Letter 361

Is this really what it comes to? Is this what my Brutus and yours achieved: that he should be at Lanuvium, that Trebonius should travel by roundabout roads to his province, that every act, writing, word, promise, and thought of Caesar should have more force than if Caesar himself were alive? Do you remember me crying out on that very first day on the Capitol that the Senate ought to be summoned to the Capitol by the praetors? Immortal gods, what could have been accomplished then, when all the good citizens, even the fairly good ones, were rejoicing and the bandits were broken. You blame the Liberalia. What could have been done then? We had already perished. Do you remember shouting that the cause was lost if Caesar was carried out in a public funeral? But he was even burned in the Forum, and praised in a pitiful speech, and slaves and the destitute were sent against our houses with torches. What followed? They now dare to say, "Will you oppose Caesar's will?" I cannot bear these things and others like them. So I am thinking of one land after another; your place, however, lies exposed to the wind. Has your nausea now gone completely? Judging from your letters, it seemed so to me. I return to the Tebassi, Scaevae, and Frangones. Do you think these men trust that they will keep those estates while we are standing? They thought there was more courage in us than they found by experience. Of course they are lovers of peace, not authors of plunder. But when I wrote to you about Curtilius and Sextilius' estate, I was writing about Censorinus, Messalla, Plancus, Postumus, and the whole class. It would have been better to perish when Caesar was killed, though that would never have happened, than to see these things. Octavius came to Naples on April 18. Balbus met him there the next morning, and on the same day came to me at Cumae. Octavius, he says, is going to accept the inheritance. But, as you write, he will have a large quarrel to settle with Antony. Your Buthrotum affair is my concern, as it ought to be, and will stay so. You ask whether the Cluvian property is already approaching a hundred thousand. It seems to be. In the first year, naturally, I cleared eighty thousand. Quintus the father writes me bitter things about his son, especially because the boy is now indulging his mother, though earlier he was hostile to her when she deserved well of him. He sent me a letter blazing against him. If you know what the young man is doing and have not yet left Rome, please write to me, and by Hercules write if there is anything else too. I take great delight in your letters.

Is this what it comes to? Is this what our hero Brutus, my hero and yours, has achieved, that he should have to stay at Lanuvium, that Trebonius must make his way to his province by roundabout routes; that all the acts, notes, words, promises, and projects of Caesar should have more validity than if he were alive? Do you remember that I cried aloud on that first day on the Capitol that the Senate should be summoned thither by the praetors? Ye gods! what might we not have accomplished then, when all the loyalists were rejoicing, and even the half loyal, while the knaves were crushed. You blame the Liberalia. What could have been done then? We were done for already. Do you remember you exclaimed our cause was lost if the funeral took place? But he was even burned in the forum and a moving oration was delivered in his praise, and slaves and paupers were incited to attack our houses with torches. And the end of it all is that they dare to say: "Are you going to oppose Caesar's will?" Such things as these I cannot bear. So I am thinking of shifting from land to land. But your land is too exposed. Has your sickness left you entirely now? So far as I can guess from your letters it has. I return to the Tebassi, Scaevae, and Frangones. Do you suppose they will have any confidence in their homesteads, while we have any power? They have found us to have less courage than they expected. I suppose we must hold them lovers of peace and not a gang of brigands. But, when I wrote to you of Curtilius and Sextilianus' farm, I wrote of Censorinus, Messalla, Plancus, Postumus, and all such cases. It were better to have perished when he was slain—though it would never have come to that—than to see such things. Octavius came to Naples on the 18th of April. There Balbus met him the next morning, and the same day he was with me at Cumae and said Octavius would accept that inheritance. But as you say, there will be a crow to pick with Antony. I am attending to your business at Buthrotum, as I ought, and I will continue to do so. You ask if Cluvius' legacy amounts to £1,000 yet. Well, in the first year I cleared about £800. Quintus is grumbling to me about his son, chiefly because he is now making much of his mother, while formerly he disliked her in spite of all she did for him. The letter against him he sent me was written in a blazing fury. If you know what the youth is doing, and have not left Rome yet, I should be glad to hear from you, and uncommonly glad for any other news too. Your letters give me so much pleasure.

itane vero? hoc meus et tuus Brutus egit ut Lanuvi esset, ut Trebonius itineribus deviis proficisceretur in provinciam, ut omnia facta, scripta, dicta, promissa, cogitata Caesaris plus valerent quam si ipse viveret? meministine me clamare illo ipso primo Capitolino die <debere> senatum in Capitolium a praetoribus vocari? di immortales, quae tum opera effici potuerunt laetantibus omnibus bonis, etiam sat bonis, fractis latronibus! Liberalia tu accusas. quid fieri EPP. AD ATTICVM XIV. x tum potuit? iam pridem perieramus. meministine te clamare causam perisse si funere elatus esset? at ille etiam in foro combustus laudatusque miserabiliter servique et egentes in tecta nostra cum facibus immissi. quae deinde? ut audeant dicere, 'tune contra Caesaris nutum?' haec et talia ferre non possum. itaque ' gh=n pro\ gh=j ' cogito; tua tamen u(phne/mioj . [2] nausea iamne plane abiit? mihi quidem ex tuis litteris coniectanti ita videbatur. redeo ad Tebassos, Scaevas, Fangones. hos tu existimas confidere se illa habituros stantibus nobis? in quibus plus virtutis putarunt quam experti sunt. pacis isti scilicet amatores et non latrocini auctores. at ego, cum tibi de Curtilio scripsi Sextilianoque fundo, scripsi de Censorino, de Messalla, de Planco, de Postumo, de genere toto. Melius fuit perisse illo interfecto, quod numquam accidisset, quam haec videre. [3] Octavius Neapolim venit xiiii Kal. Ibi eum Balbus mane postridie eodemque die mecum in Cumano, illum hereditatem aditurum. sed, ut scribis, r(ico/qemin magnam cum Antonio. Buthrotia mihi tua res est, ut debet, eritque curae. quod quaeris, iamne ad centena Cluvianum, adventare videtur. scilicet primo anno L_X_X_X_ detersimus. [4] Quintus pater ad me gravia de filio, maxime quod matri nunc indulgeat cui antea bene merenti fuerit inimicus. ardentis in eum litteras ad me misit. ille autem quid agat si scis nequedum Roma es profectus, scribas ad me velim et hercule si quid aliud. vehementer delector tuis litteris.