Marem Cici 0 kU irotlcer Quintus, greeting.
1. Your little notes have wrung this letter from me by their reproaches; for the chcumstance itself, and the day in ■which you set out, gave tne no subject for writing; hut aa, vhen we are together, conversation is not wont to fixil us, so too our letters ought at times to have sometliing sparkling in them.
2, The liberty of the Tenodiaiis,^ therefore, has been cut down with a Teuedian ase, as no one, except Bibulus, and Calidiua, and Favouius, and nie, was found to defend them.
3. Mention has boon made of you by the Magnesiana of Sipylus, the more honourable as they said that yon were the only person who resisted tho demands of Lucius SextiuB ' The people of Tenodoa hud petitioned to be allowed to live onder tliwr own lawH. The espreeeion, " a. Tanedian oso," ia aaid to refer to a story of their ancient king Tennea, who gave bid name to the island; mud one of whose laws was, that if niiy una detected an adulterer Ij the ttat, he waa to be aMn with an axe.
LETTER XII.
OlOEBO S LETTERS 4, For the rest of the timo, if there should be anything which it ia desirable for you to know, or evea if there is nothing of the aort, still I will write something eveiy da^ On the 12th of April I will not be wanting either to you 0" to PomponiuB, 5. Thepoema of Lucretinaare juat what you descrilie then) remarkable for no great brilliancy of genius, bnt for a deal of art. But when you come, I shall think you p indeeii, if you can read the Empedoclea of Salltiflt; ^ _ ordinary man I shall not think you. FarewelL ^^^B MarcTis io his brother Quintus, greeting.
^^P 1. I 4« glad that my letters nre acoeptablo to you, and yet ' I should not even now have had any auhject for writing upon, if I had not received yours; for, on the 14th, when Appius had assembled the senate, which met in very ecantj; nnmbera, it was so bitterly cold that he was compelled by the grumbling of the people to diamisa us, 2, About the king of Commagene, Appius, both in his c letters to me, and by the mouth of Pomponiua, caresses wonderfully for having fi-ustrated the whole affair; for he sees that if I adhere to this kind of speaking on other matters, February will be quite barren; and I touched him off ' .1 tolerably sportive humour, and wrung from him not only that Little town which was situated on the Euphrates at. Zeugma, but ridiculed his prsetesta govm which he bad ceived in the eouBulahip of Ciosar, with much laughti everybody.
3, As to Lis not wishing, said I, to renew the same honoui BO as not to have to furbish up his pra^testa every year, do not thiuk we need come to any vote on that point; ' ' you, nobles, who could not bear a man from Bostra wearing the prsBtexta, will you eudurc one from Commagene 1 You see the kind, and the topics, of my jokes. I said a great ' Maaatins oonfeaasa tliai lio ia not at nil n byj deal against an ignoble king, and at tha end he was com- pletely hissed out. With this sort of speeah, Appius, oa I said, being delighted, is entirely devoted to me; for nothing can be more easy than to get rid of all the rest of the business. But I will do notliing to offend him, lest he im- plore the protection of Jupiter Hoapitalis; and call together all the Greeks by whose iiiterveution I have been reconciled to him.
4, We"tvill give aatiafaction to Theopompus. About Caisar it had escaped me to write to you, for I see what a letter jou expected; but he wrote to Balbus, that that bundle of letters, in which mine and Balbiia'a were, was broi^jht to him soaked through and through with water, so that he did not even know that there had been any letter at all from me. But of tho letter of Balbus, he had been able to make out a few words; to which he replied in these terms: — I see that you liave aaid something about Cicero which I have not been able, to make out; but aa far as I could guess, it waa something o£ this kind, that I should think him i-ather to be wished for than hoped for.
5, I, therefore, subsequently sent Cassar another copy of that letter; do not jou overlook his jest about his difficulties. And I wrote him woid also in reply, that there was nothing that he would be able to throw into disorder from relying on my strong-bos: and in this way I jested with him fami- liarly, and at the same time with a proper Jignity. His esceeding good-will towards me is communicated by mes- Ecngera from all quarters. Letters, indeed, referring to what you expect, will very nearly coincide with your return. The other events of each day I will write to you, that ia to say, if you will provide conriera. Although, such terrible cold has ])revailed, that there was very great danger of Appiua's house being burnt down.^ Farewell.
' From hifl trying to warra it with a atove.
I I LETTER XIII. Marcui to his brother Quiniui, greeting, 1. I LAUGHED at the black snow;' and I am very glad that you. are in a cheerful hnmour, and bo well inclmed to jest. About Pompey I agree with you; or rather you agree with me. For aa you know, I have been for a long time talking of nothing but Ciesar.' Believe me, I have taken him. to my heart, nor am I to be torn from him.
3. Now you must leam what was done at the Ides. The tenth day was fixed for the impeachment of Cffilius; and Domitius^ had not collected judges in sufficient number. I am afraid lest that rude and brutal man, Serviua Pola, may come to the accusation; for our friend Cccliua is violently attacked by the whole train of Clodius's friends. There is aa yot nothing certain; but we are kept in a state of alarta. On the same day a very full senate assembled to hear the ambassadors of the Tyrians:' on the other side, the Syrian farmers of the revenue mustered in great numbere; Gabiniua was violently attacked; however, the farmers were roughly handled by Domitius, for having escorted him on horseback. Our friend Caius Lamia spoke somewhat boldly, when Domi- tius had said, " It is through your fault, Roman knights, that these things have happened, because you are such profligate judges." Ha replied: " We judge; you praise." Kothing was done that day, and night put an end to the discussion.
3. Oa the days appointed for holding the comitia, which come immediately after the Quirinalia, Appius esplions bis notion that he is not prevented by the Pupian law from holding a senate, and that on the contrary, it is especially provided by the Gabinian law, that the senate is obliged to ' This haa soma referenee to a ridiculous doctrino of Aiiitiaftonis, that snow mnet be block, becauae water, of which it waa compOBed, woe black.
' Cicero had lately made a very impreasive speech in the Hooate, Bitolling Ctesar'a conduct ic his prosince in the highest terma. _ ' This Domitius was Cdeuh D. the prrotor. The Domitius men- tioned a, few lines lower down, was Doroitiua AhenobarbuB, the consul.
* The citizens of Tjrs had sent au embafsy, with complaints of ths oxtortions of the fnnnara of the revenue in the province of Syria. GabiniuB, aa baa been already said, had been governor of Syria.
TO HIB BROTHER QDIKIUa.
asBeinble to give audience to ambaaaadorB every day from the 1st of Februiiry till the 1st of March. In this way tliey think that the comitia may be put off till tho month of March. But on theee days of the comitia the tribunes of the people declare that they will bring on the question about Gahini'ia. I collect all reports, to have eotne news to send to you; but, as you see, matter itself faila me.
i. I return, therefore, to Callisthoaes* and Pbilistns,^ in whose works I see you are occupied. Callisthenea indeed is relating a common and well-known set of trftosactions, in a style such as that in which several of the Greeks express theiuselves. But the Sicilian is an admirable writer, impreB- aive, acute, concise; almost a little Thucydides, but which of his books you have, (for there aro two volumes of them,) or whether you have them both, I know not. He pleases me most in his account of Dionysius. For Dionysius was a great intriguer, and made himself very fiunihar with Philistna, But as to what you add in your letter, are you thinking of undertaking a histoiyl In my judgment, you may do so. And since you furnish couriers, you shall have at the Luper- calia an account of what is done to^ay. Amuse yourself with my Cicero as well as you can.
LETTER XIT. Marms to Jiis brother Quiniits, greeting. 1. I HAVE as yet received hut two letters from you: ono of them written just after I had left you; the other dated from Ariminnm. The additional ones, which you say that yon sent, I never received. I have been amusing myself in the neighbourhood of Cumse and Pompeii, pleasantly enough, escept that I was without your company; and I intended to stay in those parts till the 1st of June. I waa writing those political treatises which I had mentioned to you; a very large and laborious work; but still, if the resolt is to my satisfaction, labour will have been well em- ployed; if not, I will throw it into the sea, which 1 have ' Csllisthenea was ui Oljuthinn, and had written n life of AJeiander. * Philietma vma n Sicfliaii, and wrote man; books, and among tbsm Ul Mcount of DionyaiuB tbe eldar.
before my eyea while I am -writing. I shall attempt some other things, too, since I cannot remain idle.
2. I wiU_ attend carefully to your injunctions, both aa to conciliating some men, and aToiding to alienate others. But it will be my chief object to see your Cicero, and mine, I mean, every day; but I will examine as often as I can, what he 18 learning; and, unless Iia is above it, I will even offer myself as his teacher; an employment in which I have obtained some practice in my leisure dming these few days, by training my own Cicero the younger.
3. You, (as you write me word you will, and as I should be quite cei-taiu of your doing moat carefully, even if you did not write;) you, I say, will take care to digest my instructions; follow thom up, and fulfil them. When I come to Eome I will never let one single courier of Cfesar's go without giving him. a letter for you; but while I have been here (you will esouse my sOence), there has been no one to whom I could give one before this Marcus Orfiua, a Roman knight, attached to me, both as being exceedingly intimate with me, and as being from the municipality of Atella, which you know ia iaithful to me. I therefore recommend him to you iu an estraordinary degree, aa being a man of a high consideration at home, and of groat influence away fi-om home. Take care to hind him to yourself by your libe- rality. He ia a military tribune iu our army. You will find him a man of a very gmteful disposition, and eager to be of sei-vice to you. I pi-ess upon you earnestly to be very civil to Trehatius. FarewelL LETTER XV. a. V Marcae Cicero to Ms brother Quintus, greeting.
1. Os the 2d of June, the day on which I arrived at Itome, I received your letter dated from Placentia; and then, the next day, I received a second dated at Blandeus,' with n letter from Ceesar, full of expressions of respect, zeal to serve me, and courtesy. These are things of gi-eat, or leather f the very greatest consequence; for they contribute very ' Thel-B IB Home error iu tlio test here.
TOS BROTHER qClNTCa, greatly to our reputation and high dignity, But, believe r whom you know well, that what I valuo most in all these nuLttars I have already secured; namely, that, in the firat place, I BCe you contributing ao mucli to our common dig- nity; secondly, the cstraordinary liking of Julius Ctesar for me, a man whom I prefer to all the honours which he wishes me to eipect from him. Hia letter was dated at the same time with your own; the beginning of it is, how acceptable your arrival was to him, and bis recollection of our old fnendship; then assuring mo that ho would take care that in the midst of my sorrow and regret for your absence, while you are away, I should be pleased, above all, that you were with him. The letter delighted me amazingly.
2, You, therefore, act in a moat brotherly spirit when you ejdiort me, though in truth I am running of my own accord the same way, to devote all my energies to his single and perhaps by my eager zeal I shall do what often happens to travellers when they are ia haste, that if by chance they have got up later than they iutcnded, they still, by making haste, arrive where they wish earlier than they would have done if they had lain awake a great part of the night; and BO now I, since I have boon asleep a long time as to paying attention to that man, though you in truth Lave often tried to -wake me, shall now by my speed make amends for my slowness, both on horseback, and (since you write me word that my poem is approved by him) in tlio coach and four of poetry; only give mo Britain to paint with your colours and my pencil. But of what am I thinking? what spaie time presents itself to mo, particularly while I remain at Borne, as he begs mo to doT However, I will see. For perhaps, as is often tho case, my affection for you will over- come every difficulty. He thanks me with a good deal of humour, and with great civility too, for having sent him. Trebatius; for he says that in all that number of persons who were with him, there was not one who could draw a bail-bond. I asked him for the tribuneship for Marcus- CurtiuB, (for Domitius would have thought that he was being turned into ridicule if he had heen solicited by me, since it le a daily saying of his, that he cannot make even a trihimo of the soldiers; and even in the senate he rallied Appius his colleague, saying that he had gone to Ciesai', with the view of cicEEoa LETTEaa I triijiinesbip or otlier,) but only for tbe year And tbat was what Curtius wished too. IT that, aa you think it behoves you to be, in regard to public affairs and our private enmities, so I myself both am, and shall be, of a very gentle and moderate demeacour, 4. Affairs at Rome WGre ia this state. There was some expectation of the coniitia, but a doubtful one; there was some suspicion of a dictatorship, but not even that was certain. There is a perfect cessation of all bnsiness in the courts of law, but more as if the state was growing indolent &oin age than from real tranquillity, Our own opinion deli- vered in the senate was of such a kind that others agreed with it more than we did ourselves.
Sadi are the evQB of disaatrouB war.'
LETTER XV. b.
Marcus Cicero to his hrotlier Quiiilus, greeting.
1, What ia to be done shall be done with a pen, and the finest ink, and glazed paper: for you say that you have hardly been able to read my last letters, for which, however, my brother, there were none of the reasons which you fancy; for I waa neither busy, nor bad I been worried or angry with any one; but I always make it a practice, whatever pen comes first to hand, to use it as if it wore a good one.
2. But listen now, my most excellent aud kind brother, while I answer the things which you wrote iu this same short letter of yours in a very business-like manner. Aa to what you ask, that I should write to you without concealing any- thing, or dissembling anything, or saying anything merely for the sake of pleasing you, but irankly and aa a brother, that is, whether you should hasten, as we said, or, if there should be sufficient reason, delay, for tlie pui'pose of setting yourself clear, — i^ my dear Quintus, it wei-e any unimportant matter on which you were asking me my wishes, still after having left it to yourself to do what you thought best, I ^oiild point out what I wished myself. But in the present ' ToioCfl'iJ -rxinutr irjAifioi i(ep-,a(iTai. A liue from the SupplioBB «f Euripides.
TO HI9 BKOTHEH QriNTDB. 63 state of a&irB, you ask me plainly what sort of year I espect the ensuing one to bo; certainly one of tranquillity for me, Qt at least one of very great security, as the state of my owa house, and my reception in tie foruia, and the way in which I am greeted at the theatre, indicate every day. And^ * • » oo aan is unwilling to see * * * that I am in favour with. both CfBEOr and Pompey — these things give me confidence. If any rage from that senseless man^ breaks out, everything is prepared for putting him down.
3. These arc my real sentiments and opinione, and I writa them to you in aU plainness. And I beg of you not to feel a doubt, speaking not like a flatterer, but aa a brother; so that, for the sake of your enjoying the pleasant condition in which I find myself, I should wish you to come at the time which you have mentioned. But still 1 should prefer beyond, that the events which yon expect • * * * And I attach great consequence to your abundance, and to the espcctationa of your obligations being acquitted. Of this you may be assured, that if we succeed, nothing can he more fortunate thaa we shah be when freed from all annoyance. There is not much which is wanting to make ua happy after our own fiishiou; and that is very easy to be procured, provided I keep my heoItL 4. An amazing degree of corruption prevails again; never was it 8o great. la the middle of July, interest was douhle what it had been, from the coalition into which Memmius entered with Domitius for the sake of boating Scaurus. Uessala has a bad chance;^ I do not exaggerate, when I say ' There ia flomething lost here, which makea this Bentence unintel- ligible; and it is probuble tli[Lt there is e. little eonuptiaa in the former part of tlie letter, &nd a few BentencBB later. i^' ClodiuB.
' ' The candidstaa for the oonsulahip in the nest year, 701 i-V.C, were UemmiLia, Domitiua Calvinua,.^Emiliur; Scnimis, and Valeriua Ueasula. MemoiiuB and DomitiuB had won over the existing cansnlg hy a pramiBe of procuring them, whatever provincBs they choae; hut at bst Pompey pflrsQuded Memniiua to break with Doniitius, and join the trinmvim. The senate instituted an Inquiiy. The year TOO pnsEed without any election of codbuIb for the ensuing yenj'.- Interest rose to S per cent, a-month; and the year 701 opened with an intarregniirn, ■nd it was rot till half the year had elapsed, that Cnteus Domitiua OalTicns, and Mesaola, were elected conauls for the remainder of the I I ► CICERO 3 LETTEHa tliat the prerogative century will get above eigbtj tlioiisand pounds for its vote. The business is estreiiiely unpopular; tlie candidates for the tribimeahip hiive coma to au agree- ment, that every one of them shall place above four thousand pounds n-piece in Cato'a hands, aa a pledge to conduct theii" canvass aa he approves; and those who forfeit their pledge arc to forfeit the money. And if the coniitia for their election really uubribed, aa is expected, Cato alone will have Lad irc influence than all the laws and all the judges, LETTER XVI. i Cicero to his iroilier Qidntus, greeting.
1. When you have received a letter from me written in the hand of my Becretary, you must consider that 1 had not eveu a little leisure; when it is written in my own hand, that I had a little. For you must understand, that I was nevei- more distracted by causes aad trials, and that too at a most unhealthy time of the year, and when the heat ia greatest. But this, since that is your advice, must be borae; nor must I give cause for appearing to have been wanting, either to your hopes or opinion; especially when, although that ia somewhat more difficult, I am stili likely to gain great influence and great dignity from tlieae exertions; therefore, OS you wish, 1 take great pains to oflend no one, and even to be loved by those very men who are sony to see rati so united with Ciesar, and also to be earnestly caressed loved by all impartial persons, and even fay those who inclined to Eivour the other side.
2. While there was a most violent discussion in the se for many days on the subject of corruption, because the coti- sular candidates bad gone such lengths that it could not bo endured any longer, I was not present in the senate. I de- termined not to come forward to offer any retaedy for the evils of the commonwealth without strong protection.
3. The day that I wrote this, Drusus had been acquitted of prevarication^ by the tribunes of the treasury, by four ' Provarioation wns the batmyal of Ma cliEnt'B causa by an advocate _ wbo hod UDdertnkcn it.
votes ia all, after the senators and knighta had condemned him. The same day, in the afternoon, I appeared in coiirt to defend Vatiaina; that was not a difficult task. The comitia are postponed till the month of September. The trial of ScauniB will be brought on immediately, niid we shall not be wanting in our exertions on hia bebal£ I by no means approved of the Messmates of Sophocles, although I Bee that the piece vraa very neatly acted hy you.
4. Now I come to that, which periiapa ought to have made the Cret part of my letter. 0 how delightful to mo are your letters from Britain. I was afraid of the ocean: I was ^^id of the shore of the island. I do not indeed despise the obstacles which may yet remain, but they present more ground for hope than for fear, and I am anxious more because of the eagerness of my expectation than from any alann. And I see that you have an admirable subject for writing about. What a situation you have to describe, what natural cha- racteristics of circumstanceB and places, what customs of the people, what nations and battles, and even what a commander! I will with all my heart help you, as you ask, in whatever you wish; and will send you the verges for which you ask, like an owl to Athens.
5. Biit ah! I see that I am kept iu the dark by you; for how, my dear brother, did Cseaar express himself about my verses! for he wrote me woi-d before, that he had read my first book, and praised the be^nning so much that he says he has not read anything better oven in Greek. What camo after, he thought, was in some places a little pa^u/iortpa (more careless), this is the very word that he uses. Tell me the truth, is it the matter, or the stylo that does not please him t There is no reason why you should fear to tell me the truth, lor I shall not bo an atom the less satisfied with myself. Write to me on this subject with frankness, and, aa you always do, with brotherly affection.
BOOK III.
Ifarc o to his brother QuifitU4, gre I. 1. Aftee the great heat, (for T do not recollect ever having felt greater,) I refroahed myself in the neighbourhood of ArpiDiim, with the eitrenae agreeablenesa of the river, during the days of the gamcB,^ having recommended the men of my tribe ta Phjlotimiia, I was at Arcanuni on tha 10th of September; there I found Measidius and Philosenus, and the water which tbey had contracted to faring near the villa flowing pleasantly enough, especially considering the great general drought; and tbey said that they would collect it in Bomemhat larger quantities. Everything was going on well with Herua.' At your llanlian ferm T found DiphilaB slower than Diphiliia; yet nothing remained for him to do, eicept the bath-rooms, the colonnade to walk under, and the aviary. The villa pleased me exceedingly, because the paved portico had an appearance of great dignity, which was now for the fiiat time visibJe to mo, since it is completely uncoverad, and tlie columns are polished. Everything now depends on the ceiling being elegant, which shall be an object of attention to me. The pavements appeared to me to be done correctly; some of the rooms I did not quite like, and ordered them to be altered.
3, Where they say that you have written orders for a small hall to be made in the colonnade, the place pleased me better aa it is; for there did not seem to bo room enough even for a little hall, nor is one usually made, except in houses in which there is a larger hall; nor could it have auy bed- chambers attached to it, or apartments of that kind. But now, even from the mere beauty of the vaulted roof, it will get the character of an cseellent summer retreat' However, mtOTHEB QUINTUE.
the first ■ ) of a different opinion, write agaia at :y. la the bath-rooma I have moved fora'ard 0 the other comer of the dressing*! I Ikwjr "Were before placed in such a manner, that their chimney, from vhicb the beat comes, was situated under the bed- chambers. But I greatly approved of having a tolerably Ib^g bed-chamber and a lofty winter-room, because they ■were of a good mm, and admirably situated on one aide of the covered walk, — on that side, I mean, which is next to the bath-rooms. Diphilua had not put the pUIara upright, nor opposite to one another; ho will accordingly pull Uiem down agiun. Some day or other he will leara how to use a perpen- dicular and a line. Altogether, I hope that Diphiltia's work will be finished in a few months, for Cccsius, who was with me on that occasion, ^ves most diligent attention to it.
IL 3. From that place wo went straight along the Vitu- larian road to your Fulidian fiirm, which, according to the last communication, I had bought of Fufidius at Ajpinum, for a little more than eight thousand pounds. I never saw a place more sbady in the Bummer, with water flowing through the land in many places, and in great nbimdauce. What ironld you have 1 Ccosiua thought that you would easily be able to irrigate fifty acres of meadow-Wd. This, at all events, Trfiich I understand better, I can affirm positively, that you. will have a vilia of exceeding pleasantness, with a fish-pond, and sprinp of water besides, and a paltestra, and a green wood. I hear that you wish to retain this ferm near BoviIIm; vhat you may choose to do about it, you will decide yourselt Oolvna said that though the water was excepted, and the rif^t over that water reserved, and though a. service' lay upon the fiirm, still we could keep up the price if we chose to sell it. I had McBsidius with me; he sold that he bad agreed ■with you at three satertii^ a foot; and observed that he himself 'had measured the distance, by steps, making fourteen hundred paces. To mo it appeared more; but I will under- take to say, that the money cotild nowhere be more advantageously spent. I hod scut for Chilo from Yenafinm; but Bttvice, tercilai, on a ] fbnHigh it, of carrying v ftad^ tattle oa it, ftc * iMO tatgi-tiui was equal to 1 penny 3J fartliiDgB.
I that very day a subterraneous passage at Tenafnim had oruBhed four of his fellow- workmen and apprentices.
i. On tlie 13th of September I was at Laterium. I saw the road, which pleased me so much, that I thought it was n, public work, with the eiception of a hundred and fifty paces; for I measiu'ed it from the little bridge, which is close to the temple of Farina on the side of Satrioum. At that spot, dust has been thrown in and not gravel; but that shall be altered] and that part of the road is very steep; hut I was told that it could not have been carried in any other directioa, especially as you did not wish to have it go through the farm of Locusta, or through that of Varro. Varro had almost com- pleted the roads through bis estate before, Locusta had not touched his ) but I sltaU otll upon him at Gome, and, as I expect, shall move him; aud at the same time 1 will ask Marciis Taurus, who is now at Rome, and who, I hear, gave you a promise on the Buhject, about carrying the water through his farm.