Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 49 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
Although I have nothing to write to you, I send this letter so that I do not let a day pass. They were saying that Caesar would stay at Sinuessa on March 27. I received a letter from him dated March 26, in which he now expects my "resources," not, as in his earlier letter, my "help." Since I had praised in a letter that famous clemency of his at Corfinium, he wrote back in this form:
"Caesar Imperator to Cicero Imperator, greetings. You judge me rightly, for you know me well: nothing is farther from me than cruelty. And while I take great pleasure from the action itself, I triumph with joy that what I did is approved by you. Nor am I disturbed because those I released are said to have gone away to make war on me again. There is nothing I prefer to both my being like myself and their being like themselves.
"I would like you to be present for me near Rome, so that I may use your advice and resources, as I have been accustomed to do, in every matter. Know that nothing is more pleasing to me than your Dolabella. Indeed I shall owe him gratitude for this too; he cannot do otherwise, so great is his humanity, his judgment, and his goodwill toward me."
Though I have nothing to write to you, still, not to miss a day, I send this letter. On the 27th of March Caesar will stop at Sinuessa, they say. He sent me a letter dated the 26th, in which he looks forward to my "resources," not as in the former letter to "my help." I had written praising to the skies his kindness, his clemency at Corfinium. He replied as follows:
"CAESAR IMPERATOR TO CICERO IMPERATOR, GREETING.
"You are right to infer of me (for I am well known to you) that there is nothing further from my nature than cruelty. Whilst I take great pleasure from that fact, I am proud indeed that my action wins your approval. I am not moved because it is said that those,
whom I let go, have departed to wage war on me again, for there is nothing I like better than that I should be true to myself and they to themselves. I could wish you to meet me at Rome that I may avail myself of your advice and resources, as usual, in everything. You must know that nothing pleases me more than the presence of your relative Dolabella. This favour also I shall owe to him; for he will not be able to do otherwise than arrange it, such is his kindness, his feeling and goodwill towards me."
[1] Cum quod scriberem ad te nihil haberem, tamen ne quem diem intermitterem has dedi litteras. A. d. vi K. Caesarem Sinuessae mansurum nuntiabant. ab eo mihi litterae redditae sunt a. d. vii K. quibus iam 'opes' meas, non ut superioribus litteris 'opem' exspectat. Cum eius clementiam Corfiniensem illam per litteras conlaudavissem rescripsit hoc exemplo: CAESAR IMP. CICERONI IMP. SAL. DIC. [2] recte auguraris de me (bene enim tibi cognitus sum) nihil a me abesse longius crudelitate. atque ego cum ex ipsa re magnam capio voluptatem tum meum factum probari abs te triumpho gaudio. neque illud me movet quod ii qui a me dimissi sunt discessisse dicuntur ut mihi rursus bellum inferrent. nihil enim malo quam et me mei similem esse et illos sui. [3] tu velim mihi ad urbem praesto sis ut tuis consiliis atque opibus, ut consuevi, in omnibus rebus utar. Dolabella tuo nihil scito mihi esse iucundius. hanc adeo habebo gratiam illi; neque enim aliter facere poterit. tanta eius humanitas, is sensus, ea in me est benevolentia.
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Although I have nothing to write to you, I send this letter so that I do not let a day pass. They were saying that Caesar would stay at Sinuessa on March 27. I received a letter from him dated March 26, in which he now expects my "resources," not, as in his earlier letter, my "help." Since I had praised in a letter that famous clemency of his at Corfinium, he wrote back in this form:
"Caesar Imperator to Cicero Imperator, greetings. You judge me rightly, for you know me well: nothing is farther from me than cruelty. And while I take great pleasure from the action itself, I triumph with joy that what I did is approved by you. Nor am I disturbed because those I released are said to have gone away to make war on me again. There is nothing I prefer to both my being like myself and their being like themselves.
"I would like you to be present for me near Rome, so that I may use your advice and resources, as I have been accustomed to do, in every matter. Know that nothing is more pleasing to me than your Dolabella. Indeed I shall owe him gratitude for this too; he cannot do otherwise, so great is his humanity, his judgment, and his goodwill toward me."
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] Cum quod scriberem ad te nihil haberem, tamen ne quem diem intermitterem has dedi litteras. A. d. vi K. Caesarem Sinuessae mansurum nuntiabant. ab eo mihi litterae redditae sunt a. d. vii K. quibus iam 'opes' meas, non ut superioribus litteris 'opem' exspectat. Cum eius clementiam Corfiniensem illam per litteras conlaudavissem rescripsit hoc exemplo: CAESAR IMP. CICERONI IMP. SAL. DIC. [2] recte auguraris de me (bene enim tibi cognitus sum) nihil a me abesse longius crudelitate. atque ego cum ex ipsa re magnam capio voluptatem tum meum factum probari abs te triumpho gaudio. neque illud me movet quod ii qui a me dimissi sunt discessisse dicuntur ut mihi rursus bellum inferrent. nihil enim malo quam et me mei similem esse et illos sui. [3] tu velim mihi ad urbem praesto sis ut tuis consiliis atque opibus, ut consuevi, in omnibus rebus utar. Dolabella tuo nihil scito mihi esse iucundius. hanc adeo habebo gratiam illi; neque enim aliter facere poterit. tanta eius humanitas, is sensus, ea in me est benevolentia.