Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 44 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
What a splendid Dolabella I have. I now call him mine; before this, believe me, I had my doubts. This is a great awakening: throwing the man from the rock, crucifixion, removing the column, contracting to have the place paved. What more can one ask? These are heroic acts. He seems to me to have ended the pretense of regret that had been creeping on day by day; I was afraid that if it grew old, it might become dangerous to our killers of the tyrant.
Now I agree entirely with your letter and hope for better things. Still, I cannot bear those people who pretend to want peace while defending criminal acts. But not everything can happen at once. Matters are beginning to go better than I expected, and I shall not leave unless you think I can do so honorably. I will certainly fail my dear Brutus nowhere. Even if there were no personal bond between us, I would do the same for the sake of his extraordinary and incredible courage.
As I set out for Pompeii on May 1, I hand over the whole villa and everything in it to our Pilia. How I wish you could persuade Brutus to be at Astura.
Well done my Dolabella! For now I call him mine: up to now, you know, I had some doubts. This will make people open their eyes—hurling from the rock, crucifixion, pulling down the column and ordering the place to be paved. Why, these are heroic deeds. I take it he has put an end to this feigning of regret, which up to now was creeping on day by day, and, if it became a habit, I was afraid it might be dangerous to our tyrannicides. Now I quite agree with your letter and hope for better things. However I cannot put up with the people who under a pretence of wishing for peace defend criminal actions. But still we can't have everything at once. Things are beginning to get better than I had expected, and of course I will not go away, unless you think I can do so honourably. My friend Brutus certainly I will never desert; and I should act in the same way, even if there were no ties between us, on account of his extraordinary and incredible strength of character.
I hand over the villa and all there is in it to our dear Pilia, as I am setting out for Pompeii on the 1st of May. How I wish you could persuade Brutus to come to Astura!
O mirificum Dolabellam meum! iam enim dico meum; antea, crede mihi, subdubitabam. magnam a)naqew/rhsin res habet, de saxo, in crucem, columnam tollere, locum illum sternendum locare! quid quaeris? heroica. sustulisse mihi videtur simulationem desideri adhuc quae serpebat in dies, et inveterata verebar ne periculosa nostris tyrannoctonis esset. [2] nunc prorsus adsentior tuis litteris speroque meliora. quamquam istos ferre non possum qui, dum se pacem velle simulant, acta nefaria defendunt. sed non possunt omnia simul. incipit res melius ire quam putaram. nec vero discedam nisi cum tu me id honeste putabis facere posse. Bruto certe meo nullo loco deero idque, etiam si mihi cum illo nihil fuisset, facerem propter eius singularem incredibilemque virtutem. [3] Piliae nostrae villam totam quaeque in villa sunt trado in Pompeianum ipse proficiscens K. Maus. quam velim Bruto persuadeas ut Asturae sit!
◆
What a splendid Dolabella I have. I now call him mine; before this, believe me, I had my doubts. This is a great awakening: throwing the man from the rock, crucifixion, removing the column, contracting to have the place paved. What more can one ask? These are heroic acts. He seems to me to have ended the pretense of regret that had been creeping on day by day; I was afraid that if it grew old, it might become dangerous to our killers of the tyrant.
Now I agree entirely with your letter and hope for better things. Still, I cannot bear those people who pretend to want peace while defending criminal acts. But not everything can happen at once. Matters are beginning to go better than I expected, and I shall not leave unless you think I can do so honorably. I will certainly fail my dear Brutus nowhere. Even if there were no personal bond between us, I would do the same for the sake of his extraordinary and incredible courage.
As I set out for Pompeii on May 1, I hand over the whole villa and everything in it to our Pilia. How I wish you could persuade Brutus to be at Astura.
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
O mirificum Dolabellam meum! iam enim dico meum; antea, crede mihi, subdubitabam. magnam a)naqew/rhsin res habet, de saxo, in crucem, columnam tollere, locum illum sternendum locare! quid quaeris? heroica. sustulisse mihi videtur simulationem desideri adhuc quae serpebat in dies, et inveterata verebar ne periculosa nostris tyrannoctonis esset. [2] nunc prorsus adsentior tuis litteris speroque meliora. quamquam istos ferre non possum qui, dum se pacem velle simulant, acta nefaria defendunt. sed non possunt omnia simul. incipit res melius ire quam putaram. nec vero discedam nisi cum tu me id honeste putabis facere posse. Bruto certe meo nullo loco deero idque, etiam si mihi cum illo nihil fuisset, facerem propter eius singularem incredibilemque virtutem. [3] Piliae nostrae villam totam quaeque in villa sunt trado in Pompeianum ipse proficiscens K. Maus. quam velim Bruto persuadeas ut Asturae sit!