Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -60 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
What a disgrace! That no one delivered the letter I dashed off to you from Three Taverns in reply to your most delightful letters! But know that the packet into which I had tossed it was carried to my house on the very same day I had sent it, and was brought back to me at Formiae. So I have ordered your letter returned to you, from which you may understand how welcome those letters of yours were to me at the time.
As for your writing that all is quiet at Rome, so I supposed; but by Hercules, in the countryside there is no quiet, nor can the fields themselves any longer endure your kingship. If indeed you come to this Telepylus of the Laestrygonians — I mean Formiae — what a roar of complaint from the people! How angry the tempers! What hatred for our friend Magnus! His surname is growing old together with the surname of Crassus the Rich. Believe me, I beg you, I have yet to meet anyone who bears these things as calmly as I do. Therefore, trust me, let us turn to philosophy. I can tell you on oath that none of it is worth the trouble. If you have letters to send to the Sicyonians, fly to Formiae, from where I am planning to leave on the day before the Nones of May.
What a shame! The letter I wrote on the spur of the moment at the Three
Taverns in answer to your delightful notes never reached you! The reason
was that the packet in which I had put it was taken to my town house the
same day, and brought back to me at Formiae. So I have had the letter
sent back to show you how pleased I was with yours.
quod scribis sileri, ita putabam; at hercule in agris non siletur, nec
iam ipsi agri regnum vestrum ferre possunt. Si vero in hanc Τηλέπυλον
veneris Λαιστρυγονίην, Formias dico, qui fremitus hominum! quam irati
animi? quanto in odio noster amicus Magnus! cuius cognomen una cum
Crassi Divitis cognomine consenescit. Credas mihi velim, neminem adhuc
offendi, qui haec tam lente, quam ego fero, ferret. Quare, mihi crede,
φιλοσοφῶμεν. Iuratus tibi possum dicere nihil esse tanti. Tu si litteras
ad Sicyonios habes, advola in Formianum, unde nos pridie Nonas Maias
cogitamus.
facinus indignum! epistulam authorei tibi a tribus tabernis rescriptam ad tuas suavissimas epistulas neminem reddidisse! at scito eum fasciculum, quo illam conieceram, domum eo ipso die latum esse quo ego dederam et ad me in Formianum relatum esse. itaque tibi tuam epistulam iussi referri, ex qua intellegeres quam mihi tum illae gratae fuissent. [2] Romae quod scribis sileri, ita putabam; at hercule in agris non siletur, nec iam ipsi agri regnum vestrum ferre possunt. si vero in hanc Telepulon veneris Laistrugonien, Formias dico, qui fremitus hominum! quam irati animi! quanto in odio noster amicus Magnus! cuius cognomen una cum Crassi divitis cognomine consenescit. credas mihi velim, neminem adhuc offendi qui haec tam lente quam ego fero ferret. qua re, mihi crede, philosophomen. iuratus tibi possum dicere nihil esse tanti. tu si litteras ad Sicyonios habes, advola in Formianum, unde nos pridie Nonas Maias cogitamus.
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What a disgrace! That no one delivered the letter I dashed off to you from Three Taverns in reply to your most delightful letters! But know that the packet into which I had tossed it was carried to my house on the very same day I had sent it, and was brought back to me at Formiae. So I have ordered your letter returned to you, from which you may understand how welcome those letters of yours were to me at the time.
As for your writing that all is quiet at Rome, so I supposed; but by Hercules, in the countryside there is no quiet, nor can the fields themselves any longer endure your kingship. If indeed you come to this Telepylus of the Laestrygonians — I mean Formiae — what a roar of complaint from the people! How angry the tempers! What hatred for our friend Magnus! His surname is growing old together with the surname of Crassus the Rich. Believe me, I beg you, I have yet to meet anyone who bears these things as calmly as I do. Therefore, trust me, let us turn to philosophy. I can tell you on oath that none of it is worth the trouble. If you have letters to send to the Sicyonians, fly to Formiae, from where I am planning to leave on the day before the Nones of May.
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
facinus indignum! epistulam authorei tibi a tribus tabernis rescriptam ad tuas suavissimas epistulas neminem reddidisse! at scito eum fasciculum, quo illam conieceram, domum eo ipso die latum esse quo ego dederam et ad me in Formianum relatum esse. itaque tibi tuam epistulam iussi referri, ex qua intellegeres quam mihi tum illae gratae fuissent. [2] Romae quod scribis sileri, ita putabam; at hercule in agris non siletur, nec iam ipsi agri regnum vestrum ferre possunt. si vero in hanc Telepulon veneris Laistrugonien, Formias dico, qui fremitus hominum! quam irati animi! quanto in odio noster amicus Magnus! cuius cognomen una cum Crassi divitis cognomine consenescit. credas mihi velim, neminem adhuc offendi qui haec tam lente quam ego fero ferret. qua re, mihi crede, philosophomen. iuratus tibi possum dicere nihil esse tanti. tu si litteras ad Sicyonios habes, advola in Formianum, unde nos pridie Nonas Maias cogitamus.