Letter 13.4

I have the closest bond with the citizens of Volaterrae; for having received a great benefit from me, they have repaid my kindness most generously. They have never failed me in either my honors or my labors. Even if I had no connection with them, still, because I am so deeply fond of you and perceive that you hold me in the highest regard, I would both advise and urge you to look after their fortunes, especially since they have an almost exceptional claim to maintaining their rights. First, they escaped the harshness of the Sullan period by the goodness of the immortal gods; secondly, they were defended by me with the greatest enthusiasm of the Roman people during my consulship. For when the tribunes of the plebs had promulgated a most unjust law regarding their lands, I easily persuaded the senate and Roman people to wish those citizens whom fortune had spared to remain safe. This action of mine was confirmed by Gaius Caesar in his first consulship through his agrarian law, and the territory and town of Volaterrae were freed from all danger in perpetuity, so that I have no doubt that the man who is forming new connections wishes his former benefits to be preserved. Therefore it is the part of your wisdom either to follow the authority of the man whose party and command you have followed with the greatest honor to yourself, or at least to keep the whole case intact for him. But you ought not to hesitate to wish to bind so important, so firm, so honorable a municipality to you forever by your supreme kindness. What I wrote above was meant to advise and counsel; what remains pertains to a request: I would have you think that I am not only giving you advice for your own sake, but also asking and requesting what I myself need. You will therefore do me the greatest favor if you wish the people of Volaterrae to be preserved intact and unharmed in all things. I commend their homes, their dwellings, their property, and their fortunes -- which have been preserved both by the immortal gods and by the most distinguished citizens of our republic, with the supreme zeal of the senate and Roman people -- to your honor, justice, and goodness.

DCLXIX (Fam. XIII, 4) TO Q. VALERIUS ORCA (IN ETRURIA) ROME (AUTUMN) Marcus Cicero greets Quintus Valerius , son of Quintus, legatus pro praetore. I have very close ties with the townsmen of Volaterrae . In fact, having received great kindness from me, they repaid me to the full: for they never failed me either in my prosperity or my adversity. And even if there were no special reason for our union, yet, having a very warm affection for you, and feeling that you have a high value for me, I should have warned and urged you to have a regard for their fortunes, especially as their case for the retention of civil rights is unusually strong: first, because by the blessing of heaven they contrived to elude the vindictive measures of the Sullan epoch; and secondly, because my defence of them in my consulship received the hearty approval of the Roman people. For the tribunes having promulgated an exceedingly unfair law about their lands, I easily persuaded the senate and people of Rome to allow citizens, whom fortune had spared, to retain their rights. This policy of mine was confirmed by the agrarian law of Gaius Caesar in his first consulship, which freed the territory and town of Volaterrae from all danger for ever. This makes me feel sure that a man who seeks the support of new adherents will wish that old benefits conferred by him should be maintained. It is only therefore what your prudence would dictate, either to keep to the precedent set by the man to whose party and authority you have with so much personal honour adhered, or at least to reserve the whole case for his decision. There is one thing about which you can have no hesitation: you would wish to have a town of such sound and well-established credit and of so honourable a character for ever bound to you by a service of the highest utility on your part. Thus far the purpose of my words is to exhort and persuade you. What remains will be of the nature of a personal request. For I don't wish you to think that I offer you advice for your own sake only, but that I am also preferring a request to you and asking for what is of consequence to myself. Well then, you will oblige me in the highest degree, if you decide that the Volaterrani are to be left intact in every respect and in full possession of their rights. Their homes and houses, their property and fortunes — which have already been preserved by the immortal gods, as well as by the most eminent citizens of our Republic with the warmest approval of the Roman people — I commend to your honour, justice, and liberality. If circumstances had granted me the power, proportionate to my old influence, of defending the Volaterrani in the same way as I was accustomed to protect my friends, there is no service, no struggle in fact calculated to be of use to them, that I would have omitted. But since I feel sure that with you I have no less influence than I ever had with all the world, I beg you in the name of close ties and of the mutual and equal goodwill existing between us, to serve the people of Volaterrae in such a way as to make them think that you have been set over that business by a special interposition of providence, as the one man with whom I, their undeviating supporter, was able to exert the greatest influence.

IV. Scr. Romae mense Octobri a.u.c. 709. M. CICERO S. D. Q. VALERIO Q. F. ORCAE LEGATO PROPR. Cum municipibus Volaterranis mihi summa necessitudo est; magno enim meo beneficio affecti cumulatissime mihi gratiam rettulerunt; nam nec in honoribus meis nec in laboribus umquam defuerunt: cum quibus si mihi nulla causa intercederet, tamen, quod te vehementissime diligo quodque me a te plurimi fieri sentio, et monerem te et hortarer, ut eorum fortunis consuleres, praesertim quum prope praecipuam causam haberent ad ius obtinendum: primum quod Sullani temporis acerbitatem deorum immortalium benignitate subterfugerunt, deinde quod summo studio populi Romani a me in consulatu meo defensi sunt; quum enim tribuni plebi legem iniquissimam de eorum agris promulgavissent, facile senatui populoque Romano persuasi, ut eos cives, quibus fortuna pepercisset, salvos esse vellent. Hanc actionem meam C. Caesar primo suo consulatu lege agraria comprobavit agrumque Volaterranum et oppidum omni periculo in perpetuum liberavit, ut mihi dubium non sit, quin is, qui novas necessitudines adiungat, vetera sua beneficia conservari velit. Quamobrem est tuae prudentiae aut sequi eius auctoritatem, cuius sectam atque imperium summa cum tua dignitate secutus es, aut certe illi integram omnem causam reservare; illud vero dubitare non debes, quin tam grave, tam firmum, tam honestum municipium tibi tuo summo beneficio in perpetuum obligari velis. Sed haec, quae supra scripta sunt, eo spectant, ut et horter et suadeam: reliqua sunt, quae pertinent ad rogandum, ut non solum tua causa tibi consilium me dare putes, sed etiam, quod mihi opus sit, me a te petere et rogare. Gratissimum igitur mihi feceris, si Volaterranos omnibus rebus integros incolumesque esse volueris: eorum ego domicilia, sedes, rem, fortunas, quae et a dis immortalibus et a praestantissimis in nostra re publica civibus summo senatus populique Romani studio conservatae sunt, tuae fidei, iustitiae bonitatique commendo. Si pro meis pristinis opibus facultatem mihi res hoc tempore daret, ut ita defendere possem Volaterranos, quemadmodum consuevi tueri meos, nullum officium, nullum denique certamen, in quo illis prodesse possem, praetermitterem; sed, quoniam apud te nihilo minus hoc tempore valere me confido, quam valuerim semper apud bonos omnes, pro nostra summa necessitudine parique inter nos et mutua benevolentia abs te peto, ut ita de Volaterranis mereare, ut existiment eum quasi divino consilio isti negotio praepositum esse, apud quem unum nos, eorum perpetui defensores, plurimum valere possemus.