Gaius Asinius Pollio→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Corduba|To Rome|AI-assisted
My quaestor Balbus, after collecting a large amount of cash, a great weight of gold, and an even greater amount of silver from public revenues, left Gades without even paying the soldiers. Detained by weather for three days at Calpe, he crossed on June 1 into the kingdom of Bogud, having thoroughly enriched himself. With the rumors now circulating, I do not yet know whether he will be carried back to Gades or to Rome, for he changes his plans shamefully at every single report.
But besides thefts, plundering, and flogging allies, he has also done the following things, the same things, as he likes to boast, that Gaius Caesar did. At the games he gave at Gades, on the last day of the festival, he presented the actor Herennius Gallus with a gold ring and led him down to sit in the fourteen rows, for he had created that many rows for equestrian seating. He extended his own term as one of the four magistrates. He held elections for two years in two days, which means he declared elected whomever he pleased. He recalled exiles, not from the present troubles, but from those old times when, under the proconsul Sextus Varus, the Senate was slaughtered or driven out by rebels.
The next things had no precedent even in Caesar. He staged a praetexta [a Roman historical drama] about his own journey to solicit the proconsul Lucius Lentulus, and while it was being performed he wept, moved by the memory of his own exploits. At the gladiatorial games, there was a certain Fadius, a soldier from Pompey's side. He had been forced down into the gladiatorial school and had fought twice without pay; when he refused to bind himself as a professional gladiator and fled to the people for protection, Balbus first sent Gallic cavalry into the crowd, because stones were thrown at him as Fadius was being dragged away. Then he had Fadius hauled off, buried in the training ground, and burned alive.
While this was happening, Balbus, after lunch, walked around barefoot, with his tunic loose and his hands clasped behind his back. When that poor man cried out, "I was born a Roman citizen," Balbus answered, "Go now, appeal to the people's protection." He also threw Roman citizens to the beasts, among them a certain auction tout, a very well-known man at Hispalis because of his disfigurement.
This is the kind of monster I have had to deal with. But more about him in person. For now, decide the more important question: what do you want me to do? I have three solid legions. At the beginning of the war Antony summoned one of them, the Twenty-Eighth, to himself with this promise: on the day it came into camp he would give each soldier 500 denarii, and in victory the same rewards he was giving his own legions. Who will think there is any end or limit to those rewards? Even so, I kept the legion, though by Hercules it was hard; and I would not have kept it if I had kept it in one place, since individual cohorts had begun to mutiny. Antony has not stopped trying to stir up the other legions as well, with letters and unlimited promises.
Lepidus too has pressed me no less, through letters of his own and Antony's, to send him the Thirtieth legion. Therefore the army that I refused to sell for any rewards, and refused to diminish out of fear of the dangers being threatened if those men won, you ought to think of as held and preserved for the republic. You should believe that I would have done whatever you ordered, since I have done what you did order.
I have kept the province at peace and the army under my control. I have nowhere crossed the boundaries of my province. I have sent no soldier anywhere, not only no legionary, but not even an auxiliary; and if I caught cavalrymen trying to leave, I punished them. I shall think I have received a great enough reward for these things if the republic is safe. But if the republic and the greater part of the Senate had known me well enough, they would have received greater service from me.
I have sent you to read the letter I wrote to Balbus while he was still in the province. If you also want to read the historical drama, ask my friend Gallus Cornelius for it.
June 8, Corduba.
DCCCXCI (Fam. X, 32) C. ASINIUS POLLIO TO CICERO (AT ROME) CORDUBA, 8 JUNE: MY quaestor Balbus having amassed from the public taxes a large sum of ready money, a great amount of bullion, and a still greater amount of silver, has withdrawn from Gades without even paying the soldiers, and after being detained three days off Calpe by bad weather, on the 1st of June crossed into the kingdom of Bogudes , with a very pretty bit of money in his pocket. With the rumours now going about I don't yet know whether he intends to return to Gades or to go to Rome — for at every fresh piece of news he changes his plans in the most contemptible manner. But besides his peculations and violent robberies and flogging of allies, he has done the following — as he is himself accustomed to boast — in imitation of Caesar . At the games which he gave at Gades , on the last day of the show, he presented the actor Herennius Gallus with a gold ring and formally conducted him to a seat in the fourteen rows — for he had arranged that number of rows for men of equestrian rank. He also caused his office as one of the quattuorviri to be continued beyond the year: he held elections for two years in two following days, that is, he declared whom he chose elected: he recalled exiles, not those of recent times, but of that period in which the senate was massacred or expelled by rebels in the proconsulship of Sextus Varus . The next thing, at any rate, is not covered by a precedent of Caesar 's: he put on the stage a “Roman drama” representing his own expedition to solicit the proconsul Lucius Lentulus , and, what is more, whilst it was being acted he burst into tears, affected by the memory of his own adventures. At the gladiatorial Contests, moreover, there was the case of the old Pompeian soldier named Fadius . Because this man, having been pressed into the gladiatorial school, and having fought twice without pay, refused to bind himself as a professional gladiator, and threw himself on the protection of the people, he first of all sent a squadron of Gallic horse to charge the people — for stones were thrown at him as Fadius was being dragged off — and then, having seized him, he half buried him in the school and burnt him alive. While this was being done he walked about after dinner without his boots, with tunic ungirdled, and his hands behind his back, and in answer to the unhappy man crying out “I am a born Roman citizen,” he replied: “Off with you then, and appeal to the people.” He also exposed Roman citizens to the beasts, among them a certain travelling pedlar — a very well-known character at Hispalis from his misshapen body. This is the kind of monster with whom I have had to deal. But more about him when we meet. For the present the important thing is to make up your minds what you want me to do. I have three strong legions, one of which — the twenty-eighth- Antonius tried to get to join him by promising that on the day it arrived in camp he would give each soldier denarii, and the same bounty in case of victory as to his own legions. And of such bounties who thinks that there will be any limit or end?-Nevertheless I have managed to retain it though in a most restless state: nor should I have retained it, if I had kept it united and stationary, for certain cohorts have actually mutinied. My other legions also he has not ceased to solicit by letters and unlimited promises. Nor, indeed, has Lepidus been less urgent with me — in letters of his own and from Antony — to send them the thirtieth legion. So the army which I have refused to part with at any price, or to weaken from fear of the dangers portended in case they were victorious, you ought to consider to have been retained and preserved for the Republic, and to believe that I was prepared to obey any future commands of yours, since I have obeyed those which you have given. For I have kept my province in peace and my army under my own control: I have not quitted the borders of my province in any direction: I have not despatched a single soldier anywhere-not only of the legions, but even of the auxiliaries; and such of the cavalry as I have detected in trying to get out of the country I have punished. For these acts I shall think myself sufficiently rewarded if the Republic is safe. But if the Republic and the majority of the senate had known me as well as they ought, they would have got greater advantages out of me. A despatch which I have addressed to Balbus , since he is at this moment in the province, I am sending for your perusal. Also if you will care to read a “Roman drama,” ask my friend Cornelius Gallus for it. Corduba , 8 June.
XXXII. Scr. Cordubae VI. Idus Iunias a.u.c. 711. C. ASINIUS POLLIO M. TULLIO CICERONI.
Balbus quaestor magna numerata pecunia, magno pondere auri, maiore argenti coacto de publicis exactionibus, ne stipendio quidem militibus reddito duxit se a Gadibus et triduum tempestate retentus ad Calpen Kal. Iuniis traiecit sese in regnum Bogudis plane bene peculiatus. His rumoribus utrum Gades referatur an Romam—ad singulos enim nuntios turpissime consilia mutat—, nondum scio. Sed praeter furta et rapinas et virgis caesos socios haec quoque fecit, ut ipse gloriari solet, eadem, quae C. Caesar: ludis, quos Gadibus fecit, Herennium Gallum histrionem summo ludorum die anulo aureo donatum in XIIII sessum deduxit—tot enim fecerat ordines equestris loci—; quattuorviratum sibi prorogavit; comitia biennii biduo habuit, hoc est renuntiavit, quos ei visum est; exsules reduxit, non horum temporum, sed illorum, quibus a seditiosis senatus trucidatus aut expulsus est Sex. Varo procos. Illa vero iam ne Caesaris quidem exemplo: quod ludis praetextam de suo itinere ad L. Lentulum procos. sollicitandum posuit, et quidem, cum ageretur, flevit memoria rerum gestarum commotus; gladiatoribus autem Fadium quendam, militem Pompeianum, quia, cum depressus in ludum bis gratis depugnasset, auctorari sese nolebat et ad populum confugerat, primum Gallos equites immisit in populum—coniecti enim lapides sunt in eum, cum abriperetur Fadius—, deinde abstractum defodit in ludo et vivum combussit, cum quidem pransus nudis pedibus, tunica soluta, manibus ad tergum reiectis inambularet et illi misero quiritanti: "c. R. natus sum" responderet: "abi nunc, populi fidem implora"; bestiis vero cives Romanos, in iis circulatorem quendam auctionum, notissimum hominem Hispali, quis deformis erat, obiecit. Cum huiuscemodi portento res mihi fuit. Sed de illo plura coram; nunc, quod praestat: quid me velitis facere, constituite. Tres legiones firmas habeo, quarum unam, XXVIII, cum ad se initio belli arcessisset Antonius hac pollicitatione, quo die in castra venisset, denarios quingenos singulis militibus daturum, in victoria vero eadem praemia, quae suis legionibus—quorum quis ullam finem aut modum futurum putabit?—, incitatissimam retinui, aegre mehercules, nec retinuissem, si uno loco habuissem, upote cum singulae quaedam cohortes seditionem fecerint. Reliquas quoque legiones non destitit litteris atque infinitis pollicitationibus incitare. Nec vero minus Lepidus ursit me et suis et Antonii litteris, ut legionem XXX mitterem sibi. Itaque, quem exercitum neque vendere ullis praemiis volui nec eorum periculorum metu, quae victoribus illis portendebantur, deminuere, debetis existimare retentum et conservatum rei publicae esse, atque ita credere, me, quodcumque imperassetis, facturum fuisse, si, quod iussistis, feci: nam et provinciam in otio et exercitum in mea potestate tenui; finibus meae provinciae nusquam excessi; militem non modo legionarium, sed ne auxiliarium quidem ullum quoquam misi et, si quos equites discedentes nactus sum, supplicio affeci: quarum rerum fructum satis magnum re publica salva tulisse me putabo: sed, res publica si me satis novisset et maior pars senatus, maiores ex me fructus tulisset. Epistulam, quam Balbo, cum etiam nunc in provincia esset, scripsi, legendam tibi misi; etiam praetextam, si voles legere, Gallum Cornelium, familiarem meum, poscito. VI. Idus Iunias, Corduba.
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My quaestor Balbus, after collecting a large amount of cash, a great weight of gold, and an even greater amount of silver from public revenues, left Gades without even paying the soldiers. Detained by weather for three days at Calpe, he crossed on June 1 into the kingdom of Bogud, having thoroughly enriched himself. With the rumors now circulating, I do not yet know whether he will be carried back to Gades or to Rome, for he changes his plans shamefully at every single report.
But besides thefts, plundering, and flogging allies, he has also done the following things, the same things, as he likes to boast, that Gaius Caesar did. At the games he gave at Gades, on the last day of the festival, he presented the actor Herennius Gallus with a gold ring and led him down to sit in the fourteen rows, for he had created that many rows for equestrian seating. He extended his own term as one of the four magistrates. He held elections for two years in two days, which means he declared elected whomever he pleased. He recalled exiles, not from the present troubles, but from those old times when, under the proconsul Sextus Varus, the Senate was slaughtered or driven out by rebels.
The next things had no precedent even in Caesar. He staged a praetexta [a Roman historical drama] about his own journey to solicit the proconsul Lucius Lentulus, and while it was being performed he wept, moved by the memory of his own exploits. At the gladiatorial games, there was a certain Fadius, a soldier from Pompey's side. He had been forced down into the gladiatorial school and had fought twice without pay; when he refused to bind himself as a professional gladiator and fled to the people for protection, Balbus first sent Gallic cavalry into the crowd, because stones were thrown at him as Fadius was being dragged away. Then he had Fadius hauled off, buried in the training ground, and burned alive.
While this was happening, Balbus, after lunch, walked around barefoot, with his tunic loose and his hands clasped behind his back. When that poor man cried out, "I was born a Roman citizen," Balbus answered, "Go now, appeal to the people's protection." He also threw Roman citizens to the beasts, among them a certain auction tout, a very well-known man at Hispalis because of his disfigurement.
This is the kind of monster I have had to deal with. But more about him in person. For now, decide the more important question: what do you want me to do? I have three solid legions. At the beginning of the war Antony summoned one of them, the Twenty-Eighth, to himself with this promise: on the day it came into camp he would give each soldier 500 denarii, and in victory the same rewards he was giving his own legions. Who will think there is any end or limit to those rewards? Even so, I kept the legion, though by Hercules it was hard; and I would not have kept it if I had kept it in one place, since individual cohorts had begun to mutiny. Antony has not stopped trying to stir up the other legions as well, with letters and unlimited promises.
Lepidus too has pressed me no less, through letters of his own and Antony's, to send him the Thirtieth legion. Therefore the army that I refused to sell for any rewards, and refused to diminish out of fear of the dangers being threatened if those men won, you ought to think of as held and preserved for the republic. You should believe that I would have done whatever you ordered, since I have done what you did order.
I have kept the province at peace and the army under my control. I have nowhere crossed the boundaries of my province. I have sent no soldier anywhere, not only no legionary, but not even an auxiliary; and if I caught cavalrymen trying to leave, I punished them. I shall think I have received a great enough reward for these things if the republic is safe. But if the republic and the greater part of the Senate had known me well enough, they would have received greater service from me.
I have sent you to read the letter I wrote to Balbus while he was still in the province. If you also want to read the historical drama, ask my friend Gallus Cornelius for it.
June 8, Corduba.
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
XXXII. Scr. Cordubae VI. Idus Iunias a.u.c. 711. C. ASINIUS POLLIO M. TULLIO CICERONI.
Balbus quaestor magna numerata pecunia, magno pondere auri, maiore argenti coacto de publicis exactionibus, ne stipendio quidem militibus reddito duxit se a Gadibus et triduum tempestate retentus ad Calpen Kal. Iuniis traiecit sese in regnum Bogudis plane bene peculiatus. His rumoribus utrum Gades referatur an Romam—ad singulos enim nuntios turpissime consilia mutat—, nondum scio. Sed praeter furta et rapinas et virgis caesos socios haec quoque fecit, ut ipse gloriari solet, eadem, quae C. Caesar: ludis, quos Gadibus fecit, Herennium Gallum histrionem summo ludorum die anulo aureo donatum in XIIII sessum deduxit—tot enim fecerat ordines equestris loci—; quattuorviratum sibi prorogavit; comitia biennii biduo habuit, hoc est renuntiavit, quos ei visum est; exsules reduxit, non horum temporum, sed illorum, quibus a seditiosis senatus trucidatus aut expulsus est Sex. Varo procos. Illa vero iam ne Caesaris quidem exemplo: quod ludis praetextam de suo itinere ad L. Lentulum procos. sollicitandum posuit, et quidem, cum ageretur, flevit memoria rerum gestarum commotus; gladiatoribus autem Fadium quendam, militem Pompeianum, quia, cum depressus in ludum bis gratis depugnasset, auctorari sese nolebat et ad populum confugerat, primum Gallos equites immisit in populum—coniecti enim lapides sunt in eum, cum abriperetur Fadius—, deinde abstractum defodit in ludo et vivum combussit, cum quidem pransus nudis pedibus, tunica soluta, manibus ad tergum reiectis inambularet et illi misero quiritanti: "c. R. natus sum" responderet: "abi nunc, populi fidem implora"; bestiis vero cives Romanos, in iis circulatorem quendam auctionum, notissimum hominem Hispali, quis deformis erat, obiecit. Cum huiuscemodi portento res mihi fuit. Sed de illo plura coram; nunc, quod praestat: quid me velitis facere, constituite. Tres legiones firmas habeo, quarum unam, XXVIII, cum ad se initio belli arcessisset Antonius hac pollicitatione, quo die in castra venisset, denarios quingenos singulis militibus daturum, in victoria vero eadem praemia, quae suis legionibus—quorum quis ullam finem aut modum futurum putabit?—, incitatissimam retinui, aegre mehercules, nec retinuissem, si uno loco habuissem, upote cum singulae quaedam cohortes seditionem fecerint. Reliquas quoque legiones non destitit litteris atque infinitis pollicitationibus incitare. Nec vero minus Lepidus ursit me et suis et Antonii litteris, ut legionem XXX mitterem sibi. Itaque, quem exercitum neque vendere ullis praemiis volui nec eorum periculorum metu, quae victoribus illis portendebantur, deminuere, debetis existimare retentum et conservatum rei publicae esse, atque ita credere, me, quodcumque imperassetis, facturum fuisse, si, quod iussistis, feci: nam et provinciam in otio et exercitum in mea potestate tenui; finibus meae provinciae nusquam excessi; militem non modo legionarium, sed ne auxiliarium quidem ullum quoquam misi et, si quos equites discedentes nactus sum, supplicio affeci: quarum rerum fructum satis magnum re publica salva tulisse me putabo: sed, res publica si me satis novisset et maior pars senatus, maiores ex me fructus tulisset. Epistulam, quam Balbo, cum etiam nunc in provincia esset, scripsi, legendam tibi misi; etiam praetextam, si voles legere, Gallum Cornelium, familiarem meum, poscito. VI. Idus Iunias, Corduba.