Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Trebatius Testa|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
I explained Silius's case to you. Since then he has been with me. When I told him that you thought we could safely make that stipulation - "if the praetor Quintus Caepio, under his edict, granted me possession of Turpilia's estate" - he said Servius denies that a will is valid when made by someone who lacked the legal capacity to make one, and that Ofilius says the same. He denied having spoken with you and asked me to commend him and his case to you.
My dear Testa, no one is a better man or a closer friend to me than Publius Silius, except you. So you will do me a very great favor if you go to him on your own initiative and offer your help. If you love me, do it as soon as possible. I ask this of you earnestly, again and again.
DCCLVII (Fam. VII, 21) TO C. TREBATIUS TESTA (AT ROME) (TUSCULUM, JUNE) I have explained Silius 's case to you. He has since been to see me. When I told him that in your opinion we might safely make that stipulation, “In case the praetor Q. Caepio , in accordance with his edict, has granted me possession of Turpilia's estate,” he remarked, that Servius 's doctrine was that a will made by a party who had not the legal power of making one was no will, and Ofilius concurred. He said he had had no talk with you, and asked me to commend his cause to your care. There is no better man, my dear Testa, nor anyone more attached to me than Publius Silius , yourself however excepted. You will therefore very much oblige me if you will go to him and volunteer your services: and if you love me, do so as soon as possible. I beg you warmly and repeatedly to do this. xvi. 7. He didn't wish it to be thought that he was going to Greece to attend the Olympic games .
XXI. Scr. in Tusculano mense Maio aut Iunio a.u.c. 710. CICERO TREBATIO SAL.
Silii causam te docui: is postea fuit apud me. Cum ei dicerem tibi videri sponsionem illam nos sine periculo facere posse, SI BONORUM TVRPILIAE POSSESSIONEM Q. CAEPIO PRAETOR EX EDICTO SVO MIHI DEDIT, negare aiebat Servium tabulas testamenti esse eas, quas instituisset is, qui factionem testamenti non habuerit; hoc idem Offilium dicere; tecum se locutum negabat meque rogavit, ut se et causam suam tibi commendarem. Nec vir melior, mi Testa, nec mihi amicior P. Silio quisquam est, te tamen excepto: gratissimum mihi igitur feceris, si ad eum ultro veneris eique pollicitus eris, sed, si me amas, quam primum: hoc te vehementer etiam and etiam rogo.
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I explained Silius's case to you. Since then he has been with me. When I told him that you thought we could safely make that stipulation - "if the praetor Quintus Caepio, under his edict, granted me possession of Turpilia's estate" - he said Servius denies that a will is valid when made by someone who lacked the legal capacity to make one, and that Ofilius says the same. He denied having spoken with you and asked me to commend him and his case to you.
My dear Testa, no one is a better man or a closer friend to me than Publius Silius, except you. So you will do me a very great favor if you go to him on your own initiative and offer your help. If you love me, do it as soon as possible. I ask this of you earnestly, again and again.
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
XXI. Scr. in Tusculano mense Maio aut Iunio a.u.c. 710. CICERO TREBATIO SAL.
Silii causam te docui: is postea fuit apud me. Cum ei dicerem tibi videri sponsionem illam nos sine periculo facere posse, SI BONORUM TVRPILIAE POSSESSIONEM Q. CAEPIO PRAETOR EX EDICTO SVO MIHI DEDIT, negare aiebat Servium tabulas testamenti esse eas, quas instituisset is, qui factionem testamenti non habuerit; hoc idem Offilium dicere; tecum se locutum negabat meque rogavit, ut se et causam suam tibi commendarem. Nec vir melior, mi Testa, nec mihi amicior P. Silio quisquam est, te tamen excepto: gratissimum mihi igitur feceris, si ad eum ultro veneris eique pollicitus eris, sed, si me amas, quam primum: hoc te vehementer etiam and etiam rogo.