letter I now await: or I shall extract another letter from you. From Brundisium so far there is no news.
IIa CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
What a difficult and calamitous business! Nothing passed over in the advice you give, nothing revealed as to your real opinion! You are glad that I am not with Pompey, and yet you lay down how wrong it would be for me to be present when he is criticized: it were shameful to approve his conduct. Agreed. Should I then speak against him? "Heaven forbid," you say. So, what can happen, if one way lies crime, and the other punishment? You advise me to get from Caesar leave of absence and permission to retire. Must I then beg and pray? That would be humiliating: and suppose I fail? You say the matter of my triumph will not be prejudiced. But what if I am hampered by that very thing? Accept it? What dishonour! Refuse it? Caesar will think that I am repudiating him entirely, more even than when I declined a place among his twenty land commissioners.[81] And it is his way, when he excuses himself [81] The _vigintiviri_ for the distribution of Campanian land in 59 B.C. Cf. II, 19.
* * * * * Page 182 conferre omnem illorum temporum culpam. Ita me sibi fuisse inimicum, ut ne honorem quidem a se accipere vellem. Quanto nunc hoc idem accipiet asperius! Tanto scilicet, quanto et honor hic illo est amplior et ipse robustior. Nam, quod negas te dubitare, quin magna in offensa sim apud Pompeium hoc tempore, non video causam, cur ita sit hoc quidem tempore.
Qui enim amisso Corfinio denique certiorem me sui consilii fecit, is queretur Brundisium me non venisse, cum inter me et Brundisium Caesar esset? Deinde etiam scit ἀπαρρησίαστον esse in ea causa querelam suam.
Me putat de municipiorum imbecillitate, de dilectibus, de pace, de urbe, de pecunia, de Piceno occupando plus vidisse quam se. Sin, cum potuero, non venero, tum erit inimicus, quod ego non eo vereor ne mihi noceat (quid enim faciet?
Τίς δ' ἐστὶ δοῦλος τοῦ θανεῖν ἄφροντις ὤν;), sed quia ingrati animi crimen horreo. Confido igitur adventum nostrum illi, quoquo tempore fuerit, ut scribis, ἀσμενιστὸν fore. Nam, quod ais, si hic temperatius egerit, consideratius consilium te daturum, qui hic potest se gerere non perdite? Vetant vita,[82] mores, ante facta, ratio suscepti negotii, socii, vires bonorum aut etiam constantia.
[82] Vetant vita _Purser_: vita _MSS._: vetant _Boot_.
Vixdum epistulam tuam legeram, cum ad me currens ad illum Postumus Curtius venit nihil nisi classes loquens et exercitus. Eripiebat Hispanias, * * * * * Page 183 to throw on me all the blame for that period, and to say I was so bitter an enemy that I would not even take an office from him. How much more will this annoy him! Why, as much more as this honour is greater than that, and he himself is stronger. As for your remark that you have no doubt I am in bad odour with Pompey at this present time, I see no reason why it should be so, especially at this time. Pompey did not tell me his plans till after the loss of Corfinium, and he cannot complain of my not going to Brundisium, when Caesar was between me and Brundisium. Besides he knows that complaint on his part is stopped.
He is of opinion that I saw clearer than he did about the weakness of the municipal towns, the levies, peace, the city, the public funds, occupying Pisenum. If however I do not go to him, when I can, he will certainly be angry. From that I shrink--not for fear of harm he may do me (for what can he do? And who "Would be a slave but he who fears to die?"[83]) but because I shrink from being charged with ingratitude. So I trust my arrival will be, as you say, welcome to him, whenever I go. As for your remark "If Caesar's conduct be more temperate, you will weigh your advice more carefully," how can Caesar keep himself from a destructive policy? It is forbidden by his character, his previous career, the nature of his present enterprise, his associates, the material strength or even the moral firmness of the loyalist party.
[83] From an unknown play of Euripides.
I had scarcely read your letter, when up comes Curtius Postumus hurrying off to Caesar, talking of nothing but fleets and armies; "Caesar is wresting * * * * * Page 184 tenebat Asiam, Siciliam, Africam, Sardiniam, confestim in Graeciam persequebatur. Eundum igitur est, nec tam ut belli quam ut fugae socii simus. Nec enim ferre potero sermones istorum, quicumque sunt; non sunt enim certe, ut appellantur, boni. Sed tamen id ipsum scire cupio, quid loquantur, idque ut exquiras meque certiorem facias, te vehementer rogo. Nos adhuc, quid Brundisi actum esset, plane nesciebamus. Cum sciemus, tum ex re et ex tempore consilium capiemus, sed utemur tuo.
III CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis VII Id. Mart. a. 705_] Domiti filius transiit Formias VIII Idus currens ad matrem Neapolim mihique nuntiari iussit patrem ad urbem esse, cum de eo curiose quaesisset servus noster Dionysius. Nos autem audieramus eum profectum sive ad Pompeium sive in Hispaniam. Id cuius modi sit, scire sane velim. Nam ad id, quod delibero, pertinet, si ille certe nusquam discessit, intellegere Gnaeum non esse faciles nobis ex Italia exitus, cum ea tota armis praesidiisque teneatur, hieme praesertim. Nam, si commodius anni tempus esset, vel infero mari liceret uti. Nunc nihil potest nisi supero tramitti, quo iter interclusum est. Quaeres igitur et de Domitio et de Lentulo.
A Brundisio nulla adhuc fama venerat, et erat hic * * * * * Page 185 the Spains from Pompey, occupying Asia, Sicily, Africa, Sardinia, and forthwith pursuing Pompey into Greece." So I must set out to take part not so much in a war as in a flight. For I can never put up with the talk of your friends, whoever they are, for certainly they are not what they are called, loyalists. Still that is just what I want to know, what they do say, and I beg you earnestly to inquire and inform me. So far I know nothing of what has happened at Brundisium. When I know, I shall form my plans according to circumstances and the moment; but I shall use your advice.
III CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
The son of Domitius went through Formiae on the 8th of March hastening to his mother at Naples, and, when my slave Dionysius inquired particularly from him about his father, he sent me a message that he was outside the city. But I had heard that he had gone either to Pompey or to Spain. What the fact is, I should much like to know, for it has a bearing on the point I am now considering: if it is certain that Domitius has found no means of departure, Pompey may understand that my own departure from Italy is difficult, seeing that it is now beset with troops and garrisons, and especially in the winter season. For, were it a more convenient time of year, one could even cross the southern sea.
Now there is no choice but the Adriatic, to which passage is barred. So please inquire both about Domitius and about Lentulus.
From Brundisium no news has come yet, and to-day * * * * * Page 186 dies VII Idus, quo die suspicabamur aut pridie Brundisium venisse Caesarem. Nam Kal. Arpis manserat. Sed, si Postumum audire velles, persecuturus erat Gnaeum; transisse enim iam putabat coniectura tempestatum ac dierum. Ego nautas eum non putabam habiturum, ille confidebat, et eo magis, quod audita naviculariis hominis liberalitas esset. Sed, tota res Brundisina quo modo habeat se, diutius nescire non possum.
IV CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis IV Id. Mart. a. 705_] Ego etsi tam diu requiesco, quam diu aut ad te scribo aut tuas litteras lego, tamen et ipse egeo argumento epistularum et tibi idem accidere certo scio. Quae enim soluto animo familiariter scribi solent, ea temporibus his excluduntur, quae autem sunt horum temporum, ea iam contrivimus. Sed tamen, ne me totum aegritudini dedam, sumpsi mihi quasdam tamquam θέσεις, quae et πολιτικαὶ sunt et temporum horum, ut et abducam animum ab querelis et in eo ipso, de quo agitur, exercear. Eae sunt huius modi: Εἰ μενετέον ἐν τῇ πατρίδι τυραννουμένης αὐτῆς. Εἰ παντὶ τρόπω τυραννίδος κατάλυσιν πραγματευτέον, κἄν * * * * * Page 187 is the 9th of March. I expect Caesar reached Brundisium to-day or yesterday. He stayed at Arpi on the 1st. If you choose to listen to Postumus, Caesar meant to pursue Pompey; for, by calculating the state of the weather and the days, he concluded that Pompey had crossed the sea. I thought that Caesar would be unable to get crews, but Postumus was quite sure about that, and the more so because ship-owners had heard of Caesar's liberality. But it cannot be long now before I hear the full story of what has happened at Brundisium.
IV CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Though now I rest only so long as I am writing to you or reading your letters, still I am in want of subject matter, and feel sure that you are in the same position, for the present crisis debars us from the free and easy topics of friendly correspondence, and the topics connected with the present crisis we have already exhausted. However, not to succumb entirely to low spirits, I have taken for myself certain theses, so to speak, which deal with _la haute politique_ and are applicable to the present crisis, so that I may keep myself from querulous thoughts and may practise the subject. Here are some: Whether one should remain in one's country, even under a tyranny.
Whether any means are lawful to * * * * * Page 188 μέλλῃ διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τῶν ὅλων ἡ πόλις κινδυνεύσειν. Εἰ εὐλαβητέον τὸν καταλύοντα μὴ αὐτὸς αἴρηται. Εἰ πειρατέον ἀρήγειν τῇ πατρίδι τυραννουμένῃ καιρῷ καὶ λογῳ μᾶλλον ἢ πολέμῳ. Εἰ πολιτικὸν τὸ ἡσυχάζειν ἀναχωρήσαντά ποι τῆς πατρίδος τυραννουμένης ἤ δὶα παντὂς ἰτέον κινδύνου τῆς ἐλευθερίας πέρι. Εἰ πόλεμον ἐπακτέον τῇ χώρᾳ καὶ πολιορκητέον αὐτὴν τυραννουμένην. Εἰ καὶ μὴ δοκιμάζοντα τὴν διὰ πολέμου κατάλυσιν τῆς τυραννίδος συναπογραπτέον ὅμως τοῖς ἀρίστοις. Εἰ τοῖς εὐεργέταις καὶ φίλοις συγκινδυνευτέον ἐν τοῖς πολιτικοῖς, κἂν μὴ δοκῶσιν εὖ βεβουλεῦσθαι περὶ τῶν ὃλων. Εἰ ὁ μεγάλα τὴν πατρίδα εὐεργετήσας, δἰ αὐτὸ δὲ τοῦτο ἀνήκεστα παθὼν καὶ φθονηθεὶς, κινδυνεύσειεν ἄν ἐθελοντὴς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος, ἤ ἐφετέον αὐτῷ ἑαυτοῦ ποτε καὶ τῶν οἰκειοτάτων ποιεῖσθαι πρόνοιαν ἀφεμένω τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ἰσχύοντας διαπολιτείας.
In his ego me consulationibus exercens et disserens in utramque partem tum Graece, tum Latine et abduco parumper animum a molestiis et τῶν προὔργου τι delibero. Sed vereor, ne tibi ἂκαιρος sim. Si enim recte ambulaverit is, qui hanc epistulam tulit, in ipsum tuum diem incidet.
* * * * * Page 189 abolish a tyranny, even if they endanger the existence of the State.
Whether one ought to take care that one who tries to abolish it may not rise too high himself. Whether one ought to assist one's country, when under a tyranny, by seizing opportunities and by argument rather than by war. Whether one is doing one's duty to the State, if one retires to some other place and there remains inactive, when there is a tyranny; or whether one ought to run every risk for liberty. Whether one ought to invade the country and besiege one's native town, when it is under a tyranny. Whether one ought to enrol oneself in the ranks of the loyalists, even if one does not approve of war as a means of abolishing tyranny. Whether one ought in political matters to share the dangers of one's benefactors and friends, even if one does not believe their general policy to be wise. Whether one who has done good service for his country, and by it has won ill-treatment and envy, should voluntarily put himself into danger for that country, or may at length take thought for himself and his dear ones and avoid struggles against the powers that be.
By employing myself with such questions and discussing the pros and cons in Greek and Latin, I divert my thoughts a little from my troubles and at the same time consider a subject which is very pertinent. But I fear you may find me a nuisance. For, if the bearer makes proper headway, it will reach you on the very day you have your attack of ague.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis VI Id. Mart. a. 705_] Natali die tuo scripsisti epistulam ad me plenam consilii summaeque cum benevolentiae tum etiam prudentiae. Eam mihi Philotimus postridie, quam a te acceperat, reddidit. Sunt ista quidem, quae disputas, difficillima, iter ad superum, navigatio infero, discessus Arpinum, ne hunc fugisse, mansio Formiis, ne obtulisse nos gratulationi videamur, sed miserius nihil quam ea videre, quae tamen iam, iam, inquam, videnda erunt.
Fuit apud me Postumus, scripsi ad te, quam gravis. Venit ad me etiam Q.
Fufius quo vultu, quo spiritus properans Brundisium, scelus accusans Pompei, levitatem et stultitiam senatus. Haec qui in mea villa non feram, Curtium in curia potero ferre? Age, finge me quamvis εὐστομάχως haec ferentem, quid? illa "DIC, M. TVLLI" quem habebunt exitum? Et omitto causam rei publicae, quam ego amissam puto cum vulneribus suis tum medicamentis eis, quae parantur, de Pompeio quid agam? cui plane (quid enim hoc negem?) suscensui. Semper enim causae eventorum magis movent quam ipsa eventa. Haec igitur mala (quibus maiora esse quae possunt?) considerans, vel potius iudicans eius opera accidisse, et culpa, inimicior eram huic quam ipsi Caesari. Ut * * * * * Page 191 V CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
On your birthday you wrote me a letter full of advice, full of great kindness and of great wisdom. Philotimus delivered it to me the day after he got it from you. The points you discuss are very difficult--the route to the upper sea, a voyage by the lower sea, departure to Arpinum, lest I should seem to have avoided Caesar, remaining at Formiae, lest I should appear to have put myself forward to congratulate him; but the most miserable thing of all will be to see what I tell you must very shortly be seen.
Curtius Postumus was with me. I wrote you how tiresome he was. Quintus Fufius also came to see me--what an air! what assurance!--hastening to Brundisium denouncing Pompey's wrong-doings and the careless folly of the House. When I cannot stand this under my own roof, how shall I be able to endure Curtius in the Senate? But suppose I put up with all this in good humour, what of the question "Your vote, M. Tullius?"
What will come of it? I pass over the cause of the Republic, which I consider lost, both from the wounds dealt it and the cures prepared for them; but what am I to do about Pompey? It is no use denying that I am downright angry with him. For I am always more affected by the causes of events than by the events themselves. Therefore considering our incomparable woes, or rather concluding that they have happened by his doing and his mistakes, I am more angry with Pompey than with Caesar himself. Just as our ancestors * * * * * Page 192 maiores nostri funestiorem diem esse voluerunt Aliensis pugnae quam urbis captae, quod hoc malum ex illo (itaque alter religiosus etiam nunc dies, alter in vulgus ignotus), sic ego decem annorum peccata recordans, in quibus inerat ille etiam annus, qui nos hoc non defendente, ne dicam gravius, adflixerat, praesentisque temporis cognoscens temeritatem, ignaviam, neglegentiam suscensebam. Sed ea iam mihi exciderunt; beneficia eiusdem cogito, cogito etiam dignitatem; intellego serius equidem, quam vellem, propter epistulas sermonesque Balbi, sed video plane nihil aliud agi, nihil actum ab initio, nisi ut hunc occideret. Ego igitur, sicut ille apud Homerum, cui et mater et dea dixisset: Αὐτίκα γάρ τοι ἔπειτα μεθ' Ἐκτορα πότμος ἕτοιμος, matri ipse respondit: Αὐτίκα τεθναίην, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἄρ' ἔμελλον ἑταίρῳ κτεινομένῳ ἐπαμῦναι.
Quid, si non ἑταίρῳ solum, sed etiam εὐεργέτῃ adde tali viro talem causam agenti? Ego vero haec officia mercanda vita puto. Optimatibus vero tuis nihil confido, nihil iam ne inservio quidem. Video, ut se huic dent, ut daturi sint. Quicquam tu illa putas fuisse de valetudine decreta municipiorum prae his de victoria gratulationibus? "Timent," inquies. At ipsi tum se timuisse dicunt. Sed videamus, quid actum sit Brundisi. Ex eo fortasse alia consilia nascentur aliaeque litterae.
* * * * * Page 193 thought that the day of the battle of Alia was blacker than the day of the capture of Rome, because the capture was but the consequence of the battle (and so the former day is still a black letter day and the latter is commonly unknown), so I too was angry in recalling his errors of the last ten years, which included the year of my affliction, when he gave me no help, to put it mildly, and recognizing his foolhardiness, sloth and carelessness at the present time. But all this I have forgotten. It is his kindness I think of, and I think of my own honour too. I understand, later indeed than I could have wished, from the letters and conversation of Balbus, but I see plainly, that the sole object is, and has been from the beginning, the death of Pompey.
So I say the same as Achilles to his mother, when she said "For after Hector's death thy doom is fixed," and he replied, "Then let me die, since I have failed to save my friend."
[Sidenote: Iliad XVIII, 96-9] And in my case it is not only a friend but a benefactor, a man so great and championing so great a cause. Indeed I hold that life should be paid for the kindnesses that he has done me. But in your loyal party I have no confidence: nor I do even acknowledge any allegiance to them now. I see how they surrender and will surrender themselves to Caesar.
Do you think that those decrees of the towns about Pompey's health were anything compared with their congratulatory addresses to Caesar? You will say, "They are terrorized." Yes, but they themselves declare that they were terrorized on the former occasion. But let us see what has happened at Brundisium. Perhaps from that may spring different plans and a different letter.
[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis V Id. Mart. a. 705_] Nos adhuc Brundisio nihil. Roma scripsit Balbus putare iam Lentulum consulem tramisisse, nec eum a minore Balbo conventum, quod is hoc iam Canusi audisset; inde ad se eum scripsisse; cohortesque sex, quae Albae fuissent, ad Curium via Minucia transisse; id Caesarem ad se scripsisse, et brevi tempore eum ad urbem futurum. Ergo utar tuo consilio neque me Arpinum hoc tempore abdam, etsi, Ciceroni meo togam puram cum dare Arpini vellem, hanc eram ipsam excusationem relicturus ad Caesarem. Sed fortasse in eo ipso offendetur, cur non Romae potius.
Ac tamen, si est conveniendus, hic potissimum. Tum reliqua videbimus, id est et quo et qua et quando.
Domitius, ut audio, in Cosano est, et quidem, ut aiunt, paratus ad navigandum, si in Hispaniam, non probo, si ad Gnaeum, laudo; quovis potius certe, quam ut Curtium videat, quem ego patronus aspicere non possum. Quid alios? Sed, opinor, quiescamus, ne nostram culpam coarguamus, qui, dum urbem, id est patriam, amamus dumque rem conventuram putamus, ita nos gessimus, ut plane interclusi captique simus.
Scripta iam epistula Capua litterae sunt allatae hoc exemplo: "Pompeius mare transiit cum omnibus militibus, quos secum habuit. Hic numerus est * * * * * Page 195 VI CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
No news yet from Brundisium. From Rome Balbus has written that he thinks the consul Lentulus has now gone over, and that the younger Balbus has not met him, because the latter has just heard the news at Canusium and from that town has written to him. He adds that the six cohorts which were at Alba have gone to Curius by the Minucian road, that Caesar has written to tell him so and will shortly be in Rome. So I shall follow your advice. I shall not go and bury myself in Arpinum at the present time, though, since I had wished to celebrate my son's coming of age there, I thought of leaving that as an excuse to Caesar.
But perhaps that itself will give offence and he might ask why I should not do it at Rome. Still, if I must meet him, I would much rather meet him here. Then I shall see the other things, where I am to go, by what route and when.
Domitius, I hear, is at Cosa, and ready it is said to sail. If it is to Spain, I do not approve, but, if to Pompey, he has my praise. Better to go anywhere than to have to see Curtius, of whom, though I have defended him, I cannot bear the sight, not to speak of others. But I suppose I had better keep quiet, for fear of convicting myself of folly in managing to be cut off wholly and made captive through my love of my country and an idea that the matter could be patched up.
Just as I had finished writing, there came a letter from Capua, of which this is a copy: "Pompey has crossed the sea with all the soldiery he has. There * * * * * Page 196 hominum milia triginta et consules duo et tribuni pl. et senatores, qui fuerunt cum eo, omnes cum uxoribus et liberis. Conscendisse dicitur a. d. IIII Nonas Martias. Ex ea die fuere septemtriones venti. Naves, quibus usus non est, omnes aut praecidisse aut incendisse dicunt."
De hac re litterae L. Metello tribuno pl. Capuam allatae sunt a Clodia socru, quae ipsa transiit. Ante sollicitus eram et angebar, sicut res scilicet ipsa cogebat, cum consilio explicare nihil possem; nunc autem, postquam Pompeius et consules ex Italia exierunt, non angor, sed ardeo dolore, οὐδέ μοι ἦτορ ἔμπεδον, ἀλλ' ἀλαλύκτημαι.
Non sum, inquam, mihi crede, mentis compos; tantum mihi dedecoris admisisse videor. Mene non primum cum Pompeio qualicumque consilio uso, deinde cum bonis esse quamvis causa temere instituta? praesertim cum ii ipsi, quoram ego causa timidius me fortunae committebam, uxor, filia, Cicerones pueri, me illud sequi mallent, hoc turpe et me indignum putarent. Nam Quintus quidem frater, quicquid mihi placeret, id rectum se putare aiebat, id animo aequissimo sequebatur.
Tuas nunc epistulas a primo lego. Hae me paulum recreant. Primae monent et rogant, ne me proiciam, proximae gaudere te ostendunt me remansisse.
Eas cum lego, minus mihi turpis videor, sed tam diu, dum lego. Deinde emergit rursum dolor et ἀισχροῦ φαντασία. Quam ob rem obsecro te, mi Tite, eripe * * * * * Page 197 are 30,000 men, two consuls, tribunes and the senators who were with him, all accompanied by wives and children. He is said to have embarked on the 4th of March. From that day there have been northerly winds.
They say he disabled or burned all the ships he did not use."
[Sidennote Iliad x, 91] On this matter a letter has been received at Capua by Lucius Metellus, the tribune of the plebs, from Clodia, his mother-in-law, who herself crossed the sea. I was anxious and distracted before, naturally enough under the circumstances, when I could find no solution of affairs.
But, now that Pompey and the consuls have left Italy, I am not only distracted, but I blaze with indignation. "Steady my heart no more, but wild with grief." Believe me, I say I am no longer responsible, so great the shame I seem to have incurred. To think that in the first place I should not be with Pompey, whatever his plan, nor again with the loyalists, however rashly they have mismanaged their cause!
Particularly when those very people, whose interests kept me cautious, my wife, my daughter and the boys, preferred that I should follow Pompey's fortunes, and thought Caesar's cause disgraceful and unworthy of me. As for my brother Quintus, whatever I thought right, he agreed to, and he followed my course with perfect contentment.
Your letters I am reading now from the beginning of the business. They afford me some little relief. The first warn and entreat me not to commit myself. The later ones show you are glad I stayed. While I read them, my conduct seems to me less discreditable; but only so long as I read: afterwards up rises sorrow again and a vision of shame. So I beseech you, Titus, * * * * * Page 198 mihi hunc dolorem, aut minue saltem aut consolatione aut consilio, aut quacumque re potes. Quid tu autem possis? aut quid homo quisquam? Vix iam deus.
Equidem illud molior, quod tu mones sperasque fieri posse, ut mihi Caesar concedat, ut absim, cum aliquid in senatu contra Gnaeum agatur.
Sed timeo, ne non impetrem. Venit ab eo Furnius. Ut quidem scias, quos sequamur, Q. Titini filium cum Caesare esse nuntiat, sed illum maiores mihi gratias agere, quam vellem. Quid autem me roget paucis ille quidem verbis, sed ἐν δυνάμει, cognosce ex ipsius epistula. Me miserum, quod tu non valuisti! una fuissemus; consilium certe non defuisset; σύν τε δύ' ἐρχομένω----.
Sed acta ne agamus, reliqua paremus. Me adhuc haec duo fefellerunt, initio spes compositionis, qua facta volebam uti populari vita, sollicitudine senectutem nostram liberari; deinde bellum crudele et exitiosum suscipi a Pompeio intellegebam. Melioris medius fidius civis et viri putabam quovis supplicio adfici, quam illi crudelitati non solum praeesse, verum etiam interesse. Videtur vel mori satius fuisse quam esse cum his. Ad haec igitur cogita, mi Attice, vel potius excogita. Quemvis eventum fortius feram quam hunc dolorem.
* * * * * Page 199 take this grief away from me, or at any rate lessen it by your sympathy or advice or by any other possible means. Yet what can you or any man do? God Himself could hardly help now.
But my own aim now is to achieve what you advise and hope, that Caesar excuse my absence, when any measure is brought forward against Pompey in the house. But I fear I may fail. Furnius has come from Caesar. To show you the sort of men I am following, he tells me that the son of Q.
Titinius is with Caesar, but Caesar expresses greater thanks to me than I could wish. His request put in a few words, but _ex cathedra_, you may see from his letter. How grieved I am at your ill-health! We should have been together; assuredly advice would not have been wanting: "Two heads are better than one."
[Sidenote: Iliad X, 224] But let us not fight battles over again, let us attend to the future.
Till now two things have led me astray, at first the hope of a settlement, and, if that were secured, I was ready for private life and an old age quit of public cares; and then I discovered that Pompey was beginning a bloody and destructive war. On my honour I thought that it was the part of a better man and a better citizen to suffer any punishment rather than, I will not say to take a leading part, but even to take any part in such atrocities. It seems as though it would have been preferable to die than to be one of such men. So, my dear Atticus, think on these problems, or rather think them out. I shall bear any result more bravely than this affliction.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in itinere in. m. Mart. a. 705_] Cum Furnium nostrum tantum vidissem neque loqui neque audire meo commodo potuissem, properarem atque essem in itinere praemissis iam legionibus, praeterire tamen non potui, quin et scriberem ad te et illum mitterem gratiasque agerem, etsi hoc et feci saepe et saepius mihi facturus videor. Ita de me mereris. In primis a te peto, quoniam confido me celeriter ad urbem venturum, ut te ibi videam, ut tuo consilio, gratia, dignitate, ope omnium rerum uti possim. Ad propositum revertar; festinationi meae brevitatique litterarum ignosces. Reliqua ex Furnio cognosces.
VII CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiis III Id. Mart. a. 705_] Scripseram ad te epistulam, quam darem IIII Idus. Sed eo die is, cui dare volueram, non est profectus. Venit autem eo ipso die ille "celeripes," quem Salvius dixerat. Attulit uberrimas tuas litteras; quae mihi quiddam quasi animulae instillarunt; recreatum enim me non queo dicere. Sed plane τὸ συνέχον effecisti. Ego enim non iam id ago, mihi crede, ut prosperos exitus consequar. Sic enim video, nec duobus his vivis nec hoc uno nos umquam rem publicam habituros.
* * * * * Page 201 VIa CAESAR THE IMPERATOR SENDS GREETINGS TO CICERO THE IMPERATOR.
Though I have only had a glimpse of our friend Furnius, and have not yet been able conveniently to speak to him or hear what he has to say, being in a hurry and on the march, yet I could not neglect the opportunity of writing to you and sending him to convey my thanks.
Be sure I have often thanked you and I expect to have occasion to do so still more often in the future: so great are your services to me.
First I beg you, since I trust that I shall quickly reach Rome, to let me see you there, and employ your advice, favour, position and help of all kinds. I will return to what I began with: pardon my haste and the shortness of my letter. All the other information you may get from Furnius.
VII CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
I wrote you a letter dated the 12th of March, but on that day the man to whom I meant to give it did not set out. However, on that very day there arrived that "sprinter," as Salvius called him, bringing your very full epistle which has put just a drop of life into me, for recovered I cannot profess to be. Clearly you have done the one thing needful. Believe me I am not acting now with a view to a lucky issue; for I see that we can never enjoy a Republic while these two men live, or this one alone. So I * * * * * Page 202 Ita neque de otio nostro spero iam nec ullam acerbitatem recuso. Unum illud extimescebam, ne quid turpiter facerem, vel dicam iam ne fecissem.
Sic ergo habeto, salutares te mihi litteras misisse neque solum has longiores, quibus nihil potest esse explicatius, nihil perfectius, sed etiam illas breviores, in quibus hoc mihi iucundissimum fuit, consilium factumque nostrum a Sexto probari, pergratumque mihi tu...[84] fecisti; a quo et diligi me et, quid rectum sit, intellegi scio.
Longior vero tua epistula non me solum, sed meos omnes aegritudine levavit. Itaque utar tuo consilio et ero in Formiano, ne aut ad urbem ἀπάντησις mea animadvertatur, aut, si nec hic nec illic eum videro, devitatum se a me putet. Quod autem suades, ut ab eo petam, ut mihi concedat, ut idem tribuam Pompeio, quod ipsi tribuerim, id me iam pridem agere intelleges ex litteris Balbi et Oppi, quarum exempla tibi misi. Misi etiam Caesaris ad eos sana mente scriptas quo modo in tanta insania. Sin mihi Caesar hoc non concedat, video tibi placere illud, me πολίτευμα de pace suscipere; in quo non extimesco periculum (cum enim tot impendeant, cur non honestissimo depecisci velim?), sed vereor, ne Pompeio quid oneris imponam, μή μοι γοργείην κεφαλὴν δεινοῖο πελώρου intorqueat. Mirandum enim in modum Gnaeus noster Sullani regni similitudinem concupivit. Εἰδώς σοι λέγω. Nihil ille umquam minus obscure tulit.
[84] _After_ tu _there is probably a lacuna which should be filled by some such words as those suggested by Lehmann_: fecisti, quod me de iudicio eius certiorem.
* * * * * Page 203 have no hope of ease for myself and I do not refuse to contemplate as possible any bitterness. The one thing I dread is doing, or, perhaps I should say, having done, anything disgraceful.
[Sidenote: Odyssey xi, 663] So please consider that your letter was good for me, and not only the longer, most explicit and perfect epistle, but also the shorter, in which the most delightful thing was to find that my policy and action is approved by Sextus. You have done me a great kindness...[85] Of his affection and sense of honour I am sure. But that longer letter of yours has relieved not only me but all my friends from our sorry state: so I will follow your advice and remain in the villa at Formiae, that my meeting with Caesar outside the city may not excite comment, or, if I do not meet him either here or there, I may not lead him to think I have shunned him. As for your advice to ask him to allow me to pay Pompey the same homage as I did to him, you will understand I have been doing that long since, when you see the copies I forward of letters of Balbus and Oppius. I send also a letter addressed by Caesar to them, which is sane enough considering these mad times. But, if Caesar should refuse my request, I see that you think I should undertake to be a peace-maker. In that rôle I do not fear danger--for, with so many dangers overhanging, why should I not compound by taking the most respectable--but I fear lest I may embarrass Pompey, and he fix on me "the Gorgon gaze of his dread eye." It is wonderful to see how Pompey desires to imitate Sulla's reign. I know what I am saying. He has made no secret of it. Then why [85] Adopting Lehmann's suggestion "in telling me of his opinion."
* * * * * Page 204 "Cum hocne igitur," inquies, "esse vis?" Beneficium sequor, mihi crede, non causam, [ut in Milone, ut in...Sed hactenus].[86] "Causa igitur non bona est?" Immo optima, sed agetur, memento, foedissime. Primum consilium est suffocare urbem et Italiam fame, deinde agros vastare, urere, pecuniis locupletum non abstinere. Sed, cum eadem metuam ab hac parte, si illim beneficium non sit, rectius putem quidvis domi perpeti.
Sed ita meruisse illum de me puto, ut ἀχαριστίας crimen subire non audeam, quamquam a te eius quoque rei iusta defensio est explicata.
[86] _The words in brackets are probably a gloss which has crept into the text._ De triumpho tibi adsentior, quem quidem totum facile et lubenter abiecero. Egregie probo fore ut, dum agamus, ὁ πλόος ὡραῖος obrepat.
"Si modo," inquis, "satis ille erit firmus." Est firmior etiam, quam putabamus. De isto licet bene speres. Promitto tibi, si valebit,