Marcus Tullius Cicero→Gaius Julius Caesar|c. 50 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Gaul|Human translated
I commend Precilius to you with particular emphasis -- the son of a connection of yours and my most intimate friend, an excellent man. I am wonderfully fond of the young man himself because of his modesty, culture, spirit, and singular affection for me; and I have learned by experience that his father was always my greatest friend. There he is -- one of your own people, the very one who used to mock and scold me most for not joining myself with you, especially when you invited me most honorably. But the spirit in my breast could never be persuaded. For I used to hear our leaders crying out: "Wretched man, come back, that we and our sons may bless you!" So he spoke, and a dark cloud of grief enfolded him. But still those same men console me too: they wish to kindle with glory a man already burned, and they speak thus: "Not without glory or fame would I perish, but doing some great deed for future generations to hear of." But these things move me less now, as you see. And so from Homer's grandiloquence I take myself to the true precepts of Euripides: "I hate the sage who is not wise for himself." Old Precilius praises this verse excellently and says the same man can both look before and behind, and yet still fight among the foremost and be supreme above all others. But to return to where I began, you will do me a very great favor if you embrace this young man with that singular humanity of yours, and add to what I believe you would do for the Precilii themselves the further weight of my recommendation. I have used a novel type of letter with you, so that you might understand this is no ordinary recommendation.
DLXX (Fam. XIII, 15) TO C. IULIUS CAESAR (IN SPAIN) ASTURA (MARCH) Cicero to Caesar , imperator. I recommend Precilius to your special favour, the son of a connexion of your own, a very intimate friend of mine, and a most excellent man. For the young man himself I have an extraordinary affection on account of his rectitude, culture, and the spirit and affection he has displayed to myself: but of his father also I have had practical reason to know and thoroughly learn what a warm friend he has ever been to me. Now see! — this is the man that more than anyone else has been used to ridicule and chide me for not attaching myself to you, especially when invited to do so by you in the most Complimentary manner: “But in my breast my heart he ne'er could move.” For I heard our nobles shouting: “Be staunch, and unborn men shall speak thee fair. He spake, and on him fell black clouds of woe.” However, these same men give me consolation also: they wish even now — though once singed — to inflame me with the fire of glory, and speak thus: “Nay, not a coward's death nor shorn of fame, But after some high deed to live for aye.” But they move me less than of yore, as you see. Accordingly from the high style of Homer I transfer myself to the true maxims of Euripides : “Out on the sage that cannot guide himself!” This is a verse that the elder Precilius praises to the skies, and says that a man may be able to see both “before and behind,” and yet “Still may excel and rise above the crowd.” But to return to what I began with: you will greatly oblige me, if you give this young man the benefit of the kindness which so distinguishes you, and will add to what I think you would do for the sake of the Precilii themselves as much as my recommendation may be worth. I have adopted a new style of letter to you, that you might understand that my recommendation is no common one. 430
XV. Scr. Asturae mense Aprili a.u.c. 709. CICERO CAESARI IMP. SAL.
Precilium tibi commendo unice, tui necessarii, mei familiarissimi, viri optimi filium; quem quum adolescentem ipsum propter eius modestiam, humanitatem, animum et amorem erga me singularem mirifice diligo, tum patrem eius re doctus intellexi et didici mihi fuisse semper amicissimum. Em, hic ille est de tuis, maxime qui irridere atque obiurgare me solitus est, quod me non tecum, praesertim quum abs te honorificentissime invitarer, coniungerem; Èll' ßmn o pote yumn ßn styessin peiyen: audiebam enim nostros proceres clamitantes: Ílximow ss', na t§w se xa cig³nvn e epô. ¹w fto, tn d' Íxeow neflh ßxluce mlaina. Sed tamen iidem me consolantur etiam: hominem perustum etiamnum gloria volunt incendere atque ita loquuntur: mÿ mÂn Èspoude§ ge xa Èxlei´w Èpolo§mhn, Èll mga =jaw ti xa ßssomnoisi puysyai. Sed minus iam movent, ut vides. Itaque ab Homeri magniloquentia confero me ad vera praecepta E»rip§dou: mis´ sofistæn, óstiw o»x aÕt" sof³w: quem versum senex Precilius laudat egregie et ait posse eundem et ama prossv xai opissv videre et tamen nihil minus aÞ¢v Èriste ein xa Õpe§roxon mmenai Íllvn. Sed, ut redeam ad id, unde coepi, vehementer mihi gratum feceris, si hunc adolescentem humanitate tua, quae est singularis, comprehenderis et ad id, quod ipsorum Preciliorum causa te velle arbitror, addideris cumulum commendationis meae. Genere novo sum litterarum ad te usus, ut intelligeres non vulgarem esse commendationem.
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I commend Precilius to you with particular emphasis -- the son of a connection of yours and my most intimate friend, an excellent man. I am wonderfully fond of the young man himself because of his modesty, culture, spirit, and singular affection for me; and I have learned by experience that his father was always my greatest friend. There he is -- one of your own people, the very one who used to mock and scold me most for not joining myself with you, especially when you invited me most honorably. But the spirit in my breast could never be persuaded. For I used to hear our leaders crying out: "Wretched man, come back, that we and our sons may bless you!" So he spoke, and a dark cloud of grief enfolded him. But still those same men console me too: they wish to kindle with glory a man already burned, and they speak thus: "Not without glory or fame would I perish, but doing some great deed for future generations to hear of." But these things move me less now, as you see. And so from Homer's grandiloquence I take myself to the true precepts of Euripides: "I hate the sage who is not wise for himself." Old Precilius praises this verse excellently and says the same man can both look before and behind, and yet still fight among the foremost and be supreme above all others. But to return to where I began, you will do me a very great favor if you embrace this young man with that singular humanity of yours, and add to what I believe you would do for the Precilii themselves the further weight of my recommendation. I have used a novel type of letter with you, so that you might understand this is no ordinary recommendation.
Human translation - ToposText / Shuckburgh
Latin / Greek Original
XV. Scr. Asturae mense Aprili a.u.c. 709. CICERO CAESARI IMP. SAL.
Precilium tibi commendo unice, tui necessarii, mei familiarissimi, viri optimi filium; quem quum adolescentem ipsum propter eius modestiam, humanitatem, animum et amorem erga me singularem mirifice diligo, tum patrem eius re doctus intellexi et didici mihi fuisse semper amicissimum. Em, hic ille est de tuis, maxime qui irridere atque obiurgare me solitus est, quod me non tecum, praesertim quum abs te honorificentissime invitarer, coniungerem; Èll' ßmn o pote yumn ßn styessin peiyen: audiebam enim nostros proceres clamitantes: Ílximow ss', na t§w se xa cig³nvn e epô. ¹w fto, tn d' Íxeow neflh ßxluce mlaina. Sed tamen iidem me consolantur etiam: hominem perustum etiamnum gloria volunt incendere atque ita loquuntur: mÿ mÂn Èspoude§ ge xa Èxlei´w Èpolo§mhn, Èll mga =jaw ti xa ßssomnoisi puysyai. Sed minus iam movent, ut vides. Itaque ab Homeri magniloquentia confero me ad vera praecepta E»rip§dou: mis´ sofistæn, óstiw o»x aÕt" sof³w: quem versum senex Precilius laudat egregie et ait posse eundem et ama prossv xai opissv videre et tamen nihil minus aÞ¢v Èriste ein xa Õpe§roxon mmenai Íllvn. Sed, ut redeam ad id, unde coepi, vehementer mihi gratum feceris, si hunc adolescentem humanitate tua, quae est singularis, comprehenderis et ad id, quod ipsorum Preciliorum causa te velle arbitror, addideris cumulum commendationis meae. Genere novo sum litterarum ad te usus, ut intelligeres non vulgarem esse commendationem.