Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 56 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
If you are well, that is good. I had thought that, after our mutual goodwill and the restoration of friendship between us, I would not be made a laughing-stock in my absence, and that my brother would not be attacked by you in his civil rights and property because of a single word.
If his own standing did not protect him, surely the rank of our family, or my own loyalty toward you and toward the republic, should have been enough to support him. As it is, I see that he has been ruined and I have been abandoned by the very men who should least have done it. So I am in grief and mourning dress, while I am actually holding a province, commanding an army, and conducting a war.
Since your conduct in this matter has been neither fair nor in keeping with the gentler habits of earlier times, do not be surprised if you come to regret it. I did not expect you to be so unstable toward me and mine. For my part, neither family grief nor injury from any one person will draw me away from service to the state.
XIII (Fam. V, 1) Q. METELLUS CELER TO CICERO CISALPINE GAUL Q. Metellus Celer , son of Quintus, proconsul, greets M. Tullius Cicero . If you are well I am glad. I had thought, considering our mutual regard and the reconciliation effected between us, that I was not likely to be held up to ridicule in my absence, nor my brother attacked by you in his civil existence and property for the sake of a mere word. If his own high character was not a sufficient protection to him, yet either the position of our family, or my own loyal conduct to you and the Republic ought to have been sufficient to support him. As it is I see that he has been ruined and I abandoned by the last people in the world who ought to have done so. I am accordingly in sorrow and wearing mourning dress, while actually in command of a province and army and conducting a war. And seeing that your conduct in this affair has neither been reasonable nor in accordance with the milder methods of old times, you must not be surprised if you live to repent it. I did not expect to find you so fickle towards me and mine. For myself, meanwhile, neither family sorrow nor ill-treatment by any individual shall withdraw me from the service of the state.
I. Scr. in Gallia citeriore a.u.c. 692. Q. METELLUS Q. F. CELER PROCOS. S. D. M. TULLIO CICERONI.
Si vales, bene est. Existimaram pro mutuo inter nos animo et pro reconciliata gratia nec absentem me a te ludibrio laesum iri nec Metellum fratrem ob dictum capite ac fortunis per te oppugnatum iri; quem si parum pudor ipsius defendebat, debebat vel familiae nostrae dignitas vel meum studium erga vos remque publicam satis sublevare: nunc video illum circumventum, me desertum, a quibus minime conveniebat. Itaque in luctu et squalore sum, qui provinciae, qui exercitui praesum, qui bellum gero: quae quoniam nec ratione nec maiorum nostrorum clementia administrastis, non erit mirandum, si vos poenitebit. Te tam mobili in me meosque esse animo non speraram: me interea nec domesticus dolor nec cuiusquam iniuria ab re publica abducet.
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If you are well, that is good. I had thought that, after our mutual goodwill and the restoration of friendship between us, I would not be made a laughing-stock in my absence, and that my brother would not be attacked by you in his civil rights and property because of a single word.
If his own standing did not protect him, surely the rank of our family, or my own loyalty toward you and toward the republic, should have been enough to support him. As it is, I see that he has been ruined and I have been abandoned by the very men who should least have done it. So I am in grief and mourning dress, while I am actually holding a province, commanding an army, and conducting a war.
Since your conduct in this matter has been neither fair nor in keeping with the gentler habits of earlier times, do not be surprised if you come to regret it. I did not expect you to be so unstable toward me and mine. For my part, neither family grief nor injury from any one person will draw me away from service to the 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
I. Scr. in Gallia citeriore a.u.c. 692. Q. METELLUS Q. F. CELER PROCOS. S. D. M. TULLIO CICERONI.
Si vales, bene est. Existimaram pro mutuo inter nos animo et pro reconciliata gratia nec absentem me a te ludibrio laesum iri nec Metellum fratrem ob dictum capite ac fortunis per te oppugnatum iri; quem si parum pudor ipsius defendebat, debebat vel familiae nostrae dignitas vel meum studium erga vos remque publicam satis sublevare: nunc video illum circumventum, me desertum, a quibus minime conveniebat. Itaque in luctu et squalore sum, qui provinciae, qui exercitui praesum, qui bellum gero: quae quoniam nec ratione nec maiorum nostrorum clementia administrastis, non erit mirandum, si vos poenitebit. Te tam mobili in me meosque esse animo non speraram: me interea nec domesticus dolor nec cuiusquam iniuria ab re publica abducet.