Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -49 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
I sent you on the 26th of March a copy of Balbus' letter to me and of
Caesar's letter to him. Then that very day from Capua I got a letter
from Q. Pedius saying that Caesar had written to him on the 14th in the
following terms:
"Pompey confines himself to the town. My camp is at the gates. I am
attempting a big job which will take many days on account of the depth
of the sea: yet I have no better course. From both wings of the harbour
I am building a mole, so that I may either compel him to transship the
forces he has here as soon as possible, or prevent him from getting out
at all."
Where is the peace about which Balbus wrote that he was tormenting
himself? Could anything be more bitter, more cruel? Moreover some one
told me with authority that Caesar said in conversation he was the
avenger of Cn. Carbo, M. Brutus, and all those on whom Sulla with
Pompey to help him wreaked his cruelty: Curio under his leadership was
doing nothing but what Pompey had done under Sulla's leadership: what
he wanted was the restoration of those not punished with exile under
the earlier laws, while Pompey had restored those who had
Carbo was put to death by Pompey in 82 or 81 B.C.; he was consul
for the third time with C. Marius the younger. Brutus, the father of
Caesar's murderer, was killed by Pompey in 77 or 76 B.C., and another
M. Brutus committed suicide sooner than fall into his hands.
exsilio reductos esse; queri de Milone per vim expulso; neminem tamen
se violaturam, nisi qui arma contra. Haec Baebius quidam a Curione III
Id. profectus, homo non infans, sed qui de suo illa non dicat.
Plane nescio, quid agam. Illim equidem Gnaeum profectum puto. Quicquid
est, biduo sciemus. A te nihil ne Anteros quidem litterarum; nec mirum.
Quid enim est, quod scribamus? Ego tamen nullum diem praetermitto.
qui de suo illa _Tyrrell_: quis ulli _MSS._
Scripta epistula litterae mihi ante lucem a Lepta Capua redditae sunt
Idib. Mart. Pompeium a Brundisio conscendisse, at Caesarem a. d, VII
Kal. Apriles Capuae fore.
[1] S. V. B. <E.> postea quam litteras communis cum Oppio ad te dedi, ab Caesare epistulam accepi cuius exemplum tibi misi; ex qua perspicere poteris quam cupiat concordiam <suam> et Pompei reconciliare et quam remotus sit ab omni crudelitate; quod eum sentire, ut debeo, valde gaudeo. de te et tua fide et pietate idem me hercule, mi Cicero, sentio quod tu, non posse tuam famam et officium sustinere ut contra eum arma feras a quo tantum beneficium te accepisse praedices. [2] Caesarem hoc idem probaturum exploratum pro singulari eius humanitate habeo eique cumulatissime satis facturum te certo scio cum nullam partem belli contra eum suscipias neque socius eius adversariis fueris. atque hoc non solum in te, tali et tanto viro, satis habebit, sed etiam mihi ipse sua concessit voluntate ne in iis castris essem quae contra Lentulum aut Pompeium futura essent quorum beneficia maxima haberem, sibique satis esse dixit si togatus urbana officia sibi praestitissem quae etiam illis, si vellem, praestare possem. itaque nunc Romae omnia negotia Lentuli procuro sustineo meumque officium, fidem, pietatem iis praesto. sed me hercule rursus iam abiectam compositionis spem non desperatissimam esse puto, quoniam Caesar est ea mente quam optare debemus. hac re mihi placet, si tibi videtur, te ad eum scribere et ab eo praesidium petere, ut petiisti a Pompeio me quidem adprobante temporibus Milonianis. praestabo, si Caesarem bene novi, eum prius tuae dignitatis quam suae utilitatis rationem habiturum. [3] haec quam prudenter tibi scribam nescio, sed illud certe scio, me ab singulari amore ac benevolentia quaecumque scribo tibi scribere, quod te (ita incolumi Caesare moriar!) tanti facio ut paucos aeque ac te caros habeam. de hac re cum aliquid constitueris, velim mihi scribas. nam non mediocriter laboro <ut> utrique, ut vis, tuam benevolentiam praestare possis quam me hercule te praestaturum confido. fac valeas.
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I sent you on the 26th of March a copy of Balbus' letter to me and of Caesar's letter to him. Then that very day from Capua I got a letter from Q. Pedius saying that Caesar had written to him on the 14th in the following terms:
"Pompey confines himself to the town. My camp is at the gates. I am attempting a big job which will take many days on account of the depth of the sea: yet I have no better course. From both wings of the harbour I am building a mole, so that I may either compel him to transship the forces he has here as soon as possible, or prevent him from getting out at all."
Where is the peace about which Balbus wrote that he was tormenting himself? Could anything be more bitter, more cruel? Moreover some one told me with authority that Caesar said in conversation he was the avenger of Cn. Carbo, M. Brutus, and all those on whom Sulla with Pompey to help him wreaked his cruelty: Curio under his leadership was doing nothing but what Pompey had done under Sulla's leadership: what he wanted was the restoration of those not punished with exile under the earlier laws, while Pompey had restored those who had
Carbo was put to death by Pompey in 82 or 81 B.C.; he was consul for the third time with C. Marius the younger. Brutus, the father of Caesar's murderer, was killed by Pompey in 77 or 76 B.C., and another M. Brutus committed suicide sooner than fall into his hands.
exsilio reductos esse; queri de Milone per vim expulso; neminem tamen se violaturam, nisi qui arma contra. Haec Baebius quidam a Curione III Id. profectus, homo non infans, sed qui de suo illa non dicat. Plane nescio, quid agam. Illim equidem Gnaeum profectum puto. Quicquid est, biduo sciemus. A te nihil ne Anteros quidem litterarum; nec mirum. Quid enim est, quod scribamus? Ego tamen nullum diem praetermitto.
qui de suo illa _Tyrrell_: quis ulli _MSS._
Scripta epistula litterae mihi ante lucem a Lepta Capua redditae sunt Idib. Mart. Pompeium a Brundisio conscendisse, at Caesarem a. d, VII Kal. Apriles Capuae fore.
Latin / Greek Original
[1] S. V. B. <E.> postea quam litteras communis cum Oppio ad te dedi, ab Caesare epistulam accepi cuius exemplum tibi misi; ex qua perspicere poteris quam cupiat concordiam <suam> et Pompei reconciliare et quam remotus sit ab omni crudelitate; quod eum sentire, ut debeo, valde gaudeo. de te et tua fide et pietate idem me hercule, mi Cicero, sentio quod tu, non posse tuam famam et officium sustinere ut contra eum arma feras a quo tantum beneficium te accepisse praedices. [2] Caesarem hoc idem probaturum exploratum pro singulari eius humanitate habeo eique cumulatissime satis facturum te certo scio cum nullam partem belli contra eum suscipias neque socius eius adversariis fueris. atque hoc non solum in te, tali et tanto viro, satis habebit, sed etiam mihi ipse sua concessit voluntate ne in iis castris essem quae contra Lentulum aut Pompeium futura essent quorum beneficia maxima haberem, sibique satis esse dixit si togatus urbana officia sibi praestitissem quae etiam illis, si vellem, praestare possem. itaque nunc Romae omnia negotia Lentuli procuro sustineo meumque officium, fidem, pietatem iis praesto. sed me hercule rursus iam abiectam compositionis spem non desperatissimam esse puto, quoniam Caesar est ea mente quam optare debemus. hac re mihi placet, si tibi videtur, te ad eum scribere et ab eo praesidium petere, ut petiisti a Pompeio me quidem adprobante temporibus Milonianis. praestabo, si Caesarem bene novi, eum prius tuae dignitatis quam suae utilitatis rationem habiturum. [3] haec quam prudenter tibi scribam nescio, sed illud certe scio, me ab singulari amore ac benevolentia quaecumque scribo tibi scribere, quod te (ita incolumi Caesare moriar!) tanti facio ut paucos aeque ac te caros habeam. de hac re cum aliquid constitueris, velim mihi scribas. nam non mediocriter laboro <ut> utrique, ut vis, tuam benevolentiam praestare possis quam me hercule te praestaturum confido. fac valeas.