Gaius Trebonius→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Asia|To Rome|AI-assisted
If you are well, I am glad.
I arrived at Athens on May 22, and there, as I was especially eager to do, I saw your son devoting himself to the best studies and enjoying an excellent reputation for self-control. You can imagine without my saying it how much pleasure this gave me. You know how highly I regard you, and how much our very old friendship and very sincere affection make me rejoice in every good thing that happens to you, however small, let alone in so great a blessing as this.
Do not think, my dear Cicero, that I am sending you this report merely to please you. No one at Athens is more popular with everyone than your young man. Indeed, I should call him ours, since I can have no interest separate from yours. Nor could anyone be more devoted than he is to the studies you love above all, that is, to the best studies.
So I can sincerely congratulate you, and myself no less, that in a young man whom we would have had to love in any case, whatever his conduct, we have someone whom we can love with pleasure as well. In conversation he told me that he would like to visit Asia. I not only invited him but strongly urged him to do so, if possible, while I am governing the province.
You should have no doubt that in affection and love I shall be a father to him in your place. I shall also see to it that Cratippus accompanies him, so that you will not imagine that in Asia he is taking a complete holiday from the studies to which your encouragement has directed him. Although I see that he is fully prepared and has already made great progress, I will not neglect my own encouragement, to lead him to advance every day by learning and practice.
At the moment of sending this, I know nothing about what you are doing at home in politics. I hear rumors of certain revolutionary movements, but I hope they are false, so that we may at last enjoy liberty and peace, two things that so far have never really fallen to my lot.
Since I had a brief period of rest during my voyage, I composed a small piece to send you, as I had intended. I included in it a witty remark of yours that paid me a high compliment, and I added a note assigning it to you. In these poor verses, if in some passages I seem a little too free, the vile character of the man against whom I attack too freely will plead my excuse. You will also pardon my anger, which is no more than is proper against men of that kind, both as individuals and as citizens.
Besides, why should Lucilius have been allowed this degree of freedom any more than we are? Even if his anger against the men he attacked was as keen as ours, the men themselves certainly did not deserve such free attack more than ours do.
In return, I claim your promise to introduce me in one of your dialogues as soon as possible. I am certain that if you write anything about Caesar's death, you will not allow me to have the least distinguished part either in the deed itself or in the expression of your affection.
Farewell. I commend my mother and family to your care.
DCCXXXIII (Fam. XII, 16) GAIUS TREBONIUS TO CICERO ATHENS, 25 MAY: IF you are well, I am glad. I arrived at Athens on the 22nd of May, and there, as I was very anxious to do, I saw your son devoting himself to the best kinds of learning, and enjoying an excellent reputation for steadiness. How much pleasure that gave me you can imagine without a word from me: for you are not ignorant of my high esteem for you, and how much our very old friendship and very sincere affection make me rejoice in everything good that happens to you, however small, to say nothing of such a great blessing as this. Do not imagine, my dear Cicero , that I send you this report merely to please you. Nothing could be more popular with everybody at Athens than your young man-indeed I should call him ours, for I can have no interest disconnected with yourself. Nor could there be greater devotion than his to the studies which you love above everything, that is, to the most excellent. Accordingly, as I can do with sincerity, I am delighted to congratulate you — and myself quite as much — that we have in him, whom we should be obliged to love in any case, whatever his conduct, one whom we can love with pleasure as well. In the course of conversation he remarked to me that he would like to visit Asia , and was not only invited but pressed by me to do so if possible while I was governing the province. You ought to have no doubt that in affection and love I shall be a father to him in your place. Another thing I shall take care of is that Cratippus accompanies him, that you may not imagine him in Asia as taking a complete holiday from the studies to which he is inspired by your admonitions. For though I see that he is fully prepared, and has already taken a great stride in that direction, I will not omit my exhortations, to induce him to make farther progress every day by learning and keeping himself in practice. What you at home are doing in politics I am at the moment of despatching this quite ignorant. I hear rumours of certain revolutionary proceedings: but I hope they are false, that we may at length have the enjoyment of liberty and peace-two things that up to now have really never fallen to my lot. However, as I got a brief time of repose during my voyage, I have composed a trifle to send you, as I had designed to do. I have included in it a bon mot of yours which implied a high compliment to myself, and have added a footnote ascribing it to you. In these poor verses, if I seem to you in certain passages to be un peu libre, the abominable character of the man against whom I am too freely inveighing will plead my excuse. You will also pardon my passion, which is no more than is right against people of that kind, both as men and as citizens. Again, why should Lucilius have been allowed to claim this amount of liberty any more than ourselves? For even if his wrath against the objects of his attack was as keen as ours, those objects themselves were certainly not more deserving of being attacked with all that freedom of speech. In return I claim your promise of being introduced in one of your dialogues at the earliest opportunity. For I feel certain that, if you write anything about Caesar 's death, you will not allow me to sustain the least distinguished part either in actual deed or in the expression of your affection. Good-bye. I commend my mother and family to your care. Athens , 25 May.
XVI. Scr. Athenis VIII. Kal. Iun. a.u.c. 710. TREBONIUS CICERONI SAL.
S. v. b. e. Athenas veni a. d. XI Kal. Iun. atque ibi, quod maxime optabam, vidi filium tuum, deditum optimis studiis summaque modestiae fama: qua ex re quantam voluptatem ceperim, scire potes etiam me tacente; non enim nescis, quanti te faciam et quam pro nostro veterrimo verissimoque amore omnibus tuis etiam minimis commodis, non modo tanto bono gaudeam. Noli putare, mi Cicero, me hoc auribus tuis dare: nihil adolescente tuo atque adeo nostro—nihil enim mihi a te potest esse seiunctum—aut amabilius omnibus iis, qui Athenis sunt, est aut studiosius earum artium, quas tu maxime amas, hoc est optimarum. Itaque tibi, quod vere facere possum, libenter quoque gratulor nec minus etiam nobis, quod eum, quem necesse erat diligere, qualiscumque esset, talem habemus, ut libenter quoque diligamus. Qui quum mihi in sermone iniecisset se velle Asiam visere, non modo invitatus, sed etiam rogatus est a me, ut id potissimum nobis obtinentibus provinciam faceret; cui nos et caritate et amore tuum officium praestaturos non debes dubitare. Illud quoque erit nobis curae, ut Cratippus una cum eo sit, ne putes in Asia feriatum illum ab iis studiis, in quae tua cohortatione incitatur, futurum; nam illum paratum, ut video, et ingressum pleno gradu cohortari non intermittemus, quo in dies longius discendo exercendoque se procedat. Vos quid ageretis in re publica, quum has litteras dabam, non sciebam: audiebam quaedam turbulenta, quae scilicet cupio esse falsa, ut aliquando otiosa libertate fruamur; quod vel minime mihi adhuc contigit. Ego tamen nactus in navigatione nostra pusillum laxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo, et dictum cum magno nostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi: in quibus versiculis si tibi quibusdam verbis eÈyurrhmon°sterow videbor, turpitudo personae eius, in quam liberius invehimur, nos vindicabit; ignosces etiam iracundiae nostrae, quae iusta est in eiusmodi et homines et cives; deinde qui magis hoc Lucilio licuerit assumere libertatis quam nobis? quum, etiamsi odio pari fuerit in eos, quos laesit, tamen certe non magis dignos habuerit, in quos tanta libertate verborum incurreret. Tu, sicut mihi pollicitus es, adiunges me quam primum ad tuos sermones; namque illud non dubito, quin, si quid de interitu Caesaris scribas, non patiaris me minimam partem et rei et amoris tui ferre. Vale et matrem meosque tibi commendatos habe. D. VIII K. Iun. Athenis.
◆
If you are well, I am glad.
I arrived at Athens on May 22, and there, as I was especially eager to do, I saw your son devoting himself to the best studies and enjoying an excellent reputation for self-control. You can imagine without my saying it how much pleasure this gave me. You know how highly I regard you, and how much our very old friendship and very sincere affection make me rejoice in every good thing that happens to you, however small, let alone in so great a blessing as this.
Do not think, my dear Cicero, that I am sending you this report merely to please you. No one at Athens is more popular with everyone than your young man. Indeed, I should call him ours, since I can have no interest separate from yours. Nor could anyone be more devoted than he is to the studies you love above all, that is, to the best studies.
So I can sincerely congratulate you, and myself no less, that in a young man whom we would have had to love in any case, whatever his conduct, we have someone whom we can love with pleasure as well. In conversation he told me that he would like to visit Asia. I not only invited him but strongly urged him to do so, if possible, while I am governing the province.
You should have no doubt that in affection and love I shall be a father to him in your place. I shall also see to it that Cratippus accompanies him, so that you will not imagine that in Asia he is taking a complete holiday from the studies to which your encouragement has directed him. Although I see that he is fully prepared and has already made great progress, I will not neglect my own encouragement, to lead him to advance every day by learning and practice.
At the moment of sending this, I know nothing about what you are doing at home in politics. I hear rumors of certain revolutionary movements, but I hope they are false, so that we may at last enjoy liberty and peace, two things that so far have never really fallen to my lot.
Since I had a brief period of rest during my voyage, I composed a small piece to send you, as I had intended. I included in it a witty remark of yours that paid me a high compliment, and I added a note assigning it to you. In these poor verses, if in some passages I seem a little too free, the vile character of the man against whom I attack too freely will plead my excuse. You will also pardon my anger, which is no more than is proper against men of that kind, both as individuals and as citizens.
Besides, why should Lucilius have been allowed this degree of freedom any more than we are? Even if his anger against the men he attacked was as keen as ours, the men themselves certainly did not deserve such free attack more than ours do.
In return, I claim your promise to introduce me in one of your dialogues as soon as possible. I am certain that if you write anything about Caesar's death, you will not allow me to have the least distinguished part either in the deed itself or in the expression of your affection.
Farewell. I commend my mother and family to your care.
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
XVI. Scr. Athenis VIII. Kal. Iun. a.u.c. 710. TREBONIUS CICERONI SAL.
S. v. b. e. Athenas veni a. d. XI Kal. Iun. atque ibi, quod maxime optabam, vidi filium tuum, deditum optimis studiis summaque modestiae fama: qua ex re quantam voluptatem ceperim, scire potes etiam me tacente; non enim nescis, quanti te faciam et quam pro nostro veterrimo verissimoque amore omnibus tuis etiam minimis commodis, non modo tanto bono gaudeam. Noli putare, mi Cicero, me hoc auribus tuis dare: nihil adolescente tuo atque adeo nostro—nihil enim mihi a te potest esse seiunctum—aut amabilius omnibus iis, qui Athenis sunt, est aut studiosius earum artium, quas tu maxime amas, hoc est optimarum. Itaque tibi, quod vere facere possum, libenter quoque gratulor nec minus etiam nobis, quod eum, quem necesse erat diligere, qualiscumque esset, talem habemus, ut libenter quoque diligamus. Qui quum mihi in sermone iniecisset se velle Asiam visere, non modo invitatus, sed etiam rogatus est a me, ut id potissimum nobis obtinentibus provinciam faceret; cui nos et caritate et amore tuum officium praestaturos non debes dubitare. Illud quoque erit nobis curae, ut Cratippus una cum eo sit, ne putes in Asia feriatum illum ab iis studiis, in quae tua cohortatione incitatur, futurum; nam illum paratum, ut video, et ingressum pleno gradu cohortari non intermittemus, quo in dies longius discendo exercendoque se procedat. Vos quid ageretis in re publica, quum has litteras dabam, non sciebam: audiebam quaedam turbulenta, quae scilicet cupio esse falsa, ut aliquando otiosa libertate fruamur; quod vel minime mihi adhuc contigit. Ego tamen nactus in navigatione nostra pusillum laxamenti concinnavi tibi munusculum ex instituto meo, et dictum cum magno nostro honore a te dictum conclusi et tibi infra subscripsi: in quibus versiculis si tibi quibusdam verbis eÈyurrhmon°sterow videbor, turpitudo personae eius, in quam liberius invehimur, nos vindicabit; ignosces etiam iracundiae nostrae, quae iusta est in eiusmodi et homines et cives; deinde qui magis hoc Lucilio licuerit assumere libertatis quam nobis? quum, etiamsi odio pari fuerit in eos, quos laesit, tamen certe non magis dignos habuerit, in quos tanta libertate verborum incurreret. Tu, sicut mihi pollicitus es, adiunges me quam primum ad tuos sermones; namque illud non dubito, quin, si quid de interitu Caesaris scribas, non patiaris me minimam partem et rei et amoris tui ferre. Vale et matrem meosque tibi commendatos habe. D. VIII K. Iun. Athenis.