Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 44 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Yesterday I sent you a letter as I was leaving my place near Puteoli and stopping at Cumae. I found Pilia there in excellent health, and saw her again soon afterward, since she had come to a funeral that I too attended: our friend Gnaeus Lucullus was burying his mother. I spent that day at Sinuessa, and I am scribbling this as I set out early the next morning for Arpinum.
I have no news to tell you or to ask from you, unless this counts. Brutus has sent me the speech he delivered at the meeting on the Capitol and has asked me, before he publishes it, to correct it without sparing his feelings. The speech is beautifully conceived, and the language could hardly be more polished. But if I had pleaded that cause, I would have written with more fire. You know the subject, and you know the speaker. So I could not alter it. Given the style Brutus aims at, and his idea of the best kind of oratory, he has achieved it here in its most elegant form. Rightly or wrongly, I have aimed at something else.
Still, I would like you to read the speech, if you have not already, and tell me what you think. I am afraid your own name will mislead you and make your criticism too Attic. But if you remember Demosthenes' thunderclaps, you will see that considerable force can exist even in the purest Attic style. More about this when we meet. For now, I only wanted Metrodorus not to come to you without a letter, or with a letter that said nothing.
Yesterday I sent off a letter to you as I was leaving Puteoli and stopped at my house at Cumae. There I found Pilia enjoying the best of health. Indeed, I saw her again shortly afterwards at Cumae. For she had come for a funeral, which I also was attending. Our friend Cn. Lucullus was burying his mother. So I stayed that day at Sinuessa, and there I have scribbled this as I am starting early in the morning of the next day for Arpinum. However, I have no news either to write to you or to ask from you, unless you think this is to the point. Brutus has sent me the speech he delivered in the meeting on the Capitol, and has asked me to correct it without regarding his feelings, before he publishes it. Now the speech is most elegantly expressed as regards its sentiments, and its language could not be surpassed. But myself, if I had pleaded that cause, I should have written with more fire. You realize what the theme is and what the speaker is. So I could not alter it. For considering the style our friend Brutus affects and the opinion he holds of the best style of oratory, he has attained it in its highest elegance in this speech. But rightly or wrongly I have aimed at something different. However, I should like you to read the speech, if you have not done so already, and to let me know your opinion, though I am afraid that your name will lead you astray and you will be hyper-Attic in your criticism. However, if you will recall Demosthenes' thunder-bursts, you will be able to realize that one can use considerable force even in
the purest Attic style. But of this when we meet. At the present time all I wanted was that Metrodorus should not come to you without a letter or with a letter that had nothing in it.
Heri dederam ad te litteras exiens e Puteolano deverteramque in Cumanum. ibi bene valentem videram Piliam. quin etiam paulo <post> Cumis eam vidi. venerat enim in funus; cui funeri ego quoque operam dedi. Cn. Lucullus familiaris noster matrem efferebat. mansi igitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hanc epistulam exaravi. [2] erat autem nihil novi quod aut scriberem aut ex te quaererem, nisi forte hoc ad rem putas pertinere. Brutus noster misit ad me orationem suam habitam in contione Capitolina petivitque a me ut eam ne ambitiose corrigerem ante quam ederet. est autem oratio scripta elegantissime sententiis, verbis, ut nihil possit ultra. ego tamen si illam causam habuissem, scripsissem ardentius. U(po/qesij vides quae sit <et> persona dicentis. itaque eam corrigere non potui. quo enim in genere Brutus noster esse vult et quod iudicium habet de optimo genere dicendi, id ita consecutus in ea oratione est ut elegantius esse nihil possit; sed ego secutus aliud sum sive hoc recte sive non recte. tu tamen velim eam orationem legas, nisi forte iam legisti, certioremque me facias quid iudices ipse. quamquam vereor ne cognomine tuo lapsus u(perattiko\j sis in iudicando. sed si recordabere Dhmosqe/nouj fulmina, tum intelleges posse et a)ttikw/tata <et> gravissime dici. sed haec coram. nunc nec sine epistula nec cum inani epistula volui ad te Metrodorum venire.
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Yesterday I sent you a letter as I was leaving my place near Puteoli and stopping at Cumae. I found Pilia there in excellent health, and saw her again soon afterward, since she had come to a funeral that I too attended: our friend Gnaeus Lucullus was burying his mother. I spent that day at Sinuessa, and I am scribbling this as I set out early the next morning for Arpinum.
I have no news to tell you or to ask from you, unless this counts. Brutus has sent me the speech he delivered at the meeting on the Capitol and has asked me, before he publishes it, to correct it without sparing his feelings. The speech is beautifully conceived, and the language could hardly be more polished. But if I had pleaded that cause, I would have written with more fire. You know the subject, and you know the speaker. So I could not alter it. Given the style Brutus aims at, and his idea of the best kind of oratory, he has achieved it here in its most elegant form. Rightly or wrongly, I have aimed at something else.
Still, I would like you to read the speech, if you have not already, and tell me what you think. I am afraid your own name will mislead you and make your criticism too Attic. But if you remember Demosthenes' thunderclaps, you will see that considerable force can exist even in the purest Attic style. More about this when we meet. For now, I only wanted Metrodorus not to come to you without a letter, or with a letter that said nothing.
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
Heri dederam ad te litteras exiens e Puteolano deverteramque in Cumanum. ibi bene valentem videram Piliam. quin etiam paulo <post> Cumis eam vidi. venerat enim in funus; cui funeri ego quoque operam dedi. Cn. Lucullus familiaris noster matrem efferebat. mansi igitur eo die in Sinuessano atque inde mane postridie Arpinum proficiscens hanc epistulam exaravi. [2] erat autem nihil novi quod aut scriberem aut ex te quaererem, nisi forte hoc ad rem putas pertinere. Brutus noster misit ad me orationem suam habitam in contione Capitolina petivitque a me ut eam ne ambitiose corrigerem ante quam ederet. est autem oratio scripta elegantissime sententiis, verbis, ut nihil possit ultra. ego tamen si illam causam habuissem, scripsissem ardentius. U(po/qesij vides quae sit <et> persona dicentis. itaque eam corrigere non potui. quo enim in genere Brutus noster esse vult et quod iudicium habet de optimo genere dicendi, id ita consecutus in ea oratione est ut elegantius esse nihil possit; sed ego secutus aliud sum sive hoc recte sive non recte. tu tamen velim eam orationem legas, nisi forte iam legisti, certioremque me facias quid iudices ipse. quamquam vereor ne cognomine tuo lapsus u(perattiko\j sis in iudicando. sed si recordabere Dhmosqe/nouj fulmina, tum intelleges posse et a)ttikw/tata <et> gravissime dici. sed haec coram. nunc nec sine epistula nec cum inani epistula volui ad te Metrodorum venire.