Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -47 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
Worn out as I am by the agony of my grievous sorrows I should not find
it an easy task to write to you, even if there were anything I ought
to write; and it is far less easy, when I have nothing worth writing,
especially as there is not even a gleam of hope for better days. So
hopeless am I that now I do not look forward even to your letters,
though they always bring me something I like to hear. So pray write,
whenever you have a messenger. I have no answer to give to your last
letter, though it is a long time since I received it, for I see no
change in the long interval: the right cause is strong, and I am paying
very heavily for my folly.
The £250 which I had from Cn. Sallustius are to be paid to P.
Sallustius. Please see that it is done without delay. I have written
to Terentia about it. And now it is nearly all spent: so I wish you
would arrange with her for some money for me to go on with. I shall
possibly be able to get some here, if I know I have a balance at Rome;
but, before I know that, I dare not try. You see the position of all
my affairs. There is no sort of misfortune which I am not enduring and
expecting. For this state of affairs
30,000 sesterces.
rerum eo gravior est dolor, quo culpa maior. Ille in Achaia non cessat
de nobis detrahere. Nihil videlicet tuae litterae profecerunt. Vale.
VIII Idus Mart.
[1] ad meas incredibilis aegritudines aliquid novi accedit ex iis quae de Q. Q. ad me adferuntur. P. Terentius meus necessarius operas in portu et scriptura Asiae pro magistro dedit. is Quintum filium Ephesi vidit vi Idus Decembr. eumque studiose propter amicitiam nostram invitavit; cumque ex eo de me percontaretur, eum sibi ita dixisse narrabat, se mihi esse inimicissimum, volumenque sibi ostendisse orationis quam apud Caesarem contra me esset habiturus. multa a se dicta contra eius amentiam. multa postea Patris simili scelere secum Quintum patrem locutum; cuius furorem ex iis epistulis quas ad te misi perspicere potuisti. haec tibi dolori esse certo scio; me quidem excruciant et eo magis quod mihi cum illis ne querendi quidem locum futurum puto. [2] de Africanis rebus longe alia nobis ac tu scripseras nuntiantur. nihil enim firmius esse dicunt, nihil paratius. accedit Hispania et alienata Italia, legionum nec vis eadem nec voluntas, urbanae res perditae. quid est ubi acquiescam, nisi quam diu tuas litteras lego? quae essent profecto crebriores, si quid haberes quo putares meam molestiam minui posse. sed tamen te rogo ut ne intermittas scribere ad me quicquid erit eosque qui mihi tam crudeliter inimici sunt, si odisse non potes, accuses tamen, non ut aliquid proficias sed ut tibi me carum esse sentiant. plura ad te scribam, si mihi ad eas litteras quas proxime ad te dedi rescripseris. vale. xii K. Febr.
◆
Worn out as I am by the agony of my grievous sorrows I should not find it an easy task to write to you, even if there were anything I ought to write; and it is far less easy, when I have nothing worth writing, especially as there is not even a gleam of hope for better days. So hopeless am I that now I do not look forward even to your letters, though they always bring me something I like to hear. So pray write, whenever you have a messenger. I have no answer to give to your last letter, though it is a long time since I received it, for I see no change in the long interval: the right cause is strong, and I am paying very heavily for my folly.
The £250 which I had from Cn. Sallustius are to be paid to P. Sallustius. Please see that it is done without delay. I have written to Terentia about it. And now it is nearly all spent: so I wish you would arrange with her for some money for me to go on with. I shall possibly be able to get some here, if I know I have a balance at Rome; but, before I know that, I dare not try. You see the position of all my affairs. There is no sort of misfortune which I am not enduring and expecting. For this state of affairs
30,000 sesterces.
rerum eo gravior est dolor, quo culpa maior. Ille in Achaia non cessat de nobis detrahere. Nihil videlicet tuae litterae profecerunt. Vale.
VIII Idus Mart.
Latin / Greek Original
[1] ad meas incredibilis aegritudines aliquid novi accedit ex iis quae de Q. Q. ad me adferuntur. P. Terentius meus necessarius operas in portu et scriptura Asiae pro magistro dedit. is Quintum filium Ephesi vidit vi Idus Decembr. eumque studiose propter amicitiam nostram invitavit; cumque ex eo de me percontaretur, eum sibi ita dixisse narrabat, se mihi esse inimicissimum, volumenque sibi ostendisse orationis quam apud Caesarem contra me esset habiturus. multa a se dicta contra eius amentiam. multa postea Patris simili scelere secum Quintum patrem locutum; cuius furorem ex iis epistulis quas ad te misi perspicere potuisti. haec tibi dolori esse certo scio; me quidem excruciant et eo magis quod mihi cum illis ne querendi quidem locum futurum puto. [2] de Africanis rebus longe alia nobis ac tu scripseras nuntiantur. nihil enim firmius esse dicunt, nihil paratius. accedit Hispania et alienata Italia, legionum nec vis eadem nec voluntas, urbanae res perditae. quid est ubi acquiescam, nisi quam diu tuas litteras lego? quae essent profecto crebriores, si quid haberes quo putares meam molestiam minui posse. sed tamen te rogo ut ne intermittas scribere ad me quicquid erit eosque qui mihi tam crudeliter inimici sunt, si odisse non potes, accuses tamen, non ut aliquid proficias sed ut tibi me carum esse sentiant. plura ad te scribam, si mihi ad eas litteras quas proxime ad te dedi rescripseris. vale. xii K. Febr.