Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 51 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Sailing is a great business, especially in July. On the sixth day from Athens I came to Delos. On July 6 we sailed from the Piraeus to Zoster with a troublesome wind, which kept us there on July 7. On July 8 we reached Ceos pleasantly; from there Gyaros with a fierce but not contrary wind; then Syros, then Delos. In both crossings we made the passage faster than we wanted, for you know the open boats of Rhodes: nothing could be less able to stand up to waves. So I had decided not to hurry at all and not to leave Delos until I saw all the peaks of Gyrae clear.
I wrote to you about Messalla from Gyaros as soon as I heard the news, and of my own accord I wrote the same plan to Hortensius too; I felt great sympathy with him. But I am waiting for your letter about talk surrounding the trial and, by Hercules, about the whole condition of public affairs. Make it more political in tone, now that you have been going through my books with our Thallumetus. I mean the kind of letter from which I learn not what has happened - even Helonius, that very serious client of yours, can manage that - but what is going to happen.
By the time you read this, we shall have consuls. You will be able to see everything clearly: Caesar, Pompey, the trials themselves. Since you are staying in Rome, please settle my affairs. One thing slipped my mind: about the brickwork, and especially about the water, I ask plainly that if anything can be done, you bring to it your usual spirit. I value that matter highly, both on my own impulse and because of what you have said. So you will bring it to completion. Besides, if Philippus asks anything that you would do in your own affairs, please do it. I will write more when I am settled. At the moment I am quite literally in the middle of the sea.
A sea voyage is a big business, especially in the month of July. Six days after leaving Athens I came to Delos. On the 6th of July I got from the Piraeus to Zoster with a contrary wind which kept us there on the 7th. On the 8th we reached Ceos in fine weather. From there we came to Gyaros, with a wind strong, but not contrary: thence to Syros, and from Syros to Delos; in both cases sailing quicker than we could have wished. You know by this time what the open boats of Rhodes are like, poor things in a rough sea. So I have made up my mind not to hurry and not to stir from Delos until I see “all the peaks of Gyrae” clear.
I sent you a letter about Messalla at once from Gyaros as soon as I heard, and another on my own initiative to Hortensius, for I felt much sympathy with him. I await a letter from you to give me the gossip about the verdict and about the political situation, dealing, if I may say so, more with public topics, since now, with the aid of Thallumetus, you are running through my books. I don’t want a letter to tell me what is actually happening, for that tiresome fellow your client Helonius can do that: but I want to know what is likely to happen.
By the time you read this, consuls will have been
elected. You will be able to have clear views about Caesar and Pompey and the trials themselves. And please arrange my affairs, since you are staying in town. Oh, I forgot to answer one question about the brickwork: as to the aqueduct, without entering into particulars, please be as kind as you always are, if anything can be done. To the last item, my own views as well as your letters lead me to attach very great importance: so please get it done. Furthermore, if the contractor puts you any questions, please act as you would in your own case. I will write a longer letter, when I am on dry land. At present I am far out at sea.
negotium magnum est navigare atque id mense Quintili. Sexto die Delum Athenis venimus. Pr. Nonas Quintilis a Piraeo ad Zostera vento molesto, qui nos ibidem Nonis tenuit. ante viii Idus ad Ceo iucunde; inde Gyarum saevo vento non adverso; hinc Syrum, inde Delum, utroque citius quam vellemus, cursum confecimus. nam nosti aphracta Rhodiorum; nihil quod minus fluctum ferre possit. itaque erat in animo nihil festinare nec me Delo movere nisi omnia akra Gureon pura vidissem. [2] de Messalla ad te statim ut audivi de Gyaro dedi litteras et id ipsum consilium nostrum etiam ad Hortensium cui quidem valde sunegonion. sed tuas de eius iudici sermonibus et me hercule omni de rei publicae statu litteras exspecto politikoteron quidem scriptas, quoniam meos cum Thallumeto nostro pervolutas libros, eius modi inquam litteras ex quibus ego non quid fiat (nam id vel Helonius, vir gravissimus, potest efficere, cliens tuus) sed quid futurum sit sciam. Cum haec leges, habebimus consules. omnia perspicere poteris de Caesare, de Pompeio, de ipsis iudiciis. [3] nostra autem negotia, quoniam Romae commoraris, amabo te, explica. cui rei fugerat me rescribere, de strue laterum, plane rogo, de aqua, si quid poterit fieri, eo sis animo quo soles esse; quam ego cum mea sponte tum tuis sermonibus aestimo plurimi. ergo tu id conficies. praeterea si quid Philippus rogabit quod in tua re faceres, id velim facias. plura scribam ad te cum constitero. nunc eram plane in medio mari.
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Sailing is a great business, especially in July. On the sixth day from Athens I came to Delos. On July 6 we sailed from the Piraeus to Zoster with a troublesome wind, which kept us there on July 7. On July 8 we reached Ceos pleasantly; from there Gyaros with a fierce but not contrary wind; then Syros, then Delos. In both crossings we made the passage faster than we wanted, for you know the open boats of Rhodes: nothing could be less able to stand up to waves. So I had decided not to hurry at all and not to leave Delos until I saw all the peaks of Gyrae clear.
I wrote to you about Messalla from Gyaros as soon as I heard the news, and of my own accord I wrote the same plan to Hortensius too; I felt great sympathy with him. But I am waiting for your letter about talk surrounding the trial and, by Hercules, about the whole condition of public affairs. Make it more political in tone, now that you have been going through my books with our Thallumetus. I mean the kind of letter from which I learn not what has happened - even Helonius, that very serious client of yours, can manage that - but what is going to happen.
By the time you read this, we shall have consuls. You will be able to see everything clearly: Caesar, Pompey, the trials themselves. Since you are staying in Rome, please settle my affairs. One thing slipped my mind: about the brickwork, and especially about the water, I ask plainly that if anything can be done, you bring to it your usual spirit. I value that matter highly, both on my own impulse and because of what you have said. So you will bring it to completion. Besides, if Philippus asks anything that you would do in your own affairs, please do it. I will write more when I am settled. At the moment I am quite literally in the middle of the sea.
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
negotium magnum est navigare atque id mense Quintili. Sexto die Delum Athenis venimus. Pr. Nonas Quintilis a Piraeo ad Zostera vento molesto, qui nos ibidem Nonis tenuit. ante viii Idus ad Ceo iucunde; inde Gyarum saevo vento non adverso; hinc Syrum, inde Delum, utroque citius quam vellemus, cursum confecimus. nam nosti aphracta Rhodiorum; nihil quod minus fluctum ferre possit. itaque erat in animo nihil festinare nec me Delo movere nisi omnia akra Gureon pura vidissem. [2] de Messalla ad te statim ut audivi de Gyaro dedi litteras et id ipsum consilium nostrum etiam ad Hortensium cui quidem valde sunegonion. sed tuas de eius iudici sermonibus et me hercule omni de rei publicae statu litteras exspecto politikoteron quidem scriptas, quoniam meos cum Thallumeto nostro pervolutas libros, eius modi inquam litteras ex quibus ego non quid fiat (nam id vel Helonius, vir gravissimus, potest efficere, cliens tuus) sed quid futurum sit sciam. Cum haec leges, habebimus consules. omnia perspicere poteris de Caesare, de Pompeio, de ipsis iudiciis. [3] nostra autem negotia, quoniam Romae commoraris, amabo te, explica. cui rei fugerat me rescribere, de strue laterum, plane rogo, de aqua, si quid poterit fieri, eo sis animo quo soles esse; quam ego cum mea sponte tum tuis sermonibus aestimo plurimi. ergo tu id conficies. praeterea si quid Philippus rogabit quod in tua re faceres, id velim facias. plura scribam ad te cum constitero. nunc eram plane in medio mari.