Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 47 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Though you certainly see for yourself how many anxieties are consuming me, you will learn more from Lepta and Trebatius. I am paying heavily for my rashness, which you want to persuade me was prudence. I do not want you to stop arguing that it was, or writing to me that it was, as often as possible; your letters give me considerable relief in the present circumstances.
You must make every effort with those who support me and have influence with him, especially Balbus and Oppius, to make them write about me as strongly as possible. I hear that some people with him are attacking me, and by letter too. That attack must be met, as the importance of the matter requires. Fufius, a very bitter enemy of mine, is there. Quintus sent his son not only to make peace for himself but to accuse me. He keeps saying that I am trying to set Caesar against him, though Caesar and all Caesar's friends deny it. Wherever he is, he does not stop heaping every kind of abuse on me. It is the most astonishing thing that has ever happened to me and the bitterest of all my present sorrows. Those who reported it to me claimed they heard it from his own mouth as he slandered me at Sicyon in the hearing of many people. You know his way; indeed, you may have had personal experience of it. Now it is all turned against me.
But by speaking of it, I increase both my own sorrow and yours. So I return to my first point. See that Balbus sends someone expressly for this purpose. Please send letters in my name to anyone you think should have them. Farewell. December 18.
Though of course you see for yourself in what distress I am, you will learn more about it from Lepta and Trebatius. I am paying very heavily for my rashness, which you want to persuade me was prudence: and I don't want to stop you arguing that it was and writing to me to that effect as often as possible. For your letters afford me a good deal of relief under the present circumstances. You must use your utmost endeavour with those who are my supporters and have influence with him—Balbus and Oppius especially—to make them write about me as strongly as possible. For I hear that I am being attacked by some who are with him, and also by letter. Their attack must be met, as the importance of the matter demands. Fufius, a very bitter enemy of mine, is there. Quintus sent his son not only to make peace for himself, but to accuse me. He keeps saying that I am trying to set Caesar against him, though Caesar and all his friends deny it. And he does not cease, wherever he is, from heaping all sorts of abuse on me. It is the most surprising thing that ever happened to me and the bitterest of all my present sorrows. Those who reported the matter to me professed to have heard it from his own lips, when he was slandering me at Sicyon in the hearing of many. You know his way; indeed you may have had some personal experience of it. Now it is all turned on me. But I increase my own sorrow, and yours too, by speaking of it. So I return to my first point. Take care that Balbus sends some one expressly
for this purpose. Please send letters in my name to anyone you think should have them. Farewell.
Dec. 18.
[1] quantis curis conficiar etsi profecto vides, tamen cognosces ex Lepta et Trebatio. maximas poenas pendo temeritatis meae quam tu prudentiam mihi videri vis; neque te deterreo quo minus id disputes scribasque ad me quam saepissime. non nihil enim me levant tuae litterae hoc tempore. per eos qui nostra causa volunt valentque apud illum diligentissime contendas opus est, per Balbum et Oppium maxime, ut de me scribant quam diligentissime. oppugnamur enim, ut audio, et a praesentibus quibusdam et per litteras. Iis ita est occurrendum ut rei magnitudo postulat. [2] Fufius est illic, mihi inimicissimus. Quintus misit filium non solum sui deprecatorem sed etiam accusatorem mei. dictitat se a me apud Caesarem oppugnari, quod refellit Caesar ipse omnesque eius amici. neque vero desistit, ubicumque est, omnia in me maledicta conferre. nihil mihi umquam tam incredibile accidit, nihil in his malis tam acerbum. qui ex ipso audissent cum Sicyone palam multis audientibus loqueretur nefaria quaedam, ad me pertulerunt. Nosti genus, etiam expertus es fortasse. in me id est omne conversum. sed augeo commemorando dolorem et facio etiam tibi. qua re ad illud redeo. cura ut huius rei causa dedita opera mittat aliquem Balbus. ad quos videbitur velim cures litteras meo nomine. vale. xiii Kal. Ian.
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Though you certainly see for yourself how many anxieties are consuming me, you will learn more from Lepta and Trebatius. I am paying heavily for my rashness, which you want to persuade me was prudence. I do not want you to stop arguing that it was, or writing to me that it was, as often as possible; your letters give me considerable relief in the present circumstances.
You must make every effort with those who support me and have influence with him, especially Balbus and Oppius, to make them write about me as strongly as possible. I hear that some people with him are attacking me, and by letter too. That attack must be met, as the importance of the matter requires. Fufius, a very bitter enemy of mine, is there. Quintus sent his son not only to make peace for himself but to accuse me. He keeps saying that I am trying to set Caesar against him, though Caesar and all Caesar's friends deny it. Wherever he is, he does not stop heaping every kind of abuse on me. It is the most astonishing thing that has ever happened to me and the bitterest of all my present sorrows. Those who reported it to me claimed they heard it from his own mouth as he slandered me at Sicyon in the hearing of many people. You know his way; indeed, you may have had personal experience of it. Now it is all turned against me.
But by speaking of it, I increase both my own sorrow and yours. So I return to my first point. See that Balbus sends someone expressly for this purpose. Please send letters in my name to anyone you think should have them. Farewell. December 18.
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] quantis curis conficiar etsi profecto vides, tamen cognosces ex Lepta et Trebatio. maximas poenas pendo temeritatis meae quam tu prudentiam mihi videri vis; neque te deterreo quo minus id disputes scribasque ad me quam saepissime. non nihil enim me levant tuae litterae hoc tempore. per eos qui nostra causa volunt valentque apud illum diligentissime contendas opus est, per Balbum et Oppium maxime, ut de me scribant quam diligentissime. oppugnamur enim, ut audio, et a praesentibus quibusdam et per litteras. Iis ita est occurrendum ut rei magnitudo postulat. [2] Fufius est illic, mihi inimicissimus. Quintus misit filium non solum sui deprecatorem sed etiam accusatorem mei. dictitat se a me apud Caesarem oppugnari, quod refellit Caesar ipse omnesque eius amici. neque vero desistit, ubicumque est, omnia in me maledicta conferre. nihil mihi umquam tam incredibile accidit, nihil in his malis tam acerbum. qui ex ipso audissent cum Sicyone palam multis audientibus loqueretur nefaria quaedam, ad me pertulerunt. Nosti genus, etiam expertus es fortasse. in me id est omne conversum. sed augeo commemorando dolorem et facio etiam tibi. qua re ad illud redeo. cura ut huius rei causa dedita opera mittat aliquem Balbus. ad quos videbitur velim cures litteras meo nomine. vale. xiii Kal. Ian.