Marcus Tullius Cicero→Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus|c. 43 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Mutina|AI-assisted
May the gods make Segulius pay for it, the worst man alive, the worst who ever has been, and the worst who ever will be. What? Did you think he told only you, or only Caesar? There is no one he could get a word with whom he did not tell the same story.
Still, my dear Brutus, I love you as I ought for wanting me to know that bit of nonsense, whatever it was. You gave me a great proof of affection.
As for the same Segulius saying that the veterans are complaining because you and Caesar were not on the commission of ten, I wish I were not on it either. What could be more troublesome? But when I said that a motion ought to be made about the men who held armies, the usual men shouted against it. So you were left out too, despite my fierce resistance.
Let us ignore Segulius, then. He is looking for upheaval, not because he has eaten through an old fortune, since he never had one, but because he has swallowed this new one whole.
You write that what you would not do for yourself, you do for me: you fear something on my account. Excellent Brutus, dearest to me, I release you from every fear for me. In matters that can be foreseen, I shall not be caught. As for matters that allow no caution, I do not trouble myself too greatly. I would be shameless if I demanded more than nature gives a human being.
When you advise me to take care that fear does not force me into greater fear, you advise me wisely and as the best of friends. But I want you to be persuaded of this: since everyone knows that you excel in that kind of courage, never being frightened and never being thrown into confusion, I come very near your own courage in this respect. Therefore I shall fear nothing and take care about everything.
But see to it, my dear Brutus, that if I do fear anything, the fault is not now yours. With your resources and your consulship, even if we were timid, we would throw off every fear, especially when everyone, and I most of all, was convinced that we were uniquely loved by you.
I strongly agree with your plans about the four legions and about assigning lands by both of you. So when some of our colleagues were licking their lips over the land commission, I broke up the whole business and reserved it untouched for you. If anything is more secret and, as you write, more hidden, I will send one of my own people, so that the letter may be carried to you more faithfully.
June 4.
DCCCLXXXVIII (Fam. XI, 21) TO DECIMUS BRUTUS (AT EPOREDIA) ROME, 4 JUNE: THE gods confound your friend Segulius , the greatest scoundrel that exists, or has existed, or ever will exist! What? Do you mean that he only told you, or that he told Caesar ? Why, he never let anyone go, with whom he could get in a word, without telling that same story! Nevertheless, I am as much obliged to you, my dear Brutus , as I ought to be for wishing me to know that piece of folly, whatever it amounted to. For you gave a great proof of your affection thereby. As to what this same Segulius says of you and Caesar not being among the commission of ten, would to heaven I were not either! For what could be a greater bore? However, when I expressed an opinion that a motion should be made about those who were in command of armies, the usual lot in the senate shouted “No !” Accordingly, you were all left out in spite of my vehement opposition. Therefore let us pay no regard to Segulius , who is always on the look-out for revolutionary bonnes fortunes — not that he has devoured his own, for he never had any, but he has made a hearty meal on this last tit-bit. Again, you say that what you would not do for yourself, you do for me — namely, be somewhat alarmed. Best and dearest of men, I free you from all fear for me! For I shall not be caught napping in any affairs that admit of being foreseen. In regard to those which will admit of no precautions I do not much trouble myself. For I should be shameless if I asked more than a human being can have bestowed on him by nature. When you bid me take care lest by a timid line of policy I may be compelled to fear still more, you speak like the wise man and affectionate friend that you are. But pray believe that, as everyone knows you to be eminent in this particular excellence-never, that is, to be frightened, never to lose your head — so I come near this high quality of yours. Wherefore I will fear nothing and be on my guard about everything. But be careful, my dear Brutus , that it is not your fault if I am afraid of anything. For, encouraged by your resources and your consulship, even if we had been timid by nature, we should yet have shaken off all fear, especially as everyone would have been convinced, and I above all, that we were regarded by you with unique affection. I warmly approve of your policy about the four legions, and about the assignation of lands by both of you. Accordingly, when some of my colleagues were nibbling at the land business, I upset the whole affair and caused it to be reserved entirely for your decision. If there is anything to say more than usually secret, and, as you express it, more “confidential,” I will send some one by whom the letter may be conveyed with greater fidelity. 4 June.
XXI. Scr. Romae prid. Nonas Iunias a.u.c. 711. M. CICERO S. D. D. BRUTO IMP. COS. DESIG.
Di isti Segulio male faciant, homini nequissimo omnium, qui sunt, qui fuerunt, qui futuri sunt! quid? tu illum tecum solum aut cum Caesare? qui neminem praetermiserit, quicum loqui poterit, cui non eadem ista dixerit. Te tamen, mi Brute, sic amo, ut debeo, quod istud quidquid esset nugarum me scire voluisti; signum enim magnum amoris dedisti. Nam, quod idem Segulius, veteranos queri, quod tu et Caesar in decemviris non essetis, utinam ne ego quidem essem! quid enim molestius? Sed tamen, cum ego sensissem de iis, qui exercitus haberent, sententiam ferri oportere, iidem illi, qui solent, reclamarunt: itaque excepti etiam estis me vehementer repugnante. Quocirca Segulium negligamus, qui res novas quaerit, non quo veterem comederit—nullam enim habuit—, sed hanc ipsam recentem novam devoravit. Quod autem scribis te, quod pro te ipso non facias, id pro me facere, ut de me timeas aliquid, omni te, vir optime mihique carissime Brute, de me metu libero; ego enim, quae provideri poterunt, non fallar in iis, quae cautionem non habebunt, de iis non ita valde laboro; sin enim impudens, si plus postulem, quam homini a rerum natura tribui potest. Quod mihi praecipis, ut caveam, ne timendo magis timere cogar, et sapienter et amicissime praecipis; sed velim tibi persuadeas, cum te constet excellere hoc genere virtutis, ut numquam extimescas, numquam perturbere, me huic tuae virtuti proxime accedere; quamobrem nec metuam quidquam et cavebo omnia. Sed vide, ne tua iam, mi Brute, culpa futura sit, si ego quidquam timeam; tuis enim opibus et consulatu tuo, etiamsi timidi essemus, tamen omnem timorem abiiceremus, praesertim cum persuasum omnibus esset mihique maxime a te nos unice diligi. Consiliis tuis, quae scribis de quattuor legionibus deque agris assignandis ab utroque vestrum, vehementer assentior: itaque, cum quidam de collegis nostris agrariam curationem ligurrirent, disturbavi rem totamque vobis integram reservavi. Si quid erit occultius et, ut scribis, magis reconditum, meorum aliquem mittam, quo fidelius ad te litterae perferantur. Pr. Non. Iun.
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May the gods make Segulius pay for it, the worst man alive, the worst who ever has been, and the worst who ever will be. What? Did you think he told only you, or only Caesar? There is no one he could get a word with whom he did not tell the same story.
Still, my dear Brutus, I love you as I ought for wanting me to know that bit of nonsense, whatever it was. You gave me a great proof of affection.
As for the same Segulius saying that the veterans are complaining because you and Caesar were not on the commission of ten, I wish I were not on it either. What could be more troublesome? But when I said that a motion ought to be made about the men who held armies, the usual men shouted against it. So you were left out too, despite my fierce resistance.
Let us ignore Segulius, then. He is looking for upheaval, not because he has eaten through an old fortune, since he never had one, but because he has swallowed this new one whole.
You write that what you would not do for yourself, you do for me: you fear something on my account. Excellent Brutus, dearest to me, I release you from every fear for me. In matters that can be foreseen, I shall not be caught. As for matters that allow no caution, I do not trouble myself too greatly. I would be shameless if I demanded more than nature gives a human being.
When you advise me to take care that fear does not force me into greater fear, you advise me wisely and as the best of friends. But I want you to be persuaded of this: since everyone knows that you excel in that kind of courage, never being frightened and never being thrown into confusion, I come very near your own courage in this respect. Therefore I shall fear nothing and take care about everything.
But see to it, my dear Brutus, that if I do fear anything, the fault is not now yours. With your resources and your consulship, even if we were timid, we would throw off every fear, especially when everyone, and I most of all, was convinced that we were uniquely loved by you.
I strongly agree with your plans about the four legions and about assigning lands by both of you. So when some of our colleagues were licking their lips over the land commission, I broke up the whole business and reserved it untouched for you. If anything is more secret and, as you write, more hidden, I will send one of my own people, so that the letter may be carried to you more faithfully.
June 4.
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
XXI. Scr. Romae prid. Nonas Iunias a.u.c. 711. M. CICERO S. D. D. BRUTO IMP. COS. DESIG.
Di isti Segulio male faciant, homini nequissimo omnium, qui sunt, qui fuerunt, qui futuri sunt! quid? tu illum tecum solum aut cum Caesare? qui neminem praetermiserit, quicum loqui poterit, cui non eadem ista dixerit. Te tamen, mi Brute, sic amo, ut debeo, quod istud quidquid esset nugarum me scire voluisti; signum enim magnum amoris dedisti. Nam, quod idem Segulius, veteranos queri, quod tu et Caesar in decemviris non essetis, utinam ne ego quidem essem! quid enim molestius? Sed tamen, cum ego sensissem de iis, qui exercitus haberent, sententiam ferri oportere, iidem illi, qui solent, reclamarunt: itaque excepti etiam estis me vehementer repugnante. Quocirca Segulium negligamus, qui res novas quaerit, non quo veterem comederit—nullam enim habuit—, sed hanc ipsam recentem novam devoravit. Quod autem scribis te, quod pro te ipso non facias, id pro me facere, ut de me timeas aliquid, omni te, vir optime mihique carissime Brute, de me metu libero; ego enim, quae provideri poterunt, non fallar in iis, quae cautionem non habebunt, de iis non ita valde laboro; sin enim impudens, si plus postulem, quam homini a rerum natura tribui potest. Quod mihi praecipis, ut caveam, ne timendo magis timere cogar, et sapienter et amicissime praecipis; sed velim tibi persuadeas, cum te constet excellere hoc genere virtutis, ut numquam extimescas, numquam perturbere, me huic tuae virtuti proxime accedere; quamobrem nec metuam quidquam et cavebo omnia. Sed vide, ne tua iam, mi Brute, culpa futura sit, si ego quidquam timeam; tuis enim opibus et consulatu tuo, etiamsi timidi essemus, tamen omnem timorem abiiceremus, praesertim cum persuasum omnibus esset mihique maxime a te nos unice diligi. Consiliis tuis, quae scribis de quattuor legionibus deque agris assignandis ab utroque vestrum, vehementer assentior: itaque, cum quidam de collegis nostris agrariam curationem ligurrirent, disturbavi rem totamque vobis integram reservavi. Si quid erit occultius et, ut scribis, magis reconditum, meorum aliquem mittam, quo fidelius ad te litterae perferantur. Pr. Non. Iun.