Marcus Tullius Cicero→Marcus Caelius Rufus|c. 50 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
Would you ever have thought it possible that words could fail me - not only those grand oratorical words of yours, but even my own light everyday language? Yet they do fail me, and for this reason: I am wonderfully anxious about what will be decreed concerning the provinces.
A strange longing for Rome holds me, an incredible longing for my people, and especially for you. I am also tired of the province: perhaps because I seem to have gained such a reputation that I should fear a change of fortune rather than seek any addition to it; perhaps because the whole business is beneath my powers, since I can and usually do bear greater burdens in the republic; perhaps because the fear of a great war hangs over us, and I seem likely to escape it if I leave on the appointed day.
As for the panthers, I have carefully set the usual hunters to work under my orders. But there is a remarkable scarcity of them, and the ones that exist are said to complain bitterly that in my province no traps are being set for anyone except them. So they are reportedly planning to leave our province for Caria. Still, the work is being pressed diligently, especially by Patiscus. Whatever there is will be yours; but I frankly do not know what there will be.
By Hercules, your aedileship is a great concern to me. The day itself reminded me, since I write this on the very day of the Megalensia [a Roman festival with public games].
Please write to me in the fullest detail about the whole condition of the republic. What I learn from you I will regard as the most reliable information I have.
CCLIV (Fam. II, 11) TO M. CAELIUS RUFUS (CURULE AEDILE) LAODICEA, 4 APRIL: WOULD you have supposed that words could possibly fail me, and not only oratorical words, such as you advocates use, but even this common vernacular which I employ? Still, fail me they do, and for this reason — I am surprisingly anxious as to what decree may pass about the provinces. An astonishing yearning for the city possesses me, an incredible longing for my friends and for you among the first, and at the same time a weariness of a province, either because I seem to have gained so much reputation, that an accession to it is now not so much to be sought, as some change of fortune to be feared; or because the whole business is one unworthy of my powers, able and accustomed as I am to sustain more important burdens in the public service; or, again, because an alarm of a serious war is hanging over us, which I seem likely to avoid by quitting my province on the day appointed. The panthers are being energetically attended to by the ordinary hunters in accordance with my orders: but there is a great scarcity of them, and such as there are, I am told, complain loudly that they are the only things for which traps are set in all my province, and they are said in consequence to have resolved to quit our province for Caria . However, the business is being pushed on zealously, and especially by Patiscus . All that turn up shall be at your service, but how many that is I don't in the least know. I assure you I am much interested in your aedileship: the day itself reminds me of it; for I am writing on the very day of the Megalensia . Please write the fullest particulars as to the state of politics in general: for I shall look on information from you as the most trustworthy I get.
XI. M. CICERO IMP. S. D. M. CAELIO AEDILI CURULI Laodiceae; prid. Non. Apr. 50
Putaresne umquam accidere posse ut mihi verba deessent, neque solum ista vestra oratoria sed haec etiam levia nostratia? Desunt autem propter hanc causam quod mirifice sum sollicitus quidnam de provinciis decernatur. Mirum me desiderium tenet urbis, incredibile meorum atque in primis tui, satietas autem provinciae, vel quia videmur eam famam consecuti ut non tam accessio quaerenda quam fortuna metuenda sit vel quia totum negotium non est dignum viribus nostris, qui maiora onera in re publica sustinere et possim et soleam, vel quia belli magni timor impendet, quod videmur effugere si ad constitutam diem decedemus. De pantheris per eos qui venari solent agitur mandatu meo diligenter. Sed mira paucitas est, et eas quae sunt valde aiunt queri quod nihil cuiquam insidiarum in mea provincia nisi sibi fiat. Itaque constituisse dicuntur in Cariam ex nostra provincia decedere. Sed tamen sedulo fit et in primis a Patisco. Quicquid erit, tibi erit; sed quid esset plane nesciebamus. Mihi mehercule magnae curae est aedilitas tua. Ipse dies me admonebat; scripsi enim haec ipsis Megalensibus. Tu velim ad me de omni rei publicae statu quam diligentissime perscribas; ea enim certissima putabo quae ex te cognoro.
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Would you ever have thought it possible that words could fail me - not only those grand oratorical words of yours, but even my own light everyday language? Yet they do fail me, and for this reason: I am wonderfully anxious about what will be decreed concerning the provinces.
A strange longing for Rome holds me, an incredible longing for my people, and especially for you. I am also tired of the province: perhaps because I seem to have gained such a reputation that I should fear a change of fortune rather than seek any addition to it; perhaps because the whole business is beneath my powers, since I can and usually do bear greater burdens in the republic; perhaps because the fear of a great war hangs over us, and I seem likely to escape it if I leave on the appointed day.
As for the panthers, I have carefully set the usual hunters to work under my orders. But there is a remarkable scarcity of them, and the ones that exist are said to complain bitterly that in my province no traps are being set for anyone except them. So they are reportedly planning to leave our province for Caria. Still, the work is being pressed diligently, especially by Patiscus. Whatever there is will be yours; but I frankly do not know what there will be.
By Hercules, your aedileship is a great concern to me. The day itself reminded me, since I write this on the very day of the Megalensia [a Roman festival with public games].
Please write to me in the fullest detail about the whole condition of the republic. What I learn from you I will regard as the most reliable information I have.
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
XI. M. CICERO IMP. S. D. M. CAELIO AEDILI CURULI Laodiceae; prid. Non. Apr. 50
Putaresne umquam accidere posse ut mihi verba deessent, neque solum ista vestra oratoria sed haec etiam levia nostratia? Desunt autem propter hanc causam quod mirifice sum sollicitus quidnam de provinciis decernatur. Mirum me desiderium tenet urbis, incredibile meorum atque in primis tui, satietas autem provinciae, vel quia videmur eam famam consecuti ut non tam accessio quaerenda quam fortuna metuenda sit vel quia totum negotium non est dignum viribus nostris, qui maiora onera in re publica sustinere et possim et soleam, vel quia belli magni timor impendet, quod videmur effugere si ad constitutam diem decedemus. De pantheris per eos qui venari solent agitur mandatu meo diligenter. Sed mira paucitas est, et eas quae sunt valde aiunt queri quod nihil cuiquam insidiarum in mea provincia nisi sibi fiat. Itaque constituisse dicuntur in Cariam ex nostra provincia decedere. Sed tamen sedulo fit et in primis a Patisco. Quicquid erit, tibi erit; sed quid esset plane nesciebamus. Mihi mehercule magnae curae est aedilitas tua. Ipse dies me admonebat; scripsi enim haec ipsis Megalensibus. Tu velim ad me de omni rei publicae statu quam diligentissime perscribas; ea enim certissima putabo quae ex te cognoro.