Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 46 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
As for Mustela's property [an estate Cicero was considering buying for his projected shrine to his daughter Tullia], it is, as you write, a large undertaking. That makes me lean all the more toward Clodia's. And yet in both cases the Faberian debt must be looked into. On that score it would do no harm if you had a word with Balbus, and indeed told him, as the matter stands, that we want to buy but cannot do so without that money owed [by Faberius], and dare not while it remains uncertain. But when will Clodia be in Rome, and at what price do you reckon the property? That is precisely what I am looking to, not that I would not prefer the other, but it is both a great matter and a hard contest: against a woman who is eager, who is wealthy, who is an heir. And yet in eagerness I will yield to no one; in everything else I am the weaker party. But all this when we meet.
About the weasel — as you write, it is a big undertaking. All the more reason I am inclined toward Clodia's property. Although in both cases the Faberian account must be investigated. It would do no harm if you said something to Balbus about it, and indeed, as you see the situation, please do. I place the whole matter in your hands.
de mustela, ut scribis, etsi magnum opus est. eo magis delabor ad Clodiam. quamquam in utroque Faberianum nomen explorandum est. de quo nihil nocuerit si aliquid cum Balbo eris locutus et quidem, ut res est, emere nos velle nec posse sine isto nomine nec audere re incerta. sed quando Clodia Romae futura est et quanti rem aestimas? eo prorsus specto, non quin illud malim sed et magna res est et difficile certamen cum cupido, cum locuplete, cum herede. etsi de cupiditate nemini concedam; ceteris rebus inferiores sumus. sed haec coram.
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As for Mustela's property [an estate Cicero was considering buying for his projected shrine to his daughter Tullia], it is, as you write, a large undertaking. That makes me lean all the more toward Clodia's. And yet in both cases the Faberian debt must be looked into. On that score it would do no harm if you had a word with Balbus, and indeed told him, as the matter stands, that we want to buy but cannot do so without that money owed [by Faberius], and dare not while it remains uncertain. But when will Clodia be in Rome, and at what price do you reckon the property? That is precisely what I am looking to, not that I would not prefer the other, but it is both a great matter and a hard contest: against a woman who is eager, who is wealthy, who is an heir. And yet in eagerness I will yield to no one; in everything else I am the weaker party. But all this when we meet.
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
de mustela, ut scribis, etsi magnum opus est. eo magis delabor ad Clodiam. quamquam in utroque Faberianum nomen explorandum est. de quo nihil nocuerit si aliquid cum Balbo eris locutus et quidem, ut res est, emere nos velle nec posse sine isto nomine nec audere re incerta. sed quando Clodia Romae futura est et quanti rem aestimas? eo prorsus specto, non quin illud malim sed et magna res est et difficile certamen cum cupido, cum locuplete, cum herede. etsi de cupiditate nemini concedam; ceteris rebus inferiores sumus. sed haec coram.