Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. -58 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
You indeed argue diligently about what may be hoped for, especially through the Senate, and yet you write that the heading of the bill is being posted which forbids any discussion in the Senate. And so there is silence. Here you accuse me of tormenting myself, when I am so afflicted as no one ever was — which you yourself understand. You hold out hope after the elections. What sort of hope is that, with the same tribune of the plebs and a hostile consul-designate? And you have struck me a blow too about the speech that has been circulated. Heal that wound, as you write, if you can at all. I wrote it long ago in anger, because he had written first, but I had suppressed it so thoroughly that I thought it would never get out. How it escaped I do not know. But since it has never happened that I quarreled with him so much as a single word, and since the speech seems to me more carelessly written than my others, I think it can be maintained that it is not mine. If you think I can be cured of this, please see to it; but if I am utterly ruined, I worry less about it. I am still lying in the same place even now, without any conversation, without any thought. I had indicated to you, as you write, that you should come to me; but I understand that you are doing good where you are, while here you could not lighten my burden by so much as a word. I cannot write more, nor is there anything to write; I await news from your end more eagerly. Dispatched the 17th of July, from Thessalonica.
You lay great stress on the hopes I may entertain, especially of action
on the part of the Senate; yet at the same time you write that the
clause forbidding any mention of my case in the House is being posted
up. So no one opens his mouth. Then you accuse me of distressing myself,
though, as you know quite well, I have more reason for distress than
ever mortal had. You hold out hopes to me on the results of the
elections. What hope is there, if the same tribune is re-elected and a
consul elect is my enemy? Your news too that my speech has been
published is a blow to me. Heal the wound, if possible, as you propose.
In my indignation I paid him back in his own coin: but I had suppressed
it so carefully, that I thought it would never leak out. How it has, I
can’t imagine. But since it so happens that I have never said a word
against him, and this appears to me to be more carelessly written than
my other speeches, I should think it could be passed off as some one
else’s work. If you think my case is not
putas me posse sanari, cures velim; sin plane perii, minus laboro.
Ego etiam nunc eodem in loco iaceo sine sermone ullo, sine cogitatione
ulla. Licet tibi, ut scribis, significaram, ut ad me venires, dudum
tamen intellego te istic prodesse, hic ne verbo quidem levare me
posse. Non queo plura scribere, nec est, quod scribam; vestra magis
exspecto.
Data XVI Kal. Sextiles Thessalonicae.
tu quidem sedulo argumentaris quid sit sperandum et maxime per senatum idemque caput rogationis proponi scribis qua re in senatu dici nihil liceat. itaque siletur. hic tu me accusas quod me adflictem, cum ita sim adflictus ut nemo umquam, quod tute intellegis. spem ostendis secundum comitia. quae ista est eodem tribuno pl. et inimico consule designato? percussisti autem me etiam de oratione prolata. [2] cui vulneri ut scribis medere, si quid potes. scripsi equidem olim ei iratus, quod ille prior scripserat, sed ita compresseram ut numquam emanaturam putarem. quo modo exciderit nescio. sed quia numquam accidit ut cum eo verbo uno concertarem et quia scripta mihi videtur neglegentius quam ceterae, puto posse probari non esse meam. id, si putas me posse sanari, cures velim; sin plane perii, minus laboro. [3] ego etiam nunc eodem in loco iaceo sine sermone ullo, sine cogitatione ulla. scilicet tibi, ut scribis, significaram ut ad me venires; Üsi donatam utÜ intellego te istic prodesse, hic ne verbo quidem levare me posse. non queo plura scribere nec est quod scribam; vestra magis exspecto. data xvi Kal. Sextilis Thessalonicae.
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You indeed argue diligently about what may be hoped for, especially through the Senate, and yet you write that the heading of the bill is being posted which forbids any discussion in the Senate. And so there is silence. Here you accuse me of tormenting myself, when I am so afflicted as no one ever was — which you yourself understand. You hold out hope after the elections. What sort of hope is that, with the same tribune of the plebs and a hostile consul-designate? And you have struck me a blow too about the speech that has been circulated. Heal that wound, as you write, if you can at all. I wrote it long ago in anger, because he had written first, but I had suppressed it so thoroughly that I thought it would never get out. How it escaped I do not know. But since it has never happened that I quarreled with him so much as a single word, and since the speech seems to me more carelessly written than my others, I think it can be maintained that it is not mine. If you think I can be cured of this, please see to it; but if I am utterly ruined, I worry less about it. I am still lying in the same place even now, without any conversation, without any thought. I had indicated to you, as you write, that you should come to me; but I understand that you are doing good where you are, while here you could not lighten my burden by so much as a word. I cannot write more, nor is there anything to write; I await news from your end more eagerly. Dispatched the 17th of July, from Thessalonica.
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
tu quidem sedulo argumentaris quid sit sperandum et maxime per senatum idemque caput rogationis proponi scribis qua re in senatu dici nihil liceat. itaque siletur. hic tu me accusas quod me adflictem, cum ita sim adflictus ut nemo umquam, quod tute intellegis. spem ostendis secundum comitia. quae ista est eodem tribuno pl. et inimico consule designato? percussisti autem me etiam de oratione prolata. [2] cui vulneri ut scribis medere, si quid potes. scripsi equidem olim ei iratus, quod ille prior scripserat, sed ita compresseram ut numquam emanaturam putarem. quo modo exciderit nescio. sed quia numquam accidit ut cum eo verbo uno concertarem et quia scripta mihi videtur neglegentius quam ceterae, puto posse probari non esse meam. id, si putas me posse sanari, cures velim; sin plane perii, minus laboro. [3] ego etiam nunc eodem in loco iaceo sine sermone ullo, sine cogitatione ulla. scilicet tibi, ut scribis, significaram ut ad me venires; Üsi donatam utÜ intellego te istic prodesse, hic ne verbo quidem levare me posse. non queo plura scribere nec est quod scribam; vestra magis exspecto. data xvi Kal. Sextilis Thessalonicae.