Lucius Munatius Plancus→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Gaul|To Rome|AI-assisted
I would have written at greater length about my plans and given you a fuller account of everything, so that you might judge more clearly that I have done for the republic everything I first took up at your urging and then promised you I would do. I have always wanted your approval no less than your affection. I did not seek you as a defender if I made a mistake so much as I wanted you as a herald of my services.
But two things make me brief. First, I have covered everything fully in my public dispatch. Second, I have ordered Marcus Varisidius, a Roman knight and an intimate friend of mine, to go home and visit you in person, so that you may learn every detail from him.
I assure you on my honor that I have felt considerable vexation at seeing others get ahead of me in winning reputation. But I restrained myself until I could succeed in doing something worthy both of my consulship and of what you and your friends expect from me. If fortune does not fail me, I hope to make people feel now, and remember later, that I have been a very great protection to the constitution.
I ask you to give firm support to my standing, and to make me even more energetic in the future by letting me enjoy the honors whose hope first inspired me, through you, to pursue glory. I am convinced that your influence is as great as your goodwill. Take care of your health, and return my affection.
DCCCXXIX (Fam. X, 7) L. MUNATIUS PLANCUS TO CICERO (AT ROME) GALLIA COMATA (23 MARCH) I would have written you a longer letter about my plans and given you an account of all my movements in greater detail, to convince you more fully that I have done every-thing for the Republic which your exhortation first suggested to me, and which I took upon myself to perform — for I always wished for your approval as much as for your love, and did not so much secure you as my defender in case of committing a fault, as wish for you as a trumpeter of my services — but two circumstances make me more brief. The first is that I have fully stated everything in my public despatch. The second is that I have ordered Marcus Varisidius , a Roman knight and my intimate friend, to go home in person and visit you: so that from him you might learn every particular. I can assure you on my honour that I have been feeling very considerable vexation at seeing others anticipating me in the winning of reputation; but I have put a restraint upon myself until I could succeed in doing something worthy both of my consulship and of what you and your friends expect of me. And, if fortune does not play me false, I hope I shall succeed in making men feel now and remember hereafter that I have been a very great protection to the constitution. I beg you to give firm support to my position, and to make me still more energetic in the future by the actual fruition of those advantages, by the hope of which you inspired me to aim at glory. I feel convinced that your power is as great as your will. See that you keep well and return my affection.
VII. Scr. in Gallia Transalpina mense Martio a.u.c. 711. PLANCUS CICERONI.
Plura tibi de meis consiliis scriberem rationemque omnium rerum redderem verbosius, quo magis iudicares omnia me rei publicae praestitisse, quae et tua exhortatione excepi et mea affirmatione tibi recepi—non minus enim a te probari quam diligi semper volui, nec te magis in culpa defensorem mihi paravi, quam praedicatorem meritorum meorum esse volui—; sed breviorem me duae res faciunt: una, quod publicis litteris omnia sum persecutus, altera, quod M. Varisidium, equitem Romanum, familiarem meum, ipsum ad te transire iussi, ex quo omnia cognoscere posses. Non medius fidius mediocri dolore afficiebar, cum alii occupare possessionem laudis viderentur, sed usque mihi temperavi, dum perducerem eo rem, ut dignum aliquid et consulatu meo et vestra exspectatione efficerem; quod spero, si me fortuna non fefellerit, me consecuturum, ut maximo praesidio rei publicae nos fuisse et nunc sentiant homines et in posterum memoria teneant. A te peto, ut dignitati meae suffrageris et, quarum rerum spe ad laudem me vocasti, harum fructu in reliquum facias alacriorem. Non minus posse te quam velle exploratum mihi est. Fac valeas meque mutuo diligas.
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I would have written at greater length about my plans and given you a fuller account of everything, so that you might judge more clearly that I have done for the republic everything I first took up at your urging and then promised you I would do. I have always wanted your approval no less than your affection. I did not seek you as a defender if I made a mistake so much as I wanted you as a herald of my services.
But two things make me brief. First, I have covered everything fully in my public dispatch. Second, I have ordered Marcus Varisidius, a Roman knight and an intimate friend of mine, to go home and visit you in person, so that you may learn every detail from him.
I assure you on my honor that I have felt considerable vexation at seeing others get ahead of me in winning reputation. But I restrained myself until I could succeed in doing something worthy both of my consulship and of what you and your friends expect from me. If fortune does not fail me, I hope to make people feel now, and remember later, that I have been a very great protection to the constitution.
I ask you to give firm support to my standing, and to make me even more energetic in the future by letting me enjoy the honors whose hope first inspired me, through you, to pursue glory. I am convinced that your influence is as great as your goodwill. Take care of your health, and return my affection.
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
VII. Scr. in Gallia Transalpina mense Martio a.u.c. 711. PLANCUS CICERONI.
Plura tibi de meis consiliis scriberem rationemque omnium rerum redderem verbosius, quo magis iudicares omnia me rei publicae praestitisse, quae et tua exhortatione excepi et mea affirmatione tibi recepi—non minus enim a te probari quam diligi semper volui, nec te magis in culpa defensorem mihi paravi, quam praedicatorem meritorum meorum esse volui—; sed breviorem me duae res faciunt: una, quod publicis litteris omnia sum persecutus, altera, quod M. Varisidium, equitem Romanum, familiarem meum, ipsum ad te transire iussi, ex quo omnia cognoscere posses. Non medius fidius mediocri dolore afficiebar, cum alii occupare possessionem laudis viderentur, sed usque mihi temperavi, dum perducerem eo rem, ut dignum aliquid et consulatu meo et vestra exspectatione efficerem; quod spero, si me fortuna non fefellerit, me consecuturum, ut maximo praesidio rei publicae nos fuisse et nunc sentiant homines et in posterum memoria teneant. A te peto, ut dignitati meae suffrageris et, quarum rerum spe ad laudem me vocasti, harum fructu in reliquum facias alacriorem. Non minus posse te quam velle exploratum mihi est. Fac valeas meque mutuo diligas.