Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 66 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
When I had returned to Rome from my Pompeian estate on the fourth day before the Ides of May, our friend Cincius delivered to me that letter from you which you had handed over on the Ides of February. To that letter I shall now reply with these lines. And first, I am glad that my judgment of you has been made clear to you; next, I rejoice most vehemently that, in those matters which seemed to me to have been handled rather harshly and disagreeably by us and by our people, you were most moderate, and I judge this to be a mark both of no ordinary affection and of the highest intellect and wisdom. Since you have written to me on this subject so agreeably, carefully, dutifully, and humanely, that not only ought I no longer to urge you further, but I could not even have expected from you or from any human being so great a measure of good nature and gentleness, I think nothing more advantageous than to write no more at all about these matters from now on. When we have met, then, if the situation calls for it, we shall confer about them face to face. As for what you write to me about the republic, you indeed argue both lovingly and prudently, and your reasoning does not differ from my own counsels; for we must neither withdraw from the standing of our dignity, nor come within another man's defenses without our own forces, and the man about whom you write has nothing grand, nothing lofty, nothing that is not submissive and demagogic. Nevertheless, this course was perhaps not unprofitable for the tranquillity of my own times, but, by Hercules, far more useful even to the republic than to myself, that the onslaught of wicked citizens against me should be checked, when I had steadied the wavering opinion of a man of most ample fortune, authority, and influence, and had turned him away from his hope in evildoers toward praise of my own affairs. But if I had had to do this with any inconstancy, I would not have valued any object so highly; yet everything was so conducted by me, not so that I, by agreeing with him, should seem the lighter, but so that he, by approving me, should seem the weightier. The rest is so conducted by me, and shall be, that I do not allow what we have accomplished to seem to have been accomplished by chance. My good men, those whom you indicate, and that Sparta which you say has fallen to my lot, I shall not only never desert, but even, if I am deserted by her, nevertheless I shall remain in my original resolve. Yet I would have you consider this, that I am holding to this aristocratic path, since the death of Catulus, with no protection and no following. For, as Rhinthon says, I think, "Some count for nothing, and to others nothing matters." But as for how our fish-pond fanciers envy me, either I shall write to you on another occasion or reserve it for our meeting. From the senate-house, however, no thing shall tear me away, either because that is right, or because it is most consonant with my affairs, or because I in no way regret how highly I am esteemed by the senate. As for the Sicyonians, as I wrote to you before, there is not much hope in the senate; for there is no one who is at the same time one to complain. Wherefore, if you wait for that, it is a long business; by another route, if you can in any way, fight it out. When the matter was dealt with, it was not noticed whom it concerned, and the foot-members rushed hastily into that opinion. The time is not yet ripe for the senatorial decree to be annulled, because there are none who complain, and many are gratified, partly by ill will, partly by their notion of fairness. Your friend Metellus is an outstanding consul; one thing I find fault with, that he is not greatly glad to have quiet announced from Gaul. He desires, I believe, to triumph. I could wish this were more moderate; in other respects he is outstanding. But the son of Aulus conducts himself in such a way that his consulship is no consulship, but a black eye for our friend Magnus [Pompey]. As for my own writings, I have sent to you my consulship completed in Greek. That book I gave to Lucius Cossinius. I think you take delight in my Latin works, but that, as a Greek, you envy this Greek one. If others write any, I shall send them to you; but, believe me, as soon as they have read this work of mine, somehow or other they are held back. Now, to return to my own affair, Lucius Papirius Paetus, a good man and a lover of ours, has presented to me those books which Servius Claudius left behind. When Cincius, your friend, said that it was permitted me under the Cincian law to take them, I gladly said I would accept them, if he brought them. Now, if you love me, if you know that you are loved by me, exert yourself through your friends, clients, guest-friends, freedmen, in short, and your slaves, that not a single leaf may be lost; for I have urgent need both of those Greek books, which I suspect, and of the Latin ones, which I know he left behind. I myself, more each day, in whatever time is granted me from my work in the forum, find rest in those studies. You will do me a thoroughly, I say, a thoroughly welcome favor, if you are as diligent in this as you are wont to be in those matters which you judge me very much to want; and I commend to you the business of Paetus himself, for which he renders you the greatest thanks, and that you should now come to see us, I not only ask, but even urge. Cicero
On my return from my villa at Pompeii on the 12th of May, our friend Cincius passed on to me your letter which was dated the 13th of February. That is the letter which I shall now answer. And first I must say how delighted I am that you fully understood my opinion of you: next how very glad I am that you showed such forbearance with regard to the slights and unkindness which in my opinion you had received from me and mine: and I count it a sign of affection more than ordinary and the highest sense and wisdom. Indeed your answer is so charmingly worded and with such consideration and kindliness that not only have I no further right to press you, but I can never expect to experience such courtesy and forbearance from you or any other man. So I think it would be best for me to say no more about the matter in my letters. If any point arises, we will discuss it together when we meet.
Your remarks about politics are couched in friendly and prudent terms, and your view does not differ from my own—for I must not withdraw from my dignified position, nor must I enter another’s lines without any forces of my own, and the man you mention has no broad-mindedness and no high-mindedness,
nothing in him that is not low and time-serving. Well, perhaps the course I took was not opposed to my own advantage and peace of life, but I swear it was far more to the advantage of the State than to mine that I should be the means of suppressing the attacks of the disloyal, and of strengthening the wavering policy of a man of the highest position, influence and popularity, and converting him from pandering to the disloyal to approval of my achievements. If I had had to make any sacrifice of principle in so doing, I should never have thought it justifiable: but I managed it so that he seemed to gain in principle by his approval of me, more than I lost in bowing to him. I will take care that my actions now and in the future do not convey the impression that what I did in the past was done at haphazard. My honest comrades, at whom you hint, and the lot which has fallen to me, as you say, I will never desert. Nay, even if I am deserted by it I will abide by my ancient principles. But I would have you please remember that, since the death of Catulus, I am holding the way for the conservative party without a garrison and without a comrade. For, as Rhinton, I think it is, says:
How our friends of the fish-ponds envy me, I will either tell you in another letter, or keep it till we meet. But from the Senate house nothing shall tear me: either because that is the right course, or
because it is most consistent with my position, or because I am by no means dissatisfied with the Senate’s estimation of me.
As regards the Sicyonians, there is very little hope to be placed in the Senate, as I wrote you before: for there is no one now to raise a complaint. It would be tedious to wait for them to move. Fight the point in some other way, if you can. When the law was passed, nobody noticed to whom it applied, and the dummy members plumped eagerly in its favour. The time has not yet come for rescinding the decree, because there is no one who complains about it, and some favour it, partly from spite and partly from an idea of its justness.
Your friend Metellus is an excellent consul: I have only one fault to find with him, he is not at all pleased with the news of peace from Gaul. I take it he wants a triumph. I wish he would moderate that desire: in every other way he is excellent. The behaviour of Aulus’s son makes his consulship not a consulship, but a blot on the scutcheon of our friend Pompey.
I have sent you one of my works, a history of my consulship in Greek. I have given it to L. Cossinius. I fancy you like my Latin work, but, being a Greek, envy this Greek one. If others write about it, I will send you copies; but I assure you, as soon as they read mine, they somehow or other don’t hurry themselves about it.
Now to return to business. L. Papirius Paetus, my good friend and admirer, has offered me the books left to him by Ser. Claudius: and, as your friend Cincius said I could take them without breaking the
Cincian law, I said I would very willingly accept, if he brought them here. Now, as you love me, as you know I love you, stir up all your friends, clients, guests, freedmen, nay even your slaves, to see that not a leaf is lost. For I have urgent necessity for the Greek works, which I suspect, and the Latin books, which I am sure, he left. Every day I seek my recreation, in such time as is left me from my legal labours, more and more in such studies. You will do me the greatest of favours, if you will show the same zeal in this as you generally do in matters about which you think I am really keen. Paetus’ own affairs I recommend to your notice too, and he expresses his deepest gratitude. And I do more than ask you, I urge you, to pay me a visit soon.
Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IV Idus Maias, Cincius noster eam mihi abs te epistulam reddidit, quam tu Idibus Febr. dederas. Ei nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo. Ac primum tibi perspectum esse iudicium de te meum laetor, deinde te in iis rebus, quae mihi asperius a nobis atque nostris et iniucundius actae videbantur, moderatissimum fuisse vehementissime gaudeo idque neque amoris mediocris et ingenii summi ac sapientiae iudico. Qua de re cum ad me ita suaviter, diligenter, officiose, humaniter scripseris, ut non modo te hortari amplius non debeam, sed ne exspectare quidem abs te aut ab ullo homine tantum facilitatis ac mansuetudinis potuerim, nihil duco esse commodius quam de his rebus nihil iam amplius scribere. Cum erimus congressi, tum, si quid res feret, coram inter nos conferemus. Quod ad me de re publica scribis, disputas tu quidem et amanter et prudenter, et a meis consiliis ratio tua non abhorret; nam neque de statu nobis nostrae dignitatis est recedendum neque sine nostris copiis intra alterius praesidia veniendum, et is, de quo scribis, nihil habet amplum, nihil excelsum, nihil non summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi, cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur. Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Spartan non modo numquam deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait Rhinton, ut opinor, Hoi men par oyden eisi, tois d ouden melei . Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel quod ita rectum est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti fiam, minime me paenitet. De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu; nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est; alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt. Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis delectantur. Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri hypopion . De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede, simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur. Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret, libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris, si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde velle arbitraris, ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed etiam suadeo. Cicero
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When I had returned to Rome from my Pompeian estate on the fourth day before the Ides of May, our friend Cincius delivered to me that letter from you which you had handed over on the Ides of February. To that letter I shall now reply with these lines. And first, I am glad that my judgment of you has been made clear to you; next, I rejoice most vehemently that, in those matters which seemed to me to have been handled rather harshly and disagreeably by us and by our people, you were most moderate, and I judge this to be a mark both of no ordinary affection and of the highest intellect and wisdom. Since you have written to me on this subject so agreeably, carefully, dutifully, and humanely, that not only ought I no longer to urge you further, but I could not even have expected from you or from any human being so great a measure of good nature and gentleness, I think nothing more advantageous than to write no more at all about these matters from now on. When we have met, then, if the situation calls for it, we shall confer about them face to face. As for what you write to me about the republic, you indeed argue both lovingly and prudently, and your reasoning does not differ from my own counsels; for we must neither withdraw from the standing of our dignity, nor come within another man's defenses without our own forces, and the man about whom you write has nothing grand, nothing lofty, nothing that is not submissive and demagogic. Nevertheless, this course was perhaps not unprofitable for the tranquillity of my own times, but, by Hercules, far more useful even to the republic than to myself, that the onslaught of wicked citizens against me should be checked, when I had steadied the wavering opinion of a man of most ample fortune, authority, and influence, and had turned him away from his hope in evildoers toward praise of my own affairs. But if I had had to do this with any inconstancy, I would not have valued any object so highly; yet everything was so conducted by me, not so that I, by agreeing with him, should seem the lighter, but so that he, by approving me, should seem the weightier. The rest is so conducted by me, and shall be, that I do not allow what we have accomplished to seem to have been accomplished by chance. My good men, those whom you indicate, and that Sparta which you say has fallen to my lot, I shall not only never desert, but even, if I am deserted by her, nevertheless I shall remain in my original resolve. Yet I would have you consider this, that I am holding to this aristocratic path, since the death of Catulus, with no protection and no following. For, as Rhinthon says, I think, "Some count for nothing, and to others nothing matters." But as for how our fish-pond fanciers envy me, either I shall write to you on another occasion or reserve it for our meeting. From the senate-house, however, no thing shall tear me away, either because that is right, or because it is most consonant with my affairs, or because I in no way regret how highly I am esteemed by the senate. As for the Sicyonians, as I wrote to you before, there is not much hope in the senate; for there is no one who is at the same time one to complain. Wherefore, if you wait for that, it is a long business; by another route, if you can in any way, fight it out. When the matter was dealt with, it was not noticed whom it concerned, and the foot-members rushed hastily into that opinion. The time is not yet ripe for the senatorial decree to be annulled, because there are none who complain, and many are gratified, partly by ill will, partly by their notion of fairness. Your friend Metellus is an outstanding consul; one thing I find fault with, that he is not greatly glad to have quiet announced from Gaul. He desires, I believe, to triumph. I could wish this were more moderate; in other respects he is outstanding. But the son of Aulus conducts himself in such a way that his consulship is no consulship, but a black eye for our friend Magnus [Pompey]. As for my own writings, I have sent to you my consulship completed in Greek. That book I gave to Lucius Cossinius. I think you take delight in my Latin works, but that, as a Greek, you envy this Greek one. If others write any, I shall send them to you; but, believe me, as soon as they have read this work of mine, somehow or other they are held back. Now, to return to my own affair, Lucius Papirius Paetus, a good man and a lover of ours, has presented to me those books which Servius Claudius left behind. When Cincius, your friend, said that it was permitted me under the Cincian law to take them, I gladly said I would accept them, if he brought them. Now, if you love me, if you know that you are loved by me, exert yourself through your friends, clients, guest-friends, freedmen, in short, and your slaves, that not a single leaf may be lost; for I have urgent need both of those Greek books, which I suspect, and of the Latin ones, which I know he left behind. I myself, more each day, in whatever time is granted me from my work in the forum, find rest in those studies. You will do me a thoroughly, I say, a thoroughly welcome favor, if you are as diligent in this as you are wont to be in those matters which you judge me very much to want; and I commend to you the business of Paetus himself, for which he renders you the greatest thanks, and that you should now come to see us, I not only ask, but even urge. Cicero
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
Cum e Pompeiano me Romam recepissem a. d. IV Idus Maias, Cincius noster eam mihi abs te epistulam reddidit, quam tu Idibus Febr. dederas. Ei nunc epistulae litteris his respondebo. Ac primum tibi perspectum esse iudicium de te meum laetor, deinde te in iis rebus, quae mihi asperius a nobis atque nostris et iniucundius actae videbantur, moderatissimum fuisse vehementissime gaudeo idque neque amoris mediocris et ingenii summi ac sapientiae iudico. Qua de re cum ad me ita suaviter, diligenter, officiose, humaniter scripseris, ut non modo te hortari amplius non debeam, sed ne exspectare quidem abs te aut ab ullo homine tantum facilitatis ac mansuetudinis potuerim, nihil duco esse commodius quam de his rebus nihil iam amplius scribere. Cum erimus congressi, tum, si quid res feret, coram inter nos conferemus. Quod ad me de re publica scribis, disputas tu quidem et amanter et prudenter, et a meis consiliis ratio tua non abhorret; nam neque de statu nobis nostrae dignitatis est recedendum neque sine nostris copiis intra alterius praesidia veniendum, et is, de quo scribis, nihil habet amplum, nihil excelsum, nihil non summissum atque populare. Verum tamen fuit ratio mihi fortasse ad tranquillitatem meorum temporum non inutilis, sed mehercule rei publicae multo etiam utilior quam mihi civium improborum impetus in me reprimi, cum hominis amplissima fortuna, auctoritate, gratia fluctuantem sententiam confirmassem et a spe malorum ad mearum rerum laudem convertissem. Quod si cum aliqua levitate mihi faciendum fuisset, nullam rem tanti aestimassem; sed tamen a me ita sunt acta omnia, non ut ego illi adsentiens levior, sed ut ille me probans gravior videretur. Reliqua sic a me aguntur et agentur, ut non committamus, ut ea, quae gessimus, fortuito gessisse videamur. Meos bonos viros, illos quos significas, et, eam quam mihi dicis obtigisse, Spartan non modo numquam deseram, sed etiam, si ego ab illa deserar, tamen in mea pristina sententia permanebo. Illud tamen velim existimes, me hanc viam optimatem post Catuli mortem nec praesidio ullo nec comitatu tenere. Nam, ut ait Rhinton, ut opinor, Hoi men par oyden eisi, tois d ouden melei . Mihi vero ut invideant piscinarii nostri, aut scribam ad te alias aut in congressum nostrum reservabo. A curia autem nulla me res divellet, vel quod ita rectum est, vel quod rebus meis maxime consentaneum, vel quod, a senatu quanti fiam, minime me paenitet. De Sicyoniis, ut ad te scripsi antea, non multum spei est in senatu; nemo est enim, idem qui queratur. Quare, si id exspectas, longum est; alia via, si qua potes, pugna. Cum est actum, neque animadversum est, ad quos pertineret, et raptim in eam sententiam pedarii cucurrerunt. Inducendi senatus consulti maturitas nondum est, quod neque sunt, qui querantur, et multi partim malevolentia, partim opinione aequitatis delectantur. Metellus tuus est egregius consul; unum reprehendo, quod otium nuntiari e Gallia non magno opere gaudet. Cupit, credo, triumphare. Hoc vellem mediocrius; cetera egregia. Auli filius vero ita se gerit, ut eius consulatus non consulatus sit, sed Magni nostri hypopion . De meis scriptis misi ad te Graece perfectum consulatum meum. Eum librum L. Cossinio dedi. Puto te Latinis meis delectari, huic autem Graeco Graecum invidere. Alii si scripserint, mittemus ad te; sed, mihi crede, simul atque hoc nostrum legerunt, nescio quo pacto retardantur. Nunc, ut ad rem meam redeam, L. Papirius Paetus, vir bonus amatorque noster, mihi libros eos, quos Ser. Claudius reliquit, donavit. Cum mihi per legem Cinciam licere capere Cincius, amicus tuus, diceret, libenter dixi me accepturum, si attulisset. Nunc, si me amas, si te a me amari scis, enitere per amicos, clientes, hospites, libertos denique ac servos tuos, ut scida ne qua depereat; nam et Graecis iis libris, quos suspicor, et Latinis, quos scio illum reliquisse, mihi vehementer opus est. Ego autem cotidie magis, quod mihi de forensi labore temporis datur, in iis studiis conquiesco. Per mihi, per, inquam, gratum feceris, si in hoc tam diligens fueris, quam soles in iis rebus, quas me valde velle arbitraris, ipsiusque Paeti tibi negotia commendo, de quibus tibi ille agit maximas gratias, et, ut iam invisas nos, non solum rogo, sed etiam suadeo. Cicero