Letter 315

The copyist Hilarus had just left on the 28th, and I had given him a letter to you, when your messenger came with your letter of the day before. What I was most glad to see in it was the sentence "Our dear Attica begs you not to be anxious" and your own statement that there is no danger. I see your influence has given my speech for Ligarius a good start. For Balbus has written to me with Oppius, saying that he is extraordinarily pleased with it; and for that reason he has sent the little thing to Caesar. So that is what you wrote to me some time ago. In Varro's case I should not be disturbed about appearing to be tuft-hunting—for my principle has always been not to insert any living characters in my dialogues; but it was because you say Varro wants it, and appreciates the compliment, that I have finished off the work and have comprised the whole of the Academic philosophy—how well I cannot say, but with all possible care—in four books. All the fine array of arguments against the uncertainty of apperceptions collected by Antiochus I have given to Varro; I answer him myself, and you are the third speaker in our conversation. If I had made Cotta and Varro carry on the argument between them, as you suggest in your last letter, I meum κωφὸν πρόσωπον esset. Hoc in antiquis personis suaviter fit, ut et Heraclides in multis et nos in VI "de re publica" libris fecimus. Sunt etiam "de oratore" nostri tres mihi vehementer probati. In eis quoque eae personae sunt, ut mihi tacendum fuerit. Crassus enim loquitur, Antonius, Catulus senex, C. Iulius, frater Catuli, Cotta, Sulpicius. Puero me hic sermo inducitur, ut nullae esse possent partes meae. Quae autem his temporibus scripsi, Ἀριστοτέλειον morem habent, in quo sermo ita inducitur ceterorum, ut penes ipsum sit principatus. Ita confeci quinque libros περὶ τελῶν, ut Epicurea L. Torquato, Stoica M. Catoni, περιπατητικὰ M. Pisoni darem. Ἀζηλοτύπητον id fore putaram, quod omnes illi decesserant. Haec "Academica," ut scis, cum Catulo, Lucullo, Hortensio contuleram. Sane in personas non cadebant; erant enim λογικώτερα quam ut illi de iis somniasse umquam viderentur. Itaque, ut legi tuas de Varrone, tamquam ἕρμαιον arripui. Aptius esse nihil potuit ad id philosophiae genus, quo ille maxime mihi delectari videtur, easque partes, ut non sim consecutus, ut superior mea causa videatur. Sunt enim vehementer πιθανὰ Antiochia; quae diligenter a me expressa acumen habent Antiochi, nitorem orationis nostrum, si modo is est aliquis in nobis. Sed tu, dandosne putes hos libros Varroni, etiam atque etiam videbis. Mihi quaedam occurrunt; sed ea coram. should have been a mere lay figure. That suits admirably when the characters are persons of olden times; and that is what Heraclides often did in his works; and I myself did so in my six books _De Republica_. It is the same, too, in my three books _De Oratore_, of which I think very highly; in them, too, the characters were such that I could properly keep silent. For the speakers are Crassus, Antonius, old Catulus, his brother C. Julius, Cotta and Sulpicius; and the conversation is supposed to take place when I was a boy, so that I could have no part in it. But in a modern work, I follow Aristotle's practice: the conversation of the others is so put forward as to leave him the principal part. I arranged the five books _De Finibus_ so as to give the Epicurean parts to L. Torquatus, the Stoic to M. Cato, and the Peripatetic to M. Piso. I thought that could not make anybody jealous, as they were all dead. This present work, the _Academica_, as you know, I had shared between Catulus, Lucullus and Hortensius. I must admit that the work did not suit the characters; for it was far too philosophical for them to have ever dreamt of such things. So, when I read your note about Varro, I jumped at it as a godsend. Nothing could have been more appropriate for expounding the system of philosophy in which he seems to be specially interested, and for introducing a part which prevents me from seeming to give my own cause the superiority. For the views of Antiochus are very persuasive, and I have put them carefully with all Antiochus' acuteness and my own polished style, if I possess one. But do you consider carefully, whether you think I ought to dedicate the books to Varro. Some objections occur to me; but of that when we meet.

iv Kal. exspectabam Roma aliquid; non imperassem igitur aliquid tuis . nunc eadem illa, quid Brutus cogitet, aut si aliquid egit, ecquid a Caesare. sed quid ista quae minus curo? Attica nostra quid agat scire cupio. etsi tuae litterae (sed iam nimis veteres sunt) recte sperare iubent, tamen exspecto recens aliquid. [2] vides propinquitas quid habeat. nos vero conficiamus hortos. conloqui videbamur in Tusculano cum essem . tanta erat crebritas litterarum. sed id quidem iam erit. ego interea admonitu tuo perfeci sane argutulos libros ad Varronem sed tamen exspecto quid ad ea quae scripsi ad te, primum qui intellexeris eum desiderare a me cum ipse homo polugrafw/tatoj numquam me lacessisset; deinde quem zhlotupei=n <nisi forte Brutum, quem si non> zhlotupei=j multo Hortensium minus aut eos qui de re publica loquuntur. plane hoc mihi explices velim, in primis maneasne in sententia ut mittam ad eum quae scripsi, an nihil necesse putes. sed haec coram.