Letter 422

I am eagerly awaiting your advice. I am afraid I may be away at the very moment when it would be more becoming for me to be present; yet I do not dare to come rashly. About Antony's movements I am hearing something different from what I wrote to you. So I should like you to clear everything up and send me reliable information. [2] As for the rest, what shall I say to you? I am burning with enthusiasm for history (for your exhortation stirs me up incredibly)—which indeed cannot be undertaken nor brought to completion without your help. So we shall discuss this matter face to face. For the present I should like you to write to me under which consuls C. Fannius, son of Marcus, was tribune of the plebs. I think I have heard that it was when P. Africanus and L. Mummius were censors. That, then, is what I am asking. As for those affairs that are now being set in motion, send me everything reliable and clear. On the third day before the Ides, from my estate at Arpinum.

I have nothing whatever to write about. For, when I was at Puteoli, there was something fresh about Octavian every day, and plenty of false reports about Antony. However, I had three letters from you on the fifth, and I strongly agree with what you said, that if Octavian has much success, the tyrant's proposals will receive stronger confirmation than they did in the temple of Tellus, and that will be against the interests of Brutus. But if, on the other hand, he is conquered, you see Antony will be intolerable; so you don't know which you want. What a rascal Sestius' messenger is! He said he would be in Rome the day after he left Puteoli! You advise me to move slowly, and I agree, though once I thought differently. I am not influenced by Philippus or Marcellus; for their position is different, or, if it is not, it looks as though it were. But that youth, though he has plenty of spirit, has little influence. However, see whether it would not be better for me to be at Tusculum, if I should do right in being there. I would rather be there; for I should get all the news. Or had I better be here when Antony comes? But, as one thing suggests another, I know that what the Greeks call καθῆκον (duty), we call officium. But why should you doubt whether the word fits appropriately in political affairs? Don't we say the officium of consuls, of the Senate, of generals? It is quite appropriate; if not, suggest a better word. That is bad news about Nepos' son. I am much disturbed and distressed. I had no idea he had such a son. I have lost Canidius, a man who, so far as I was concerned, has not been ungrateful. There is no necessity for you to stir up Athenodorus. He has sent me quite a good memorandum. Pray do all you can for your cold. Your grandfather's greatgrandson writes to my father's grandson that after the 5th of December, the day of my great achievement, he means to explain about the temple of Ops, and that in public. Keep your eyes open then and let me know. I am anxious to hear what Sextus has to say.

avide tuum consilium exspecto. timeo ne absim cum adesse me sit honestius; temere venire non audeo. de Antoni itineribus nescio quid aliter audio atque ut ad te scribebam. omnia igitur velim explices et ad me certa mittas. [2] de reliquo quid tibi ego dicam? ardeo studio historiae (incredibiliter enim me commovet tua cohortatio) quae quidem nec institui nec effici potest sine tua ope. Coram igitur hoc quidem conferemus. in praesentia mihi velim scribas quibus consulibus C. Fannius M. f. tribunus pl. fuerit. videor mihi audisse P. Africano L. Mummio censoribus. id igitur quaero. tu mihi de iis rebus quae novantur omnia certa, clara. iii Idus ex Arpinati.