Cicero Letters to Atticus, Vol. 2 of 3 34

Cicero Letters to Atticus, Vol. 2 of 3 34

By employing myself with such questions and discussing the pros and

cons in Greek and Latin, I divert my thoughts a little from my troubles

and at the same time consider a subject which is very pertinent. But

I fear you may find me a nuisance. For, if the bearer makes proper

headway, it will reach you on the very day you have your attack of ague.

 

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Page 190

 

 

 

 

V CICERO ATTICO SAL.

 

 

[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis VI Id. Mart. a. 705_]

 

Natali die tuo scripsisti epistulam ad me plenam consilii summaeque

cum benevolentiae tum etiam prudentiae. Eam mihi Philotimus postridie,

quam a te acceperat, reddidit. Sunt ista quidem, quae disputas,

difficillima, iter ad superum, navigatio infero, discessus Arpinum, ne

hunc fugisse, mansio Formiis, ne obtulisse nos gratulationi videamur,

sed miserius nihil quam ea videre, quae tamen iam, iam, inquam, videnda

erunt.

 

Fuit apud me Postumus, scripsi ad te, quam gravis. Venit ad me etiam Q.

Fufius quo vultu, quo spiritus properans Brundisium, scelus accusans

Pompei, levitatem et stultitiam senatus. Haec qui in mea villa non

feram, Curtium in curia potero ferre? Age, finge me quamvis εὐστομάχως

haec ferentem, quid? illa "DIC, M. TVLLI" quem habebunt exitum? Et

omitto causam rei publicae, quam ego amissam puto cum vulneribus suis

tum medicamentis eis, quae parantur, de Pompeio quid agam? cui plane

(quid enim hoc negem?) suscensui. Semper enim causae eventorum magis

movent quam ipsa eventa. Haec igitur mala (quibus maiora esse quae

possunt?) considerans, vel potius iudicans eius opera accidisse, et

culpa, inimicior eram huic quam ipsi Caesari. Ut

 

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V

 

CICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.

 

 

[Sidenote: _Formiae, March 10_, B.C. _49_]

 

On your birthday you wrote me a letter full of advice, full of

great kindness and of great wisdom. Philotimus delivered it to me

the day after he got it from you. The points you discuss are very

difficult--the route to the upper sea, a voyage by the lower sea,

departure to Arpinum, lest I should seem to have avoided Caesar,

remaining at Formiae, lest I should appear to have put myself forward

to congratulate him; but the most miserable thing of all will be to see

what I tell you must very shortly be seen.

 

Curtius Postumus was with me. I wrote you how tiresome he was. Quintus

Fufius also came to see me--what an air! what assurance!--hastening

to Brundisium denouncing Pompey's wrong-doings and the careless folly

of the House. When I cannot stand this under my own roof, how shall

I be able to endure Curtius in the Senate? But suppose I put up with

all this in good humour, what of the question "Your vote, M. Tullius?"

What will come of it? I pass over the cause of the Republic, which I

consider lost, both from the wounds dealt it and the cures prepared for

them; but what am I to do about Pompey? It is no use denying that I am

downright angry with him. For I am always more affected by the causes

of events than by the events themselves. Therefore considering our

incomparable woes, or rather concluding that they have happened by his

doing and his mistakes, I am more angry with Pompey than with Caesar

himself. Just as our ancestors

 

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Page 192

 

maiores nostri funestiorem diem esse voluerunt Aliensis pugnae

quam urbis captae, quod hoc malum ex illo (itaque alter religiosus

etiam nunc dies, alter in vulgus ignotus), sic ego decem annorum

peccata recordans, in quibus inerat ille etiam annus, qui nos hoc

non defendente, ne dicam gravius, adflixerat, praesentisque temporis

cognoscens temeritatem, ignaviam, neglegentiam suscensebam. Sed ea iam

mihi exciderunt; beneficia eiusdem cogito, cogito etiam dignitatem;

intellego serius equidem, quam vellem, propter epistulas sermonesque

Balbi, sed video plane nihil aliud agi, nihil actum ab initio, nisi ut

hunc occideret. Ego igitur, sicut ille apud Homerum, cui et mater et

dea dixisset:

 

Αὐτίκα γάρ τοι ἔπειτα μεθ' Ἐκτορα πότμος ἕτοιμος,

 

matri ipse respondit:

 

Αὐτίκα τεθναίην, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἄρ' ἔμελλον ἑταίρῳ

κτεινομένῳ ἐπαμῦναι.

 

Quid, si non ἑταίρῳ solum, sed etiam εὐεργέτῃ adde tali viro talem

causam agenti? Ego vero haec officia mercanda vita puto. Optimatibus

vero tuis nihil confido, nihil iam ne inservio quidem. Video, ut se

huic dent, ut daturi sint. Quicquam tu illa putas fuisse de valetudine

decreta municipiorum prae his de victoria gratulationibus? "Timent,"

inquies. At ipsi tum se timuisse dicunt. Sed videamus, quid actum sit

Brundisi. Ex eo fortasse alia consilia nascentur aliaeque litterae.

 

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Page 193

 

thought that the day of the battle of Alia was blacker than the day

of the capture of Rome, because the capture was but the consequence

of the battle (and so the former day is still a black letter day and

the latter is commonly unknown), so I too was angry in recalling his

errors of the last ten years, which included the year of my affliction,

when he gave me no help, to put it mildly, and recognizing his

foolhardiness, sloth and carelessness at the present time. But all this

I have forgotten. It is his kindness I think of, and I think of my own

honour too. I understand, later indeed than I could have wished, from

the letters and conversation of Balbus, but I see plainly, that the

sole object is, and has been from the beginning, the death of Pompey.

So I say the same as Achilles to his mother, when she said "For after

Hector's death thy doom is fixed," and he replied, "Then let me die,

since I have failed to save my friend."

 

[Sidenote: Iliad XVIII, 96-9]

 

And in my case it is not only a friend but a benefactor, a man so great

and championing so great a cause. Indeed I hold that life should be

paid for the kindnesses that he has done me. But in your loyal party I

have no confidence: nor I do even acknowledge any allegiance to them

now. I see how they surrender and will surrender themselves to Caesar.

Do you think that those decrees of the towns about Pompey's health were

anything compared with their congratulatory addresses to Caesar? You

will say, "They are terrorized." Yes, but they themselves declare that

they were terrorized on the former occasion. But let us see what has

happened at Brundisium. Perhaps from that may spring different plans

and a different letter.

 

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Page 194

 

 

 

 

VI

 

CICERO ATTICO SAL.

 

 

[Sidenote: _Scr. Formiis V Id. Mart. a. 705_]

 

Nos adhuc Brundisio nihil. Roma scripsit Balbus putare iam Lentulum

consulem tramisisse, nec eum a minore Balbo conventum, quod is hoc

iam Canusi audisset; inde ad se eum scripsisse; cohortesque sex,

quae Albae fuissent, ad Curium via Minucia transisse; id Caesarem ad

se scripsisse, et brevi tempore eum ad urbem futurum. Ergo utar tuo

consilio neque me Arpinum hoc tempore abdam, etsi, Ciceroni meo togam

puram cum dare Arpini vellem, hanc eram ipsam excusationem relicturus

ad Caesarem. Sed fortasse in eo ipso offendetur, cur non Romae potius.

Ac tamen, si est conveniendus, hic potissimum. Tum reliqua videbimus,

id est et quo et qua et quando.

 

Domitius, ut audio, in Cosano est, et quidem, ut aiunt, paratus ad

navigandum, si in Hispaniam, non probo, si ad Gnaeum, laudo; quovis

potius certe, quam ut Curtium videat, quem ego patronus aspicere

non possum. Quid alios? Sed, opinor, quiescamus, ne nostram culpam

coarguamus, qui, dum urbem, id est patriam, amamus dumque rem

conventuram putamus, ita nos gessimus, ut plane interclusi captique