Page 291 then, and join the army? A thousand times better to die, especially at my time of life. So now I am not so much consoled as I was with the thought of the Ides of March, for there was a grave mistake committed then. However, those youths "in other noble deeds wipe out their shame."[229] But, if you have any better hope, as you hear more news and are in the midst of affairs, please write, and at the same time consider what I ought to do about the votive legation. Here many people warn me against attending the Senate on the 1st. They say troops are being collected secretly for that occasion, and that too against your friends, who to my idea will be safer anywhere than in the Senate.
Footnote 229: Attributed to Sophocles.
* * * * * Page 292 M. TULLI CICERONIS EPISTULARUM AD ATTICUM LIBER QUINTUS DECIMUS I CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Puteolano XVI Kal. Iun. a. 710_] O factum male de Alexione! Incredibile est, quanta me molestia adfecerit, nec mehercule ex ea parte maxime, quod plerique mecum: "Ad quem igitur te medicum conferes?" Quid mihi iam medico? Aut, si opus est, tanta inopia est? Amorem erga me, humanitatem suavitatemque desidero. Etiam illud. Quid est, quod non pertimescendum sit, cum hominem temperantem, summum medicum tantus inproviso morbus oppresserit?
Sed ad haec omnia una consolatio est, quod ea condicione nati sumus, ut nihil, quod homini accidere possit, recusare debeamus.
De Antonio iam antea tibi scripsi non esse eum a me conventum. Venit enim Misenum, cum ego essem in Pompeiano. Inde ante profectus est, quam ego eum venisse cognovi. Sed casu, cum legerem tuas litteras, Hirtius erat apud me in Puteolano. Ei legi et egi. Primum quod attinet, nihil mihi concedebat, deinde ad summam arbitrum me statuebat non modo huius rei, sed totius consulatus sui. Cum Antonio autem sic agemus, ut perspiciat, si in eo negotio * * * * * Page 293 CICERO'S LETTERS TO ATTICUS BOOK XV I CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
What a misfortune about Alexio! It has upset me more than you can believe, and not, I assure you, particularly on the score which most people seem to think it has, asking to what doctor I shall turn now.
What do I want with a doctor now? And, if I do want one, is there such a dearth of them? It is his love for me, his kindness and charming manner that I miss. There is another thing, too. What have we not to fear, when so temperate a person and so skilful a physician can be overcome suddenly by such a disease? But for all these things there is one consolation: we are born under this condition, that we may not refuse anything that fate has in store for mortals.
As for Antony, I have told you before that I have not met him. For he came to Misenum when I was at Pompeii, and he left before I knew he was there. But by chance, when I was reading your letter, Hirtius was with me at Puteoli. I read it to him and pleaded with him. At first he would not make any concession worth counting, but in the end he said I should direct not only this matter but all his consulship. With Antony I shall put the matter so that he may see that, if he obliges me in this particular * * * * * Page 294 nobis satis fecerit, totum me futurum suum. Dolabellam spero domi esse.
Redeamus ad nostros. De quibus tu bonam spem te significas habere propter edictorum humanitatem. Ego autem perspexi, cum a me XVII Kal. de Puteolano Neapolim Pansae conveniendi causa proficisceretur Hirtius, omnem eius sensum. Seduxi enim et ad pacem sum cohortatus. Non poterat scilicet negare se velle pacem, sed non minus se nostrorum arma timere quam Antoni, et tamen utrosque non sine causa praesidium habere, se autem utraque arma metuere. Quid quaeris? οὐδὲν ὑγιές.
De Quinto filio tibi adsentior. Patri quidem certe gratissimae bellae tuae litterae fuerunt. Caerelliae vero facile satis feci; nec valde laborare mihi visa est, et, si illa, ego certe non laborarem. Istam vero, quam tibi molestam scribis esse, auditam a te esse omnino demiror.
Nam, quod eam conlaudavi apud amicos audientibus tribus filiis eius et filia tua, τί ἐκ τούτου;[230] Footnote 230: τὸ ἐκ τούτου quid est hoc _MSS._ _The Latin words were excluded by "Quid est autem, cur ego personatus ambulem?"
Parumne foeda persona est ipsius senectutis?
Quod Brutus rogat, ut ante Kalendas, ad me quoque scripsit, et fortasse faciam. Sed plane, quid velit, nescio. Quid enim illi adferre consilii possum, cum ipse egeam consilio, et cum ille suae inmortalitati melius quam nostro otio consuluerit? De regina rumor exstinguitur. De Flamma, obsecro te, si quid potes.
* * * * * Page 295 matter, I shall be entirely his for the future. I hope Dolabella is at home.
Let us return to our heroes. You hint that you have good hopes for them in the moderate tone of the edicts. But, when Hirtius left me at Puteoli on the 16th of May to meet Pansa at Naples, his whole mind was revealed to me. For I took him aside and exhorted him to keep the peace. He could not, of course, say that he did not want peace, but he did say that he was as much afraid of armed action on our side as from Antony, and that after all both had reason for being on their guard, and for his part he was afraid of hostilities from both. In fact he is quite unreliable.
About young Quintus I agree with you. His father, at any rate, was most pleased with your nice letter. Caerellia I easily satisfied; she did not seem to me to bother herself much, and, if she had, I certainly should not have done so. As to the lady who you say is plaguing you, I wonder you listened to her at all. For, if I did compliment her before friends, when three of her own sons and your daughter were present, what is there in that?
"Why should I wear a mask before men's eyes?"
Is not old age itself a mask ugly enough?
You say Brutus asks me to come before the 1st. He has written to me too, and perhaps I shall do so. But I really don't know what he wants. What advice can I give him, when I want advice myself, and when he has thought of his immortality rather than our peace of mind? The rumour about Cleopatra is dying out. As to Flamma, pray do what you can.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Sinuessano XV Kal. Iun. a. 710_] Here dederam ad te litteras exiens e Puteolano deverteramque in Cumanum.
Ibi bene valentem videram Piliam. Quin etiam paulo post Cumis eam vidi.
Venerat enim in funus; cui funeri ego quoque operam dedi. Cn. Lucullus, familiaris noster, matrem efferebat. Mansi igitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hanc epistulam exaravi.
Erat autem nihil novi, quod aut scriberem aut ex te quaererem, nisi forte hoc ad rem putas pertinere. Brutus noster misit ad me orationem suam habitam in contione Capitolina, petivitque a me, ut eam ne ambitiose corrigerem, antequam ederet. Est autem oratio scripta elegantissime sententiis, verbis, ut nihil possit ultra. Ego tamen, si illam causam habuissem, scripsissem ardentius. Ὑπόθεσις vides quae sit et persona dicentis. Itaque eam corrigere non potui. Quo enim in genere Brutus noster esse vult et quod iudicium habet de optimo genere dicendi, id ita consecutus in ea oratione est, ut elegantius esse nihil possit; sed ego secutus aliud sum, sive hoc recte sive non recte. Tu tamen velim eam orationem legas, nisi forte iam legisti, certioremque me facias, quid iudices ipse. Quamquam vereor, ne cognomine tuo lapsus ὑπεραττικὸς sis in iudicando. Sed, si recordabere Δημοσθένους fulmina, tum intelleges * * * * * Page 297 Ia CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Yesterday I sent off a letter to you as I was leaving Puteoli and stopped at my house at Cumae. There I found Pilia enjoying the best of health. Indeed, I saw her again shortly afterwards at Cumae. For she had come for a funeral, which I also was attending. Our friend Cn. Lucullus was burying his mother. So I stayed that day at Sinuessa, and there I have scribbled this as I am starting early in the morning of the next day for Arpinum. However, I have no news either to write to you or to ask from you, unless you think this is to the point. Brutus has sent me the speech he delivered in the meeting on the Capitol, and has asked me to correct it without regarding his feelings, before he publishes it.
Now the speech is most elegantly expressed as regards its sentiments, and its language could not be surpassed. But myself, if I had pleaded that cause, I should have written with more fire. You realize what the theme is and what the speaker is. So I could not alter it. For considering the style our friend Brutus affects and the opinion he holds of the best style of oratory, he has attained it in its highest elegance in this speech. But rightly or wrongly I have aimed at something different. However, I should like you to read the speech, if you have not done so already, and to let me know your opinion, though I am afraid that your name will lead you astray and you will be hyper-Attic in your criticism. However, if you will recall Demosthenes' thunder-bursts, you will be able to realize that one can use considerable force even in * * * * * Page 298 posse vel ἀττικώτατα gravissime dici. Sed haec coram. Nunc nec sine epistula nec cum inani epistula volui ad te Metrodorum venire.
II CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Vesciano XV Kal. Iun. a. 710_] XV Kal. e Sinuessano proficiscens cum dedissem ad te litteras devertissemque acutius,[231] in Vesciano accepi a tabellario tuas litteras; in quibus nimis multa de Buthroto. Non enim tibi ea res maiori curae aut est aut erit quam mihi. Sic enim decet te mea curare, tua me.
Quam ob rem id quidem sic susceptum est mihi, ut nihil sim habiturus antiquius.
Footnote 231: L. Antonium contionatum esse cognovi tuis litteris et aliis sordide; sed, id quale fuerit, nescio; nihil enim scripsisti. De Menedemo probe.
Quintus certe ea dictitat, quae scribis. Consilium meum a te probari, quod ea non scribam, quae tu a me postularis, facile patior, multoque magis id probabis, si orationem eam, de qua hodie ad te scripsi, legeris. Quae de legionibus scribis, ea vera sunt. Sed non satis hoc mihi videris tibi persuasisse, qui de Buthrotiis nostris per senatum speres confici posse. Quod puto (tantum enim video) non videmur esse victuri, sed, ut iam nos hoc fallat, de Buthroto te non fallet. De Octavi contione idem sentio quod tu, ludorumque * * * * * Page 299 the purest Attic style. But of this when we meet. At the present time all I wanted was that Metrodorus should not come to you without a letter or with a letter that had nothing in it.
II CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
On the 18th I sent a letter to you as I was starting from Sinuessa, and stopped at...Then at Vescia your messenger delivered your letter, which contained more than enough about Buthrotum. For you cannot and will not have that business at heart more than I have and shall have: that is the way that I ought to care for your business, and you for mine. Accordingly, as I have undertaken it, I shall give it the preference to everything else.
I hear from your letters and others that L. Antonius' speech was a poor thing; but what it was like I do not know, as you have not told me. I am glad to hear about Menedemus. Quintus certainly keeps on reiterating what you mention. I am relieved to hear that you approve of my determination not to write the sort of thing you asked me to write, and you will approve of it much more, if you read the speech about which I am writing to you to-day. What you say about the legions is true. But you do not seem to me to have taken the point sufficiently to heart, if you hope we can settle the matter of Buthrotum through the Senate. In my opinion (for so much I can see) we have no chance of winning; but supposing I am mistaken about that, you will not be disappointed about Buthrotum. About Octavius' speech I think the same as you, and I don't like * * * * * Page 300 eius apparatus et Matius ac Postumus mihi procuratores non placent; Saserna collega dignus. Sed isti omnes, quem ad modum sentis, non minus otium timent quam nos arma. Balbum levari invidia per nos velim, sed ne ipse quidem id fieri posse confidit. Itaque alia cogitat.
Quod prima disputatio Tusculana te confirmat, sane gaudeo; neque enim ullum est perfugium aut melius aut paratius. Flamma quod bene loquitur, non moleste fero. Tyndaritanorum causa, de qua causa laborat, quae sit, ignoro. Hos tamen...[232] Πεντέλοιπον movere ista videntur, in primis erogatio pecuniae. De Alexione doleo, sed, quoniam inciderat in tam gravem morbum, bene actum cum illo arbitror. Quos tamen secundos heredes, scire velim et diem testamenti.
Footnote 232: hos tamen _MSS._, _which may be an aposiopesis, or some such word as_ defendam _may be omitted_: noscum tamen _Reid_.
III CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Arpinati XI Kal. Iun. a. 710_] Undecimo Kal. accepi in Arpinati duas epistulas tuas, quibus duabus meis respondisti. Una erat XV Kal., altera XII data. Ad superiorem igitur prius. Accurres in Tusculanum, ut scribis; quo me VI Kal. venturum arbitrabar. Quod scribis parendum victoribus, non mihi quidem, cui sunt multa potiora.
* * * * * Page 301 his preparations for the games or Matius and Postumus as his agents.
Saserna is a colleague worthy of them. But all that party, as you realize, fear peace no less than we fear war. I should be glad if we could relieve Balbus of his unpopularity; but even he has no hope of that happening, so he is thinking of other things.
I am very glad if the first _Tusculan Disputation_ gives you courage, for there is no other refuge either better or more available.[233] I am relieved that Flamma gives a good account of himself. What the case of the people of Tyndaris is, about which he is concerned, I do not know, but I am on their side. The "last of the five" seems to be upset by the things you wot of, especially the withdrawal of the money. I am grieved about Alexio, but, as he had contracted such a serious disease, I think he was fortunate. Whom he has appointed residuary heirs I should like to know, and the latest day for acceptance of the inheritance under his will.
Footnote 233: _i.e._ than death, which is the subject of the book mentioned.
III CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
On the 22nd I received two letters from you at Arpinum, in which you answered two of mine. One was dated the 18th, the other the 21st. So I will answer the earlier first. Pray hasten to Tusculum, as you say: I think I shall get there on the 27th. You say we must obey the victors.
I, for one, will not: there are many courses I should prefer to that.
For * * * * * Page 302 Nam illa quae recordaris Lentulo et Marcello consulibus acta in aede Apollinis, nec causa eadem est nec simile tempus, praesertim cum Marcellum scribas aliosque discedere. Erit igitur nobis coram odorandum, et constituendum, tutone Romae esse possimus. Novi conventus habitatores sane movent; in magnis enim versamur angustiis. Sed sunt ista parvi; quin vel maiora contemnimus. Calvae testamentum cognovi, hominis turpis ac sordidi. Tabula Demonici quod tibi curae est, gratum. De malo[234] scripsi iam pridem ad Dolabellam accuratissime, modo redditae litterae sint. Eius causa et cupio et debeo.
Footnote 234: _For_ malo _many suggestions have been made: e.g._ Mario _by Manutius and_ Manlio _by Shuckburgh, who compares Att._ XIII. 9.
Venio ad propiorem. Cognovi de Alexione, quae desiderabam. Hirtius est tuus. Antonio, quoniam[235] est, volo peius esse. De Quinto filio, ut scribis, ἅλις.[236] De patre coram agemus. Brutum omni re, qua possum, cupio iuvare. Cuius de oratiuncula idem te quod me sentire video. Sed parum intellego, quid me velis scribere quasi a Bruto habita oratione, cum ille ediderit. Qui tandem convenit? an sic ut in tyrannum iure optimo caesum? Multa dicentur, multa scribentur a nobis, sed alio modo et tempore. De sella Caesaris bene tribuni; praeclaros etiam XIV ordines! Brutum apud me fuisse gaudeo, modo et libenter fuerit et sat diu.
Footnote 235: quam iam _Orelli_: quoniam male _Alanus_. Tyrrell suggests that _male_ can be supplied in thought from the _peius_ that follows.
Footnote 236: * * * * * Page 303 the case is not the same, nor is the occasion the same, as in the proceedings which you recall to my memory as taking place in the temple of Apollo in the consulship of Lentulus and Marcellus:[237] especially as you say Marcellus and others are leaving Rome. So when we meet we must scent out the facts and settle whether we can be safe at Rome. The inhabitants of the new community[238] trouble me a good deal, for I am in considerable difficulties. But these are small matters: I am treating even more important things than this with contempt. I know Calva's will.
How disgracefully mean! I am grateful to you for attending to Demonicus' sale. About...I wrote to Dolabella long ago very fully, if only my letter was delivered. In his interests I am keen and devoted.
Footnote 237: 49 B.C., when the Senate summoned all good citizens to Rome.
Footnote 238: A _colonia_ of veterans planted by Antony at Casilinum.
I come to your more recent letter. I have learned all I want about Alexio. Hirtius is devoted to you. With Antonius I wish things were going even worse than they are. About young Quintus, as you say, _assez_. About his father we will speak when we meet. I want to assist Brutus in every way that is possible. I see you have the same opinion of his harangue as I have. But I don't quite understand why you want me to write a speech attributing it to Brutus, when he has published his own.
How could that be proper? Should I write as though against a tyrant justly executed? I shall have much to say and much to write, but in another way and at another time. Well done the tribunes about Caesar's chair, and well done the famous fourteen rows of equites! I am glad Brutus stayed at my house, and I only hope he enjoyed himself and stayed a long time.
[Sidenote: _Scr. in Arpinati IX K. Iun. a. 710_] IX K.H. X fere a Q. Fufio venit tabellarius. Nescio quid ab eo litterularum, uti me sibi restituerem. Sane insulse, ut solet, nisi forte, quae non ames, omnia videntur insulse fieri. Scripsi ita, ut te probaturum existimo. Mihi duas a te epistulas reddidit, unam XI, alteram X. Ad recentiorem prius et pleniorem. Laudo; si vero etiam Carfulenus, "ἄνω ποταμῶν." Antoni consilia narras turbulenta. Atque utinam potius per populum agat quam per senatum! quod quidem ita credo. Sed mihi totum eius consilium ad bellum spectare videtur, si quidem D. Bruto provincia eripitur. Quoquo modo ego de illius nervis existimo, non videtur fieri posse sine bello. Sed non cupio, quoniam cavetur Buthrotiis. Rides? At ego doleo non mea potius adsiduitate, diligentia, gratia perfici. Quod scribis te nescire, quid nostris faciendum sit, iam pridem me illa ἀπορία sollicitat. Itaque stulta iam Iduum Martiarum est consolatio.
Animis enim usi sumus virilibus, consiliis, mihi crede, puerilibus.
Excisa enim est arbor, non evulsa. Itaque quam fruticetur, vides.
Redeamus igitur, quoniam * * * * * Page 305 IV CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
On the 24th, about four o'clock, came a messenger from Q. Fufius bringing some sort of a note from him, begging me to make it up with him. A very silly letter as usual, unless one thinks that everything one does not like is very silly. I sent an answer of which I think you would approve. The messenger delivered two of your letters, one of the 22nd, the other of the 23rd. I answer the later and fuller one first. I approve.[239] Why, if even Carfulenus deserts him, it will be the end of the world[240] for him. Antony's plans, as you describe them, are revolutionary. And I only hope he will try to get his way through the people and not through the Senate, which I think is probable. But to me his whole policy seems to point to war, since D. Brutus is being robbed of his province. Whatever I may think of Brutus' resources, I don't think that can happen without war. But I don't want war, since the Buthrotians are all right as it is. You may smile: but I am sorry it was not rather accomplished by my persistence, diligence, and influence. You say you don't know what our friends are to do: that difficulty has been bothering me for a long time. So now I see it was folly to be consoled by the Ides of March: for though our courage was that of men, believe me we had no more sense than children. We have only cut down the tree, not rooted it up. So you see how it is shooting out.
Footnote 239: Presumably of the action of the Martian legion, which was reported to have deserted Antony and joined Octavius. Carfulenus, mentioned in the next sentence, was an officer in that legion.
Footnote 240: A quotation from Euripides, _Medea_, 409:— ἄνω ποταμῶν ἱερῶν χωροῦσι παγαί, καὶ δίκα καὶ πάντα πάλιν στρέφεται, which had apparently passed into a proverb.
* * * * * Page 306 saepe usurpas, ad Tusculanas disputationes. Saufeium de te celemus; ego numquam indicabo. Quod te a Bruto scribis, ut certior fieret, quo die in Tusculanum essem venturus, ut ad te ante scripsi, VI Kal., et quidem ibi te quam primum per videre velim. Puto enim nobis Lanuvium eundum et quidem non sine multo sermone. Sed μελήσει.
Redeo ad superiorem. Ex qua praetereo illa prima de Buthrotiis; quae mihi sunt inclusa medullis, sit modo, ut scribis, locus agendi. De oratione Bruti prorsus contendis, cum iterum tam multis verbis agis.
Egone ut eam causam, quam is scripsit? ego scribam non rogatus ab eo?
Nulla παρεγχείρησις fieri potest contumeliosior. "At," inquis, "Ἡρακλείδειον aliquod." Non recuso id quidem, sed et componendum argumentum est et scribendi exspectandum tempus maturius. Licet enim de me, ut libet, existimes (velim quidem quam optime), si haec ita manant, ut videntur (feres, quod dicam), me Idus Martiae non delectant. Ille enim numquam revertisset, nos timor confirmare eius acta non coëgisset, aut, ut in Saufei eam relinquamque Tusculanas disputationes, ad quas tu etiam Vestorium hortaris, ita gratiosi eramus apud illum, quem di mortuum perduint! ut nostrae aetati, * * * * * Page 307 Let us return, then, to the _Tusculan Disputations_, since you often refer to them. Let us keep your secret from Saufeius:[241] I will never betray it. You send a message from Brutus, asking me to let him know when I shall reach Tusculum. On the 27th, as I told you before; and I should very much like to see you there as soon as possible. For I think we shall have to go to Lanuvium,[242] and that not without a lot of talk. However, I will see to it.
Footnote 241: Atticus and Saufeius both professed the Epicurean philosophy, which was attacked in the first book of the _Tusculan Disputations_. The "secret" is Atticus' lapse from Epicureanism in approving of the views expressed in that book.
Footnote 242: To meet Brutus.
I return to your earlier letter, and I pass over the first part about the Buthrotians. For that is engraved on my heart of hearts, if only, as you say, there is an opening for action. You are very insistent about Brutus' speech, since you say so much about it again. Am I really to plead the same case as that he has written about? Am I to write without being asked by him? One could not put one's oar in more rudely. "But," you say, "write something in the style of Heracleides."[243] That I don't refuse, but I should have to settle on a line of argument, and I should have to wait for more time to write it. For think what you will of me—though of course I should like you to think as well as possible, and not be offended at what I say—if affairs drift on as they seem to be doing, I can take no pleasure in the Ides of March. Caesar would never have come back,[244] and fear would not have compelled us to ratify his acts; or, if I join Saufeius' school and desert the _Tusculan Disputations_, which you would press even on Vestorius, I was so high in his favour (heaven confound him, though he is dead!) that to a person of my age he was not a Footnote 243: Heracleides of Pontus, a pupil of Plato, who wrote on political subjects.
Footnote 244: From the Parthian war, in all probability; though some take it to refer to Antony, as a reincarnation of Caesar.
* * * * * Page 308 quoniam interfecto domino liberi non sumus, non fuerit dominus ille fugiendus. Rubeo, mihi crede, sed iam scripseram; delere nolui.
De Menedemo vellem verum fuisset, de regina velim verum sit. Cetera coram, et maxime quid nostris faciendum sit, quid etiam nobis, si Antonius militibus obsessurus est senatum. Hanc epistulam si illius tabellario dedissem, veritus sum, ne solveret. Itaque misi dedita. Erat enim rescribendum tuis.
IVa CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. In Tusculano VI K. Iun. a. 710_] Quam vellem Bruto studium tuum navare potuisses! Ego igitur ad eum litteras. Ad Dolabellam Tironem misi cum mandatis et litteris. Eum ad te vocabis et, si quid habebis, quod placeat, scribes. Ecce autem de traverso L. Caesar ut veniam ad se rogat in Nemus aut scribam, quo se venire velim; Bruto enim placere se a me conveniri. O rem odiosam et inexplicabilem! Puto me ergo iturum et inde Romam, nisi quid mutaro.
Summatim adhuc ad te; nihildum enim a Balbo. Tuas igitur exspecto nec actorum solum, sed etiam futurorum.
* * * * * Page 309 master to run away from, since the death of a master has not set us free. I blush, believe me; but I have written it, and I won't erase it.
I wish it had been true about Menedemus, and I hope it may be true about Cleopatra. The rest when we meet, and especially what our friends must do, and what even we must do, if Antony is going to surround the House with soldiers. I was afraid he might open this letter, if I gave it to his messengers, so I have sent it with special care, for I had to answer yours.
IVa CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
How I wish you could have rendered your service to Brutus! So I am writing to him. I have sent Tiro to Dolabella with a message and a letter. Summon him to you, and, if you have any pleasant news, write.
But here is a letter from L. Caesar all of a sudden, asking me to come to him at the Grove[245] or write where I should like to meet him: Brutus wants me to see him. What a nuisance and what a surprise! I suppose then I must go, and from there on to Rome, unless I change my mind. At present I am only sending you a short note, for I have not heard yet from Balbus. So I am looking for a letter from you to tell me not only what has happened but what is going to happen.
Footnote 245: The Nemus Dianae at Aricia.
A Bruto tabellarius rediit; attulit et ab eo et a Cassio. Consilium meum magno opere exquirunt, Brutus quidem, utrum de duobus. O rem miseram!
plane non habeo, quid scribam. Itaque silentio puto me usurum, nisi quid aliud tibi videtur; sin tibi quid venit in mentem, scribe, quaeso.
Cassius vero vehementer orat ac petit, ut Hirtium quam optimum faciam.
Sanum putas? ὁ θησαυρὸς ἄνθρακες.[246] Epistulam tibi misi.
Footnote 246: ὁ θησαυρὸς ἄνθρακες _Vict._: ΟΤΕΝΑΥϹΔΝΘΡΔΚΕϹ _M_.
Ut tu de provincia Bruti et Cassi per senatus consultum, ita scribit et Balbus et Oppius. Hirtius quidem se afuturum (etenim iam in Tusculano est) mihique, ut absim, vehementer auctor est, et ille quidem periculi causa, quod sibi etiam fuisse dicit, ego autem, etiam ut nullum periculum sit, tantum abest, ut Antoni suspicionem fugere nunc curem, ne videar eius secundis rebus non delectari, ut mihi causa ea sit, cur Romam venire nolim, ne illum videam. Varro autem noster ad me epistulam misit sibi a nescio quo missam (nomen enim delerat); in qua scriptum erat veteranos eos, qui reiciantur (nam partem esse dimissam), improbissime loqui, ut magno periculo Romae sint futuri, qui ab eorum partibus dissentire videantur. Quis porro noster itus, reditus, vultus, incessus inter istos? Quodsi, ut scribis, * * * * * Page 311 V CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
My messenger has returned from Brutus, bringing a letter from him and from Cassius too. They want my advice badly, and Brutus asks which of two courses he ought to pursue. Alas! I have not the remotest idea what to say. So I think I shall keep silent, unless you think I must not. If anything occurs to you, please write. Cassius, indeed, begs and beseeches me to make Hirtius as sound as possible. Do you think he is in his senses? It's fairy gold![247] I am sending his letter.
Footnote 247: Lit. "the treasure is ashes," a proverbial expression for Balbus and Oppius tell me the same as you about the province to be assigned by the Senate to Brutus and Cassius, and Hirtius says he will not attend—he is here at Tusculum—and he strongly advises me to keep away. He does so on the strength of the danger which he says there has been even for him; but, even if there be no danger, I am so far from caring to avoid giving Antony a suspicion that I do not rejoice in his prosperity, that the very reason why I would rather not go to Rome is to avoid seeing him. But our friend Varro has sent me a letter from somebody or other—I don't know who, as he has erased the name—telling him that the veterans whose claims have been put off (for some of them have been disbanded) are using most criminal language, saying that those who seem not to favour their claims will be in great danger at Rome.
What, I should like to know, can our goings and comings, our looks and our demeanour, be among them? If again, as you say, * * * * * Page 312 L. Antonius in D. Brutum, reliqui in nostros, ego quid faciam aut quo me pacto geram? Mihi vero deliberatum est, ut nunc quidem est, abesse ex ea urbe, in qua non modo florui cum summa, verum etiam servivi cum aliqua dignitate; nec tam statui ex Italia exire, de quo tecum deliberabo, quam istuc non venire.
VI CICERO ATTICO SAL.
[Sidenote: _Scr. In Tusculano VI K. Iun. vesperi a. 710_] Cum ad me Brutus noster scripsisset et Cassius, ut Hirtium, qui adhuc bonus fuisset (sciebam neque eum confidebam fore) mea auctoritate meliorem facerem (Antonio est enim fortasse iratior, causae vero amicissimus), tamen ad eum scripsi eique dignitatem Bruti et Cassi commendavi. Ille quid mihi rescripsisset, scire te volui, si forte idem tu quod ego existimares, istos etiam nunc vereri, ne forte ipsi nostri plus animi habeant quam habent.
"HIRTIUS CICERONI SUO SAL.
"Rurene iam redierim, quaeris. An ego, cum omnes caleant, ignaviter aliquid faciam? Etiam ex urbe sum profectus, utilius enim statui abesse.
Has tibi litteras exiens in Tusculanum scripsi. Noli autem me tam strenuum putare, ut ad Nonas recurram. Nihil enim iam video opus esse nostra cura, quoniam * * * * * Page 313 L. Antonius is attacking D. Brutus, and the others attacking our friends, what am I to do and how am I to bear myself? As things are now I have made up my mind to keep away from a city in which I have not only been distinguished in the highest position, but have even maintained some position in servitude. I have not quite made up my mind to leave Italy, a question which I will discuss with you, so much as not to go to Rome.
VI CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.
Our friend Brutus and Cassius had written to me to use my authority to improve Hirtius' patriotism, since he had at present shown some (I knew he had, but I doubted if he would continue, for, although he is a little annoyed with Antony, he is very much devoted to the cause); in spite of my doubts I wrote to him and commended to his care the maintenance of Brutus' and Cassius' position. What his answer was I want you to know, to see whether you think the same as I do, that the Caesarians are even now afraid our friends have more courage than they really have.
"HIRTIUS TO HIS FRIEND CICERO, GREETING.
"You ask if I have returned from the country. Can I play the laggard, when all the world is so excited? In fact I have just left the city, for