Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 44 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
When Pilia told me that messengers were being sent to you on the Ides, I immediately scratched out this little something. First, then, I wanted you to know that I am leaving here for Arpinum on May 17. Send anything there after this, though I myself will be in Rome very soon. I want to smell out more carefully what is going to happen before I come to the city. Yet I fear my guess is not at all wrong.
It is quite plain what those people are plotting. My pupil, who is dining with me today, is deeply fond of the man wounded by our Brutus. And if you ask me, for I have seen it clearly, they fear peace. This is the case they hold and openly parade: that a very distinguished man was killed, that the whole republic was thrown into confusion by his death, that his acts will be null once we stop being afraid, and that his clemency was bad for him, since if he had not used it nothing of the sort could have happened to him.
It occurs to me that if Pompey comes with a strong army, which is plausible, there will certainly be war. That prospect and thought disturb me. What was permitted to you then will not be permitted to us now, for we openly rejoiced. Then they have us on their lips as ungrateful men. In no way will we be allowed what was then allowed both to you and to many others.
Must I therefore put on a bold face and go into camp? A thousand deaths would be better, especially at my age. So the Ides of March do not console me as much as they did before; they contain a great mistake. Still, those young men "by other noble deeds put this reproach aside." But if you have any better hope, since you hear more and are involved in the counsels, please write to me. At the same time think what I should do about the votive embassy. Many people here warn me not to be in the Senate on June 1. They say soldiers are being gathered secretly for that day, and against those men in particular who, to my mind, will be safer anywhere than in the Senate.
As soon as I learned from Pilia that she was sending a messenger to you on the 15th, I scrawled this bit of a note. First then I want you to know that I am leaving here for Arpinum on May 17th. So, if you have anything to send after that, you must send it there: though I shall be in Rome almost directly. For I want to scent out as clearly as possible what is going to happen before I come to town. However, I fear my suspicions are not far from the truth. For it is clear enough what they are doing. My pupil, who dined with me to-day, is a warm admirer of the man who was wounded by our Brutus: and, if you want to know, I see quite clearly that they are afraid of peace. This is the theme on which they are always dwelling: that a most distinguished person has been killed, that by his death the whole state has been thrown into disorder; that his acts will be null and void as soon as we have ceased to fear; that his clemency was his destruction, and that, if he had not practised clemency, such a thing could not have happened to him. I cannot help thinking, then, that if Pompey comes with a strong force, which is quite possible, there will certainly be war. When I picture this and think of it, I am disturbed: for now we shall not have the choice you had before. For we have shown our joy openly. Again they speak of us as ingrates. What you and many others did then certainly will not be possible now. Must I put in an appearance,
then, and join the army? A thousand times better to die, especially at my time of life. So now I am not so much consoled as I was with the thought of the Ides of March, for there was a grave mistake committed then. However, those youths "in other noble deeds wipe out their shame." But, if you have any better hope, as you hear more news and are in the midst of affairs, please write, and at the same time consider what I ought to do about the votive legation. Here many people warn me against attending the Senate on the 1st. They say troops are being collected secretly for that occasion, and that too against your friends, who to my idea will be safer anywhere than in the Senate.
certior a Pilia factus mitti ad te Idibus tabellarios statim hoc nescio quid exaravi. primum igitur scire te volui me hinc Arpinum xvi Kalend. Iun. eo igitur mittes si quid erit posthac; quamquam ipse iam iamque adero. cupio enim ante quam Romam venio odorari diligentius quid futurum sit. quamquam vereor ne nihil coniectura aberrem. minime enim obscurum est quid isti moliantur; meus vero discipulus qui hodie apud me cenat valde amat illum quem Brutus noster sauciavit. et si quaeris (perspexi enim plane), timent otium; u(po/qesin autem hanc habent eamque prae se ferunt, clarissimum <virum> interfectum, totam rem publicam illius interitu perturbatam, inrita fore quae ille egisset simul ac desisteremus timere, clementiam illi malo fuisse, qua si usus non esset, nihil ei tale accidere potuisse. [2] mihi autem venit in mentem, si Pompeius cum exercitu firmo veniat, quod est eu)/logon , certe fore bellum. haec me species cogitatioque perturbat. neque enim iam quod tibi tum licuit nobis nunc licebit. nam aperte laetati sumus. deinde habent in ore nos ingratos. nullo modo licebit quod tum et tibi licuit et multis. Fainoproswphte/on ergo et i)te/on in castra? miliens mori melius, huic praesertim aetati. itaque me Idus Martiae non tam consolantur quam antea. magnum enim mendum continent. etsi illi iuvenes a)/lloij e)n e)sqloi=j to/nd' a)pwqou=ntai yo/gon sed si tu melius quidpiam speras, quod et plura audis et interes consiliis, scribas ad me velim simulque cogites quid agendum nobis sit super legatione votiva. equidem in his locis moneor a multis ne in senatu Kalendis. dicuntur enim occulte milites ad eam diem comparari et quidem in istos qui mihi videntur utivis tutius quam in senatu fore. Cicero
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When Pilia told me that messengers were being sent to you on the Ides, I immediately scratched out this little something. First, then, I wanted you to know that I am leaving here for Arpinum on May 17. Send anything there after this, though I myself will be in Rome very soon. I want to smell out more carefully what is going to happen before I come to the city. Yet I fear my guess is not at all wrong.
It is quite plain what those people are plotting. My pupil, who is dining with me today, is deeply fond of the man wounded by our Brutus. And if you ask me, for I have seen it clearly, they fear peace. This is the case they hold and openly parade: that a very distinguished man was killed, that the whole republic was thrown into confusion by his death, that his acts will be null once we stop being afraid, and that his clemency was bad for him, since if he had not used it nothing of the sort could have happened to him.
It occurs to me that if Pompey comes with a strong army, which is plausible, there will certainly be war. That prospect and thought disturb me. What was permitted to you then will not be permitted to us now, for we openly rejoiced. Then they have us on their lips as ungrateful men. In no way will we be allowed what was then allowed both to you and to many others.
Must I therefore put on a bold face and go into camp? A thousand deaths would be better, especially at my age. So the Ides of March do not console me as much as they did before; they contain a great mistake. Still, those young men "by other noble deeds put this reproach aside." But if you have any better hope, since you hear more and are involved in the counsels, please write to me. At the same time think what I should do about the votive embassy. Many people here warn me not to be in the Senate on June 1. They say soldiers are being gathered secretly for that day, and against those men in particular who, to my mind, will be safer anywhere than in the Senate.
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
certior a Pilia factus mitti ad te Idibus tabellarios statim hoc nescio quid exaravi. primum igitur scire te volui me hinc Arpinum xvi Kalend. Iun. eo igitur mittes si quid erit posthac; quamquam ipse iam iamque adero. cupio enim ante quam Romam venio odorari diligentius quid futurum sit. quamquam vereor ne nihil coniectura aberrem. minime enim obscurum est quid isti moliantur; meus vero discipulus qui hodie apud me cenat valde amat illum quem Brutus noster sauciavit. et si quaeris (perspexi enim plane), timent otium; u(po/qesin autem hanc habent eamque prae se ferunt, clarissimum <virum> interfectum, totam rem publicam illius interitu perturbatam, inrita fore quae ille egisset simul ac desisteremus timere, clementiam illi malo fuisse, qua si usus non esset, nihil ei tale accidere potuisse. [2] mihi autem venit in mentem, si Pompeius cum exercitu firmo veniat, quod est eu)/logon , certe fore bellum. haec me species cogitatioque perturbat. neque enim iam quod tibi tum licuit nobis nunc licebit. nam aperte laetati sumus. deinde habent in ore nos ingratos. nullo modo licebit quod tum et tibi licuit et multis. Fainoproswphte/on ergo et i)te/on in castra? miliens mori melius, huic praesertim aetati. itaque me Idus Martiae non tam consolantur quam antea. magnum enim mendum continent. etsi illi iuvenes a)/lloij e)n e)sqloi=j to/nd' a)pwqou=ntai yo/gon sed si tu melius quidpiam speras, quod et plura audis et interes consiliis, scribas ad me velim simulque cogites quid agendum nobis sit super legatione votiva. equidem in his locis moneor a multis ne in senatu Kalendis. dicuntur enim occulte milites ad eam diem comparari et quidem in istos qui mihi videntur utivis tutius quam in senatu fore. Cicero