Letter 11: Cicero writes to Brutus from Rome to Macedonia in May or June 43 BC.
Marcus Tullius Cicero→Marcus Junius Brutus|c. 43 BC|Marcus Tullius Cicero and Marcus Junius Brutus|From Rome|To Macedonia|AI-assisted
recommendationpoliticspatronage
Imported from the public-domain Shuckburgh translation on ToposText, paired with The Latin Library Latin. The local ref preserves Latin Library a-letter distinctions where ToposText repeats a traditional label.
I shall recommend many people to you, and it is inevitable that I should do so. For every one of the best men and best citizens follows your judgment above all, and all men of courage wish to devote their effort and zeal to you; nor is there anyone who does not suppose that both my authority and my standing carry the very greatest weight with you. But I recommend to you Gaius Nasennius, a townsman of Suessa [Suessa Aurunca, a town in Campania], as earnestly as I do anyone. In the Cretan War, under the command of Metellus [Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, conqueror of Crete], he served as eighth chief centurion; afterwards he was taken up with his private affairs. At the present time, moved both by the cause of the Republic and by your own outstanding distinction, he has wished to take on something of public standing through you. It is a man of courage I recommend to you, Brutus, a man of good character and—if that is at all to the point—a man of means as well. It will be most gratifying to me if you treat him in such a way that he can rightly thank me for what he owes to you.
§ Brut.1.8 DCCCLXXXIII (Brut. I, 8) TO M. IUNIUS BRUTUS (IN MACEDONIA) ROME (MAY-JUNE) I SHALL recommend many to you, and it is inevitable that I should do so — for it is always the best men and best citizens that are most inclined to follow your judgment; and it is for your approval that all brave men desire to work and study with activity; and finally everyone thinks that my influence and favour have very great weight with you. But I recommend to you Gaius Nasidienus — a burgher of Suessa — with an earnestness beyond which I cannot go about anyone. In the war in Crete under Metellus he led the eighth “first line”: afterwards he was employed in the management of his property. At this period, influenced by the party divisions in the state, and by your pre-eminent position, he wishes to gain some distinction by your means. I am recommending to you, Brutus, a man of courage, a man of good character, and — if that is at all to the point — of wealth also. I shall be very much obliged if you treat him so as to enable him to thank me for favours received from you.
[VIII] Scr. ex. m. Maio aut in. Iun. a. 711 (43).
CICERO BRVTO SAL.
multos tibi commendabo et commendem necesse est. optimus enim quisque vir et civis maxime sequitur tuum iudicium tibique omnes fortes viri dare operam et studium volunt, nec quisquam est quin ita existimet, meam apud te et auctoritatem et gratiam valere plurimum. [2] sed C. Nasenniun, municipem Suessanum, tibi ita commendo ut neminem diligentius. Cretensi bello Metello imperatore octavum principem duxit, postea in re familiari occupatus fuit, hoc tempore cum rei publicae partibus tum tua excellenti dignitate commotus voluit per te aliquid auctoritatis adsumere. fortem virum, Brute, tibi commendo, frugi hominem et, si quid ad rem pertinet, etiam locupletem. pergratum mihi erit si eum ita tractaris ut merito tuo mihi gratias agere possit.
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I shall recommend many people to you, and it is inevitable that I should do so. For every one of the best men and best citizens follows your judgment above all, and all men of courage wish to devote their effort and zeal to you; nor is there anyone who does not suppose that both my authority and my standing carry the very greatest weight with you. But I recommend to you Gaius Nasennius, a townsman of Suessa [Suessa Aurunca, a town in Campania], as earnestly as I do anyone. In the Cretan War, under the command of Metellus [Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, conqueror of Crete], he served as eighth chief centurion; afterwards he was taken up with his private affairs. At the present time, moved both by the cause of the Republic and by your own outstanding distinction, he has wished to take on something of public standing through you. It is a man of courage I recommend to you, Brutus, a man of good character and—if that is at all to the point—a man of means as well. It will be most gratifying to me if you treat him in such a way that he can rightly thank me for what he owes to you.
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
[VIII] Scr. ex. m. Maio aut in. Iun. a. 711 (43). CICERO BRVTO SAL.
multos tibi commendabo et commendem necesse est. optimus enim quisque vir et civis maxime sequitur tuum iudicium tibique omnes fortes viri dare operam et studium volunt, nec quisquam est quin ita existimet, meam apud te et auctoritatem et gratiam valere plurimum. [2] sed C. Nasenniun, municipem Suessanum, tibi ita commendo ut neminem diligentius. Cretensi bello Metello imperatore octavum principem duxit, postea in re familiari occupatus fuit, hoc tempore cum rei publicae partibus tum tua excellenti dignitate commotus voluit per te aliquid auctoritatis adsumere. fortem virum, Brute, tibi commendo, frugi hominem et, si quid ad rem pertinet, etiam locupletem. pergratum mihi erit si eum ita tractaris ut merito tuo mihi gratias agere possit.