Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 45 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
That Tuditanus, the great-grandfather of Hortensius, I really did not know, and I had supposed that it was the son who served as legate, the one who at that time could not have done so. That Mummius was at Corinth I hold for certain; for our friend Spurius here, the one of recent date, often used to read me the letters in clever little verses that were sent home to his family from Corinth. But I have no doubt that he was a legate to his brother, not one of the board of ten. And I have also learned this: that our ancestors were not in the habit of appointing to the board of ten men who were the close connections of the commanders, so that we, ignorant of these excellent old practices, or rather negligent of them, sent Marcus Lucullus and Lucius Murena and the others most closely bound to Lucius Lucullus. And here is the most fitting touch [eulogotaton, Greek: 'most apt, most well-spoken']: that he was among his brother's foremost legates. What great pains you take, attending to these matters, settling my affairs, and being scarcely less diligent in your own concerns than in mine!
I have nothing to write; for you have only just left, and soon after you went, you sent me back my notebook. Please see that the packet is delivered to Vestorius, and commission someone to find out if
any part of Q. Staberius' land at Pompeii or Nola is for sale. Please send me Brutus' Epitome of the Annals of Caelius, and get from Philoxenus Panaetius On Foresight. I shall see you and your family on the 13th.
Tuditanum istum proavum Hortensi plane non noram et filium qui tum non potuerat esse legatus fuisse putaram. Mummium fuisse ad Corinthum pro certo habeo. saepe enim hic spurius, qui nuper est , epistulas mihi pronuntiabat versiculis facetis ad familiaris missas a Corintho. sed non dubito quin fratri fuerit legatus non in decem. atque hoc etiam accepi, non solitos maiores nostros eos legare in decem qui essent imperatorum necessarii, ut nos ignari pulcherrimorum institutorum aut neglegentes potius M. Lucullum et L. Murenam et ceteros coniunctissimos ad L. Lucullum misimus. illudque eu)logw/taton , illum fratri in primis eius legatis fuisse. O operam tuam multam qui et haec cures et mea expedias et sis in tuis non multo minus diligens quam in meis!
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That Tuditanus, the great-grandfather of Hortensius, I really did not know, and I had supposed that it was the son who served as legate, the one who at that time could not have done so. That Mummius was at Corinth I hold for certain; for our friend Spurius here, the one of recent date, often used to read me the letters in clever little verses that were sent home to his family from Corinth. But I have no doubt that he was a legate to his brother, not one of the board of ten. And I have also learned this: that our ancestors were not in the habit of appointing to the board of ten men who were the close connections of the commanders, so that we, ignorant of these excellent old practices, or rather negligent of them, sent Marcus Lucullus and Lucius Murena and the others most closely bound to Lucius Lucullus. And here is the most fitting touch [eulogotaton, Greek: 'most apt, most well-spoken']: that he was among his brother's foremost legates. What great pains you take, attending to these matters, settling my affairs, and being scarcely less diligent in your own concerns than in mine!
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
Tuditanum istum proavum Hortensi plane non noram et filium qui tum non potuerat esse legatus fuisse putaram. Mummium fuisse ad Corinthum pro certo habeo. saepe enim hic spurius, qui nuper est , epistulas mihi pronuntiabat versiculis facetis ad familiaris missas a Corintho. sed non dubito quin fratri fuerit legatus non in decem. atque hoc etiam accepi, non solitos maiores nostros eos legare in decem qui essent imperatorum necessarii, ut nos ignari pulcherrimorum institutorum aut neglegentes potius M. Lucullum et L. Murenam et ceteros coniunctissimos ad L. Lucullum misimus. illudque eu)logw/taton , illum fratri in primis eius legatis fuisse. O operam tuam multam qui et haec cures et mea expedias et sis in tuis non multo minus diligens quam in meis!