Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 46 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
You are, I think, the one person less prone to flattery than myself, and if either of us is ever guilty of it toward someone, between ourselves we certainly never are. So listen to me saying this in complete sincerity [Greek: agoeteutos, "without trickery"]. May I not live, my dear Atticus, if to me not only my place at Tusculum, where I am otherwise content, but even the Isles of the Blest [Greek: makaron nesoi] are worth being without you for so many days. Therefore let these three days be endured, on the assumption that I may place you too in the same feeling [Greek: pathos]; and so it surely is. But I should like to know whether you are coming today right after the auction, and on what day you arrive. Meanwhile I am keeping company with my little books; and I am annoyed that I do not have Vennonius' history. But still, not to say nothing about business: that debt assigned to me by Caesar has three options. Either purchase at the public auction-spear [I would rather lose it, though apart from the disgrace itself I consider this very thing to be a loss]; or an assignment from the buyer payable at one year's term [but who will there be whom I can trust, or when will that "year of Meton" arrive?]; or, on Vettienus' terms, half down. So consider it [Greek: skepsai]. And I am afraid that the man may now hold no auction at all but, once the games are over, may rush off [Greek: atypos, "in unseemly fashion"] to the rescue, so that such a man may not be left in the lurch [Greek: aloethes]. But it will be seen to [Greek: melesei]. Please look after Attica, and give her, and Pilia and Tullia too, my warmest greetings in my own words.
You are the only person I know less given to flattery than myself, and, if we both fall into it sometimes in the case of other people, certainly we never use it to one another. So listen to what I am saying with all sincerity. On my life, Atticus, I don't count even the Isles of the Blest, let alone my place at Tusculum—though in other respects I'm comfortable enough there—worth so long a separation from you. So let us harden our hearts for these three days—assuming that you are affected as I am, which I am sure is the case. But I should like to know whether you are starting to-day immediately after the auction, and on what day you are coming. In the meantime I am buried in my books, and annoyed that I have not got Vennonius' history. But, not to neglect business altogether, for that debt that Caesar assigned to me there are three means I might use. I could buy the property at a public auction; but I would rather lose it—it comes to the same thing in the end, besides the disgrace. I might transfer my rights for a bond payable a year hence by the buyer: but whom can I trust, and when would that "year of Meton" come? Or I
might accept Vettienus' proposal and take half paid down. So look into the matter. The fact is I am afraid Caesar may not hold any auction now, but, as soon as his games are over, may run off to the aid of his stammering friend, not to slight so important a person. But I will attend to the matter. Pray take care of Attica and give her and Pilia and Tullia my kindest greetings.
unum te puto minus blandum esse quam me et, si uterque nostrum est aliquando adversus aliquem, inter nos certe numquam sumus. audi igitur me hoc a)gohteu/twj dicentem. ne vivam, mi Attice, si mihi non modo Tusculanum, ubi ceteroqui sum libenter, sed maka/rwnnhsoi tanti sunt ut sine te sim tot dies. qua re obduretur hoc triduum ut te quoque ponam in eodem pa/qei ; quod ita est profecto. sed velim scire hodiene statim de auctione et quo die venias. ego me interea cum libellis; ac moleste fero Vennoni me historiam non habere. sed tamen ne nihil de re, nomen illud, quod a Caesare, tris habet condiciones, aut emptionem ab hasta (perdere malo, etsi praeter ipsam turpitudinem hoc ipsum puto esse perdere) aut delegationem a mancipe annua die (quis erit cui credam, aut quando iste Metonis annus veniet?) aut Vettieni condicione semissem. Ske/yai igitur. ac vereor ne iste iam auctionem nullam faciat sed ludis factis )Atu/pw? subsidio currat, ne talis vir a)loghqh=? . sed melh/sei . tu Atticam, quaeso, cura et ei salutem et Piliae Tulliae quoque verbis plurimam.
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You are, I think, the one person less prone to flattery than myself, and if either of us is ever guilty of it toward someone, between ourselves we certainly never are. So listen to me saying this in complete sincerity [Greek: agoeteutos, "without trickery"]. May I not live, my dear Atticus, if to me not only my place at Tusculum, where I am otherwise content, but even the Isles of the Blest [Greek: makaron nesoi] are worth being without you for so many days. Therefore let these three days be endured, on the assumption that I may place you too in the same feeling [Greek: pathos]; and so it surely is. But I should like to know whether you are coming today right after the auction, and on what day you arrive. Meanwhile I am keeping company with my little books; and I am annoyed that I do not have Vennonius' history. But still, not to say nothing about business: that debt assigned to me by Caesar has three options. Either purchase at the public auction-spear [I would rather lose it, though apart from the disgrace itself I consider this very thing to be a loss]; or an assignment from the buyer payable at one year's term [but who will there be whom I can trust, or when will that "year of Meton" arrive?]; or, on Vettienus' terms, half down. So consider it [Greek: skepsai]. And I am afraid that the man may now hold no auction at all but, once the games are over, may rush off [Greek: atypos, "in unseemly fashion"] to the rescue, so that such a man may not be left in the lurch [Greek: aloethes]. But it will be seen to [Greek: melesei]. Please look after Attica, and give her, and Pilia and Tullia too, my warmest greetings in my own words.
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
unum te puto minus blandum esse quam me et, si uterque nostrum est aliquando adversus aliquem, inter nos certe numquam sumus. audi igitur me hoc a)gohteu/twj dicentem. ne vivam, mi Attice, si mihi non modo Tusculanum, ubi ceteroqui sum libenter, sed maka/rwnnhsoi tanti sunt ut sine te sim tot dies. qua re obduretur hoc triduum ut te quoque ponam in eodem pa/qei ; quod ita est profecto. sed velim scire hodiene statim de auctione et quo die venias. ego me interea cum libellis; ac moleste fero Vennoni me historiam non habere. sed tamen ne nihil de re, nomen illud, quod a Caesare, tris habet condiciones, aut emptionem ab hasta (perdere malo, etsi praeter ipsam turpitudinem hoc ipsum puto esse perdere) aut delegationem a mancipe annua die (quis erit cui credam, aut quando iste Metonis annus veniet?) aut Vettieni condicione semissem. Ske/yai igitur. ac vereor ne iste iam auctionem nullam faciat sed ludis factis )Atu/pw? subsidio currat, ne talis vir a)loghqh=? . sed melh/sei . tu Atticam, quaeso, cura et ei salutem et Piliae Tulliae quoque verbis plurimam.