Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 46 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
What a welcome and delightful letter you sent me! Need I say more? My festal day has been restored to me. For I had been distressed because Tiro had said that you seemed to him eneruthesteron [rather flushed in the face]. So I will add one more day, as you advise.
But on the subject of Cato, it is a problema Archimedeion [an Archimedean problem, i.e. one fiendishly hard to solve]. I cannot manage to write anything that your dinner guests could read, I will not say with pleasure, but even with equanimity. Indeed, even if I withdraw from the opinions he expressed, from his every aim and the policies he held regarding the Republic, and wish simply (psilos) to praise his gravity and constancy, this very thing would be an odious akousma [a hateful thing to hear] to those men. But that man cannot truly be praised unless these points are set out in full: that he foresaw the things that now exist and are to come, that he strove to prevent them from happening, and that he abandoned his life rather than see them brought about. Which of these things could I get Aledius to approve? But take care, I beg you, that you keep well, and apply to your recovery above all the good sense that you apply to every matter.
How glad I was of your delightful letter! Why, it made my day a
red-letter day after all. For I was anxious because Tiro had said you
looked to him rather flushed. So I will stay another day, as you
suggest.
But about Cato, that would puzzle a Philadelphian lawyer. I cannot
manage to write anything that your boon companions could read, I won't
say with pleasure, but even without annoyance. If I steer clear of his
utterances in the House and of his entire political outlook and policy,
and content myself with simply eulogizing his unwavering constancy, even
that would be no pleasant hearing for them. But he is a man who cannot
properly be eulogized, unless these points are fully treated, that he
foresaw the present state of affairs, and tried to prevent it, and that
he took his own life by preference to seeing it come about. Can I win
Aledius' approval of any of that? But pray be careful of yourself and
devote the common sense you devote to other things, before all to
recovering your health.
O gratas tuas mihi iucundasque litteras! quid quaeris? restitutus est mihi dies festus. angebar enim quod Tiro e)nereuqe/steron te sibi esse visum dixerat. addam igitur, ut censes, unum diem [2] sed de Catone pro/blhma )Arximh/deion est. non adsequor ut scribam quod tui convivae non modo libenter sed etiam aequo animo legere possint; quin etiam si a sententiis eius dictis, si ab omni voluntate consiliisque quae de re publica habuit recedam yilw=j que velim gravitatem constantiamque eius laudare, hoc ipsum tamen istis odiosum a)/kousma sit. sed vere laudari ille vir non potest nisi haec ornata sint, quod ille ea quae nunc sunt et futura viderit et ne fierent contenderit et facta ne videret vitam reliquerit. Horum quid est quod Aledio probare possimus? sed cura, obsecro, ut valeas eamque quam ad omnis res adhibes in primis ad convalescendum adhibe prudentiam.
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What a welcome and delightful letter you sent me! Need I say more? My festal day has been restored to me. For I had been distressed because Tiro had said that you seemed to him eneruthesteron [rather flushed in the face]. So I will add one more day, as you advise.
But on the subject of Cato, it is a problema Archimedeion [an Archimedean problem, i.e. one fiendishly hard to solve]. I cannot manage to write anything that your dinner guests could read, I will not say with pleasure, but even with equanimity. Indeed, even if I withdraw from the opinions he expressed, from his every aim and the policies he held regarding the Republic, and wish simply (psilos) to praise his gravity and constancy, this very thing would be an odious akousma [a hateful thing to hear] to those men. But that man cannot truly be praised unless these points are set out in full: that he foresaw the things that now exist and are to come, that he strove to prevent them from happening, and that he abandoned his life rather than see them brought about. Which of these things could I get Aledius to approve? But take care, I beg you, that you keep well, and apply to your recovery above all the good sense that you apply to every matter.
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
O gratas tuas mihi iucundasque litteras! quid quaeris? restitutus est mihi dies festus. angebar enim quod Tiro e)nereuqe/steron te sibi esse visum dixerat. addam igitur, ut censes, unum diem [2] sed de Catone pro/blhma )Arximh/deion est. non adsequor ut scribam quod tui convivae non modo libenter sed etiam aequo animo legere possint; quin etiam si a sententiis eius dictis, si ab omni voluntate consiliisque quae de re publica habuit recedam yilw=j que velim gravitatem constantiamque eius laudare, hoc ipsum tamen istis odiosum a)/kousma sit. sed vere laudari ille vir non potest nisi haec ornata sint, quod ille ea quae nunc sunt et futura viderit et ne fierent contenderit et facta ne videret vitam reliquerit. Horum quid est quod Aledio probare possimus? sed cura, obsecro, ut valeas eamque quam ad omnis res adhibes in primis ad convalescendum adhibe prudentiam.