Marcus Tullius Cicero→Unknown|c. -50 AD|Cicero|AI-assisted
Marcus Tullius Cicero, son of Marcus, Imperator, sends greetings to Gaius Coelius Caldus, son of Lucius, grandson of Gaius, Quaestor, in camp at the Pyramus River; around the ninth day before the Kalends of July, 50 BC.
When I received the most welcome news that you had been assigned to me as quaestor, I hoped that this lot would prove all the more pleasing to me the longer you had been with me in the province. For it seemed of great importance that to the bond which fortune had bestowed upon us, the familiarity of daily association should also be added. Afterward, when nothing was written to me either by you yourself or by anyone else about your arrival, I began to fear — as I still fear even now — that I might depart from the province before you had reached it. I did, however, receive a letter sent by you while I was in camp in Cilicia, on the tenth day before the Kalends of July, written in the most gracious manner, from which your sense of duty and your talent could easily be perceived. But it indicated neither whence it was sent nor on what day it was dispatched nor at what time I should expect you, and the man who brought it had not received it directly from you, so that I might learn from him from what place or at what time it had been sent. Although these matters were uncertain, I nevertheless judged that I ought to send my attendants and lictors to you with a letter. If you have received it at a sufficiently opportune time, you will do me the greatest favor if you come to me in Cilicia as soon as possible. For as to the fact that your cousin Curius, who is, as you know, a very close friend of mine, and likewise Gaius Vergilius, your kinsman and a most intimate friend of ours, have written to me about you with the greatest care — that does indeed carry great weight with me, as the diligent recommendation of the dearest friends ought to. But your own letter, especially concerning your standing and our mutual connection, carries the greatest weight with me. No more welcome quaestor could have fallen to my lot. For this reason, whatever honors I am able to bestow upon you will be bestowed, so that all may understand that I have given due regard to the dignity of you and of your ancestors. But I shall accomplish this more easily if you come to me in Cilicia — which I believe to be in my interest, in the interest of the republic, and above all in yours.
XIX. M. TULLIUS M. F. [M. N.] CICERO IMP. S. D. C. COELIO L. F. C. N. CALDO Q in castris ad Pyramum; c. ix Kal. Quint. 50
Cum optatissimum nuntium accepissem te mihi quaestorem obtigisse, eo iucundiorem mihi eam sortem sperabam fore quo diutius in provincia mecum fuisses. Magni enim videbatur interesse ad eam necessitudinem quam nobis fors tribuisset consuetudinem quoque accedere. Postea, cum mihi nihil neque a te ipso neque ab ullo alio de adventu tuo scriberetur, verebar ne ita caderet, quod etiam nunc vereor, ne, ante quam tu in provinciam venisses, ego de provincia decederem. Accepi autem a te missas litteras in Cilicia, cum essem in castris, a. d. X Kal. Quint., scriptas humanissime, quibus facile et officium et ingenium tuum perspici posset; sed neque unde nec quo die datae essent aut quo tempore te exspectarem significabant, nec is qui attulerat a te acceperat, ut ex eo scirem quo ex loco aut quo tempore essent datae. Quae cum essent incerta, existimavi tamen faciendum esse ut ad te statores meos et lictores cum litteris mitterem. Quas si satis opportuno tempore accepisti, gratissimum mihi feceris si ad me in Ciliciam quam primum veneris. Nam quod ad me Curius, consobrinus tuus, mihi, ut scis, maxime necessarius, quod item C. Vergilius, propinquus tuus, familiarissimus noster, de te accuratissime scripsit, valet id quidem apud me multum, sicuti debet hominum amicissimorum diligens commendatio, sed tuae litterae de tua praesertim dignitate et de nostra coniunctione maximi sunt apud me ponderis. Mihi quaestor optatior obtingere nemo potuit. Quam ob rem quaecumque a me ornamenta ad te [proficisci poterunt] proficiscentur, ut omnes intellegant a me habitam esse rationem tuae maiorumque tuorum dignitatis. Sed id facilius consequar si ad me in Ciliciam veneris. Quod ego et mea et rei publicae et maxime tua interesse arbitror.
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Marcus Tullius Cicero, son of Marcus, Imperator, sends greetings to Gaius Coelius Caldus, son of Lucius, grandson of Gaius, Quaestor, in camp at the Pyramus River; around the ninth day before the Kalends of July, 50 BC.
When I received the most welcome news that you had been assigned to me as quaestor, I hoped that this lot would prove all the more pleasing to me the longer you had been with me in the province. For it seemed of great importance that to the bond which fortune had bestowed upon us, the familiarity of daily association should also be added. Afterward, when nothing was written to me either by you yourself or by anyone else about your arrival, I began to fear — as I still fear even now — that I might depart from the province before you had reached it. I did, however, receive a letter sent by you while I was in camp in Cilicia, on the tenth day before the Kalends of July, written in the most gracious manner, from which your sense of duty and your talent could easily be perceived. But it indicated neither whence it was sent nor on what day it was dispatched nor at what time I should expect you, and the man who brought it had not received it directly from you, so that I might learn from him from what place or at what time it had been sent. Although these matters were uncertain, I nevertheless judged that I ought to send my attendants and lictors to you with a letter. If you have received it at a sufficiently opportune time, you will do me the greatest favor if you come to me in Cilicia as soon as possible. For as to the fact that your cousin Curius, who is, as you know, a very close friend of mine, and likewise Gaius Vergilius, your kinsman and a most intimate friend of ours, have written to me about you with the greatest care — that does indeed carry great weight with me, as the diligent recommendation of the dearest friends ought to. But your own letter, especially concerning your standing and our mutual connection, carries the greatest weight with me. No more welcome quaestor could have fallen to my lot. For this reason, whatever honors I am able to bestow upon you will be bestowed, so that all may understand that I have given due regard to the dignity of you and of your ancestors. But I shall accomplish this more easily if you come to me in Cilicia — which I believe to be in my interest, in the interest of the republic, and above all in yours.
Latin / Greek Original
XIX. M. TULLIUS M. F. [M. N.] CICERO IMP. S. D. C. COELIO L. F. C. N. CALDO Q in castris ad Pyramum; c. ix Kal. Quint. 50
Cum optatissimum nuntium accepissem te mihi quaestorem obtigisse, eo iucundiorem mihi eam sortem sperabam fore quo diutius in provincia mecum fuisses. Magni enim videbatur interesse ad eam necessitudinem quam nobis fors tribuisset consuetudinem quoque accedere. Postea, cum mihi nihil neque a te ipso neque ab ullo alio de adventu tuo scriberetur, verebar ne ita caderet, quod etiam nunc vereor, ne, ante quam tu in provinciam venisses, ego de provincia decederem. Accepi autem a te missas litteras in Cilicia, cum essem in castris, a. d. X Kal. Quint., scriptas humanissime, quibus facile et officium et ingenium tuum perspici posset; sed neque unde nec quo die datae essent aut quo tempore te exspectarem significabant, nec is qui attulerat a te acceperat, ut ex eo scirem quo ex loco aut quo tempore essent datae. Quae cum essent incerta, existimavi tamen faciendum esse ut ad te statores meos et lictores cum litteris mitterem. Quas si satis opportuno tempore accepisti, gratissimum mihi feceris si ad me in Ciliciam quam primum veneris. Nam quod ad me Curius, consobrinus tuus, mihi, ut scis, maxime necessarius, quod item C. Vergilius, propinquus tuus, familiarissimus noster, de te accuratissime scripsit, valet id quidem apud me multum, sicuti debet hominum amicissimorum diligens commendatio, sed tuae litterae de tua praesertim dignitate et de nostra coniunctione maximi sunt apud me ponderis. Mihi quaestor optatior obtingere nemo potuit. Quam ob rem quaecumque a me ornamenta ad te [proficisci poterunt] proficiscentur, ut omnes intellegant a me habitam esse rationem tuae maiorumque tuorum dignitatis. Sed id facilius consequar si ad me in Ciliciam veneris. Quod ego et mea et rei publicae et maxime tua interesse arbitror.