Letter 342

Pollex, having arranged to meet me on the 13th of August, has done so at Lanuvium on the 12th: but he is a mere thumb, and not a pointing finger. So you must get your news from him himself. I have met Balbus: for Lepta, being anxious about the contract for the shows, took me to him. Well, he was in the place at Lanuvium, which he made over to Lepidus: and the first thing he said to me was, "I have just had a letter in which Caesar definitely asserts that he will be here before the Roman games." I read the letter. It dilated on my _Cato_, and he said that by reading it frequently he had increased his flow of language, and, when he read Brutus' _Cato_, he began to think himself eloquent. I learned from him that the formal acceptance of Cluvius' legacy was an unconditional acceptance within sixty days before witnesses. How careless of Vestorius not to tell me! I was afraid I should have to send for him: but now I must iussu cernat. Idem igitur Pollex. Etiam de hortis Cluvianis egi cum Balbo. Nil liberalius. Se enim statim ad Caesarem scripturum, Cluvium autem a T. Hordeonio legare et Terentiae HS IↃↃↃ et sepulcro multisque rebus, nihil a nobis. Subaccusa, quaeso, Vestorium. Quid minus probandum quam Plotium unguentarium per suos pueros omnia tanto ante Balbo, illum mi ne per meos quidem? De Cossinio doleo; dilexi hominem. Quinto delegabo, si quid aeri meo alieno superabit et emptionibus, ex quibus mi etiam aes alienum faciendum puto. De domo Arpini nil scio. Vestorium nil est quod accuses. Iam enim obsignata hac epistula noctu tabellarius noster venit, et ab eo litteras diligenter scriptas attulit et exemplum testamenti.

suavis tuas litteras! (etsi acerba pompa. verum tamen scire omnia non acerbum est, vel de Cotta) populum vero praeclarum quod propter malum vicinum ne victoriae quidem ploditur! Brutus apud me fuit; quoi quidem valde placebat me aliquid ad Caesarem. adnueram; sed pompa deterret. [2] tu tamen ausus es Varroni dare! exspecto quid iudicet. quando autem pelleget? de Attica probo. est quiddam etiam animum levari cum spectatione tum etiam religionis opinione et fama. [3] Cottam mi velim mittas; Libonem mecum habeo et habueram ante Cascam. Brutus mihi T. Ligari verbis nuntiavit, quod appelletur L. Corfidius in oratione Ligariana, erratum esse meum. sed, ut aiunt, mnhmoniko\n a(ma/rthma . sciebam Corfidium pernecessarium Ligariorum; sed eum video ante esse mortuum. da igitur, quaeso, negotium Pharnaci, Antaeo, Salvio ut id nomen ex omnibus libris tollatur.