Letter 13.8

Since I was aware of how highly I valued you and had experienced your goodwill toward me, I did not hesitate to ask you for what I needed to ask. How highly I value Publius Sestius I myself know best, but how highly I ought to value him both you and all men know. When he learned from others that you were most devoted to me, he asked me to write to you as carefully as possible about the property of the senator Gaius Albinius, whose daughter bore Lucius Sestius, an excellent young man, the son of Publius Sestius. I wrote this so that you might understand that not only must I work for Publius Sestius, but Sestius too must work for Albinius. The matter is this: Gaius Albinius took over from Marcus Laberius certain estates in payment of a debt, estates which Laberius had bought from Caesar out of the property of Plotius. If I were to say that it is not in the public interest for these to be divided, I would seem to be instructing you rather than asking. But still, since Caesar wishes the Sullan sales and assignments to stand, so that his own may be considered more secure, if those estates are divided which Caesar himself sold, what authority, pray, can there be in his sales? But you will consider with your wisdom what this amounts to. I simply ask you, and in such a way that I could not ask with greater zeal, more just cause, or more heartfelt sincerity, to spare Albinius and not to touch the Laberian estates. You will bring me not only great joy but also a kind of glory if Publius Sestius, through me, satisfies a man who is his closest connection, just as I owe him more than anyone else. I ask you earnestly again and again to do this; you can give me no greater favor, and you will find me most grateful.

DCLXXII (Fam. XIII, 8) TO MARCUS RUTILIUS (IN ETRURIA) ROME (AUTUMN) As I was conscious of how much I valued you, and had had practical proof of your kind feeling towards me, I did not hesitate to make a request to you which it was incumbent upon me to make. How much I value P. Sestius I know in my own heart; how much I am bound to value him is known both to you and all the world. Having learnt from others that you were very much attached to me, he asked me to write in very explicit terms to you about the affair of Gaius Albinius , a member of the senate, whose daughter is the mother of L. Sestius , a young man of very high character, the son of P. Sestius . My reason for writing this letter is to inform you that not only am I anxious on behalf of P. Sestius , but that Sestius is so also on behalf of Albinius . The case is this: Gaius Albinius received some properties from M. Laberius on a valuation, properties which Laberius had bought from Caesar forming part of the property of Plotius . If I should say that it was not in the interests of the state that those properties should be divided, I should appear to be trying to enlighten you rather than to be asking a favour of you. Nevertheless, since it is Caesar 's will that the sales and assignments of land effected by Sulla should hold good, in order to give the impression of greater security to his own, pray what security can Caesar 's own sales have, if properties are divided which he himself caused to be sold? However, that is a difficulty for your own wisdom to consider. My plain request to you — and I could not make it with greater earnestness or in a juster cause or more from the bottom of my heart — is that you should spare Albinius and not lay a finger on the properties of Laberius . You will not only cause me great delight, but will in a certain sense raise my reputation also, if I am the cause of Publius Sestius satisfying the claims of a man very closely connected with me, since I owe him more than anyone else in the world. I warmly and repeatedly beg you to do so. You cannot do me a greater favour: you shall have reason to know that I am exceedingly obliged by it.

VIII. Scr. Romae mense Octobri a.u.c. 709. M. CICERO M. RUTILIO SAL. Quum et mihi conscius essem, quanti te facerem, et tuam erga me benevolentiam expertus essem, non dubitavi a te petere, quod mihi petendum esset. P. Sestium quanti faciam, ipse optime scio, quanti autem facere debeam, et tu et omnes homines sciunt: is quum ex aliis te mei studiosissimum esse cognosset, petivit a me, ut ad te quam accuratissime scriberem de re C. Albinii senatoris, cuius ex filia natus est L. Sestius, optimus adolescens, filius P. Sestii. Hoc idcirco scripsi, ut intelligeres non solum me pro P. Sestio laborare debere, sed Sestium etiam pro Albinio. Res autem est haec: a M. Laberio C. Albinius praedia in aestimationem accepit, quae praedia Laberius emerat a Caesare de bonis Plotianis. Ea si dicam non esse e re publica dividi, docere te videar, non rogare; sed tamen, quum Caesar Sullanas venditiones et assignationes ratas esse velit, quo firmiores existimentur suae, si ea praedia dividentur, quae ipse Caesar vendidit, quae tandem in eius venditionibus esse poterit auctoritas? Sed, hoc quale sit, tu pro tua prudentia considerabis. Ego te plane rogo atque ita, ut maiore studio, iustiore de causa, magis ex animo rogare nihil possim, ut Albinio parcas, praedia Laberiana ne attingas. Magna me affeceris non modo laetitia, sed etiam quodammodo gloria, si P. Sestius homini maxime necessario satisfecerit per me, ut ego illi uni plurimum debeo; quod ut facias, te vehementer etiam atque etiam rogo: maius mihi dare beneficium nullum potes: id mihi intelliges esse gratissimum.