Marcus Caelius Rufus→Marcus Tullius Cicero|c. 50 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome|AI-assisted
I have no doubt news has reached you that Appius has been prosecuted by Dolabella - though not, in fact, with the hostility I had expected. Appius did not act foolishly. As soon as Dolabella came to the tribunal, Appius entered the city and dropped his request for a triumph. By doing this, he dulled the talk and seemed better prepared than his accuser had hoped.
He now places his greatest hope in you. I know you do not hate him. How much you want to bind him to you is in your hands. If there had been no quarrel between you, you would have a freer hand in the whole matter. As things stand, if you press strict legal right to the last degree, you will have to be careful not to seem to have set aside your hostility with too little simplicity and candor. On the other hand, you will be safe if you choose to do him a favor; no one will say that intimacy and friendship kept you from your duty.
One thing occurs to me: between Dolabella's request to prosecute and the formal registration of the charge, his wife left him. I remember what you instructed me as you were leaving, and I do not think you have forgotten what I wrote to you. This is not yet the time to say more. I can give you only one warning: if the matter does not displease you, still show nothing of your wishes for now, and wait to see how he comes out of this case. If it gets out, it will be damaging to you; and if any hint appears, it will become clearer than decency or advantage allows. Nor will he be able to keep silent about something that fits so conveniently with his hopes and will look so splendid in completing the business - especially since he is the kind of man who could scarcely restrain himself even if he knew speaking of it would ruin him.
Pompey is said to be working hard for Appius, so much so that people think he will send one of his sons to you. Here we are all acquitting him, and by Hercules everything fenced off in the trial is foul and dishonorable.
Our consuls show the greatest diligence: so far they have not been able to pass a single decree except one about the Latin Festival. Our Curio's tribunate is freezing over. It cannot be said how completely everything here lies idle. If I were not fighting with shopkeepers and water contractors, lethargy would have taken possession of the state.
If the Parthians do nothing to warm you up, we are stiff with cold here. Still, somehow or other, without the Parthians, Bibulus has lost some poor little cohorts in Amanus - that is how the report comes.
What I wrote above, that Curio was very cold, is already out of date: he is hot now, for he is being torn apart very fiercely. Since he failed to get his way about intercalation, he switched to the popular side with the utmost frivolity and began speaking for Caesar. He has brandished a road law, not unlike Rullus's agrarian law, and a food law ordering the aediles to measure out supplies. He had not yet done this when I wrote the first part of this letter.
Please, if you do anything Appius needs, put me in for some gratitude. I advise you to reserve judgment about Dolabella. That course serves both the matter I am speaking about and your dignity and reputation for fairness. It will be a disgrace to you if I do not have Greek panthers.
CCXLI (Fam. VIII, 6) M. CAELIUS RUFUS TO CICERO (IN CILICIA) ROME, FEBRUARY: I RAVE no doubt the news has reached you of Appius being impeached by Dolabella . But there is by no means the feeling against him which I had expected. For the truth is, Appius acted with a good deal of sense. No sooner did Dolabella appear at the tribunal, than he entered the city and gave up his demand for a triumph. By thus acting he at once took the edge off popular talk, and showed himself also to be better prepared than his accuser had expected. His chief hope is now in you. I know you don't dislike him. It is now in your power to attach him to you as strongly as you choose. If you had never had a quarrel with him, you would now have had a freer hand in the whole business: as it is, if you push legality to the proverbial extreme, you must be on your guard against being thought not to have been quite candid and sincere in renouncing your hostility. In this respect you will certainly be on safe ground in doing him a favour, if so minded; for no one will say that you have been debarred from doing a duty by the influence of intimacy and friendship. It occurs to my mind that, between the application to the praetor and the formal notice of impeachment, Dolabella 's wife has divorced him. 'I remember the commission you gave me as you were leaving: I think you have not forgotten what I wrote to you. It is not as yet the time for entering into farther details. I can only give you this hint: if you like the suggestion, do not, nevertheless, at the present moment betray your sentiments, but wait to see how he comes out of this case. Take care that it does not bring discredit on you if it leaks out: assuredly, if any expression of your feeling were to crop up now, it would gain a greater notoriety than is either decent or expedient. Nor will he be able to hold his tongue on a circumstance which chimed in so pat with his hopes, and which will reflect so much additional lustre upon him in conducting the prosecution: especially as he is the sort of man to be scarcely able to refrain, even though he knew it was ruinous to himself to mention the fact. Pompey is said to be very anxious on Appius 's behalf, so much so that it is even thought that he means to send one or other of his sons to you. Here we are all for his acquittal, and, by Hercules , every disclosure that could reflect disgrace or dishonour on him has been carefully barred. Our consuls are indeed energetic: they haven't been able to get a single decree through the senate, except the one for the Latin Festival ! Our friend Curio 's tribuneship is deadly dull — as cold as ice. In short, I can hardly express to you the flatness of everything at Rome . If it had not been for a good fight I am having with the shopkeepers and water companies, a lethargy would have settled upon the state. If the Parthians don't make it warm for you, we here are stiff with cold. However, Bibulus has done his best: without the help of the Parthians he has managed to lose a poor cohort or two in Amanus . So it is reported here. I said just now that Curio was much in the cold: well, he is now getting warm I for he is being pulled to pieces with a hot fire of criticism. For, just because he did not get his way about intercalation, he has with the most outrageous levity ratted to the popular party, and begun speaking up for Caesar , and has made a great parade of a road law, not much unlike Rullus 's agrarian law, and another about the sale of provisions, which enacts that the aediles should measure goods. He had not done this when I wrote the first part of my letter. Pray, if you render any assistance to Appius , let me have some of the credit. I advise you not to commit yourself in regard to Dolabella : that is the course most conducive at once to the proposal to which I am referring, to your own position, and to your reputation for fairness-It will be a disgrace to you if I have no Greek panthers.
VI. Scr. pr. Nonas Martias a.u.c. 704 CAELIUS CICERONI SAL.
Non dubito, quin perlatum ad te sit Appium a Dolabella reum factum, sane [quam] non ea, qua existimaveram, invidia; neque enim stulte Appius, qui, simulatque Dolabella accessit ad tribunal, introierat in urbem triumphique postulationem abiecerat, quo facto rettudit sermones paratiorque visus est, quam speraverat accusator. Is nunc in te maximam spem habet. Scio tibi eum non esse odio: quam velis eum obligare, in tua manu est. Cum quo si simultas tibi non fuisset, liberius tibi de tota re esset: nunc, si ad illam summam veritatem legitimum ius exegeris, cavendum tibi erit, ne parum simpliciter et candide posuisse inimicitias videaris; in hanc partem porro tutum tibi erit, si quid volueris gratificari, nemo enim necessitudine et amicitia te deterritum ab officio dicet. Illud mihi occurrit, quod inter postulationem et nominis delationem uxor a Dolabella discessit: quid mihi discedens mandaris, memini; quid ego tibi scripserim, te non arbitror oblitum. Non est iam tempus plura narrandi: unum illud monere te possum, si res tibi non displicebit, tamen hoc tempore nihil de tua voluntate ostendas et exspectes, quemadmodum exeat ex hac causa. Denique invidiosum tibi sit, si emanarit; porro, si significatio ulla intercesserit, clarius, quam deceat aut expediat, fiat; neque ille tacere eam rem poterit, quae suae spei tam opportuna acciderit quaeque in negotio conficiendo tanto illustrior erit, cum praesertim is sit, qui, si perniciosum sciret esse loqui de hac re, vix tamen se contineret. Pompeius dicitur valde pro Appio laborare, ut etiam putent alterum utrum de filiis ad te missurum. Hic nos omnes absolvimus, et hercules consaepta omnia foeda et inhonesta sunt. Consules autem habemus summa diligentia: adhuc senatus consultum nisi de feriis Latinis nullum facere potuerunt. Curioni nostro tribunatus conglaciat; sed dici non potest, quomodo hic omnia iaceant: nisi ego cum tabernariis et aquariis pugnarem, veternus civitatem occupasset. Si Parthi vox nihil calfaciunt, nos hic frigore rigescimus. Tamen, quoquo modo potuit, sine Parthis Bibulus in Amano nescio quid cohorticularum amisit: hoc sic nuntiatum est. Quod tibi supra scripsi Curionem valde frigere, iam calet; nam ferventissime concerpitur; levissime enim, quia de intercalando non obtinuerat, transfugit ad populum et pro Caesare loqui coepit legemque viariam, non dissimilem agrariae Rulli, et alimentariam, quae iubet aediles metiri, iactavit: hoc nondum fecerat, cum priorem partem epistulae scripsi. Amabo te, si quid, quod opus fuerit Appio, facies, ponito me in gratia. De Dolabella integrum tibi reserves, suadeo: et huic rei, de qua loquor, et dignitati tuae aequitatisque opinioni hoc ita facere expedit. Turpe tibi erit pantheras Graecas me non habere.
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I have no doubt news has reached you that Appius has been prosecuted by Dolabella - though not, in fact, with the hostility I had expected. Appius did not act foolishly. As soon as Dolabella came to the tribunal, Appius entered the city and dropped his request for a triumph. By doing this, he dulled the talk and seemed better prepared than his accuser had hoped.
He now places his greatest hope in you. I know you do not hate him. How much you want to bind him to you is in your hands. If there had been no quarrel between you, you would have a freer hand in the whole matter. As things stand, if you press strict legal right to the last degree, you will have to be careful not to seem to have set aside your hostility with too little simplicity and candor. On the other hand, you will be safe if you choose to do him a favor; no one will say that intimacy and friendship kept you from your duty.
One thing occurs to me: between Dolabella's request to prosecute and the formal registration of the charge, his wife left him. I remember what you instructed me as you were leaving, and I do not think you have forgotten what I wrote to you. This is not yet the time to say more. I can give you only one warning: if the matter does not displease you, still show nothing of your wishes for now, and wait to see how he comes out of this case. If it gets out, it will be damaging to you; and if any hint appears, it will become clearer than decency or advantage allows. Nor will he be able to keep silent about something that fits so conveniently with his hopes and will look so splendid in completing the business - especially since he is the kind of man who could scarcely restrain himself even if he knew speaking of it would ruin him.
Pompey is said to be working hard for Appius, so much so that people think he will send one of his sons to you. Here we are all acquitting him, and by Hercules everything fenced off in the trial is foul and dishonorable.
Our consuls show the greatest diligence: so far they have not been able to pass a single decree except one about the Latin Festival. Our Curio's tribunate is freezing over. It cannot be said how completely everything here lies idle. If I were not fighting with shopkeepers and water contractors, lethargy would have taken possession of the state.
If the Parthians do nothing to warm you up, we are stiff with cold here. Still, somehow or other, without the Parthians, Bibulus has lost some poor little cohorts in Amanus - that is how the report comes.
What I wrote above, that Curio was very cold, is already out of date: he is hot now, for he is being torn apart very fiercely. Since he failed to get his way about intercalation, he switched to the popular side with the utmost frivolity and began speaking for Caesar. He has brandished a road law, not unlike Rullus's agrarian law, and a food law ordering the aediles to measure out supplies. He had not yet done this when I wrote the first part of this letter.
Please, if you do anything Appius needs, put me in for some gratitude. I advise you to reserve judgment about Dolabella. That course serves both the matter I am speaking about and your dignity and reputation for fairness. It will be a disgrace to you if I do not have Greek panthers.
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
VI. Scr. pr. Nonas Martias a.u.c. 704 CAELIUS CICERONI SAL.
Non dubito, quin perlatum ad te sit Appium a Dolabella reum factum, sane [quam] non ea, qua existimaveram, invidia; neque enim stulte Appius, qui, simulatque Dolabella accessit ad tribunal, introierat in urbem triumphique postulationem abiecerat, quo facto rettudit sermones paratiorque visus est, quam speraverat accusator. Is nunc in te maximam spem habet. Scio tibi eum non esse odio: quam velis eum obligare, in tua manu est. Cum quo si simultas tibi non fuisset, liberius tibi de tota re esset: nunc, si ad illam summam veritatem legitimum ius exegeris, cavendum tibi erit, ne parum simpliciter et candide posuisse inimicitias videaris; in hanc partem porro tutum tibi erit, si quid volueris gratificari, nemo enim necessitudine et amicitia te deterritum ab officio dicet. Illud mihi occurrit, quod inter postulationem et nominis delationem uxor a Dolabella discessit: quid mihi discedens mandaris, memini; quid ego tibi scripserim, te non arbitror oblitum. Non est iam tempus plura narrandi: unum illud monere te possum, si res tibi non displicebit, tamen hoc tempore nihil de tua voluntate ostendas et exspectes, quemadmodum exeat ex hac causa. Denique invidiosum tibi sit, si emanarit; porro, si significatio ulla intercesserit, clarius, quam deceat aut expediat, fiat; neque ille tacere eam rem poterit, quae suae spei tam opportuna acciderit quaeque in negotio conficiendo tanto illustrior erit, cum praesertim is sit, qui, si perniciosum sciret esse loqui de hac re, vix tamen se contineret. Pompeius dicitur valde pro Appio laborare, ut etiam putent alterum utrum de filiis ad te missurum. Hic nos omnes absolvimus, et hercules consaepta omnia foeda et inhonesta sunt. Consules autem habemus summa diligentia: adhuc senatus consultum nisi de feriis Latinis nullum facere potuerunt. Curioni nostro tribunatus conglaciat; sed dici non potest, quomodo hic omnia iaceant: nisi ego cum tabernariis et aquariis pugnarem, veternus civitatem occupasset. Si Parthi vox nihil calfaciunt, nos hic frigore rigescimus. Tamen, quoquo modo potuit, sine Parthis Bibulus in Amano nescio quid cohorticularum amisit: hoc sic nuntiatum est. Quod tibi supra scripsi Curionem valde frigere, iam calet; nam ferventissime concerpitur; levissime enim, quia de intercalando non obtinuerat, transfugit ad populum et pro Caesare loqui coepit legemque viariam, non dissimilem agrariae Rulli, et alimentariam, quae iubet aediles metiri, iactavit: hoc nondum fecerat, cum priorem partem epistulae scripsi. Amabo te, si quid, quod opus fuerit Appio, facies, ponito me in gratia. De Dolabella integrum tibi reserves, suadeo: et huic rei, de qua loquor, et dignitati tuae aequitatisque opinioni hoc ita facere expedit. Turpe tibi erit pantheras Graecas me non habere.