Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 66 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
The state of our candidacy [for the consulship], which I know is of the greatest concern to you, is of this sort, so far as it can yet be foreseen by conjecture. Publius Galba alone is canvassing for it. He is being refused, without disguise or deceit, in the manner of our forefathers. In the general opinion, this premature canvassing of his has not been unfavorable to our own prospects; for people commonly refuse him in such a way that they say they are obliged to me. So I hope something is being gained for us, when it becomes widely known that very many friends of ours are to be found. We ourselves had thought of beginning our canvass at the very time when Cincius said your slave was setting out with this letter, namely at the elections for the tribunes in the Campus, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of Sextilis [17 July]. As for competitors who seem to be definite, there are Galba and Antonius and Quintus Cornificius. At this point I suppose you have either laughed or groaned. To make you strike your brow, there are some who even think Caesonius will run. We did not suppose Aquilius would, since he has flatly declined and sworn to ill health and put forward as his excuse that judicial sovereignty of his. Catiline, if it shall be adjudged that the sun does not shine at midday, will certainly be a competitor. As for Aufidius and Palicanus, I do not think you are waiting for me to write about them. Of those who are now standing, Caesar is reckoned a sure candidate. Thermus is thought to be contending with Silanus; these men are so destitute both of friends and of reputation that it seems to me not impossible to bring forward Curius. But this view occurs to no one except me. It seems most to the advantage of our interests that Thermus should be elected along with Caesar. For there is no one among those now standing who, if he should fall back into our year, would seem to be a stronger candidate, because he is the curator of the Flaminian Way, which will by then have been finished quite easily. I would gladly nail him down now to Caesar as consul. Such is the rough sketch of our thinking about the candidates so far. We for our part will apply the greatest diligence in performing every duty of a candidate, and perhaps, since Gaul seems to have much weight in the voting, when the courts at Rome have left the Forum cold, we shall run out in the month of September as legate to Piso, so as to return in January. When I have ascertained the inclinations of the nobles, I will write to you. The rest I hope will be plain sailing, at least as regards these city competitors. That band of supporters over there you must see that you secure for me, since you are nearer to him, I mean those of Pompey, our friend. Tell him I shall not be angry with him if he does not come to my election. So much for matters of this kind. But there is something for which I should very much like to be pardoned by you. Caecilius, your uncle, having been defrauded of a large sum of money by Publius Varius, began to proceed against Varius's brother, Aulus Caninius Satyrus, concerning those properties which he alleged Satyrus had received from Varius by fraudulent conveyance. Acting jointly with him were the other creditors, among whom were Lucius Lucullus and Publius Scipio and the man whom they thought would be the receiver, if the goods came to sale, Lucius Pontius. But this business about a receiver is absurd. Now learn the matter. Caecilius asked me to support him against Satyrus. Scarcely a day passes but this Satyrus comes calling at my house; he pays court chiefly to Lucius Domitius, and ranks me next; he has been of great service both to me and to my brother Quintus in our campaigns. I am much disturbed both by my intimacy with Satyrus himself and by that with Domitius, on whom above all our hopes of office rest. I pointed these things out to Caecilius and at the same time showed him this, that if he alone were contending against that one man alone, I would have done what he wished; but as it was, in a case involving the whole body of creditors, men moreover of the highest standing, who without the one whom Caecilius should put forward in his own name would easily maintain their common cause, it was fair that he should have regard both for my obligation and for the season. He seemed to take this more harshly than I could have wished, and than well-bred men are accustomed to, and afterward he withdrew entirely and far from the acquaintance of a few days' standing that had been begun between us. From you I beg that you pardon me this, and consider that I was held back by a sense of decency, that I might not come against a friend's highest reputation at the most wretched time of his life, when he had bestowed on me all his zeal and good offices. But if you should wish to be harsher toward me, you will suppose that ambition for office stood in my way. I, however, think that, even if that be so, I ought to be pardoned, since it is no sacrificial victim nor ox-hide [that is at stake]. For you see in what a course we are engaged, and how we think that all favor must not only be retained but even acquired. I hope I have made my case good to you; I certainly desire to. Your Hermathena [a statue of Hermes and Athena] gives me great delight and is so charmingly placed that the whole gymnasium seems to be an offering dedicated to it. We love you greatly.
With regard to my candidature, in which I know you take the greatest interest, things stand as follows, so far as one can guess at present. P. Galba is the only canvasser who is hard at work; and he meets with a plain and simple, old-fashioned, No. As people think, this unseemly haste of his in canvassing is by no means a bad thing for my interests: for most refusals imply a pledge of support to me. So I have hope that I may derive some advantage from it, when the news gets abroad that my supporters are in the majority. I had thought of beginning to canvass in the Campus Martius at the election of tribunes on the 17th of July, the very time that, Cincius tells me, your man will be starting with this letter. It seems certain that Galba, Antonius, and Q. Cornificius will be standing with me. I can imagine your smile or sigh at the news. To make you tear your hair, there are some who think Caesonius will be a candidate too. I don’t suppose Aquilius will. He has said not, pleading his illness and his supremacy in the law courts in excuse. Catiline will be sure to be standing, if the verdict is, No sun at midday. Of course you will know all about Aufidius and Palicanus, without waiting for letters from me. Of those who are standing, Caesar is thought to be a certainty: the real fight is expected
to lie between Thermus and Silanus. But they are so unpopular and so unknown, that it seems to me to be on the cards to smuggle in Curius. Nobody else thinks so, however. It would probably suit our book best for Thermus to get in with Caesar: for, of the present batch of candidates, he would be the most formidable rival if he were put off to my year, as he is commissioner for the repairing of the Flaminian road. That will easily be finished by then: so I should like to lump him together with Caesar now. Such is the present rough guess of the chances of the candidates. I shall take the greatest care to fulfil all a candidate’s duties: and, as Gaul’s vote counts high, I shall probably get a free pass and take a run up to visit Piso, as soon as things have quieted down in the law courts here, returning in January. When I have discovered the views of the upper ten, I will let you know. The rest I hope will be plain sailing, with my civilian rivals at any rate. For our friend Pompey’s followers you must be responsible, as you are quite close to them. Tell him I shall not take it unkindly if he does not come to my election. So much for that.
But there is a thing for which I have to crave your pardon. Your uncle, Caecilius, was cheated out of a large sum of money by P. Varius, and has taken an action against his brother, A. Caninius Satyrus, about some property which he says was fraudulently made over to him by Varius. The other creditors have made common cause with him: and among them are L. Lucullus and P. Scipio and the man who was expected to act for them at the sale, if the goods were put up for auction, L. Pontius.
But it is absurd to talk of acting for them at present. Now for the point. Caecilius asked me to take a brief against Satyrus. Now there is hardly a day but Satyrus pays me a visit. He is most attentive to L. Domitius and after him to me, and he was of great assistance to me and to my brother Quintus when we were canvassing. I am really embarrassed on account of the friendliness of Satyrus himself and of Domitius, who is the mainstay of my hopes. I pointed this out to Caecilius, assuring him at the same time that, if he stood alone against Satyrus, I would have done my best for him: but, as things were, when the creditors had combined and were such influential persons that they would easily win their case without any special advocate whom Caecilius might retain on his own account, it was only fair for him to consider my obligations and my circumstances. He seemed to take it more ungraciously than I could have wished or than a gentleman should: and afterwards he withdrew entirely from the intimacy which had grown up between us in the last few days.
Please try to forgive me and to believe that delicacy prevented me from appearing against a friend whose very good name was at stake, in the hour of his misfortune, when the friendly attentions he had paid to me had been unfailing. If you cannot take so kind a view, pray consider that my candidature stood in the way. I think even so I may be forgiven: for there is not “a trifle, some eightpenny matter,” at Iliad xxii, 159| stake. You know the game I am playing, and how important it is for me to keep in with every one and
even to make new friends. I hope I have justified myself to you. I am really anxious to do so.
I am highly delighted with your Hermathena, and have found such a good position for it, that the whole class-room seems but an offering at its feet. Many thanks for it.
Petitionis nostrae, quam tibi summae curae esse scio, huius modi ratio est, quod adhuc coniectura provideri possit. Prensat unus P. Galba. Sine fuco ac fallaciis more maiorum negatur. Ut opinio est hominum, non aliena rationi nostrae fuit illius haec praepropera prensatio. Nam illi ita negant vulgo, ut mihi se debere dicant. Ita quiddam spero nobis profici, cum hoc percrebrescit, plurimos nostros amicos inveniri. Nos autem initium prensandi facere cogitaramus eo ipso tempore, quo tuum puerum cum his litteris proficisci Cincius dicebat, in campo comitiis tribuniciis a. d. XVI Kalend. Sextiles. Competitores, qui certi esse videantur, Galba et Antonius et Q. Cornificius. Puto te in hoc aut risisse aut ingemuisse. Ut frontem ferias, sunt, qui etiam Caesonium putent. Aquilium non arbitrabamur, qui denegavit et iuravit morbum et illud suum regnum iudiciale opposuit. Catilina, si iudicatum erit meridie non lucere, certus erit competitor. De Aufidio et Palicano non puto te exspectare dum scribam. De iis, qui nunc petunt, Caesar certus putatur. Thermus cum Silano contendere existimatur; qui sic inopes et ab amicis et existimatione sunt, ut mihi videatur non esse adunaton Curium obducere. Sed hoc praeter me nemini videtur. Nostris rationibus maxime conducere videtur Thermum fieri cum Caesare. Nemo est enim ex iis, qui nunc petunt, qui, si in nostrum annum reciderit, firmior eandidatus fore videatur, propterea quod curator est viae Flaminiae, quae tum erit absoluta sane facile. Eum libenter nunc Caesari consuli aecuderim. Petitorum haec est adhuc informata cogitatio. Nos in omni munere candidatorio fungendo summam adhibebimus diligentiam, et fortasse, quoniam videtur in suffragiis multum posse Gallia, cum Romae a iudiciis forum refrixerit, excurremus mense Septembri legati ad Pisonem, ut Ianuario revertamur. Cum perspexero voluntates nobilium, scribam ad te. Cetera spero prolixa esse his dumtaxat urbanis competitoribus. Illam manum tu mihi cura ut praestes, quoniam propius abes, Pompei, nostri amici. Nega me ei iratum fore, si ad mea comitia non venerit. Atque haec huius modi sunt. Sed est, quod abs te mihi ignosci pervelim. Caecilius, avunculus tuus, a P. Vario cum magna pecunia fraudaretur, agere coepit cum eius fratre A. Caninio Satyro de iis rebus, quas eum dolo malo mancipio accepisse de Vario diceret. Una agebant ceteri creditores, in quibus erat L. Lucullus et P. Scipio et, is quem putabant magistrum fore, si bona venirent, L. Pontius. Verum hoc ridiculum est de magistro. Nunc cognosce rem. Rogavit me Caecilius, ut adessem contra Satyrum. Dies fere nullus est, quin hic Sattrus domum meam ventitet; observat L. Domitium maxime, me habet proximum; fuit et mihi et Quinto fratri magno usui in nostri petitionibus. Sane sum perturbatus cum ipsius Satyri familiaritate tum Domiti, in quo uno maxime ambitio nostra nititur. Demonstravi haec Caecilio simul et illud ostendi, si ipse unus cum illo uno contenderet, me ei satis facturum fuisse; nunc in causa universorum creditorum, hominum praesertim amplissimorum, qui sine eo, quem Caecilius suo nomine perhiberet, facile causam communem sustinerent, aequum esse eum et officio meo consulere et tempori. Durius accipere hoc mihi visus est, quam vellem, et quam homines belli solent, et postea prorsus ab instituta nostra paucorum dierum consuetudine longe refugit. Abs te peto, ut mihi hoc ignoscas et me existimes humanitate esse prohibitum, ne contra amici summam existimationem miserrimo eius tempore venirem, cum is omnia sua studia et officia in me contulisset. Quodsi voles in me esse durior, ambitionem putabis mihi obstitisse. Ego autem arbitror, etiamsi id sit, mihi ignoscendum esse, hepei ouch hiereion oude boeien . Vides enim, in quo cursu simus et quam omnes gratias non modo retinendas, verum etiam acquirendas putemus. Spero tibi me causam probasse, cupio quidem certe. Hermathena tua valde me delectat et posita ita belle est, ut totum gymnasium eius anathema esse videatur. Multum te amamus.
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The state of our candidacy [for the consulship], which I know is of the greatest concern to you, is of this sort, so far as it can yet be foreseen by conjecture. Publius Galba alone is canvassing for it. He is being refused, without disguise or deceit, in the manner of our forefathers. In the general opinion, this premature canvassing of his has not been unfavorable to our own prospects; for people commonly refuse him in such a way that they say they are obliged to me. So I hope something is being gained for us, when it becomes widely known that very many friends of ours are to be found. We ourselves had thought of beginning our canvass at the very time when Cincius said your slave was setting out with this letter, namely at the elections for the tribunes in the Campus, on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of Sextilis [17 July]. As for competitors who seem to be definite, there are Galba and Antonius and Quintus Cornificius. At this point I suppose you have either laughed or groaned. To make you strike your brow, there are some who even think Caesonius will run. We did not suppose Aquilius would, since he has flatly declined and sworn to ill health and put forward as his excuse that judicial sovereignty of his. Catiline, if it shall be adjudged that the sun does not shine at midday, will certainly be a competitor. As for Aufidius and Palicanus, I do not think you are waiting for me to write about them. Of those who are now standing, Caesar is reckoned a sure candidate. Thermus is thought to be contending with Silanus; these men are so destitute both of friends and of reputation that it seems to me not impossible to bring forward Curius. But this view occurs to no one except me. It seems most to the advantage of our interests that Thermus should be elected along with Caesar. For there is no one among those now standing who, if he should fall back into our year, would seem to be a stronger candidate, because he is the curator of the Flaminian Way, which will by then have been finished quite easily. I would gladly nail him down now to Caesar as consul. Such is the rough sketch of our thinking about the candidates so far. We for our part will apply the greatest diligence in performing every duty of a candidate, and perhaps, since Gaul seems to have much weight in the voting, when the courts at Rome have left the Forum cold, we shall run out in the month of September as legate to Piso, so as to return in January. When I have ascertained the inclinations of the nobles, I will write to you. The rest I hope will be plain sailing, at least as regards these city competitors. That band of supporters over there you must see that you secure for me, since you are nearer to him, I mean those of Pompey, our friend. Tell him I shall not be angry with him if he does not come to my election. So much for matters of this kind. But there is something for which I should very much like to be pardoned by you. Caecilius, your uncle, having been defrauded of a large sum of money by Publius Varius, began to proceed against Varius's brother, Aulus Caninius Satyrus, concerning those properties which he alleged Satyrus had received from Varius by fraudulent conveyance. Acting jointly with him were the other creditors, among whom were Lucius Lucullus and Publius Scipio and the man whom they thought would be the receiver, if the goods came to sale, Lucius Pontius. But this business about a receiver is absurd. Now learn the matter. Caecilius asked me to support him against Satyrus. Scarcely a day passes but this Satyrus comes calling at my house; he pays court chiefly to Lucius Domitius, and ranks me next; he has been of great service both to me and to my brother Quintus in our campaigns. I am much disturbed both by my intimacy with Satyrus himself and by that with Domitius, on whom above all our hopes of office rest. I pointed these things out to Caecilius and at the same time showed him this, that if he alone were contending against that one man alone, I would have done what he wished; but as it was, in a case involving the whole body of creditors, men moreover of the highest standing, who without the one whom Caecilius should put forward in his own name would easily maintain their common cause, it was fair that he should have regard both for my obligation and for the season. He seemed to take this more harshly than I could have wished, and than well-bred men are accustomed to, and afterward he withdrew entirely and far from the acquaintance of a few days' standing that had been begun between us. From you I beg that you pardon me this, and consider that I was held back by a sense of decency, that I might not come against a friend's highest reputation at the most wretched time of his life, when he had bestowed on me all his zeal and good offices. But if you should wish to be harsher toward me, you will suppose that ambition for office stood in my way. I, however, think that, even if that be so, I ought to be pardoned, since it is no sacrificial victim nor ox-hide [that is at stake]. For you see in what a course we are engaged, and how we think that all favor must not only be retained but even acquired. I hope I have made my case good to you; I certainly desire to. Your Hermathena [a statue of Hermes and Athena] gives me great delight and is so charmingly placed that the whole gymnasium seems to be an offering dedicated to it. We love you greatly.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
Petitionis nostrae, quam tibi summae curae esse scio, huius modi ratio est, quod adhuc coniectura provideri possit. Prensat unus P. Galba. Sine fuco ac fallaciis more maiorum negatur. Ut opinio est hominum, non aliena rationi nostrae fuit illius haec praepropera prensatio. Nam illi ita negant vulgo, ut mihi se debere dicant. Ita quiddam spero nobis profici, cum hoc percrebrescit, plurimos nostros amicos inveniri. Nos autem initium prensandi facere cogitaramus eo ipso tempore, quo tuum puerum cum his litteris proficisci Cincius dicebat, in campo comitiis tribuniciis a. d. XVI Kalend. Sextiles. Competitores, qui certi esse videantur, Galba et Antonius et Q. Cornificius. Puto te in hoc aut risisse aut ingemuisse. Ut frontem ferias, sunt, qui etiam Caesonium putent. Aquilium non arbitrabamur, qui denegavit et iuravit morbum et illud suum regnum iudiciale opposuit. Catilina, si iudicatum erit meridie non lucere, certus erit competitor. De Aufidio et Palicano non puto te exspectare dum scribam. De iis, qui nunc petunt, Caesar certus putatur. Thermus cum Silano contendere existimatur; qui sic inopes et ab amicis et existimatione sunt, ut mihi videatur non esse adunaton Curium obducere. Sed hoc praeter me nemini videtur. Nostris rationibus maxime conducere videtur Thermum fieri cum Caesare. Nemo est enim ex iis, qui nunc petunt, qui, si in nostrum annum reciderit, firmior eandidatus fore videatur, propterea quod curator est viae Flaminiae, quae tum erit absoluta sane facile. Eum libenter nunc Caesari consuli aecuderim. Petitorum haec est adhuc informata cogitatio. Nos in omni munere candidatorio fungendo summam adhibebimus diligentiam, et fortasse, quoniam videtur in suffragiis multum posse Gallia, cum Romae a iudiciis forum refrixerit, excurremus mense Septembri legati ad Pisonem, ut Ianuario revertamur. Cum perspexero voluntates nobilium, scribam ad te. Cetera spero prolixa esse his dumtaxat urbanis competitoribus. Illam manum tu mihi cura ut praestes, quoniam propius abes, Pompei, nostri amici. Nega me ei iratum fore, si ad mea comitia non venerit. Atque haec huius modi sunt. Sed est, quod abs te mihi ignosci pervelim. Caecilius, avunculus tuus, a P. Vario cum magna pecunia fraudaretur, agere coepit cum eius fratre A. Caninio Satyro de iis rebus, quas eum dolo malo mancipio accepisse de Vario diceret. Una agebant ceteri creditores, in quibus erat L. Lucullus et P. Scipio et, is quem putabant magistrum fore, si bona venirent, L. Pontius. Verum hoc ridiculum est de magistro. Nunc cognosce rem. Rogavit me Caecilius, ut adessem contra Satyrum. Dies fere nullus est, quin hic Sattrus domum meam ventitet; observat L. Domitium maxime, me habet proximum; fuit et mihi et Quinto fratri magno usui in nostri petitionibus. Sane sum perturbatus cum ipsius Satyri familiaritate tum Domiti, in quo uno maxime ambitio nostra nititur. Demonstravi haec Caecilio simul et illud ostendi, si ipse unus cum illo uno contenderet, me ei satis facturum fuisse; nunc in causa universorum creditorum, hominum praesertim amplissimorum, qui sine eo, quem Caecilius suo nomine perhiberet, facile causam communem sustinerent, aequum esse eum et officio meo consulere et tempori. Durius accipere hoc mihi visus est, quam vellem, et quam homines belli solent, et postea prorsus ab instituta nostra paucorum dierum consuetudine longe refugit. Abs te peto, ut mihi hoc ignoscas et me existimes humanitate esse prohibitum, ne contra amici summam existimationem miserrimo eius tempore venirem, cum is omnia sua studia et officia in me contulisset. Quodsi voles in me esse durior, ambitionem putabis mihi obstitisse. Ego autem arbitror, etiamsi id sit, mihi ignoscendum esse, hepei ouch hiereion oude boeien . Vides enim, in quo cursu simus et quam omnes gratias non modo retinendas, verum etiam acquirendas putemus. Spero tibi me causam probasse, cupio quidem certe. Hermathena tua valde me delectat et posita ita belle est, ut totum gymnasium eius anathema esse videatur. Multum te amamus.