Letter 13.26

I ask and beg you -- and I do so with all earnestness -- to protect those men of Delos who are Roman citizens or allies, to defend their fortunes, and to see to it that they are preserved safe and sound. They are men of the highest integrity, devoted to our order and to the republic. I commend them all to you most carefully, and I ask you to lend them your assistance in whatever they need.

DXIX (Fam. XIII, 26) TO SERVIUS SULPICIUS RUFUS (IN ACHAIA) ROME: My connexion with L. Mescinius is that which arises from the fact that he was my quaestor. But this tie — which I, in accordance with the usage of antiquity, have ever regarded as a strong one — he has rendered more complete by his personal excellence and kindness. Accordingly, nothing could more intimate and more pleasant to myself than my intercourse with him. Now, although he seemed to feel certain that you would be pleased to do all you honourably could for him for his own sake, he yet hoped that a letter from me would also have great weight with you. He judged that to be the case for himself; but as he was very intimate with me he had also often heard me say how delightful and close our union was. I ask you, therefore, with all the earnestness with which you understand that I ought to ask on behalf of a man so near and dear to me, to facilitate and settle the business matters which he has in Achaia arising from the fact 'of his being the heir of his cousin M. Mindius , late a banker at Elis , not only by your legal prerogative and authority, but also by your influence and advice. For I have directed those to whom I have intrusted my business, that in all 'points which give rise to dispute, they were to appeal to you as arbitrator and — so far as was consistent with your convenience — as final judge. That you should in compliment to me undertake that business, I earnestly and repeatedly beg of you. There is one other point in which you will particularly oblige me, if you don't think it inconsistent with your position; it is that, as the controversy is with a senator, you should refer to Rome such of the parties as prove too stubborn to allow the business to be settled without an issue being tried. That you might be able to do that with the less hesitation, I have secured a despatch to you from the consul M. Lepidus , not conveying any order — for that I did not think consonant with your position — but to a certain extent and in a manner commendatory. I would have mentioned how well invested such a favour is sure to be in the case of Mescinius , had I not, in the first place, felt certain that you knew, and had I not also been asking for myself: for I would have you believe that I am quite as anxious about his interests as he is himself. But while I am eager that he should come by his own without difficulty, I am also anxious that he should think that he owes his success in no small degree to my recommendation.

XXVI. Scr. Romae a.u.c. 708. CICERO SERVIO SAL. L. Mescinius ea mecum necessitudine coniunctus est, quod mihi quaestor fuit; sed hanc causam, quam ego, ut a maioribus accepi, semper gravem duxi, fecit virtute et humanitate sua iustiorem: itaque eo sic utor, ut nec familiarius ullo nec libentius. Is quamquam confidere videbatur te sua causa, quae honest posses, libenter esse facturum, magnum esse tamen speravit apud te meas quoque litteras pondus habituras: id quum ipse ita iudicabat, tum pro familiari consuetudine saepe ex me audierat, quam suavis esset inter nos et quanta coniunctio. Peto igitur a te, tanto scilicet studio, quanto intelligis debere me petere pro homine tam mihi necessario et tam familiari, ut eius negotia, quae sunt in Achaia ex eo, quod heres est M. Mindio, fratri suo, qui Elide negotiatus est, explices et expedias quum iure et potestate, quam habes, tum etiam auctoritate et consilio tuo; sic enim praescripsimus iis, quibus ea negotia mandavimus, ut omnibus in rebus, quae in aliquam controversiam vocarentur, te arbitro et, quod commodo tuo fieri posset, te disceptatore uterentur: id ut honoris mei causa suscipias, vehementer te etiam atque etiam rogo. Illud praeterea, si non alienum tua dignitate putabis esse, feceris mihi pergratum, si qui difficiliores erunt, ut rem sine controversia confici nolint, si eos, quoniam cum senatore res est, Romam reieceris; quod quo minore dubitatione facere posses, litteras ad te a M. Lepido consule, non quae te aliquid iuberent—neque enim id tuae dignitatis esse arbitrabamur—, sed quodam modo quasi commendaticias sumpsimus. Scriberem, quam id beneficium bene apud Mescinium positurus esses, nisi et te scire confiderem et mihi peterem; sic enim velim existimes, non minus me de illius re laborare quam ipsum de sua; sed quum illum studeo quam facillime ad suum pervenire, tum illud laboro, ut non minimum hac mea commendatione se consecutum arbitretur.