Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Cassius Longinus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Syria|AI-assisted
I would rather you learn from your family than from me how zealously I defended your standing, both in the Senate and before the people. My proposal would easily have carried in the Senate if Pansa had not strongly opposed it.
After I had delivered that opinion, Marcus Servilius, a tribune of the plebs, brought me before a public meeting. I said what I could for you with such force, in a voice that filled the whole Forum, and with such shouting and agreement from the people, that I have never seen anything like it.
Please forgive me for doing this against your mother-in-law's wishes. The woman is timid and was afraid Pansa's feelings would be hurt. At the meeting Pansa even said that your mother and brother also had not wanted me to state that opinion. But these things did not move me. Other considerations prevailed: I favored the republic, as I always have, and I favored your standing and glory.
Now I ask you to release my good faith from the pledge I gave. I argued at length in the Senate and said before the people that you had not waited, and would not wait, for our decrees, but would defend the republic yourself in your own way. Although we had not yet heard where you were or what forces you had, I nevertheless judged that all the resources and troops in that part of the world were yours, and I trusted that through you the province of Asia had already been recovered for the republic.
See to it that, in increasing your glory, you surpass yourself.
Farewell.
DCCCXX (Fam. XII, 7) TO GAIUS CASSIUS LONGINUS (IN SYRIA) ROME (EARLY IN MARCH) WITH what zeal I have defended your political position, both in the senate and before the people, I would rather you learnt from your family than from me: and my proposal would have been carried in the senate, had it not been for the strong opposition of Pansa . After having made that proposal in the senate I was introduced to a public meeting by the tribune M. Servilius . I said what I could about you in a voice loud enough to fill the whole forum, and with such cheering and acclamation from the people, that I have never seen anything like it. Pray pardon me for acting in this against the wish of your mother-in-law. The lady is timid and was afraid of Pansa 's feelings being hurt. In the public meeting in fact Pansa stated that your own mother also and your brother were against my making that motion. But I was not moved by these things. My mind was set on other objects. It was the Republic of which I was thinking, of which I have always thought, and of your position and glory. Now I hope that you will redeem the pledges which I gave both in senate and before the people at considerable length. For I promised and almost pledged myself that you had not waited and would not wait for any decrees of ours, but would yourself defend the constitution in your own way. And although we have not yet had any intelligence either of where you are or what forces you have, yet I have made up my mind that all the resources and troops in that part of the world are in your hands, and feel confident that by your means the province of Asia has been already recovered for the Republic. Take care to surpass yourself in promoting your own glory. Good-bye.
VII. Scr. Romae exeunte mense Martio a.u.c. 711. CICERO CASSIO SAL.
Quanto studio dignitatem tuam et in senatu et ad populum defenderim, ex tuis te malo quam ex me cognoscere; quae mea sententia in senatu facile valuisset, nisi Pansa vehementer obstitisset. Ea sententia dicta productus sum in concionem ab tribuno pl. M. Servilio: dixi de te, quae potui, tanta contentione, quantum forum est, tanto clamore consensuque populi, ut nihil umquam simile viderim. Id velim mihi ignoscas quod invita socru tua fecerim: mulier timida verebatur, ne Pansae animus offenderetur. In concione quidem Pansa dixit matrem quoque tuam et fratrem illam a me sententiam noluisse dici; sed me haec non movebant, alia valebant: favebam et rei publicae, cui semper favi, et dignitati ac gloriae tuae. Quod autem et in senatu pluribus verbis disserui et dixi in concione, in eo velim fidem meam liberes; promisi enim et prope confirmavi te non exspectasse nec exspectaturum decreta nostra, sed te ipsum tuo more rem publicam defensurum. Et, quamquam nihildum audieramus, nec ubi esses nec quas copias haberes, tamen sic statuebam, omnes, quae in istis partibus essent opes copiaeque, tuas esse, per teque Asiam provinciam confidebam iam rei publicae reciperatam. Tu fac in augenda gloria te ipse vincas. Vale.
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I would rather you learn from your family than from me how zealously I defended your standing, both in the Senate and before the people. My proposal would easily have carried in the Senate if Pansa had not strongly opposed it.
After I had delivered that opinion, Marcus Servilius, a tribune of the plebs, brought me before a public meeting. I said what I could for you with such force, in a voice that filled the whole Forum, and with such shouting and agreement from the people, that I have never seen anything like it.
Please forgive me for doing this against your mother-in-law's wishes. The woman is timid and was afraid Pansa's feelings would be hurt. At the meeting Pansa even said that your mother and brother also had not wanted me to state that opinion. But these things did not move me. Other considerations prevailed: I favored the republic, as I always have, and I favored your standing and glory.
Now I ask you to release my good faith from the pledge I gave. I argued at length in the Senate and said before the people that you had not waited, and would not wait, for our decrees, but would defend the republic yourself in your own way. Although we had not yet heard where you were or what forces you had, I nevertheless judged that all the resources and troops in that part of the world were yours, and I trusted that through you the province of Asia had already been recovered for the republic.
See to it that, in increasing your glory, you surpass yourself.
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
VII. Scr. Romae exeunte mense Martio a.u.c. 711. CICERO CASSIO SAL.
Quanto studio dignitatem tuam et in senatu et ad populum defenderim, ex tuis te malo quam ex me cognoscere; quae mea sententia in senatu facile valuisset, nisi Pansa vehementer obstitisset. Ea sententia dicta productus sum in concionem ab tribuno pl. M. Servilio: dixi de te, quae potui, tanta contentione, quantum forum est, tanto clamore consensuque populi, ut nihil umquam simile viderim. Id velim mihi ignoscas quod invita socru tua fecerim: mulier timida verebatur, ne Pansae animus offenderetur. In concione quidem Pansa dixit matrem quoque tuam et fratrem illam a me sententiam noluisse dici; sed me haec non movebant, alia valebant: favebam et rei publicae, cui semper favi, et dignitati ac gloriae tuae. Quod autem et in senatu pluribus verbis disserui et dixi in concione, in eo velim fidem meam liberes; promisi enim et prope confirmavi te non exspectasse nec exspectaturum decreta nostra, sed te ipsum tuo more rem publicam defensurum. Et, quamquam nihildum audieramus, nec ubi esses nec quas copias haberes, tamen sic statuebam, omnes, quae in istis partibus essent opes copiaeque, tuas esse, per teque Asiam provinciam confidebam iam rei publicae reciperatam. Tu fac in augenda gloria te ipse vincas. Vale.