XICICERO ATTICO SAL.

[Pg 226]avertit ab amore. Nihil enim dignum faciebat, quare eius fugae comitem me adiungerem. Nunc emergit amor, nunc desiderium ferre non possum, nunc mihi nihil libri, nihil litterae, nihil doctrina prodest. Ita dies et noctes tamquam avis illa mare prospecto, evolare cupio. Do, do poenas temeritatis meae. Etsi quae fuit illa temeritas? quid feci non consideratissime? Si enim nihil praeter fugam quaereretur, fugissem libentissime, sed genus belli crudelissimi et maximi, quod nondum vident homines quale futurum sit, perhorrui. Quae minae municipiis, quae nominatim viris bonis, quae denique omnibus, qui remansissent! quam crebro illud "Sulla potuit, ego non potero?"! Mihi autem haeserunt illa. Male Tarquinius, qui Porsenam, qui Octavium Mamilium contra patriam, impie Coriolanus, qui auxilium petiit a Volscis, recte Themistocles, qui mori maluit, nefarius Hippias, Pisistrati filius, qui in Marathonia pugna cecidit arma contra patriam ferens. At Sulla, at Marius, at Cinna recte, immo iure fortasse; sed quid eorum victoria crudelius, quid funestius? Huius belli genus fugi, et eo magis, quod crudeliora etiam cogitari et parari videbam. Me, quem non nulli conservatorem istius urbis, quem parentem esse dixerunt, Getarum et Armeniorum et Colchorum copias ad eam adducere? me meis civibus famem, vastitatem inferre Italiae? Hunc primum mortalem esse, deinde etiam[Pg 227]his flight and his carelessness have estranged my love. For he has done nothing of a kind to induce me to share his flight. But now my old love breaks forth: now I miss him intolerably: now books, letters, philosophy, do not help me one whit. Day and night, like that bird,[96]I gaze at the sea, and long to take flight. Sorely am I punished for my rashness. Yet what rashness was there? I acted with all deliberation. For, if flight were his only object, I would have fled gladly enough. But I was aghast at warfare so cruel and desperate, the upshot of which is still unknown. What threats against the country towns, against the loyalists by name, in fact against all who should stay behind! How frequently has he remarked "Sulla could do it, and shall not I?" I could not get rid of thoughts like these. It was base in Tarquin to egg on Porsena and Octavius Mamilius against his country; it was wicked in Coriolanus, to seek help from the Volscians. Themistocles was right who preferred to die. What a dastard was Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, who fell at the battle of Marathon, bearing arms against his country! Yes, but Sulla and Marius and Cinna acted rightly, perhaps one should say within their rights; but then victory brought cruelty and death. I shrank from a war of that kind, and also because I saw cruelty even greater was being planned and prepared. Was it for me, whom some called the saviour and father of Rome, to bring against her hordes of Getae, Armenians and Colchians? Was it for me to bring famine on my fellow-townsmen and devastation on Italy? In the first place I reflected that Caesar was[96]Cf. Plato,Ep.vii, 348A, καθάπερ ὄρνις ποθῶν ποθὲν ἀναπτᾶσθαι "Like a bird longing to fly somewhither."

[Pg 226]

avertit ab amore. Nihil enim dignum faciebat, quare eius fugae comitem me adiungerem. Nunc emergit amor, nunc desiderium ferre non possum, nunc mihi nihil libri, nihil litterae, nihil doctrina prodest. Ita dies et noctes tamquam avis illa mare prospecto, evolare cupio. Do, do poenas temeritatis meae. Etsi quae fuit illa temeritas? quid feci non consideratissime? Si enim nihil praeter fugam quaereretur, fugissem libentissime, sed genus belli crudelissimi et maximi, quod nondum vident homines quale futurum sit, perhorrui. Quae minae municipiis, quae nominatim viris bonis, quae denique omnibus, qui remansissent! quam crebro illud "Sulla potuit, ego non potero?"! Mihi autem haeserunt illa. Male Tarquinius, qui Porsenam, qui Octavium Mamilium contra patriam, impie Coriolanus, qui auxilium petiit a Volscis, recte Themistocles, qui mori maluit, nefarius Hippias, Pisistrati filius, qui in Marathonia pugna cecidit arma contra patriam ferens. At Sulla, at Marius, at Cinna recte, immo iure fortasse; sed quid eorum victoria crudelius, quid funestius? Huius belli genus fugi, et eo magis, quod crudeliora etiam cogitari et parari videbam. Me, quem non nulli conservatorem istius urbis, quem parentem esse dixerunt, Getarum et Armeniorum et Colchorum copias ad eam adducere? me meis civibus famem, vastitatem inferre Italiae? Hunc primum mortalem esse, deinde etiam

[Pg 227]his flight and his carelessness have estranged my love. For he has done nothing of a kind to induce me to share his flight. But now my old love breaks forth: now I miss him intolerably: now books, letters, philosophy, do not help me one whit. Day and night, like that bird,[96]I gaze at the sea, and long to take flight. Sorely am I punished for my rashness. Yet what rashness was there? I acted with all deliberation. For, if flight were his only object, I would have fled gladly enough. But I was aghast at warfare so cruel and desperate, the upshot of which is still unknown. What threats against the country towns, against the loyalists by name, in fact against all who should stay behind! How frequently has he remarked "Sulla could do it, and shall not I?" I could not get rid of thoughts like these. It was base in Tarquin to egg on Porsena and Octavius Mamilius against his country; it was wicked in Coriolanus, to seek help from the Volscians. Themistocles was right who preferred to die. What a dastard was Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, who fell at the battle of Marathon, bearing arms against his country! Yes, but Sulla and Marius and Cinna acted rightly, perhaps one should say within their rights; but then victory brought cruelty and death. I shrank from a war of that kind, and also because I saw cruelty even greater was being planned and prepared. Was it for me, whom some called the saviour and father of Rome, to bring against her hordes of Getae, Armenians and Colchians? Was it for me to bring famine on my fellow-townsmen and devastation on Italy? In the first place I reflected that Caesar was[96]Cf. Plato,Ep.vii, 348A, καθάπερ ὄρνις ποθῶν ποθὲν ἀναπτᾶσθαι "Like a bird longing to fly somewhither."

[Pg 227]

his flight and his carelessness have estranged my love. For he has done nothing of a kind to induce me to share his flight. But now my old love breaks forth: now I miss him intolerably: now books, letters, philosophy, do not help me one whit. Day and night, like that bird,[96]I gaze at the sea, and long to take flight. Sorely am I punished for my rashness. Yet what rashness was there? I acted with all deliberation. For, if flight were his only object, I would have fled gladly enough. But I was aghast at warfare so cruel and desperate, the upshot of which is still unknown. What threats against the country towns, against the loyalists by name, in fact against all who should stay behind! How frequently has he remarked "Sulla could do it, and shall not I?" I could not get rid of thoughts like these. It was base in Tarquin to egg on Porsena and Octavius Mamilius against his country; it was wicked in Coriolanus, to seek help from the Volscians. Themistocles was right who preferred to die. What a dastard was Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, who fell at the battle of Marathon, bearing arms against his country! Yes, but Sulla and Marius and Cinna acted rightly, perhaps one should say within their rights; but then victory brought cruelty and death. I shrank from a war of that kind, and also because I saw cruelty even greater was being planned and prepared. Was it for me, whom some called the saviour and father of Rome, to bring against her hordes of Getae, Armenians and Colchians? Was it for me to bring famine on my fellow-townsmen and devastation on Italy? In the first place I reflected that Caesar was

[96]Cf. Plato,Ep.vii, 348A, καθάπερ ὄρνις ποθῶν ποθὲν ἀναπτᾶσθαι "Like a bird longing to fly somewhither."

[Pg 228]multis modis posse exstingui cogitabam, urbem autem et populum nostrum servandum ad immortalitatem, quantum in nobis esset, putabam, et tamen spes quaedam me oblectabat fore ut aliquid conveniret, potius quam aut hic tantum sceleris aut ille tantum flagitii admitteret.Alia res nunc tota est, alia mens mea. Sol, ut est in tua quadam epistula, excidisse mihi e mundo videtur. Ut aegroto, dum anima est, spes esse dicitur, sic ego, quoad Pompeius in Italia fuit, sperare non destiti. Haec, haec me fefellerunt, et, ut verum loquar, aetas iam a diuturnis laboribus devexa ad otium domesticarum me rerum delectatione mollivit. Nunc, si vel periculose experiundum erit, experiar certe, ut hinc avolem. Ante oportuit fortasse; sed ea, quae scripsisti, me tardarunt, et auctoritas maxime tua. Nam, cum ad hunc locum venissem, evolvi volumen epistularum tuarum, quod ego sub signo habeo servoque diligentissime. Erat igitur in ea, quamXK. Febr. dederas, hoc modo: "Sed videamus, et Gnaeus quid agat, et illius rationes quorsum fluant. Quodsi iste Italiam relinquet, faciet omnino male, et, ut ego existimo, ἀλογίστως, sed tum demum consilia nostra commutanda erunt." Hoc scribis post diem quartum, quam ab urbe discessimus. DeindeVIIIK. Febr.: "Tantum modo Gnaeus noster ne, ut urbem ἀλογίστως reliquit, sic Italiam relinquat." Eodem die das alteras litteras, quibus mihi consulenti planissime respondes. Est enim sic: "Sed venio ad consultationem tuam. Si Gnaeus Italia cedit, in urbem redeundum puto; quae enim finis peregrinationis?" Hoc mihi[Pg 229]mortal, and besides might be got rid of in many ways. But I thought that our city and our people should be preserved so far as in us lay for immortality; and anyhow I cherished a hope that some arrangement might be made before Caesar perpetrated such a crime or Pompey such iniquity.Now the case is altered and my mind is altered too. The sun, as you say in one of your letters, seems to me to have fallen out of the universe. As a sick man is said to have hope, so long as he has breath, so I did not cease to hope so long as Pompey was in Italy. This, this was what deceived me, and to speak the truth after my long labours my life's evening falling peacefully has made me lazy with the thought of domestic pleasures. But now, even if risk must be run in fleeing hence, assuredly I will run it. Perhaps I ought to have done it before: but the points you wrote about delayed me, and especially your influence. For, when I got so far, I opened the packet of your letters, which I keep under seal and preserve with the greatest care. In a letter dated the 21st of January, you make the following remark: "Let us see Pompey's policy and the drift of his plans. Now if he leave Italy, it will be wrong and to my mind irrational: but then and not till then will be the time to change our plans." This you wrote on the fourth day after I left Rome. Then on the 23rd of January: "I only pray that our friend Pompey will not leave Italy, as he has irrationally left Rome." On the same day you wrote another letter, a frank reply to my request for advice. It runs: "But to answer the question on which you ask advice, if Pompey leaves Italy, I think you ought to return to Rome: for what can be the end to his

[Pg 228]

multis modis posse exstingui cogitabam, urbem autem et populum nostrum servandum ad immortalitatem, quantum in nobis esset, putabam, et tamen spes quaedam me oblectabat fore ut aliquid conveniret, potius quam aut hic tantum sceleris aut ille tantum flagitii admitteret.

Alia res nunc tota est, alia mens mea. Sol, ut est in tua quadam epistula, excidisse mihi e mundo videtur. Ut aegroto, dum anima est, spes esse dicitur, sic ego, quoad Pompeius in Italia fuit, sperare non destiti. Haec, haec me fefellerunt, et, ut verum loquar, aetas iam a diuturnis laboribus devexa ad otium domesticarum me rerum delectatione mollivit. Nunc, si vel periculose experiundum erit, experiar certe, ut hinc avolem. Ante oportuit fortasse; sed ea, quae scripsisti, me tardarunt, et auctoritas maxime tua. Nam, cum ad hunc locum venissem, evolvi volumen epistularum tuarum, quod ego sub signo habeo servoque diligentissime. Erat igitur in ea, quamXK. Febr. dederas, hoc modo: "Sed videamus, et Gnaeus quid agat, et illius rationes quorsum fluant. Quodsi iste Italiam relinquet, faciet omnino male, et, ut ego existimo, ἀλογίστως, sed tum demum consilia nostra commutanda erunt." Hoc scribis post diem quartum, quam ab urbe discessimus. DeindeVIIIK. Febr.: "Tantum modo Gnaeus noster ne, ut urbem ἀλογίστως reliquit, sic Italiam relinquat." Eodem die das alteras litteras, quibus mihi consulenti planissime respondes. Est enim sic: "Sed venio ad consultationem tuam. Si Gnaeus Italia cedit, in urbem redeundum puto; quae enim finis peregrinationis?" Hoc mihi

[Pg 229]mortal, and besides might be got rid of in many ways. But I thought that our city and our people should be preserved so far as in us lay for immortality; and anyhow I cherished a hope that some arrangement might be made before Caesar perpetrated such a crime or Pompey such iniquity.Now the case is altered and my mind is altered too. The sun, as you say in one of your letters, seems to me to have fallen out of the universe. As a sick man is said to have hope, so long as he has breath, so I did not cease to hope so long as Pompey was in Italy. This, this was what deceived me, and to speak the truth after my long labours my life's evening falling peacefully has made me lazy with the thought of domestic pleasures. But now, even if risk must be run in fleeing hence, assuredly I will run it. Perhaps I ought to have done it before: but the points you wrote about delayed me, and especially your influence. For, when I got so far, I opened the packet of your letters, which I keep under seal and preserve with the greatest care. In a letter dated the 21st of January, you make the following remark: "Let us see Pompey's policy and the drift of his plans. Now if he leave Italy, it will be wrong and to my mind irrational: but then and not till then will be the time to change our plans." This you wrote on the fourth day after I left Rome. Then on the 23rd of January: "I only pray that our friend Pompey will not leave Italy, as he has irrationally left Rome." On the same day you wrote another letter, a frank reply to my request for advice. It runs: "But to answer the question on which you ask advice, if Pompey leaves Italy, I think you ought to return to Rome: for what can be the end to his

[Pg 229]

mortal, and besides might be got rid of in many ways. But I thought that our city and our people should be preserved so far as in us lay for immortality; and anyhow I cherished a hope that some arrangement might be made before Caesar perpetrated such a crime or Pompey such iniquity.

Now the case is altered and my mind is altered too. The sun, as you say in one of your letters, seems to me to have fallen out of the universe. As a sick man is said to have hope, so long as he has breath, so I did not cease to hope so long as Pompey was in Italy. This, this was what deceived me, and to speak the truth after my long labours my life's evening falling peacefully has made me lazy with the thought of domestic pleasures. But now, even if risk must be run in fleeing hence, assuredly I will run it. Perhaps I ought to have done it before: but the points you wrote about delayed me, and especially your influence. For, when I got so far, I opened the packet of your letters, which I keep under seal and preserve with the greatest care. In a letter dated the 21st of January, you make the following remark: "Let us see Pompey's policy and the drift of his plans. Now if he leave Italy, it will be wrong and to my mind irrational: but then and not till then will be the time to change our plans." This you wrote on the fourth day after I left Rome. Then on the 23rd of January: "I only pray that our friend Pompey will not leave Italy, as he has irrationally left Rome." On the same day you wrote another letter, a frank reply to my request for advice. It runs: "But to answer the question on which you ask advice, if Pompey leaves Italy, I think you ought to return to Rome: for what can be the end to his

[Pg 230]plane haesit, et nunc ita video, infinitum bellum iunctum miserrima fuga, quam tu peregrinationem ὑποκορίζη. Sequitur χρησμὸςVIK. Februarias: "Ego, si Pompeius manet in Italia, nec res ad pactionem venit, longius bellum puto fore; sin Italiam relinquit, ad posterum bellum ἄσπονδον strui existimo." Huius igitur belli ego particeps et socius et adiutor esse cogor, quod et ἄσπονδον est et cum civibus? DeindeVIIIdus Febr., cum iam plura audires de Pompei consilio, concludis epistulam quandam hoc modo: "Ego quidem tibi non sim auctor, si Pompeius Italiam relinquit, te quoque profugere. Summo enim periculo facies nec rei publicae proderis; cui quidem posterius poteris prodesse, si manseris." Quem φιλόπατριν ac πολιτικὸν hominis prudentis et amici tali admonitu non moveret auctoritas? DeincepsIIIIdus Febr. iterum mihi respondes consulenti sic: "Quod quaeris a me, fugamne[97]defendam an moram utiliorem putem, ego vero in praesentia subitum discessum et praecipitem profectionem cum tibi tum ipsi Gnaeo inutilem et periculosam puto, et satius esse existimo vos dispertitos et in speculis esse; sed medius fidius turpe nobis puto esse de fuga cogitare." Hoc turpe Gnaeus noster biennio ante cogitavit. Ita sullaturit animus eius et proscripturit iam diu. Inde, ut opinor, cum tu ad me quaedam γενικώτερον scripsisses, et ego mihi a te significari putassem, ut Italia cederem, detestaris hoc diligenterXIK. Mart.: "Ego vero nulla epistula significavi, si Gnaeus Italia cederet, ut tu una cederes, aut, si significavi, non dico fui inconstans,[97]fugamne—putem, asOtto Müller: M readsfugamne fidam (corr. fromfedam) an moram defendam utiliorem putem.Other suggested emendations arefugamne suadeam an moram defendam utilioremque putem(Klotz), andfugamne foedam an moram desidem utiliorem putem (Manutius).[Pg 231]wanderings?" This gave me pause, and I see now endless war is attached to that wretched flight, which you playfully called "wandering." There follows your prophecy of the 25th of January: "If Pompey stays in Italy and no arrangement is reached, I fancy there will be a very long war. If he leaves Italy, I think that for the future there will be warà l'outrance." In this war thenà l'outrance, this civil war, am I forced to take part and lot and share? Next on the 7th of February, when you had heard more of Pompey's plans, you end a letter as follows: "I would not advise you to flee, if Pompey leaves Italy. You will run a very great risk, and will not help the country, which you may be able to help hereafter, if you remain." What patriot and politician would not be influenced by such advice from a wise man and a friend? Next on the 11th of February you answer my request for counsel again as follows: "You ask me whether I hold that flight or delay is more useful. Well, I think that at the present juncture a sudden departure and hasty journey would be useless and dangerous both to yourself and to Pompey, and that it were better for you to be apart, and each on his own watch tower. But upon my honour I hold it disgraceful of us to think of flight." This disgrace our Pompey meditated two years ago: so long has he been eager to play at Sulla and proscriptions. Then, as I fancy, when you had written to me in more general terms and I had thought that some of your remarks hinted at my departure from Italy, you protest emphatically against it on the 19th of February: "In no letter have I hinted that you should accompany Pompey, if he leaves Italy, or, if I did hint it, I was worse than inconsistent, I was mad."

[Pg 230]

plane haesit, et nunc ita video, infinitum bellum iunctum miserrima fuga, quam tu peregrinationem ὑποκορίζη. Sequitur χρησμὸςVIK. Februarias: "Ego, si Pompeius manet in Italia, nec res ad pactionem venit, longius bellum puto fore; sin Italiam relinquit, ad posterum bellum ἄσπονδον strui existimo." Huius igitur belli ego particeps et socius et adiutor esse cogor, quod et ἄσπονδον est et cum civibus? DeindeVIIIdus Febr., cum iam plura audires de Pompei consilio, concludis epistulam quandam hoc modo: "Ego quidem tibi non sim auctor, si Pompeius Italiam relinquit, te quoque profugere. Summo enim periculo facies nec rei publicae proderis; cui quidem posterius poteris prodesse, si manseris." Quem φιλόπατριν ac πολιτικὸν hominis prudentis et amici tali admonitu non moveret auctoritas? DeincepsIIIIdus Febr. iterum mihi respondes consulenti sic: "Quod quaeris a me, fugamne[97]defendam an moram utiliorem putem, ego vero in praesentia subitum discessum et praecipitem profectionem cum tibi tum ipsi Gnaeo inutilem et periculosam puto, et satius esse existimo vos dispertitos et in speculis esse; sed medius fidius turpe nobis puto esse de fuga cogitare." Hoc turpe Gnaeus noster biennio ante cogitavit. Ita sullaturit animus eius et proscripturit iam diu. Inde, ut opinor, cum tu ad me quaedam γενικώτερον scripsisses, et ego mihi a te significari putassem, ut Italia cederem, detestaris hoc diligenterXIK. Mart.: "Ego vero nulla epistula significavi, si Gnaeus Italia cederet, ut tu una cederes, aut, si significavi, non dico fui inconstans,

[97]fugamne—putem, asOtto Müller: M readsfugamne fidam (corr. fromfedam) an moram defendam utiliorem putem.Other suggested emendations arefugamne suadeam an moram defendam utilioremque putem(Klotz), andfugamne foedam an moram desidem utiliorem putem (Manutius).

[Pg 231]wanderings?" This gave me pause, and I see now endless war is attached to that wretched flight, which you playfully called "wandering." There follows your prophecy of the 25th of January: "If Pompey stays in Italy and no arrangement is reached, I fancy there will be a very long war. If he leaves Italy, I think that for the future there will be warà l'outrance." In this war thenà l'outrance, this civil war, am I forced to take part and lot and share? Next on the 7th of February, when you had heard more of Pompey's plans, you end a letter as follows: "I would not advise you to flee, if Pompey leaves Italy. You will run a very great risk, and will not help the country, which you may be able to help hereafter, if you remain." What patriot and politician would not be influenced by such advice from a wise man and a friend? Next on the 11th of February you answer my request for counsel again as follows: "You ask me whether I hold that flight or delay is more useful. Well, I think that at the present juncture a sudden departure and hasty journey would be useless and dangerous both to yourself and to Pompey, and that it were better for you to be apart, and each on his own watch tower. But upon my honour I hold it disgraceful of us to think of flight." This disgrace our Pompey meditated two years ago: so long has he been eager to play at Sulla and proscriptions. Then, as I fancy, when you had written to me in more general terms and I had thought that some of your remarks hinted at my departure from Italy, you protest emphatically against it on the 19th of February: "In no letter have I hinted that you should accompany Pompey, if he leaves Italy, or, if I did hint it, I was worse than inconsistent, I was mad."

[Pg 231]

wanderings?" This gave me pause, and I see now endless war is attached to that wretched flight, which you playfully called "wandering." There follows your prophecy of the 25th of January: "If Pompey stays in Italy and no arrangement is reached, I fancy there will be a very long war. If he leaves Italy, I think that for the future there will be warà l'outrance." In this war thenà l'outrance, this civil war, am I forced to take part and lot and share? Next on the 7th of February, when you had heard more of Pompey's plans, you end a letter as follows: "I would not advise you to flee, if Pompey leaves Italy. You will run a very great risk, and will not help the country, which you may be able to help hereafter, if you remain." What patriot and politician would not be influenced by such advice from a wise man and a friend? Next on the 11th of February you answer my request for counsel again as follows: "You ask me whether I hold that flight or delay is more useful. Well, I think that at the present juncture a sudden departure and hasty journey would be useless and dangerous both to yourself and to Pompey, and that it were better for you to be apart, and each on his own watch tower. But upon my honour I hold it disgraceful of us to think of flight." This disgrace our Pompey meditated two years ago: so long has he been eager to play at Sulla and proscriptions. Then, as I fancy, when you had written to me in more general terms and I had thought that some of your remarks hinted at my departure from Italy, you protest emphatically against it on the 19th of February: "In no letter have I hinted that you should accompany Pompey, if he leaves Italy, or, if I did hint it, I was worse than inconsistent, I was mad."

[Pg 232]sed demens." In eadem epistula alio loco: "Nihil relinquitur nisi fuga; cui te socium neutiquam puto esse oportere nec umquam putavi." Totam autem hanc deliberationem evolvis accuratius in litterisVIIIKal. Mart. datis: "Si M'. Lepidus et L. Volcacius remanent, manendum puto, ita ut, si salvus sit Pompeius et constiterit alicubi, hanc νέκυιαν relinquas et te in certamine vinci cum illo facilius patiaris quam cum hoc in ea, quae perspicitur futura, colluvie regnare." Multa disputas huic sententiae convenientia. Inde ad extremum: "Quid, si, inquis," "Lepidus et Volcacius discedunt? Plane ἀπορῶ. Quod evenerit igitur, et quod egeris, id στερκτέον putabo." Si tum dubitaras, nunc certe non dubitas istis manentibus. Deinde in ipsa fugaVKal. Martias: "Interea non dubito quin in Formiano mansurus sis. Commodissime enim τὸ μέλλον ibi καραδοκήσεις." Ad K. Mart., cum ille quintum iam diem Brundisi esset: "Tum poterimus deliberare non scilicet integra re, sed certe minus infracta, quam si una proieceris te." Deinde IIII Non. Martias, ὑπὸ τὴν λῆψιν cum breviter scriberes, tamen ponis hoc: "Cras scribam plura et ad omnia; hoc tamen dicam, non paenitere me consilii de tua mansione, et, quamquam magna sollicitudine, tamen, quia minus mali puto esse quam in illa profectione, maneo in sententia et gaudeo te mansisse." Cum vero iam angerer et timerem, ne quid a me dedecoris esset admissum,IIINonas Mart.: "Tamen te non esse una cum Pompeio non fero moleste. Postea, si opus fuerit, non erit difficile, et[Pg 233]In the same letter there is another passage: "Nothing is left for Pompey but flight, in which I do not think and never have thought that you should share." This counsel you unroll in detail in your letter dated the 22nd of February: "If M'. Lepidus and L. Volcacius stay, I think you should stay, provided, if Pompey wins safety and makes a stand anywhere, you should leave theseâmes damnées, and rather share defeat with him than share Caesar's sovereignty in the mire that will be." You argue at length in support of this view, then at the end you say: "What if Lepidus and Volcacius depart? I am quite at a loss. So I shall think you must face the event and abide by what you have done." If you had any doubt then, you certainly have no doubt left now, as those two persons remain in Italy. Next, when the flight was actually made on Feb. 25: "Meantime I have no doubt you should stay at Formiae. It will be most convenient there to await the event." On the 1st of March, when Pompey had been four days at Brundisium: "Then we shall be able to debate, not indeed with a free hand but assuredly less hampered, than if you had shared his plunge." Next on the 4th of March, though you scribbled a line on the eve of your fever bout, nevertheless you say this: "I will write more to-morrow, and answer all your questions. But I maintain this, that I am not sorry for advising you to stay, and, though very anxious, still, because I fancy it is better than flight, I stick to my opinion and am glad that you have stayed in Italy." When I was already tortured with fear that my conduct was disgraceful on the 5th of March you write: "However I am not sorry that you are not with Pompey. Hereafter, if need arise, it will be easy,

[Pg 232]

sed demens." In eadem epistula alio loco: "Nihil relinquitur nisi fuga; cui te socium neutiquam puto esse oportere nec umquam putavi." Totam autem hanc deliberationem evolvis accuratius in litterisVIIIKal. Mart. datis: "Si M'. Lepidus et L. Volcacius remanent, manendum puto, ita ut, si salvus sit Pompeius et constiterit alicubi, hanc νέκυιαν relinquas et te in certamine vinci cum illo facilius patiaris quam cum hoc in ea, quae perspicitur futura, colluvie regnare." Multa disputas huic sententiae convenientia. Inde ad extremum: "Quid, si, inquis," "Lepidus et Volcacius discedunt? Plane ἀπορῶ. Quod evenerit igitur, et quod egeris, id στερκτέον putabo." Si tum dubitaras, nunc certe non dubitas istis manentibus. Deinde in ipsa fugaVKal. Martias: "Interea non dubito quin in Formiano mansurus sis. Commodissime enim τὸ μέλλον ibi καραδοκήσεις." Ad K. Mart., cum ille quintum iam diem Brundisi esset: "Tum poterimus deliberare non scilicet integra re, sed certe minus infracta, quam si una proieceris te." Deinde IIII Non. Martias, ὑπὸ τὴν λῆψιν cum breviter scriberes, tamen ponis hoc: "Cras scribam plura et ad omnia; hoc tamen dicam, non paenitere me consilii de tua mansione, et, quamquam magna sollicitudine, tamen, quia minus mali puto esse quam in illa profectione, maneo in sententia et gaudeo te mansisse." Cum vero iam angerer et timerem, ne quid a me dedecoris esset admissum,IIINonas Mart.: "Tamen te non esse una cum Pompeio non fero moleste. Postea, si opus fuerit, non erit difficile, et

[Pg 233]In the same letter there is another passage: "Nothing is left for Pompey but flight, in which I do not think and never have thought that you should share." This counsel you unroll in detail in your letter dated the 22nd of February: "If M'. Lepidus and L. Volcacius stay, I think you should stay, provided, if Pompey wins safety and makes a stand anywhere, you should leave theseâmes damnées, and rather share defeat with him than share Caesar's sovereignty in the mire that will be." You argue at length in support of this view, then at the end you say: "What if Lepidus and Volcacius depart? I am quite at a loss. So I shall think you must face the event and abide by what you have done." If you had any doubt then, you certainly have no doubt left now, as those two persons remain in Italy. Next, when the flight was actually made on Feb. 25: "Meantime I have no doubt you should stay at Formiae. It will be most convenient there to await the event." On the 1st of March, when Pompey had been four days at Brundisium: "Then we shall be able to debate, not indeed with a free hand but assuredly less hampered, than if you had shared his plunge." Next on the 4th of March, though you scribbled a line on the eve of your fever bout, nevertheless you say this: "I will write more to-morrow, and answer all your questions. But I maintain this, that I am not sorry for advising you to stay, and, though very anxious, still, because I fancy it is better than flight, I stick to my opinion and am glad that you have stayed in Italy." When I was already tortured with fear that my conduct was disgraceful on the 5th of March you write: "However I am not sorry that you are not with Pompey. Hereafter, if need arise, it will be easy,

[Pg 233]

In the same letter there is another passage: "Nothing is left for Pompey but flight, in which I do not think and never have thought that you should share." This counsel you unroll in detail in your letter dated the 22nd of February: "If M'. Lepidus and L. Volcacius stay, I think you should stay, provided, if Pompey wins safety and makes a stand anywhere, you should leave theseâmes damnées, and rather share defeat with him than share Caesar's sovereignty in the mire that will be." You argue at length in support of this view, then at the end you say: "What if Lepidus and Volcacius depart? I am quite at a loss. So I shall think you must face the event and abide by what you have done." If you had any doubt then, you certainly have no doubt left now, as those two persons remain in Italy. Next, when the flight was actually made on Feb. 25: "Meantime I have no doubt you should stay at Formiae. It will be most convenient there to await the event." On the 1st of March, when Pompey had been four days at Brundisium: "Then we shall be able to debate, not indeed with a free hand but assuredly less hampered, than if you had shared his plunge." Next on the 4th of March, though you scribbled a line on the eve of your fever bout, nevertheless you say this: "I will write more to-morrow, and answer all your questions. But I maintain this, that I am not sorry for advising you to stay, and, though very anxious, still, because I fancy it is better than flight, I stick to my opinion and am glad that you have stayed in Italy." When I was already tortured with fear that my conduct was disgraceful on the 5th of March you write: "However I am not sorry that you are not with Pompey. Hereafter, if need arise, it will be easy,

[Pg 234]illi, quoquo tempore fiet, erit ἀσμενιστόν. Sed hoc ita dico, si hic, qua ratione initium fecit, eadem cetera aget, sincere, temperate, prudenter, valde videro et consideratius utilitati nostrae consuluero." VII Idus Martias scribis Peducaeo quoque nostro probari, quod quierim; cuius auctoritas multum apud me valet. His ego tuis scriptis me consolor, ut nihil a me adhuc delictum putem. Tu modo auctoritatem tuam defendito; adversus me nihil opus est, sed consciis egeo aliis. Ego, si nihil peccavi, reliqua tuebor. Ad ea tute hortare et me omnino tua cogitatione adiuva. Hic nihildum de reditu Caesaris audiebatur. Ego his litteris hoc tamen profeci, perlegi omnes tuas et in eo acquievi.XICICERO ATTICO SAL.Scr. in Formiano XIII K. Apr. a. 705Lentulum nostrum scis Puteolis esse? Quod cum e viatore quodam esset auditum, qui se diceret eum in Appia, cum is paulum lecticam aperuisset, cognosse, etsi vix veri simile, misi tamen Puteolos pueros, qui pervestigarent, et ad eum litteras. Inventus est vix in hortis suis se occultans litterasque mihi remisit mirifice gratias agens Caesari; de suo autem consilio C. Caesio mandata ad me dedisse. Eum ego hodie exspectabam, id estXIIIK. Apriles.Venit etiam ad me Matius Quinquatribus, homo[Pg 235]and to him, whenever it happens, acceptable. When I say this, it is with the reservation, that, if Caesar continues, as he has begun, acting with good faith, moderation and prudence, I must thoroughly review the matter and consider more closely what our interests advise." On the 9th of March you write that my friend Peducaeus too approves my inaction: and his authority has much weight with me. From these lines of yours I console myself with the reflection that so far I have done nothing wrong: but pray support your position. So far as I am concerned there is no need: but I want others to be my accomplices. If I have not done wrong so far, I will take care of the future. Do you maintain your exhortations and assist me with your reflections. Here nothing as yet has been heard about Caesar's return. For myself I have won thus much good by my letter, I have read all yours and found rest in the act.XICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 20,B.C.49Do you know that our friend Lentulus is at Puteoli? I heard this from a passer-by, who declared he recognized him on the Appian road as he drew aside the curtains of his litter, and, though it seemed hardly probable, I sent servants to Puteoli to track him and hand him a letter. He was found with difficulty concealing himself on his estate, and returned me a letter in which he expressed amazing gratitude to Caesar. But about his own plans he said he had sent me a message by C. Caesius. I expect him to-day, the 20th of March.Matius also came to me on the 19th of March.

[Pg 234]

illi, quoquo tempore fiet, erit ἀσμενιστόν. Sed hoc ita dico, si hic, qua ratione initium fecit, eadem cetera aget, sincere, temperate, prudenter, valde videro et consideratius utilitati nostrae consuluero." VII Idus Martias scribis Peducaeo quoque nostro probari, quod quierim; cuius auctoritas multum apud me valet. His ego tuis scriptis me consolor, ut nihil a me adhuc delictum putem. Tu modo auctoritatem tuam defendito; adversus me nihil opus est, sed consciis egeo aliis. Ego, si nihil peccavi, reliqua tuebor. Ad ea tute hortare et me omnino tua cogitatione adiuva. Hic nihildum de reditu Caesaris audiebatur. Ego his litteris hoc tamen profeci, perlegi omnes tuas et in eo acquievi.

Scr. in Formiano XIII K. Apr. a. 705

Lentulum nostrum scis Puteolis esse? Quod cum e viatore quodam esset auditum, qui se diceret eum in Appia, cum is paulum lecticam aperuisset, cognosse, etsi vix veri simile, misi tamen Puteolos pueros, qui pervestigarent, et ad eum litteras. Inventus est vix in hortis suis se occultans litterasque mihi remisit mirifice gratias agens Caesari; de suo autem consilio C. Caesio mandata ad me dedisse. Eum ego hodie exspectabam, id estXIIIK. Apriles.

Venit etiam ad me Matius Quinquatribus, homo

[Pg 235]and to him, whenever it happens, acceptable. When I say this, it is with the reservation, that, if Caesar continues, as he has begun, acting with good faith, moderation and prudence, I must thoroughly review the matter and consider more closely what our interests advise." On the 9th of March you write that my friend Peducaeus too approves my inaction: and his authority has much weight with me. From these lines of yours I console myself with the reflection that so far I have done nothing wrong: but pray support your position. So far as I am concerned there is no need: but I want others to be my accomplices. If I have not done wrong so far, I will take care of the future. Do you maintain your exhortations and assist me with your reflections. Here nothing as yet has been heard about Caesar's return. For myself I have won thus much good by my letter, I have read all yours and found rest in the act.XICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 20,B.C.49Do you know that our friend Lentulus is at Puteoli? I heard this from a passer-by, who declared he recognized him on the Appian road as he drew aside the curtains of his litter, and, though it seemed hardly probable, I sent servants to Puteoli to track him and hand him a letter. He was found with difficulty concealing himself on his estate, and returned me a letter in which he expressed amazing gratitude to Caesar. But about his own plans he said he had sent me a message by C. Caesius. I expect him to-day, the 20th of March.Matius also came to me on the 19th of March.

[Pg 235]

and to him, whenever it happens, acceptable. When I say this, it is with the reservation, that, if Caesar continues, as he has begun, acting with good faith, moderation and prudence, I must thoroughly review the matter and consider more closely what our interests advise." On the 9th of March you write that my friend Peducaeus too approves my inaction: and his authority has much weight with me. From these lines of yours I console myself with the reflection that so far I have done nothing wrong: but pray support your position. So far as I am concerned there is no need: but I want others to be my accomplices. If I have not done wrong so far, I will take care of the future. Do you maintain your exhortations and assist me with your reflections. Here nothing as yet has been heard about Caesar's return. For myself I have won thus much good by my letter, I have read all yours and found rest in the act.

Formiae, March 20,B.C.49

Do you know that our friend Lentulus is at Puteoli? I heard this from a passer-by, who declared he recognized him on the Appian road as he drew aside the curtains of his litter, and, though it seemed hardly probable, I sent servants to Puteoli to track him and hand him a letter. He was found with difficulty concealing himself on his estate, and returned me a letter in which he expressed amazing gratitude to Caesar. But about his own plans he said he had sent me a message by C. Caesius. I expect him to-day, the 20th of March.

Matius also came to me on the 19th of March.

[Pg 236]mehercule, ut mihi visus est, temperatus et prudens; existimatus quidem est semper auctor otii. Quam ille hoc non probare mihi quidem visus est, quam illam νέκυιαν, ut tu appellas, timere! Huic ego in multo sermone epistulam ad me Caesaris ostendi, eam cuius exemplum ad te antea misi, rogavique, ut interpretaretur, quid esset, quod ille scriberet, "consilio meo se uti velle, gratia, dignitate, ope rerum omnium." Respondit se non dubitare, quin et opem et gratiam meam ille ad pacificationem quaereret. Utinam aliquod in hac miseria rei publicae πολιτικὸν opus efficere et navare mihi liceat! Matius quidem et illum in ea sententia esse confidebat et se auctorem fore pollicebatur.Pridie autem apud me Crassipes fuerat, qui se pridie Non. Martias Brundisio profectum atque ibi Pompeium reliquisse dicebat, quod etiam, qui viii Idus illinc profecti erant, nuntiabant; illa vero omnes, in quibus etiam Crassipes, qui pro sua prudentia potuit attendere, sermones minaces, inimicos optimatium, municipiorum hostes, meras proscriptiones, meros Sullas; quae Lucceium loqui, quae totam Graeciam, quae vero Theophanem! Et tamen omnis spes salutis in illis est, et ego excubo animo nec partem ullam capio quietis et, ut has pestes effugiam, cum dissimillimis nostri esse cupio! Quid enim tu illic Scipionem, quid Faustum, quid Libonem praetermissurum sceleris putas, quorum creditores convenire dicuntur? quid eos autem, cum vicerint, in cives effecturos? quam vero μικροψυχίαν Gnaei nostri esse? Nuntiant Aegyptum et Arabiam εὐδαίμονα et Μεσοποταμίαν[Pg 237]He seemed to me, I do declare, moderate and sensible: certainly he has always been thought to be in favour of peace. How he disliked this present pass! How he seemed to fear theseâmes damnées, as you call them! In the course of a long talk I showed him Caesar's letter to me, of which I sent you a copy before, and I asked him to explain what Caesar meant by writing that he wished "to take advantage of my advice, my influence, my position and my help of all sorts." Matius replied that undoubtedly Caesar wanted my help and influence to make peace. Would that I could succeed in carrying through some political compromise in this miserable state of affairs! Matius himself declared that Caesar had that feeling, and promised that he would help such a course.However the day before Crassipes had been with me, and he said that he had quitted Brundisium on the 6th of March and left Pompey there; the same tale was brought by those who quitted the place on the 8th. All of them, and among the rest Crassipes, who was quite capable of observing what was going on, had the same story, threatening words, breach with the loyalists, hostility to the municipalities, nothing but proscriptions, nothing but Sullas. How Lucceius talked, all the Greeks and Theophanes too! Nevertheless the only hope of safety lies in them, and I am on the watch and take no rest and long to be with the most uncongenial associates to escape the plague here. For what crime do you think that Scipio will stick at, or Faustus and Libo, when their creditors are said to be selling them up, and what do you suppose they will do to the citizens when they win? How pusillanimous Pompey is! They say that he is thinking of Egypt and Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia

[Pg 236]

mehercule, ut mihi visus est, temperatus et prudens; existimatus quidem est semper auctor otii. Quam ille hoc non probare mihi quidem visus est, quam illam νέκυιαν, ut tu appellas, timere! Huic ego in multo sermone epistulam ad me Caesaris ostendi, eam cuius exemplum ad te antea misi, rogavique, ut interpretaretur, quid esset, quod ille scriberet, "consilio meo se uti velle, gratia, dignitate, ope rerum omnium." Respondit se non dubitare, quin et opem et gratiam meam ille ad pacificationem quaereret. Utinam aliquod in hac miseria rei publicae πολιτικὸν opus efficere et navare mihi liceat! Matius quidem et illum in ea sententia esse confidebat et se auctorem fore pollicebatur.

Pridie autem apud me Crassipes fuerat, qui se pridie Non. Martias Brundisio profectum atque ibi Pompeium reliquisse dicebat, quod etiam, qui viii Idus illinc profecti erant, nuntiabant; illa vero omnes, in quibus etiam Crassipes, qui pro sua prudentia potuit attendere, sermones minaces, inimicos optimatium, municipiorum hostes, meras proscriptiones, meros Sullas; quae Lucceium loqui, quae totam Graeciam, quae vero Theophanem! Et tamen omnis spes salutis in illis est, et ego excubo animo nec partem ullam capio quietis et, ut has pestes effugiam, cum dissimillimis nostri esse cupio! Quid enim tu illic Scipionem, quid Faustum, quid Libonem praetermissurum sceleris putas, quorum creditores convenire dicuntur? quid eos autem, cum vicerint, in cives effecturos? quam vero μικροψυχίαν Gnaei nostri esse? Nuntiant Aegyptum et Arabiam εὐδαίμονα et Μεσοποταμίαν

[Pg 237]He seemed to me, I do declare, moderate and sensible: certainly he has always been thought to be in favour of peace. How he disliked this present pass! How he seemed to fear theseâmes damnées, as you call them! In the course of a long talk I showed him Caesar's letter to me, of which I sent you a copy before, and I asked him to explain what Caesar meant by writing that he wished "to take advantage of my advice, my influence, my position and my help of all sorts." Matius replied that undoubtedly Caesar wanted my help and influence to make peace. Would that I could succeed in carrying through some political compromise in this miserable state of affairs! Matius himself declared that Caesar had that feeling, and promised that he would help such a course.However the day before Crassipes had been with me, and he said that he had quitted Brundisium on the 6th of March and left Pompey there; the same tale was brought by those who quitted the place on the 8th. All of them, and among the rest Crassipes, who was quite capable of observing what was going on, had the same story, threatening words, breach with the loyalists, hostility to the municipalities, nothing but proscriptions, nothing but Sullas. How Lucceius talked, all the Greeks and Theophanes too! Nevertheless the only hope of safety lies in them, and I am on the watch and take no rest and long to be with the most uncongenial associates to escape the plague here. For what crime do you think that Scipio will stick at, or Faustus and Libo, when their creditors are said to be selling them up, and what do you suppose they will do to the citizens when they win? How pusillanimous Pompey is! They say that he is thinking of Egypt and Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia

[Pg 237]

He seemed to me, I do declare, moderate and sensible: certainly he has always been thought to be in favour of peace. How he disliked this present pass! How he seemed to fear theseâmes damnées, as you call them! In the course of a long talk I showed him Caesar's letter to me, of which I sent you a copy before, and I asked him to explain what Caesar meant by writing that he wished "to take advantage of my advice, my influence, my position and my help of all sorts." Matius replied that undoubtedly Caesar wanted my help and influence to make peace. Would that I could succeed in carrying through some political compromise in this miserable state of affairs! Matius himself declared that Caesar had that feeling, and promised that he would help such a course.

However the day before Crassipes had been with me, and he said that he had quitted Brundisium on the 6th of March and left Pompey there; the same tale was brought by those who quitted the place on the 8th. All of them, and among the rest Crassipes, who was quite capable of observing what was going on, had the same story, threatening words, breach with the loyalists, hostility to the municipalities, nothing but proscriptions, nothing but Sullas. How Lucceius talked, all the Greeks and Theophanes too! Nevertheless the only hope of safety lies in them, and I am on the watch and take no rest and long to be with the most uncongenial associates to escape the plague here. For what crime do you think that Scipio will stick at, or Faustus and Libo, when their creditors are said to be selling them up, and what do you suppose they will do to the citizens when they win? How pusillanimous Pompey is! They say that he is thinking of Egypt and Arabia Felix and Mesopotamia

[Pg 238]cogitare, iam Hispaniam abiecisse. Monstra narrant; quae falsa esse possunt, sed certe et haec perdita sunt et illa non saltaria. Tuas litteras iam desidero. Post fugam nostram numquam tam longum earum intervallum fuit. Misi ad te exemplum litterarum mearum ad Caesarem, quibus me aliquid profecturum puto.XIaCICERO IMP. S.D. CAESARI IMPScr. in Formiano XIV K. Apr.Ut legi tuas litteras, quas a Furnio nostro acceperam, quibus mecum agebas, ut ad urbem essem, te velle uti "consilio et dignitate mea" minus sum admiratus; de "gratia" et de "ope" quid significares mecum ipse quaerebam, spe tamen deducebar ad eam cogitationem, ut te pro tua admirabili ac singulari sapientia de otio, de pace, de concordia civium agi velle arbitrarer, et ad eam rationem existimabam satis aptam esse et naturam et personam meam. Quod si ita est, et si qua de Pompeio nostro tuendo et tibi ac rei publicae reconciliando cura te attingit, magis idoneum, quam ego sum, ad eam causam profecto reperies neminem, qui et illi semper et senatui, cum primum potui, pacis auctor fui, nec sumptis armis belli ullam partem, attigi, iudicavique eo bello te violari, contra cuius honorem populi Romani beneficio concessum inimici atque invidi niterentur. Sed, ut eo tempore non modo ipse fautor dignitatis tuae fui, verum etiam ceteris auctor ad te adiuvandum, sic me nunc Pompei[Pg 239]and has given up Spain. The report is monstrous, but may be false. Certainly all is lost here, and there is not much hope there. I long for a letter from you. Since my flight there has never been so long a break in our correspondence. I send you a copy of my letter to Caesar. I think it will do some good.XIaCICERO THE IMPERATOR TO CAESAR THE IMPERATOR, GREETING.Formiae, March 19,B.C.49On reading your letter, which I got from our friend Furnius, in which you told me to come near Rome, I was not much surprised at your wishing to employ "my advice and my position"; but I asked myself what you meant by my "influence" and "help." However, my hopes led me to think that a man of your admirable statesmanship would wish to act for the comfort, peace, and agreement of the citizens, and for that purpose I considered my own character and inclination very suitable. If that is the case, and if you are touched by the desire to protect our friend Pompey and reconcile him to yourself and the State, I am sure you will find no one more suited for the purpose than I am. I have always advocated peace both with Pompey and the Senate ever since I have been able to do so, nor since the outbreak of hostilities have I taken any part in the war; I have considered that the war was attacking your rights in that envious and hostile persons were opposing a distinction conferred on you by the grace of the Roman people. But, as at that time I not only upheld your rights but urged others to assist you, so now I am greatly concerned with the rights of Pompey. It is

[Pg 238]

cogitare, iam Hispaniam abiecisse. Monstra narrant; quae falsa esse possunt, sed certe et haec perdita sunt et illa non saltaria. Tuas litteras iam desidero. Post fugam nostram numquam tam longum earum intervallum fuit. Misi ad te exemplum litterarum mearum ad Caesarem, quibus me aliquid profecturum puto.

Scr. in Formiano XIV K. Apr.

Ut legi tuas litteras, quas a Furnio nostro acceperam, quibus mecum agebas, ut ad urbem essem, te velle uti "consilio et dignitate mea" minus sum admiratus; de "gratia" et de "ope" quid significares mecum ipse quaerebam, spe tamen deducebar ad eam cogitationem, ut te pro tua admirabili ac singulari sapientia de otio, de pace, de concordia civium agi velle arbitrarer, et ad eam rationem existimabam satis aptam esse et naturam et personam meam. Quod si ita est, et si qua de Pompeio nostro tuendo et tibi ac rei publicae reconciliando cura te attingit, magis idoneum, quam ego sum, ad eam causam profecto reperies neminem, qui et illi semper et senatui, cum primum potui, pacis auctor fui, nec sumptis armis belli ullam partem, attigi, iudicavique eo bello te violari, contra cuius honorem populi Romani beneficio concessum inimici atque invidi niterentur. Sed, ut eo tempore non modo ipse fautor dignitatis tuae fui, verum etiam ceteris auctor ad te adiuvandum, sic me nunc Pompei

[Pg 239]and has given up Spain. The report is monstrous, but may be false. Certainly all is lost here, and there is not much hope there. I long for a letter from you. Since my flight there has never been so long a break in our correspondence. I send you a copy of my letter to Caesar. I think it will do some good.XIaCICERO THE IMPERATOR TO CAESAR THE IMPERATOR, GREETING.Formiae, March 19,B.C.49On reading your letter, which I got from our friend Furnius, in which you told me to come near Rome, I was not much surprised at your wishing to employ "my advice and my position"; but I asked myself what you meant by my "influence" and "help." However, my hopes led me to think that a man of your admirable statesmanship would wish to act for the comfort, peace, and agreement of the citizens, and for that purpose I considered my own character and inclination very suitable. If that is the case, and if you are touched by the desire to protect our friend Pompey and reconcile him to yourself and the State, I am sure you will find no one more suited for the purpose than I am. I have always advocated peace both with Pompey and the Senate ever since I have been able to do so, nor since the outbreak of hostilities have I taken any part in the war; I have considered that the war was attacking your rights in that envious and hostile persons were opposing a distinction conferred on you by the grace of the Roman people. But, as at that time I not only upheld your rights but urged others to assist you, so now I am greatly concerned with the rights of Pompey. It is

[Pg 239]

and has given up Spain. The report is monstrous, but may be false. Certainly all is lost here, and there is not much hope there. I long for a letter from you. Since my flight there has never been so long a break in our correspondence. I send you a copy of my letter to Caesar. I think it will do some good.

Formiae, March 19,B.C.49

On reading your letter, which I got from our friend Furnius, in which you told me to come near Rome, I was not much surprised at your wishing to employ "my advice and my position"; but I asked myself what you meant by my "influence" and "help." However, my hopes led me to think that a man of your admirable statesmanship would wish to act for the comfort, peace, and agreement of the citizens, and for that purpose I considered my own character and inclination very suitable. If that is the case, and if you are touched by the desire to protect our friend Pompey and reconcile him to yourself and the State, I am sure you will find no one more suited for the purpose than I am. I have always advocated peace both with Pompey and the Senate ever since I have been able to do so, nor since the outbreak of hostilities have I taken any part in the war; I have considered that the war was attacking your rights in that envious and hostile persons were opposing a distinction conferred on you by the grace of the Roman people. But, as at that time I not only upheld your rights but urged others to assist you, so now I am greatly concerned with the rights of Pompey. It is

[Pg 240]dignitas vehementer movet. Aliquot enim sunt anni, cum vos duo delegi, quos praecipue colerem et quibus essem, sicut sum, amicissimus. Quam ob rem a te peto vel potius omnibus te precibus oro et obtestor, ut in tuis maximis curis aliquid impertias temporis huic quoque cogitationi, ut tuo beneficio bonus vir, gratus, pius denique esse in maximi beneficii memoria possim. Quae si tantum ad me ipsum pertinerent, sperarem me a te tamen impetraturum, sed, ut arbitror, et ad tuam fidem et ad rem publicam pertinet, me et pacis et utriusque vestrum amicum, et ad vestram[98]et ad civium concordiam per te quam accommodatissimum conservari. Ego, cum antea tibi de Lentulo gratias egissem, cum ei saluti, qui mihi fuerat, fuisses, tamen lectis eius litteris, quas ad me gratissimo animo de tua liberalitate beneficioque misit, eandem mi videor[99]salutem a te accepisse quam ille. In quem si me intellegis esse gratum, cura, obsecro, ut etiam in Pompeium esse possim.[98]amicum, et ad vestramadded by Lehmann.[99]mi videorKlotz,Schmidt; meMSS.XIICICERO ATTICO SAL.Scr. in Formiano XIII K. Apr. a. 705Legeram tuas litterasXIIIK., cum mihi epistula adfertur a Lepta circumvallatum esse Pompeium, ratibus etiam exitus portus teneri. Non medius fidius prae lacrimis possum reliqua nec cogitare nec scribere. Misi ad te exemplum. Miseros nos! cur non omnes fatum illius una exsecuti sumus? Ecce autem a Matio et Trebatio eadem, quibus Menturnis obvii Caesaris tabellarii. Torqueor infelix, ut iam illum Mucianum[Pg 241]many years since I chose you two men for my special respect, and to be my closest friends, as you are. So I ask you, or rather beseech and entreat you with all urgency, that in spite of all your anxieties you may devote some time to considering how I may be enabled by your kindness to be what decency and gratitude, nay good-feeling, require, in remembering my great debt to Pompey. If this only mattered to myself, I should yet hope to obtain my request; but to my mind it touches your honour and the public weal that I, a friend of peace and of both of you, should be so supported by you that I may be able to work for peace between you and peace amongst our fellow-citizens. I thanked you formerly in the matter of Lentulus, for having saved him, as he had saved me. Yet on reading the letter he has sent me full of thankfulness for your generous kindness, I feel that his safety is my debt as much as his. If you understand my gratitude to him, pray give me the opportunity of showing my gratitude to Pompey too.XIICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 20,B.C.49I had just read your letter on the 20th, when an epistle was brought to me from Lepta announcing that Pompey was blockaded and that even escape from the harbour was cut off by a fleet. Upon my honour tears prevent me from thinking or writing anything else. I send you a copy of the letter. Wretches that we are, why did we not all follow his fortunes together? See now, here are Matius and Trebatius with the same tidings. Caesar's letter-carriers met them at Menturnae. I am tortured with

[Pg 240]

dignitas vehementer movet. Aliquot enim sunt anni, cum vos duo delegi, quos praecipue colerem et quibus essem, sicut sum, amicissimus. Quam ob rem a te peto vel potius omnibus te precibus oro et obtestor, ut in tuis maximis curis aliquid impertias temporis huic quoque cogitationi, ut tuo beneficio bonus vir, gratus, pius denique esse in maximi beneficii memoria possim. Quae si tantum ad me ipsum pertinerent, sperarem me a te tamen impetraturum, sed, ut arbitror, et ad tuam fidem et ad rem publicam pertinet, me et pacis et utriusque vestrum amicum, et ad vestram[98]et ad civium concordiam per te quam accommodatissimum conservari. Ego, cum antea tibi de Lentulo gratias egissem, cum ei saluti, qui mihi fuerat, fuisses, tamen lectis eius litteris, quas ad me gratissimo animo de tua liberalitate beneficioque misit, eandem mi videor[99]salutem a te accepisse quam ille. In quem si me intellegis esse gratum, cura, obsecro, ut etiam in Pompeium esse possim.

[98]amicum, et ad vestramadded by Lehmann.

[99]mi videorKlotz,Schmidt; meMSS.

Scr. in Formiano XIII K. Apr. a. 705

Legeram tuas litterasXIIIK., cum mihi epistula adfertur a Lepta circumvallatum esse Pompeium, ratibus etiam exitus portus teneri. Non medius fidius prae lacrimis possum reliqua nec cogitare nec scribere. Misi ad te exemplum. Miseros nos! cur non omnes fatum illius una exsecuti sumus? Ecce autem a Matio et Trebatio eadem, quibus Menturnis obvii Caesaris tabellarii. Torqueor infelix, ut iam illum Mucianum

[Pg 241]many years since I chose you two men for my special respect, and to be my closest friends, as you are. So I ask you, or rather beseech and entreat you with all urgency, that in spite of all your anxieties you may devote some time to considering how I may be enabled by your kindness to be what decency and gratitude, nay good-feeling, require, in remembering my great debt to Pompey. If this only mattered to myself, I should yet hope to obtain my request; but to my mind it touches your honour and the public weal that I, a friend of peace and of both of you, should be so supported by you that I may be able to work for peace between you and peace amongst our fellow-citizens. I thanked you formerly in the matter of Lentulus, for having saved him, as he had saved me. Yet on reading the letter he has sent me full of thankfulness for your generous kindness, I feel that his safety is my debt as much as his. If you understand my gratitude to him, pray give me the opportunity of showing my gratitude to Pompey too.XIICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 20,B.C.49I had just read your letter on the 20th, when an epistle was brought to me from Lepta announcing that Pompey was blockaded and that even escape from the harbour was cut off by a fleet. Upon my honour tears prevent me from thinking or writing anything else. I send you a copy of the letter. Wretches that we are, why did we not all follow his fortunes together? See now, here are Matius and Trebatius with the same tidings. Caesar's letter-carriers met them at Menturnae. I am tortured with

[Pg 241]

many years since I chose you two men for my special respect, and to be my closest friends, as you are. So I ask you, or rather beseech and entreat you with all urgency, that in spite of all your anxieties you may devote some time to considering how I may be enabled by your kindness to be what decency and gratitude, nay good-feeling, require, in remembering my great debt to Pompey. If this only mattered to myself, I should yet hope to obtain my request; but to my mind it touches your honour and the public weal that I, a friend of peace and of both of you, should be so supported by you that I may be able to work for peace between you and peace amongst our fellow-citizens. I thanked you formerly in the matter of Lentulus, for having saved him, as he had saved me. Yet on reading the letter he has sent me full of thankfulness for your generous kindness, I feel that his safety is my debt as much as his. If you understand my gratitude to him, pray give me the opportunity of showing my gratitude to Pompey too.

Formiae, March 20,B.C.49

I had just read your letter on the 20th, when an epistle was brought to me from Lepta announcing that Pompey was blockaded and that even escape from the harbour was cut off by a fleet. Upon my honour tears prevent me from thinking or writing anything else. I send you a copy of the letter. Wretches that we are, why did we not all follow his fortunes together? See now, here are Matius and Trebatius with the same tidings. Caesar's letter-carriers met them at Menturnae. I am tortured with

[Pg 242]exitum exoptem. At quam honesta, at quam expedita tua consilia, quam evigilata tuis cogitationibus qua itineris, qua navigationis, qua congressus sermonisque cum Caesare! Omnia cum honesta tum cauta. In Epirum vero invitatio quam suavis, quam liberalis, quam fraterna!De Dionysio sum admiratus, qui apud me honoratior fuit quam apud Scipionem Panaetius; a quo impurissime haec nostra fortuna despecta est. Odi hominem et odero; utinam ulcisci possem! Sed illum ulciscentur mores sui.Tu, quaeso, nunc vel maxime, quid agendum nobis sit, cogita. Populi Romani exercitus Cn. Pompeium circumsedet, fossa et vallo saeptum tenet, fuga prohibet; nos vivimus, et stat urbs ista, praetores ius dicunt, aediles ludos parant; viri boni usuras perscribunt, ego ipse sedeo! Coner illuc ire ut insanus, implorare fidem municipiorum? Boni non sequentur, leves irridebunt, rerum novarum cupidi, victores praesertim et armati, vim et manus adferent. Quid censes igitur? ecquidnam est tui consilii ad finem huius miserrimae vitae? Nunc doleo, nunc torqueor, cum cuidam aut sapiens videor, quod una non ierim, aut felix fuisse. Mihi contra. Numquam enim illius victoriae socius esse volui, calamitatis mallem fuisse. Quid ego nunc tuas litteras, quid tuam prudentiam aut benevolentiam implorem? Actum est; nulla re iam possum iuvari,[Pg 243]sorrow, so that now I would choose the end of Mucius.[100]But how honourable, how simple, how clearly thought out was your advice as to my land-route and my sea-route and my meeting and talk with Caesar! It was equally honourable and prudent. Your invitation, too, to Epirus, how kind and generous and brotherly it is![100]Q. Mucius Scaevola was murdered in 82B.C.by the order of the younger Marius. Cf. viii, 3.As for Dionysius, I am surprised. I held him in greater honour than Scipio held Panaetius, yet he has most foully mocked at my bad fortunes. I hate the fellow and I always shall. I wish I could pay him out. But his own character will do that.I beseech you now give the greatest consideration to my proper course. An army of the Roman people invests Gnaeus Pompey. It holds him hedged by trench and mound and keeps him from flight. Yet we live and Rome is standing, the praetors preside in court, the aediles make preparations for the games, the conservatives are booking their profits, and I sit still! Am I to try to cross the sea like a madman, to beg the country towns to be loyal? The loyalists will not follow me, the irresponsible will deride me, the revolutionaries, especially now they are armed and victorious, will lay hands of violence upon me. What do you think then? Have you any plan to end this life of misery? Now I feel grief, now I am in agony, when somebody thinks me wise because I did not go with Pompey, or lucky perhaps. I think the opposite. For never did I wish to share a victory of his; I should have wished rather to share his defeat. Why should I entreat a letter from you now, your kindness, your good sense? It is all over. Nothing can help me

[Pg 242]

exitum exoptem. At quam honesta, at quam expedita tua consilia, quam evigilata tuis cogitationibus qua itineris, qua navigationis, qua congressus sermonisque cum Caesare! Omnia cum honesta tum cauta. In Epirum vero invitatio quam suavis, quam liberalis, quam fraterna!

De Dionysio sum admiratus, qui apud me honoratior fuit quam apud Scipionem Panaetius; a quo impurissime haec nostra fortuna despecta est. Odi hominem et odero; utinam ulcisci possem! Sed illum ulciscentur mores sui.

Tu, quaeso, nunc vel maxime, quid agendum nobis sit, cogita. Populi Romani exercitus Cn. Pompeium circumsedet, fossa et vallo saeptum tenet, fuga prohibet; nos vivimus, et stat urbs ista, praetores ius dicunt, aediles ludos parant; viri boni usuras perscribunt, ego ipse sedeo! Coner illuc ire ut insanus, implorare fidem municipiorum? Boni non sequentur, leves irridebunt, rerum novarum cupidi, victores praesertim et armati, vim et manus adferent. Quid censes igitur? ecquidnam est tui consilii ad finem huius miserrimae vitae? Nunc doleo, nunc torqueor, cum cuidam aut sapiens videor, quod una non ierim, aut felix fuisse. Mihi contra. Numquam enim illius victoriae socius esse volui, calamitatis mallem fuisse. Quid ego nunc tuas litteras, quid tuam prudentiam aut benevolentiam implorem? Actum est; nulla re iam possum iuvari,

[Pg 243]sorrow, so that now I would choose the end of Mucius.[100]But how honourable, how simple, how clearly thought out was your advice as to my land-route and my sea-route and my meeting and talk with Caesar! It was equally honourable and prudent. Your invitation, too, to Epirus, how kind and generous and brotherly it is![100]Q. Mucius Scaevola was murdered in 82B.C.by the order of the younger Marius. Cf. viii, 3.As for Dionysius, I am surprised. I held him in greater honour than Scipio held Panaetius, yet he has most foully mocked at my bad fortunes. I hate the fellow and I always shall. I wish I could pay him out. But his own character will do that.I beseech you now give the greatest consideration to my proper course. An army of the Roman people invests Gnaeus Pompey. It holds him hedged by trench and mound and keeps him from flight. Yet we live and Rome is standing, the praetors preside in court, the aediles make preparations for the games, the conservatives are booking their profits, and I sit still! Am I to try to cross the sea like a madman, to beg the country towns to be loyal? The loyalists will not follow me, the irresponsible will deride me, the revolutionaries, especially now they are armed and victorious, will lay hands of violence upon me. What do you think then? Have you any plan to end this life of misery? Now I feel grief, now I am in agony, when somebody thinks me wise because I did not go with Pompey, or lucky perhaps. I think the opposite. For never did I wish to share a victory of his; I should have wished rather to share his defeat. Why should I entreat a letter from you now, your kindness, your good sense? It is all over. Nothing can help me

[Pg 243]

sorrow, so that now I would choose the end of Mucius.[100]But how honourable, how simple, how clearly thought out was your advice as to my land-route and my sea-route and my meeting and talk with Caesar! It was equally honourable and prudent. Your invitation, too, to Epirus, how kind and generous and brotherly it is!

[100]Q. Mucius Scaevola was murdered in 82B.C.by the order of the younger Marius. Cf. viii, 3.

As for Dionysius, I am surprised. I held him in greater honour than Scipio held Panaetius, yet he has most foully mocked at my bad fortunes. I hate the fellow and I always shall. I wish I could pay him out. But his own character will do that.

I beseech you now give the greatest consideration to my proper course. An army of the Roman people invests Gnaeus Pompey. It holds him hedged by trench and mound and keeps him from flight. Yet we live and Rome is standing, the praetors preside in court, the aediles make preparations for the games, the conservatives are booking their profits, and I sit still! Am I to try to cross the sea like a madman, to beg the country towns to be loyal? The loyalists will not follow me, the irresponsible will deride me, the revolutionaries, especially now they are armed and victorious, will lay hands of violence upon me. What do you think then? Have you any plan to end this life of misery? Now I feel grief, now I am in agony, when somebody thinks me wise because I did not go with Pompey, or lucky perhaps. I think the opposite. For never did I wish to share a victory of his; I should have wished rather to share his defeat. Why should I entreat a letter from you now, your kindness, your good sense? It is all over. Nothing can help me

[Pg 244]qui, ne quod optem quidem, iam habeo, nisi ut aliqua inimici misericordia liberemur.XIIICICERO ATTICO SAL.Scr. in Formiano IX K. Apr. a. 705Οὐκ ἔστ' ἔτυμος λόγος, ut opinor, ille de ratibus. Quid enim esset, quod Dolabella iis litteris, quas iii Idus Martias a Brundisio dedit, hanc quasi εὐημερίαν Caesaris scriberet, Pompeium in fuga esse eumque primo vento navigaturum? Quod valde discrepat ab iis epistulis, quarum exempla antea ad te misi. Hic quidem mera scelera loquuntur; sed non erat nec recentior auctor nec huius quidem rei melior Dolabella.TuasXIK. accepi litteras, quibus omnia consilia differs in id tempus, cum scierimus, quid actum sit. Et certe ita est, nec interim potest quicquam non modo statui, sed ne cogitari quidem. Quamquam hae me litterae Dolabellae iubent ad pristinas cogitationes reverti. Fuit enim pridie Quinquatrus egregia tempestas; qua ego illum usum puto.Συναγωγὴ consiliorum tuorum non est a me collecta ad querelam, sed magis ad consolationem meam. Nec enim me tam haec mala angebant quam suspicio culpae ac temeritatis meae. Eam nullam puto esse, quoniam cum consiliis tuis mea facta et consilia consentiunt. Quod mea praedicatione factum esse scribis magis quam illius merito, ut tantum ei debere viderer, est ita. Ego illa extuli semper, et eo quidem[Pg 245]more, for I have no desire except that somehow my enemies may take pity on me and free me from my misery.XIIICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 24,B.C.49"'Tis no true tale"[101]to my mind that about the fleet. For why should Dolabella in a letter dated from Brundisium on the 13th of March call it a kind of windfall for Caesar that Pompey is thinking of flight and preparing to sail by the first wind? That is very different from that letter of which I sent you a copy before. Here indeed every one speaks of sheer disaster; but there is no later nor more reliable authority on the event than Dolabella.[101]The first line of the palinode of Stesichorus in which he retracted his former views on Helen.I have your letter of the 22nd of March, in which you postpone all advice till we know what has happened. Certainly that is wise; and in the meantime we cannot think of anything, much less arrange anything. However, Dolabella's letter compels me to turn to my former thoughts. For on the 18th of March the weather was excellent and I fancy Pompey will not have failed to take advantage of it.That précis of your advice was not made by me to quarrel with you, but to console myself, for I suffered less pain from these evil days than from the idea I had acted wrongly and rashly. But I fancy I have not done so, since my deeds and policy agree with your advice. You say that I seem to owe Pompey so much more because I say so than because he deserves it. You are right. I have always exaggerated

[Pg 244]

qui, ne quod optem quidem, iam habeo, nisi ut aliqua inimici misericordia liberemur.

Scr. in Formiano IX K. Apr. a. 705

Οὐκ ἔστ' ἔτυμος λόγος, ut opinor, ille de ratibus. Quid enim esset, quod Dolabella iis litteris, quas iii Idus Martias a Brundisio dedit, hanc quasi εὐημερίαν Caesaris scriberet, Pompeium in fuga esse eumque primo vento navigaturum? Quod valde discrepat ab iis epistulis, quarum exempla antea ad te misi. Hic quidem mera scelera loquuntur; sed non erat nec recentior auctor nec huius quidem rei melior Dolabella.

TuasXIK. accepi litteras, quibus omnia consilia differs in id tempus, cum scierimus, quid actum sit. Et certe ita est, nec interim potest quicquam non modo statui, sed ne cogitari quidem. Quamquam hae me litterae Dolabellae iubent ad pristinas cogitationes reverti. Fuit enim pridie Quinquatrus egregia tempestas; qua ego illum usum puto.

Συναγωγὴ consiliorum tuorum non est a me collecta ad querelam, sed magis ad consolationem meam. Nec enim me tam haec mala angebant quam suspicio culpae ac temeritatis meae. Eam nullam puto esse, quoniam cum consiliis tuis mea facta et consilia consentiunt. Quod mea praedicatione factum esse scribis magis quam illius merito, ut tantum ei debere viderer, est ita. Ego illa extuli semper, et eo quidem

[Pg 245]more, for I have no desire except that somehow my enemies may take pity on me and free me from my misery.XIIICICERO TO ATTICUS, GREETING.Formiae, March 24,B.C.49"'Tis no true tale"[101]to my mind that about the fleet. For why should Dolabella in a letter dated from Brundisium on the 13th of March call it a kind of windfall for Caesar that Pompey is thinking of flight and preparing to sail by the first wind? That is very different from that letter of which I sent you a copy before. Here indeed every one speaks of sheer disaster; but there is no later nor more reliable authority on the event than Dolabella.[101]The first line of the palinode of Stesichorus in which he retracted his former views on Helen.I have your letter of the 22nd of March, in which you postpone all advice till we know what has happened. Certainly that is wise; and in the meantime we cannot think of anything, much less arrange anything. However, Dolabella's letter compels me to turn to my former thoughts. For on the 18th of March the weather was excellent and I fancy Pompey will not have failed to take advantage of it.That précis of your advice was not made by me to quarrel with you, but to console myself, for I suffered less pain from these evil days than from the idea I had acted wrongly and rashly. But I fancy I have not done so, since my deeds and policy agree with your advice. You say that I seem to owe Pompey so much more because I say so than because he deserves it. You are right. I have always exaggerated

[Pg 245]

more, for I have no desire except that somehow my enemies may take pity on me and free me from my misery.

Formiae, March 24,B.C.49

"'Tis no true tale"[101]to my mind that about the fleet. For why should Dolabella in a letter dated from Brundisium on the 13th of March call it a kind of windfall for Caesar that Pompey is thinking of flight and preparing to sail by the first wind? That is very different from that letter of which I sent you a copy before. Here indeed every one speaks of sheer disaster; but there is no later nor more reliable authority on the event than Dolabella.

[101]The first line of the palinode of Stesichorus in which he retracted his former views on Helen.

I have your letter of the 22nd of March, in which you postpone all advice till we know what has happened. Certainly that is wise; and in the meantime we cannot think of anything, much less arrange anything. However, Dolabella's letter compels me to turn to my former thoughts. For on the 18th of March the weather was excellent and I fancy Pompey will not have failed to take advantage of it.

That précis of your advice was not made by me to quarrel with you, but to console myself, for I suffered less pain from these evil days than from the idea I had acted wrongly and rashly. But I fancy I have not done so, since my deeds and policy agree with your advice. You say that I seem to owe Pompey so much more because I say so than because he deserves it. You are right. I have always exaggerated

[Pg 246]magis, ne quid ille superiorum meminisse me putaret. Quae si maxime meminissem, tamen illius temporis similitudinem iam sequi deberem. Nihil me adiuvit, cum posset; sed postea fuit amicus, etiam valde, nec, quam ob causam, plane scio. Ergo ego quoque illi. Quin etiam illud par in utroque nostrum, quod ab eisdem illecti sumus. Sed utinam tantum ego ei prodesse potuissem, quantum mihi ille potuit! Mihi tamen, quod fecit, gratissimum. Nec ego nunc, eum iuvare qua re possim, scio nec, si possem, cum tam pestiferum bellum pararet, adiuvandum putarem. Tantum offendere animum eius hic manens nolo, nec mehercule ista videre, quae tu potes iam animo providere, nec interesse istis malis possem. Sed eo tardior ad discedendum fui, quod difficile est de discessu voluntario sine ulla spe reditus cogitare. Nam ego hunc ita paratum video peditatu, equitatu, classibus, auxiliis Gallorum, quos Matius ἐλάπιζεν, ut puto, sed certe dicebat....[102]peditum, equitum se polliceri sumptu suo annos decem. Sed sit hoc λάπισμα; magnas habet certe copias et habebit non Italiae vectigal, sed civium bona. Adde confidentiam hominis, adde imbecillitatem bonorum virorum, qui quidem, quod illum sibi merito iratum putant, oderunt, ut tu scribis, ludum. Ac vellem scripsisses, quisnam hoc significasset. Sed et iste, qui[103]plus ostenderat, quam fecit, et vulgo illum, qui amarunt, non amant;[102]CCIↃↃ peditum, equitum sexBosius.[103]The reading is very uncertain. The MSS. haveccforac, scribisforscripsisses, hicforhocandquiforquia.[Pg 247]his services for fear he might think I remembered the past. However much I remembered it, I should feel bound to take the course he took as an example for my behaviour now. He failed to help me when he might; but afterwards he was my friend, my very good friend. I don't quite know why; so I too will be his friend. There is this further likeness between the two cases; both of us were inveigled by the same persons. But would that I were able to help him as much as he was able to help me! However, I am truly grateful for what he did. I do not know in what way I may be able to help him now; nor, were I able, should I think it proper to help him in his preparations for such a disastrous war. Only I do not wish to hurt his feelings by staying here. I declare I could not behold the days that you can foresee, nor take part in such iniquity. But my departure was delayed, because it is hard to think of voluntary departure when there is no hope of return. For Caesar I see is so equipped with infantry, cavalry, fleet, auxiliaries from Gaul—Matius may have exaggerated, but certainly he said that ... infantry and cavalry have promised their services for ten years at their own expense. However, granted that this wasgasconnade, great forces Caesar assuredly has, and he will have not the inland revenue of Italy, but the property of her citizens. Add to this the self-confidence of the man, the weakness of the loyalists, who, thinking Pompey deservedly angry with them, as you say, detest the game. I wish you had cited your authority. Domitius, who promised more than he performed,[104]and Pompey's old lovers in general do[104]Or as Boot, readingsedet, "Domitius, who etc., is doing nothing."

[Pg 246]

magis, ne quid ille superiorum meminisse me putaret. Quae si maxime meminissem, tamen illius temporis similitudinem iam sequi deberem. Nihil me adiuvit, cum posset; sed postea fuit amicus, etiam valde, nec, quam ob causam, plane scio. Ergo ego quoque illi. Quin etiam illud par in utroque nostrum, quod ab eisdem illecti sumus. Sed utinam tantum ego ei prodesse potuissem, quantum mihi ille potuit! Mihi tamen, quod fecit, gratissimum. Nec ego nunc, eum iuvare qua re possim, scio nec, si possem, cum tam pestiferum bellum pararet, adiuvandum putarem. Tantum offendere animum eius hic manens nolo, nec mehercule ista videre, quae tu potes iam animo providere, nec interesse istis malis possem. Sed eo tardior ad discedendum fui, quod difficile est de discessu voluntario sine ulla spe reditus cogitare. Nam ego hunc ita paratum video peditatu, equitatu, classibus, auxiliis Gallorum, quos Matius ἐλάπιζεν, ut puto, sed certe dicebat....[102]peditum, equitum se polliceri sumptu suo annos decem. Sed sit hoc λάπισμα; magnas habet certe copias et habebit non Italiae vectigal, sed civium bona. Adde confidentiam hominis, adde imbecillitatem bonorum virorum, qui quidem, quod illum sibi merito iratum putant, oderunt, ut tu scribis, ludum. Ac vellem scripsisses, quisnam hoc significasset. Sed et iste, qui[103]plus ostenderat, quam fecit, et vulgo illum, qui amarunt, non amant;

[102]CCIↃↃ peditum, equitum sexBosius.

[103]The reading is very uncertain. The MSS. haveccforac, scribisforscripsisses, hicforhocandquiforquia.

[Pg 247]his services for fear he might think I remembered the past. However much I remembered it, I should feel bound to take the course he took as an example for my behaviour now. He failed to help me when he might; but afterwards he was my friend, my very good friend. I don't quite know why; so I too will be his friend. There is this further likeness between the two cases; both of us were inveigled by the same persons. But would that I were able to help him as much as he was able to help me! However, I am truly grateful for what he did. I do not know in what way I may be able to help him now; nor, were I able, should I think it proper to help him in his preparations for such a disastrous war. Only I do not wish to hurt his feelings by staying here. I declare I could not behold the days that you can foresee, nor take part in such iniquity. But my departure was delayed, because it is hard to think of voluntary departure when there is no hope of return. For Caesar I see is so equipped with infantry, cavalry, fleet, auxiliaries from Gaul—Matius may have exaggerated, but certainly he said that ... infantry and cavalry have promised their services for ten years at their own expense. However, granted that this wasgasconnade, great forces Caesar assuredly has, and he will have not the inland revenue of Italy, but the property of her citizens. Add to this the self-confidence of the man, the weakness of the loyalists, who, thinking Pompey deservedly angry with them, as you say, detest the game. I wish you had cited your authority. Domitius, who promised more than he performed,[104]and Pompey's old lovers in general do[104]Or as Boot, readingsedet, "Domitius, who etc., is doing nothing."

[Pg 247]

his services for fear he might think I remembered the past. However much I remembered it, I should feel bound to take the course he took as an example for my behaviour now. He failed to help me when he might; but afterwards he was my friend, my very good friend. I don't quite know why; so I too will be his friend. There is this further likeness between the two cases; both of us were inveigled by the same persons. But would that I were able to help him as much as he was able to help me! However, I am truly grateful for what he did. I do not know in what way I may be able to help him now; nor, were I able, should I think it proper to help him in his preparations for such a disastrous war. Only I do not wish to hurt his feelings by staying here. I declare I could not behold the days that you can foresee, nor take part in such iniquity. But my departure was delayed, because it is hard to think of voluntary departure when there is no hope of return. For Caesar I see is so equipped with infantry, cavalry, fleet, auxiliaries from Gaul—Matius may have exaggerated, but certainly he said that ... infantry and cavalry have promised their services for ten years at their own expense. However, granted that this wasgasconnade, great forces Caesar assuredly has, and he will have not the inland revenue of Italy, but the property of her citizens. Add to this the self-confidence of the man, the weakness of the loyalists, who, thinking Pompey deservedly angry with them, as you say, detest the game. I wish you had cited your authority. Domitius, who promised more than he performed,[104]and Pompey's old lovers in general do

[104]Or as Boot, readingsedet, "Domitius, who etc., is doing nothing."

[Pg 248]municipia vero et rustici Romani illum metuunt, hunc adhuc diligunt. Quare ita paratus est, ut, etiamsi vincere non possit, quo modo tamen vinci ipse possit, non videam. Ego autem non tam γοητείαν huius timeo quam πειθανάγκην. "Αἱ γὰρ τῶν τυρᾶννων δεήσεις," inquit Πλάτων, "οἶσθ' ὅτι μεμιγμέναι ἀνίγκαις."Illa ἀλίμενα video tibi non probari. Quae ne mihi quidem placebant; sed habebam in illis et occultationem et ὑπηρεσίαν fidelem. Quae si mihi Brundisi suppeterent, mallem; sed ibi occultatio nulla est. Verum, ut scribis, cum sciemus.Viris bonis me non nimis excuso. Quas enim eos cenas et facere et obire scripsit ad me Sextus, quam lautas, quam tempestivas! Sed sint quamvis boni, non sunt meliores quam nos. Moverent me, si essent fortiores.De Lanuvino Phameae erravi; Troianum somniaveram. Id ego volui Q, sed pluris est. Istuc tamen mihi cuperem emeres, si ullam spem fruendi viderem.Nos quae monstra cotidie legamus, intelleges ex illo libello, qui in epistulam coniectus est. Lentulus noster Puteolis est ἀδημονῶν is, ut Caesius narrat, quid agat. Διατροπὴν Corfiniensem reformidat. Pompeio nunc putat satis factum, beneficio Caesaris movetur, sed tamen movetur magis prospecta re.Tene haec posse ferre? Omnia misera, sed hoc[Pg 249]not love him. The towns and rural population are afraid of Pompey and so far worship Caesar. Caesar is so equipped that, even if he fail to beat, I do not see in what way he can be beaten. I do not fear hisfinesseso much as hisforce majeure, for as Plato says, "a tyrant's requests partake of the nature of mandates."[105][105]Plato,Ep.7.Places without harbours, I see, do not meet with your approval. Nor do I like them, but the place has afforded me hiding and a trusty set of attendants. If I could have had the same at Brundisium, I should have preferred it. But there is no hiding place there. But, as you say, when we know!I am not going to excuse myself much to the loyalists. What dinners according to Sextus they are giving and receiving, how lavish and how early! They may be loyal, but they are not more loyal than I. They would influence me more if they had shown more courage.I was wrong about Phamea's estate at Lanuvium. I was dreaming about the Trojan estate.[106]I wanted it for £4,500,[107]but the price is higher. However, I should have liked you to buy that estate for me, if I saw any hope of enjoying it.[106]Apparently near Antium, cf. ix, 9.[107]500,000 sesterces.What portentous news I read daily you may understand from the pamphlet enclosed in this packet. Lentulus is at Puteoli, and, Caesius says, in a quandary what to do. He dreads a fiasco like that at Corfinium. He thinks he has done his duty by Pompey. He is influenced by Caesar's kindness; but he is influenced more by future prospects.To think that you can bear this! Everything is

[Pg 248]

municipia vero et rustici Romani illum metuunt, hunc adhuc diligunt. Quare ita paratus est, ut, etiamsi vincere non possit, quo modo tamen vinci ipse possit, non videam. Ego autem non tam γοητείαν huius timeo quam πειθανάγκην. "Αἱ γὰρ τῶν τυρᾶννων δεήσεις," inquit Πλάτων, "οἶσθ' ὅτι μεμιγμέναι ἀνίγκαις."

Illa ἀλίμενα video tibi non probari. Quae ne mihi quidem placebant; sed habebam in illis et occultationem et ὑπηρεσίαν fidelem. Quae si mihi Brundisi suppeterent, mallem; sed ibi occultatio nulla est. Verum, ut scribis, cum sciemus.

Viris bonis me non nimis excuso. Quas enim eos cenas et facere et obire scripsit ad me Sextus, quam lautas, quam tempestivas! Sed sint quamvis boni, non sunt meliores quam nos. Moverent me, si essent fortiores.

De Lanuvino Phameae erravi; Troianum somniaveram. Id ego volui Q, sed pluris est. Istuc tamen mihi cuperem emeres, si ullam spem fruendi viderem.

Nos quae monstra cotidie legamus, intelleges ex illo libello, qui in epistulam coniectus est. Lentulus noster Puteolis est ἀδημονῶν is, ut Caesius narrat, quid agat. Διατροπὴν Corfiniensem reformidat. Pompeio nunc putat satis factum, beneficio Caesaris movetur, sed tamen movetur magis prospecta re.

Tene haec posse ferre? Omnia misera, sed hoc

[Pg 249]not love him. The towns and rural population are afraid of Pompey and so far worship Caesar. Caesar is so equipped that, even if he fail to beat, I do not see in what way he can be beaten. I do not fear hisfinesseso much as hisforce majeure, for as Plato says, "a tyrant's requests partake of the nature of mandates."[105][105]Plato,Ep.7.Places without harbours, I see, do not meet with your approval. Nor do I like them, but the place has afforded me hiding and a trusty set of attendants. If I could have had the same at Brundisium, I should have preferred it. But there is no hiding place there. But, as you say, when we know!I am not going to excuse myself much to the loyalists. What dinners according to Sextus they are giving and receiving, how lavish and how early! They may be loyal, but they are not more loyal than I. They would influence me more if they had shown more courage.I was wrong about Phamea's estate at Lanuvium. I was dreaming about the Trojan estate.[106]I wanted it for £4,500,[107]but the price is higher. However, I should have liked you to buy that estate for me, if I saw any hope of enjoying it.[106]Apparently near Antium, cf. ix, 9.[107]500,000 sesterces.What portentous news I read daily you may understand from the pamphlet enclosed in this packet. Lentulus is at Puteoli, and, Caesius says, in a quandary what to do. He dreads a fiasco like that at Corfinium. He thinks he has done his duty by Pompey. He is influenced by Caesar's kindness; but he is influenced more by future prospects.To think that you can bear this! Everything is

[Pg 249]

not love him. The towns and rural population are afraid of Pompey and so far worship Caesar. Caesar is so equipped that, even if he fail to beat, I do not see in what way he can be beaten. I do not fear hisfinesseso much as hisforce majeure, for as Plato says, "a tyrant's requests partake of the nature of mandates."[105]

[105]Plato,Ep.7.

Places without harbours, I see, do not meet with your approval. Nor do I like them, but the place has afforded me hiding and a trusty set of attendants. If I could have had the same at Brundisium, I should have preferred it. But there is no hiding place there. But, as you say, when we know!

I am not going to excuse myself much to the loyalists. What dinners according to Sextus they are giving and receiving, how lavish and how early! They may be loyal, but they are not more loyal than I. They would influence me more if they had shown more courage.

I was wrong about Phamea's estate at Lanuvium. I was dreaming about the Trojan estate.[106]I wanted it for £4,500,[107]but the price is higher. However, I should have liked you to buy that estate for me, if I saw any hope of enjoying it.

[106]Apparently near Antium, cf. ix, 9.

[107]500,000 sesterces.

What portentous news I read daily you may understand from the pamphlet enclosed in this packet. Lentulus is at Puteoli, and, Caesius says, in a quandary what to do. He dreads a fiasco like that at Corfinium. He thinks he has done his duty by Pompey. He is influenced by Caesar's kindness; but he is influenced more by future prospects.

To think that you can bear this! Everything is

[Pg 250]nihil miserius. Pompeius N. Magium de pace misit et tamen oppugnatur. Quod ego non credebam, sed habeo a Balbo litteras, quarum ad te exemplum misi. Lege, quaeso, et illud infimum caput ipsius Balbi optimi, cui Gnaeus noster locum, ubi hortos aedificaret, dedit, quem cui nostrum non saepe praetulit? Itaque miser torquetur. Sed, ne bis eadem legas, ad ipsam te epistulam reicio. Spem autem pacis habeo nullam. Dolabella suis litterisIIIIdus Mart. datis merum bellum loquitur. Maneamus ergo in illa eadem sententia misera et desperata, quando hoc miserius esse nihil potest.XIIIaBALBUS CICERONI IMP. SAL. DIC.Scr. Romae circ. X K. Apr. 705.Caesar nobis litteras perbreves misit; quarum exemplum subscripsi. Brevitate epistulae scire poteris eum valde esse distentum, qui tanta de re tam breviter scripserit. Si quid praeterea novi fuerit, statim tibi scribam."CAESAR OPPIO, CORNELIO SAL.A. d.VIIIdus Martias Brundisium veni, ad murum castra posui. Pompeius est Brundisi. Misit ad me N. Magium de pace. Quae visa sunt, respondi. Hoc vos statim scire volui. Cum in spem venero de compositione aliquid me conficere, statim vos certiores faciam."Quo modo me nunc putas, mi Cicero, torqueri, postquam rursus in spem pacis veni, ne qua res eorum compositionem impediat? Namque, quod absens[Pg 251]wretched, but nothing more wretched than this. Pompey sent N. Magius to speak of peace, and yet he is under siege. I did not believe it; but I have a letter from Balbus of which I send you a copy. Read it, please, and that clause at the end which contains the remarks of the good Balbus himself, to whom Pompey gave a site for his estate and whom he had often preferred to all of us. So he is in an agony of grief. But, that you may not have to read the same, twice over, I refer you to the letter. Of peace I have no hope. Dolabella in his letter of the 13th of March speaks of war pure and simple. So let us stick to the same opinion, that there is no hope, for nothing can be worse than all this.XIIIaBALBUS TO CICERO THE IMPERATOR, GREETING.Rome, about March 23,B.C.49Caesar has sent me a very short letter of which I subjoin a copy. From the shortness of the letter you can infer that he is greatly occupied, to write so briefly about a matter of such importance. If there is any further news, I will write you immediately."CAESAR TO OPPIUS, CORNELIUS, GREETING."On the 9th of March I came to Brundisium, and under its walls pitched my camp. Pompey is at Brundisium. He sent N. Magius to me to talk of peace. I replied as I thought fit. I wanted you to know this at once. When I have hopes of settled terms, I will inform you immediately."My dear Cicero, you can imagine my torture, after I again had hopes of peace, for fear anything should prevent an arrangement. I long for peace. It is all I can do in my absence from the scene of action.

[Pg 250]

nihil miserius. Pompeius N. Magium de pace misit et tamen oppugnatur. Quod ego non credebam, sed habeo a Balbo litteras, quarum ad te exemplum misi. Lege, quaeso, et illud infimum caput ipsius Balbi optimi, cui Gnaeus noster locum, ubi hortos aedificaret, dedit, quem cui nostrum non saepe praetulit? Itaque miser torquetur. Sed, ne bis eadem legas, ad ipsam te epistulam reicio. Spem autem pacis habeo nullam. Dolabella suis litterisIIIIdus Mart. datis merum bellum loquitur. Maneamus ergo in illa eadem sententia misera et desperata, quando hoc miserius esse nihil potest.

Scr. Romae circ. X K. Apr. 705.

Caesar nobis litteras perbreves misit; quarum exemplum subscripsi. Brevitate epistulae scire poteris eum valde esse distentum, qui tanta de re tam breviter scripserit. Si quid praeterea novi fuerit, statim tibi scribam.

"CAESAR OPPIO, CORNELIO SAL.

A. d.VIIIdus Martias Brundisium veni, ad murum castra posui. Pompeius est Brundisi. Misit ad me N. Magium de pace. Quae visa sunt, respondi. Hoc vos statim scire volui. Cum in spem venero de compositione aliquid me conficere, statim vos certiores faciam."

Quo modo me nunc putas, mi Cicero, torqueri, postquam rursus in spem pacis veni, ne qua res eorum compositionem impediat? Namque, quod absens

[Pg 251]wretched, but nothing more wretched than this. Pompey sent N. Magius to speak of peace, and yet he is under siege. I did not believe it; but I have a letter from Balbus of which I send you a copy. Read it, please, and that clause at the end which contains the remarks of the good Balbus himself, to whom Pompey gave a site for his estate and whom he had often preferred to all of us. So he is in an agony of grief. But, that you may not have to read the same, twice over, I refer you to the letter. Of peace I have no hope. Dolabella in his letter of the 13th of March speaks of war pure and simple. So let us stick to the same opinion, that there is no hope, for nothing can be worse than all this.XIIIaBALBUS TO CICERO THE IMPERATOR, GREETING.Rome, about March 23,B.C.49Caesar has sent me a very short letter of which I subjoin a copy. From the shortness of the letter you can infer that he is greatly occupied, to write so briefly about a matter of such importance. If there is any further news, I will write you immediately."CAESAR TO OPPIUS, CORNELIUS, GREETING."On the 9th of March I came to Brundisium, and under its walls pitched my camp. Pompey is at Brundisium. He sent N. Magius to me to talk of peace. I replied as I thought fit. I wanted you to know this at once. When I have hopes of settled terms, I will inform you immediately."My dear Cicero, you can imagine my torture, after I again had hopes of peace, for fear anything should prevent an arrangement. I long for peace. It is all I can do in my absence from the scene of action.

[Pg 251]

wretched, but nothing more wretched than this. Pompey sent N. Magius to speak of peace, and yet he is under siege. I did not believe it; but I have a letter from Balbus of which I send you a copy. Read it, please, and that clause at the end which contains the remarks of the good Balbus himself, to whom Pompey gave a site for his estate and whom he had often preferred to all of us. So he is in an agony of grief. But, that you may not have to read the same, twice over, I refer you to the letter. Of peace I have no hope. Dolabella in his letter of the 13th of March speaks of war pure and simple. So let us stick to the same opinion, that there is no hope, for nothing can be worse than all this.

Rome, about March 23,B.C.49

Caesar has sent me a very short letter of which I subjoin a copy. From the shortness of the letter you can infer that he is greatly occupied, to write so briefly about a matter of such importance. If there is any further news, I will write you immediately.

"CAESAR TO OPPIUS, CORNELIUS, GREETING.

"On the 9th of March I came to Brundisium, and under its walls pitched my camp. Pompey is at Brundisium. He sent N. Magius to me to talk of peace. I replied as I thought fit. I wanted you to know this at once. When I have hopes of settled terms, I will inform you immediately."

My dear Cicero, you can imagine my torture, after I again had hopes of peace, for fear anything should prevent an arrangement. I long for peace. It is all I can do in my absence from the scene of action.

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