Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 66 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
I was already doing it of my own accord before, and afterward I was greatly moved by two letters of yours written most carefully to the same effect. There was added to this a constant exhorter, Sallustius, urging that I deal as diligently as possible with Lucceius about reconciling the old goodwill between you. But although I had done everything, I was not only unable to recover that disposition of his which had once existed toward you, but I could not even draw out the cause of his altered disposition. Although he indeed makes much of that arbitration of his, and of those things which I understood even then, when you were present, to have offended his feelings, nevertheless he certainly has something which has settled more deeply in his mind, something which neither your letters nor my pleading on your behalf can so easily erase as you yourself, present in person, will remove not only by your speech but by that familiar look of yours, if only you judge it worth so much-which, if you listen to me and if you wish to remain consistent with your own kindly nature, you certainly will judge it to be. And, that you may not wonder at this-why, when I earlier indicated to you by letter that I hoped he would be in our power, I now seem to distrust the same-it is incredible how much more obstinate his disposition seems to me, and the more entrenched in this resentment. But these matters will either be healed when you come, or they will be a trouble to him in whichever party the fault shall lie. As to what was written in your letter, that I now suppose myself to be elected, know that nothing is so harassed now at Rome as the candidates, by every kind of unfairness, and that it is not known when the elections are to be. But you will hear of these things from Philadelphus. I should like you to send as soon as possible the things you have procured for our Academy. It is wonderful how much not only the use of that place but even the thought of it delights me. As for your books, take care not to hand them over to anyone; keep them for me, as you write you will. The greatest enthusiasm for them holds me, just as by now a loathing of all other things; and it is incredible how much worse you will find these, in how short a time, than you left them.
I had been working for you of my own free will, and my energies were redoubled by the receipt of two letters from you insisting on the same point. Besides Sallustius was continually pressing me to do my best to replace you on your old friendly footing with Lucceius. But when I had done the uttermost, I failed not only to win back his old affection for you, but even to extract from him the reason for his change of feelings towards you. Though he is continually harping on that arbitration case of his, and the other things which I noticed provoked him when you were here, there is something else, I am sure, which is rankling in his mind. And this your presence, a talk with him, and still more the sight of your familiar face, would do more to remove than either your letters or my services as intermediary, if you think it worth while to come. And, if you will listen to me and are disposed to act with your usual courtesy, you will certainly think it worth while. You would never believe how self-willed and stiff-necked he seems to be on the point: so don’t be astonished that I now appear to doubt my ability to manage him, though in former letters I hinted that I thought he would
be under my thumb. But that will be all put right when you come, or he will smart for it who deserves it.
You say in your note that my election is thought certain; but let me tell you that candidates are plagued to death nowadays with all sorts of unfairness, and even the date of the election is not fixed. But you will hear about that from Philadelphus.
Please send what you have purchased for my Academy as soon as possible. It is astonishing how the mere thought of the place raises my spirits even when I am not in it. Be sure you don’t get rid of your books. Keep them for me as you promise. My enthusiasm for them increases with my disgust at everything else. You would never believe how changed for the worse you will find everything has been in the short time you have been away.
Et mea sponte faciebam antea et post duabus epistulis tuis perdiligenter in eandem rationem scriptis magno opere sum commotus. Eo accedebat hortator adsiduus Sallustius, ut agerem quam diligentissime cum Lucceio de vestra vetere gratia reconcilianda. Sed cum omnia fecissem, non modo eam voluntatem eius quae fuerat erga te, recuperare non potui, verum ne causam quidem elicere immutatae voluntatis. Tametsi iactat ille quidem illud suum arbitrium, et ea. quae iam tum, cum aderas, offendere eius animum intellegebam, tamen habet quiddam profecto, quod magis in animo eius insederit, quod neque epistulae tuae neque nostra adlegatio tam potest facile delere, quam tu praesens non modo oratione, sed tuo vultu illo familiari tolles, si modo tanti putaris, id quod, si me audies et si humanitati tuae constare voles, certe putabis. Ac, ne illud mirere, cur, cum ego antea significarim tibi per litteras me sperare illum in nostra potestate fore, nunc idem videar diffidere, incredibile est, quanto mihi videatur illius voluntas obstinatior et in hac iracundia offirmatior. Sed haec aut sanabuntur, cum veneris, aut ei molesta erunt, in utro culpa erit. Quod in epistula tua scriptum erat me iam arbitrari designatum esse, scito nihil tam exercitum esse nunc Romae quam candidatos omnibus iniquitatibus, nec, quando futura sint comitia, sciri. Verum haec audies de Philadelpho. Tu velim, quae Academiae nostrae parasti, quam primum mittas. Mire quam illius loci non modo usus, sed etiam cogitatio delectat. Libros vero tuos cave cuiquam tradas; nobis eos, quem ad modum scribis, conserva. Summum me eorum studium tenet sicut odium iam ceterarum rerum; quas tu incredibile est quam brevi tempore quanto deteriores offensurus sis, quam reliquisti.
◆
I was already doing it of my own accord before, and afterward I was greatly moved by two letters of yours written most carefully to the same effect. There was added to this a constant exhorter, Sallustius, urging that I deal as diligently as possible with Lucceius about reconciling the old goodwill between you. But although I had done everything, I was not only unable to recover that disposition of his which had once existed toward you, but I could not even draw out the cause of his altered disposition. Although he indeed makes much of that arbitration of his, and of those things which I understood even then, when you were present, to have offended his feelings, nevertheless he certainly has something which has settled more deeply in his mind, something which neither your letters nor my pleading on your behalf can so easily erase as you yourself, present in person, will remove not only by your speech but by that familiar look of yours, if only you judge it worth so much-which, if you listen to me and if you wish to remain consistent with your own kindly nature, you certainly will judge it to be. And, that you may not wonder at this-why, when I earlier indicated to you by letter that I hoped he would be in our power, I now seem to distrust the same-it is incredible how much more obstinate his disposition seems to me, and the more entrenched in this resentment. But these matters will either be healed when you come, or they will be a trouble to him in whichever party the fault shall lie. As to what was written in your letter, that I now suppose myself to be elected, know that nothing is so harassed now at Rome as the candidates, by every kind of unfairness, and that it is not known when the elections are to be. But you will hear of these things from Philadelphus. I should like you to send as soon as possible the things you have procured for our Academy. It is wonderful how much not only the use of that place but even the thought of it delights me. As for your books, take care not to hand them over to anyone; keep them for me, as you write you will. The greatest enthusiasm for them holds me, just as by now a loathing of all other things; and it is incredible how much worse you will find these, in how short a time, than you left them.
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
Et mea sponte faciebam antea et post duabus epistulis tuis perdiligenter in eandem rationem scriptis magno opere sum commotus. Eo accedebat hortator adsiduus Sallustius, ut agerem quam diligentissime cum Lucceio de vestra vetere gratia reconcilianda. Sed cum omnia fecissem, non modo eam voluntatem eius quae fuerat erga te, recuperare non potui, verum ne causam quidem elicere immutatae voluntatis. Tametsi iactat ille quidem illud suum arbitrium, et ea. quae iam tum, cum aderas, offendere eius animum intellegebam, tamen habet quiddam profecto, quod magis in animo eius insederit, quod neque epistulae tuae neque nostra adlegatio tam potest facile delere, quam tu praesens non modo oratione, sed tuo vultu illo familiari tolles, si modo tanti putaris, id quod, si me audies et si humanitati tuae constare voles, certe putabis. Ac, ne illud mirere, cur, cum ego antea significarim tibi per litteras me sperare illum in nostra potestate fore, nunc idem videar diffidere, incredibile est, quanto mihi videatur illius voluntas obstinatior et in hac iracundia offirmatior. Sed haec aut sanabuntur, cum veneris, aut ei molesta erunt, in utro culpa erit. Quod in epistula tua scriptum erat me iam arbitrari designatum esse, scito nihil tam exercitum esse nunc Romae quam candidatos omnibus iniquitatibus, nec, quando futura sint comitia, sciri. Verum haec audies de Philadelpho. Tu velim, quae Academiae nostrae parasti, quam primum mittas. Mire quam illius loci non modo usus, sed etiam cogitatio delectat. Libros vero tuos cave cuiquam tradas; nobis eos, quem ad modum scribis, conserva. Summum me eorum studium tenet sicut odium iam ceterarum rerum; quas tu incredibile est quam brevi tempore quanto deteriores offensurus sis, quam reliquisti.