Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Furnius|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
After reading your letter, in which you made clear that either the Narbonese must be abandoned or a dangerous battle must be fought, I feared the first course more; and I am glad it has been avoided. As for what you write about the harmony between Plancus and Brutus, that is where I place my greatest hope of victory. As you say, we shall one day know whose efforts did the most to stir up the loyalty of the Gauls; but believe me, we know it already.
So, after finding your letter extremely pleasant, I was irritated by its ending. You write that if the elections are in August you will hurry back, and if they are already over you will come even sooner, so that you will not be "a fool in danger" any longer. My dear Furnius, how little you understand your own case, you who learn other people's cases so easily! Do you now think of yourself as a candidate, and is this what you are planning: either to run back for the elections, or, if they are already over, to be at home, so that you are not, as you write, the biggest fool alive and in the greatest danger?
I do not think that is truly how you feel, for I know all your impulses toward glory. But if you do feel as you write, I criticize my own judgment about you no less than I criticize you. Will a premature rush toward a very slight and very ordinary magistracy, if you win it in the same way most men do, draw you away from such great glory, for which everyone rightly and sincerely praises you to the skies?
Of course the question is whether you become praetor in this election or the next, not whether you serve the republic in such a way that you are judged most worthy of every honor. Do you not know how high you have climbed, or do you count it as nothing? If you do not know, I forgive you; the fault is ours. But if you do understand it, is any praetorship sweeter to you than duty, which few pursue, or glory, which everyone pursues?
On this point I and Calvisius, a man of great judgment and deeply attached to you, accuse you every day. The elections, however, since you are hanging on them, we are doing what we can to push into January, because we think that useful to the republic for many reasons. So win, and farewell.
CMII (Fam. X, 26) TO GAIUS FURNIUS (IN THE CAMP OF PLANCUS) ROME (END OF JUNE) After reading your letter in which you state that Narbonensis must be abandoned or a dangerous battle fought, the former course seemed to me the more formidable, which I am glad to hear has been avoided. You mention the Cordial union of Plancus and Decimus Brutus : in that I place my strongest hope of victory. As to the loyalty of the Gauls , we shall some day learn, as you say, by whose exertions that has been roused. But, believe me, we already know it. Therefore, most delightful as your letter was, I felt a little vexed at the end of it. For you say that if the elections are fixed for August you will hurry home: if they are already over you will come still sooner, “that you may not any longer play the fool and risk your life as well.” Oh, my dear Furnius , how completely you fail to grasp your position, though so readily understanding other people's! Do you really suppose that you are now a candidate, or do you Contemplate hurrying home to the elections; or, if they are over, to live at your own house that — as you say — “you may not be the biggest fool alive and in danger as well ”? I don't think these are your real sentiments; for I know your keenness for glory. But if you do really think as you write, I don't blame you more than I do my own opinion of you. Can it be that an untimely haste for an office of the most trivial and commonplace kind — if you get it in the same way as most people do — will withdraw you from the pursuit of such glorious deeds, for which all the world is rightly and sincerely praising you to the skies? The question, good heavens! is whether you become praetor at this election or the next, not whether you are to serve the Republic so as to be thought worthy above all men of every kind of honour! Is it that you are ignorant of the height to which you have climbed, or that you think it worthless? If you are ignorant, I forgive you: the fault is ours. But if you are not, is any praetorship more attractive in your eyes than duty for which few, or than glory for which all, strive? On this point I and Calvisius — a man of very sound judgment and most devoted to you — daily find fault with you. As to the comitia — as you are depending on them — we are doing our best, thinking it for many reasons to be for the benefit of the Republic, to put them off till January. So then victory and health to you!
XXVI. Scr. Romae mense Iunio (post Id.) a.u.c. 711. M. CICERO S. D. C. FURNIO.
Lectis tuis litteris, quibus declarabas aut omittendos Narbonenses aut cum periculo dimicandum, illud magis timui; quod vitatum non moleste fero. Quod de Planci et Bruti concordia scribis, in eo vel maximam spem pono victoriae. De Gallorum studio nos aliquando cognoscemus, ut scribis, cuius id opera maxime excitatum sit; sed iam, mihi crede, cognovimus. Itaque iucudissimis tuis litteris stomachatus sum in extremo; scribis enim, si in Sextilem comitia, cito te, sin iam confecta, citius, ne diutius cum periculo fatuus sis. O mi Furni, quam tu tuam causam non nosti, qui alienas tam facile discas! Tu nunc candidatum te putas et id cogitas, ut aut ad comitia curras aut, si iam confecta, domi tuae sis, ne cum maximo periculo, ut scribis, stultissimus sis? Non arbitror te ita sentire; omnes enim tuos ad laudem impetus novi: quod si, ut scribis, ita sentis, non magis te quam de te iudicium reprehendo meum. Te adipiscendi magistratus levissimi et divulgatissimi, si ita adipiscare, ut plerique, praepropera festinatio abducet a tantis laudibus, quibus te omnes in caelum iure et vere ferunt? Scilicet ad agitur, utrum hac petitione an proxima praetor fias, non ut ita de re publica mereare, omni honore ut dignissimus iudicere. Utrum nescis, quam alte ascenderis, an pro nihilo id putas? si nescis, tibi ignosco, nos in culpa sumus; sin intelligis, ulla tibi est praetura vel officio, quod pauci, vel gloria, quam omnes sequuntur, dulcior? Hac de re et ego et Calvisius, homo magni iudicii tuique amantissimus, te accusamus quotidie. Comitia tamen, quoniam ex iis pendes, quantum facere possumus, quod multis de causis rei publicae arbitramur conducere, in Ianuarium mensem protrudimus. Vince igitur et vale.
◆
After reading your letter, in which you made clear that either the Narbonese must be abandoned or a dangerous battle must be fought, I feared the first course more; and I am glad it has been avoided. As for what you write about the harmony between Plancus and Brutus, that is where I place my greatest hope of victory. As you say, we shall one day know whose efforts did the most to stir up the loyalty of the Gauls; but believe me, we know it already.
So, after finding your letter extremely pleasant, I was irritated by its ending. You write that if the elections are in August you will hurry back, and if they are already over you will come even sooner, so that you will not be "a fool in danger" any longer. My dear Furnius, how little you understand your own case, you who learn other people's cases so easily! Do you now think of yourself as a candidate, and is this what you are planning: either to run back for the elections, or, if they are already over, to be at home, so that you are not, as you write, the biggest fool alive and in the greatest danger?
I do not think that is truly how you feel, for I know all your impulses toward glory. But if you do feel as you write, I criticize my own judgment about you no less than I criticize you. Will a premature rush toward a very slight and very ordinary magistracy, if you win it in the same way most men do, draw you away from such great glory, for which everyone rightly and sincerely praises you to the skies?
Of course the question is whether you become praetor in this election or the next, not whether you serve the republic in such a way that you are judged most worthy of every honor. Do you not know how high you have climbed, or do you count it as nothing? If you do not know, I forgive you; the fault is ours. But if you do understand it, is any praetorship sweeter to you than duty, which few pursue, or glory, which everyone pursues?
On this point I and Calvisius, a man of great judgment and deeply attached to you, accuse you every day. The elections, however, since you are hanging on them, we are doing what we can to push into January, because we think that useful to the republic for many reasons. So win, and 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
XXVI. Scr. Romae mense Iunio (post Id.) a.u.c. 711. M. CICERO S. D. C. FURNIO.
Lectis tuis litteris, quibus declarabas aut omittendos Narbonenses aut cum periculo dimicandum, illud magis timui; quod vitatum non moleste fero. Quod de Planci et Bruti concordia scribis, in eo vel maximam spem pono victoriae. De Gallorum studio nos aliquando cognoscemus, ut scribis, cuius id opera maxime excitatum sit; sed iam, mihi crede, cognovimus. Itaque iucudissimis tuis litteris stomachatus sum in extremo; scribis enim, si in Sextilem comitia, cito te, sin iam confecta, citius, ne diutius cum periculo fatuus sis. O mi Furni, quam tu tuam causam non nosti, qui alienas tam facile discas! Tu nunc candidatum te putas et id cogitas, ut aut ad comitia curras aut, si iam confecta, domi tuae sis, ne cum maximo periculo, ut scribis, stultissimus sis? Non arbitror te ita sentire; omnes enim tuos ad laudem impetus novi: quod si, ut scribis, ita sentis, non magis te quam de te iudicium reprehendo meum. Te adipiscendi magistratus levissimi et divulgatissimi, si ita adipiscare, ut plerique, praepropera festinatio abducet a tantis laudibus, quibus te omnes in caelum iure et vere ferunt? Scilicet ad agitur, utrum hac petitione an proxima praetor fias, non ut ita de re publica mereare, omni honore ut dignissimus iudicere. Utrum nescis, quam alte ascenderis, an pro nihilo id putas? si nescis, tibi ignosco, nos in culpa sumus; sin intelligis, ulla tibi est praetura vel officio, quod pauci, vel gloria, quam omnes sequuntur, dulcior? Hac de re et ego et Calvisius, homo magni iudicii tuique amantissimus, te accusamus quotidie. Comitia tamen, quoniam ex iis pendes, quantum facere possumus, quod multis de causis rei publicae arbitramur conducere, in Ianuarium mensem protrudimus. Vince igitur et vale.