Marcus Tullius Cicero→Titus Pomponius Atticus|c. 46 BC|Cicero|From Rome|To Rome/Athens|AI-assisted
About Caelius you will make inquiry, as you write; I have nothing new. But it is his character that must be ascertained, not merely his means. About Hortensius and Verginius you will act, if you have any doubt. And yet, as far as I can see, you will not easily find anything that pleases me more. With Mustela, in the manner you write, once Crispus has come. I have written to the grandfather [literally "to the grandfather/forebear," avi] to point out to Piso the things he well knows about the gold. For I quite agree with you, both that this affair is being dragged out too long and that everything must now be drawn together from every quarter. That you do nothing, think of nothing else except what concerns me, I readily perceive, and that your eagerness to come to me is hindered by my own business. But I consider that you are with me, not only because you are managing my affairs but also because I seem to see in what way you are managing them. For not a single hour of your effort is unknown to me.
B.C. _46_]
As to Caelius, please see that there is nothing lacking in the gold. I
know nothing about that. But anyhow there is loss enough in the
exchange. If there is anything wrong with the gold on the top of
that—but what's the use of my talking? You will see to it. There is a
specimen of Hegesias' style, of which Varro approves. Now I come to
Venio ad Tyrannionem. Ain tu? verum hoc fuit, sine me? At ego quotiens,
cum essem otiosus, sine te tamen nolui? Quo modo hoc ergo lues? Uno
scilicet, si mihi librum miseris; quod ut facias, etiam atque etiam
rogo. Etsi me non magis liber ipse delectabit, quam tua admiratio
delectavit. Amo enim πάντα φιλειδήμονα teque istam tam tenuem θεωρίαν
tam valde admiratum esse gaudeo. Etsi tua quidem sunt eius modi omnia.
Scire enim vis; quo uno animus alitur. Sed, quaeso, quid ex ista acuta
et gravi refertur ad τέλος?
Sed longa oratio est, et tu occupatus es in meo fortasse aliquo negotio.
Et pro isto asso sole, quo tu abusus es in nostro pratulo, a te nitidum
solem unctumque repetemus. Sed ad prima redeo. Librum, si me amas,
mitte. Tuus est enim profecto, quoniam quidem est missus ad te.
"What, so much leisure from your own affairs" that you have found
time to read the _Orator_ too. Bravo! I am pleased to hear it, and shall
be still more pleased if you will get your copyists to alter Eupolis to
Aristophanes not only in your own copy but in others too. Caesar
seemed to me to be amused
mihi irridere visus est "quaeso" illud tuum, quod erat et εὐπινὲς et
urbanum. Ita porro te sine cura esse iussit, ut mihi quidem dubitationem
omnem tolleret. Atticam doleo tam diu; sed, quoniam iam sine horrore
est, spero esse, ut volumus.
de Caelio tu quaeres, ut scribis; ego nihil novi. noscenda autem est natura, non facultas modo. de Hortensio et Verginio tu, si quid dubitabis. etsi quod magis placeat, ego quantum aspicio, non facile inveneris. Cum mustela, quem ad modum scribis, cum venerit Crispus. ad avium scripsi ut ea quae bene nosset de auro Pisoni demonstraret. tibi enim sane adsentior et istud nimium diu duci et omnia nunc undique contrahenda. te quidem nihil agere, nihil cogitare aliud nisi quod ad me pertineat facile perspicio meisque negotiis impediri cupiditatem tuam ad me veniendi. sed mecum esse te puto, non solum quod meam rem agis verum etiam quod videre videor quo modo agas. neque enim ulla hora tui mihi est operis ignota.
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About Caelius you will make inquiry, as you write; I have nothing new. But it is his character that must be ascertained, not merely his means. About Hortensius and Verginius you will act, if you have any doubt. And yet, as far as I can see, you will not easily find anything that pleases me more. With Mustela, in the manner you write, once Crispus has come. I have written to the grandfather [literally "to the grandfather/forebear," avi] to point out to Piso the things he well knows about the gold. For I quite agree with you, both that this affair is being dragged out too long and that everything must now be drawn together from every quarter. That you do nothing, think of nothing else except what concerns me, I readily perceive, and that your eagerness to come to me is hindered by my own business. But I consider that you are with me, not only because you are managing my affairs but also because I seem to see in what way you are managing them. For not a single hour of your effort is unknown to 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
de Caelio tu quaeres, ut scribis; ego nihil novi. noscenda autem est natura, non facultas modo. de Hortensio et Verginio tu, si quid dubitabis. etsi quod magis placeat, ego quantum aspicio, non facile inveneris. Cum mustela, quem ad modum scribis, cum venerit Crispus. ad avium scripsi ut ea quae bene nosset de auro Pisoni demonstraret. tibi enim sane adsentior et istud nimium diu duci et omnia nunc undique contrahenda. te quidem nihil agere, nihil cogitare aliud nisi quod ad me pertineat facile perspicio meisque negotiis impediri cupiditatem tuam ad me veniendi. sed mecum esse te puto, non solum quod meam rem agis verum etiam quod videre videor quo modo agas. neque enim ulla hora tui mihi est operis ignota.