Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
What a difficult business, and what a hopeless one. You leave nothing out when giving advice, and yet you never explain what really satisfies you. You are glad I am not with Pompey, while also saying how disgraceful it would be for me to be present when he is criticized, and that it would be wrong for me to approve it. Certainly. So should I oppose it? "May the gods avert that," you say. What then is to happen, if on one side there is guilt and on the other punishment?
You say I will obtain from Caesar permission to be absent and to live quietly. So I must beg him? That is wretched. What if I fail? You say my triumph will remain unaffected. What if that is precisely how I am trapped? Accept it? What could be more disgraceful? Refuse it? Caesar will think I am rejecting him entirely, even more than when I once refused a place on his land commission. And when he defends himself, he usually lays the whole blame for those days on me: I was so hostile to him, he says, that I would not even accept office from him. How much more bitterly will he take the same thing now, when this honor is greater and he is stronger.
As for your saying you do not doubt that I am now in deep disfavor with Pompey, I do not see why that should be true, at least not now. After losing Corfinium, he finally let me know his plan. Can he complain that I did not come to Brundisium when Caesar was standing between me and Brundisium? Besides, he knows he has no honest opening for complaint. He thinks I saw more clearly than he did about the weakness of the towns, the levies, peace, Rome, the treasury, and the occupation of Picenum. But if I do not come to him when I can, then he will be angry. I do not fear that because he can harm me. What can he do? Who is a slave if he does not fear death? I fear the charge of ingratitude.
So I trust that my arrival, whenever it comes, will be most welcome to him, as you write. As for your saying that, if Caesar acts with more restraint, you will give more carefully weighed advice: how can Caesar avoid acting ruinously? His life, his character, his past, the logic of the enterprise he has undertaken, his associates, and the strength, or even the steadiness, of the good citizens all forbid it.
I had scarcely read your letter when Curtius Postumus came hurrying through on his way to Caesar, talking of nothing but fleets and armies. Caesar, he said, was tearing Spain away from Pompey, holding Asia, Sicily, Africa, and Sardinia, and would at once pursue Pompey into Greece. So I must go, not so much to share in a war as to share in a flight. I could not endure the talk of those men of yours, whoever they are. They are certainly not what they are called, "good men." Still, that is exactly what I want to know: what they are saying. Please investigate it and tell me. We still had no clear knowledge of what had happened at Brundisium. When we know, we shall decide according to events and timing, but we shall use your advice.
What a difficult and calamitous business! Nothing passed over in the advice you give, nothing revealed as to your real opinion! You are glad that I am not with Pompey, and yet you lay down how wrong it would be for me to be present when he is criticized: it were shameful to approve his conduct. Agreed. Should I then speak against him? "Heaven forbid," you say. So, what can happen, if one way lies crime, and the other punishment? You advise me to get from Caesar leave of absence and permission to retire. Must I then beg and pray? That would be humiliating: and suppose I fail? You say the matter of my triumph will not be prejudiced. But what if I am hampered by that very thing? Accept it? What dishonour! Refuse it? Caesar will think that I am repudiating him entirely, more even than when I declined a place among his twenty land commissioners. And it is his way, when he excuses himself
to throw on me all the blame for that period, and to say I was so bitter an enemy that I would not even take an office from him. How much more will this annoy him! Why, as much more as this honour is greater than that, and he himself is stronger. As for your remark that you have no doubt I am in bad odour with Pompey at this present time, I see no reason why it should be so, especially at this time. Pompey did not tell me his plans till after the loss of Corfinium, and he cannot complain of my not going to Brundisium, when Caesar was between me and Brundisium. Besides he knows that complaint on his part is stopped. He is of opinion that I saw clearer than he did about the weakness of the municipal towns, the levies, peace, the city, the public funds, occupying Pisenum. If however I do not go to him, when I can, he will certainly be angry. From that I shrink—not for fear of harm he may do me (for what can he do? And who
"Would be a slave but he who fears to die?")
but because I shrink from being charged with ingratitude. So I trust my arrival will be, as you say, welcome to him, whenever I go. As for your remark "If Caesar's conduct be more temperate, you will weigh your advice more carefully," how can Caesar keep himself from a destructive policy? It is forbidden by his character, his previous career, the nature of his present enterprise, his associates, the material strength or even the moral firmness of the loyalist party.
I had scarcely read your letter, when up comes Curtius Postumus hurrying off to Caesar, talking of nothing but fleets and armies; "Caesar is wresting
the Spains from Pompey, occupying Asia, Sicily, Africa, Sardinia, and forthwith pursuing Pompey into Greece." So I must set out to take part not so much in a war as in a flight. For I can never put up with the talk of your friends, whoever they are, for certainly they are not what they are called, loyalists. Still that is just what I want to know, what they do say, and I beg you earnestly to inquire and inform me. So far I know nothing of what has happened at Brundisium. When I know, I shall form my plans according to circumstances and the moment; but I shall use your advice.
[1] O rem difficilem planeque perditam! quam nihil praetermittis in consilio dando; quam nihil tamen quod tibi ipsi placeat explicas! non esse me una cum Pompeio gaudes ac proponis quam sit turpe me adesse cum quid de illo detrahatur; nefas esse approbare. certe; contra igitur? 'di' inquis 'averruncent!' quid ergo fiet si in altero scelus est, in altero supplicium? 'impetrabis' inquis 'a Caesare ut tibi abesse liceat et esse otioso.' supplicandum igitur? miserum. quid si non impetraro? 'et de triumpho erit' inquis 'integrum.' quid si hoc ipso premar? accipiam? quid foedius? negem? repudiari se totum , magis etiam quam olim in xxviratu, putabit. ac solet, cum se purgat, in me conferre omnem illorum temporum culpam. ita me sibi fuisse inimicum ut ne honorem quidem a se accipere vellem. quanto nunc hoc idem accipiet asperius! tanto scilicet quanto et honos hic illo est amplior et ipse robustior. [2] nam quod negas te dubitare quin magna in offensa sim apud Pompeium hoc tempore, non video causam cur ita sit hoc quidem tempore. qui enim amisso Corfinio denique certiorem me sui consili fecit, is queretur Brundisium me non venisse cum inter me et Brundisium Caesar esset? deinde etiam scit aparrêsiaston esse in ea causa querelam suam. me putat de municipiorum imbecillitate, de dilectibus, de pace, de urbe, de pecunia, de Piceno occupando plus vidisse quam se. sin cum potuero non venero tum erit inimicus, quod ego non eo vereor ne mihi noceat (quid enim faciet? tis d' esti doulos tou thanein aphrontis ôn;, sed quia ingrati animi crimen horreo. confido igitur adventum nostrum illi, quoquo tempore fuerit, ut scribis, asmeniston fore. nam quod ais, si hic temperatius egerit, consideratius consilium te daturum, qui hic potest se gerere non perdite? <vetant> vita, mores, ante facta, ratio suscepti negoti, socii, vires bonorum aut etiam constantia. [3] vixdum epistulam tuam legeram cum ad me currens ad illum Postumus Curtius venit nihil nisi classis loquens et exercitus. eripiebat Hispanias, tenebat Asiam, Siciliam, Africam, Sardiniam, confestim in Graeciam persequebatur. eundum igitur est, nec tam ut belli quam ut fugae socii simus. nec enim ferre potero sermones istorum quicumque sunt; non sunt enim certe, ut appellantur, boni. sed tamen id ipsum scire cupio quid loquantur idque ut exquiras meque certiorem facias te vehementer rogo. nos adhuc quid Brundisi actum esset plane nesciebamus. Cum sciemus , tum ex re et ex tempore consilium capiemus sed utemur tuo.
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What a difficult business, and what a hopeless one. You leave nothing out when giving advice, and yet you never explain what really satisfies you. You are glad I am not with Pompey, while also saying how disgraceful it would be for me to be present when he is criticized, and that it would be wrong for me to approve it. Certainly. So should I oppose it? "May the gods avert that," you say. What then is to happen, if on one side there is guilt and on the other punishment?
You say I will obtain from Caesar permission to be absent and to live quietly. So I must beg him? That is wretched. What if I fail? You say my triumph will remain unaffected. What if that is precisely how I am trapped? Accept it? What could be more disgraceful? Refuse it? Caesar will think I am rejecting him entirely, even more than when I once refused a place on his land commission. And when he defends himself, he usually lays the whole blame for those days on me: I was so hostile to him, he says, that I would not even accept office from him. How much more bitterly will he take the same thing now, when this honor is greater and he is stronger.
As for your saying you do not doubt that I am now in deep disfavor with Pompey, I do not see why that should be true, at least not now. After losing Corfinium, he finally let me know his plan. Can he complain that I did not come to Brundisium when Caesar was standing between me and Brundisium? Besides, he knows he has no honest opening for complaint. He thinks I saw more clearly than he did about the weakness of the towns, the levies, peace, Rome, the treasury, and the occupation of Picenum. But if I do not come to him when I can, then he will be angry. I do not fear that because he can harm me. What can he do? Who is a slave if he does not fear death? I fear the charge of ingratitude.
So I trust that my arrival, whenever it comes, will be most welcome to him, as you write. As for your saying that, if Caesar acts with more restraint, you will give more carefully weighed advice: how can Caesar avoid acting ruinously? His life, his character, his past, the logic of the enterprise he has undertaken, his associates, and the strength, or even the steadiness, of the good citizens all forbid it.
I had scarcely read your letter when Curtius Postumus came hurrying through on his way to Caesar, talking of nothing but fleets and armies. Caesar, he said, was tearing Spain away from Pompey, holding Asia, Sicily, Africa, and Sardinia, and would at once pursue Pompey into Greece. So I must go, not so much to share in a war as to share in a flight. I could not endure the talk of those men of yours, whoever they are. They are certainly not what they are called, "good men." Still, that is exactly what I want to know: what they are saying. Please investigate it and tell me. We still had no clear knowledge of what had happened at Brundisium. When we know, we shall decide according to events and timing, but we shall use your advice.
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
[1] O rem difficilem planeque perditam! quam nihil praetermittis in consilio dando; quam nihil tamen quod tibi ipsi placeat explicas! non esse me una cum Pompeio gaudes ac proponis quam sit turpe me adesse cum quid de illo detrahatur; nefas esse approbare. certe; contra igitur? 'di' inquis 'averruncent!' quid ergo fiet si in altero scelus est, in altero supplicium? 'impetrabis' inquis 'a Caesare ut tibi abesse liceat et esse otioso.' supplicandum igitur? miserum. quid si non impetraro? 'et de triumpho erit' inquis 'integrum.' quid si hoc ipso premar? accipiam? quid foedius? negem? repudiari se totum , magis etiam quam olim in xxviratu, putabit. ac solet, cum se purgat, in me conferre omnem illorum temporum culpam. ita me sibi fuisse inimicum ut ne honorem quidem a se accipere vellem. quanto nunc hoc idem accipiet asperius! tanto scilicet quanto et honos hic illo est amplior et ipse robustior. [2] nam quod negas te dubitare quin magna in offensa sim apud Pompeium hoc tempore, non video causam cur ita sit hoc quidem tempore. qui enim amisso Corfinio denique certiorem me sui consili fecit, is queretur Brundisium me non venisse cum inter me et Brundisium Caesar esset? deinde etiam scit aparrêsiaston esse in ea causa querelam suam. me putat de municipiorum imbecillitate, de dilectibus, de pace, de urbe, de pecunia, de Piceno occupando plus vidisse quam se. sin cum potuero non venero tum erit inimicus, quod ego non eo vereor ne mihi noceat (quid enim faciet? tis d' esti doulos tou thanein aphrontis ôn;, sed quia ingrati animi crimen horreo. confido igitur adventum nostrum illi, quoquo tempore fuerit, ut scribis, asmeniston fore. nam quod ais, si hic temperatius egerit, consideratius consilium te daturum, qui hic potest se gerere non perdite? <vetant> vita, mores, ante facta, ratio suscepti negoti, socii, vires bonorum aut etiam constantia. [3] vixdum epistulam tuam legeram cum ad me currens ad illum Postumus Curtius venit nihil nisi classis loquens et exercitus. eripiebat Hispanias, tenebat Asiam, Siciliam, Africam, Sardiniam, confestim in Graeciam persequebatur. eundum igitur est, nec tam ut belli quam ut fugae socii simus. nec enim ferre potero sermones istorum quicumque sunt; non sunt enim certe, ut appellantur, boni. sed tamen id ipsum scire cupio quid loquantur idque ut exquiras meque certiorem facias te vehementer rogo. nos adhuc quid Brundisi actum esset plane nesciebamus. Cum sciemus , tum ex re et ex tempore consilium capiemus sed utemur tuo.