Marcus Tullius Cicero→Lucius Munatius Plancus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
All our hope rests in you and your colleague, with heaven's approval. The harmony between you, which your letters made clear to the Senate, gave extraordinary pleasure both to the Senate and to the whole community.
As for what you wrote to me about the land commission: if the Senate had been formally consulted, it would have followed the proposal most honorable to you, whoever made it, and I certainly would have been that man. But because the slow delivery of opinions and the delay of business kept the motions under discussion from reaching a conclusion, your brother Plancus and I thought it best to use the senatorial decree as it stood. From Plancus' letter, I expect you have learned who prevented it from being drafted exactly as we wished.
Still, if you feel that anything is missing either in that decree or in any other matter, be assured of this: all loyal citizens feel such affection for you that no form of the highest distinction can be imagined which is not already waiting for you.
I am very eager for a letter from you, and for the kind of news I most want to hear. Farewell.
CMI (Fam. X, 22) TO L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS (AT CULARO) ROME (END OF JUNE) In you and your colleague is our every hope, with the blessing of heaven. With the cordial union existing between you, which was manifested in your joint despatch, both the senate and the whole body of citizens were delighted. You mention in your letter to me the subject of the land commission. If the senate had been consulted on the matter I should have supported whoever made the proposal most complimentary to you — and that person would have certainly been myself. But when, owing to the slowness with which opinions were expressed, and the delay thus caused to business, the motions brought before the senate did not reach a settlement, it seemed best to myself and your brother Plancus to avail ourselves of the senatorial decree, as to which you will have learnt from your brother's letter who it was that prevented its being drawn up exactly in accordance with our wishes. But if you find anything wanting in that decree or in other things, still assure yourself that the affection for you among all loyalists is so great, that no kind of position can be imagined, however splendid, which is not at your disposal. I am exceedingly anxious to hear from you, and to hear such news as I most desire.
XXII. Scr. Romae mense Iunio (post Id.) a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO.
In te et in collega omnis spes est dis approbantibus. Concordia vestra, quae senatui declarata litteris vestris est, mirifice et senatus et cuncta civitas delectata est. Quod ad me scripseras de re agraria, si consultus senatus esset, ut quisque honorificentissimam de te sententiam dixisset, eam secutus esset; qui certe ego fuissem; sed, propter tarditatem sententiarum moramque rerum cum ea, quae consulebantur, ad exitum non pervenirent, commodissimum mihi Plancoque fratri visum est uti eo senatus consulto, quod ne nostro arbitratu componeretur, quis fuerit impedimento, arbitror te ex Planci litteris cognovisse. Sed, sive in senatus consulto sive in ceteris rebus desideras aliquid, sic tibi persuade, tantam esse apud omnes bonos tui caritatem, ut nullum genus amplissimae dignitatis excogitari possit, quod tibi non paratum sit. Litteras tuas vehementer exspecto, et quidem tales, quales maxime opto. Vale.
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All our hope rests in you and your colleague, with heaven's approval. The harmony between you, which your letters made clear to the Senate, gave extraordinary pleasure both to the Senate and to the whole community.
As for what you wrote to me about the land commission: if the Senate had been formally consulted, it would have followed the proposal most honorable to you, whoever made it, and I certainly would have been that man. But because the slow delivery of opinions and the delay of business kept the motions under discussion from reaching a conclusion, your brother Plancus and I thought it best to use the senatorial decree as it stood. From Plancus' letter, I expect you have learned who prevented it from being drafted exactly as we wished.
Still, if you feel that anything is missing either in that decree or in any other matter, be assured of this: all loyal citizens feel such affection for you that no form of the highest distinction can be imagined which is not already waiting for you.
I am very eager for a letter from you, and for the kind of news I most want to hear. Farewell.
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
XXII. Scr. Romae mense Iunio (post Id.) a.u.c. 711. CICERO PLANCO.
In te et in collega omnis spes est dis approbantibus. Concordia vestra, quae senatui declarata litteris vestris est, mirifice et senatus et cuncta civitas delectata est. Quod ad me scripseras de re agraria, si consultus senatus esset, ut quisque honorificentissimam de te sententiam dixisset, eam secutus esset; qui certe ego fuissem; sed, propter tarditatem sententiarum moramque rerum cum ea, quae consulebantur, ad exitum non pervenirent, commodissimum mihi Plancoque fratri visum est uti eo senatus consulto, quod ne nostro arbitratu componeretur, quis fuerit impedimento, arbitror te ex Planci litteris cognovisse. Sed, sive in senatus consulto sive in ceteris rebus desideras aliquid, sic tibi persuade, tantam esse apud omnes bonos tui caritatem, ut nullum genus amplissimae dignitatis excogitari possit, quod tibi non paratum sit. Litteras tuas vehementer exspecto, et quidem tales, quales maxime opto. Vale.