FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[1]That Cicero up to the time of his consulship had been connected rather with thepopularesis illustrated by Quintus (de Petit.i.) urging him to make it clear that he had never been a demagogue, but that if he had ever spoken "in the spirit of the popular party, he had done so with the view of attracting Pompey."[2]De Orat.ii. §§ 1, 2.[3]"The city, the city, my dear Rufus—stick to that, and live in its full light. Residence elsewhere—as I made up my mind early in life—is mere eclipse and obscurity to those whose energy is capable of shining at Rome."—Fam.ii. 12 (vol. ii., p. 166).[4]Even at these he found troublesome people to interrupt him. See vol. i., pp.102,104.[5]Yet the announcement of the birth of his son (p.16) and of the dangerous confinement of Tullia (vol. ii., p. 403) are almost equally brief.[6]SeeAtt.ii. 1, vol. i., p.62; Plut.Cic.13; Cic.in Pis.§ 4.[7]Die Entstchungsgeschichte der catilinarischen Verschwörung, by Dr. Constantin John, 1876. I am still of opinion that Plutarch's statement can be strongly supported.[8]Cæsar said, οὺ μὴν καὶ προσήκειν ἐπὶ τοῐς παρεληλυθόσι τοιοῠτόν τινα νόμον συγγράφεσθαι (Dio, xxxviii. 17).[9]"The man who did not so much as raise me up, when I threw myself at his feet."—Att.x. 4 (vol. ii., p. 362). Similar allusions to Pompey's conduct to him on the occasion often occur.[10]See vol. i., p.190.[11]See vol. i., pp.129,138; cp.pro Planc.§§ 95-96.[12]Fam.i. 9, 15(vol. i., p.316).[13]LetterCVII, vol. i., pp.219,220.[14]Ever since its capture in the second Punic War, Capua had ceased to have any corporate existence, and its territory had beenager publicus, let out to tenants (aratores). Cæsar had restored its corporate existence by making it acolonia, and much of the land had been allotted to veterans of his own and Pompey's armies. The state thus lost the rent of the land, one of the few sources of revenue from Italy now drawn by the exchequer of Rome.[15]LetterCLII, vol. i., pp.310-324.[16]Quoted by Flavius Charisius,Ars Gramm.i., p. 126 (ed. Kiel).[17]Vol. ii., p. 204.[18]Vol. i., p.357.[19]CLXXVIII-CLXXXI. The date of the letter to P. Sittius (CLXXVIII) is not certain.[20]Vol. i., p.366.[21]Letter DXXXIII (Fam.iv. 14), about October, B.C. 46.[22]Vol. i., p.226; Pliny,Ep., vii. 33.[23]Pomponia, married to Cicero's younger brother Quintus. We shall frequently hear of this unfortunate marriage. Quintus was four years younger than his brother, who had apparently arranged the match, and felt therefore perhaps somewhat responsible for the result (Nep.Att.5).[24]Atticus had estates and a villa near Buthrotum in Epirus,—Butrintoin Albania, opposite Corfu.[25]This is probably Sext. Peducæus the younger, an intimate friend of Atticus (Nep.Att.21); his father had been prætor in Sicily when Cicero was quæstor (B.C.76-75), the son was afterwards a partisan of Cæsar in the Civil War, governor of Sardinia,B.C.48, and proprætor in Spain,B.C.39.[26]The person alluded to is L. Lucceius, of whom we shall hear again. See LettersV,VII,VIII,CVIII. What his quarrel with Atticus was about, we do not know.[27]Prescriptive right to property was acquired by possession (usus) of two years. But no such right could be acquired to the property of a girl under guardianship (pro Flacco, § 84).[28]C. Rabirius, whom Cicero defended inB.C.63, when prosecuted by Cæsar for his share in the murder of Saturninus (B.C.100). He lived, we know, in Campania, for his neighbours came to give evidence in his favour at the trial.[29]M. Fonteius made a fortune in the province of Gaul beyond the Alps, of which he was proprætor,B.C.77-74. InB.C.69 he had been accused of malversation, and defended by Cicero. After his acquittal he seems to be buying a seaside residence in Campania, as so many of the men of fashion did.[30]Cicero's "gymnasium" was some arrangement of buildings and plantations more or less on the model of the Greek gymnasia, at his Tusculan villa.[31]The mother of Atticus lived to be ninety, dying inB.C.33, not long before Atticus himself, who at her funeral declared that "he had never been reconciled to her, for he had never had a word of dispute with her" (Nep.Att.17).[32]This sum (about £163) is for the works of art purchased for the writer by Atticus.[33]Thyillus (sometimes written Chilius), a Greek poet living at Rome. See LettersXVIandXXI. The Eumolpidæ were a family of priests at Athens who had charge of the temple of Demeter at Eleusis. The πάτρια Εὐμολπιδῶν (the phrase used by Cicero here) may be either books of ritual or records such as priests usually kept: πάτρια is an appropriate word for such rituals or records handed down by priests of one race or family.[34]Lucceius, as in the first letter and the next.[35]Thecomitiawere twice postponed this year. Apparently the voting for Cicero had in each case been completed, so that he is able to say that he was "thrice returned at the head of the poll by an unanimous vote" (de Imp. Pomp.§ 2). The postponement of the elections was probably connected with the struggles of the senate to hinder the legislation (as to bribery) of the Tribune, Gaius Cornelius (Dio, 36, 38-39).[36]The first allusion in these letters to the disturbed position of public affairs. See the passage of Dio quoted in the previous note. There were so many riots in the interval between the proclamation and the holding of the elections, not without bloodshed, that the senate voted the consuls a guard.[37]The point of this frigid joke is not clear. Was the grandmother really dead? What was she to do with the Latinferiæ? Mr. Strachan Davidson's explanation is perhaps the best, that Cicero means that the old lady was thinking of the Social War inB.C.89, when the loyalty of the Latin towns must have been a subject of anxiety. She is in her dotage and only remembers old scares. This is understandingcivitateswithLatinæ. Others understandferiæormulieres. Saufeius, a Roman eques, was an Epicurean, who would hold death to be no evil. He was a close friend of Atticus, who afterwards saved his property from confiscation by the Triumvirs (Nep.Att.12).[38]Cneius Sallustius, a learned friend of Cicero's, of whom we shall often hear again.[39]C. Calpurnius Piso, quæstorB.C.58, died inB.C.57. The marriage took place inB.C.63.[40]The annalist C. Licinius Macer was impeachedde repetundis(he was prætor aboutB.C.70 or 69, and afterwards had a province), and finding that he was going to be condemned, committed suicide. He was never therefore condemned regularly (Val. Max. ix. 127; Plut.Cic.9). Cicero presided at the court as prætor.[41]The books must have been a very valuable collection, or Cicero would hardly have made so much of being able to buy them, considering his lavish orders for statues or antiques.[42]One of the judices rejected by Verres on his trial, a pontifex and augur.[43]Agent of Atticus.[44]C. Antonius (uncle of M. Antonius) was elected with Cicero. Q. Cornificius had been tr. pl. inB.C.69. See LetterXVIII.[45]M. Cæsonius, Cicero's colleague in the ædileship. He had lost credit as one of theIunianum conciliumin the trial of Oppianicus.[46]Aufidius Lurco, tr. pl.B.C.61. M. Lollius Palicanus, tr. pl. some years previously.[47]L. Iulius Cæsar, actually consul inB.C.64, brother-in-law of Lentulus the Catilinarian conspirator, was afterwardslegatusto his distant kinsman, Iulius Cæsar, in Gaul. A. Minucius Thermus, defended by Cicero inB.C.59, but the identification is not certain. D. Iunius Silanus got the consulship in the year after Cicero (B.C.62), and as consul-designate spoke in favour of executing the Catilinarian conspirators.[48]The text is corrupt in all MSS. I have assumed a reading, something of this sort,quæ cum erit absoluta, sane facile ac libenter eum nunc fieri consulem viderim. This at any rate gives nearly the required sense, which is that Cicero regards the influence which Thermus will gain by managing the repair of theFlaminiaas likely to make him a formidable candidate, and therefore he would be glad to see him elected in the present year 65 (nunc) rather than wait for the next, his own year.[49]C. Calpurnis Piso, consul inB.C.67, then proconsul of Gallia Transalpina (Narbonensis). He was charged with embezzlement in his province and defended by Cicero inB.C.63. There were no votes in Transalpine Gaul, but Cicero means in going and coming to canvass the Cispadane cities.[50]Pompey was this year on his way to take over the Mithridatic War. But Cicero may have thought it likely that he or some of his staff would pass through Athens and meet Atticus.[51]L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, prætor inB.C.58, and consulB.C.54, fell at Pharsalia, fighting against Cæsar.[52]Q. Cæcilius, a rich uncle of Atticus, so cross-grained that no one but Atticus could get on with him, to whom he accordingly left his large fortune (Nep.Att.5).[53]Hom.Il.xxii. 159, Achilles pursuing Hector:"Since not for sacred beast or oxhide shieldThey strove,—man's guerdon for the fleet of foot:Their stake was Hector's soul, the swift steed's lord."[54]Readingeiusἀνάθημα, and taking the latter word in the common sense of "ornament": the Hermathena is so placed that the whole gymnasium is as it were an ornament to it, designed to set it off, instead of its being a mere ornament to the gymnasium. Professor Tyrrell, however, will not admit that the words can have this or any meaning, and reads, ἡλίου ἄναμμα, "sun light"—"the whole gymnasium seems as bright as the sun"—a curious effect, after all, for one statue to have.[55]Asconius assigns this to the accusation of embezzlement in Africa. But that seems to have been tried in the previous year, or earlier in this year. The new impeachment threatened seems to have been connected with his crimes in the proscriptions of Sulla (Dio, xxxvii, 10). Cicero may have thought of defending him on a charge relating to so distant a period, just as he did Rabirius on the charge of murdering Saturninus (B.C.100), though he had regarded his guilt in the case of extortion in Africa as glaring.[56]The essay on the duties of a candidate attributed to Quintus is hardly a letter, and there is some doubt as to its authenticity. I have therefore relegated it to an appendix.[57]Q. Metellus Celer had been prætor inB.C.63 and was now (B.C.62), as proconsul in Gallia Cisalpina, engaged against the remains of the Catilinarian conspiracy. Meanwhile his brother (or cousin) Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos, a tribune, after trying in vain to bring Cicero to trial for the execution of the conspirators, at last proposed to summon Pompey to Rome to prevent danger to the lives of citizens. This attempt led to riots and contests with Cato, and Nepos finally fled from Rome to Pompey. By leaving Rome he broke the law as to the tribunes, and the senate declared his office vacant, and this letter would even seem to shew that the senate declared him a public enemy. This letter of remonstrance is peremptory, if not insolent, in tone, and the reader will observe that the formal sentences, dropped in more familiar letters, are carefully used.[58]Metellus had been employed with Antonius against the camp at Fæsulæ, but was now engaged against some Alpine tribes.[59]When Metellus was commanding against Catiline, it is suggested that he marched towards Rome to support his brother, but this is conjecture.[60]Sister of P. Clodius. Of this famous woman we shall hear often again. She is believed to be the Lesbia of Catullus, and she is the "Palatine Medea" of the speechpro Cælio. Yet, in spite of Cicero's denunciations of her, he seems at one time to have been so fond of her society as to rouse Terentia's jealousy.[61]Wife of Pompey—divorced by him on his return from the East.[62]On the next meeting of the senate. The second was adies comitialison which the senate usually did not meet (Cæs.B. Civ.i.I).[63]For the riots caused by his contests with Cato (on which the senate seems to have passed thesenatus consultum ultimum), and for his having left Rome while tribune.[64]P. Sestius was serving as proquæstor in Macedonia under Gaius Antonius. As tribune inB.C.57 he worked for Cicero's recall, but was afterwards prosecutedde vi, and defended by Cicero.[65]Gaius Antonius, Cicero's colleague in the consulship. He had the province of Macedonia after the consulship, Cicero having voluntarily withdrawn in his favour to secure his support against Catiline. Scandal said that he had bargained to pay Cicero large sums from the profits of the province. He governed so corruptly and unsuccessfully that he was on his return condemned ofmaiestas.[66]From expressions in the following letters it seems certain that this refers to money expected from Gaius Antonius; but we have no means of deciding whether or no Teucris is a pseudonym for some agent. Cicero had undertaken to be the advocate and supporter of Antonius, and though as an actualpatronusin court he could not take money, he may have felt justified in receiving supplies from him. Still, he knew the character of Antonius, and how such wealth was likely to be got, and it is not a pleasant affair.[67]Money-lenders.[68]The rich and cross-grained uncle of Atticus. See LetterX.[69]Cicero quotes half a Greek verse of Menander's, ταὐτόματον ἡμῶν, leaving Atticus to fill up the other two words, καλλίω βουλεύεται, "Chance designs better than we ourselves."[70]Mucia was suspected of intriguing with Iulius Cæsar.[71]The chief festival of the Bona Dea (Tellus) was in May. The celebration referred to here took place on the night between the 3rd and 4th of December. It was a state function (pro populo), and was celebrated in the presence of the Vestals and the wife of the consul or prætor urbanus,in ea domo quæ est in imperio. As Cæsar was Pontifex Maximus, as well as prætor urbanus, it took place in theRegia, the Pontiff's official house (Plutarch,Cic.19; Dio, xxxvii. 35).[72]The word (comperisse) used by Cicero in regard to the Catilinarian conspiracy; it had apparently become a subject of rather malignant chaff.[73]Cicero is hinting at the danger of prosecution hanging over the head of Antonius.[74]Readingtibi ipsi(notipse), with Tyrrell.[75]Ora soluta.Or, ifancora sublatabe read, "when the anchor was already weighed." In either case it means "just as you were starting." Atticus wrote on board, and gave the letter to a carrier to take on shore.[76]A word lost in the text.[77]See end of LetterXXI. Cicero playfully supposes that Atticus only stayed in his villa in Epirus to offer sacrifices to the nymph in his gymnasium, and then hurried off to Sicyon, where people owed him money which he wanted to get. He goes to Antonius first to get his authority for putting pressure on Sicyon, and perhaps even some military force.[78]C. Calpurnius Piso (consulB.C.67), brother of the consul of the year, had been governor of Gallia Narbonensis (B.C.66-65), and had suppressed a rising of the Allobroges, the most troublesome tribe in the province, who were, in fact, again in rebellion.[79]M. Pupius Piso.[80]"By the expression of his face rather than the force of his expressions" (Tyrrell).[81]See p. 27,note 2.[82]Pompey.[83]Or, "inclose with my speech"; in both cases the dativeorationi meæis peculiar. No speech exists containing such a description, but we have only two of the previous year extant (pro Flaccoandpro Archia Poeta). Cicero was probably sending it, whichever it was, to Atticus to be copied by hislibrarii, and published. Atticus had apparently some other works of Cicero's in hand, for which he had sent him some "queries."[84]Apparently the speech in the senate referred to in LetterXIV, p.23, spoken on 1st January,B.C. 62. Metellus had prevented hiscontiothe day before.[85]The letter giving this description is lost. I thinkfrigebatis epistolary imperfect—"heis in the cold shade," not, "itfell flat."[86]πανήγυρις. Cicero uses the word (an honourable one in Greek) contemptuously of the rabble brought together at a market.[87]Pompey's general commendation of the decrees of the senate would include those regarding the Catiline conspirators, and he therefore claimed to have satisfied Cicero.[88]Meis omnibus litteris, the MS. reading. Prof. Tyrrell's emendation,orationibus meis, omnibus litteris, "in my speeches, every letter of them," seems to me even harsher than the MS., a gross exaggeration, and doubtful Latin.Meis litterisis well supported byliteræ forenses et senatoriæofde Off.2, § 3, and though it is an unusual mode of referring to speeches, we must remember that they were now published and were "literature." The particular reference is to the speechpro Imperio Pompeii, in which, among other things, the whole credit of the reduction of Spartacus's gladiators is given to Pompey, whereas the brunt of the war had been borne by Crassus.[89]Fufius, though Cicero does not say so, must have vetoed the decree, but in the face of such a majority withdrew his veto. The practice seems to have been, in case of tribunician veto, to take the vote, which remained as anauctoritas senatus, but was not asenatus consultumunless the tribune was induced to withdraw.[90]Comperisse. See LetterXVII,note 1, p.28.[91]See LettersXVIandXVIII, pp.26,32.[92]παντοίης ἀρέτης μιμνήσκεο (Hom.Il.xxii. 8)[93]The allotment of provinces had been put off (seelast letter) till the affair of Clodius's trial was settled; consequently Quintus would not have much time for preparation, and would soon set out. He would cross to Dyrrachium, and proceed along thevia Egnatiato Thessalonica. He might meet Atticus at Dyrrachium, or go out of his way to call on him at Buthrotum.[94]ὕστερον πρότερον Ὁμηρικῶς.[95]That is, the resolution of the senate, that the consuls should endeavour to get the bill passed.[96]Cicero deposed to having seen Clodius in Rome three hours after he swore that he was at Interamna (ninety miles off), thus spoiling his alibi.[97]The difficulty of this sentence is well known. The juries were now made up of threedecuriæ—senators, equites, andtribuni ærarii. But the exact meaning oftribuni ærariiis not known, beyond the fact that they formed anordo, coming immediately below the equites. Possibly they were old tribal officers who had the duty of distributing pay or collecting taxes (to which the translation supposes a punning reference), and as such were required to be of acensusimmediately below that of the equites. I do not profess to be satisfied, but I cannot think that Professor Tyrrell's proposal makes matters much easier—tribuni non tam ærarii, ut appellantur, quam ærati; for his translation ofæratias "bribed" is not better supported, and is a less natural deduction than "moneyed."[98]I.e., the Athenians. Xenocrates of Calchedon (B.C.396-314), residing at Athens, is said to have been so trusted that his word was taken as a witness without an oath (Diog. Laert.IV. ii. 4).[99]Q. Cæcilius Numidicus, consulB.C.109, commanded against Iugurtha. The event referred to in the text is said to have occurred on his trialde repetundis, after his return from a province which he had held as proprætor (Val. Max.II. x. 1).[100]Hom.Il.xvi. 112:ἕσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι, Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαιὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε νηυσὶν Ἀχαίων.[101]The reference is to Crassus. But the rest is very dark. The old commentators say that he is here calledex Nanneianisbecause he made a large sum of money by the property of one Nanneius, who was among those proscribed by Sulla. His calling Crassus his "panegyrist" is explained by LetterXIX, pp.33-34.

[1]That Cicero up to the time of his consulship had been connected rather with thepopularesis illustrated by Quintus (de Petit.i.) urging him to make it clear that he had never been a demagogue, but that if he had ever spoken "in the spirit of the popular party, he had done so with the view of attracting Pompey."

[2]De Orat.ii. §§ 1, 2.

[3]"The city, the city, my dear Rufus—stick to that, and live in its full light. Residence elsewhere—as I made up my mind early in life—is mere eclipse and obscurity to those whose energy is capable of shining at Rome."—Fam.ii. 12 (vol. ii., p. 166).

[4]Even at these he found troublesome people to interrupt him. See vol. i., pp.102,104.

[5]Yet the announcement of the birth of his son (p.16) and of the dangerous confinement of Tullia (vol. ii., p. 403) are almost equally brief.

[6]SeeAtt.ii. 1, vol. i., p.62; Plut.Cic.13; Cic.in Pis.§ 4.

[7]Die Entstchungsgeschichte der catilinarischen Verschwörung, by Dr. Constantin John, 1876. I am still of opinion that Plutarch's statement can be strongly supported.

[8]Cæsar said, οὺ μὴν καὶ προσήκειν ἐπὶ τοῐς παρεληλυθόσι τοιοῠτόν τινα νόμον συγγράφεσθαι (Dio, xxxviii. 17).

[9]"The man who did not so much as raise me up, when I threw myself at his feet."—Att.x. 4 (vol. ii., p. 362). Similar allusions to Pompey's conduct to him on the occasion often occur.

[10]See vol. i., p.190.

[11]See vol. i., pp.129,138; cp.pro Planc.§§ 95-96.

[12]Fam.i. 9, 15(vol. i., p.316).

[13]LetterCVII, vol. i., pp.219,220.

[14]Ever since its capture in the second Punic War, Capua had ceased to have any corporate existence, and its territory had beenager publicus, let out to tenants (aratores). Cæsar had restored its corporate existence by making it acolonia, and much of the land had been allotted to veterans of his own and Pompey's armies. The state thus lost the rent of the land, one of the few sources of revenue from Italy now drawn by the exchequer of Rome.

[15]LetterCLII, vol. i., pp.310-324.

[16]Quoted by Flavius Charisius,Ars Gramm.i., p. 126 (ed. Kiel).

[17]Vol. ii., p. 204.

[18]Vol. i., p.357.

[19]CLXXVIII-CLXXXI. The date of the letter to P. Sittius (CLXXVIII) is not certain.

[20]Vol. i., p.366.

[21]Letter DXXXIII (Fam.iv. 14), about October, B.C. 46.

[22]Vol. i., p.226; Pliny,Ep., vii. 33.

[23]Pomponia, married to Cicero's younger brother Quintus. We shall frequently hear of this unfortunate marriage. Quintus was four years younger than his brother, who had apparently arranged the match, and felt therefore perhaps somewhat responsible for the result (Nep.Att.5).

[24]Atticus had estates and a villa near Buthrotum in Epirus,—Butrintoin Albania, opposite Corfu.

[25]This is probably Sext. Peducæus the younger, an intimate friend of Atticus (Nep.Att.21); his father had been prætor in Sicily when Cicero was quæstor (B.C.76-75), the son was afterwards a partisan of Cæsar in the Civil War, governor of Sardinia,B.C.48, and proprætor in Spain,B.C.39.

[26]The person alluded to is L. Lucceius, of whom we shall hear again. See LettersV,VII,VIII,CVIII. What his quarrel with Atticus was about, we do not know.

[27]Prescriptive right to property was acquired by possession (usus) of two years. But no such right could be acquired to the property of a girl under guardianship (pro Flacco, § 84).

[28]C. Rabirius, whom Cicero defended inB.C.63, when prosecuted by Cæsar for his share in the murder of Saturninus (B.C.100). He lived, we know, in Campania, for his neighbours came to give evidence in his favour at the trial.

[29]M. Fonteius made a fortune in the province of Gaul beyond the Alps, of which he was proprætor,B.C.77-74. InB.C.69 he had been accused of malversation, and defended by Cicero. After his acquittal he seems to be buying a seaside residence in Campania, as so many of the men of fashion did.

[30]Cicero's "gymnasium" was some arrangement of buildings and plantations more or less on the model of the Greek gymnasia, at his Tusculan villa.

[31]The mother of Atticus lived to be ninety, dying inB.C.33, not long before Atticus himself, who at her funeral declared that "he had never been reconciled to her, for he had never had a word of dispute with her" (Nep.Att.17).

[32]This sum (about £163) is for the works of art purchased for the writer by Atticus.

[33]Thyillus (sometimes written Chilius), a Greek poet living at Rome. See LettersXVIandXXI. The Eumolpidæ were a family of priests at Athens who had charge of the temple of Demeter at Eleusis. The πάτρια Εὐμολπιδῶν (the phrase used by Cicero here) may be either books of ritual or records such as priests usually kept: πάτρια is an appropriate word for such rituals or records handed down by priests of one race or family.

[34]Lucceius, as in the first letter and the next.

[35]Thecomitiawere twice postponed this year. Apparently the voting for Cicero had in each case been completed, so that he is able to say that he was "thrice returned at the head of the poll by an unanimous vote" (de Imp. Pomp.§ 2). The postponement of the elections was probably connected with the struggles of the senate to hinder the legislation (as to bribery) of the Tribune, Gaius Cornelius (Dio, 36, 38-39).

[36]The first allusion in these letters to the disturbed position of public affairs. See the passage of Dio quoted in the previous note. There were so many riots in the interval between the proclamation and the holding of the elections, not without bloodshed, that the senate voted the consuls a guard.

[37]The point of this frigid joke is not clear. Was the grandmother really dead? What was she to do with the Latinferiæ? Mr. Strachan Davidson's explanation is perhaps the best, that Cicero means that the old lady was thinking of the Social War inB.C.89, when the loyalty of the Latin towns must have been a subject of anxiety. She is in her dotage and only remembers old scares. This is understandingcivitateswithLatinæ. Others understandferiæormulieres. Saufeius, a Roman eques, was an Epicurean, who would hold death to be no evil. He was a close friend of Atticus, who afterwards saved his property from confiscation by the Triumvirs (Nep.Att.12).

[38]Cneius Sallustius, a learned friend of Cicero's, of whom we shall often hear again.

[39]C. Calpurnius Piso, quæstorB.C.58, died inB.C.57. The marriage took place inB.C.63.

[40]The annalist C. Licinius Macer was impeachedde repetundis(he was prætor aboutB.C.70 or 69, and afterwards had a province), and finding that he was going to be condemned, committed suicide. He was never therefore condemned regularly (Val. Max. ix. 127; Plut.Cic.9). Cicero presided at the court as prætor.

[41]The books must have been a very valuable collection, or Cicero would hardly have made so much of being able to buy them, considering his lavish orders for statues or antiques.

[42]One of the judices rejected by Verres on his trial, a pontifex and augur.

[43]Agent of Atticus.

[44]C. Antonius (uncle of M. Antonius) was elected with Cicero. Q. Cornificius had been tr. pl. inB.C.69. See LetterXVIII.

[45]M. Cæsonius, Cicero's colleague in the ædileship. He had lost credit as one of theIunianum conciliumin the trial of Oppianicus.

[46]Aufidius Lurco, tr. pl.B.C.61. M. Lollius Palicanus, tr. pl. some years previously.

[47]L. Iulius Cæsar, actually consul inB.C.64, brother-in-law of Lentulus the Catilinarian conspirator, was afterwardslegatusto his distant kinsman, Iulius Cæsar, in Gaul. A. Minucius Thermus, defended by Cicero inB.C.59, but the identification is not certain. D. Iunius Silanus got the consulship in the year after Cicero (B.C.62), and as consul-designate spoke in favour of executing the Catilinarian conspirators.

[48]The text is corrupt in all MSS. I have assumed a reading, something of this sort,quæ cum erit absoluta, sane facile ac libenter eum nunc fieri consulem viderim. This at any rate gives nearly the required sense, which is that Cicero regards the influence which Thermus will gain by managing the repair of theFlaminiaas likely to make him a formidable candidate, and therefore he would be glad to see him elected in the present year 65 (nunc) rather than wait for the next, his own year.

[49]C. Calpurnis Piso, consul inB.C.67, then proconsul of Gallia Transalpina (Narbonensis). He was charged with embezzlement in his province and defended by Cicero inB.C.63. There were no votes in Transalpine Gaul, but Cicero means in going and coming to canvass the Cispadane cities.

[50]Pompey was this year on his way to take over the Mithridatic War. But Cicero may have thought it likely that he or some of his staff would pass through Athens and meet Atticus.

[51]L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, prætor inB.C.58, and consulB.C.54, fell at Pharsalia, fighting against Cæsar.

[52]Q. Cæcilius, a rich uncle of Atticus, so cross-grained that no one but Atticus could get on with him, to whom he accordingly left his large fortune (Nep.Att.5).

[53]Hom.Il.xxii. 159, Achilles pursuing Hector:"Since not for sacred beast or oxhide shieldThey strove,—man's guerdon for the fleet of foot:Their stake was Hector's soul, the swift steed's lord."

[53]Hom.Il.xxii. 159, Achilles pursuing Hector:

"Since not for sacred beast or oxhide shieldThey strove,—man's guerdon for the fleet of foot:Their stake was Hector's soul, the swift steed's lord."

[54]Readingeiusἀνάθημα, and taking the latter word in the common sense of "ornament": the Hermathena is so placed that the whole gymnasium is as it were an ornament to it, designed to set it off, instead of its being a mere ornament to the gymnasium. Professor Tyrrell, however, will not admit that the words can have this or any meaning, and reads, ἡλίου ἄναμμα, "sun light"—"the whole gymnasium seems as bright as the sun"—a curious effect, after all, for one statue to have.

[55]Asconius assigns this to the accusation of embezzlement in Africa. But that seems to have been tried in the previous year, or earlier in this year. The new impeachment threatened seems to have been connected with his crimes in the proscriptions of Sulla (Dio, xxxvii, 10). Cicero may have thought of defending him on a charge relating to so distant a period, just as he did Rabirius on the charge of murdering Saturninus (B.C.100), though he had regarded his guilt in the case of extortion in Africa as glaring.

[56]The essay on the duties of a candidate attributed to Quintus is hardly a letter, and there is some doubt as to its authenticity. I have therefore relegated it to an appendix.

[57]Q. Metellus Celer had been prætor inB.C.63 and was now (B.C.62), as proconsul in Gallia Cisalpina, engaged against the remains of the Catilinarian conspiracy. Meanwhile his brother (or cousin) Q. Cæcilius Metellus Nepos, a tribune, after trying in vain to bring Cicero to trial for the execution of the conspirators, at last proposed to summon Pompey to Rome to prevent danger to the lives of citizens. This attempt led to riots and contests with Cato, and Nepos finally fled from Rome to Pompey. By leaving Rome he broke the law as to the tribunes, and the senate declared his office vacant, and this letter would even seem to shew that the senate declared him a public enemy. This letter of remonstrance is peremptory, if not insolent, in tone, and the reader will observe that the formal sentences, dropped in more familiar letters, are carefully used.

[58]Metellus had been employed with Antonius against the camp at Fæsulæ, but was now engaged against some Alpine tribes.

[59]When Metellus was commanding against Catiline, it is suggested that he marched towards Rome to support his brother, but this is conjecture.

[60]Sister of P. Clodius. Of this famous woman we shall hear often again. She is believed to be the Lesbia of Catullus, and she is the "Palatine Medea" of the speechpro Cælio. Yet, in spite of Cicero's denunciations of her, he seems at one time to have been so fond of her society as to rouse Terentia's jealousy.

[61]Wife of Pompey—divorced by him on his return from the East.

[62]On the next meeting of the senate. The second was adies comitialison which the senate usually did not meet (Cæs.B. Civ.i.I).

[63]For the riots caused by his contests with Cato (on which the senate seems to have passed thesenatus consultum ultimum), and for his having left Rome while tribune.

[64]P. Sestius was serving as proquæstor in Macedonia under Gaius Antonius. As tribune inB.C.57 he worked for Cicero's recall, but was afterwards prosecutedde vi, and defended by Cicero.

[65]Gaius Antonius, Cicero's colleague in the consulship. He had the province of Macedonia after the consulship, Cicero having voluntarily withdrawn in his favour to secure his support against Catiline. Scandal said that he had bargained to pay Cicero large sums from the profits of the province. He governed so corruptly and unsuccessfully that he was on his return condemned ofmaiestas.

[66]From expressions in the following letters it seems certain that this refers to money expected from Gaius Antonius; but we have no means of deciding whether or no Teucris is a pseudonym for some agent. Cicero had undertaken to be the advocate and supporter of Antonius, and though as an actualpatronusin court he could not take money, he may have felt justified in receiving supplies from him. Still, he knew the character of Antonius, and how such wealth was likely to be got, and it is not a pleasant affair.

[67]Money-lenders.

[68]The rich and cross-grained uncle of Atticus. See LetterX.

[69]Cicero quotes half a Greek verse of Menander's, ταὐτόματον ἡμῶν, leaving Atticus to fill up the other two words, καλλίω βουλεύεται, "Chance designs better than we ourselves."

[70]Mucia was suspected of intriguing with Iulius Cæsar.

[71]The chief festival of the Bona Dea (Tellus) was in May. The celebration referred to here took place on the night between the 3rd and 4th of December. It was a state function (pro populo), and was celebrated in the presence of the Vestals and the wife of the consul or prætor urbanus,in ea domo quæ est in imperio. As Cæsar was Pontifex Maximus, as well as prætor urbanus, it took place in theRegia, the Pontiff's official house (Plutarch,Cic.19; Dio, xxxvii. 35).

[72]The word (comperisse) used by Cicero in regard to the Catilinarian conspiracy; it had apparently become a subject of rather malignant chaff.

[73]Cicero is hinting at the danger of prosecution hanging over the head of Antonius.

[74]Readingtibi ipsi(notipse), with Tyrrell.

[75]Ora soluta.Or, ifancora sublatabe read, "when the anchor was already weighed." In either case it means "just as you were starting." Atticus wrote on board, and gave the letter to a carrier to take on shore.

[76]A word lost in the text.

[77]See end of LetterXXI. Cicero playfully supposes that Atticus only stayed in his villa in Epirus to offer sacrifices to the nymph in his gymnasium, and then hurried off to Sicyon, where people owed him money which he wanted to get. He goes to Antonius first to get his authority for putting pressure on Sicyon, and perhaps even some military force.

[78]C. Calpurnius Piso (consulB.C.67), brother of the consul of the year, had been governor of Gallia Narbonensis (B.C.66-65), and had suppressed a rising of the Allobroges, the most troublesome tribe in the province, who were, in fact, again in rebellion.

[79]M. Pupius Piso.

[80]"By the expression of his face rather than the force of his expressions" (Tyrrell).

[81]See p. 27,note 2.

[82]Pompey.

[83]Or, "inclose with my speech"; in both cases the dativeorationi meæis peculiar. No speech exists containing such a description, but we have only two of the previous year extant (pro Flaccoandpro Archia Poeta). Cicero was probably sending it, whichever it was, to Atticus to be copied by hislibrarii, and published. Atticus had apparently some other works of Cicero's in hand, for which he had sent him some "queries."

[84]Apparently the speech in the senate referred to in LetterXIV, p.23, spoken on 1st January,B.C. 62. Metellus had prevented hiscontiothe day before.

[85]The letter giving this description is lost. I thinkfrigebatis epistolary imperfect—"heis in the cold shade," not, "itfell flat."

[86]πανήγυρις. Cicero uses the word (an honourable one in Greek) contemptuously of the rabble brought together at a market.

[87]Pompey's general commendation of the decrees of the senate would include those regarding the Catiline conspirators, and he therefore claimed to have satisfied Cicero.

[88]Meis omnibus litteris, the MS. reading. Prof. Tyrrell's emendation,orationibus meis, omnibus litteris, "in my speeches, every letter of them," seems to me even harsher than the MS., a gross exaggeration, and doubtful Latin.Meis litterisis well supported byliteræ forenses et senatoriæofde Off.2, § 3, and though it is an unusual mode of referring to speeches, we must remember that they were now published and were "literature." The particular reference is to the speechpro Imperio Pompeii, in which, among other things, the whole credit of the reduction of Spartacus's gladiators is given to Pompey, whereas the brunt of the war had been borne by Crassus.

[89]Fufius, though Cicero does not say so, must have vetoed the decree, but in the face of such a majority withdrew his veto. The practice seems to have been, in case of tribunician veto, to take the vote, which remained as anauctoritas senatus, but was not asenatus consultumunless the tribune was induced to withdraw.

[90]Comperisse. See LetterXVII,note 1, p.28.

[91]See LettersXVIandXVIII, pp.26,32.

[92]παντοίης ἀρέτης μιμνήσκεο (Hom.Il.xxii. 8)

[93]The allotment of provinces had been put off (seelast letter) till the affair of Clodius's trial was settled; consequently Quintus would not have much time for preparation, and would soon set out. He would cross to Dyrrachium, and proceed along thevia Egnatiato Thessalonica. He might meet Atticus at Dyrrachium, or go out of his way to call on him at Buthrotum.

[94]ὕστερον πρότερον Ὁμηρικῶς.

[95]That is, the resolution of the senate, that the consuls should endeavour to get the bill passed.

[96]Cicero deposed to having seen Clodius in Rome three hours after he swore that he was at Interamna (ninety miles off), thus spoiling his alibi.

[97]The difficulty of this sentence is well known. The juries were now made up of threedecuriæ—senators, equites, andtribuni ærarii. But the exact meaning oftribuni ærariiis not known, beyond the fact that they formed anordo, coming immediately below the equites. Possibly they were old tribal officers who had the duty of distributing pay or collecting taxes (to which the translation supposes a punning reference), and as such were required to be of acensusimmediately below that of the equites. I do not profess to be satisfied, but I cannot think that Professor Tyrrell's proposal makes matters much easier—tribuni non tam ærarii, ut appellantur, quam ærati; for his translation ofæratias "bribed" is not better supported, and is a less natural deduction than "moneyed."

[98]I.e., the Athenians. Xenocrates of Calchedon (B.C.396-314), residing at Athens, is said to have been so trusted that his word was taken as a witness without an oath (Diog. Laert.IV. ii. 4).

[99]Q. Cæcilius Numidicus, consulB.C.109, commanded against Iugurtha. The event referred to in the text is said to have occurred on his trialde repetundis, after his return from a province which he had held as proprætor (Val. Max.II. x. 1).

[100]Hom.Il.xvi. 112:ἕσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι, Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαιὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε νηυσὶν Ἀχαίων.

[100]Hom.Il.xvi. 112:

ἕσπετε νῦν μοι, Μοῦσαι, Ὀλύμπια δώματ' ἔχουσαιὅππως δὴ πρῶτον πῦρ ἔμπεσε νηυσὶν Ἀχαίων.

[101]The reference is to Crassus. But the rest is very dark. The old commentators say that he is here calledex Nanneianisbecause he made a large sum of money by the property of one Nanneius, who was among those proscribed by Sulla. His calling Crassus his "panegyrist" is explained by LetterXIX, pp.33-34.

Back to Index Next