Letter 1.7

I read your letter, in which you say that you are grateful to be kept regularly informed by me about everything, and that you clearly see my goodwill toward you. As for loving you deeply, I must do that if I want to be the man you wished me to be. As for writing often, I do it gladly, so that, since we are separated by distance and time, I may converse with you as often as possible by letter. If this happens less often than you expect, the reason is that my letters are not the kind I dare entrust casually to anyone. Whenever I have reliable people to whom I can safely give them, I will not fail to do so. You ask what loyalty and goodwill each person has toward you. It is hard to speak of individuals. But I dare write one thing, which I often hinted to you before and now write from direct observation and knowledge: certain men, especially those who most owed it to you and could most have helped you, have been deeply jealous of your dignity. Though the case is different, your present situation is very like mine once was. Those whom you offended for public reasons openly attack you, while those whose authority, standing, and policy you defended remember your kindness less than they resent your reputation. In this situation, as I wrote before, I see that Hortensius is very warmly attached to you and Lucullus is eager to serve you. Among the magistrates, Lucius Racilius shows exceptional loyalty and affection. As for my taking the field for you and speaking for your claims, most people would see that as the measure of my obligation to you rather than the result of independent judgment. Beyond these men, I cannot testify that any former consul has shown zeal, kindness, or friendly feeling toward you. You know that Pompey, who often speaks to me about you of his own accord, did not frequently attend the Senate during these discussions. Your last letter, as I could easily tell, was very pleasing to him. To me, your reasonableness, or rather your remarkable wisdom, seemed not merely pleasant but admirable. By that letter you kept hold of a man of high character, bound to you by your striking generosity toward him, but beginning to suspect, because certain people believed he had ambitions of his own, that you had become alienated from him. I always thought he wanted to support your reputation, even during that doubtful episode of Caninius's proposal. But when he read your letter, I could see plainly that his whole mind was turned toward you, your honors, and your interests. So take what I am about to write as the result of frequent conversations with him, in line with his opinion and backed by his authority. His view is this: since there is no decree of the Senate removing the restoration of the Alexandrian king from your hands, and since the written resolution on that restoration, which as you know was vetoed, saying that no one should restore the king at all, has more the weight of anger than of settled judgment, you yourself, holding Cilicia and Cyprus, can judge what can be done and secured. If circumstances seem to make it possible for you to occupy Alexandria and Egypt, it would serve both your dignity and the empire's dignity for you first to place the king at Ptolemais or some neighboring place, then proceed with fleet and army to Alexandria. Once you have secured the city by restoring order and placing a garrison there, Ptolemy may return to his kingdom. In that way he will be restored by your agency, as the Senate originally voted, and without a "host," as those who worry over religion say the Sibyl ordered. Pompey and I agreed on this view. Yet we also thought people would judge your policy by its result. If it turns out as we wish, everyone will say you acted wisely and courageously. If anything goes wrong, the same men will say you acted ambitiously and rashly. What you can really do is easier for you to judge, since Egypt is almost within your sight, than for us. Our view is this: if you are certain you can gain possession of the kingdom, do not delay; if it is doubtful, do not try. I can guarantee that if you succeed, many will applaud you while you are abroad and everyone when you return. But I see great danger in failure, because of the senatorial resolution and the religious objection introduced into the question. So, while I urge you to seize what will certainly bring you distinction, I warn you against risk. I return to the point with which I began: people will judge everything you do less from the plan that prompted it than from the outcome. If this course seems dangerous to you, our opinion is that if the king satisfies those of your friends who have lent him money throughout your province and command, you should assist him with troops and supplies. Your province is so placed that you can either secure his restoration by helping him or prevent it by withholding help. In carrying this out, you will see better than anyone what the facts, the nature of the case, and the moment allow. I thought I, above all others, ought to tell you our opinion. As for your congratulations to me on my present position, my friendship with Milo, and the frivolity and helplessness of Clodius, I am not surprised that, like a master artist, you take pleasure in the splendid work of your own hands. Still, people's perverse behavior, I do not want to use a harsher word, is beyond belief. They could have secured me by standing with me in a cause that concerned them all, but they have alienated me by their jealousy. Their carping and malicious criticism has almost driven me from the old political position I held so long, not so far that I forget my dignity, but far enough that I now allow some consideration for my safety as well. Both dignity and safety could have been fully secured if there had been any good faith or solidity among our former consuls. But most of them are so frivolous that they take less pleasure in my political consistency than offense at my brilliant position. I write this to you more freely because you supported not only my present rank, which I obtained through you, but also my earlier reputation and public standing when they were just coming into being. I also see now that, contrary to what I once thought, it was not my lack of noble ancestry that stirred resentment. In your case, one of the noblest men in the state, I have seen the same base jealousy: they did not object to counting you among the nobility, but they were unwilling to let you rise above it. I am glad your fortune has not been like mine, for there is a great difference between having one's reputation diminished and having one's personal safety handed over to enemies. In my case, your noble conduct kept me from being too disgusted with my own lot, because you made people think more had been added to my future glory than taken from my present fortune. As for you, urged both by your kindness to me and by my affection for you, I press you to devote all your care and energy to winning the full glory for which you have burned with such noble ambition from youth. Never let anyone's wrongful conduct bend that high spirit of yours, which I have always admired and loved. People think highly of you. They loudly praise your generosity. They vividly remember your consulship. You must see how much stronger and more conspicuous these feelings will be if they are reinforced by real distinction from your province and command. In every administrative act you perform through your army and official power, think long beforehand about these aims, prepare for them, turn them over in your mind, train yourself to win them, and convince yourself that you can with the greatest ease maintain the highest and most exalted place in the state. You have always looked for that place, and I am sure you understand that you have reached it. Do not think this exhortation meaningless or casual. I write because the incidents our careers have shared convinced me that you must be warned, for the rest of your life, whom to trust and whom to beware. You ask about public affairs. Opinion is deeply divided, but energy is all on one side. Those strong in wealth, arms, and material power seem to me to have gained so much from the stupidity and fickleness of their opponents that they are now stronger in moral weight as well. With very few resisting, they have carried through the Senate everything they never expected to get even from the people without a riot: military pay and ten envoys have been voted to Caesar, and no difficulty has been made about postponing the appointment of his successor, as required by the Sempronian law. I say less on this because the state of public affairs gives me no pleasure. I mention it to urge you, while you can learn without suffering for it, to learn what I, though devoted from youth to every kind of reading, learned more from bitter experience than from books: we must not consider safety without dignity, nor dignity without safety. I am grateful for your congratulations about my daughter and Crassipes, and I hope and expect that this connection will bring us happiness. As for our dear young Lentulus, a young man of splendid promise, be sure to train him both in the accomplishments you have always pursued and, above all, in imitation of yourself. He can study in no better school. I hold him in very high affection, both because he is yours, because he is worthy of such a father, and because he is devoted to me and always has been.

CXIII (Fam. I, 7) TO P. LENTULUS SPINTHER (IN CILICIA) ROME (OCTOBER) I have read your letter in which you say that you are obliged for the frequent information I give you about all current events, and for the clear proof you have of my kindness to yourself. The latter — the regarding you with warm affection — it is my duty to do, if I wish to maintain the character which you desired for me; the former it is a pleasure to do, namely, separated as we are by length of space and time, to converse with you as frequently as possible by means of letters. But if this shall occur less frequently than you expect, the reason will be that my letters are of such a kind that I dare not trust them to everybody promiscuously. As often as I get hold of trustworthy persons to whom I may safely deliver them, I will not omit to do so. As to your question about each particular person's loyalty and friendly feelings towards you, it is difficult to speak in regard to individuals. I can venture on this one assertion, which I often hinted to you before, and now write from close observation and knowledge — that certain persons, and those, above all others, who were most bound and most able to help you, have been exceedingly jealous of your claims: and that, though the point in question is different, your present position is exceedingly like what mine was some time ago in this, that those whom you had attacked on public grounds now openly assail you, while those whose authority, rank, and policy you had defended, are not so much mindful of your kindness as enemies to your reputation. In these circumstances, as I wrote you word before, I perceive that Hortensius is very warmly your friend, Lucullus anxious to serve you: while of the magistrates L. Racilius shows special loyalty and affection. For my taking up the cudgels for you, and advocating your claims, would seem in the eyes of most people to be the measure of my obligation to you rather than of my deliberate opinion. Besides these I am, in fact, not able to bear witness to any one of the consulars showing zeal or kindness or friendly feeling towards you. For you are aware that Pompey , who is very frequently accustomed, not on my instigation but of his own accord, to confide in me about you, did not often attend the senate during these discussions. It is true your last letter, as I could easily conceive, was very gratifying to him. To me, indeed, your reasonableness, or rather your extreme wisdom, seemed not only charming, but simply admirable. For by that letter you retained your hold on a man of lofty character, who was bound to you by the signal generosity of your conduct towards him, but who was entertaining some suspicions that, owing to the impression prevailing among certain persons as to his own ambitious desires, you were alienated from him. I always thought that he wished to support your reputation, even in that very dubious episode of Caninius 's proposal; but when he had read your letter, I could plainly see that he was thinking with his whole soul of you, your honours, and your interests. Wherefore look upon what I am going to write as written after frequent discussions with him, in accordance with his opinion, and with the weight of his authority. It is this: “That, since no senatorial decree exists taking the restoration of the Alexandrine king out of your hands, and since the resolution written out upon that restoration (which, as you are aware, was vetoed) to the effect that no one was to restore the king at all, has rather the weight of a measure adopted by men in anger than of a deliberate decision of the senate — you can yourself see, since you are in possession of Cilicia and Cyprus , what it is within your power to effect and secure; and that, if circumstances seem to make it possible for you to occupy Alexandria and Egypt , it is for your own dignity and that of the empire that, after having first placed the king at Ptolemais or some neighbouring place, you should proceed with fleet and army to Alexandria , in order that, when you have secured it by restoring peace and placing a garrison in it, Ptolemy may go back to his kingdom: thus it will be brought about that he is restored at once by your agency, as the senate originally voted, and without a 'host,' as those who are scrupulous about religion said was the order of the Sibyl .” But though both he and I agreed in this decision, we yet thought that men would judge of your policy by its result: if it turns out as we wish and desire everybody will say that you acted wisely and courageously if any hitch occurs, those same men will say that you acted ambitiously and rashly. Wherefore what you really can do it is not so easy for us to judge as for you who have Egypt almost within sight For us, our view is this if you are certain that you can get possession of that kingdom, you should not delay: if it is doubtful, you should not make the attempt. I can guarantee you this, that, if you succeed, you will be applauded by many while abroad, by all when you return. I see great danger in any failure, on account of the senatorial resolution and the religious scruple that have been introduced into the question. But for me, as I exhort you to snatch at what is certain to bring you credit, so I warn you against running any risks, and I return to what I said at the beginning of my letter — that men will judge all you do, not so much from the policy which prompted it as from its result. But if this method of procedure appears to you to be dangerous, our opinion is that, if the king fulfils his obligations to those of your friends, who throughout your province and sphere of government have lent him money, you should assist him both with troops and supplies: such is the nature and convenient situation of your province, that you either secure his restoration by giving him aid, or hinder it by neglecting to do so. In carrying out this policy you will perceive better and more easily than anyone else what the actual state of affairs, the nature of the case, and the circumstances of the hour admit: what our opinion was I thought that I was the person, above all others, to tell you. As to your congratulations to myself on my present position, on my intimacy with Milo , on the frivolity and impotency of Clodius — I am not at all surprised that, like a first-rate artist, you take pleasure in the brilliant works of your own hands. However, people's wrong-headedness — I don't like to use a harsher word — surpasses belief; they might have secured me by their sympathy in a cause in which they were all equally interested, yet they have alienated me by their jealousy: for by their carping and most malicious criticisms I must tell you that I have been all but driven from that old political standpoint of mine, so long maintained, not, it is true, so far as to forget my position, but far enough to admit at length some consideration for my personal safety also. Both might have been amply secured if there had been any good faith, any solidity in our consulars: but such is the frivolity of most of them, that they do not so much take pleasure in my political consistency, as offence at my brilliant position. I am the more outspoken in writing this to you, because you lent your support, not only to my present position, which I obtained through you, but also long ago to my reputation and political eminence, when they were, so to speak, but just coming into existence; and at the same time because I see that it was not, as I used formerly to think, my want of curule pedigree that excited prejudice: for I have noticed in your case, one of the noblest of the land, a similar exhibition of base jealousy, and though they did not object to class you among the oblesse, they were unwilling that you should take any higher flight. I rejoice that your fortune has been unlike mine: for there is a great difference between having one's reputation lowered and one's personal safety abandoned to the enemy. In my case it was your noble conduct that prevented me from being too much disgusted with my own; for you secured that men should consider more to have been added to my future glory than had been taken from my present fortune. As for you — instigated both by your kindness to myself and my affection for you, I urge you to use all your care and industry to obtain the full glory, for which you have burned with such generous ardour from boyhood, and never, under anyone's injurious conduct, to bend that high spirit of yours, which I have always admired and always loved. Men have a high opinion of you; they loudly praise your liberality; they vividly remember your consulship. You must surely perceive how much more marked, and how much more prominent these sentiments will be, if backed up by some considerable repute from your province and your government. However, in every administrative act which you have to perform by means of your army and in virtue of your imperium, I would have you reflect on these objects long before you act, prepare yourself with a view to them, turn them over in your mind, train yourself to obtain them, and convince yourself that you can with the greatest ease maintain the highest and most exalted position in the state. This you have always looked for, and I am sure you understand that you have attained it. And that you may not think this exhortation of mine meaningless or adopted without reason, I should explain that the consideration which has moved me to make it was the conviction that you required to be warned by the incidents, which our careers have had in common, to be careful for the rest of your life as to whom to trust and against whom to be on your guard. As to your question about the state of public affairs — there is the most profound difference of opinion, but the energy is all on one side. For those who are strong in wealth, arms, and material power, appear to me to have scored so great a success from the stupidity and fickleness of their opponents, that they are now the stronger in moral weight as well. Accordingly, with very few to oppose them, they have got everything through the senate, which they never expected to get even by the popular vote without a riot: for a grant for military pay and ten legates have been given to Caesar by decree, and no difficulty has been made of deferring the nomination of his successor, as required by the Sempronian law. I say the less to you on this point because this position of public affairs is no pleasure to me: I mention it, however, in order to urge you to learn, while you can do so without suffering for it, the lesson which I myself, though devoted from boyhood to every kind of reading, yet learnt rather from bitter experience than from study, that we must neither consider our personal safety to the exclusion of our dignity, nor our dignity to the exclusion of our safety. In your congratulations as to my daughter and Crassipes I am obliged to you for your kindness, and do indeed expect and hope that this connexion may be a source of pleasure to us. Our dear Lentulus , a young man who gives such splendid promise of the highest qualities, be sure you instruct both in those accomplishments which you have yourself ever been forward in pursuing, and also, above all, in the imitation of yourself: he can study in no better school than that. He holds a very high place in my regard and affection, as well because he is yours, as because he is worthy of such a father, and because he is devoted to me, and has always been so.

VII. Scr. Romae mense Martio a.u.c. 698. M. CICERO S. D. P. LENTULO PROCOS. Legi tuas litteras, quibus ad me scribis gratum tibi esse, quod crebro certior per me fias de omnibus rebus et meam erga te benevolentiam facile perspicias: quorum alterum mihi, ut te plurimum diligam, facere necesse est, si volo is esse, quem tu me esse voluisti; alterum facio libenter, ut, quoniam intervallo locorum et temporum diiuncti sumus, per litteras tecum quam saepissime colloquar. Quod si rarius fiet, quam tu exspectabis, id erit causae, quod non eius generis meae litterae sunt, ut eas audeam temere committere: quoties mihi certorum hominum potestas erit, quibus recte dem, non praetermittam. Quod scire vis, qua quisque in te fide sit et voluntate, difficile dictu est de singulis: unum illud audeo, quod antea tibi saepe significavi, nunc quoque re perspecta et cognita scribere, vehementer quosdam homines et eos maxime, qui te et maxime debuerunt et plurimum iuvare potuerunt, invidisse dignitati tuae simillimamque in re dissimili tui temporis nunc et nostri quondam fuisse rationem, ut, quos tu rei publicae causa laeseras, palam te oppugnarent, quorum auctoritatem, dignitatem voluntatemque defenderas, non tam memores essent virtutis tuae, quam laudis inimici. Quo quidem tempore, ut perscripsi ad te antea, cognovi Hortensium percupidum tui, studiosum Lucullum, ex magistratibus autem L. Racilium et fide et animo singulari; nam nostra propugnatio ac defensio dignitatis tuae propter magnitudinem beneficii tui fortasse plerisque officii maiorem auctoritatem habere videatur quam sententiae. Praeterea quidem de consularibus nemini possum aut studii erga te aut officii aut amici animi esse testis: etenim Pompeium, qui mecum saepissime non solum a me provocatus, sed etiam sua sponte de te communicare solet, scis temporibus illis non saepe in senatu fuisse; cui quidem litterae tuae, quas proxime miseras, quod facile intellexerim, periucundae fuerunt. Mihi quidem humanitas tua vel summa potius sapientia non iucunda solum, sed etiam admirabilis visa est; virum enim excellentem et tibi tua praestanti in eum liberalitate devinctum nonnihil suspicantem propter aliquorum opinionem suae cupiditatis te ab se abalienatum illa epistola retinuisti, qui mihi cum semper tuae laudi favere visus est, etiam ipso suspiciosissimo tempore Caniniano, tum vero lectis tuis litteris perspectus est a me toto animo de te ac de tuis ornamentis et commodis cogitare. Quare ea, quae scribam, sic habeto, me cum illo re saepe communicata de illius ad te sententia atque auctoritate scribere: quoniam senatus consultum nullum exstat, quo reductio regis Alexandrini tibi adempta sit, eaque, quae de ea perscripta est auctoritas, cui scis intercessum esse, ut ne quis omnino regem reduceret, tantam vim habet, ut magis iratorum hominum studium quam constantis senatus consilium esse videatur, te perspicere posse, qui Ciliciam Cyprumque teneas, quid efficere et quid consequi possis, et, si res facultatem habitura videatur, ut Alexandream atque Aegyptum tenere possis, esse et tuae et nostri imperii dignitatis Ptolemaide aut aliquo propinquo loco rege collocato te cum classe atque exercitu proficisci Alexandream, ut, eam cum pace praesidiisque firmaris, Ptolemaeus redeat in regnum; ita fore, ut et per te restituatur, quemadmodum senatus initio censuit, et sine multitudine reducatur, quemadmodum homines religiosi Sibyllae placere dixerunt. Sed haec sententia sic et illi et nobis probabatur, ut ex eventu homines de tuo consilio existimaturos videremus: si cecidisset, ut volumus et optamus, omnes te et sapienter et fortiter, si aliquid esset offensum, eosdem illos et cupide et temere fecisse dicturos: quare, quid assequi possis, non tam facile est nobis quam tibi, cuius prope in conspectu Aegyptus est, iudicare; nos quidem hoc sentimus, si exploratum tibi sit posse te illius regni potiri, non esse cunctandum, si dubium sit, non esse conandum. Illud tibi affirmo, si rem istam ex sententia gesseris, fore, ut absens a multis, cum redieris, ab omnibus collaudere, offensionem esse periculosam propter interpositam auctoritatem religionemque video; sed ego te, ut ad certam laudem adhortor, sic a dimicatione deterreo redeoque ad illud, quod initio scripsi, totius facti tui iudicium non tam ex consilio tuo quam ex eventu homines esse facturos. Quod si haec ratio rei gerendae periculosa tibi esse videbitur, placebat illud, ut, si rex amicis tuis, qui per provinciam atque imperium tuum pecunias ei credidissent, fidem suam praestitisset, et auxiliis eum tuis et copiis adiuvares; eam esse naturam et regionem provinciae tuae, ut illius reditum vel adiuvando confirmares vel negligendo impedires. In hac ratione quid res, quid causa, quid tempus ferat, to facillime optimeque perspicies; quid nobis placuisset, ex me potissimum putavi te scire oportere. Quod mihi de nostro statu, de Milonis familiaritate, de levitate et imbecillitate Clodii gratularis, minime miramur te tuis ut egregium artificem praeclaris operibus laetari: quamquam est incredibilis hominum perversitas—graviore enim verbo uti non libet—, qui nos, quos favendo in communi causa retinere potuerunt, invidendo abalienarunt; quorum malevolentissimis obtrectationibus nos scito de vetere illa nostra diuturnaque sententia prope iam esse depulsos, non nos quidem ut nostrae dignitatis simus obliti, sed ut habeamus rationem aliquando etiam salutis. Poterat utrumque praeclare, si esset fides, si gravitas in hominibus consularibus; sed tanta est in plerisque levitas, ut eos non tam constantia in re publica nostra delectet, quam splendor offendat. Quod eo liberius ad te scribo, quia non solum temporibus his, quae per te sum adeptus, sed iam olim nascenti prope nostrae laudi dignitatique favisti, simulque quod video non, ut antehac putabam, novitati esse invisum meae, in te enim, homine omnium nobilissimo, similia invidorum vitia perspexi, quem tamen illi esse in principibus facile sunt passi, evolare altius certe noluerunt. Gaudeo tuam dissimilem fuisse fortunam, multum enim interest, utrum laus imminuatur, an salus deseratur; me meae tamen ne nimis poeniteret, tua virtute perfectum est, curasti enim, ut plus additum ad memoriam nominis nostri quam demptum de fortuna videretur. Te vero emoneo cum beneficiis tuis, tum amore incitatus meo, ut omnem gloriam, ad quam a pueritia inflammatus fuisti, omni cura atque industria consequare magnitudinemque animi tui, quam ego semper sum admiratus semperque amavi, ne umquam inflectas cuiusquam iniuria. Magna est hominum opinio de te, magna commendatio liberalitatis, magna memoria consulatus tui: haec profecto vides quanto expressiora quantoque illustriora futura sint, cum aliquantum ex provincia atque ex imperio laudis accesserit; quamquam te ita gerere volo, quae per exercitum atque imperium gerenda sunt, ut haec multo ante meditere, huc te pares, haec cogites, ad haec te exerceas sentiasque id, quod quia semper sperasti, non dubito quin adeptus intelligas, te facillime posse obtinere summum atque altissimum gradum civitatis: quae quidem mea cohortatio ne tibi inanis aut sine causa suscepta videatur, illa me ratio movit, ut te ex nostris eventis communibus admonendum putarem, ut considerares, in omni reliqua vita quibus crederes, quos caveres. Quod scribis te velle scire, qui sit rei publicae status, summa dissensio est, sod contentio dispar; nam, qui plus opibus, armis, potentia valent, profecisse tantum mihi videntur stultitia et inconstantia adversariorum, ut etiam auctoritate iam plus valerent: itaque perpaucis adversantibus omnia, quae ne per populum quidem sine seditione se assequi arbitrabantur, per senatum consecuti sunt; nam et stipendium Caesari decretum est et decem legati et, ne lege Sempronia succederetur, facile perfectum est. Quod eo ad te brevius scribo, quia me status hic rei publicae non delectat; scribo tamen, ut te admoneam, quod ipse litteris omnibus a pueritia deditus experiendo tamen magis quam discendo cognovi, tu tuis rebus integris discas, neque salutis nostrae rationem habendam nobis esse sine dignitate neque dignitatis sine salute. Quod mihi de filia et de Crassipede gratularis, agnosco humanitatem tuam speroque et opto nobis hanc coniunctionem voluptati fore. Lentulum nostrum, eximia spe summae virtutis adolescentem, cum ceteris artibus, quibus studuisti semper ipse, tun in primis imitatione tui fac erudias, nulla enim erit hac praestantior disciplina: quem nos, et quia tuus et quia te dignus est filius et quia nos diligit semperque dilexit, in primis amamus carumque habemus.