Letter 21

On the 1st of June, as I was heading to Antium and eagerly leaving behind Marcus Metellus's gladiatorial show, your boy met me on the road. He delivered to me your letter and a memoir of my consulship written in Greek. I was delighted to learn that I had already, some time before, given Lucius Cossinius a book written likewise in Greek on the same subjects to carry to you; for if I had read yours first, you would say I had stolen from you. Although your work (for I read it with pleasure) seemed to me somewhat rough and unpolished, yet it was adorned by this very fact, that it had neglected adornment, and, like women, it seemed to smell sweet precisely because it smelled of nothing. My book, however, consumed the entire perfume chest of Isocrates and all the little boxes of his pupils, and not a little of Aristotle's pigments as well. You glanced at it briefly at Corcyra, as you indicate to me in another letter, but afterward, I believe, you received it from Cossinius. I would not have dared send it to you had I not approved it slowly and fastidiously. Although Posidonius has already written back to me from Rhodes that, upon reading that memoir of mine which I had sent him so that he might write something more elaborately on the same subjects, he was not only not inspired to write but was in fact thoroughly deterred. What can I say? I have thrown the Greek nation into confusion. And so those who had been pressing me to give them something to embellish have now ceased to trouble me. If you are pleased with the book, you will see to it that it is available both at Athens and in the other towns of Greece; for it seems able to shed some light on my achievements. As for the short speeches, I will send both those you request and even more besides, since indeed what I write, prompted by the enthusiasm of young students, gives you pleasure too. For it suited me well — since your fellow citizen Demosthenes had distinguished himself in those orations called the Philippics, and since he had turned away from this contentious forensic style of speaking to appear more dignified and more statesmanlike — to take care that I too should have orations that might be called consular. Of these, the first was delivered in the Senate on the 1st of January, the second to the people on the agrarian law, the third on Otho, the fourth in defense of Rabirius, the fifth on the sons of the proscribed, the sixth when I laid down my province in a public assembly, the seventh when I expelled Catilina, the eighth which I delivered to the people on the day after Catilina fled, the ninth in an assembly on the day the Allobroges gave their evidence, the tenth in the Senate on the 5th of December. There are also two short ones, like excerpts from the agrarian law speeches. I will see to it that you have this whole collection; and since both my writings and my deeds give you pleasure, from these same books you will perceive both what I did and what I said — or else you should not have asked; for I was not thrusting myself upon you. As to your question about why I am summoning you, while at the same time you indicate that you are tied up with business yet do not refuse to come running, not only if there is need but even if I merely wish it — there is really no necessity. Nevertheless, it seemed to me that you could arrange the timing of your travels more conveniently. You have been away too long, especially since you are in nearby places, and neither do we enjoy your company nor do you have ours. At present, indeed, things are quiet; but if the madness of our pretty boy were to advance a little further, I would most urgently summon you from there. But Metellus splendidly stands in the way and will continue to do so. What can I say? He is a consul who loves his country and, as I have always judged, good by nature. That other one, however, does not merely pretend but plainly desires to become tribune of the plebs. When this matter was discussed in the Senate, I broke the man and rebuked his inconsistency — he who was seeking the tribunate at Rome when he had been going about saying in Sicily that he was pursuing an inheritance — and I said we had no great need to worry, since he would no more be permitted as a plebeian to destroy the republic than men like him among the patricians had been permitted to do so in my consulship. Then, when he had said that he had come from the Strait in seven days, that no one had been able to come out to meet him, and that he had entered the city by night, and was boasting of this in a public assembly, I told him nothing new had happened to him: "From Sicily to Rome in seven days; three hours earlier, from Rome to Interamna. You entered by night; the same thing before. No one came to meet you; not even then, when above all they should have." What can I say? I am making the impudent fellow behave modestly, not only by the sustained gravity of my speech but also by this kind of wit. And so I now banter and joke with him on familiar terms.

On the 1st of June I met your boy as I was on my way to Antium and glad to get away from M. Metellus’s gladiatorial exhibition. He delivered your letter, and a memorial of my consulship written in Greek. I felt very glad that I gave L. Cossinius the book I had written in Greek on the same subject to take to you some time ago. For, if I had read yours first you would say that I had plagiarized from you. Though yours (which I read with pleasure) seemed to me a trifle rough and unadorned, yet its very lack of ornament is an ornament in itself, just as women were thought to have the best scent who used no scent. My book, on the other hand, has exhausted all the scent box of Isocrates, and all the rouge-pots of his pupils, and some of Aristotle’s colours too. You scanned it through, as you tell me in another letter, at Corcyra, before you had received it from Cossinius, I suppose. I should never have dared to send it to you, if I had not revised it with leisure and care. I sent the memoir to Posidonius too, asking him to write something more elaborate on the same subject; but he tells me that, far from being inspired to write by the perusal of it, he was decidedly put off. In fact, I have flabbergasted the whole Greek nation: so I have ceased to be plagued by the people who were always hanging about asking me to give them something of mine to polish up. If you like the liber, curabis, ut et Athenis sit et in ceteris oppidis Graeciae; videtur enim posse aliquid nostris rebus lucis adferre. Oratiunculas autem, et quas postulas, et plures etiam mittam, quoniam quidem ea, quae nos scribimus adulescentulorum studiis excitati, te etiam delectant. Fuit enim mihi commodum, quod in eis orationibus, quae Philippicae nominantur, enituerat civis ille tuus Demosthenes, et quod se ab hoc refractariolo iudiciali dicendi genere abiunxerat, ut σεμνότερός τις καὶ πολιτικώτερος videretur, curare, et meae quoque essent orationes, quae consulares nominarentur. Quarum una est in senatu Kal. Ianuariis, altera ad populum de lege agraria, tertia de Othone, quarta pro Rabirio, quinta de proscriptorum filiis, sexta, cum provinciam in contione deposui, septima, cum Catilinam emisi, octava, quam habui ad populum, postridie quam Catilina profugit, nona in contione, quo die Allobroges indicarunt, decima in senatu Nonis Decembribus. Sunt praeterea duae breves, quasi ἀποσπασμάτια legis agrariae. Hoc totum σῶμα curabo ut habeas; et, quoniam te cum scripta tum res meae delectant, isdem ex libris perspicies, et quae gesserim et quae dixerim; aut ne poposcisses; ego enim tibi me non offerebam. Quod quaeris, quid sit, quo te arcessam, ac simul impeditum te negotiis esse significas neque recusas, quin, non modo si opus sit, sed etiam si velim, accurras, nihil sane est necesse, verum tamen videbare mihi tempora peregrinationis commodius posse discribere. Nimis abes diu, praesertim cum sis in propinquis book, you will see to it that Athens and other Greek towns have it in stock; for I think it may add some lustre to my achievements. I will send you the bits of speeches you ask for and some more too, as you find some interest in things which I write to satisfy young admirers. Your fellow-citizen, Demosthenes, gained a reputation by the speeches called the Philippics, in which he departed from the quibbling style of pleading we use in the law-courts, and appeared in the role of a serious politician. So I took a fancy to leave behind me also some speeches which may be called consular. One was delivered in the House on the 1st of January, another to the people on the agrarian law, the third on Otho, the fourth for Rabirius, the fifth for the sons of the proscribed, the sixth when I declined a province in a public assembly, the seventh when I drove Catiline out, the eighth before the people the day after Catiline fled, the ninth in an assembly on the day when the Allobroges gave their information, the tenth in the House on the 5th of December. There are two more short ones, mere scraps of the agrarian law. I will see that you have the whole _corpus_; and, since both my writing and my achievements interest you, you will see from them what I have done, and what I have written. Or else you should not have asked for them: I was not the one to obtrude them. You inquire why I ask you to come back, and hint that you are hindered by business. Still you don’t refuse to come, if there is any need, or even if I wish it. There is no real necessity; but it does seem to me that you could arrange your times for going away more conveniently. You are away too long, especially when you are quite near, and locis, neque nos te fruimur, et tu nobis cares. Ac nunc quidem otium est, sed, si paulo plus furor Pulchelli progredi posset, valde ego te istim excitarem. Verum praeclare Metellus impedit et impediet. Quid quaeris? est consul φιλόπατρις et, ut semper iudicavi, natura bonus. Ille autem non simulat, sed plane tribunus pl. fieri cupit. Qua de re cum in senatu ageretur, fregi hominem et inconstantiam eius reprehendi, qui Romae tribunatum pl. peteret, cum in Sicilia hereditatem se petere dictitasset, neque magno opere dixi esse nobis laborandum, quod nihilo magis ei liciturum esset plebeio rem publicam perdere, quam similibus eius me consule patriciis esset licitum. Iam, cum se ille septimo die venisse a freto, neque sibi obviam quemquam prodire potuisse, et noctu se introisse dixisset, in eoque se in contione iactasset, nihil ei novi dixi accidisse. “Ex Sicilia septimo die Romam; ante tribus horis Roma Interamnam. Noctu introisse; idem ante. Non est itum obviam; ne tum quidem, cum iri maxime debuit.” Quid quaeris? hominem petulantem modestum reddo non solum perpetua gravitate orationis, sed etiam hoc genere dictorum. Itaque iam familiariter cum ipso cavillor ac iocor; quin etiam, rum candidatum deduceremus, quaerit ex me, num consuessem Siculis locum gladiatoribus dare. Negavi. “At ego,” inquit, “novus so I have no chance of enjoying your society and you lack mine. Just at present things are peaceful: but if that little beauty should be strong enough to indulge in any wilder freaks I should certainly be routing you out of your retreat. However, Metellus is holding him in nobly and will continue to do so. Most assuredly he is a thoroughly patriotic consul, and, as I always thought, an excellent fellow. Clodius does not beat about the bush, he is quite plainly aiming at the tribunate. When the point was discussed in the Senate, I sat on him, accusing him of inconsistency, for seeking the tribunate now in Rome, when in Sicily he did nothing but repeat that what he wanted was an inheritance. However, I added, we need not put ourselves about on that point, as he would not be allowed to ruin the country if he becomes a plebeian any more than patricians of his kidney were allowed to in my consulship. Then, when he said he had come from the straits in a week, so that no one could go to meet him, and had entered the city at night, and boasted of the fact in a public speech, I said there was nothing new in that. “Seven days from Sicily to Rome: the other time three hours from Rome to Interamna. He came in at night: so he did before. No one met him now: nor did anyone meet him last time, when they certainly ought to have done so.” In fact, I am taking the cheek out of him, not only by serious set speeches, but by quips of this kind too. So nowadays I bandy jests and banter with him quite familiarly. For instance, when we were escorting a candidate, he asked me whether I used to give the Sicilians seats at the gladiatorial shows. I said, “No.” “Well,” said he, patronus instituam; sed soror, quae tantum habeat consularis loci, unum mihi solum pedem dat.” “Noli,” inquam “de uno pede sororis queri; licet etiam alterum tollas.” Non consulare, inquies, dictum. Fateor; sed ego illam odi male consularem. “Ea est enim seditiosa, ea cum viro bellum gerit” neque solum cum Metello, sed etiam cum Fabio, quod eos in hoc esse moleste fert. Quod de agraria lege quaeris, sane iam videtur refrixisse. Quod me quodam modo molli brachio de Pompei familiaritate obiurgas, nolim ita existimes, me mei praesidii causa cum illo coniunctum esse, sed ita res erat instituta, ut, si inter nos esset aliqua forte dissensio, maximas in re publica discordias versari esset necesse. Quod a me ita praecautum atque provisum est, non ut ego de optima illa mea ratione decederem, sed ut ille esset melior et aliquid de populari levitate deponeret. Quem de meis rebus, in quas eum multi incitarant, multo scito gloriosius quam de suis praedicare; sibi enim bene gestae, mihi conservatae rei publicae dat testimonium. Hoc facere illum mihi quam prosit, nescio; rei publicae certe prodest. Quid? si etiam Caesarem, cuius nunc venti valde sunt secundi, reddo meliorem, num tantum obsum rei publicae? Quin etiam, si mihi nemo invideret, si omnes, ut erat aequum, faverent, tamen non minus esset probanda medicina, quae sanaret vitiosas partes rei publicae, quam quae exsecaret. “now I am their new patron, I intend to begin the practice: though my sister, who, as the consul’s wife, has such a lot of room, will not give me more than standing room.” “Oh, don’t grumble about standing room with your sister,” I answered. “You can always lie with her.” You will say it was not the remark for a consular to make. I confess it was not; but I hate the woman, so unworthy of a consul. “For she’s a shrew and wrangles with her mate,” and not only with Metellus, but with Fabius too, because she is annoyed at their interference in this affair. You ask about the agrarian law. Interest in it seems to have cooled down. You give me a gentle fillip for my familiarity with Pompey. Please don’t imagine I have allied myself to him solely to save my skin: the position of affairs is such that, if we had had any disagreement, there would of necessity have been great discord in the State. Against that I have taken precautions and made provision without wavering from my own excellent policy, while making him more loyal and less the people’s weathercock. He speaks, I may tell you, far more glowingly about my achievements than about his own, though many have tried to set him against me, saying that he did his duty to the country, but I saved it. What good his statements will do me, I fail to see: but they will certainly do the country good. Well! If I can make Caesar, who is now sailing gaily before the breeze, a better patriot too, shall I be doing so poor a service to the country? And, even if none were to envy me and all supported me, as they ought, still a remedy which cures the diseased parts of the State should be preferable to one which amputates them. Nunc vero, cum equitatus ille, quem ego in clivo Capitolino te signifero ac principe collocaram, senatum deseruerit, nostri autem principes digito se caelum putent attingere, si mulli barbati in piscinis sint, qui ad manum accedant, alia autem neglegant, nonne tibi satis prodesse videor, si perficio, ut nolint obesse, qui possunt? Nam Catonem nostrum non tu amas plus quam ego; sed tamen ille optimo animo utens et summa fide nocet interdum rei publicae; dicit enim tamquam in Platonis πολιτείᾳ, non tamquam in Romuli faece sententiam. Quid verius quam in iudicium venire, qui ob rem iudicandam pecuniam acceperit? Censuit hoc Cato, adsensit senatus; equites curiae bellum, non mihi; nam ego dissensi. Quid impudentius publicanis renuntiantibus? fuit tamen retinendi ordinis causa faciunda iactura. Restitit et pervicit Cato. Itaque nunc consule in carcere incluso, saepe item seditione commota aspiravit nemo eorum, quorum ego concursu itemque ii consules, qui post me fuerunt, rem publicam defendere solebant. “Quid ergo? istos,” inquies, “mercede conductos habebimus?” Quid faciemus, si aliter non possumus? An libertinis atque etiam servis serviamus? Sed, ut tu ais, ἅλις σπουδῆς. But as it is, when the knights, whom I once stationed on the Capitoline hill with you as their standard-bearer and leader, have deserted the Senate, and our great men think themselves in the seventh heaven, if they have bearded mullet in their fish-ponds that will feed from their hand, and don’t care about anything else, surely you must allow that I have done my best, if I manage to take the will to do harm from those who have the power to do it. For our friend Cato is not more to you than to me: but still with the best of intentions and unimpeachable honesty at times he does harm to the country: for the opinions he delivers would be more in place in Plato’s Republic than among the dregs of humanity collected by Romulus. That a man who accepts a bribe for the verdict he returns at a trial should be put on trial himself is as fair a principle as one could wish. Cato voted for it and won the House’s assent. Result, a war of the knights with the Senate, but not with me. I was against it. That the tax-collectors should repudiate their bargain was a most shameless proceeding. But we ought to have put up with the loss in order to keep their good-will. Cato resisted and carried the day. Result, though we’ve had a consul in prison, and frequent riots, not a breath of encouragement from one of those, who in my own consulship and that of my successors used to rally round us to defend the country. “Must we then bribe them for their support?” you will ask. What help is there, if we cannot get it otherwise? Are we to be slaves of freedmen and slaves? But, as you say, enough of the _grand sérieux_. Favonius meam tribum tulit honestius quam suam, Luccei perdidit. Accusavit Nasicam inhoneste ac modeste tamen. Dixit ita, ut Rhodi videretur molis potius quam Moloni operam dedisse. Mihi, quod defendissem, leviter suscensuit. Nunc tamen petit iterum rei publicae causa. Lucceius quid agat, scribam ad te, cum Caesarem videro, qui aderit biduo. Quod Sicyonii te laedunt, Catoni et eius aemulatori attribuis Servilio. Quid? ea plaga nonne ad multos bonos viros pertinet? Sed, si ita placuit, laudemus, deinde in discessionibus soli relinquamur. Amalthea mea te exspectat et indiget tui. Tusculanum et Pompeianum valde me delectant, nisi quod me, illum ipsum vindicem aeris alieni, aere non Corinthio, sed hoc circumforaneo obruerunt. In Gallia speramus esse otium. Prognostica mea cum oratiunculis prope diem exspecta et tamen, quid cogites de adventu tuo, scribe ad nos. Nam mihi Pomponia nuntiari iussit te mense Quintili Romae fore. Id a tuis litteris, quas ad me de censu tuo miseras, discrepabat. Paetus, ut antea ad te scripsi, omnes libros, quos frater suus reliquisset, mihi donavit. Hoc illius munus in tua diligentia positum est. Si me amas, cura, ut conserventur et ad me perferantur; hoc mihi nihil potest esse gratius. Et cum Graecos tum vero Favonius carried my tribe with even more credit than his own, but lost that of Lucceius. His accusation of Nasica was nothing to be proud of; however he conducted it very moderately. He spoke so badly that one would think he devoted more time at Rhodes to grinding in the mills than at Molo’s lectures. I got into his bad books for undertaking the defence; however he is standing again now on public grounds. How Lucceius is getting on I will write and tell you, when I have seen Caesar, who will be here in a couple of days’ time. The wrong the Sicyonians have done you, you attribute to Cato and his imitator Servilius. But does not the blow affect many good citizens? However, if it so pleases them, let us acquiesce, and be utterly deserted at the next question put to the vote. My Amalthea is waiting and longing for you. I am delighted with my places at Tusculum and Pompeii, except that, champion of creditors as I am, they have overwhelmed me not so much with Corinthian bronze as with debts in the common copper coin of the realm. We hope things have settled down in Gaul. Expect my Prognostics and my bits of speeches very shortly: but for all that write and tell me your plans about coming. Pomponia has sent a message that you will be in Rome in July: but that disagrees with the letter you sent to me about placing your name on the census list. Paetus, as I have already mentioned, has given me the books left him by his brother: but this gift depends on your kind services. As you love me, see that they are preserved and brought to me. You could do me no greater favour: and I should like the diligenter Latinos ut conserves velim. Tuum esse hoc munusculum putabo. Ad Octavium dedi litteras; cum ipso nihil eram locutus; neque enim ista tua negotia provincialia esse putabam neque te in tocullionibus habebam. Sed scripsi, ut debui, diligenter.

Kal. Iuniis eunti mihi Antium et gladiatores M. Metelli cupide relinquenti venit obviam tuus puer. is mihi litteras abs te et commentarium consulatus mei Graece scriptum reddidit. in quo laetatus sum me aliquanto ante de isdem rebus Graece item scriptum librum L. Cossinio ad te perferendum dedisse; nam si ego tuum ante legissem, furatum me abs te esse diceres. quamquam tua illa (legi enim libenter) horridula mihi atque incompta visa sunt, sed tamen erant ornata hoc ipso quod ornamenta neglexerant et, ut mulieres, ideo bene olere quia nihil olebant videbantur. meus autem liber totum Isocrati myrothecium atque omnis eius discipulorum arculas ac non nihil etiam Aristotelia pigmenta consumpsit. quem tu Corcyrae, ut mihi aliis litteris significas, strictim attigisti, post autem, ut arbitror, a Cossinio accepisti. quem tibi ego non essem ausus mittere nisi eum lente ac fastidiose probavissem. [2] quamquam ad me rescripsit iam Rhodo Posidonius se, nostrum illud hupomnema <cum> legeret, quod ego ad eum ut ornatius de isdem rebus scriberet miseram, non modo non excitatum esse ad scribendum sed etiam plane deterritum. quid quaeris? conturbavi Graecam nationem. ita vulgo qui instabant ut darem sibi quod ornarent iam exhibere mihi molestiam destiterunt. tu, si tibi placuerit liber, curabis ut et Athenis sit et in ceteris oppidis Graeciae; videtur enim posse aliquid nostris rebus lucis adferre. [3] oratiunculas autem et quas postulas et pluris etiam mittam, quoniam quidem ea quae nos scribimus adulescentulorum studiis excitati te etiam delectant. fuit enim mihi commodum, quod in eis orationibus quae Philippicae nominantur enituerat civis ille tuus Demosthenes, et quod se ab hoc refractariolo iudiciali dicendi genere abiunxerat ut semnoteros tis et politikoteros videretur, curare ut meae quoque essent orationes quae consulares nominarentur. quarum una est in senatu Kal. Ianuariis, altera ad populum de lege agraria, tertia de Othone, quarta pro Rabirio, quinta de proscriptorum filiis, sexta cum provinciam in contione deposui, septima quom Catilinam emisi, octava quam habui ad populum postridie quam Catilina profugit, nona in contione quo die Allobroges indicarunt, decima in senatu Nonis Decembribus. sunt praeterea duae breves, quasi apospasmatia legis agrariae. hoc totum soma curabo ut habeas; et quoniam te cum scripta tum res meae delectant, isdem ex libris perspicies et quae gesserim et quae dixerim; aut ne poposcisses; ego enim tibi me non offerebam. [4] quod quaeris quid sit quo te arcessam, ac simul impeditum te negotiis esse significas neque recusas quin, non modo si opus sit sed etiam si velim, accurras, nihil sane est necesse, verum tamen videbare mihi tempora peregrinationis commodius posse discribere. nimis abes diu, praesertim cum sis in propinquis locis, neque nos te fruimur et tu nobis cares. ac nunc quidem otium est, sed, si paulo plus furor pulchelli progredi posset, valde ego te istim excitarem. verum praeclare Metellus impedit et impediet. quid quaeris? est consul philopatris et, ut semper iudicavi, natura bonus. ille autem non simulat sed plane tribunus pl. fieri cupit. qua <de> re quom in senatu ageretur, fregi hominem et inconstantiam eius reprehendi qui Romae tribunatum pl. peteret cum in Sicilia hereditatem se petere dictitasset, neque magno opere dixi esse nobis laborandum, quod nihilo magis ei liciturum esset plebeio rem publicam perdere quam similibus eius me consule patriciis esset licitum. iam cum se ille septimo die venisse a freto neque sibi obviam quemquam prodire potuisse et noctu se introisse dixisset in eoque se in contione iactasset, nihil ei novi dixi accidisse. 'ex Sicilia septimo die Romam; ante tribus horis Roma Interamnam. Noctu introisti; idem ante. non est itum obviam; ne tum quidem quom iri maxime debuit.' quid quaeris? hominem petulantem modestum reddo non solum perpetua gravitate orationis sed etiam hoc genere dictorum. itaque iam familiariter cum ipso cavillor ac iocor; quin etiam cum candidatum deduceremus, quaerit ex me num consuessem Siculis locum gladiatoribus dare. negavi. 'at ego' inquit 'novus patronus instituam; sed soror, quae tantum habeat consularis loci, unum mihi solum pedem dat' 'noli,' inquam 'de uno pede sororis queri; licet etiam alterum tollas.' non consulare inquies dictum. fateor; sed ego illam odi male consularem. 'ea est enim seditiosa, ea cum viro bellum gerit' neque solum cum Metello sed etiam cum Fabio, quod eos +esse in hoc esse+ moleste fert. [6] quod de agraria lege quaeris, sane iam videtur refrixisse. quod me quodam modo molli bracchio de Pompei familiaritate obiurgas, nolim ita existimes, me mei praesidi causa cum illo coniunctum esse, sed ita res erat instituta ut, si inter nos esset aliqua forte dissensio, maximas in re publica discordias versari esset necesse. quod a me ita praecautum atque provisum est non ut ego de optima illa mea ratione decederem sed ut ille esset melior et aliquid de populari levitate deponeret. quem de meis rebus, in quas eum multi incitarant, multo scito gloriosius quam de suis praedicare; sibi enim bene gestae, mihi conservatae rei publicae dat testimonium. hoc facere illum mihi quam prosit nescio; rei publicae certe prodest. quid? si etiam Caesarem cuius nunc venti valde sunt secundi reddo meliorem, num tantum obsum rei publicae? [7] quin etiam si mihi nemo invideret, si omnes, ut erat aequum, faverent, tamen non minus esset probanda medicina quae sanaret vitiosas partis rei publicae quam quae exsecaret. nunc vero, quom equitatus ille quem ego in clivo Capitolino te signifero ac principe conlocaram senatum deseruerit, nostri autem principes digito se caelum putent attingere si mulli barbati in piscinis sint qui ad manum accedant, alia autem neglegant, nonne tibi satis prodesse videor si perficio ut nolint obesse qui possunt? [8] nam Catonem nostrum non tu amas plus quam ego; sed tamen ille optimo animo utens et summa fide nocet interdum rei publicae; dicit enim tamquam in Platonis politeiai, non tamquam in Romuli faece sententiam. quid verius quam in iudicium venire qui ob rem iudicandam pecuniam acceperit? censuit hoc Cato, adsensit senatus; equites curiae bellum, non mihi; nam ego dissensi. quid impudentius publicanis renuntiantibus? fuit tamen retinendi ordinis causa facienda iactura. restitit et pervicit Cato. itaque nunc consule in carcere incluso, saepe item seditione commota, aspiravit nemo eorum quorum ego concursu itemque ii consules qui post me fuerunt rem publicam defendere solebant. 'quid ergo? istos' inquies 'mercede conductos habebimus?' quid faciemus, si aliter non possumus? an libertinis atque etiam servis serviamus? sed, ut tu ais, halis spoudes. [9] Favonius meam tribum tulit honestius quam suam, Luccei perdidit. accusavit Nasicam inhoneste ac modeste tamen; dixit ita ut Rhodi videretur molis potius quam Moloni operam dedisse. mihi quod defendissem leviter suscensuit. nunc tamen petit iterum rei publicae causa. Lucceius quid agat scribam ad te cum Caesarem videro, qui aderit biduo. [10] quod Sicyonii te laedunt, Catoni et eius aemulatori attribuis Servilio. quid? ea plaga nonne ad multos bonos viros pertinet? sed si ita placuit, laudemus, deinde in dissensionibus soli relinquamur? [11] Amalthea mea te exspectat et indiget tui. Tusculanum et Pompeianum valde me delectant, nisi quod me, illum ipsum vindicem aeris alieni, aere non Corinthio sed hoc circumforaneo obruerunt. in Gallia speramus esse otium. prognostica mea cum oratiunculis prope diem exspecta et tamen quid cogites de adventu tuo scribe ad nos. nam mihi Pomponia nuntiari iussit te mense Quintili Romae fore. id a tuis litteris quas ad me de censu tuo miseras discrepabat. [12] Paetus, ut antea ad te scripsi, omnis libros quos frater suus reliquisset mihi donavit. hoc illius munus in tua diligentia positum est. si me amas, cura ut conserventur et ad me perferantur; hoc mihi nihil potest esse gratius. et cum Graecos tum vero diligenter Latinos ut conserves velim. tuum esse hoc munusculum putabo. ad Octavium dedi litteras; cum ipso nihil eram locutus; neque enim ista tua negotia provincialia esse putabam neque te in tocullionibus habebam. sed scripsi, ut debui, diligenter.