Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -66 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
When I had returned to Rome from my Pompeian estate on the fourth day before the Ides of May, our friend Cincius delivered to me that letter from you which you had dispatched on the Ides of February. I shall now reply to that letter with this one. And first, I am delighted that my regard for you is clearly understood by you; next, I am exceedingly glad that in those matters which seemed to me to have been handled rather harshly and unpleasantly by me and my circle, you showed the utmost restraint — and I judge this the mark of no ordinary affection and of the highest intelligence and wisdom. Since you have written to me about this matter so graciously, so carefully, so dutifully, and so kindly, that not only ought I not to urge you further, but I could not have expected such readiness and gentleness from you or from any man, I think it best to write nothing more about these things. When we meet, then, if anything calls for it, we shall discuss it face to face.
As for what you write to me about public affairs, you argue both affectionately and wisely, and your reasoning does not differ from my own counsels. For I must not abandon the position my standing demands, nor must I come within another's defenses without my own forces, and that man you write about has nothing grand, nothing lofty, nothing that is not cringing and populist. Yet perhaps my course was not useless for the tranquility of my own times, but by Hercules it was far more useful to the republic than to me that the assaults of wicked citizens against me should be checked, since I had steadied the wavering judgment of a man of the greatest fortune, authority, and influence, and turned him from the hopes of the disloyal toward praise of my achievements. If I had been required to do this with some sacrifice of dignity, I would not have thought any advantage worth it; but in fact I managed everything so that it was not I who appeared lighter by agreeing with him, but he who appeared weightier by approving of me. The remainder I am handling and shall handle so that we do not allow it to seem that what we accomplished was accomplished by chance. Those good men of mine, the ones you indicate, and that Sparta which you say has fallen to my lot — I shall not only never desert them, but even if I am deserted by them, I shall nevertheless remain in my original conviction. Yet I would have you understand this: since the death of Catulus I hold this conservative path with neither any garrison nor any escort. For, as Rhinton says, I believe: "Some count for nothing, and the rest care nothing."
As for how our fish-pond fanciers envy me, I shall either write to you about it another time or save it for when we meet. But nothing shall tear me from the senate house, either because it is the right thing, or because it is most consistent with my interests, or because I have no reason to regret the esteem in which the senate holds me.
Regarding the Sicyonians, as I wrote to you before, there is not much hope in the senate; for there is no one to lodge a complaint. Therefore, if you are waiting for that, it will be a long wait; fight by another route, if you can find one. When the matter was dealt with, no one noticed whom it concerned, and the backbenchers rushed headlong into that resolution. The time is not yet ripe for overturning the senatorial decree, because there are none who complain, and many take pleasure in it, some from ill will, some from a sense of its fairness.
Your friend Metellus is an excellent consul; one thing only I criticize — that he takes no great joy when peace is reported from Gaul. He desires, I imagine, to triumph. I wish he were more moderate in this; in all else he is outstanding. As for the son of Aulus, he conducts himself in such a way that his consulship is no consulship at all but a mere understudy to our great Pompey.
Regarding my writings, I have sent you a Greek account of my consulship, fully polished. I gave the book to Lucius Cossinius. I imagine you take pleasure in my Latin works but begrudge this Greek one its Greek rival. If others write their own accounts, I shall send them to you; but believe me, the moment they read mine, they are somehow deterred.
Now, to return to my own affair: Lucius Papirius Paetus, an honest man and a friend of ours, has given me as a gift the books that Servius Claudius left behind. Since your friend Cincius told me I was permitted to accept them under the Lex Cincia, I readily said I would take them if he brought them over. Now, if you care for me, if you know that I care for you, make every effort through your friends, clients, guest-friends, your freedmen and even your slaves, that not a single scrap go missing. For I have the most urgent need of both those Greek books, which I suspect he left, and the Latin ones, which I know he did. Every day I find more and more rest in these studies, whatever time is granted me from the labor of the forum. I beg you, I most earnestly beg you —
On my return from my villa at Pompeii on the 12th of May, our friend
Cincius passed on to me your letter which was dated the 13th of
February. That is the letter which I shall now answer. And first I must
say how delighted I am that you fully understood my opinion of you: next
how very glad I am that you showed such forbearance with regard to the
slights and unkindness which in my opinion you had received from me and
mine: and I count it a sign of affection more than ordinary and the
highest sense and wisdom. Indeed your answer is so charmingly worded and
with such consideration and kindliness that not only have I no further
right to press you, but I can never expect to experience such courtesy
and forbearance from you or any other man. So I think it would be best
for me to say no more about the matter in my letters. If any point
arises, we will discuss it together when we meet.
Your remarks about politics are couched in friendly and prudent terms,
and your view does not differ from my own—for I must not withdraw from
my dignified position, nor must I enter another’s lines without any
forces of my own, and the man you mention has no broad-mindedness and no
high-mindedness,
summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad
tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae
multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi,
cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem
sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem
convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam
rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego
illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur.
Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae
gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos
significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Σπάρταν non modo numquam
deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina
sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem
post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait
Rhinton, ut opinor,
Οἱ μὲν παρ’ οὐδέν εἰσι, τοῖς δ’ οὐδὲν μέλει.
Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in
congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel
quod ita rectum
nothing in him that is not low and time-serving. Well, perhaps the
course I took was not opposed to my own advantage and peace of life, but
I swear it was far more to the advantage of the State than to mine that
I should be the means of suppressing the attacks of the disloyal, and of
strengthening the wavering policy of a man of the highest position,
influence and popularity, and converting him from pandering to the
disloyal to approval of my achievements. If I had had to make any
sacrifice of principle in so doing, I should never have thought it
justifiable: but I managed it so that he seemed to gain in principle by
his approval of me, more than I lost in bowing to him. I will take care
that my actions now and in the future do not convey the impression that
what I did in the past was done at haphazard. My honest comrades, at
whom you hint, and the lot which has fallen to me, as you say, I
will never desert. Nay, even if I am deserted by it I will abide by my
ancient principles. But I would have you please remember that, since the
death of Catulus, I am holding the way for the conservative party
without a garrison and without a comrade. For, as Rhinton, I think it
is, says:
Some are stark naught, and naught do others reck.
How our friends of the fish-ponds envy me, I will either tell you in
another letter, or keep it till we meet. But from the Senate house
nothing shall tear me: either because that is the right course, or
est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti
fiam, minime me paenitet.
De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu;
nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est;
alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad
quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt.
Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui
querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis
delectantur.
Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari
e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem
mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius
consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri ὑπώπιον.
De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum
L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco
Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede,
simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur.
Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque
noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi
per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret,
because it is most consistent with my position, or because I am by no
means dissatisfied with the Senate’s estimation of me.
As regards the Sicyonians, there is very little hope to be placed in the
Senate, as I wrote you before: for there is no one now to raise a
complaint. It would be tedious to wait for them to move. Fight the point
in some other way, if you can. When the law was passed, nobody noticed
to whom it applied, and the dummy members plumped eagerly in its favour.
The time has not yet come for rescinding the decree, because there is no
one who complains about it, and some favour it, partly from spite and
partly from an idea of its justness.
Your friend Metellus is an excellent consul: I have only one fault to
find with him, he is not at all pleased with the news of peace from
Gaul. I take it he wants a triumph. I wish he would moderate that
desire: in every other way he is excellent. The behaviour of Aulus’s son
makes his consulship not a consulship, but a blot on the scutcheon
of our friend Pompey.
I have sent you one of my works, a history of my consulship in Greek. I
have given it to L. Cossinius. I fancy you like my Latin work, but,
being a Greek, envy this Greek one. If others write about it, I will
send you copies; but I assure you, as soon as they read mine, they
somehow or other don’t hurry themselves about it.
Now to return to business. L. Papirius Paetus, my good friend and
admirer, has offered me the books left to him by Ser. Claudius: and, as
your friend Cincius said I could take them without breaking the
libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me
amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac
servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos
suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus
est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis
datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris,
si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde
velle arbitraris. ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi
ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed
etiam suadeo.
Cincian law, I said I would very willingly accept, if he brought
them here. Now, as you love me, as you know I love you, stir up all your
friends, clients, guests, freedmen, nay even your slaves, to see that
not a leaf is lost. For I have urgent necessity for the Greek works,
which I suspect, and the Latin books, which I am sure, he left. Every
day I seek my recreation, in such time as is left me from my legal
labours, more and more in such studies. You will do me the greatest of
favours, if you will show the same zeal in this as you generally do in
matters about which you think I am really keen. Paetus’ own affairs I
recommend to your notice too, and he expresses his deepest gratitude.
And I do more than ask you, I urge you, to pay me a visit soon.
Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IV Idus Maias, Cincius noster eam mihi abs te epistulam reddidit, quam tu Idibus Febr. dederas. Ei nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo. Ac primum tibi perspectum esse iudicium de te meum laetor, deinde te in iis rebus, quae mihi asperius a nobis atque nostris et iniucundius actae videbantur, moderatissimum fuisse vehementissime gaudeo idque neque amoris mediocris et ingenii summi ac sapientiae iudico. Qua de re cum ad me ita suaviter, diligenter, officiose, humaniter scripseris, ut non modo te hortari amplius non debeam, sed ne exspectare quidem abs te aut ab ullo homine tantum facilitatis ac mansuetudinis potuerim, nihil duco esse commodius quam de his rebus nihil iam amplius scribere. Cum erimus congressi, tum, si quid res feret, coram inter nos conferemus. Quod ad me de re publica scribis, disputas tu quidem et amanter et prudenter, et a meis consiliis ratio tua non abhorret; nam neque de statu nobis nostrae dignitatis est recedendum neque sine nostris copiis intra alterius praesidia veniendum, et is, de quo scribis, nihil habet amplum, nihil excelsum, nihil non summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi, cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur. Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Spartan non modo numquam deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait Rhinton, ut opinor, Hoi men par oyden eisi, tois d ouden melei . Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel quod ita rectum est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti fiam, minime me paenitet. De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu; nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est; alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt. Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis delectantur. Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri hypopion . De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede, simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur. Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret, libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris, si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde velle arbitraris, ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed etiam suadeo. Cicero
◆
When I had returned to Rome from my Pompeian estate on the fourth day before the Ides of May, our friend Cincius delivered to me that letter from you which you had dispatched on the Ides of February. I shall now reply to that letter with this one. And first, I am delighted that my regard for you is clearly understood by you; next, I am exceedingly glad that in those matters which seemed to me to have been handled rather harshly and unpleasantly by me and my circle, you showed the utmost restraint — and I judge this the mark of no ordinary affection and of the highest intelligence and wisdom. Since you have written to me about this matter so graciously, so carefully, so dutifully, and so kindly, that not only ought I not to urge you further, but I could not have expected such readiness and gentleness from you or from any man, I think it best to write nothing more about these things. When we meet, then, if anything calls for it, we shall discuss it face to face.
As for what you write to me about public affairs, you argue both affectionately and wisely, and your reasoning does not differ from my own counsels. For I must not abandon the position my standing demands, nor must I come within another's defenses without my own forces, and that man you write about has nothing grand, nothing lofty, nothing that is not cringing and populist. Yet perhaps my course was not useless for the tranquility of my own times, but by Hercules it was far more useful to the republic than to me that the assaults of wicked citizens against me should be checked, since I had steadied the wavering judgment of a man of the greatest fortune, authority, and influence, and turned him from the hopes of the disloyal toward praise of my achievements. If I had been required to do this with some sacrifice of dignity, I would not have thought any advantage worth it; but in fact I managed everything so that it was not I who appeared lighter by agreeing with him, but he who appeared weightier by approving of me. The remainder I am handling and shall handle so that we do not allow it to seem that what we accomplished was accomplished by chance. Those good men of mine, the ones you indicate, and that Sparta which you say has fallen to my lot — I shall not only never desert them, but even if I am deserted by them, I shall nevertheless remain in my original conviction. Yet I would have you understand this: since the death of Catulus I hold this conservative path with neither any garrison nor any escort. For, as Rhinton says, I believe: "Some count for nothing, and the rest care nothing."
As for how our fish-pond fanciers envy me, I shall either write to you about it another time or save it for when we meet. But nothing shall tear me from the senate house, either because it is the right thing, or because it is most consistent with my interests, or because I have no reason to regret the esteem in which the senate holds me.
Regarding the Sicyonians, as I wrote to you before, there is not much hope in the senate; for there is no one to lodge a complaint. Therefore, if you are waiting for that, it will be a long wait; fight by another route, if you can find one. When the matter was dealt with, no one noticed whom it concerned, and the backbenchers rushed headlong into that resolution. The time is not yet ripe for overturning the senatorial decree, because there are none who complain, and many take pleasure in it, some from ill will, some from a sense of its fairness.
Your friend Metellus is an excellent consul; one thing only I criticize — that he takes no great joy when peace is reported from Gaul. He desires, I imagine, to triumph. I wish he were more moderate in this; in all else he is outstanding. As for the son of Aulus, he conducts himself in such a way that his consulship is no consulship at all but a mere understudy to our great Pompey.
Regarding my writings, I have sent you a Greek account of my consulship, fully polished. I gave the book to Lucius Cossinius. I imagine you take pleasure in my Latin works but begrudge this Greek one its Greek rival. If others write their own accounts, I shall send them to you; but believe me, the moment they read mine, they are somehow deterred.
Now, to return to my own affair: Lucius Papirius Paetus, an honest man and a friend of ours, has given me as a gift the books that Servius Claudius left behind. Since your friend Cincius told me I was permitted to accept them under the Lex Cincia, I readily said I would take them if he brought them over. Now, if you care for me, if you know that I care for you, make every effort through your friends, clients, guest-friends, your freedmen and even your slaves, that not a single scrap go missing. For I have the most urgent need of both those Greek books, which I suspect he left, and the Latin ones, which I know he did. Every day I find more and more rest in these studies, whatever time is granted me from the labor of the forum. I beg you, I most earnestly beg you —
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IV Idus Maias, Cincius noster eam mihi abs te epistulam reddidit, quam tu Idibus Febr. dederas. Ei nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo. Ac primum tibi perspectum esse iudicium de te meum laetor, deinde te in iis rebus, quae mihi asperius a nobis atque nostris et iniucundius actae videbantur, moderatissimum fuisse vehementissime gaudeo idque neque amoris mediocris et ingenii summi ac sapientiae iudico. Qua de re cum ad me ita suaviter, diligenter, officiose, humaniter scripseris, ut non modo te hortari amplius non debeam, sed ne exspectare quidem abs te aut ab ullo homine tantum facilitatis ac mansuetudinis potuerim, nihil duco esse commodius quam de his rebus nihil iam amplius scribere. Cum erimus congressi, tum, si quid res feret, coram inter nos conferemus. Quod ad me de re publica scribis, disputas tu quidem et amanter et prudenter, et a meis consiliis ratio tua non abhorret; nam neque de statu nobis nostrae dignitatis est recedendum neque sine nostris copiis intra alterius praesidia veniendum, et is, de quo scribis, nihil habet amplum, nihil excelsum, nihil non summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi, cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur. Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Spartan non modo numquam deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait Rhinton, ut opinor, Hoi men par oyden eisi, tois d ouden melei . Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel quod ita rectum est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti fiam, minime me paenitet. De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu; nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est; alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt. Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis delectantur. Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri hypopion . De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede, simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur. Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret, libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris, si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde velle arbitraris, ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed etiam suadeo. Cicero