Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
What a shameful thing, and therefore what a miserable one. That is how I feel: only what is shameful is truly miserable, or rather it alone is miserable. Pompey had nourished Caesar; suddenly he began to fear him. He approved no condition of peace, prepared nothing for war, left the city, lost Picenum through his own fault, trapped himself in Apulia, and was going to Greece, leaving all of us without a word and without experience of such a great and unprecedented plan.
Then suddenly come Domitius' letters to him, and his own letters to the consuls. Honor seemed to me to flash before his eyes, and the man he ought to have been should have cried, "For this, let every device and every plan be shaped; the good is with me." But he says a long farewell to honor and continues to Brundisium.
They say that when Domitius and those with him heard the news, they surrendered. What a mournful business. Grief blocks me from writing more to you. I am waiting for your letter.
What disgrace, and therefore what misery! For I feel disgrace to be the crown of misery, or indeed the only real misery. Pompey treated Caesar as his protégé, began suddenly to fear him, declined terms of peace, made no preparation for war, quitted Rome, lost Picenum by his own fault, got himself blocked in Apulia, went off to Greece without a word, leaving us in ignorance of a plan so important and unusual. Then all of a sudden Domitius' letter to Pompey and Pompey's letter to the consuls. It seemed to me that the Right had flashed upon his gaze, and that he, the old heroic Pompey, cried:
However Pompey bids a long farewell to honour and away for Brundisium. They say that Domitius and those with him surrendered on receipt of the news. What a doleful business! Grief prevents me writing more. I await a letter from you.
O rem turpem et ea re miseram! sic enim sentio, id demum aut potius id solum esse miserum quod turpe sit. aluerat Caesarem; eundem repente timere coeperat, condicionem pacis nullam probarat, nihil ad bellum pararat, urbem reliquerat, Picenum amiserat culpa, in Apuliam se compegerat, ibat in Graeciam, omnis nos aprosphonetous, expertis sui tanti, tam inusitati consili relinquebat. [2] ecce subito litterae Domiti ad illum, ipsius ad consules. fulsisse mihi videbatur to kalon ad oculos eius et exclamasse ille vir qui esse debuit, pros tauth' ho ti chre kai palamasthon kai pant' ep' emoi tektainesthon: to gar eu met' emou. at ille tibi polla chairein toi kaloi dicens pergit Brundisium. Domitium autem aiunt re audita et eos qui una essent se tradidisse. O rem lugubrem! itaque intercludor dolore quo (minus) ad te plura scribam. tuas litteras exspecto.
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What a shameful thing, and therefore what a miserable one. That is how I feel: only what is shameful is truly miserable, or rather it alone is miserable. Pompey had nourished Caesar; suddenly he began to fear him. He approved no condition of peace, prepared nothing for war, left the city, lost Picenum through his own fault, trapped himself in Apulia, and was going to Greece, leaving all of us without a word and without experience of such a great and unprecedented plan.
Then suddenly come Domitius' letters to him, and his own letters to the consuls. Honor seemed to me to flash before his eyes, and the man he ought to have been should have cried, "For this, let every device and every plan be shaped; the good is with me." But he says a long farewell to honor and continues to Brundisium.
They say that when Domitius and those with him heard the news, they surrendered. What a mournful business. Grief blocks me from writing more to you. I am waiting for your letter.
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
O rem turpem et ea re miseram! sic enim sentio, id demum aut potius id solum esse miserum quod turpe sit. aluerat Caesarem; eundem repente timere coeperat, condicionem pacis nullam probarat, nihil ad bellum pararat, urbem reliquerat, Picenum amiserat culpa, in Apuliam se compegerat, ibat in Graeciam, omnis nos aprosphonetous, expertis sui tanti, tam inusitati consili relinquebat. [2] ecce subito litterae Domiti ad illum, ipsius ad consules. fulsisse mihi videbatur to kalon ad oculos eius et exclamasse ille vir qui esse debuit, pros tauth' ho ti chre kai palamasthon kai pant' ep' emoi tektainesthon: to gar eu met' emou. at ille tibi polla chairein toi kaloi dicens pergit Brundisium. Domitium autem aiunt re audita et eos qui una essent se tradidisse. O rem lugubrem! itaque intercludor dolore quo (minus) ad te plura scribam. tuas litteras exspecto.