Marcus Tullius Cicero→Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer|c. 56 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
The letters of my brother Quintus and of Titus Pomponius, my close friend, had given me so much hope that I counted on your help no less than on that of your colleague. So I immediately sent you a letter in which, as my present condition required, I thanked you and asked you to continue helping me.
Later, not so much letters from my friends as reports from travelers on this route suggested that your feelings had changed. That kept me from daring to trouble you with letters. Now, however, my brother Quintus has sent me a copy he made of your very kind speech in the senate. Encouraged by that, I have ventured to write to you.
I ask and beg you, as far as I can without offending you, to preserve your own friends along with me rather than attack me in order to satisfy the unreasonable resentment of your family connections. You mastered yourself so far as to lay aside your own anger for the sake of the republic. Will you now be induced to support another man's anger against the interests of the republic?
If in your clemency you now help me, I promise that I will be at your service hereafter. But if neither magistrates, nor senate, nor people are allowed to help me, because the violence that has overwhelmed me has also overwhelmed the state, be careful. You may later wish for the chance to keep everyone in his rights, and find you cannot do it because there will be no one left to keep there.
LXXXVIII (Fam. V, 4) TO Q. METELLUS THE CONSUL (AT ROME) DYRRACHIUM (JANUARY) A letter from my brother Quintus , and one from my friend Titus Pomponius , had given me so much hope, that I depended on your assistance no less than on that of your colleague. Accordingly, I at once sent you a letter in which, as my present position required, I offered you thanks and asked for the continuance of your assistance. Later on, not so much the letters of my friends, as the conversation of travellers by this route, indicated that your feelings had undergone a change; and that circumstance prevented my venturing to trouble you with letters. Now, however, my brother Quintus has sent me a copy which he had made of your exceedingly kind speech delivered in the senate. Induced by this I have attempted to write to you, and I do ask and beg of you, as far as I may without giving you offence, to preserve your own friends along with me, rather than attack me to satisfy the unreasonable vindictiveness of your connexions. You have, indeed, conquered yourself so far as to lay aside your own enmity for the sake of the Republic: will you be induced to support that of others agaznst the interests of the Republic? But if you will in your clemency now give me assistance, I promise you that I will be at your service henceforth: but if neither magistrates, nor senate, nor people are permitted to aid nie, owing to the violence which has proved too strong for me, and for the state as well, take care lest — though you may wish the opportunity back again for retaining all and sundry in their rights-you find yourself unable to do so, because there will be nobody to be retained.
IV. Scr. Dyrrhacii mense Ianuario a.u.c. 697. M. CICERO S. D. Q. METELLO COS.
Litterae Quinti fratis et T. Pomponii, necessarii mei, tantum spei dederant, ut in te non minus auxilii quam in tuo collega mihi constitutum fuerit; itaque ad te litteras statim misi, per quas, ut fortuna postulabat, et gratias tibi egi et de reliquo tempore auxilium petii. Postea mihi non tam meorum litterae quam sermones eorum, qui hac iter faciebant, animum tuum immutatum significabant, quae res fecit, ut tibi litteris obstrepere non auderem. Nunc mihi Quintus frater meus mitissimam tuam orationem, quam in senatu habuisses, perscripsit, qua inductus ad te scribere sum conatus et abs te, quantum tua fert voluntas, peto quaesoque, ut tuos mecum serves potius quam propter arrogantem crudelitatem tuorum me oppugnes. Tu, tuas inimicitias ut rei publicae condonares, te vicisti, alienas ut contra rem publicam confirmes, adduceris? Quod si mihi tua clementia opem tuleris, omnibus in rebus me fore in tua potestate tibi confirmo; si mihi neque magistratus neque senatum neque populum auxiliari propter eam vim, quae me cum re publica vicit, licuerit, vide, ne, cum velis revocare tempus omnium servandorum, cum, qui servetur, non erit, non possis.
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The letters of my brother Quintus and of Titus Pomponius, my close friend, had given me so much hope that I counted on your help no less than on that of your colleague. So I immediately sent you a letter in which, as my present condition required, I thanked you and asked you to continue helping me.
Later, not so much letters from my friends as reports from travelers on this route suggested that your feelings had changed. That kept me from daring to trouble you with letters. Now, however, my brother Quintus has sent me a copy he made of your very kind speech in the senate. Encouraged by that, I have ventured to write to you.
I ask and beg you, as far as I can without offending you, to preserve your own friends along with me rather than attack me in order to satisfy the unreasonable resentment of your family connections. You mastered yourself so far as to lay aside your own anger for the sake of the republic. Will you now be induced to support another man's anger against the interests of the republic?
If in your clemency you now help me, I promise that I will be at your service hereafter. But if neither magistrates, nor senate, nor people are allowed to help me, because the violence that has overwhelmed me has also overwhelmed the state, be careful. You may later wish for the chance to keep everyone in his rights, and find you cannot do it because there will be no one left to keep there.
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
IV. Scr. Dyrrhacii mense Ianuario a.u.c. 697. M. CICERO S. D. Q. METELLO COS.
Litterae Quinti fratis et T. Pomponii, necessarii mei, tantum spei dederant, ut in te non minus auxilii quam in tuo collega mihi constitutum fuerit; itaque ad te litteras statim misi, per quas, ut fortuna postulabat, et gratias tibi egi et de reliquo tempore auxilium petii. Postea mihi non tam meorum litterae quam sermones eorum, qui hac iter faciebant, animum tuum immutatum significabant, quae res fecit, ut tibi litteris obstrepere non auderem. Nunc mihi Quintus frater meus mitissimam tuam orationem, quam in senatu habuisses, perscripsit, qua inductus ad te scribere sum conatus et abs te, quantum tua fert voluntas, peto quaesoque, ut tuos mecum serves potius quam propter arrogantem crudelitatem tuorum me oppugnes. Tu, tuas inimicitias ut rei publicae condonares, te vicisti, alienas ut contra rem publicam confirmes, adduceris? Quod si mihi tua clementia opem tuleris, omnibus in rebus me fore in tua potestate tibi confirmo; si mihi neque magistratus neque senatum neque populum auxiliari propter eam vim, quae me cum re publica vicit, licuerit, vide, ne, cum velis revocare tempus omnium servandorum, cum, qui servetur, non erit, non possis.