The nearly 800 letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero which have come down to us cover the quarter century from 68 B.C. to 43 B.C. and provide us with unrivaled source material for the political and social life of that period—one of the most important in Roman history—as well as an intimate acquaintance with Cicero’s thought and personality. A wide range of topics, both serious and light-hearted, are found here, from politics and literature to travel and the affairs of family and friends. Preserved in the collection are epistles to his wife Terentia and their children Tullia and Marcus, his younger brother Quintus Tullius Cicero, his life-long friend Titus Pomponius Atticus (there are altogether 16 books of Epistulae ad Atticum), his beloved freedman and personal secretary Marcus Tullius Tiro, and numerous other associates and politicians; in addition, there are, within the 16 volumes of the Epistulae ad Familiares, over 100 letters written to him by such public figures as Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great.
The letters survive thanks to Tiro, who collected and published the Ad Familiares after Cicero’s death, as well as to Atticus, who likely published those in his possession, and to other ancient scholars who understood the inestimable value of the correspondence. Cicero himself did not consider his Epistulae formal literary productions, as Pliny the Younger clearly did, and appears to have had little idea of ever publishing more than an abbreviated selection. Hence his style, while occasionally formal and close to that of his speeches, is more often that of an educated man’s sermo cotidianus, simple, colloquial, and free of the self-consciousness that often characterizes the letters of Pliny (as seen from the selections included later in this volume). These are the work not so much of Cicero the rhetorician and orator as of Cicero the man, revealing without inhibition his human feelings.
The selections chosen for this volume, nearly all of them complete and unexcerpted, include letters: to Atticus on a variety of topics, including the deteriorating relations between Pompey and Caesar; to his brother Quintus on the First Triumvirate and Clodius Pulcher’s threats to prosecute him for executing the Catilinarians; to his wife and children, lamenting his exile in Greece in 58; to his friend Marcus Marius on the vulgarity of Pompey’s public entertainments, an epistolary essay of sorts, like many of Pliny’s more formal letters; to Tiro on the freedman’s ill health and the volatile political situation in Rome following Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon River in early 49; to Sulpicius Rufus, a friend who had written Cicero a consolatio on the death of his daughter Tullia in 45; to Basilus, one of the conspirators who assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March, 44; and finally, in the autumn of 44, to Cassius, in whom (together with his fellow assassin Brutus) Cicero placed all hope of ridding Rome of Caesar’s successor, the “crazed gladiator” Mark Antony, and restoring the republic to senatorial control—a hope, of course, that was never to be realized.
A note on epistolary usages: Roman letters were typically written down, by the author or a secretary, using a reed pen on papyrus or, in the case of short notes, a stilus on a wax-covered folding tablet, then tied with a string, sealed with wax marked with a sealstone, and given to a slave or other courier for delivery. The salutation usually consists of the writer’s name in the nominative case, the addressee’s name in the dative, and some expression of greeting, generally abbreviated, such as S. or Sal. (salutem, sc. dicit) or S.P.D. (salutem plurimam dicit). The complimentary close, when there was one, was usually a simple vale or cura ut valeas, sometimes followed by the date (using abbreviations explained below in the notes). Often the past tenses are used to apply to the moment when the recipient reads a letter, not to the time it was written. In translating these so-called “epistolary tenses,” one should employ standard English idiom; hence, hanc epistulam Romae scribebam is equivalent to “I am writing this letter at Rome,” and scripseram to “I wrote.”
Paquius Proculus (?) and wife Fresco from Pompeii, house at region VII.ii.6, 1st century A.D. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
1. Cicero Attico Sal.: i.e., salutem dicit, a standard epistolary salutation; lit., Cicero says good health to Atticus, = “Dear Atticus.” Titus Pomponius Atticus, dedicatee of the De Amicitia, was Cicero’s closest friend.
2. ames: admire, approve; volo takes a JUSSIVE NOUN CL. with or without ut.
constantiam: firmness, strength of character; perhaps said somewhat tongue in cheek, as non placet can mean both it does not seem advisable (i.e., since in 59 B.C. the First Triumvirate were in control of Rome) and it is not pleasing (i.e., since Cicero does not enjoy the games anyway).
Anti: loc. of Antium, Antium (modern Anzio), a town on the coast about 30 miles south of Rome and 12 miles west of the Appian Way.
3. hyposoloicon: Greek, somewhat awkward; Cicero, like most educated Romans of the period, spoke Greek as well as Latin and occasionally employed Greek words just as we might use a French or German or even a Latin word or phrase in a letter to a friend.
vitare…suspicionem (4): perhaps because of the political tension revealed in the next letter.
deliciarum: deliciae, luxurious pleasures; so delicate below, luxuriously.
4. anaphainesthai: Greek = videri, to be seen.
5. inepte: adv., foolishly.
peregrinantem: peregrinari, to travel abroad or about.
Nonas Maias: the Nones of May; the Nones = the 5th day of most months, the 7th in March, May, July, and October.
6. Formiano: sc. praedio, my estate at Formiae, on the coast of Latium considerably south of Antium.
fac ut: a common idiom, facere ut = to make sure that, see to it that.
visuri simus: FUT. ACT. PERIPHRASTIC in an IND. QUEST.
7. ab Appi Foro: sc. hanc epistulum dabam, I am mailing this letter. The Forum of Appius and Three Taverns (Tres Tabernae) were villages on the Appian Way east of Antium; Cicero stayed on the Appian Way and by-passed Antium completely.
hora quarta: roughly 10:00 a.m., calculated from sunrise.
dederam aliam: sc. epistulam. Letter-writers often used the impf. instead of the pres. and the plupf. instead of the perf., the so-called EPISTOLARY TENSES, depicting actions as they will appear to the recipient of the letter; in Eng. these are generally better translated as pres. and perf., respectively.
9. Marcus Quinto Fratri: sc. salutem dicit (the salutation was frequently omitted); note the familiar use of the sender’s and recipient’s praenomina. Plebeian aedile in 65 B.C. and praetor in 62, Quintus was governor of Asia 61–58, when Marcus sent him two long letters that have survived, including the one from which this selection has been excerpted.
10. rem publicam: three men, Gaius Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), and Marcus Licinius Crassus, were in effect ruling by their arbitrary power what had been a constitutional republic.
11. funditus: adv., utterly, completely.
Cato: Gaius Porcius Cato (not the famous Marcus Cato, a kinsman), an opponent of Pompey’s in the early 50’s, when this letter was written, tribune in 57–56 and probably praetor in 55.
AD ATTICUM 2.10
On a trip to his villa at Formiae (on the coast of Latium, south of Rome), Cicero writes Atticus to tell him he has decided not to stop over for the games at Antium. April, 59 B.C.
Cicero Attico Sal.
Volo ames meam constantiam: ludos Anti spectare non placet; est enim hyposoloicon, cum velim vitare omnium deliciarum suspicionem, repente anaphainesthai non solum delicate sed 5 etiam inepte peregrinantem. Quare usque ad Nonas Maias te in Formiano exspectabo. Nunc fac ut sciam quo die te visuri simus. Ab Appi Foro, hora quarta; dederam aliam paulo ante a Tribus Tabernis. Vale.
AD QUINTUM FRATREM 1.2.15–16
Excerpt from a lengthy letter to his younger brother Quintus, then governor of Asia. The First Triumvirate dominates the state, quelling opposition by force, and Clodius threatens to prosecute Cicero. November (?), 59 B.C.
Marcus Quinto Fratri
Portrait of a young woman with stilus and tabella, fresco from Pompeii Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy
Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
10 Nunc ea cognosce quae maxime exoptas. Rem publicam funditus amisimus, adeo ut Cato, adulescens nullius consili sed tamen civis Romanus et Cato, vix vivus effugerit, quod, cum Gabinium de ambitu vellet postulare neque praetores diebus aliquot adiri possent, in contionem escendit et Pompeium “privatum 15 dictatorem” appellavit. Propius nihil est factum quam ut occideretur. Ex hoc qui sit status totius rei publicae videre potes.
12. Cato: a Cato (nonetheless), i.e., despite his lack of judgment.
13. Gabinium: Aulus Gabinius, a politician working with the Triumvirate (not the Catilinarian conspirator), was consul-elect (along with Caesar’s father-in-law) for 58.
ambitu: ambitus, bribery, electoral corruption.
postulare: to demand, request, prosecute.
diebus aliquot (14): for several days; the ABL. OF DURATION OF TIME was sometimes used instead of the acc. Cato had to make arrangements with the praetores (praetors, the leading judicial officers), before the trial, and they in the interests of the triumvirate refused to see him.
14. contionem: contio, meeting, assembly.
escendit: escendere, to go, arise; since Cato held no public office at this time, some magistrate must have invited him to speak.
privatum: i.e., self-appointed, one not elected by due constitutional process.
15. propius…quam: lit., nothing was more nearly done than (that); i.e., he was very nearly killed.
ut occideretur (16): NOUN CL. OF RESULT.
qui: interrog. adj. agreeing with status.
18. nostrae…causae: = meae causae (Cicero typically employs first pers. pl. for sg., cp. nos below). Cicero’s political enemies, especially Publius Clodius Pulcher (brother of the notorious Clodia/Lesbia of Catullus’ poems), were attempting to prosecute him on the grounds that he had executed Roman citizens without right of appeal—as indeed he had done in the case of the Catilinarian conspirators in 63 B.C. Despite his confidence here, his adversaries did finally secure his banishment in 58 B.C.
defuturi: deesse, + dat., to be wanting, fail; here, likely to fail.
mirandum in modum (19): in a way to be marveled at, in a marvelous fashion.
profitentur: profiteri, to speak out openly.
offerunt se: i.e., in his support.
pollicentur: polliceri, to promise, make promises.
20. spe…maxima…maiore…animo: CHIASMUS; the ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, regularly with an adj. as here, is continued in the following els. (spe…animo) without one.
animo: here, courage, confidence.
superiores: i.e., victorious in the political struggle; PRED. ADJ. with fore (= futuros esse) nos, IND. STATE. depending on spe (of the hope that…).
21. ut…pertimescam (22): RESULT CL. with animo (sc. tanto).
22. se…habet: an idiom common in Cicero; lit., the situation thus has itself = the situation is this.
diem…dixerit: appoints a day, fixes a date (for trial); sc. Clodius.
23. concurret: i.e., to support Cicero and oppose Clodius.
discedamus: from court, i.e., escape the charges.
sin: conj., but if.
Pompey 1st century B.C. Louvre Paris, France
Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY.
Nostrae tamen causae non videntur homines defuturi; mirandum in modum profitentur, offerunt se, pollicentur. Equidem 20 cum spe sum maxima, tum maiore etiam animo: spe, superiores fore nos; animo, ut in hac re publica ne casum quidem ullum pertimescam. Sed tamen se res sic habet: si diem nobis dixerit, tota Italia concurret, ut multiplicata gloria discedamus; sin autem vi agere conabitur, spero fore studiis non solum amicorum 25 sed etiam alienorum ut vi resistamus. Omnes et se et suos amicos, clientis, libertos, servos, pecunias denique suas pollicentur. Nostra antiqua manus bonorum ardet studio nostri atque amore. Si qui antea aut alieniores fuerant aut languidiores, nunc horum regum odio se cum bonis coniungunt. Pompeius 30 omnia pollicetur et Caesar; quibus ego ita credo ut nihil de mea comparatione deminuam. Tribuni plebis designati sunt nobis amici; consules se optime ostendunt; praetores habemus amicissimos et acerrimos civis, Domitium, Nigidium, Memmium, Lentulum; bonos etiam alios. Quare magnum fac animum 35 habeas et spem bonam. De singulis tamen rebus quae cotidie gerantur faciam te crebro certiorem.
24. vi agere: the possibility of violence on the part of Clodius and his followers is in ugly contrast to the legal procedure suggested at the beginning of the sent.; the resort to force was all too common in the 1st century B.C.
spero fore…ut…resistamus (25): fore (= futurum esse) + a subjunct. RESULT CL. was a common circumlocution for the fut. inf.
studiis: pl. because amicorum and alienorum are pl.
25. alienorum: i.e., those who were not of Cicero’s immediate political party.
vi: ABL. OF MEANS or possibly (though the form is rare) dat. with resistamus.
26. clientis: acc. pl. of cliens, dependent, client, follower; wealthy Roman patrons (patroni) typically had dozens or even hundreds of dependents, to whom they provided financial and other assistance in return for political support.
libertos: libertus, freedman, former slave.
27. antiqua: Cicero likely has in mind those who had supported him against Catiline in 63 B.C.
bonorum: an epithet frequently applied by Cicero to members of his political faction, the Optimates.
nostri: again = mei; OBJ. GEN.
28. qui: interrog. pron., indef. after si.
29. horum regum: the word rex, boldly applied here to the triumvirs, was despised in Roman politics.
31. comparatione: comparatio, preparation.
tribuni…designati: tribunes-elect; we know half a dozen of the 10 plebeian tribunes for 58 B.C., some of them, including Clodius himself, hostile to Cicero, and others sympathetic.
32. consules: if Cicero means the consuls-elect, as seems to be the case, then his comment here is wishful thinking, or rather encouragement for his brother, since one of the two was Aulus Gabinius and the other Caesar’s father-in-law Calpurnius Piso (see note on 13 above).
praetores: the four men named were praetors-elect for 58.
34. alios: i.e., some of the other four praetors.
fac: idiom, sc. ut, see to it that.
36. faciam te…certiorem: idiom, I shall keep you informed.
crebro: adv., frequently.
39. distinear: distinere, to distract.
41. voculae: vocula, diminutive of vox; here = my weak voice, probably strained from speaking.
dictavi: a slave would take down Cicero’s dictation, typically his much admired scriba, Tiro (see Ad Familiares 16.11 below).
ambulans: walking was considered good for the voice.
43. illud: the following, obj. of scire and explained by the following infs. in IND. STATE.
Sampsiceramum: obj. of paenitere and subj. of cupere. Sampsiceramus was a petty Syrian monarch whom Pompey had defeated; here and elsewhere Cicero applied this and similar oriental names to Pompey in ridiculing his growing arrogance and eastern mannerisms.
AD ATTICUM 2.23
News of Pompey’s political problems and of Clodius’ vicious campaign for the tribuneship. August or September, 59 B.C.
Cicero Attico Sal.
Numquam ante arbitror te epistulam meam legisse nisi mea manu scriptam. Ex eo colligere poteris quanta occupatione distinear. 40 Nam cum vacui temporis nihil haberem et cum recreandae voculae causa necesse esset mihi ambulare, haec dictavi ambulans.
Primum igitur illud te scire volo: Sampsiceramum, nostrum amicum, vehementer sui status paenitere, restituique in eum locum 45 cupere ex quo decidit, doloremque suum impertire nobis et medicinam interdum aperte quaerere, quam ego possum invenire nullam; deinde omnes illius partis auctores ac socios, nullo adversario, consenescere, consensionem universorum nec voluntatis nec sermonis maiorem umquam fuisse.
44. sui status paenitere: the impers. vb. paenitet takes an acc. of the repentant person + a gen. of the thing which causes the regret or displeasure; lit., with Sampsiceramum, it repents Sampsiceramus of his status = Sampsiceramus is sorry about his status. Pompey’s position in 59 B.C. was that of neither general nor politician; he was simply a member of the unofficial triumvirate formed in 60 B.C. with Caesar and Crassus.
locum: i.e., as a general with extensive powers such as he had been in 67–61 B.C.
45. impertire: to impart to, share with.
46. medicinam…quaerere: a common metaphor, applied here to Pompey’s quest for a solution to his political ills.
aperte: adv., openly.
47. nullam: to be translated as an emphatic adv., not at all, in no way, though it is an adj. with quam.
omnes…fuisse (49): both IND. STATES. dependent on te scire volo.
partis: here, (political) party.
48. nullo adversario: ABL. ABS., though there is no opponent, no opposition.
consenescere: to grow very old (figuratively) = to lose power; though the word is not etymologically connected with consensionem, Cicero juxtaposes the two terms and omits the conjunction in order to accentuate their ASSONANCE.
universorum: = omnium.
nec voluntatis nec sermonis (49): i.e., men were never in greater agreement in what they wanted and what they said in their conversations.
50. nos…intersumus (51): I am in the midst of = I take part in.
51. totos: Eng. would employ an adv., entirely.
forensem operam laboremque (52): i.e., legal business in the courts, as opposed to politics.
52. contulimus: here, applied, devoted.
ex quo: = et ex hoc, and as a result of this (situation); conjunctive use of the rel. pron.
53. earum rerum: depends on both commemoratione and desiderio (longing); Cicero had a weakness for dwelling on his own accomplishments, particularly his role in suppressing the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 B.C.
versamur: versari, to be busy, engaged (in), concerned (with).
54. Boopidos: Greek for Ox-eyed (= big-eyed) girl, an allusion to the notorious Clodia (the “Lesbia” of Catullus’ poems), sister of Cicero’s nemesis Clodius Pulcher (see note on line 18 above). Homer applies the term to the goddess Juno, and Cicero’s use of the word, though intended disparagingly, shows that Clodia was famous for her large, lustrous eyes.
consanguineus: of the same blood, related; here, brother.
terrores: terroristic threats. Cicero had exposed Clodius, who was now running a ruthless campaign for election to the tribuneship in order to introduce, among other things, legislation which would lead to Cicero’s banishment; through terrorist tactics he succeeded in both objectives.
55. denuntiat: denuntiare, to announce, declare, threaten (not denounce).
negat…fert…ostentat (56): sc. terrores with each vb.
“The Head of Pompey Presented to Caesar” Bonifazio de’ Pitati, 16th century Coll. Berenson, Florence, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
50 Nos autem (nam id te scire cupere certo scio) publicis consiliis nullis intersumus totosque nos ad forensem operam laboremque contulimus. Ex quo, quod facile intellegi possit, in multa commemoratione earum rerum quas gessimus desiderioque versamur. Sed Boopidos nostrae consanguineus non mediocres terrores 55 iacit atque denuntiat, et Sampsiceramo negat, ceteris prae se fert et ostentat. Quamobrem, si me amas quantum profecto amas, si dormis, expergiscere; si stas, ingredere; si vero ingrederis, curre; si curris, advola. Credibile non est quantum ego in consiliis et prudentia tua, quodque maximum est, quantum 60 in amore et fide ponam. Magnitudo rei longam orationem fortasse desiderat; coniunctio vero nostrorum animorum brevitate contenta est. Permagni nostra interest te, si comitiis non potueris, at declarato illo esse Romae. Cura ut valeas.
56. quamobrem: adv., wherefore, therefore.
profecto: adv., really, surely, actually, undoubtedly.
57. expergiscere: expergisci, to wake up.
ingredere: ingredi, to walk.
58. advola: fly to (me).
quantum: obj. of ponam, rely (on).
59. quodque maximum est: and what is most important, emphasizes the following quantum cl.; (id) quod is often used to refer to an entire phrase or cl.
62. permagni nostra interest: idiom, with abl. sg. of possessive + inf. phrase as subj. (here, te…esse), it is of very great importance to us (that).
comitiis: comitia, n. pl., election; sc. in, at the election. The elections for this year, in an act of political disruption typical of the period, had been delayed from July to October 18.
potueris: sc. esse.
63. declarato: declarare, to make clear, declare, declare as elected to office.
cura ut valeas: a conventional closing remark; cp. Eng. “take care of yourself.” No correspondence between Atticus and Cicero exists for the next four months, probably an indication that Atticus in fact complied with his request and returned to Rome, as Cicero requested in this letter.
64. Terentiae: Terentia, Cicero’s first wife and mother of his two children; she encouraged his activities against Catiline and later Clodius, and exerted herself on his behalf during his exile. The two were later divorced, in 48, due to Cicero’s suspicions that she was mishandling their finances.
Tulliolae: little Tullia, a diminutive form of the name of Cicero’s daughter, used as a term of endearment. Born ca. 79 B.C., Tullia was 21 years old at this time and married to Gaius Calpurnius Piso Frugi, a quaestor who lobbied for Cicero’s recall.
65. Ciceroni: Cicero’s son, named Marcus Tullius Cicero for his father; born in 65, he was just seven years old at the time of his father’s banishment.
66. perfertur: fero and a number of its compounds are often used with the sense of bringing news, reporting.
67. incredibilem: PRED. ADJ., placed at the beginning of its cl. for emphasis.
tuam…te: Terentia; Cicero refers to each of the three family members, following the order in the salutation.
68. me miserum: ACC. OF EXCLAMATION.
te…incidisse (70): the inf. used independently (i.e., without an introductory main vb.) to express an exclamation, (to think) that you have….
ista virtute (69): ABL. OF DESCRIPTION, = a person of such excellence.
69. humanitate: here, human kindness.
aerumnas: aerumna, hardship.
70. patre: logically with ex eo as antecedent of quo, the word is attracted into the rel. cl., common when the rel. cl. precedes its antecedent.
71. luctus: grief, sorrow, distress; here, acc. pl.
72. sapere: to have understanding.
73. quae: = et haec, n. pl., referring to dolores miseriasque.
facta: sc. esse.
74. paulo: adv., a little.
AD FAMILIARES 14.1
Clodius was elected tribune for 58 and authored a bill banishing Cicero for his role in the execution of the Catilinarians; from exile in Greece, Cicero writes to his wife Terentia and their daughter Tullia and son Marcus on a wide range of topics. Most of the letter was written in Thessalonica, with a postscript added in Dyrrhachium. November 25, 58 B.C.
Tullius Terentiae Suae, Tulliolae Suae,
65 Ciceroni Suo Salutem Dicit
Et litteris multorum et sermone omnium perfertur ad me incredibilem tuam virtutem et fortitudinem esse teque nec animi neque corporis laboribus defatigari. Me miserum!—te ista virtute, fide, probitate, humanitate in tantas aerumnas propter 70 me incidisse! Tulliolamque nostram, ex quo patre tantas voluptates capiebat, ex eo tantos percipere luctus! Nam quid ego de Cicerone dicam?—qui cum primum sapere coepit, acerbissimos dolores miseriasque percepit. Quae si, tu ut scribis, fato facta putarem, ferrem paulo facilius, sed omnia sunt mea culpa 75 commissa, qui ab eis me amari putabam, qui invidebant, eos non sequebar, qui petebant.
75. ab eis: the senatorial party; from the beginning Cicero had to struggle against their grudging acceptance of him because he was a novus homo, and now, he felt, they were jealous (invidebant) of his accomplishments.
76. qui petebant: the triumvirs, Caesar in particular, who did invite Cicero to join them but whose political philosophy he could not accept.
77. quod si: but if.
apud nos: with me.
tantum: adv., so much.
78. sermo: here, advice.
improborum: wicked, dishonest, treacherous.
80. dabo operam: operam dare, idiom, to give attention, take care, + ut cl.
valetudo: in the next paragraph Cicero mentions a plague at Thessalonica, where he had been staying, possibly a source of Terentia’s concern.
81. quanto: ABL. OF DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE.
82. omnis…habemus: i.e., with us, on our side.
Lentulum: sc. habemus; Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther was consul-elect at this time, and then as consul in 57 B.C. he did much to secure Cicero’s return from exile and to assist in the restoration of his property.
84. est desperandum: impers. pass.
85. familia: here, the household slaves.
quo modo: as (in what way); what the friends had suggested is not clear, but Cicero himself had considered the possibility of freeing his slaves.
de loco (86): with regard to this place; on fleeing into exile Cicero had gone to Gnaeus Plancius, quaestor of Macedonia, who provided him asylum at his residence in Thessalonica.
86. quam diu: how long = as long as.
87. attigit: attingere, to touch, reach, affect.
88. Epiro: Epirus, a remote section of northwest Greece.
89. quo: adv., where.
Hispo: probably a pseudonym for Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law and the incoming governor of Macedonia; as consul in 58 B.C. he had worked with Clodius to secure Cicero’s banishment.
90. decedat: NOUN CL. OF RESULT; Plancius was about to retire from his post in Macedonia.
91. complexum: complexus, embrace.
92. me ipsum: i.e., his former position.
recuperaro: = recuperavero, from recuperare, to recover, regain.
93. pietatis: affection, loyalty (not “piety” in our ordinary sense of the word).
Pisonis: Tullia’s husband (see note on line 64 above); Piso died in 57 B.C. just before Cicero’s return, and Tullia remarried the following year.
94. utinam: adv., introducing wishes, would that + subjunct. (OPTATIVE SUBJUNCT.).
95. ei voluptati: the so-called DOUBLE DAT. = DAT. OF REF. + DAT. OF PURPOSE.
Quod si nostris consiliis usi essemus neque apud nos tantum valuisset sermo aut stultorum amicorum aut improborum, beatissimi viveremus; nunc, quoniam sperare nos amici iubent, 80 dabo operam ne mea valetudo tuo labori desit. Res quanta sit, intellego, quantoque fuerit facilius manere domi quam redire: sed tamen, si omnis tribunos plebis habemus, si Lentulum tam studiosum quam videtur, si vero etiam Pompeium et Caesarem, non est desperandum.
85 De familia, quo modo placuisse scribis amicis, faciemus; de loco, nunc quidem iam abiit pestilentia, sed quam diu fuit, me non attigit. Plancius, homo officiosissimus, me cupit esse secum et adhuc retinet. Ego volebam loco magis deserto esse in Epiro, quo neque Hispo veniret nec milites, sed adhuc Plancius me retinet; 90 sperat posse fieri ut mecum in Italiam decedat—quem ego diem si videro et si in vestrum complexum venero ac si et vos et me ipsum recuperaro, satis magnum mihi fructum videbor percepisse et vestrae pietatis et meae. Pisonis humanitas, virtus, amor in omnis nos tantus est ut nihil supra possit. Utinam 95 ea res ei voluptati sit! Gloriae quidem video fore.
Julius Caesar 1st century B.C. Museo Pio Clementino Vatican Museums Vatican State
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
96. nihil: = a strong non.
te accusavi: Terentia and Quintus had had some disagreement, and Cicero, in attempting to mediate, apparently had given his wife the impression that he blamed her.
vos: subj. of esse; also felt as subj. of sitis.
praesertim: adv., especially.
98. egi: sc. eis gratias, with eis the antecedent of quibus; the antecedent of a rel. pron. was often omitted, especially when indef. or when, as here, the antecedent and rel. would be in the same case construction.
certiorem factum esse: for the idiom, see note on line 36; in his letters to these men Cicero gave Terentia due credit for reporting to him their help.
99. quod: as to the fact that.
vicum: vicus, property, estate.
100. obsecro: obsecrare, to beg, beseech.
101. premet: with eadem the sense is will continue to oppress.
queo: = possum.
reliqua: the remaining (things), the other (things), the rest.
103. fletum: fletus, weeping, lamentation.
tantum: i.e., only this much (as follows).
erunt in officio: will do their duty.
104. deerit: deesse, + dat., to be lacking, wanting, fail.
efficere: here, to manage.
105. per: in oaths, by.
vide ne puerum perditum perdamus: see that we do not ruin (i.e., financially, by your selling too much of your property) the boy, who has (already) been ruined (by the consequences of my exile).
106. cui: DAT. OF POSSESSION.
mediocri virtute opus est: there is need of (only) ordinary character = he will need only… i.e., if he can escape absolute poverty, he can manage well enough with just average character and a bit of luck.
107. consequatur: consequi, to follow, follow up, gain.
fac valeas: cp. cura ut valeas at the end of the preceding letter.
108. tabellarios: tabellarius, letter-carrier.
109. omnino: adv., wholly, completely, certainly, definitely.
exspectatio: wait, waiting.
110. d. a. d. VIK. Decemb.: = (litterae) datae ante diem sextum Kalendas Decembres, given (to the letter-carrier) on the 6th day before the December Kalends (= the first day of the month), i.e., Nov. 25. The first d. in such date formulations may also stand for datum or dabam. Many of Cicero’s letters were dated in this way, using more or less standard abbreviations.
Dyrrachi: loc.; Dyrrachium was on the west coast of the Balkan peninsula north of Epirus and approximately opposite the heel of Italy.
111. Dyrrachium…scribam (113): a postscript.
libera civitas: technically not subject to Rome, and hence a place where Roman exiles could live unmolested.
Cicero, 1st century B.C. Vatican Museums, Vatican State
Alinari/Art Resource, NY.
De Quinto fratre nihil ego te accusavi, sed vos, cum praesertim tam pauci sitis, volui esse quam coniunctissimos. Quibus me voluisti agere gratias, egi, et me a te certiorem factum esse scripsi. Quod ad me, mea Terentia, scribis te vicum vendituram, 100 quid, obsecro te—me miserum!—quid futurum est? Et, si nos premet eadem fortuna, quid puero misero fiet? Non queo reliqua scribere—tanta vis lacrimarum est—neque te in eundem fletum adducam. Tantum scribo: si erunt in officio amici, pecunia non deerit; si non erunt, tu efficere tua pecunia non poteris. 105 Per fortunas miseras nostras, vide ne puerum perditum perdamus. Cui si aliquid erit ne egeat, mediocri virtute opus est et mediocri fortuna, ut cetera consequatur. Fac valeas et ad me tabellarios mittas ut sciam quid agatur et vos quid agatis. Mihi omnino iam brevis exspectatio est. Tulliolae et Ciceroni salutem 110 dic. Valete. D.a.d. VI K. Decemb. Dyrrachi.
Dyrrachium veni, quod et libera civitas est et in me officiosa et proxima Italiae; sed si offendet me loci celebritas, alio me conferam, ad te scribam.
112. celebritas: crowded condition, because it was a major port for the traffic from Italy to Greece.
alio: adv., to another place, elsewhere.
114. S. D.: salutem dicit.
M. Mario: Marcus Marius, known only through a few of Cicero’s letters as a person of taste and refinement who led a quiet lifestyle and suffered from ill health; possibly one of the Marii of Arpinum, Cicero’s hometown, he had a villa at Stabiae near Cicero’s.
115. tenuit quominus…venires (116): kept you from coming; vbs. of hindering and preventing are followed by ne or quominus + subjunct.
116. ludos: Pompey produced lavish games in August, 55 B.C., in connection with the dedication of his new theater, Rome’s first permanent stone theater; the entertainments, which were so spectacular as to be mentioned a century later by Pliny the Elder, included plays, wild animal hunts, and athletic competitions.
tribuo: tribuere, to ascribe, attribute, give; sc. id.
118. posses: sc. venire.
119. utrumque: each of two, both.
laetor: laetari, to be glad about, take delight in.
et…te fuisse et…valuisse: both that you were…and that… both infs. are in appos. with utrumque.
121. apparatissimi: most sumptuous; sc. erant.
stomachi: stomachus, stomach, digestion, liking, taste. We would say “to your taste” and cp. the expression “I cannot stomach this.”
122. meo: sc. stomacho.
honoris causa…honoris causa (123): Cicero jokingly plays on two different meanings of honor; in the first instance he means for the sake of the honor, i.e., to honor Pompey on this occasion, and in the second, for the sake of their own honor, i.e., their (dwindling) reputation.
123. scaenam: scaena, stage, theater.
124. deliciae: lit., delights; but often, as here, the pl. is used in the sg. sense of pet, favorite, darling.
noster Aesopus: my friend Aesop; in his younger days Clodius Aesopus was the most famous tragic actor at Rome and a friend of Cicero’s.
125. eius modi fuit: he was such; he was so old and feeble that everyone was ready for him to retire (ei desinere).
iurare: to take an oath, i.e., as a character in the play.
126. sciens: Eng. would use an adv., knowingly.
fallo: fallere, to deceive, cheat, disappoint, fail; the joke is that, as Aesopus spoke the words from an oath, if I…fail, his voice in fact failed him.
127. quid: = cur, as often.
narrem: DELIBERATIVE SUBJUNCT.
nosti: = novisti, implying that Marius had already heard something of the games, not surprisingly, as they were a spectacular, if tasteless, event.
128. leporis: lepos, charm, grace, wit; PARTITIVE GEN. with id.
mediocres: here, ordinary.
apparatus…spectatio (129): the spectacle (sight) of the elaborate display.
AD FAMILIARES 7.1 (excerpts)
The public entertainments sponsored by Pompey at the dedication of his theater at Rome are vulgar displays which displeased Cicero and would have displeased his friend Marcus Marius as well; more formal than most of his correspondence, the letter is essentially an epistolary essay of the sort later written by Horace (in verse) and the younger Pliny. September or October, 55 B.C.
M. Cicero S. D. M. Mario
Marius’ absence from the games.
Gladiators fighting, terracotta relief 2nd century A.D. Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome, Italy
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
115 Si te dolor aliqui corporis aut infirmitas valetudinis tuae tenuit quominus ad ludos venires, fortunae magis tribuo quam sapientiae tuae; sin haec, quae ceteri mirantur, contemnenda duxisti et, cum per valetudinem posses, venire tamen noluisti, utrumque laetor, et sine dolore corporis te fuisse et animo valuisse, 120 cum ea, quae sine causa mirantur alii, neglexeris.
Omnino, si quaeris, ludi apparatissimi, sed non tui stomachi; coniecturam enim facio de meo: nam primum honoris causa in scaenam redierant ei, quos ego honoris causa de scaena decessisse arbitrabar; deliciae vero tuae, noster Aesopus, eius 125 modi fuit ut ei desinere per omnis homines liceret. Is iurare cum coepisset, vox eum defecit in illo loco, “si sciens fallo.” Quid tibi ego alia narrem? Nosti enim reliquos ludos, qui ne id quidem leporis habuerunt quod solent mediocres ludi; apparatus enim spectatio tollebat omnem hilaritatem. Quid enim delectationis 130 habent sescenti muli in Clytaemestra? aut in Equo Troiano creterrarum tria milia? aut armatura varia peditatus et equitatus in aliqua pugna? Quae popularem admirationem habuerunt; delectationem tibi nullam attulissent. Quod si tu pereos dies operam dedisti Protogeni tuo (dummodo is tibi quidvis potius 135 quam orationes meas legerit), ne tu haud paulo plus quam quisquam nostrum delectationis habuisti.
129. hilaritatem: hilaritas, enjoyment, amusement.
130. sescenti: 600; commonly used for an indefinite large number, here a hyperbole emphasizing the extravagance of the spectacle.
muli: perhaps carrying Agamemnon’s booty when he returned to Clytemnestra from Troy.
Clytaemestra…Equo Troiano (131): Clytemnestra and The Trojan Horse, titles of two Roman tragedies presented during the ludi; they have not survived, but they clearly dealt with the Trojan cycle.
131. creterrarum: creterra, mixing bowl, for mixing water with wine as the ancients regularly did; here again possibly loot from the Trojan War.
armatura: armor, equipment.
peditatus et equitatus (132): both gen. sg., of the infantry and cavalry.
133. attulissent: sc. si adfuisses.
134. Protogeni: Protogenes, an educated Greek slave trained as a reader (in Greek, an anagnostes); many cultivated Romans had such slaves.
dummodo…legerit (135): this self-deprecating aside shows that Cicero did, after all, have a sense of humor and could even poke fun at himself.
quidvis: quivis, anyone, anything.
135. ne: a Greek interjection, employed in Lat. only before prons., surely, indeed.
haud paulo plus: i.e., a great deal more; LITOTES.
136. nostrum: gen. with quisquam.
delectationis: depends on plus.
137. venationes: venatio, animal-hunt; wild beasts (lions, panthers, elephants, etc.) were turned loose in an arena to fight human beings and one another.
binae: two each (day).
138. polito: polished, therefore refined, cultivated.
139. imbecillus: weak, powerless, by nature as compared with bestiae, and also because sometimes the gladiators were unarmed.
laniatur: laniare, to tear, mangle.
140. venabulo: venabulum, hunting spear.
transverberatur: transverberare, to pierce through.
142. elephantorum…fuit: we would say “was devoted to….”
143. admiratio: not admiration, but surprise, amazement.
vulgi atque turbae: the vulgar throng; HENDIADYS.
exstitit: exsistere, to stand out, show itself, appear.
144. quin: here, to the contrary.
misericordia: Pliny the Elder in his Natural History (8.21) reports that the terrified elephants seemed to plead with the spectators so pathetically that all the people arose with tears in their eyes and cursed Pompey.
145. esse…societatem: IND. STATE. depending on opinio; the symmetry of the phrase is appropriate to the bond that Cicero suggests was felt between man and beast.
147. forte: abl. of fors as adv., by chance, perhaps.
148. dirupi: dirumpere, to burst, rupture.
paene: adv., nearly, almost; Eng. might say, “I practically killed myself.”
The wild animal hunts.
Reliquae sunt venationes binae per dies quinque, magnificae—nemo negat; sed quae potest homini esse polito delectatio, cum aut homo imbecillus a valentissima bestia laniatur aut 140 praeclara bestia venabulo transverberatur? Quae tamen, si vide-nda sunt, saepe vidisti; neque nos, qui haec spectamus, quicquam novi vidimus. Extremus elephantorum dies fuit. In quo admiratio magna vulgi atque turbae, delectatio nulla exstitit: quin etiam misericordia quaedam consecuta est atque opinio 145 eius modi, esse quandam illi beluae cum genere humane societatem.
Cicero is extremely busy.
Gladiators, Roman mosaic, 3rd century A.D. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
His ego tamen diebus (ludis scaenicis), ne forte videar tibi non modo beatus sed liber omnino fuisse, dirupi me paene in iudicio Galli Canini, familiaris tui. Quod si tam facilem populum 150 haberem, quam Aesopus habuit, libenter mehercule artem desinerem tecumque et cum similibus nostri viverem; neque enrm fructum ullum laboris exspecto, et cogor non numquam homines non optime de me meritos rogatu eorum, qui bene meriti sunt, defendere.
155 Itaque quaere causas omnis aliquando vivendi arbitratu meo; teque et istam rationem oti tui et laudo vehementer et probo; quodque nos minus intervisis, hoc fero animo aequiore, quod, si Romae esses, tamen neque nos lepore tuo neque te—si qui est in me—meo frui liceret propter molestissimas occupationes 160 meas; quibus si me relaxaro, te ipsum, qui multos annos nihil aliud commentaris, docebo profecto quid sit humaniter vivere.
149. Galli Canini: Lucius Caninius Gallus was a tribunus plebis in 56 B.C. and a supporter of Pompey, but we know nothing about this trial.
familiaris: friend, associate.
facilem populum: an accommodating public; another joke, since Aesopus’ audience, as Cicero had noted earlier (124–25), were eager to be rid of him.
150. mehercule: interj., by Hercules = good heavens! or so help me!
artem desinerem (151): i.e., to retire.
151. nostri: similis may be followed by either the dat. or the gen.
152. non numquam: common for sometimes.
153. homines…meritos (152): men not deserving very much from me; from mereri, to earn, deserve, merit.
155. causas…vivendi: reasons for living.
aliquando: adv., at some time, at last, finally.
arbitratu: arbitratus, choice, pleasure; ABL. OF ACCORDANCE.
156. oti: = otii; spelling with only one -i the gen. sg. of-ius/-ium nouns was common through the Ciceronian period.
157. quodque: and as to the fact that; the phrase introduced is in appos. with the following hoc.
intervisis: intervisere, to visit from time to time.
158. neque nos…neque te: both are subjs. of frui, for me to enjoy; the entire cl. is highly elliptical, = neque nos lepore tuo frui liceret neque te lepore meo (si qui est lepos in me) frui liceret.
159. qui: indef. adj. after si.
160. quibus: = et eis (occupationibus); ABL. OF SEPARATION.
relaxaro: = relaxavero.
161. commentaris: commentari, to study, consider, practice; with advs. such as iam and expressions of duration of time, such as multos annos here, Lat. uses the pres. where Eng. uses the perf., have been studying.
humaniter: adv., as a man (homo) should, i.e., in a refined manner.
163. sustenta: sustentare, to endure with courage.
164. tuere: tueri, to look at, guard, watch, protect.
lecticula: diminutive of lectica, small litter.
165. concursare: to run about, travel about.
166. abundantia: ABL. OF CAUSE.
167. subinvitaras: = subinvitaveras, from subinvitare, to gently invite, suggest, hint.
168. quominus: = ne, used to introduce a negative purpose cl.; lit., by which…the less = so that…not.
paeniteret: for construction see note on line 44 above.
169. quod: = et hoc.
minus: = non, as often.
170. quod…vises: cl. in appos. with hoc.
A cordial conclusion.
Tu modo istam imbecillitatem valetudinis tuae sustenta et tuere, ut facis, ut nostras villas obire et mecum simul lecticula 165 concursare possis. Haec ad te pluribus verbis scripsi quam so-leo, non oti abundantia sed amoris erga te, quod me quadam epistula subinvitaras, si memoria tenes, ut ad te aliquid eius modi scriberem, quominus te praetermisisse ludos paeniteret. Quod si adsecutus sum, gaudeo; sin minus, hoc me tamen consolor, 170 quod posthac ad ludos venies nosque vises.
Three comic actors Fresco from Pompeii 1st century A.D. Museo Archeologico Nazionale Naples, Italy
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
172. Q.Q.: = Quintus (Cicero’s brother) and Quintus (the son of Quintus); the fact that Cicero composed this letter in the names of all his family, as well as his use of plurimam (salutem), suggests the affection in which all held Tiro. Marcus Tullius Tiro, as he was called after being freed by Cicero, invented the first known system of shorthand (the so-called Notae Tironianae) for the purpose of taking down Cicero’s speeches, and he was also important in the editing of Cicero’s letters.
dic.: dicit.
173. opportunitatem: here, advantage.
174. te…valere: IND. STATE. dependent on doleo.
175. quartanam: sc. febrim (fever), quartan fever, which recurred every fourth day and was taken to be a sign of convalescence from more serious illnesses.
176. Curius: a banker at Patrae in whose care Cicero had left Tiro.
177. humanitatis tuae: characteristic of your human feeling or kindness; PRED. GEN.
178. quam commodissime: here, as expeditiously as possible.
179. ex desiderio labores: you suffer from being away.
180. nauseae molestiam: the annoyance of seasickness.
aeger: sick, ill.
181. hieme: hiems, winter; the ancients thought that winter was no time for navigation.
182. ad: = to the vicinity of. A general could not enter Rome without surrendering his imperium, unless the senate had granted him a triumph (triumphum, an honorary military parade through the city to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus); Cicero was awaiting such a triumph for a victory in his province of Cilicia but it had not yet been decreed by the senate.
pr. Non. Ian.: pridie Nonas Ianuarias, the day before the Nones of January = January 4 (49 B.C.).
obviam: adv., in the way, towards, to meet, + dat.; with mihi and the impers. pass, est proditum (from prodire), lit., it was come forth (by the people) to meet me = the people came out to meet me.
183. ornatius: more splendidly.
incidi: incidere, to fall into, come upon.
184. cui: = et ei (bello).
mederi: to heal, cure, + dat.; actually there was practically no likelihood that Cicero’s actions could have resolved the crisis, as Rome was clearly moving toward one-man rule of some sort.
186. ex utraque parte: on both (each of two) sides, i.e., the Caesarians and the senatorial aristocracy.
187. omnino: here, the sum of the matter is this, in sum.
et…Caesar…et Curio (189): both Caesar…and Curio; Gaius Scribonius Curio, tribune in 50 B.C. and a Caesarian, read to the senate on January 1 the letter Cicero mentions here.
amicus noster: ever the mediator, Cicero had attempted to maintain reasonably amicable relations with both Pompey and Caesar, so much so in fact that he was accused by some of fence-straddling.
minacis: threatening; acc. pl.
AD FAMILIARES 16.11
When returning from his province of Cilicia in November, 50 B.C., Cicero had left behind in Patrae, Greece, his beloved freedman and secretary Tiro; in this letter to Tiro, Cicero expresses his concern both over his friend’s health and over the dangers Rome faced on the very eve of civil war between Caesar and Pompey. January 12, 49 B.C., the day following Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon River.
Tullius et Cicero, Terentia, Tullia,
Q. Q. Tironi Sal. Plurimam Dic.
Two ships with man overboard Marble relief from a Roman sarcophagus, 2nd–3rd centuries A.D. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, Denmark
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY.
Etsi opportunitatem operae tuae omnibus locis desidero, tamen non tam mea quam tua causa doleo te non valere; sed 175 quoniam in quartanam conversa vis est morbi—sic enim scribit Curius—spero te, diligentia adhibita, iam firmiorem fore. Modo fac (id quod est humanitatis tuae) ne quid aliud cures hoc tempore, nisi ut quam commodissime convalescas. Non ignore quantum ex desiderio labores; sed erunt omnia facilia, si 180 valebis. Festinare te nolo, ne nauseae molestiam suscipias aeger et periculose hieme naviges.
Ego ad urbem accessi pr. Non. Ian. Obviam mihi sic est proditum ut nihil possit fieri ornatius; sed incidi in ipsam flammam civilis discordiae vel potius belli, cui cum cuperem mederi 185 et, ut arbitror, possem, cupiditates certorum hominum—nam ex utraque parte sunt qui pugnare cupiant—impedimento mihi fuerunt. Omnino et ipse Caesar, amicus noster, minacis ad senatum et acerbas litteras miserat, et erat adhuc impudens qui exercitum et provinciam invito senatu teneret, et Curio meus ilium 190 incitabat. Antonius quidem noster et Q. Cassius, nulla vi ex-pulsi, ad Caesarem cum Curione profecti erant postea quam senatus consulibus, praetoribus, tribunis plebis, et nobis qui pro consulibus sumus, negotium dederat ut curaremus ne quid res publica detrimenti caperet. Numquam maiore in periculo civitas 195 fuit; numquam improbi cives habuerunt paratiorem ducem. Omnino ex hac quoque parte diligentissime comparatur; id fit auctoritate et studio Pompei nostri, qui Caesarem sero coepit timere. Nobis inter has turbas senatus tamen frequens flagitavit triumphum; sed Lentulus consul, quo maius suum beneficium 200 faceret, simul atque expedisset quae essent necessaria de re publica, dixit se relaturum. Italiae regiones discriptae sunt, quam quisque partem tueretur: nos Capuam sumpsimus. Haec te scire volui.
Tu etiam atque etiam cura ut valeas litterasque ad me mittas, 205 quotienscumque habebis cui des. Etiam atque etiam vale. D. pr. Idus Ian.
188. qui…teneret (189): REL. CL. OF RESULT with erat adhuc impudens, he was still so shameless (defiant) that he…. The senate had ordered Caesar to relinquish his extraordinary 10-year governorship of Gaul and return to Rome, where his enemies intended to prosecute him for illegal acts he had committed during his consulship in 59.
189. provinciam: Caesar had governed the triple province of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine (Narbonese) Gaul, and Illyricum.
190. Antonius…et Q. Cassius: partisans of Caesar and tribunes for 49 B.C. When the senate rejected the demands in Caesar’s letter and decreed that he must disband his army or be regarded a public enemy, Antony and Cassius futilely interposed their veto against the senate’s decree and were forced to flee; Caesar used their expulsion to justify his march on Rome.
191. postea quam: = postquam.
192. nobis…pro consulibus (193): Cicero (who had not yet entered the city and was thus still proconsul) and Pompey (who had been specially empowered by the senate); a proconsul was an ex-consul whose imperium had been extended by vote of the senate beyond his year of office, generally for service as a provincial governor.
193. negotium: business, assignment.
ne…caperet (194): this was the wording of the senatus consultant ultimum, a decree of martial law issued by the senate and giving the magistrates extraordinary powers to deal with the crisis; a similar decree was passed during the Catilinarian conspiracy in 63 B.C.
194. detrimenti: detrimentum, harm; depends on quid.
196. ex hac…parte: on our side.
comparatur: impers. pass.
197. sero: adv., too late; this adv. and the pres. tense of comparatur give evidence of Pompey’s lack of preparation.
198. frequens: crowded, full.
flagitavit: flagitare, to demand.
199. Lentulus: Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus, brother of Lentulus Spinther (line 82), he was elected consul for 49 as an anti-Caesarian.
quo…faceret (200): i.e., to put Cicero more in his debt.
200. simul atque: as soon as.
201. relaturum: sc. esse; i.e., he would introduce a bill in the senate for a formal vote.
discriptae sunt: discribere, lit., to write separately = to distribute, assign.
quam…tueretur (202): an IND. QUEST., loosely appended in appos. to regiones, (indicating) what part (the part which) each should defend.
202. Capuam: Capua, one of the chief cities of Campania.
204. etiam atque etiam: repetition for emphasis = again and again.
205. cui des: sc. aliquem as antecedent; i.e., a letter-carrier.
206. d. pr. Idus Ian.: datum or dabam or (litterae) datae pridie Idus Ianuarias, the day before the Ides of January = January 12 (the Ides fell on the 13th of most months, the 15th in March, May, July, and October).
Funerary stele of Publius Longidienus, faber navalis 1st century B.C. Museo Nazionale Ravenna, Italy
SEF/Art Resource, NY.
208. lippitudo: lippitudo, inflammation of the eyes; Cicero frequently complained of problems with his eyes during this period.
librari: librarius, secretary.
manus: here, handwriting; Cicero often wrote out his own personal letters.
209. scriberem…erat: EPISTOLARY TENSES, to be translated as pres. (see note on line 7); similarly several of the vbs. following.
210. omnis exspectatio nostra erat: i.e., “we are eagerly awaiting.”
nuntiis Brundisinis: the news from Brundisium; after crossing the Rubicon in January, Caesar marched south and Pompey fled with his army to Brundisium, where he was preparing to cross over to Greece.
nactus…esset (211): nancisci, to find, get, obtain; here = if he has caught up with.
211. hic: Caesar.
Gnaeum: Pompey.
dubia: here, not dubious, but some, slight.
transmisisset: again epistolary, has crossed (to Greece).
212. in quem hominem: to what kind of man (i.e., Caesar); many had expected the worst of Caesar, but after his unexpected clemency in sparing the forces of Pompey who surrendered to him in a recent engagement at Corfinium, opinion throughout Italy began to turn in Caesar’s favor.
214. si…occiderit: i.e., especially if there were to be no proscriptions (the public posting of names of political enemies to be liquidated), like those of Sulla.
cuiquam: DAT. OF SEPARATION, common with vbs. that mean to take away, like adimere here; Cicero refers to the confiscations which regularly attended proscriptions.
216. municipales homines: townspeople (living in municipia outside of Rome).
rusticani: country people.
217. prorsus: adv., absolutely.
nisi…nummulos (218): ANAPHORA, ASYNDETON, TRICOLON CRESCENS, and the diminutives all serve to underscore Cicero’s indignation over the people’s apathy and fickleness.
218. nummulos: diminutive of nummus, little sums of money.
illum: Pompey, who had posed as the champion of the senate and constitutionality.
219. confidebant: confidere, to trust completely (in), may take the dat. or, as here, the ABL. OF PLACE WHERE.
220. nostris: refers to the senatorial party.
221. scripseram…exspectabam (222): EPISTOLARY TENSES.
224. valde: adv., greatly, very much.
225. quae apud Corfinium sunt gesta: i.e., Caesar’s clemency in releasing without injury Pompey’s troops whom he had captured at Corfinium in central Italy.
226. libentius: with hoc (ABL. OF DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE), the more gladly.
mea sponte: abl. used as adv., voluntarily, of my own accord.
constitueram: constituere, to place, determine, decide.
227. me praeberem: here, to show myself (to be).
Pompeium: with reconciliarem (to regain, win back).
AD ATTICUM 8.13
Whereas only recently Caesar had been feared and Pompey revered by many Romans, now, as Cicero complains to Atticus, in less than three months since the preceding letter and Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon, the public’s attitude toward both men is changing. Written from his villa at Formiae, March 1, 49 B.C.
Cicero Attico Sal.
Lippitudinis meae signum tibi sit librari manus et eadem causa brevitatis, etsi nunc quidem quod scriberem nihil erat. 210 Omnis exspectatio nostra erat in nuntiis Brundisinis. Si nactus hic esset Gnaeum nostrum, spes dubia pacis; sin ille ante transmisisset, exitiosi belli metus. Sed videsne in quem hominem inciderit res publica, quam acutum, quam vigilantem, quam paratum? Si mehercule neminem occiderit nee cuiquam quidquam 215 ademerit, ab iis qui eum maxime timuerant maxime diligetur.
Multum mecum municipales homines loquuntur, multum rusticani; nihil prorsus aliud curant nisi agros, nisi villulas, nisi nummulos suos. Et vide quam conversa res sit; illum quo antea confidebant metuunt, hunc amant quem timebant. Id quantis 220 nostris peccatis vitiisque evenerit, non possum sine molestia cogitare. Quae autem impendere putarem, scripseram ad te et iam tuas litteras exspectabam.
AD ATTICUM 9.7c
Caesar wrote the following letter to Oppius and Cornelius, two of his agents in Rome, and a copy was sent to Cicero. He will not follow the extreme course of Sulla and others, but seeks reconciliation with Pompey and the senatorial party. March 5 (?), 49 B.C.
Caesar Oppio Cornelio Sal.
Gaudeo mehercule vos significare litteris quam valde probetis 225 ea quae apud Corfinium sunt gesta. Consilio vestro utar libenter et hoc libentius quod mea sponte facere constitueram ut quam lenissimum me praeberem et Pompeium darem operam ut reconciliarem. Temptemus hoc modo si possimus omnium voluntates reciperare et diuturna victoria uti, quoniam reliqui 230 crudelitate odium effugere non potuerunt neque victoriam diutius tenere praeter unum L. Sullam, quem imitaturus non sum. Haec nova sit ratio vincendi ut misericordia et liberalitate nos muniamus. Id quemadmodum fieri possit, nonnulla mihi in mentem veniunt et multa reperiri possunt. De his rebus rogo 235 vos ut cogitationem suscipiatis.
N. Magium, Pompei praefectum, deprehendi. Scilicet meo instituto usus sum et eum statim missum feci. Iam duo praefecti fabrum Pompei in meam potestatem venerunt et a me missi sunt. Si volent grati esse, debebunt Pompeium hortari ut malit 240 mihi esse amicus quam iis qui et illi et mihi semper fuerunt inimicissimi, quorum artificiis effectum est ut res publica in hunc statum perveniret.
228. temptemus…si possimus: let us try in case we should be able, a FUT. LESS VIVID CONDITION equivalent to an IND. QUEST. = let us try to see whether we can.
229. reliqui: Cicero likely has in mind the massacres ordered by Gaius Marius and, certainly, the proscriptions of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, both in the civil wars of the 80’s.
232. liberalitate: here, generosity.
236. N. Magium: Numerius Magius, one of Pompey’s prefects of engineers, captured by Caesar after Corfinium and then dispatched by him to Pompey with a request that the two generals meet.
scilicet: adv., obviously, to be sure, of course.
237. instituto: institutum, custom, practice; Caesar had demonstrated his clementia with other captured officers.
missum feci: = I dismissed, released.
duo praefecti: Magius was one, Vibullius Rufus the other.
238. fabrum: = fabrorum, from faber, smith, engineer.
240. mihi…iis: both dat. with amicus.
241. inimicissimi: i.e., certain senators.
artificiis: artificium, scheme.
244. vellem: I could wish; POTENTIAL SUBJUNCT.
casu: here, misfortune, distress.
246. ex eo…quod: frow the fact that.
247. aliquantum: adv., somewhat.
adquievi: adquiescere, to become quiet, rest, calm down.
249. adhibuisti: here, you showed.
Servius…tuus: i.e., Sulpicius’ son.
250. declaravit: here, not declared, but made clear, demonstrated.
251. faceret: lit., made of = esteemed.
aninium: attitude.
253. oratio tua: i.e., his words.
254. societas…aegritudinis: partnership in my grief, almost a translation of Greek sympatheia, which literally means suffering with another, as does also eccl. Lat. compassio.
auctoritas: i.e., the influence of his advice.
AD FAMILIARES 4.6
We have, preserved amid Cicero’s correspondence (Ad Familiares 4.5), a letter of consolation on the death of his daughter Tullia written to him from Greece in April, 45 B.C., by the noted jurist, orator, and politician Servius Sulpicius Rufus. In the following reply Cicero expresses gratitude for Servius’ kindness but remarks that his sorrow is still hard to bear, because he cannot in these times take an active role in the political and forensic activities that might otherwise provide distraction from his grief. Written from Atticus’ villa at Ficulea, just to the east of Rome, April, 45 B.C.
M. Cicero S.D. Ser. Sulpicio
Ego vero, Servi, vellem, ut scribis, in meo gravissimo casu 245 adfuisses; quantum enim praesens me adiuvare potueris et consolando et prope aeque dolendo, facile ex eo intellego quod, litteris lectis, aliquantum adquievi. Nam et ea scripsisti quae levare luctum possent, et in me consolando non mediocrem ipse animi dolorem adhibuisti. Servius tamen tuus omnibus officiis, 250 quae illi tempori tribui potuerunt, declaravit et quanti ipse me faceret et quam suum talem erga me animum tibi gratum putaret fore; cuius officia iucundiora scilicet saepe mihi fuerunt, numquam tamen gratiora. Me autem non oratio tua solum et societas paene aegritudinis sed etiam auctoritas consolatur; 255 turpe enim esse existimo me non ita ferre casum meum, ut tu tali sapientia praeditus ferendum putas. Sed opprimor interdum et vix resisto dolori, quod ea me solacia deficiunt, quae ceteris, quorum mihi exempla propono, simili in fortuna non defuerunt. Nam et Q. Maximus, qui filium consularem, clarum virum et 260 magnis rebus gestis, amisit, et L. Paullus, qui duo septem diebus, et vester Gaius, et M. Cato, qui summo ingenio, summa virtute filium perdidit, iis temporibus fuerunt ut eorum luctum ipsorum dignitas consolaretur ea quam ex re publica conseque-bantur.
265 Mihi autem amissis ornamentis iis, quae ipse commemoras, quaeque eram maximis laboribus adeptus, unum manebat illud solacium, quod ereptum est. Non amicorum negotiis, non rei publicae procuratione impediebantur cogitationes meae, nihil in foro agere libebat; aspicere curiam non poteram; existimabam, 270 id quod erat, omnes me et industriae meae fructus et fortunae perdidisse. Sed, cum cogitarem haec mihi tecum et cum quibusdam esse communia, et cum frangerem iam ipse me co-geremque ilia ferre toleranter, habebam quo confugerem, ubi conquiescerem, cuius in sermone et suavitate omnes curas doloresque 275 deponerem. Nunc autem hoc tarn gravi vulnere etiam ilia, quae consanuisse videbantur, recrudescunt; non enim, ut tum me a re publica maestum domus excipiebat, quae levaret, sic nunc domo maerens ad rem publicam confugere possum, ut in eius bonis adquiescam. Itaque et domo absum et foro, quod 280 nec eum dolorem, quem de re publica capio, domus iam consolari potest nec domesticum res publica.
256. praeditus: endowed.
259. Q. Maximus: Quintus Fabius Maximus, dictator in 217 B.C. and hero in the war against Hannibal (see Livy’s “Hannibal and the Second Punic War,” below); his son, consul in 213 (hence consularem, ex-consul), predeceased him.
rebus gestis: accomplishments.
260. L. Paullus: Lucius Aemilius Paullus, victor over king Perseus at the battle of Pydna in 168 B.C. in the Third Macedonian War; his triumph was marred by the deaths of his two youngest sons in the same week.
duo: sometimes, as here, used for duos.
261. Gaius: Gaius Sulpicius Gallus, called vester as a member of Servius Sulpicius’ gens, served under Paullus at Pydna and also lost a son.
M. Cato: Marcus Porcius Cato, the famous orator, politician, and censor of the early second century B.C.; four years before his own death, his son died after being elected praetor in 153.
262. iis: here, such.
fuerunt: = vixerunt.
265. ornamentis: here, distinctions, honors.
266. eram…adeptus: adipisci, to gain.
unum manebat illud solacium (267): under Caesar’s rule, with his own political career eclipsed, Cicero’s one comfort had been the love and understanding of his daughter Tullia, who died in February, 45 B.C. (at the age of 33 or 34), two months before this letter was written.
268. procuratione: procuratio, management, conduct.
impediebantur: here, held in check.
cogitationes: i.e., his grief.
269. in foro: i.e., in legal practice.
libebat: libere, libuit, impers., it is pleasing.
curiam: senate-house; Caesar, now dictator, had greatly diminished the role of the senate.
270. id quod erat: id is in appos. with the whole cl. existimabam…perdidisse, the thing which was = as was the case.
272. frangerem: I broke = I gained control over.
273. ferre: sc. me as subj.
quo: adv., lit., whither = (a person) to whom; with confugerem, REL. CL. OF PURPOSE.
ubi: here, with whom; quo, ubi, and cuius refer to Tullia.
276. consanuisse: consanescere, to become healthy, get well, heal.
recrudescunt: recrudescere, to become raw again, continuing the metaphor in vulnere.
non: modifies possum (275).
277. tum: when Tullia was still alive.
a re publica: i.e., from the political world.
quae levaret: = ut ea (i.e., domus) me levaret, REL. CL. OF PURPOSE, and cp. the parallel ut…adquiescam below.
278. maerens: maerere, to grieve, lament.
279. in eius bonis: i.e., in its good fortunes.
281. domesticum: sc. dolorem.
282. quo: ABL. OF DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE, with magis = all the more.
283. ratio nulla: no philosophical reasoning.
284. consuetudinis: consuetudo, custom, practice, close personal relationship; with coniunctio, the association of our daily lives.
quamquam: conj., although, or at the beginning of an independent cl., as here, however, and yet.
sperabam…audiebam (285): EPISTOLARY TENSES.
286. cum…tum: = non solum…sed etiam.
287. ante: adv., in advance, i.e., before Caesar returns from Spain, where he had just defeated Pompey’s sons at Munda.
traducendum sit (288): traducere, to pass, spend.
288. unius: namely Caesar, modified by the four following adjs.; despite his aversion to dictatorship, Cicero can recognize good qualities in Caesar, as well as the necessity of political compromise.
290. alieni: here, estranged.
amicissimi: Caesar had pardoned Sulpicius, a former supporter of Pompey, and appointed him governor of Achaia in 46 B.C.
magnae…est deliberationis (291): it is a matter for careful consideration.
291. ratio: here, plan—and a plan not for action but for keeping quiet and out of Caesar’s way.
292. concessu et beneficio: with his permission and kindness; probably a HENDIADYS, by his kind permission.
293. Basilo: Lucius Minucius Basilus, a former legate of Caesar’s in Gaul who apparently served with him also in the civil war, joined the conspiracy after being denied a provincial governorship following his term as praetor in 45.
294. gratulor: gratulari, + dat., to congratulate; the brevity of this letter and its intense emotionality suggest to many historians that it was written within just hours after the assassination, to which Cicero may have been an eye-witness.
295. quid agas: how you are; a friend meeting another often commenced a conversation with “Salve! Quid agis?”
“Julius Caesar Proceeding to the Senate on the Ides of March” Abel de Pujol 19th century Musée des Beaux-Arts Valenciennes, France
Giraudon/Art Resource, NY.
Cicero longs to see Servius as soon as possible.
Quo magis te exspecto teque videre quam primum cupio; maius mihi solacium afferre ratio nulla potest quam coniunctio consuetudinis sermonumque nostrorum; quamquam sperabam 285 tuum adventum (sic enim audiebam) appropinquare. Ego autem cum multis de causis te exopto quam primum videre, turn etiam ut ante commentemur inter nos qua ratione nobis traducendum sit hoc tempus, quod est totum ad unius voluntatem accommo-dandum et prudentis et liberalis et, ut perspexisse videor, nec a 290 me alieni et tibi amicissimi. Quod cum ita sit, magnae tamen est deliberationis quae ratio sit ineunda nobis non agendi aliquid sed illius concessu et beneficio quiescendi. Vale.
AD FAMILIARES 6.15
Cicero’s apparent willingness to seek an accommodation with Caesar, as expressed in the preceding letter, ultimately faded with the dictator’s return to Rome in September of 45 and what seemed his ever-growing tyranny. In the following brief note, almost certainly written on the Ides of March, Cicero congratulates one of Caesar’s assassins on the deed and, though not one of the conspirators himself nor even invited to participate, he declares both his satisfaction and his support. Written in Rome, March 15, 44 B.C.
Cicero Basilo S.
Tibi gratulor, mihi gaudeo; te amo, tua tueor; a te amari et, 295 quid agas quidque agatur, certior fieri volo.
296. Cassio: Gaius Cassius Longinus, a former Pompeian who had been pardoned and given a praetorship by Caesar, nonetheless joined with Marcus Junius Brutus as one of the leaders in the assassination plot; he committed suicide in 42 B.C. after being defeated by Marc Antony’s forces in the first battle at Philippi.
297. laetor: laetari, to be glad.
tibi: DAT. OF REF.
orationem meam (298): the so-called “First Philippic,” delivered September 2, 44 B.C., was the first of a series of vehement speeches delivered by Cicero against Antony that ultimately cost the orator his life; 14 of the speeches survive and at least three others have been lost.
298. negoti: PARTITIVE GEN. with nihil, = it would not be difficult (to).
299. reciperare: also spelled recuperare, to regain.
homo amens: Marc Antony; Cicero used even harsher invective in his public denunciations of Antony, particularly in the acerbic Second Phillipic.
300. nequior: comparative of nequam, indecl. adj., worthless, good for nothing, wicked.
ille: i.e., Caesar.
nequissimum occisum esse (301): i.e., was the wickedest man (ever) slain.
301. caedis: caedes, slaughter.
302. criminatur: criminari, to charge; the charge was made by Antony following Cicero’s First Philippic.
nisi…incitentur (303): explains the causam.
303. veterani: Caesar’s.
304. modo: here = si modo, if only, or dummodo, provided that, + subjunct.
communicet: communicare, to join.
305. Pisoni…mihi…Servilio (306): each depends on licet. L. Calpurnius Piso, Caesar’s father-in-law (see note on line 89 above), had been a political enemy of Cicero but, after Caesar’s assassination, shared in his opposition to Antony; Publius Servilius Isauricus, consul with Caesar in 48, also initially opposed Antony, though the two subsequently reconciled.
invectus est: invehere, to carry against; pass., to be carried against, inveigh against.
nullo adsentiente: i.e., without anyone else at that time supporting him in his opposition to Antony (eum).
306. tricensimo: trice(n)simus, thirtieth; Piso spoke against Antony in early August, and Cicero delivered his First Philippic on September 2.
307. tuto: adv., safely.
gladiator: an insulting term for Antony.
308. eius: sc. caedis.
a. d. XIII Kal. Octobr.: ante diem tertium decimum Kalendas Octobres, the 13th day before the Kalends of October = September 19.
a me: from me = with me.
AD FAMILIARES 12.2 (excerpts)
The assassination of Caesar has not restored the republic, Cicero laments, because Antony has taken over the state and is proving himself even worse than Caesar. Cicero has hope in the tyrannicides and professes in this letter his loyalty to Cassius, one of the leaders in the conspiracy against Caesar and the resistance to Antony and Octavian. September or October, 44 B.C.
Cicero Cassio S.
“Death of Julius Caesar” Vincenzo Camuccini, 19th century Museo Nazionale di Capodimente. Naples, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.
Vehementer laetor tibi probari sententiam et orationem meam; qua si saepius uti liceret, nihil esset negoti libertatem et rem publicam reciperare. Sed homo amens et perditus multoque 300 nequior quam ille ipse, quem tu nequissimum occisum esse dixisti, caedis initium quaerit nullamque aliam ob causam me auctorem fuisse Caesaris interficiendi criminatur, nisi ut in me veterani incitentur: quod ego periculum non extimesco, modo vestri facti gloriam cum mea laude communicet. Ita nec 305 Pisoni, qui in eum primus invectus est nullo adsentiente, nec mihi, qui idem tricensimo post die feci, nec P. Servilio, qui me est consecutus, tuto in senatum venire licet: caedem enim gladiator quaerit eiusque initium a. d. XIII Kal. Octobr. a me se facturum putabit, ad quem paratus venerat, cum in villa Metelli 310 complures dies commentatus esset.
309. ad quem: sc. diem, on which day.
venerat: sc. in senatum.
Metelli: Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, consul in 52 and a leading Pompeian; after the defeat of his army and his death at the Battle of Thapsus, his property, including a villa at Tibur, was confiscated.
310. complures: several; in another of Cicero’s letters (Ad Atticum 16.2) we are told that Antony practiced his speech against Cicero for 17 days.
311. lustris: lustrum, den, brothel, debauchery.
312. vomere: Cicero uses the same grotesque image in the Philippics.
suo more (313): a slur on both his oratorical skills and his drinking habits.
313. quod scribis: as regards your writing (that).
314. profici: proficere, to accomplish.
non nihil: = aliquid; common in Cicero, like non numquam for interdum.
ut in tantis malis (315): lit., as in such great evils = considering the grim situation.
316. consulares: i.e., Cicero, Piso, Servilius as mentioned above.
317. locuti sint…possint: subjunct. in SUBORDINATE CLS. IN IND. STATE.
318. vobis: Cassius, Brutus, and their supporters.
aliquid…gloria: i.e., action against Antony.
velim: sc. ut vos id faciatis.
319. salvis nobis: while I am safe (i.e., still alive). Cicero’s wish, of course, was never realized, as he became a victim of the proscriptions, assassinated at Antony’s order on December 7, 43 B.C., just over a year after the composition of this letter and several months before the defeat of Cassius and Brutus at Philippi.
minus: = non; sc. erit. No matter what happens to Cicero, he is confident that the republic will soon be restored by Cassius and his followers.
320. tuis: sc. amicis.
321. sive…sive: conj., whether…or.
ad me referent: report (matters) to me = consult me.
Quae autem in lustris et in vino commentatio potuit esse? Itaque omnibus est visus, ut ad te antea scripsi, vomere suo more, non dicere. Quare, quod scribis te confidere auctoritate et eloquentia nostra aliquid profici posse, non nihil, ut in tantis 315 malis, est profectum: intellegit enim populus Romanus tres esse consulares, qui, quia quae de re publica bene senserint libere locuti sint, tuto in senatum venire non possint. Quare spes est omnis in vobis; si aliquid dignum vestra gloria cogitatis, velim salvis nobis; sin id minus, res tamen publica per vos brevi tempore 320 ius suum reciperabit. Ego tuis neque desum neque deero: qui sive ad me referent sive non referent, mea tibi benevolentia fidesque praestabitur. Vale.
“Banquet of Anthony and Cleopatra” Francesco Trevisani, 18th century Galleria Spada, Rome, Italy
Scala/Art Resource, NY.