Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Let my secretary's handwriting be the sign of my eye trouble, and the same trouble the reason for my brevity. Though just now, in fact, there was nothing to write. All our expectation was fixed on news from Brundisium. If Caesar has caught up with our Gnaeus, there is a doubtful hope of peace. If Pompey crossed first, there is fear of a disastrous war.
But do you see what kind of man the republic has fallen upon? How sharp, how vigilant, how ready. By Hercules, if he kills no one and takes nothing from anyone, he will be most loved by the very people who feared him most. Townsmen speak with me a great deal, and country people too. They care for absolutely nothing except their fields, their little villas, and their small savings.
And see how the matter has turned: the man they once trusted, they now fear; the man they once feared, they now love. I cannot think without pain how great our mistakes and faults must have been for this to happen. I had written to you what I thought was hanging over us, and now I was waiting for your letter.
Let my secretary's handwriting be proof that I am suffering from inflammation of the eyes, and that is my reason for brevity, though now to be sure I have no news. I depend entirely on news from Brundisium. If Caesar has come up with our friend Pompey, there is some slight hope of peace: but, if Pompey has crossed the sea, we must look for war and massacre. Do you see the kind of man into whose hands the state has fallen? What foresight, what energy, what readiness! Upon my word, if he refrain from murder and rapine, he will be the darling of those who dreaded him most. The people of the country towns and the farmers talk to me a great deal. They care for nothing at all
but their lands, their little homesteads and their tiny hoards. And see how public opinion has changed. They fear the man they once trusted, and adore the man they once dreaded. It pains me to think of the mistakes and wrongs of ours that are responsible for this reaction. I wrote you what I thought would be our fate, and I now await a letter from you.
lippitudinis meae signum tibi sit librari manus et eadem causa brevitatis; etsi nunc quidem quod scriberem nihil erat. omnis exspectatio nostra erat in nuntiis Brundisinis si nactus hic esset Gnaeum nostrum, spes dubia pacis, sin ille ante tramisisset, exitiosi belli metus. sed videsne in quem hominem inciderit res publica, quam acutum, quam vigilantem, quam paratum? si me hercule neminem occiderit nec cuiquam quicquam ademerit, ab iis qui eum maxime timuerant maxime diligetur. [2] multum mecum municipales homines loquuntur, multum rusticani; nihil prorsus aliud curant nisi agros, nisi villulas, nisi nummulos suos. et vide quam conversa res sit; illum quo antea confidebant metuunt, hunc amant quem timebant. id quantis nostris peccatis vitiisque evenerit non possum sine molestia cogitare. quae autem impendere putarem, scripseram ad te et iam tuas litteras exspectabam.
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Let my secretary's handwriting be the sign of my eye trouble, and the same trouble the reason for my brevity. Though just now, in fact, there was nothing to write. All our expectation was fixed on news from Brundisium. If Caesar has caught up with our Gnaeus, there is a doubtful hope of peace. If Pompey crossed first, there is fear of a disastrous war.
But do you see what kind of man the republic has fallen upon? How sharp, how vigilant, how ready. By Hercules, if he kills no one and takes nothing from anyone, he will be most loved by the very people who feared him most. Townsmen speak with me a great deal, and country people too. They care for absolutely nothing except their fields, their little villas, and their small savings.
And see how the matter has turned: the man they once trusted, they now fear; the man they once feared, they now love. I cannot think without pain how great our mistakes and faults must have been for this to happen. I had written to you what I thought was hanging over us, and now I was waiting for your letter.
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
lippitudinis meae signum tibi sit librari manus et eadem causa brevitatis; etsi nunc quidem quod scriberem nihil erat. omnis exspectatio nostra erat in nuntiis Brundisinis si nactus hic esset Gnaeum nostrum, spes dubia pacis, sin ille ante tramisisset, exitiosi belli metus. sed videsne in quem hominem inciderit res publica, quam acutum, quam vigilantem, quam paratum? si me hercule neminem occiderit nec cuiquam quicquam ademerit, ab iis qui eum maxime timuerant maxime diligetur. [2] multum mecum municipales homines loquuntur, multum rusticani; nihil prorsus aliud curant nisi agros, nisi villulas, nisi nummulos suos. et vide quam conversa res sit; illum quo antea confidebant metuunt, hunc amant quem timebant. id quantis nostris peccatis vitiisque evenerit non possum sine molestia cogitare. quae autem impendere putarem, scripseram ad te et iam tuas litteras exspectabam.