Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 60 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Take care of our Cicero [Marcus's young son], I beg you. To him we seem godlike. I had Pellenaion [a work, perhaps Dicaearchus's treatise on Pellene] in hand, and by Hercules I had piled up a great heap of Dicaearchus before my feet. O what a great man, and one from whom you may learn far more than from Procilius! I think I have the Corinthian and the Athenian [Dicaearchus's treatises on the Corinthian and Athenian constitutions] here at Rome. Believe me [text uncertain: "by the law I teach these things"], he is a marvelous man. Herodes, if he were a real human being, would rather read him than write a single letter of his own. The man who has assailed me by letter has, as I see, approached you hand to hand [in close combat]. I would rather have joined the conspiracy than have resisted the conspiracy, if I had thought I had to listen to that fellow. [3] About the lolium [darnel weed in the grain] you are out of your senses; about the wine I commend you. But look here, do you not at all see that the Kalends are coming and Antonius is not coming? that the jurors are being summoned? For they send me word to this effect, that Nigidius is threatening in a public assembly that he will haul up any juror who has not appeared. Still, I should be glad if you have heard anything about Antonius's arrival, that you would write to me about it; and, since you are not coming here, do at any rate dine at our house on the day before the Kalends. Mind you do not do otherwise. Take care of your health.
Look well after my little namesake. I am ill with him by sympathy. I have in hand my treatise on the constitution of Pellene, and you should see the huge heap of Dicaearchus that I have piled at my feet. What a great man! You could learn a lot more from him than from Procilius. I believe I have got his works on the constitutions of Corinth and Athens at Rome: and you may take my word for it that, if you read them, you will exclaim “The man is a wonder.” If Herodes had any sense in him, he would spend his time reading him and never write a single letter of the alphabet. He has attacked me by post, and you, as I see, in person. I would far rather have joined in the conspiracy than opposed it, if I had thought I should have to pay for it by listening to him. As regards the darnel, you must be losing your senses: but about the wine I quite agree with you.
But, I say, have you noticed the Kalends are coming, and there is no Antonius? Though the jury is being empanelled,—at least they tell me so, and that Nigidius is threatening in a public meeting to serve a summons on any juror who does not attend. If you
should happen to get any news of Antonius’ coming, please let me know: and, as you won’t come here, dine with me anyhow on the 29th at my town house. Be sure you do; and take care of yourself.
cura, amabo te, Ciceronem nostrum. ei nos theioi videmur. Pellenaion in manibus tenebam et hercule magnum acervum Dicaearchi mihi ante pedes exstruxeram. O magnum hominem et unde multo plura didiceris quam de Procilio! Korinthion et Athenaion puto me Romae habere. mihi +credes lege hec doceo+ mirabilis vir est. Herodes, si homo esset, eum potius legeret quam unam litteram scriberet. qui me epistula petivit, ad te, ut video, comminus accessit. coniurasse mallem quam restitisse coniurationi, si illum mihi audiendum putassem. [3] de lolio sanus non es; de vino laudo. sed heus tu, ecquid vides Kalendas venire, Antonium non venire? iudices cogi? nam ita ad me mittunt, Nigidium minari in contione se iudicem qui non adfuerit compellaturum. velim tamen si quid est de Antoni adventu quod audieris scribas ad me et, quoniam huc non venis, cenes apud nos utique pridie Kal. Cave aliter facias. cura ut valeas.
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Take care of our Cicero [Marcus's young son], I beg you. To him we seem godlike. I had Pellenaion [a work, perhaps Dicaearchus's treatise on Pellene] in hand, and by Hercules I had piled up a great heap of Dicaearchus before my feet. O what a great man, and one from whom you may learn far more than from Procilius! I think I have the Corinthian and the Athenian [Dicaearchus's treatises on the Corinthian and Athenian constitutions] here at Rome. Believe me [text uncertain: "by the law I teach these things"], he is a marvelous man. Herodes, if he were a real human being, would rather read him than write a single letter of his own. The man who has assailed me by letter has, as I see, approached you hand to hand [in close combat]. I would rather have joined the conspiracy than have resisted the conspiracy, if I had thought I had to listen to that fellow. [3] About the lolium [darnel weed in the grain] you are out of your senses; about the wine I commend you. But look here, do you not at all see that the Kalends are coming and Antonius is not coming? that the jurors are being summoned? For they send me word to this effect, that Nigidius is threatening in a public assembly that he will haul up any juror who has not appeared. Still, I should be glad if you have heard anything about Antonius's arrival, that you would write to me about it; and, since you are not coming here, do at any rate dine at our house on the day before the Kalends. Mind you do not do otherwise. Take care of your health.
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
cura, amabo te, Ciceronem nostrum. ei nos theioi videmur. Pellenaion in manibus tenebam et hercule magnum acervum Dicaearchi mihi ante pedes exstruxeram. O magnum hominem et unde multo plura didiceris quam de Procilio! Korinthion et Athenaion puto me Romae habere. mihi +credes lege hec doceo+ mirabilis vir est. Herodes, si homo esset, eum potius legeret quam unam litteram scriberet. qui me epistula petivit, ad te, ut video, comminus accessit. coniurasse mallem quam restitisse coniurationi, si illum mihi audiendum putassem. [3] de lolio sanus non es; de vino laudo. sed heus tu, ecquid vides Kalendas venire, Antonium non venire? iudices cogi? nam ita ad me mittunt, Nigidium minari in contione se iudicem qui non adfuerit compellaturum. velim tamen si quid est de Antoni adventu quod audieris scribas ad me et, quoniam huc non venis, cenes apud nos utique pridie Kal. Cave aliter facias. cura ut valeas.