt flentesque equitum scelera et miserias suas detulerunt. Itaque statim dedi litteras, ut ex Cypro equites ante certam diem decederent, ob eamque causam, tum ob ceteras Salaminii nos in caelum decretis suis sustulerunt. Sed iam quid opus equitatu? solvunt enim Salaminii; nisi forte id volumus armis efficere, ut faenus quaternis centesimis ducant. Et ego audebo legere umquam aut attingere eos libros, quos tu dilaudas, si tale quid fecero?
Nimis, inquam, in isto Brutum amasti, dulcissime Attice, nos vereor ne parum. Atque haec scripsi ego ad Brutum scripsisse te ad me. Cognosce nunc cetera.
Pro Appio nos hic omnia facimus, honeste tamen, sed plane libenter. Nec enim ipsum odimus et Brutum amamus, et Pompeius mirifice a me contendit, quem mehercule plus plusque in dies diligo. C. Caelium quaestorem huc venire audisti. Nescio, quid sit: sed Pammenia illa mihi non placent.
Ego me spero Athenis fore mense Septembri. Tuorum itinerum tempora scire sane velim. Εὐήθειαν Semproni Rufi cognovi ex epistula tua Corcyraea.
Quid quaeris? invideo potentiae Vestori.
Cupiebam etiam nunc plura garrire, sed lucet; urget turba, festinat Philogenes. Valebis igitur et valere Piliam et Caeciliam nostrum iubebis litteris et salvebis a meo Cicerone.
company of foot? He is beginning to live in spendthrift style. The leading people of Salamis insist, he declares. Of course; that is why they came to me and with tears told me of his men’s atrocities and their own miseries. Accordingly I sent a letter at once ordering the cavalry to quit Cyprus by a certain day, and that, as well as other acts of mine, has caused the people of Salamis to praise me to the skies in their decrees. There is no need of cavalry now, for the people are ready to pay,—unless perhaps I want to use force to make them pay 48 per cent interest. Were I to do such a thing, I could never venture to read or touch those volumes which you praise. You, my dear fellow, have had far too much regard for Brutus in the matter. I perhaps not enough. I have informed Brutus of the drift of your letter. Now for the remaining topics.
I am pleased to do all I can for Appius here consistently with my honour. I do not dislike him and I like Brutus: and Pompey, for whom I have a higher regard every day, is surprisingly importunate. You have heard that C. Caelius comes here as quaestor. I don’t know why, but I don’t like that affair of Pammenes. I hope to be at Athens in the month of September. Please let me know the dates of your travels. I understood the _naïveté_ of Sempronius Rufus from your letter written in Corcyra. I am really quite jealous of the influence Of Vestorius.
I should like to keep on chatting, but day dawns, the crowd is pressing in and Philogenes is in a hurry. Good-bye, give my greetings to Pilia, when you write, and to your daughter: and accept greetings from my son.
III CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Cilicia m. Iun. ante V K. Quint. a. 704_] Etsi nil sane habebam novi, quod post accidisset, quam dedissem ad te Philogeni, liberto tuo, litteras, tamen, cum Philotimum Romam remitterem, scribendum aliquid ad te fuit. Ac primum illud, quod me maxume angebat—non quo me aliquid iuvare posses. Quippe, res enim est in manibus, tu autem abes longe gentium; πολλὰ δ’ ἐν μεταιχμίῳ νότος κυλίνδει κύματ’ εὐρείης ἁλός.
Obrepit dies, ut vides (mihi enim a. d. III Kal. Sextil. de provincia decedendum est), nec succeditur. Quem relinquam, qui provinciae praesit?
Ratio quidem et opinio hominum postulat fratrem, primum quod videtur esse honos, nemo igitur potior; deinde quod solum habeo praetorium.
Pomptinus enim ex pacto et convento (nam ea lege exierat) iam a me discesserat; quaestorem nemo dignum putat; etenim est “levis, libidinosus, tagax.” De fratre autem primum illud est. Persuaderi ei non posse arbitror; odit enim provinciam, et hercule nihil odiosius, nihil molestius. Deinde, ut mihi nolit negare, quidnam mei sit officii? cum bellum esse in Syria magnum putetur, id videatur in hanc provinciam erupturum, hic praesidii nihil sit, sumptus annuus decretus sit, videaturne aut pietatis esse meae fratrem relinquere aut diligentiae nugarum aliquid relinquere? Magna igitur, ut vides, sollicitudine adficior, magna inopia consilii. Quid quaeris?
III CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Though I have no fresh news, since I handed a letter for you to your freedman Philogenes, still I must write you a line, since I am sending Philotimus back to Rome. First a thing which gives me much anxiety—not that you can help me at all—for the business is in hand, and you are far away in a foreign land “and by south wind tossed Between us rolls the wide estranging sea.”
The days steal on, as you see (for I am due to leave my province on the 30th of July), and no successor is appointed. Whom can I leave in charge? Policy and public opinion point to my brother: first because it is right that he should have the honour by preference to anyone else, and secondly because he is the only officer of praetorian rank that I have: for Pomptinus, who came out on that condition, has left me already according to his agreement. My quaestor is notoriously unsuitable; he is “unsteady, wanton and lightfingered.” There is one objection to my brother’s appointment,—he will probably refuse, as he hates provincial life. Certes, it is a hateful bore. Then, supposing he does not like to refuse, what is my proper course? Seeing that a great war is likely in Syria, which will apparently break forth into this district, where there is no protection and only the ordinary supplies have been voted for the year, it would certainly seem unnatural to leave my brother, and careless to leave some nincompoop. As you see I am troubled greatly and badly want advice. In short I toto negotio nobis opus non fuit. Quanto tua provincia melior! Decedes, cum voles, nisi forte iam decessisti; quem videbitur, praeficies Thesprotiae et Chaoniae. Necdum tamen ego Quintum conveneram, ut iam, si id placeret, scirem, possetne ab eo impetrari: nee tamen, si posset, quid vellem, habebam. Hoc est igitur eius modi.
Reliqua plena adhuc et laudis et gratiae, digna iis libris, quos dilaudas, conservatae civitates, cumulate publicanis satis factum, offensus contumelia nemo, decreto iusto et severo perpauci, nec tamen quisquam, ut queri audeat, res gestae dignae triumpho; de quo ipso nihil cupide agemus, sine tuo quidem consilio certe nihil. Clausula est difficilis in tradenda provincia. Sed haec deus aliquis gubernabit.
De urbanis rebus scilicet plura tu scis; saepius et certiora audis; equidem doleo non me tuis litteris certiorem fieri. Huc enim odiosa adferebantur de Curione, de Paulo; non quo ullum periculum videam stante Pompeio vel etiam sedente, valeat modo; sed mehercule Curionis et Pauli, meorum familiarium, vicem doleo. Formam igitur mihi totius rei publicae, si iam es Romae aut cum eris, velim mittas, quae mihi obviam veniat, ex qua me fingere possim et praemeditari, quo animo accedam ad urbem. Est enim quiddam advenientem non esse peregrinum atque hospitem. Et, quod paene praeterii, Bruti tui causa, made a mistake over the whole matter. Your sphere is far preferable. You can depart at pleasure; and perhaps you have left already. You can put Thesprotia and Chaonia[218] in charge of anyone you like. I have not yet met my brother to know whether he would consent, if I want him to take it over; nor, should he consent, am I settled in my plans. So much for that.
The rest so far is full of honour and glory and worthy of the volumes which you praise. Communities have found salvation, the whole body of tax-collectors has been satisfied, no one has been annoyed by ill-considered conduct, very few by the severity of upright justice—none so that he could dare complain—and a campaign has been conducted in a way that deserves a triumph, though I shall not seek it greedily, nor seek it at all without your advice. The conclusion is difficult in the matter of handing over the province. But some god will direct my course.
About doings in town of course you know more, as your information comes more frequently and more surely. I am sorry that you do not pass on your news in a letter, for tiresome tidings have reached me about Curio and Paulus, not that there would seem anything to fear, if Pompey keeps his influence or even his inactivity. Only let him recover his health. But I am annoyed for Curio and Paulus, my friends. So, if you are now in town, or when you are there, please send me a sketch of the political situation to meet me on my way, that I may mould my conduct upon it and bethink me of the proper spirit in which to approach Rome. It is something not to arrive as a foreigner and a stranger. There was one point I nearly omitted. As I have said often, I have Footnote 218: The country round Atticus’ house in Epirus.
ut saepe ad te scripsi, feci omnia. Cyprii numerabant; sed Scaptius centesimis renovato in singulos annos faenore contentus non fuit.
Ariobarzanes non in Pompeium prolixior per ipsum quam per me in Brutum.
Quem tamen ego praestare non poteram; erat enim rex perpauper, aberamque ab eo ita longe, ut nihil possem nisi litteris; quibus pugnare non destiti. Summa haec est. Pro ratione pecuniae liberalius est Brutus tractatus quam Pompeius. Bruto curata hoc anno talenta circiter c, Pompeio in sex mensibus promissa cc. Iam in Appi negotio quantum tribuerim Bruto, dici vix potest. Quid est igitur, quod laborem? Amicos habet meras nugas, Matinium, Scaptium. Qui quia non habuit a me turmas equitum, quibus Cyprum vexaret, ut ante me fecerat, fortasse suscenset, aut quia praefectus non est, quod ego nemini tribui negotiatori, non C.
Vennonio, meo familiari, non tuo, M. Laenio, et quod tibi Romae ostenderam me servaturum; in quo perseveravi. Sed quid poterit queri is, qui, auferre pecuniam cum posset, noluit? Scaptio, qui in Cappadocia fuit, puto esse satis factum. Is a me tribunatum cum accepisset, quem ego ex Bruti litteris ei detulissem, postea scripsit ad me se uti nolle eo tribunatu.
Gavius est quidam, cui cum praefecturam detulissem Bruti rogatu, multa et dixit et fecit cum quadam mea contumelia, P. Clodi canis. Is me nec proficiscentem Apameam prosecutus est, nec, cum postea in castra venisset atque inde discederet, num quid vellem, rogavit, et fuit aperte mihi nescio quare done everything for your friend Brutus. The people of Cyprus were paying down the money. Scaptius was not content with 12 per cent compound interest. Ariobarzanes is not more accommodating to Pompey for his own sake than to Brutus for mine. Still I could not go bail for him, for he is a very needy monarch and I was such a long way off that I could only press him on paper, as I did continually. The conclusion is this. In proportion to the sum lent, Brutus has been treated more liberally than Pompey: for Brutus there has been got this year about £24,400. To Pompey has been promised £48,800 within six months. In the business of Appius, my concessions to Brutus are almost incalculable. I have no reason to distress myself. Brutus’ friends are men of straw, Matinius, and Scaptius, who is perhaps angry because he could not get troops to harry Cyprus as he had done before my time, or because he was not made a prefect, an office I have not granted to any man of business, not to C.
Vennonius, my friend, nor to your friend M. Laenius. I have persevered in the course that I told you at Rome I should keep: but a man who refused to take his money, when he could, cannot grumble. The other Scaptius who was in Cappadocia I think is satisfied. First of all he accepted a military tribuneship from me, which a letter from Brutus had persuaded me to offer him; but he wrote me afterwards that he did not want to take it up.
There is a person Gavius, who, after I had offered him a post as prefect at Brutus’ request, said and did a good deal to disparage me. He is Clodius’ puppydog. He did not condescend to be one of my escort when I left Apamea, nor, when he came into camp later and was leaving it, did he ask if I had any commissions. For some unknown reason he was an non amicus. Hunc ego si in praefectis habuissem, quem tu me hominem putares? Qui, ut scis, potentissimorum hominum contumaciam numquam tulerim, ferrem huius adseculae? etsi hoc plus est quam ferre, tribuere etiam aliquid beneficii et honoris. Is igitur Gavius, cum Apameae me nuper vidisset Romam proficiscens, me ita appellavit, ut Culleolum vix auderem: “Unde,” inquit, “me iubes petere cibaria praefecti?” Respondi lenius, quam putabant oportuisse, qui aderant, me non instituisse iis dare cibaria, quorum opera non essem usus. Abiit iratus. Huius nebulonis oratione si Brutus moveri potest, licebit eum solus ames, me aemulum non habebis. Sed illum eum futurum esse puto, qui esse debet. Tibi tamen causam notam esse volui et ad ipsum haec perscripsi diligentissime.
Omnino (soli enim sumus) nullas umquam ad me litteras misit Brutus, ne proxime quidem de Appio, in quibus non inesset adrogans, ἀκοινονόητον aliquid. Tibi autem valde solet in ore esse: [Sidenote: Lucilius.]
“Granius autem Non contemnere se et reges odisse superbos.”
In quo tamen ille mihi risum magis quam stomachum movere solet. Sed plane parum cogitat, quid scribat aut ad quem.
Q. Cicero puer legit, ut opinor, et certe, epistulam inscriptam patri suo. Solet enim aperire idque de meo consilio, si quid forte sit, quod opus sit sciri. In ea autem epistula erat idem illud de sorore quod ad me. Mirifice conturbatum vidi puerum. Lacrimans open enemy of mine. If I had counted such a fellow among my prefects, you might doubt what kind of creature I am. You know I will not brook discourtesy from men of power, and should I put up with it from this hanger-on? Though, to be sure, gracious bestowal of honour is something more than putting up with a man. So Gavius, when on his road to Rome he saw me lately at Apamea, addressed me as I should scarcely address Culleolus. “Where,” said he, “am I to look for my pickings?” I answered less sternly than those present thought proper, that I was not accustomed to give pickings to men whose services I had not used. He went off in a temper. If Brutus listens to the talk of such a shady customer, you may have him to yourself. I shall not be your rival. But I think he will behave all right. However I wanted you to know the circumstances, and I have recounted the matter very fully to Brutus.
Between ourselves Brutus has never sent me a letter, not even lately about Appius, without a touch of arrogance and intolerance. You often quote the lines, “But Granius too Has self-conceit and hates the pride of kings.”
However in this business he excites my laughter rather than my rage, and evidently he does not consider sufficiently what he writes and to whom.
The young Quintus, I fancy, yes I am sure, read your letter addressed to his father, for he usually opens his father’s letters—and that by my advice—in case there is anything he ought to know. The letter contained that same passage about your sister that you wrote to me. The boy was awfully upset. He mecum est questus. Quid quaeris? miram in eo pietatem, suavitatem humanitatemque perspexi. Quo maiorem spem habeo nihil fore aliter, ac deceat. Id te igitur scire volui.
Ne illud quidem praetermittam. Hortensius filius fuit Laodiceae gladiatoribus flagitiose et turpiter. Hunc ego patris causa vocavi ad cenam, quo die venit, et eiusdem patris causa nihil amplius. Is mihi dixit se Athenis me exspectaturum, ut mecum decederet. “Recte,” inquam; quid enim dicerem? Omnino puto nihil esse, quod dixit; nolo quidem, ne offendam patrem, quem mehercule multum diligo. Sin fuerit meus comes, moderabor ita, ne quid eum offendam, quem minime volo.
Haec sunt; etiam illud. Orationem Q. Celeris mihi velim mittas contra M.
Servilium. Litteras mitte quam primum; si nihil, nihil fieri vel per tuum tabellarium. Piliae et filiae salutem. Cura, ut valeas.
IV CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in itinere paulo post Non. Iun. a. 704_] Tarsum venimus Nonis Iuniis. Ibi me multa moverunt, magnum in Syria bellum, magna in Cilicia latrocinia, mihi difficilis ratio administrandi, quod paucos dies habebam reliquos annui muneris, illud autem difficillimum, relinquendus erat ex senatus consulto, came to me complaining in tears. I saw much good feeling in him, and a kind and courteous disposition, which increases my hope for a satisfactory issue to the matter: so I want you to know it.
There is one thing I must not pass over. The young Hortensius, during the gladiatorial exhibition at Laodicea, behaved in a shameful and scandalous way. For his father’s sake I invited him to my table on the day of his arrival, and for the same father’s sake treated him handsomely.[219] He said that he would await my departure in Athens, that we might go home together. I could only say, “Very well.” But I don’t fancy at all that he meant what he said. I hope not, lest I offend his father, who is my very good friend. But if he comes in my suite, I will arrange so as to avoid offence to a man I don’t want to offend.
So much for that, there is one thing more. Please send me Q. Celer’s speech against M. Servilius. Write to me at your first opportunity. If there is no news, write to say so, or even send a verbal message. Give my love to your wife and daughter. Keep well.
IV CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
[Sidenote: _On the road, shortly after June 5_, B.C. _50_] I came to Tarsus on the 5th of June. There I was upset by many troubles: a big war in Syria, big cases of robbery in Cilicia, my difficulty in arranging things, considering there are only a few days left of my year of office: but the hardest problem of all is that, according to a decree of the Senate, some one must be left Footnote 219: or “did nothing more for him.”
qui praeesset. Nihil minus probari poterat quam quaestor Mescinius. Nam de Caelio nihil audiebamus. Rectissimum videbatur fratrem cum imperio relinquere; in quo multa molesta, discessus noster, belli periculum, militum improbitas, sescenta praeterea. O rem totam odiosam! Sed haec fortuna viderit, quoniam consilio non multum uti licet.
Tu, quando Romam salvus, ut spero, venisti, videbis, ut soles, omnia, quae intelleges nostra interesse, imprimis de Tullia mea, cuius de condicione quid mihi placeret, scripsi ad Terentiam, cum tu in Graecia esses; deinde de honore nostro. Quod enim tu afuisti, vereor, ut satis diligenter actum in senatu sit de litteris meis.
Illud praeterea μυστικώτερον ad te scribam, tu sagacius odorabere. Τῆς δάμαρτός μου ὁ ἀπελεύθερος (οἶσθα, ὃν λέγω) ἔδοξέ μοι πρώην, ἐξ ὧν ἀλογευόμενος παρεφθέγγετο, πεφυρακέναι τὰς ψήφους ἐκ τῆς ὠνῆς τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τοῦ Κροτωνιάτου τυραννοκτόνου. Δέδοικα δή, μή τι νοήσῃς. Εἷς δήπου τοῦτο δὴ περισκεψάμενος τὰ λοιπὰ ἐξασφάλισαι. Non queo tantum, quantum vereor, scribere; tu autem fac, ut mihi tuae litterae volent obviae. Haec festinans scripsi in itinere atque agmine. Piliae et puellae Caeciliae bellissimae salutem dices.
in charge. The quaestor Mescinius is by no means a suitable person. Of Caelius I hear nothing. The proper thing seems to be to leave my brother with military power, but that involves many difficulties—our separation, risk of war, mutiny in the troops, a thousand other hazards. A hateful business altogether. But fortune must look to it, since reason serves our purpose little.
You, having come safe to Rome, as I hope, will as usual look to everything that concerns me, especially the matter of my daughter, about whose marriage settlement I have written to Terentia expressing my intentions, since you were in Greece. Then please look after my triumph.
For as you were absent from town, I fear the Senate hardly paid sufficient attention to my despatch.
The following point I will write to you in dark phrases: your cleverness will scent my meaning. My wife’s freedman (you know whom I mean) seemed to me lately from casual words of his to have cooked his accounts on the sale of the goods of the Crotonian tyrannicide.[220] I fear you have noticed something. Look into this matter yourself alone, and secure what is left. I cannot write all my fears. Take care that your letter flies to meet me. I write in haste on the march and with my army. Give my love to your wife and to your very charming little daughter.
Footnote 220: T. Annius Milo, who assumed the name Milo in honour of the well-known athlete of Croton of that name. The freedman referred to is Phylotimus. From v, 8 it appears that he bought for Cicero at the sale of Milo’s property.
V CICERO ATTICO SAL.
Nunc quidem profecto Romae es. Quo te, si ita est, salvum venisse gaudeo; unde quidem quam diu afuisti, magis a me abesse videbare, quam si domi esses; minus enim mihi meae notae res erant, minus etiam publicae. Quare velim, etsi, ut spero, te haec legente aliquantum iam viae processero, tamen obvias mihi litteras quam argutissimas de omnibus rebus crebro mittas, imprimis de quo scripsi ad te antea. Τῆς ξυναόρου τῆς ἐμῆς οὑξελεύθερος ἔδοξέ μοι θαμὰ βατταρίζων καὶ ἀλύων ἐν τοῖς ξυλλόγοις καὶ ταῖς λέσχαις ὑπό τι πεφυρακέναι τὰς ψήφους ἐν τοῖς ὑπάρχουσιν τοῖς τοῦ Κροτωνιάτου. Hoc tu indaga, ut soles, ast hoc magis.
Ἐξ ἄστεως ἑπταλόφου στείχων παρέδωκεν μνῶν κδʹ, μηʹ ὀφειλημα τῷ Καμίλλῳ, ἑαυτόν τε ὀφείλοντα μνᾶς κδ’ ἐκ τῶν Κροτωνιατικῶν καὶ ἐκ τῶν Χερρονησιτικῶν μηʹ καὶ μνᾶς κληρονομῆσαι χμʹ, χμʹ. Τούτων δὲ μηδὲ ὀβολὸν διευθετῆσθαι πάντων ὀφειληθέντων τοῦ δευτέρου μηνὸς τῇ νουμηνίᾳ. Τὸν δὲ ἀπελεύθερον αὐτοῦ ὄντα ὁμώνυμον τῷ Κόνωνος πατρὶ μηδὲν ὁλοσχερῶς πεφροντικέναι. Ταῦτα οὖν πρῶτον μέν, ἵνα πάντα σώζηται, δεύτερον δέ, ἵνα μηδὲ τῶν τόκων ὀλιγωρήσῃς τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς προεκκειμένης ἡμέρας. Ὅσας αὐτὸν ἠνέγκαμεν, σφόδρα δέδοικα· καὶ γὰρ παρῆν πρὸς ἡμᾶς κατασκεψόμενος V CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
You must certainly be at Rome now. If you are, I am glad of your safe arrival. So long as you were away from town, you seemed to me to be further off than if you were in Rome, for I heard less of my own business and less of the business of the state. So please send plenty of chatty letters on every kind of subject to meet me, though I hope, when you read this, I shall be well on my journey home. Above all write me on the subject I raised in my former letter. From the stuttering hesitation of my wife’s freedman in our meetings and talks I infer that he has been cooking his accounts a little in the matter of the sale of the Crotonian’s[221] goods. Investigate the matter with your usual care, but pay still more attention to this. When leaving the city of the seven hills he tendered an account of debts of some £100 and £200[222] to Camillus, and put himself down as owing £100 from Milo’s goods and £200 from the property in the Chersonese, and as having inherited two sums of £2,600,[223] of which not a penny had been paid, though all were due on the 1st of the second month. Milo’s freedman, Timotheus, the namesake of Conon’s father, he said, had never given a thought to the matter. Now first try and secure the whole amount, and secondly don’t overlook the interest from the afore-mentioned day. All the time I had to endure him, I was much upset. He came to me to spy out Footnote 221: i.e. T. Annius Milo.
Footnote 222: 24 and 48 minae, worth a little over £4 each.
Footnote 223: 640 minae.
καί τι σχεδὸν ἐλπίσας· ἀπογνοὺς δ’ ἀλόγως ἀπέστη ἐπειπών “εἴκω· αἰσχρόν τοι δηρόν τε μένειν”—meque [Sidenote: Iliad, ii, 298] obiurgavit vetere proverbio τὰ μὲν διδόμενα—. Reliqua vide et, quantum fieri potest, perspiciamus.
Etsi annuum tempus prope iam emeritum habebamus (dies enim XXXIII erant reliqui), sollicitudine provinciae tamen vel maxime urgebamur. Cum enim arderet Syria bello, et Bibulus in tanto maerore suo maximam curam belli sustineret, ad meque legati eius et quaestor et amici eius litteras mitterent, ut subsidio venirem, etsi exercitum infirmum habebam, auxilia sane bona, sed ea Galatarum, Pisidarum, Lyciorum (haec enim sunt nostra robora), tamen esse officium meum putavi exercitum habere quam proxume hostem, quoad mihi praeesse provinciae per senatus consultum liceret.
Sed, quo ego maxime delectabar, Bibulus molestus mihi non erat, de omnibus rebus scribebat ad me potius. Et mihi decessionis dies λεληθότως obrepebat. Qui cum advenerit, ἄλλο πρόβλημα, quem praeficiam, nisi Caldus quaestor venerit; de quo adhuc nihil certi habebamus.
Cupiebam mehercule longiorem epistulam facere, sed nec erat res, de qua scriberem, nec iocari prae cura poteram. Valebis igitur et puellae salutem Atticulae dices nostraeque Piliae.
the land, and had some hopes. When he lost them, he left without an explanation, saying: “I give in, ’Twere shame to tarry long,” and casting in my teeth the old proverb “take the goods the gods provide you.”[224] Look after the rest, and let us investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible.
Though I have nearly served my year (for only thirty-three days remain), still I am greatly concerned about my province. Syria is ablaze with war, and Bibulus is burdened with its cares in the midst of his own great sorrow,[225] and his legates, quaestor and friends write to me to go to his aid: so, although the army I have is weak—the auxiliaries certainly are good, Galatians, Pisidians, Lycians, the main strength of my force—I have thought it my duty to keep an army facing the foe, so long as I am authorized by the Senate’s decree to be in charge of my province. But what pleases me greatly is that Bibulus gives no trouble.
He writes to me about any other topic by preference, and the day of my departure creeps on unnoticed. When it arrives, there is the further problem of my substitute, unless my quaestor Caldus comes, of whom so far I have no news.
I should like to write a longer letter, but I have no news, and care keeps me from jesting; so good-bye, and love to your little daughter and to your wife.
Footnote 224: This proverb is referred to in Plato’s _Gorgias_ 499c, and given in full by Olympiodorus in the form τὰ ἐκ τῆς τύχης διδόμενα κόσμει “make the best of what fortune gives.”
Footnote 225: The murder of his sons in Egypt.
VI CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Rhodi circ. IV Id. Sext. a. 704_] Ego, dum in provincia omnibus rebus Appium orno, subito sum factus accusatoris eius socer. “Id quidem,” inquis, “di adprobent!” Ita velim teque ita cupere certo scio. Sed, crede mihi, nihil minus putaram ego, qui de Ti. Nerone, qui mecum egerat, certos homines ad mulieres miseram; qui Romam venerunt factis sponsalibus. Sed hoc spero melius; mulieres quidem valde intellego delectari obsequio et comitate adulescentis.
Cetera noli ἐξακανθίζειν.
Sed heus tu! πυροὺς εἰς δῆμον Athenis? placet hoc tibi? Etsi non impediebant mei certe libri. Non enim ista largitio fuit in cives, sed in hospites liberalitas. Me tamen de Academiae προπύλῳ iubes cogitare, cum iam Appius de Eleusine non cogitet? De Horterisio te certo scio dolere; equidem excrucior; decreram enim cum eo valde familiariter vivere.
Nos provinciae praefecimus Caelium. “Puerum,” inquies, “et fortasse fatuum et non gravem et non continentem!” Adsentior; fieri non potuit aliter. Nam, quas multo ante tuas acceperam litteras, in quibus ἐπέχειν te scripseras, quid esset mihi faciendum de relinquendo, eae me pungebant; videbam enim, quae tibi essent ἐποχῆς causae, et erant eaedem mihi.
VI CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
While in my province I show Appius every honour, suddenly I find myself father-in-law of Dolabella his accuser. You invoke heaven’s benison. So say I, and you I know are sincere. Believe me, it was the last thing I had expected. Indeed I had even sent trusty agents to Terentia and Tullia about the suit of Ti. Nero, who had made proposals to me: but they arrived in town only when the betrothal was over. However I hope the better course has been taken. I understand that my women folk are highly pleased with the young man’s obliging and courteous temper. As for the rest, don’t pick holes in him.
Good gracious! Do you approve of corn doles to Athens? My own books to be sure do not forbid such a dole, for it was not a largesse to fellow-citizens, but a graceful present in return for hospitality. Still do you encourage me in the matter of the porch for the Academy, when Appius has abandoned his design of a porch at Eleusis? I am sure you are