Letter 17: Cicero writes to Quintus in Gaul from Rome in 13 June 54 BC.
Marcus Tullius Cicero→Quintus Tullius Cicero|c. 54 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Gaul|AI-assisted
familypoliticsadministration
Imported from the public-domain Shuckburgh translation with Latin text paired from The Latin Library.
MARCUS TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS, GREETINGS.
1. On the fourth day before the Nones of June, the very day I reached Rome, I received your letter dispatched from Placentia; then a second, dispatched the next day from Blandeno, together with a letter from Caesar full of every kind of courtesy, attentiveness, and charm. These things are indeed great, or rather greatest of all, for they have great power toward glory and toward the highest distinction; but believe me - you know my heart - what I value most highly in such matters I already possess: namely, first, that you are so devoted to our common dignity, and second, Caesar's great affection for me, which I set before all those honors that he wishes me to expect from him. His letter, indeed, dispatched together with yours - whose opening tells how welcome your arrival was to him and the recollection of our old affection, and goes on to say that he will bring it about that, in the midst of my grief and longing for you, I shall, since you are away from me, rejoice above all that you are with him - delighted me beyond belief.
2. Therefore you do indeed act in a brotherly way when you urge me, though, by Hercules, I am already running of my own accord, to concentrate all my efforts upon that one man. And I, with burning zeal, shall perhaps accomplish what often befalls travelers when they are in a hurry: namely, that if by chance they have risen later than they wished, by hastening they arrive where they want even sooner than if they had been awake since before dawn. So I, since I have for so long slept through the cultivation of that man - though you, by Hercules, often roused me - shall correct my slowness by speed, first with horses, and then indeed, since, as you write, our poem is approved by him, with poetic four-horse chariots: only give me Britain, that I may paint it with your colors, with my own brush. But what am I doing? What free time is shown to me, especially while I remain at Rome, as he asks me to do? But I shall see; for perhaps, as happens, your love will overcome all difficulties.
3. For my having sent Trebatius to him, he even thanks me very wittily and graciously; for he says that in so great a crowd of those who were with him, there was no one who could draw up a recognizance. I asked him for a tribuneship for Marcus Curtius - for Domitius would have thought himself mocked if he had been petitioned by me, since this is his daily refrain, that he does not even appoint a military tribune: in the Senate too he joked that his colleague Appius had gone to Caesar for the purpose of carrying off some tribuneship - but my request was for the following year: and Curtius wished it so as well.
4. As for the manner in which you think I ought to conduct myself both in public affairs and in our personal enmities, know that I both am and shall be softer than the very tip of an ear-lobe.
5. Roman affairs stood thus: there was some hope of the elections, but uncertain; there was some suspicion of a dictatorship, but not even that certain; the utmost calm in the forum, but of a state growing old rather than one at rest; our opinion, however, in the Senate is of such a kind that others assent to it more than we ourselves do. Such are the ravages that wretched war works.
On the 2nd of June, the day of my return to Rome, I received your letter dated Placentia: then next day another dated Blandeno, along with a letter from Caesar filled full of courteous, earnest, and pleasant expressions. These expressions are indeed valuable, or rather most valuable, as tending very powerfully to secure our reputation and exalted position in the state. But believe me—for you know my heart—that what I value most in all this I already possess, that is, first of all, your active contribution to our common position; and, secondly, all that warm affection of Caesar for me, which I prefer to all the honours which he desires me to expect at his hands. His letter too, despatched at the same time as your own—which begins by saying what pleasure your arrival and the renewed memory of our old affection had given him, and goes on to say that he will take care that, in the midst of my sorrow and regret at losing you, I shall have reason to be glad that you are with him of all people—gave me extraordinary delight. Wherefore you, of course, are acting in a truly brotherly spirit when you exhort me, though, by heaven, I am now indeed forward enough to do so, to concentrate all my attentions upon him alone. Yes, I will do so, indeed, with a burning zeal: and perhaps I shall manage to accomplish what is frequently the fortune of travellers when they make great haste, who, if they have got up later than they intended, have, by increasing their speed, arrived at their destination sooner than if they had waked up before daylight. Thus I, since I have long overslept myself in cultivating that great man, though you, by heaven, often tried to wake me up, will make up for my slowness with horses and (as you say he likes my poem) a poet's chariots. Only let me have Britain to paint in colours supplied by yourself, but with my own brush. But what am I saying? What prospect of leisure have I, especially as I remain at Rome in accordance with his request? But I will see. For perhaps, as usual, my love for you will overcome all difficulties. For my having sent Trebatius to him he even thanks me in very witty and polite terms, remarking that there was no one in the whole number of his staff who knew how to draw up a recognizance. I have asked him for a tribuneship for M. Curtius—since Domitius (the consul) would have thought that he was being laughed at, if my petition had been addressed to him, for his daily assertion is that he hasn't the appointment of so much as a military tribune: he even jested in the senate at his colleague Appius as having gone to visit Caesar, that he might get from him at least one tribuneship. But my request was for next year, for that was what Curtius wished. Whatever line you think I ought to take in politics and in treating my opponents, be sure I shall take, and shall be "gentler than any ear-lap". Affairs at Rome stand thus: there is some hope of the elections taking place, but it is an uncertain one. There is some latent idea of a dictatorship, but neither is that confirmed. There is profound calm in the forum, but it is rather the calm of decrepitude than content. The opinions I express in the senate are of a kind to win the assent of others rather than my own:
:Such the effects of miserable war.
XIII. Scr. romae ineunte mense Iunio a.u.c. 700.
MARCUS QUINTO FRATRI SALUTEM.
1. A. d. IIII. Non. Iunias, quo die Romam veni, accepi tuas litteras, datas Placentia, deinde alteras, postridie datas Blandenonne cum Caesaris litteris, refertis omni officio, diligentia, suavitate. Sunt ista quidem magna vel potius maxima; habent enim vim magnam ad gloriam et ad summam dignitatem; sed, mihi crede, quem nosti, quod in istis rebus ego plurimi aestimo, id iam habeo: te scilicet primum tam inservientem communi dignitati, deinde Caesaris tantum in me amorem, quem omnibus iis honoribus, quos me a se exspectare vult, antepono; litterae vero eius una datae cum tuis, quarum initium est, quam suavis ei tuus adventus fuerit et recordatio veteris amoris, deinde, se effecturum, ut ego in medio dolore ac desiderio tui te, cum a me abesses, potissimum secum esse laetarer, incredibiliter me delectarunt. 2. Quare facis tu quidem fraterne, quod me hortaris, sed mehercule currentem nunc quidem, ut omnia mea studia in istum unum conferam. Ego vero ardenti [quidem] studio hoc fortasse efficiam, quod saepe viatoribus, cum properant, evenit, ut, si serius, quam voluerint, forte surrexerint, properando etiam citius, quam si de nocte vigilassent, perveniant, quo velint: sic ego, quoniam in isto homine colendo tam indormivi diu te merhercule saepe excitante, cursu corrigam tarditatem cum equis, tum vero—quoniam ut scribis poema ab eo nostrum probari—quadrigis poeticis: modo mihi date Britanniam, quam pingam coloribus tuis, penicillo meo. Sed quid ago? quod mihi tempus, Romae praesertim, ut iste me rogat, manenti, vacuum ostenditur? sed videro; fortasse enim, ut fit, vincet tuus amor omnes difficultates. 3. Trebatium quod ad se miserim, persalse et humaniter etiam gratias mihi agit; negat enim in tanta multitudine eorum, qui una essent, quemquam fuisse, qui vadimonium concipere posset. M. Curtio tribunatum ab eo petivi—nam Domitius se derideri putasset, si esset a me rogatus; hoc enim est eius quotidianum, se ne tribunum militum quidem facere: etiam in senatu lusit Appium collegam propterea isse ad Caesarem, ut aliquem tribunatum auferret—, sed in alterum annum: id et Curtius ita volebat. 4. Tu, quemadmodum me censes oportere esse et in re publica et in mostris inimicitiis, ita et esse et fore auricula infima scito molliorem. 5. Res Romanae se sic habebant: erat nonnulla spes comitiorum, sed incerta; erat aliqua suspicio dictaturae, ne ea quidem certa, summum otium forense, sed senescentis magis civitatis quam acquiescentis, sententia autem nostra in senatu eiusmodi, magis ut alii nobis assentiantur quam nosmet ipsi. ToiaËy' tlÆmvn pÒlemow ?jergzetai.
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MARCUS TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS, GREETINGS.
1. On the fourth day before the Nones of June, the very day I reached Rome, I received your letter dispatched from Placentia; then a second, dispatched the next day from Blandeno, together with a letter from Caesar full of every kind of courtesy, attentiveness, and charm. These things are indeed great, or rather greatest of all, for they have great power toward glory and toward the highest distinction; but believe me - you know my heart - what I value most highly in such matters I already possess: namely, first, that you are so devoted to our common dignity, and second, Caesar's great affection for me, which I set before all those honors that he wishes me to expect from him. His letter, indeed, dispatched together with yours - whose opening tells how welcome your arrival was to him and the recollection of our old affection, and goes on to say that he will bring it about that, in the midst of my grief and longing for you, I shall, since you are away from me, rejoice above all that you are with him - delighted me beyond belief.
2. Therefore you do indeed act in a brotherly way when you urge me, though, by Hercules, I am already running of my own accord, to concentrate all my efforts upon that one man. And I, with burning zeal, shall perhaps accomplish what often befalls travelers when they are in a hurry: namely, that if by chance they have risen later than they wished, by hastening they arrive where they want even sooner than if they had been awake since before dawn. So I, since I have for so long slept through the cultivation of that man - though you, by Hercules, often roused me - shall correct my slowness by speed, first with horses, and then indeed, since, as you write, our poem is approved by him, with poetic four-horse chariots: only give me Britain, that I may paint it with your colors, with my own brush. But what am I doing? What free time is shown to me, especially while I remain at Rome, as he asks me to do? But I shall see; for perhaps, as happens, your love will overcome all difficulties.
3. For my having sent Trebatius to him, he even thanks me very wittily and graciously; for he says that in so great a crowd of those who were with him, there was no one who could draw up a recognizance. I asked him for a tribuneship for Marcus Curtius - for Domitius would have thought himself mocked if he had been petitioned by me, since this is his daily refrain, that he does not even appoint a military tribune: in the Senate too he joked that his colleague Appius had gone to Caesar for the purpose of carrying off some tribuneship - but my request was for the following year: and Curtius wished it so as well.
4. As for the manner in which you think I ought to conduct myself both in public affairs and in our personal enmities, know that I both am and shall be softer than the very tip of an ear-lobe.
5. Roman affairs stood thus: there was some hope of the elections, but uncertain; there was some suspicion of a dictatorship, but not even that certain; the utmost calm in the forum, but of a state growing old rather than one at rest; our opinion, however, in the Senate is of such a kind that others assent to it more than we ourselves do. Such are the ravages that wretched war works.
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
XIII. Scr. romae ineunte mense Iunio a.u.c. 700. MARCUS QUINTO FRATRI SALUTEM.
1. A. d. IIII. Non. Iunias, quo die Romam veni, accepi tuas litteras, datas Placentia, deinde alteras, postridie datas Blandenonne cum Caesaris litteris, refertis omni officio, diligentia, suavitate. Sunt ista quidem magna vel potius maxima; habent enim vim magnam ad gloriam et ad summam dignitatem; sed, mihi crede, quem nosti, quod in istis rebus ego plurimi aestimo, id iam habeo: te scilicet primum tam inservientem communi dignitati, deinde Caesaris tantum in me amorem, quem omnibus iis honoribus, quos me a se exspectare vult, antepono; litterae vero eius una datae cum tuis, quarum initium est, quam suavis ei tuus adventus fuerit et recordatio veteris amoris, deinde, se effecturum, ut ego in medio dolore ac desiderio tui te, cum a me abesses, potissimum secum esse laetarer, incredibiliter me delectarunt. 2. Quare facis tu quidem fraterne, quod me hortaris, sed mehercule currentem nunc quidem, ut omnia mea studia in istum unum conferam. Ego vero ardenti [quidem] studio hoc fortasse efficiam, quod saepe viatoribus, cum properant, evenit, ut, si serius, quam voluerint, forte surrexerint, properando etiam citius, quam si de nocte vigilassent, perveniant, quo velint: sic ego, quoniam in isto homine colendo tam indormivi diu te merhercule saepe excitante, cursu corrigam tarditatem cum equis, tum vero—quoniam ut scribis poema ab eo nostrum probari—quadrigis poeticis: modo mihi date Britanniam, quam pingam coloribus tuis, penicillo meo. Sed quid ago? quod mihi tempus, Romae praesertim, ut iste me rogat, manenti, vacuum ostenditur? sed videro; fortasse enim, ut fit, vincet tuus amor omnes difficultates. 3. Trebatium quod ad se miserim, persalse et humaniter etiam gratias mihi agit; negat enim in tanta multitudine eorum, qui una essent, quemquam fuisse, qui vadimonium concipere posset. M. Curtio tribunatum ab eo petivi—nam Domitius se derideri putasset, si esset a me rogatus; hoc enim est eius quotidianum, se ne tribunum militum quidem facere: etiam in senatu lusit Appium collegam propterea isse ad Caesarem, ut aliquem tribunatum auferret—, sed in alterum annum: id et Curtius ita volebat. 4. Tu, quemadmodum me censes oportere esse et in re publica et in mostris inimicitiis, ita et esse et fore auricula infima scito molliorem. 5. Res Romanae se sic habebant: erat nonnulla spes comitiorum, sed incerta; erat aliqua suspicio dictaturae, ne ea quidem certa, summum otium forense, sed senescentis magis civitatis quam acquiescentis, sententia autem nostra in senatu eiusmodi, magis ut alii nobis assentiantur quam nosmet ipsi. ToiaËy' tlÆmvn pÒlemow ?jergzetai.