Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
When I read your letter, which I had received from our friend Furnius, urging me to be near Rome, I was less surprised that you wanted to use my "advice and standing." What you meant by "influence" and "help" I kept asking myself. Still, hope led me to think that, with your remarkable and singular wisdom, you wanted action for quiet, peace, and harmony among the citizens; and for that purpose I thought both my nature and my public position were well suited.
If that is so, and if you feel any concern for protecting our friend Pompey and reconciling him both to yourself and to the republic, you will certainly find no one better suited to that cause than I am. I have always urged peace on him and on the Senate as soon as I was able, and after arms were taken up I touched no part of the war. I judged that in this war you were being wronged, since hostile and envious men were resisting an honor granted to you by the favor of the Roman people. But just as I then not only supported your dignity myself, but also urged others to help you, so now Pompey's dignity deeply moves me. For some years now I have chosen you two men as those whom I would especially honor and to whom I would be, as I am, most friendly.
For this reason I ask you, or rather beg and entreat you with every prayer, to give some time, even amid your greatest concerns, to this thought too: that by your kindness I may be able to remain a good man, a grateful man, and finally a dutiful man in remembering the greatest benefit. If this concerned only myself, I would still hope to obtain it from you. But, as I think, it concerns both your good faith and the republic that I, a man attached to peace and to both of you, and most suited through you to preserving harmony among citizens, should be preserved for that work.
I had already thanked you about Lentulus, since you had saved the man who had once saved me. But after reading the letter he sent me, full of the deepest gratitude for your generosity and kindness, I felt that I had received from you the same safety he received. If you understand that I am grateful to him, then please see to it that I can be grateful to Pompey as well.
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
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.
[1] Vt 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. [2] 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 dignitas vehementer movet. aliquot enim sunt anni cum vos duo delegi quos praecipue colerem et quibus essem, sicut sum, amicissimus. [3] 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 benefici 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 . . . 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 me salutem a te accepisse+ quam ille. in quem si me intellegis esse gratum, cura, obsecro, ut etiam in Pompeium esse possim.
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When I read your letter, which I had received from our friend Furnius, urging me to be near Rome, I was less surprised that you wanted to use my "advice and standing." What you meant by "influence" and "help" I kept asking myself. Still, hope led me to think that, with your remarkable and singular wisdom, you wanted action for quiet, peace, and harmony among the citizens; and for that purpose I thought both my nature and my public position were well suited.
If that is so, and if you feel any concern for protecting our friend Pompey and reconciling him both to yourself and to the republic, you will certainly find no one better suited to that cause than I am. I have always urged peace on him and on the Senate as soon as I was able, and after arms were taken up I touched no part of the war. I judged that in this war you were being wronged, since hostile and envious men were resisting an honor granted to you by the favor of the Roman people. But just as I then not only supported your dignity myself, but also urged others to help you, so now Pompey's dignity deeply moves me. For some years now I have chosen you two men as those whom I would especially honor and to whom I would be, as I am, most friendly.
For this reason I ask you, or rather beg and entreat you with every prayer, to give some time, even amid your greatest concerns, to this thought too: that by your kindness I may be able to remain a good man, a grateful man, and finally a dutiful man in remembering the greatest benefit. If this concerned only myself, I would still hope to obtain it from you. But, as I think, it concerns both your good faith and the republic that I, a man attached to peace and to both of you, and most suited through you to preserving harmony among citizens, should be preserved for that work.
I had already thanked you about Lentulus, since you had saved the man who had once saved me. But after reading the letter he sent me, full of the deepest gratitude for your generosity and kindness, I felt that I had received from you the same safety he received. If you understand that I am grateful to him, then please see to it that I can be grateful to Pompey as well.
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
[1] Vt 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. [2] 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 dignitas vehementer movet. aliquot enim sunt anni cum vos duo delegi quos praecipue colerem et quibus essem, sicut sum, amicissimus. [3] 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 benefici 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 . . . 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 me salutem a te accepisse+ quam ille. in quem si me intellegis esse gratum, cura, obsecro, ut etiam in Pompeium esse possim.