Cicero Letters to Atticus, Vol. 2 of 3 39

Cicero Letters to Atticus, Vol. 2 of 3 39

Titinius' son is with Caesar. You seem to fear that your advice irks

me; but nothing indeed pleases me except your counsel and your letters.

So do as you promise. Do not omit to write to me anything that comes

into your mind; for nothing can delight me more.

 

I turn now to your next letter. You are right not

 

* * * * *

 

Page 218

 

Clodia. Falsum etiam de corruptis navibus. Quod consules laudas, ego

quoque animum laudo, sed consilium reprehendo; dispersu enim illorum

actio de pace sublata est, quam quidem ego meditabar. Itaque postea

Demetri librum de concordia tibi remisi et Philotimo dedi. Nec vero

dubito, quin exitiosum bellum impendeat; cuius initium ducetur a

fame. Et me tamen doleo non interesse huic bello! In quo tanta vis

sceleris futura est, ut, cum parentes non alere nefarium sit, nostri

principes antiquissimam et sanctissimam parentem, patriam, fame

necandam putent. Atque hoc non opinione timeo, sed interfui sermonibus.

Omnis haec classis Alexandria, Colchis, Tyro, Sidone, Arado, Cypro,

Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodo, Chio, Byzantio, Lesbo, Zmyrna, Mileto, Coo

ad intercludendos commeatus Italiae et ad occupandas frumentarias

provincias comparatur. At quam veniet iratus! et iis quidem maxime,

qui eum maxime salvum volebant, quasi relictus ab iis, quos reliquit.

Itaque mihi dubitanti, quid me facere par sit, permagnum pondus adfert

benevolentia erga illum; qua dempta perire melius esset in patria quam

patriam servando evertere. De septemtrione plane ita est. Metuo,

 

* * * * *

 

Page 219

 

to believe the reports about the number of Pompey's soldiers.

Clodia's letter made them just double. It was untrue also about the

destruction of the vessels. You praise the consuls; so do I praise

their courage, but I blame their policy. Their departure has destroyed

the negotiations for peace, the very thing which I was contemplating.

So after that I returned you Demetrius' book on Concord and gave it to

Philotimus. And I have no doubt a disastrous war is imminent, which

will be ushered in by famine. And here I am lamenting that I have no

hand in the war, a war which will be so criminal, that though it is

wicked not to support one's parents, yet our chiefs will not hesitate

to destroy by starvation their country, that most reverend and holiest

of parents! And my fears are not based on mere surmise. I have heard

their talk. All this fleet from Alexandria, Colchis, Tyre, Sidon,

Aradus, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodes, Chius, Byzantium, Lesbos,

Smyrna, Miletus, Cos, is being got ready to cut off the supplies of

Italy and to blockade the grain-producing provinces. And how angry

Pompey will be when he comes, particularly with those who particularly

desire his safety, as if he were abandoned by those whom he has

abandoned! So in my doubt what I ought to do, I am greatly swayed by my

good feeling towards Pompey. Without that it were better to perish in

my country, than to destroy my country by saving it. As to the north

wind, it is clearly as you write. I fear Epirus

 

* * * * *

 

Page 220

 

ne vexetur Epirus; sed quem tu locum Graeciae non direptum iri

putas? Praedicat enim palam et militibus ostendit se largitione ipsa

superiorem quam hunc fore. Illud me praeclare admones, cum illum

videro, ne nimis indulgenter, et ut cum gravitate potius loquar. Plane

sic faciendum. Arpinum, cum eum convenero, cogito, ne forte aut absim,

cum veniet, aut cursem huc illuc via deterrima. Bibulum, ut scribis,

audio venisse et redisse pridie Idus.

 

Philotimum, ut ais in epistula tertia, exspectabas. At ille Idibus a

me profectus est. Eo serius ad tuam illam epistulam, cui ego statim

rescripseram, redditae sunt meae litterae. De Domitio, ut scibis,

ita opinor esse, ut et in Cosano sit, et consilium eius ignoretur.

Iste omnium turpissimus et sordidissimus, qui consularia comitia a

praetore ait haberi posse, est idem, qui semper in re publica fuit.

Itaque nimirum hoc illud est, quod Caesar scribit in ea epistula,

cuius exemplum ad te misi, se velle uti "consilio" meo (age, esto;

hoc commune est), "gratia" (ineptum id quidem, sed, puto, hoc simulat

ad quasdam senatorum sententias), "dignitate" (fortasse sententiae

consularis). Illud extremum est: "ope omnium rerum." Id ego suspicari

coepi tum ex tuis litteris aut hoc ipsum esse aut non multo secus. Nam

permagni eius interest rem ad interregnum non venire. Id adsequitur, si

per praetorem consules creantur. Nos autem in libris

 

* * * * *

 

Page 221

 

may be harassed, but do you suppose there is any part of Greece that

will not be robbed? Pompey openly declares and shows his men that he

will be more liberal even than Caesar in largesse. You do well to

advise me, when I see Caesar, not to be too complacent, and to speak

rather with dignity. Clearly I must do so. I am thinking of going to

Arpinum after I have met him; for I do not want to be absent on his

arrival, or to have to travel to and fro in the wretched condition of

the roads. I hear, as you write, that Bibulus came and went back on the

14th.

 

[Sidenote: Iliad iv, 182]

 

You say in your third letter that you were awaiting Philotimus. He set

out from me on the 15th. That was why my reply to your letter, which

I wrote immediately, was late in reaching you. I think you are right

about Domitius, that he is in his place at Cosa; but what his plan

is, is not known. That disgraceful mean blackguard M. Lepidus, who

says that the consular elections may be held by a praetor, is playing

his old part in politics. So that was the meaning of the passage in

Caesar's letter of which I sent you a copy, that he wanted to enjoy my

"advice" (well, that is a general __EXPRESSION__), my "influence" (that

is flattery, but I suppose he affects to want it with a view to the

votes of certain senators), my "position" (perhaps he means my vote as

an ex-consul). His last phrase is "help in every way." I have begun

to suspect from your letter that that is the point, or something very

like it. For it is highly important to him that there should not be

an interregnum. That point is attained, if consuls are created by a

praetor. But in our state books it is set down that it is illegal not

only for

 

* * * * *

 

Page 222

 

habemus non modo consules a praetore, sed ne praetores quidem creari

ius esse, idque factum esse numquam; consules eo non esse ius, quod

maius imperium a minore rogari non sit ius, praetores autem, quod ita

rogentur, ut collegae consulibus sint, quorum est maius imperium.

Aberit non longe, quin hoc a me decerni velit neque sit contentus

Galba, Scaevola, Cassio, Antonio:

 

Τότε μοι χάνοι εὐρεῖα χθών!

 

Sed, quanta tempestas impendeat, vides. Qui transierint senatores,

scribam ad te, cum certum habebo. De re frumentaria recte intellegis,

quae nullo modo administrari sine vectigalibus potest; nec sine causa

et eos, qui circum illum sunt, omnia postulantes et bellum nefarium

times. Trebatium nostrum, etsi, ut scribis, nihil bene sperat, tamen

videre sane velim. Quem fac horteris, ut properet; opportune enim ad me

ante adventum Caesaris venerit. De Lanuvino, statim ut audivi Phameam

mortuum, optavi, si modo esset futura res publica, ut id aliquis emeret

meorum, neque tamen de te, qui maxime meus es, cogitavi. Sciebam enim

te "quoto anno" et "quantum in solo" solere quaerere neque solum Romae,

sed etiam Deli tuum διάγραμμα videram.[94] Verum tamen ego illud,

quamquam est bellum, minoris aestimo, quam aestimabatur Marcellino

consule, cum ego istos hortulos propter domum Anti, quam tum habebam,

iucundiores mihi fore putabam et minore impensa, quam si Tusculanum

refecissem. Volui HS. Q. Egi per praedem, ille daret tanti, cum haberet

venale.

 

[94] διάγραμμα _Malespina_; digamma _MSS._

 

* * * * *

 

Page 223

 

consuls to be created by the praetors, but for the very praetors

themselves, and that it has never been done; that it is illegal for

consuls, because it is illegal for persons with greater powers to be

proposed for election by those with less; for praetors, because they

are proposed as colleagues of the consuls who have the greater powers.

The next thing will be, he will want me to vote for it, and he will

not be content with Galba, Scaevola, Cassius and Antonius, "then let

the wide earth swallow me." But you see what a storm is coming. Which

senators have crossed over to Pompey I will tell you as soon as I

know. You are right about the corn supply: it cannot be done without

taxation: and you have cause to fear the exorbitant demands of Pompey's

associates and a wicked war. I should much like to see my friend

Trebatius, although you tell me he is in despair. Do bid him hurry,

for it will be convenient, if he comes before Caesar's arrival. As for

that estate at Lanuvium, as soon as I heard of the death of Phamea, I

longed, if the constitution was going to last, that one of my friends

should buy it, and yet I did not think of you, my best friend of all.

For I know that it is your custom to inquire in how many years you

may recoup yourself of a purchase, and the value of fixtures, and I

had seen your inventory not only at Rome but at Delos. But, though it

is a pretty property, I rate it at a lower value than it was rated in

Marcellinus' consulship, when I thought that, owing to the house I then

had at Antium, those little gardens would please me better and cost

less than the repair of my villa at Tusculum. I wanted the property for

£4,500.[95] I made an offer to that amount through a third party, when

he was putting

 

[95] Q. = quingentis millibus, i.e. 500,000 sesterces.

 

* * * * *

 

Page 224

 

Noluit. Sed nunc omnia ista iacere puto propter nummorum caritatem.

Mihi quidem erit aptissimum vel nobis potius, si tu emeris; sed eius

dementias cave contemnas. Valde est venustum. Quamquam mihi ista omnia

iam addicta vastitati videntur.

 

Respondi epistulis tribus, sed exspecto alias; nam me adhuc tuae

litterae sustentarunt. D. Liberalibus.

 

 

 

 

X

 

CICERO ATTICO SAL.

 

 

[Sidenote: _Scr. in Formiano XV K. Apr. a. 705_]

 

Nihil habebam, quod scriberem. Neque enim novi quicquam audieram et

ad tuas omnes rescripseram pridie. Sed, cum me aegritudo non solum

somno privaret, verum ne vigilare quidem sine summo dolore pateretur,

tecum ut quasi loquerer, in quo uno acquiesco, hoc nescio quid nullo

argumento proposito scribere institui.

 

Amens mihi fuisse videor a principio, et me una haec res torquet, quod

non omnibus in rebus labentem vel potius ruentem Pompeium tamquam

unus manipularis secutus sim. Vidi hominem XIIII K. Febr. plenum

formidinis. Illo ipso die sensi, quid ageret. Numquam mihi postea

placuit, nec umquam aliud in alio peccare destitit. Nihil interim ad

me scribere, nihil nisi fugam cogitare. Quid quaeris? sicut ἐν τοῖς

ἐρωτικοῖς alienant immundae, insulsae, indecorae, sic me illius fugae neglegentiaeque deformitas