Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 60 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
While I was eagerly awaiting a letter from you toward evening, as I usually do, behold, word came to me that the slaves had arrived from Rome! I call them, I ask whether there is any letter. They say no. "What do you mean?" I say. "Nothing from Pomponius?" Terrified by my voice and my expression, they confessed that they had received one but had lost it on the road. What more can I say? I was extremely annoyed; for over these last days no letter had come from you that was empty of some useful and pleasant matter. Now, if there was anything in that letter you sent on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of May that was worthy of history, write to me as soon as possible, so that we may not be left in ignorance; but if there was nothing in it beyond a jest, give me back that very thing. And know that the young Curio has come to call on me. His talk about Publius agreed very well with your letter; and he himself, in a wondrous way, "hates the proud kings" [a line from Lucilius]. He told me that the young men are all alike fired up and cannot endure this state of affairs. We are in a good way, if our hope rests in them; I think we had better busy ourselves with something else. I give myself to history; though you may consider me to be a Saufeius. There is nothing more idle than I am. [2] But learn our route, so that you may decide where you are going to see us. We wish to come to the Formian estate at the Parilia; from there, since you think we ought to pass over for the present that delightful goblet [the Bay of Naples], on the Kalends of May we shall set out from the Formian estate, so as to be at Antium on the fifth day before the Nones of May. For there are to be games at Antium from the fourth day before to the day before the Nones of May. Tullia wishes to watch them. From there I am thinking of going to the Tusculan estate, then to Arpinum, and to Rome by the Kalends of June. See to it that we see you either at the Formian estate or at Antium or at the Tusculan estate. Restore to us your earlier letter and add on something new.
When I was looking forward eagerly to a letter of yours towards evening, as usual, lo and behold a message that some slaves had come from Rome. I called them, and inquired if they had any letters. “No,” they said. “What’s that,” said I, “nothing from Pomponius?” Frightened to death by my voice and look they confessed they had been given one, but it had been lost on the way. As you may suppose, I was wild with annoyance. For every letter you have sent me these last few days has contained something of importance or entertainment. So, if there was anything worth saying in the letter of the 15th of April, write at once and let me know it: if there was nothing but nonsense, you owe me a repetition of it.
Let me tell you that young Curio has come and paid his respects to me: and what he said about Publius agreed very closely with your letter. It is astonishing too how he “holds proud kings in hate,” and he tells me that the younger generation in
general holds equally strong views, and cannot put up with the present state of affairs. We are all right. If we can put our trust in them, we need not trouble ourselves, so far as I can see. I am devoting myself to history. But, though you think me as energetic as Saufeius, I am the laziest mortal alive.
But get clear about my journeys, so that you may settle where you will see me. I am intending to get to my place at Formiae on the feast of Pales; and then, since you think I ought not to stop at the delightful Crater on this occasion, I shall leave Formiae on the 1st of May, so as to reach Antium on the 3rd. There are games at Antium from the 4th to the 6th of May, and Tullia wants to see them. Then I am thinking of going to Tusculum, and from there to Arpinum, reaching Rome on the 1st of June. Be sure you pay me a visit either at Formiae or at Antium, or at my place at Tusculum. Reproduce your former letter for me, and add something new to it.
epistulam cum a te avide exspectarem ad vesperum, ut soleo, ecce tibi nuntius pueros venisse Roma! voco, quaero ecquid litterarum. negant. 'quid ais?' inquam 'nihilne a Pomponio?' perterriti voce et vultu confessi sunt se accepisse sed excidisse in via. quid quaeris? permoleste tuli; nulla enim abs te per hos dies epistula inanis aliqua re utili et suavi venerat. nunc si quid in ea epistula quam ante diem xvi Kal. Maias dedisti fuit historia dignum, scribe quam primum, ne ignoremus; sin nihil praeter iocationem, redde id ipsum. et scito Curionem adulescentem venisse ad me salutatum. valde eius sermo de Publio cum tuis litteris congruebat; ipse vero mirandum in modum 'reges odisse superbos.' peraeque narrabat incensam esse iuventutem neque ferre haec posse. bene habemus nos, si in his spes est; opinor, aliud agamus. ego me do historiae; quamquam licet me Saufeium putes esse. nihil me est inertius. [2] sed cognosce itinera nostra, ut statuas ubi nos visurus sis. in Formianum volumus venire parilibus; inde, quoniam putas praetermittendum nobis esse hoc tempore cratera illum delicatum, Kal. Maias de Formiano proficiscemur, ut Anti simus a. d. v Nonas Maias. ludi enim Anti futuri sunt a iiii ad pr. Nonas Maias. Eos Tullia spectare vult. Inde cogito in Tusculanum, deinde Arpinum, Romam ad Kal. Iunias. te aut in Formiano aut Anti aut in Tusculano cura ut videamus. epistulam superiorem restitue nobis et appinge aliquid novi.
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While I was eagerly awaiting a letter from you toward evening, as I usually do, behold, word came to me that the slaves had arrived from Rome! I call them, I ask whether there is any letter. They say no. "What do you mean?" I say. "Nothing from Pomponius?" Terrified by my voice and my expression, they confessed that they had received one but had lost it on the road. What more can I say? I was extremely annoyed; for over these last days no letter had come from you that was empty of some useful and pleasant matter. Now, if there was anything in that letter you sent on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of May that was worthy of history, write to me as soon as possible, so that we may not be left in ignorance; but if there was nothing in it beyond a jest, give me back that very thing. And know that the young Curio has come to call on me. His talk about Publius agreed very well with your letter; and he himself, in a wondrous way, "hates the proud kings" [a line from Lucilius]. He told me that the young men are all alike fired up and cannot endure this state of affairs. We are in a good way, if our hope rests in them; I think we had better busy ourselves with something else. I give myself to history; though you may consider me to be a Saufeius. There is nothing more idle than I am. [2] But learn our route, so that you may decide where you are going to see us. We wish to come to the Formian estate at the Parilia; from there, since you think we ought to pass over for the present that delightful goblet [the Bay of Naples], on the Kalends of May we shall set out from the Formian estate, so as to be at Antium on the fifth day before the Nones of May. For there are to be games at Antium from the fourth day before to the day before the Nones of May. Tullia wishes to watch them. From there I am thinking of going to the Tusculan estate, then to Arpinum, and to Rome by the Kalends of June. See to it that we see you either at the Formian estate or at Antium or at the Tusculan estate. Restore to us your earlier letter and add on something new.
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
epistulam cum a te avide exspectarem ad vesperum, ut soleo, ecce tibi nuntius pueros venisse Roma! voco, quaero ecquid litterarum. negant. 'quid ais?' inquam 'nihilne a Pomponio?' perterriti voce et vultu confessi sunt se accepisse sed excidisse in via. quid quaeris? permoleste tuli; nulla enim abs te per hos dies epistula inanis aliqua re utili et suavi venerat. nunc si quid in ea epistula quam ante diem xvi Kal. Maias dedisti fuit historia dignum, scribe quam primum, ne ignoremus; sin nihil praeter iocationem, redde id ipsum. et scito Curionem adulescentem venisse ad me salutatum. valde eius sermo de Publio cum tuis litteris congruebat; ipse vero mirandum in modum 'reges odisse superbos.' peraeque narrabat incensam esse iuventutem neque ferre haec posse. bene habemus nos, si in his spes est; opinor, aliud agamus. ego me do historiae; quamquam licet me Saufeium putes esse. nihil me est inertius. [2] sed cognosce itinera nostra, ut statuas ubi nos visurus sis. in Formianum volumus venire parilibus; inde, quoniam putas praetermittendum nobis esse hoc tempore cratera illum delicatum, Kal. Maias de Formiano proficiscemur, ut Anti simus a. d. v Nonas Maias. ludi enim Anti futuri sunt a iiii ad pr. Nonas Maias. Eos Tullia spectare vult. Inde cogito in Tusculanum, deinde Arpinum, Romam ad Kal. Iunias. te aut in Formiano aut Anti aut in Tusculano cura ut videamus. epistulam superiorem restitue nobis et appinge aliquid novi.