Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Trebatius Testa|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
Chrysippus Vettius, freedman of the architect Cyrus, made me think you had not forgotten me, since he delivered greetings from you. You have become very grand if you find it burdensome to send me a letter, especially to a man almost of your own household.
If you have forgotten how to write, then fewer people will now lose their cases with you as advocate. If you have forgotten me, I will make an effort to come there before I fade entirely from your mind. If fear of summer camp is weakening you, invent some device, as you did about Britain.
I was very glad to hear from the same Chrysippus that you are familiar with Caesar. But, by Hercules, I would much rather learn about your affairs as often as possible from your own letters, as would be only fair. That would certainly happen if you had preferred to master the law of affection rather than the law of lawsuits.
But this is joking, partly in your style and partly in mine. I love you very much, and I both want and trust that I am loved by you.
CLXXI (Fam. VII, 14) TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (IN GAUL) ROME (?MARCH) Chrysippus Vettius , a freedman of the architect Cyrus , made me think that you had not quite forgotten me; for he has brought me a greeting in your words. You have grown a mighty fine gentleman, that you can't take the trouble of writing a letter to me — a man, I might almost say, of your own family! But if you have forgotten how to write, all the fewer clients will lose their causes by having you as their advocate! If you have forgotten me, I will take the trouble of paying you a visit where you are, before I have quite faded out of your mind. If it is a terror of the summer camp that is disheartening you, think of some excuse to get off, as you did in the Case of Britain . I was glad to hear one thing from that same Chrysippus , that you were on friendly terms with Caesar . But, by Hercules , I should have preferred, as I might fairly have expected, to be informed of your fortunes as frequently as possible from your own letters. And this would certainly have been the case, if you had been more forward to learn the laws of friendship than of suits in court. But this is all jest in your own vein, and to some degree in mine also. I love you very dearly, and I both wish to be loved by you and feel certain that I am.
XIV. Scr. Romae a.u.c. 701. CICERO TREBATIO.
Chrysippus Vettius, Cyri architecti libertus, fecit, ut te non immemorem putarem mei; salutem enim verbis tuis mihi nuntiarat: valde iam lautus es, qui gravere litteras ad me dare, homini praesertim prope domestico. Quod si scribere oblitus es, minus multi iam te advocato causa cadent; si nostri oblitus es, dabo operam, ut istuc veniam, antequam plane ex animo tuo effluo: sin aestivorum timor te debilitat, aliquid excogita, ut fecisti de Britannia. Illud quidem perlibenter audivi ex eodem Chrysippo, te esse Caesari familiarem; sed mehercule mallem, id quod erat aequius, de tuis rebus ex tuis litteris quam saepissime cognoscerem: quod certe ita fieret, si tu maluisses benevolentiae quam litium iure perdiscere. Sed haec iocati sumus et tuo more et nonnihil etiam nostro. Te valde amamus nosque a te amari cum volumus, tum etiam confidimus.
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Chrysippus Vettius, freedman of the architect Cyrus, made me think you had not forgotten me, since he delivered greetings from you. You have become very grand if you find it burdensome to send me a letter, especially to a man almost of your own household.
If you have forgotten how to write, then fewer people will now lose their cases with you as advocate. If you have forgotten me, I will make an effort to come there before I fade entirely from your mind. If fear of summer camp is weakening you, invent some device, as you did about Britain.
I was very glad to hear from the same Chrysippus that you are familiar with Caesar. But, by Hercules, I would much rather learn about your affairs as often as possible from your own letters, as would be only fair. That would certainly happen if you had preferred to master the law of affection rather than the law of lawsuits.
But this is joking, partly in your style and partly in mine. I love you very much, and I both want and trust that I am loved by you.
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
XIV. Scr. Romae a.u.c. 701. CICERO TREBATIO.
Chrysippus Vettius, Cyri architecti libertus, fecit, ut te non immemorem putarem mei; salutem enim verbis tuis mihi nuntiarat: valde iam lautus es, qui gravere litteras ad me dare, homini praesertim prope domestico. Quod si scribere oblitus es, minus multi iam te advocato causa cadent; si nostri oblitus es, dabo operam, ut istuc veniam, antequam plane ex animo tuo effluo: sin aestivorum timor te debilitat, aliquid excogita, ut fecisti de Britannia. Illud quidem perlibenter audivi ex eodem Chrysippo, te esse Caesari familiarem; sed mehercule mallem, id quod erat aequius, de tuis rebus ex tuis litteris quam saepissime cognoscerem: quod certe ita fieret, si tu maluisses benevolentiae quam litium iure perdiscere. Sed haec iocati sumus et tuo more et nonnihil etiam nostro. Te valde amamus nosque a te amari cum volumus, tum etiam confidimus.