Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Trebatius Testa|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
I do not stop recommending you, but I want to know from you what progress I am making. I place my greatest hope in Balbus, to whom I write about you very carefully and very often.
I am usually surprised that I do not receive letters from you as often as letters are brought to me from my brother Quintus. I hear there is neither gold nor silver in Britain. If that is true, I advise you to seize some chariot and hurry back to us as soon as possible.
But if we can still obtain what we want without Britain, make sure you become one of Caesar's close circle. My brother will help you greatly in that, and so will Balbus. But believe me, your own modesty and hard work will help most of all. You have a commander of the greatest generosity, an age perfectly suited to advancement, and certainly a recommendation like no other. The one thing you have to fear is seeming to have failed yourself.
CXXXVI (Fam. VII, 7) TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (ON HIS WAY TO GAUL) CUMAE (APRIL OR MAY) For my part, I never cease recommending you, but I am eager to know from you how far my recommendation is of service. My chief hope is in Balbus , to whom I write about you with the greatest earnestness and frequency. It often excites my wonder that I don't hear from you as often as from my brother Quintus . In Britain I am told there is no gold or silver. If that turns out to be the case, I advise you to capture a war-chariot and hasten back to us at the earliest opportunity. But if — letting Britain alone — we can still obtain what we want, take care to get on intimate terms with Caesar . In that respect my brother will be of much use to you, so will Balbus , but most of all, believe me, your own modesty and industry. You have an imperator of the most liberal character, your age is exactly the best one for employment, and your recommendation at any rate is quite unique, so that all you have to fear is not doing yourself full justice.
VII. Scr. Romae mense Maio a.u.c. 700. CICERO TREBATIO.
Ego te commendare non desisto, sed, quid proficiam, ex te scire cupio: spem maximam habeo in Balbo, ad quem de te diligentissime et saepissime scribo. Illud soleo mirari, non me toties accipere tuas litteras, quoties a Quinto mihi fratre afferantur. In Britannia nihil esse audio neque auri neque argenti: id si ita est, essedum aliquod capias suadeo et ad nos quam primum recurras. Sin autem sine Britannia tamen assequi, quod volumus, possumus, perfice, ut sis in familiaribus Caesaris: multum te in eo frater adiuvabit meus, multum Balbus, sed, mihi crede, tuus pudor et labor plurimum. Imperatorem liberalissimum, aetatem opportunissimam, commendationem certe singularem habes, ut tibi unum timendum sit, ne ipse tibi defuisse videare.
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I do not stop recommending you, but I want to know from you what progress I am making. I place my greatest hope in Balbus, to whom I write about you very carefully and very often.
I am usually surprised that I do not receive letters from you as often as letters are brought to me from my brother Quintus. I hear there is neither gold nor silver in Britain. If that is true, I advise you to seize some chariot and hurry back to us as soon as possible.
But if we can still obtain what we want without Britain, make sure you become one of Caesar's close circle. My brother will help you greatly in that, and so will Balbus. But believe me, your own modesty and hard work will help most of all. You have a commander of the greatest generosity, an age perfectly suited to advancement, and certainly a recommendation like no other. The one thing you have to fear is seeming to have failed yourself.
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
VII. Scr. Romae mense Maio a.u.c. 700. CICERO TREBATIO.
Ego te commendare non desisto, sed, quid proficiam, ex te scire cupio: spem maximam habeo in Balbo, ad quem de te diligentissime et saepissime scribo. Illud soleo mirari, non me toties accipere tuas litteras, quoties a Quinto mihi fratre afferantur. In Britannia nihil esse audio neque auri neque argenti: id si ita est, essedum aliquod capias suadeo et ad nos quam primum recurras. Sin autem sine Britannia tamen assequi, quod volumus, possumus, perfice, ut sis in familiaribus Caesaris: multum te in eo frater adiuvabit meus, multum Balbus, sed, mihi crede, tuus pudor et labor plurimum. Imperatorem liberalissimum, aetatem opportunissimam, commendationem certe singularem habes, ut tibi unum timendum sit, ne ipse tibi defuisse videare.