Letter 3.13

As though I had foreseen that one day I would need your energetic support in such a duty, I worked hard for your reputation when your actions were under discussion. Still, I will not hide the truth: you have given more than you received. Everyone has written to tell me that you left nothing, however troublesome, for anyone else to do: not only by the weight of your eloquence and your vote in the senate, which from such a man would have been quite enough for me, but also by personal effort, by offering advice, by coming to my house, and by calling on my friends. All this is a much greater honor to me than the thing itself for which the trouble is being taken. Many men have obtained the outward rewards of virtue without possessing virtue. But zeal as great as yours, from men such as you, can be won only by virtue. Therefore I set before myself as the profit to be gained from our friendship the friendship itself, than which nothing can be more fruitful, especially in the studies to which we have both devoted ourselves. I declare myself your ally in public life, where our views agree, and closely united with you in private life, which we devote to the same accomplishments and studies. I could have wished that fate had arranged matters so that you could value all my family as highly as I value yours. Even in this, however, I have a kind of instinct that keeps me from despairing. But that does not concern you; the burden is wholly mine. I want you to understand clearly that in this change of circumstances something has been added to my affection for you, to which no addition had seemed possible, rather than anything taken away from it. As I write this, I hope you are already censor. My letter is shorter and more modest because it is addressed to a director of public morals.

CCLXXVI (Fam. III, 13) TO APPIUS CLAUDIUS PULCHER (AT ROME) ASIA (AUGUST) JUST as though I divined that some day or other I should have to ask for your zealous support, I worked hard for your reputation when the question of your actions was on the tapis. However, I will not disguise the truth: you have given more than you got. For every single person has written to tell me that, not only by the weight of your eloquence and your senatorial vote — which from such a man were quite enough for me — but also by personal exertion, by offer of advice, by coming to my house and calling on my friends, you left nothing, however troublesome, for anyone else to do. All this is a much greater honour to me than the thing itself for which the trouble is being taken. For the outward rewards of virtue many have attained without possessing virtue: but such great zeal from such men as you virtue alone' can secure. Accordingly, I set before my-self as the profit to be derived from our friendship that friendship itself, than which nothing can be more fruitful, especially in those studies to which we have both devoted ourselves. For I profess myself to be both your ally in politics, on which our sentiments agree, and closely united in daily life, which we devote to such accomplishments' and studies. I could have wished that fate had so ordained it that you could value all my family as highly as I do yours. Even as to this, however, I have a sort of intuition which prevents my despairing. But this does not touch you: the burden is wholly mine. I wish you to clearly understand that in this change of circumstances something has been added to my affection towards you — to which no addition seemed possible — rather than anything detracted from it. when I write this I hope you are already censor. My letter is all the shorter and more modest as being addressed to a “director of morals.”

XIII. Scr. in Asia mense Septembri a.u.c. 704. M. CICERO AP. PULCHRO S. Quasi divinarem tali in officio fore mihi aliquando expetendum studium tuum, sic, cum de tuis rebus gestis agebatur, inserviebam honori tuo; dicam tamen vere: plus, quam acceperas, reddidisti; quis enim ad me non perscripsit te non solum auctoritate, oratione, sententia tua, quibus ego a tali viro contentus eram, sed etiam opera consilio, domum veniendo conveniendis meis nullum onus officii cuiquam reliquum fecisse? Haec mihi ampliora multo sunt quam illa ipsa, propter quae haec laborantur; insignia enim virtutis multi etiam sine virtute assecuti sunt, talium virorum tanta studia assequi sola virtus potest. Itaque mihi propono fructum amicitiae nostrae ipsam amicitiam, qua nihil est uberius, praesertim in iis studiis, quibus uterque nostrum devinctus est; nam tibi me profiteor et in re publica socium, de qua idem sentimus, et in quotidiana vita coniunctum, quam his artibus studiisque colimus. Vellem ita fortuna tulisset, ut, quanti ego omnes tuos facio, tanti tu meos facere posses, quod tamen ipsum nescio qua permotus animi divinatione non despero. Sed hoc nihil ad te; nostrum est onus. Illud velim sic habeas, quod intelliges, hac re novata additum potius aliquid ad meum erga te studium, quo nihil videbatur addi posse, quam quidquam esse detractum. Cum haec scribebam, censorem iam te esse sperabam: eo brevior est epistula et, ut adversus magistrum morum, modestior. Cicero