Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 56 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Really, do you think I would rather have anyone but you read and approve my work? Then why did I send it first to someone else? Because the man I sent it to was pressing me, and I had no spare copy. Anything else? Yes. Since I keep nibbling at the pill I ought simply to swallow, I admit that the retraction embarrassed me a little. But farewell to straightforward, truthful, honorable politics. You would hardly believe the bad faith of those leading men, as they like to call themselves, and as they would be if they had any loyalty at all. I knew perfectly well that they had deceived me, abandoned me, and thrown me aside; still, I had made up my mind to stand with them in public affairs. They proved to be exactly what they had always been. At last, with you as my guide, I came to my senses.
You will say that your advice was about what I should do, not about what I should write. The truth is that I wanted to bind myself to this new connection so firmly that I could not slip back toward men who keep envying me even when they ought to pity me. Still, as I told you, I handled the subject moderately. I will write more fully if he receives it gladly, and if the people who dislike seeing me own Catulus' old villa grind their teeth. They forget that I bought it from Vettius. They say I should never have built my house, and should have sold the site instead. But what is that compared with their outrageous delight when the very speeches I made in support of their views seemed to put me at odds with Pompey?
Enough of this. Since the men without power refuse to love me, let me try to be loved by those who do have power. You will say, "I wish you had done that long ago." I know you did, and I was a prize fool. But now it is time for me to show some affection for myself, since I cannot get any from them.
I am deeply grateful that you visit my house so often. Crassipes is eating up my travel money. You say I should go straight from the road to your gardens. It seems easier to come to your town house and then go on the next day. What difference can it make to you? But we shall see. Your people have made my library beautiful with their arrangement and title labels. Please praise them for me.
Come now, do you really imagine I prefer my things to be read and criticized by anyone but you? Then why did I send them to anyone else first? The man I sent them to was very pressing and I had not a copy. Anything else? Well, yes—though I keep mouthing the pill instead of swallowing it—I was a bit ashamed of my palinode. But good-bye to honesty, straightforwardness and uprightness! You would hardly believe the treachery of our leaders, as they want to be and would be, if they had any honour. I knew full well how they had taken me in, abandoned me and cast me off. Still I resolved to stick to them in politics. But they have proved the same as ever: and at last I have come to my senses under your guidance. You will say your advice applied exclusively to my actions and did not include writing too. The fact is, I
wanted to tie myself down to this new alliance so as to leave myself no chance of slipping back to those who do not cease to envy me, even when they ought to pity me. However, I was quite moderate in my treatment of the subject, as I have said. I will let myself go more, if he takes it well, and those make wry faces who are annoyed to see me occupy a villa which used to belong to Catulus, forgetting that I bought it from Vettius; and who declare I ought not to have built a house, but ought to have sold the site. That however is nothing compared with their unholy joy, when the very speeches I delivered in support of their views were alienating me from Pompey. Let us have an end of it. Since those who have no influence refuse me their affection, I may as well try to win that of those who have some influence. You will say you wish I had before. I know you wished it, and I was a downright ass. But now is the time to show affection for myself, since I cannot get any from them anyhow.
I am very grateful to you for going to see my house so often. Crassipes is swallowing all my travelling money. You say I must go straight to your country house. It seems to me more convenient to go to your town house, and on the next day, it can’t make any difference to you. But we shall see. Your men have beautified my library by binding the books and affixing title-slips. Please thank them,
ain tu? me existimas ab ullo malle mea legi probarique quam a te? cur igitur cuiquam misi prius? Urgebar ab eo ad quem misi, et non habebam exemplar. quid? etiam (dudum enim circumrodo quod devorandum est) subturpicula mihi videbatur esse palinoidia. sed valeant recta, vera, honesta consilia. non est credibile quae sit perfidia in istis principibus, ut volunt esse et ut essent si quicquam haberent fidei. senseram noram inductus, relictus, proiectus ab iis. tamen hoc eram animo ut cum iis in re publica consentirem. idem erant qui fuerant. vix aliquando te auctore resipui. dices ea te monuisse, suasisse a quae facerem, non etiam ut scriberem. ego me hercule mihi necessitatem volui imponere huius novae coniunctionis, ne qua mihi liceret labi ad illos qui etiam tum cum misereri mei debent non desinunt invidere. sed tamen modici fuimus hupothesei, ut scripsi. erimus uberiores si et ille libenter accipiet, et ii subringentur qui villam me moleste ferunt habere quae Catuli fuerat, a Vettio emisse non cogitant; qui domum negant oportuisse me aedificare, vendere aiunt oportuisse. sed quid ad hoc, si, quibus sententiis dixi quod et ipsi probarent, laetati sunt tamen me contra Pompei voluntatem dixisse? finis sit. quoniam qui nihil possunt ii me nolunt amare, demus operam ut ab iis qui a possunt diligamur. dices "vellem iam pridem." scio te voluisse et me Usinum germanum fuisse. sed iam tempus est me ipsum a me amari, quando ab illis nullo modo possum. domum meam quod crebro invisis est mihi valde gratum. viaticum Crassipes praeripit. tu de via recta in hortos. videtur commodius ad te; postridie scilicet; quid enim tua? sed viderimus. bibliothecam mihi tui pinxerunt constructione et sittybis. Eos velim laudes.
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Really, do you think I would rather have anyone but you read and approve my work? Then why did I send it first to someone else? Because the man I sent it to was pressing me, and I had no spare copy. Anything else? Yes. Since I keep nibbling at the pill I ought simply to swallow, I admit that the retraction embarrassed me a little. But farewell to straightforward, truthful, honorable politics. You would hardly believe the bad faith of those leading men, as they like to call themselves, and as they would be if they had any loyalty at all. I knew perfectly well that they had deceived me, abandoned me, and thrown me aside; still, I had made up my mind to stand with them in public affairs. They proved to be exactly what they had always been. At last, with you as my guide, I came to my senses.
You will say that your advice was about what I should do, not about what I should write. The truth is that I wanted to bind myself to this new connection so firmly that I could not slip back toward men who keep envying me even when they ought to pity me. Still, as I told you, I handled the subject moderately. I will write more fully if he receives it gladly, and if the people who dislike seeing me own Catulus' old villa grind their teeth. They forget that I bought it from Vettius. They say I should never have built my house, and should have sold the site instead. But what is that compared with their outrageous delight when the very speeches I made in support of their views seemed to put me at odds with Pompey?
Enough of this. Since the men without power refuse to love me, let me try to be loved by those who do have power. You will say, "I wish you had done that long ago." I know you did, and I was a prize fool. But now it is time for me to show some affection for myself, since I cannot get any from them.
I am deeply grateful that you visit my house so often. Crassipes is eating up my travel money. You say I should go straight from the road to your gardens. It seems easier to come to your town house and then go on the next day. What difference can it make to you? But we shall see. Your people have made my library beautiful with their arrangement and title labels. Please praise them for me.
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
ain tu? me existimas ab ullo malle mea legi probarique quam a te? cur igitur cuiquam misi prius? Urgebar ab eo ad quem misi, et non habebam exemplar. quid? etiam (dudum enim circumrodo quod devorandum est) subturpicula mihi videbatur esse palinoidia. sed valeant recta, vera, honesta consilia. non est credibile quae sit perfidia in istis principibus, ut volunt esse et ut essent si quicquam haberent fidei. senseram noram inductus, relictus, proiectus ab iis. tamen hoc eram animo ut cum iis in re publica consentirem. idem erant qui fuerant. vix aliquando te auctore resipui. dices ea te monuisse, suasisse a quae facerem, non etiam ut scriberem. ego me hercule mihi necessitatem volui imponere huius novae coniunctionis, ne qua mihi liceret labi ad illos qui etiam tum cum misereri mei debent non desinunt invidere. sed tamen modici fuimus hupothesei, ut scripsi. erimus uberiores si et ille libenter accipiet, et ii subringentur qui villam me moleste ferunt habere quae Catuli fuerat, a Vettio emisse non cogitant; qui domum negant oportuisse me aedificare, vendere aiunt oportuisse. sed quid ad hoc, si, quibus sententiis dixi quod et ipsi probarent, laetati sunt tamen me contra Pompei voluntatem dixisse? finis sit. quoniam qui nihil possunt ii me nolunt amare, demus operam ut ab iis qui a possunt diligamur. dices "vellem iam pridem." scio te voluisse et me Usinum germanum fuisse. sed iam tempus est me ipsum a me amari, quando ab illis nullo modo possum. domum meam quod crebro invisis est mihi valde gratum. viaticum Crassipes praeripit. tu de via recta in hortos. videtur commodius ad te; postridie scilicet; quid enim tua? sed viderimus. bibliothecam mihi tui pinxerunt constructione et sittybis. Eos velim laudes.