Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 44 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
I hope you are now as well as I want you to be, since you fasted when you were slightly upset; still, I would like to know how you are. It is a good sign that Calvena is annoyed at being suspected by Brutus. It is not a good sign if legions come from Gaul with their standards. What do you think the legions that were in Spain will do? Will they not make the same demand? And what about the ones Annius transported? I meant Gaius Asinius; that was a lapse of memory. A great cloud is rising from the bathhouse fellow. That conspiracy of Caesar's freedmen would be easily crushed if Antony had his wits about him.
What foolish scruples of mine. I refused a free legation before the vacation was extended, for fear I might seem to be deserting this swelling crisis. If I could help cure it, I certainly ought not to be absent. But you see the magistrates, if they are magistrates; you see the tyrant's attendants holding commands; you see his armies; you see the veterans at our side. All of this is ready to flare up. And those men who ought to be not only protected but honored by the watchfulness of the whole world are merely praised and loved, while being kept within their walls. They, somehow, are happy; the state is miserable.
I would like to know about Octavius' arrival: whether any crowd ran to him, whether there was any suspicion of an uprising. I do not think so, but whatever happened, I want to know it. I wrote this to you as I was leaving for Astura on April 11.
I hope you are as well as I wish you to be by now, as you were fasting owing to a slight indisposition: but I should like to know how you are. It is a good sign that Calvena is annoyed at Brutus' suspicions; but it will be by no means a good sign if the legions come from Gaul with their ensigns. What do you think about those that were in Spain? Won't they make the same demands? And what of those that Annius took across? I meant to say C. Asinius, but I had a lapsus memoriae. A fine mess the gambler is making. For that conspiracy of Caesar's freedmen might have been put down easily, if Antony had his wits about him. How foolish were my scruples in refusing a free legation before the vacation for fear of appearing to shirk this turmoil. Of course, if I could
have helped to remedy it, I had no right to fail in my duty. But you see the magistrates, if they can be called magistrates; you see, in spite of all, the tyrant's satellites in authority; you see his army, you see his veterans on our flank. All these can easily be fanned into flame. But those who ought to be hedged about and even honoured by the watchful care of the whole world, are only praised and admired—and confined to their houses. And they, be that as it may, are happy, while the state is in misery. But I should like to know about Octavius' arrival, whether there was a rush to meet him and whether there was any suspicion of a coup d'état. I don't suppose there was, but still I should like to know, whatever happened. I am writing this as I leave Astura on the 11th of April.
spero tibi iam esse ut volumus, quoniam quidem h)si/thsaj quom leviter commotus esses; sed tamen velim scire quid agas. signa bella quod Calvena moleste fert se suspectum esse Bruto; illa signa non bona si cum signis legiones veniunt <e> Gallia. quid tu illas putas quae fuerunt in Hispania? nonne idem postulaturas? quid, quas Annius transportavit? C. Asinium volui sed mnhmoniko\n a(ma/rthma . A balneatore furmo\j polu/j . nam ista quidem Caesaris libertorum coniuratio facile opprimeretur, si recte saperet Antonius. [2] O meam stultam verecundiam! qui legari noluerim ante res prolatas ne deserere viderer hunc rerum tumorem; cui certe si possem mederi, desse non deberem. sed vides magistratus, si quidem illi magistratus, vides tamen tyranni satellites <in> imperiis, vides eiusdem exercitus, vides in latere veteranos, quae sunt eu)ri/pista omnia, eos autem qui orbis terrae custodiis non modo saepti verum etiam magni esse debebant tantum modo laudari atque amari sed parietibus contineri. atque illi quoquo modo beati, civitas misera. [3] sed velim scire quid adventus Octavi, num qui concursus ad eum, num quae newterismou= suspicio. non puto equidem, sed tamen, quicquid est, scire cupio. haec scripsi ad te proficiscens Astura iii Idus.
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I hope you are now as well as I want you to be, since you fasted when you were slightly upset; still, I would like to know how you are. It is a good sign that Calvena is annoyed at being suspected by Brutus. It is not a good sign if legions come from Gaul with their standards. What do you think the legions that were in Spain will do? Will they not make the same demand? And what about the ones Annius transported? I meant Gaius Asinius; that was a lapse of memory. A great cloud is rising from the bathhouse fellow. That conspiracy of Caesar's freedmen would be easily crushed if Antony had his wits about him.
What foolish scruples of mine. I refused a free legation before the vacation was extended, for fear I might seem to be deserting this swelling crisis. If I could help cure it, I certainly ought not to be absent. But you see the magistrates, if they are magistrates; you see the tyrant's attendants holding commands; you see his armies; you see the veterans at our side. All of this is ready to flare up. And those men who ought to be not only protected but honored by the watchfulness of the whole world are merely praised and loved, while being kept within their walls. They, somehow, are happy; the state is miserable.
I would like to know about Octavius' arrival: whether any crowd ran to him, whether there was any suspicion of an uprising. I do not think so, but whatever happened, I want to know it. I wrote this to you as I was leaving for Astura on April 11.
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
spero tibi iam esse ut volumus, quoniam quidem h)si/thsaj quom leviter commotus esses; sed tamen velim scire quid agas. signa bella quod Calvena moleste fert se suspectum esse Bruto; illa signa non bona si cum signis legiones veniunt <e> Gallia. quid tu illas putas quae fuerunt in Hispania? nonne idem postulaturas? quid, quas Annius transportavit? C. Asinium volui sed mnhmoniko\n a(ma/rthma . A balneatore furmo\j polu/j . nam ista quidem Caesaris libertorum coniuratio facile opprimeretur, si recte saperet Antonius. [2] O meam stultam verecundiam! qui legari noluerim ante res prolatas ne deserere viderer hunc rerum tumorem; cui certe si possem mederi, desse non deberem. sed vides magistratus, si quidem illi magistratus, vides tamen tyranni satellites <in> imperiis, vides eiusdem exercitus, vides in latere veteranos, quae sunt eu)ri/pista omnia, eos autem qui orbis terrae custodiis non modo saepti verum etiam magni esse debebant tantum modo laudari atque amari sed parietibus contineri. atque illi quoquo modo beati, civitas misera. [3] sed velim scire quid adventus Octavi, num qui concursus ad eum, num quae newterismou= suspicio. non puto equidem, sed tamen, quicquid est, scire cupio. haec scripsi ad te proficiscens Astura iii Idus.