Marcus Tullius Cicero→Unknown|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|AI-assisted
If we were not convinced of your loyalty and goodwill toward us, we would not have written this to you. Since that is your disposition, you will surely take what we say in the best spirit.
We are told that a large number of veterans has already gathered at Rome, and that by June 1 the crowd will be much larger. If we doubted you or feared you, we would be unlike ourselves. But since we have put ourselves in your power, and on your advice dismissed our friends from the municipal towns, doing so not only by edict but also by letter, we deserve to be included in your plans, especially in a matter that concerns us.
So we ask you to tell us what your intention is toward us. Do you think we shall be safe amid so great a gathering of veteran soldiers? We hear that they are even thinking about restoring the altar, a thing hardly anyone can want or approve if he wishes us safe and honorable. The outcome makes clear that from the beginning we have sought peace, and that we have sought nothing except the common liberty.
No one can deceive us except you, and that is certainly far from your character and good faith. No one else has the power to deceive us, for you alone are the man we have trusted and will trust. Our friends are extremely afraid for us. Although your good faith is proven to them, they still cannot stop thinking that a crowd of veterans can more easily be pushed in any direction by others than restrained by you.
We ask you to write back on every point. The claim that the veterans have been summoned because you plan to introduce a law about their rewards in June is very weak and empty. Who do you think will stand in the way, when it is settled that we will remain quiet? We ought not to seem to anyone too greedy for life, since nothing can happen to us without ruin and confusion for the whole state.
DCCXXXVII (Fam. XI, 2) BRUTUS AND CASSIUS TO M. ANTONIUS (AT ROME) LANUVIUM (LATE IN MAY) Brutus and Cassius , praetors, to M. Antonius , consul. If we had not been convinced of your honour and kind feeling to ourselves, we should not have written this letter to you. And this being the state of your mind, you will, we feel sure, receive it with all possible favour. Our correspondents inform us that a crowd of veterans has already collected at Rome , and that there will be a much greater one there by the 1st of June. If we entertained any doubt or fear of you, we should be untrue to ourselves. But since we have put ourselves in your hands, and under your advice have dismissed our friends from the country towns, and done so by a circular letter as well as by an edict, we have a claim to be admitted to your confidence, especially in a matter which touches ourselves. Wherefore we beg you to let us know what your feeling towards us is: whether you think that we shall be safe in the midst of such a crowd of veteran soldiers, who, we hear, even think of replacing the altar. That is a thing which we think that hardly anyone can wish or approve, who desires our safety and honour. The result shows clearly that our aim from the first was peace, and that we have had no other object than the liberty of all. No one can beguile us except yourself, and that is a course of conduct quite alien to your virtue and honour. But no one else has the means of deceiving us: for it is you alone that we have trusted and intend to trust. Our friends are disturbed by a very great alarm on our account. For though they have every confidence in your good faith, they yet cannot help reflecting that the crowd of veteran soldiers can be more easily moved by others in any particular direction, than they can be held back by you. We ask you to write back and explain everything. For the suggestion that notice has been given to the veterans to appear, because you intended to bring in a law about their pensions in June, is wholly inadequate and meaningless. For whom do you think likely to hinder it, since in regard to ourselves we have made up our minds to do nothing whatever? We ought not to be thought by anyone too greedy of life, since nothing can happen to us without general disaster and confusion.
II. Scr. Lanuvii mense Maio a.u.c. 710. BRUTUS ET CASSIUS PRAETORES M. ANTONIO COS.
De tua fide et benevolentia in nos nisi persuasum esset nobis, non conscripsissemus haec tibi; quae profecto, quoniam istum animum habes in optimam partem accipies. Scribitur nobis magnam veteranorum multitudinem Romam convenisse iam et ad Kalendas Iunias futuram multo maiorem: de te si dubitemus aut vereamur, simus nostri dissimiles; sed certe, cum ipsi in tua potestate fuerimus tuoque adducti consilio dimiserimus ex municipiis nostros necessarios, neque solum edicto, sed etiam litteris id fecermius, digni sumus, quos habeas tui consilii participes, in ea praesertim re, quae ad nos pertinet. Quare petimus a te, facias nos certiores tuae voluntatis ni nos: putesne nos tutos fore in tanta frequentia militum veteranorum, quos etiam de reponenda ara cogitare audimus, quod velle et probare vix quisquam posse videtur, qui nos salvos et honestos velit. Nos ab initio spectasse otium nec quidquam aliud libertate communi quaesisse exitus declarat. Fallere nemo nos potest nisi tu, quod certe abest ab tua virtute et fide; sed alius nemo facultatem habet decipiendi nos, tibi enim uni credidimus et credituri sumus. Maximo timore de nobis afficiuntur amici nostri, quibus etsi tua fides explorata est, tamen illud in mentem venit, multitudinem veteranorum facilius impelli ab aliis quolibet quam a te retineri posse. Rescribas nobis ad omnia rogamus; nam illud valde leve est ac nugatorium, ea re denuntiatum esse veteranis, quod de commodis eorum mense Iunio laturus esses; quem enim impedimento futurum putas, cum de nobis certum sit nos quieturos? Non debemus cuiquam videri nimium cupidi vitae, cum accidere nobis nihil possit sine pernicie et confusione omnium rerum.
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If we were not convinced of your loyalty and goodwill toward us, we would not have written this to you. Since that is your disposition, you will surely take what we say in the best spirit.
We are told that a large number of veterans has already gathered at Rome, and that by June 1 the crowd will be much larger. If we doubted you or feared you, we would be unlike ourselves. But since we have put ourselves in your power, and on your advice dismissed our friends from the municipal towns, doing so not only by edict but also by letter, we deserve to be included in your plans, especially in a matter that concerns us.
So we ask you to tell us what your intention is toward us. Do you think we shall be safe amid so great a gathering of veteran soldiers? We hear that they are even thinking about restoring the altar, a thing hardly anyone can want or approve if he wishes us safe and honorable. The outcome makes clear that from the beginning we have sought peace, and that we have sought nothing except the common liberty.
No one can deceive us except you, and that is certainly far from your character and good faith. No one else has the power to deceive us, for you alone are the man we have trusted and will trust. Our friends are extremely afraid for us. Although your good faith is proven to them, they still cannot stop thinking that a crowd of veterans can more easily be pushed in any direction by others than restrained by you.
We ask you to write back on every point. The claim that the veterans have been summoned because you plan to introduce a law about their rewards in June is very weak and empty. Who do you think will stand in the way, when it is settled that we will remain quiet? We ought not to seem to anyone too greedy for life, since nothing can happen to us without ruin and confusion for the whole state.
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
II. Scr. Lanuvii mense Maio a.u.c. 710. BRUTUS ET CASSIUS PRAETORES M. ANTONIO COS.
De tua fide et benevolentia in nos nisi persuasum esset nobis, non conscripsissemus haec tibi; quae profecto, quoniam istum animum habes in optimam partem accipies. Scribitur nobis magnam veteranorum multitudinem Romam convenisse iam et ad Kalendas Iunias futuram multo maiorem: de te si dubitemus aut vereamur, simus nostri dissimiles; sed certe, cum ipsi in tua potestate fuerimus tuoque adducti consilio dimiserimus ex municipiis nostros necessarios, neque solum edicto, sed etiam litteris id fecermius, digni sumus, quos habeas tui consilii participes, in ea praesertim re, quae ad nos pertinet. Quare petimus a te, facias nos certiores tuae voluntatis ni nos: putesne nos tutos fore in tanta frequentia militum veteranorum, quos etiam de reponenda ara cogitare audimus, quod velle et probare vix quisquam posse videtur, qui nos salvos et honestos velit. Nos ab initio spectasse otium nec quidquam aliud libertate communi quaesisse exitus declarat. Fallere nemo nos potest nisi tu, quod certe abest ab tua virtute et fide; sed alius nemo facultatem habet decipiendi nos, tibi enim uni credidimus et credituri sumus. Maximo timore de nobis afficiuntur amici nostri, quibus etsi tua fides explorata est, tamen illud in mentem venit, multitudinem veteranorum facilius impelli ab aliis quolibet quam a te retineri posse. Rescribas nobis ad omnia rogamus; nam illud valde leve est ac nugatorium, ea re denuntiatum esse veteranis, quod de commodis eorum mense Iunio laturus esses; quem enim impedimento futurum putas, cum de nobis certum sit nos quieturos? Non debemus cuiquam videri nimium cupidi vitae, cum accidere nobis nihil possit sine pernicie et confusione omnium rerum.